Chapter 14
On Monday, Tony got a message from Stephen saying he wouldn't be able to come to the lab, which made Tony disappointed. The next day, Tony was waiting for Stephen in his lab.
"Hey, I'm sorry. I couldn't come yesterday. I was tired from the trip," Stephen said, entering the lab and sitting beside Tony.
"You lied to me," Tony said in a small voice.
"What?" Stephen asked, confused.
"You said you didn't have date plans with your girlfriend. But you did," Tony said.
"Oh yeah. It was a last-minute plan. Why did you ask?" Stephen asked.
"Nothing, let's get to work," Tony said.
Stephen kept looking at Tony. He had a cute pout on his face, which Stephen found adorable. Tony was searching for something on the table.
"Tony, what's going on?" Stephen asked, chuckling.
"I can't find my multimeter," Tony said, still searching.
"Where did it go?" Tony murmured to himself as he continued searching.
"What does it look like?" Stephen asked, ready to help.
"You don't even know what a multimeter is? How are you in my lab?" Tony asked, scowling.
"Excuse me, I'm not a mechanic like you to know your silly playthings. I just want to help," Stephen replied.
"Did I ask for your help?" Tony shot back.
"Alright, go on and find it yourself," Stephen said, leaning back in his chair.
Tony took his phone and called Jarvis, putting it on speaker.
"Tony, I'm in an important meeting with your dad. Call me later," Jarvis whispered.
"Where is my multimeter?" Tony asked.
"What? I don't know what that is," Jarvis replied.
"I have told you a million times not to mess up my lab. You've changed the positions of all my things," Tony complained.
"Tony, your lab was a mess. I just cleaned it up," Jarvis said.
"Where did you put it?" Tony asked again.
"Does it look like a calculator?" Jarvis asked.
"Yes, where is it?" Tony asked impatiently.
"Oh! I put it on the top shelf," Jarvis said.
"Okay, bye," Tony said, hanging up the call.
Tony went to the shelf and tried to reach the top, but he was too short. Stephen snorted, seeing that, and Tony glared at him.
"You know, if you want help, you can just ask with a magic word," Stephen said, smirking.
But Tony wasn't ready to ask for help. He grabbed a chair and tried again, but it was still too far from his reach. Tony jumped on the chair to try to grab it but ended up falling to the floor.
Stephen laughed when he saw that.
"Shut up," Tony said, trying to get up from the floor. His back hurt.
Stephen walked over to him and offered his hand. Tony hesitated for a second, but then accepted the offer. Stephen pulled him up. They were standing very close to each other.
"Now, say the magic word," Stephen said in a low voice.
Tony turned bright red. That voice was doing things to his body.
"Stephen, please," Tony said in a small voice.
"That's a good boy" Stephen said.
Stephen stood on the chair, retrieved the multimeter, and handed it to Tony.
"Here you go," Stephen said and went back to sit in his chair.
Tony was blushing hard.
"Aren't you working today?" Stephen asked.
"Uh, yeah," Tony said and sat near him.
Throughout the work, Tony was silent. Stephen tried to make conversation, but Tony didn't say more than one syllable.
"Our project is almost done. I think we can finish it by this week, right?" Stephen asked, packing his bag.
"Yeah," Tony replied.
Stephen was annoyed by his behavior.
"Tony, tell me what's going on," Stephen said.
"What?" Tony asked, frowning.
"Why are you not talking to me?" Stephen asked.
"When have we ever talked to each other?" Tony scoffed.
"Listen, I know we're not exactly friends. We barely tolerate each other. But I like our banter. It's stupid, but I like it. Nobody has ever won an argument with me, but you can, and I... enjoy it," Stephen said.
"You enjoy my company?" Tony asked with a small smile.
"Yeah, that's what I meant," Stephen said.
"Okay, so you want me to talk to you like friends do?" Tony asked.
"If you want to," Stephen said.
"Mm, I like talking to you too," Tony said with a shy smile.
Stephen had never seen him like that. Tony was always confident, but now he seemed like an adorable puppy.
"Okay, ask me. What do you want to know?" Stephen asked with an amused smile.
"Uh, how did you and your girlfriend meet?" Tony asked.
"Christine and I were childhood friends. We went to the same school and had similar career goals. We were best friends, and at one point, we thought of dating. And it's going well," Stephen said.
So their relationship is going well, Tony thought.
"Okay, tell me about your boyfriend, Mr. Muscle Man," Stephen asked.
"Steve?" Tony asked.
"Of course. He's the one you're dating, right?" Stephen asked.
"Oh yeah, we're dating. He's one of my best friends. And I wanted a break from all this dating stuff, so we thought of a relationship," Tony said.
"Mm. He's very nice to you," Stephen said.
"Yeah, so what do you like most about Christine?" Tony asked.
"Are you into my girlfriend or something? You've been asking all about her," Stephen asked.
"I'm not into girls. Never. (But I'm into you)," Tony said under his breath.
"Alright. Christine is my best friend of many years. And we've never had a fight. She knows me very well," Stephen said.
They never had a fight. But with Tony, Stephen is always fighting. Of course, they are made for each other, Tony thought.
"Okay then. See you tomorrow," Stephen said.
"Uh, Stephen. Do you want to go to that nice coffee place out there? I heard they have special muffins," Tony said.
"What happened to the rule about not spending time together outside of work?" Stephen asked, smirking.
"I thought we were friends now," Tony said.
"I'll pass. I have other plans," Stephen said.
"Oh, okay. Bye," Tony said.
"Yeah, bye," Stephen said, walking out of the lab.
Tony sat in his chair, thinking about what he was doing. He didn't even have a chance with Stephen, but he was happy about one thing. Stephen liked his company. That was enough for him to sleep peacefully that night.