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“You all haven’t even kissed yet?” Tony asked, cocking a brow in slight amazement.
Anthony snorted. “Kiss? We barely even utter a word to each other, which is completely fine with me. He’s so damn difficult, set in his ways. I don’t know how you all do it,” he let out an exasperated sigh. Tony’s surprise said a lot about how new he was to just about everything. Hell, even Antonio gave him a quizzical look.
“Oh please. Your Steve is an angel compared to mine; I can’t remember when my Steve called me Tony. He alternates between an insult, and 'Stark'.” Antonio confessed, laughing towards the end of his sentence before downing the last of his wine. Both of his counterparts eyed him skeptically; not only because he was on his fifth glass, but because his description of Steve sounded fictional. Antonio only felt a tad bit cheated. His counterparts have had chances that he never did.
“He can’t be that mean... You did say you guys have slept together.” Tony was in denial, and Antonio had a sharp enough tongue to piss off just about anyone.
Antonio rolled his eyes. “Darling, sex has nothing to do with how badly we treat each other. Yes, I am partially to blame--not that any of you are shocked, but you two still have a chance. We’re all screw ups, after all. Especially you, Tony.”
Tony grunted. “Thanks.”
“He’s right. From what I hear, Steve’s in love with you.” Anthony chimed, giving Tony a sly grin.
Tony could feel his face heating up, followed by pangs of insecurity tugging in the pit of his stomach. “Yeah, right.” He liked Anthony. The man was optimistic and bright eyed. He didn’t share the dullness that he’d adapted over the years or the permanently vacant look Antonio tried to cover up with jests and alcohol.
“Yeah, I know I’m right,” Anthony gently nudged his elbow into Tony’s arm; he could already see the man drawing into himself. For a moment, he was scared. Was this the road he was headed down? Anthony sees so much of himself in Tony; so much to the point where it scared him. Antonio, on the other hand, reminded him of himself if he’d given into his demons. He felt for the man, but he was too far gone.
“How long have you loved Steve?” Antonio asked Tony, which made Tony smile for a split second. He eyed the glass of wine in front of him. Antonio watched every move, thinking that he should probably stop drinking in front of one of his counterpart who prided themselves in being sober, but for some reason, seeing both versions of him couldn’t be done without a buzz. Even now, he was mentally exhausted. Antonio already thought of himself as pathetic,, but seeing the other two only reinforced his conclusion.
“10 years now. Feels like forever at this point. Sometimes I think it’s unhealthy to love him as much as I do.”
“You don’t say,” Anthony taunted.
“Oh shut up. Antonio understands, right?”
Antonio furrowed his brows. “Who the hell said anything about me loving Rogers? And for that long might I add.” Yes, he was lying, but did they really need to know how his disgusting pining was so much deeper than wanting a quick fuck?
“And I thought I was a bad liar,” Tony said.
Antonio rested his head onto Anthony’s shoulder. “Nonsense. I’m a fantastic liar, and way too sober to tell you about my feelings.” The word feelings held a mocking inflection.
“You need to lay off the drinks,” said Anthony.
“You’re adorable, and short.” Antonio replied, followed by Anthony shoving him slightly. Anthony was not that short.
Tony reached out his hand, dragging his finger along the scar on Antonio’s forehead. “How’d you get that.”
“A long story involving a brain tumor, Reed Richards, and me almost getting married. A long story for another day.” A long story he wasn’t emotionally comfortable with relaying just yet, but they seemed to get the idea. Antonio melted into Tony’s touch, leaning over Anthony.
“Is this the part where we all fuck?” Anthony joked.
Tony squinted his eyes. “That just sounds wrong.”
Antonio whined. “That’s no fun. I came all this way to not get a blow job from another me?”
“This was supposed to be us bonding over life, not a weird alternate universe threesome,” Tony said.
“We can definitely bond through a threesome, and to my pleasant surprise both of you are very handsome. I’m obviously the best looking one, though.”
Both Anthony and Tony pulled away from Antonio, murmuring something along the lines of “don’t even start.”
“Okay fine, but my Steve became president and fucked me in the Oval Office. That's something neither of you can say.”
“It’s not all about sleeping together; it’s about the romantic aspect and being each other’s soulmate,” Tony said dreamily.
“Calm down, Shakespeare. Not everyone has waited a decade to hold hands,” Anthony said facetiously, followed by a bark of laughter from Antonio. Tony sucked his teeth. The fact that he was the hopeless romantic out of the three of them was only slightly embarrassing.
“What do you think the Steves are saying about us?” Asked Anthony.
Both of them paused for a moment, looking at each other and then shaking their heads. “Let’s pretend like we don’t know,” said Tony.