Tag Archives: rp: charity ball

Charity Ball | Open RP

philanthropicpariah:

iamthefirechild:

If she had been paying attention to people’s physical presence, and not the increasing pressure inside her own head, Summer would certainly have retreated back to her original corner after getting a refill. Never mind that it was starting to swirl with more people as well; strangers were easier far to deal with than Tony Stark.

Well, in one way, anyhow. She didn’t tend to have crushes on random strangers, after all. But no, she’d walked right next him, screwdriver in hand, to lean her forehead against the wall in hopes that the coolth would help suppress her oncoming headache.

The minute he spoke to her, her feelings would probably be obvious to anyone with an eye.

It was a crime, really, that the person running the bar didn’t know what Death in the Afternoon was. He could surely use one, or seven. But he would have to stick with what the bartender knew, seeing as they wouldn’t let just make something for himself. They also followed the whole ‘no straight shots’ rule, he could tell. A splash of water just to make sure no one got too plastered.

Obviously they’d never heard of Tony Stark before.

Though he wasn’t expecting someone to just walk right up beside him without actually saying anything to him. That was definitely new.

image

Summer pressed her glass against her forehead at a particularly nasty throb. It was rapidly becoming clear that the only way to ease this headache was going to be to leave; the tension of shielding was just as bad as the emotions swirling among the crowd. She turned, meaning to set her glass down and seek the exit — and a roaring filled her ears, darkness overwhelming her sight. She felt the glass slip from her fingers as her knees gave way, both girl and glass crashing to the floor at Stark’s feet.

Charity Ball | @shoottothrillindustries

shoottothrillindustries:

iamthefirechild:

shoottothrillindustries:

iamthefirechild:

shoottothrillindustries:

iamthefirechild:

Summer lifted her drink, starting to laugh. “All right, all right. I can take a hint. No more questions. How can I help you stop thinking, Mr. Stark?” She tried her best to look seductive, feeling very awkward. “After all, you dragged me away from the dancing, the least you can do is make use of me.”

Tony looked up from the glass now on his hand and paused. Logically, he knew Summer was still across the bar from him, but it suddenly felt like that distance was much shorter. His pulse did a surprised double take. He swallowed half his drink in one go and set it down on the counter.

“Because… you looked like you were enjoying the dancing so much,” he replied sarcastically. It came out a bit late.

He circled the bar to her side, mulling her words over. Summer certainly was beautiful. If this was the least he could do… Tony brushed his fingers over her hair.

“Nobody asked me,” she riposted. “I’d’ve enjoyed it more if someone had bothered to ask me to dance.” Then he was right /there/, right beside her, charming and handsome and touching her braids, and her pulse felt like it was choking her. The stool was tall enough to let her look him in the eyes. And maybe she was a little drunk, maybe she was giving in to the taste of him in her mind, maybe this would be a disaster after.

Carefully she set her glass down, proud that the hammering of her heart didn’t make her hand tremble. Green eyes locked to whiskey-amber, she reached up to pull a rhinestone hairpin from under his hand, and another. Another, until the braids slipped from their coil around her head and down her back. “What would you like to do with me?”

“Let me think about that,” he said quietly. His body leaned forward on its own accord, framing hers against the bar. With an unsteady, hopeful breath, Tony closed the gap and brushed his lips over Summer’s. He started slower, flicking his tongue out experimentally over her lips, almost kissing her carefully. A subtle, electric tingle crawled up his spine.

Tony smiled, “You are far too beautiful to resist, did you know that?”

He wove his hands into the braids, unravelling them further. All the while, he was unable to draw his eyes from her lips for more than a few seconds.

Oh, gods. Tony Stark was kissing her, and it was /glorious/. He didn’t rush, he didn’t overwhelm, it was almost polite and far from chaste. All Summer could do was stare at him, breathing hard through parted lips while he sank his hands into her hair. “I didn’t quite catch that,” she murmured, before leaning forward to initiate a kiss of her own, a little shy, a little delicate. It had been a very long time since her last kiss, after all.

Tony sighed softly into the second kiss, shifting closer to her. Her response was thrilling, and terribly sweet. A slow intoxication filled his veins, changing the way he felt time flow around them, as if it were measured in the movements of her lips rather than seconds. He put aside the well of intricate feelings growing and focused on the actions he made. They were easier to understand, more expressive than he could hope to articulate so long as he was holding her.

