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[gotup]

action/text/pictures/whatever I'm easy

something less lazy coming in another two years

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[gotup]

[He shakes his head, and his mane moves slightly with the motion.]

Just me.

[It's not totally impossible that they'd made other hybrids that he'd never found out about, but it's unlikely, or so he thinks.]

I'd hope anyone else would have the sense to live somewhere warmer.

[Because it gets damn cold up here sometimes - not as cold as Siberia, but there are times when he has to huddle under furs to stay warm.

(He's considered just letting the cold take him before, but he's not sure it would kill him, and it's not worth the risk.)]

[myheartglows]

No kidding, [ tony mumbles, mainly to himself, eyes drifting to the cave walls and mind drifting with them: in it he's wrapped up in tattered wool and scratchy blankets in front of a coal fire. he turns away to break himself out of it (doesn't like to dwell); the memory clears like smoke and he's the wind. affecting casual, tony observes the gion's nest. ] So, would you? If you could?

[ direct again, to the gion: ] Live someplace warmer?

[gotup]

Oh, sure, maybe I could have a nice cattle ranch in Texas.

[Not that he's being sarcastic or anything. Not him!]

Hard for me to get anywhere else without being noticed. I don't exactly blend in.

[The jungles of southeast Asia aren't a total impossibility, but they don't have the sheer desolation he's found here. It's borderline inhabitable for humans, which makes it perfect for his needs.]

So it's kind of a moot point.

[myheartglows]

[ tony's head tilts. the gion has some decidedly human knowledge and characteristics. was he around humans before? maybe captured, separated from his species? (was he human before?) ] I was thinking more ... private island-y. But you're right. Transport would be tricky. If only you knew someone with a multitude of connections and, let's say, a private jet.

[gotup]

[Of course he connects the dots. It's not exactly hard. But his eyes narrow warily, and the tip of his tail twitches.]

There's nothing to keep you from using me.

[He thinks about being shut up, being forced to kill, and his muscles tense slightly.]

[myheartglows]

Fair. [ eyes aside, they gain a distant quality, until with a blink tony picks himself back up, the levity just a bit too forced. ] I wouldn't trust anyone either in your ... fur.

[gotup]

It'd have to be a damn big island, anyway, to sustain a large enough population of animals for me to eat.

[His tone is almost apologetic. It's a kind offer, if it's real, but - well, that's the problem. Something about accepting charity sits wrong with him, even if he doesn't know why.]

[myheartglows]

Could merge it with your cattle ranch idea, [ tony throws back, seemingly earnest, but knowing full well it was sarcasm. ] Honestly, I'm just spitballin' here, [ he admits as he eases himself down onto a convenient boulder with a grunt. the helmet he rests by his feet. ] I'm not sure what to do.

[gotup]

I told you, you don't owe me anything.

[Especially not when an apparent gift could be so easily turned around on him. Once he's in a plane, he's as good as trapped.]

Nowhere to land a plane around here, anyway.

[Which is pretty obvious, but he feels obligated to point that out.]

Look, I was here a long time before I found you in the desert, and I'll be here after you leave. You don't need to worry about me; I can take care of myself.

[myheartglows]

[ in the dark of the cave, only moon- and starlight spilling inside, tony tries to read answers from him. but whatever the gion's story is and whatever happens from here, the one thing tony knows for sure is this: ] You took a risk on helping me, [ he states head-on, solemn and resolute. then his eyes drop; what follows makes him too vulnerable. ] Maybe it didn't mean anything to you, but it does to me. I can't just let it lie. [ even if he maybe should. ]

[gotup]

[He tilts his head slightly, and the light catches his golden eyes.]

I've never helped a human in the entire time I've been out here. It's not that it doesn't mean anything, it's that I'm worried about what you might do to me. I don't live out here because I like it, I live out here because it's safe.

[Safe for him, safe for the people he might be forced to kill otherwise. It's win-win.]

[myheartglows]

And how's that been treating you?

[ lots of cold, empty nights, tony imagines and better than people might think. sure you can sleep at night secure in your place in the world but you'll still wake up with nothing. ]

[gotup]

Better than I was before I came here.

[His tone is quiet, but firm. He doesn't say just what his life was like before, but it's easy enough to read between the lines. Sure, he sleeps in a cold cave, but he's free. That's what matters to him.]

[myheartglows]

Still lotta room for improvement, way I see it, [ tony points out glibly then stands with his helmet in hand. ] I won't force you into anything. But I'd like to keep a line open. That way, if you ever need or want my help, you can reach me.

[gotup]

Sure, I'll go out and send you a telegram if I need anything.

[What? They still have telegrams, right?]

[myheartglows]

Ooo, make it a strippergram, [ tony throws back, unfazed. ] But nah, you let me handle it. I got an idea. I'll slap it together and be back to deliver it around, I'm guessing, mid-morning?

[gotup]

[A slow blink.]

A what?

[He waves it off. That's unimportant.]

If you insist, [he allows begrudgingly. Coming back by day doesn't seem safe to him; he's largely nocturnal because it's easier to escape notice at night.]

