""Win A Date With Tony Stark" MCU, Tony Stark, M, Cold

[SleepingPhlox]

So I guess technically this would be a "character X reader" type of fic even though I never saw myself writing one of those, like, ever.     I actually dreamt of writing this a while ago, and it took me a while to actually get the courage to sit down and do it because it's really different than what I would usually write.  Basically it's written in second person from the point of view of a character who is gender nonspecific and not described in detail so folks can go on ahead and stick themselves in there if they so desire.   So in which you - yes YOU! - have entered a contest to win a date with Tony Stark, and won, but PLOT TWIST, he has an absolutely rotten cold. 

I kinda see this as taking place somewhere after the first Avengers movie when they're really riding high on a wave of positive publicity and also because after Infinity War I kinda needed to go back there.

It's alluded to in this part that there would have been several simultaneous contests involving all of the Avengers to win an experience with each of them kind of tailored to what would best fit the character.   And it's also alluded to that they've all gotten sick at once.  So I am absolutely 100% open to suggestions of other characters people would like to see for other stories like this.  The one for Steve is already given in this story as a personal training session and I kinda have Natasha's one already planned, but I'm also open to suggestions as to what type of "experience" for different characters people would like to see.

I know I'm a bit hit and miss with multi part stories but this is absolutely going to be continued because I have much of it already written.  Prormise!!!

 

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"Win A Date With Tony Stark"

Of course you never actually expected to win.

Nobody enters a contest like “Win a date with Tony Stark” expecting to actually win it.  The odds would be ridiculous and the whole thing would probably be rigged anyway.  Would somebody like him actually go ahead and risk having to spend a night with any old person off the street?  He could end up killed or kidnapped or bored to tears listening to endless stories about somebody’s pet hamster or something.  Whatever sort of things super rich guys who also happen to be superheroes have to deal with.

So you didn’t really think you’d spend far more than you would have liked on an outfit you were probably going to wear once, standing in front of the sort of place you’d never be able to afford to go to in a million years, and definitely not gaping at the sight of the pristine white Lamborghini that just pulled up a short way away from where you stood, nervously pacing around the entrance.  The pacing didn’t really seem to endear you to some guy you’d already met named Happy (which you were sure wasn’t his given name, or if it was, his parents were certainly some interesting people), who had been tasked with verifying your identity and making sure you were aware of the boring fine print of this arrangement, the do’s and don’ts of interacting with the one and only Tony Stark and, you supposed, probably making sure you weren’t going to kill or kidnap the billionaire.  Though your proclivity toward telling pet hamster stories did go untested.  And the name of “Happy” did seem to be a cruel irony given his apparent determination to be painfully dour and serious.

You had seen Tony Stark on TV, and pictures in magazines and newspapers, of course.  Really, who hadn’t at this stage?  Already a celebrity in his own right, with the rise of the phenomenon of superheroes and the Avengers his fame had only skyrocketed.  Not that you cared about these things, or looked at pictures in the magazines and fantasized about him or anything!  No, no way, not you, nope!  And anyway, so what if you did?  Who on this planet could honestly say they never once fantasized about him?  Come on.  But nothing, nothing at all could have prepared you for the reality of the man himself.  You had never really understood what it meant when people said someone had “presence”, but as he approached, you finally understood the concept.  It wasn’t just the crisp well tailored designer suit or the sunglasses or the immaculate goatee, but more that he seemed to have some sort of aura.  He carried himself with the perfect self assurance of someone who knew exactly who he was, and his place in the world.  Though, you couldn’t put your finger on it but there was something slightly aloof about him.  Like he wasn’t really fully present.  All the same, even just standing there he somehow commanded attention.  Funnily, he was shorter than you expected, yet infinitely more commanding than you could have ever realised.

He took off his sunglasses (why he was wearing him at this time of the evening was a mystery) and flashed you a smile.  It was, as you expected, a perfectly winning smile, revealing rows of straight white teeth.  And, yet, somewhat unexpectedly, warm and genuine.  He looked down at his watch and then meltingly right back into your eyes with that same disarming smile.

“Ah, you must be my nine o’clock.  And look at that, I’m four whole minutes early.  I usually make it a point to be fashionably late, but tonight I decided to make an exception.  Just for you.”

