The Team and Cookies
Heilyn couldn't really understand the situation he found himself in. Standing in front of him, just watching him finish off his work in the kitchen, was Tony Stark. He knew not to believe everything that the media said about people, but there was just so much out there covering Stark that no matter how impartial he tried to be, some of it stuck. So it was strange to him to find that the man seemed to be nothing like he had been portrayed. To be fair, no news outlet seemed to have a stock image of the man, going from praising him one week to crucifying him the next, but Heilyn found that in this short interaction Tony was just a normal human being. Maybe he was a little fanatical about his technology, but that was a part of him, and if the tabloids were to be believed, it had been for his whole life.
The true concern he had displayed could maybe have been put down to worry that he might end up with a lawsuit on his hands, but Heilyn found himself discarding that line of thinking almost immediately. For one, it wasn't fair to the type of person he had seen so far, and for another, Heilyn liked to believe that people were generally good.
He was absolutely shocked that Stark had backed off about his issue with technology. He had been sure that he was in the presence of yet another person who just wanted to turn him into a curiosity, another experiment. It wasn't something he was looking forward to. He could have gotten out of there, by force if necessary, but he didn't want to. Luckily, Stark had proven to be a decent person so far.
Heilyn cursed Louise once again for getting sick and forcing him into this position.
'So,' the man started up again, 'pretty sure I recognised some of those moves you were doing earlier. Ballet enthusiast?'
Heilyn snorted. 'Smooth transition,' he snarked lightly.
The laugh that came from the other man sounded surprised, and Heilyn smiled behind his hair. He had never been more grateful for having been convinced by the last hairdresser to keep growing his hair than in that moment. At least this way he could keep some of his expressions to himself.
'What? You mean you don't appreciate a sudden change in topic in the middle of your conversations?' Stark asked sarcastically.
Heilyn threw his head back and laughed. Why couldn't someone have prepared him for how funny this man was?
'Sure, sure. I appreciate a case of emotional whiplash as much as the next guy,' he responded lightly. 'Uh, I used to take ballet classes as a kid. Do with that what you will.' He finished with a mocking bow.
Stark let out a considering hum but didn't comment any further. It made Heilyn wish he could read minds.
To be able to know what that man is thinking, he sighed silently.
By the time that Heilyn had finished in the kitchen and living area's of that floor, it had been silent for a while. He only realised that as he was getting ready to move into the bedrooms to collect dirty clothes. As he moved through the silent room he spotted Stark sat with his head pillowed on his crossed arms at the table. The coffee he had gotten at some point was cooling by his elbow, having apparently not been enough to keep the genius awake.
Heilyn took a moment to really look at Stark as he slept. There was just something about seeing someone at their most vulnerable that felt like an invasion of privacy to him, but he couldn't look away. When he had been chatting to him, Stark had come across as slightly crazed. His emotions seemed to jump around and change as fast as some people blinked. His hair was sticking up in all directions, and he seemed about ready to fall asleep where he stood.
Heilyn was sure that the only thing keeping him on his feet was sheer stubbornness.
That man really is beautiful, he couldn't help but think as he watched him. And he works himself far too hard.
He allowed himself another thirty seconds of looking at Stark before he went back to the couch and pulled the blanket off the back. He had only just put it away, but he was sure Stark would sleep a bit better with it than without.
He couldn't even work up the energy to deny the feelings trying to form attachments to the man as he draped the blanket carefully around his shoulders. It didn't matter that this was likely to be their one and only interaction. Tony deserved to have more people who cared about him.
Tony awoke all at once. The little hairs on the back of his neck were telling him that he was being watched, and it wasn't a feeling that he liked. Instead of giving into the urge to jolt up, he pretended to stretch naturally. He affected a yawn as he looked around the room.
Some time in the hours since he had met the fascinating cleaner, his team had returned from their mission.
He couldn't be bothered to remember what it had been. He hadn't been invited, and that was all he needed to know to feel the familiar stirrings of pain inside that he had been trying to hide from when he hid in his workshop two days ago.
There wouldn't be any hiding now though, as the rest of the Avengers seemed to have managed to make their way into the open plan room, making themselves at home on couches or in the kitchen.
They must have been back for long enough to clean up from their mission, as they were back in casual clothes now.
'Tony,' Nat started in her vaguely dark way, 'if you were going to sleep, shouldn't you do it in your room? This is the common room floor of the tower and we've had to be quiet for you for ages now. Didn't you build this for us to be able to relax?'
There was something not quite right about that, but he was so tired.
He decided to ignore her. If he couldn't make sense of it, then it probably didn't make sense.
He sniffed the air tentatively. There was something that his nose was picking up that wasn't normally in this area. It was better suited to a bakery than their common room slash kitchen.
His nose led him to the counter where a mostly empty plate of cookies stood. There was a discarded note beside it that caught his eye.
Mr. Stark,
I hope you don't have any allergies, because I made these on a whim.
I got the feeling that it might have been a while since you had anything homemade.
They're chocolate chip peanut butter cookies.Heilyn
P.S. Contains Gluten, Dairy, Eggs & Peanuts - and don't worry, I did this in my own time. Stark Industries won't be paying for my whims.
Tony stared at the note blankly for a moment. He looked up in time to see a hand reaching for the cookies. There were only a few left, and there was no way he was going to just give them up to whoever. Heilyn had made them for him.
He smacked the hand away from the plate and leveled a glare at the offender. To his credit, Clint only looked a little put out.
'What was that for?' He asked as he nursed his hand. The puppy dog eyes were out in force today it seemed.
That wouldn't win Tony over this time though. These were his, and someone had stolen most of them anyway. He pulled the plate into his chest and wrapped an arm around it protectively.
'Mine!' He growled.
That made the others stop. Silence made it's way through the room quickly, but Tony wasn't giving these up. He was feeling oddly protective of the treats.
He couldn't remember the last time someone had made anything for him, so there was no way he was giving these up without a fight.
Tony could see several of them opening their mouths to tell him off, but he wasn't having it.
'Uh, no. Did you not see the note? These were left for me. I'll be in my workshop if you need me.'
With that, he headed over to the elevator and stepped in as soon as it was available.
He had some cookies to enjoy.