March Party Robin Round
Mar. 19th, 2019 10:56 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tonystarkbingo
It was unusually cold in the workshop, leaving Dum-E to slowly roll forward towards Tony’s dinky little couch.
The threadbare blanket -an ancient treasure- in his claw, his primary: wrap the heat signature in comfort.
Tony lay huddled on the couch, curled nearly fetal from the cold, teeth chattering as he thanked DUM-E and pulled the worn old blanket closer around himself.
Dum-e let out a series of content beeps, a you’re welcome, before lowering his claw again and lightly patting Tony on the head. He backed up, on his way to do other tasks that needed attending to, but stopped again and slowly turned back to his creator.
Tony held out a hand to his oldest companion, the Extremis in his system subsiding as it finished healing his wounds.
DUM-E inched back towards Tony when he held his hand out, a serious of inquisitive beeps echoing through the quiet room.
DUM-E, even through his primitive programming decades old, could tell that Tony was in pain, that something was deeply, terribly wrong.
“Tony?” Steve burst into the room, biceps folded over his patriotic pecs of freedom. “What are you doing down here? You’re supposed to be in bear resting. Bucky’s having kittens.”
“You know medbay gives me hives, Cap. Besides, I was needed down here."
"Needed?” Steve questions. “Tony, what could you possibly be needed for that’s more important than your wellbeing?” He sighs, shaking his head briefly. “Are you okay enough to come see Bucky, or does your couch need you some more?"
Tony’s eyes flared, he was in pain and it really irritated him being questioned. They should be used to it by now, he was not fond of nursing his injuries in public. "Or he could come down here.”
They were distracted enough for Dum-E to sneak out. Mission Objective: Retrieve Sergeant Raccoon.
Steve softened a little, doing his best to look innocent as he artfully ignored Dum E trundling out the door, nearly careening into the wall as he turned the corner. “I’m sorry, Shellhead, I didn’t mean to snap. You know you just worry us all."
Some of Tony’s irritation faded. He knew Steve cared; he just wished he understood a little better. "Is Bucky alright?” He asked, a note of concern in his voice. Maybe Bucky couldn’t come to him after all?
It seemed longer than necessary, waiting for Rogers to fetch Bucky. So, Dum-E inched slowly to the door. Technically, Tony never directly told them to stay in the shop, but it an unspoken rule none-the-less. But if Tony was in distress, what was stopping Dum-E from fetching Bucky himself.
DUM-E counted the inches, precisely five put him over the threshold of the workshop and headed toward the lift. He’d never actually been up or down in the people lift. There was, of course, a machine lift that his creator sometimes used. DUM-E had been Outside precisely six times in his entire existence. The trip from Malibu to New York, after the mansion had been sunk into the sea had been just about as much Outside as DUM-E ever wanted to do again. But Upstairs might be interesting. He rolled into the lift car and pondered the array of buttons.
The buttons were arranged in columns of two, each with either a number or a symbol DUM-E only recognized from Tony’s blueprints and sometimes whatever he was building at the time. There was one with a bright red star overlaid onto a striped pattern DUM-E recognized from Tony’s late night workshop binges, when he’d sit across from Bucky and work on a shiny metal arm. DUM-E reached out a claw and pressed the button.
The elevator took Dum-e upwards, towards his destination. After a short while, it dinged and the doors opened. Wheeling out into the hall slowly, he turned his cameras, first left, and then right. He was a little wary, being out of the lab, but he had a mission! Fetch Bucky. He takes a left and wheels up to Bucky’s room, the door already conveniently open; and peering inside. Bucky is hunched over a box, his hair a frantic mess, and noticed Dum-e in the doorway. “Oh, hey there, whattaya doin’ outta the lab?” He smiles at the bot. “Come ‘ere, take a look.” Dum-e obliges, wheelin’ over an’ angling his camera. Inside the box was a cat. A very pregnant cat!
Dum-E transmitted the images to JARVIS, asking the AI to project them for Tony. Surely, he would understand why Bucky couldn’t come - not with feline replication being imminent.
Then, perhaps, Tony might be more comfortable here with Bucky and the furry creature that ignited so much delight in everyone. Dum-E knew better than to try and pet it, instead prodding Bucky’s shoulder. “Bring Tony up,” He tried to convey.
Dum-E was reluctant to leave the site imminent replication. It would be incredibly dangerous for the new felines if something were to catch on fire. He carefully positioned himself so that he could thoroughly douse both Bucky and the replicating feline with his fire retardant if necessary. Once he was satisfied, he stressed to JARVIS that it was imperative to Tony’s wellbeing that he arrive at this location immediately. The purring of the feline seemed particularly pleasant he was certain that if he liked it, his creator would find it even more enjoyable.
After Steve left the shop, Tony turned his sight on the big projection JARVIS had up for him. Marmalade, aka the cat Bucky had adopted in one of his walks, was in a nest of blankets while Dum-E was standing guard. U and Butterfingers seemed enraptured.
Bucky had abandoned him for the cat? Tony might have been hurt by that, but Marmalade hadn’t actually been around much lately, which was odd; usually, she delighted in rubbing against Tony’s ankles while he was trying to walk, or meowing plaintively just as they were settling down to sleep, or walking across Tony’s face to get to her preferred resting spot by Bucky’s shoulder. Wherever she had been, she’d obviously been eating well; she was looking more than a little plump, there– WAIT a minute.
On a closer look, Marmalade wasn’t just looking plump, she had four new extra fluff balls surrounding her, with one whining and already reaching up for DUM-E’s outstretched claw. On screen, he watched as Bucky moved towards the nest, scooping up one of the tiny kittens and holding it close to his chest. The sight of Bucky holding the kitten almost had Tony entirely forgetting about his just-healing injuries.
“Steeeeeeeeve!” Tony hollered at the top of his lungs. A second later Steve and his patriotic pecs of freedom were barreling back into the room.
“What?” he asked a little frantic. “What’s wrong?”
Tony held out his arms, waving them impatiently. “Help me upstairs! I"m a grandpa!”
Rolling his eyes fondly, and grumbling under his breath over Tony’s dramatics, Steve helped to his feet and down the hall to the elevators. Bucky looked up when they made their way into his room, positively beaming at Tony.
“Hey there, doll,” he hummed, keeping his voice low so he wouldn’t disturb the squeaking noises coming from the kittens, or Marmalade, purring as she licked one kitten vigorously clean. “Come to see the new babies?”
Tony settled carefully onto the ground beside him, and Bucky passed him a kitten, the two of them pressed close together as they stared dotingly at their new feline family.
Written by– Alistares, 27dragons, Tisfan, Trashe - King of Crack, PoliZ (Politzania), ceealaina, duckmoles, Jo The Android Twin, AoifeTinyStark
