Trying to reach 5K votes by chapter 35 so tell yo friends, yo family, yo neighbours and strangers online to come and show this fic some love x

Yo sorry seasonal depression is a kick in the ass (:

Honestly, 'I know' should be this entire fics tagline cus it's said so fucking much

By request, and because Tony Stark is utterly terrified of Pepper Potts, Tony had indeed read the cards word by word and had only added a quip or two when he thought the dialogue was dry and the crowd was even dryer. He had smiled, he had waved, he had posed for photos and signed the sheets, shook hands and nodded his head, was patted on the shoulder, on the back, fingers lingered on his arm, hands squeezing his own as business men and women gushed and spoke energetically because you are so much like Howard, Tony, so much like your father, isn't that wonderful?

Tony is very good at preforming and maybe that's because his entire life has always been an act, a play, a stage show for the world to sit back, relax and enjoy as Tony stumbles over all the hurdles that life throws at him. He knows how to talk, to walk, smile and laugh in all the correct ways, he knows when to show dominance when shaking a hand and when to kiss the back of one and he definitely knows how to scan a room.

And there had been one figure that had unwillingly caught his eye as he stood ahead of a crowd of entrepreneurs and philanthropists as Tony spoke about the charity of the evening with so much enthusiasm that you would believe that Tony Stark himself would plant a tree for every dollar donated to the Burning of the Amazon foundation. Tony can't even remember pitching this idea but he's sure it was Obie's doing, jumping on the bandwagon of other philanthropists who did the same to feed the media frenzy.

Tiberius Stone has seemed to have grown more handsomer with age, more chiselled and mature, the boyish charm that hung about him in university long gone now from the man that keeps following Tony about like an unwanted, pestering fly. Tony may hate Tiberius Stone with all of his might, with every fibre of his body, but that does not mean he can't recognise beauty when he sees it, and Tiberius Stone still remains an annoyingly beautiful man.

Tony had spot him in the centre of the crowd, standing tall in his crisp suit and a crystal tumbler twirling in his hand, it's contents of liquid gold swirling against the glass. Tony would be lying if he said he wasn't distracted by him, more so for the fact that Tony's entire self has been knocked side wards after the eventful morning and the alcohol that still lingers in his system was not helping either. He hasn't seen Tiberius in so long and unlike Steve, who Tony had knew to be alive, he frankly thought Tiberius had been dead.

"You're looking good."Tiberius seems to purr, emerging from a crowd and blocking the path that people seem to relaxingly make at Galas and banquets, enough room for waiters and cocktail waitresses to shimmy with their tray of drinks and tiny foods and one that Tony was using as a quick escape to the bar. His shoulder is pressed against Tony's own but not for long.

"I know."He's swift with his actions, almost delicate on his feet as he swerves away from the sharp shoulder and around, eying up the bar that is so plainly in his sight before he's grabbed the attention of a Senator or a suitor that Obie still loves to dangle in front of his eyes every once in a while, hoping that Tony will settle down with a gorgeous Dutches or a wealthy arms manufacturer, for his sake and not for Tony's.

If it was up to Tony, and it is up to Tony, he will never marry because to marry it means to tolerate someone and furthermore, it means for them to tolerate one back. Tony likes his sense of freedom, even if freedom is far from the word of what he actually is, with Obie looming over his shoulder, managing all of his affairs and disposing of the ones that seem to cause trouble when Tony sticks his dick in the wrong princess to be or snorts cocaine off of a senator who doesn't want to be wangle with Tony Stark; Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist.

Tony grew up in a household where marriage was toxic, that it was only used to breed an heir. Tony has no wish to carry on the Stark gene, not when he has seen what the outcome comes to; of alcoholism, paranoia and addiction. Tony wouldn't wish anyone to have even an ounce of Stark in them because intelligence is marvellous on its own, but it's a curse when coupled with toxic and death-dealing traits such as that that Tony is riddled with.

"Hey,"Tiberius' hand is suddenly around Tony's wrist the moment that he turns away for the bar, half a step away from the body that had purposely banged into him to gain his undivided attention."Don't you want to talk to me?"

"I don't want anything to do with you."Tony forcefully yanks his wrist out of the strong grasp, it coming to rest back at his side while the other twirls the crystal tumblr that had once held whiskey and what Tony wishes still did. Too many familiar faces have made themselves known to Tony today, out of all days, and Tony would rather not have Tiberius Stone trying to slide his way into his pants as well.

