Disclaimer: Tony Stark is not mine, Eloise Bell belongs to me. English is not my native language - I'm a French girl - so please forgive the mistakes, if you find some. The following little story is a sequel to another one-shot I published some days ago about those two characters, called One-Night Stand. However, the two stories can be read independentely.
That said, if you want to read the previous one-shot, I won't mind... ;) Please let me know what you think about it!
The house was silent. No lights inside contrary to the rest of all the houses and places of Miami. She rang the bell anyway. She was not sure anybody was inside. She was not sure if she would be received, either.
Surprisingly, a voice answered in the loudspeaker.
"Eloise Bell?"
"I'm afraid it's me."
A click piped up. The door opened and, as she entered the house, the hall and the living room lit up.
"So, JARVIS, Mr Stark created a special code for me?"
"He did, miss. Voice and camera recognition."
"I see. How many people are concerned by such a thing?"
"Only but a few, miss Bell. I can't name them."
"Sure."
"Mr Stark isn't here but he'll be back soon. He's actually out with the Iron Man suit. You should wait for him on the roof."
"I will. Thank you. You're far, far too much intelligent, JARVIS. It's a bit frightening. Or not?"
A short moment later, the young woman was on the roof of the Stark villa. On one side, the sea. On the other, the city. She smiled and recognized the need of Tony Stark to have everything at one place. The sea, the city, the villa, high technology, paintings. She understood it because she had exactly the same needs. But the lack of money made the difference: she wasn't a billionaire.
"Unfortunately.", she sighed with a false melodramatic tone.
She didn't wait long. A moment later Tony Stark - or shall we say Iron Man - was back. By an ingenious mechanism his armor disappeared into the ground as soon as his feet touched the floor and then he was. Tony Stark, newly back from some nocturnal flight.
"What are you doing here?"
"I don't know."
And that was the truth: she absolutely didn't know why she was there, on the roof of Stark's villa, waiting for him.
"JARVIS let me in."
"Of course he did. I programed him."
She noted they were both dressed in black tonight. Totally in black. Which was a charming aesthetic coincidence. Except the blue heart of Tony that was shining. She held a smile. Too much sensitive in front of artistic details, that was her damn curse.
"Anyway, you're here so I guess you will stay a few minutes before leaving God-knows-where again.", he said, passing her and heading towards the side of the roof which faced the city.
He knew her tastes too well. And they met like, what, once before?
"I think I can, yes.", she said with a smirk.
She followed him and, putting her hands on the parapet, she silently watched the city. Briefly. She didn't like silence.
"So, you have the ocean and the city, which view do you prefer?", Eloise asked.
"Good question to fill an unpleasant silence. But if that point interests you, and I doubt it does, in the morning my bedroom's window shows me the vast and infinite ocean. As you know. Is that poetic enough?"
"I don't think you take the time to watch sunrise when you wake up. You just wake up and go to work, the mind full of about... let's say, ten ideas in the morning."
"Twelve."
"Fair enough."
"What are you doing here?"
"I told you. I don't know. I just want to kill you I suppose. That's why you created this code, because you wanted me to come back."
"I admit I wish you had sweeter ideas in mind than the one that consists in killing me. Other people already have that serious preoccupation."
She turned and faced him seriously for the first time since the beginning of their conversation.
"Why so serious?" he asked.
He frowned and leaned towards her, watching her like she was a little girl.
"Don't joke. You wanted to know why I'm here. I guess it's just for the paintings and your laboratory. And your conversation. My mind is empty so I guess I needed... an intellectual thrill."
"Intellectual? How hurtful. That's not my only skill, you know, Black Dahlia."
She realized that he was almost – almost – holding her in his arms and that she had her hand on his shoulder. That was a really, really bad thing. He leaned towards her face, and this time that was not for a joke.
"Oh no, don't kiss me. Don't fucking kiss me, Tony Stark."
But he kissed her. And no one, ever, kissed her like that. He was inhuman. That was the second time this happened – after, well... a certain night they had – and it was still indescribable. Some people would kill to be kissed like that, she briefly thought before passing her arms around his neck and kissing him back. He had her. What an evil trap. His arms held her oh so tight, dammit, and when the kiss ended she was unable to leave.
"Is it just an intellectual thrill?", he asked. "Or shall we hope for something less platonic? Greeks had their moments of..."
"I swear I will kill you one day. With my own hands."
As much as she hated Tony Stark, Eloise Bell knew that there was nowhere else in the world she'd rather be. Unfortunately.
The end...?