(no subject)

[starkingenuity]

"Not.  My.  Problem."  He's been raging over the finer points of his Jaeger Academy graduation dispatch for the last three hours.  "Do you not know who I am?  Do you not know the contributions I've made to the PPDC?  How about the genius I've lent to the program?  To the pons devices?  To the Jaeger control cores?  The drivesuits?  I do not--  Listen.  Marshall.  I should get a damned say in who you stick me with."

"That's not how it works, Ranger," the calm man tells the somewhat older gentleman sitting across from him.  Stark is a genius.  No one can or will ever doubt that.  He went through a year's worth of training and breaking and mental and physical exhaustion in the span of three months time.  It's...unheard of.  It's completely unheard of.

There's just one trouble.

Stark isn't Drift Compatible with anyone.  Well, with almost anyone.  Somehow, getting a neural bridge to the brain of his dad's science project isn't really high on the to-do list.  "Let me try the Kwoon room again.  Find someone else not in the Academy.  Just not him.  Yanno, I think you're trying to punish me!"

The Marshall sighs.  Director Fury had warned him about Stark.  He just hadn't listened.

Comments

[starkingenuity]

Bad move, Steve Rogers. Tony leans forward and lays an arm across the back of the driver's seat. "Can you take us to Tassels instead?" he asks and the driver just nods, taking a turn a bit too tightly to head back to the other end of town. "They have good food there. Not Indian, but you can get sushi if you're still feeling the need to be Asian tonight. Not sure how I feel about sushi at a place like this but hey, you like what you like."

Tassels looks like a high end restaurant going on, velvet ropes but no front windows. The clientele seem to be mostly men, and mostly drunk. Tony pays the driver and climbs out of the car. There are immediate snappings of camera phones in his direction and he flashes everyone a peace sign before waiting on Steve.

They do have to wait in line. No one makes Tony Stark wait. Giant bouncers pull open the ropes and then the doors for them. It becomes very obvious why this place is called Tassels when they slide up to the VIP section and a waitress comes over to take their drink order wearing fishnets and tassels...and nothing else.

[starspangledspandex]

He raises an eyebrow at the change in plans but the name of the place doesn't tell him anything. Steve hadn't known where they had planned to go anyway. Something tells him he's not going to like it. It's probably the talk about the food.

The outside is innocent enough though the bouncers say it's some kind of club. That much he knows. Why they're here instead of at a proper restaurant he's not sure. Is it just because of the whole challenge thing? He eyes the people standing in line outside and gives the cameras a look. He's in most of the pictures they're taking and probably on purpose; he can only imagine what the papers are going to read in the morning.

Inside, Steve finds out exactly what the name means and he keeps his eyes firmly averted. Tony should know from poking around in his head that he's more proper than this. Women in general make him uncomfortable; it's not new information.

Of course, trying to keep his eyes away from the waitress means he pretty much has to look at Tony. "Why are we here?"

[starkingenuity]

More proper also means a prude. Steve Rogers has not gotten past first base and Tony thinks that's really, really a waste. Look at his abs! Look at his pecs! Look at his ass! That's such a shame, the world needs to be able to share into that. So says Tony Stark. So say we all.

He drops into a velvet lined booth and stretches his arms across the top of it. He watches Steve stumble over himself to plop behind him and stare at his feet. Oh poor guy. He needs to get some breasts in his hands.

"We're at a burlesque club," Tony says easily and orders champagne, cherries, and blueberries. "You're allowed to look. That's the point. Touching...well you need to take that up with them. Are you blushing? Rogers, I know there's a lot of red moodlighting here but you look like you're blushing."

[starspangledspandex]

No, it means he respects himself and he just hasn't found the person he wants to be intimate with yet. There are always more important things happening in his life. Among other things, like his preferences, though whether Tony had picked up on those is another thing. Considering the club they're at, he's guessing not.

He gives the velvet lined booth an unimpressed look. It seems like a terrible material for decorating. He's still not looking at the waitress as he orders a soda for himself. Steve really isn't the sort to ogle. He also is, in fact, blushing.

"I'm not really... in the mood for looking," he mutters, sitting leaned forward with his arms resting on the table.

