[Closed] If The Forge Isn't Warm Enough

[stitch_witch]

WHO: Lark, Tony Stark
WHERE: Tony's Forge
WHAT: An Early Equinox Gift
WHEN: December 10th
WARNINGS: Outrageous flirting and unresolved sexual tension?

Warmth. This was a gift that Lark often believed in when the turning of seasons approached. There was always a need for more warmth where she was from, after all. A hearth could only keep so much of Discipline Cottage warm in the winter, even with other enchantments to keep the warmth there. For some people it was easier, of course, like Frostpine and Kirel, because the forge continued to radiate heat even after the embers died down. And those near the kitchens too.

But Lark? She'd definitely made a decision about how to keep warmth there for someone she was connected with, and perhaps slightly beholden to for the power of needles and the like.

Which was why Lark was there now, arriving at the forge with her hands full of a lovely gray knitted fabric.

Comments

[stitch_witch]

"For a clear genius, you're quite foolish, Tony Stark."

She didn't have his full name so she couldn't use it. But the way she said it in the moment, it was CLEARLY meant to be her chiding him as someone using a full name would.

"I would jump into a burning building to save a child or a pet. I would give my every breath of life to save an innocent. But I would n o do it when that method was fated to lose. There was less chance for the children to succeed than there are grains of sand on every beach in the world put together. There is difference between self sacrifice and letting yourself die because you no longer wish to live."

[in_extremis]

The weighty insult made Tony give a small wince, but he was nodding even as he turned fitfully back toward his bench where he could at least have a shoulder to Lark, sure, he'd heard that a few times before and had no argument. What was he doing before she got here? His meticulously organized list of the 52 most pressing projects was not helping him decide where his hands should land.

"You know you're one of the best," he agreed eventually. "Of course your world is worse off without you. We'd be worse off without you. Colder, definitely."

[stitch_witch]

Oh Tony, poor sweet man. She rises and moves to rest a hand on Tony's cheek.

"You're worth a lot to the world too."

[in_extremis]

Her approach was tracked with a suspicious sidelong glance, and Tony winced again as she raised a hand like he sooner expected to be hurt, though he didn't withdraw. For a moment, he remained tense under that touch, his anxious hands effectively stilled but clearly questioning how much he deserved it, then his cheek was warming with a new squirming awkwardness with Lark's reassurance. They weren't supposed to be talking about him. "World would be a dull place without its fools," he smirked, withdrawing then so she didn't start pinching or something in punishment for using her own words, and he could try to breeze through, "Really, thank you for the blanket. I feel like--I didn't properly appreciate it, before you told me all this, what you were really giving me, who was giving it to me."

[stitch_witch]

"The world would be a dull place with out its noble-hearted geniuses," Lark corrects. And he might have withdrawn but she dod move back in, and go onto her tiptoes, to kiss his brow.

He deserved the reassurance that she cared.

"I was giving you warmth, Tony. Something to keep the chill away. I do that for my people. The ones I care about. So don't go leaving me just yet. The blanket wouldn't even get used. Please use it. It's spelled to keep warmth in. Make yourself a cup of tea, sit down, enjoy the blanket, and remember: love yourself. Before you can save the world, you must love yourself."