[myheartglows]

I do. Insist, that is. [ tony fits the helmet over his head; on come the eyes and voice. ] I didn't catch your name. I'm Tony, by the way, or–[ he spreads out his arms– ] Iron Man, as you see me now.

[gotup]

[He snorts at the ostentatious display, but doesn't offer any other comment. Still, it's the first time in decades anyone's bothered to introduce themselves.]

I...I don't have one. [He knows he used to, but it's lost to him, somewhere in the murky depths of his suppressed memories.] It doesn't matter.

[myheartglows]

All right. Simba it is.

[ he sticks his hand out. that's right, a handshake. you know what a handshake is, right? with your weird collection of human-specific concepts. ]

[gotup]

[He suspects he's being faintly mocked with the name, but he doesn't have anything better to offer. Instead, he slips one giant paw-hand into Tony's, dwarfing the other man's hand, and shakes. He has clearly defined fingers, even if they're covered in fur, and the tips of retractable claws poke out from his "fingertips". The palm and fingertips are covered with callused black skin, like you might find on a normal cat. It's all a biological impossibility, but he's completely real.]

[myheartglows]

[ big boy, tony thinks faintly as they shake hands. even in the armor, he needs to tilt his head back to see the gion's face. what really strikes him, though, is how simba's (a name he just threw out, gotta call the gion something) hand completely engulfs the gauntlet. tony hazily remembers being cradled; remembers his head lolling in those big black paw pads, so entirely surrounded and held and warm–

god, tony sighs as he bids goodbye and lifts off for his dubai house, i really gotta get a girlfriend.

he handles pepper's questions about his delayed return during the flight. he bullshits that the suit got damaged so trans-pacific flying isn't recommended, and even with the repair time, the suit will be faster than a plane; he'll be back in the office by the work morning. she sighs, probably not buying it, but settles for talking him into a couple phone conferences and dictating responses to critical e-mails, which he perseveres through. in reward, she warns him just how full his day tomorrow will be. lovely.

but pepper has been essential in rebuilding stark industries. out of everyone there, even before he cleaned house and hired anew, he trusts pepper the most. if he didn't forget her on that balcony...

after a shower and a sandwich, tony loses time to mapping out his idea for the gion on good old-fashioned pencil and paper. once the design takes shape (an armband for portability; the circular clasp will separate into what'll function as the ear- and mouth-pieces), he finally pauses and ruminates on how unbelievable this all is. he's making a fancy burner phone for a lion-man with human intelligence. a full-blown lion-man with a build straight out of an erotic fantasy novel. a lion-man that tony's going to keep a secret. yup. this is his life now: superheroing, secret government agencies, and lion-men. traitorous lifelong business partners aside, it's kind of amazing.

thank you for saving me.

both of you.

tony finishes testing the device by mid-morning in dubai and fits it onto his arm over the armor. he'll fly back to simba's den, drop off and explain the arm-comm, and then head for the states like a good little CEO. ]

[gotup]

[Once Tony's gone, he eats again - a light meal, something to keep his stomach from protesting during the day - and settles in to sleep, curled up in his pile of furs and dried grass. Fragments of something that might be memories intrude on his dreams, a dark-haired man with a neatly trimmed mustache and a sharp gaze that reminds him of Tony's.

As he sleeps, the military is busy. He's far enough from the former Ten Rings base that he doesn't hear the whir of helicopter rotors landing as close as they can get to the cave system. The troops move in to explore the caves, then spread out in all directions, looking for signs of other bases. It's laborious for them; the snow slows them down, and in the cold, they have to rest frequently. The presence isn't huge, but it's there; they're conducting their searches with a fine-toothed comb. These mountains are honeycombed with caves, and they don't want to miss more insurgents.

As he naps the day away, the soldiers draw closer and closer. Their search is slow, but thorough; they've already stumbled across a couple of his caves, though they've simply assumed that the furs and supply caches belong to some of the nomadic herders in the hills; the Ten Rings would have blankets and MREs and survival kits. It's only a matter of time - a handful of hours, no more - until they find him.]

[myheartglows]

[ after a chat with rhodey ("do i wanna know why you're on course for the area you're supposed to have left from last night?") and assuring him it's not another mission, just a last quick once-over, tony enjoys the flight with music on right up until the mountains come into view and the hud zeroes in on teeming masses of heat signatures. those ... aren't wildlife, he thinks with a growing sense of unease and flies lower and quieter to avoid detection.

simba's still there in his den. tony cuts the thrusters at the entrance. he's still looking over his shoulder as he clomps in. ] Hey. Time to get up. If you don't, I'll start blasting The Lion Sleeps Tonight, [ he says, then finally looks down at the gion just waking up from the noise. at least he's not pouncing me this time. he nudges him with a boot. ] C'mon. Bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. We got a problem.

[gotup]

[His ears twitch at the noise of metal against rock, and he's stretching lazily by the time Tony reaches him, his mouth gaping wide as he yawns and shows far too many large teeth. He idly places a hand on the boot - a casual don't do that again warning - and glances up at Tony.]

A bigger problem than you?

[That dry wit rears its head again, and his voice, still rough with sleep, rumbles in his chest.]