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Chapter Twelve.
As much as she wanted to be a person who had her priorities straight, Allie just wasn't such a person to do so. She normally had her life in order and usually knew the people to put first, but always felt that her number one priority should be herself and her safety. She abided by that for the first few years of living in America, but the worry faded away and she began to relax – probably too much so.
It wasn't as such that she threw all caution to the wind or bundled it all up and threw it out the window, she just didn't let the worry and stress control her as much as it used to, making her a puppet on strings while dictating every waking and sleeping moment of her life. Allie chalked it up to the fact for the first time in her life, she had security – proper security and not a thin veil of an impression of it that might turn around one day and bite her in the ass. That same said security was the end goal of working for Tony Stark by the end of June the following year – where such she would finally become financially independent and would no longer have to worry about the past digging itself from the grave she had hoped would be forgotten and dragging her back down into the pit of it.
For all her cynical thoughts towards him in the beginning, Allie was finding herself all that more relieved that Stark really wasn't the person she worried that he would be; Lisa had once more proven herself right in being a judge of character – not that Allie would ever tell her friend that; Lisa would never live it down if Allie did. With Stark being a more likeable person than she had initially thought him to be, and a lot less cold and egotistical as she was misled to think he was, it made her become less stressed about leaving and that bit less hesitant in spending more time around him.
The only problem was that she seemed to be spending a bit too much time around him.
She hadn't thought much of it, still doesn't think that much of it, but she could sense Lisa's hesitance, how her friend would bite her tongue to stop herself from saying what she truly wanted whenever Allie would tell her in the morning that she would be returning late from work; at times, when Allie would text to tell her, the replies would consist of one word or a string of the thumbs up emoji. It hadn't hit Allie just how much… different the two were now; it wasn't a drastic change and it wasn't as if they weren't friends, but, truth be told, Allie couldn't quite remember the last time she and Lisa had sat down together and had a proper talk. Allie was always the first one to leave in the morning and all that would be exchanged was a quick 'bye' thrown over her shoulder that would be echoed back at her; Lisa was often too preoccupied at work that if Allie did return home before her, she would arrive late with much to do and review throughout the course of the night.
And then there was the boyfriend.
The title of boyfriend hadn't been bestowed upon him yet, but Lisa had mentioned in passing that they had been on three dates already; he was some guy she had met at work and they had gotten lunch together a few times but beyond that, there was not much that Allie knew. She didn't even know what he looked like or what his name was as Lisa would feel that she would jinx a good thing by telling people about him before it became stable and settled; so, until then, Allie remained in the dark about this mysterious man in Lisa's life and tried to ignore the lingering presence of envy that remained in the corner of her mind, boxed away and hidden from the rest of the world as Allie refused to acknowledge its existence.
With Lisa spending more time with her boyfriend and Allie not wanting to spend so much time alone, she decided that she'd go with the only other option she had left.
She really hoped that Stark didn't realise that her lingering about was for any other reason besides that, because there was no other reason – none that Allie wanted to face up to, anyway.
For the most part, he didn't really seem all that bothered about Allie hanging around for longer nor did he take note of her actually arriving earlier than usual to work; if he did, he never said anything or hinted that he knew to her at all. With Allie becoming more willing to remain after work, they more often than not found themselves engaging in the other part of Stark's deal for when Allie took this job; he wasn't teaching her how to "hack" – oh, how Allie despised that word – but there was no other word to describe the area that Allie succeeded in most; while he was helping her to expand on them, she found herself not all that interested in doing so since she never had put her heart and soul into such things like her brother had. Not that Allie had the heart to tell Stark, she didn't want to seem ungrateful or stuck up for declining his proposal so she found herself not so much as stuck in these impromptu lessons but rather with no other option. It was either this or spend her time alone at home doing nothing at all and falling asleep in front of the T.V.
She definitely favoured the former of the two.
Part of Allie wondered if he continued to spend time with her after work simply out of pity – or because he was in the very same predicament as she was, not that she would ever ask him of course; already Allie felt she was pushing boundaries and didn't want to give Lisa more reason to tut at her and waggle her finger due to over active imagination. Allie wasn't too bothered as to where Lisa's mind led her with regards to wondering about what Stark and Allie were really doing in all their hours together but part of her squirmed whenever Lisa attempted to confront her friend about it; just because it wasn't true didn't mean it didn't put rather unwanted thoughts into Allie's head that were promptly pushed to the side.
In the end, Allie managed, she always did, and as October was beginning to draw to a close, the orange glow of Autumn seeping into November's Winter weather, evenings at the Compound became regular for Allie, the hours seeming longer as the dusk settled that bit quicker, becoming darker and colder all that tiny bit faster. The mornings were bearable, at least she always had her hands wrapped around two steaming takeaway cups that warmed her palms.
The place was lacking in any sort of Halloween decorations (save for a small, ceramic pumpkin that all had brought in to be placed on the middle island of the kitchen) and she would not have thought that Winter was lingering on the fringes of the day what with how warm it was inside the place; rather than brave the cold, Allie decided that she would much rather spend just that bit longer in the cosiness – though another word that could be used to describe Stark's lifestyle was messiness – of the Compound, and Stark didn't seem all that put out by her somewhat constant presence; they had grown used to each other – dare she say, Allie would think she was almost fond of him. Then again, she supposed she could be fond of anyone who signed the amount that was on her paycheque.
Stark didn't seem to be up for another one of their lessons as he had spent much of his time that day working on his suits and Allie had picked up on that he was having a 'Quiet Day', making her more determined to remain behind instead of going home as she should have. He didn't seem to mind the company and Allie wasn't too bothered by staying, electing to instead to brew herself her fourth cup of tea that day, the sleeves of her sweater pulled over her hands with her fingers peaking out as she cradled it, reviewing the latest documents and letters again just in case as she was always worried about missing something or misjudging the importance of what she believed to insignificant.
