This hug is awkward. It is one of the most awkward hugs that Steve has ever had, because Tony's hand is still in the way and his beard is pressed up against Steve's neck and he's never actually had to deal with anybody's beard scratching up his neck before, so, there's that.
But he's trying, trying to find a common ground with Tony, trying to find all the parts where he fit and all the parts where he didn't exactly so he'd have to approximate or just start over fresh. Maybe Tony hadn't had Ultron and maybe they'd never fought over accords, or maybe there'd be villains and Avengers and countless others in their rosters and rogues gallery that they'll have to reintroduce.
And, yes, Steve is getting the distinct impression that Tony is disappointed he's waited for years and gotten a completely different Steve Rogers, one who knows him only so well, but he'll have to forgive Steve for the aliens' transgressions in having selected the wrong one. "Yeah, well, you're the genius, figure out an analogy that does make sense."
These kinds of conversations, oddly enough, remind him of the ones he had with Bucky, who wasn't the same Bucky anymore, but that hadn't ever mattered to Steve. The foundation was there, and yes, he had lots of things he had to work on separately; they both did. But as much as Bucky had kept thinking Steve was going to expect the same guy who used to take him out on double-dates and offered him a place to stay after his ma died to just show up out of nowhere and replace the Bucky that was in front of him, he'd been wrong about that. And whatever Tony thinks Steve expects of him, well, he's definitely wrong about it.
They might be here a long time. Steve isn't sure he's letting go until Tony relaxes.
"And - sure. But I don't like the thought of you being alone all the time," he says, mostly because Tony seems to have somehow thought that nobody wants to talk to him. "So I better see you topside or I'm coming back to your lab."
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But he's trying, trying to find a common ground with Tony, trying to find all the parts where he fit and all the parts where he didn't exactly so he'd have to approximate or just start over fresh. Maybe Tony hadn't had Ultron and maybe they'd never fought over accords, or maybe there'd be villains and Avengers and countless others in their rosters and rogues gallery that they'll have to reintroduce.
And, yes, Steve is getting the distinct impression that Tony is disappointed he's waited for years and gotten a completely different Steve Rogers, one who knows him only so well, but he'll have to forgive Steve for the aliens' transgressions in having selected the wrong one. "Yeah, well, you're the genius, figure out an analogy that does make sense."
These kinds of conversations, oddly enough, remind him of the ones he had with Bucky, who wasn't the same Bucky anymore, but that hadn't ever mattered to Steve. The foundation was there, and yes, he had lots of things he had to work on separately; they both did. But as much as Bucky had kept thinking Steve was going to expect the same guy who used to take him out on double-dates and offered him a place to stay after his ma died to just show up out of nowhere and replace the Bucky that was in front of him, he'd been wrong about that. And whatever Tony thinks Steve expects of him, well, he's definitely wrong about it.
They might be here a long time. Steve isn't sure he's letting go until Tony relaxes.
"And - sure. But I don't like the thought of you being alone all the time," he says, mostly because Tony seems to have somehow thought that nobody wants to talk to him. "So I better see you topside or I'm coming back to your lab."