These Little Moments / Ironstrange

3~ Tea

   A week passed before I saw Tony again. Every night, each time I closed my eyes to sleep, the image of him breaking down in front of me flashes across the backs of my eyelids. I can still hear his sons and feel his hands gripping my own. It breaks me inside to see him like that...

   On the crisp evening of November 5th, there were 3 short knocks on the door to the sanctum. Dressed in grey sweatpants and a tank top, I slid across the floor on my pink and blue polka dotted socks to the door. Sure enough, there he was.

    "Nice socks, Doctor Wizard," he teased. I looked him up and down, taking in his bright red blazer and t-shirt.

   "You don't look so bad yourself, Stark," I smiled, inviting him in. "What brings you in today?"

   "So I haven't been sleeping for... Obvious reasons- but that's not the point. The point is I've been running on exclusively caffeine for the past week and my dear friend Pepper Potts says it's 'unhealthy,'" he rolled his eyes and I chuckled. "She suggested this thing called 'tea' and said it would probably help me sleep. I figured if anyone had this sleeping potion, it would be you."

    I smiled contently at him, "Lucky for you, I got just the thing."

~*~*~

   "So what did you say this was?" Tony lifted his porcelain teacup and swirled its contents, like a wine connoisseur.

   "It's a blend of sweet lavender, earthy chamomile, and lemon, steeped in fresh spring water in a glass kettle for optimum strength," I explained taking a sip of my own.

   "English please?"

   "Flowers steeped in boiling water and strained to make-" I motioned at my cup "-tea."

   "So leaf juice?"

   "Sure," I agreed begrudgingly, watching as he took a hesitant sip. His eyes lidded and he smiled as he set the cup on its saucer. "Well?"

   "It's not coffee... But it's pretty damn good," He gave me a smirk before downing the rest of his drink.

   I chuckled, taking the cup, "I'll see what else I've got back there."

~*~*~

   I returned about 10 minutes later with a tray of different teas and an antique decanter that I had found in the cabinet. Tony leaned forward, curious, as I gently set the tray down on the table.

   "What's all this?"

   "A tea 'flight' of sorts," his eyes lit up and I continued. "We've got peppermint, white, jasmine, and classic black."

   "Like black coffee?"

   "Tony no."

   He pouted and glanced at the decanter. He raised a brow, "What's that in the back there?"

   "Not sure, honestly. It's either whiskey or perfume. Tony n-" I had barely finished speaking before Tony grabbed the bottle and downed the. Entire. Thing.

   He looked up with an unreadable expression, pausing before he weakly said, "It's perfume."

~*~*~

   A half-hour later, a tray of empty tea cups (and one empty perfume bottle), sat in front of us as we sat on the couch. Tony smacked his lips, fiddling with a teaspoon between his fingers.

   "You know, I don't know what's in this stuff, but it actually worked," Tony mumbled, setting the spoon down.

   "Just leaves and water."

   "Heh."

   We sat in silence for a while, just enjoying each other's presence. Suddenly, I felt a weight fall onto my shoulder and jerked my head to look at it. To my surprise, Tony had fallen asleep and his head was resting near the crook of my neck. I could feel his breath, the hairs on my nape raising. I smiled gently and called the cloak over to rest around his shoulders, like a blanket. He snuggled closer to me, smiling in his sleep.

   I was at peace.