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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]

[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.]

[myheartglows]

[ iron man is looking to the east, the sun to his back and the hovering his only movement, minuscule, practiced readjustments with his hands and feet to keep steady. then he declares, ] I'm scouting ahead. Wait here, [ and flies up and away, still within shouting distance, just high enough to get a read on their course.

once he's satisfied, tony lands beside simba. ] All right. Coast is clear, [ he says, back to normal. ] Uh, one more thing. [ he unlatches the chrome armband and holds it out. ] Here. This is for you.

[gotup]

[He takes the device from Tony, turns it over in his hands.]

Giving me jewelry? [he quips.] That's pretty forward. You haven't even bought me dinner yet.

[He manages a fairly credible coquettish look, even batting his eyelashes at Tony. They don't have much time to waste, he knows, but he still can't resist a joke.]

[myheartglows]

[ about to explain the device, tony pauses. then the faceplate flips open so the gion can see tony's expression in all its unimpressed glory staring up at him, his forehead crinkled with a raised eyebrow and one corner of his mouth twisted inward. ]

[gotup]

[He just grins sheepishly, or as sheepishly as someone with that many teeth can.]

Sorry. So what is it?

[myheartglows]

Engagement ring. Only size I could find that'd fit, [ tony tosses back easily, the faceplate flipping down as end punctuation. oh, he's sorry, did you honestly want to know now? ]

[gotup]

Okay.

[KANYESHRUG.

He just clasps it on his wrist.]

Gonna find the nearest priest?

[myheartglows]

[ tony snorts, his mouth twitching. species aside, simba will fit right into the company tony keeps. ] It's the comm device I made for you to contact me. Not sure how relevant it'll be now, but... [ he shrugs. ]

[gotup]

[He lifts his wrist up to peer at it again. It sure doesn't look like the radios they'd had back during the war.]

How's it work?