Chapter 4: Babysitting the Genius

Corvin had snooped while Tony was out like a light. She found some grovey shit, but not as much as she knew she could have. Doors kept closing suddenly to more restricted areas and she'd put her money down that a certain AI was keeping tabs on her still. She would have been offended but the idea of an AI existing was enough alone to get her giddy.

She stayed to the main areas, walking on tables and counters to see better.

Tony had some pretty sweet digs. Everything looked and smelled expensive. It was like living in a house made of hundred dollar bills. The spirit of all them Benjamin Franklins oozing through the walls, like that freaky Vlad ghost from Ghostbusters 2. Or was it three?

Was there a three?

Never mind, she was here to snoop around Iron Man's house, not contemplate the existence of a third ghostbusters movie.

Any-who, she had explored most of what she could access by now, and was now sniffing around the waterfall she had seen earlier. Her paw reached out, sending water splashing a bit from where she stuck it in the flow.

She pulled her paw back, giving it a few test sniffs before licking it. Deeming the water to be filtered tap water, she leaned down and drank a bit. She'd been so busy with Tony and then exploring that she hadn't eaten or drank in over 12 hours and her gut was aching. She was already on meager rations that day (slow tourist day) and the added time didn't help.

She drank until her gut didn't pinch with hunger as bad, then trotted to the front door.

As much as she wanted to stay, she needed food. And Tony was going to be out like a light for however much longer. So she was off to beg food off poor saps and then she'd be back.

Corvin pawed at the front door, willing it to open for her.

Surprisingly enough, it did. Funky little AI dude, helping a sister out.

Corvin trotted out the door and down the road, her tail flicking in the midday sun. It was rather warm out, and the blacktop roads were killing her feet. So she walked along in the surprisingly soft grass, which was past her ankles.

It was so weird, the size perceptions now. Everything was so huge to her little cat body in comparison to her human self. Grass that was barely past the soles of her shoes are now past her ankles, chairs she could just sit down in where now so high she had to jump, and cars that she could jump into were giant metal monsters that were too loud for her sensitive ears.

Shit was so different now, but she was adjusting surprisingly well. She'd give it another month or two before she had her true crisis.

Right now she needed food and to get back to Stark before he woke up.

With mission in mind, Corvin raced into Malibu and to her niche. She was grateful to find it undisturbed and grabbed a small shell from the pile of pilfered goods.

She moved out, walking down the sidewalk with the shell in her mouth, dodging feet and the occasional hand reaching for her until she reached her destination.

The Fried Fish Food Fort. A+ for the alliteration in her books.

The FFFF food cart was on the sidewalk and sold fresh fish, fried on sticks. It was owned by this smarmy dude she only ran into once a while back, but it was ran by a few hired college students. College kids who were appropriately appreciative of cats and Instagram tags.

She made a few chirps, the noises slightly muffled behind the shell.

The girl who was running the cart that evening, Sarah if she remembered correctly, looked down at her and smiled brightly.

"Zuma!" Sarah exclaimed, peeling off her sanitary gloves and kneeling down to pet Corvin. Sarah was wearing a purple and pink apron over her cloths and a cap with the cart's name on it. Sarah was one of the more enthusiastic people Corvin had met in her time as a cat, and she enjoyed the girl's company.

And she gave her extra fish.

Corvin placed the shell on the ground in front of her, batting it forward a little bit towards Sarah.

"Oh, is this for me?" Sarah picked the shell up, looking it over. "A nice shell like this? Worth at least three sticks." Corvin perked up at that, scooting forward as Sarah stood back up and snapped on a pair of gloves. The girl quickly fried up some fish, placing three sticks into a small paper bag before kneeling down and placing it in front of her.

Per routine, Corvin stayed still for a moment, letting Sarah take pictures of her next to the bag and then some glamour shots for fun.

Sarah waved her off, and Corvin trotted back to her hovel to eat. She picked out and ate through one stick before the grumbling in her stomach stopped.

Still hungry but wanting to get on the move, she began to scrunch up the bag once more, using her mouth along the edge to crinkle the paper together. She paused for a moment first.

