starkingenuity | (no subject)

Was there even a point to telling 'Tony, don't touch it'? Bruce sighed as Tony did exactly that, picking up the artifact that their enemy had been taunting them while Bruce stood there in stretchy pants that show uncomfortably too much for him, but at least he wasn't nude every time he changed now. He was also pretty sure it was all Tony's idea that they were purple.

Whoever their enemy was, it had something to do with Thor, or at least Asgard, and Bruce had no idea what this artifact was. Really, they needed to get a hold of Thor and make sure this was returned to the realm it came from since SHIELD no longer existed to immediately haul it away. It looked like some sort of odd trinket. The madmen had been raving about it being able to grant wishes, but frankly if that were true, they wouldn't be here right now, or they'd be insects, or something else. Instead, they won, he lost, and surprisingly no worse for wear on their part.

He ignored Tony's joking around, making random and stupid wishes on their way back to 'home', still under repair even after all this time though nearing completion. What he didn't know was that Tony still was fussing with it after he went to sleep on the plane, exhausted from changing, and he made one real wish when Banner couldn't hear it. One that came from the heart.

One no one else would know anything about except Bruce, who slept through Tony's quiet wish.

Nothing seemed to change at first. They landed, they arrived back at the Tower. Clint looked up, nodded in approval that they were okay, and went back to trading shit with someone on Call of Duty. He was heavily involved in the clean up of SHIELD's mess and it showed - he still had a heavy bandage on his left arm from a lucky move from a HYDRA agent, hence why he hadn't joined them.

It would come that night, just before Tony went off to sleep. It was the strangest message he would ever get in his life, because it wasn't an email, a text message, or anything of the life.

It was just a message on his screen in a box, white with black text. ASCII art, but the shape would be achingly familiar. It was that of a gryphon.

He couldn't sleep in, no matter how late he was up the night before. His brain was just hard wired for thought and thought required being awake and moving. And so, just after eight in the morning, Bruce's room was invaded by an angry man with an unkempt beard and bags under his eyes and hair all a mess.

"Not funny, Banner," Tony said angrily, letting Bruce blink or try to control a change or whatever he had to do from the stampeding and equally quick to leave Tony Stark who ended up slamming his door twice in the process.

He returned to his room in a huff and scowled at the little gryphon before he told JARVIS to clear the image.

He had been doing better.

So much better.

Why this? Why now?

Poor Bruce nearly ended up with a problem and Tony with a huge new repair bill, only by pure good luck did Bruce manage to keep it together (and some verbal help from JARVIS, too). He had no idea what was even going on, just a flash of some jumbled text on the screen and a very angry Tony.

JARVIS, of course, did as asked. The little ASCII art 'drawing' vanished from his screen.

But it would only take the morning news to indicate something else strange was going on. If Tony didn't know by the time he went about his way, he'd be hearing about it from Clint. It seemed that every major internet carrier in and around New York was getting complaints about slow speeds but more so, that there may be a new virus going around due to thousands of people getting a strange looking bird appearing on their screen.

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From:

supplies_bitch

Gryf's eyes slowly went wider and wider until a bright blush was across her cheeks as his lips moved up her arm, sending shivers straight through her until he tugged her forward, leaving her tucked up in his arms, still blushing. It felt good to snuggle up to him though, even across the center console of the car, sighing quietly.

"We have a lot to talk about, but right now, it can wait." A smile came to her lips as she leaned into him, most of her HUD shut down against the tsunami of information that threatened it. It left her with only a single open window, one that was a line of communication with JARVIS.

From:

starkingenuity

"Let me show you my home," Tony said against the shell of her ear, oddly excited about this, more than he had been when he let all of those TV crews tour the Avengers Tower for whatever segment they had been doing. He just liked to show off. Pepper thought it was a breech of security, especially when he flashed around the Hulk's stretchy pants.

Some people had no whimsy left in life, he had concluded.

Gryf was allowed to get out of the car herself as Tony backtracked across the garage where twenty other cars laid in wait, some on various stages of disrepair. He'd been modifying each of them slowly.

"I have got to get you a real cup of coffee. There's a Starbucks on the ground floor."