The hour was late and her tea was getting colder as she neared the bottom, a text sent to Lisa informing her friend that she would be staying behind still unanswered yet despite being nearly forty five minutes beforehand; with a main growing in her temples and behind her eyes from wearing her glasses while focusing on something too close, Allie slipped off the spectacles, letting them hang from the collar of her sweat as she drained the last few dregs of her drink, nearly recoiling at the cold taste of it. She had thought about putting it in the microwave to reheat it as she was prone to do but knew that it would only just become cold all over again and she would have to endure it all over again. With a grimace Allie placed her cup down, ears picking up on the sound of footsteps drawing nearer and, sure enough, then entered Stark seconds later, looking a little worse for wear but still handsome, nonetheless. As if he could be anything but.
She cocked a brow at him as he sidled close, moving to take the seat opposite her and Allie knew that look on his face, the way he was chewing on the inside of his cheek and how his eyes remained narrow towards her; Allie didn't bother speaking first, knowing that that even if she wanted to, she would not be able to stop the questioning that would take place. It seemed that as the two spent more time together, the less they cared about not knowing more about the other and the less reluctant they were in wanting to talk about themselves. While Allie would have wanted to talk about anything other than herself, she felt it only fair to answer his questions just as he would answer hers.
He sat opposite her, not yet speaking and continuing to look and Allie crossed her arms over her chest, locking her ankles together and hooking a foot around one of the legs of the stool to prevent them from dangling as she gave a sigh. "Out with it, then; it must be important if it drew you from your hermit cave."
Stark blinked, a flash of surprise rushing across his features for a brief moment, seemingly shocked that she knew that he wanted to probe her for answers about something and Allie almost wanted to retort that he wasn't as closed off as he tried to be, more so an open book; yet, she held her tongue as he rested his elbows on the gleaming, marble counter top, stains of oil dotted in patches on his arms as his fingers linked together, not caring that they were messy as Stark placed his chin on his laced digits, still staring at her with that look and it only worsened, making Allie positively dread at the prospect of what might fall from his lips. A million and one scenarios occurred in her mind, each more worrying than the last and Allie's throat felt too dry, mouth too small to hold her leaping heart.
"So," he began casually, chewing on his words for a moment as his left thumb uncurled itself to trace the line of his jaw and along the shadow of his facial hair; for a moment, Allie could not help but watch the action before she pulled herself free, feeling as if her heart might burst at any given moment. He let the pause drag on for that bit longer, as if he enjoyed watching her squirm before continuing on. "Those sticky fingers of yours – "
At that instant, Allie's face scrunched up at the words, rather too caught on the unpleasantness of them rather than what he was actually saying and let a disapproving look find its way onto her face without a moment's thought, not giving him the chance to finish before she cut him off with her own words, not really thinking about what he actually wanted to ask her. "Please don't use that phrase."
He raised a brow, pulling himself from his concentrated trance and he dropped his propped arms on the counter, letting them lie palm down and sitting straighter, shuffling in closer to the edge of his seat so that he was nearer to Allie as he leaned over the table; Stark was completely facing her straight on, giving her his undivided attention as he once more rested an elbow on the edge of the counter, hand cupping his cheek. At being able to see Stark wholly, she made a note of the splashes of exhaustion that hung beneath his eyes but held her tongue to prevent herself from saying something, not wanting to cross a line. His face turned up in confusion, rethinking his words but not coming to any conclusion. "Why? What's wrong with it?"
"It's just…" Allie began, screwing her face up even more before shaking her head, the strands of hair that were held in a low ponytail tickling the back of her neck as it swung back and forth, goose bumps rolling on her arms at the ghost like touch. With a shrug, Allie turned back to what she was focusing on moments ago, trying to remember where it was that she had left off though finding it hard to concentrate as she usually did when he was staring at her, eyes burning and making her feel too flushed; Allie felt like such a teenager and she despised herself for it, her mind too caught on the implication tacked onto a seemingly innocent sentence, blushing like mad as she untangled her tongue and kept her voice light, unburdened. "It's… weird and sounds…. You know…. wrong."
Stark gave a grin at her words, a smile that was all too reminiscent of a shark's. She definitely couldn't concentrate with that stupid look on his face and Allie somewhat loathed him for it because he just had to know what he was doing. With a frown on her face that seemed to only make his smirk grow wider, Stark leaned in closer across the counter and closing the distance that Allie dearly missed. She could see too much of him, of his eyes, the crinkles along the tops of his cheeks, the flecks of gold hiding in brown. "What, saying sticky fingers?"
She tried not to smile, instantly moving to bite down on her bottom lip and taking a hold of the inside of her cheeks, chomping down on the flesh as she shook her head. She supposed base humour was something no one could ever mistake. Releasing the grip on her bottom lip, Allie gave him a shake of her head, no longer attempting to stop the corners of her mouth from turning up; Allie attempted to morph her features into a serious expression but felt it fell flat from the spark of amusement in his eyes. "I will literally pay you money to never say that ever again."
For a moment, he didn't say anything and Allie thought she won.
Of course she would be stupid enough to think she could win out against Tony Stark in a battle of words.
"Sticky fingers."
Allie glared at him as he awaited his prize expectantly, lips forming into a pout as she gave a roll of her eyes, clicking her tongue.
"Well, obviously not now."
He adopted a look of disappointment, relaxing back into his chair and no longer ignoring the space that was between them, giving Allie the breathing space she much needed and craved. "And here I thought you would be a woman of your word."
"And I also thought that you wouldn't be such a grease monkey, yet here we are," Allie snorted, eyes glancing up and down at his rather unpolished appearance that she had become accustomed to seeing on him during the months she had since begun working for him. Stark blinked and looked down at his own attire, as if it was the first time noticing how much of a hot mess he was at that moment. It worked for him, she noted; it gave him a rather rugged handsome quality rather than the usual scrubbed up and clean appearance she was used to seeing in magazine. She watched as he held his hands out in front of him to examine them and she shook her head. "Please wash your hands."
He frowned before going to wipe said hands on his shirt, Allie staring at him with an unamused expression on her face and he rolled his eyes, once more resting his crossed arms on the lip of the counter. "They aren't that bad."
"And here you are accusing me of sticky fingers," Allie sighed, shaking her head as if it was some grave misdemeanour he had done to her and he gave a breathy laugh, at her words and her reaction.