"I haven't seen you in an awful long time, Tony. Quite frankly, I heard you were sent to that Rehab clinic in Connecticut, y'know the one, where you have your own room?"

"Oh well, you know me, I can't commit."He shrugs, not exactly looking at Tiberius but over his shoulder, eyes casting the crowd behind him in hopes of catching sight of Pepper or anyone even remarkably interesting to pull him away from the glowering Tiberius Stone.

"People just love to talk."

"I'm sure they do but right now, I would like to drink."It's like an itch that Tony can't scratch but it can be soothed with alcohol and when that isn't effective, other methods act as Tony's plaster to his hurting heart and aching mind. The bar is right in his reach and if only he could get to it and quench his thirst.

"You want a drink? Let me buy you one, I think I owe you one from, what, a couple of years back, I'm sure. It hasn't been that long, has it?"Ty looks generally surprised and come to think of it, it has been that long since he and Ty last spoke, last saw one another and mingled in each other's company. Tiberius had found him on the balcony, Tony had just been made Times Magazine Man Of The Year and Tiberius was all but thrilled to buy him a couple of congratulatory drinks. They had talked, they had drank, they had fucked and then he was gone. Until now, of course.

"It has."

"Manhattan, wasn't it? Banquet Dinner to help starving children, if I do recall."He goes on, taking a closer step to Tony who continues to stand tall, shoulders rolled back and chest puffed out in a way that makes the glow of his reactor stand further out, the metal rim sticking out through the expensive material of his shirt. Tiberius glances at it, for not even a second, but Tony has gotten so use to people dipping a look at his abnormality that he caught the millisecond glance. "Scotch on the rocks, yeah?"

And he smells so good, like the cologne he use to wear all those years back when he prowled the campus after a fresh-out-of-the-womb baby face Tony, in all his 6 foot tall handsomeness. There's just something about that smell, the smell of rich expensive aftershave, that brings you back to all the good moments and disregard all the bad because when Tony thinks about it, not all his moments with Tiberius were so sour, and they were far better than what he had with Obie.

So Tony nods his head, his shoulders slump, his guard goes down. And maybe it's the alcohol that still lingers in his system, or the day that he's had, or just how good that Tiberius Stone smells, but he relaxes. And he'll make a good evening out of his awful Day.

~
~
~

"Sir, I regret to inform you that Code Name Undesirable No.1 is looking access onto your property."JARVIS has ever gratefully lowered the sound, the lights dimmed to a perfection that Tony would admire if he was to open his eyes or move his head from where it's smushed against the pillow of his living room sofa. He hadn't made it to the bedroom and to be honest, Tony is surprised he even made it to The Warehouse, nevermind to his living room sofa.

There's a kink in his neck as he huffs and puffs, turning from his side to his back, stretching out his back, then his neck, the shoulders, the arms and flex his fingers in the air for a bit before his hands comeback to his face, rubbing at his tired, heavy eyes. He doesn't want to get up, he doesn't want to face the world and all it's problems, all of his problems. And he definitely doesn't want to deal with Obie, not today, not ever and especially not when hungover.

"Tell him I'm not home, I'm in the office or something."He huffs, lips chapped and dry and God, he's dying of thirst. He's not even sure what time it is.

"I don't think that's quiet believable Sir, you are not found in the office even when you should be."

"Is that sass?"If tony had his eyes open he'd be narrowing them at the ceiling. Tony can't remember programming his A.I with that much sass, or maybe he had, JARVIS was modelled after his Jarvis after all.

"Of course not, sir, it's just general knowledge."

"Hmph."

Tony can't remember much of last night and he's not sure if it's a good or a bad thing, but he knows that he's going to find out sooner or later. Obie will be more than thrilled to sit him down like an ill mannered little boy and show him last night, glimpses caught through the lenses of wandering phones and paparazzo lenses. It was his favourite thing to do, Tony is sure, because the condescending smirk and tight hand around Tony's neck is a dead give away of just how much he enjoys it.

"I don't want him in here."He announces, opening his eyes and blinking away what stiffness he wasn't able to rub away. The blinds remain closed, shielding Tony from what light would sleek through. He stretches, hears a click in his neck before relaxing back into the sofa. "Tell him I'm at the Hospital, an important and not to be interrupted meeting with Doctor Strange. Strange will cover for me."

"I don't believe that he would."

