Vinyl is Better (For stark_ravingmad)

[ziggyplayedguitar]

[Continued from here]

It was late in the evening when Tony finally sent a message back. Ziggy didn't mind. He didn't sleep and even if he did, right now he probably wouldn't. They talk records mostly as they walk the short distance toward his home which is on the very outskirts of the plaza but not as far as his parents live from the center. The The first floor townhouse he lives in, which is a converted office space, is easy to spot with its teal facade and golden disk over the gold framed door. The inside is very Ziggy with tall the bright colors and open layout.

There are two cats that come running. One is a pretty normal black cat with white paws. The other is orange with teal tabby stripes and red wings. Ziggy greets both of them before turning to Tony.

"Make yourself at home." He smiles and sets the vinyls down to put away soon. "Do you want a drink?"

He didn't necessarily mean alcoholic since he knew Tony was recovering. "The vinyls are in the living room if you want to put something on."

In the area where most people would have a TV, Ziggy has a record player with nice speakers. A side cabinet, almost like a kitchen pantry, with a glass door holds the several hundred records Ziggy has with him. There are a wide variety of genres; rock, soul, blues, disco, punk, early new wave. From Tony's perspective there's nothing in the collection past his own 1983 and some of the dates don't make sense. Records he knows from the 70s have recorded dates in the 80s or even early 90s.

Comments

[ziggyplayedguitar]

Ziggy throws him a coy, side-eyed glance before breaking into a smirk. "What fun is it inside my pants?"

Ziggy watched Tony for a moment before his eyes flickered away to look down at the hand on his chest. However, his mind is on the comment about honesty.

"I have two other partners. I'm not sure where either of those relationships will go now." Ziggy takes a deep breath and looks back over at the human. "They both know I see other people when I want."

He's sensitive enough to touch that he lets out a sigh at the touch. It wasn't just the physical sensations but also the fact he had gone from constantly drowning in touch to more or less isolation. He's craving it like he craves drugs right now and it's a difficult mistress to resist.

Setting his coffee aside he leans into Tony, against his shoulder. The Anthean relishing the contact.

[stark_ravingmad]

"Two? You lucky boy. I guess you're one up on me having one but that one being the devil himself. Sometimes herself. Not that I'm aiming to cut a notch in my bedpost every time."

Tony had done all that in his past life with how many women he'd slept with. Was it possible that Ziggy had slept with more people than even Tony Stark? It was a distinct possibility, yet one he wouldn't pry into since it was Ziggy's business. What mattered now was spending time with the guy and trying to cheer him up. The touching seemed to be working.

"You know you're right. About no fun in seeing it in your pants. Let's uh--remedy that, huh?"

Tony leant in closer, just sliding both palms up Ziggy's thighs, just pressing into the soft flesh, almost massaging his leg muscles gently. He was going to start slow and allow the man to come into his own on his own. Tony would touch but wait and see what Ziggy would do next.

[ziggyplayedguitar]

Ziggy shrugs a little and sighs with something that sounds sad. "I hadn't planned on it. Back home I can't risk having anything but a quick fling and throwing people out the door. They torture people like me, imprisoned and tortured my uncle for years." Ziggy swallows deeply and lets out another breath. "I've never had the luxury of anything long term or people knowing me. It's not safe."

Ziggy never counted how many people got into his bed. With his craving of touch and his need to be secretive some nights it was multiple people, not at once nor in succession but they were many. The comment pulled him out of spiraling into that dark place.

"Are you going to start stripping me?" Ziggy asks with a laugh as he shifts to lean more against Tony's chest. The touch is warm and welcoming. Though, with an Anthean laying on him and the room being cooler, Tony might start feeling chilled. It was one of the reasons there were several throws around. Poor Hiroki always with a cold lover against him feeling chilled.

