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tamingthemuseTitle: Room for Improvement (extra)
Fandom: the Avengers/ Exalted
Prompt: relationships
Warnings: none
Rating: PG-13
Summary: After coming home Exalted, Tony has plans and ideas all but pouring out of his ears. Back in Creation, there was magic everywhere, and a little hard work wasn’t going to stop him from finding those wells of magic in his own world.
Tony quickly gathered up Rhodey and deposited him with Iron Dust and Bruce, who were still in Bruce’s lab. And they called him a workaholic.
Albeit, they were working on something far different than the star charts that Tony had left them with.
He quickly introduced Iron Dust and Rhodey, ignoring Rhodey’s curious stare as Iron Dust settled beside Tony, their shoulders touching as he gazed back at Rhodey, yellow eyes unblinking.
With a quick order to JARVIS to fetch White Song and the rest of the Avengers, Tony waited for the rest to arrive by showing them the map he had made. Iron Dust hummed under his breath as he leaned over the map, one finger touching his chin in thought.
“Did you do this from your memories, or,” his eyes flicked up to catch Tony’s gaze, “from your memories?”
Rhodey made an odd noise, but Tony chose to ignore that as well.
“From my own memories. I told you before, I have an eidetic memory. I think I might have Steve paint this, though, so some things might be off, once finished. I’ll also have JARVIS make a digital copy that’ll be much more accurate. I’ll code in little trees and shrubs, too, it’ll be perfect.”
Iron Dust snorted, and Tony turned to him, looking down his nose at him. He arched one brow. “You think you could do better?” he asked as the doors to the lab opened to admit the rest of those summoned.
“But of course,” Iron Dust said, snapping his fingers. He plucked the paper out of Tony’s hands and laid it out over the abandoned star charts. Everybody gathered around the map as Iron Dust leaned over it until his face was hidden by his hair, and the white strands were brushing over the surface. Without thinking about it, Tony reached out and pushed the mass of hair over Iron Dust’s shoulders, out of the way.
His lips were moving silently, and his eyes had started to glow. He held his hands together before him, slowly rubbing them back and forth before he brought one to his mouth, teeth sinking in the flesh. When he pulled his hand away, a dark welling of blood seeped to the surface and he dropped his hands to the map, mouth still moving with silent words. His fingers hovered over the surface of the map, not quite tracing the ink lines, leaving behind small trails of blood that swirled with traces of yellow Essence.
Tony glanced up to see everybody’s eyes rapt on Iron Dust’s fingers, except for Rhodey, who was staring hard at Tony. Tony offered a grin, knowing that it was just this side of manic, and bounced his brows at him.
He tilted his head back to the map, and Rhodey followed his gaze, and Tony felt only the minutest amount of guilt for not warning Rhodey of Iron Dust’s particular skill set. Then again, Rhodey had been around the Avengers long enough that he should know to expect the unexpected.
Hell, Tony should have known to expect the unexpected.
There were limited holographic technology in Bruce’s lab, mainly because the good doctor didn’t require them for his work. Tony doubted the others knew this little fact, but Tony did, and it was Tony that reacted badly to what happened when Iron Dust pulled his hands away from the map, small pebbles of blood welling from between his fingers and falling to the paper.
His blood seemed to have a life of its own, as it into the lines of ink, building them up, bringing the map to life under his fingers. The notations for water turned into a clear stream of water, pouring over a rising mountain, and creating a fog around the island that was taking form. The map went from 2D to 3D in moments, trees blooming up like flowers, mountains rumbling as they reached their peaks. Tony swore he could see small birds flying around in the treetops.
It was a living, breathing island, the size of the paper, in perfect scale model. Tony’s breath caught in his chest, and his hand went to his throat before he realized that it wasn’t a metaphorical pain, but a physical pain surging behind his chest. He fisted his hand in his shirt, trying to recapture his breath, eyes still focused on the manse still taking form under Iron Dust’s fingers.
Just as suddenly as the pain came, it was gone, and Tony was left gasping for breath, while the others went on, unaware. They all had gathered closer around the table to gaze in awe at the little floating island.
One finger at a time, Tony forced his hand to drop from where he had made a mess of his shirt and tie, carefully smoothing out the wrinkles. He licked his lips and finally found words. “You said magic here was scarce. Why do you use so much then?”