Summer drew away, not quite ready to surrender wholly to what he felt. What was happening here could change her crush into something deeper, or destroy anything between them utterly. She couldn’t make herself put him away entirely, but just a moment … that would be okay. She slid her hands up his chest wonderingly, fingernails scraping over the fabric. “What do you see?” she whispered, searching his face.

Charity Ball | @shoottothrillindustries

shoottothrillindustries:

iamthefirechild:

shoottothrillindustries:

iamthefirechild:

Summer lifted her drink, starting to laugh. “All right, all right. I can take a hint. No more questions. How can I help you stop thinking, Mr. Stark?” She tried her best to look seductive, feeling very awkward. “After all, you dragged me away from the dancing, the least you can do is make use of me.”

Tony looked up from the glass now on his hand and paused. Logically, he knew Summer was still across the bar from him, but it suddenly felt like that distance was much shorter. His pulse did a surprised double take. He swallowed half his drink in one go and set it down on the counter.

“Because… you looked like you were enjoying the dancing so much,” he replied sarcastically. It came out a bit late.

He circled the bar to her side, mulling her words over. Summer certainly was beautiful. If this was the least he could do… Tony brushed his fingers over her hair.

“Nobody asked me,” she riposted. “I’d’ve enjoyed it more if someone had bothered to ask me to dance.” Then he was right /there/, right beside her, charming and handsome and touching her braids, and her pulse felt like it was choking her. The stool was tall enough to let her look him in the eyes. And maybe she was a little drunk, maybe she was giving in to the taste of him in her mind, maybe this would be a disaster after.

Carefully she set her glass down, proud that the hammering of her heart didn’t make her hand tremble. Green eyes locked to whiskey-amber, she reached up to pull a rhinestone hairpin from under his hand, and another. Another, until the braids slipped from their coil around her head and down her back. “What would you like to do with me?”

“Let me think about that,” he said quietly. His body leaned forward on its own accord, framing hers against the bar. With an unsteady, hopeful breath, Tony closed the gap and brushed his lips over Summer’s. He started slower, flicking his tongue out experimentally over her lips, almost kissing her carefully. A subtle, electric tingle crawled up his spine.

Tony smiled, “You are far too beautiful to resist, did you know that?”

He wove his hands into the braids, unravelling them further. All the while, he was unable to draw his eyes from her lips for more than a few seconds.

Oh, gods. Tony Stark was kissing her, and it was /glorious/. He didn’t rush, he didn’t overwhelm, it was almost polite and far from chaste. All Summer could do was stare at him, breathing hard through parted lips while he sank his hands into her hair. “I didn’t quite catch that,” she murmured, before leaning forward to initiate a kiss of her own, a little shy, a little delicate. It had been a very long time since her last kiss, after all.

Charity Ball | @shoottothrillindustries

shoottothrillindustries:

iamthefirechild:

shoottothrillindustries:

iamthefirechild:

“I’m not sure this qualifies as you taking me out for drinks,” Summer commented, lifting her glass to him before taking a sip. “Though the question stands, in a different form. What changed?” She made interlocking rings on the countertop with the glass, not looking at him. “It’s clear that something did. And I’m sure it’s nothing to do with me. I expect you’d’ve picked up some girl at the party anyway.”

Tony made a cynical face at himself, “No, I’m sure it doesn’t but I could be doing worse, right? If the ‘out’ bit means that much, we could go back out on the landing pad?”

He managed a small chuckle there, and rearranged a row of glasses. After a moment’s thought, he started mixing something for himself, talking smoothly again. “Hell if I know! — I got bored? Bored leads to thinking, and science, and cars, and wasting time… and lots of drinking. I’m trying to avoid most of that… the thinking bit, at least.”

His head was already getting sore, as if to prove his point.

Summer lifted her drink, starting to laugh. “All right, all right. I can take a hint. No more questions. How can I help you stop thinking, Mr. Stark?” She tried her best to look seductive, feeling very awkward. “After all, you dragged me away from the dancing, the least you can do is make use of me.”

Tony looked up from the glass now on his hand and paused. Logically, he knew Summer was still across the bar from him, but it suddenly felt like that distance was much shorter. His pulse did a surprised double take. He swallowed half his drink in one go and set it down on the counter.

“Because… you looked like you were enjoying the dancing so much,” he replied sarcastically. It came out a bit late.

He circled the bar to her side, mulling her words over. Summer certainly was beautiful. If this was the least he could do… Tony brushed his fingers over her hair.

