Disclaimer: I don't own Hannibal King, Steve Rogers or any other Marvel characters mentioned in this non-profit Non-copyright infringement..-ing fic. And I don't own Motel 6.
Author's Note: So, I'm not sure who's reading this, if anyone is but I personally enjoy writing it so...yeah. enjoi.

Settling for Second Best
Chapter 4
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"I've known a lot of clean freaks and you just don't seem to be the type" Pepper came into King's room after a few knocks to find him sitting at the foot of the bed watching cartoons with a towel around his waist, he most likely forgot about clothes in favor for TV. She hadn't really given it much thought past her first impression of him the day they met but now that she did, she took the younger man for a dirty slash unhygienic person. After all, the first time she saw him he was grimy and dirty, a huge contrast to the conference room, much like Tony after long hours in his garage/lab. "No offense"

"I'm not, last night after dinner, Steve and I got pretty sweaty doing some stuff and it al ended with him on top" He gave a short sigh, recalling the minor yet ego bruising defeat. "I'll be on top next time, babe, I mean, now that I know some of his moves. Point is, I was dirty and I needed another shower…"

"Um…okay, well you missed breakfast, it is eleven twenty-six right now and I can have Jarvis make you brunch" The PA offered as she looked down to her brown clipboard for the umpteenth time and Hannibal had to wonder if she had a naked guy (or chick) on it.

"I can make my own food, let pops take a break"
"It's perfectly fine, he coul-"
"I have two hands babe, I'm sure I can handle brunch" He pointed out, holding up his hands for her to see them and grinning. Honestly, he couldn't cook for shit but he kind of felt sorry for the old man plus he was sure he could whip up a sandwich or something.

"Alright, there is a meeting scheduled in the conference room at twelve thirty"
"Got it, so…I'm about to get dressed…you can stay for the show or…"
"It's a different conference room this time, down the hall to the elevator, fourteenth floor then down the hall again. Last door on the left" She instructed as she tucked a stray hair behind her ear the she quickly left, closing the door behind herself. The vampire hunter laughed as he got to his feet and retrieved his oil stained jeans from the head of the bed.

Hannibal came to the kitchen and headed straight for the fridge as he stretched, groaning sporadically when his joints popped. The morning sun reflected off the surface of so many things in the kitchen, making the place look really alien compared to yesterday when he was with Steve. In the fridge he found the usual; milk, cheese, bologna, lettuce, leftovers, butter, eggs, ham…a shit load of stuff and…bingo, orange juice. The hunter snagged the carton with an accomplished smile as he took the cap off and took a drink, the subtle feeling of the juice trailing through his body then resting made him shiver. "wow…okay, let's see" lettuce, a sliced tomato, sliced deli turkey, cheese, and a tubey thing of mayo were all moved to the counter behind closing the fridge door with his foot.

"….bread" taking another drink, the ex vampire walked to a line of cabinets, "What's behind door number one?" cups "Door two?" cans of food "Three" boxes of food "four?" bingo! He found the bread but now, the problem was getting it because it was placed on a shelf that was just out of his reach. The sight of this whole situation was laughable, he knew it, and here he was, standing on his tip toes desperately trying to reach a loaf of bread. He was glad all the Avengers weren't here. His fingers were so close to the plastic and he had to think: why would people made shit this high? Because it's not every day you see a seven foot person walking around. He was one second from grabbing one of those fancy chairs from the dining area to stand on when he felt a rushing warmth at his side and saw a hand reach past his (unaccomplished one) to get the bread. "Thanks"

"What we're you do….oh, sandwich" The hunter stood flat on his feet and turned to see a smiling Tony, he had a nice smile…one that made other people smile, King thought so at least because he was smiling now.

"Ha….no, I'm making coffee and crumpets, care to join me?" he asked in a mock British accent, which failed horribly at sounding like anything from over seas. Then it dawned on him how short he was compared to everyone that was here, the flag and tin can were taller than him….fuck, even the hottie was taller. Damn. The juice sloshed in the carton when he took another drink as he looked for something to spread the mayo.

"What are you doing with my orange juice?"
"Keeping it warm…c'mon Tony, with all that cash, paying attention shouldn't be that hard" he quipped as he took another sloshing drink and saw Tony's amusement falter a split second from the corner of his eye then the older man shook his head and laughed as he walked across the kitchen to finish the list. He was going to tell his guest that he drank from the carton too but he knew he would shrug then probably add a sarcastic remark and it'd be like he never mentioned it. So why mention it? "Hey Tony, where the hell are the knives, you got like everything else in these things, I think I found a...what the fuck is this-"

"One more drawer over" he cut him off as he lied out the ingredients and took four slices of bread out on the counter. He didn't know what King was referring to but it was probably one of his gadgets or something random he had to hid from Pepper then forgot it. Said person came up next to him and worked to get a thin layer of mayonnaise on a slice of his bread then Tony followed the action.

"Whoa, Mister M. knows how to make a sandwich?"
"Yeah, I know how to make a lot of things"
"Well, I just thought Alfred did all the cooking"
"Alfred? Who's that?"
"You don't….c'mon he's the most bad ass character on Batman"
"What are you talking about?"
"Alfred's Batman's butler"
"Yeaaah"
"Just pass me the lettuce…please" They took almost fifteen minutes making their sandwiches, all the while talking about; cars, movies, music, and women. Hannibal made the occasional joke and Tony filled in a gap or two with talk about an Avenger past mission.

"Looks pretty good" Tony approved with crossed arms as he finished examining the sandwiches atop decorated Dixie plates.

"Yeah…now let's clean the mess before the authorities come" The two made short work of the cleaning and long work of actually eating their well earned sandwiches.