#i need more mit!rhodeytony
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one more chapter | rhodeytony
prompt #14 from this prompt list (old bookstore on a cold day)
MIT era rhodeytony my beloved <3 for the james rhodes/war machine square of my @tonystarkbingo
also on AO3
****
Tony ducks around a corner, nearly knocking over a rogue pile of paperbacks that comes up to his waist and finally, finally spots Rhodey. While Tony roamed the maze that is Rhodey's favorite bookstore, Rhodey had managed to find an armchair in a secluded corner of the store. He’s got his coat off and his feet pulled up beneath him, a book in his lap: he looks utterly content.
“Thank God,” Tony whisper-shouts. The store’s mostly dead today, but it still feels weirdly illegal to speak at anything above a whisper.
“What?” Rhodey blinks up at him from his book like he’d just woken up from a nap, dazed and a little out of it. It’d be adorable if Tony hadn't just spent most of the last hour roaming through teetering stacks of books, being glared at by a rather unfriendly bookstore cat, and asked countless times if he needed help finding anything by the surly-looking owner.
“Not unless you happen to know where my boyfriend is?” Tony had finally said. The elderly shopkeeper didn’t look particularly amused at this, however, and so Tony had scurried back down the aisle, shooting him a grin and a wave over his shoulder. For a guy who owns a bookstore in a college town, he didn’t seem to care much for college kids.
“Do you know how long I’ve been trying to find you?”
“I’m sure you’re about to tell me,” Rhodey says. He sticks a finger in his book to hold his place, taps it shut, then uses his other hand to push his glasses up his nose.
Unfairly adorable, Tony can no longer deny it.
“Forty-five minutes! How’d you even get back here? This place is like, the bookstore equivalent of a clown car. I don’t think it’s physically possible for all these shelves to be in here, Honeybear, I really think—“
“Shh,” Rhodey shushes him, looking around as if they might be chased out of the store. It’s quiet save for the soft shuffling of pages somewhere a few aisles over, and the creaks that come with an old Bostonian building like this one. “You found me, Tones, I think we’re gonna make it through this,” Rhodey says, voice teasing.
Tony looks at his boyfriend, his heavy winter coat laying across his lap, and the hood of his MIT sweatshirt bunched up around his neck. His face is the picture of calm, sitting there reading like that, and Tony is struck with the sudden urge to curl up in his lap, like a friendlier version of that cat downstairs.
“I'm dating a nerd,” Tony says fondly.
Rhodey snorts. “You’re one to talk. You spent twelve straight hours in the robotics lab the other day. You smelled terrible by the end of it.”
“That’s different,” Tony says innocently. “So, what book is that?” he asks, swiftly changing the subject.
Rhodey holds up the cover, showing off his find. “I, Robot,” he says.
“Such a nerd,” Tony repeats, though the cover and the title intrigue him just a little, he has to admit.
Rhodey just rolls his eyes and starts to tug on his jacket. “I take it you’re ready to go,” he says.
Tony looks at him, then out the window behind him. It’s just starting to snow, flurries swirling around in the January wind, and suddenly, being in here, watching Rhodey read his book in the warm, quiet nook of the bookstore doesn’t seem so bad.
“Nah, we can stay a little longer,” Tony says. He smiles when Rhodey shifts over on the chair, making room for Tony to squeeze in beside him while he reads.
Definitely not so bad.
****
Two weeks later, Rhodey’s third and final class of the day gets canceled, and he comes home early to find Tony sprawled across his bed, the battered, used bookstore copy of I, Robot in his hands instead of on the bedside table where he'd left it, and Tony completely absorbed in the story.
“Nerd,” Rhodey says, crossing the room in two quick steps to join Tony on the bed, kissing him before he can argue the point.
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MIT rhodeytony meeting
(I have been very busy irl unfortunately and wasn’t able to draw more rhodeytony this month but! good thing is that I don’t have to draw them only in november, so there are a few prompts I still plan to do when I have more free time 🌸)
still, I thought I would share some of my rhfe headcanons with you for this last day:
facts: tony entered MIT in 1984 at the age of 14, rhodey and him spent spring break ‘87 together and rhodey went to usafa
so I figured out he joined MIT in 1985
rhodey, 16 soon-to-be 17 (because he is fucking smart too) was following his orientation group when some short kid coming from nowhere bumped into him
the first thing rhodey heard was an “ow!”, then it was “your shirt is so cool!” and suddenly there were big brown eyes watching him expectantly
they had a small talk about bands (”AC/DC is the greatest rock and roll band of all time !”) (“you gotta listen some James Brown songs man”) until he realized his group was moving and left that kid, waving a quick goodbye
didn’t think about him again until he was close to the baker house which had been throwing a welcome back party and bumped into that kid (apparently called tony) again. completely drunk. what the hell
true to be told rhodey had thought tony was a student’s little brother or a pre-frosh. his mama raised him better than that tho and there is no way he would let this kid, who had been nothing but friendly, with people who give him so much alcohol
that’s how tony woke up in a dorm that was absolutely not his and imprinted on rhodey like a baby duck because he was nice to me??? and helped me???
tony absolutely called them meeting a second time “fate”, and that’s how he would tell their story years later
and the thing is that they actually got along well once the first awkwardness went away
rhodey quickly realized the emotional walls tony had around him
because when he came in the first time, everyone thought tony was just here thanks to his dad and was too young. they quickly realized he was indeed super smart tho and suddenly everyone wanted something from him but he never really made close friends. either they wanted to be the friend of tony stark or he scared them away with his genius and some didn't like to have an awkward young teen smarter than them. so he became this flirty, party, public persona instead so people would like him more
but then come rhodey who liked him as he was and didn’t care if he was a stark or not
so every time someone would even just badly look at rhodey he would fight. he would fight with his words, he would fight with his fists too if needed. because no one will hurt his friend if he had something to say. rhodey was so smart and so fierce, and he wouldn’t let anyone try to destroy it
though rhodey never liked when tony was getting wasted, pretending to enjoy these stupid parties to act cool with people who don’t really care about the real him, but rhodey never stopped him. sure he told him what he thought of it, and didn’t have a problem to say “I told you so” when he complained about a hangover but he was always by his side no matter
and if months and months later, when rhodey helped a tipsy tony to go in bed and tony kissed him because it was the only way he could think to thank rhodey for being who he is, for care about him, for loving him, for being here... well this was between them, and none of them said something about it the next day
#rhodeytony#rhodeytonymonth#rhodeytony month#mit era#rhodey#james rhodes#tony stark#rhfe#iron husbands#ironhusbands
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I wish you would write a fic where... sam and rhodey complain abt their dumbass boyfriends who don't take care of themselves (but instead of sambucky its samsteve 👀)
Well, I do love that samsteve-rhodeytony solidarity. Sam and Rhodey are still complaining about their dumbass boyfriends, but Tony and Steve are both retired in this world, so they're better at taking care of themselves. I hope you like it!
~~~
Rhodey would never, ever admit it, but he loved being an Avenger more than anything.
Of course, being War Machine in itself was a dream come true, that some days he couldn't believe he was living. All of his life he wanted to help people. He wanted to be an inspiration for others. And he wanted to fly. The fact he could do all three of those things at once, while being a goddamn superhero.... it was unimaginable.
But the Avengers were family. Goddamnit, no matter how much he sometimes hated them, no matter what they went through, no matter how impossible and conflicting and sometimes stupid they were.... they were his friends. They were the people he felt most comfortable with. They were his home, finally.
After many of the original six retired, and the additions were scattered to the wind, it seemed the Avengers were over, and Rhodey was never more tempted to give in to Tony's sex bribes and retire.
And then Sam asked him if he wanted to co-lead the Avengers with him.
Of course he said yes.
~~~
“Looking good, Kamala!” Sam shouted at the new recruits, watching as they trained. Riri, Miles and Kamala all had different struggles with their new super identity. This fight was meant to make them step out of their comfort zone and try new things. Miles was meant to use his powers strategically in a safe environment, rather than when he felt he had to. Riri needed to step up her hand-to-hand combat, learning to not be helpless without any tech around. Kamala was meant to try and be on defense more than offense, so her healing powers wouldn’t screw with her regular powers. Kamala in particular, did good in that moment by maneuvering her and Riri out of the way of a blow, going for defense for them both.
“They’re really strong, right?” Rhodey told Sam, searching for his input as his fellow team leader nodded, “they’re so good at this superhero gig, in addition to be so passionate and driven about it... they’d make great Avengers.”
"But...?” Sam prompted.
Rhodey raised an eyebrow at him, “you know what’s the but, Sam.”
He sighed. “You want to wait until they’re eighteen,” Sam stated.
Rhodey hummed in confirmation.
“It's a different world we live in, Rhodey,” Sam begun, classic Captain America speech in hand, “these kids don’t have a choice like we did. Miles and Kamala will always be superpowered.”
Rhodey scoffed. Sam was right. But it isn’t mean they had to fight. They would just... have to be different. “What about Riri, then?” he asked.
Sam raised his hands in surrender, “take it up with your husband.”
Well. He did have a point there. “A lost cause,” Rhodey groaned, “I remember how great it went when you tried to talk with Steve about you being Captain America.”
Sam grimaced. “Yeah.... at least you got off being Iron Man.”
Rhodey shook his head decisively, “no way. I’m War Machine, bitch.”
Sam laughed. “We sure picked two annoying ass boyfriends, huh?”
Rhodey smiled fondly, “and we wouldn’t trade them for the world.”
“Hear, hear.”
~~~
It started happening more after that conversation. Just small complaints about their husbands; from Tony trying to better the dishwater and ruining it, to Steve forgetting how strong he is and breaking a window. Sometimes they’d catch each other up on Steve and Tony’s weird PTA feud, because both Riley and Lila now went to the same school. It was nice to talk to someone who got what it was like to have a retired superhero husband, who were extremely bad at being retired. Maybe they should add Laura Barton to the group chat.
~~~
“No way!”
“I swear to god!” Sam said, “he was teaching her how to throw the shield. Her tiny eight-year-olds hands on my shield.”
“Did she... do well?”
“No, dude, she’s eight.”
Rhodey laughed, “Tony does that all the time with Lila. She always asks to be taken to the workshop. She’s nine. She should be... I don’t know, running around the playground.”
Sam shook his head, “maybe having kids with these maniacs was a mistake.”
Rhodey shrugged, “it probably was... but they’re pretty good dads.”
~~~
Rhodey: Tony impulsively bought Lila her condo for college while we went out for one drink.
Sam: it says something that I don’t even think you’re making this up. Where???
Rhodey: Boston, of course.
Sam: what if she doesn’t go to MIT?
Rhodey: don’t try to understand the logic of Tony Stark.
Sam: is he trying to take it back?
Rhodey: no.
Sam: how come???
Rhodey: because, quote unquote “if she’s anything like me, she’ll need it soon.”
Sam: stop.
~~~
“So his new hobby is....”
“Knitting. Yeah.”
“And you’re afraid to tell him he’s horrible at it?”
“Yeah.”
“Tony had that phase once,” Rhodey said, thoughtfully, “he tried to learn guitar.”
Sam winced, “that must have gone awful.”
