Chapter Text
“… Honeybear? What do you think?”
Rhodey blinked to find Tony staring at him, a hopeful, expectant smile on his face and oh god. He had zoned out completely thinking about his schedule for the conference he was going to next week, and he had absolutely no idea what they had been talking about.
“Um,” he said, trying to buy some time, and Tony’s smile dimmed slightly. He reminded Rhodey of the nervous, terrified kid who had walked into his dorm room at MIT, and he would shoot himself in his knee before he would let Tony feel that way again. “Yes,” he offered, hedging his bets. Tony’s smile had been more shy than the manic look he got when talking about armies of robots, so Rhodey was probably safe, right?
“Are you sure?” Tony asked, but already the smile was blooming back across his face, eyes going bright like Rhodey had just made all his dreams come true. “I mean, if you don’t think it’s a good idea…”
“Yes, definitely,” Rhodey told him firmly. “It’s a great idea. It’s gonna be great.”
Oh god, he really hoped he wasn’t agreeing to an army of robots.
Tony beamed at him for a long minute, and even if Rhodey had no idea what was going on, Tony’s smile was contagious and he couldn’t help grinning back at him, laughing when Tony started laughing brightly. Tony’s eyes got a little watery, but before Rhodey could question him on it, he was launching himself forward and wrapping his arms around Rhodey’s neck. Rhodey had no idea what was going on, but he was never gonna complain about having Tony in his lap. HIs arms moved automatically around Tony’s back and drew him in close, the two of them making out in the lab just like old times until Jarvis interrupted to remind Tony about his meeting with the Swiss investors. Tony pulled back, still grinning wide.
“I love you so much,” he told Rhodey, giving him one final peck before hopping off his lap. “We’ll talk later!” he called over his shoulder, heading out the door with a definite bounce to his step.
Rhodey leaned back against the desk and sighed, scratching at his chin ruefully. He had definitely just agreed to an army of robots. Pepper was going to kill him.
*
What with one thing and another, Rhodey didn’t end up seeing Tony again for the rest of the day. He was in bed, in that dozy almost-asleep state, when the door cracked open. He couldn’t help smiling at the ceiling before rolling over onto his side, watching through half lidded eyes as Tony moved into the room, stripping messily out of his clothes. He disappeared into the bathroom and Rhodey drifted off again, waking with a jolt when Tony bounced on the bed a few minutes later.
“Jesus,” he muttered, earning himself a giggle as Tony clambered over the bed, draping himself over Rhodey’s chest and burying his face against his neck. Rhodey couldn’t help grinning, moving his hand to card through the soft waves of Tony’s hair. “Hey Snickerdoodle,” he whispered, letting his eyes fall shut as Tony’s beard scraped over his neck. “No late night in the lab?”
Tony hummed and then blew a raspberry against Rhodey’s neck, because he was an actual child. “Guess I just missed you.”
Rhodey grinned again, his eyes still shut. “Missed you too, baby.” He felt Tony shift, and opened his eyes to see him propping himself up on his elbows so he could look at him properly. Tony’s eyes met his, searching them for a long minute before he broke out in a wide grin.
“God, I love you so much,” Tony breathed, before he was leaning down, kissing Rhodey thoroughly.
Rhodey moaned softly against his mouth, arms wrapping around his back as Tony shifted to straddle his waist. He had no idea why he was being so extra affectionate tonight -- even for Tony -- but he definitely wasn’t complaining. “I love you too,” he breathed against his lips.
They kissed lazily for a few minutes, Tony rocking absently on top of him and sighing softly as Rhodey stroked his fingers up and down his spine. “Okay, okay,” Tony said finally, breaking away to nuzzle at Rhodey’s neck instead. “Rain check? I’m wiped.”
Rhodey nodded, even as his hands tightened around Tony’s back. “You gonna stay here tonight?” he asked, feeling Tony’s lips curve into a smile against his adam’s apple.
“Nowhere else I’d rather be, honey bear.”