“Nobody asked me,” she riposted. “I’d’ve enjoyed it more if someone had bothered to ask me to dance.” Then he was right /there/, right beside her, charming and handsome and touching her braids, and her pulse felt like it was choking her. The stool was tall enough to let her look him in the eyes. And maybe she was a little drunk, maybe she was giving in to the taste of him in her mind, maybe this would be a disaster after.

Carefully she set her glass down, proud that the hammering of her heart didn’t make her hand tremble. Green eyes locked to whiskey-amber, she reached up to pull a rhinestone hairpin from under his hand, and another. Another, until the braids slipped from their coil around her head and down her back. “What would you like to do with me?”

Charity Ball | @shoottothrillindustries

shoottothrillindustries:

iamthefirechild:

shoottothrillindustries:

iamthefirechild:

Picking up her skirts with one hand, Summer wandered over to the bar, hitching herself up on a stool. She leaned both elbows on the counter, watching Tony with head tilted to one side. “You’re saying … whenever you just wanted sex, they wanted something more serious? And … you,” she cleared her throat, stalling, then just went on with it, “you can’t figure out how to be exclusive in a relationship?”

One hand came up to prop her chin as she studied him. Did he expect her to fix this? She could sense the loneliness, like bitter almonds in the air, and that he regarded her highly, but what did he want? Suddenly noticing her, and bringing her back to his tower, confessing that he’d thought of asking her out for drinks — it was all a little too faery tale.

Self-consciously, Summer added, “What changed your mind?”

“It’s more like – as much as I may have wanted it, I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t be a healthy partner for her. My reputation as a colossal ass stand for a reason – I don’t put others first. I don’t even realize that I’m not thinking of them! And then I’ve hurt them, and it’s usually something I can’t repair… Machines are so much more forgiving…”

He passed her a glass and filled it to the brim. A few drinks sounded good right then, but he couldn’t make up his mind, so he just leaned up against the bar, opposite her.

“My mind never changed – just my ability to deny myself, I guess…”

“I’m not sure this qualifies as you taking me out for drinks,” Summer commented, lifting her glass to him before taking a sip. “Though the question stands, in a different form. What changed?” She made interlocking rings on the countertop with the glass, not looking at him. “It’s clear that something did. And I’m sure it’s nothing to do with me. I expect you’d’ve picked up some girl at the party anyway.”

Tony made a cynical face at himself, “No, I’m sure it doesn’t but I could be doing worse, right? If the ‘out’ bit means that much, we could go back out on the landing pad?”

He managed a small chuckle there, and rearranged a row of glasses. After a moment’s thought, he started mixing something for himself, talking smoothly again. “Hell if I know! — I got bored? Bored leads to thinking, and science, and cars, and wasting time… and lots of drinking. I’m trying to avoid most of that… the thinking bit, at least.”

is head was already getting sore, as if to prove his point.

Summer lifted her drink, starting to laugh. “All right, all right. I can take a hint. No more questions. How can I help you stop thinking, Mr Stark?” She tried her best to look seductive, feeling very awkward. “After all, you dragged me away from the dancing, the least you can do is make use of me.”

Charity Ball | @shoottothrillindustries

shoottothrillindustries:

iamthefirechild:

shoottothrillindustries:

iamthefirechild:

Summer watched him, listening underneath the babble. He tasted of — uncertainty, hope, of secrets and things he didn’t even admit to himself. Layers and layers. How could she have missed this? “No, thank you, Mr Stark,” she began, “I’d rather have kahlua, if you don’t mind.” A particularly fierce gust of wind whipped at her skirts, and she shrieked a little, clutching at them. Giving Tony a gamine smile, Summer added, “Maybe I better go inside.” With the graceful ease of her dancer past, she made her way back inside the penthouse, pausing at the door to settle her skirts. “Why didn’t you?”

He laughed and held an arm out to make sure she didn’t lose her balance. “In, in, we’ll talk there!”

When the glass door closed behind them, JARVIS turned on the radio low enough to provide background noise without being disruptive, and increased the temperature of the room a few degrees to make up for the wind’s chill. 

“So, you’re asking why didn’t I, as in why didn’t I ask you out?” He asked as he circled his bar and browsed through the hectic, semi-organized collection of bottles. He’d misplaced things more than once on this countertop and lost them for months on end, only to find that they were in plain sight, only a few inches to the left, or something simple like that.

“I guess that since I ruin every good relationship in my life with money or sex and all my good sex with relationships and money, I didn’t want to risk it. I’ve done it a few times, and they were all train wrecks, you know?”

