( WARM AND FUZZY )
AS MUCH AS CHERRY WANTED TO SPEND ALL OF HER WAKING TIME WITH TONY IN WHATEVER WAY SHE COULD, SHE STILL HAD A JOB. Obadiah was generally a busy man and it seemed that he was keeping Cherry on a very short, business leash. She didn't have time to eat her own lunch at her desk some days, let alone get into the car Tony sent with Happy to spend lunch with him. She was exhausted when she got home and usually made herself dinner and cuddled with Scotty on the couch while watching sitcom reruns.
However, she fell asleep on the phone with Tony most nights. The man was clingy, Cherry found out after not seeing him for a week. He deeply cared for the people who he trusted and Cherry was glad to be among the few that he did.
Though, the background on Tony's side was getting louder and louder each sleepy phone call, the man obviously distracted as he chattered off to Cherry, JARVIS, and his robot sons he claimed to hate but Cherry knew he adored.
So, when she had the chance to swing by Tony's place on her day off, she took it. The world hadn't seen much of the man as of late, Cherry knowing what the tabloids and other sources didn't -- he had basically locked himself in his workshop and was doing something there. Cherry didn't know what exactly, but she could tell he was really into it with how much he had been rattling around on their phone calls.
She took a cab. Looked at Scotty in his deep blue eyes and packed the Ragdoll cat into a kennel and knew he would be slightly angry about being moved, but happy when he got to nuzzled against Tony's leg while Cherry made them actual food in the kitchen, not sure what Tony had been ingesting during the time apart. The cat meowed once, his front leg tucked underneath him, before he settled in for the short car ride. Cherry had a moment to be sad about his missing left appendage, but she knew he was happy and healthy, so she didn't dwell on the feelings she had gotten over long ago.
Once she had arrived at the mansion, let in by JARVIS, and Scotty was happily curling up on the back of the huge couch in the living room, the perfect spot to nap in the sun at eleven-ish in the morning, Cherry went to the kitchen. She puttered around for a bit, searching, before she found some crackers, grabbed some expensive cheese, cut up whatever ring of meat was in the fridge, and laid it all as aesthetically as she could on a tray JARVIS had directed her to. Then she made her way down the stairs behind the cool waterfall thing, going down to the workshop.
JARVIS didn't even ask Tony for permission, just let her in, and Cherry had to balance the tray on her hip to open the door. Tony was at the end of the garage, with Butterfingers set on fire extinguisher mode, U with a camera attached to him. Cherry set the tray of food down on available surface space and stepped forward, wondering what Tony was doing.
She leaned back against one of the tables, arms over her chest, and waved at the camera and U. The bot didn't acknowledge her, as it was clearly in the middle of recording, but she knew she was on camera. Cherry watched Tony wiggle his hips and move his legs, holding some sort of device in his hands. Her eyes were drawn to his arms and she felt herself appreciating the look of him in a tank-top, taking in the curve of his back and his ass. Which she was now remembering the full, naked glory of from that one time he showed up drunk at her apartment. To take her thoughts off of said naked body, her thighs squeezing together, she looked at the tech that Tony seemed to be... testing? That's when she noticed the boots. They almost reminded her of high tech ski boots, the tech Tony had built in them shown to the outside world. The confusion ran deep in her as she watched him.
"We're gonna start off nice and easy," Tony announced. "We're gonna see if 10% thrust capacity achieves lift." Cherry furrowed her eyebrows, straightening up. Thrust capacity? What was Tony working on? "And three, two, one."
Right after he finished counting, Tony flipped backward in a spark of light, hitting the part of his roof that shot up to make the garage high-roofed. Cherry gasped, taking a step forward to where Tony was groaning where he landed on the cement floor. That's when Butterfingers turned on his fire extinguisher and doused Tony, despite the man not being on fire.
"Butterfingers!" Cherry scolded as she moved forward, finding Tony on his back, looking pained, white foam from the extinguisher coating his body. The bot made a noise similar to disappointment and deactivated, as Tony blinked at Cherry and Cherry stared at Tony.
"How- uh- how long were you there?" Tony asked, a little pain in his voice. Cherry pursed her lips on the laugh she was holding back thinking about Tony hitting the roof.
"10% thrust capacity was a little too much, hey?" Cherry told him innocently. The man groaned again, this time not from pain, and closed his eyes. Cherry's pretty sure he mumbled leave me here to die, please but ignored it as she gently prodded the boot he was wearing with the toe of her sneaker. "You know, if you wanted me to call you Fly Boy, you should have just said. What are these for, anyway?" Tony opened his mouth, but Cherry rose her hand to stop him, saying, "I brought food down, you go shower and clean up, and you'll tell me while we eat."