*
Tony woke in the early hours of the morning, the sky outside still dark. Normally Tony would be bitching about Steve scheduling Avengers meetings before any decent human being should even be awake, but this morning he was in far too good of a mood to complain. He wasn’t even feeling the lack of coffee. Rhodey just huffed as Tony slipped out of bed, burrowing deeper into the blankets without waking up. Tony beamed at him, and pressed a whisper light kiss to his cheek before heading to shower.
He was, as per usual, the last one into the meeting, bursting in at ten seconds to the hour. He slid into his customary seat beside Steve, bouncing his leg with even more chaotic energy than usual.
“Okay,” Steve started. “Let’s call this meeting —,”
“I have an announcement!” Tony burst out, ignoring all standard procedures.
Steve made a show of drawing in a long breath, scrubbing a hand over his face, but when he turned to Tony his smile was pleasant. “Yes, Tony?” he asked, voice teasing. “What’s so important that it can’t even wait for the meeting to start?”
If he’d been in less of a good mood, Tony would have had a comment in return, or at the very least have stuck his tongue out at the other man, because he was a mature and responsible adult. But as it was…
“Rhodey and I are getting married!” he blurted out, with no sense of preamble. He knew he was grinning like an absolute idiot, and he couldn’t have cared less. “I asked him yesterday, and he said yes, so uh… Yeah. We’re getting married,” he said again, because he couldn’t get enough of the way the words tasted on his tongue.
The room erupted into a chorus of cheers and congratulations. “Tony!” Steve said beside him, sounding absolutely delighted. Tony grinned back at him and then he was being hauled off his seat and crushed into Steve’s broad arms. “Congratulations!” he told him, yelling in his ear to be heard over the epic blessing that Thor was bestowing upon them. (Tony was 99.999% sure that he was just doing it to be a shit.) “I’m so happy for you!”
He was practically passed around the room then, everyone hugging him and giving him congratulations -- or in Natasha’s case, telling him it was about time that he got his ass in gear. He knew she was really telling him ‘I love you.’ The team could get on his last nerve sometimes, but he loved them all completely. They were so genuinely happy for him that Tony felt his chest go a little tight, had to clear his throat a few times before he could properly say thank you. He would have married Rhodey in the middle of an iceberg with only penguins to bear witness, but knowing that the team would be right there celebrating with him made something he would never admit to go all warm and gooey inside.
*
Rhodey woke up feeling comfortable and refreshed, with the faint memory of Tony’s lips pressed to his cheek in a good morning kiss. Tony would be Iron Man until he died, he knew, but Rhodey was more than happy to stay semi-retired, piloting the War Machine armour as backup, rather than part of the main team, while serving as the Avengers liaison to the military -- well, the president, now.
Taking his time with his morning routine, he showered and dressed before finally wandering into the common area with vague ideas of finding coffee and then bugging Tony in that order. Steve was the only one around, reading a book in one of the armchairs, but he looked up when Rhodey came in, beaming wide.
“Hey, congratulations!” he said, actually getting up and coming over to give Rhodey a hug.
Rhodey blinked in surprise, even as he hugged Steve back. His promotion wasn’t that big of a deal, could barely even be considered a promotion really. It was more of a structural reorganization than anything. “Uh, thanks!” he said, trying to sound as genuine as possible because it was nice of Steve to be so enthused on his behalf.
Steve grinned as he pulled back. “Tony told us all the big news. He couldn’t wait. He’s… Really excited.”
And that made a bit more sense. Tony was always inordinately proud of everything Rhodey did, no matter how ridiculous or small. “Yeah,” he said, aware that he was grinning a little stupidly, thinking about Tony. “I’m not surprised. You know how Tony is.”
“Yeah…” Steve was giving him a curious look now, but an instant later his expression cleared and he was back to grinning brightly. “Well still. Congratulations, Jim. Nobody deserves it more than you.”
As Rhodey wandered off for the kitchen, Natasha materialized by Steve’s side, folding her arms across her chest as the two of them watched him disappear. “Betcha ten bucks that Rhodes has no idea they’re getting married.”
