First Day
Heilyn stood in the lobby of Stark Tower, trying to ignore the severe looks that the receptionist was sending his way. He bounced lightly on his toes, wondering if maybe he should have called ahead. It wasn’t like Tony didn’t know he was coming, so what was going on?
He fished his phone out of his pocket and tapped it against his other hand as he thought. He didn’t really want to ring and have to explain that he hadn’t made it past the lobby. He was aware that he was an incredibly awkward guy, but that didn’t mean that he wanted to so obvious that it couldn’t be ignored.
The elevator dinged softly behind Heilyn and he spun to face it. His heart sped up, feeling both dread and relief when he saw Tony Stark himself step out. He cursed his luck that had forced the other man to come down and let him in, all the while feeling his anxiety lift entirely at the sight of the man swaggering toward him. The smirk on his face coupled with the knowing twinkle in his eyes just about undid Heilyn right there.
‘Ah, the man of the hour!’ Tony called, obviously enjoying the situation.
Heilyn couldn’t help the blush rising on his cheeks at the man’s attention. He swallowed hard.
What was wrong with him?
‘Your receptionist is terrifying,’ he said, hooking his thumb over his shoulder at the woman in question. The smug look that slid onto Tony’s face at that comment had Heilyn biting the inside of his cheek. He hadn’t really noticed just how attractive Tony was until that moment. Sure, he knew the man was considered to be one of the most eligible bachelor’s in the world, but that didn’t mean that everyone would be attracted to him.
Heilyn certainly hadn’t been thinking about that when he’d agreed to work for the man. He’d been thinking about how sad he looked, how the misery seemed to roll off of him in waves. But it struck him in that moment, that he was very much attracted to the genius. He just hoped it wouldn’t interfere with him new job.
Seeing Tony like this was like looking at an entirely different man, one that was alive, and he found himself vowing to do what he could to keep him that way.
‘Yeah, that just means she’s doing the job I hired her for. Can’t have any of the crazy’s getting in after all,’ Tony said playfully. Heilyn got the feeling that it was far from a joke though.
He flushed brighter as the man gave him a blatant once over with a sly grin.
‘Although, what’s to say you aren’t one of those persistent admirers here to try to get me into bed?’
Heilyn just about choked on his own spit at that comment, and more specifically, the images it brought up in his head.
Once he had himself back under control, he turned a glare on Tony who was laughing heartily and using Heilyn as a prop to keep himself upright.
‘Oh, that was too easy!’ Tony cried, wiping away a tear from his eye with a grin. ‘Come on then, you dastardly charmer, but I’m onto you.’
‘What just happened?’ Heilyn muttered, thoroughly confused. He followed Tony back into the elevator after fighting off the need to send a smug look over at the receptionist. She was just doing her job, even if it had meant an incredibly awkward fifteen minutes and needing to be rescued by Tony.
They stood in silence for all of a second before Tony apparently had enough of it.
‘So that sucked,’ the man started, ‘I’ll get you an ID sorted- or, well, Jarvis will. Then you can come and go as you please. No need to be a damsel in distress for longer than necessary, right?’
Heilyn blinked. Wow, this man could talk.
‘Uh, thanks. That’d be great,’ he said, wishing he had anything better to add to the conversation. Would it always be like this when he talked to the other man?
He wracked his brain for something to say, but was coming up with nothing. How was that possible?
The doors opened earlier than Heilyn had been expecting, and he shifted from one foot to the other nervously. He took the man in, seeing the hesitance on the other’s face at spotting him. He was about the same height as Tony, with glasses and floppy hair that fell into his eyes.
Heilyn pasted a friendly smile on his face. The other man seemed skittish enough to run away at the first sign of aggression.
‘Brucie Bear!’ Tony said loudly after a moment of silence. ‘This is Heilyn, my new personal chef. You probably won’t see much of him since I plan to keep his talents all to myself.’
Heilyn flushed at that comment, which probably didn’t help with the new man’s impression of him. Was Tony capable of explaining anything without giving people the wrong impression?
He smiled at the man again and shifted so that he could come into the elevator since that had been why he was there in the first place.
‘Nice to meet you,’ he said with a nod to the newly dubbed ‘Brucie Bear.’ Somehow, he got the feeling that might not be the man’s actual name. He was getting the feeling that Tony was a person who lived to make people uncomfortable, but not in a mean way if that made sense. He actually didn’t think Tony had a mean bone in his body.
The rest of the admittedly short elevator ride was thankfully made in silence. Heilyn was immensely grateful when the doors opened once more, this time onto what he knew to be the common floor for the Avengers, and Bruce moved out with a shy smile.
It wasn’t that he hadn’t liked Bruce, the other man seemed nice enough, if a little shy. It was just that he was already on edge about the logistics of his new job and hadn’t expected to meet more people. He really should have, he reflected absently. It wasn’t like Tony was the only one who lived in Stark Tower after all.
The relief he had been feeling evaporated immediately upon seeing a familiar wall of muscle look over at them. The noise of the elevator must have caught his attention Heilyn figured. He felt his irritation rise at the dark look on the blond’s face once he recognised Heilyn.
‘Tony,’ the man started, and instantly Heilyn was done. He stepped to the side and leaned over in front of Tony to push the close button.