[starkingenuity]

Give it some time and Tony will figure it out. Steve's never actually acting on his desires and therefore, unlike what Steve experienced of Tony's varied sex life, Tony only has bits and pieces. He might have memories of Steve watching Bucky...or even his dad...but for all of his smarts, it just doesn't occur to him that Steve Rogers, Mister Prim and Proper, might like it up the ass.

That realization is going to be hilarious though in light of what Tony's trying to get him to do now.

"Well all right, just look at me. I'm just as pretty," he jokes and watches the waitress return with their champagne and Steve's soda. "Get a little rum for that too, all right? Start up a bottle service tab, thanks."

Tony turns his gaze on poor Steve and looks him over.

"Loosen up a little," he suggests. "Nothing going on here is wrong."

[starspangledspandex]

For Steve it's all about comfort and who he's relaxed around. He's never felt that confident around women. He knows they can be just as smart and deadly as any man, he doesn't doubt that, he's just too unsure about how to talk to them. Some women find that endearing, Steve just finds it frustrating.

Hilarious, yes, that's exactly how Steve views it. Not. Tony might consider for a moment that the super-soldier could be the one giving just easily. He certainly doesn't know what he prefers yet. In case the man hadn't noticed, Steve is looking at him. He is pretty too. Little does Tony know that he's better than all the women walking around pretty much naked.

"No thanks on the rum," Steve shakes his head as he corrects Tony. He gives the man a look. "You know I can't get drunk." There's no reason for him to drink alcohol if he can't feel the effects. Most of it isn't a taste he enjoys.

"It may not be wrong but that doesn't mean I'm comfortable with it," he points out. "You realize the USO girls were pushing it back then, right?"

[starkingenuity]

It's the taste, Steve! That's why there's such a thing as rum extract! As rum cake! People genuinely like the taste of it. "I'm not trying to get you drunk." Though that seems like another challenge. Tony just needs to put his money towards the war effort more than anything else right now.

The moment they stomp the Breach, however, he's going to pour gallons of gin down the old man's gullet. Just for fun.

"But that doesn't mean you can't have any of this." He's going to spice up your cola, Steve. Just let it go. "Or try the champagne. It's very sweet." They have two long neck glasses poured from them by their scantily clad waitress any way and Tony drops the fruit in to let the bubbles cause them to dance.

He finds the whole idea of Steve lifting up scantily glad women in shows and yet barely kiss one to be charming. Endearing. Sad. He gives the blond a shrug.

"Riding topless on the subway is pushing it these days," Tony replies and offers his drink out to clink for good luck. "To us, Steve Rogers. For not killing each other first time out."

[starspangledspandex]

He glances up at their waitress briefly as she pours rum in his drink and he's not going to complain about it. Steve's only really tasted cheaper things that can be found during a war. He does know that Tony knows his drinks so why not?

If they manage to storm the breech and they come out on the other side, Steve will let Tony do his best to get him drunk.

He watches the bubbles for a moment and he takes a sip of the rum and coke. Steve sighs and shakes his head, turning the glass in his hand. "I'm just not used to it."

Steve does smile at the toast and he raises his glass to clink it against Tony's. "To us."

[starkingenuity]

"I promise that I will do my best to preserve your chastity," Tony grins as their glasses clink together. He's not here for the girls, not really, he's here for Steve's reactions and so far? They are not even slightly disappointing him. He finishes his first glass of champagne easily enough, catching the cherry between his teeth to tug out the stem with his fingers and set it aside.

It's weird to be part of an us. There's always just been Tony. His friends don't count because they aren't really friends. His creations don't count because they aren't alive.

But he and Steve are a pair now. They are the same...sort of. They connect. That's proof positive that Tony can connect to someone.

The music is pretty loud so talking to Steve after their first drink becomes impossible without their heads being together. He says he's going to order and for Tony, that means pizza. "It's actually pretty good here," he yells into Steve's ear.

[starspangledspandex]

Steve scoffs and shakes his head, though he could take that plenty of ways he's choosing to be amused. "Thanks, I appreciate it."

To be honest, Steve is surprised that most of Tony's attention is on him and not on the naked women that keep strolling by and he's pretty sure that one keeps leaning further over the table than necessary. It makes him duck his head sheepishly each time.