People thought it was cute when cats brought them shit, right? Sarah certainly did, so maybe she could endear herself to Tony a bit by bringing him a little gift.

She sniffed around her little home, batting over beanie hats and scarves until she found her more precious trinkets.

Sea glass was her favorite, the sea-polished glass smooth and pretty. She might have had a small hoarding problem in the past when it came to pretty trinkets (and oh she mourned the collection she once had) but it was her guilty pleasure. Grabbing nifty or brightly colored things she put on shelves in her rooms, pretty doodads and what-nots she snagged from farmers markets and garage sales. The habit had not stopped when she shrunk and grew whiskers.

She was the fuckin Little Mermaid of cats now. And she was apart of the Marvel world ayyyy.

Corvin cackled internally at her horrible pun. But, sometimes, horrible puns were all that got you through the day.

She grabbed a decently sized red piece of seaglass and plopped it into the bag before scrunching it up and carting it all off between her teeth.

She made her way quickly back to Stark's home, padded feet hitting the pavement and then the grass when she hit his lawn. She marched right up to the door and sat the bag down before standing on her back legs and patting on the door with her front paws as hard as she could and meowing loudly.

'Let me in, LET ME INNNN' she yowled as she laughed.

For fuck sake she was pathetic but it was funny.

She kept up the noise for a while before the door opened, a very haggard and frumpy Tony standing there, looking down at her bewildered.

She chirped up at him prettily, just for sass.

"What the hell?" Tony mumbled to himself as Corvin turned and picked up the paper bag in her mouth before trotting past. He just watched her do it, like he wasn't believing his own eyes.

Corvin walked in and sat on the tiled floor of the walk-in kitchen before digging open her bag with a few well-practiced head jerks (she was a repeat consumer at FFFF and the paper bag was always given). She smushed her face into the opening she created, her teeth clicking together as she tried to grab the seaglass. She was finally able to pinch it between her teeth and pull it out, turning towards Tony and setting it down in front of him. She batted it forwards slightly like she did the shell earlier until Tony took the hint and picked it up. His fingers slowly picked up the glass, his face scrunched in the most confused look.

"JARVIS, why did this stray cat give me a piece of glass?" He called out to the room.

"According to the internet, Sir, cats bringing dead or partially dead animals to their young to train them to hunt and fend for themselves. Cats are known to bring a wide variety of gifts to their owners in the same manner."

"It also brought a paper bag."

"Indeed, Sir. It appears to be from a food vendor from within the city."

Corvin already had her head in the bag again, digging out the other two fish sticks for her to eat. She pulled one out of the bag and set it on the ground, holding it between her front paws so she could rip little bites off of it.

"...Cats are weird." Tony huffed, shaking his head and moving over to the kitchen. He pulled out a pot of coffee and made himself a cup, then came back to sit on the floor near her.

Stark sat there and just watched her eat the fish, staring at her. Or more like staring through her. His eyes glazed over after a while and his mind was a million miles away, trapped in the desert sands.

'Not on my fuckin watch' Corvin huffed to herself, picking up what was left of her fish and trotting over to the man. She set it down close to him before moving in, sniffing at his face and tickling the skin with her whiskers. She meowed in his face loudly, enough to draw him out of his thoughts. Tony's eyebrows raised as his eyes refocused on her.

Content that he was drawn out of his thoughts for the moment, Corvin sat between his legs, pressing her side to the inside of one of his thighs. She was well into working on her fish when she felt a light brush of fingers against the fur on her back. She made sure to let out a deep purr at that, encouraging it.

The motions continued for a long while, picking up in pressure and scratches until he was fully petting her and she was rolling on the floor between his knees, trying to get him to scratch at the just the right place.

She was purring like mad, the mouth-open grumbly snorting kind. It was kind of embarrassing, but shame went right out the window when he scratched that one spot under her chin and removed a picker bur that had been bothering her for days. Fucking picker bushes, man. The bane of her fucking exsistance.

After Tony found the first bur, he was like a man on a mission, sifting through her fur and undigging all the little burs and seeds that got caught in her fur from time trotting through the underbrush to get to and from his house.

