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It recognized the signs of fatigue in humans now, after countless years of observing them, especially in this one. Mistakes would be made as he hunched over his desk, mouth opening in what they called a yawn. Even then, he would continue to work, to scheme, to plot, to build, to create wondrous things, and he couldn’t even manipulate energy like Master could.
Floating over, it used the edge of its fabric to tap the workbench beside Bright One, whacking harder when it was ignored and then shoving papers aside. It fluttered with approval when he finally looked up, tiredness clinging to his skin, his smile lopsided.
‘That your way of saying you want attention?’
It knew what Master called this human, but he would be forever known as Bright One to it, not as an antithesis to the other mate his master had twined his soul with, but in understanding of the creativity that flowed through his soul, a shining beacon that it could see where mortals could not.
It tapped again, pushing aside metallic objects that gleamed blue, wrapping around Bright One’s fingers and tugging, shocked at the overwhelming exhaustion that transferred between them.
Yes, this was the correct decision.
It pulled harder, only ceasing once Bright One was on his feet, another noise escaping its mouth, not a yawn, a sound that lilted up, a sound it couldn’t remember the name for, but it made Master’s affection pulse strongly if either of his mates produced it.
‘I know, I know, I’ve been working too much. Stephen and Loki aren’t due back until tomorrow.’ He scratched his neck, lifting on his tiptoes as he stretched the muscles in his lower back. ‘Don’t suppose you can send Stephen a message? Tell him I’m bored without them?’
The Cloak felt itself ruffle in agitation.
‘Of course I’m happy with you. Bored isn’t what I’m feeling.’ He whispered the last part to himself, pulling out his communication device from his pocket and turning it over in his fingers before sighing heavily. ‘The usual?’
It knew exactly what he meant. Streaking across the lab, its fabric snapped as it made a sharp turn to avoid the mechanical beast the human believed held a consciousness. It waited in its designated spot, molding itself against the couch as it waited. It felt something akin to affection as it watched the human stop on his way to the couch to pat the mechanical beast, speaking to it a while before sitting.
‘Don’t be jealous of Dum-E,’ Bright One scolded, setting a bowl beside it, a matching one in his hands.
These little acts, these little glimpses of humanity made it think that Bright One knew that it was once a lifeform, that it had once been able to converse directly with mortals.
While it avoided the other mate of its Master, a silent agreement shared by Dark One, this human had always placed a mug down at the table for it, held doors open, left offerings of food despite it having no way to consume them.
Its Master had always treated it well, had been worthy of its choice, a formidable warrior, a strong soul, but Bright One treated it as something it used to be. A being it had long forgotten about.
It clasped the bowl within the folds of fabric, trying to remember what it had been like to have fingers, to hunger, to share with others. This, these acts of kindness resonated with it. The recreational activity they were about to share had been something it had discovered by chance. Bright One only sat in front of multi-colored lights to relax when Master and Dark One were busy, when he was alone.
‘I was never allowed to watch these as a kid. I’ve never told anyone that.’
That was what he had told it one day when he finally allowed it to sit with him, coaxing it away from concealing itself within shadows. Master trusted it to watch Bright One when he was learning with Dark One, a trust it knew to be sacred as Master found it difficult to leave Bright One unprotected. At first, it had thought that its Master’s feelings had bled through the bond they shared, a type of protective transference, but now it knew better.
This was a secret shared between them. Bright One had in turn trusted it with a longing and pain it had shared with no other. It relaxed the human, the patterns and noise soothing, and it would watch as Bright One slowly surrendered to comfort, a state he didn’t often find himself in.
It was touched that he could find solace with it.
‘Tony?’
So absorbed in the feelings of Bright One beside it, it had failed to notice the arrival of Master. It flared as wide as it could, trying to shield Bright One’s secret, but the damage was done.
‘Are you…watching cartoons?’
There was that noise again. But unlike the lilting pitch with Bright One, the noise was harsh, mockery woven into the sound, and the Cloak felt its edges sharpen in response.
‘I do not understand,’ Dark One began, looking between them before glancing at it, seeing it bristle where Master did not.