Subconsciously, he avoids the more painful memories – Pep leaving him, that phone call going unanswered as he flew through the portal, Obadiah ripping the reactor from his chest after trusting him his whole life, because he remembers vaguely that she’d pick up on the depth of the pain associated with them. Instead, he brought up the emptiness, the lack of caring, and there was no stopping his loneliness, but it was dulled by his stellar mood at the moment.

Picking up her skirts with one hand, Summer wandered over to the bar, hitching herself up on a stool. She leaned both elbows on the counter, watching Tony with head tilted to one side. “You’re saying … whenever you just wanted sex, they wanted something more serious? And … you,” she cleared her throat, stalling, then just went on with it, “you can’t figure out how to be exclusive in a relationship?”

One hand came up to prop her chin as she studied him. Did he expect her to fix this? She could sense the loneliness, like bitter almonds in the air, and that he regarded her highly, but what did he want? Suddenly noticing her, and bringing her back to his tower, confessing that he’d thought of asking her out for drinks — it was all a little too faery tale.

Self-consciously, Summer added, “What changed your mind?”

“It’s more like – as much as I may have wanted it, I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t be a healthy partner for her. My reputation as a colossal ass stand for a reason – I don’t put others first. I don’t even realize that I’m not thinking of them! And then I’ve hurt them, and it’s usually something I can’t repair… Machines are so much more forgiving…”

He passed her a glass and filled it to the brim. A few drinks sounded good right then, but he couldn’t make up his mind, so he just leaned up against the bar, opposite her.

“My mind never changed – just my ability to deny myself, I guess…”

“I’m not sure this qualifies as you taking me out for drinks,” Summer comments, lifting her glass to him before taking a sip. “Though the question stands, in a different form. What changed?” She made interlocking rings on the countertop with the glass, not looking at him. “It’s clear that something did. And I’m sure it’s nothing to do with me. I expect you’d’ve picked up some girl at the party anyway.”

Charity Ball | @shoottothrillindustries

shoottothrillindustries:

iamthefirechild:

shoottothrillindustries:

iamthefirechild:

His fumbling explanation did a lot to ease her mind, actually. He was a lot more smooth with the women he was planning to bed and forget. “No, no, you didn’t do anything wrong,” Summer assured Tony. “Only, you know, usually if /you/ bring a woman here, you have something different in mind than looking at the night skyline.” She linked her hands behind her back, looking up at the stars. “I didn’t,” a shrug, “expect that you … would ever … ” She trailed off, somehow unwilling to say it aloud.

Tony sometimes hated his reputation. It kept him from making genuine connections with people. He scraped his thumb under a fingernail, forming somewhat more eloquent statements in his mind before just spewing them out.

“It’s – been a while, actually. Since I’ve brought /anyone/ here, at all. Tower’s empty after hours most days… Not that, you know, that was why I -” He sighed at himself and rose, dusting his pants off. “I mean, I’ve thought of asking you for drinks a couple times, but when you save the world together, well,” that almost sounded like a joke – or at least making light of the truth. He’d thought about it more than a couple times, but it just never seemed like a good idea. Summer was fantastic. Totally fantastic! It’s just – he was wary of relationships in general. No one seemed to see the real him. There was Tony Stark the weapons dealer, Iron Man, Tony Stark the forgetful , drunk, rich, attention-seeking asshole – he just wanted someone he could be Tony around… not that he made that easy on himself. He very rarely stopped acting whatever roll those people put him in long enough for them to notice there was anything underneath the shallow surface. He smiled awkwardly as the sun slipped out of sight.

”- Can I pour you a coffee? JARVIS makes an amazing espresso. Peels paint, that shit does!”

Summer watched him, listening underneath the babble. He tasted of — uncertainty, hope, of secrets and things he didn’t even admit to himself. Layers and layers. How could she have missed this? “No, thank you, Mr Stark,” she began, “I’d rather have kahlua, if you don’t mind.” A particularly fierce gust of wind whipped at her skirts, and she shrieked a little, clutching at them. Giving Tony a gamine smile, Summer added, “Maybe I better go inside.” With the graceful ease of her dancer past, she made her way back inside the penthouse, pausing at the door to settle her skirts. “Why didn’t you?”

He laughed and held an arm out to make sure she didn’t lose her balance. “In, in, we’ll talk there!”

When the glass door closed behind them, JARVIS turned on the radio low enough to provide background noise without being disruptive, and increased the temperature of the room a few degrees to make up for the wind’s chill. 

