Tony leaned back on the edge of the pool, a drink in hand and his legs dangling in the water, and smiled. Everyone had shown up for the party, even Coulson, who'd rolled in wearing long trunks and a float jacket, and actually blushed when Steve helped Clint to get him out of his chair and into the pool. Aqua therapy was apparently part of his regular fitness routine, and he appeared to be enjoying his little excursion, though both Clint and Natasha were keeping a close eye on him as if worried about unexpected tidal waves, sharks, ninjas, or wormholes to another dimension appearing in the pool. Tony made mental note to give Phil free run of the pool any time he wanted to make use of it, it had to be better than whatever facility he was using at SHIELD. Also, closer, since it was right here. Plus it was kind of silly to have the thing here when it almost never got used, Tony not having much of an appetite for swimming on his own since Afghanistan.
Though a gathering like this... this, he rather liked, he thought, and looked over to where Bruce was treading water in the deep end of the pool. Jane was hanging off the edge of the pool near Bruce, the two of them talking with the sort of intent expressions that make Tony suspect he might be missing out on some serious science talk, but he was feeling too comfortable where he was to want to move and join them.
Steve was over in the shallows, lurking vaguely-near Natasha, and looking charmingly self-conscious about sharing the pool with all of them; Tony suspected it had as much to do with the criminally tiny purple speedo Clint was wearing as the bikinis Jane and Darcy were in, not to mention Natasha's backless one-piece. Jane somehow managed to look both sexy and innocent in her tiny scraps of white fabric, while Darcy's rather more substantial polka-dotted navy blue two-piece seemed to be Steve's kryptonite; he flushed and looked away every time his eyes ended up on her. That's didn't appear to be working too well for him since it tended to turn his eyes towards either Jane or Natasha instead, though he generally managed to look at them for longer and with less flush. Tony was trying to figure out why it was her outfit, out of all of them, that seemed to most bother the good captain.
"Penny for your thoughts?" Darcy asked, dropping down to sit beside him. She dangled her own feet in the water, swishing them back and forth in time with the music that was playing.
"Zaftig," Tony said, unthinkingly, and then grinned and pointedly leered at Darcy. "Or at least curvaceous. I've got it."
"Got what? Good eyesight?" Darcy asked, and rolled her eyes slightly at him.
"No, I just figured out why Steve reddens like a ripe tomato every time you cross his field of sight. That... that swimsuit. Very retro, as is the figure it's so admirably hugging. As in, the standards of female beauty in the 40s were a little different than they are today, and in that get-up you probably resemble every movie star, chorus girl and pin-up poster that ever gave Steve impure thoughts before he ended up on ice."
Darcy laughed and then smiled at him. "You sometimes say the sweetest things. You're probably right though, all of this might be pushing some buttons of his. Man, that's kind of cool... me, possibly giving wood to Captain America."
"An honour and a privilege, right?"
"Hey, it's like I'm living the dream. Speaking of, that was a low blow, showing Jane the lab space she could have if she moved here. Already partially equipped, even. Sneaky bastard!"
"The sneakiest. Though seriously, apart from the occasional malevolent invasion this is probably the safest place she could stay, short of secretly being whisked off to Norway again. Or somewhere even worse. It'll make it so much easier for Bruce and I to work with her, too. And feed her. And make her things."
Darcy smiled again. "I swear, you're like some strange reverse version of a kid on Christmas morning. Instead of getting all excited over what great things might be in your own boxes, you're way too interested in giving things to other people and hoping they like it."
"I know, Pepper tells me I come on too strong with that sometimes. A lot. Most of the time. That there are other ways to show people I like them and hope they like me than to shower them with gifts."
Darcy smiled. "I dunno, personally I think it's kind of sweet," she said, and leaned over to kiss his cheek before suddenly bouncing to her feet and running toward the line of recliners along the inside wall of the room. "Loki puppy! Time for a swim!" she exclaimed, scooping the dog up from where he'd apparently been crouched under one, watching them. She hurried back to the pool, ignore Loki's yips and struggles, and jumped into the shallow end near the others.
"Darcy! No drowning Loki! Thor would not approve!" Jane called from the far end of the pool, looking concerned.
"Not drowning him, just letting him swim," Darcy called back, as she lowered Loki into the water, cupping one hand under his belly but otherwise leaving him unsupported. His eyes were wide and frightened for a moment, and he thrashed around, then his legs seemed to get the right rhythm going for a basic dog-paddle. Darcy beamed at him, turning so as to keep him supported as he swam in circles around her.
