Iron Will, Iron Heart: Conductivity

[st_arkravinghazelnut]

Blast. Recharge. Blast. Recharge. Blast Set up the fresh targets.

That had been Tony Stark's refrain for the last three days. The first day was dedicated solely to holding it as far from the hotel as humanly possible into the most remote desert location possible. Himself and his new toys, all alone. And the tent. There was no scenario where he wouldn't take that for the ride.

The plasma auto rifle--today's plaything--boasted rapid fire and plasma grenades. With nothing but sand, rock, and dust for miles, Tony was free to let loose. For the bigger blasts, Tony activated his armor--which was up to several minutes of stability at a time. With a sigh, the time limit ran out and he was left in his tank and fatigues bottoms. Adjusting it to the stun setting, he took aim at the few remaining targets.

Comments

[st_arkravinghazelnut]

"I wanna do more than just not break up." Tony swatted Thor's hand away. "I..." He sighed. The words were hard to come by when it wasn't the heat of the moment.

"I don't...want...a future without you in it."

[st_ormbreaker]

Thor gives Tony a smile -- a crooked, awkward, but truly happy kind of smile. He had said that in Thor's dreams and it felt as good hearing those words then as it does now.

"I love you too, Tony."

[st_arkravinghazelnut]

"Okay." Tony's voice cracked, and he quickly cleared his throat and adopted a business-like posture. "So. We're in agreement."

[st_ormbreaker]

"About what part?" Thor asks. "About being in each other's futures?"

[st_arkravinghazelnut]

"You don't need to make me say it. Unless you want to." Tony pushed his glasses up by the bridge, peering over them.

[st_ormbreaker]

"I would say I wouldn't make you say anything you did not want to say," Thor begins. "But we both know that isn't true."

Thor's lips quirk up into a slight, but perceptible smile.

"So say it."

[st_arkravinghazelnut]

"Ah." A sheepish clacking of teeth and a soft chuckle, and Tony dropped his gaze towards the cracked earth. "I...think there's romantic and there's cheese and I'm a shower with this sort of thing." Tony gestured between Thor and himself, as if trying to negotiate some sort of deal over some farmers market trinket.

[st_ormbreaker]

Thor takes a step forward. Try as he might, he can't seem to stop smiling. Least of all when Tony is looking so uncharacteristically shy.

"Well, maybe you should show me."

[st_arkravinghazelnut]

"That's what I'm doing. I think my lack of active retaliation for the assault upon my person is the highest love I can express." Tony still felt protective of his ribs, but he mirrored Thor's steps until they were flush with each other.

"Here. Let me try. ...Your bullshit is compatible with my bullshit. I put up with yours, you put up with mine."

[st_ormbreaker]

"Thank you," Thor says, and he briefly sets his forehead flush against Tony's. He can feel Tony's breath hot on his face, and he's sure his breath is just as warm on his. Suddenly, Thor feels tremendously, overwhelmingly grateful for the man standing in front of him. "I don't think I ever pegged you for a romantic." Thor's lips quirk upward. "Until now, anyway."

Thor is still smiling when he leans down and kisses him.

[st_arkravinghazelnut]

"We really do need to talk, though." Tony murmured in between each kiss, "That's what good pairs do. Communicate. Agreed?"

[st_ormbreaker]

"Agreed," Thor murmurs back.

[st_arkravinghazelnut]

Tony fell back on his heels, the soles of his shoes scraping the rock. "Alright, disclosure...this is getting frustrating."

[st_ormbreaker]

"Then..." Thor runs his hand through his far-too-shirt hair. "...we should probably figure out what we want to do about it."

[st_arkravinghazelnut]

"Not that. Not being able to brag it up." Tony mirrored Thor's gesture. "Show you off. You know."

[st_ormbreaker]

Thor's reaction is immediate. "You want to show me off?" he asks, squinting. "I don't have a problem with it, but I always thought you weren't interested in --"

Thor gestures vaguely. What do you even call that?