"I wasn't accusing anyone, actually – it was more like it a question," he said, managing to spin the conversation back around to what he had originally intended to talk about before Allie had attempted to unconsciously switch the subject. That dryness appeared once more but Allie forced herself to remain steady, to remain calm, nonchalant as she gave a hum, eyes dropping to what she had been reading before as if to distract herself and to make sure she was hidden so that he could not pick up on her bad attempts to lie. She was glad that he couldn't see her leg awkwardly jerking from where she had her foot hooked around the leg of the stool.
"Question? What kind of question?" To her surprise, her voice remained steady and Allie tried to convince herself that she couldn't very well act this way every time he tried to ask her something otherwise he would eventually pick up on something if he hadn't done so now. She peaked up at him through her eyelashes, trying to keep her appearance as reserved as possible in order to convince both him and herself that could remain calm. After years of experiencing situations such as these, she should have learned to lie or learned to not freak out as much, yet every time was like the first time and she never got better at lying throughout the years.
Stark didn't speak for a moment, not picking up on Allie's small quirks with her leg bouncing to the fact her hand was gripping the edge of the page she was pretended to read from that bit too tightly, cheeks feeling slightly too warm as they tended to do whenever she was forced into circumstances such as these. As before, he laced his fingers together and rested his chin atop of them, eyeing her and trying to pick her apart, as if she was a strange machine he couldn't quite yet figure out but was trying nonetheless. It made her cheeks burn even more and it wasn't because of how it was habit that happened when she attempted to lie. "Why did you decide to learn all of this stuff?"
Allie stared for a moment, quite unsure of how to answer and surprised enough by the question as it hadn't been something she had thought he would ask; all those worries of before, of truths and being caught out seemed silly now and part of her felt relieved that this was what he had ask and the other part was nervous as she didn't understand why he had pulled himself from his work to ask her such a mundane question, one that he had already asked her before and one she had already answered – sort of. Grasping her lip between her teeth, Allie dropped her gaze, gulping, and she kept her voice low, a murmur. "I told you why."
"Yes, but why?" Stark inquired further, stressing his question and drawing Allie's gaze to meet his and he was staring at her, as if he was trying to make sense of everything she had ever said but it only made him frustrated because to a degree, it didn't made sense. Allie only wished she could tell him why it never made sense but knew better than to do so, instead letting him ramble on rather than shoehorning her words in before she fully understood the picture. She squirmed beneath his gaze, feeling her skin itch and her face become hot as it usually did when forced to meet prolonged eye contact and she felt self-conscious of all that she was, from her hair to her make-up, worrying if the red flush was shining through and highlighting her age old acne scars. Her eyes flickered around his face, envious of how smooth and unblemished it was, save for the soft crinkles etched into his skin along his eyes, around his mouth. His eyes were not harsh as they gazed but they were picking her apart into nothing. "You said you and your brother weren't close and it takes a long time to even get to your skill level. Why keep at it?"
Allie swallowed once more to ease the dryness in her throat, desperately trying to find the words to say – whether right or her own, she didn't know but either way, her mind was blank and she was coming up short on her vocabulary. With a half-hearted shrug, Allie dropped her hands from where they were on the counter and wedged them between her knees, trapping them and ignoring how her leg only became more jittery and she was glad that he could not see beneath the counter, could not see the tell tale signs that might give her away. He awaited her answer and she wondered about why he was so curious and what had brought this on, but stopped herself from walking the path that was paved with age old worry.
"Just… because," Allie choked out, trying to appear as casual and offhand as she possibly could without making it too obvious that that was what she was trying to make herself be. He raised an eyebrow, quirking it and indicating for her to expand on her rather vague explanation; Allie huffed and scrambled her brain to give a proper response this time, something that was a mix of her own words and the words she knew she needed to say, peppering in bits of herself into the words of another. "Teenagers get bored, I guess. Plus I watched a lot of movies and thought would it be cool – you know, until I realised how useless it was knowing all of this."
This time, her answer seemed to satisfy Stark as he gave a soft hum along with a nod of acknowledgement, or maybe understanding at her explanation and Allie gazed at him, teeth gnawing on the inside of her cheek as her nervousness bubbled down, simmering only slightly as the bouncing of her leg began to slow to a halt. He relaxed, pleased that she had managed to sate his curiosity for once rather than dodging the question or offering a jibe instead of what he sought; Allie pursed her lips, unwinding her ankles from around one another, letting them dangle from the stool, not being able to reach the ground as she swung them back and forth, trying to put all that previous nervous energy into something else that word burn it out. "So… if we're asking stuff – "
He looked at her, dropping his previous expression and there was a tightness in his posture, hands gripping each other that bit tighter and giving way his displeasure at the turn of conversation. Well, she hadn't expected that reaction, that was for sure. Though, if had picked up on her signs of discomfort – which he would have if he had two eyes and could see – then he hadn't bothered to stop until he got his answer, and neither would she. "We're not."
Allie gave a pout, trying to ignore the tension lingering in his words and hoping to lighten his mood from its sudden downfall. "That's unfair."
Stark gave a sigh, but she could see him let a small smile grace his lips as he unwound his hands, spreading his arms outwards and giving a lift of his shoulders with her attempt to push away some of the discomfort he felt at the prospect of her asking more questions was successful. "That's life."
"That's also being called nosy," Allie retorted snidely, a smirk on her lips. "Tit for tat, right?"
At her words, Stark's face screwed up, perfectly mimicking her own reaction when he had first attempted to ask her his burning question and a giggle bubbled at the back of Allie's throat before she quashed it down with a cough, trying to not to get too caught up on his expression and how it want to almost sigh of all things. Allie did not like to think of herself as a person who was prone to sighing simply because of the unintentionally endearing expressions done by another person, but then again, she had thought a lot of things that she was later proven to be wrong about after meeting Tony Stark. "Maybe we should make a list of phrases that should be banned."
A laugh left Allie at his words, shaking her head and trying to discern whether he was being serious or not; if she knew him – and Allie liked to think she did – then there was a high chance that he most likely was not joking about making one, or maybe he was going to make one as a joke – same difference, her mind echoed. "And, what, stick it to the fridge?"
