jazz hands (t.s x reader)
"Play that again."
You rolled your eyes as you felt the presence of Tony behind you, turning your head slightly to see he had wandered over from the bar to now invade your personal space, nursing a glass of scotch he'd poured from one of his decanters. Rolling your eyes, you turned in the plush piano stool you were perched on, raising an eyebrow at the billionaire.
"I'm not a performing monkey, Stark. I'm not just playing for you on command."
Taking a sip, he eyed you over the top of the crystal tumbler. "Uh-huh.." Moving to set his drink on top of the glossy black instrument, he pulled up a start chair from nearer the sofa, shuffling beside you and ignoring the look you gave him when he got comfortable a little too close to your right hand side. "What am I paying you for then?"
Snorting, you elbowed the older man playfully, moving to position your hands on the keys, deciding it was probably easier to just not argue with him and actually give him a tune. "You're paying me to not only do your dirty work, but also put my ass on the line every day and clean up after the likes of Thor when he goes charging into a HYDRA base without a logical plan.."
At this comment, Tony let out a soft snort, shaking his head slightly, but offered no verbal response, instead using his foot to nudge your own as a hint to start playing.
Although you shook your head at his impatience, you began to let your fingers drift over the piano keys, the crisp melody of 'Bluestone Alley' filled the room, banishing the still silence the living room of the Avengers Tower had been bathed in. While you pushed reluctant expressions when anyone (especially Tony or Peter) asked you to play for them, you loved the sweet sounds the engineers' Yamaha AvantGrand made as you delicately pushed the wooden keys. Tony admitted it had been bought mainly as a centrepiece for the room, not with the intention that anybody was to actually use it, but insisted you put it to good use when you first moved into the tower six months ago. Now, on nights when everyone else was either away on a mission or in bed, the two of you would gather round the instrument, Tony urging you to start your nightly ritual as he began pouring himself a drink.
Halfway through the song, you glanced to your right, a small smile etching itself on your face as you saw Tony was now sitting facing forwards, eyes closed as if concentrating on the music. You were surprised when the billionaire had shown an interest in you playing, but how were you to deny him it despite your protests when it was one of the only things that stopped him messing around in his lab full-time?
Allowing you fingers to linger on the E minor key, drawing out the last note, you finally stood from the leather stool, smiling at Tony as he reached for his scotch glass once more, finishing the amber liquid inside. Cracking your knuckles, you glanced at the comically large clock near the kitchen area which now read 1:27am; for him, it probably wasn't;t that late, but you could feel yourself getting drowsy already, especially after Steve had put you through a particularly rigorous training session earlier on.
"Satisfied?" You finally asked, smirking at Tony who was already glancing up at you from his seated position. That was usually how you ended your nights, that one word to which he would nod, say his goodnites, and you'd head off to bed while he disappeared back down to his lab until the early hours of the morning. That's why you were slightly confused when he shook his head, a smirk playing on his lips and he ran a hand through his dark hair.
"Actually, no."
"No?"
Tony took a couple of steps forward, both hands still wrapped around his glass as he drew nearer. Finally, he stopped just in front of you, so close you could smell the blend of coffee, motor oil and alcohol you'd gotten so used to over the past month or so. You had to angle your chin up slightly to meet his dark gaze as he was a little taller than you, but raised an eyebrow quizzically nonetheless.
The billionaire said nothing for a few brief moments, chocolate orbs scanning your face, almost as if he was memorising your perplexed expression, before his smirk broke out into a wide smile showing the white teeth hidden behind his now parted lips.
"Teach me how to play."
"What?"
"You heard me, teach me how to play like you do."
Giggling at his cocky expression, you crossed your arms, not backing down from his intense stare.
"Look, I know you call yourself a billionaire genius whatever-"
"Genius Billionaire Playboy Philanthropist."
"-Whatever." You dismissed his interruption, waving a hand in the air. "But you've got another thing coming if you think you can just learn to play like that off the bat. It takes a lot of time and practice. And hard work, which I know you're not used to.."
At this, Tony scoffed, finally stepping back to move towards the bar, discarding his glass on the marble counter.
"Well then we'll just have to rename these 'piano-lessons' then."
You couldn't believe what you were hearing, as Tony returned to his original seating position, rolling the sleeves of his Black Sabbath shirt up before looking up at you expectantly. Chuckling to yourself, you sat next to him, realising once again, it was probably better to just give in to his request rather than question him any further on why Iron Man wanted to learn how to play the grand piano. Nudging his foot in the same fashion he did to yours earlier, you moved across, placing his hands across the required keys.