[st_arkravinghazelnut]

"Interested in what? Being proud of whoever I've got on my arm?" When he and Pepper first became steady, Tony wouldn't shut up about it. Rhodey never failed to remind him of this fact. "Call me self-indulgent, because I am. Relax about it."

[st_ormbreaker]

That draws a full grin out of Thor. He really didn't think that Tony was interested in this becoming public knowledge, which is why he limited his gushing to his brother, which... in hindsight, was probably weird for Loki. But who else could he tell?

"You know I won't be able to shut up about my charismatic genius billionaire boyfriend, right?"

[st_arkravinghazelnut]

"As long as you leave the dirty laundry where it belongs. Same goes for me. We're both adults. Adult and a God the age of the Hagia Sophia." Tony swayed against him. "Agreed?"

[st_ormbreaker]

"I don't know about the Hagia Sophia stuff, but I think I grasp everything else," Thor says. "Agreed."

[st_arkravinghazelnut]

"Good boy." Tony tapped Thor's nose with a cooing lilt to his voice, as if the man really were a dog.

"Stay the night. I'll divulge the details in the evening and we'll go from there."

[st_ormbreaker]

Thor is not about to object to the invitation, especially after three days away from him. It was strange; he had spent two years sequestered away from the man and endured it well enough. Now he found himself going a little crazy without his company after a day and a half.

Thor supposed that that should be disconcerting, but he found he was strangely okay with that. He'd always felt strongly about things, in ways that probably seemed disproportionate to other people. But Thor didn't really mind that, either. Sure, there were times where he wished he could keep his temper in check, but even that had improved over the past decade. The only thing that felt truly strange to him was how much he'd grown since he first arrived on Midgard ten years ago. It was as if he had achieved adulthood on Asgard and stagnated there for a good almost-1500 years. He was glad that he changed (for the better, he was certain), but he wished that it'd happened before now.

Thor naturally finds himself looking for things to do around the campsite: he organizes the food, straightens Tony's sleeping bag, fools around with the lights that don't really need fooling around with. To anyone who knew Thor when he was younger, the scene would come across as uncharacteristically domestic, but a few years with Jane had changed things. He found comfort in doing these small things -- small things he never had to do for anyone, let alone himself when he was back in Asgard.

Before long, he runs out of ways to keep himself busy, and excuses himself to gather more firewood, even though there's ample enough wood for the night. It should feel weird using Stormbreaker for something so ordinary. Birthed in the forges of Nidavellir, and here he was, using it to break down firewood.

Before long, the firewood is gathered, and Thor finds himself sitting at the fire, eating one of the Pop Tarts he'd left for Tony but had, with Tony's invitation, become Pop Tarts for the both of them.

"What were you doing out here?" he asks of Tony after he's devoured most of his strawberry-flavored Pop Tart. "Just practicing your aim?"

[st_arkravinghazelnut]

There was nothing like a session of tinkering--deconstruction, reconstruction, however repetitive to put Tony in a zen mood. The thermal imaging system on the Mag-Charger was growing more impressive each time Tony got into it, now able to pin point heat signatures several miles away.

"Practicing my aim. Keeping my hands busy. Weapons development away from any warm bodies or squawking."

[st_ormbreaker]

"No breaks?" Thor asks after he's finished Pop Tart number one. "Have you been sleeping?"

Thor knows, even though Thor is out like a rock almost as soon as his head hits the pillow, that Tony doesn't sleep much if at all. And Thor is pretty sure that if he didn't crash at Loki's these past few days, even he wouldn't be sleeping.

So Tony? Probably not sleeping. But even though Thor knows the answer, he asks it anyway and watches Tony as he starts his second Pop Tart.

[st_arkravinghazelnut]

Up went the armor. The half-hour mark hit and it was time to start the Stability Timer.

"As much as I'm used to. Do not start unless you want some spiel about processed sugar and erectile dysfunction." What was it about Tony, Asgardians, and performance issue cracks?