Broken Lullaby ▷ Tony Stark | ✓

28 - AN IMPORTANT LESSON

"LISTEN, NICK, WE'VE BEEN HAVING A GOOD THING GOING ON AND, YOU KNOW, I THINK WE SHOULD JUST STAY FRIENDS."

Tony snickered as he watched Nicky jolt, waking up from where he was sprawled out on his chair, button up shirt open, desperately trying to cool in the uncharacteristically scorching room. The younger man furiously tried to button up his shirt while stumbling over excuses and explanations as he rose to his feet, only to fall back down, panting.

"So hot..." he whined, raising his head towards the ceiling, "God, I can't take it."

"While I'm flattered by your interest in me, Nick, I just don't think it's gonna work out," he continued, though he couldn't help but feel the heat choking him as well, and he looked around, "What's wrong with the AC?"

"It's broken," Nicky drawled, "And I can't fix it because that'd be too suspicious. God, I can't stand this heat, I'm really sorry, this is so unprofessional, sit down, what's been going on?"

Tony jerked his thumb behind him, raising an eyebrow. "I thought you said we were going to do an exercise today? Something about taking me to a coffee shop and sitting at random people's tables without asking?"

Nicky frowned for a moment before perking up, nodding and rubbing at his face. "Yeah. Yeah, uh, not exactly, that's what I do for people with anxiety, try to get them to, you know, not worry so much about what other people think, social anxiety. But for you, we're heading to the park."

Tony raised an eyebrow, raising a hand towards his sunglasses that were dangling from his collar. "What's the plan?"

Nicky sighed as he rose to his feet, swaying. "You'll see. For now, just follow me. It's colder outside anyways."

The two made their way out of the building, Nicky sighing with relief at the blast of cold, his jacket left inside his office. Tony tried to pull on his sunglasses, but the younger man grabbed his arm, shaking his head.

"There's no sun out, keep them off."

Agreeing, the two made their way to the subway, and Tony was not comfortable in the slightest. As they descended down the stairs, Nicky handing him a metro card, the older man couldn't help but fidget, adjusting his clothes, unsure of whether to be glad he was wearing plain civilian clothes.

Nicky sighed as the two found their right stop, standing around and waiting, Nicky smiling and nodding towards the many people who were looking over at them, most glaring and glowering, mumbling softly amongst themselves.

"I hate this," Tony said, his skin crawling underneath the scrutiny that he had no leverage over.

"It'll be okay," Nicky said, reaching over and rubbing his back, "Look, when this is all said and done, you can put your glasses back on, just not right now, okay?"

Tony tried to school his features, fingers tapping against his leg, and he wished that Nicky wasn't looking at him the way he was, taking in everything he was doing, like he was an experiment. He knew he was doing his job, but he hated not having any control over the situation, he needed something to be able to use.

The two climbed onto the first train they needed to take to get to Manhattan, Nicky and Tony standing towards the center, all eyes trained on them immediately, some people staring at him with mild concern, others with quiet disapproval, and the occasional grumble from the more extroverted of people.

"Didn't think Tony Stark knew what a subway was," a man called out from where he was standing in the corner of the car, raising his chin defiantly.

Tony sighed softly, trying to ignore him, and Nicky shifted, not quite trying to seem taller, but acknowledging what the man was saying, which wasn't the best course of action. The two inwardly cursed at the movement, preparing for an altercation.