Stark pulled up straight for a moment and looked to her rather too seriously for their topic of conversation – which had derailed off into something Allie hadn't intended at all. Damn him, he knows what he's doing. "We don't have any magnets."
Allie looked at him for a moment, unsure of how to respond to his statement with another retort but finding none able to match. Instead, she pushed onwards with her previously intended topic of conversation. "Can I ask my question now?"
"I don't know," he sighed, shoulders drooping as he spoke, not looking as bothered as he had been before but more so resigned to his fate. "If I say no will you still ask?"
Allie pretended to think about it for the briefest of seconds before giving a not. "Yes."
With an over exaggerated sigh, Stark place a hand over his heart and shook his head, closing his eyes and seeming far too forlorn, as if he had been told the worst kind of news possible, like his dog dying, rather than being the victim of Allie's questioning; she wasn't just going to let him pull answers from her without expecting to be subject to the same treatment. "You are a formidable woman and I surrender myself to your probing."
Allie's stared deadpan at Stark. "Another phrase we're adding to that list."
He pondered on her words for a moment before giving a nod of agreement. "Fair enough."
"So…" Allie began, letting her voice trail off, question hanging onto the end and she decided to let him suffer for a moment by dragging out the pause just as he had before with her though her didn't seem as bothered as she thought she had appeared to be, or maybe he was just a better actor than her. Allie ran her tongue over her bottom lip straightened her back, meeting his eyes straight on and attempting to mimic that same, serious and concentrated look that would appear on his face whenever he wanted to ask her something. "Why machines?"
He looked at her, furrowing his brows for a moment at her rather vague question. "Why machines what?"
"Build them – usually guys have hobbies such as gaming or football and not making, well, robots."
Stark let out a breathy chuckle, though it seemed somewhat strained, as if he was trying to give levity to the moment for her benefit rather than letting her feel as if she had chosen a rather too personal question out of the millions she could have picked. And for a moment, Allie though to retract her question and statement, not wanting to give him any cause for discomfort but a small quirk found itself in the corner of his lips, lifting some of that unease off of Allie's shoulders. Though the moment of relief passed as he leaned forward, closing the distance that lay between them once more but this time, it was more breath stealing as he seemed almost aware of what he was doing – and not only that, but he was also aware of how she might react. Allie forced herself to remain still, to not get lost on the waves of her over active imagination and she met Stark's eyes, trying so desperately to not burn away to nothing beneath his stare that she knew that many had crumpled beneath before her. "I guess you could say I'm not like other guys."
Allie was dumbfounded, lost for words and unsure of what to say, what she could say. Joking always seemed to lift the moment that Allie often found herself dragged under but her words had deserted her, any barb that she might toss his way withering to nothing. She longed for the days where she didn't drown in the smell of his cologne. When Allie found her voice, it sounded unsteady, rather soft and so not like her. "No, I guess you're not."
It was true because there weren't many guys who had singlehandedly saved New York from a nuke by flying it into a hole in space and, as that thought passed through her mind, Allie cursed herself for not saying that instead of her meek response. The moment hung on for a few brief seconds longer, Allie feeling much like a deer in headlights as he continued to hold her gaze, unaware of how tightly her nails were biting into her palms before something clicked and he returned once more to his relaxed position in his seat, the breath he stole from Allie returning to her lungs once more as he gave a blasé shrug, uncaring about he had caused Allie suffer from heart palpations; she was becoming more and more convinced by the passing hour that he really was a sadist at heart.
"To answer your question, it's just what I've been good at. And I enjoy it, always have," he replied honestly, much to Allie's surprise; she had half expected him to dodge the question with a joke or a quip or keep to his previous answer, but she never had a proper conversation with him if she wasn't surprised by him at least once. "Keeps the mind busy and it's a good… distraction."
The word peaked her interest and it was Allie's turn to lean closer, eyebrows knitting together in question as her arms rested folded on the counter top, knees brushing against the wooden panelling. "Distraction?"
"You know, when the world is ending and you've been in space, distractions help," he rushed, rather weary and torn at the edges. The brute honestly of his words sent Allie reeling, not stopping herself from staring in surprise at the fact he was actually sharing this with her, this being rather personal thoughts. They had always only ever touched the surface with talking to each other and asking each other questions, but now they were dipping their fingers past that line and with him being the first to do so. She supposed that if he gave her enough trust to tell her about his difficulties, that she should only return the gesture. "Not always in a good way, but they help."
Stark ended with a wispy sigh and Allie could see his Adam's apple bobbing, his folded arms across his chest tightening just that bit more and Allie was unsure if it was from being uncomfortable at talking about it or talking about it with her. She was quite unsure of how to respond or what would be appropriate enough to respond with and floundered for a moment, stringing together the words she thought best suited as an answer. "Well, that's a good explanation as any, I suppose."
Stark's glaze flickered to her. "Not satisfied?"
"I wouldn't say that," she responded, casting him a soft smile, reaching up to push her pony tail which had slipped over her shoulder to hang down her back again, tilting her head towards him and feeling quite perplexed, as she was still quite stunned that Stark had told her something truthful rather than swerving around her question – though why he did befuddled her; she wondered if maybe he just wanted to tell someone about it, even if she was that someone. A small, echoing part of her wondered, maybe even hoped, that he told her because he trusted her. "I just didn't expect something so heartfelt and profound."
"Hey, I can be heartfelt and profound," Stark frowned, almost pouting in response to her words.
Allie gave a lift of her shoulders and clicked her tongue, voice dropping low to murmur beneath her breath, more so to herself than for the conversation. "Jury's still out on that one."
He scoffed, giving a sniffle as his nose twitched. "This is workplace bullying and I can call human resources on you,"
"We don't have a human resources," she told him, scrunching her nose up at his words. "There's only me and you here."
He gave a flash of perfect white teeth, a grin spreading across his face and lighting it up instantly, teasing and mischievous despite the attempt to mask it as being a boyish smile, voice almost cooing towards her. "And there's no one else I would love spending time with."