“Oh yeah,” Rhodey confirmed, “but eventually, I told him to practice in the workshop because I couldn’t handle the noise and he dropped it. Got distracted by shiny tech.”
“So you’re saying I should lock him in a room with an easel?”
“I’m saying you’re on your own for this one.”
Sam threw chips at him.
~~~
Tony called for a truce on a Friday afternoon through a text message, asking Steve to meet him for lunch.
This isn’t war, Tony. No need for a truce, Steve texted, also why?
You’ll see.
“Our husbands are talking about us behind our backs,” Tony announced, sliding across the table the evidence - a screenshot of a group chat titled ‘I love my husband but-’.
Steve glanced at the photo, “and?”
#sam wilson#james rhodes#tony stark#steve rogers#marvel#mcu#druwrites#samsteve#ironhusbands#rhodeytony#Free Bird#freebird#tonyrhodey#asks#rhfe#iron husbands#captain america#idk if this is even good I hope you like it tho
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hi hello i am feeling very angsty so: rhodeytony ft tony's worrying lack of interest in avoiding getting kidnapped and his bodyguard rhodes' increasing stress levels to save a boss that doesn't want to be saved (and, if the flutter in his heart should be anything to go by - should not be his boss anymore). bodyguard to lovers??
Rhodey is a good bodyguard. Hell, he’s the best.
That was why Pepper Potts hired him, after all. He’s not easy to fool, can follow anyone with a dogged determination that nearly defies human nature. He’s had successful stories before with glowing reviews from multiple people from all different threatened backgrounds.
(Including at least three world leaders and a pope.)
Tony Stark is...new. Well, nearly new. He’s a businessman, which isn’t anything out of the ordinary for Rhodey to deal with.
…except Tony’s highly eclectic, a billionaire, and purposely makes his behavior as erratic as possible.
It’s fun. What can Rhodey say? He loves a challenge, and Tony is about as challenging as they come.
-
When he first starts, Tony tries every trick in the book. Rhodey still sticks to him, although he does leave some distance. Tony tries to make him uncomfortable by bringing just about everyone who looks home, and all Rhodey says is, “you gonna feed them cereal when they wake up? Because that’s all you have in your pantry right now, and you don’t pay me to do the shopping.”
Tony scowls at that, and then changes his strategy.
-
It’s an odd strategy.
Tony decides he will just make Rhodey his friend, starting with the nickname of “Rhodey.”
“That’s stupid,” Rhodey says, because he can already tell it will stick.
“Not my problem, just my solution,” Tony grins. “Now come on, we’re getting burgers.”
They’re at a sit-down restaurant. One of Tony’s favorites, actually. Rhodey is not sure why he’s sitting down across from the man with the most influence in the world, but he is.
“So, what’s new with you? Who are you?” Tony asks. “Pepper sent me your file. You’re from Philly, right?”
“Oh my god, you sound weird when you say it like that,” Rhodey says, deciding against formality as he basically tells Tony Stark that he sounds weird and shouldn’t say “Philly.”
“Oh what, is that not what the locals call it?”
“I’m going to take you there and they’re going to beat you up.”
“Not the worst Sunday night I’ve ever had,” Tony mentions. “Hey, look at the menu. I don’t want you to flounder when the waitress shows up and you know fuck-all about what they have to offer.”
“Okay asshole, any recommendations?”
“The banana milkshake and bacon-burger.”
Rhodey looks at the menu.
He does end up with the bacon-burger, but chooses strawberry for his flavor of milkshake.
“You traitor.”
“Oh am I? Well then let me tell Pepper that you stole the last good pen she had then-”
Tony flings a fry at him, and Rhodey laughs.
-
Here’s a concerning thing: Tony has a very “c’est la vie” approach about kidnapping.
Like he genuinely doesn’t really give a shit if he knows what’s going on, or even if he doesn’t.
Rhodey was eagle-eyed and chased a van three fucking blocks and caught up to the driver, wherein he punched his lights out and got Tony out. His hands were bound in zip-ties and his suit was rumpled, but Tony just blinked at him.
“You think you broke a racing record with that?”
“Are you okay? Are you hurt? Did they take anything?”
Rhodey’s all over Tony, checking for any injuries, any stolen wallets or watches, and thank god everything is there. (Not that Tony would really care if anything was stolen, save for his sunglasses. He spends far too much on those, in Rhodey’s opinion.)
“Okay geez,” Tony says, batting Rhodey’s hands away. “I’m fine. These people were amateurs. Shit, I’m running late for my consultation meeting, aren’t I?”
“You just got kidnapped,” Rhodey says, tone rife with disbelief. “You just got taken and your concern is with the consultation meeting?”
“Well I figured that you were going to come by or I’d be gone a lot longer, but now that I’m not? Yeah. Yeah, I am concerned with the consultation meeting. It’s a tech start-up company, only not that shitty Silicon-nice-guy start-up. It’s a more inclusive thing. I don’t know, I read their little ‘about’ section on their website. Which needs work. But that’s besides the point.”
Rhodey just follows, dumb in disbelief.
The few rare times that previous clients have been kidnapped or even attempted, they’ve needed a day to recuperate at minimum. They were shaken up, and usually beefed up the security for the rest of time after it. They also scheduled therapy appointments.
Tony treated this like it was a traffic jam and he was only running five minutes behind.
-
The second time it happens when Rhodey’s there, it lasts a little longer.
Rhodey has to admit, he maybe did some...under-the-radar looks. The FBI wasn’t moving fast enough, and the legal channels weren’t up to snuff. And besides, Tony did say that he could use Jarvis if he really wanted to.
(Turns out they both went to MIT at the same time, and Tony had been that obnoxiously short guy in his econ class that rarely showed up, but when he did he showed up in a suspiciously nice outfit.)
It was a weekend. Rhodey had gone away for two seconds to get a drink for Tony and then he was gone.
It was...bad.
The problem is this:
Tony definitely doesn’t need to be kidnapped as often as he is. He has so many inventions that can prevent that, he’s sold quite a few of them to the military.
But for some fucking reason, he doesn’t want to be saved. No, he’s content just going along with what’s happening, even though everyone else around him wants him back. Needs him back.
He finds him bruised and tied up to a shitty folding chair.
“Hey darling,” Tony says, lips a bloody red. “Can you believe this chair? I would’ve thought they would at least have gotten something a tad nicer. I am their best-dressed guest, after all.”
Rhodey looks over the torn shirt and the pants that have all but been shredded. His shoes are battered and stained beyond repair.
“Don’t,” Rhodey says. He sounds tired. He is tired. “Don’t do this.”
“Don’t do what, get kidnapped? I hardly try,” Tony snaps. “Or do I just have a sign on my back that you didn’t know was there?”
“You know I was in the Air Force,” Rhodey snaps back. “I got high enough clearance that I was one of the guys who got to see what brand new toy you sent our way. I know you could use any of those, shit, you probably tested it out, so you would know.”
“And your point?” Tony asks. “What, you’re saying I should know better? Saying you know better than me?”
“You know what? Yeah, yeah I am saying that,” Rhodey yells as he’s untying him. “I am fucking saying that I know more than you because you couldn’t give less of a shit if you tried about your own well-being! You were kidnapped and I’ve been running myself ragged trying to get you back, and you just don’t care!”
Tony stares at him. Really stares at him.
“Let’s go home.”
Nothing else is said in the car ride home. Tony can’t even look at Rhodey.
They go home, where Pepper greets Tony with a hug and makes him swear not to leave again, and Tony says “I promise,” only they both know that he’s lying.
But they’re not calling him out on it yet. No, not tonight.
-
Rhodey stays. Technically he doesn’t have to. Jarvis is the most advanced artificial intelligence system in the world. Hell, he’s the only one that’s even in his league, but Rhodey just...feels better staying.
And Tony’s mansion is a gargantuan structure with about twenty different rooms to choose from, so Rhodey gets a nice view and tries to go to bed.
He’s never gotten enough sleep. He knows he never would. That’s why the army loved him: he could be up at any hour and he’d be fine. That’s why his dad called him the bane of his existence in a loving manner: Rhodey would be up at four in the morning filling out the crossword before anyone else could.
He’s up at four a.m. making breakfast.
Tony’s pantry is still shit, but it looks like Pepper went shopping for him or had someone else do it, because he actually has eggs and juice and actual food instead of the odd pickle jar or way-too-old yogurt.
“You’re...up,” Tony says.
Rhodey turns around.
“Sorry. I, um. Stayed.”
“It’s fine,” Tony says awkwardly. “What are you making?”
“Omelet.”
“I always mess those up,” he says. “Either too much cheese or I forget I’m cooking it.”
“You want one?”
“You gonna make me one?”
“Accidentally cracked one too many eggs, so yes. You want onions and spinach in yours?”
“Sure,” Tony says. “What are you doing up?”
“Always bad at sleeping,” Rhodey answers. “Can never really stay asleep for too long.”
“Forget to take your melatonin gummies?” Tony answers, grinning.
Rhodey can see a bruise on his collarbone.
“You sleep okay?”
“No, but I rarely ever do,” Tony says. “Especially after yesterday’s fiasco.”
“You mean the whole weekend,” Rhodey says, putting the rest of the eggs into the pan. “Can’t imagine that was fun.”
“Oh come on, it was a ball,” Tony answers sarcastically. “They let me play cops-and-robbers and I was given pizza. Clearly it was a fantastic time.”
Rhodey stares at Tony.
“You know in the contract that I had you sign it specifically states that you have to let me help you, right?”
“It says you have to rescue me regardless of feelings or previous obligations,” Tony says.
“Rescuing you doesn’t just mean I chase after vans and track you down in an abandoned warehouse, it means that I rescue you from those situations before they can happen. But I can only do that if you agree that you won’t get kidnapped,” he says.
“And what, I want to?” Tony asks. “Do I say that?”
“You don’t have to,” Rhodey says, flipping the omelet over. “You never think you’re worth rescuing it because you think you’re never going to be good enough and I think you think that you owe me for giving a shit.”
Tony looks at him.
“You’re really honest.”
“I try to be.”
“I love that about you.”
Rhodey’s hand shakes slightly as he moves the omelet a bit in the pan. He hopes Tony doesn’t notice.
“Well I would love it if you stopped being kidnapped.”
“Aye aye, Colonel Rhodes,” Tony says, saluting. Rhodey rolls his eyes.
“Oh my god, do not.”
“What, am I not supposed to thank our armed services for making this country safe?” he mocks, standing up. “For going above and beyond the call of patriotism and helping keep Americans everywhere safe?”
Rhodey threatens to eat his omelet when he breaks into singing the national anthem.
-
There’s an...understanding.
Tony starts taking up training with Happy and almost agrees to regular training with Rhodey until Rhodey wants him to get up at six and do some workouts, and he yells “No!” after one workout session.
Rhodey pointedly pretends like he’s not staring at Tony’s chest when he lifts up his shirt to wipe away the sweat.
“Come on Rhodey my darling, let’s do breakfast.”
Tony dragging him to breakfasts, lunches, and dinners. It’s...nice. Rhodey ignores it when Tony waggles his eyebrows as he takes the check and calls him “darling, honey, baby,” and he lets him because it sounds nice.