Tony grinned. "You better be recording this, Jarvis, or I will be extremely disappointed."
"Yes, sir."
Tony sat up in bed with a choked scream, heart feeling like it was trying to beat its way out of his chest. He startled as he realized there was something in the room with him, sound and motion of something scrambling away from him. The faint lighting that was always on in any room he slept in – at least any room that was part of his own properties – was already slowly increasing, while soft music had begun to play, part of several protocols Jarvis knew to follow any time Tony woke up from a nightmare. The sound and motion was revealed as a Pomeranian, and it was a sign of how rattled he was by his flashback that he just sat and stared at it for half a minute before finally remembering that the reason there was a dog in his room, on his bed, was Loki.
His hands were trembling; he clenched them tightly, letting out an explosion of breath, then ground the heels of his palms into his eyes for a moment, wishing away the memories of darkness, the dusty scent of stone, a large metal tank full of water with a faint skim of oil on it, the light of a lone, too-bright bare bulb reflecting off its disturbed surface, the harsh light turning the cave and the men crowded around him into a chiaroscuro scene rendered mostly in black. He forced himself to breath in and out, aiming for slow but mostly settling for a stuttering series of sudden inhales and shaky exhales. After a couple minutes Loki crept closer to him, and he sat there petting the dog, trying to pace his breathing to the slow stroke of his hand down Loki's neck and back.
"Enough, Jarvis," he said once his breathing had finally settled. "Don't think I'm getting back to sleep after that one," he added as the music faded back to silence, then slowly got up from the bed, feeling every one of his forty-plus years.
Remembering that he had guests, he pulled on a robe before leaving his room and heading downstairs. The pool party had run late into the evening, eventually devolving into just him, Bruce and Jane sitting in his kitchen discussing particle physics while Darcy made sure they stayed hydrated and fed them leftovers from the barbecue, after which Jane and Darcy had opted for the bed in his guest bedroom over a long drive back to their own homes. He smiled slightly, remembering Darcy informing him that she had her taser and would use it if any random Tony Starks showed up in their bedroom. Not that he would, of course, neither of them were that kind of guest, he wasn't so drunk as to forget where his own bed was, and besides, Thor would have turned him into paste is he tried anything with Thor's main squeeze. He'd have needed even more alcohol than it took to forget where his bedroom was to forget that particular barn-door sized fact.
He was standing with the fridge door open, unable to remember what he'd opened it for, and watching Loki sniffing curiously at the contents of the bottom shelf, when someone cleared their throat right behind him. He yelped and spun, putting his back to the cupboards beside the fridge. "Fuck, Darcy, don't ever sneak up on me like that again. What are you even doing up at this hour, anyway?" he asked, frowning at her. She was wearing a borrowed set of his own pyjamas, sleep wear not having been among the things that the ladies had either brought with them or purchased during their impromptu shopping spree earlier that day. Or rather, a pair of his pyjama pants paired with one of his long-sleeved knit shirts, which looked considerably better on her than it ever had on him, he decided, and in a most thoroughly distracting way.
Darcy just shrugged, crossing her arms. "Couldn't sleep. Jane is kind of a bed hog, and she snores. Also I maybe should have switched to decaf earlier in the day. Kind of a little wired right now. What's your excuse?"
"Ah. Nightmares," he admitted as he closed the fridge door. "Not the kind I can go right back to sleep after having, unless I want extra servings of them. Care to join me in some late-night TV?"
Darcy smiled. "Sure, sounds like fun. Actual TV, or like, infomercials? Or are you thinking movie?"
"I dunno. Lady's choice?" he asked, led the way to the seating area, dropping down to sit in the middle of the couch.
She laughed, and sat down beside him, folding one leg under her and leaning against the arm of it. "I think no to the infomercials, you have to be in the right frame of mind to enjoy those and I'd need to be drunk for that. Or stoned. Maybe some TV, if there's anything good on."
"Jarvis has all the channels in the world. We can watch pretty much anything you want to."
"Even if I said something like Brazilian game shows?"
"Yup, anything."
"Cool. Though since I don't speak Portuguese maybe something less exotic would be best. Actually a movie of some kind would be nice."
"What are you thinking? Action movie? Comedy? Chick flick? Something animated?"
"And if I say chick flick?"