‘Oh, no. Looks like we’re off. You’ll have to catch up with him another time,’ Heilyn said, mock sadness clear in his tone and on his face.
The doors slid shut and Heilyn smiled up at the ceiling, relaxing from the tense position he had fallen into at seeing the other man. There was just something about the man’s self-righteous attitude that made Heilyn’s blood boil. Was he basing his entire impression of the man on a few comments and actions? Absolutely, but his instincts were rarely wrong.
The sound of Tony chuckling at his side made him turn.
The man really was beautiful, he mused. Especially when he was laughing. It made his whole being light up.
Heilyn grinned unabashedly at the man, very pleased to have managed to make him laugh.
‘Oh, he’s not going to be your biggest fan!’ Tony said once his laughter had trailed off. Heilyn shrugged. He didn’t need that man’s approval.
‘That’s fine by me,’ he muttered, hearing the dislike very clearly in the dark undertone to his words.
When the elevator doors opened finally onto Tony’s floor the two men stepped out. Heilyn saw Tony let out a deep breath as he seemed to sag, the tension draining completely out of him.
He kept his eyes on the man as he turned and opened his mouth to speak, only to be cut off by Jarvis.
‘I have the footage of sir pouting about you not picking up your phone yesterday, if you were still interested.’
Heilyn watched, highly entertained, as Tony’s cheeks flushed red and he suddenly found the floor profoundly interesting. The reaction was hilarious, and he found himself laughing loudly, completely unable to stop.
The surprised look on Tony’s face at the sound of it just set him off even further, and it was a number of minutes before he could get himself under control enough to straighten up.
‘Oh, that was great! Thanks Jarvis,’ he said, cheeks twitching from smiling so hard. ‘I needed that! And I definitely want to see that footage when I get a minute.’
‘Don’t you dare!’ Tony said, sounding way too flustered to be anything but real. ‘You delete that right this second!’
The sight of Tony glaring at his ceiling was almost enough to send Heilyn back into peals of laughter, and he bit his lip hard trying to stem it.
‘I am afraid I have misplaced the protocols required for such an action, sir. Most regrettable.’
Heilyn lost the battle at the AI’s snarky reply, and collapsed against the kitchen island very nearly crying from the force of his laughter.
‘Oh God, stop it! I can’t take it,’ he begged between gasps.
‘Hey! I thought we talked about this,’ Tony cut in, trying valiantly to hide his smile. ‘You two aren’t allowed to gang up on me!’
Heilyn gasped in a deep breath and held it, trying to stop the urge to keep laughing.
‘Alright, rude. That’s what this is. Both of you, rude!’ Tony said, throwing his hands up in the air in mock despair. ‘Alright, enough of this. You owe me food.’
Heilyn watched as the man turned and tried to glare at him, but those expressive eyes gave him away. He was clearly not upset at all, in fact, he looked like he was just as entertained as Heilyn was.
He straightened up obligingly though. This was his new job after all, it wouldn’t do to actually upset his employer.
With that thought in mind, he made his way over to the fridge.
‘Hmm, alright. What have you got in?’ he asked, mostly to himself. The fridge was impressively stocked if Heilyn was being honest. He had expected the man to live like most bachelors did; off of coffee and two-minute noodles.
Instead, there was plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables from what he could see. He turned back to face Tony with a raised eyebrow.
‘What?’ he asked, not quite meeting Heilyn’s eyes.
‘Judging by the fridge in the kitchen on the common floor, I was expecting this one to be more sparse.’ he said bluntly.
He was watching the other man, and so caught the shifty look that entered his eyes as he turned away with a shrug.
‘Hmm, guess you didn’t read me as well as you thought you did then.’
‘Sir requested that the fridge and pantry be adequately stocked for your arrival,’ Jarvis said, ruining all pretenses.
Heilyn bit his lip harshly as the AI snitched on Tony. He tried to blank his face as Tony turned back and faced him, pointing an accusing finger at him.
‘Hey, no! Bad Heilyn. How did you manage to turn him against me anyway?’ he demanded.
‘Hey! I didn’t do anything!’ he replied, but couldn’t keep the amusement out of his expression. This was just too funny.
-----
He ended up making a quick stir fry for the first proper meal he made for the other man. He was insanely nervous that it wouldn’t go over as well as the baked goods apparently had. What if Tony only liked his sweets, and regretted the contract he’d made up for him?
He needn’t have worried though, if the vaguely pornographic noises Tony was making with each new bite were any indication. He wondered if he would ever get used to just how expressive Tony was, as he tried to fight down the blush that was covering his face.
‘There is a heaven after all!’ Tony exclaimed, making Heilyn’s face burn hotter. ‘J, make a note, we’re not letting Heilyn go, ever! Someone tries to poach him away, you make him a better offer. Seriously, anything.’
Heilyn smiled lightly to himself. It felt really good to have such a reaction to his cooking. Having wanted to be a chef at one point, it was nice to know he could have been good at it.
‘I doubt anyone would try to poach a personal chef that no one’s ever heard of,’ he pointed out reasonably, smile still lingering.
‘Good, then we won’t have a problem.’
The other man looked all too pleased with himself at the thought, Heilyn mused. It wasn’t a bad look, in fact, he was glad to see the life in not only Tony’s face, but his actions as well. Clearly, he was doing the right thing.