From:

supplies_bitch

She shivered harder at the feeling of his breath against her ear, chewing on the edge of her lip as she got out of the car and looked around the garage with an expression of complete unfamiliarity. She brushed some hair back, the pieces escaping from her ponytail, and tried to understand what she was looking at. "Are these all yours?" It was so confusing to see so many owned by one person. "I've seen them all in pictures but I didn't realize people all owned so many."

On top of that, she raised a brow towards him. "Coffee? Starbucks?"

From:

starkingenuity

"Coffee. The real stuff. Not the stuff I managed to get on the replicators," Tony laughed. "Starbucks is a store and yes, all of these are mine, but not everyone has so many. This is my hobby." Well, one of them. It was difficult to get into. "J-- Give her database searches on the weird stuff." It would save some time in the explanation, he figured, and offer a little more insight than he could with just words.

He beckoned her on to the elevator, giving her a little history of the Tower.

"We'll go up to my penthouse first. I'll show you where I was tossed out of before the Station scooped me up."

From:

supplies_bitch

With JARVIS providing her with controlled internet searches, Gryf read over simple things like what Starbucks was (why would there be one on two opposite corners of the same intersection? It made no sense) and coffee, then immediately started bothering JARVIS for more while her main focus stayed on Tony. Downloading something in the background while watching Youtube, really. (Oh and wait until she discovered Youtube!)

The last bit made her frown, though. "You mean when Loki threw you out of your own Tower?" She had, eventually, heard the story of the last battle in New York against Loki and his alien horde. "I have a vid for you, by the way. The big green monster smashed Loki into the floor of the Station during that ball we had, and I've looped it for my own enjoyment." She smirked, amused with her own bit of silly creation.

From:

starkingenuity

As long as she didn't discover the cat videos, they'd be all right. She might never leave the depths of her network connection otherwise!

He set a hand at the small of her back and then removed it, not sure why he was so self conscious. She didn't care for the casual touch most women did and they'd been out of practice for...a long, long while. He use to know, or be able to guess, what was all right.

But things had changed.

His life had changed.

No reactor, no suits, no SHIELD.

"You'll have to show me later. Watching Loki get pounded-- Wait. Loki's on the Station?"

From:

supplies_bitch

Her lips thinned at that and Gryf nodded. It was easier to handle than her constant blushing at the touches, but at the same time, she stayed close to Tony even as they moved through the Tower. With a little tilt of her head, she reached down and slid their hands together, lacing their fingers. They both had changed, drastically.

"Unfortunately, he was. It... didn't end well for him." She sighed at the thought, but as much as she wanted to put it out of her mind, it occurred to her that everyone else was still there. Without her. Could they survive? It hadn't come into her mind that she would leave before any of them!

From:

starkingenuity

"Was is better than is," Tony concluded and turned to look at Gryf as she took his hand. He liked to think he could be monogamous, but with Gryf, that had been impossible. She was simply remarkable and no one could ever stand up to her.

And so, despite his relationship with Pepper, Tony holds onto Gryf tightly. He'll deal with...everything...tomorrow.

"Let me fix you something to eat. Or try to. I've gotten...about the same actually."

From:

supplies_bitch

While Gryf had no idea about Pepper, for the moment. She remembered Tony telling her about Pepper, but it was a vague and far away thing when they were together on the Station. Her thumb slowly stroked the side of his hand, feeling deliciously naughty for someone like her. She had been ready to give him everything - herself, even the bio-tech inside of her - when he had vanished and time had yet to kill that those feelings.

After all, her whole goal had been to get back to Earth with him, with Col. Earth had been their destination from the start.

"About the same?" Questioning before she got it, then stepped in front of him and looked into his eyes, trying to read them. "What's going on, Tony?" Now with concern in her voice.

From:

starkingenuity

"I never really worked on cooking," Tony said with a grin. "But I can best up a pizza. Or we can order in. Or go out. I'm babbling. It's pretty bad when I realize that I'm babbling," he said and dragged her to the kitchen.

He was not at all prepared for her to say anything about his odd behavior. He didn't have a statement prepared. He hadn't thought he'd need one.

"Uh... Well a lot. Not with you. Things have just... It's been kinda crazy."

