revivalproject | Mermay!!

Entry tags:

Mermay!!

WHO: Steve Rogers
WHERE: all around
WHAT: MERMAY
WHEN: MERMAY
WARNINGS: ....MERMAY

darling it's better

Steve can be found on his now early-morning swim around town, zipping past anyone. He'll happily deliver anything to anyone within the confines of Temba, for any reason, in the early morning, since he makes a whole loop around. He's faster than a shark, but he's got a rather ostentatious blue tail, with red and white striped fins.

He seems to be in a decent mood, if only because he's having trouble with a lot of his memories of the past that don't reconcile with his ones of being a merman. Anytime he tries too hard to wonder why there's a lack of water if he thinks too hard, the memory disappears like seafoam.

He's having one of those such moments, paused mid-fin flip, eyes in concentration as he starts to sink, but then, he shakes his head, and keeps swimming. That was weird!

down where it's wetter

Sitting on a rock somewhere, Steve's drawing things into the sand. If you ask, he could make a whole series of drawings, each of them replacing the last, ephemeral in nature, washed away by the waves.

"I can try drawing you next," he offers. He's not sure how portraits will work out in the sand, but he'll give it a good college try.

take it from me!

[ cw: injury ]

Having swum through a whole nest of sea urchins in order to grab one, somehow Steve'd accidentally loosened a whole bunch of them, and they'd fallen, mostly on his tail.

He swims out of there quickly, but he has lots of barbs sticking out. He pauses to pull one out, only to manage to accidentally shatter a few of the ones in a cluster and leave them further embedded into his tail. Trying to violently flip it doesn't really help, either. He needs to swim somewhere he can sit down and address this as best as he can.

"Tell me you have tweezers on you," he requests of the nearest He-Row that he finds.

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Steve had, in fact, heard the music. He had thought it was quite nice, except for the snapped string, which he's sure that he'd caused. It's a shame, really, because on any other day, he would've liked to hear Tony play.

Despite his entrance, Steve crosses his arms over his chest and tries to ignore the pain, plenty of spines sticking out of his tail making him look like a porcupine, some others just snapped close to the skin, and some others making black bumps underneath his beautiful tail.

He looks like a pathetic morningstar.

"Swam through a nest of sea urchin," is what he says, as he takes a bag off his shoulder and lets it fall to the floor, full of the stuff. "Thought maybe we could have some uni."

A foraging misadventure was a much funnier answer than Tony had braced himself for, surprising him again with a bubble of a laugh that still ended with a pitying sigh. He was already on his way down when he cautioned, "Don't move around too much, Winghead," so those spines couldn't get embedded even further before Tony could deal with them. The guitar hit the ground carelessly with a hollow thunk next to the bag of urchins as Tony threw it aside to wrap an arm around Steve instead and drift him over to the light spilling down the steps of the waiting transport shuttle. "Your romantic evening can still be salvaged," he promised, "But maybe bring a big bouquet, or something really shiny, too."

His ear fins deflate a little when Tony laughs at him, but he supposes he deserves it, as he floats on over and lets Tony carry him the rest of the way. "Wasn't a romantic evening," he says. "I was gonna deliver some. Thought maybe you'd want one. You and Jan."

Only because they were the fanciest people he knows, so maybe they'd actually like the taste, or know what to do with it.

That first part must not have stuck, because Tony purred, "At the same time? Ambitious," as he directed Steve onto the stairs where he could see best. His tools weren't too far, but the same deft claws that sliced easily through metal guitar strings made for fine tweezers, at least for the moment and enough that suited Tony's impatience. He'd hardly made sure Steve was settled before he was sinking down into the coil of his own tail to coax Steve's fin into his lap and start meticulously searching there first for any delicate spines that he might miss without the feathery sweep over Steve's brilliant stripes. The water fizzed as his currents sought out any iron that Tony couldn't see dispersed in the water.

Yeah, yeah, of course Tony would take the opportunity to flirt. It's not like Steve's helping, but this was the first place he thought to go. Some of his skin is already healing over the ones that he broke, which means they're embedded quite deep, the blue a raised little bump over a dark black underneath. The serum works wonders, but it's also annoying sometimes.