"You got fleas," Tony mumbled, pinching a small bug between his fingers, rolling it between them to kill it. And fuck, she knew that already. They had been killing her for months now, biting and itching everywhere. She stopped the worst of it by soaking in water for a long time to soothe the ache, and the spay the salon used helped as well, but never enough.

"Should get some treatment, they got things for that i'm sure," he continued to mumble to himself.

Corvin knew he was probably using her as a distraction, something to hyper fixate on to keep the bad memories back. And a part of her felt guilty for allowing it, but another part of her understood and was glad it was toward something harmless.

She had done a lot of thinking on her walks to and from the mansion. Tony hadn't gotten into his revenge plan yet, it was too close to his release and he was recovering. From what she remembered from the movie, Tony had dived into the Iron Man without a moment's pause between. She hoped she could distract him enough to give him a little recovery time before the next big life up-chuck.

"JARVIS, they got flea treatment for cats, right?"

"Yes, Sir, would you like me to put it on the shopping list?" The AI responded.

"Yeah, have it shipped out asap, would u buddy?"

"Of course, Sir."

Tony continued to pick through her fur, pulling out all the things caught in it. She was thankful she went to the salon not too long ago or it would have been a mess. Her long hairs caught anything that fluttered through the wind and she often times felt like a walking garbage bin because of it.

She also felt like she was one of those monkeys on the Discovery channel, the ones that groom each other looking for pests.

Corvin snorted at the thought, the sound coming our in a 'kkuh' sound.

Tony finished the impromptu grooming session, leaning back and petting a few fingers through her long fur. The act seemed to soothe him, and she was glad for it. She'd do whatever she could to help this man out.

The grooming session set the tone for the day, and Corvin found herself padding after the genius most of the time. She'd stay back most of the time, only coming up to him and rubbing all over his legs when his eyes would glaze over and his breath quicken.

But by the end of the day, both Tony and her were exhausted.

One thing she noted was the absence of any visitors, and at first she was enraged on Tony's behalf. But she remembered who Tony's friends were: Pepper, Happy and Rhodey. And those three were loyal to the core and probably were kept away against their will. Knowing what she did of Tony, he probably asked for some space to get his bearings.

With that in mind, Corvin elected to withhold her judgement for now. She'd see where things fell when she met them for the first time.

One thing she couldn't prevent, was Tony going into his workshop and tinkering.

She was able to sit on a stool and watch as he puttered about, grabbing this and that and doing fancy tech stuff that went wayyyy over her head. But after a few hours of curiously observing the man get lost in his work, she started to see the skeleton of what he was making.

The new arc reactor.

Which was So. Fucking. COOL!

Corvin stretched from where she was sitting, trying to get a better look at the device. History was in the making and she was but a humble observer to this grand occurrence.

Watching him putter about was cool, (admittedly, she zoned out in a few places) the pieces coming together, until a familiar scene came into being.

Tony leaned back in a chair, wires taped to every inch of him to monitor vitals, a towel in his lap and the new arc reactor in his hand. He tapped on a screen for a second, speaking into in.

"Pepper, how big are your hands?" he called,

Oh shit, Pepper was here. Maybe she zoned out a little more than she thought.

After a few more words between the two and a few odd minutes later, the door to the lap opened and in walked the famous Pepper Pots.

The fucking QUEEN!

Corvin was hella gay for Pepper-mother-fuckin-Pots. She was the embodiment of girl power, crushing the patriarchy under her stiletto heels and breaking thought the glass ceiling like she was on a rocket to fucking Mars. Corvin was ready to build a shrine to her and worship her as a goddess, leaving her offerings of designer heels, completed paperwork, and the decapitated heads of her enemies. If Corvin had a voice, she'd be chanting 'PE-PPER PE-PPER PE-PPER!'

God that woman was amazing.

Completely starstruck, Corvin did not pay much attention to what happened between Pepper and Tony. Mainly the hand-in-chest, pus on hand bit. But Corvin didn't want to barf all over Tony's work table at the sight of pus (cuz that shit is fucking GROSS) so she wasn't all that torn up about it.

"Tony what is this?"