[stark_ravingmad]

Jesus. Tony's eyes softened as he listened to Ziggy's painful memories regarding his past partners. Torture, imprisonment. Ziggy's uncle getting it in the neck for years? Fuck. It was raw emotion right there and it brought a pang of anger to rise up within the engineer's being. That was wrong right there.

"Ziggy---I'm sorry. That sounds like a real shit show for you and your uncle."

Not uttering another word, Tony leant forward and pulled Ziggy into a warm hug. Tony noticed just how cool the Anthean was to the touch but ignored it. Hey, if he was about to sleep with an alien then he would have to get used to the strange perks of doing just that. Ziggy needed a hug and Tony Stark had just decided that the whole world could go to hell right now regarding Ziggy's shit show of one. The guy needed touch and the engineer was here to offer that.

"I'm here for you, pal. Totally."

Breaking off, he sighed and then slipped some fingers into Ziggy's pants waistband, just tugging lightly.

"Do you want me to? Because I totally want to see those hot legs naked."

[ziggyplayedguitar]

"We're aliens on a world that treats them like lab rats. My dad's put in a lot of work and risk making sure people don't find out." Ziggy relaxes into the hug and lets out another long breath. "They're not comfortable with my presentation either."

His light body sunk back against Tony who could probably feel the pounding of Ziggy's heart in his back at the bottom of his ribs. Relaxing more he felt the strange thing on Tony's chest and paused before sliding to the side to press his hand to his chest. He had seen the strange radiation before but never realized there was something there on the human's chest.

"What is that?" He asks curiously. His fingers working around the edge of the shape without much thought. "I saw your chest was strange but I didn't know there was... something?"

Whatever hurt Ziggy was feeling was forgotten as he leaned up just a little to look at Tony. This was something unexpected and pulled his full curiosity.

He's laughing though and leaning back again when he feels warm fingers slide between skin and fabric. "Are you going to take my boots off too?"

Unlike his usual clothing, he is wearing several layers. The big platform boots were certainly going to need removed first.

[stark_ravingmad]

Tony could sympathise with Ziggy's plight. The fact that he was an alien was something that could be seen as taboo in some societies. A time long past where aliens were thrust under the harsh lab table light and picked apart like an animal. That part sickened Tony who knew that at least the world he lived in accepted aliens for who and what they were. There was always going to be some which held onto archaic views regarding anything strange and different.

"Oh, you mean this? It's my Arc Reactor. It was fixed to my chest when I was involved in an explosion which nearly killed me. Shrapnel pieces digging into my heart. This acts like a magnet keeping the pieces away from my heart. They've all been removed now though. It's mainly for a keepsake more than anything."

Since his heart wasn't in any danger of being pierced. The Reactor though? He just hadn't bothered getting it removed. It was part of him.

"What can you see, Ziggy? When you see my Reactor? Lucifer can see the rings of the magnetic field and radiation waves. Just wondered what an Anthean can see."

As for taking Ziggy's boots off, Tony smirked and slid a hand down one of the boots, squeezing the man's leg softly.

[ziggyplayedguitar]

"Can I see it." Ziggy had a childish excitement suddenly. New and the unexpected were things he loved. He had never seen someone who was cybernetic? or something close.

He turns his eyes down to the reactor and stares for a moment. "My species can see the entire electromagnetic spectrum, and a little beyond to things humans haven't put on the spectrum yet."

His fingers slide around the edge with a gentle, seductive touch. "I can hear it, the energy running through it and feel that you are attached to its presence. It means something to you and who you are."

There's a zen like quality to how he is talking, slipping into his own mind and senses in a way he rarely does. It is the hand on his leg that brings him out of it to smile at the engineer about to take off his boots.

[stark_ravingmad]

Tony's eyebrows raised in surprise at just how much the Anthean could see. Damn. He had no idea about the magnetude of Ziggy's abilities and no doubt was in awe of them right now. Just to be able to see the entire electromagnetic spectrum was a sight indeed. Sort of like when Lucifer offered to show Tony an insight in how he could see. It was breathtaking.

