#ice hell

I had posted a "WIP" to my main blog two years ago and had said I didn't know when I would get around to finishing it. The answer was right now after redrawing it a bunch. (It's been on my mind this entire time, but the deadline was always June 19th to me lol).

So, if I'm remembering correctly, in Ice Hell "canon" Tony's blood is dark blue with gold flecks. I wanted to convey that while also having it still read as blood, so I ended up going with three colors for his blood haha. The knife is a pottery knife.

Also this is spoilers for the fic but from a WIP i shared w/ some friends:

Time to experiment, she thinks.

She picks him up, hurling him over her shoulder and muttering about how his bones must be made of lead for him to weigh so much. She usually didn't have an issue carrying human bodies, even those bigger than herself, but something about Tony made him exceptionally heavy. She theorizes that Concepts are just... Denser than humans.

Anyhow, she carelessly drops him in the freezer, and slams it shut. She won't bother to lock the door, or bind him by any means. The cold temperatures will be enough of a nuisance.

She happily hops up the stairs and out of the basement. Now that her main chore is over, she could finally check on her garden! Her precious flowers hadn't been watered yet, and she'd hate for them to die.

When she was done, she stepped into her room and eyed the three or four unfinished canvases abandoned in a random corner. Might as well...

When she was nearly done with the last one, she looks out the window, expecting to see the sunset. After all, Tony's annoyingly numerous clocks scattered across the house marked six in the evening.

But the sky was still bright blue, not a sight of the sun setting.

... Was he messing with her? He must've already woken up, and chances are, he's trying to disorient her so he can have the upper hand. How clever.

She thought about going after him, but if he hadn't showed up to pester her yet, that means he's planning an ambush. That's the not so fun part of putting him in the basement.

Tony had his qualities, but his main fault is his predictability. She knew he'd always take advantage of being hours alone somewhere she'd inevitably walk into. Besides, his own perfectionism won't let him mess up the passing of time long enough before it starts ticking him off, so the wisest thing to do would be to wait.

The night went by with the sun still shining through the window, and in the following morning, all news reports talked about how the sun refused to set across the country, despite the rest of the world being unaffected.

Robin very hesitantly asked her if Tony had something to do with that.

"Well," she replied. "Either he's very committed to his little trick, or something is wrong. Have you seen him, by the way?"

He shakes his head no.

She sighs, and grabs a butcher knife before kicking open the basement door. "I can't believe you're making me do this, you bastard."

Her voice echoes down the trepid staircase and reverberates off the walls, but no answer comes.

She cautiously walks down the stairs, her knife held tight, and scours every corner of the basement, but he's nowhere to be seen.

Certain that this would be the stupidest thing she's done in this century, she reluctantly opens the freezer door.

Well, she found Tony. But he didn't leap at her throat, or pulled her down by the hair.

He laid just like she had left him, frostbite darkening spots of his skin to a disgusting purple, and a thin layer of frost encasing his body. His eyes, which were left open and were now frozen that way, were dull and faded. His suit was mostly hardened by a thin layer of ice. However, all the wounds she'd inflicted had healed perfectly.

If he was alive in those conditions, Paige would have to applaud his endurance.

She reached for one of his hands, grabbing onto the frozen, hardened flesh, and pulled.

The sound of skin peeling off his muscles as it stuck to the freezer's walls wasn't pleasant, but it was over soon enough. She threw his frozen body to the floor, wincing slightly at the dry thump it produced.

"And now, what to do with you?" She spoke out loud, prancing around the basement. "Maybe I could go at it with a hairdryer, but-"

She turned around at the familiar sound of flesh and muscle sewing back together.

Tony was healing, his torn off flesh stitching itself back together. She curiously watched as he stitched himself together in a matter of minutes, knife still tightly clutched in her hand.

And he breathed in, opening his eyes wide.

Paige fixed her stance, ready for combat.

But he didn't get up. He barely moved enough to curl up on the floor, breathing heavily and shaking.

Something was... Wrong.

"... Tony?" She called out, taking a single, cautious step further.

His eyes moved towards her, and although his fury was tangible, he didn't raise a single finger.

"I came after you." She hesitantly continued. "The sun hasn't set since yesterday, and I thought you'd done it."

"... The sun didn't set?" He asks, his voice hoarse and weak.

"No. It's all they talk about on the news."

"I need to fix that." He mutters, valiantly trying to get up on his feet, but stumbling to the ground before making it.

