#ruffaled

Rhodey’s been asleep for about two hours when he starts to stir, his senses tingling and telling him that he’s no longer alone in his room, that someone’s watching him. A huge part of him wants to ignore it, go back to sleep. He has an exam in the morning and he really needs to be well rested for it after cramming all night, but the longer he stays still, the louder the voice in the back of his head gets, yelling at him to stop being an idiot and be more alert.

Taking a deep breath and gearing himself up for the cold draft in his room, Rhodey whips his blanket off and sits up, looking around the dark to see who’s the asshole that snuck into his dorm this late at night.

There, on his left, he sees a manic pair of eyes and the fuzzy outline of a person sitting unnaturally still by the bed. Rhodey turns on the lamp and sees his best friend, in his usual lab uniform of oil-stained tank top and tattered sweatpants, staring at him like a man possessed.

“Jesus Christ, Tony. You scared the shit out of me,” Rhodey says. “What are you doing here? It’s 3 in the morning, dude.”

Tony doesn’t give any indication of having heard Rhodey. He stays sitting there, in the dorm’s uncomfortable leather desk chair, unmoving, barely even blinking, and Rhodey starts to worry.

“Tony?” Rhodey waves his hand in front of Tony’s face. “Hey. You okay?”

Still no reaction.

“Shit, Tony, you’re really freaking me out here. Do I need to call student health services or something?”

Suddenly, Tony gives a full body shudder and seems to snap out of whatever trance he was in. He shifts forward until his face is a few inches from Rhodey’s and says, softly, “Mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell.”

“...what the hell?” Rhodey whispers, bewildered. “Okay, thanks for the bio lesson, I guess? Tony, when’s the last time you slept?”

It takes Tony a few moments to respond. “I...don’t know? Two days ago, maybe.”

Rhodey sighs. “Alright. You need to get some sleep, but I’m not letting you walk all the way back to your dorm this late at night.” He shifts over and pats the bed. “Come on.”

Tony ignores Rhodey completely and instead leans even further forward now that there’s more space between them. He pokes Rhodey’s shoulder and says, “Mitonchondria. That’s you.”

“Uh, no. I’m James. James Rhodes, college junior, prospective Airman, human being. Not an organelle.” Rhodey rolls his eyes and grabs Tony’s arm, pulling until he tips over onto the bed. He drapes the blanket over the both of them and closes his eyes. “Now please. Go to sleep.”

Rhodey feels as Tony shifts around for a little while before getting settled into a comfortable position. He’s just about to drift off when Tony speaks again.

“Hey, Rhodey?”

“Hm.”

“What I said just now...I meant, you’re my mitochondria.”

“Hm?”

“I just--” Tony blows a breath out. “I’m just saying. I don’t know how I would have survived college if I hadn’t met you. Knowing that you’re here for me gets me through even the worst of days.” He burrows closer to Rhodey and says, “I’m glad I have you.”

Rhodey lets out a sleepy chuckle and drapes an arm over Tony’s waist to pull him closer. “I’m glad I have you too, Tones. But please, please, I’m begging you, for the love of god, let us get some sleep, and I’ll take you out for dinner after my exam tomorrow, okay?”

Tony laughs and presses a light kiss to Rhodey’s forehead. “Yeah, okay. Good night, Jimbo.”

Thank you. I think at some point they were collecting pokemon or some shit in a server that was supposed to be about loving Tony.

It lost it’s intregrity, it’s value, and it became less about Tony and more about other stuff. And that’s great, things evolve, and I appreciate that, but like at the end of the day, it wasn’t even about Tony any more.

I think that’s why I stepped back because it was just ~~~ so much of not Tony~~~. Every other topic was triggering, certain words were filtered, people were asked not to swear.

It starts with the alpacas.

Tony hits 60 and and makes the shockingly mature choice to retire before the decision to do so is taken away from him. A couple years later, Steve decides to pass on the mantle so he and Tony can spend more time together without worrying about the fate of the world, and gives the shield to Sam.

They toy with the idea of leaving New York altogether and going back to Malibu. The thought of having sunshine and access to a private beach year-round is tempting, and ever since Tony rebuilt the mansion over ten years ago he’d been meaning to get settled back in there after he was done superheroing. But that was before he and Steve got together. Before ‘home’ shifted from a secluded cliffside property in California to the motley crew he gets the privilege to call his friends and family.

So Steve and Tony move upstate instead -- two hours’ drive from Avengers Compound, three from the city, and another three the other direction from Montreal. It’s close enough so that their friends can visit and stay over on weekends, but also just far enough that the two of them can finally get the privacy that they were sorely missing over the last decade and a half. DUM-E and U go with them, of course.

It takes two weeks for them to find a piece of property they both like, and another three months after that for minor renovations and design upgrades, then they officially move in just when the flowers start to bloom in the spring.

It’s a sprawling piece of land -- a seven acre ranch waiting to be filled with animals, a pool with two cabanas in the backyard, and a guesthouse that’s been converted into an art studio for Steve. It radiates tranquility. It’s perfect.