“So, you’re asking why didn’t I, as in why didn’t I ask you out?” He asked as he circled his bar and browsed through the hectic, semi-organized collection of bottles. He’d misplaced things more than once on this countertop and lost them for months on end, only to find that they were in plain sight, only a few inches to the left, or something simple like that.

“I guess that since I ruin every good relationship in my life with money or sex and all my good sex with relationships and money, I didn’t want to risk it. I’ve done it a few times, and they were all train wrecks, you know?”

Subconsciously, he avoids the more painful memories – Pep leaving him, that phone call going unanswered as he flew through the portal, Obadiah ripping the reactor from his chest after trusting him his whole life, because he remembers vaguely that she’d pick up on the depth of the pain associated with them. Instead, he brought up the emptiness, the lack of caring, and there was no stopping his loneliness, but it was dulled by his stellar mood at the moment.

Picking up her skirts with one hand, Summer wandered over to the bar, hitching herself up on a stool. She leaned both elbows on the counter, watching Tony with head tilted to one side. “You’re saying … whenever you just wanted sex, they wanted something more serious? And … you,” she cleared her throat, stalling, then just went on with it, “you can’t figure out how to be exclusive in a relationship?”

One hand came up to prop her chin as she studied him. Did he expect her to fix this? She could sense the loneliness, like bitter almonds in the air, and that he regarded her highly, but what did he want? Suddenly noticing her, and bringing her back to his tower, confessing that he’d thought of asking her out for drinks — it was all a little too faery tale.

Self-consciously, Summer added, “What changed your mind?”

Charity Ball | @shoottothrillindustries

shoottothrillindustries:

iamthefirechild:

His fumbling explanation did a lot to ease her mind, actually. He was a lot more smooth with the women he was planning to bed and forget. “No, no, you didn’t do anything wrong,” Summer assured Tony. “Only, you know, usually if /you/ bring a woman here, you have something different in mind than looking at the night skyline.” She linked her hands behind her back, looking up at the stars. “I didn’t,” a shrug, “expect that you … would ever … ” She trailed off, somehow unwilling to say it aloud.

Tony sometimes hated his reputation. It kept him from making genuine connections with people. He scraped his thumb under a fingernail, forming somewhat more eloquent statements in his mind before just spewing them out.

“It’s – been a while, actually. Since I’ve brought /anyone/ here, at all. Tower’s empty after hours most days… Not that, you know, that was why I -” He sighed at himself and rose, dusting his pants off. “I mean, I’ve thought of asking you for drinks a couple times, but when you save the world together, well,” that almost sounded like a joke – or at least making light of the truth. He’d thought about it more than a couple times, but it just never seemed like a good idea. Summer was fantastic. Totally fantastic! It’s just – he was wary of relationships in general. No one seemed to see the real him. There was Tony Stark the weapons dealer, Iron Man, Tony Stark the forgetful , drunk, rich, attention-seeking asshole – he just wanted someone he could be Tony around… not that he made that easy on himself. He very rarely stopped acting whatever roll those people put him in long enough for them to notice there was anything underneath the shallow surface. He smiled awkwardly as the sun slipped out of sight.

”- Can I pour you a coffee? JARVIS makes an amazing espresso. Peels paint, that shit does!”

Summer watched him, listening underneath the babble. He tasted of — uncertainty, hope, of secrets and things he didn’t even admit to himself. Layers and layers. How could she have missed this? “No, thank you, Mr Stark,” she began, “I’d rather have kahlua, if you don’t mind.” A particularly fierce gust of wind whipped at her skirts, and she shrieked a little, clutching at them. Giving Tony a gamine smile, Summer added, “Maybe I better go inside.” With the graceful ease of her dancer past, she made her way back inside the penthouse, pausing at the door to settle her skirts. “Why didn’t you?”

Charity Ball | @shoottothrillindustries

shoottothrillindustries:

iamthefirechild:

shoottothrillindustries:

iamthefirechild:

shoottothrillindustries:

iamthefirechild:

He was so outrageous, Summer had to laugh. “All right, all right! I’m coming!” She ran down the steps past Tony, jerked open the limo door, and climbed in. “I put myself entirely in your hands, Mr Stark.”

Tony dropped into the seat beside her (careful not to land on her shoes), and closed the door. He had the driver take them back to the Tower, an idea growing in the back of his mind, and took her all the way up to the top floor.