Oh shit.

Pepper stood in front of her, an eyebrow raised as she looked her over.

"Uh, a cat?"

"Tony, why did you adopt a cat?" Pepper sounded exasperated.

"In my defense, I did not adopt the cat, the cat adopted me." Tony whined. True though. She did adopt herself a grown genius.

Corvin chirped prettily up at Pepper, batting her eyes at the woman and sitting pretty while she did it.

"Why is it still here, then? Tony you don't have the time for a pet." Pepper said, exasperated.

"Wait, listen Pep, weird story. This cat," Tony had hopped off the chair and moved over to the two of them. "She's that cat that's been around Zuma beach, that one from months back."

"There are a million cats around Zuma beach, Tony."

"This is the-the" Tony snapped his fingers, trying to recall something, "The one I took a picture with! Remember you telling me it'd look good for PR to do something 'relatable' so i found that cat."

"Yes, I recall the cat, Tony. It still doesn't explain why it's here-"

"She"

"What?"

"Its a girl."

Pepper sighed, "fine, it doesn't explain why she is here."

"She kinda just… walked in?"

"Walked in?"

"Through the garage."

"Through the garage?"

"Is there in echo in here?" Tony snarked, looking around. Pepper gave him a look, causing to hold his hands up in surrender. "She literally walked in through the garage entrance, she left and then came back again. She snuck past me through the front door when i opened it."

"You're lucky she hasn't peed on anything, Tony."

Corvin gasped in full offence, the noise coming out more like an adorable sniffle instead of the fully affronted wheeze sound she wanted.

Foiled by her own cute cat-ness.

"She's been pretty well behaved, actually. JARVIS would have told me otherwise."

"She could have fleas, or tics, Tony. She could be carrying something like a disease. This is why you can't bring in stray animals."

"Hmmm, on that note, JARVIS, schedule a vet appointment. Ill get Happy to take her, make sure she's all good."

"Tony-" Pepper started, sounding exasperated.

"Listen, listen Pep," Tony steam rolled over her, placing a single hand on one of Pepper's shoulders. "I can't explain this, but the cat came and… I don't know, she's only been here for like a day and…" Tony shook his head, not able to find the words. "I like having the cat around, and who knows? She might just wander off again after a while, but she's been pretty good since she got here." he spoke animatedly, hands gesturing this way and that, making Corvin's head a bit dizzy by the rapid back and forth.

Pepper was giving Tony a very long look, trying to gauge just how serious Tony was about her staying. Tony was giving amazing puppy eyes in return. Pepper finally gave in, sighing heavily.

"Fine, but she needs to go to the vet," Pepper looked over to Corvin, who perked up. "And a groomer."

Rude.

"Deal," Tony said, smiling brightly at Pepper. Corvin meows loudly, reminding the two that the subject of their conversation was still very much present, thank you very much.

"She also needs a name." Pepper said, looking Corvin over.

"Easy, Licorice Stick." Tony declared, causing the redhead to raise her eyebrows at him. He shrugged, "first time i saw her, she was sitting next to an old, half eaten twizzler."

Pepper's eye roll was almost audible.

"Vet and groomer, Mr Stark."

"Of course Miss Potts."

A few hours later found Corvin in a limo with the one and only Happy Hogan driving it. He had brought a cat carrier, but she vehemently refused to get in it. It was hard and uncomfortable looking and she wasn't about to do that shit.

After about an hour of Happy trying to coax her into the carrier (and failing), Happy gave in and she just sat in the front seat. She was on her best behavior, staying in the seat and not roaming around. Happy seemed pleased by that, which pleased her in turn. She wanted Tony's buddies to like her, it'd make her integration into Tony's life all the easier.

They got to the vet and she hopped out as Happy opened the door, causing the man to panic a bit.

"Wait wait wait! Don't run off!" Happy called to her, leaning down as if to pick her up. Corvin sure as shit didn't like being picked up. Damn people didn't know how to hold her right and how Happy was aiming his hands didn't look any better. So she dodged between hands as the man cursed and tried to snatch her. She moved over to the door, hoping he'd catch onto her plans and NOT pick her ass up.

