THE DARKEST HOUR » tony stark ¹

𝐒𝐍𝐈𝐏𝐏𝐄𝐓

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'I'm late. Sorry.'

Waiting was exhausting. I had not caught a wink of sleep since the evening before which meant that I was operating between the lines of insomnia, caffeine and zero tolerance towards bullshit. If Tony coughed another silly excuse regarding what the prudent outcomes were, I would most probably break down. Or have a fit. Both seemed highly likely at this drunken point.

The fifth gin and tonic I nursed had gone warm with the heat from my palms, the ice softened and diffusing the intensity of my alcoholic drink. It was three in the night and drinking felt the last outlet for my utter boredom around the house. Out of pure habit, he grabbed the glass out of my hands and walked by me on the kitchenette. The ever-present tablet graced his hands as he laid it out behind me, confusing my intoxicated self.

'Evening,' I said, my words ending up in a drawled slur. He raised his brows when I grinned a toothy smile at him, quite unfazed about his unpunctuality. He had expected a missile of interrogatory questions but lucky him, the alcohol acted for him for once. His choked up when I leaned my head into my palms, staring at him like I had seen the light of day after an eternity.

'Tipsy,' he assessed with a cluck of his tongue, using a finger to push the hair away from the side of my face. I had to conceal a very embarrassing lip-bite. 'And yet, looking mighty fine.'

I puckered my face. 'Am I?'

'Don't tempt me,' he narrowed his eyes with mock anger. 'I have phenomenal news and your drunken, sexy self isn't going to sway me.' A beat later, his face contorted into a cheeky smile as he took a slow sip from the glass in his hand. 'At least not for a while.'

'So be it,' I dipped my shoulders in reluctance, looking up at him with an awaiting smile. 'What's the word, hummingbird?'

He blinked in a stupor at my choice of words. 'That drunk?'

'Are you going to tell me or not?'

'Okay, listen to this,' he said, readying himself with an expectant grin that mirrored my own and grappled my shoulders tightly. 'You, my gifted sweetheart, are living on the bleeding edge.'

My brain stuttered for a moment. '...huh.'

'That pulse in Long Island acted for the repulsomagnetic tech that was in you,' he pointed out, plunging a finger near the craterous scar in my chest. 'You were upgraded. Everything! Your metabolism, reflexes, processing reaction time - your goddamned IQ. Shot up by like fifty points.'

'Oh,' I whispered in disbelief. 'Oh my god.'

'I know. It has me,' he made explosion effects at the side of his head to gesture his state of speechlessness. 'Poof. Blown.'

'No, I mean,' I shook my head to alter my statement, injecting more shock than before. He was wrong to feel excited about losing my humanity. 'Oh my god. Tony Stark, you did it.'

'I did - what?'

'You transformed me into one of your dream girls,' I nodded in all obviousness. 'What do you reckon I do, snowboard in Aspen with you?'

'Elle, honey. This is fantastic,' he ignored my dry humour, shaking me lightly. 'I just don't have the lab to treat you here but once I get the toys in, I can pump you up to your max potential.'

'You have a very twisted way of talking dirty to me.'

'This is the next-level feat,' he stated, unfazed by my comment. 'Eleanor, you could be Inhuman—'

'See? This is why I don't want to take you seriously,' I grumbled, shoving his hands off my shoulders and rising from my seat. I forced his advances away, speedwalking back into the living room. I was perturbed to the highest degree after being imparted with facts about my slow void tolerance. If I was losing myself to some machine-induced trick, there had to be some way to treat it rather than nurturing dangerous extents. Meantime, the intent genius was quick to catch up to me as I started my ascent up the stairs.

'You're being insensitive—'

'And you're being an idiot. Not that I'm complaining.'

'— and this isn't fair!'

'Insensitive, is it?' I spun around to face him with a glare. The anger in me flared with a drunken stupor I was facing, making me flare out in anger. 'Let's see who's laughing two weeks from now when you look at me like your damn experiment rather than a woman you are in a relationship with.'

'Calm down,' he mused, slightly amused. 'Is that what you're worried about?'

'I—'

'You're still Elle to me, sweetie,' he said under his breath, smiling away. 'Nothing changes that. You've just been induced with a planetary scale electromagnetic ability.'

'Still a no.'

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[ oooooohhhhhh....... what's going on? *wink wink* acknowledgments coming soon and I'll be editing it too! ]