This story is a test in self control that I am failing. I wasn't going to post this until Monday, but ehhh, nope, have it now.

/

Tony can't believe he actually feels nervous. Women don't make him nervous. Raziel herself doesn't actually make him nervous, but deciding to make an impulse visit to her after a week of nothing makes him nervous. He should bring flowers, or chocolate, or…something. But what if she has pollen allergies, or is one of those strange people who doesn't like chocolate? Raziel does not seem like the person to really be forgiving about those sorts of things, even if Tony could claim ignorance.

And that was when Tony walks past a pet shop. Okay, granted she could have animal allergies, but come on, how is a puppy not a good idea? Tony is the first to admit he is not a pet person, but for some reason the idea of giving Raziel the cute little husky puppy wagging its tail at the sight of him will not go away.

Half an hour later Tony is walking out of the pet store with the puppy tucked under his arm, and food and supplies in hand. He soon wishes he had brought the car, because carrying a hyper puppy with no free hands through the streets of New York to Raziel's apartment is not a fun experience.

"What is that?" Raziel asks immediately when she opens the door to her apartment. She steps aside so that Tony can enter.

"I got you a puppy," Tony answers, trying to sound confident. He is beginning to question this decision. The puppy attempts to leap out of his arms, making Tony go for an awkward grab that has the puppy letting out a loud whimper.

Raziel makes a noise of disgust and takes the puppy from him. "You do not hold a dog like that."

"I haven't held a dog since I was seven," Tony counters.

She doesn't answer, but she does move to the bags Tony had set down on her couch. Raziel sets the puppy down, pressing her down and telling her, 'sit' in an authoritative tone. The puppy whines but obeys, and Tony is pretty sure that she's too young to have had any training before, so he's kind of impressed. "Well," Raziel says as she goes through the bags, "you at least brought me the essentials." She takes the bowls and moves to the kitchen, filling them with food and water before setting them down. The puppy gets up and follows her new owner eagerly. "Does she have a name?"

"Uhhh, nope. She's yours, you get to name her," is Tony's answer.

Raziel clicks her tongue, clearly unimpressed. She looks down, studying the puppy for a moment before calling out, "Senta." The puppy looks up and barks happily before she goes back to eating.

"Did you have a dog before?" Tony asks, because it's either that or Raziel is the new dog whisperer.

Raziel's lips turn upward only slightly. "A wolfhound, years ago." There's a lot of pain in her voice, and Tony is suddenly unsure again.

"Look," he says, running a hand through his hair, "I'm sorry if this was wrong. I…I can take her to the Tower or something. Cap would probably love having a dog."

"No." Raziel shakes her head. "You did nothing wrong. I shall talk to the landlord later today about arrangements for her. Besides, I have already named her."

Tony smiles at her. "If there's any added fees to your rent, let me know. It's only fair I pay them since I brought her here."

Raziel raises an eyebrow and shrugs. "I am not so rich as to turn down such an offer when presented to me."

The inventor snorts. Well, at least she is honest about taking his money.

Raziel comes back over to the couch and sits, the puppy following once again to jump up beside her to eagerly paw at Raziel's lap. "So," she starts, fingers petting Senta as the husky bounds back and forth across her lap, "is there a particular reason you decided to bring me a dog today?"

Tony sighs and runs a hand through his hair again. "You ever get to that point in an experiment where you're just stuck, and you realize you're stagnate, and every little thing just frustrates you more and more?" He can ask her this because he considers her a fellow scientist.

"Ah," Raziel responds, instantly understanding, "so I am your distraction then."

Tony thinks about saying no, but it's an obvious lie, and Raziel would see right through it. "Yeah, pretty much." He shoots her an apologetic smile.

Raziel laughs softly. "Well then, since you are here, you can make yourself useful and look over my notes."

He whines in response, Senta turning and mimicking him. On one hand, he had come here to get away. On the other, science,science with Raziel.

The green eyed woman stands and places Senta in Tony's lap as she retrieves a file from her bookcase. "I shall make dinner if you do," she tempts him, holding the file out to him.

Tony offers a moment of resistance, merely out of pride, before he crumbles and takes the file. "You don't fight fair, Lady." His mouth is practically salivating at the memory of Raziel's breakfast. "But ugh, why are you using paper?"

"Because my employer is not as careful with paper as he is with electronics," Raziel calls from the kitchen.

"And who is your employer?"

"Secret," she answers with a laugh.

Tony fakes a glower. "I know it's your namesake, but do you really have to make that your motto?"

Raziel just laughs and continues cooking, leaving Tony to look over her experiment.

"Your mind is beautiful, nearly as beautiful as my own," Tony says an hour later once he is full and has finished reading.

Raziel chuckles as she sets a coffee cup before him and joins him on the couch. "Another compliment from the great Tony Stark. I must be very special."

"Must be," Tony says, looking at the notes and shaking his head. "This could seriously change how we counter another alien threat."

