It was no lie that Tony was body conscious. 

Rhodey figured that back after his boyfriend returned from Afghanistan with a little more than baggage. 

Usually, Tony would be fine sleeping with Tony shirtless. Rhodey would too. But, Tony decided to wear a singlet. Even on the hottest days of the year he still wore them, despite Rhodey's pressuring words. 

But, who was he to ask?

It was only one day where he found Tony in the lab with a hole in his chest, asking Rhodey to put what he called an 'arc reactor' in his chest. 

Shaking, Rhodey did so, ignoring Tony's brutal warnings that he was gonna go into cardiac arrest. He didn't - so that was another thing Rhodey didn't have to worry about. 

"Did you get that in Afghanistan?" Rhodey murmured to him one night while they were watching a movie. "Get what?" Of course Tony would play dumb. But it wouldn't work on Rhodey. It never has, and it never will. "The arc reactor," Rhodey hissed. 

Tony's eyes flicked to the ground. "Yeah. Yeah, I did." 

Rhodey expected Tony to fall silent but he continued speaking. 

"When I went in the 'fun-vee'-" Tony laughed bitterly at that. "-we got attacked. Everyone else in the hum-vee died. I...I left which was a stupid thing on my part and got shrapnel in my chest by my own missile. They-the Ten Rings- they took me to a cave in Afghanistan and got some of the shrapnel out of my chest while carving a whole into my chest when I was awake." 

Rhodey felt all the blood in his body run cold. "They did what?" His voice was barely a whisper but Tony winced. 

He just stood up and left the room, leaving Rhodey alone, and made him realize that he had made Tony feel insecure, even by asking how where he got the arc reactor. 

And it hurt. 

"Tony! Tony wait!" Rhodey stood up and hurried to where Tony was. He found his boyfriend in their room, staring unseeingly at the wall while lying on his side of the bed, doe eyes now dull. 

Rhodey climbed into bed with him, ignoring the fact that he was still wearing his clothes, and rested a hand on Tony's shoulder as he nestled his head into the side of Rhodey's stomach. 

oOo

Tony seemed to be back to his normal self five years later when he got the shrapnel and arc reactor out after the whole extremis mess. 

He was more happier, cheerful, and seemed at ease. And that made Rhodey happy. 

Tony was no longer body conscious, and he would sleep shirtless. 

One day when the two were walking inside the silent mansion, Tony bent down to pick something up. Rhodey walked on ahead, knowing Tony would be right behind him. 

"Hey, honeybear, wait up." 

Rhodey stopped, and turned, seeing Tony on his knee, holding out a ring. "Hey, platypus. Well, I kinda suck at all this cheesy stuff, but here we go. We've known each other for a good fifty years-"

"Thirty," Rhodey corrected with a small eyeroll. 

Tony snorted. "And, I love you so much. You've been there for me for my whole life in my highs and lows and I could never be happier. So, Rhodey Rhodes, will you marry me?"

Rhodey's eyes widened. "Oh, Tony, of course I'll marry you." He picked up the ring and the two of them kissed, feeling more overjoyed than ever. 

oOo

Rhodey understood how Tony had felt after the Afghanistan incident. 

Because that's how he felt now - walking around with his leg braces on, mind circling around the fact that he was paralyzed. 

The whole Civil War thing had taken a toll on the two husbands. Everyone - absolutely everyone had left them. Vision for Wanda, Natasha for Steve, so it was just the two of them in a large, spacious compound. 

But Rhodey shouldn't have been complaining. He had his husband by his side, and that was all that mattered. 

That night, in bed, Rhodey felt awkward. It was weird, having two pieces of metal on his legs. Tony had made them more comfortable for night rest, but it was still strange - not meant to be. 

Speaking of Tony, he also had to get his arc reinstalled back in his chest after the fight with Steve and Bucky. Now, the two were back to being body conscious; Rhodey keeping his metal clad legs away from Tony and his husband keeping a singlet back over his shirt. 

"At least we're together," Tony murmured in bed, reaching out to grip Rhodey's sweating hand. "Yeah," Rhodey choked out, eyes pinned to the mattress. 

There was silence for a few more minutes. And not a comfortable one - an awkward one. 

"You don't have to hide yourself from me - your true self," Rhodey blurted out. Tony blinked in shock. "You don't have to either. I love you for who you are - not what you are, alright?" 

Rhodey nodded. "Yeah. But do you?"

Tony closed his eyes before speaking. "I...I don't want to alarm you, I guess." 

"You never will alarm me," Rhodey murmured. Tony squeezed his eyes shut as he pulled his singlet over his head and threw it on the floor. "There," he said. "Happy?" 

Rhodey nodded. "Yeah." Tony nodded. "Good." 

"You don't have to be body conscious around me," the two whispered in sync. Wrapping his arms around his husband, Rhodey felt Tony rest his head against his and the two stared at the ceiling, smiling for the first time in months. 

Hope you guys liked that oneshot. If you have any ideas or requests, please let me know!