"Dumm-E, you are of no benefit at all. Move down to the toe, I got this,"
"Maybe if you were nice to Dumm-E, he would in turn be nice to you," Audelia called over her shoulder, sending her best friend a look from across the lab before her eyes trailed back to the holographic before her on the table.
"I created him, I'm his father. He better be nice to me,"
Using the drawing pen, Deli moved her hand through the air as she moved certain parts back and forth on the diagram, rearranging them into the form of the arm piece of the suit. Clicking the last bolt into place, Deli stood up and moved her hand inside of the hologram, allowing it to envelop her arm. She smiled, lifting it into the air as she took a look at the piece she had created.
"I honestly don't know where you would be without me,"
Tony looked up from the boot of his suit, a grin stretching across his face as he watched Deli move her arm around in the air, the hologram bending with her just as the suit eventually would. She looked up at Tony, raising an eyebrow as she wore a smirk on her lips.
"Truth be told, probably dead in a ditch somewhere after one of those raging Pi Beta Phi parties," Tony grabbed the rag on the table, wiping the grease off of his hands as Dumm-E finished the boot off, the back of it opening to make room for the foot. "It looks good."
"Imagine how good it's going to look when we put it all together," Deli told her friend with a smile, waving her hand through the air as the hologram disappeared. She stood in front of his desk, looking down at the boot in awe. "I can't believe we might actually pull this off."
"We're the smartest people on earth, of course we're pulling this off,"
Taking a seat on the other-side of the table, Tony passed her one of the coffee mugs he had made for her as he took a sip of his own, the pair taking a moment to take a break from the suit they had spent night after night working on.
"We should probably run the first flight test soon," Deli told him, taking a sip of her coffee. "I promised Nathan I'd meet him downtown for dinner tonight."
"Nathan Porter, world renowned doctor," Tony mocked, rolling his eyes as he pointed at Audelia. "Honestly, he looks exactly like that dude on The Office-"
"What really is your problem with Nate?"
"I've told you, he doesn't deserve you," Tony rose from his seat, shrugging his shoulders as he walked toward the coffee machine right across the lab. "Such a goody-two-shoes, loves following the rules. It's disgusting."
"But I'm happy, isn't that all that should matter? You know I love him-"
"But are you in love with him?"
The statement drew a genuine laugh out of Audelia, though Tony only leaned against the counter with the coffee machine with a raised eyebrow.
"Is Anthony Stark, the king of one-night-stands, really trying to give me advice about my love life?"
"You didn't answer the question,"
Staring into Tony's brown eyes as he sat across from her once again was what caught Deli's answer in her throat. She loved Nathan, more than anything. Hell, she wouldn't marry him if she didn't. But for some reason, staring at her best friend like this, she couldn't force the words out.
Clearing her throat, Audelia tore her eyes away from Tony as she rose to her feet, though Tony kept his eyes locked on her.
"Let's just run this flight test before I'm late for yet another dinner,"
Stood on the lab floor with the repulsor boots hooked up to his feet, Audelia fastened the straps over Tony's shoulders before stepping back and taking a look at him.
"Alright, you watch the screens and the numbers," Tony told her, shooing her away as he pointed at Dumm-E. "You're on standby for fire safety."
Placing herself behind the screens, Deli looked up at her best friend and gave him a thumbs up.
"Alright, activate hand controls for me,"
"Tony, I don't know about this," Deli called out as she took another look over the schematics. "I feel like the balance is all thrown off. Flight stabilizers on the hands should even out the numbers. Maybe we should push this a week, give us time to-"
"Sweetie, do me a favor and just activate it. I don't need flight stabilizers,"
"If this doesn't kill you, I will for calling me sweetie," she mumbled under her breath.
Activating the hand controls, the suit roared to life as the sound echoed around the lab.
"Alright, start me nice and easy at 10 percent thrust capacity,"
Deli took one last look back at the numbers before sighing, pressing the sequence of keys to activate the flight control before looking back up at Tony.
"Going in three...two...one..."
The jet boots kicked to life, sending Tony flying into the air and straight into the ceiling. His body hit the concrete with a groan before it fell to the floor, Dumm-E spraying him with the fire hose for safe measure.
Deli stood with wide eyes, her hand covering her mouth in shock until she couldn't hold it in any longer, a loud and boisterous laugh escaping her.
Tony groaned, rolling his shoulders as he swatted at Dumm-E, coughing from the fire suppressant. The sound of heels clicking against the floor had him looking up at Deli and her smirk through squinted eyes, his head throbbing from the impact.
"What was that about not needing stabilizers?"
◼ ◼ ◼
I love Audelia. Her and Lottie are very similar in the way that they're both strong and smart. But Deli is different in this way that she is a lot like Tony. She's so headstrong and doesn't take shit, which Lottie didn't either but they handle everything in a different way. Deli almost carried that Stark confidence (or cockiness however you want to look at it) with her.