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When Tony woke up, he couldn't shake the bizarre dream he'd had. At first he thought it was because it was his first night away from home, but that didn't explain the strangely vivid details. The dream had centered around him and his new roommate Rhodes, but they were both adults instead of their real ages. Tony wasn't sure how he had known that the adult stranger in his dream was Rhodes, but he'd just known.
In the dream, Tony was a businessman, like Howard, but he didn't make weapons. In fact, he appeared to make alcohol. Tony had dreamed of supervising barrels of alcohol being rolled into a basement, and of checking in with a man working a still. He'd also been behind a bar, where Rhodes worked, flirting with him as he cleaned glasses.
Tony had paid attention in school, so he knew his history. Howard was fond of saying that those who didn't learn from history were doomed to repeat it, and it was one of the few things he said that Tony agreed with. So it meant that he'd recognized the era of his dream. Seeing himself, Rhodey, and the other men in suits, and most of the girls in flapper styles and cloche hats had clued him in that he was dreaming about the 1920s.
The fact that his business appeared to be an underground speakeasy, with Rhodes working behind the bar, was enough to make Tony realize that he was apparently a bootlegger, rather than a legitimate businessman. Though, come to think of it, if he had the money to set up that kind of establishment, he had to have had some kind of successful business beforehand as well.
It was an incredibly detailed and vivid dream, and Tony had never had one like it before. It lingered with him, even as he brushed his teeth and washed his face, and he couldn't shake the feeling that it was important somehow.
He'd just come back into his room when Rhodes bolted upright and looked around frantically.
"Woah," Tony said, holding up his hands placatingly. "Don't freak out man."
Rhodes's eyes widened, and he looked at Tony like he'd never seen him before. "You—"
"Me?" Tony replied cautiously. He hoped Rhodes wasn't going to go nuts on him. It would suck to have to find a new roommate who could pass Howard's stringent background checks.
"I think you designed the pyramids," Rhodes said wonderingly.
"Say what now?" Tony asked. He might be interested in engineering, but that was a bizarre connection to make.
"I dreamed it," Rhodes said softly, as though he was afraid to admit it.
"Oh," Tony relaxed. "I had a weird dream too. It was during Prohibition. I was a bootlegger who owned a speakeasy and you were my bartender. Strange, huh?"
Rhodes sucked in a breath. "You dreamed about us too?"
Tony shrugged and put away his toiletries kit. "Yeah. Like I said, strange."
"Oh boy," Rhodes muttered. Then he cleared his throat. "What do you know about soulmates?"
Tony shrugged again and began rifling through his small closet. "Howard says they're rubbish, but Mr. Jarvis believes in them. Howard wouldn't let him talk about them, though."
From behind him, Rhodes sighed. "So you don't know that the sign that you've met your soulmate is dreaming of your past lives together."
It took a moment for his words to penetrate, but when they did, Tony spun around to stare at him, mouth dropped open. "What?" he made a strangled noise.
"Stark— Tony," Rhodes said seriously. "We're soulmates."