Ch84. A cozy evening

Whether it was due to the ritual or not, Tony and Natasha woke up at the same time and looked at each other, sharing a quiet while before they spoke at the same time.

"You wouldn't believe the crazy conversation I just had!"

They could only stare in disbelief as their minds registered the words of the other, the very same words they had just uttered, and suddenly the thought that this crazy afternoon of theirs is not yet over sneaked into their minds as they both facepalmed with a groan.

...

"So... JARVIS and FRIDAY are now living inside of you. Like... really inside. As a part of you?" Natasha asked in a weirded-out tone. She was fully capable to suspend her disbelief for many things magical but this took the cherry.

"Is that so surprising? You were visited by the literal living Concept. Energy that became alive and self-aware. And you have a hard time believing that my A.I.s could become a part of me? Pfft. Your common sense needs some serious work, Red." Tony spoke before taking a sip from his hot chocolate.

They were sitting in armchairs in their living room, drinking hot chocolate while wearing pajamas and talking things out. They had a hard and life-changing day behind them so naturally, they didn't go and do some ridiculous training right off the bat. They decided to have some well-deserved peace and quiet for a moment and enjoy each others' company.

Besides, both were a bit traumatized by what happened to them so they needed to get it off their chests.

"And do you think I didn't have a fright of my life when he appeared in front of me? You told me only entities far stronger than Thanos could do that so I instantly knew I am in deep shit." Natasha frowned.

"Well, let's just be happy he was a friendly chap, alright?" Tony remarked. He could understand her depression. No way would he like to go through something like that. He was really glad to get FRIDAY and JARVIS rather than some kind of primordial entity.

That didn't mean he wouldn't complain and make a general nuisance out of himself. First of all, he knew full well it helped Natasha get her attention away from her stress and gave her a 'reason' to try to tease him back.

And the magazines said he would never be a good boyfriend. Ha! Jokes on them! Who is considerate now!

"Friendly. Too friendly, I would say." Natasha grumbled under her nose, "You didn't have to listen for hours on end to a rant about some inept sis-con guy that in his words, stopped being fun to watch a few centuries ago when some kind of civil war ended and he took up a desk job. Who would have thought that the Primordial Concept of Destruction would love to peep on the people that unknowingly draw power from him."

"And he really didn't tell you any details?" Tony asked, upset about it for a wholly different reason than Natasha. While she was fed up with that kind of talk, Tony was looking into the future, and having info about the 'strongest' person in their world who uses some kind of Destruction Power would be nice in his opinion. Alas, it was not to be.

"What a jerk." Tony added in melancholy.

"Right!?" Natasha indignantly exclaimed, fully knowing and ignoring how Tony meant it. For now, Natasha just wanted to complain so that's what she did. "That's the worst thing about the whole situation! That red-haired smug bastard knew I wanted to know about it in detail but he purposefully omitted the important things! He was having fun at my expense, the asshole!" Natasha huffed.

The only man she was fine with having fun at her expense was Tony, dammit!

A comfortable silence spread through the room as Tony and Natasha together wallowed in their self-pity. Yet... both sported a small content smile. As much as they complained, neither of them minded or regretted the events of this day. Despite their words, it was a thrilling experience for both of them.

At the end of the day, they were alive, healthy, sane, and still had each other. The ritual was a complete success too. What more could they wish for?

Weeeell, Tony could name an entire list if somebody asked him but for the sake of a quiet household, he kept quiet and decided to be content with the moment.

Or not... After a few minutes, Tony was quite fed up with the silence.

"To be honest, you can't really blame the guy." He quipped, fully aware he was poking a sleeping dragon. "His only entertainment is watching the people using his powers so I guess he had a blast ranting to you about them. You should invite him for a family dinner sometime. I am sure the Hawk-scout would get along nicely with your new brother." He snickered.

Natasha gave him a small glare, not amused at all. She pointed towards him, and before Tony could react, a small crimson ball of energy appeared in front of Natasha's pointing finger before it shot towards him, impacting the mug of hot chocolate he held in his lap... and completely disintegrated it alongside his precious liquid delicacy.