Paige stands in the same spot, unmoving. Her chest felt too heavy as the realization came to her.

"You're weak." She whispered. Usually she'd sneer it at him with a smile, but now she was worried. Was she about to lose her playmate?

She walked closer, and kneeling to the ground, gently laid the back of her hand on his neck.

Cold.

Freezing cold.

He stared fiercely at her, bright yellow eyes burning holes into her soul, but she knew better than to be intimidated. The same way a wounded animal bares its teeth at whoever dares come closer, regardless of the other's intentions, fallen Concepts such as them couldn't recognize solidarity if it hit them across the face.

Which is what Paige did. "Don't give me the eagle eyes, I wanna help you. Come on, frozen bastard," She grunted, picking him up bridal style. "We're getting you somewhere warmer."

He huffed, but didn't protest further. His suit was now soaking wet and likely ruined, none of which helped him while he trembled in Paige's arms, trying to leech off whatever heat she produced.

The trip out of the basement and into Tony's room was a rather quick and unperturbed one, except for perhaps the confused stares from the trio in the living room, but they knew better than to stare too long or ask questions.

"There you go," she sighs, as she nudges the door of his room open. "This should be warm enough, since it's been closed and getting sunlight for a solid twenty hours."

And indeed, the room felt quite stuffy as she laid him down on the floor, right on a patch of sunlight. But for him, it was simply perfect. He allowed himself to relax and stretch on the warm floor, a content moan escaping his lips as he did so.

"Feeling better?" She asked, taking a seat not too far from him.

"Mhm." He curtly answered, his body still shaking, but the relaxed smile on his face said all she needed to hear.

"So..." She awkwardly started, fumbling with her hair. "What happened?"

He sighed, rolling on his side to look at her. "You froze time."

"Why, you're such a jokester today, Tony." She sarcastically replied. "Really, though... Why didn't you wake up?"

"Well... I'm not sure. I was able to heal just fine, but due to the temperature, I was conscious for only a few seconds before my body gave in to the cold and lack of energy." He replied, his expression becoming more and more vacant. "And it kept happening, over and over again... Until you finally got me out of that damned thing."

"Yikes."

"Indeed."

Paige messes with the fabric of her skirt, her eyes low to her lap. "... I'm sorry."

To her surprise, Tony's response wasn't bitter. "It's alright, dear. You didn't know."

"... You should take off those clothes. They're all wet." She airily comments.

"You really can't spend a night without me anymore, can you?" He replied with a smug smile even though his voice was still weak.

It takes a second for her to process what he said, and her eyes widen as it clicks in her head. "You pervert! I was worried about you and that's how you speak to me?"

"I jest, I jest." He smiles, carefully raising his hands up in surrender. "Really though, how did you spend the night?"

"Well, the sun was shining outside, so... There was that." She started. "But I did miss you. I had nothing to climb on top of while I slept, after all."

It was a frequent occurrence; every other day Tony would wake up barely able to breathe because of the 65 kilos of Creativity sprawled over his back. He'd then have to nudge her off and hold her so she doesn't attempt to flatten his lungs again.

"I missed you too, Paige." He simply answered, unbuttoning his jacket and sliding it off. His frostbitten fingers certainly weren't helping him with any more buttons, he concluded as he analyzed the slowly healing flesh.

Paige undoes the shirt buttons as she speaks. "You seem to be in a very good mood today. Despite being locked in a freezer for several hours."

He chuckles, taking off the shirt. "I think the warmth put me in a nice mood." He kicks off his pants, with some difficulty as the wet and hardened fabric clung onto him, but he managed.

Now, all he wore was his bowtie, his gloves, and soaking wet boxers that left nothing to the imagination. And that was an image she quite enjoyed, and savoured every last drop of. Even if his indigo body was covered in dark purple bruises with flesh damaged or missing on certain spots.

"Paige," Tony called, in a teasing voice. "I know those eyes..."

She looks at his face like a deer in headlights, gray blush dusted over her cheeks. She had forgotten to look at his face for a moment. Or a minute. Or several minutes.

After an awkward second, she gets the courage to whisper, "Please?"

"Paige, darling, I've been locked in a freezer for a whole day. I'm just starting to feel my legs. I'm sure you can understand when I say I'm not in the mood."

"Oh. That... Makes sense." She mutters, looking away. "That was stupid."

"You are stupid." He deadpanned. "Never forget that, dear."

"Wow, okay! Back to the freezer with you!" She laughed, sliding a hand under his back and lifting him off the floor once again.