[ accidental video ]

[awarmachine]

[ Rhodey's on his couch. There's a mess of wires in the background, but Rhodey seems perfectly relaxed. There's a cat on his lap, barely more than a kitten, really, and he's petting it, running his hands over her fur in slow, regular motions. Always wanted a cat. Guess for all that dimensional kidnapping sucks, at least now I'm in one place enough

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[madefromserum]

[ Video ]

[ Ella picks that moment to yap at the kitten on the screen, wet nose sniffing at the screen on arm of the chair where it sits, as if she can get to it that way. If it weren't for this, Steve might switch it off, pretend he saw nothing. But he's not a coward, and he knows he deserves whatever comes. ]

You, uh - your whatsit is on. [ There's a pause before he adds pathetically. ] Cute kitten.

[awarmachine]

Yeah, I got that. [ Cool, but not downright hostile. He's not going to start something. ]

[madefromserum]

You settling into the new place okay? [ Because that's the question he really wants to ask. ]

[awarmachine]

It's fine. [ You'll have to try harder than that, Rogers. ] Nothing against your couch, but having my own place is better.

[madefromserum]

No - I mean, yeah, I get that. [ He smiles sadly as he spares the quiet living room a glance. ] Is he doing okay?

[awarmachine]

[ On the one hand, Rhodey is really pissed of at Steve. He hasn't seen Tony this bad in ages and it is undeniably Steve's fault. On the other hand, he got enough out of Tony to know that Steve claims it was out of his control and Rhodey, for all that he hasn't known Steve for very long, believes him. And the guy seems honestly down about it.

A little softer, though still not quite friendly: ] Okay isn't really a word I'd use.

[ I swear I answered to this. But apparently LJ ate my reply ;; ]

[madefromserum]

[ The guilt that Steve's been carrying around since the spell wore off shows through, and he turns away for a moment to compose himself, because he knows he needs to keep himself together in case Tony ever does come back. He owes him that much.

His voice is quiet, and he sounds small. ] He's drinking again, isn't he? I thought I could smell alcohol when I went to apologise.

[ OOC: It's okay! It's been doing that a lot lately. ;; ]

[awarmachine]

Yeah, he's drinking again. [ He does feel sorry for Steve, but not sorry enough to sugarcoat things. ]

[madefromserum]

God, what've I done? [ He sounds much more desperate than he means to when he looks right into the lens at Rhodey, fear in his eyes and the creases of worry etching into his forehead. ] You're keeping an eye on him, right? You won't let him do anything stupid?

[awarmachine]

Of course I won't. [ Pause. ] Beating yourself up over this won't help either of you.

[madefromserum]

[ He wonders if Tony filled him in on the rose aspect, if he bought the spell theory enough to share it, or if he still thought it was all him. But what was the use? It didn't change what happened. ]

Yeah, you're right, I know that. [ But knowing doesn't ease his guilt, lessen the burden he carries. ] You know him better than me, do you think he can forgive this? Charles' working on finding out what the hell happened, but I don't think we're ever gonna be able to prove anything.

[awarmachine]

[ Rubbing the bridge of his nose. Rhodey hates getting into these things. He's just going to be blunt here. ] It's not about proving you didn't mean to do it. For Tony, what you've done is prove right everything he believes about himself.

He might forgive you, but he won't be able to forget and what it does to his self-confidence, I don't think that's gonna go away anytime soon.

[ And maybe that's betraying a confidence, but Rhodey thinks Steve might already know these things anyways. And he thinks Steve is good for Tony. ]

[madefromserum]

[ Steve sighs, nods, as he listens, because he does know this to an extent. The two of them may have been together for a fair while, but getting anything too personal out of Tony without knowing the right way of going about it is difficult at the best of times. ]

With Pepper busy, I'm glad he's got you to watch out for him, and I get that apologising isn't going to fix this, but... [ But this isn't Rhodey's problem, he doesn't even know him that well, and he's got enough to deal with taking care of Tony. ] Yeah, thanks, that's - I'll figure it out, give him space, I just - tell him Ella's pining after him and he should stop by to see her?

[ He's considered getting his own place, so that Tony can move back in, but he's not ready to give up on them quite that easily. ]

[awarmachine]

Bring her by sometimes.

[madefromserum]

You wouldn't mind having a dog in your place? [ Defensively. ] She's quiet and well behaved, but I know not everyone likes them.

[awarmachine]

I like dogs. We'll have to wait and see whether the cat does.