He doesn’t say anything to Tony. No, you can’t date your boss. It’s unprofessional as hell and Tony probably is just doing it because Rhodey’s in close proximity and they have a good banter going.
-
The next time that Tony has an attempted kidnapping, Rhodey is there.
He’s there, and he’s being taken away, dragged from Tony, and Tony for the first time looks terrified.
Rhodey tries to struggle, tries to do anything, because Tony has to get away, and he...
He’s knocked unconscious.
-
When he wakes up, his head hurts worse than it ever has, and for a moment he’s pissed at Tony because he forgets that he’s been kidnapped and there’s no control over the thermostat because the room is hot as all get out.
And then he sees Tony across from him, and he’s never seen Tony angry.
“I’m sorry,” Tony says, voice shaking. “I’ll get us out of here. I promise. I’m sorry.”
“Not your fault we have assholes take us,” Rhodey says. “But god I would kill for some air conditioning.”
Tony smiles a bit at that.
-
Here’s a problem: you cannot give Tony Stark anything if you want him to not escape. Either that or he has to be unconscious because he’s a stubborn son of a bitch.
And they used actual handcuffs to keep him there. God, what a joke.
Tony learned how to break out of handcuffs when he was twenty and chained to a bedpost on accident. (Long story.)
This is nothing.
But the problem is that Rhodey’s here. His bodyguard who really shouldn’t be putting his life on the line for someone as shitty as Tony, but here they are, and he has to get him out.
“Follow my lead,” Tony whispers.
“Well of course I will, who else has as much experience being kidnapped as you?” Rhodey mutters.
“Okay is now going to be the time where you sass me? You’re here too. I could leave you.”
“You’re not gonna do that, Pepper would make you come back.”
“No she wouldn’t.”
“Yeah she would!”
“Not after I tell her that you used the last of her salad dressing.”
“Shit.”
Tony snorts, looking at the room. They don’t have security cameras, which is just...questionable. Oh my god, he got kidnapped by amateurs.
He’s kind of embarrassed.
Rhodey gets free, and they’re both headed towards a door, and Rhodey picks up a stray part of a metal pole, and Tony cannot lie and say he’s not intrigued by that.
Not saying he hopes Rhodey gets to use it.
He’s just curious how he’ll utilize it.
-
They get to just. Walk out. They fucking walk out. What kind of people did they get kidnapped from? It can’t be that easy, can it?
It can’t be...
It is.
Okay sure Tony is driving in a hotwired car and they’re being shot at, but all things considered that’s not the worst thing. And the truck is probably considered stolen anyways, and once Tony makes it to the highway, it’s not like they’ll be able to follow without making it onto national news, not that they haven’t already.
Pepper’s very effective at getting things to trend on national news when she wants to.
-
Rhodey is sitting on a beach chair. He shouldn’t be, and he also shouldn’t be drinking a mimosa because it’s four p.m. and definitely the morning, but he figures since he got kidnapped he’s allowed at least one mimosa.
“So. Your first kidnapping?” Tony asks. “All things considered, yours went well. I think next time we should go to Wendy’s or something, I was starving-”
“I’m just. I’m glad we’re okay,” Rhodey says. “But yeah. Maybe next time. If there is a next time. I’m going to I think make you hold hands with me so that you don’t get napped by terrible, shitty people.”
“You could’ve just asked to hold my hand, we didn’t need to be kidnapped together,” Tony says.
“Hm, is that a breach of contract?” Rhodey teases.
“Only if Pepper decides to enforce it, and she won’t because you’re the first bodyguard to have an actual success story with me,” Tony says. “So. I’m thinking maybe we skip the kidnapping next time and go straight for dinner.”
“Oh thank god, I thought you were gonna say a fast food restaurant.”
“I still could, you don’t know,” Tony grins, winking. “What if our first date is to Burger King? What are you gonna do?”
“Be mad that I still like you,” Rhodey grumbles.
Tony cackles, dropping a kiss onto his hand.
“Do you think I should get another bodyguard or will dragging you away during a party be too awkward for them?”
“...I’ll think about it.”
(They don’t get a new bodyguard.
No matter how much the other security complains that Rhodey’s the only one who knows where Tony is at all times, and they can’t exactly ask them if they’re busy doing...things.
Rhodey finds it hilarious.)
#longer night than usual for me which meant more time to work on this beauty#this has been in my inbox for months#so my apologies#but uhhhh i still did it! which is good#lovelyirony writes#rhodeytony#ironhusbands#rhfe#rhodey#tony stark#pepper potts#rhodey is in love and so is tony and they're both so LAME about it#tony doesn't really care about being kidnapped#meant to make this more angsty but was not feeling it
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so i was thinking about how different disabilities can lead to the same coping mechanism, and so here’s some thoughts about dyslexic rhodey and autistic tony and how they tackle public speaking with a lil mit!rhodeytony drabble at the end!
rhodey doesn’t use notes or a teleprompter when he does public speaking because trying to read them out loud in real time will only make him trip over his words. most people don’t notice his dyslexia in everyday life because in general, he only ever talks when he knows what he wants to say and has the words to say it, something he learned (was bullied into figuring out) when he was younger. thoughtful pauses before he says something profound or roasts you within an inch of your life are incredibly common, and his verbal flubs are so far and few in between in his adulthood that they fall under the category of “normal.”
reading and writing are much more difficult, and rhodey would much rather work with his hands and show you how the rocket works with visuals than explain how the rocket works with words. so when it’s time for public speaking... rhodey memorizes like his life depends on it. he puts that genius intellect to work and talks through what he wants to say out loud and then continues to verbally refine it with multiple takes until he’s comfortable with what he’s meant to say and the different ways he can get there. when he gives his speeches, he presents a calm, confident demeanor that masks the days he spent recording and listening and recording some more until he got it right. and everyone gushes about how he’s such a natural at public speaking, and he just smiles politely and hopes he doesn’t have to do this for at least three months because public speaking is hard, and he is tired.
...
tony doesn’t use notes or a teleprompter because they interrupt his stimming and will throw him off balance. in everyday life, tony’s sweeping gestures and emphatic gesticulations are just the markers of an eccentric genius. the fact that he does them when he’s not talking to anyone is... odd to anyone who will catch him in the act, but that’s the point of being eccentric, right? so as tony grows older, his hand flapping morphs into something he can more easily get away with, something that won’t make howard threaten to lock his wrists in handcuffs so he stops fidgeting so much (at mit, tony escapes from handcuffs as a party trick and lets people make up their own stories as to how he figured that out).
when it comes to giving speeches, tony’s emphatic stimming that gets him through the whole ordeal turns jerky and unnatural if he has to glance down and read something in his hands every so often. having to focus on a teleprompter makes his visual spd start to rear its ugly head and he gets off track and it’s all a very bad time, a very bad time indeed. so tony also memorizes like his life depends on it. he plans out the general structure of speeches, allowing himself to twist and turn wherever his mind takes him as long as he hits his major points. if he goes off course because he gets distracted and accidentally hits part five before part three? well, he reorganizes the chunks in his brain and uses a tangent to circle back, and no one is the wiser because he is a genius. he too is hailed a natural at public speaking, and he flashes a grin before crashing for two days because he needs to recharge.
...
when rhodey and tony are partners for a project early in their mit days, they breeze through the practical aspect without any problems. they piggyback off of each other and don’t need to explain themselves, and everything is going so smoothly that they forget they have to do a written report and a presentation until the due date is a little over a week out. they both stop and kinda look at each other when they realize, unsure about how to explain that the way their brain works means they need to do things differently. things have been going so well so far, and neither wants to “ruin” it.
eventually, rhodey decides to suffer quietly and offers to start an outline, but tony has such a panicked reaction to the idea that rhodey notices and now tony has to explain that he’s never written an outline a day in his life. he just kind of word vomits and reorganizes until it looks right and then turns that in. presenting pretty much goes the same way, only verbally. rhodey can write an outline and give him note cards, but tony makes no promises to use them because he doesn’t know if he can.
and he’s nervous and guilty because of course, rhodey is going to get mad, but in actuality, rhodey looks relieved at the confession. he pulls out his tape recorder and says he can’t write outlines for shit because the words swim over the pages and the alphabet is evil, and if tony writes the paper, then he’ll figure out the way the presentation should go if tony doesn’t mind listening to his recordings?
and tony says hell tf yes and he breaks out his own recorder, and they send tapes back and forth over the next few days. tony writes the final paper and rhodey plots out their presentation and they get a big fat A, and to this day, they’re more likely to send each other voice messages than texts.
#earth 207#james rhodes#tony stark#rhodeytony#this is literally how my autistic brain works re: public speaking and essay writing#so like i promise it's legit lol#lupin is rambling!!#also#lupin is writing!!
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Ohhhh my gosh!!! Tony and Rhodey in ugly Christmas sweaters!!!! I love it!!! And I love them!! It's just so cute and adorable *swoons*
Absolutely amazing!!
So cute, right? The way Tony takes it over and ends up loving it so much while Rhodey gets resigned as he gets older but never stops? I love them. It's really a shame we didn't get more of that Rhodey Tony screen time in the MCU. Disney + needs to do an MIT era RhodeyTony series cos I would watch actual YEARS wroth of series for that.
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Hi, I want to talk for a minute about the tagging—or rather mistagging—in the fandom, especially in the Ironhusbands/Tony&Rhodey fandom.
There is no nicer way to put it but: some of you seriously need to learn the difference between platonic love and romantic love.
I’m at a point now, where every time I see some Rhodey&Tony content I have no clue if this is about a ship or them just being friends because everyone I follow tags it as a ship. And then, when I go to OP’s post to confirm it myself, I sometimes find out that it was never intended as such. So, I reblog it and tag them as characters separately, yet people who reblog it from me add the ship tag. Why the fuck would you do that? Why the fuck do you think I didn’t tag it as a ship myself?
A friend of mine once accidentally tagged a Tony&Nat post as ship because she clicked on the wrong tag and got five seconds later an anon in her inbox telling her she did wrong. No one does that with RhodeyTony. And I don’t know if y’all are afraid you’d be called a racist or the sorts if you point it out, but I, as a content creator myself, would hate it if you misinterpreted my post this much, you’d look at something as a ship that clearly wasn’t intended as such—or the other way around.
It literally happened once when I posted a snippet of a fic and tagged it as Pepperony—because that’s what the actual ship of the fic is, even though Pepper didn’t have an appearance in the snippet—and someone who reblogged it from me, the source, tagged it as RhodeyTony. Not only is this incredibly rude towards me, but also must your reading comprehension be lacking, because if you read the words ‘best friend’ and think I’m talking about romantic love here, then maybe you and your best friend need to have a talk.
You also tell me indirectly that way that I don’t know how to write the difference between friendship and romantic relationship, which is bullshit, because I know perfectly well how to write both, fuck you very much. Maybe you need to read a little bit more platonic fics and look at the way you interact with your friends, if you can’t tell the difference anymore.
The same goes the other way too, btw. I know for a fact that a friend got their ship fic tagged as platonic although it even states at the beginning that it’s a ship. If you don’t like the ship, then don’t read it. But don’t you dare to dismiss OP’s intentions like this and make of it what you want.
