#starkarmored

Tony had given himself up to save them all and even now, Steve was still not ready to actually deal with it. He had been lost before the battle, having lost so many friends, but now, having lost the person he had grown so close to over the years. And everything reminded him of the man. It was the street art on the walls he walked by when he went to the gym, the shield in his living room, the newspapers and magazines that still wrote about him every day, especially about all the things they wondered about but would never be answered. 

It was because of this, that he was on the road right now. His shield on his back, the familiar feel of it being both welcoming and a curse as he sped his motorcycle down the road. The wind was deafening in his ears, but he hadn’t bothered to wear a helmet. He wanted to feel everything today. One last day before he’d close himself off and return to the ways he had learned growing up. 

By the time he reached the house and the lake, his hair was a mess, and his eyes were red, despite not having shed a single tear so far. Of course Steve realised that it was far from strange these days for a man to show his emotions, but even after all those years he still struggled with this, even when his heart was screaming and his body felt like it was shutting down. 

Barely taking the time to park his bike, he got off and didn’t even spare a glance at the house, heading straight to the lake where he stood in silence for a moment, staring at the water before him and wondering how things could still be so peaceful when everything was falling apart. Taking a deep breath, he took his shield from his back and looked at it. 

“This ... is the last thing you gave me Tony... I don’t want to wear it in a world without you.” He whispered softly, his voice breaking as he spoke. The lump in his throat making it impossible for him to even say even more as his hands shook. How was he supposed to express just how hard this hit him? He wished he would simply break down and cry but even now, the tears wouldn’t come.

Shaking his head, he looked down at the shield a last time before gripping the edge of it hard. This would be the last throw ... the last homage, the last respect. His shield would find rest, next to where his heart now rested. 

He got to his feet and yanked the lines, adjusting the sails to better take the wind, turned to look at the horizon, the sun catching his eyes -

And then he stumbled forward onto hard ground. No creaking boards, no water. It was a room, and one Jack couldn’t parse.  

It was so clean and bright, formed of materials he had no name for that were silver and white and in some places made of a blue glass. There were boxes with blinking lights and symbols on sheets of darker glass.

“Bloody strange dream.”

He turned to look at where he had come from, not necessarily expecting to find his dinghy considering he’d clearly fallen asleep, but the structure before him had no place in his imagination that he could fathom. It was a machine, perhaps some odd concoction derived from a coffin or an iron maiden, a pod of some sorts that sparked and beeped and hissed. Against his better instincts, Jack poked the thing.

A terrible sound rang out, a blaring noise that burrowed into his skull, accompanied by flashing lights. He clamped his hands over his ears and ran, trying to escape the godawful din, though he didn’t know where to go. “Shut up-shut up - shut uuuuup!” he snarled at the neverending thing. He skidded to a halt in front of a row of metal men and yelped in surprise.

“What is this place?”

With his ronin outfit upstairs in his room, he sat in the common area with a yukata on. A serious expression on his face as he sipped his sake and ate his meal in silence. He was aware that they were searching for him, the people he had once fought with, but he had no intentions of letting them take him back to that other life. So when the door of the ryokan opened, he simply kept his focus on his meal, ignoring the visitor at first. 

tony hadn’t expected anything to come of his statement, though he wasn’t about to go complaining if something did. he wasn’t shy, he’d always been a charmer and he liked to think even he could get his way with the trickster. but that wasn’t who he was anymore, right? he was well behaved and his playboy days were over and had been for some time. but his head was quickly turned as he watched the tricksters clothes shimmer away in front of his very eyes. tony hadn’t realised his mouth was practically hanging open at that point until he snapped it shut.  

“ oh boy.  you know i really didn’t think you’d -  never mind, how could i have ever doubted you, huh? ”  his brow raised and he stood himself up right so he could walk towards loki.  “ i knew you’d look even better with your clothes off, i was right. ”

❛           how   indeed.         ❜                    loki   takes   this   time   to   straighten   up   and   make   his   way   forward   closer   to   the   man.             he   was   slender.                    sculpted.                    like   a   stone   statue   with   life   breathed   into   it.                    it   seemed   somewhat   forbidden   in   a   way   despite   no   solidified   rules   against   such   actions.                    and   if   it   was   unwanted   he   would   find   out   soon   enough.                    loki   would   hope   stark   wouldn’t   make   such   bold   comments   unless   he   intended   to   follow   through.

❛           you   know,      there’s   something   seductive   about   the   symbolism   of   serpents.          tempting.          even   in   your   people’s   mythologies.          I   like   to   live   up   to   expectations.              and   exceed   them   whenever   possible.         ❜                    was   it   truly   possible   for   a   daunting   hiss   and   an   enticing   purr   to   harmonize   throughout   his   tone?                    the   nearer   he   drew   it   seemed   the   air   around   almost   dipped   in   temperature.                    only   slightly.                    enough   to   entice   a   light   chill   of   the   spine.                    to   go   a   step   further,          loki   couldn’t   resist   amusing   himself   by   testing   the   limits   and   reached   up   with   one   hand   to   take   tony’s   chin   for   a   brief   moment.                    his   thumb   brushed   over   the   dark   facial   hair   that   adorned   it.                    a   touch   so   soft   and   light   that   it   was   nearly   inconceivable   to   think   of   the   havoc   that   the   same   hands   had   sought.

      “Hey...” Zoe lingers in the doorway, and wraps her arms around herself, just watching Tony for a moment. “Sorry I vanished on you. I didn’t think that dying again would impact me that much, and thought I was fine, but... seems like I was wrong. Obviously.” The whole disappearing from existence and Tony almost dying had shaken her up, badly. Mostly the latter, because it made her realize how much she didn’t want to lose him. Even so, being snuffed out of existence felt so violating. Needless to say, between the two events, her brain was a messy cocktail of anxiety, mixed with her own usual issues. 

SIX DEADLY SINDAY

@starkarmored​​ asked ;  💚 - ENVY - What is my muse jealous of?  Is it someone else’s power or privilege?  Is it something about their relationship?

Loki has always been jealous of Thor, for a multitude of different reasons. 

He always felt as if his brother were more preferred, by Odin namely, but that insecurity led him to believing that others, their friends and the people of Asgard liked him less than Thor. But also, for a long time, he was of the opinion that everything went ‘ right ‘ for his brother, and everything seemed to go ‘ wrong ‘ for him, and that was something that stoked his jealous further. ( he knows now that isn’t the case, they’ve both been through some tough shit )

I think he’s also a little jealous of Thor’s friendship with he Avengers since... well, a lot of Loki’s friends died either during Ragnarok or when Thanos attacked their ship. 

@starkarmored​ said:  ❛ Is it just me or are you, like, ignoring me? ❜

     where oh where, does the mischief god go whenever he doesn’t want to hear ( tony of all people. ) anyone speak? he’s aware of the lab and all the tinkering the mortal is doing, but after all the talk about how he doesn’t trust loki and dwelling on what thor had said about second chances, loki stopped listening hours ago. yes, plural, because despite stark tower being big enough for him to find solace, he still finds himself around tony and becomes this damn thing he likes to sass --- and the sass battle takes place for fifteen minutes before loki relinquishes the time and patience to continue. thirty minutes of don’t touch this and that puts the god in a far corner, silently watching the mortal work on his new gadgets and ramble mindlessly about cheap parts. currently, loki is rather peacefully seated close by, eyes closed and dozing ever so slightly as the question hits him. ❛ i’m ignoring you. ❜  he doesn’t miss a beat, nor does he open his eyes. truth be told, had he truly been ignoring him, the question would have gone unanswered.