theironaudi:

iamthefirechild:

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Tony nodded and also took the time to breathe in the familiar scent. “Sometimes places like this are the best, and there’s rarely a crowd. Faster service, friendlier faces… All that wonderful stuff.” He chuckled at the sound her stomach made. “Good thing too. I’ll grab us a table real quick if you want to go ahead and get started?”

“Sounds great.” Hitching her arm through the other strap of her bag, Summer headed for the ingredient selection and filled the bowl she picked up to overflowing. She didn’t even try anything exotic, just grabbed what she normally liked, too interested in getting her stomach filled and not overthinking the last half hour. But she couldn’t stop herself looking over at Tony every minute or so, or the quiet wish that he would have just not held himself back.

Tony talked briefly with one of the hostesses and picked out a little table for them, not far from the kitchen area. Once he’d seen that Summer knew where they were to be seated, he set his phone on the table and went to join her in the ingredient line. He dutifully filled his bowl with his favorites, and catching her eye again, he smiled. “Have you tried squid cooked like this?” he asked, helping himself to a small portion. “I think it’s pretty good.”

“I haven’t, actually, but right now I think I need to stick with what I know I like. I’m already unsettled from just … you know, stuff, better to not make it worse. Aaaand I’ve seen the results when someone tries something new … let’s just say, it wasn’t pretty and Wizard was banned from ever eating Dragon Spice again.” Leaning her elbows on the counter to wait for the cook, she laughed. “My apartment never cleared out so fast.”

Stark dropped the smile a little, but shrugged in understanding. “Yeah, I suppose you’re right. If I hadn’t tried it already, I sure as hell wouldn’t be trying it tonight…” He looked at her curiously as she seemed to be reminiscing. “Now that sounds like an interesting story,” he said, chuckling quietly. “And a good lesson too! Who’s Wizard?” he asked.

“Friend of mine from college. It’s his handle online. PCWizard, because he installed computers in cars.” Her mouth curved in a soft smile. “I haven’t seen him in ages, or his wife.” Summer leaned over a little bit and rested her head against Tony’s arm.

theironaudi:

iamthefirechild:

theironaudi:

Tony nodded and also took the time to breathe in the familiar scent. “Sometimes places like this are the best, and there’s rarely a crowd. Faster service, friendlier faces… All that wonderful stuff.” He chuckled at the sound her stomach made. “Good thing too. I’ll grab us a table real quick if you want to go ahead and get started?”

“Sounds great.” Hitching her arm through the other strap of her bag, Summer headed for the ingredient selection and filled the bowl she picked up to overflowing. She didn’t even try anything exotic, just grabbed what she normally liked, too interested in getting her stomach filled and not overthinking the last half hour. But she couldn’t stop herself looking over at Tony every minute or so, or the quiet wish that he would have just not held himself back.

Tony talked briefly with one of the hostesses and picked out a little table for them, not far from the kitchen area. Once he’d seen that Summer knew where they were to be seated, he set his phone on the table and went to join her in the ingredient line. He dutifully filled his bowl with his favorites, and catching her eye again, he smiled. “Have you tried squid cooked like this?” he asked, helping himself to a small portion. “I think it’s pretty good.”

“I haven’t, actually, but right now I think I need to stick with what I know I like. I’m already unsettled from just … you know, stuff, better to not make it worse. Aaaand I’ve seen the results when someone tries something new … let’s just say, it wasn’t pretty and Wizard was banned from ever eating Dragon Spice again.” Leaning her elbows on the counter to wait for the cook, she laughed. “My apartment never cleared out so fast.”

theironaudi:

iamthefirechild:

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Tony looked down at their hands and gave hers a light squeeze. “Well, after Steve tried Shawarma, he wanted to try a bunch of other foods he never had a chance to. And that man can eat—it’s his super soldier metabolism—so we went looking around for places that have an option for ‘all you can eat’. Ended up here a few times and despite the, uh…”—he gestured to the storefront with the broken sign and chipped paint—“exterior, it really is nice inside. Great food too.”

“That’s totally the mom-and-pop aspect of the city, you know? One of my favourite places when I was in college was a little mom-and-pop Japanese place that had amazing bento boxes for really cheap. I spent so much time there; they even remembered my face. God, that was great.”  She glanced around as they went in, breathing deep of the delicious smells. Her stomach growled audibly.

Tony nodded and also took the time to breathe in the familiar scent. “Sometimes places like this are the best, and there’s rarely a crowd. Faster service, friendlier faces… All that wonderful stuff.” He chuckled at the sound her stomach made. “Good thing too. I’ll grab us a table real quick if you want to go ahead and get started?”

“Sounds great.” Hitching her arm through the other strap of her bag, Summer headed for the ingredient selection and filled the bowl she picked up to overflowing. She didn’t even try anything exotic, just grabbed what she normally liked, too interested in getting her stomach filled and not overthinking the last half hour. But she couldn’t stop herself looking over at Tony every minute or so, or the quiet wish that he would have just not held himself back.

theironaudi:

iamthefirechild:

theironaudi:

Stark got out of the car, shuffled back to her, and wondered how he could stand. He felt almost numb, overexposed to that point like a nerve rubbed raw. He wasn’t used to so much emotion pulling him this way and that, he was used to machinelike control. He listened though.

He blinked rapidly a few times before speaking. “I…” he swallowed, working to compose himself to help the conversation and himself. “To make myself clear I do, at the very least, want to see more of you. A date or two. And… yeah, that was selfish of me to do—to think I could decide for you. And… my mouth is?” He couldn’t help but ask.

Summer’s pupils were huge from more than the darkness of the night. Light glittered off the tearstreaks on her face. “I want to kiss you so badly right now,” she whispered, feeling utterly caught in his gaze. “Say it again. Why you want /me/. Say it again and I’ll start believing you.”

“I want you because of who you’ve shown me you are. You’re so honest, so selflessly helpful. You’re not full of yourself, and you don’t kiss ass to those who are. You’re smart…” He paused, a small hint of a smile pulling at his lips. “You’re beautiful, too. The whole package…”

He did his best to push his negative self image from his mind for the time being, and he succeeded.

With every word out of his mouth, Summer’s shoulders relaxed a little more. One hand swiped at the wetness on her face, smearing it away. “Okay. Okay. Let’s just … okay, let’s just go and have dinner, and, and we, you can count this as a first date. Okay? And, and … ” she pulled in a deep, shuddering breath, “please just … be yourself. What you want to do, don’t hesitate. Trust me to tell you if it’s not okay?” She fetched her backpack from the car, and looked over her shoulder. “And if I ever hear ‘you’re too good for me,’ come out of your mouth in a serious context again, I’m going to explode your ego.”

theironaudi:

iamthefirechild:

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Tony sighed heavily. “Look what you did, Stark,” he whispered to himself, letting his forehead fall to the steering wheel. You push everyone away, this proves it. You hurt her and you hurt yourself.

Tony’s self-hatred slashed through her mind like a hail of darts, cutting and cold. It felt like she was shouting, but it couldn’t have been much over a normal tone, just laden with intensity. “Stop it!” Her arms were shaking. “Stop thinking that!”

Tony sat upright at her tone, his mind blanking a little as he looked back at her. He opened his mouth to say something but he couldn’t find the words he wanted to say. He shook his head, throwing a hand up to the bridge of his nose.

“I… I’m no good with relationships in general, Summer. Friendships and otherwise. Cold hard truth. This is what I do every time, and every time, it happens sooner and sooner.”

“I said, stop. Just stop. Get over here and listen to me, because if I move, I am going to fall over. You need to make yourself clear to me, because what is coming out of your mouth is telling me two things and what is coming out of your heart is telling me yet a third and I cannot figure out what the hell you even want right now.” It’s the oddly colourless, flat, queer tone she got whenever input was just overwhelming and release would knock something largish flat. She didn’t look around, or up.

“I can’t even look at you right now because your fucking mouth is entirely too distracting. But understand this, understand it right now,” and she did look up, catching his eyes, “you don’t get to choose for me.”

Stark got out of the car, shuffled back to her, and wondered how he could stand. He felt almost numb, overexposed to that point like a nerve rubbed raw. He wasn’t used to so much emotion pulling him this way and that, he was used to machinelike control. He listened though.

He blinked rapidly a few times before speaking. “I…” he swallowed, working to compose himself to help the conversation and himself. “To make myself clear I do, at the very least, want to see more of you. A date or two. And… yeah, that was selfish of me to do—to think I could decide for you. And… my mouth is?” He couldn’t help but ask.

Summer’s pupils were huge from more than the darkness of the night. Light glittered off the tearstreaks on her face. “I want to kiss you so badly right now,” she whispered, feeling utterly caught in his gaze. “Say it again. Why you want /me/. Say it again and I’ll start believing you.”

theironaudi:

iamthefirechild:

theironaudi:

Tony sighed heavily. “Look what you did, Stark,” he whispered to himself, letting his forehead fall to the steering wheel. You push everyone away, this proves it. You hurt her and you hurt yourself.

Tony’s self-hatred slashed through her mind like a hail of darts, cutting and cold. It felt like she was shouting, but it couldn’t have been much over a normal tone, just laden with intensity. “Stop it!” Her arms were shaking. “Stop thinking that!”

Tony sat upright at her tone, his mind blanking a little as he looked back at her. He opened his mouth to say something but he couldn’t find the words he wanted to say. He shook his head, throwing a hand up to the bridge of his nose.

“I… I’m no good with relationships in general, Summer. Friendships and otherwise. Cold hard truth. This is what I do every time, and every time, it happens sooner and sooner.”

“I said, stop. Just stop. Get over here and listen to me, because if I move, I am going to fall over. You need to make yourself clear to me, because what is coming out of your mouth is telling me two things and what is coming out of your heart is telling me yet a third and I cannot figure out what the hell you even want right now.” It’s the oddly colourless, flat, queer tone she got whenever input was just overwhelming and release would knock something largish flat. She didn’t look around, or up.

“I can’t even look at you right now because your fucking mouth is entirely too distracting. But understand this, understand it right now,” and she did look up, catching his eyes, “you don’t get to choose for me.”

theironaudi:

iamthefirechild:

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“No, hey. It’s all right,” he murmured, his brows pulling together. He moved his hand to wipe a few tears away from her face. “It’s okay. I’m just a mess all around, but I am trying to work on it. It’s not your fault.” He sighed, tilting his head to the side. “I don’t think you can convince me otherwise, really… But maybe, maybe we could try to make it work? If you want? I just don’t want to hurt you. I’m not exactly known to have successful relationships…”

She couldn’t breathe. Everything was moving too fast. Who was comforting whom here? She thought she was just being a friendly person, and now he was … he was asking her out? Tony Stark was asking her out, an hour after meeting her, was talking about a relationship.

“Yes?” She said hesitantly.

He pulled his hand back almost as soon as he realized what he’d said, and how she was hesitating. “Sorry, god, that was incredibly forward of me. All this… I’m sorry. I don’t really know what’s come over me…”

Summer flinched again, harder. She scrabbled for the door-handle, half-blinded by falling tears, and tried not to sob aloud. Tearing the clip from her hair, she cast it passionately to the ground, and that was the end of that bout of energy. Bracing her arms on the trunk of the car, fallen hair hiding her face, she gave over control and just tried to breathe.

Tony sighed heavily. “Look what you did, Stark,” he whispered to himself, letting his forehead fall to the steering wheel. You push everyone away, this proves it. You hurt her and you hurt yourself.

Tony’s self-hatred slashed through her mind like a hail of darts, cutting and cold. It felt like she was shouting, but it couldn’t have been much over a normal tone, just laden with intensity. “Stop it!” Her arms were shaking. “Stop thinking that!”