"That's--wow. Yeah. That's something. You guys must have super sight and hearing to be able to pick up on such minute things."

He just sighed and fixated his eyes on Ziggy, watching and wondering before continuing on with his touch. The man was special indeed and Tom was a lucky man to have him for his son. To be honest the whole thing about hearing energy running through his Reactor was rather sensual.

Tony's hands gently pulling off the rock star's rather impressive boots, sliding them down his long legs and onto the floor. The engineer's fingers gently kneading Ziggy's feet lightly before pulling off one sock, which was brightly coloured, like the rest of the man. It was then that Tony noticed the lack of all five toes. Antheans had four but it didn't bother him one bit as he began using his finger tips to lightly brush the top of Ziggy's naked foot before moving to delve underneath. Was he ticklish?

[ziggyplayedguitar]

"We do. It makes human environments overwhelming sometimes. Your things make so much noise that you don't care about because you can't hear it." Ziggy mentions though not all of it was unpleasant noise. Airports were a hellhole as far as sound. Ziggy had experienced way too many of those.

Ziggy just leans back and lets Tony deal with his boots. He's used to the heavy boots but taking them off and the light touch still feels good. He is ticklish but not on his feet. That just feels good now that the boots are off.

[stark_ravingmad]

Tony slipped off the other sock on Ziggy's other foot but instead of playing with that foot, decided to slide his hands up the Anthean's legs. Those pants had to come off. Smirking slyly, he gently slipped his fingers into Ziggy's waistband, gently tugging down whilst pressing closer, until his lips were very close to his host's.

"I guess I should ask the obvious here. What do you like in bed? Positions, kinks. That sort of thing. Best ask ahead of time if things do get that far, you know? Unless, you like surprises, which if you do, then I'll roll with it."

He was trying to be practical here and knew Ziggy was the kind of guy to say what he thought. Sliding the pants down past his ass and thighs, Tony pulled them further down until they were at his ankles. Moving lower he pressed a few kisses down the Anthean's thighs, just tickling his bearded lips against the pale skin.

[ziggyplayedguitar]

That touch to his legs, he wished they would continue. Anthean joint and leg pain was a problem because of the gravity. He would never turn down a leg massage. Ziggy helps with the pants removal, lifting or moving as needed. He has little, white silk boy shorts on under them. Ziggy wasn't about to kiss just yet.

"The most important is that my bones and joints are weaker than a human's. I'm open to most other things, being the male or female or both. I prefer to be the submissive partner usually." Ziggy sighs as he watches the man slipping his pants down around his ankles. "My empathy is loud when I get too aroused so things will get more intense than you're used to."

Ziggy pulled a ragged breath at the touch of lips to his thighs. He was so touch starved lately, compared to the past few months of indulging in all the contact he could take. He craved this; platonic, romantic, sexual really didn't matter. It was the contact he wanted. In the desire for more contact he sat up and pulled off his jacket, but leaving the tight sweater for the moment, before smiling down at Tony.

"You're overdressed now." He grins and really wants to see the object in his chest without the fabric in the way.

[stark_ravingmad]

Oh, Tony would be more than happy to oblige with caressing and massaging Ziggy's legs if he knew that Antheans suffered with the gravity issues within the Nexus. The pressure on their joints and other such issues. For now though, Tony was glancing towards Ziggy's choice in underwear which was quite alluring and kinky.

"I love those silken undies of yours. They...hold yourself in nicely."

Tony's mind instantly delving into the gutter regarding how big Ziggy was going to be. Were Antheans well hung? He would soon find out as soon as he eventually removed the rock star's underwear, yet there was plenty of time for that. Right now, just light touches where what Tony wanted to achieve to gauge what Ziggy liked.

"You're right. How about we remedy that, huh?"

