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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]

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?

[myheartglows]

[ relaxing (there's the interest and curiosity he was looking for), tony shifts closer. ] It's simple. Paw-friendly. See those two buttons? [ he explains to squeeze them together; that'll turn it on. the black strip on the inside will light up green and the device will send out a signal to him, through which tony'll be able to connect and locate simba anywhere in the world. talk with him, too; the mic and speaker are set in the circular clasp. he finishes, ] I figure it could still have its uses, at least until we get back to my house. After that, you can just talk to JARVIS. Uh, he's my ... AI.

[gotup]

[He listens to the explanation with his head cocked, idly running his fingers over the bracelet. He doesn't know what an AI is, but he figures it's probably just some fancy rich people slang he doesn't know about. (Or just normal slang he doesn't know about, since it's not like he's been in contact with the outside world.)]

So you can scout ahead and tell me which way to go without having to come all the way back. [He nods. It's easy enough to understand.] Good. You wanna get going?

[myheartglows]

Yup. Into the wild blue yonder. [ stepping away, iron man lifts off, speaking over the thrusters, ] We're heading east, to the next mountain over. We'll be safe there. [ long enough for him to figure out their next move, he hopes. ]

[gotup]

Sounds like a plan.

[He's spent long enough in this territory to be familiar with the terrain; that and his speed and stamina allow them to keep a healthy lead on the soldiers. He might not be able to move as fast as Tony can, but he still has no problem keeping a consistent pace faster than any human's.

His thoughts wander as they travel; there isn't much of an opportunity to converse, not when Tony mostly keeps an eye out from midair and relays directions to him. He remembers when he'd come down here originally, sneaking rides on cargo trucks through Russia, then going his own solitary way until he'd found the right spot to settle down. He'd been looking over his shoulder then, afraid of who - or what - might be following him. After a few months, he'd realized that he'd already cost enough, that they didn't want to expend more lives trying to capture him again.

He remembers the base in Siberia, the blood that had soaked into his fur and matted his mane, dripped in runnels down his face like tear tracks. He doesn't regret any of it - if anything, he wishes he'd done it sooner.

God, he hopes he's not making a mistake with Tony. But he seems different, and he genuinely wants to believe that. It's not like he has a whole lot of options left.]

[myheartglows]

[ it'd take at least several days, even at their speed, to reach the next mountain, but the idea is to keep their distance from the search party. tony leads simba through the lower paths, where there's not much snow (less tracks) and more rocky brown earth than anything, the tufts of grass straggly and a dull green. the hindu kush mountain range rolls through and spikes into the horizon and clouds thick and puffy cover the sky, useful for tony to get an aerial read on the land ahead without being obvious. he relays information to simba through the armband (bracelet now, he guesses, whatever suits the big guy best), focused on their mission; no small talk. until finally, after they've been traveling for over an hour, tony's voice sounds out from the comm, ] You're not claustrophobic, are you?

[gotup]

I've been living in caves. I think you can safely assume the answer is no.

[He's not afraid of much of anything, as far as he can remember.]

[myheartglows]

[ there's no real path, but farther in the direction they're heading hovers iron man, steady in the air, a splash of vibrant red and gold. ] Okay. I might be challenging you on that, [ comes tony's distracted voice. ]

[gotup]

It mostly depends on how small the space you want me to fit into is.

[Because he's not exactly a small guy.]

[myheartglows]

Hn. Cats like boxes, right? [ iron man lowers himself down a steep decline up ahead, slipping a little on the loose rock. he raises a hand and waves the gion forward. ] Come over here. I see a cave.

[gotup]

[He simply jumps down, landing on all fours briefly before he rises to his feet again.]

Boxes?