Marvels Best ↯ Tom Holland

40 ↴ IRL

"Briar Cohen, is that you?"

Briar recognised the voice instantly, a wide smile splitting her lips as she spun around and came face-to-face with Robert Downey Junior. He was dressed in a simple blazer and slacks, and Briar couldn't tell if he had just filmed a scene as Tony Stark or if he had just dressed that way.

"Robert!" Briar exclaimed just as the older man engulfed her in a warm hug. It had been years since Briar had worked for the man, and the pair had missed each other dearly. Of course, they had seen each other around whilst filming for Avengers: Age of Ultron and Captain America: Civil War, but Briar had been working for other stars then and their encounters had been brief.

"How has my favourite assistant been?" Robert asked as he pulled back, holding Briar at arms length and his eyes searching the woman's face.

Briar smiled widely. "I've been good. Busy, but what can you expect? I do miss you, though. How are you?"

Robert laughed lightly. "I miss you, too, darling. My assistant is a noob compared to you, but don't tell anyone I said that. I've been great. I'm glad you're working for Tom; I guess the executives at Marvel listened to me."

Briar raised an eyebrow. "What did you do?"

Robert slung an arm around Briar's shoulders and began guiding her through the set. "I know how amazing you are at your job, Bri, so I had a word with the execs at Marvel and said it'd be good for both you and Tom to work together. You could show him the ropes of what it's like to be a superhero, and it'd be an experience for you to work with someone closer to your age. We all know you're getting bored of us oldies."

Briar shook her head with a laugh, jabbing her elbow into Robert's ribs lightly. "I would never! But, thank you. That was very thoughtful of you. You're right, too; working with Tom has definitely been different to working with you or the others."

Robert beamed, proud of himself. "Good, but I am a little jealous of the kid. He's got you looking after him. What are you doing right now?"

Briar frowned at Robert's abrupt question. "Nothing, really. I just finished fixing up Tom's schedule and he's shooting at the moment so I have a few hours free."

"Perfect, we're getting something to eat." Robert said, allowing no room for protest as he led Briar off set and towards his car. Briar couldn't help but shake her head at the man with a smile on her face.

When they reached the car, Robert held the door open and let Briar slide in first. She thanked him and the pair began chatting lightly as the car pulled out of the carpark.

"You and Tom are close, yes?" Robert asked, turning to look at Briar with a knowing look in his eye.

Briar shrugged. "Yes, we're good friends. Why?"

"No reason..." Robert trailed off suspiciously. "Just friends?"

"Yes." Briar answered firmly. "Tom and I are just friends. You know about my golden rule."

Robert sighed dramatically, well aware of the rule that Briar followed like it was law. "Yes, sadly I do. I just thought—"

"You thought wrong." Briar cut him off. She shook her head with an amused expression on her face. "You're just like my friend, Olivia, you know that?"

"She sounds amazing, then."