As for his empathy being loud during sex, well, it would be an experience for sure. Tony had never slept with an empath, or indeed, an alien before. This was excluding Lucifer, who was the devil. He could be classed as an alien though so there was that. Tony pulled off his shirt and revealed the feint blue glow of his Arc Reactor which sat in the centre of his chest. His muscular and scarred torso bared now so that Ziggy got a nice view of it.

"Liking what you see? I guess the Arc Reactor will be much brighter now without a shirt covering it."

He gently went back to sliding his hands up Ziggy's legs because damn--he loved those legs. His rough palms sliding along the pale thighs, gently caressing and soothing.

[ziggyplayedguitar]

"I wear them for comfort. They help under the tight pants." Ziggy jokes while remembering just how many comments Tony had made about his tight pants.

He didn't wait long after the shirt was removed to run his fingers over and around the reactor. It was bright and caused him to blink a number of times. If Tony watches his eyes he will see Ziggy's clear eyelid, that slid between his eye and normal eyelid, slide over his eye to block out some of the radiation coming off the reactor.

"It's beautiful." Ziggy smiles a little before looking up at Tony. The touch to his legs gets a moan but it is one of relief more than sexual right now. It just feels good. Especially since Tony's human body temperature is so much warmer than his Anthean body.

[stark_ravingmad]

"Oh yeah? I feel you there, pal. I try to wear something comfortable underneath my suit when I'm in it for a long time."

Tony knows, especially when he's out being Iron-Man and doing heroic things for hours on end, being within the suit. He could open up the helmet to breathe now and then but the main suit stayed on. It was easier that way. Ziggy's little silken panties though? They were sexy in their own way.

"You think so? Not many people would call it beautiful since most are more afraid of it. Heart stuff."

He remembered the time he asked Pepper to change the Reactor that time and she nearly gave him a heart attack. Yeah. Good times. If he trusted someone enough then he would allow them to stick their fingers into his chest. That moan got Tony's eyes flickering up to Ziggy's obvious pleased expression. So, he liked his legs to be touched. This was good.

Tony continued to caress the pale, silky thighs gently with his fingers and thumbs, just pushing lightly, going from knee to leg join, enjoying the soft sounds coming from the Anthean.

[ziggyplayedguitar]

"On stage it gets brutally hot." For an Anthean the stage lights could be a nightmare for the heat.

"Why are they afraid of it?" Ziggy doesn't quite understand. To him, if Tony needed it to be part of him to survive then it was as much a part of him as his limbs or anything else. He knew it might not be the first nor last time his alien perspective didn't match with a human one.

Ziggy stretched on the couch like a lazy cat as Tony started actively giving him a massage. "You should rub my calves."

If the man was going to give him a massage he was going to direct it. The heavy, high boots did a number on his calves even after wearing them for years. There were a few winces in there as hands got close to his knees. Familiar with injuries as Tony was he might note the slight redness around the knees signaling inflamation and joint pain. It was a common problem for Antheans, even half breeds, in Earth gravity until they got used to it. Newton proved that took years as his still hurt sometimes too.

[stark_ravingmad]

"I can only imagine what you have to put up with regarding lights. Must be unbearable at times, right?"

Tony had never sung on stage. Jesus, would he even want to subject people to his voice? No. But the whole lighting issue for Ziggy? It must be torture trying to perform under such hot lights. As for the question regarding his Reactor, he just shrugged lightly.

"I guess the whole "oh, it's to do with your heart, it must be weird" comes into the equation. People just don't like different as you probably already know."

He offered Ziggy a comforting smile as he then began to work on the backs of his calves. Hey, if he wanted to direct Tony then he wasn't opposed to it if it helped him. Strong workers hands soothed the back of the singer's legs, whilst keeping an eye on him.

"How does this feel? You can tell me what else you'd like to. I used to rub my girlfriend's calves like this after a rough day in the office. Pepper was her name."

How was she doing now? Tony just concentrated on Ziggy's leg muscles, as he worked slowly, gently making circles against his soft skin. The man's skin was definitely cooler too. Were Antheans cooler to the touch? It seemed so.