Thankfully, Mr Happy Hogan was blessed with brain cells and caught on pretty quick, even if he did grumble about it.

The vet was pretty fuckin chill, the place was fancy-shmancy with classy paintings on the walls and polished wood floors. Happy wasn't the only chauffeur with an animal. There was one dude in a suit that had a Doberman over ten times her size who woofed at her when she came in. Corvin stuck her nose in the air, sauntering past the dog with her tail flicking.

She jumped up on the counter, looking over the receptionist as Happy checked them in.

They didn't have to wait long before they were shuffled into the back and into a room that looked fancier than most posh hotels. She walked, obviously. The receptionist thought it was amusing, glancing down at her occasionally as she trotted right behind Happy.

The vet was in the room, a kindly old man who Corvin liked immediately. She hopped onto the table and sat before the man, chirping at him as she did.

"Well, aren't you a pretty one?" the vet said, the name Bermington pinned on his lapel. He took a clipboard from the receptionist, who quietly left. Happy stood on the other side of the examination table to the Dr.

"Miss Licorice Stick, is it?" Dr Bermington he asked, looking to her. Corvin knew he was just playing, not expecting her to know what he was saying, but it was nice to be talked to rather than over or about.

That was a big thing that she missed, conversation. She missed the interaction. You never really realized how much one talks until the ability is taken away completely…

Corvin shook her head violently to dispel the thoughts, sending a mental punch towards the thought to get it away. Now wasn't the time to get sad and melancholy.

She chirped up at the doc, sitting still as he spoke with Happy, who explained how she was a stray that his boss wanted to take in. How she was found and all that.

"So, ill be doing a full check up: shots, flea and tic treatment, a dental check. Were you looking to get her spayed?"

...wut.

FUCK

THAT

SHIT!

Corvin yowled out, throwing her head back as she screeched her displeasure. Claws scrambled along the metal surface as she launched off, aiming for the door.

The allure of being Tony mother-fuckin-Stark's pet was very much dashed by the desire to keep her junk as is, thank you very much.

Who was she, if not thirsty? And these people were trying to take that from her.

Trays and tools went flying in her mad dash, two pairs of big, meaty hands trying to nab her and keep her still. But she slipped through, landing on the floor and running for the door.

Happy was cursing wildly, reaching out and grabbing the closest part of her he could, which was her tail. She keened in pain as her tail was pulled by the man, the pain of it rocketing up her spine. She quickly turned, claws extending.

"Shit!" Happy yelped, drawing his hands away, four lines of red scratched along his hand.

Corvin stayed where she had been, whimpering in pain. That fucking HURT!

SHIT!

If she still had hands she would have decked Happy in the face because it fuckin ached like a dislocated joint. Probably was, because Happy was a big fuckin' dumbass cow ass lickin' mother fukin-

The breath wooshed out of her as the doctor scooped her up.

"Now, none of that, young lady." Dr Bermington scolded, pressing her firmly to his sternum to keep her in place. He turned to Happy, "there are antiseptic wipes right over there" he indicated with his chin towards a shelf. The bodyguard cursed under his breath as he shuffled over to the shelf.

"My boss said no to neutering." Happy said huffily, casting a quick glare to Corvin as if saying 'but I would'. She gave him her best death glare her fuzzy face could make from where she remained in the vet's arms, ears back and everything.

"Sounds good, if there's no other out bursts, I'll continue with the exam."

In summary, she was a healthy cat. Her body was about a year and a half old and a bit underweight but not overly so. She did have something weird with her back teeth, though. The doc took an X-ray of her (which she sat nicely for) and found out they were compacted and she'd need kitty braces placed later on. Fun.

She also got flea and tic treatment, the gel was cold against her neck and felt weird as fuck. Like a burning tingle along her spine. Now she knew why cats didn't like getting flea treatment.

Happy and her were nudged out of the office after an hour or so, appointment all done and a prescription flea treatment clasped in Happy's hand. She walked to the car and hopped in when Happy opened the door.

Next: Groomers.

Hell yeah!