“You’ve got to see this – think you’ll appreciate it, if anyone does,” he says, passing his bar and the still-not-repaired indent of Loki on his floor ((It now has a small plaque that reads ‘Hulk Sorry’ on it, because Tony thought it’d make family dinners less awkward. Didn’t work, but he loves it!)) to the landing deck.

Tony glanced back over his shoulder to Summer, left his shoes and inside sat on the ledge above the city. “Have a look,” he motioned towards the skyline. At this hour, with the sun almost down, it looked like the sky was on fire. Probably more because of pollution and the constant repairs being done to the skyscrapers bad guys seemed to love trashing, but nonetheless, it was pretty neat.

“Gods, that’s so beautiful,” Summer breathed. “I never have the time to really look, when we’re working, you know? But up here, just looking, I can remember why it’s worth it. Why it matters. Makes it hurt a little less.” The wind stirred some loose wisps of hair around her face, and she brushed them back.

Turning, she looked over her shoulder back into the building. “This … is your place.” Her face was a little grave as she looked back at Tony. “I, um … “ 

Tony leaned back on his palms, legs dangling loosely over the edge. He shot a glance up at Summer, feeling something a little off in her tone. He turned, tucking his foot under the opposite knee so he could face her better and tapped her leg gently.

“Yeah? What of it?”

“Well, you’re, um, who you are … ” Summer twisted her hands together in her skirts. She was starting to blush. “Why are we here, Mr Stark?”

Tony has no problems with women. No qualms about seducing and leaving, or anything in that genre. Expressing genuine affection, care or concern for others though, that’s all foreign to him. He’d learned from Pepper and Rhodey that buying gifts wasn’t always a solution, and buying someone strawberries when they’re allergic is even worse. So, he was trying sentimental gestures now (normally failing miserably without JARVIS’ assistance). Looking at Summer, and thinking of the fire in her wings – it just fit. He couldn’t explain it any other way. Of course, what came out was nowhere near so eloquent.

“Well, it’s just – you know, I’ve never shown anyone else this, and – I figured I’d share it with someone important, or someone who needed it… Reminds me of you… kind of, I’m – not the best with intentions, did I do something wrong again? Break some kind of rule?”

His fumbling explanation did a lot to ease her mind, actually. He was a lot more smooth with the women he was planning to bed and forget. “No, no, you didn’t do anything wrong,” Summer assured Tony. “Only, you know, usually if /you/ bring a woman here, you have something different in mind than looking at the night skyline.” She linked her hands behind her back, looking up at the stars. “I didn’t,” a shrug, “expect that you … would ever … ” She trailed off, somehow unwilling to say it aloud.

Charity Ball | @shoottothrillindustries

shoottothrillindustries:

iamthefirechild:

shoottothrillindustries:

iamthefirechild:

He was so outrageous, Summer had to laugh. “All right, all right! I’m coming!” She ran down the steps past Tony, jerked open the limo door, and climbed in. “I put myself entirely in your hands, Mr Stark.”

Tony dropped into the seat beside her (careful not to land on her shoes), and closed the door. He had the driver take them back to the Tower, an idea growing in the back of his mind, and took her all the way up to the top floor.

“You’ve got to see this – think you’ll appreciate it, if anyone does,” he says, passing his bar and the still-not-repaired indent of Loki on his floor ((It now has a small plaque that reads ‘Hulk Sorry’ on it, because Tony thought it’d make family dinners less awkward. Didn’t work, but he loves it!)) to the landing deck.

Tony glanced back over his shoulder to Summer, left his shoes and inside sat on the ledge above the city. “Have a look,” he motioned towards the skyline. At this hour, with the sun almost down, it looked like the sky was on fire. Probably more because of pollution and the constant repairs being done to the skyscrapers bad guys seemed to love trashing, but nonetheless, it was pretty neat.

“Gods, that’s so beautiful,” Summer breathed. “I never have the time to really look, when we’re working, you know? But up here, just looking, I can remember why it’s worth it. Why it matters. Makes it hurt a little less.” The wind stirred some loose wisps of hair around her face, and she brushed them back.

Turning, she looked over her shoulder back into the building. “This … is your place.” Her face was a little grave as she looked back at Tony. “I, um … “ 

Tony leaned back on his palms, legs dangling loosely over the edge. He shot a glance up at Summer, feeling something a little off in her tone. He turned, tucking his foot under the opposite knee so he could face her better and tapped her leg gently.

“Yeah? What of it?”

“Well, you’re, um, who you are … ” Summer twisted her hands together in her skirts. She was starting to blush. “Why are we here, Mr Stark?”