“Hey platypus.” he croaked and without a second thought Rhodey unwrapped the scarf of himself and started wrapping it around Tony’s neck who was too busy sputtering in surprise to stop him from doing that.
“There you go, now I'm going to make you a cup of tea, don't give me that look and you're going to drink it before you manage to completely lose your voice.” he ordered waving a finger in front of Tony’s face, who seemed both unimpressed and alarmed by his words.
He opened his mouth to talk, because you couldn't win an argument against Tony if he at least didn't attempt to confuse you, which was why Rhodey beat him to it.
“Not a word or I'm telling Pepper.” the only reply he got was a mild glare before in true businessman fashion tried another way.
“Since when do you wear a scarf, mama bear? Let alone something like this, I mean you get points for originality, but it clashes with your nonexistent fashion sense and we can't have that.”
“I know.” he smiled showing how prideful he was of that scarf before he added,
“That's why it's wrapped around you now.” for a second Tony gaped like a fish before he chuckled only to grimace when it aggravated his sore throat.
“Tea?”
“Fine.” was the petulant reply before he allowed Rhodey to drag him towards the kitchen.
The thing with the scarf was that it was a gift, one that he held dear because it was made by the daughter of a fellow soldier as a thank you for saving her father, which was also the reason why he was mindful not to lose it.
Tony with his mile long curiosity managed to pull the story out of him, although the short version and instead of casually borrowing it like he tended to do with pieces of clothing Rhodey left behind, he always remembered to return it back. Wearing though was another matter altogether, which translated to Rhodey was the one pulling the scarf over his head, wrapping it around his neck, sometimes even jokingly tying it over his mouth to stop him from talking.
“There you go, now I need to go. Don't lose it.”
“I'll buy you another one, a new one, this one is too hideous.” as always he completely ignored the threat, only to yelp and hold tightly to it when Rhodey tried to pull it off of him.
“Since you don't want it, I'll take it back.” he joked knowing that Tony would cling tighter to it.
“Hands off, I don't take refunds, you can have it when you come back.”
“Didn’t you just say that it was hideous?”
“Well… currently it fits my outfit, so take your dirty paws off it.” Rhodey was a second away from bustling into laughter, by the look on Tony’s face, he was barely holding his laughter when he heard,
“A colonel and a mad scientist fighting over an old scarf, sounds like a bad joke.” the resident archer chuckled at them.
“Shut it Katniss, this scarf is worth more than you.” Tony casually threw back before he stuck his tongue out when he noticed the rest of the team members.
No one said that he was mature, thought Rhodey before he greeted them and smiled when he heard Tony coming up with stories about the scarf as he was walking away.
Another reason why that scarf was priceless was the fact that it was incredibly soft due to the number of times it had been worn, so even though he would never admit it, it had become a source of comfort for both of them.
Naturally Tony began to steal it, or in his words temporarily borrow it for safe keeping for as long as he felt like it, or as long as it took Rhodey to track it down which wasn't a struggle at all, that thing truly had a way of sticking out.
It was a somewhat chilly night, both Tony and Rhodey were dragged out of their respective homes for a definitely not as important as it appeared to be meeting with high authorities that despite their displeasure they couldn't say no to. Which was the reason why a sleep-deprived Tony appeared in front of him, wearing an old worn out t-shirt and sweatpants looking like he had been interrupted during a creative binge.
No wonder he appeared to be a bit grumpy, in fact it was due to his lack of rest that he wasn't flipping them off and returning back to his workshop to finish his project.
Rhodey on the other hand looked more presentable even in his sweatpants and hoodie, but that was only because his clothes were clean.
“Fancy seeing you here honeybear.”
“I'd say the same if it wasn't this late and you didn't look like you're going to fall asleep at any moment.” he joked to which Tony replied with a cocky smile,
“I don't know what you're talking about, this is my best look.” before the spark dimmed a little and he let out a frustrated sigh,
“Let's get this over with.”
Rhodey’s fingers were itching with the urge to wrap his scarf around Tony’s neck when to his surprise he noticed that he still had it on him, but unfortunately there was no time.
He shouldn't have been worried though, because during the frankly boring meeting, Tony reached out to him and in a single motion pulled his scarf off and wrapped it around his own neck. The action startled the other men in the room, but they dismissed it as another quirk of the genius. Rhodey on the other hand had to press his lips together to stop himself from cooing at the sight.
He was glad that his friend finally reached out for something that clearly gave him comfort, no matter how trivial that thing was.
He knew it, he knew that Tony had the scarf, so once again he went on a search to find it, only to find out that his friend had gotten himself into trouble. Every single thought on his mind got replaced by worry and fear especially when he discovered that Tony had most likely been unarmed when they caught him. Another part in his mind scowled at his lack of faith in his friend because Tony Stark didn't need the suit to be armed, his mind was his greatest weapon.
Still he couldn't stop himself from worrying and at the first information on his whereabouts, he flew there prepared for a fight.
What he didn't expect was to see Tony bursting through the old door with a smirk looking a little ruffled up before he spotted him.
“Rhodey!” he exclaimed before his lips turned downwards in an apologetic gesture,
“I'm sorry I lost your scarf, I promise I'll buy you another one… no. I'm going to knit you one, it'll be…” but Rhodey didn't care about anything except for the fact that his best friend was alive and well.
He huffed in amusement before he pulled Tony in a bone crushing hug, effectively shutting him up.
“Forget about the damned scarf, I'm glad you're in one piece.”
“Hah, I knew you didn't care about that scarf as much as you pretended.” he chuckled to which Rhodey couldn't help but join in.
“Yeah, yeah, you still owe me one.” he added before playfully ruffled his hair and pulled him along.
“Let's get out of here before SHIELD arrives.”
“Cheeseburgers?” Tony suggested.
“You know what, I think I could eat a cheeseburger or two.”
One week later a package arrived for him, when he opened it he found a similar scarf to the one Tony lost and a note,
Hope it's a good enough replacement, also I have one as well, in case something happens to yours. ;)