Weirdly enough, his hands were not affected at all despite coming to contact with the crimson energy but Tony was not in the correct state of mind to ponder about it.

"M-My chocolate! Y-You! Why! Why murder it!?" Tony exclaimed in despairing mortification as if he just lost a family member.

Natasha smugly smirked, "That's what you get for teasing me so much."

"Any sane woman would try to give me a couch duty instead of firing a ball of doom at me!" Tony huffed, giving Natasha an unimpressed look while a new mug full of steaming hot chocolate appeared in his hands out of thin air.

"Well, I would love to have that option but it would be more of a punishment for myself than for you." Natasha exasperatedly said.

She was ashamed to say, she became a bit... addicted to sex with Tony. Yes, she was a trained seductress and stuff but that was different. With Tony, it was all about giving herself to a man she dearly loved.

Just that knowledge, that feeling... it could bring her immense pleasure. She craved that feeling again and again. She couldn't help herself.

That's why putting Tony on a couch duty would be torture... but not for him. For her.

It was then she noticed the new mug in Tony's hands and exclaimed in aggravation, "Hey! That's cheating!"

"Suck it up, lady. You are not the only one who got badass powers." Tony just smugly smiled, causing Natasha to pout.

"And here I thought I finally have a way to fluster you other than some meaningless words." She raised her feet from the ground and pressed her thighs against her chest, putting her feet on the armchair right under her butt while her chin rested on her knees, her hands embracing her folded legs while holding the half-empty mug of chocolate. "Here. Fill." Natasha casually said, tapping her finger on the mug while looking Tony in the eyes.

Tony rolled his eyes at her childishness. But to be honest, he was inwardly glad that she showed a bit of meaningless selfishness in situations like this.

Natasha blinked and furrowed her brows, her eyes trailing downward toward her mug, finding it... full.

"What even is that? Some kind of alchemy bullshit?" She muttered in discontent.

How unfair was this? She could destroy things while Tony had an unlimited amount of hot chocolate. She wanted a refund...

"Exactly. Manipulating physical energy goes incredibly well with alchemy!" Tony preened. But his excitement died down a bit when he remembered... "Well, I will need a lot of training if I want to do more than just create something as simple as hot chocolate." He looked contemplative at the mug in his hands, "Even this took quite a lot of calculations."

"Calcu-, what? You need to do the math to use your powers?" Natasha asked, seeming to be kinda put off by that revelation. For some reason, her own powers she could use instinctually without much thought seemed much better to her at the moment.

"Eh," Tony shrugged, "Consequences of having energy not perfectly suitable for me. JARVIS is governing my physical energy usage so he is doing the calculations for me but yes, in order to use my powers, I gotta do the math."

Tony wasn't much bothered by that. Without JARVIS and FRIDAY, it would have been a massive roadblock but the two still had the computation prowess of supercomputers so it wasn't that big of a deal.

Still... it was an inconvenience. An unavoidable one.

"Mhm." Natasha hummed in acknowledgment, "Thanks for the chocolate, JARVIS."

"You are welcome, milady." JARVIS's voice resounded through the room, making Natasha giggle when she saw Tony's baffled expression at what just happened.

Tony quickly gathered his wits when he heard Natasha giggling and his lips set into a scowl. "Oi, no thanks for me?"

"Hm? Why? You just admitted it is JARVIS who does the heavy lifting." Natasha innocently stated, causing Tony to verbally flounder a bit in speechlessness. Natasha let him stew for a moment in his exasperated vexation before she chuckled, "Fine. I will show you my gratitude in a bit. Will that be fine with you, Tony?" She fluttered her eyes at him and seductively licked her lips.

Tony's lips twitched into a small smile at that, knowing exactly what she meant. He couldn't say he was not looking forward to it.

"Hmm, you just earned yourself another mug of hot chocolate." He quipped, making Natasha laugh.