About a month after settling into their new home and three weeks after their housewarming party, Tony comes back from one of their neighboring towns with a surprise for Steve. He leads his husband out of the house and the moment they step foot onto the porch, Steve sees two fuzzy alpacas prancing around happily in the field.

(“Two? Why not start with just one? And why not llamas?” Steve asks, just because he wants to tease his husband.

“I couldn’t get just one! They get lonely!” Tony cries. “Science has proven that alpacas need to come in pairs, at the very least.”

“Mmhm. Sure.”

“And llamas? Are you crazy?! They’re mean. And angry. And overall just not as cute as alpacas. No thanks. Anyway, their names are Fred and Ginger.”)

From then on, their ranch starts to grow seemingly exponentially. Over the next two years, they start getting more animals. Two more alpacas, two horses, four goats, three cows, and a couple cats and dogs. They also start their own bee farm, partly because Steve has a sweet tooth and wanted to make his own honey, and partly because they want to do what they can to prevent the extinction of bees.

Every morning DUM-E dutifully rolls outside to milk the cows and goats while U feeds the horses. Tony and Steve learn how to make their own cheese, and every year after shearing the alpacas they use the wool to knit their own scarves and blankets. Eventually, they set up their own stall at the local farmer’s market and sell their goodies -- fresh organic milk and honey, soft cheeses, and alpaca fiber. They quickly become very popular with the patrons and sell out their products almost each day. Every dollar they earn from this is donated to charity.

Their friends visit as often as they can and always leave with their cars full of homemade cheese and honey. Tony loves teasing them, joking that they’re obviously visiting only to get free cheese, and that he’d be offended if he weren’t so proud of the work he and Steve were putting into the ranch.

And that’s the thing. Maintaining a ranch is hard work, especially during the winters when he just wants to stay in bed for as long as possible, or snuggle with Steve by the fireplace with cups of hot cocoa, or maybe just fly back to Malibu and stay until the snow stops falling. Then he remembers how rewarding this is, and how much fun it is to share this life with the man he loves.

Steve does this about once a week. He wakes up, puts on his workout clothes, leaves his phone at home, laces up his shoes, and just runs.

He goes for hours, his steps taking him on a circuit around the city, the steady thumps against the pavement doing their best to clear his mind. He tries his best not to think, turns corners randomly, taking a different route each week to take in new sights every time he goes out.

But he always ends up at the Baxter Building.

Steve stands across the street, staring up at the looming structure, and thinks back to the day he moved in to Avengers Tower. He remembers the welcome party that Tony had planned for the team, complete with goodie bags filled with personalized gifts for each member. He remembers how Tony had given Steve a tour of the apartments and cheekily said, “It may be ugly on the outside, but beauty comes from within, isn’t that right?”

He remembers the nights he had spent out on the deck of the tower, overlooking the bright city and feeling lonely and lost, and how Tony had always found him and kept him company, and how even in silence, Steve had felt much better knowing that Tony was there with him.

His brain cycles through years and years of memories as he stands there. He doesn’t know how long he spends just looking up at the building. Minutes, maybe. Hours, more likely. If Steve were anyone else, he’d have a crick in his neck, but he’s not a normal human, and all he can think of is how wrong the new signage looks on the building.

He knows he should turn around, go home. But he doesn’t know where that is anymore. It’s not this building, where the coffee shop he and Tony had their first date on the ground floor closed when the new owner came in. It’s not his apartment in Brooklyn, so similar to the place that SHIELD provided him when he first woke up, lacking the warmth he’s come to associate with when he thinks of sliding into bed after a long day.

Steve wishes he could stop feeling like this. It’s been years.

Nine, since the falling out that tore the team apart. Seven, since the snap. Five, since Tony made the ultimate sacrifice so everyone can all have their world back.

He turns to her, confused, and she's like "You've been putting off your annual medical checkup for four months, you jerk. Now sit down and let him run his tests." And with that she leaves and he's like, "Wow I love my wife but I can't believe I fell for that. Again." (2/2)

LMAAOOOO god that would so happen. I was actually thinking about the possibility of medical roleplay after I answered that ask, and you just made it 10x better.

Tony would be like, “Wow. I love you but. Betrayed again.”

OKAY omg Tony would absolutely make Morgan a suit of her own but I don’t think he’ll put any flight capabilities in there because he values his life a lot more now that he has a daughter, and Pepper would commit a triple murder without even thinking about it if she came home from her business trip and saw Morgan just flying around in the backyard while Tony, Rhodey, and Happy just chilled in their lawn chairs.

Imagine Tony making Morgan a suit though, and she wants to be just like her dad, with the glowy palms and feet. So he makes a lightweight suit for her where the boots light up every time she takes a step (every kid goes through a phase where they get light up shoes and Morgan is no different), and she has gauntlets as well that make the charging noise when she lifts her hands up to wave at someone or for a high five.

But Morgan also wants to go fast! She doesn’t want to have to run all the time and she wants to be able to speed through the air just like her dad! So what does Tony do?