He might have to break the skin in order to get those ones out, as the point of ingress is no longer obvious.

"Next time I go out there, I'm putting armor on first," he says.

The easier spines had to come out first as Tony worked his way up Steve's tail, feeling his way along the scales and mapping where he had to return as he went. The pins that he could grab were quickly gathered into his palm, and in his focus he only seemed to hesitate when the intrusion had left Steve's beautiful scales bunched or shattered, and Tony had to carefully smooth them down or pluck them free as well. He had directed Steve's tail up over his shoulder by the time he answered, "Just send in one of the bots if there has to be a next time. Are you even sure these aren't poisonous? You should ask Jon..." He flushed slightly, glad to have another scale to focus on intently, sure he had said that exact phrase enough times to be embarrassingly predictable now, but he still had to finish, "He'll know how to treat it, if it's a problem."

"It'll be fine, Tony," he says, wincing a little as he plucks a particularly tough one out. He looks embarrassed and apologetic when they start bleeding once pulled, even though he's sure Tony isn't afraid of getting a little blood on himself and he's sure his own Steve's bled on him a couple times before.

"Serum's already taking care of these ones," he says, pointing to some of them that had been taken out earlier, where the tail looks fresh and new, aside from how the scales haven't grown back.

"And you know I'm resistant to poison," he adds. "If you want me to get along with your boyfrie--" he sucks in a breath for a moment. "--nd, you could do the normal thing and invite us both to dinner. Jan and I are your family, right?"

The amount of Steve's blood that Tony'd personally had in his mouth made the little blooms of it in the water barely register, and they were quickly dulled by the spark that ran through them. It was only when Tony glanced up at that wince that it occurred to him to slow down with a more apologetic sooth over the last splinter that he pulled, realizing this might have been yet another intimacy that he had been taking for granted. He still might have dug his claws in a little too aggressively when Steve took his own liberties with Tony's intentions. Not that he had an argument.

"And give her another opportunity to try to kill him?" he asked. She hadn't pulled any punches in their game of chicken, and that was her good impression best behaviour. Mumbled into Steve's tail, he did add, "I'll think about it," because they were going to have plenty of opportunities to share a meal imminently, and Steve could find out for himself how viable that idea was once Tony had the university properly prepared.

Steve appreciates that Tony's trying to take a gentler touch with him. Even though he doesn't really mind when it hurts to take out the spikes - he's gotten in worse scraps before, but even Steve Rogers hates papercuts and splinters.

There's a few in there so deep; he's not looking forward to those ones. But if Tony's willing to do those, it's at least nicer than having to do them himself.

"Don't think she was really going to hurt him," he responds. It was just a game, after all.

Tony was rapidly running out of the easier spines to extract, so those more embedded ones were going to have to be managed soon and he could only put it off for so long by testing them hopefully for a sliver that he could grip. Just as methodically, he felt his way back down Steve's tail, sliding himself back down the length of it with his fingers tracing a constant warm hum along the patterns of Steve's scales. It must have been clear that he no longer had a real excuse by the time he was restlessly petting just over Steve's elegant fin, and he chewed his lip like he had to focus when he was really trying to come up with any reason to maintain the contact.

"She thinks we're dating--" he produced, and already had to rephrase with his head tipped side to side, "we are dating, I guess, back home, on her Earth. Did she tell you that?" He had given up his searching, both hands just wrapped around Steve's tail, fingers tapping with sparks stretching between them. "For me, we had tried, long time ago, but I was lying to her then, to all of you, and hadn't told you that I was Iron Man. When she found out, you all found out, she was hurt, called me all kinds of names, mostly because I was supposed to be her husband's friend. Iron Man was his friend, and Tony Stark was dating his wife. That's..." A unique kind of betrayal, Tony had to admit, and not one that he thought they'd recover from; that wasn't a great quality in a romantic partner. He started to laugh then, though, because he had to add, "You--Steve was furious, though. I think he was more mad than she was. You're right about the family thing."

