#RhodeyAppreciationWeek aka #RhodeyFest Day 6: Rhodeyās Birthday Gift Exchange.Ā Ā
My giftee was @gavilansblog. I hope you enjoy! Sorry itās so late but I still have fifteen minutes in my timezone and Iām a human disaster!!!Ā
AskĀ Ā
Rhodes is known for being kind of dour around his own social circles. In the Air Force when his crew sneaks out after dark to play at the closest town, when they try to have their own fleet week, when theyāre bragging about their conquests, Rhodes is back in his bunk covering for them or keeping quiet. Heās a cool enough guy, heās just not someone you want as your wingman.
Itās probably because of all the time he spends around that Tony Stark. The man is a train wreck - especially his love life, and if Rhodes spends all of his free time mopping that up, he probably doesnāt do anything else too exciting.Ā
Most of the newer recruits are pretty convinced that he has a secret wife and kids - well, not secret, just quiet. He gets a letter every week during deployment, but rarely does anyone see any photos around him.
One time at homecoming a small girl who resembles him runs up and leaps into his arms for a hug. Harrison is convinced that proves his āsecret familyā theory correct until they learn that the girl is his niece and came with his parents.
There are a surprising large amount of galas and events to attend once you reach higher ranks⦠at least when youāre as classically handsome as Jim Rhodes is, make a good āgod bless Americaā story, and are the best friend of Tony Stark. It really only adds to his reserved image because he always brings a date, and sheās always beautiful, but thereās never any rumors. Thereās no scandals, thereās no drama, thereās just Jim Rhodes with a beautiful classy lady on his arm.
The military wives swarm around Janet VanDyne, ask her for the scoop about Rhodes and she just smiles and says heās a dear dear friend.
Itās decades before anyone hears Rhodes talk about his partner and then one day Ramirez and Keller are bitching about āDonāt Ask Donāt Tellā being rescinded. Itās something that theyāve been discussing ever since the talks started and it stops almost immediately after Rhodes stops, places his hands on the table and remarks that he and his husband are pretty fucking pleased about it and if anyone disagrees theyāre welcome to kiss his ass and take a walk.
Everyone is silent as the General walks into the room and silent until Rhodes walks out.
At the next event, Rhodes doesnāt come with Janet VanDyne as usual. But he doesnāt bring a date either, he just sits with Tony Stark as usual.
After the next deployment his mom is there to greet him the way she always is (heās such a mommaās boy, sheās there every time no matter what) but sheās not with any boyfriend. She gives him a hug, and they get into one of Tony Starkās cars, and that is that.
Itās Machado who notices first. Sheās at an event and at the table next to Rhodes this year. Heās there with Stark as usual, and⦠maybe thatās the point? Itās been two months since DADT was repealed, and everyone she knows is still a little wary about it. Marinoās been married to her wife since Massachusetts legalized it in 2004 and sheās still too spooked to wear her ring. Everyone knows someone who has gotten shuffled out of the service because of DADT and very few people are sure that the habit is completely over. But anyway, Machado is walking over to as Rhodes to a dance - the man never turns down a dance, even from Stark for crying out loud - and she sees Stark lean over and mutter something to him Rhodes laughs and gives his friend a fond look and⦠for a second⦠he brushes his hand against the one Stark has resting on the table.
Itās nothing they havenāt done before butā¦
Rhodes wears a ring now, he has since October 2011. Itās slim but solid gold. If anyone were paying attention theyād notice that War Machine has a gold band around itās ring finger as well. Marsh is the one that notices that, and that Iron Man has a matching marking on its finger - in chrome. He doesnāt tell anyone, but he knows now.
āHey Tony?ā Rhodey said suddenly, three years after the repeal of DADT. Tony looked up, eyes sleepy from where he had been drifting off with his head resting on Rhodeyās shoulder.
āYeah?ā He asked.
āCould you have JARVIS post a picture of us to your instagram? Your hair is really cute like this - you look like a drunk duck,ā Rhodey replied with a smile. Tony sat up with a start.
āAre you sure?ā He asked. Rhodey nodded.
āYeah.ā
āJ?ā Tony called out.
āPosting ready sir, would you like to set a caption?ā
āhmm⦠āRhodey says Iām getting old but Iāve been falling asleep during movies for decades nowā hashtag goodnight hashtag platypus hashtag Disney movies are soothing.āā Tony reels off. Rhodey laughs and presses a kiss to his nose.
In 2014 someone notices that Tony Stark is wearing a ring on a chain around his neck. Further investigation shows that itās been there for awhile. In an interview about the Avengers, someone asks and he gives a throwaway comment about how when he wore it on his hands heād lose it every week in the lab.
āBut what is it?ā One reporter asks, frustrated.
āItās a wedding ring,ā Tony replies with a tilt of his head. āIām married. And, keeping to the actual purpose of this interview, the Avengers are officially a division of SHIELD which means that my husband would qualify for Federal Benefits alongside me. Though⦠Iām only a consultant so weāre keeping my Stark benefits.ā
The best headline the next day is āBIRON MANā and Tony has that page framed.
Tonyās invited to speak at a fundraising event for The Trevor Project.
āI was honored to be invited to speak tonight,ā he started. āIāve never hidden who I am because I never had to. Everything I did was written off as experimentation or acting out. Iāve had two major boyfriends in my past, but the only one that matters is the man who became my husband on New Years day 2009. The Trevor Project means a lot to me, but it means more to him so with the organizerās permission, heās going to say some things tonight instead of me.ā And then with a smile, Tony steps away from the microphone and Rhodey enters from stage right in full dress blues. The hall is quiet, and Tony reaches out and squeezes his hand before taking a few steps back. Rhodey clears his throat.
āIāve known I was gay since I was sixteen,ā he said. āI told my sister at seventeen, and then my parents at her funeral when I was twenty. And I was lucky - I was blessed with a loving family that supported me no matter what. Not everyone has that, and thatās why organizations like the Trevor Project are so important. Even today it seems like my Mom is texting me every week to tell me about the poor kid sleeping on her couch because their parents kicked them out.ā He pauses.
āIāve been in love with my best friend nearly since I met him. In 2009 after nearly losing him, I stopped pretending that I wasnāt. In 2012 he flew a nuclear warhead into a wormhole to defeat an invading army coming from outer space. I proposed to him the minute I got stateside.ā He spares a moment to glance back at Tony who shrugs and Rhodey smiles- warm and open - and that image is front-page on a number of websites and papers the next day. Ā
āIāve also been in the Air Force - proudly - for most of my life. To remain so, Iāve had to live my life in two separate spaces: the space where I can live as a gay man and the space where I can live as an Air Force airman. In 2011 Donāt Ask Donāt Tell was rescinded and officially I didnāt have to do that anymore. Itās taken me a long time to adjust to that. It sounds silly, to know that repercussions of living my life could make me too afraid to do so but every kid out there whoās ever spent time in the closet knows how relieved I felt the first time I held my husbandās hand in public. I donāt want to keep this part of my life a secret any more. I want to be able to live my life the best way I know how and to show the kids out there who have been cast out of their homes that anyone can be who they are and that they deserve better.ā