‘Seriously? Cartoons…they’re for kids.’ Master wheezed as he laughed, hands on his knees now as he bent over.
‘You are watching entertainment designed for children?’
They were blind, blind to the waves of hurt exuding from Bright One.
The Cloak was not.
‘Why am I not surprised? It seems cartoons would provide a suitable level of intellectual stimulation,’ Dark One told him, folding his arms.
Master laughed harder.
‘Do you wish us to set you a bedtime also?’
‘That’s not actually a bad idea,’ Master pointed at him. ‘That and a time-out corner!’
Cloak prepared to unleash its fury upon them both, this feeling, this outrage, reminiscent of a memory long ago, of mockery, of disdain, the feeling of something soft held between fingers before being ripped away. It remembered, and it was not about to let Bright One-
A sound made the thoughts stop.
Bright One was doing the unforgivable.
He laughed with them.
Why could Bright One not have something that relaxed him when he worked hard? The glowing pictures that kept the nightmares at bay, something that he was never allowed as a young one?
‘Want to go upstairs and I can show you how much I missed you?’ Bright One was full of teasing smiles, but why could they not feel the hurt he was masking?
Bright One went upstairs, followed swiftly by Dark One, and its Master watched it, waiting.
No.
It swept past him, ignoring the startled call.
***
After that night, Bright One hid himself in his lab, refusing to answer any means of communication with Master and Dark One.
The Cloak stayed with him.
‘Just because I’m upset doesn’t mean you need to be,’ Bright One told him one day, encouraging a mug of foul-smelling liquid towards it. The Cloak ruffled and took the mug, looking over Bright One’s shoulder and then towards the glowing box.
No matter how tired he got, the number of times he fell asleep on his desk, or woke up at night shaking, dislodging Cloak from the bottom of his bed, he didn’t turn on the glowing pictures again.
***
Are you going to return to me anytime soon? Master asked one night.
The Cloak bundled itself closer around Bright One’s legs as he slept.
***
Bright One held something in his hand, the communication device emitting noise and vibrating across the desk beside his bed. Cloak drifted closer to peer at what he was looking at, recognizing the matching picture of the three of them that rested upon its Master’s desk.
‘I know I’m being petty, ignoring them,’ he added as explanation as the device finally went silent. As it began its sound again, Cloak nudged it off the bed and into the bathroom, slamming the door behind it.
‘Can Stephen understand through you? Share your thoughts?’
In a way, but that wasn’t what Bright One was asking. He wanted to know if he was safe here, if his secrets would stay within the room. It shook itself in a negative, watching as the human held his head in his hands, fingers tugging at his hair. Thinking a moment, Cloak squeezed under the door, rushing through the corridor, colliding with the wall with how fast it was traveling.
It knew just the thing.
Carefully balancing the two bowls, only spilling a bit of milk on the floor, Cloak used its collar to slam into the bedroom door in a knock, offering the two bowls when Bright One opened it. He looked at it for a while, then down at the bowls before taking them both and stepping back.
Pleased, Cloak squeezed in, floating over to the glowing box in the bedroom and tapping it. The setting was different, but perhaps…
‘They’re right you know,’ Bright One spoke, leaving the bowls on the floor and sitting back on his bed. ‘I know they’re right, but it still...’
Cloak floated over, picking up the bowl and pushing it into his hands.
‘Sorry, not in the mood tonight.’
The cereal grew soggy in the bowl.
***
The Cloak saw the portal before Bright One did, and it flew across the lab, crashing into Master’s body. In his surprise, it managed to dislodge his sling ring, slipping back through the portal as it shut, sparks singeing the edge of its fabric.
Bright One said nothing as it took up its vigil beside him once again, only lifting his hand and waiting until it tipped the sling ring into his hand. Bringing it up to his eyes, he gazed at it for a moment before dropping it into a drawer and shutting it.
‘Thank you,’ he whispered.
***
Is Tony alright? Neither of us can get hold of him.
Cloak continued to fiddle with the glowing box buttons, still unable to find the cartoons.