"Wait, Jan was cheating on her husband with you?" he asks, shocked. He hadn't thought Jan would be a cheater, and he hadn't thought Tony would settle for being the other man. He's hoping for an excuse for all this, because it's making him a little more wary of the both of them.

He has no room in his heart for infidelity. It seems the other Steve Rogers agrees on that front.

Even if it's his friend, helping him get his scales out. He can see Tony's just doing petting now, though, so he might have to just cut the rest out himself. He's not sure what Tony expects out of telling Steve this - he also wouldn't know what Jan expects from Tony. Was she going to leave her husband for him?

Managing the balance between when Tony had to explain all of the details to Steve, and when that was just being patronizing, was not a field that Tony had yet mastered. He grimaced, tipping his head to the side, kind of, there was definitely more to that story and how often Tony was playing the 'other man' definitely was its own argument. In this case, he could try to defend, "They were separated, at the time, it was a rebound thing, I thought I'd have the chance to show her how she should be treated..." Okay, maybe he should have let Jan explain that one. "They had a lot of 'off' periods," he concluded, more of a grumble as he tried to find any spine on Steve's tail to consume his attention, and mostly being thwarted by the ones that were left. At least that gave him the excuse to suddenly divert with a tug, "Gotta go to the lab. Can you...should you swim? Come on." He held an arm out to keep Steve from moving his tail too much and embedding the problem any further.

Well, that they weren't cheating feels better to Steve. It makes more sense. But honestly, if Hank was such a bad husband to Jan, then he doesn't know why the other Steve had qualms with it - unless he thought that Tony was just going to take her away from Hank only to leave her high and dry after that. That might have been the case - Tony did used to be a playboy.

"Yeah, I can swim," he says, because Steve Rogers would have to be dead to give a different response. "You still got that tablet?" he asks.

Tony was going to ignore it anyway, already dumping Steve's bag and the guitar into his care so Steve was at a disadvantage when Tony wrapped an arm around him to take control of the swimming part. He did acknowledge the question, but only to go, "Hm?" as he floated them up and onto the ship, where he could do better work. It was clear he already had been as they moved through the Glitter Food, walls that they passed deconstructed to expose the wiring or pipes within, tools left scattered on the floor, and greasy marks in between. That project would have to wait yet, as Tony brought them impatiently through the corridors to the mobile forge that the Agrii had created on the ship, and he had done his best to make actually functional. It wasn't nearly as well stocked as either the workshop in the library, or the forge in the city, but since leaving that space to Donnie, it had progressed rapidly. There was even a blinding light that Tony swung over the workbench that Steve was ushered up onto, and a pair of magnifying glasses that Tony pushed on like he was prepared to cut a gem.

Steve isn't really sure where they're headed, but he does trust Tony with his life. He's doing that thing again, probably, where he has a whole conversation in his head that Steve isn't invited to. But that's okay, because Steve has whole conversations in his head too, he just tries not to let Tony know about them.

He lifts up his hands to block the light, but then settles in, tail swinging back and forth. It hurts a little bit to do so, but he's also hoping that it either dislodges some more of the spines or cuts him a little more so that it will dislodge them.

This was doing the opposite of helping, which Tony said by clicking his tongue, then murmuring honeyed encouragement when Steve kept still long enough for him to examine his first chosen problem. He had to keep his own tail looped tightly around the leg of the table to stay grounded, so the tweezers he finally had on hand didn't scorch Steve when Tony started his careful extraction. As quick as he could be, for this one he was very deliberate, fingers all splayed to preserve Steve's scales and try to push the spine out. He cut a sidelong look Steve's way even as he continued to mutter at his work like he would talk to one of his devices on the table; with the intimate affection of whispering into a date's ear.

Steve just keeps his focus on Tony working - he'd always loved watching Tony work, whether it was on a machine or poring over text. Something about watching the gears whirr in his brain without knowing what sort of outcome he'd produce but always being amazed by it every time - good or bad, just amazed - was always something special.

There's nothing different about this, only, now he expressly has permission to do so. He'd think if he had done so a few days ago it might come off as a little creepy if he wasn't doodling in the tablet.

