tony stark whump

"it was never love."

Tony was a master at bullshitting.

He threw himself into projects of his own, like making sure his suit would protect him in space, and also company projects, because even if he wasn't going to do presentations and speeches and talks, he would always be okay with building. Pepper appreciated that. 

After a month of work binging, he found himself lost. He didn't know what to do. He'd given Pepper enough prototypes to pitch and then fully-functional, finished products to keep the company happy for the next few months.

He'd built every single thing he could for the team, to the point where they had to tell him to stop, that they didn't need him to work himself to the ground. They told him to rest, take some time for himself, and he did. He worked on suits. But even the suits became tedious. His entire workshop was full of suits, to the point where he had to use one of the empty rooms to store them. 

It was time for him to get out of his workshop and do something.

He decided it was time for a night out.

Tony liked men and women. But he hadn't been with a man in a long time, not since before Afghanistan. In fact, aside from Pepper, he hadn't been with anyone at all. So it was a surprise to him when he woke up in bed with someone, some very attractive man, with a raging hangover.

He had no idea where he was, or who he was with, but he could feel the night's events all over his body and all he wanted was some painkillers. The man next to him woke up shortly after him, and found Tony staring at the ceiling in confusion.

"Morning."

"Morning."

"Do you remember last night?"

"Not really."

The man smiled. "I'm Rafe. We met at the bar, had a couple drinks, and things got a bit heated so I brought us back here." 

"I gathered." Tony said plainly. "Do you mind getting me some painkillers? I'd get some myself, but, er, well, it's your place and I don't know where they are."

"Don't sweat it." Rafe stood up. "Coffee?"

"I'd kill for some." 

"Noted." Rafe laughed and left the room, and only then did Tony notice that the man was only in his boxers, and his body was a sight for sore eyes. Six-pack, back muscles, biceps- Rafe was ripped, and Tony didn't want to look away.

He didn't remember much of last night, but he could tell it was a good night, and he wanted to relive it. And his shirt was still on, which made him feel safer. The blue light of the arc reactor was hidden away by his thick black shirt, so Rafe might not have seen it.

Tony hoped he didn't.

When Rafe came back with aspirin and coffee, Tony thanked him excessively, because coffee was a love language. And then, once his hangover was gone, he decided to try and recreate the previous night, and he had no complaints about it.

Tony returned to the tower with a smile on his face at the end of the day. Steve asked him where he'd been, and Tony just grinned and went back to his workshop. He thought over and decided that maybe he'd give Rafe a call. He took his number to be nice, but Rafe seemed genuinely interesting and Tony wanted to give it a shot, so he did.

The next few weeks, Tony found himself enjoying the company. Rafe was a doctor, which made Tony all the more fascinated. Rafe was a trauma surgeon, meaning he was often busy in the ER, but he always managed to have time for Tony.