Three and a half bottles of wine and a few other drinks later, Tony and Tessa sat giggling on the red sofa. They had always found something to talk about be it science, puppies, or other Realms. Of course, neither would remember these discussions in the morning.
"Tony Stark, you are a good friend," she concluded as she raised an empty wine glass and she brought to her lips, looking down confused when she saw it was empty. Tony, who could usually hold alcohol well, was becoming a bit tipsy as well. Instead moving, when silent, Tessa found the need to giggle to let out energy.
"And you are a pretty piece of space energy," Tony said, his speech barely slurred. He looked at her and leaned in. He pressed his lips onto hers, but she pulled away. She didn't know what he was doing, but quickly scanned for knowledge.
"A kiss, beings lock lips to show affection or passion towards one another. Shared between two people and lasts as long as desired," she recited. He pulled her in again and this time she was more receptive. She returned the kiss and did not argue when he nudged his tongue into her mouth. Everything was new to her, but she acted like an expert in every field.
~I~
Tony woke up in the morning on the same sofa, his clothes discarded on the floor. There was no sign of the Tesseract. He quickly got it together, and walked out of his room. He didn't exactly know where to go, yet. His head pounded like hell, and he only remembered bits of last night. A bit disappointed that he couldn't remember those wines that S.H.I.E.L.D. had offered him, he continued down the hallway.
He entered the control room and saw the agents at their stations calmly flying the plaine. Nick Fury stood over them, watching. At the large table sat Steve Rogers and Tessa, in the old clothes given to her in the first few days.
"Tony Stark!" She smiled brightly at him as he entered. She didn't seem the least bit hung over.
"When'd you get up?" He asked, not caring if he was revealing that he knew she was back last night.
"Get up? I never was down. Oh you mean when I awoke this morning. I didn't. I never fell asleep last night. I never fell asleep ever. I'm pretty much an energy source to you humans, you think I would cease to stop?" Her tone was a bit too haughty for his liking, but he may have just been imagining it.
"She wandered into this room at about two a.m. last night and nearly gave Agent Coulson a heart attack. Said she was with you. Now why, Stark, would she be with you without my knowledge?" Nick Fury turned to him and Rogers watched in an awkward silence.
"Uh, because," offered up Tony as he sat sideways in a chair.
"Well, we've got definite coordinates on Loki, but we've been at a loss of ideas," Fury said, "And you know us. Usually, we can be rather… creative."
"Well did you talk to the Tesseract?" Tony asked. He didn't really want to deal with this right now.
"She's allowed to give input and not orders. All her ideas are… risky and include the loss of many of our men."
"That's new."
"The best thing to do right now is to lay low."
"We're in a giant airplane, flying above… somewhere and carrying loads of weapons and a source of energy that is uncontrollable. Laying low, seems a bit far-fetched."
"Loki knows that we know where he is, don't you think he'd be more focused on moving while he can?" Piped in Steve Rogers, who is actually a rather good strategist.
"You would think that, but this is Loki we're talking about," entered Bruce Banner who just came in, "I mean that guy is not right in the head."
"He will not move," prophesized Tessa, "He expects my return. Nay, he craves my return. He cannot leave if I am to go back to him. I would lose the, ah, 'scent'."
"Let's call everyone in before we make a decision," Nick Fury pushed his long coat back and placed his hands on his hips.