"Oh he will, he thinks I'm cute."Which was an understatement because Tony has seen the way that Strange has looked at him, with deep adoration and respect, the way he would enclose Tony from behind if he was reading at a counter, protective and soft. It didn't make Tony tense, it made him feel safe and goddamnit, Tony loves it but hates it.

"As you say, Sir."And this time, Tony does glare at the ceiling because the point of having technology that he built is to make sure they continue to inflate his ego, goddamnit.

Tony manages to shower and get changed in a record time for someone in his hungover state, emerging from his bedroom in his workshop gear of battered jeans and a worse for wear tank top. The tank top swoops low on his chest, exposing the top half of the Arc Reactor but Tony doesn't mind, nobody will see him in the confinement of his workshop.

His workshop was located in what was the basement of the abandoned warehouse, gutted from storage units and old boiler heaters so that Tony could accustom it with his advanced technology. His workshop became one of his first major projects, starting from scratch and investing all his time and money into making it his. It was where he birthed so many ideas, where he studied for his doctorate, where he created Butterfingers and U and where he created his first prototype of a prosthetic made from cybernetic technology.

Now he just needs to perfect it.

"Dum-E, what did I say about using the coffee maker?"Tony's tone is full of exhaustion as he watches the bot race from one side of the workshop to where Tony stands at its entrance, hands on his hips as he glares at the bot and the container of coffee that it holds in his claw. Dum-E beeps and whirls excitedly, showing off the container of coffee to his master. "Yes I know, you made coffee, but don't you remember what happened last time you made me coffee?"

Butterfingers and U both beep is remembrance from their position at an old car that Tony had stored away a long time ago, one he had lost interest in tinkering with but one he didn't have the heart to throw away for scrap either. It was a beautiful car and it held a precious memory that Tony fears he would forget if he threw it away.

"See, they remember what happened."Tony waves at his other bots, looking Dum-E up and down as the bot makes an almost sad sounding beep, going to turn around and dispose of the coffee somewhere else. Tony sighs, watching how Dum-E seems to move slowly away from him, as if he's trying to make him feel guilty. "Fine, I'll take the coffee. You're so petty."

Dum-E whirls and beeps in happiness as Tony snatches the thermal container out of his bots claw and he begins to spin in circles of excitement when Tony brings the coffee up to his lips and seems to take a sip of it. The liquid in the container is closer to the texture of dirt than actual coffee and Tony has to force a smile onto his lips with a content sort of hum just to keep Dum-E happy enough to race off to do something else while Tony spits the coffee out into the bin, the container as well.

He sure does love his bots but they will definitely be the death of him one day. And he reckons he's okay with that.

It doesn't take Tony long to get himself settled into his workshop routine, of letting Jarvis scan his emails for ones marked IMPORTANT and URGENT and for Tony to glance at them himself, deeming them either not of his time and pass them along to Pepper or ones he can complete in a matter of minutes without hassle. Jarvis has taken it to himself to create a To Do list of work because Tony may not like being told what to do but he sure does like having tasks to complete or else he will fall down a swampy rabbit hole of meaningless work.

"Sir, I do need to remind you that you wanted to call Doctor Banner this afternoon."Tony blinks, hands stopping in its tracks of gliding across holographic screens, eyes tired of squinting because he forgot where he had last set his glasses and doesn't want to ask JARVIS where they are. He looks at the clock, making a strangled sound of surprise at the time.

"Ring him now, J."Tony crosses his hands and swipes the prototype projection away, saved for later. S.I were up his back about his lack of input in their devices, it had only been last year that the Stark Tab Gen 3 had came out but people become superficial, materialistic and as much as it's known that Stark Technology are far more advanced than that of Apple or Samsung, their competitors were pumping out products like there was no tomorrow.

But there was only one of Tony, and despite the dozens of intelligent minds that work hard to perfect Tony's products, there was only one mind that could truly perfect it.

"Doctor Banner, long time no see."Tony salutes to the screen as soon as a friendly face has greeted him, fingers dancing across various projections that float around his workshop. He's an expert at multitasking even if Pepper says that once he gets sucked into something, it's as if he develops tunnel vision. He needs an extra set of eyes on these blueprints, however, and Doctor Banner seems like a good place to start.

"How many times do I have to tell you to call me Bruce, Tony."It's not even a question because Bruce knows just how excited Tony was when Bruce got his doctorate, leaping and jumping around his workshop like an excited puppy dog and he has made sure to use his title excessively ever since.