[ziggyplayedguitar]

"My species is adapted to cold temperatures. It's like an oven sometimes." Which explained why Ziggy sometimes ended up on stage in nearly nothing. People always assumed it was something sexual but usually it was just comfort and not wanting to pass out from heat stroke.

"It's part of your body now." Ziggy comments with a shrug. The idea of prosthetics didn't bother him much. In part because he wore some himself to appear human, though here in the Nexus he didn't put any of them on.

"Good." Ziggy was relaxing but the mention of a girlfriend got his interest, not that he cared if he had a girlfriend too. As long as everything was understood and not problematic. "Are you still with her?"

The 'was' said maybe he wasn't. It never hurt to ask though specifically. Tony was starting to get relaxed groans from the singer. It really did feel amazing.

[stark_ravingmad]

"Yeah, it is. Before, if I hadn't had it put into me I would have died. It's still important to me now, even if I do have to change it now and then."

That was the tricky part, just needing that extra pair of hands to delve in and change it. The question is, who would do that part now? Pepper wasn't in the Nexus and that only left a few capable people. Lucifer? He'd trust that guy with his life since he loved him. No doubt Ziggy would be able to also, yet he had just met the guy. It took a lot of built up trust.

"Pepper? No. We're close friends but nothing in the way or romance. We've moved on with our lives now and that's it. Some things just don't work out."

Tony was never any good with relationships, or rather, sticking to them. He was always too obsessed with his work, delving into the workshop at any chance he got. His girl got left out in the cold often and he knew he should have been there for her more. His hands gently moving up to caress underneath the knee, very lightly as he didn't want to cause any unnecessary pain. His fingers then moving up to caress a little higher, just underneath Ziggy's thigh muscles.

[ziggyplayedguitar]

Sensing that it was electrical made changing parts out make sense. Ziggy accepted that without question. Why he would need it now was curious but then you could easily get used to something and not want to change.

"It says a lot that you could be friends after." Ziggy comments. Most people couldn't stand seeing exes or their exes wanted nothing to do with them. It seemed like a sign that Tony was a caring person that he could navigate a break up to this extent.

At some point Ziggy's eyes had drifted shut while he enjoyed the relief the warm hands brought to his muscles. It had been too long since he had a massage. The way the hands kept drifting higher didn't go unnoticed and left Ziggy wondering how far up he was going to go.

[stark_ravingmad]

"We reached an accord that suited us both. To be honest it was a pretty rough ride for both of us but I'm here now. The Nexus is a great place. Time for the sweater to come off though, Hot-Pants."

He offered Ziggy a fond smile and gently eased his fingers from the singer's thighs and began tugging at the sweater from the bottom. It had to come off and he assumed that Ziggy would pull it over his head himself. While he did that, Tony busied himself with pressing soft kisses to his host's legs, moving up his thighs as he did so.

"You're nice and soft."

It was a simple and plain gesture but one that was full of honesty. Ziggy's legs were very feminine in shape and touch and he realised he was kissing an alien's legs. It was an odd thought but one he relished. Moving lower, his tongue gently lapping at a point where the man's knee joined his thigh.

[ziggyplayedguitar]

"My only ex, on Earth, wasn't as kind." It was all he was going to say on that situation. Though he added on Earth because he didn't want it misconstrued as Hiroki. He had been wonderful. Ziggy paused and stared at Tony for a minute while pain welled up and threatened to consume him again.

It was the soft kiss to his thigh that refocused him on the present. Ziggy sat up to pull off the sweater. His chest was hairless, most of his body was naturally aside from the hair on his head, eyelashes, and the hair still covered by the tiny shorts. Even his eyebrows were faint.

Ziggy also bore scars; two bullet wounds to the shoulder and center left of the chest, a knife wound where he had been stabbed in the abdomen and, when they got to his back another stab wound to the area over human kidneys. The last one had been dangerously close to his heart.

