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[Steve knows that weary agreement. It's the answer he always has late at night when the battles at home got to be too much. Sometimes things just felt overwhelming and he would find himself considering all the what-ifs he might have had once upon a time. The hero's version of not wanting to get up early for work the next day. He smiles, putting a hand on Tony's shoulder.]

If I can help, let me know. I'm sure I can move things around for the wall when you need them. And I'll ask some other people to help us keep an eye on the generators out there.

[One side of Tony's mouth quirks upward, but the expression is genuine.]

I'd appreciate it. I put too much work into those things to let them get eaten by giant space slugs or whatever.

[He pats the hand on his shoulder almost absently.]

I'll keep you in the loop, much as I can.

I'll keep watch.

[He nods seriously, giving his word like this is a sincere promise. For Steve, it is. He'll be out late to check up on those generators.]

Thank you, Tony. I'm glad you can trust me.

[At least this much. It's more than he's had for a while from any of the new Avengers and he's still trying to manage without it.]

[Tony pauses before his eyebrows draw together in a look of vague confusion.]

Why wouldn't I?

[Trust has never really been the issue. At least not with this Steve.]

Because you don't know me. I don't expect you to trust a stranger so easily.

[Part of that is just the reactions he's gotten from the other slightly familiar faces. Steve is under the impression that other worlds' heroes have a lot of trouble trusting even those that should be heroes and allies to them. He's trying to play by their rules. And, of course, he isn't sure how much he can be trusted.]

I'd like to earn it. To know that it's deserved.

[That just gets an even more puzzled look. Which, considering the issues Tony is currently having with his own Captain America, is a little darkly amusing.]

Sure, but you trust me, right? [Or else they wouldn't be having this conversation.] And same goes.

[The phone call starts off very abruptly, with no greeting, just a few words, though it's pretty clear who is calling.]

You. How close are you to finishing those braces?

[Beneath the usual gruffness, there's the excitement and hope of a teenager whose been told his whole life he would never be able to walk. He knows Stark already, the Tony who was his roommate having made him several wonderful toys. So he knows that this will turn out good.]

Hello to you too.

[So very dry. But not entirely unexpected, given what he already knows of the guy.]

Have you come by for your fitting? You have not.

I'll be there in five minutes, peasant.

[.....Did he just called the billionaire-playboy-philanthropist-superhero a peasant? Yes, yes he did, hanging up as he does so. He is there, in precisely five minutes, using his wheelchair today.]

I am sure I won't be disappointed.

[That's actually a compliment. He has faith in Tony and his wonderful toys.]

We endeavor to please, your highness.

[Tony may be sarcastic, but he's still propelling his guest towards the center of the room. Being obnoxious has never stopped him from getting work done.]

Okay, I need you to stand in the middle there and hold still for a couple of seconds.

I trust you.

[It's a more difficult question than he's used to, but the truth is he does trust Tony. All of them, if he's really pressed to say it. There has been damage done thanks to the rift that grew between him and many of the heroes of his world, but even that isn't enough to make Steve give up on the people around him. Heroes are still heroes.]

...Then both of us are on the same page. I guess our worlds aren't that different.

That's King Ivar to you.

[He never usually pulls out the royal titles, but he's being an ornery little shit right now.]

Oh, sure, you make it sound easy.

[Standing up on brittle bones is not an easy task. Give him about a minute or so here, it'll take him that long in the struggle to get up and not moving for as long as Tony needs.]

Well that I'm not sure about.

[He gives Steve a wry grin, looking a little more settled now that the conversation has moved to place he understands.]

No offense, but yours sounds a whole lot weirder than mine.

Your apologies, your kingness.

[But he does eye him for a moment. Alright, maybe he can rework this.]

Alright, nevermind. I can probably get decent readings with you sitting. Still gonna need you to hold still, though.

Oh sure, now you tell me.

[But he doesn't say anything more scathing than the usual teenage sarcasm because, contrary to popular belief, Ivar knows when to shut up, especially when someone is doing him a favor. Then he holds still.]

Hey, if you want to do this yourself, be my guest. J?

[That'll show him to try to be nice.

But the fancy laser come out to trace lightly over Ivar's whole body, just for completion's sake. Within a moment or two, he's got a fairly generalized full-body outline hanging in the air in front of him, and it only takes a few tweaks to pull it into a standing position.]

Oh. You can move now.

[It sounds a little like he forgot the man himself was still there for a moment. But Tony's attention is still mostly on pulling up the original design for Rhodey's braces and mapping them over Ivar's wireframe.]

[ Steve nods in acknowledgment, giving Tony a smirk. ]

I haven't heard a lot about your world. Your Avengers seem a little different from ours. Not as used to the world ending.

Just the one attempt, really.

[And the fact that he doesn't wince as he says it probably means he's growing as a person.]

Everything else has been...I don't know, conquest attempts. Money making bullshit.

[It seems so small-scale when put that way.]

[Just one. Steve finds it hard to remember what it was like to just have one great danger. To him, the first great threat was always the war. The first great change was when he woke up in a world with Avengers. He smiles slightly. How things change.]

It's a lot, isn't it? The world is bigger than we dreamed it was when I was a kid.

Your Avengers never saw anything like this?

[Once he's allowed to move, Ivar wheels himself over to where Tony seems to be lost in thought. Ivar doesn't say anything once the holograph come up. He looks at it with curiosity as Tony begins to map out the design of the braces over his body. It amazes him that back home all he had to work with was a blacksmith and iron, barely allowing him to limp along. Here, he could have ones that would legitimately allow him to walk.

Ivar finally breaks the silence as his curiosity grows.]

How will they work?

Like what, being stranded on another planet? Not as far as I know.

[There's always Thor, but he's an outlier.]

Look, the first time we came together it was...not quite an accident, Fury was planning for something, the cagey bastard. But there were aliens, it was a thing, an invasion, so we all stepped up. Then we went back to doing our own thing until they needed to get the band together again.

Hm? Oh. [Right, other actual person. Tony glances briefly over at him, then beings to point out bits of the design as he talks.]

It's kind of like a prosthetic, only not full limb replacement, obviously. It works as a brace for balance, but uses a little bit of power to guide movement and make it easier. The -- guy I designed them for, he can't walk at all without them, so the current design is probably a little intense for you. But I can tweak it.

[Steve frowns as he listens to Tony's story. It doesn't sound like their Avengers first response at all.]

I'm sure you all had other things to do. Other people to protect and lives to live. But you didn't think that working together made defending the world easier? From- what aliens were you attacked by?

[Apparently when other worlds do things, they go big.]

[Ivar nods as Tony explains the process. It seems fairly straightforward. It does catch his attention when Tony mentions he's done this before.]

Did your friend lose use of his legs in battle or is he more like me?

[Ivar's thinking tends to relate everything to his own era, and for Vikings, those were the only two ways to end up being unable to walk. He was curious. Hearing about anyone else crippled was rare.]

[Tony pauses, one eyebrow lifting.]

What, Loki didn't tell you about that one? [He shakes his head a little. He and Loki are...on slightly better ground these days, but there was really nowhere to go but up. He might still be a little cranky about the whole thing, though.] They were called the Chitauri. I think.

And sure it made it easier. But once the immediate threat was out of the way, there was nothing holding it all together. So.

[He makes a vague gesture with both hands, somehow meaning to indicate the team splitting.]

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