troubledkid:
he hadn’t seen tony in two days. he should have been worried – should he have been worried? if it had been anyone other than tony, yeah. steve should have been worried. but it was tony. he did this. he disappeared into his work for hours and days and weeks at a time, reemerging, blinking, into the sun like an animal coming out of hibernation, when he was ready. only when he was ready.
except – normally he answered at least a few texts. you know, confirming that he was still alive out there, not pinned under a few tons of metal from whatever behemoth he’d been working on that day. normally there was something that reminded steve that he didn’t have to call in reinforcements.
today? radio silence. he’d started anxiously checking his phone every few minutes, unable to concentrate on his work. nothing. goddammit, tony.
(also, steve missed him. it had been two days. they both needed sleep. shut up.)
he trudged out to the garage, hoping he’d find tony grease-stained and tired and not a smoldering lump on the concrete. and, politely, he knocked. then, less politely, he pushed the door open.
“ you alive in here? ”
his phone hadn’t been within his reach while he kept his focus on his current project. a vehicle that he had intended to build on his own , it certainly wouldn’t have been his first. but more importantly , he needed a focal point - something that he could actively work on without his brain circulating on what’s making him so restless. when tony became more irritable , he tended to placed that energy on being productive -- that didn’t result to other damaging consequences.. he wasn’t perfect by any means , and he didn’t want to give them a reason to worry. even if this does exactly that. sometimes his own attempts to protect others -- was his own moment of selfishness.
“ surprised you didn’t break the door down like you did last time , i’m sure the door appreciates the courtesy.” the dry humor chipped away on each syllable. “ alive is a matter of perspective , what brings you by ? “ it was as if he didn’t realize that forty eight hours passed. he moved his right hand to pick up the tool again but withdrew his hand the moment he flexed -- the tremor was present still from the wear and tear likely. pretending it didn’t happen , he turned to face his fiancee to give him his attention.
