Over the next week Harry hardly saw Tony; the man had practically locked himself in his workshop, designing and calculating and testing various developments for the metal suit he was building. He only came out when Pepper or Harry dragged him away from his work for a shower or something to eat, and most of the time Harry only knew he was alive from the faint sounds of hammering or explosions or yelling that came up from the sound-proofed workshop.
Harry hadn't even known that Tony had managed to get the flight stabilisers working properly and had tested the suit, only finding out when he had gone to see the progress of the building and had thought the material it was made of had seemed different. Tony had launched into an explanation about the properties of the gold-titanium alloy preventing a build-up of ice at high altitudes, which had initiated a whole other conversation about how he was reaching high altitudes. Harry had not been impressed that he hadn't been invited on the first flight, and had ignored Tony for three days, finally getting bored and going to see him in his workshop, only to find he had gate-crashed his own charity party, and wasn't even in the state.
When Tony finally got back to the house, Harry told the billionaire in no uncertain terms that if he didn't want Harry to live with him, then to just say so rather than avoiding him at all costs and disappearing without any notice. It wasn't as if Harry wasn't used to being unwanted. For the first time properly glad that his throat was now fixed and his voice only caught on hard constantans like K and G, Harry had yelled for over 40 minutes, his new t-shirt beginning to smoke as the anxiety and fear and everything else that had been coiled in his stomach bubbled out. Matt's suggestion of meditation had helped, but only so much.
Harry's tirade became less about Tony ignoring him, as he babbled about the Ten Rings, and then Yinsen, and then Ginny and Ron and Hermione and Voldemort and his parents and being famous and just wanting a normal life but he couldn't even have that because a fucking snake had bitten him and now he could tell which car Tony had driven in from the residual heat of the engine he could feel from over 10m away.
Eventually, he had worked himself into enough of a state that Tony had been able to wrap him in a hug, apologising profusely and assuring him that no, he wasn't a burden and yes, he wanted him to stay and of course Tony cared for him and no it wasn't his fault that any of those people had died.
The two had fallen onto the leather sofa in the workshop, Harry curled into the man's side as Tony gently stroked his hair, the TV on the wall opposite playing quietly.
"How was the party?" Harry asked quietly.
Tony's hand stilled. "Obi's been approving weapons' shipments on behalf of Stark Industries." He said angrily. "He's also the one that filed the injunction against me, locking me out of the company."
Even without his enhanced hearing, Harry heard Tony's heart rate speed up in fury. He frowned. "Why?"
"He said it was 'the only way he could protect me'." Tony replied irritably, running his fingers through Harry's hair once more.
"What are you going to do?" Harry asked.
"I don't know."
Tony's slightly increased body temperature gave away just how angry he was, and Harry thought there was probably more to the story than he was letting on, but he let it be, closing his eyes and absently listening to the news reports on the TV talk about sport and politics and the weather, Tony fiddling with a screwdriver and one of the gauntlets to his suit which he had apparently painted red.
He started in surprise and sat up when he heard the female reporter mention the word 'Gulmira', and focused on the screen on the wall opposite.
"Jarvis, turn that up." Tony said.
The volume increased and Tony put down the screwdriver as the two of them watched the TV, listening to the report.
'...villagers have been driven from their homes by warlords emboldened by a new-found power. Villagers have been forced to take shelter in whatever crude dwellings they can find, in the ruins of other villages, or here in the remnants of an old Soviet smelting plant.' Harry jumped when an explosion sounded from the report, followed by gunfire and screams.
He turned to Tony. "What's going on?" He said. "Yinsen said it was peaceful there. Happy."
Tony's eyes were fixed on the footage playing out over the TV. "That's where Obidiah has been sending the weapons." He said.
'The recent violence has been attributed to a group of foreign fighters referred to by locals as the Ten Rings.' The news anchor continued, and Harry felt something hot settle in his stomach. 'As you can see, these men are heavily armed, and on a mission. A mission that could prove fatal to anyone who stands in their way. With no political will or international pressure, there's very little hope for these refugees.' Tony stood up angrily and began pacing around the workshop. 'Around me, a woman begging for news of her husband who was kidnapped by insurgents months ago. A child's simple question; where are my mother and father? There's very little hope for these refugees. Refugees who can only wonder who, if anyone, will help them.'
I can help. Harry thought. I shoot fireballs from my hands. Those could be Yinsen's friends. I could help. The TV sparked and switched off, smoking, and Tony jumped. Harry grit his teeth before he set fire to the sofa, flames roaring in his stomach.
Tony looked about ready to break something, clenching and unclenching his hands. Harry could hear him grinding his teeth. "Come on." He said, striding into the middle of the workshop.
"What?"
The whirring of machinery filled the room as robots began emerging from the floor. "They want to know who will help them?" Tony said. "Us. We'll help." The machines had started building the red and gold suit around him, and Harry jumped to his feet. "Yinsen helped us out of that cave. We'd be doing him a poor favour if we let his village get bombed when we could stop the bastards doing it."
Harry grinned.