"I'm naturally hairless. It helps." Ziggy is teasing and joking about his odd anatomy as he lays the sweater over the back of the couch. The massage is heating up a little as he feels lips and hands replaced by tongue. Ziggy brings his long fingers down to brush through Tony's hair. Long hair was something he enjoyed but this was long enough too, enough to bury his fingers in.

[stark_ravingmad]

"I'm sorry to hear that."

Tony's large, brown eyes coming up to meet Ziggy's blue ones, offering a sympathetic smile whilst pressing another kiss to the rock star's thigh. Jesus, the poor guy had been through a total shit storm concerning relationships it seemed. Tony's seemed mild compared to what he was facing. Sitting back up, he watched Ziggy pull off his sweater and then frowned.

Oh god. Those scars. Had he been attacked? Those on his shoulder looked like bullet wounds and there was a stab wound on his abdomen and chest. Jesus Christ. Attacked for being an alien? Or just looking different to everyone else? Whatever the reason Tony's soft expression hardened into one of anger.

"Shit, Ziggy. Those scars. Some bastards attack you?"

He ran a soft fingertip over the scar on his chest, feeling the skin bump under his touch. The poor guy. Tony sighed softly and went to press a soft kiss to the scar on Ziggy's abdomen, just a gentle press of the lips against cool skin.

[ziggyplayedguitar]

He reflexively starts rubbing the scars on his left hand. It's a trauma response but they soon touch the bullet scars too. "My first band wanted to end my career. When smashing my hand didn't work, we're pretty sure one of them paid to have me shot."

It was the past even though it still hurt. "That one...."

The words are cut off by a bit of a gasp. The memories had distracted him from watching what Tony was doing so the lips caught him off guard. It takes a second to recover from the lips on his abdomen, especially that low. "The knife wounds.. when I first came to Earth some people got angry about not being able to tell if I was a man or a woman. I was kidnapped once and beat a few times before I could get security of my own."

He strokes Tony's hair more and smiles at him even if it is a sad smile. There was a lot of dark in his past, more than most should have to endure but he kept moving and doing what made the world better.

"Don't worry about it. Most of the people involved are in jail." Ziggy wanted to get away from the subject and sighed heavily. Forcing a smile he kept his mind focused on the present.

"What do you like? Intimately?" It seemed fair given the previous question he posed.

[stark_ravingmad]

"Fucking assholes. Sorry, but that--that right there? That's bullshit. Just shows you're better off without dicks like that."

Tony was visibly angry at the total bullshit that Ziggy had to endure with his past bandmates. They smashed his hand? What kind of sick fucks were they? Obviously jealous that he was better than them. Tony would have punched them all in the face before walking out. He wanted to move Ziggy away from all the shit so instead concentrated on making him feel good. Tony noticing Ziggy's lips eliciting a gasp when he kissed the scar on his abdomen. Was it sensitive there for him? Huh.

"Good question. Well...I do enjoy a bit of biting, nails, orgasm denial, sensuality, different positions. Quite a bit actually. Of course, feel free to uh--experiment if you want."

Tony was just going to go with the flow as far as pleasuring his alien friend would go. He was still interested in helping Ziggy feel good and hearing soft gasps was a start. He moved his lips from the rock star's abdomen to gently press kisses along his arms. The were nice and smooth too.

[ziggyplayedguitar]

"Some of it was my ex who started it. He thought I was crass and a deviant after awhile." Ziggy shrugs again. What could he do about it now.

He's glad to escape those thoughts and smirks at Tony. Opening his mouth to grin and run his tongue over his fangs. "I've been accused of biting too much."

Flirting and the present was a much better way to spend his time. Then he starts laughing, feminine and giggly like a blushing girl. "You're going to have to experiment. Not all of me that would need sensual pleasure is human."

The playfulness and bright personality is coming back. The darkness fading for now while his mind is occupied on something other than the pain of loss.