The voice that came through the television during the new reports did not do his actual voice justice.  You briefly likened it to the aural equivalent of a warm cup of black coffee...before questioning exactly where the hell that particular came from.  Voice like warm coffee?  Seriously?  Who thinks like that?  But it did just seem like he was having that effect on you.  And there was definitely a sort of gravelly quality to his voice that had never come across on any recording you ever heard of him.

Maybe you should have entered the “Win a personal training session with Steve Rogers” one after all.  Whatever physical hell that might have entailed might have been better than the emotional agony of wondering if you were going to embarass yourself in front of Tony goddamned Stark of all people. But if he noticed your discomfort, he was far too much of a gentleman to say anything, as he simply offered his arm to you, which you took and...hot damn, was that a firm bicep you felt under that expensive fabric?

“Shall-” he began and then raised a curled hand to his mouth and coughed a few times into it.  “Pardon me.  Shall we?” he said, and then turned to Happy.  “You can hang around out here, we’ll be fine.”

“But...I should...you know, just in case...” Happy protested.

“It’s fine, I got this.”  He turned his attention back to you.  “You’re not packing heat?  No secret ties to Hydra?  Disgruntled ex Stark Industries employee? No?  See, Hap?  We’re good.  Go on, tell Happy we’re good.”

“Yeah...we-we’re good,” you managed to stammer.  Happy narrowed his eyes at you, obviously not entirely convinced, but after another quick glance at Tony, stepped aside.  Though, his reluctance to do so was palpable.

“See?  No worries, I got this,” Tony said more firmly and you couldn’t help but notice a glimmer of understanding flash through Happy’s eyes and then he nodded.  And then you realised it yourself, he had some sort of backup plan.  Of course he did.  He was the Iron Man after all.  That’s how he could go into this and trust there would be no funny business.

There was something to be said for the feeling of power you felt holding on to his arm as he breezed in through the entrance, to be immediately recognised by the man at the front desk.  Tony did not even have to say a word to be greeted with “Oh, good evening, Mr. Stark.  I’ll show you to your table right away.”  He just had to exist.  This was a whole different lifestyle to rocking up to your favourite take out place in jeans and a sweatshirt and having a hot bulging paper bag ready for you because you were clever enough to phone ahead with your order.  Not that you’d knock the picking up a take out in your sweats lifestyle.  It was a pretty sweet lifestyle sometimes.

The restaurant was quiet, and the lights tastefully dim.  It wasn’t so much empty as it clearly made the choice to only allow a select number of clientele in at any given time.  There was only one empty table, the one you were being led to right now, but there was much space between tables, even tastefully given privacy with small paper screens.  Candlelight seemed to be very much the done thing here, with small glowing orange flickers dotting the entire view.  And it would seem your table was right by the window, offering a lovely view of Manhattan by night.  Nice.

But what impressed you the most was how attentive and, well, just plain normal, Tony seemed to be.  You’d seen him on TV, full of cocky arrogance and cutting quips and he seemed like he’d be...well, much more of a douche.  The man in front of you seemed far more reserved, his moves careful and measured and he hadn’t said very much at all, much less any of his so called trademark barbs.  

“Now I don’t want you to-” he cut himself off, raising a finger as he reached into the inner breast pocket of his suit jacket.  A ha!  There it was!  There was the douche side raising it’s ugly head.  He was totally about to take a phone call just like a big jerk.  Hell, maybe he had one of his friends set up to ring him at a certain time as an “easy out”.  He was totally about to get "news" about something “urgent” he simply had to go attend to...

Oh.  It wasn’t a phone, it was...

Tissues?

Which he didn’t quite manage to get to his face before he exploded into a truly impressive series of sneezes.

“Hehh’ihhhtchhh!...hihhh’MMPHtchhh!...hehh...hehhISSSHHU!”  He leaned back in his chair, seemingly tired out by the effort, and sighed, rubbing at his nose with a knuckle.  It seemed to take him a moment to regain his bearings before he continued:  “Ugh...sorry...what was I talking about again?  Oh, right.  I don’t want you to worry about the cost because this is on me, obviously.  Go nuts, get the most expensive champagne.  Order like three main courses and take two of them home in a doggy bag.  In fact, I’d be-” He stopped again, bringing the tissues to his face and just remaining there, face contorted into a truly bizarre expression, for just enough time for it to start feeling weird, until he finally let out a sigh of frustration.

“False alarm.  Hate those.  Anyway...oh, right.  I’d be insulted if you didn’t absolutely take advantage of the fact that I’m paying.  Don’t worry, my credit card can manahhhhhh-...hehhh’ptchhggh!...hihhESSHHHEW!...hehhh...hehhh’dtchhhghh!...oh god damn it!”