Steve snorted, turning to her with a smirk playing around his lips. “That’s easy money, Romanoff. You’re not fooling me.” He rolled his eyes at Nat’s arched brow. “Again.”
“Fiiiine,” she drawled, taking a minute to consider. “Fifty bucks says he doesn’t figure it out before the wedding.”
Steve considered a minute, thought about how ridiculously excited Tony was, how he’d never in his life done anything by half measures. “You’re on,” he told her, shaking her hand firmly.
*
Rhodey found Tony, as expected, working in the lab, fiddling with the holographic plans to what looked like Sam’s wings. Tossing a ball across the room for DUM-E to chase, Rhodey leaned against the counter next to Tony, sliding a fresh mug of coffee in front of him and waiting for Tony to look up and acknowledge him. When he did, a bright smile on his face, Rhodey arched an eyebrow at him.
“So. I passed Steve in the common room. Stopped to offer me congratulations…” He huffed out a laugh at the sheepish look on Tony’s face, tinged by genuine delight. “You told everyone, didn’t you?”
Tony shrugged at him. “I couldn’t help it!” he protested. “I’m just so excited.”
Rhodey gave him a fond look, leaning over to kiss his temple. “I don’t know why I’m even surprised,” he mumbled. Tony gave a happy little wiggle.
“They’re all really happy,” he told him, half distracted by his blueprints again.
Rhodey took a sip from his own mug of coffee as DUM-E came back up with his ball. “I don’t know why,” he said, tossing it across the room and missing how Tony looked up at him sharply and went still, breath catching. “It can’t possibly be a surprise to anyone. It’s just the natural next step.”
He turned back to Tony, blinking when he found Tony staring at him with wide eyes, welling up and looking at him with this awed sort of expression.
“Tones…?” he started, but cut himself off with a grunt when he suddenly found himself with an armful of Tony, the other man kissing him breathless.
“God,” Tony muttered against his lips, hands fumbling with the fly of Rhodey’s pants. “God, I fucking love you so much.”
And by the time they were sprawled up together on the too-small cot twenty minutes later, both panting for breath, Rhodey forgot all about asking Tony what had him almost in tears.
*
By the end of the week, all the Avengers were in on the betting, and Steve was torn between his deep-seated need to win at all costs, and wanting to drag it out forever because he was pretty sure this was the funniest thing to ever happen to him.
He was watching tv in the common room when the elevator dinged and Tony and Rhodey walked off, bickering good naturedly over something to do with the War Machine suit. Without looking up at them, Steve poked at his phone and switched to some Lifestyle network previewing the top ten wedding locations of the year. Tony didn’t even seem to notice, but out of the corner of his eye, Steve saw Rhodey pause.
“Uh… Interesting viewing choice there, Rogers.”
He shrugged. “Never know when you’re going to have to plan a destination wedding.”
Rhodey snorted at that. “Destination weddings are tacky.”
Tony did pay attention then, glancing up at the images on the screen, and then grinning at Rhodey. “We are so in sync.” He leaned, giving him a quick kiss, and then grabbed his hand. “Come on, Honeybear. Experiment time. We’re gonna put this to rest once and for all.”
Steve managed to wait until they’d left the floor before laughing so hard he could barely breathe.
*
The thing was, Tony constantly had nine million things on the go. He didn’t really have time for things like picking out flowers, and decorations, and deciding on a venue. And, even if he had the time, it was probably better if he didn’t. Pepper, Rhodey, and Happy still refused to let him forget the time he’d decided to redecorate the media room in floor-to-ceiling cheetah print.
Besides, these were all just details. He and Rhodey were obviously soulmates. As long as they were both there, and exchanged vows, who cared whether they had roses, or orchids, or birthworts (whatever those were). Much better to outsource the party planning to the people actually paid to plan parties.
So he’d hired the best wedding planner in the city, and told her to have at it.
Still, he felt a little guilty for not offering Rhodey any input.
