Dogs and drawings (tag Tony)

[st_hotflashes]

Liz wasn't feeling well. It came and went and some days were better than others, but there was always some faint feeling of unwell lately. It must have been the flu, she decided and stress. Maybe also it didn't help she was having trouble not being as affectionate as she wanted to be with Peter and while she respected his will not to be kissed, she still missed it.

Currently she sat outside her room, though the door was open. She had out her sketchbook - it had been a while since he used it - and she was attempting to sketch the vase with flowers across the hall. She was distracted a lot though and currently she paused, staring out at the wall lost in thought

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[st_arkravinghazelnut]

After a few rounds with the enormous jenga blocks and some successful persuasion--nothing so undignified as begging--of a diner out of their croissant, Tony was on Cloud Nine. Was happiness always just some leisure time and one good meal away? He still had his bountiful wits about him but things just seemed so damn simple.

'Living life moment to moment is like a simpleton superpower. Or mindfulness, that's what's trendy--LIZ.' Tony smelled her before he saw her, his meditation on life completely forgotten the moment he did. She seemed sickly, less so than when he delivered her the soup, but sickly all the same. His nurturing instincts took over, mixing with his canine enthusiasm, and he bounded towards her, barking once to announce himself.

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The barking jarred her out of her thoughts and she turned to see an adorable dog. There was an instant smile, even if it was small, and she held out her hand for it to smell in welcome.

"Hey there."

[st_arkravinghazelnut]

Even if his legs stopped as Liz came within range, the inertia built up in his tiny body didn’t. Tony crashed right into her hand and was finally stopped by the rest of her. None worse for the wear, he righted himself and put a single paw on her lap.

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She laughed softly, her hand moving to smooth over his soft, fluffy fur. While she was never allowed to have a pet, she enjoyed them. She pet the dog happily.

"Did you get lost little guy?"

[st_arkravinghazelnut]

Tony’s features scrunched up and his tail stilled in consideration of her question. ‘Did I have anywhere to be?’ These thoughts were quickly discarded when her hand rubbed his ears just right, and he simply grinned.

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She put her sketch to the other side of her and brought her other hand to pet him as well from the other side. "Who do you belong to?" Her smile warmed a little. "You know, the last time I met a strange animal, he turned out to be a Norse god."

[st_arkravinghazelnut]

Tony grumbled knowingly, as it was the best he could manage. Though it was hard to pull himself away from her mindful hands, he approached her sketchbook and took up her pencil in his mouth.

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She watched the dog curiously. "That's... not a toy." Though she paused when the dog didn't immediately begin to chew the pencil to death. They were in a strange pocket dimension, after all, and Rocket was a talking raccoon.

[st_arkravinghazelnut]

Tony had to grip and release a few times, but the pencil ended up in the right, parallel to his short muzzle. A mixture of pawing and nosing and he'd gotten her sketchbook flipped to a blank page, and he set about slowly and carefully rotating his head while the pencil scraped paper. Soon, there was a crude depiction of the Iron Man helmet that looked like the meeting of a potato and an ogre, but there it was.

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It took Liz a second to figure it out, but when she did, her eyes snapped back to the dog. "...Mr. Stark?" Her eyes roamed over his small, fluffy form inquisitively - Did Mr. Stark choose this? How did it happen? Mr. Stark was human, Thor did't have this sort of power - "...Loki?"

[st_arkravinghazelnut]

Grumbling in affirmation, Tony laid the pencil back down, licking his chops to rid his mouth of the taste. He slowly wagged his tail to signal his content--he had requested it.

'Behold the product of boredom and too much free time, young one.'

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Liz wasn't sure what happened, but it didn't seem to her like Mr. Stark was signaling for help so it was probably okay, right?

"I didn't realize he could do that to other people." She started to smile, but there was a sudden wave that hit her and she paused, eyes closing. She got it under control in a moment. "Sorry. I guess it's a good thing you're a dog right now so you can't catch whatever I have."

[st_arkravinghazelnut]

His tail stilled, and her grumbled in concern, circling around Liz in anxious circles before stopping. That was a weird canine response. He settled his chin on her leg, instead.

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She scratched behind his ears. "It's okay. Probably got it from stress." Which she knew he'd know why, though she felt like adding. Somehow, much like when Loki was a cat, it was easier to talk this way. "I feel like every time I'm around him I'm walking on eggshells. And -- well, we haven't kissed since Christmas." She winced, though not in pain. "Sorry. Even as a dog, I'm sure you don't want to know that."