From:

supplies_bitch

"You are babbling." Gryf followed him into the kitchen, trying to look at everything all at once. Still, her focus went back to him, frowning just a little bit.

"What do you mean, crazy? What's been going on?" There was a softness to her voice that few had experienced outside of her brother, a sign of her real concern. "Are you okay?" Had things gone that wrong for Tony since he had been returned to his own universe? She studied his face, the lines, the darkness beneath his eyes-

That's when she noticed it, finally. There was no glow from beneath his tee shirt. Her eyes went as wide as they could and she stepped forward, looking, before meeting his eyes again. "The arc reactor?"

From:

starkingenuity

"Oh, yeah. Got it out." He put a hand over his chest. He missed it. The faint taste of coconut always on the back of his tongue, the glow at night... It had made him who he was. It had been his turning point. And sure, getting the shrapnel out of his heart was way more important that the hardware, but the scar hurt him more than the reactor ever did.

"But I'm fine. Medically, better than fine."

He wouldn't say it if he was otherwise any way. That was just the sort of man he happened to be. Suffering in silence was sort of like his penance.

From:

supplies_bitch

"I was going to give you my 'tech."

The words slip from her tongue before she can think about it, staring at his chest and trying to think on the ramifications of what it meant for him to have the arc reactor removed more than the ramifications of her own words. She had gone to Mordin, asked him if it was possible to do safely. She had been ready to offer Tony something she never thought she'd offer anyone. It was more than sex, more than love. It was giving a literal part of herself to someone else.

Then she realized what she said and a blush came over her cheeks and she looked away, embarrassed. Not ashamed, no, just embarrassed. Sort of like saying aloud 'I'd like to have sex with you'. It just wasn't said so bluntly or in someone's kitchen.

"I- I'm just glad you're okay." Yep. Failed save.

From:

starkingenuity

Color him confused. He paused opening the refrigerator and let his hand slip from the handle. "Uh..." He knew what that meant. It was a courting ritual of some sort. Gryf had explained it to him on one of the long, lonely Station nights. His eyebrow arched and he reached out to touch her pink cheeks. "Thank you."

Even the thought alone played with him. Being connected to another person forever, to some, might be horrifying.

Tony, however, lived in a world where he was always alone. People came and went. They never stayed for too long. Mostly, that was his own fault, he knew that.

"You didn't-- You shouldn't--" He let his fingers slip into the hair loosened from her ponytail and pulled her in. He probably shouldn't be kissing her in his kitchen but--

You just don't get over the love of your life in a year.

From:

supplies_bitch

It wasn't a courting ritual. Not even lovers generally did something like this. This was deeper than courting or lovers. It might have been something closer to soulmates. It would be something to explain, unless Tony learned over time as they spent more time together.

Gryf stood in the faint chill of the partially opened fridge as Tony stepped up to her, eyes half-closing at the softness of his touch. "I-" She started, but he kissed her and all of her thoughts skipped out of her mind. She brought a hand up to clutch at the material at his side, pulling him a little closer and enjoying every moment of something she had missed so badly.

Downside for them was a little birdie spotting them, but Clint was smart enough to duck out of sight and keep this to himself. For now.

From:

starkingenuity

Clint was always smart enough to duck out of sight or he'd have a ton of problems with his now-defunct job.

Tony lightly scraped his thumb along Gryf's jaw before he pulled back, maybe just a little too proud of himself for directing the flow of conversation away from him and back onto 'them.' He tried to be more gentle than he wanted to be, but ripping off their clothing in the kitchen--

Kissing her had been risky enough.

He still didn't want to think about Pepper. "I really missed you."

From:

supplies_bitch

She would have had words if he tried to rip her clothes off in the kitchen, so perhaps it's better for his health that he didn't. She opened her eyes and looked into his, completely missing that he had steered her away from an uncomfortable line of questioning, and her gaze softened with his words.

"I missed you, too. I... I spent all that time trying to get back to you. I downloaded the TARDIS right into me to try and fix her. I stole the code from a Time Vortex Manipulator and have been trying to understand it. I was ready to steal the TARDIS herself I had to, to get back to you."

From:

starkingenuity

Tony looked impressed. Her command and control of technology was enviable to say the least but that she had been actively trying to find him-- He couldn't begin to express how touched he truly was.

