"Ah man, are they at it again?" Tony asked in a whiney tone. Pepper rolled her eyes.
"Tony….leave them alone."
"Yeah, not planning on barging in, if that's what you think. But they could…you know…go to church every once in a while." The scientist mumbled and opened up his newspaper. Pepper giggled.
"Go to church, do you hear yourself? Besides, you brought him here, her apartment is still being sublet, what'd you expect? They're young and in love."
Tony just made some grumbling noises from behind his paper and Pepper giggled again, sighing in exasperation as well.
"Sir, may I point out that.."
Tony threw the newspaper aside and glanced towards the ceiling. "No, you may not!"
"Yes, sir." JARVIS replied and kept his comment to himself. "What's that, JARVIS?" Pepper asked him, curious to what he was going to say.
"Miss Potts, I merely wanted to point out to mister Stark that you all have an appointment at city hall in an hour, to get mister Howard's papers sorted."
Pepper and Tony looked at each other and said "Not it!" But Tony was a second slower, as JARVIS helpfully announced.
"Damn it. Fine, fine, I'll let them know." He grumbled as he got up from his seat.
Since Timothy found himself in Rio's time, they had spent almost every waking hour together and they wanted to get him registered at city hall, so he could find a church to join. That was still a tender point in their relationship. The Monsignor felt great guilt towards the church and his faith for breaking one of the most important vows. That being the vow of chastity. But whenever Rio wanted him, he wasn't able to resist the temptation. Rio hoped that they would move past it soon, there were times that Timothy got angry with her afterwards.
Tony arrived at the door of Rio's room and banged on the door with his fist. "Come on, put some clothes on, you two. We're going to city hall in half an hour! Don't make me come in there! Ugh…" He groaned when he realized how the last sentence must have sounded.
Rio sped up her movements, as she was sitting on top of the Monsignor, riding him towards completion. "Let's speed this up, shall we?" She panted with a grin.
"Stop, stop, this is wrong.." Timothy weakly protested, but moaned when he felt the girl tighten up around his cock. With a strangled moan, he came as well and averted his eyes in shame. Rio got up with a smug look on her face and handed him some tissues to clean himself.
"No need to hide. I was here, I know what happened." She said with a chuckle but it earned her a glare from the man.
"Do not mock me. This is a serious.." But Rio held up her hand, as if she wanted to tell him to stop speaking without using words.
"Just. Stop. You always do this afterwards. Not before, not during. But after. So first you get your kicks and then proclaim me a whore. It's getting old. Get over it."
"I can't just get over it and I do object! I would never call you that, Rio."
Hearing him use her name made her crack a small smile. She loved it. After weeks of 'miss Taylor', it was music to her ears.
"I'm gonna take a quick shower, kay? Get dressed, I'll be right there. Gotta wash the sin off of me…" The girl answered with a cheeky glint in her eyes and ignored to pillow he threw in her direction.
As the warm water of the shower came down, she did turn serious. This kept coming up. And if he was going to join another church, it would only get worse. But there was nothing else that he wanted to do, no matter how hard Rio tried to talk him out of it. On top of that, Rio wanted him to be happy. If the church was the only place where he could be happy, then she couldn't object.
When she returned, she found Timothy in some of his new clothes. A pair of black jeans and a white blouse. Once again it struck her how gorgeous he was. She and Pepper took him shopping for new clothes, since all he had was the priest clothing he was wearing. Rio loved it on him, but it wasn't that suitable for a night out or any casual event. At first the man protested heavily, that the two women would spend money on him but they assured him it was fine. Rio was happy to do it and Pepper loved seeing Rio happy for the first time since she came back.
Rio put on a green dress with long sleeves and a gold necklace, black stockings underneath and pair of black ballerina shoes to finish her look. Timothy gave her a lustful glance over and Rio noticed, with a small smirk.
"Hungry, father? We can always call and cancel…" She asked him in a sultry voice, a hint of amusement clearly audible as well. He swallowed hard and shook his head, as he averted his eyes.
"No. Let's get going. Mister Stark is waiting."
Rio sighed and walked past him, grabbing her purse from the chair next to her bed. "Tony, we're ready!" She called out, all the amusement gone from her tone.
"Please, let's not argue.." Timothy started to say but Rio walked out of the room as if he didn't speak up at all. The man raised his eyes to the heavens and prayed for strength before he followed her out to the car. Once they were all seated, Tony started to drive.
"Alright, let's get you registered. Oh and Saturday we're having a party."
"A party?" Rio and Pepper asked at the exact same time, since Tony had a history of making a fool of himself at parties. He rose a brow at hearing their disapproving tone.
"Yeah, a party. A 'welcome-to-our-time' party. For father Howard here. I'll invite the Avengers too. I think most of them are in New York anyway. We just have to send Thor a message and Clint."
Rio noticed that Timothy was staring at Tony in an almost star-struck manner.
"T-The Avengers? As in…Captain America?"