About halfway through his drink, he reaches out for the glass of champagne and takes a drink to taste it. He had told Tony that he's willing to try new things.

For the most part, Steve has been alone. Bucky had always been pushing dates at him but it just hadn't worked out. He still hasn't decided whether it's a good thing to be connected to Tony. They're complete opposites.

If it came down to the wire, he doesn't see the other man sacrificing himself. He wishes he could but as is? He's still got an arrogant streak that might get them both killed.

"Pizza's fine," he mostly yells back with a wave of the hand. Steve doesn't care what they eat but he is hungry.

[starkingenuity]

That a boy, Steve. The champagne is absolutely delicious. It tastes like a sweeter soda with a hint if fruit. Tony watches Steve with the drink and offers him a thumb's up as he orders the pizza. The next time he leans in, his hand rests on the blond's knee. He's not coming onto him. He just needs the leverage. Steve is too tall. And Tony is use to having his hand on someone's knee. Usually it's a beautiful woman.

"When do you think they'll actually let us at a Kaiju?" he asks, probably too excited for words at the thought. "It's got to be soon, right? Do you think it'll hit LA?"

Tony's bright eyes and reckless. In a way, that aligns him to Steve. They are both almost stupidly heroic.

Dinner is on the way, but while Steve might be a bottomless pit, Tony wants something a whole lot more exciting. He wants monsters. And he wants to save the world.

[starspangledspandex]

It does taste pretty good, Steve has to agree. It's definitely better than the swill he'd tried to get drunk on before but that's not really much of a surprise. He glances down at the hand on his knee but he doesn't say anything. It seems innocent enough and Steve is pretty tall.

"I hope we detect it out of the breech before it gets here," he responds with a frown. Steve is serious because the death rate for Jaeger pilots is off the charts and one wrong move means they're Kaiju food. "And I don't know, I imagine it'll depend on how the trial tomorrow goes."

[starkingenuity]

"Last I heard, they were working on that," Tony shouts. He's not afraid, he just wants his turn in a Jaeger. He wants to fight. Maybe he'll feel differently after he's in there, but Tony is tenacious. Steve's already faced his wars. And Tony-- Tony's just given wars their weapons. It's his turn to fight.

What the biologists are doing to detect and categorize the Kaiju are pretty amazing. Tony's never taken the time to really look into it, he's so much more concerned about the hardware.

"And tomorrow's trial is going to go perfectly!"

Leaning over Steve, he refills both of their glasses as the pizza is brought over by one of the men, wearing all black. He doesn't blame a mostly naked waitress wanting to keep her tits out of the melted cheese.

"You're gonna love this, Brooklyn!"

[starspangledspandex]

"It'd be a good step forward," he shouts back. Steve doesn't care for this atmosphere at all. This sort of place isn't made for conversation. He would have preferred the Indian food.

He's just glad to be back to doing something useful. Steve had been made this way on purpose and he'd promised to protect people. Whatever it takes. He's still alive for a reason and this has to be it. He wants to fight but it's not for the thrill of it. People die. People get hurt. If someone has to fight, he wants it to be him.

"I hope so!" he agrees with a nod. Today had been rough. Hopefully with a real Jaeger it'll be different. Steve glances up at the dressed waiter with a smile and says thanks, though he doesn't know if the man can hear him.

"I don't know, there were some great pizza places in New York," he calls back, sparing another look after the man that had brought their pizza. He has a nice butt okay and Steve has eyes. They don't linger long though--he's starving.

[starkingenuity]

Tony's trained to read people. He might not bother to remember his social security number or care about the galleries of fine art he owns, or had owned, or will own in the future, but he does understand the working ways of people and Steve Rogers just checked out that waiter's ass. These things use to be able to help Tony in his administrative life, use to help him garner contracts. Now, he's just using his observations to get to know the man that's going to be in his head for the long run, if they can work together inside of a Jaeger.

Besides, nothing in the small moments of Steve's brain he'd had happened to tell him that Captain America liked dick. He's just going to leave it there then. And wait. Especially because he thought the blond had interest in that British woman. He did seem to fight with his dad a lot about her. Or at least get jealous about--

No.