If Allie were a weaker woman, she might have spluttered, stumbled and stuttered but she simply rolled her eyes, ignoring the rush of red rolling in waves up from beneath the collar of her sweater, half tempted to reach across and sympathetically pat his shoulder for good measure. "At least I won't go telling people all your dirty little secrets."
"Oh, please, I have no dirty little secrets," Stark commented, pausing to rethink his words as Allie tossed him a look that showed she didn't believe him at all and he relented with a sigh. "You can view them all online anyway,"
Her reaction was instant and not at all in the way that she had intended, blanching in response at the thought of seeing whatever he used to get up to back in the day on the internet being something she most definitely did not want to see – at least not again; let the past in the past, she supposed and by God, did she not want to see any other video of him off his head on alcohol doing some very questionable things with a shaky camera with bad quality trained on him. "Oh my God, ew. No, gross."
At her words, an offended gasp left him, eyes wide with faux hurt gleaming in them as he adopted a cracked voice to further drive home the point just how slighted her felt with her statement. "Okay, wow."
"I just meant that it's a gross invasion of privacy to just look them up online," Allie tried to explain but he rolled his eyes, seemingly unconvinced by her words and Allie shook her head, knowing that he wouldn't believe her even if she told that it was quite the opposite reason of what he was thinking was the reason for reaction.
"Nice save."
"Not if it's the truth," Allie chimed with a small, toothy grin. "You can't believe everything you read online."
"You mean I'm not secretly married and I don't channel money to fund the lives of my currently five unacknowledged children?"
Allie gave a sympathetic nod of her head. "Don't worry, I've been super quiet about that."
"What would I do without you?" he asked sweetly, voice sounding far off and dreamy.
"Crash and burn, most likely," Allie responded, giving him a sweet and falsely innocent smile with eyelashes fluttering in his direction. He dropped his eyes for a brief moment, only to give a roll of them instead and click his tongue in disagreement at her words. "Not in that particular order."
"You give yourself too much credit," he stated.
Allie gave him a cheeky grin, half tempted to throw in a wink for good measure. "Only when it's due."
"Aren't you humble?" he teased and Allie gave an indignant gasp, pulling herself up into a straight position.
"Says you!" She exclaimed, half in disbelief that he was actually teasing her about acting not too humble.
"Yes, says me."
"So, you're telling me that you're a humble person?" she smirked and he mulled over her words, pulling a thoughtful expression before turning to her with a shit eating grin on his face.
"As humble as ever!" he exclaimed before inclining his head towards her, a mock bow as his hand found its way to his heart, playing on the dramatics. "I bow down before your wisdom, oh mighty hacker."
"Please don't, that's so cringey and I hate that word," Allie recoiled, and he looked at her confused, though seeming to understand her apprehension for the word.
"But isn't that what you are?" he asked her, and Allie's mouth opened to reply before realising that, quite literally, it was what she was and it was how she came to enter this job. Her mouth snapped shut and Stark appeared triumphant at her silence before Allie gave a huff, arms winding around her chest as the breath that left her caught on a loose strand of hair that had been threatening to fall from its place behind her ear for the past few minutes.
"I can do so much more than… hacking." Oh, how the word left a bad taste in her mouth.
"At the rate you're going, I doubt it," he muttered and Allie glared at him though knowing he had a point since she wasn't exactly up to his standard or his level yet with how he was trying to teach her, though she knew that if she been allowed to work in her own way, she would have no problem putting up a fight even if she didn't win.
"I spent years doing this, okay? I might have a trick or two up my sleeve. And just because it's boring doesn't mean it can't be fun," she explained and he looked at her, face void of any emotion.
"Yes it does," he said to her. "That's – that's exactly what boring means."
Allie gave a shrug. "Not anymore it doesn't."
"Truly, you are powerful," he stated, a lack of anything in his tone before he moved in closer, face giving way to genuine curiosity. "So, tell me, what's the trick up your sleeve?"
"Well…" Allie began, not really thinking as she chewed on her words, not thinking at all before they left her mouth, word vomit spewing forth due to her carelessness. "I wouldn't say it's my trick."
"Then whose is it?"
Stilling, Allie cursed herself, wishing she could reel the words back into her mouth and down into the pit of her stomach where they could be eroded away to nothing. Her teeth chomped down on her tongue too late and she felt her nails dig into the flesh of her arm, the sweater taking the brunt of the pressure and leaving her with only a pinching feeling. Her silence continued on and Stark raised a brow at her, indicating for her to answer and Allie sucked in a breath, sharp and piercing her throat as she tried to rush through the words.
"It's… it was my brother's," she said, stiff and cold and ignoring how stiff her fingers were from how hard they were trying to bite into her arm through the material of her top. Her voice was sharp and cool, steel and ice as a look of understanding flitted across Stark's face, understanding the reason for her strange behaviour, even if he didn't actually understand. She could hide behind this excuse, this veil that he had constructed in his mind without actually lying or without actually having to tell the truth. "He used to do a lot sketchy stuff – "
"It runs in the family," he snorted, cutting Allie off.
Allie gave a scoff, snapping up the change of subject quickly and wanting nothing more than to move away from the previous one. "I don't do sketchy stuff."
"Tell me, how did you get this job again?" he enquired and Allie tossed him a look before letting her face melt into something softer and sweeter.
"Because you found me charming and a delight to be with?" she sang, tone all too syrupy and sugary but Stark stared, as if at a loss for words as she bat her eyelashes in his direction without actually thinking about how much she shouldn't actually do that but the way he squirmed made her all that more gleeful, watching him shift and cough behind his hand and drop his gaze for a moment before recollecting himself, turning his gaze to the side as if the wall was more interesting.
"Maybe."
A grin split across Allie's face, beaming as she cooed, the words leaving her before she could stop them, though she didn't seem to mind all that much. "Oh, so cute."
That seemed that was the last thing that Stark expected for her to respond with as his head whipped back to Allie, a mixed look of shock and offence carving into his features that made Allie all that more wanting to tease him, though she would never let herself indulge in it. "Cute? I'm cute?"