Iron Dust’s eyes turned to him, any attempt at hiding behind a human color given up as a lost cause as they nearly glowed yellow. “Unlike you, who have used up so much of his Essence in items of wonders, my pools of Essence run deep. I have no fear of running dry. This,” he said with a small wave at the island now steadily floating to the left, “is nothing.”
Tony might have murmured something about arrogance being unbecoming on him, and somewhere in the tower, he was sure Pepper was stifling the urge to laugh.
“This is your magic,” Bruce broke in, and suddenly every human in the room was looking at Iron Dust with varying expressions of awe, but none were so stunned as Rhodey’s.
“Oh,” Tony said, “I forgot to mention. In my ‘travels’, as Pepper so nicely put it, I met people that can use magic. And learned all about magic myself.”
“He says he’s not human anymore,” Clint said as he crouched down to eye level with the island and reached out to poke it with one finger. It bounced off his finger and started floating to the right until the engines put it back on course.
Rhodey stared hard at him, lips thin. “Tony, what have you gotten yourself into this time?”
Tony chose to ignore that as well. “This is White Song. White Song, this is Rhodey. Be nice to him, I like him. Rhodey, be nice to her, if you’re not, she might eat you.”
Rhodey’s brows arched high. “You develop the strangest relationships,” he said with no little wonder. Tony grinned.
“Be careful, you’re surrounded by super humans, and, uh, others. You might want to watch what you say.”
Clint snorted. “What does that say about you, Rhodes, that you’re friends with him, too?”
Rhodey shook his head and shot White Song a glance. “Would you really eat someone that pisses you off?”
She gave a delicate shrug. “Humans taste odd.”
There was a beat of silence before Steve said, “You’ve tasted human?”
She grinned and allowed fangs to show. “A time or two. Hard not to, when your bite is your main weapon.”
Steve shook his head and then whipped around to stare at Tony, who threw his hands up. “Don’t look at me, she’s the beast man. Woman.” He clapped his hands. “Anyway, back to the point.” He snagged a tablet from one of Bruce’s tables and called up the other map he’d made, this one of the ocean, and a red dot that pin pointed the submerged floating island. “Our good friend Rhodes has informed me that there’s something strange going on over my manse. Before I go out to check it out, do either of you know what could be causing it? It wasn’t there before my return, whatever it is. JARVIS, satellite image, if you please.”
Fandom: the Avengers/ Exalted
Prompt: relationships
Warnings: none
Rating: PG-13
Summary: After coming home Exalted, Tony has plans and ideas all but pouring out of his ears. Back in Creation, there was magic everywhere, and a little hard work wasn’t going to stop him from finding those wells of magic in his own world.
Tony quickly gathered up Rhodey and deposited him with Iron Dust and Bruce, who were still in Bruce’s lab. And they called him a workaholic.
Albeit, they were working on something far different than the star charts that Tony had left them with.
He quickly introduced Iron Dust and Rhodey, ignoring Rhodey’s curious stare as Iron Dust settled beside Tony, their shoulders touching as he gazed back at Rhodey, yellow eyes unblinking.
With a quick order to JARVIS to fetch White Song and the rest of the Avengers, Tony waited for the rest to arrive by showing them the map he had made. Iron Dust hummed under his breath as he leaned over the map, one finger touching his chin in thought.
“Did you do this from your memories, or,” his eyes flicked up to catch Tony’s gaze, “from your memories?”
Rhodey made an odd noise, but Tony chose to ignore that as well.
“From my own memories. I told you before, I have an eidetic memory. I think I might have Steve paint this, though, so some things might be off, once finished. I’ll also have JARVIS make a digital copy that’ll be much more accurate. I’ll code in little trees and shrubs, too, it’ll be perfect.”
Iron Dust snorted, and Tony turned to him, looking down his nose at him. He arched one brow. “You think you could do better?” he asked as the doors to the lab opened to admit the rest of those summoned.
“But of course,” Iron Dust said, snapping his fingers. He plucked the paper out of Tony’s hands and laid it out over the abandoned star charts. Everybody gathered around the map as Iron Dust leaned over it until his face was hidden by his hair, and the white strands were brushing over the surface. Without thinking about it, Tony reached out and pushed the mass of hair over Iron Dust’s shoulders, out of the way.
His lips were moving silently, and his eyes had started to glow. He held his hands together before him, slowly rubbing them back and forth before he brought one to his mouth, teeth sinking in the flesh. When he pulled his hand away, a dark welling of blood seeped to the surface and he dropped his hands to the map, mouth still moving with silent words. His fingers hovered over the surface of the map, not quite tracing the ink lines, leaving behind small trails of blood that swirled with traces of yellow Essence.