They strolled into the groomers, some fancy place called 'Pet Palace', and Corvin was taken to the back immediately. Being associated to Tony Stark, even as a cat, meant that wait times were a thing of the past apparently. Not that she was complaining, but it would have been a boon back when she was human more than now. Like at the DMV.

Ooo bonus, as a cat she didn't have to worry about renewing her licence or plate stickers. Or pay taxes.

Sweeeeet~

Anyway, back to the groomers.

She had never been so pampered in her life. It was amazing! She got her nails trimmed, her fur washed and then combed with the finest brush. One blow dry and she felt like a whole new cat. Her overgrown fur had also been trimmed as well so by the end she was looking EXTRA fine.

The groomer complimented Happy on her behavior, saying she never had an animal sit and behave so well. Happy had replied with a tight smile, one hand rubbing at the red lines along his other hand and giving her a side look. Corvin kinda felt bad about that, but then she's shift a bit and feel the dull ache of where her tail had been pulled and it would quickly vanish.

But she was clean! And pretty! Her fur felt so nice and tangle free for the first time since she got here. It made her so ecstatic, she wanted to recreate the dance scene from the Breakfast Club right on the counter.

She was practically prancing on her way back to the car, a little bow wrapped around her neck from the groomer for being such a good cat. She looked like one of those Instagram cats. Now she just needed to take a slow motion video of her walking into the wind with a dramatic orchestral piece playing in the background and her vibe would be compleeeete.

Back at the house, Happy let her through the front door and she raced through the living room, looking for Tony. She was ready to show off her new look and she expected many compliments from the genius she had adopted.

It was pretty late in the day after the running around, so she suspected him to be down in the lab. She was correct.

Tony was hunched over some sort of circuit board, soldering wires into place. She hopped up onto a stool and waited for him to notice her. She wasn't dumb enough to startle him when he was working with dangerous power tools, she didn't want to be the reason Tony Stark lost a finger.

She could see the headlines now: 'Tony Stark: Loses Fingers to Surprise Pussy!'

Corvin cackled to herself, gleeful at all the dirty puns she could make about her current situation. There was no end to the cat related jokes she could, and would, whip out now. Like an unsolicited dick pic: unwanted and more than likely killing any good mode going.

To bad they would all be to herself, since she lacked in any way to truly communicate with the people around her. She had such an arsenal of bad jokes, and no way to share them.

Ahh shit, no thinking along those lines. She didn't want to spiral into another meleconly line of thought. She was trying to enjoy herself damnit!

Thankfully, any thought was derailed as Tony finally got done with the soldiering and caught sight of her.

"Licorice! Aren't you looking pretty." He exclaimed, setting down his tools and pulling off his safety gloves and goggles. She purred as calloused fingers rubbed along her back, nails digging between her fur to massage at the skin beneath.

"While you and Happy were gone, some things came in that you'll be needing if your staying here, kit kat." he reached out and pulled her into his good arm.

High key, he still looked like shit. With bruises dotted over his face and stuff. But she was hoping to change that soon. After he showed her whatever he got her.

She stuck her back feet into the brace like before as he carried her to the far side of the room where there appeared to be a small cat station set up. There was a litter box and a food/ water dispenser there. There was also a small handful of cat toys next to a small scratching post.

"Now, I know it's not much, your Highness. But Pepper wouldn't let me get more until we knew for sure if you'd be sticking around. There is one of these in the living room and one upstairs in one of the bedrooms as well. Try not to stink up my house with your nasty kitty poo, alright? And please don't piss on anything or Pepper will give me her killer glare that I swear leaves burn marks on my skin. Sounds like a plan, Chishire?"

She's pretty sure he didn't stop for a breath during that whole talk.

She let out a little 'murt' and wiggled, waiting for Tony to lean down to let her go before moving over to inspect her kitty korner. Everything smelled new and unused. The scratching post smelled like cedar wood and the toys smelled like plastic. The litter box was plastic and the litter inside smelled weird, like a mix of dirt and aerosol. She didn't like the smell, but it would mask anything she put in there.

Maybe she could learn how to use the toilet in this body? That would be awesome. She'd be one of those toilet using cats that flushed after themselves. And it was less humiliating than shitting in a sandbox.