Quite possibly on the wrong track, Tony just leaves it there.

It's hard to pay attention to anything other than Steve sort of unhinging his jaw to shove in a pizza.

"Damn. So all my tax dollars have been going to feeding you then."

[starspangledspandex]

He hopes to stay subtle enough that it doesn't become a thing because he knows that Tony could do terrible things with information like Steve's tastes. Terrible for him, anyway. He seems like the type to play matchmaker. Steve has other things to do right now. His personal life has always taken a backseat to his duty.

If only Tony knew just how close that train of thought was to the truth. Steve is pretty sure he'd prefer to keep it to himself but he's going to find out from the Drift sometime. If they live long enough, there's going to be something. Some piece that clicks into place. Steve's only saving grace is that he'd never acted on anything. There had been the kisses--with the receptionist and Peggy--but neither had exactly gone anywhere.

He's only on his second piece. Only. Steve would chuckle a little if his mouth had less pizza in it. He has to be good natured about it. He chews and swallows, "Not all of them. It's more in the range of fifty percent."

[starkingenuity]

He can really appreciate a man that has a sense of humor. He's known Steve for months now, trained with him, but he never found him funny at all. Probably because he had been actively hating his guts like a ten year old for the majority of that time.

Now, there's no reason to hate Steve at all. That's what was so beautiful about a Drift. They got to see each other from all sides and angles and appreciate each other for who they are. Or, you know, in the case of a bad Drift, hate each other even more. Luckily, that hadn't happened this time.

"The rest probably went to stock in sweat pants," he teases.

The food is good. The entertainment enlightening. Tony skips a lap dance in favor of actually going to the Indian place after all and enjoys himself smoking Steve out with the spice content of the vindaloo.

Steve's willingness to try has him impossibly pleased. It's a good night. An interesting night. And tomorrow is going to be even better.

He wants in a Jaeger so bad. So very badly.

[starspangledspandex]

Well sometimes it's still hard for Steve to feel relaxed enough around his coworkers to joke around. He's pretty serious. He has to be close to someone to let his guard down a little and there's nothing that brings two people together like the Drift.

Steve nods as he reaches for more pizza, "Can never have too many pairs."

He trails along to the Indian place too. While he's not entirely sure he has a say in the matter, he doesn't mind either. It's good to hang out with Tony outside the Shatterdome. He's never been much for spicy food but he's also sure that spicy food and his whole list of health issues had been a good combination either.

On the plus side, new things and it is a good night. On the other side, he's not sure he can actually taste things with his tongue anymore. Steve refrains from making any other googly eyes at anyone.

He hopes tomorrow goes better than the simulation. Steve doesn't want to be the one that crushes Tony's dreams. He can't be that person. It's going to be an interesting ride either way.

[starkingenuity]

"What about a real Jaeger this time, Marshall?" Bright and early, Tony's up and ready. He looks good for a man that downed his liver's weight in alcohol the night before between the strip club and the Indian restaurant.

"Cool your jets, Stark," Fury smirks. "It's not ready yet."

"Yeah about that? Let me in on it. I did the design work, I could help with the engineering--"

"You'll just insist on painting it red and we already have two Mark IVs that are primarily red. Besides, you need to train." Fury, obviously, has his one-eyed food down. Tony finds it annoying and he tried to get Steve to back him up but Rogers is playing the goody-two-shoes head of the class. Asshole. "Gentlemen, to your drivesuit chambers, please? We'll get you both in a simulator conn-pod and start today's exercises."

[starspangledspandex]

He's up early too and on time just like always. Steve doesn't really do the sleep in thing. He's never been one to waste time. He gives Tony an exasperated look at his insistence. As much as he wants to get in a Jaeger and do something, he also knows that the right training is incredibly imporant.

"Patience," he tells the other man. "We'll get there. We need to make sure we know wha we're doing."

He nods to Marshall, "Yes, Sir." Steve hopes that Tony won't argue about this too much. They can't just jump in, not after the mess of their simulation and he still isn't used to all this technology. He heads for his drivesuit chamber and it doesn't take too long before he's showing up at the pod carrying his helmet.

"Ready for this?"