You couldn’t help but feel a twinge of sympathy for him.  Whatever was going on, it did seem like it was getting the better of him.   As he sniffled and dabbed at the end of his nose with the neatly folded tissue, you couldn’t help but ask:

“Are you okay, Mr. Stark?”

“Please, call me Tony.   Rolls off the tongue easier, don’t you think?  And I’m...look, truth be told...well, no.  Kinda feel like shit right now.  There’s been one hell of a cold going around the tower and everyone got it.  I mean, everyone.  You’d think Steve would have some sort of protection against getting crap like this...and you’d be so wrong.  And have you ever seen an actual god sneezing his head off and whining like a little baby?  Because I have.  Pretty funny actually, except for the mini lightning storms he kept conjuring up.  I thought I’d managed to escape but it managed to get to me too.”  He sniffled as if to prove his point.

If you had said you weren’t disappointed, you would have been lying.  Lying through your damn teeth.  Because you were absolutely crushed. This would probably end a lot earlier than you had hoped and then bye bye to the once in a lifetime opportunity you had going on here.  At the same time you were quite relieved.  It did explain an awful lot about his demeanour.  And really, now that you actually worked up the courage to look at his face, the signs were painfully obvious.  His nose was a startling shade of red, and there were dark circles under his eyes, which were themselves clouded over with exhaustion.  

“Yeah, I get it,” you said, trying your best to keep your disappointment out of your voice.  “You probably want to get this over with as soon as possible so that-”

“Ah!” he interrupted, raising a finger like before.  “No, none of that.  You won fair and square and I’m going to make sure you get the full experience.  This is all for charity after all, right?  No, don’t you worry about me, I’ll be fine.  I mean, I might get you to taste my food and describe it to me because I’m so stuffed up I can’t taste a damn thing, but it’s all good.”

It was a good thing you looked up when you did to see he was offering a cheeky grin and a wink to indicate that had been a joke...because you totally would have tasted his food for him if he’d asked you to!

But maybe the right thing to do would be to eat quickly so that he wouldn’t have to suffer for longer than was necessary.

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To Be Continued (no really, I swear!)

 

[rockbell]

oooh this is soo cool!! I'd definitely be into an update if u want to continue! 

[AngelEyes]

OMG. I love this! I'm usually not into this kind of x reader story, but I love your writing, so I thought I'd check it out. It's fantastic. The details are perfect. The train of thought of the Tony Stark Fan are spot on. 

3 hours ago, SleepingPhlox said:

Not that you cared about these things, or looked at pictures in the magazines and fantasized about him or anything!  No, no way, not you, nope!  And anyway, so what if you did?  Who on this planet could honestly say they never once fantasized about him?  Come on. 

LOL

I loved all the thoughts and details about Happy. And Tony's easy, charismatic banter, urging you to order multiple entrees to go, Priceless. Can't wait for more!

[Hellbent for Feather]

OMG I'm enjoying this. A date with Tony Stark? Brilliant!  Plus a miserable, whiny god of Thunder, yes, please!

[RedVelvetHeart]

Nice! Looooooove the MCU. You perfectly captured how insecure I'd be if I had a date with Tony Stark!

[starpollen]

Have to admit, I’m a Captain America girl so the mention of Steve with this doozy of a cold and I’m all  but you’ve written such a charming Tony!  I’m looking forward to more.

 (And maybe somebody will do this CA fan a solid and write Steve’s cold... )

[Shikee12.haley]

I can't wait the next part

[RediChalyn]

I think I'm just gonna go ahead and melt into a puddle of goo right now...!  I'm not even an Iron Man fan and I loved this!  I would TOTALLY enter into the contest for Hawkeye omg YESSS except in the movies Hawkeye is married so that probably wouldn't work.  Why on earth they had to do that for the movies I have no idea...I mean it's a great side story and all but really?  Since MCU Clint is unavailable....I'd enter in the contest for Thor mmmmm yes

[Jelloicious]

This is just perfect!!   You really nail Tony Stark!  (You really nail awkward and excited fan who just won this date!)   Looking forward to how it continues!  

 

[RedVelvetHeart]

Oh and as for requests....I'd love to see what you'd do with Natasha on this theme!

[MiraKarat]

I’d love to read the continue😍😱