Rhodey was poking at shit in the lab when Tony came in with a “hey babycakes,” that had Rhodey rolling his eyes, trying to hide the smile that threatened to cross his lips.
“Hey honey.”
“So listen, I just wanted to check… Did you want to do any of the planning for the big event?”
Rhodey blinked and kept his face carefully neutral as he tried to wrack his brain for what event they could possibly be going to.
“I mean,” Tony continued. “I just told the planners to go with their instincts, but it’s not too late if you want a particular cake favour or anything?”
“Um.” Rhodey had no idea what event he was even talking about. It must have been some SI thing. He didn’t remember agreeing to anything, and he had no idea why Tony would expect him to have any input, but if he’d promised to go, he’d promised to go. “I’m good. We should leave the party planning to the people who are actually paid to plan parties, right?”
Tony was staring at him like he’d said something incredible. “That’s almost exactly what I said!” he crowed.
Rhodey wasn’t really sure why this was supposed to be a revelation, since Tony had never planned a party in his life, and certainly nothing as big as a Stark Industries event.
“Why sweat the details?” Tony added. “Doesn’t matter, as long as we’re there together, right?”
Rhodey just stared at him, not even fighting his fond smile this time. “You’re such a dweeb, man,” he told him, softening Tony’s put-on pout with a slow, lazy kiss. “Sure, Tones,” he added in a mumble against his lips. “‘S long as we’re together.”
*
Pepper had known from the minute that Tony called and told her they were getting married that Rhodey had no idea what was going on. Mostly because Rhodey’d been carrying around a ring for two years, and kept chickening out, and there was no way Tony had proposed first without a resulting phone call from Jim throwing an absolute fit over it.
Pepper planned to stay firmly out of it.
Honestly, if she’d thought it would be a problem, of course she would have said something. But she knew they’d both be disgustingly ecstatic to marry each other no matter what the situation. So for now, it was endlessly amusing watching Tony walking around even more besotted than usual while Rhodey remained utterly oblivious — except for the brief moments of sheer panic when he realized Tony was asking him about something he had absolutely no memory of agreeing to.
Besides, those two idiots deserved it for all the ridiculous shit they’d put her through over the years.
It was slightly less funny when she nearly had a heart attack when Steve Rogers pulled her unceremoniously and without warning into an empty conference room.
“I need to talk to you!” he hissed, like anyone would even hear them through the soundproofing.
Pepper arched an eyebrow at him, a little nonplussed by how badly he had startled her and trying to play it off. “I can see why you’re not trusted with the spy missions, Captain Rogers.”
Steve just rolled his eyes. “It’s about Tony and Rhodey’s wedding,” he told her. “I think there might be a problem.”
Pepper’s other eyebrow joined the first, and she motioned for him to go on.
“Rhodey doesn’t know Tony proposed. Tony’s going around planning this incredible wedding, and Rhodey hasn’t even said yes! I think we should say something, right?” He gave her a hopeful look, not entirely innocent.
Pepper blinked back at him, face not revealing a thing; there was a reason May always pouted about her game face on poker nights. “First of all, the extent of Tony’s ‘planning’ involves him calling a service and dragging Rhodey there the day of, so I wouldn’t be too worried about all the effort and energy he’s putting into this. Second of all, I’m staying out of it. Me trying to tell them means they’ll just not-listen harder. They’ll figure it out at the wedding, at the very least. And thirdly…” She folded her arms over her chest, narrowing her eyes at him. “You wouldn’t be trying to get me to intercede just so you don’t lose your bet, now would you, Steve?”
Steve’s eyes went wide. “You know about that?”
“Good lord. Of course I know about that.” She shook her head, clucking her tongue is disappointment, although she was grinning now. “For shame. I would have expected better from Captain America.” Heading for the door, she paused long enough to glance over her shoulder at him. “Besides. I’ve got fifty bucks that says they won’t figure it out!”