"Don't tell me you're offended?" she clucked, feeling far too entertained by something so simple as his reaction to her words. If this was the case, maybe she would be more inclined to tell him such things more often and it wasn't as if they weren't true, either.
"I've been called many things and cute is not one of them," he all but pouted, making Allie want to coo the word at him again but refraining from doing so lest she make him appear even more upset, however much she wanted to for that reaction alone.
"I'm probably not going to want to know what you've been called because I can already picture it in my mind's eye," Allie whistled and an affronted scoff left Stark, who was looking rather indignant for being simple called cute.
"And what exactly are you implying, Allison?" he gasped, looking as if Allie had done something far worse to slight him. "That I haven't always been an angel?"
"I'd doubt this is what people call being an angel," Allie snorted and he didn't bother trying to look offended as he had before, instead letting himself drift off into thought.
"So, what would I be called?" he pondered, a snake like grin finding its way onto his face. "Devilishly handsome?"
She gave a roll of her eyes but not disagreeing in the slightest. "Nice play on words. You must be proud."
"I always am."
"As I was saying!" Allie said, bringing the conversation back on track after being derailed one too many times than she would have liked it too; it seemed to be a recurring thing whenever the two of them spoke that they would easily become distracted and get off topic. "My brother used to do some sketchy stuff and he may have passed some of those tips and tricks onto me."
"He may have?" Stark echoed, cocking a brow at the words. "Meaning he definitely did."
"Exactly," Allie grinned nodding, nonchalant and uncaring as she gave a wave of her hand as she ploughed through without thinking. "He may have been off his head on one thing or another most of the time, but he was a smart lad."
Her words were an explosion, a rush of carelessness that sent them both into stunned silence as neither had expected her to tell him something so personal – and so true. Her heart stilled in her throat, mind wondering when on earth had she become so thoughtless and uncaring with her words and Allie's jaw clamped itself shut, wanting nothing more than to just slam her head against the counter and forget that she had ever let those words leave her mouth.
Stark blinked, letting the sudden burst on information soak in, digesting them as he tried to find the right words to respond with, nothing bothering to hide his surprise at her being so truthful all of a sudden. Allie winced and hoped he wouldn't be too pressing on the matter. "Oh? You didn't say that…"
He trailed off, half afraid to continue in case he may have misunderstood the meaning of her words or maybe not wanting to make her anymore uncomfortable than she appeared to be. Allie held her tongue for a moment, unsure of whether she should just breeze past the topic of conversation but found herself in too deep of wanting to actually say the truth, to not have to lie about anything. With out a thought, it was bitterness that fuelled her onwards. "He was a massive druggie who would sell his family to scrape two coins together for anything to get him high?"
Stark blinked again.
"Yeah, that."
"Well, he was but enough on that," she continued, not caring to linger on her words any longer and instead steering the conversation back to what it had originally been about. "He had this idea of a firewall that was, to break it down, similar to the coding the Nazi's used to use back during the war."
"Great, we're working off of Nazi ideas," Stark all but spat, his face turning up in understandable and rather relatable disgusting.
"Not off of them, but it just happens to be similar," Allie clarified, trying to scramble her brain for the exact way her brother had described it to her so many years ago, piecing together pieces of information that she had thought long since lost in the passing years. "It isn't a revolutionary idea and he just managed to make it a thousand times more complicated for this new era of technology and firewalls and all that."
"So, did he ever manage to make it?" he questioned, appearing more and more interested in what she was trying to explain. "Or was it all just in theory that he had this idea?"
"I… don't know. This was years ago, back when computers still had backs bigger than houses," Allie replied truthfully, deciding that lying wouldn't do either of them good. "We were – well, he was limited by a lot of things like resources and money and time and sobriety."
He stared in understanding. "Which you now have."
Allie gave a nod. "Which I now have."
"And you want to try and implement this idea of an ever changing firewall into reality?" he asked her and Allie stopped, never having really actually thought of it properly.
"Uh… well…" Allie hesitated, feeling somewhat embarrassed and turning redder as she began to explain. "I don't know if I'll actually be able to."
"What do you mean you don't know?" he questioned, confused by her words with a crease forming between his knotted brow. "If you have the idea, all you have to do is do it."
"I could," Allie tried to explain, wishing to not stay on this topic of conversation for any longer and hating herself for bringing it up to begin with. A sigh left her, hand reaching up to tug back the annoying and tickling wisps of hair that had fallen free from her low pony tail as her voice became a mumble, barely able to be heard by either of them. This conversation had become far too sharing for Allie's liking but she only had herself to blame – and only herself to kick in the ass, too. "But I'm not as smart as my brother when it comes to things like this."
"Well, you're not your brother," he offered and Allie's heart leapt, tying around her throat and forcing a lump into the base of it. She dropped her eyes to the counter and tried to ignore the softness of his tone, how genuine he seemed to be. "You could really surprise yourself."
"I'll probably mess it up," Allie murmured, staring at the warped speckles trapped within the marble and trying to make sense of them before she heard a breathy laugh, turning to peek at Stark through her eyelashes and having her breath knocked out of her at seeing a soft smile grace his lips, face closer than it had been before. She wanted to drop her eyes again but felt too trapped in the headlights of his eyes.
"You won't," he assured her. "And you know why I know you won't?"
"Because you're always right?" she offered, voice tilting upwards and offering what had been intended to be a sarcastic comment as an unsure question. Stark's mouth opened and closed before he nodded to her words.
"I was going to say because you have the skillset, but, yes, that too," he said and then he stopped, eyes widening as his grin sharpened, growing wider and wider into something that Allie didn't quite trust, leaning back into her seat and assessing him with narrowed eyes as he turned to face her, looking far too happy with himself for Allie's liking. "And also because you're going to do it for me."
Out of all the things he could have possibly said, that was the last thing Allie expected, leaving her spluttering as he sat looking pleased with his spur of the moment decision, nodding to himself as if in agreement as Allie sat reeling from his words. "I'm sorry?"
"Since you managed to get through my own firewall, I think maybe I should let an expert take charge."
"But…" Allie began, hesitant and rather regretting telling him about this. "I'm not an expert."
