endgame open post

[dropsofjupiter]

starters | picture prompts | quote prompts | texting | au fix its | anything

stark
aequitatis
pottspepper
starklegacy for au time hopping shenanigans because of course she would. and of course i would.

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[aequitatis]

[ Tony's not wrong, he really should have known better. He lets out a quiet, dry chuckle under his breath as he looks down for a moment. ]

Yeah, guess I should've seen it coming.

[ Even without the swipe, Steve moves over to give him some room to sit, and he positions himself so that he can see him. He can't help the way his heart feels as if it beats harder once he has him this close, and again, he has to actively remind himself that he can't actually reach out for him. ]

No, it's... Don't be sorry. It is good to see you. I've missed you.

[holdplease]

[ He's a few years out of practice. It can easily be forgiven. ]

Probably, yeah.

[ There's a swift inhale, and a slow exhale, all a part of the programming, but real enough to have been as if Tony were actually sitting there. He tilts his head, mouth turning up on one side. ]

We didn't get enough of this before the mission. I think part of that was definitely on me. I couldn't quite figure out how to bridge the rest of that gap.

So, I took the easy way out with this. [ He waves his hand a little at his holographic self. ]

[aequitatis]

[ It definitely looks real enough, it makes his heart ache even if he has gotten very good at hiding those kind of details. ]

No, it... I don't think it was just you. It's like we forgot how to really do this in all those years that passed. I hate that we couldn't fix it.

[ Steve shakes his head slightly. ]

I'm glad you did. It's something. It's more than I could ever ask.

[holdplease]

Part of it was, though. And yeah, maybe we did forget and we couldn't fix it then. Fixing---fixing what we can here and now, even if it's like this, will have to be enough.

[ The real Tony might've reached out to pat Steve's shoulder, even if it was a little awkwardly. The AI running the hologram knows that's something that would've happened, but it isn't something he's capable of doing. ]

So, catch me up already, come on. Did Morgan find the shield when you weren't looking yet and take it sledding? I think you'd have a few more gray hairs if that happened, honestly.

[aequitatis]

[ Steve nods. It's not a whole hell of a lot, but it's the only option he has left. It feels wrong, considering Tony - the real Tony - and he had never gotten to have this conversation. But, he obviously had left this recording in preparation for it, so he has to hope that some way he'll know that things did get better.

He chuckles quietly under his breath. ]

Not yet. I know it's coming, though. I tried to show her how to fish, but she ended up not being too impressed with it. Instead she somehow managed to convince me to have a tea party with her.

[ Not that it had been that hard, really. All Morgan had done was turn those big brown eyes at him, and he had caved within a second. Pepper had found it entirely too amusing when she found them on the porch, two hours later, surrounded by a good portion of her stuffed animals and sharing imaginary tea. ]

We've all been visiting, helping Pepper with Morgan. And Morgan letting us hang out with her. She's a great kid, Tony.

[holdplease]

[ It's got to be enough, then. This small, stolen moment. Tony would hope that it would be enough, if he couldn't be here. ]

Fishing? Yeah, I'm not surprised that didn't work out. She's too energetic for that. [ He chuckles though, at the mention of the tea party, and the corner of his mouth tucks into the side of his cheek. ] Please tell me she made you wear the hat and someone got a picture, cause I need that.

Glad to hear it. I can't imagine it's been ---easy for everyone. But it worked, right? Future saved for another generation? Worth it.