December 2010

'You're just – you're insufferable, Mister Stark,' Coulson states, loosening his tie a bit in perfectly calm and controlled movements, but he isannoyed. 'I can't believe you would be that foolish – actually, I should have expected that, after the all the stunts you're infamous for. It was naïve to hope you could act like an adult for once.'

'I keep being surprised myself,' Pepper agrees, eying Tony with resignation. 'And I've been working for him for over nine years….'

'I might ask director Fury to have a chat with you –'

'Yes, please, Agent, I'd love to see who pulls your strings, you seem like a man who wouldn't just listen to anyone, you know, this straight back you keep and that stone-like face? Unflappable, I can tell, and you can do undercover, you can mingle just fine, I remember seeing you on that gala, right, you blended into the crowd perfectly, if I didn't have a world-widely recognizable face I would ask you for stealth classes –'

'He never shuts up, does he?' Coulson sighs. Pepper shakes her head and Tony rolls his eyes. He does shut up, he can keep silent for a long time, JARVIS can attest to that, he just wants some reaction out of this man because it's not often someone can manage to ignore Tony and his antics, like, this time, telling the world he is Iron Man.

Which could have gone more… gracefully, but it was really something.

'You wouldn't like Director Fury – and there's some paperwork you will have to do now, Mister Stark.'

'You've got forms for superheroes?'

'We have forms for everything,' Coulson replies icily, as if he was making a promise that Tony will personally see them all. 'It's just a formality.'

'I don't want to be part of that S.H.I.E.L.D. thing,' Tony states, glancing at Agent's ID badge again. 'And the name really sucks, by the way –'

'You don't have to be a part of anything,' Coulson states, his perfectly composed self again speaking between the lines – we wouldn't want you anyway, you are a nuisance – and takes a folder out of his suitcase. 'We need to keep an eye on you, though, and this isn't something you have a say in. I'm sure the agent who gets the task will have a lot of fun.'

Fun, coming from Agent, sounds like something pretty despicable.

'I'll make sure he does,' Tony nods solemnly and takes his suit jacket off, since they are alone in the room. 'Press out there?' he asks Happy who is standing in the doorway, dark sunglasses on, lips pressed together.

'I've got the Bentley in the back, boss – they are absolutely ravenous now. Wouldn't respect a man's privacy,' he adds with a scowl and Tony laughs loudly. Privacy. That's his Happy.

'Good,' Tony states, glancing at his watch. Two p.m. 'Good, great, perfect, we need to be going now, we'll go talk to the board tomorrow –'

'Tomorrow is Sunday,' Pepper reminds him and gets the jacket that he left on the armchair.

'– on Monday, then, even better, that leaves me with a day and a half of a calm rest with the view of the ocean – Jarvis,' he adds, taking his phone out and talking at it, 'have everything I'll need ready when I'm back, down to a smallest screw,' he pockets the phone and turns around suddenly, clasping his hands. 'We've got to celebrate, right? This is an occasion that calls for celebration – don't give me that look, Pepper, and don't even start saying that for me it's every occasion – I'm sure we've got a few bottles of vintage Dom Pérignon somewhere in the pantry –'

'I'm sure you do,' Coulson murmurs impatiently, but Tony manages to catch the words, and gives the man a wide smile.

'You don't work Sundays, right? Because working Sundays, as an actual work, Pepper, my workshop doesn't count, it's like a blasphemy, people need time to unwind and have a drink or two or a an all-American dinner in front of the tv or something – you could come over, Agent, have a glass of champagne or two, maybe it's loosen your tongue and help you tell me some interesting secret stories – no, wait, it wouldn't,' Tony sighs and Coulson takes advantage of the one second of silence.

'It's none of your concern if I work Sundays, Mister Stark,' he says, buttoning the last button of his jacket. 'All I need is to have this paperwork done ASAP –'

'Oh!' Tony exclaims happily. He is, possibly, acting a bit over the top at the moment, but he's just told the world that he is a superhero, so he does have the right to be excited, right? 'Thanks. Thank you. Happy – let's go, now, no time to loose, Saturday is passing.'

Happy walks out of the room and Tony after him, putting his sunglasses on. Two sets of steps follow.

'Mister Stark,' Agent's now slightly angry voice calls from behind; Tony turns around but keeps moving, only walking backwards now, hand clasped behind his back.

'Yes?'

'I need this paperwork. Now.'

'Well, you'll get it sooner if you tag along,' Tony offers with a smile and turns around again, catching up with Happy who is smirking slightly. He really is Tony's favorite.

In the end Agent does get into the Bentley and goes to Malibu with Tony and Pepper – Pepper keeps thanking him for his help at the Arc Reactor unit, they talk in low voices while Tony pretends to do something on his phone and listens to their words closely. He's worried about Pepper, she shouldn't have been involved in the whole mess.

As soon as the doors open and they walk in – Happy stays outside, that's what he prefers – Dummy rolls up to Tony with a bucket filled with ice and a bottle of champagne inside. The bot out of workshop is not such a great idea, but Tony can keep lecturing both his kids for later – and it's kind of his fault. It's not like Jarvis has his own hands.