"If you can put me to shame, then you are," Stark said, the words said in comfort but doing little to actually do so for Allie. She was grateful for the praise, but still felt unsure, unconfident in her abilities compared to him and knowing that she could never hope to surpass him, however much he tried to teach her.
A small smile graced her lips, grateful but not quite believing his words. "I doubt it would be hard to shame you, Mr. Stark."
He gave a hum, turning away slightly to look to the distance for a moment, as if he was caught up in the thoughts of the past with a heavy heaved sigh. "Ah, memories."
Allie snorted, shaking her head and Stark turned back to her seemingly pleased, as if his intention of saying so was to simply make her feel less unsure, for which she was thankful for but not at all any more inclined to take him up on his rather preposterous proposition. She should have known by now that he was prone to such irrational decisions – it was how she got this job in the first place. "Listen, I think, maybe, if anyone should do it, it's you."
The curve on his lips dropped slightly at her words. "You mean I should do the thing that you haven't fully explained nor have gone into detail about?"
Allie thought for a moment.
"When you put it that way…" she murmured, trailing off and seeing sense in his words but shaking it from her head, scattering it to the four corners of her mind and giving a sigh, reaching up to hook a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "But still, yes; at least you won't screw it up."
"You won't screw it up, I know you won't," he said once more but his tone was more serious, less joking and teasing and it stilled Allie for a moment, voice dying on her in the back of her throat as she was caught up on the sincerity of his words. They held eyes, unwavering and neither daring to break first as a shaky breath pooled into Allie's lungs. Her voice was soft, wispy and whispered and filled with genuine curiosity.
"How?"
"Because," he began slowly, though the light and playful tone of before was not present as it had been. Allie ignored the nervous jitteriness that was bubbling and itching beneath her skin, once more dryness in her throat reappearing as she resisted the urge to fiddle with the cuffs of her sleeves as she would be prone to do in order to stem the quickness in her chest. She squirmed in her seat but did not look away from him, finding herself not really wanting to in the first place despite how much he was making her heart pound, how he was making her face quick to burst into flames and, in this light, Allie could easily have mistaken his eyes for gold. He held a sincere smile, and Allie couldn't breathe. "I believe in you."
Whatever had been making her heart fit to burst within her chest ceased and she stilled, trying to form a proper response that wasn't delivered with a red face. Her tongue was tangled, tied around and around and no words could make it through the maze and knots as she reeled from his words, feeling as if she was suffering from whiplash too many times already that day from him words, such simple words that they shouldn't have made her feel like this but they did and Allie cursed him for it for he had to know how they made her react, made her feel. She held onto his eyes for a bit longer, trying to steady herself before she filled her lungs and searched for her voice, fearing it had died on her before she turned away. "Aw, that's cute."
Peeking through her eyelashes, she could see his face drop, the sincerity of before dripping from his features instantly and he gave a shake of his head, murmuring beneath his breath with a grouchy tone. "That's it – we're adding that to the list."
"But it isn't even bad!" Allie whined, a laugh at the edge of her words and feeling herself unable to contain the sheer entertainment she felt at having him become upset at her choice of words, watching him as he gave another huff. Oh, cute.
"It's going on the list!" Stark sighed dramatically, throwing his hands up in the air as Allie didn't even attempt to restrain herself from letting laughter bubble on her tongue, watching him all too amused as he stood and moved to walk away, grabbing what appeared to a crumpled piece of paper that had been wadded into a ball earlier by Allie from one of the documents she had read before and thrown onto the top surface of the kitchen island. He unrolled the piece of paper, smoothing it out and moving to stand, feet leading him to leave the kitchen in what Allie assumed was in search of a pen. "I'm going to write it right now!"
Allie gave a sound of disappointment, lips curving around the sound as she watched him go, feeling the aches in her cheeks, her eyes that bit tighter from how large her grin was as she resting her chin on her cupped hand, pouting slightly as she clicked her tongue, adopting a cooing tone. "Can I still say that that's adorable?"
There was a pause of silence where nothing was said before Stark slowly began to peer around the door frame of the kitchen, leaning outwards so that Allie could only catch sight of everything above his shoulder, feeling far too amused as he stared at her with his eyes narrowed and lips pursed as if he was in deep thought, none too pleased at that large grin on Allie's face before he gave a small, curt nod, relenting. "We can negotiate."
If that was how it was going to be, Allie would just have to win her case and make sure to call him adorable every single day that she was here.
Hello, hello! Just before I get into my A/N i'd like to answer a few of your reviews!
Lucky Strike's Alter Ego: ah thank you so much! your support and love of this fic means so much to me and it gives me so much energy and fuel to keep on writing when i think of giving up (now is such a moment since it's 1am and i have to get up for work in a few hours oops) Poor Allie definitely is crushing hard but she just wont admit it since who WOULDNT blush around tony stark? he's the most handsome man in the world! and poor tony he's trying to be all suave and cool but like? he is honestly such a big softie? a boy who loves buying big teddy bears for his partner? like? honestly he's such a soft romantic who just wants to love people and be loved in return. and you shouldn't be nervous! if anything i was stunned when you left so many kind reviews on my story because i've read some of your work and im left reeling at how much of an amazing writer you are! i haven't had much time for anything these past few weeks but the times i have had time, i've been reading your fic! i havent managed to finish it and i want to make to the latest chapter before i could comment but to sum my feelings up eloquently: fhuaeilfhileruhfo;qerjf;iqoehf;oiqhfoi;hqoifjqwe;fhqwiofhlbfwhfbjewioh. there aren't many tony x oc fics that take my interest (well... there aren't many tony x oc fics to begin with...) but by the end of your first chapter i was hooked because it was so different to anything i've ever read? i mean i took the cliched route of oc becomes his assistant but hey, i like clichés. i'll be sure to try and finish the latest chapter (hello hour lunchbreak tomorrow - i mean, today). and this fic will cross into CA:CW but it will be towards the end of the story; HOWEVER! if you are looking for some iron dad and spider son fics, i have written some on AO3 under the username 'rad_sad'. there's a two part series that might be expanded in the future. (maybe not). good luck and keep writing!