"Until I get sick of hearing the title Doctor Banner. God, that just makes me shiver and quake! I think I just creamed."Tony makes a show of tensing and shivering, smirking and winking seductively to the screen.

"You're disgusting."But there's a smile tugging at the corner of his lips, pushing his falling glasses back up his nose. He had been working on a paper before he was rudely interrupted. However, despite the interruption, Bruce was kind of happy for it. He hasn't heard from Tony in a while, not since Tony had miraculously thought up of a new cybernetic technology that he could advance into his prosthetics.

"So I've this bruise..."Tony starts, holding up his exposed elbow and making a show of looking at it himself, frowning.

"I'm not that kind of doctor."

"Oh I know, this is not a physical bruise."He puts down his elbow, throwing up a holographic screen so that he can swipe and swerve through them in search of the thing that he's looking for.

"I'm not that kind of doctor either, Tony."Bruce pushes his glasses up onto his forehead as he rubs at the bridge of his nose tiredly. Talking to Tony is never straight forward, Bruce has learned that the hard way.

"Yes but you can help me, I'm sure, because I've a dilemma."

"I thought you were phoning me about the cybernetic prosthetic, Tony."Bruce looks bored or maybe that's just Tony's paranoia sneaking through as he quickly swipes his projections to keep Bruce's interests alive.

"Oh, I am."Tony flicks a finger, spinning his hologram projection screens until the one he's looking for meets his eye, pushing it forward to the webcam and expanding it so that Bruce can take a good look at it. The physicist looks over it for a couple of seconds, narrowing his eyes before addressing Tony again.

"It's completed."

"I mean, technically yes, that isn't my dilemma, that was a ploy actually."Tony waves the screen off, pushing another one to Bruce's view. It's virtually the same profile that Tony had been given the previous morning but Tony had gratefully updated the details, added in the italics, the underlined and the big bold letters to dramatise the profile. It was completed with virtual tags that when pressed held all of Tony's notes, incoherent to everyone that wasn't Tony Stark.

Bruce takes a moment and Tony knows it isn't because he doesn't recognise the patient, because he had just had drinks with him that previous night, but because he isn't quite sure what to say. Tony rocks back on his heels, tries to make himself look busy as Bruce remains quiet, rereading the profile, taking a good hard look at Tony, sighing loudly as he sits back in his chair and recollects himself.

"You need to put your profession before your personal life."Is all that he says and Tony's head jerks from where he was staring at a sticky note that has been pressed to a mug, 'Remember 2 check p' scrawled on it.

"That's a bit hard when my personal life and my profession go a hand in hand, Bruce. Which, by the way, is not my fault."Tony had once tried to become a private man, to keep his affairs and whereabouts and what doings things that nobody knew about, but it was pretty hard when the media has been following your existence before your birth and Obie just loves to throw Tony into a media frenzy every once in a while to rile up the board.

"It's a struggle of morality verses ethics."He continues, waving a hand as he speaks,"You can either pass on the responsibility to Strange or you let Steve be the wall between you winning a Nobel Peace Prize and Bucky being able to live a normal life."

"You really think I could get a Noble Peace Prize?"He plays coy, only looking at Bruce through his eyelashes as he plays with a spanner instead. It has crossed his mind every so often but to hear it coming from someone else makes it seems a lot more real.

"Tony, what you are doing is beyond incredible, I wish I was the one that came up with it."

"You're not that kind of doctor,"Tony smirks, shrugging a shoulder,"And besides, you kept declining my offer to be apart of my team."

"And work for you? No thanks. I'd rather stay here."He jesters to the room behind him, empty, quiet and clean. Tony sucks his teeth, remembering just how long ago it was that they have properly spoke. They were both busy people and Bruce being the introvert to Tony's extrovert made things a lot more difficult for them to spend time together. He pushes a load of paper to the side of the work bench, perching himself on the corner as he gives Bruce his undivided attention.

"Come on then, fill me in on the things I've missed."

God that was a long chapter and I really did think about splitting it up but I'm glad that I didn't know because I CANNOT wait for the next chapter (;

Please tell me what you all thought! I'm so sorry that it took so long to update but I've hit such a slump and just as I thought 2019 was gonna give me the perfect ending, alas, it did not.

What's your opinion on Tony's character so far? How are you liking adult Tony?

Tony seems to have a lot of guys pinning after him, huh?

What's your thought on Tony and Bruce still remaining friends?

Votecommentfollow (and I promise you won't wait as long for Thirty-One)

Peace ✌🏼