Tony rolled his eyes. "Great. Another member of the Capsicle fanclub."
After a very tiresome process of getting Timothy registered at Tony's address in New York and an application for a passport, they returned to Stark Tower.
Rio quickly set the table so they could have lunch together. As she was smearing a bagel with a thick layer of cream cheese, Timothy cleared his throat.
"Mister Stark, I'd like to check out some churches soon, to choose one to join, may I inquire which church you all go to?"
There was an awkward silence as they all stared at each other a few moments. "We…don't attend. None of us are…believers." Pepper carefully stated and Timothy's mouth turned into a thin line of disapproval. "I see."
"I can take you to check some out, no problem." Rio tried to sound cheerful but bit her lip when she saw the glare he shot her. Tony noticed and rose a brow. "What's the problem, father?" Rio grinned when he saw the smug look Tony had on his face, because now Timothy didn't know what to say.
"I just think it's important to attend church and to hear there is so little faith in this house…"
"Sir, may I point out that…" JARVIS started to say but he stopped talking when Timothy jumped out of his seat with a gasp. He sat back down and shook his head. "I might never get used to that."
"Yes, JARVIS?" Tony asked him, trying not to laugh.
"Forgive me, sir, I merely wanted to point to mister Howard that many people in this time do not attend church and…I also now realize I am not helping. Never mind."
Rio couldn't help but to chuckle a bit as well, but the angry glance that Timothy shot her, made her avert her eyes. To make up for the fact that she was laughing at him, she made him an offer.
"I can take you church-hunting after lunch?"
"So you know where the find them? Surprising." Timothy mumbled and Rio frowned. Tony and Pepper looked at each other and both felt awkward, being caught in an argument that wasn't being spoken about.
"You sure didn't seem to think about church while you were sticking it up my ass." Rio retaliated, done with being ashamed of herself. Timothy gasped and looked at her in horror. Pepper and Tony quietly stood up and left the room.
"I may have sinned, but you led me to it!"
"Sure, tell that to your god, I'm sure he'll make an exception!" Rio shouted at him, tears welling up in her eyes. It was so frustrating. How were his feelings her fault? They were in love, how could that be bad?
With a last huff, Timothy walked out of the room, shaking his head and muttering under his breath. Rio could make out the words 'sinner' and 'lust' but she was too tired to call him out on it. Instead she ran to her room and crawled into bed, trying her bed to suppress her upcoming panic attack. It was very hard to do, since her insides were turning into a knot and it felt like an invisible hand squeezed her throat closed to cut off her air supply. A knock on her door made her look up, but she feared it was Timothy. Her panic attack suddenly sped up tenfold, making her heave and gasp for air as she clutched at her chest in despair. Words were unable to come out of her mouth and JARVIS luckily picked up on it.
"Sir, please enter the room, miss…Rio is having trouble breathing. Tony rushed into the room before JARVIS was done speaking and grabbed Rio's hand, to stop her from clutching at her chest.
"Breath. Breath. I'm here. He'll be back and you'll talk. That will be it. Calm down." He told her, firmly, making sure not to sound annoyed or angered with her. From their time together, Tony learned that someone with anxiety is terrified of annoying or angering their loved ones. If his tone of voice betrayed any trace of either, her anxiety would only increase. On the other hand he needed to let her know that he was in control of the situation and that everything would work out just fine, so she would calm down. Rio nodded bravely, her breathing slowing down as she was able to breath normally again. Her hand relaxed as well and slowly, she came back to earth.
"He's gonna leave me, Tony. I know it. I-I can't compete with fucking Jesus Christ…" She said in a hoarse voice, on the verge of tears. Tony pulled her close for a hug and patted her back.
"Kid, you're a goddess, okay? He'll turn around. You'll find a middle way. Wait and see."
Meanwhile Timothy entered a nearby church and looked around, feeling more at ease already. With a satisfied smile, he walked down the aisle, until he arrived at the altar. He made a cross symbol in the air with his fingers and brought them to his mouth to kiss the tips.
"I didn't expect company this afternoon. Be welcome. May I be of any help to you, my son?" A warm voice sounded. Timothy turned around and saw a man there. Black hair, probably mid-forties but reasonable attractive. His blue eyes were sparkling with anticipation.
"Forgive me, I was just…I am looking for a church to join. I am a Monsignor myself." Timothy explained himself, hoping that the man would not ask too many difficult questions. "My name is Timothy Howard. Thank you for being so welcoming. Your church is beautiful." There, flattery usually helped. Even men of the cloth were hopelessly vain, Timothy knew. Himself included.
The man gave him a smile and there was something off-putting about it. Timothy couldn't put his finger on it. But the man extended his hand so the Monsignor shook it, it was only polite.
"Roman Castevet. I'd be happy to welcome you to our flock." The man replied and cupped Timothy's hand with his free one while they were meeting.
"You've come at the perfect time, Monsignor Howard."