"But," Raziel almost sighed as she leans back, the coffee mug warming her hands, "it also has the potential to be misused." At Tony's silent look of 'explain', she adds, "It is meant to be a new way for people to travel, but it could so easily be turned into a weapon, just as is the fate of everything else that is not created with the intention to be a weapon."

Tony's mind goes back to when SHIELD tried to create weapons with the Tesseract. He can't really argue with her. SHIELD is only the beginning of what he has seen. More than anyone he knows how easy it is to manipulate something into a weapon; he'd done it to himself.

"Tony?" Raziel's quiet voice snaps him out of his musings. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have-"

Tony waves her off. "It's all right. We've all got those topics that set us off. You've probably got a few yourself." Wow, Tony, how about you stop talking now? Apparently, however, his mouth doesn't feel like listening to his brain today. "I mean, look at your apartment. It's lived in, but it doesn't feel lived in. There's no photos, the only personal things are your books. I'd say there was something really bad that happened between you and your family, and either they shunned you, or you're trying to keep them away." Oh wow, seriously, he is going to go back to the Tower and tell Bruce he needs to cut out Tony's tongue.

Raziel places her coffee cup on the table with such deliberate slowness that Tony knows he is in trouble. Well, he knew he was in trouble before that, but the action enforced it. "Mr. Stark." Yep, he is going to die.

"Raziel, I'm-"

She actually places her hand over his mouth to keep him from talking. That is probably a good idea. "You have no idea how to talk to a woman unless you are wooing her, do you?"

Tony shakes his head, because that is the smart thing to do. By the way, who says 'wooing' anymore?

"Then," she continues with the same measured pace at which she had put down the coffee cup, "I will, this one time, forget you said anything about my personal life. You would do well not to bring up my family again."

She pauses, and Tony takes the hint to nod his understanding again.

"Good. Then, tomorrow is my day off. Unless the world is ending, you shall buy me lunch at the restaurant of my choosing as an apology. Let me make it clear, this is an apology, not a date." The hand drops from his mouth, and Raziel stands, taking the mugs with her.

"You are a woman of expensive tastes, aren't you?"

"Yes." Raziel throws a smirk over her shoulder that has Tony doing the same. "But you can afford it."

"You're not just using me for my money, are you?" Tony pouts, jokingly expressing the concern he always had with people.

"Of course not. I like you for your mind too."

Well, if anything, at least she knows how to make him laugh.

/

At 12:41 p.m. Tony receives a text that says simply, Masa, 1:30. "Whelp, that's it for me," Tony says as he stands, already typing in the number to the restaurant. "I have a dinner date," he practically sings.

"Stark! Get your ass back in that seat!" Fury shouts at him.

"Nope." He is out the door before anyone could offer another protest, although Fury's voice does follow him down the hallway.

A phone call, in which he is assured that of course they would have a table ready for Tony Stark and company, and no, the short notice is no problem at all, and fifty minutes later, Tony is smiling as Raziel joins him at the table.

"Good afternoon, gorgeous," Tony greets with a smirk.

Raziel rolls her eyes. "Keep that up and people will think we are a couple." She raises an eyebrow, daring him to comment.

Of course, he is Tony, and he doesn't always do smart things. "Aw, baby- ow!" He rubs his shin where Raziel had kicked him. "Thanks for not wearing heels."

"Anytime, baby," she shoots back, her lips curving upwards.

If he isn't careful he might very well fall in love with this woman. 'Oh, whoa, slow down and back up, Tony,' he thinks, trying to keep the sudden conflict of horror and confusion from his face. "So," he says slowly, trying to give himself time to recover, "Masa, most expensive sushi restaurant in town. Somehow I'm not surprised."

Raziel shrugs her shoulders. "I like sushi. It was an opportunity I was not about to pass up."

Tony raises both eyebrows at her. "You really aren't afraid of using my money, are you?"

"Would you prefer I be humble the appropriate amount of time before accepting your generosity?" Those green eyes are laughing at him. God damn, they are beautiful. "I'm not like that, and I never will be."

"Genuine."

"Excuse me?" Raziel looks as if Tony had reached across the table and slapped her.

"The word you're looking for is genuine. Seriously, around someone like me there aren't many people willing to be themselves."

Raziel doesn't respond. A silence falls between them, but it isn't that uncomfortable silence that had been between the Avengers the first time Steve attempted group night. Ugh, that had been absolutely horrible. No, this silence is comfortable. Tony actually feels happy just being with her.

Oh, oh that is really dangerous.

He manages to make it through the rest of lunch without showing any obvious signs of distress…okay, maybe a few, because Raziel seems concerned about him by the time they part outside the restaurant. Tony had been planning on taking her home, but nope, bad idea. Why is it the one woman who only wants friendship from him, is the one he has to start falling in love with?

As soon as he slides into the backseat of his car, he calls to have his private jet readied. It would be best for everyone involved if Tony went to Malibu for a bit.