imafuturist | Lab Beneath Stark Industries, Sunday Afternoon

Entry tags:

Lab Beneath Stark Industries, Sunday Afternoon

The War Machine armor had taken a significant enough hit in a fight that Rhodey wasn't able to patch it up on his own. Which was annoying on a few levels for Tony. One, that Rhodey could have gotten hurt. Another that Tony should have been there to help him.

Tony made a face, rereading the assessment of the damage for a third time before starting to get some tools together.

"JARVIS, has the lab in East Village been touched?"

"No, sir. Shall I inform Lieutenant colonel Rhodes of your plan?"

Tony grinned up at the ceiling. "You know me so well, sweetheart. Tell him I'll be there within the hour. Help him shake any tails if you'd be so kind."

[Expecting one, but open before!]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only | Expand All

Tony cleared his throat. "Come here. Shirt off," he said, busying himself with grabbing the medkit.

"Usually I get that from dames."

The joke was half-hearted and mild, but at least he was unbuttoning the shirt and shrugging it off.

Tony blinked at that before huffing out a little laugh. "I'll flutter my eyelashes at you if you like."

"Please don't."

He found a chair to slump down in. It just –- it just seemed like a good time to be sitting down.

He wasn't shaking, or anything. He just had that feeling, that post-adrenaline feeling that made it seem like he needed to take a breath and be still for a second.

"Ouch," Tony replied with some gentle teasing in his tone. "Blow to my ego."

He looked at the gouges on Barnes' arm and hid jaw went tight as he busied himself looking for antiseptic.

Bucky himself wasn't looking at the wounds too closely. His arm ached. He was ignoring it.

"Sorry," he drawled. "I'll have to try and treat you more like a lady some other time."

Hopefully he could keep ignoring it once Tony pressed some of that antiseptic against one of the cuts.

"I'll ask you to take me to a nice dinner," Tony said, fully okay with this mode of distraction. "I'm not a cheap date, Barnes."

He was doing an okay job at ignoring it!

Which meant he only hissed and grimaced a little.

"Think I've changed my mind," he said, also only gritting his teeth a little. "Think you might be to expensive a date for me."

"Caviar and champagne aren't in your budget?" Tony asked, gently pressing the swab onto the next few cuts. "This relationship has been a lie."

Bucky shrugged, though he did so with only one shoulder. Not the one attached to the cut arm, either. "Can do popcorn at the movies."

"I'll have to lower my standards," Tony said, turning to pick up a cotton pad to press over the cuts and then a roll of medical tape to keep it in place with a practiced ease. "At least you're pretty."

Bucky wouldn't have been able to say he was surprised by Tony's casual ability to patch up wounds. Not after everything that had happened.

He gave a quiet snort, and shook his head while looking down. "Well, at least she didn't go for my face."

"Thank god for that," Tony replied, leaning in to cut the tape with his teeth. Once he pulled back, he frowned and scrambled for what to do. He was better at physically fixing thing, after all. "That's--I'm sorry. I should have known people would be looking for me."

Bucky looked down at his arm.

If only he knew about the things that would happen to it in the future.

"Guess it could've been worse," he said, looking back up. "You deal with that sorta thing often?"

Awww yeah. All the guilt over that.

"I have people who actually use the term arch-nemesis in my life," Tony replied dryly. "I almost miss my life before Iron Man."

Almost. But not really.

"Almost?"

Yes. Had to question that. No judgment, though.

"I was... I wasn't the type of person you'd want to know," Tony replied, quiet but firm in this assessment of himself. "I was willfully blind to the harm I was doing to people."

"Huh."

Well, Bucky wasn't about to challenge him on that point – he knew he couldn't know one way or the other, for one thing. So he left it at that, a noise of acknowledgement.

And prodded gingerly at the dressing on his arm, before looking up again.

"Can I put the shirt back on now, nurse?"

"I'll even see if I can find a lollipop for you since you've been so good," Tony replied, shaking his head and putting away the medical supplies. "Keep it clean and dry. I can change the bandage for you if you need."

Or they could be normal people and go to the clinic.

"... Doesn't the island have a place that does that?" Bucky asked as he reached for his shirt.

He still had a little while of acting like a normal person left ahead of him.

"Probably." Tony wrinkled his nose at that. "I hate doctors and hospitals. Avoid them whenever I can."

"Well, I'm not you, Mr. Stark." The shirt went back on. Yeah, sure, the sleeve had drying blood on it, but he wasn't going to walk around shirtless right now, either. (Sorry, ladies.) "But thanks."

"I think I might have a spare shirt around here," Tony offered, looking around to see what awful band t-shirt he might have stashed here years ago. "Might even fit you."

WHY DID HE ONLY KNOW TALL PEOPLE WITH SHOULDERS?

"You don't have to," Bucky replied, but he still stopped buttoning his shirt for now.

Look, the blood wasn't his idea of a good time.

Tony shot him a look like it clearly some huge imposition. "It might have some engine grease stains on it," he warned, finding where he'd stashed his change of clothing there.

It was a Queen shirt that looked well worn.

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject