Work Text:
Men were stupid. This was a fact. Or at least, Anthony Edward Stark was stupid.
You had been working for Stark Industries for the last three months. At first, you never saw Tony around until someone passed around your research paper and he caught hold of it.
You were down in your lab, working on your research when the Tony Stark just waltzed right in like he owned the place. Okay, maybe he did, but that was your space and you didn’t have time to entertain playboy philanthropists.
You didn’t acknowledge him and continued to work.
He didn’t say anything at first, just stood there and stared, analyzing you.
After five minutes of silence, you sighed, “Stop looking at me like that, weirdo.” You looked up from your notes, quirking an eyebrow in question.
“Weirdo? That seems rude to say to your boss.”
“Pepper Pots is my boss,” you corrected with a grin. “You’re just a name.”
Tony stepped further into your lab and gave a dramatic sigh. “That’s just mean. And here I was coming to tell you how incredible I thought your research about the theoretical concept of replacing cancerous cells with homegrown genetically altered cells.”
Your grin turned into a smirk, “Yeah, some other higher up thought so, too.”
You were pleasantly surprised to find that Tony was more than just some annoying playboy philanthropist, but was actually incredibly intelligent. You felt kind of stupid now because the man did have three PhDs.
He started to spend more and more time with you in your lab, offering to help with your research. But beyond that, he had conversations about his life and asked you questions about yours.
One thing you were correct about? He’s a flirt.
You thought that after all those hours of late nights in the lab he would finally ask you on a date, but no. Instead, you find out via Starz magazine that he took some pretty Play Boy model out.
It was time to move on.
Tony stopped at the door and turned around, eying you up and down. “What’s going on with all of…this?” he asked, gesturing to your nice dress that you used for dates.
You looked away, scowling. “I don’t have to tell you anything that I do outside of S.I.”
Tony narrowed his eyes at this and took a step towards you. “Actually, you do.” Step. “Because you represent my company.” Another step. “And as your boss, I reserve the right to make sure you’re not doing anything stupid that will reflect badly on me.” One last step and he was face to face with you.
“I don’t recall signing anything like that in my contract,” you snarked, trying to step around him. He moved with you, continuing to block your exit.
“Is it a hot date?”
You tried stepping around him the other direction and groaned when he blocked you again. “Get out of my way before I murder you, Tony.”
He ignored you, placing his hands on your shoulders and held you still. “I would have to advise against that since I am fairly certain that would be a violation of your work contract.”
“So’s sexual harassment,” you muttered under your breath.
“What was that?” Tony asked, giving you a glare.
You flushed at having been caught. “I said that doesn’t seem correct.”
Tony hummed, not fully believing you and pulled out his phone, typing away. “What’s the name of the lucky guy?”
You narrowed your eyes at him and crossed your arms over your chest. “What does it matter? You don’t need to be privy to my personal life.”
Tony continued to fiddle around with the tech, “Just want to make sure whoever he,” he glanced at you, “or she, is good enough for my favorite scientist.”
“Again, Tony. This isn’t something you need to know. Now please get out of my way so I can go do my own thing…without you.”
Tony flicked his wrist, expanding whatever was on the screen from his phone to make a hologram that showed a picture of your date for the night.
“Tony!” you exclaimed, trying to reach for the device. “Quit it!”
“Nope!” he replied, mouth popping on the ‘p’.
Your fingers grazed the screen and the hologram shifted from the view of your date to his home screen.
You could feel the blood drain from your face and you recoiled. “Is that-I’m your lock screen?!” You looked back and forth from the hologram to Tony in disbelief.
Tony sighed, flicking his wrist again and minimized the hologram. “You weren’t supposed to see that.”
You touched a hand to your chest, feeling your heart thumping heavily at the situation. “What’s going on, Tony? Why would I be your lock screen?”
“Boss won’t admit it, but he likes you more than a friend,” FRIDAY spoke up from the ceiling like divine intervention.
“Don’t make me reprogram you,” Tony half-heartly threatened, glaring at the ceiling.
“Tony,” you called, lightly grabbing his arm to get his attention.
His dark eyes met your own and for once, all false bravado was gone. He gave a sigh but didn’t look away. “Look. I’ve been through a lot. I’m a broken man who’s an even bigger mess. I can’t- I struggle with believing people could just genuinely accept me for who I am beyond my name. But with you, you never gave a shit about that. You saw me for me. And then your mind on top of that? It was like a dream. Not to mention you’re hot.” You gave a small laugh at that but otherwise didn’t comment. “Rejection…is a thing of mine. An insecurity if you will. I was never good enough for my father growing up, and that carries over to today. So, while I may be all of this,” he gestured to himself, “it’s a mask. I…I do like you, I really do. But let’s be real. You could do so much better.”
Your heart broke for the man who just bore his soul to you. You didn’t realize that you were crying until Tony reached for you and brushed a course thumb over your cheek, catching the stray tears.
“Don’t cry for me.”
You surged forward, throwing your arms around his neck, burying your face in his chest. “You deserve the world, you idiot,” you chastised. You looked up to him, meeting his gaze again. “We’re all a little fucked up but that’s what makes life interesting. Perfection is boring. And…and…I just… If you really like me, Stark…you should just kiss me.”
Tony searched your eyes, looking for any sign of deception, finding none. It was painful to wait to see what he would do next.
To your pleasant surprise, he leaned down and pressed a kiss to your lips.
You heard a clicking sound followed by FRIDAY announcing. “Mr. Stark finally kissed Ms. Y/N.”