"Tony," Laynie whispered urgently, leaning over to his shoulder. "Tony!" she whined.
Tony pushed her back to sitting up, continuing to pretend to listen to the guest speaker. "What?"
Laynie tugged at the top of her sleeveless silk gown. "My boobs are out of control."
Tony broke focus on the speaker, squinting down at her. "We could be on live television right now, stop pulling at your dress."
"But my boooobs!"
Tony sighed, straightening his tie. "You chose the dress."
"You let me buy the dress without trying it on!"
He nudged her with his elbow. "You wanted to come to the fundraiser."
Laynie huffed, crossing her arms over her chest.
"Laynie, you've got to flaunt what you got." Carter said, from the other side of Tony, as she eyed a cute boy on the row across from them.
Tony's eyes widened. "You two will not be flaunting anything."
Carter stuck out her tongue.
Laynie rolled her eyes. "Carter, you have problems."
She shrugged. "Tell me something I don't know."
Laynie tugged at her dress one last time, crossing her eyes to look down at her chest. "Code boob has been neutralized."
Tony had to try very, very hard not to get up and leave the lecture. Between the boobs, and all the things wrong with this speaker's theory, the night was turning sour for him.
When the lecture was finally over, the three of them got up to talk to the lecturer.
"Mr. Parks," Tony said with a friendly smile, soundly shaking Arthur Park's hand.
"Mr. Stark, a pleasure to meet you." He looked down at the girls standing behind him and smiled. "You must be Laynie and Carter. It's nice to meet you lovely young ladies."
Laynie held in a smirk while Carter rolled her eyes.
Arthur had to be at least ten years older than them both, if not more, and not all that attractive either. He had a messy head of pale red hair, the telltale pale face of a scientist, and eyes that couldn't seem to focus on anything for more than a second.
Laynie channeled her inner Pepper and said, "Likewise Mr. Parks. Your lecture was very interesting. I mean, I only understood bits of it, but what didn't sound like rocket science was interesting."
Arthur laughed. "Thank you Miss Stark."
Tony gave her a reassuring nod, as if to say she was doing well.
Carter just smiled. She found it was better if she didn't say much at these kind of events.
"Arthur, I couldn't help but notice there are a few substantial holes in your theories."
Laynie and Carter zoned out, fading into the background, as Arthur and Tony's conversation grew increasingly more difficult to understand.
Laynie ran her hands over the long silk dress she wore. She hadn't ever worn something so fancy, or even remotely so nice. When Tony had heard she wanted to attend the fundraiser with him in Pepper's absence, he had first convinced Bruce to make Carter to go as a learning experience, then rushed them both off to the fanciest mall within an hour of Avenger's Mansion to buy them appropriate dresses for the occasion. With Natasha's help, of course.
Carter had chosen a floor length dress that ruffled around her ankles in a deep blue color. Laynie had just barely talked herself into going for the high waisted gown with just a little bit of a train, in a dark purple. With Tony's white suit and black tie, they made quite a trio as they walked around the large room, welcoming and thanking people that Tony pretended to like.
"I can't wait to get home, I don't understand what anybody's talking about," Carter said with a slight frown.
Laynie patted her friend's arm. "We'll be going home soon. Sorry you had to go, I know you don't like stuff like this."
Carter shrugged. "At least you're here too. It would've been ten times worse if you hadn't."
She nodded. "I am a pretty good friend."
Carter rolled her eyes. "I sure hope Tony will be done soon."
Tony suddenly was behind them both, putting a hand on each of their shoulders. "Speak of the devil, right? Are you girls ready to brave the press?"
Laynie looked up. "What?"
"The press. Cameras and reporters waiting outside for us to leave."
"I thought they did that already when we came in," Carter grumbled.
"It'll be worse leaving," he said grimly. "Keep your boobs in place, head held high, and smile."
The girls watched Tony plaster his trademark smirk on his face as they walked out of the fundraiser building. They were assaulted with microphones and camera flashes, but Happy and a few other security guards showed up and formed enough of a barrier that pictures could be taken, but nobody would be hurt.
Eventually, they pushed through the crowds and piled into the limo.
"Wow," Laynie muttered, brushing her short bangs off her forehead. "That was insane."
Tony nodded. "It gets dangerous sometimes. You two did good."
Both girls beamed.
"Did either of you get weird vibes from Parks?" Tony asked slowly.
Laynie shrugged. "Not really, he seemed like a stereotypical scientist to me. Pale, socially awkward."
"Don't ask me. I think all of you scientist types are a little weird," Carter answered with a slight grin.
Tony poked her in the side. "I'm telling your father, young lady."
Carter giggled in response.
"Why do you ask? Did you get weird vibes from him?" Laynie asked her dad.
"Eh, he just seemed a little odd is all."
"Honestly, I hardly think anyone in this car has any room to talk about being odd." Carter pointed out.
Tony shook his head. "We have to do something about your inner Clint. Anyway, I just want to warn you I invited Arthur to come to the lab on Saturday. I want you to avoid him if you can. Sometimes there's more than weird to these guys."
"Oh yes, let's bring the man we suspect to be a little on the crazy side into the house. Great idea."
Tony poked his daughter. "It'll be fine. You live with the earth's mightiest heroes, remember?"
Author's Notes:
Lartovio: FAMOUS LAST WORDS, TONY. FAMOUS LAST WORDS. Anyway! Here's the beginning of the highly anticipated (not really) extra super feelsy (yes definitely feelsy) SEQUEL TO LIVING WITH THE AVENGERS. I hope you guys enjoy reading it as much as we've enjoyed writing it!
Dawn: WE'RE BACK. So, since so many of you liked the first arc, we decided a second one was required. I really hope you like it! Enjoy! 3