His palms and the pads of his fingers were calloused, presumably from building god-knows-what all day in the lab, but the backs of his hands were warm and surprisingly soft, a light dusting of dark hair on his knuckles.
What was equally as shocking was the fact he didn't complain while you manoeuvred his digits into position, instead taking in your every word as you explained the pedals, the minor keys, and the importance of utilising all of his fingers while playing instead of talking over you, which is what he did usually when somebody was explaining something to him.
In the end, or about twenty minutes, (and a lot of cursing and frustration on Tony's part), he managed to churn out the opening three lines to Bluestone Alley, to which he laughed when you shook his shoulder in excitement.
"That wasn't bad for a first time playing. You know you're actually pretty good." You complimented, leaning forwards to tidy up the music sheets stood in front of you on the metal stand.
"I hate to admit it, but it's probably because I have a hot teacher, so I actually want to pay attention.." He smiled, and you turned to face him, taken aback at the closeness of his face to your own. A slight blush dusting your cheeks at his rare compliment, you attempted to laugh it off.
"Praise from you? I thought I'd never live to see the day.." You chuckled nervously, glancing down to avoid looking anyway but the intense chocolate orbs that were now focused on your face.
You weren't sure where the sudden bout of nervousness had stemmed from. Sure, Tony had always been charming, and, dare you admit it, extremely attractive, but the flirty jokes the two of you always threw around were always just that: jokes. But now, in the early hours of the morning where it was just the two of you sitting by the piano, it seemed much more intimate.
Chancing a glance up at Tony's face, you drew back slightly as his warm palm moved upwards to tuck a star lock of hair behind your ear, fingers curling round the shell until his palm came to rest at the side of your cheek, his coffee-coloured eyes now fixed on your own E/C ones.
"Tony.." You sighed, as you couldn't help your eyes flutter shut at the soft contact.
"Y/N.." He murmured, his voice low, before he closed the small gap between the two of you.
His lips were warm and soft, maybe slightly chapped but that didn't matter, as the way the moved against your own was mesmerising. His touch never strayed from your cheek, as you moved both hands round his shoulder to encircle the back of his neck, pulling him deeper into the kiss. It wasn't as rough as you'd imagined it (and yes, you had imagined it), but instead almost sweet, just the languid motion of his mouth melding against yours as he stroked the side of your face tenderly.
When you broke apart, his own forehead rested against yours, panting slightly from the lack of air.
"Did you get me to teach you how to play the piano just so you could kiss me?" You asked after a few moments, finally breaking the silence that hung in the air. At this comment, you heard him chuckle, as you yelped in surprise when he looped his arms around you, pulling you closer so you were now straddling his lap on the chair he was perched on.
"Hm, surprisingly not, but that wouldn't have been a bad approach.." Tony admitted, pressing his lips to yours briefly once again.
"Then why did you want to learn how to play?" You finally asked, hands tracing his broad shoulders before settling on either side of his face, stroking the neat facial hair.
"It reminds me of you, so I wanted to know how to play." He uttered simply, as you pulled back slightly in surprise. He only wanted to learn because you played?
Searching his face for any trace that wasn't the real answer, you shook your head. "H-how long have you..." You trailed off, not knowing how to phrase your sentence.
'Wanted you?" Tony finished helpfully, as you nodded slightly. He shrugged. "Honestly I don't know. I mean sure, I guess you could say I thought you were hot when you first joined, but I don't think it was until I walked in on you playing Billy Joel just because I said I liked him that I knew I didn't want to mess you around, that I wanted something serious.." He admitted, as you thought back to that night.
It was one of the first times the two of you had met in the living area around the piano, probably about three months ago, and you were tapping out the melody to 'So It Goes' as the rain hammered against the glass panes.
Not quite finding the words, you simply leaned forward and met his lips in another kiss, this one faster, more urgent than the other two. His large hands moved to your waist, squeezing it as your hands raked through the hair at the nape of his neck, earning an approving hum from the older man. Breaking apart, you toyed with his dark locks, his eyes never leaving yours.
"Am I still teaching you how to play then, or has your tactic served its purpose?" You asked, raising an eyebrow as he nudged his nose playfully against your own.
"I think I'd still like to learn, thank you very much.." He replied sarcastically, as you giggled, fidgeting around in his lap as he groaned at the roll of your hips against his own, fingers flexing at your sides.
"You'll have to pay me extra then.." You leant across to whisper in his ear, as you dragged his lobe between your teeth. Tony pressed a quick open mouth kiss to the base of your throat as you pulled away, returning your whisper with a sultry murmur of his own;
"I think I've got a better method of payment."