: thank you so much! i know what you mean about slow burns! i absolutely cannot read anything but slowburns otherwise the relationship doesnt feel real to me but by like chapter 5 im screaming at them to just kiss already! and unfortunately, it's going to b time before anything happens between these two (i have up to chapter 36 planned and nope still nothing sorry). IM SO SO SO HAPPY THIS FIC IS INSPIRING PEOPLE TO WRITE THEIR OWN TONY X OC FIC! I LOVE TONY X OC FICS BUT THERE ARE NEVER ANY TONY X OC FICS! i am a simple person and i wish to be Supplied a simple thing and now? now im getting all the tony x oc fics i could ever dream of. i'll be sure to check it out since im always looking for stuff to do after im wrecked from work (i could write but... nah...). so the majority of this fic will take place before CW, and CW will take up a few chapters towards the end. this fic does happen during IW as well but that's the VERY end and... well... i have a few endings in mind and im trying to pick between them. thanks once more for reviewing and reading!
Anonymous: thank you so much! im so glad you enjoy the fic and i hope you enjoy this chapter as you did the last!
BeccaSco: thank you! sometimes these two warm my cold dead heart with how cute they are. now NEXT chapter they will actually leave the compound because they cant always be cooped up inside. thanks for reading and for reviewing!
spacevoyage: thank you! im honestly still so shocked that so many people love my fic since i was always unsure about the quality of it fo S, but your words honestly mean so much to me and im glad that this fic is able to bring some happiness into the lives of others. thank you for always reading and supporting this fic!
Guest: thank you so much! i wish i had the energy to proof read but im so bad for it. need i say that this chapter is as unedited as the last few? because it is and i need to stop publishing unedited chapters but i cant help it. no proof reading we dye liek mwn. tony is honestly such a big sap and a softie at heart and no force on heart can change my mind. thank you so much for reviewing and for supporting this fic as it means the world to me!
guest: thank you so much! the development of the characters and their relationships are always something that is very important to me when writing and it's something i strive to put first over the plot (i mean... it's taken me how many words and how many chapters to prove this point? when will i ever move the plot forward? who knows? not me.) thank you so so so much for your kind words and im so glad that you enjoy reading this fic so much!
SunnyPanda: thank you so much! i was always worried about my interpretation of tony as a character but people seem to really enjoy him and it's such a huge relief! thank you so much for reading and reviewing!
Kara70: thank you so much! i hope the wait wasn't too bad and that this chapter makes up for the two weeks of not updating!
pinkeye: oh my goodness thank you so much! when i read your review i was so astounded that my fic is able to make people feel such happiness! i myself have never actually been in love or have ever had deep feelings for someone, so i was always worried about making the feelings in this story too... shallow? so i feel much more confident in my writing after reading your review and realising i dont need to be in love to be able to write about love; thank you so much for reviewing and reading as always!
CrystalVixen93: thank you so much and i hope that you enjoy this chapter as you have the last!
eden: thank you so much for reviewing! finally, with this chapter out of the way i can start the real progress of the story and tony and allie's relationship! unfortunately, things have grown distance between allie and lisa what with the two having other people in their lives (which is a first for allie.) but worry not! it shall not always be like this! hopefully. anyway thank you so much for reviewing and supporting this fic as always!
EunLi: oh my goodness thank you! i never thought i could make someone cry with my writing! i dont know if i should be sad about it myself or happy. maybe both? thank you so much for reading and reviewing!
PrincessMagic: thank you so so so so so much! i always strive to put relationship development over anything else and for a while there was no plot going on but after this chapter, the plot and the relationship development finally merge as one! thank you so much for reading and reviewing as always as it means a lot to me!
drmsqnc: thank you so much! i hope you enjoy this chapter like you have the rest of the story!
Gina: thank you so much! poor tony and allie, they're just going to ignore what ever feelings they have up until they can't any more. i hope you enjoy this chapter!
Guest: thank you so much and i hope the wait for this chapter wasn't too bad!
BlackWolfWanderlust: thank you so much! it still shocks me to read people say how much they love this story as i cant help but to constantly pick out flaws in it. but really, your support means everything to me!
trickstersink: oh my goodness thank you so so much for leaving such a lovely and kind review! i really am shocked when i see the response i get on this story because ive always been my own worst critic, but the feedback i get always gives me confidence! thank you so much for reading this story and for supporting it and i hope you continue to do so in the future!
Um, so, okay I know im like… two weeks late with an update but I have very good reason!
There are three reasons; the first is work. I now work two jobs and I work Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays now. Before I would only work usually Fridays and every other Saturday because I share those days with another girl. But I was asked by another place in town could I work the Saturdays that im not at my own place and my own place offered me more hours and a pay raise so I work three days of the week. After Christmas I will be working Wednesday straight through to Saturday and will only have Sunday to Tuesday off. That's only three days for writing and I take a long time to write.
Second is because I've been sick. I know I say this all the time, but I really was sick simply because I've been on treatment for my acne and it's making me nauseous – though im not supposed to take it if it does make me sick but I need it Gone ok.
And third is… well, it's because I REALLY didn't want to write this chapter. I considered skipping it altogether but there are some very important plot points in this that will come up later. I just dislike this chapter extremely because it's such a filler chapter and it's the final chapter before stuff actually starts happening – that we can actually start seeing changes and all that. I wrote nothing the first week I missed the update and I wrote only the dialogue in the second week and then I managed to force myself to write this chapter and it's one in the morning and I have to get up for work at twenty to nine.
But I really will try to not miss so many updates but I cant promise anything. Work is my biggest problem with writing and I never would have started this story unless I would have been sure I could finish it, but now with more hours at work and working another job, I feel a bit worried that it's going to become more frequent.
I will try to keep up with updates since I'm actually getting to the exciting things now! Sorry once more for missing the past two weeks! If you guys have any questions, don't be afraid to hit me up on my tumblr at 'starktohny'!
Quick question: does anyone play the VN desire and decorum? I binge played it from 1am to 6am last night and it's SO GOOD. I love my boy ernest sinclaire he was ready to murder a gross old man for me ah bless
Thanks for reading!