Tony glanced up to see everybody’s eyes rapt on Iron Dust’s fingers, except for Rhodey, who was staring hard at Tony. Tony offered a grin, knowing that it was just this side of manic, and bounced his brows at him.
He tilted his head back to the map, and Rhodey followed his gaze, and Tony felt only the minutest amount of guilt for not warning Rhodey of Iron Dust’s particular skill set. Then again, Rhodey had been around the Avengers long enough that he should know to expect the unexpected.
Hell, Tony should have known to expect the unexpected.
There were limited holographic technology in Bruce’s lab, mainly because the good doctor didn’t require them for his work. Tony doubted the others knew this little fact, but Tony did, and it was Tony that reacted badly to what happened when Iron Dust pulled his hands away from the map, small pebbles of blood welling from between his fingers and falling to the paper.
His blood seemed to have a life of its own, as it into the lines of ink, building them up, bringing the map to life under his fingers. The notations for water turned into a clear stream of water, pouring over a rising mountain, and creating a fog around the island that was taking form. The map went from 2D to 3D in moments, trees blooming up like flowers, mountains rumbling as they reached their peaks. Tony swore he could see small birds flying around in the treetops.
It was a living, breathing island, the size of the paper, in perfect scale model. Tony’s breath caught in his chest, and his hand went to his throat before he realized that it wasn’t a metaphorical pain, but a physical pain surging behind his chest. He fisted his hand in his shirt, trying to recapture his breath, eyes still focused on the manse still taking form under Iron Dust’s fingers.
Just as suddenly as the pain came, it was gone, and Tony was left gasping for breath, while the others went on, unaware. They all had gathered closer around the table to gaze in awe at the little floating island.
One finger at a time, Tony forced his hand to drop from where he had made a mess of his shirt and tie, carefully smoothing out the wrinkles. He licked his lips and finally found words. “You said magic here was scarce. Why do you use so much then?”
Iron Dust’s eyes turned to him, any attempt at hiding behind a human color given up as a lost cause as they nearly glowed yellow. “Unlike you, who have used up so much of his Essence in items of wonders, my pools of Essence run deep. I have no fear of running dry. This,” he said with a small wave at the island now steadily floating to the left, “is nothing.”
Tony might have murmured something about arrogance being unbecoming on him, and somewhere in the tower, he was sure Pepper was stifling the urge to laugh.
“This is your magic,” Bruce broke in, and suddenly every human in the room was looking at Iron Dust with varying expressions of awe, but none were so stunned as Rhodey’s.
“Oh,” Tony said, “I forgot to mention. In my ‘travels’, as Pepper so nicely put it, I met people that can use magic. And learned all about magic myself.”
“He says he’s not human anymore,” Clint said as he crouched down to eye level with the island and reached out to poke it with one finger. It bounced off his finger and started floating to the right until the engines put it back on course.
Rhodey stared hard at him, lips thin. “Tony, what have you gotten yourself into this time?”
Tony chose to ignore that as well. “This is White Song. White Song, this is Rhodey. Be nice to him, I like him. Rhodey, be nice to her, if you’re not, she might eat you.”
Rhodey’s brows arched high. “You develop the strangest relationships,” he said with no little wonder. Tony grinned.
“Be careful, you’re surrounded by super humans, and, uh, others. You might want to watch what you say.”
Clint snorted. “What does that say about you, Rhodes, that you’re friends with him, too?”
Rhodey shook his head and shot White Song a glance. “Would you really eat someone that pisses you off?”
She gave a delicate shrug. “Humans taste odd.”
There was a beat of silence before Steve said, “You’ve tasted human?”
She grinned and allowed fangs to show. “A time or two. Hard not to, when your bite is your main weapon.”
Steve shook his head and then whipped around to stare at Tony, who threw his hands up. “Don’t look at me, she’s the beast man. Woman.” He clapped his hands. “Anyway, back to the point.” He snagged a tablet from one of Bruce’s tables and called up the other map he’d made, this one of the ocean, and a red dot that pin pointed the submerged floating island. “Our good friend Rhodes has informed me that there’s something strange going on over my manse. Before I go out to check it out, do either of you know what could be causing it? It wasn’t there before my return, whatever it is. JARVIS, satellite image, if you please.”