Maybe it's because Tony does other things, like whisper into his tools, making Steve feel like he's eavesdropping. It's quite ridiculous. If his ears weren't white fringed, they might color red. He clears his throat. "Thank you, for helping. I know this isn't... what you wanna do with your afternoon."

That discomfort was a little hard to read, but Steve wasn't hissing or wincing like he had been outside, so Tony took it as an invitation to work faster and less cautiously. He tossed his head with another click of his tongue like he had to discourage Steve again though he wasn't moving around so much, and answered, "Can't think of anything nicer to be getting my hands on right now." Maybe carefully nicking the thin, new skin open again wasn't ideal, but Tony didn't have a prettier project to put on the table.

Definitely not. Steve's tail glints underneath the light, underneath the shadows of movement. Up-close the scales aren't just blue, they're lightly iridescent. The blood that mars the water is red, but even the soft plumes make an interesting match against the rigid patterns of deep blue.

Steve, too, is sitting back, propped up on his arms, triceps flexed, entire torso essentially on display.

He just smirks. "Don't know about all that, your machines are pretty."

It was difficult to look up at Steve's alluring lounge without being painfully aware of how his work kept Tony bent over with glasses slipping down his nose, and he couldn't remember the last time anyone had even acknowledged his work, or at least that was how Tony rationalized his own squirming then, feeling the metal practically hum in his fingers. He had to take a breath and consciously push his shoulders back to find some of that smirking self-assurance that sold cover stories, and still kept his focus intent on another spine as he said, "From my personal artist in residence, that means a lot. I'll figure out how to be as insufferable as possible about it the next time someone's vulnerable on my table."

"Think you're managing to do that just fine," Steve responds, entirely too casually. It's good, it means they're talking again, back to business as usual. He hadn't thought that it'd be that quick, but maybe it's because this Tony's got some sort of concerted effort to let Steve know he's not like the other one.

"Is it okay if I come down to your lab more?" he asks, gently. He just thinks that he oughta try a little, too. And maybe it'll be good for them, having company.

Directly asking like that was a little too vulnerable, more than the torn skin under Tony's fingers, and his jaw flexed with tension as he smoothed Steve's scales down over where he had pulled another spine, meaningfully careful in response to Steve's cadence. They were supposed to have skipped that conversation when Tony handed him the pen, and then Tony had screwed it up for himself by sparking at Steve. "If it'll stop you from coming up with these terrible excuses to get my attention," he accused, and before Steve could try to be sincere again where Tony had to look him in the eye, added, "Turn over."

Steve frowns, having taken this entirely the wrong way. "Well, if you don't want me there, you can just say so," he says. "I don't want to be in your space if you're just going to be annoyed at me the whole time." But he does as he's asked anyway, and turns over, tail where his quads would be flat against the table, propped up on his elbows. He looks over his shoulder. "Is it bad?"

"I'll just be working," Tony mumbled in answer, still reluctant to meet Steve's eye, leaving Steve to decide if that was an assurance that Tony had better things to do than be annoyed, or a warning that being in the shop wasn't going to be terribly fun. The hand Tony splayed on Steve's shoulder, ostensibly to keep him still, might have been more forthcoming in the way it soothed down his side then massaged into his hip, both impulsively as Tony tensed and to keep Steve from reacting as Tony had to tear open another scab. "Nothing to worry about, looks great," Tony said, hopefully brightly enough that his grimace at extracting a cluster of urchin spikes wasn't obvious.

He wonders offhandedly how many times Tony's done something similar for his Steve - bandaged his wounds or helped him out when he was otherwise incapacitated for some reason. It's not that he expected Tony to react with unease, but there's a certain comfort and familiarity here that he thinks might be a brick wall between him and Tony at home.

Steve thinks it's nice. Honestly, despite his words being prickly, he likes when they just fall into battle without many words, with no arguments. His tone says one thing, his hands say another.

He turns his head around, and then he lowers himself down, elbows crossed to pillow his head, which also helps when Tony touches a part of his tail where the serum's already caused an inflammation to start, and is making the skin very tender for the moment. He winces. "Keep going," he says, managing his breathing.

darling it's better

down where it's wetter

take it from me!

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