Tony nodded, pushed himself up, then Cherry watched in awe as Tony did something and the boots opened up robotically, one of the pieces inside spinning as it opened in half. Tony looked proud of her awe, before he was getting up in just some compression socks and giving her a careful kiss on the cheek as to not spread his mess. He paused for a second after, "If I get this on you, can we shower together?"
Cherry rolled her eyes and laughed, "Not a chance, Fly Boy."
Tony made a show of his disappointment, sighing loudly and pouting. Cherry shoved him towards the bathroom he had down there, Tony smirking over his shoulder as he wiggled his hips in a strut towards it. She rolled her eyes at the show, but then made her way back over to where she had set the food, starting to pick at it. She found herself taking another look at the lab, looking at the art Pepper had probably hung up, and all the other cools things that she recognized from the last time she was in the room and some new ones.
Tony came out of the bathroom ten minutes later, his hair wet, wearing a pair of sweatpants and a new tank top. Cherry picked up her tray when Tony had motioned for her to come to him. He sat down at a desk, pulled a chair out and was quick to grab another one, putting it beside the first one with a flourish that had Cherry shaking her head with a fond smile on her lips.
They made some small talk while they started to munch, the tray placed carefully on the desk as to not disrupt anything Tony had on it first. Cherry asked Tony if he was okay, making a show as to look Tony in his face instead of looking at the light glowing through his shirt. Tony answered, asked how her week has been since the two of them haven't been able to see each other. Cherry let herself complain about work and Obadiah had somehow decided that despite the fact that she was a receptionist, she was going to be like his personal assistant, leaving Renee to cover the desk while Cherry was running around for the older man.
Tony got serious when Cherry brought up the boots. She listened carefully as he spoke about the end of his time in the cave, with another man whom he grew close with. It took him awhile to recount some of the events in scarce detail, a haunted look on his face and his blue eyes dimming. Cherry reached out for him, let him take her hand and felt the crushing grip Tony had on her fingers. He took a breath and looked at her with a silent thank you before continuing. Cherry knew he was skipping over some of the more gruesome bits, to save her or him from thinking about she didn't know, but she listened with all the attention and support she could give.
"-I built the suit in the dark, with a man I owe everything to, and I had my eyes opened. I need to do this, I need to find all the caches of Stark weapons that have been double-dealed. I need to make Yinsen's death peaceful with the knowledge that his village, and every other one war torn, is safe. I have to build this suit, Cherry. I have to."
Cherry, who had been staring at him, her thumb rubbing along his knuckles, felt herself nodding. She looks down at there hands, intertwines their fingers and gives him a squeeze. "I know you do, Tony. But do me a small favour?"
"Anything," Tony answered, making Cherry look back up to him. He had a look of affection on his face that almost stole all the breath Cherry's lungs. She knows she's in love with him, but something about him right now, in the small space of his desk, she feels her heart blossom with it even more. Tony, this death defying angel, had strode in with the key to her heart's gate and planted the Garden of Eden, his blue eyes the water it needs to stay alive and his hands tending to it with ever gentle touch.
"Come back to me alive, please," she whispered it, feeling like it was something a lot more than just a promise for survival. And, in her hearts of hearts, she knew exactly what she was doing. It was hard for her not to, because even if she was okay with giving Tony the time he needs, she still needs to know. She needs the assurance he'll tend to that garden he planted in her.
"Even if it's the last thing I do," Tony promised, voice low and Cherry felt the squeeze of his fingers around hers. They stared at each other, Cherry's heart blooming now, filled with affection and love for this man. This beautiful, passionate, genius of a man.
Tony started to move his head forward, slowly, a clear question in the way his eyebrows furrowed. Cherry answered it by lifting her free hand and resting it on the back of Tony's neck, her fingers carding through the short hairs there, before Tony leaned in the rest of the way and kissed her. It was a tender kiss, nothing like the short peck they shared when Tony explained the reactor in his chest or the one they had shared after Tony's coming back press conference.
It was sweet and slow and it wasn't leading to anything, just the two of them wanting to be close to each other. Cherry found herself getting closer, climbing from her chair onto Tony's lap without breaking the kiss and wrapping her arms around his shoulders. When oxygen was being a little too deprived, they broke the kiss and Cherry found herself resting her head on Tony's shoulder as the man hugged her close to him. The reactor dug slightly into her skin where it protruding a little out of Tony's chest, but not enough for Cherry to push the discomfort out of her mind. It was a part of Tony and Cherry couldn't bring herself to not love it.