[starkingenuity]

"I was born ready. Literally. I mean, with a controller in one hand a glass of bourbon in the other. And you have no idea what a controller is. I'm going to get you an Atari, Steve. I promise. No one should ever miss out on Frogger." The blank look from Rogers lightens his mood and he leads the way to their driversuit chamber to get fitted with the neurospine and their armor. He's noticed that, since yesterday, they've started to look somewhat uniform what is...annoying. Tony doesn't care for the white and red stripes along his left arm. Or the big old star in the middle of his chest.

Ah, great. He gets to wear a flag too. At least Steve's armor has transformed a little to look less...spangly, though. He approves of the mostly red color schemes.

The engineers look a little happier too, probably because this could mean a good gig for them, getting pilots to actually crew for. Tony even holds his tongue when one of the riveters misses the first time. She gets it on the next go and he smiles at her.

Yep. He's in a good mood too.

They're loaded into the conn-pod and Tony straps himself into his hardness before the countdown to drift starts up again. "I'll try to keep my sex life to myself this time," he teases, somewhat veiled.

[starspangledspandex]

He gives Tony a blank look at the reference and no, he doesn't get it. All of it goes a little over his head. There's only so much he can pick up from the Drift. "Is that some kind of game?"

Steve notices the changes to the suits but he doesn't care what he wears. So long as it's in working order he's good. He'll let Tony be the vain one.

"That'd be appreciated," Steve gives him a tight smile and he settles into his own harness. He takes a deep breath as the countdown starts and steels himself for the onslaught of memories.

[starkingenuity]

Six, five--

Call it all in. The more you try to hide, the more it becomes the forefront of your mind, the more it overtakes you.

Four, three--

Breathe out at one. Keep on breathing out until you feel the Drift hit you. Then suck it all back in, all of it, everything your Drift partner is, everything you are. Let it flow. Let it become natural. Do not chase the R.A.B.I.T.

Two, one--

It hits like a brick, stark white and falling away into misty blue ash.

Their lives intersect and it's jarring and then-- Well he just understands it. Peggy, Bucky, his dad, Rhodey, Pepper, the Academy, conflicting memories of the same events-- And then he finds the sweet spot and he can see outside of his own head because he has two sets of eyes now.

It clicks.

He glances over at Steve, physically, though his head feels sluggish.

All right? "Thumbs up, Captain, we square?" Is it suppose to feel like a fish tank?

[starspangledspandex]

The R.A.B.I.T is what concerns Steve the most. He knows he'd done a poor job of it last time and it hadn't helped Tony in the slightest. They're just memories. It's not here and now; he'll never be in any of those places again. Never see any of those people again. He has to accept it. He can't dwell on the what-ifs in the Drift.

Steve knows all the tips and techniques. He's prepared, mostly, for what it feels like this time. It means he can focus his effort and keeping his cool. He breathes out when he's supposed to and in when the Drift hits.

Bucky's there again, reaching for him, falling, but he lets it happen. Lets it slide. Lets it bleed into the mixture of memories flashing between them. He doesn't focus. He wants to, he wants to examine and learn more about Tony. He wants to live in moments of his old life but he doesn't let himself.

Steve just lets himself exist in the Drift and it all evens out. It falls into place. It's... weird. Weird is a good word. He glances at Tony and it's weird that he could see himself through the man's eyes if he'd wanted.

Yeah. Steve gives him an actual thumbs up. "Good to go," he says out loud. It'll even out more once we're calibrated. I think.

[starkingenuity]

"All right, Marshall, looks like we're good to go!"

Fury's really not thrilled by the way Tony Stark talks to him but there's not a lot of choice in the matter. He mutters under his breath about men thinking that they control the world and has his assistant give the command to start the practice missions.

It's mostly just calisthenics, to see how their brains react to being hardwired together. Working even a pseudo Jaeger's limbs isn't exactly easy, even if he and Steve are meshing pretty well together. The problem is that Tony keeps trying to take over, to do it all himself.

It's trust issues.

"Stark! You have to work together!"

Tony mostly ignores the piped in voice. He's not doing this on purpose, in fact, he's having a mental conversation with Steve on women in uniforms. But if he doesn't stop, that start of a nosebleed is going to become a whole lot worse.