Tony lightly touched her cheek and then took her hand to guide Gryf somewhere less likely to be spotted by Pepper. He had no idea when she would be back. He rarely did. Their lives had unwound from each other.

"You-- thank you," he said, almost under his breath. He was speechless. He kissed her hand once more and took her out to the deck that overlooked the entire city. "I would have confiscated a piece of Asgardian technology long before if I knew how easy it was. Honestly, at first I thought I was crazy... But Banner-- he remembers too."

From:

supplies_bitch

Gryf was torn between not wanting to take her eyes off of Tony in case he vanished on her, or the other way around, and looking over... well, Earth. The city reminded her of Connexa in one sense, because as far as she could see was nothing but city stretched out in all directions, but at the same time, she wasn't used to the sight of roads criss-crossing between all of the buildings or so many cars.

Then she looked back to him, blinking a little. "Crazy? But... wait." Her brows come together and she looked absolutely confused. "How long has Doctor Banner been here with you? He was still on the Station last night! ...And why are you thanking me?" Not quite understanding.

From:

starkingenuity

"It's like we never left," Tony said, leaning on the balcony. His eyes were fixed on the ant-like people below. "I was in the Mk VII when I woke up, on the street. The Hulk was huffing in my face." He gave a little shrug.

"I never went anywhere that I could ever detect. Neither did he. But-- We had the same memories of the same people. I don't know exactly what to make of that but quantum physics isn't really my field. I just dabble."

From:

supplies_bitch

Gryf took that in in silence, matching his position leaning on the railing looking over the city. Everything had been the same for him, as if he had never left. Maybe selfishly, the first thing that came to her mind was, "I'm just glad you didn't forget me." It came out soft but very honest. If she had appeared here and he didn't know her... it hadn't even occurred to her, and it made her shiver at the thought.

She turned her head enough to look at him, the wind so high up playing with pieces of her hair. "Am I allowed to stay here, with you? ...Do you want me to?" They hadn't exactly discussed any of this, and she knew she didn't exactly fit into his life as it was right now, but how she wanted to.

From:

starkingenuity

"I might not be able to remember my phone number but how could I forget you?" he asked, not just suave but bluntly honest. "The Station wasn't always a picnic but I was genuinely happy there." He was never bored, he had the affection of a beautiful woman whose intellect matched his own--

It was heaven. It was why he had come to believe, for almost a year, that it had been a dream caused by his oxygen deprived mind.

"Gryf-- It's not like you to be so unsure of yourself," Tony teased. "You're more than welcome to stay here. If my deepest wishes was to see you again, I really hope to get to see you again for as long as you'll let me."

He'd figure out the rest later.

From:

supplies_bitch

"Maybe it would wipe your mind? I don't know. I don't know how any of this works." Gryf shifted her weight and slid her hand over top of his, leaving it there. Hers pale and fingers slim against his tanner, stronger ones.

"Hey, I'm suddenly over two thousand years in the past. Right now, I'm not sure of anything except you." She couldn't help but smile at his teasing, but more, at his offer for her to stay and that he wanted her here with him. She squeezed his hand beneath hers. "I'm not going anywhere, then." Her eyes go back over the unfamiliar city and she lets out a breath. She wouldn't leave here willingly. Not this time or this planet. She wanted to see everything that she could, with Tony.

From:

starkingenuity

"Time travel is possible then," Tony grinned. "And you're living proof. Maybe we should get inside." He wasn't one for conspiracy theories, but then again, one could never be too careful.

He knew he was being watched. HYDRA was everywhere.

That was no secret.

"It might be pretty amusing to let you try to run around New York and see how much you could break though," he teased. But where to hide Gryf until everything could be sorted out? That might be the best kept secret. "C'mon. Food like I promised." He even held the door for her.

From:

supplies_bitch

"Jack and the Doctor are proof of that, too. They travel all over time, usually making a bit of a mess of it." She grinned right back, but it faded a little as she realized that they were still there, on the Station. Possibly freaking out over the fact she was gone.

Her brows knit together as she went inside, then one lifted before she gestured around her a little. "There's practically no protection on anything in this city. And none of it is private!"