Look, I am honestly very happy that the Ironhusbands fandom is rising. Everyone who follows me knows I like the ship. I like to read it and I like to write it myself.
Doesn’t mean I don’t want to enjoy some platonic Rhodey&Tony too.
Why do people now start to put a ship tag on everything? I have yet to see a gifset with Tony&Clint interaction to be tagged as IronHawk, for example, but if there is a gif with Tony and Rhodey everyone just tags it as a ship—which doesn’t even make sense, unless it’s clearly edited as such. Same goes for so much art wherein the artist simply wanted to draw Tony and Rhodey during their MIT times as best friends and yet everyone just looks at it in a shippy way.
Not only do you make platonic love that way seem lesser, which in itself is problematic, because platonic love, having friends, is just as, if not more, important as romantic love—but also are you dismissing the wishes of the content creators and their intentions.
Please stop mistagging ships. If you’re not sure if it’s meant as a ship or not—you’re literally just one click away from finding it out. The source’s tags will tell you what it’s meant to be. You’re doing nothing but disrespecting OP by ignoring their intentions.
And yes, that’s a problem in fandom in general. I’m still mostly talking about the Ironhusbands fandom here, because that’s where it’s most prominent at the moment. But what I just stated here goes for any ship.
Just, please, learn to tag correctly. And the difference between romantic love and platonic love too while you’re at it. Because the latter is important too.
Thank you.
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raise a glass
sam x rhodey brotp + rhodeytony, sambucky - based on this [tw: alcohol]
It started by chance.
Sam had been staring despondently into the fridge - debating making eggs for the third time that week or giving in and having cereal - when Rhodes stepped into the kitchen.
“Nothing to eat?”
Sam shuts the fridge, shaking his head. “Not unless you want eggs again.”
Rhodes’ nose scrunched up, “Wanna go out? Tony and I were planning on brunch but an SI emergency came up.”
Sam looked to the cereals lining their pantry before saying, “Yeah, gimme a minute to grab my wallet.”
They walked to the cafe six blocks from the Tower, making idle conversation along the way because despite being on the same team and living in the same building, they’ve never really- well, hung out.
Sam had first met the man after moving into the tower as Tony’s husband - and hadn’t that been news to him - but he wasn’t an active member of the Avengers, joining them if Tony either called him in or on the chance he happened to be around.
And around the time he finally became a permanent member on the roster, well, that was when Bucky’s swiss cheese brain decided that his next best course of action was to break into the tower -undetected even by Jarvis - and sneaks into Tony’s workshop - nearly giving the man a heart attack - to say, “I’m sorry.”
Sam isn’t sure what was said between them, neither one wanting to share - but when they both emerged from the workshop, Tony already had the specs worked out for a new arm.
The weeks following that was just getting Bucky used to life at the tower - relearning his friendship with Steve, sparring with Natasha, hovering over Tony in his workshop, starting a prank war with Clint that thankfully came to an end when Bruce threatened to throw them in the Hulk room after an unfortunate glitter bomb incident.
And oddly enough, he trusted Sam with catching him up to the times with days spent listening to the greatest hits of the last 70 years - he was obsessed with ABBA for a good 6 months - to nights spent watching some of Sam’s all time favourite movies and also anything Disney related - there had been some serious discourse about the High School Musical trilogy in the tower- and hours in the kitchen as Bucky took up baking, of all things with Sam as taste tester.
Licking the batter off Bucky’s fingers took care of the rest, as far as their relationship went.
Clint refused to look them in the eyes or step into the kitchen for a week.
And despite both of their wayward significant others becoming close friends, Sam and Rhodes had never really bonded much.
So they go to brunch and commiserate on times with the Air Force - neither one wanting to dwell too long on memories - and discuss the new training regime or whether Thor’s attempts to woo Steve are going to work -they’re both doubtful, Steve can be alarmingly oblivious to things off the battlefield - and circle around to how Bucky’s doing before Rhodes regales him with tales of him and Tony in their MIT days.
“Wow, he really had you wrapped around his finger for like four years man,” Sam said, after hearing about the bull incident.
“Four years? That little demon with bambi eyes still has me wrapped around his finger!” He says on a laugh, before a small smile graces his lips. “And you know what, I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
The next week, they find themselves out for brunch again after realising that both Bucky and Tony were already in the lab before 9AM so they spent most of the morning hypothesising what their two goblins were up to and how much destruction there’d be when they returned - Bucky’s eyebrows had been singed off last time- and eventually find that they have standing brunch dates every Saturday morning provided the world isn’t falling apart.
They decided to try out a new place on 42nd street on Pepper’s recommendation - known for its waffles and more importantly, bottomless mimosas.
They'd just placed their orders when Rhodes asks, “So, what did your white boy do this week?”
Sam snorts, “I think you mean our what boys, at this point. Tony helped Bucky paint my wings bright orange.”
Rhodes chokes, some of his mimosa going up his nose. “Orange?”
“Oh yeah, but they didn’t stop there, no, no, no,” he huffs, “they also decided that glitter was needed. So I’m there, on my mission, being a badass and I go to pop my wings off and not only find them neon orange, but a puff of glitter explodes from my pack too.”
Rhodes is outright laughing at him, his mimosa sloshing dangerously in his glass. “Those little gremlins.”
“Yeah, don’t tell them I said it, but it actually turned out to be an advantage. The dude was absolutely not prepared for a glitter bomb so it worked in my favour,” Sam says, signalling the waitress for a refill as he downs his drink.
“Hey,” Rhodes starts before Sam can lift his glass to his lips, holding out his own in a toast, “to the absolute disasters we’ve chosen to spend our lives with.”
“Hear, hear,” Sam grins, clinking their glasses together.
🥂 🥂 🥂
They’re both just a little tipsy by the time they leave the restaurant when Rhodes presses his phone to his ear. “Babe - babe, Sam and I - we had the drinks! We had mimosas! They were bottomless, which isn’t what you think it means - but they kept filling up my glass and I had fun. Sam’s a good bro but I kinda wanna see your face - Can you - Wait, babe - stop laughing - listen - can you come get us? Bring Bucky, Sam hasn’t said it but his face is all sad, I think he wanna see Bucky too -”
Tony and Bucky arrive 10 minutes later, laughing uncontrollably at the sight in front of them.
#sam wilson#james rhodes#rhodeytony#sambucky#ironhusbands#winterfalcon#rhodey#finally finished this!!#im kinda living for sam and rhodey being bros#and tony and bucky just being danger gremlins when left unsupervised#nisha writes
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ooohhh rhodeytony recs pleeeeease!!
pls note that a couple fic here are also included in the general non stevetony fic rec post (that actually just turned into an irondad fic rec post with a couple other stuff added) but i decided to include them here anyway bc it’s good to organize stuff i think
Pretend We’re In Love (The Heartache Still Hurts) by InsaneJuliannRhodey’s dad is dying, and what he’s always wanted is for Rhodey to be happily married. Tony and Rhodey were best friends, and haven’t spoken in years. But after a chance meeting at the airport, and a desperate, insane idea on Rhodey’s part, they end up pretending to be engaged.But how much of it is really pretend?rec note: the DRAMA™ of it all…..
A Million Shades of Blue by Not Applicable (not_applicable)“I just know that if I could get to wherever he is, I could find him. Dead or alive, I’d bring him back to us.”James Rhodes will never stop searching for Tony Stark.rec note: cries because they,,,,,,h
A Bot’s Beautiful Mess by everythingsaceDum-E halts. In Other-Dad-Rhodey’s hand is… a box. It is a small, velvet box.Dum-E knows what this means. The bot has seen the movies and shows. He knows what this is.The bot screams.(Or: Rhodey asks Dum-E to assist him in proposing to Tony. Dum-E does his best.)rec note: hhhhHHHHNG THIS IS SO CUTE? IM DEAD???
Love in the Eyes by aliaoftwoworldsThe moment each of the Avengers realized Tony and Rhodey were in love.rec note: sof….sof.,t,,,
I Need A Co-Pilot by thesoundofnat“It doesn’t matter. He deserves a much better father than me anyway.”Rhodey raised an eyebrow. “Do we need to have a stern conversation about how you’re actually a good human being and would be an amazing parent?”“I’m not in the mood, Rhodey.”(Or, Rhodey teases Tony about him being a total dad to Peter, but Tony isn’t planning on being a single parent.)rec note: irondad and rhodeytony in a single fic? literally the dream
Write in Dust and Marble by sinuous_curveRhodey says, “You passed out,” when they land, as Tony is fending off the obnoxiously invasive hands of half a dozen medical personnel buzzing in his ear about physical trauma and internal trauma and cuts and bruises and broken bones and what is that thing glowing in his chest.rec note: ow……my leg……..my feelings….
Collision of Fate by natashalieromanov Fate brought James Rhodes and Tony Stark together, but sometimes Jim wonders if it’s enough.rec note: this fic broke into my house and committed an act of violence against me (mind the tags mind the tags)
Unconventional by TenSpencerRiedPleaseTony sits in a hospital room with an ice pack to his nose. “What happened to your nose?” the guy in the wheelchair asks unexpectedly.“I was trying to make rocket boots and they uh… went wrong,” he says.“Oh my god, seriously?” he asks.Tony nods. “So what happened to you?” he asks, eyeing up the scrapes and the remnants of a bloody nose.“Parkour,” he says casually and Tony raises an eyebrow.“In a wheelchair? Wait, is that how you ended up in a wheelchair?” he asks.rec note: this fic is a gem tbh and i really love how rhodey’s just as chaotic as tony
1 2 Twice That by starkintern“Hey, are you listening to me, Tony?”“I’m dying.”[A rewrite of an Iron Man 2 scene.]rec note: 0.32% of fic with tony in them have the tag “tony stark gets a hug” and this is one of them which makes it extremely important in my eyes
What I Need I Just Don’t Have by gyzymIf you want this choice position, have a cheery disposition. (Or: Tony needs an assistant. Rhodey needs a break.)rec note: this fic is rlly funny read it
beat out my chest by AnonymousBefore Rhodey leaves, he tells Tony it’ll be five weeks.“Five and a half, tops,” he promises, and presses a kiss to the hollow of Tony’s throat.Five weeks later, though, Tony sits in his lab all day, tinkering with nothing, with JARVIS on high alert, and - nothing happens.Rhodey doesn’t come home.rec note: nO IT’S FINE EVERYTHING IS FINE I SWEAR RHODEY’S OKAY IT’S FINE
L’esprit de L’escalier by thedeadparrotPost-Civil War. Tony opens his mouth, but he can’t find the right words. His version of therapy sucks.rec note: *incoherent noises*
Does it Hurt? by squireofgeekdomSteve doesn’t find Bucky after the bomb. Bucky finds Tony. They have a conversation.Then things get complicated.rec note: captain america: civil war (2016) is fake and russos aren’t valid. however this fic very much is
What is Taken by squireofgeekdomAfter rescuing Tony from the Borg, both Rhodey and Tony have to deal with the consequences of what has been left behind, and what has been taken.rec note: *bangs fists on table* STAR TREK STAR TREK STAR TREK S
Below Freezing by aftersoon (notboldly)When Rhodey crash lands in the Himalayan wilderness, it tests more than just his survival skills.rec note: please read this fic it’s v v good. also!! special thanks to @ayubia for finding this for me! :)
100 Ways (to say I love you) by AlexTheShipperFollowing Tony and Rhodey from MIT to post Civil War, and 100 different ways they’ve said I love you.rec note: op is literally a god because they wrote 100 ????? whole????? interactions?????? this fic is basically the rhodeytony masterpost honestly
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since you're accepting prompts: Rhodeytony but with kids ft tony in rhodey's mit sweater
Tony sleep deprived just wanted to cuddle Rhodey for hours at a time.