"I am totally down with that. I am confident enough in my manhood to not think that watching a movie with a moderately cheesy plot featuring actual character development and maybe some romance will emasculate me."
Darcy slowly smiled. "All right then. Though if we're going to do this we're going to do this right. I require snacks and a sugary beverage, though I think we should probably stick to the kind that doesn't include alcohol," she said, and rose to her feet, stepping over the back of the couch and heading back to the kitchen. Tony followed, then leaned against the counter and watched while she poked around in his fridge and cupboards, making excited little sounds to herself as she hauled vanilla ice cream and juice out of the fridge, and a variety of crackers, cookies, and spreads out of the cupboards.
"What are you making?" he asked as she scooped the ice cream into the blender until it was almost full, and then drowned it in orange juice.
"Creamsicle smoothies. Start ferrying all of that over to the coffee table," she added, gesturing at the collection of boxes and jars on the counter.
They were soon settled back down on the couch, with big glasses of tangy ice-cold smoothies and an array of snacks spread out before them, Loki sitting attentively between them and sniffing interestedly in the direction of the food.
"Jarvis, do you have My Chauffeur?" Darcy asked as she spread peanut butter on soda crackers and topped them with either apple slices or raisens.
"Of course, Ms Lewis."
"Seriously? My Chauffeur?" Tony asked her. "Isn't that from before you were born?"
"Yeah, but it's a favourite of my mom's, she even had it on VHS. I have fond memories of watching it with her, growing up. It's like cheesy romance comedy comfort food to me. You'll like it."
And he did, laughing himself half-sick during the scene with Casey Meadows getting Cat Fight to his concert on time. By the time the credits rolled as Casey and Battle were driven off post-wedding, he was relaxed and grinning. Darcy had sprawled out on the couch with her feet in his lap, Loki lying down on top of her with his eyes half-closed as she scratched his head and neck. Tony found himself smiling fondly at her.
"What?" she said after a minute, when she turned away from the credits and caught him staring.
"Oh, nothing."
"No, come on, why are you staring? I'll be seriously disappointed if you're leching on me, since I thought we had this whole platonic bros thing going on. Besides, as much as I like you, you are so not my type."
"Way too high maintenance?"
"Among other things, yeah. So why the stare? Do I have food on my face? A hole in this shirt?"
"No, no... just, I was thinking how much I liked this. Tonight. And liked you. As a friend. I don't have very many of those you know, especially female ones. Acquaintances, employees, and ex-one-night-stands, yes, lots of those; actual female friends, not so much. There's like Pepper for sure, Natasha at least when she doesn't want to kill me, provisionally Jane, and you."
Darcy smiled. "You're sweet."
"Say that enough times and maybe I'll start to believe you. Anyway, I was just kind of thinking, and this is not a new thought for me, how if I'd ever actually had a younger sister I'd have wanted her to be just like you. Or a daughter, but that just makes me feel old, especially since I think I actually am technically old enough to be your father. But anyway, I seem to have an opening for an honorary kid sister, think you might be willing to take it on?"
Darcy grinned, and sat up, crossing her legs and resettling Loki in her lap. "I dunno, I think that might require some negotiations. See, I already have three brothers, and I don't think I want another one. But you could be my honorary big sister maybe?"
Tony laughed. "Hrmm... that would depend, what would it involve? I'd be up for occasional sleepovers, chick flick nights, gossiping, and the odd shopping spree, but I think I'd need to draw the line at me in a dress or makeup. Or any form of nightie."
"Can we at least do each other's hair some times?"
"I don't think mine is anywhere near long enough for braiding."
"I could tie little bows in it?" she asked hopefully.
Tony laughed again. "You're on."
"Okay, then I'm fine with being honorary kid sister Stark, as long as it doesn't mean that I no longer get to be your platonic arm-candy as needed, because that was pretty fun too."
"It was," Tony agreed, and found himself smiling fondly at her again. "Another movie, or are you ready to go back to sleep now?"
"Another movie. Ever seen Down With Love?"
"Can't say that I have."
"Excellent. Lets make some popcorn or nachos or something first. I'm hungry again."
"God, Lewis, you eat like Steve or Thor."
Darcy laughed as she set aside Loki and rose to her feet again. "Says the man who inhaled an entire bag of Oreos within the last hour."
"Try wearing the suit for a few hours every day while sparring or fighting, that thing is a workout."
"Believe me, so is chasing around after Jane," Darcy said, and led the way to the kitchen.