The Genius, Tony Stark.
Chapter 1
THE GENIUS TONY STARK.
Waking up to " The Rubberband Man" song, Steve reached over for his phone that sounded unusually loud that morning.
As he pressed the stop button on his phone, he knew that it was going to be a long day. A week from now, Tony was going to be on his way to do a live presentation in Afghanistan. If he was going, to be honest with himself, Steve was hesitant on Tonys behalf. Yes, Tony had done those dreaded presentations in the war zone before. However, this one for some reason made Steve worry.
It didn't help that Obadiah had been very persistent that Tony should go. He wanted this to be seen as Tony ushering in a brand new era to Stark Industries.
As Steve got up, he went to get his running clothes from his small walk-in-closet.
If he was going, to be honest with himself, he hated exercising, however for a man at his height and health he needed to stay in shape or just healthy. His doctor told him since he was a premature baby, his health would have to be his top priority.
At the age of 29, about to turn 30, he was a healthy man. Great physical health, besides his asthma, and one fucken fantastic sex life.
Even though he hated one-night stand, what Tony said was true, it truly did the job. For Steve sex was the best way in helping him get rid of any extra pressure that he had on his shoulders and the best part there were no strings attached.
Throughout his run, Steve could not help but ponder over how much his life had changed ever since he moved to Los Angeles.
Life in the City of Angles compared to New York were two drastically different places. Back in New York, he never had the pleasures of running at a leisure pace and not being afraid of being run over or hit by a bicycle.
Once he got back home, he began to prepare for his day.
That included gathering all his notes that he made to Tony's schedule, only to remember that for the entire week except on Friday, since he was going to Las Vegas, he was going to work at Stark Mansion.
For Steve, this was great, except for that fact that when Tony planned home working days, he never wanted to do paperwork. He was always found downstairs in his garage-cum-workshop, but it was also in the very same environment that Steve got to see that ‘real' Tony Stark.
It was those days that he got to see the genius, Tony Stark and not the arrogant, obnoxious and kind of an asshole, Tony that always had a female on his arm.
As Steve got into his car and embarked on his journey to the mansion, he made a quick pit-stop at the first Starbucks he saw when he arrived in Malibu.
He ordered one espresso shot, one grande dark roast and a blueberry oatmeal muffin for Tony and just a grande iced coffee with almond milk for himself since he already had a small breakfast earlier.
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Walking into the mansion, Steve greeted J.A.R.V.I.S, not even bothering to ask or look for Tony since he knew that the man was probably in the most obvious place ever, his workshop.
He sat on the couch in front of the glass table and placed the Starbucks package on it, avoiding the small tablet device that was built into the table that when needed showed a holographic keyboard, and began to remove the contents from the Starbucks package to be placed on the table and reached for his messenger bag to get the files that he needed to complete for the day and put them on the couch next to him.
He got up and made his way to the staircase that sat next to the unnecessary waterfall. He started to make his way downstairs but turned around at the last second to run over to the table where the coffee's sat perfectly waiting to be drunk. He grabbed the espresso since he knew that it would be easier to lure Tony into coming upstairs.
Once he got in front of the floor-to-ceiling glass door and windows. He typed in his code while asking J.A.R.V.I.S to either lower the music or just cut it completely. Don't get him wrong, Steve loved classic rock. His father told him that it was a sin not to love the classics and introduced him to Led Zeppelin, Guns N' Roses, The Rolling Stones, Black Sabbath and his personal favourite band - ironically Tony's too- AC/DC.
When Tony set his eyes on Steve, he reached over to get the old, oily cloth to wipe his hands, " That time already?" He voiced, "Weren't you here about 2 or 3 hours ago?"