Rhodey on the other hand, kept trying to take over the world.
It was annoying, because Tony had to pull on the nearest clothes and find his husband at god knows where at random times, but it was also adorable because sleep deprived Rhodey was convinced that kids between 6-12 were the perfect minions.
“And then you wriggle the pick like this, and it pops open!” Rhodey said to his enthralled audience.
“Platypus, please stop teaching the six year olds to pick locks.” Tony said, glancing around the room. One of the few times he actually wanted adult supervision, and no one was around. The kids groaned in disappointment, but scattered to go build a precarious looking statue of War Mahine.
“Tones,” Rhodey smiled dopily at him. “You’re wearing my sweater.”
“Hmm?” Tony said, sliding the picks and handcuffs out of Rhodey’s hands. He stashed them in his pocket, and realized he had, in fact, grabbed Rhodey’s sweater instead of his own, evidenced in the way it was hanging off of him. “Yes, I did. You gonna claim it back? Because let me tell you, yours is way more comfy than mine.”
“No!” Rhodey said, looking aghast. “You look cute in it!”
Tony shook his head, but couldn’t stop his smile. His beautiful, ridiculous husband.
“Time to go home.” Tony said. “We can have a Sharknado marathon.”
“But we gotta stop the dog revolution!” Rhodey insisted.
“Sour patch, we have a dog that can’t figure out which the closet door is and which the front door is.” Tony said, leaning back and tugging on Rhodey’s hands. “I promise you we are safe for at least the next few generations.”
“Oh.” Rhodey said. Tony sighed at the crestfallen look on his face.
“You know, those kids probably need some help with the construction of LEGO War Machine.” Tony said, hiding a grin when Rhodey turned to look at the stature in concern. “They are getting that shoulder width totally wrong. We could help and then go home for a long cuddle nap?”
“Only if we help build an Iron Man too.” Rhodey bargained seriously. “Doesn’t look right without you.”
“Deal.”
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Fic Rec Friday
James Rhodes deserves more love. Despite appearing in six MCU movies as of Avengers: Infinity War, and despite all the incredibly shippable moments we’ve been gifted in the last decade -- from Tony’s rescue to Rhodey’s fall, from Platypus to Tony Stank -- there are still fewer than 780 Iron Husbands fics on AO3. It’s a rare pair that shouldn’t be rare at all.
If you’re a Marvel fan but have never read the ship before, give it a try. I’ve shared some favorites below, as well as in previous posts. And don’t forget to let the authors know how much you enjoyed their work! They deserve more love, too.
Avengers - Rhodey/Tony
Baby Steps (Part 1 of Thirty Years of Borrowed Time) by crookedcig, Apparently even after all this time, there are still some secrets. (Teen, 11k)
Don’t Move On by SmartassUndertheMountain, Tony has been babying Rhodey since he fell at the airport battle, and Rhodey, who is sick of it, demands to know why. (General, 1k)
Fiercer and More Frail by icarus_chained, Soulbond AU. In a world where soulbonds exist and are sacrosanct, Tony and Rhodey do not have a bond. Then Afghanistan happens. (Mature, 3k)
For All the Wrong (Right) Reasons by @jewelqueenwrites, What happens when you get one Tony Stark flustered? Well, if you're good-looking (and James Rhodes), he proposes. A story of ill-timed marriage proposals, white boys being angry white nerds, and the man who suffers through it all trying his best not to fall for this beautiful disaster in the making. (Teen, 11k)
Helpless in Love by avengerz, Written for a prompt on tumblr: "Rhodey and Tony being together since their MIT years. They married as soon as they could, and are still hopelessly in love after ~30 years. One of these perfect, almost sickeningly sweet couples. “Slowly, Tony grins, and Rhodey dares to breathe. “Yeah. Yeah, you sappy idiot, alright. I’ll marry you.” Rhodey laughs, disbelieving, delighted, and sweeps Tony into his arms. Tony grins into the kiss, and, wow. They’re gonna be alright. (Mature, 1k)
Home for the Non-Holidays by CrunchySalad, Jarvis (the human one) is visiting Tony for the weekend. Pepper has warned the Avengers that Jarvis never approves of anybody except for Rhodey, but the gang takes that as a challenge to do their best to impress him. Rhodey himself isn't particularly looking forward to the weekend, for reasons that are related to the fact that Jarvis is always pushing him to make an honest man out of Tony, despite the fact that they aren't actually together. (Explicit, 12k)
hung up on the real thing by @theshizniiit, The first time Rhodey puts on his new Stark-made, high tech braces and attempts to stand, he falls. Granted, he doesn't hit the ground because Tony catches him. (General, 2k)
James Rhodes in 8C by @what-alchemy, Also available as a podfic by @sisi-rambles; Tony has always known. (Explicit, 5k)
Readjust by fuckener, Some things have changed. Some things never will. (Teen, 2k)
What I Need I Just Don't Have by @gyzym, Also available as a podfic by @knight-tracer; If you want this choice position, have a cheery disposition. (Or: Tony needs an assistant. Rhodey needs a break.) (Not Rated, 2k)
With Harlem Lights: The Prequel (WIP) (Part 2 of Love in Harlem) by @amariemelody, CW: Graphic Violence, Major Character Death; We know of Sam and Steve's love story -- both in their past and in their future. But what of Rhodey and Tony's love story? Their past, their future? RhodeyTony Soulmate/Reincarnated Soulmate AU. (Explicit, 120k)
#fic rec#iron husbands#ironhusbands#rhodeytony#james rhodes#tony stark#war machine#iron man#marvel#mcu#m/m#fangirlrecs#fic rec friday
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that rhodeytony piece with the bots........... iconic. do you think we could have more of that sweet sweet mit era?? I just think they’re neat
Look. Rhodey hadn’t meant to build another robot. But Tony was at some business conference for the weekend, and Dum-E was just pitifully sad. If Tony had been there, he would’ve convinced Rhodey that Dum-E is a drama queen and acts like the end of the world is happening at any minor inconvenience.
But why not give Dum-E a little sibling? This is how U comes to be, and he’s quite the gentleman, far more gentle than his big brother.
Rhodey enjoys teaching him how to pick up socks and shoes, and how to put the coffee mugs on the counter gently, something that Dum-E is not good at yet, but they’re trying their best. (He has a stuffed coffee mug that they got from the pet store that he’s flung at every single surface so far.)
-
Tony comes back from his business conference (which ugh) looking for cuddles, dinner, and maybe a movie date night if they can get Dum-E to stop trying to escape the apartment.
What he isn’t expecting is for his boyfriend to be mediating a fight between two robots.
Two.
He stares at his boyfriend for a moment.
“Rhodey, darling, is Dum-E having a...play-date?”
Rhodey freezes.
“Oh!” He says, grinning. “I, um...made him a sibling?”
“And they’re...fighting?”
“Well, for now. Dum-E’s mad because he didn’t get to put actual coffee mugs on the counter, and U is mad because Dum-E stole the couch blanket. I think U is really into decoration!”
“Yeah, that explains everything,” Tony says faintly, sitting. “So...U? Like, the letter?”
“Yeah, you like it?”
“And you thought that it made a good name for what?”
“Well, it was more of a placeholder, honestly. But then he liked it!”
U looks over at Tony curiously.
“U, this is Tony. Your other dad. We used part of his code to make you!”
The arm bumps softly against Tony’s, which is an improvement from Dum-E, who tends to go full-force. (Although they’ve worked on it.)
“So...” Tony says. “You think with U, we won’t need to look for a babysitter for date night?”
“No, we will. We definitely will. Dum-E hasn’t adjusted to a sibling yet.”
“Poor baby,” Tony coos, patting Dum-E on the claw. “You thought you were going to be the only attention-seeker for a while, didn’t you?”
He glowers, wheeling back and acting very high-and-mighty for a robot who just threw the equivalent of a tantrum.
Rhodey looks at Tony, kissing him on the forehead as he leans over to lay on his legs.
“How was the business conference, honey?”
“Utter shit. I didn’t need to go, I was an ego boost for Obie to tote around.”
“Told you that you shouldn’t have gone.”
“If I said ‘no’ one more time, we would’ve had to have a phone call about my ‘five year plan’ and ‘legacy’ bullshit. You know that that gives me a migraine. Besides, he gave me a gift certificate to a fancy restaurant, so that means we get to have a good meal one of these weekends when you visit.”
“Who said I would visit with you?”
“Because Jarvis adores you and I think Ana wants to adopt you and force you to stay.”
“You make a compelling argument,” Rhodey says, pretending to think about it. “I’ll...consider it.”
Tony snorts.
“And they say I’m the asshole here.”
-
Two years later, Dum-E and U demand that they get a sibling. The dads are back home together (for now) and Jarvis has grown tired of reason.
“They want a sibling, Sir.”
“What, each other isn’t enough?”
“They have requested many movie nights where there are siblings or groups of friends, and I think they want to, in a sense, replicate the scenarios.”
“They’ve already done all of it? Wasn’t it them who got onto a plane for DC just because they wanted to see Pops?”
“Yes, yes it was.”
“You know, J, I still think that you helped them with that one.”
“I most certainly did not.”
(Jarvis totally did. He gets bored, you know? Besides, Colonel Rhodes hadn’t been home for three months, which should have counted for cruel and unusual punishment.)
“Well, regardless of your guilt in certain situations, we’ll have a family discussion about maybe a new sibling.”
Rhodey gets a text as he’s grocery shopping.
hey, need to talk about family stuff. can you also pick up some more colby jack cheese?
sure. what’s it about?
your son has decided he wants a sibling. he convinced dum-e....
got it.
Rhodey laughs to himself as he turns his cart around, going towards the dairy section. Of course U would decide something like that, it makes sense.
-
Tony is looking at Rhodey with a disappointed look on his face.
“This is all your fault.”
“How is this my fault?”
“You dote on the boys too much.”
“Oh, I do that? Who makes them Halloween costumes every year and hosts a party with all of the other appliances we’ve made over the years?”
“Oh like you hate those, Mr. ‘Here’s-the-hand-made-Halloween-playlist’.”
“True,” Rhodey says, setting down the bags. “Help me put away all of this stuff, half of it is yours anyway.”
“We have a shared fridge, Honeybear.”
“Tell that to your pomegranates taking up about two shelves!”
“Only for now, and half of those are Pepper’s! They’re not all mine.”
“Do you think she would want a say in the robot? After all, she does have to deal with U and Dum-E worshiping the ground she walks on.”
“And she is the reason that Dum-E usually succeeds in his smoothie-making,” Tony admits. “Yeah, sure, invite her over.”