*
“Honey, baby, sweetheart, love of my life…”
Rhodey groaned burying himself deeper into the blankets and turning his face away from Tony and into his pillow.
“Rhooooo-deeeeeeeeeey.”
Rhodey shivered as Tony’s lips traced the shell of his ear before he placed feather light kisses over the back of his neck. “‘s too early,” he protested, mostly because it was expected of him. “Go ‘way.” He felt Tony’s lips curl into a smile against his neck.
“Nope.”
Relenting, Rhodey rolled over onto his back, blinking sleepily up at Tony. His boyfriend was dressed and alert, sitting cross-legged on the bed beside him with a grin. Rhodey glared at him and then shoved him until he tipped over, just because he could. “Stop being so in love with me,” he grumbled. “‘s embarrassing.”
All that got him was a delighted laugh from Tony, an answering smile spreading across Rhodey’s face at the sound. God, he loved Tony’s laugh.
“I love your laugh,” he told him, because Tony didn’t get true compliments enough, and it seemed important to say, and good lord he was tired. Rhodey scrubbed a hand over his face, blinking a few times when his vision came up blurry. “It’s too early,” he whined again, giving Tony a suspicious look. “How are you so bright and cheery?”
Tony snorted, rolling onto his side and leaning up on his elbow so he could look Rhodey over with twinkling eyes. “Uh… Probably because it’s almost noon there, Honeybear.”
“What?!” Rhodey rolled over, grabbing his phone from the bedside table and leaving Tony cackling beside him. “What the hell?”
“Where’s that military training now, huh?” Tony teased, poking him in the side. Of course Rhodey couldn’t let that slide. He grabbed Tony, yanking him over to his side of the bed, their wrestling very quickly dissolving into lazy kisses, Tony complaining about his morning breath and Rhodey ignoring him entirely.
“Can’t believe I slept till noon,” Rhodey grumped, pulling away when the sleepiness caught up to him again.
“Well. That is what happens when you stay up half the night playing video games with Clint and Sam.” Tony patted his cheek condescendingly. “You’re not a young thing anymore. It’s okay darling, it happens. Don’t have quite the same… Stamin-ah!”
Tony cut himself off with a yelp of laughter as Rhodey ambushed him again, dragging him under him for more kisses. “Show you no stamina,” he grumbled, though he only lasted a few minutes before he was flopping back into the pillows with a low groan. “Come on, Tones. Don’t make me get up.” He batted his eyelashes at him. “Ten more minutes, honey?”
“Can’t,” Tony informed him airily.
“Because I’m so irresistible?” Rhodey fluttered his eyelashes a little more.
“Obviously.” Tony leaned in, giving him another quick peck. “But come on, time to get up gorgeous. We’re gonna be late. It’s our final suit fitting”
Rhodey scrunched his face up in confusion. “Suits for what?”
Tony gave him a deadpan, unimpressed face. “Suits for what, he asks me,” he grumbled.
Right. The SI thing. Rhodey half tuned Tony out as he started rambling about preliminary measurements and final fits and, for some reason, their matching pocket squares -- why did they have to match? For that matter, why did they even need tailored, bespoke suits? It wasn’t that important, they could rewear something they already owned.
He opened his mouth to tell Tony exactly that, but then thought better of it. Tony probably had a long, rambling justification for why new suits -- with matching pocket squares, apparently -- were necessary. And as long as it made him happy, Rhodey was fine with it. But it also looked dreary and rainy outside, and all he wanted was to lie in bed with his boyfriend and watch dumb action movies while they made out.
“Hey.” He covered Tony’s mouth with his hand, cutting him off mid-sentence. Tony didn’t even look offended, just arched his eyebrows, looking at Rhodey expectantly. “Or, consider this. You take off all your clothes, put on just an apron, cook approximately fifty pounds of bacon for me, and then it’s just you, me, and Die Hards 1 through 3.” He waggled his eyebrows enticingly. “Come on, Tony. JARVIS takes our measurements, and your tailor has literally never had a less than perfect fit in his life.” He pitched his voice low, rubbing his thumb over that spot on Tony’s hip that always made his breath catch and his body shiver.