'Thanks, baby,' Tony pats Dummy's sensors and takes the bottle out of the ice. 'Well, why are you so stiff? Come on, relax a bit, we're celebrating,' he adds and takes a few steps back not to get any of the possible – okay, very likely – champagne on Agent's polished shoes. It's all the fun opening the bottle the way it overflows with bubbles and gets Tony's sleeves and shoes all wet.

Coulson is staring at him with his head cocked slightly, as if wondering if this is something normal in this house.

'I do that,' Tony replies to the unsaid question and pours the champagne into the glasses.

'Yes, he does that a lot, unfortunately,' Pepper agrees, but takes the glass without hesitation. Agent takes his glass last, as if it was going to bite him or something.

'Well, to Iron Man!' Tony toasts and raises his glass before bringing it to his lips. Coulson only takes a sip of his champagne and starts turning the glass in his hands – it's pretty cute, actually, Tony decides. He wouldn't expect this little tick from such a restrained man.

As soon as Tony drowns his glass and puts it on the tray Dummy is still holding, Phil produces that folder with paperwork again and hands it to Tony who shrugs slightly and takes a step back, putting hands in pockets. 'Just leave them on the table, I'll go find something to eat, okay, there must be something to eat, we can't drink on empty stomachs –'

'In your house?' Pepper asks mockingly, but Tony ignores her and rushes into the kitchen. He doesn't fancy explaining his peeve at the moment. Or ever.

One long look around the kitchen assures Tony that Pepper is right, as always, there isn't any proper food, but there is a tray of gourmet donuts that Tony baked yesterday. Very few people have been lucky enough to be privy to this information, but when Tony needs a relaxing change of scenery, he goes up to the kitchen and bakes. And he's really good.

So when he brings the tray of neat and lovely donuts to the living room, he finds Coulson and Pepper sitting on the sofa and the man's eyes seems to be shining all of sudden.

Hmm. Who know Agent was a secret sweets fan?

'Bon appétit,' Tony says with a smile, placing the tray in front of them and pouring himself another glass of champagne, and then sends Dummy away. Pepper takes one of the donuts straight away, Coulson is a bit more reluctant, but it's a curious reluctance. Tony sits down on the other sofa and starts babbling something unimportant, pretending to flick through the papers in the folder – there are four forms and a few spares, just in case, Agent is of course organized like that – but in reality he is glancing up at the man to see his reaction.

He knows that the glaze is pure sweetness, the sugar on top adds a little bit of crunchiness. The donut itself is light as air but moist; the caramel rich and bitter, leaving a nice aftertaste on the platelet, contrasting perfectly with sweet but slightly sour strawberries. What more can a man dream of?

Coulson chooses his donut slowly, methodically and subtly eliminating them one by one, as if it was some kind of a quest, and in the end puts the one that Tony would have chosen himself, too, on his plate – not biting in right away, just letting himself analyze the pastry, letting himself feel the scent, and only after ten seconds he takes a bite and closes his eyes.

Tony smirks slightly, looking down at the files to hide his grin. It's just fun, a very satisfying fun, to know that someone likes something you made with your own hands.

And Agent didn't really peg him for a sweets guy, so that's a very nice surprise. All kinds of blackmail, all kinds of bribes that won't work because the man is too smart and wouldn't be fooled for too long…

'Tony, could you please wash your fingers and not lick them if you're going to fill those forms now?' Pepper asks suddenly, glaring at Tony accusingly, and he realizes that he's been in fact licking the remains of the pink icing from his fingers.

'Pepper,' Tony whines and makes a face, but doesn't bother to get up. He just takes the pen in his left hand and starts writing. Full name, boring, date of birth, boring – S.H.I.E.L.D. surely has all the data already – codename? Oh. That's nice. Tony writes Iron Man and takes a moment to marvel at how nice it looks, official, in his swirly handwriting. Even if the name is still wrong, but Gold-titanium Alloy Man would be really bad for the press.

There is some data that Tony doesn't remember – why does everyone suddenly want his social security number? – and leaves the line blank for Pepper to fill. It takes him ten minutes to finish and he pretends not to listen the light conversation between Pepper and Agent, and tries not to smirk when she persuades him to have another donut.

'Done,' Tony says triumphantly when he finishes the last form; this is much more exciting than his usual Stark Industries paperwork. Pepper doesn't even ask, just takes the papers and the pen out of Tony's hand and finishes them for him.

'I'm happy to see you're enjoying my donuts,' Tony tells Agent cheerfully, wiping his hand in a napkin. Pepper grins subtly. Coulson blinks.

'You made the –'

'I've got many secrets,' Tony whispers conspiratorially, leaning over the table. 'You know two of them, consider yourself a lucky man.'

Agent almost smiles at that – he doesn't really but Tony knows he wants to.

Somehow, Tony doesn't have to meet with Director Fury in the end.

A/N: I'll post chapters every 1-2 days. Let me know if you enjoyed this little bit of fluff ;p

Also, I'll be posting actual pictures of the food featured in each chapter since I make them to see if they are Tony Stark-worthy ;p The link is in my profile, check it out if you're interested, and there are recipes, too!