***
‘Anthony?’
Dark One appeared in the lab even though both he and Master had sworn they would never do so unless in an emergency. The Cloak spread itself as far out as it could, shielding Bright One from his gaze, not wanting either of them near him.
‘Why does he not speak to us?’ Dark One demanded, taking a step forward, snarling when he was wrapped up, crashing to the floor. ‘Unhand me at once!’
Dark One was strong, gifted with magic.
But the Cloak’s wrath was stronger.
It dragged Dark One from the room, smothering his mouth to stifle his sounds as it dragged him towards the door, the mechanical beast opening the door for it and locking it as Cloak threw Dark One out.
The Cloak didn’t have individual fingers to make the gesture it knew offended humans, but it managed to hold up one edge to make its meaning known.
***
He had succumbed to his desk, cheek pressed against his devices, leaving imprints on his skin. Bright One was miserable, had only moved from his lab to his bedroom. He had not seen his mates, his friends. The Cloak had thought it was protecting him in its anger, but what if it was doing more harm than good?
It reached towards the draw where Master’s sling ring was, stroking across the handle. Could they fix it, or would they hurt him more? If Bright One could not communicate his hurt then…
A glimmer of magic had it whirling, curving menacingly.
‘Wait! Wait!’ Dark One begged, hands going up in front of his face as it flew over, bristling and arched. ‘I know you are angry with us. We may not see eye to eye, but I respect your importance to Stephen.’ He held it within his sight, but that green gaze of his darted around the room, seeking.
The Cloak moved back a fraction, still arched and ready to pounce. It knew what Dark One looked like when distressed, had seen him chew at the skin of his knuckles when one of his mates was injured, had witnessed him holding Bright One or Master in his arms after long battles or those broken nights of bad dreams.
It knew they loved each other.
Dark One knelt and offered his hand, gaze sincere as it gazed up at it.
‘Please. We do not know what ails Anthony, and your avoidance of Stephen pains him greatly. Help me to fix what hurts them both.’
Cloak tilted its collar, impressed that Dark One was speaking to it directly, rather than around it. No matter its anger, it did not enjoy ignoring its Master, was proud to serve and stand by his side, and it didn’t want Bright One to be in pain either.
Enough was enough.
Stretching up to its full height, it moved aside, allowing him to step forward with a gasp of pain. ‘Anthony,’ he whispered, fingers tangling in whisps of hair, the tips of them touching the skin of his forehead. ‘Why did he not tell us he was suffering so?’
The Cloak beckoned Dark One to follow him, gesturing to the glowing box in the corner of the room, and then back at Bright One asleep. ‘I do not understand your meaning.’ Dark One sounded so lost, in as much pain as Bright One was feeling, and the Cloak did not have the strength to hold onto its anger any longer.
It floated back to the pair of them, gesturing.
‘Anthony?’
Nodding, it glided backwards, gesturing at the chaos across the work bench.
‘His inventing?’
Not quite.
The Cloak mimicked working, picking up a device and pretending to read from it before suddenly collapsing on the desk, motionless.
‘Ah, exhaustion.’
Rustling with excitement, it floated back to the glowing box, gesturing frantically.
‘Anthony has needed to work more because of… media reports?’
Crumpling up in annoyance, the Cloak dropped to the floor, not knowing what else to do. Knowing that the time had come, it floated over to the desk, pulling out Master’s sling ring and offering it to Dark One.
***
It might have tried to tell Dark One what was the matter, knew that Bright One was now hurting beyond what it could tolerate, but it had not forgiven Master, not yet, and it refused to act out anything for him, even when he apologized. Splayed against the ceiling, it watched the tops of their heads, ready to swoop down and bundle them up if they hurt Bright One further.
‘It mimicked Tony working, being tired and then gestured at the TV?’ Master rumbled for the umpteenth time, hand reaching out for Bright One again and then hesitating, clenching his trembling fist. With lips pressed together, he glanced up to where it was hiding on the ceiling, and it was almost enough for the Cloak to yield, to try explaining once again.
Almost.