-
Whenever Pepper is asked what it’s like having to be a personal assistant to Tony Stark, she always wants to answer with something like “oh, it’s really fulfilling to help a company reach its goal and learn so much from my boss to apply to what comes next” or even “oh, it’s nice.”
She got invited to dinner, and is now in a conversation about whether or not Dum-E and U, her boss’s children, should get a sibling.
And the fact that her boss’s children are robots, have two dads, and think that Pepper is the best thing since life itself.
“Why do they need a sibling?” Pepper asks, chewing on her pasta.
“Because they’re bored, and we think that maybe we’ll stop getting calls from the fire stations around town that they’re trying to wreak havoc again,” Rhodey says. “They’ll want to teach the new sibling how life works around the house, and we can start on security measures.”
“Can’t you just put a genetic lock on the door or something?” Pepper asks.
“They’re surpassed it,” Tony says grumpily.
“How?”
“Don’t look at me!” Tony defends. “Look at Jim-dear, who is obsessed with true crime documentaries! They picked up how to gain evidence and use it for proof from him and Forensic Files!”
Pepper puts her head in her hands.
“Just once, I wish that we had a dinner to discuss a business proposal or something normal instead of whether or not your two boys need a sibling.”
“Well, we are thinking about a daughter,” James admits. “And we wanted to talk to you about that.”
“Why, because I’m the only female either of you know?!”
“No,” Tony says quickly. “We know plenty of women!”
“Name seven.”
“Plead the fifth,” Rhodey jokes. “But you spend time here, and so we wanted to know what you’d want to see in a robot.”
“How the hell should I know?”
“You work for the best tech mogul in two hundred years,” Tony says.
“Tones, you’re entirely too cocky.”
“Oh shut up babe,” Tony says, no real heat to the sentiment. “Besides, I’ve treated you well, haven’t I?”
“Other than embarrassing me in front of every single government official every time you interact, sure.”
“You love it, they hate it, win-win,” Tony says, stirring around his mocktail. “But Pepper, seriously. What do you think about a third robot?”
“Well, can’t get anymore chaotic,” Pepper sighs. “And I think having a girl around would be...nice. Not as chaotic.”
“You saying girls don’t bring as much chaos?”
“No,” Pepper says. “I’m just saying that we know when to bring it.”
-
Butterfingers is born, and she is the most perfect definition of a “daddy’s girl” any robot has ever been. She wheels around with grace, although she can’t stop bumping into things and dropping things, being worse than Dum-E. (Which he actually adores.)
She follows Pepper along in awe, and can be seen usually in her office.
Curiously enough, the only time she doesn’t live up to her name is in Pepper’s office, where she handles things with grace and Pepper gives her little tasks to do, like delivering cups of pens to employees or papers.
Rhodey gets her (and the brothers) little souvenirs from his time away, and Tony has an absolute ball of a time making them all costumes and taking a million little pictures that are hung up everywhere in the building.
But perhaps the crowning achievement are the Christmas photos.
Usually, Stark Industries will take pictures of their employees, put a newsletter out, and wish everyone a happy holiday and all that.
But then the employees have an entirely different idea.
It comes from one of Pepper’s assistants after she’s made CEO, Julia.
“Why not have the bots be the Christmas picture?” she muses, restacking some of the papers Miss Potts had to sign. “They’re always around the office, and they’re the unofficial mascots of the business. I think it’d be fun to see their Christmas hijinks!”
Pepper smiles.
“Julia, remind me to add a little extra to the Christmas bonus.”
-
Rhodey finds the idea to be the best idea anyone has come up with in years. (Although it just gives him an excuse to take more pictures of the bots during the festivities.)
Dum-E is only too happy to finally be allowed within two feet of tinsel. (Unfortunate incident in 1998.) U is very excited to show off his understanding of symmetry and how to pick out the perfect tree, and Butterfingers just wants Pepper to tie ribbons around her wheels so that she looks “extra-pretty.”
Stark Industries’ holiday card involves Dum-E and U at either side of the tree, with U gently readjusting one of the many ornaments they’ve had the bots make over the years, and Dum-E is trying to pull off a ribbon from the top of the tree. Butterfingers is at the center, guarding any attempt to unwrap presents, and presenting her bow-filled-wheels.
Pepper has the picture framed in her office.
#rhodeytony#ironhusbands#rhodey#tony stark#pepper potts#u#butterfingers#dum-e#iron fam#anyways yes U is very good at decoration#dum-e is not but that's okay bc he's enthusiastic#pepper is done with her boss. so done. but she loves them all#rhodey loves his husband so much and so dearly#lovelyirony writes
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what are your favorite rhodeytony headcanons?
OMG how did you know??
Tony and Rhodey living in an apartment together after they no longer can live in dorms. I just. I love the idea of them wanting to spend as much time with one another and all the chaos and fighting over who gets to cook dinner (and they end up ordering takeout)? Yeah. Just - yeah. Plus, the fact that when Rhodey enlists they’ll have a long distance relationship makes this even sweeter for me. They’ll get a chance to live together before being apart.
Tony and Rhodey being bot dads! I can’t explain to you how much that headcanon means to me. First of all, Rhodey being appreciated for his genius and being able to build DUM-E with Tony? Sign me up! Second of all, I like the idea of Rhodey falling in love with Tony’s children even if they didn’t build the bots together. That’s love, I think. Being adopted by someone’s robot children is love. Third of all, I like thinking about the differences between Rhodey’s and Tony’s relationship with the bots. Tony is definitely the bad cop parent while Rhodey is the good cop parent. Fourth of all, I just think it’s funny. Like those stories about couple calling their pets their kids and then being like “wait” when people think they’re actually their kids.
Ok!!! This one is less popular but I love the idea of Rhodey giving Tony nicknames too. I like it when Rhodey and Tony have banter about Tony’s ridiculous nicknames but just. The thought of Rhodey giving Tony a nickname too makes me so soft. I love it when Tony and Rhodey are shown to be the same genre of chaos, and I think Rhodey giving Tony nicknames too would count as that. I think Rhodey would be more subtle about it, and consider it more private, but in on way less loving. I'm soft for specifically these nicknames: genius, T, Tones and baby.
Pining!Ironhusbands know that they’re in love with each other. It’s harder for others to see actually, because Tony and Rhodey basically have their own language only they can understand, but Tony and Rhodey know they’re in love. It’s in the way Rhodey is the only one who makes Tony laugh and the way that Rhodey drunkly tells him that he sees so much in him. They knew - but they never do anything. it isn’t the right timing or they aren’t in the same headspace or they’re too far away or too close to one another. But mostly, they don’t want to lose each other’s friendship - it’s the most important thing in the world for them. They can’t risk it. Not even for the relationship of their dreams.
Tony and Rhodey being supportive of one another in the ‘putting themselves in danger’ sense. I think that pre-Iron Man it would make sense if Tony would be worried for Rhodey when he went on missions - but I think he would still be super proud of Rhodey and would design planes for him to fly. He definitely sighed in relief when Rhodey was stationed for a safer (and more important, of course) desk job in Edwards, but when Rhodey tells him he misses the adrenaline, he takes them bungee jumping. Not to mention that Tony is so proud of Rhodey for being War Machine. Tony wanted Rhodey to be the next Iron Man. Rhodey is just as supportive. He’s a little concerned in Tony’s earlier Iron Man days, but ultimately, he’s so happy that his partner finally gets it. That he gets wanting to help people and he gets how good flying feels. Rhodey, to me, wouldn’t need an arc for him to see why Tony loves Iron Man, he would just be jealous that he doesn’t get to fly with Tony (until IM2, of course).
Tony adores Rhodey’s family! Honestly fics where Tony is skittish around Rhodey’s family because he isn’t used to that kind of family love are the good shit, but I love the idea of Tony being absolutely comfortable with his boyfriend’s family by like the third visit. Getting used to that kind of love and returning it! I like to think that during Rhodey’s leaves, Tony visited the Rhodey’s family a lot and he coos over Lila’s drawings and eventually designs and sneakily giving the family money and just being a part of the family. Tony loving Rhodey’s family is part of the reason why Rhodey is so head over heels for him.
Rhodey and Tony being each other’s very first friends in MIT. I think that skipping two grades will probably mean that Rhodey had trouble making friends growing up and Tony did too. They bond over that, over being the youngest people in MIT, about being so smart and scientific. It gets easier to make new friends as they get older, but they’re still each other’s first and oldest friends.
#I have more but I am tired. these all my favorite ones tho. I have more so much more#Ironhusbands#rhodeytony#tonyrhodey#rhfe#asks#tony stark#james rhodes#rhodey#james rhodey rhodes#ironhusbands headcanons#rhodeytony headcanons
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Rhodeytony seasons of love master post of headcanons
What I didn’t miss too many days and decided to make up for it this way, not at all!
Rhodey is a rocket scientist and Tony is an engineer so you would expect that if they followed the recipe for fireworks, everything would be A-Okay. But of course, those two genius boys can’t ever let anything be simple. So when they try to make fireworks for Rhdoey’s family fourth of July party, there might have a close call with Tony’s fingers and the grass in Rhodey’s yard is burned to the crisp. Mama Rhodes is Not Happy.
Rhodey doesn’t often get drunk without Tony, but during the era between Ultron and Civil War where Tony is retired, Rhodey is a new Avenger and they miss each other terribly, the team makes Rhodey drink two shots of Nat’s too strong booze, and he maybe leaves him a voicemail before being wrestled into sleep. “Toooooony,” he whines into the phone, “I love you. I love you very very much. Did you know that your friends are the best? Because they are! Sam, you are the best! Tell Tony you are the best. No, but for real though, I miss you. I miss you, I miss you, I miss you. You should leave your stupid Malibu house and come live with us. Your friends are the best. And you are the best. It will be so fun. And then I won’t miss you anymore...” The next morning Tony calls him and tells him, “that’s the worst way you could have asked me to move in with you” but by the afternoon boxes start showing up.
Tony is often up by 3 AM so 3 AM voicemails aren’t uncommon, even if Tony hates leaving them (”it’s not 1993 who has an answering machine?”). He especially stays up and leaves voicemails when Rhodey isn’t there to drag him to bed. He’s usually a little bit manic, and just a tad longing at that time. But Tony’s sane enough while leaving them so it’s mostly just ramblings about Rhodey’s suit and its modifications and muses about Tony hijacking a military plane to see him. Rhodey sometimes uses them as a way to relax when he’s away and missing his husband.
None of them knit the ugly sweater. Roberta does. Tony cries when he gets his first ugly sweater from her because he knows more than anyone it’s a right of passage into being a Rhodes, and he finally gets a family. Tony wears the sweaters all the time because it fells like knowing someone cares for him. Rhodey, however, isn’t that touched by the ugly sweaters, and resumes to be seen with them. He doesn’t touch Roberta’s ugly sweaters on any day but the extremely cold or laundry day. That is why Tony is Roberta’s favorite.
Neither of them screams first in the haunted house. Our two prankster boys pull all their resources in Halloween and create a haunted house out of their MIT dorms, making everyone scream. Some of the things they invent for the house shouldn’t even be possible so people scream more than at any haunted house because they are convinced there’s magic involved. It makes Tony and Rhodey fall to the ground laughing.
