Battle Strategies | Tony Stark [1]

8

Athena smiled gently at herself in the full-length mirror in the bedroom she had been occupying since Tony had offered her the room. Her blonde hair was pulled back into an elegant up-do, and her body was clad in golden dress which glistened with every move she made. Athena hadn't dressed up in so long, and never would she admit it to Aphrodite, but she had missed it. She had strayed away from the classic red lip, and instead had opted for an orange lip. In the living room, she could hear Tony beginning to pace and decided that was her cue to make her way down to him, she had him waiting long enough now. Truthfully, she could have been finished before him. All it really took was the wave of her hand, and before you know it, hair is done, tan is done, dress is done, and nails are done. But that would be suspicious, and really, Athena didn't want to explain her complicated family life to Tony.

At the sound of heels clicking down the stairs, Tony's head snapped up to scold his assistant for taking so long, but felt the words lodging uncomfortably in his throat as she descended down the stairs elegantly. It was an unfamiliar feeling that erupted in his stomach as his assistant made her way over to him, a sly smirk creeping into her lips as she noticed his shell-shocked reaction. His eyes danced over the golden sequined dress, admiring the way it caught the light in all the right places, and also the way it hugged her toned body in all the right places too. He cleared his throat, suddenly aware that he had been in fact staring.

Athena felt oddly flustered at how long Tony had stared at her, but pushed it back as let the smirk fully grace her lips. "Shall we, Mr. Stark?"

Tony snapped out of whatever stupor he had previously been in, and let the infamous Stark smirk come out. "Ready to be my date, tonight?"

--

A laugh left Athena's mouth as Tony recklessly drove them to the benefit, swerving in, out and around other cars as he did so. In record time, Tony pulled up in front of the Disney Concert Hall. As Tony opened his door, a valet approached him quickly, recognizing the wealth oozing from it. Athena was pleasantly surprised when Tony opened the door for her, not expecting this from previous experiences with him. Placing her seemingly dainty hand into his rougher one, he helped her from the expensive car. Without a second thought, he wrapped an arm around her waist, and the two made their first public appearance together since his controversial press conference.

As soon as their feet touched the red carpet that was leading into the concert hall, screams erupted from the crowd. Athena smirked as she felt herself growing stronger and stronger from the crowd unknowingly worshiping her as they screamed and cheered. The two posed together for the cameras, both enjoying the attention that both craved. Tony's arm never left Athena's waist, in fact, his grip only tightened as they stood together longer as they continued posing for the cameras. Taking Tony's hand into her own, again smirking as the screams increased along with her strength, she dragged him over to the older man who she was slowly coming to despise.

"Hey, Tony, remember me?" A woman's voice suddenly asked, but neither stopped walking as Tony replied.

"Sure don't." Tony patted a man on the back as they walked past. "You look great, Hef."

"We're going to have a great quarter." Obadiah was saying, unaware of the two party crashers approaching him from behind.

"What's the world coming to when a guy's got to crash his own party?" Tony asked rhetorically, announcing his presence.

Obadiah turned around and tried to keep the frown from his face, as he looked at Tony and then Athena, and then ultimately at their intertwined hands. "Look at you. Hey, what a surprise."

"I'll see you inside." Tony said, not caring if he did or not. Pulling Athena along with him, Tony wrapped his arm around her waist again but didn't get far as Obadiah held him back.