[st_arkravinghazelnut]

Tony let the rest of his body sink towards the floor, eyeing Liz quietly. He hunched his shoulders in the best shrug a dog could manage. Being cut off from physical affection? The worst. Even his oft-aloof human self could agree with that much. His current body was telling him he’d shrivel up and die without a nice pat on the head—luckily Liz wasn’t too weirded out with her boyfriend’s father figure frolicking around as such.

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She continued to pet him - somehow the act of petting an animal was really relaxing. She understood the concept of therapy dogs now.

"I don't know if Peter ever told you... But, um. Well. Back home I was dating this boy named Max. He's an, um. An alien." Which kind of meant she and Mr. Stark had something in common. "Just before I came here I got a visit from Max, but he had come from the future. Time travelled using this machine... Anyways. He came back to stop the future from happening. I guess.. well, he and I got really close and a bunch of stuff happened but basically when bad aliens attacked, they weren't strong enough and everyone died. Not just like Maria or my parents, but the whole world was being destroyed."

She let the feeling of his soft fur run over her fingers. "So he came back to stop me and Max from dating. I had to... Well, I broke Max's heart... But it worked. Future Max disappeared because he didn't exist anymore... The future had changed."

Liz pressed her lips together for a moment, thoughtful. "I guess what I'm trying to say is changing the future isn't impossible."

[st_arkravinghazelnut]

‘If there was ever any doubt she’d jump dimensional ship...’ Tony’s tail slowly wagged in response to Lix’s mindful petting, listening to her words. When her hand entered range, his tongue flicked out to give it a quick lick.

It was, all things told, quite fortunate he was a dog. He was able to avoid the burden of a heavy reply altogether.

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She smiled a little when he licked her and it garnered him a few extra scratches. Maybe it should be weird she was essentially petting Mr. Stark's head, but he was a cute dog.

"Hey so.. anyways.... are you hungry?" Dogs got hungry a lot, right? "I'm supposed to start my shift soon and I bet there's yummy stuff in the fridge." Said the pale, clammy girl about going to work as a server.

[st_arkravinghazelnut]

'Oh no, you don't.' Tony pushed up, a little shake of wakefulness starting at his head and ripping down his body, making his poofy fur bounce and sway. He pushed his front paws onto Liz's lap and hopped onto it, staring right up at her firmly. 'Bedtime for you, young lady.'

[st_hotflashes]

How a dog could make you feel guilty, Liz didn't know, especially since he wasn't doing any sort of 'puppy eyes' or begging. This was a different sort of guilty - the kind you get when people around you think you're making a dumb decision. She pressed her lips together, looking at Mr. Stark. "I haven't been to work in like three days." She was starting to feel like she wasn't earning her keep.

[st_arkravinghazelnut]

'I don't see infecting patrons as a decent pick-me-up.' Tony couldn't reason out loud, so he firmly yipped and hope the tone carried through. He then hopped off, taking one of the loops of Liz's pants in his mouth and tugging it back towards her room.

'C'mon. In bed. Everyone here will die of a million other things before starvation.'

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"Okay, okay." She sounded like she was protesting, but there was a faint smile too on her lips. It was sort of cute how Mr. Stark in dog form was still trying to be authoritative. Since she didn't feel good, it was easy to be convinced and she didn't want to hurt his feelings by not listening.

Liz slowly climbed to her feet, gathering the sketchbook and pencil with one hand.

[st_arkravinghazelnut]

Lucky for Tony's will, he had just eaten--though food was constantly tempting. He backed into Liz's room, tail wagging at her acquiescence. 'Good girl! Look at you being reasonable.'

He turned and padded towards her bed, constantly swiveling his head backwards to make sure she was following.

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She almost giggled, but she maintained it to a smile as she followed. Mr. Stark's head movements were adorable on the small frame of the dog. She wondered briefly if Mr. Stark chose the breed of dog or if Loki did.

When she reached the bed, Liz toed off her shoes and didn't bother with anything else. She sunk into the bed easily, almost looking relieved.

[st_arkravinghazelnut]

Hopping off his front paws a few times, Tony calibrated the height of the bed from the floor and sprung up after her to follow—overshooting it, but that was preferable to kissing the frame nose-first. He found his footing and lifted a front paw to place on her head. It was more of a human gesture than a canine one, but he felt certain she didn’t want a face full of tongue.

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"I'm fine, I promise Mr. Stark." She smiled though, appreciating the gesture and also hoping it was reassuring.

[st_arkravinghazelnut]

Grumbling again, Tony lowered to settle beside her, chin over paws. A little company until her body’s rhythm settled couldn’t hurt.

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She leaned over and kissed the top of his head. It was funny because Liz would never think to do something like that to Mr. Stark when he was a grown man, apart from the fact she could never really reach the top of his head as a human. Him as a dog, however, felt okay. "Thank you." It really meant a lot to her.