Tony rolled his eyes at him, but Rhodey already knew he had won. “You are a menace,” Tony said, before grinning. “Fine. JARVIS, please tell Giovanni that we won’t be coming into today, and to proceed with the suits as they are.” He leaned in, stealing another kiss. “Just don’t blame me when you trip over your own pants, because they’re too long for your short little legs.”
“Baby, as long as your pants fit right so I get to stare at your gorgeous ass all night, I don’t give a shit what I’m wearing.”
Tony burst out laughing at that, and Rhodey beamed back at him.
“Now go! Take off those pants!”
*
Really, Clint’s kind of weird insistence that they all go out to strip club the night before should have given the game away. Or Tony waking him up even more lovey-dovey than usual (although the sweet, lazy wake up sex had been a pretty fair distraction). Or the fact that they were going upstate, for some reason, and that Tony insisted on holding Rhodey’s hand on the way up, steering with his left the entire way there.
He was starting to feel a little suspicious by the time they pulled into the parking lot of the inn, the perfect blend of cozy and classy. SI events were usually ultra-ritzy, swanky affairs in glitzy ballrooms in the city. Not… This. And his suspicions only doubled when Tony turned to him in the lobby with glistening eyes, gave him a long, lingering kiss and then pulled back, beaming.
“See you in a bit, honeybear,” he promised, voice gruff, before he was taking off down the hall and disappearing upstairs.
But it wasn’t until after Pepper had taken him to a different room to get changed with a smirk that he couldn’t quite place, after he’d gotten dressed in that fancy bespoke suit (that fit like a glove), and had Pepper fuss over his hair and his tie and his jacket, after they’d gone back downstairs and he found himself staring out into the beautiful back garden that was arranged with chairs, and an aisle, and what could only be described as an altar, that he realized that he’d missed something very, very important.
“Oh god,” he breathed, taking a step back and scrubbing a hand over his mouth. “It wasn’t an army of robots.”
“I’m sorry.” Pepper was behind him again, smirking wide. “What was that?”
“Pepper!” he whispered frantically. “What is going on? I haven’t even proposed yet!”
She looked utterly unimpressed. “Really? Come on Colonel, connect the steps.”
“I hate you,” he told her. “You’ve known about this the entire time, haven’t you?”
Pepper just shrugged. “I had money on the line,” she told him, but then she leaned up and gave him a soft kiss on the cheek. “Hey, relax. You’re marrying the love of your life. Everything you ever wanted, right?”
Rhodey could feel the goofy smile crossing his lips. “Yeah,” he admitted, and Pepper smiled right back at him.
“Then go get your boy.”
And then he was stepping onto the altar, where Tony was waiting for him, grinning with no chill at all, like he couldn’t have stopped himself if he wanted. He chewed at his lip as Rhodey joined him, catching his hands and tilting his head to give him a questioning look.
“You alright?” he asked softly, laughter in his voice.
“Are you?” Rhodey retorted, making Tony laugh in earnest. “Come on, let’s go.”
“Alright, Honeybear.” Tony was still looking amused. “Let’s do this thing.”
*
The ceremony went by entirely too fast and yet they seemed to linger in that perfect moment forever. Tony’s vows were adorable, and geeky, and so perfectly sweet and Rhodey found himself welling up, laughing through tears. And when he stumbled over his own, written less than five minutes ago, Tony laughed delightly, though he was looking a little weepy himself.
And then Thor was pronouncing them officially married -- before of course Thor was their officiant -- and they were kissing, and it was probably a little too racy for a wedding, but it didn’t really matter because it was their friends, and they were all cheering, and their officiant was a literal god, so who cared if Tony slipped him a little tongue, and if Rhodey had to get his hands on his ass and give it a squeeze.