Rhodey pulls Tony back in for the lazy day. Not only because Tony’s mind is so busy that he gets up way too early because he’s dreamed of an equation, but also because Tony gets up way too early for the time he fell asleep, and Rhodey wants to make sure his boyfriend gets at least some sleep. Besides, Tony needs to learn what a lazy day is and Rhodey wants cuddles when he’s finally home.
Tony is on the fall festival’s planning committee out of spite (one of the students there KICKED HIS CHAIR) and pure mischief and makes sure to ruin it in some way every year, or at least antagonize everyone else. He and Rhodey scheme every year how to torture the planning committee.
Tony wins Rhodey a stuffed platypus at the carnival and Rhodey wins Tony a faulty tape recorder. I have this exact scene in road trip fic.
Tony is the ice skating pro because he was a dancer as a child and part of his training was ice skating, but even he can’t skate without falling on his ass with how tightly Rhodey is holding on to him. Tony never takes Rhodey ice skating again, but him, Natasha, and Jeanette all have fun while ice skating together. Rhodey is upset about not getting ice skating dates with his boyfriend anymore, especially with how tight he gets to hold on to Tony in the ring. But he still likes to watch videos of Tony mastering the skill.
Rhodey makes the best hot cocoa! He learned the secret recipe from Mama Rhodes and will not share it, not even with his husband. Tony always pouts over not getting the recipe (”you’ll butcher it, no way”) but he’s happy to have his husband to make it for him, because it tastes like heaven and he’s the luckiest person on Earth for it. The Avengers also enjoy Rhodey’s hot cocoa in the winter and also try and figure out the recipe. None have succeeded so far. Mama Rhodes is delighted by so many superheroes enjoying her recipe.
Cuddling ensues when they get snowed in. Tony hates the cold and the boredom it all entails so he’ll leech on to Rhodey for warmth and entrainment. Tony sort of gets on Rhodey’s nerves by the end of it, but he finds Tony super cute when he falls asleep on his chest. It ends with Tony making himself so insane he creates robots to shovel all the snow away. It somehow works.
Tony doesn’t much like the holidays because they bring back too many bad memories but he finds how Rhodey’s excitement adorable. Rhodey’s near childlike joy at getting presents on Christmas morning makes the holidays bearable for Tony. Rhodey insists they create their own traditions (like his parents did) when they get together and rent their own apartment during their MIT days, and so they create a few. During Thanksgiving dinner, they each get to make one dish and they order the rest of dinner to make up for the lacking food (Rhodey only made the turkey Tony only makes the cranberry sauce). Their tree is purely for decoration as they exchange gifts privately with each other, and it’s a rule that they must make all the decor for the tree. As they grow up and get more family members, the thanksgiving tradition is stopped but they leave the Christmas ones and create a few more traditions. For Thanksgiving, their small tradition is getting each other a gift card for a restaurant they recommend, a memory from the old times. They never eat at the table, but instead set up a buffet and allow people to mingle on the couches while they eat the food. Tony does the shopping for Thanksgiving and Rhodey does the cooking, except the cranberry sauce, because it’s easy and Tony can handle it. For Christmas, they have a lazy day in bed instead of wake up to see their presents. The Avengers might leave them presents under the tree but Tony and Rhodey only care about the gifts they give each other. Every new bot gets its own sock stocking and they let the bots decorate their socks. They both leave the suits in a random square in New York with the sign “they want to be dressed for the season!” and watch the different creations of Iron Man and War Machine “snow”men. It happens a few years in a row.
Rhodey hides the mistletoe right above Tony’s workshop door because he knows Tony’s always there and he’s one of the only ones allowed in, so Rhodey’ll get plenty of kisses. Plus, he gets some adorable pictures of Tony kissing his bots.
Tony hides the mistletoe in frequently-used spaces (notable mentions: Fury’s drawer when he leaves his pencils and the hanger on which Clint hangs his arrows) because he’s a little shit, and wants everyone to hate him. “I’m going to make you some of my hot chocolate, Tony,” Rhodey says as he opened the cupboard for the pot. Tony desperately tries to hide his smirk, “okay, hubby.” It takes a few minutes before Rhodey says, “fine, I’ll kiss you, but no hot chocolate for you.”
The season which reminds Tony of Rhodey is spring. Because Rhodey is just as lovely and beautiful as the season is. Spring reminds him of Rhodey’s passion and intelligence, the way everything turns green so quickly reminds him of how quick Rhodey is to develop an idea. It reminds him to pick flowers for his husband and finally being in the season to buy Rhodey’s favorite fruit, strawberries.
The season which reminds Rhodey of Tony is winter. Because Tony hates the winter. He hates Christmas and snow and rain. He hates the cold and the blackouts. So whenever something especially winter happens, like snowmen building or Christmas shopping, Rhodey thinks with a fond smile “oh, Tony would hate this”.
#rhodeytonyseasonsoflove#ironhusbands#rhodeytony#rhfe#tonyrhodey#iron husbands#The Avengers#james rhodes#tony stark#Iron Man#war machine#iron patriot#rhodey#james rhodey rhodes#Ironhusbands headcanon#rhodeytony headcanons#marvel#MCU#dum-e#u#Butterfingers#iron bros#mit bros#iron man 2#Iron Man 3#im3#IM2
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1 for RhodeyTony please 🥺🥺
“But look, this is on sale!”
Thank you for sending, Vix!!
~~~
Tony likes shopping with Rhodey. He swears he does. It just... he might need a little reminder about it from time to time.
“Babe, look, this is on sale!”
Tony sighs for the third time that outing. “Who. Cares? I’m a billionaire, honey.”
“So what? Does money have any less value suddenly?”
“Paying full price for a-” Tony stares at the apparent object at sale Rhodey was showing him, “-ducky tie will probably not put a single dent in my credit card score.”
“Yeah, but things are better when they’re cheap.”
Tony was starting to develop a headache, “that is so not true. And it’s especially not true for a fucking ducky tie! It's completely useless!”
“Not this cheap it isn’t!”
Tony resists the urge to groan out loud, “look, poo-bear, how about we get you something you actually want? I know you’ve been eyeing those ugly Christmas sweaters. C’mon, let’s get one for you. We can make a card and send it to Mama Rhodes. We’ll probably get a real sweater because of it.”
Rhodey looks tempted, locating the sweaters in minutes, but shakes his head, “I can’t afford these.”
Tony frowns, “yes, you can. Our bank account has-”
“No, I can’t.”
Tony’s frown depends before he realizes. “Oh.”
Rhodey had never liked Tony giving him things, but Tony’d figured Rhodey would change once they were married. They would buy everything together so it wouldn’t matter if it was a gift or not. But apparently...
“Platypus, you have got to get over this stupid pride thing. Using my money doesn’t make you my trophy husband and I’m not giving you an allowance for Christmas. I’m not trying to humiliate you or pity you or buy you over with money. I’m just trying to help you understand that now that we’re married, what is mine is your. And vice versa. And god, I got so much from yours. So let me help you with mine. Seriously, you have whatever you want. Whatever. And you should do it completely guilt free. You don’t even have to ask me before you buy it. If anything, I should probably be the one to come to you before making an impulse buy.”
Rhodey smiled at Tony’s joke. “...Okay.”
Tony grinned, “okay? We’re getting the ugly sweaters?”
“You said anything I want, right?” Rhodey wrapped his arms around Tony’s shoulders, “what I really want is to make a donation to MIT for more student scholarships.”
Tony cupped Rhodey’s face in his hands, “god, I love you so much.”
#druwrites#rhodeytony#ironhusbands#iron husbands#rhfe#james rhodes#tony stark#james rhodey rhodes#rhodey#Iron Man#war machine#iron patriot#vix tag#asks#ironhusbands fic#rhodeytony fic
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Love Me Like You Do (RhodeyTony) (Part One)
Enjoy my first attempt at RhodeyTony!
MASTERLIST HERE
*****************************
(MIT, 1984)
James Rhodes somehow managed to be the only one in his dorm who didn’t have a room mate and he guarded the privilege jealously--whiting out his name and room number on sign up sheets when new students enrolled, making sure if anyone did peek their head into his room, the top bunk was rumpled and looked slept in and the second desk was filled with papers.
He had managed to not be assigned a room mate, had no intention of getting a room mate and in no way, shape or form did he ever even consider having the mouthy teenager who was new to the hall as his room mate.
But here he was anyway, manhandling a doe eyed, red cheeked, halfway drunk fifteen year old down the hallway and into his room, shoving aside his own things to make room for an astonishing amount of clothing and bags of accessories.
“You sleep here now.” he informed the kid, who blinked up at him from huge brown eyes with a mixture of awe and annoyance. “And if that guy even looks at you again, I’m going to break his neck and then call your parents and get you sent to a convent, you hear?”
“Okay, I don’t know who you are?” Christ the kid really was drunk. “But I could have handled it. I’m just a kid, he wasn’t going to do anything bad. He probably loved me.” he dissolved into giggles. “Can you imagine? He thought saying he could love me would convince me!”
“You are just a kid and trust me, you don’t need that sort of love.” James started to put him on the bottom bunk, then changed his mind and cleared off the top bunk instead, half helping and half shoving the teenager up the ladder. “But this is college and you weigh fourteen pounds and are at least five years too young to be drinking and definitely too young to be messing around with the biggest guy in the dorm. Get up there and sleep it off and we’ll talk in the morning.”
“My name’s Tony Stark.” the kid said, peering down from the top bunk, a mess of hair falling into his eyes. “But you can call me Tony.”
“I know who you are.” James set about re organizing the room and remaking the bottom bunk so he could sleep there. “I’m James Rhodes.”
“Can I call you Rhodey?”
“No.”
“Well.....” Tony dragged out the word before he lit up with a smile that could only be called devilish. “Can I call you Honeybear?”
“Under no circumstances are you to call me Honeybear.”
“Spoilsport.”
“Brat.”
****************
****************
(Spring)
“Honeybear!” Tony kicked open the door to their room and James didn’t even bother turning around from his desk. “We entered a robot building competition!”
“We?” James asked, grimacing only a little when Tony swooped in and smacked a loud, peppermint gum scented kiss on his cheek. “What do you mean we?”
“I mean that we--” Tony wrestled something mechanical through the door. “--as roommates and bosom buddies--” something clanged into the foot of James’s bed and he knew just from the suddenly guilty silence that Tony had definitely damaged it. “--, we saw a flyer in the commons and entered it without thinking to ask if it was okay?”
“Saying we isn’t going to make me just agree to this, Tony.” James kept working at his homework. “So what I think you mean is that you saw a flyer in the commons and you entered the contest without stopping to ask me if I had time to help.”
“I don’t need help.” Tony sulked and James smirked at the sheer amount of petulance in his tone. “But you should help me anyway. What if I get hurt?”
“Building a robot?”
“Stranger things have happened!” Tony argued. “Besides, isn’t that what you’re here for? Keeping me out of trouble?”
“What sort of trouble could you possibly get into by entering a robot contest?”
“Oh please.” Tony huffed, stepping back into the hall to wrangle more supplies for his spontaneous project. “We both know I’m one bad lab experiment from becoming a super villain.”