Steve sighed, "Tony," he began, "Its Monday, the last time I saw you was on Saturday and that was only so that you could sign a document. Speaking of documents," a sadistic grin formed on to Steve's face, "You have a ton of paperwork to sign before your trip on Sunday. So you might want to go grab a shower and meet me in the lounge, " he said as he extending his hand to place the espresso cup on the table nearest to him Steve looked at Tony, " Oh, and before I forget here is a small incentive in the form of a cup of espresso if you hurry up and come upstairs you will find a grande dark roast and muffin."
Steve turned to leave the workshop with a beaming smile when he heard Tony's chuckle.
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"So what's the agenda for Las Vegas?"
Steve heard as he turned his body towards Tony, who was sitting next to him.
"Well," Steve sighed, "you are to leave at 1 pm from the airstrip and arrive there at around 14:05. Then your hotel arrangements are that you will be staying at the Caesars Palace, in you usually suite. Then around 8 pm, the function will begin where it is imperative that you go to it, I am also going to emphasize the ‘imperative', and please, I beg of you, please do not get married to another stripper."
Tony had the audacity to give a loud gasp, "That happened once, it was annulled and I thought we were to never bring up the past."
Steve gave a short bark of a laugh, " How can I? You past is the easiest thing to use as a way to get my point across. By the way, you might want to stop trying to change the subject at hand, life can always bring more paperwork for you to do." With that Steve got up to get a bottle of water from the kitchen and could not help the small grin forming on his face when he heard the overly dramatic groan erupt from Tony.
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Nearing the end of their day, to say that Steve looked like shit was an understatement. Steve was desperate for sleep and he knew that if he didn't go home right now, he would either land in an accident or worse.
"You know that if you're tired you can stay here right? Like this whole week, we will be working from here so you might as well just stay here and then on Friday you can go back home."
Said Tony as he interrupted Steves thoughts.
Not even bothering to argue with Tony, he just nodded his head as his eyes were slowly closing. He felt Tony's arms picking him up into the bridal carrying position. Not even a minute later, his body was engulfed into the clouds that Tony called his guest bed.
When he work up the next day, the first thing Steve took note of was that he wasn't at his apartment. That was until he saw the view of the ocean. The first thing he did was ask J.A.R.V.I.S to inform him whether Tony either ate or slept. Honestly, it would be a miracle if he did one.
He made his way downstairs to the main level of the mansion, after his shower, and began to reach for his keys on the counter that stood by the door and asked J.A.R.V.I.S to tell Tony that he was just stepping out to grab a few things from his apartment.
As he got into his Audi A5, with his phone connected to the car, he received a call from his cousin and best friend, Bucky, asking what time they would meet up on Sunday, since it was his birthday and he was given the Monday off as Tony would be in Afghanistan. He would return to work on Tuesday when he would arrive with Happy to welcome Tony back home.
" Fine, if you insist. However, I can't get too drunk and no one-night stands." He said with a sigh, " even though I'll be at home on Monday, I still have to schedule Mr Starks meetings for the forthcoming week. And I would prefer to do it without a raging hangover."
Bucky laughed, " No one-night stands huh? Okay, we'll see." he replied sarcastically.
Rolling his eyes Steve heard the beep that told him that he has another call on the line. Saying his goodbyes to Bucky, he disconnected the call and answered the second call.
Grabbing his essentials, that included clothes for the week, toiletries and his beloved running wear, he set his alarm and made his way back to Malibu.
Checking the time on the dashboard, Steve saw that it was past lunchtime. On route, he saw a Pizza Hut, and if there was one thing he knew, it was that after cheeseburgers Tony loved a meaty, cheesy, extra-large pizza.
When he parked his car in the driveway of the mansion, he took his small duffle bag and the pizza box (not before stealing a slice of the pizza) and he made his way into the house.
Surprisingly, Tony sat in the lounge. A sight that was not often seen.
Steve saw how his coffee-coloured eyes lit up at the sight of the box. Steve dropped his bag near the waterfall and made his way to the kitchen, another place that hardly ever saw its owner, with Tony hot on his heels.