She turned to Tony who was watching her expectantly.

Ah shit, what to do to show him she was grateful for the stuff? Because she was! She didn't want to be like those assholes she knew used Tony for his money (*cough cough*avengers*cough cough*). So she leaned down and batted around one of the toys, one shaped like a little fish. She pushed it back and forth between her paws, chasing after it if she hit it too hard and sent it flying. There was a bell inside the fish that rang every time she hit it, too, it sounded pretty cool to her new hearing.

Ok, this is actually kinda fun.

She wasted a lot of time playing with the numerous toys at the cat station, even long after Tony got back to work, content that she liked her new stuff.

She stopped when she finally tired herself out, coming to a halt near a table as the small mesh ball she had been playing with rolled under it.

Do i want to get it out? She thought. ...Meh.

She turned, tail flicking up as she moved over to Tony. She was certain it was late, and it was time for all baby geniuses to go to bed.

Corvin sat at his feet and meowed, loudly, to get his attention.

"Mmm, Licorice, what is it?" Stark mumbled, still hunched over whatever he was working on at the time. She meowed again. And again. And again until he looked at her. He had bags under his eyes and looked two seconds from falling flat on his face. She 'purt'ed up at him, pawing lightly at his leg.

Tony sighed, long and loud, rubbing one hand down his face.

"I guess it's way past your bedtime aint it?" he said. He leaned back stretching out. Several bones popped as he adjusted. Fingers lagged as he began to shut down his equipment, things too dangerous to be left on overnight.

"Jay, project on standby till tomorrow."

"Of course, Sir."

"C'mon, Licorice." he waved his hand for her to follow. And she did, hopping up and following him to the elevator and upstairs.

In the bedroom, there was another surprise for her. A large, plush cat bed sat next to the dresser, out of the way of foot traffic. She purred as she trotted over to it as Tony went to the bathroom, sniffing it first before anything. It was always good to sniff things before doing anything with them, kept you safe and from accidently fucking with anything that belongs to someone else. Smell was also a good indicator of intent when it came to people and other animals.

The bed smelled new, like pleather and synthetic wool. Hopping in, she was pleased to find that the bed was soft and comfortable. It still needed a bit of kneading here and there to get it just right but other than that it was perfect.

Stark left the restroom, clad in sleeping pants and sling off. She chirped at him from where she was laying.

"Ah, I see you found the bed." he hummed, coming over. He crouched down, petting her a few times behind the ears as she purred, her eyes closing in contentment.

He moved away after a bit, sliding into his bed and asking for Jarvis to turn the lights off. She watched as he felt to sleep, his breath evening out slowly. She was surprised how quickly he slipped off, given how weird he seemed all the time. As ball of unending energy, it was weird to see him rest, his face peaceful in his sleep.

The peace didn't last forever, of course. Corvin was just about to nod off when he heard a whimper come from the bed. Ears perking up, she looked up to the bed. Tony was facing away from her, but, even in the darkness (which she could see just fine in BTW), she could see the faint tremors in his shoulders.

Shit, a nightmare.

Corvin stood and made her way to the bed, jumping onto the mattress and moving to the top of the bed.

A sheen of sweat covered Stark, his skin pale and clammy with it. She could see his pulse fluttering in his throat and the pinched look on his face. Corvin pulled herself up to next to his head, settling down along the back of his head and neck. She let out a deep, vibrating purr, rubbing her face along his hair.

It worked, thank goodness. After a few minutes, the shaking stopped and the furrowed brows smoothed back into a peaceful expression.

Corvin breathed a sigh of relief and rested her head against the side of his.

One nightmare, vanquished. She thought. Unlimited amount left.

It was a daunting prospect, but Corvin was ready and willing to embrace it.

Breathing deeply, Corvin closed her eyes and fell asleep.

AN:

Thank you all so much for the support! i love reading each and every one of your reviews and i take to heart a lot of your suggestions.

Couple of notes

- Corvin is never turning human, she will always be a cat in this story

- Tony/OC is platonic

thank you all and i hope you continue to enjoy reading my heaping garbage pile :D