The grounds for the inn were huge, the reception taking place further down a little wandering path through the woods. The two of them took their time wandering through, hands entwined, and Rhodey couldn’t keep from staring at Tony every few seconds. He couldn’t believe that in just a few short minutes, he’d gone from not even knowing what was going on to being married to the love of his life. He was grinning like an idiot, he knew, but he couldn’t feel stupid about it; every time he looked over at Tony, Tony was already looking back at him.
The second they’d reached the reception area, though, Tony was tugging him off to a quiet little corner. “You had no idea what was happening, did you?”
“I…” Rhodey hesitated a moment, because he knew how insecure Tony could be sometimes, and in no circumstances did he want him to confuse not knowing with not wanting. But starting out their marriage with secrets seemed like a terrible idea, and he was pretty sure Tony already knew anyway, so. “Not a clue,” he confessed, scratching the back of his neck ruefully. “Still love me?”
He needn’t have worried. Tony looked at him for a second, doing his best to look stern, and then burst out laughing. He laughed for so long that Rhodey was genuinely concerned about his ability to breathe, putting an arm around Tony’s waist to keep him upright (and also, because he’d take any excuse to get his hands on Tony).
“Oh god,” Tony choked in, taking in deep gasping breaths as he tried to calm down. “I knew it! I saw your face, when you saw the altar…” He snorted again. “And I could just tell. Baby, I love you, but nothing compares to that look of absolute panic you had. Funniest thing I’ve ever seen. That is… That’s the greatest wedding gift you could have given me.”
“That’s good,” Rhodey told him dryly. “Cause I didn’t actually get you anything.”
That set Tony of laughing again, and Rhodey just wrapped his arms tighter around his waist, tugging him close, nosing against his neck and pressing soft kisses against his shoulder.
“You’re really not upset?” Rhodey whispered into his skin. “I feel like a little bit of a dick, not helping plan my own wedding.”
“Hey.” Tony pulled his head up, cupping his cheeks and holding him steady so they were eye to eye. “It’s all just details, honey. As long as it’s you and me, that’s all that matters.”
Rhodey beamed at him, and then they were kissing again, letting heat build up between them until Bucky came by and threatened to pour an entire bottle of champagne on them if they didn’t get things started so everyone could get some goddamn cake.
After, when everyone had eaten and the champagne had been poured, when the dancing had mostly petered out and the stars were out in full force in the sky, Rhodey sat sprawled out on a little loveseat, Tony half sideways and half in his lap, head resting against Rhodey’s chest. He had one arm wrapped around Tony’s middle, combing the fingers of his other hand through his soft curls, and Tony was making, soft, sleepy, contented noises. It felt like heaven.
“Hey,” Tony said, voice drowsy. “Blackmail opportunity for life.”
Rhodey squinted at the stars, but he’d had a lot of champagne tonight, and he was pretty sure that made no sense at all. “What?”
“Yeah, Tony continued, still in that same, sleepy tone of voice. “How’re you ever gonna get mad at me again?” He gave a little giggle, the sound making Rhodey feel warm and content all over. “It’s just like. Hey honeybear? Remember the time you didn’t know we were getting married?”
Rhodey just snorted, tightening his arm around Tony because he never wanted to let him go. “And I’ll just be like. Hey sweetheart, remember the time you didn’t tell me we were getting married?”
“Excuse me?” Tony squirmed around and Rhodey reluctantly let him go so he could sit up and face him. “I did tell you! I proposed!! How is that not telling you?”
“But you never once said the words ‘we’re getting married’ in the next six months?” Rhodey just scoffed. “Geez, Tones. Couldn’t you be a little more excited to marry me?”
Tony stared at him for a minute, gaping. Then he was yanking Rhodey in for a kiss, and then, not much after that, the two of them were slipping back up the path to the lodge, stumbling and love drunk and stopping every few seconds to kiss as they made their way to the honeymoon suite.
And the next day, when the cover of the New York Times was just a giant picture of Tony’s face with the words ‘I MARRIED COLONEL RHODES’ printed underneath in a font that was nothing short of ostentatious, well… Rhodey had no one to blame but himself.