Scottie chose this moment to meow from the door of the lab. The two of them glanced over, spotting Scottie, staring at them through the glass of the door. However, before Tony could speak up to tell JARVIS to let the cat in, a heeled foot stepped down the stairs, a Pepper quickly appearing. She opened the door, let Scottie in, who immediately booked it to Tony and Cherry, while Pepper paused in her steps when she saw the position the two of them were in.
"Housekeeping doesn't come down here, so you're going to have to clean up the sweat and other fluids off of the desk, cause I'm not," Pepper said matter-of-factly and Tony let his head fall into Cherry's chest as the blonde laughed above him.
"What's up, Pepper?" Cherry asked, moving to get off of Tony. However, the man seemed stubborn about her staying in his lap and pulled her back. She sighed, but let her hands come up to card through his hair affectionately.
"Tony has some paperwork to sign that are very important for Stark Industries, you have an invitation to another Gala that I was going to decline considering everything that's been happening, and you need to sign off on something to do with the military contract that I wanted Jim to come and read with you to explain some of the more military jargon. I know you understand it, but I just want to make sure you know what you're signing," Pepper said, clearly checking off a mental checklist.
"And you want me to see Rhodey," Tony guessed, his voice muffled from where his head was still pushed into Cherry's chest.
Pepper smiled, winking at Cherry, "And I want you to see Jim."
"I would like to see Jim too," Cherry stated, looking back down at Tony, who she felt and heard sigh against her shirt.
"JARVIS, call Rhodey and see what he's up to, please," Tony called out after raising his head, getting an immediate response from the A.I. Cherry asks Pepper how her day is going as they wait, getting a slight smile and an easy answer of busy but good. Cherry can see a look on Pepper's face and wants to ask about it - about Happy, most likely - and realizes her and Pepper haven't spent just a girls day together. She mentions it to Pepper, who says she'll have to check on her schedule but she's work it in either way.
That's when JARVIS announces that Rhodes would be open sometime after five pm and would be over promptly. Pepper nods, turns on her heel, and announces that she'd be back with face masks and other things for them to have a relaxing night while watching a movie, tells JARVIS to relay that to Jim.
Scottie, who had been sort patiently waiting for Tony to notice him, takes that moment to jump up in the space between Tony and Cherry and get comfortable before starting to knead Tony's chest and purr. Tony stares at the cat for a minute, before one of the hands he has been using to hold Cherry moves to pet him. There's something soft in the way he pets the three-legged cat and Cherry stays put, watching, feeling warm all over.
"Move in with me," Tony says, suddenly, looking up at Cherry's surprised face.
"Tony-"
"Please." There was something in the way he said the word. Cherry could see it in his oceanic eyes and the lines in his face, the almost desperate hook to the word. It would make him feel better if she was with him. His life as he knew it had been ripped out like a rug underneath him and the only constants had been his friends, Jim, Happy, Pepper, and her.
So, Cherry felt herself nodding, watching Tony's face and shoulders relax from where they had been tensed, waiting for her answer. He calls to JARVIS, tells him to get a car ready and also tell Pepper to get some movers hired.
Cherry and him spend the rest of the time till the movie night packing up Cherry's things with the help of Pepper (who had complained under her breath that she had so much work to do but also how stupid the two of them are for being such impulsive idiots). She doesn't have as many boxes as she thinks she does and Tony says something about taking care of her lease on her apartment, which Cherry vehemently tries to talk him out of but Tony is a stubborn ass and has already done it before she can convince him not to.
And that's how she finds herself, watching Disney's Robin Hood with a turmeric face mask drying on her face, Pepper painting her toe nails a deep red, Scottie curled up on Tony's lap behind her where she leaned against him, Jim making a comment on how the colour suited Cherry. Her stuff was in piles of boxes around the house, Scotties stuff priority to get the cat set up. Cherry had been a little worried that cat would be angry about the move, but he seemed content to be curled up on Tony, his eyes closed as he purred loudly below Robin Hood and Little John robbing the carriage.
Happy comes in half way through the movie and complains about getting there late, so they half to restart and Cherry watches with a fuzzy feeling in her chest as Jim and Pepper slather the saved face mask over Happy's face, getting a little too much in the whiskers he needed to shave, and melts a little more into Tony's side.
And, Cherry thinks it's the happiest she's ever been.
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i-
i don't have a good excuse. sorry for not updating for more than a year. school's an excuse, cause i have been busy with it, but it's a shitty excuse. please enjoy this. and i am severely sorry for not focusing on this fic, because i do love cherry and her relationships with everyone.
i changed tony's eye colour to blue because i like thinking about comic tony's look yktv
thank you for the continued support to this fic. fingers crossed it doesn't take me another year to update lmao.
i love you allllllll
(finding a gif was the fucking worst omg so many to choose from D: )