C is for Construct

"You have to talk to him sooner or later, you know."

Darcy watched as Tony Stark glanced at her reflection in the screen closest to him before choosing to ignore her. "Oh, no, you don't." She moved around until she stood in his space, half blocking his access to his tools. He tilted his head to peer at her like she was some kind of alien life form.

"I'm working here," he told her.

"I see that," she said sarcastically. "Don't care; you're coming up for dinner tonight."

"Ah, no, really, I'm not." He reached around her for a screwdriver.

"Oh, yes, really, you are." She snatched the tool out of his hand and shook it at him. "You're coming to dinner, or I'm having all of the coffee cut off." His eyes narrowed and she lifted her chin. "Don't think I won't get Pepper and JARVIS both in on it."

"Why?" he asked. "Why is it so important to you that I interact with the man?"

She stared at him and dragged in a breath. "Because it's important to Steve," she replied. "And because he's on the team. If you can't talk to the man, how are you supposed to fight beside him?"

"I can fight with him," he protested absently, falling back into his plans for a new robot.

"Beside him, Tony, not with him," she sighed.

"That too," he muttered in distraction. "It doesn't require talking."

Darcy gave a small scream.

"Okay," Tony said, tossing her an annoyed glance. "It's important to Steve, and you want us all to play nice. Why bother me about it? It's not like I'm kicking him out."

She forced herself to inhale a deep breath. "Tony, you like construction, right?"

"Engineer," he noted.

"Right," she huffed. "One of the definitions of 'construct' is to set in logical order."

"Still not getting where you're going with this, Miss Stacked."

She rolled her eyes and lightly smacked him on the head. "Let's look at this, then, huh?" She started counting off on her fingers. "I can't go to Tasha first – she's got her own history with him, and needs to work it out. Clint? See Tasha above. Bruce isn't going to rock the boat because he's a loveable idiot who is still worried about his place here, so he's waiting to see where the rest of the team falls on the issue. Thor is an alien, a fabulous guy, but not up with all the history and his actions aren't going to sway anybody. Steve's not in any position to be objective, and Pepper's going to follow your lead." She stopped and narrowed her eyes. "I have no idea how everything's going to settle, but I need you to check your avoidance issues at the door and step up on this."

"Lewis, you are a pain in the ass."

"Yeah, so?"

"So, fine, whatever." Tony shook his head. "Let's get takeout tonight. We might as well have food to go with the awkward silences at dinner."

Darcy walked towards the door. "It won't be that bad."

"Want to bet?"