Forget Me Not

5: Drink with Me Now

Weird request, but I'm having trouble with chapter names. Suggestions would be nice, but they have to have "Me" in the middle of two other words ("is", "the", "with" and "of" can go uncounted). Giving suggestions won't guarantee their use, but it'll help me out a little. Thanks.
~B

Beginnings normally start with an ending, but Percy Jackson and Tony Stark were never normal, so it shouldn't be all that surprising that their beginning started with both an ending, and in a middle. It was the end of Tony's tireless search for the man he either loved, or had an unhealthy obsession with... probably both, and it was right in the middle of a rather unsettling problem with death, a little annoyance with the U.S. government, not to mention what was happening with a certain electro-freak without the couples knowledge. It was also smack-dab in the middle of a less-than-legal party happening in the billionaires rather extravagant beach house.

While Tony had no idea how this night would go from the moment he found Percy, he did form a hazy approximation in his head which involved most definitely seeing Percy Jackson completely shit-face waisted. The problem was that with every drink he gave Percy, Tony naturally had to give himself the same. He was hoping to see how their tolerances matched up, while also setting into motion the plan he'd originally had for this night, which involved the party getting so out of hand that an old military friend of his would have to get involved. Regardless of Percy's presence in his life, Tony still had to carry out the plans he'd made when he became sure he was facing his death. The end goal of those plans being that a certain best friend of his would get a brand-spanking-new iron man suit by fighting to the death for it. Tony's death, of course, if one of them were to die. The Stark held little hope in his own survival over the next few months, so if anything went wrong and he did die tonight, he'd been entirely okay with that... Except now he had Percy, and he was having trouble factoring the strange bartender into his plans. An absolutely massive part of him now wanted to milk every second out of what was left of his life, stop being Iron Man to extend it further, and spend all of his remaining time with Percy Jackson. A much smaller part of him knew that that would be morally wrong, not that he was a very moral man to begin with. Still, he had his own balance of morality and saving others at his own expense was a large part of it, no matter how far to the contrary he acted.

Regardless of his plans going to shit, he still traveled down the same path, intentional or not, all while trying (and failing) to get Percy drunk. Tony wound up completely shit-faced instead.

Percy had stayed by Tony's side in the beginning, even though the billionaire kept handing him drinks to down with a curious light in his eyes. The music was deafening, pounding in their ears and reverberating through their bodies. Every song had a deep beat or techno vibe that seemed to shake the house and almost compel people to dance. There were far too many people crowding the home to be structurally safe in Percy's opinion and they made every room swelteringly hot. It didn't help that just about every woman who caught sight of the Stark tried to dance with him, strike up a shouted conversation with him, or seduce him. With the first group of women, he glanced nervously back at Percy, who just rolled his eyes and continued to pour himself another red solo cup of cheap but strong alcohol, showing an odd amount of trust to a known womanizer (something Tony would try to remember to ask about later). After them, Tony found his rhythm with the flocking women, staying true to himself by passing out complements like candy, but not once did he feel that familiar urge compelling him to prolong their conversations. That desire- the thing inside him that always used to egg him on, saying "do it, do it, do it, jump, dive, screw inhibitions and fill the emptiness with the first beautiful and interesting person you meet" the way he supposed an alcoholic or degenerate gamblers mind might work the same way to get them to give in- it kept its mouth shut that night. Maybe it was the glow of success in finding Percy that kept his desires at bay, or maybe the emptiness inside the billionaire had been filled somehow without his knowledge (he might ask about that later, too). Regardless, his reaction to the women that came to him with ulterior motives seemed to placate and annoy them at the same time. Tony only showed his signature flirty nature without allowing it to go too far or pushing it on his own. He was nice, calling the girls the nicknames he always had, commenting on their beauty, but never pushing for more or laying his hands on them the way he used to. He didn't even notice how he was keeping his hands to himself, but without the motive behind the actions, the actions themselves became pointless and didn't even occur to the man.