“God.” James rubbed at his eyes and gave up on his homework, spinning around in his chair and sighing. “Alright, show me what we’re doing.”
“Yay.” Tony’s eyes sparkled, his smile so bright that James almost regretted not saying yes earlier. “I love when you say we.”
“I know, I know.” James accepted another kiss at his cheek and then pushed his roomie away. “Because when I say we it means I’m an accomplice which means we will end up in jail together.”
“That’s not the only reason!” Tony defended. “Not just the jail thing!”
“Just shut up and show me what we’re building.”
“Spoilsport.”
“Brat.”
******************
******************
(Fall Break)
“Rhodeyyyyyyyy----.” Tony was drunk for the first time in months, slurring his words and tripping over his feet and James cursed when he tripped as well, losing his balance and sending them both stumbling into a wall. “Christ, Rhodey. Are you drunk too?”
“No, Tones I’m not drunk.” James gritted his teeth and tried not to sound so angry. The last thing Tony needed after another school break brawl with his dad was his room mate being mad at him too. “Just worried about you is all. Every time you come back from break, you end up binge drinking for a couple days.”
“S’cuz my dad’s an asshole.” Tony mumbled and James privately agreed. “What else does he want from me? M’gonna graduate with my masters at nineteen. Isn’t that good enough?”
“It’s more than good enough.” James assured him, fumbling with his keys to get their door open. “Don’t worry, Tones. Let’s just get you in bed and you can sleep it off and in the morning we can figure it out.”
“Come to bed with me.” Tony said then and James froze for a second but the seventeen year old didn’t seem to notice. “You never come to bed with me. Everyone else will get in bed with me when I ask but you never do.”
“Because you snore and you fart in your sleep.” James informed him over the pounding of his own heart and the way his mouth was suddenly dry. “And its worse when you’re drunk. So no way. You’re sleeping alone.”
“But I don’t want to.” Tony whined, and when James tried to leverage him into bed, Tony grasped at his shirt and pulled hard enough that James nearly fell on top of him.
“There.” Tony was the picture of smug satisfaction. “See how easy that was? Now just stay. Maybe take my pants off. I missed you over break, didn’t you miss me?”
“Of course I did.” And James wasn’t lying, even as he extricated himself from his rather grabby friend, Tony wriggling and squirming and trying to keep him down on the pillows. “I always miss you on break, Tones. But you need to sleep and I need to--”
Tony yanked him back down again and this time their mouths crashed together, Tony’s full lips liquor soft and warm, the kiss needy and insistent and James-- damn it-- James couldn’t stop the barest press back before pulling away.
“Rhodey.” Tony touched his mouth in surprise. “Did you just kiss me?”
“To be fair, you kissed me first.” James informed him, taking a few steps back so he wouldn’t lean down and do it again. “Which doesn’t count because you’re drunk as a skunk and that was the worst kiss of my life. What is that, blackberry schnapps?”
“Blackberry schnapps are delicious.” Apparently suddenly exhausted, Tony made a half hearted attempt at unbuttoning his jeans so he was at least somewhat comfortable before closing his eyes. “You’re just boring. And by the way, that was a great kiss. You taste great. Ten out of ten would kiss you again. I’m pretty sure you’re the only person who actually loves me and that is totally okay.”
“Just get some sleep, Tones.” Something strange and sort of terrifying caught in his throat and James tried unsuccessfully to clear it. “We’ll talk in the morning.”
“You love me with the sort of love I need, right?” The words were slurring now, barely understandable. “Right? I need this sort of love.”
“Sure, Tony.” James didn’t let himself linger, only climbed up into his bunk and forced his own eyes closed. “Good night.”
*******************
Morning came and Tony was miserable, hugging the toilet and throwing up for several minutes and James waited patiently for him to be done, cleaning up the mess from the night before and getting a bottle of Gatorade and some ibuprofen.
The shower turned on at some point and it was a full half an hour before the bathroom door opened and Tony peeked out at him sheepishly.
“Wow.” James looked him over with a smirk. “You look gorgeous.”
“Heya Rhodey.” Tony shuffled over to the bed and plopped down with a weary sigh. “I uh-- I don’t remember a whole lot about last night. When did you come and get me from the commons?”
“About three am.” James told him, and Tony winced. “Someone called and asked if I knew my boyfriend was back on campus and doing body shots off some cheerleader. Figured I should come and get you.”
“Sorry.” Tony had the decency to turn red at least, picking at the threads of the towel around his waist. “About the body shots. And probably being gross drunk. And uh-- about them thinking I was your boyfriend. I know you hate that.”
James ignored the last part to ask, “So break was pretty bad?” and Tony nodded miserably, so James said the thing he should have said before fall break-- “Tones, why don’t you come home with me next break? My ma loves you and my sisters somehow think you’re charming. You wouldn’t have to deal with Howard and maybe it would put a stop to the post-holiday binges?”
“I--” Tony frowned. “You want to spend break with me?”
“Yes.”
“...why? I’m a disaster.”
“Yeah.” James agreed, and then felt bad when Tony’s face fell, so he scooted over onto the bed and wrapped his arm around Tony’s shoulder. “But you’ve sort of been my disaster for two years now, so it’s fine.”
Tony just sort of sniffled and leaned closer. “I’m sorry for kissing you last night.”
“Oh.” James felt a twist of panic in his throat. “You remember that, huh?”
“I remember you telling me it was the worst kiss of your life.” Tony’s fingers twitched like he wanted to reach for James’s hand, but fell away at the last second. “Sorry about that.”
“It’s fine.” James lied told him. “Don’t worry about it.”
“Was it a bad kiss because of my age?” Tony pressed and another bolt of panic when through him. “You always tell me I’m too young to mess around like I do. Was it bad because I’m seventeen or was it bad because it was me?”
“Tony, I--” James muttered a curse. “It wasn’t bad at all. You were just drunk. It’s not like I could tell you it was a great kiss when you were drunk. Who knows what you might have done then.”
“Stripped your pants off and tried to mount you.” Tony said seriously, so seriously he had to be joking and when James laughed, Tony laughed too. “Thanks for taking care of me, Honeybear.”
“What did I tell you about that name?”
“Oh fuck off, it’s been two years. You’re Honeybear whether you want to be or not. Spoilsport.”
“Brat.”
“I’m wonderful.”
You kind of are.
****************
****************
(The Night Before Graduation)
“You ready for tomorrow?” James unwound Tony’s arms from his neck as he walked up the steps to their apartment. “Big day, Tones. Graduating with honors and a masters in four years? I’m real proud of you.”
“I know you are.” Tony was grinning, laughing, his breath smelling like the expensive whiskey Jarvis had sent as a graduation present. “You’re going to come tomorrow, right?”
“I wouldn’t miss it.” James said firmly. “Already got the afternoon and the whole next day off work so we can party it up and celebrate together.”
“I’m glad you’re going to be there.” Tony’s eyes were soft, so soft in that way they only got when James had made him happy. “I know for a fact I wouldn’t be graduating if you hadn’t gotten me through school.”
“Oh you’d be graduating.” James discarded his tie and hung his jacket up. “But only halfway sober and probably wearing a bathrobe with lipstick still smeared on the collar. At least this way, I’ll get you down the aisle looking presentable.”
He turned around and startled when he realized Tony was right there in his space, closer than James had expected him. “Tones?”
“I’m drunk.” Tony admitted and when James opened his mouth to agree, Tony continued, “But not very drunk. And it wasn’t blackberry schnapps this time so you can’t complain.”
“Not blackberry--” James swallowed hard. “Tony--”
“Tell me if this is as bad as the last one.” Tony said then, and in the next instant his lips were soft against James’s mouth, moving gently in a sweet press that had no business feeling so good, innocent and liquor lazy just like it had been two years previous, the first and only time James had allowed himself just a little bit, just the tiniest bit--
“Kiss me back.” Tony murmured and James did, dragging his fingers through all that ridiculous hair and tilting Tony’s head back to take control, tapping at Tony’s jaw and moaning in approval when the pretty brunette opened obediently, pliantly, the inside of his mouth whiskey warm and addicting and a thousand things James had felt guilty for imagining for so many years.
“I’ve been in love with you since I was fifteen.” Tony admitted when they parted, a flush high in his cheeks and hands tight at James’s side. “Rhodey, I’ve loved you since that first night when you basically yanked me out of my room and put me in yours and I’ve waited for you to love me--”
Another kiss, just as drugging as the first one, their bodies melting together like they did this all the time and dimly, in some far corner of his mind, James wondered why they didn’t do this all the time. How had he known Tony for four years and this was the first time they’d kissed like this? It was so good, it was so good.
Then Tony nipped at his bottom lip and the arousal that had been burning low in his core flashed forward with a roar, and James had Tony pinned up against the wall in the next second, his hands everywhere, grasping at Tony’s waist and smoothing down his sides and palming over that ridiculous butt and “oh-oh-oh” Tony stammered something beautiful when James squeezed at him.
“I’ve been waiting for you to love me.” Tony sounded like he was laughing and James swallowed the sound with another hungry kiss. “Oh god, Rhodey. Every single time I got drunk I wondered if that was the night I could get you to do something about the way you looked at me and you never did but now--”
He stopped when James did, his brow lowering in confusion when there was suddenly too much space between them, his skin stinging where Rhodey’s hands weren’t touching anymore.
“Honeybear?”
“Tony.” James had to put a hand over his mouth and drag in a few breaths to steady himself. “Go to bed.”
“Um, what?” Tony tried to reach for him, but James stepped away and ouch-- ouch that rejection felt like a physical slap and Tony recoiled from it. “Rhodey, what--”
“You only kiss me when you’re drunk, Tony.” James said then, and it was heartbroken and maybe even a little angry. “You only kiss me when you’re drunk. Just like you did when you were sixteen, like you did on your seventeenth birthday, just like you did when you came home from break.”
“Rhodey--”
“You say you need this sort of love.” James wanted to cry and he hated that. “You say you want this sort of love, but you only ever kiss me when you’re drunk.”
“Rhodey!”
“Go to bed.” James straightened his shirt and couldn’t look Tony in the eye anymore. “We’ll talk in the morning.”
*******************
They didn’t talk in the morning because Tony was already gone, and James went to the graduation anyway because Tony was his best friend and Tony laughed and cheered as they took pictures and at the end of the night, Tony pounded back three shots in a row then grabbed James close and kissed him for one long, awful moment before shoving away and wiping his mouth and running off to join the party and James didn’t hear from him for weeks after that.
And then Tony started staying out for days at a time and their shared apartment was empty more often than not.
And less than six months later, Tony was moving out into some high rise bachelor pad and when James dropped by with a present for his twentieth birthday, Tony was out of his mind on who knows what, bleary eyed and barely awake and James picked him up and carried him to bed and made sure there was water and Gatorade and ibuprofen and Tony opened his eyes long enough to say--
“I’m not drunk, don’t worry. I’m not going to kiss you.”
“We’ll talk in the morning, Tony.”
“No, we wont.”
--and that was the last thing Tony said to him for a long time.
******************
SAY SOMETHING ABOUT THE FIC!
(Here’s PART TWO)
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