Forget Me Not

7: Tell Me Now

When they finally broke apart, Percy pulled away first, their breath mingling as they huffed for air.

"Well," Tony breathed, "That was..."

"Yeah... So, how much do you remember about me?" Percy leaned back, propping himself up on one elbow and switching tracks faster than Tony could keep up with. His mind blanked for a moment, trying to pull himself from the desire to keep kissing and into a conversation.

"Uh... Well... I remember coming into the bar for the first time, a lot. And Kissing... You taste like salt water, by the way. Still do. I remembered that." Percy laughed, a light blush dusting his tan cheeks. "I remember..." Tony's hand moved up to caress Percy's cheek, and he sorely regretted the armor separating their skin "the feel of your skin..." Percy closed his eyes and pushed into the touch before his eyes returned to Tony's. "I remember how you looked at me... I've never seen anyone look at me like that before... I remembered your eyes, and how they're like the ocean." His hand dropped, his eyelids starting to droop and his words growing a little slurred as the alcohol left him tired. "I remembered feeling alive with you. Watching you laugh. You told me the bar wasn't normal, and you were in charge of it. You were there to help people. Talk to them.... Hands in my hair..." His head drooped and he laid back in the donut, " Special people remember, or some- something... You had to touch me for me to... You wouldn't let me stay..." Percy's eyes grew sad at the memory of that particular argument. They'd had it a few times, and Tony was more adamant each time. "Watching you sleep..." Tony mumbled on, his breathing growing deeper as he was slowly dragged to sleep. "Holding you... naked..."

"Sex?" It was a question Percy was curious about. Wanting to know if he could push the envelope or if he should wait because Tony had no memory of sex with another man.

"No... No sex... I don't know why, but..." He let out a quiet snore as sleep finally took him, and Percy chuckled. "...love you..." His eyes flashed to the serene look on Tony's face. The man was asleep... Well, at least he remembered that, for better or worse.

.x.X.x.

Tony woke up in a donut... Okay, sure, this was normal. His eyes glanced around, searching for Percy. The horrifying thought that he'd imagined finding the man plagued him, and then he saw the note left on a napkin on top of a box of donuts on the roof.

Went back to the bar to buy myself some more time out. Be back soon.
~PJ
P.S. Have a donut.

The handwriting was the expected scribble of a man's, and Tony supposed he'd have to get used to that as he sat back in the giant donut hole, put the donut box in his lap and began eating one.

As he put on some sunglasses stored in his suit, he pieced together enough of the night before to gather that he'd followed through on his plan, Percy had gotten pissed, they'd talked, kissed (Percy was a great kisser, by the way), and he had a fuzzy memory of recounting what'd he'd remembered in Afghanistan, so he supposed they were on the same page now. A silver lining to the end of his quickly shortening lifespan.

"Sir!" He'd only finished one donut when Fury's voice called up to him from the parking lot. "I'm gonna have to ask you to exit the donut." With that, the man walked inside and Tony rolled his eyes before following.

.x.X.x.

"Annie? You here?" Percy called out as he walked into the bar. He'd used the back door of the donut shop to get there, and he was hoping the bar would let him leave the same way later. At receiving no response, his voice grew irritated as he walked to the center of the bar and looked at the door leading to the back. "I swear, if you left because you were bored-" He felt a sudden presence behind him, and Percy whipped around, instinctively grabbing the arm of the intruder, pulling them from their balance and pinning them to the floor.