‘It is you it is angry with,’ Dark One told him, his gaze also going to the ceiling.
The Cloak nodded.
‘Are you angry with me because something is wrong with Tony?’ Master asked it directly, and his tone of voice made it waver.
Did he truly not understand?
It floated down to the floor, gesturing again at the glowing box, still not willing to communicate with Master directly.
‘I don’t understand.’
‘When I was little, I wasn’t allowed to watch TV.’ Bright One suddenly spoke, and the three of them turned to look at where he was stretching his arms across the work surface. ‘Something to do with rotting my brain, or it was too low-class or something.’
‘Tones.’
‘I used to get…so jealous of other kids,’ Bright One continued, using his hands as he spoke, his agitation clear. ‘I used to beg Jarvis to sneak me in a comic book, a magazine, anything that wasn’t just…propaganda to educate me to be the best heir I could be.’
Dark One shifted his feet at that, dropping his gaze to the floor.
‘I used to daydream about what it would be like, to be like other kids. Have parents at home at the weekends, friends that cared about me rather than my surname. To run down stairs on Saturday morning and fix myself a bowl of enough sugary cereal to give myself diabetes and watch…watch cartoons.’ His head turned then, giving them both a smile. ‘Sounds stupid, huh?
‘You were mad because we made jest of something Anthony coveted when he was younger, a ritual he uses to unwind, that you share with him,’ Dark One whispered, standing beside it, giving it his full attention.
The Cloak felt the moment shame infused his Master’s body, watched the way his eyes closed as they did when he understood he had made a mistake. It patted Dark One’s elbow before floating in front of Master.
‘You understood what it meant to him, didn’t you?’ Master whispered, opening his eyes, sorrow causing them to glimmer. ‘I’m sorry,’ he told it.
Cloak shook violently, moving to the side and pointing at Bright One.
‘No, he’s right, they’re for kids. I was letting my own insecurities, my doubts-’
Master silenced him with a kiss. ‘I’m sorry, sweetheart,’ he murmured against Bright One’s lips, thumbs rubbing over his cheekbones. ‘I didn’t mean to belittle the way you unwind, or something you share with the Cloak.’
‘I thought you two of all people wouldn’t judge me. I thought…’ Bright One looked away, biting at his lower lip.
‘Do not be afraid to speak to us,’ Dark One murmured, gathering them both in his arms.
‘I thought I’d found someone who I could be myself with.’
‘Tones.’ Master made a pained sound, touching their foreheads together. ‘You can. I love you, Tony Stark, just you, as you are.’
‘Thank you,’ Dark One whispered to it. ‘For seeing something we did not, for offering him comfort.’
Cloak allowed the words to settle, before it slipped the tiniest part of its hem into the palm of his hand.
***
The Cloak tilted itself sideways, waiting for the mechanical beast to do the same, and then it moved to the opposite side, waiting as it copied the movement. Perhaps there was hope for it yet.
‘Knock it off, what did I say about teasing DUM-E?’ Bright One scolded it, offering one of the bowls in his hand before bowing and gesturing forward. ‘After you mighty one.’ Wriggling with excitement, the Cloak streaked across the room, settling itself on the couch with its cereal balanced in its corners.
‘You sure you don’t want something else? Pop Tart? Popcorn? I don’t wish you were human, but it would be nice if you could actually eat it,’ Bright One said, sitting beside it and lifting the bowl to his mouth, drinking the cereal instead of using a spoon. The Cloak shook itself in a negative before gesturing at the glowing box in anticipation.
‘Alright, alright. I never said thank you, by the way. For standing by me, for understanding. Is there something you can eat? Some form of energy? Moth balls?’
The Cloak knocked its bowl against Bright One’s in acknowledgement for the gratitude and in thanks for his consideration. It watched him drink, and then looked down at its own bowl.
‘Don’t, Stephen won’t forgive me if you-’ Bright One broke off into a shriek as the Cloak “drank” its own cereal.
No, it was right. It watched the milk and cereal slide off it and onto the floor. It still didn’t require substance.
Pity.