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- Did you ever look down and think about me?
The question caught Mar-Vell by surprise. It was quite unexpected to hear Stark's voice since his golden eyes were almost shutting down from how tired he was and he assumed Tony would be asleep by now. His lifted his face from the older man's chest when he heard the phrase.
- I'm sorry, dear? - He looked up, noticing how wider the other's hazel eyes got whenever he called him that.
- When you were in Hala, during all those years. - Tony placed his hand on the Kree's hair, caressing it.
- Yes? - Marv started to perform circular movements with the tip of his index finger around Stark's arc reactor, earning a exasperated sigh in response.
- Did you ever wonder about what the hell was going on down there... with me? - As smooth and confident Stark consistently portrayed himself in public, his face proved otherwise while asking that.
The great Tony Stark was afraid and horribly anxious to hear the answer. His lips were shaking and weren't fully closed, his hazel eyes seemed to be tearing up. The billionaire showed concern and weakness and Mar-Vell could immediately read the inflicted emotions he depicted.
The Kree was raised as a warrior, as soon as he was of age he demonstrated how capable in combat he was and joined the elite Starforce team. During his early twenties, he didn't show weakness and always accomplished his missions without questioning the Hala officials. As he grew older and more suspicious, he was sent on a assigment on Earth to retrieve the powerful Tesseract.
As much as he wanted to do his duty, serve the Kree, disappoint the Supreme Intelligence and by no chance risk his rank, Mar-Vell couldn't help but to fall in love with humanity, or on his case, with a little human by the name of Anthony Edward Stark.
While gathering data of the weapon undercover as the alias "Walter Lawson" he met the brilliant young man. They worked together on the Project Pegasus division briefly and shared their love of science and as time went by, those late nights on the lab doing research developed into something else.
The Supreme Intelligence ordered Mar-Vell's return to Hala after an incident that granted powers to a close friend and forced them back into the Starforce to act as the Kree's "noble warrior heroes".
Both males were incredibly heartbroken by the abrupt end of their relationship, when "Walter" had to cover his return to Hala as S.H.I.E.L.D asking for him somewhere else.
In 1996 a S.H.I.E.L.D agent showed up on the billionaire's doorstep to report that the doctor he didn't even say "I love you" back due to anger, had died as well as another close friend, Air Force Pilot Carol Danvers had passed too.
So how would he react nearly 30 years later seeing them, alive and well, rescuing him after spending a long period adrift on space?
Although they looked considerably different, with colorful suits and powers, Mar-Vell still mainteined his calm personality and tenderness and Carol continued being the tough fighter she always was.
She had been the one to rescue Tony and Nebula from the Benatar. The cyborg didn't have much to recover and they were already bonding, however Stark was on the verge of death and desperately needed to rest.
After a long period of sleep and having his health slowly recovering, Carol allowed Mar-Vell to see his long lost love for the first time in nearly three decades. It was as shocking to Tony as it was to the alien to see how they looked after spending so many years apart. The blonde felt suffocated observing how fragile and tired Stark looked and wished he could heal him right there.
For Tony at first it was painful to see Mar-Vell again.
The amount of tears, screaming, self-loathing, substances he indulged himself in to forget losing his loved one over the years were incomparable. He couldn't believe his eyes. Mar-Vell was standing right in front of him right now.
The words he wanted to yell, the tears he wanted to shed, the touching he craved, all roaming around his brain yet not a single word would come out of his mouth. The Kree respected his silence and continued quiet, waiting for Stark to calm down and make the first move.
After a couple of minutes had passed Tony realized what he was feeling was relief. Weeks ago he had seen Peter as well as other heroes fade away from existance right in front of him. Seeing Mar-Vell there gave him hope. It was comforting to see he hadn't lost everyone he loved.
He called out for his fake name and after hearing his sweet voice reply with "Yes, dear?" the billionaire couldn't help but to smile and break down instantly. In a heartbeat Mar-Vell was comforting and hugging Stark until they were cuddling like they did in 95'.
The reflection of the past 36 hours brought the alien back to the initial question, and after a sigh he looked deep into Tony's eyes.
- There wasn't a single day that I spent without thinking of you, Tony. - He demonstrated seriousness and assurance. - I begged every night that the morning after I would wake up and the Kree-Skrull war would be over and I would get to come back to you.
- I should've used that damn pager, shouldn't I?
- I promised you I would return independently if you had or hadn't. I apologize it took so long to come back, but if I hadn't fought back then, we wouldn't be able to be sharing this moment right now, would we? - Mar-Vell softly wiped the tears away from the older man's cheek and kissed them, gaining a smile in return.
Tony tried to get closer than he already was, now with one of his arms around the alien's waist while his other hand still played with the blonde's hair, sharing a moment of silence.
- You have the most beautiful eyes in the galaxy. - Mar-Vell whispered.
Stark leaned down, making the Kree bring his head up. They gazed at each other for a brief moment, until the golden eyed one cupped Tony's cheeks with his hand and closed his eyes.
The two men slowly touched and locked lips, sharing their first kiss in nearly 30 years. Admittedly it was much more desperate coming from the billionaire, but Mar-Vell understood the cue and fought to get his tongue inside the other male's mouth. Tony grabbed a handful of the blonde's hair and pushed their heads closer together. The Kree could feel his finger getting wet due to Tony's tears and gently pulled back from their kiss.
- No need for tears anymore. I'm here now.
- You won't leave me again, right? - the brunette choked up.
- Never. I love you so much, dear. - the younger one reaffirmed.
- I love you more, space man. - Stark smiled and Mar-Vell retributed with a small laugh, leaning up so his lips could meet Tony's once more.