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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]

[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.]

[myheartglows]

Yeah, I'd say at least a hundred-strong, probably more. [ tony lets that sink in, for the both of them. ] They're canvassing the area. If they keep heading this way, your bachelor pad is compromised.

[gotup]

[He sucks in a long breath, rubs a hand over his face. Even if he could take them on in numbers like that, he wouldn't want to. Which leaves him with only one option. He doesn't trust easily, and for good reason, but he's going to have to place some trust in Tony.]

Okay. [He exhales, just as slowly.] Do you have a plan for getting me out of here?

[myheartglows]

Me?

[ you're trusting him? ]

[gotup]

[He rises to his feet, brushes a wisp of grass off one arm, like he's trying to be casual. But there's a coiled-spring tension underneath it all, a predatory stillness in the way he holds his body. He doesn't like trusting Tony, but he doesn't have many options.]

You sure seemed like you were ready to get me out of here last night.

[myheartglows]

[ tony holds his hands out. simba looks ready to fight. ] Okay. But we're not hurting anyone, so just relax, pussycat. This is non-negotiable. These are the good guys.

[gotup]

What?

[He looks genuinely surprised by the suggestion, and some of that tension dissipates as he's caught off guard. He slicks his ears back flat against his head, and the tip of his tail twitches.]

I don't want to hurt anyone. I don't want you to hurt anyone. I just want to get out of here to somewhere safe.

[myheartglows]

[ certain military officials (looking at you, general ross) have tried using iron man as their newest weapon, but the suit isn't a gun to point and shoot; he said he was done making weapons and he meant it. the sooner people and the brass get that, the better.

tony drops his hands. ] Good. We're on the same page. As to how we're gonna achieve that... I guess that depends on your definition of "out of here." So what're you thinkin', big guy?

[gotup]

I don't need a long-term plan right away - just a place to go where I can figure that out.

[Though he's painfully aware that a short-term hiding spot is likely to be just as hard as a place to live. Right now, his biggest priority is making it past the soldiers, and his window of opportunity is closing quickly.]

But I'll admit that I don't have any idea on even getting that far.

[myheartglows]

[ a wild idea materializes in tony's head. he immediately balks at it, because it's impractical and simba has already rejected his offer once, but then he imagines the gion homeless in these mountains scrounging for scraps of food, and he can't let that stand when he can do so much more. so tony opens his mouth and says, ] Stay wtih me, [ like a damned bleeding heart. he shrugs slowly, barely lifting the armor, ready for rejection. tony wouldn't blame him. he hasn't even figured out the logistics of making it happen. but that's what he does, right? he makes things happen. ] Wouldn't be too bad. You'd have a separate bedroom for each one of your catnaps and an all-you-can-eat buffet.

[gotup]

There's a catch, isn't there?

[His eyes narrow warily, and he hunches his shoulders in a gesture that's all too human - a cornered animal usually tries to make itself look bigger, after all.]

I'll end up like King Kong or- [Or worse. But, he thinks, Tony doesn't want to hurt people, and he'd told him they weren't going to harm anyone before he'd even had a chance to bring it up. So maybe he's safe enough in that regard, at least.]

You didn't lead them here, did you? Set this up so that I'd need a way out?

[He doesn't really believe that Tony did, but it's certainly possible. The thing is, Tony's altruism seems genuine enough, and he wants to be able to trust the man. He's gone so long without anyone else to rely on. Neither lions nor humans are solitary creatures, and something deep down inside of him just wants companionship.]

[myheartglows]

[ tony stiffens. it reflects in his voice, quiet but intense: ] I don't operate like that. [ the lying, the underhandedness, the manipulation, he wants none of it, not ever again. ]

[gotup]

[He tilts his head, catlike, and studies Tony for a long, silent moment. It's hard to tell with him in the suit like this, but his voice and body language seem honest.]

Okay. [He relaxes slightly, spreads his hands open wide.] But you might regret that once you find out how much I eat.

[There's a hint of wry, self-deprecating humor in his tone at the end there - something completely human.]

[myheartglows]

[ tony breathes deep into his belly and diaphragm and then out, the way yinsen taught him. housing simba in secret until he figures out his future will be a crazy undertaking, but tony can rise to the challenge. this path feels right, wherever it takes them, like cogs somewhere in the universe fitting into place. tony won't let him down. ]

We'll jump that hurdle when we reach it. [ plenty of others to jump before then. thinking, tony glances to outside. make a plan, make a plan, make a plan... well, not the first time he's plotted a daring escape, right? ] Right. First thing's first: we get you out of the possible search area. [ he reads the HUD, which mapped out the mountain and the locations of the troops that his sensors picked up. they'll need to head east, lower down, to avoid them. ]

[gotup]

One second.

[He holds up a hand to tell Tony to wait, and with surprising agility for someone his size, turns around and heads into the darkness of the cave system he calls home.

It only takes him a couple minutes to get to the cavern where he keeps the one real possession he has. He doesn't know why he'd been drawn to it when escaping all those years ago, he'd just felt like he'd needed to take it with him. He's kept it wrapped in folds of heavy canvas, kept it secret and safe along with him. A length of rope secures the wrappings; he doesn't look at it often, not when he figured out long ago that he's better off without the sparks of memories that surface. It's easier to just be who - what - he is.

But he can't leave it behind, either.

He returns to the cave with Tony and dumps the supplies out of one of the larger packs, puts his bundle inside and secures the straps.]

All right, I'm ready when you are.

[myheartglows]

[ while simba packs (or whatever), tony tells jarvis to trace a course away. "that'll buy us some ... time," tony agrees with the result, but his brain skips when he hears, buy you some time, echoed back, followed by rifle fire as yinsen runs into a den full of terrorists. suddenly too aware of the cave walls, tony glares at them. he's stronger now. he's iron man. this'll be different. he will make it be different.

he snaps his head to the sound of the supplies being dumped. yinsen and he mostly ate beans and rice and stew–stop. after a breath too long he nods, then simply walks out of the cave and lifts into a hover, waiting. ]

[gotup]

[Tony's motionless in the suit for a moment too long, but he has no real way of reading his emotions - his body language is different in the armor, his voice is filtered through the speakers, and, really, he's got bigger things to worry about right now. Tony snaps out of it and heads out of the cave, and he throws the pack over one shoulder and follows in an easy lope.]