Kendis knew something was up with Tony without her husband having to say a word. Tony became shifty whenever she approached his tablet. It was also the way he had rushed out of his workshop to snatch a delivery box from her hands.

At first, Kendis thought that Tony had just bought some embarrassing sex toys or some mechanical parts from a questionable source.

It all came to a head one night while she was staying over at his place when Tony accidentally left something stuffed in the side of the sofa.

Tony’s things were scattered all around the living room. He had gotten started on one task, then got distracted by a chain of different things he suddenly had to do.

Kendis didn’t really sweat it. Tony had ADHD, and that was part of the package. Unfortunately, Kendis was autistic, so she couldn’t just ignore the compulsion to tidy up. They were both just lucky that Alke was very well behaved and that she didn’t chew any of the bits and bobs left behind.

The last thing they needed was another trip to the vet. Dr. Lan would give her that look that told her that he was judging all of her life choices.

And she got enough of that from Hermione‘s weekly calls and Molly Weasley’s increasingly disappointed letters.

After Chester and the events that happened at the Apogee Awards, Ron went home and spilled the beans about her marriage to Mrs. Weasley. Now Kendis was constantly dealing with her family and friends’ growing interest in her personal life.

Kendis looked at the mess and pinched the bridge of her nose.

‘Thank Merlin, Tony and I don’t live together yet.’

Tony’s penchant for chaos would drive her absolutely mental.

Kendis saw something orange stuffed in between the cushions of the sofa and picked it up.

“The Love Algorithm: Decoding Emotional Logic in Your Spouse” by Dr. Ren Qiang

Kendis flipped through the well-loved paperback and noticed the notations scribbled in pen.

“Repeat their last sentence, use their language, and don’t immediately offer a solution.”

Kendis could barely make it out with Tony’s chicken scratch.

“But what if the solution is the solution? (Asking for a genius billionaire who might’ve jumped to problem-solving mode before listening.”

There were a few other ones that were thoughtful and gave her some insight.

“These micro-actions clear RAM faster than compliments.”

Kendis paused as her eyes saw that it was underlined and then laughed out loud at the scribbled note next to it.

…So, you’re saying I can’t just build her an awesome new gadget and walk away? Okay, harsh but fair.

(Also, “emotional RAM” is now a feature I’m programming into JARVIS.)

Suddenly, the book was snatched out of her hand, and she whirled around to see Tony standing there putting the book behind him as if he were a little boy who had been caught stealing a biscuit.

“Tony,” Kendis fondly shook her head.

“You weren’t supposed to find that,” Tony replied, his cheeks bright red in embarrassment.

‘I made Tony Stark blush.’ Kendis inwardly laughed. ‘I think I need a bloody award for that.’

Alke walked up to him and nudged his leg. Tony sighed and looked down with an exasperated sigh.

“Rubbing it in, mutt?”

Alke whined and nudged his hand again, and Kendis bit back a smile as Tony patted Alke on top of her large head.

Tony could complain all that he wanted; Kendis could see that Alke was growing on him, and her damn dog clearly adored him—the traitor.

Kendis sat down on the sofa and patted the space next to her. “Come here, love.”

Tony gave a put-upon sigh but stomped over to the sofa and sat sulkily beside her. Kendis would never admit it, but he looked adorable when he sulked.

“Now what is with the book?” Kendis lifted an eyebrow as she patted Alke, and she lay down next to her feet. Her tail was wagging slowly back and forth as if she were listening too.

Kendis wouldn’t put it past her dog.

“I may have been …” Tony groaned and put a pillow over his mouth and screamed.

“Love?”

Tony pulled down the pillow and pointedly looked away from her. “I may have been doing some research.”

“On relationships?”

“Yes.” Tony glared at her. “On relationships! Look, I want to give this marriage an honest try, but I know nothing about relationships or marriage. My longest relationship was three months.”

“My longest relationship was a year, but you know how that ended.” Kendis winced as the image of Josefa popped into her head.

“It’s nothing to be ashamed of, Tony,” Kendis tried to soothe him. “Besides, I think it’s a great idea! I think we should do it together.”

Tony sat up, his eyes going wide. “You do?”

“I think Hermione would approve, actually.” Kendis scratched the back of her head.

Tony looked away, not meeting her eyes. Kendis gave him a suspicious look. “Tony…”

“Hermione may have given me the idea.”

Kendis stared at her husband in bemusement. “When did this happen?”

“We have been shooting emails back and forth since she went home,” Tony replied, sheepishly. “Hermione offered to get me up to speed on Wixen customs. She’s even shipped me a few books.

And I didn’t mean to get into that courting shit, but it just kinda popped up. Then we got to talking and—

Kendis couldn’t take it anymore, so she leaned forward to press her lips to his.

Tony groaned as her lips moved over his in a slow, deliberate kiss. Kendis could taste the cardboard flavor of the nasty granola bars he fancied so much and the bougie espresso he drank.

Tony pulled away from her with a groan. “What was that for?”

“For being so cute.”

“Haven’t you heard? Billionaires can’t be cute!”

Kendis laughed and slapped Tony playfully on his shoulder. He pulled her closer, and Kendis pressed her forehead against his.

“You’re not mad?”

Kendis looked up to meet his beautiful brown eyes. “No, I am really touched that you would go through all of this effort.”

“You are worth it.” Tony’s face went uncharacteristically serious. “And I really don’t want to fuck this up like I do everything else.”

“Tony,” Kendis said, “You are not going to fuck this up. I just want you to be honest with me.”

Tony sighed and, from seemingly nowhere, pulled out a thin Stark tablet.

“Jarvis, pull up the list.”

Kendis leaned forward to see the tablet screen, and all of a sudden, a big list of books began to scroll down the screen.

“Oh, Merlin!”

“J,” Tony laughed, “delete all of the books that sucked from this list and cross-reference the ones left with the highest-reviewed ones.”

“You still got one hell of a head start,” Kendis muttered.

“Genius, remember?” Tony said, as he threw her that familiar smug smirk that always made her want to both kiss him and smack him upside the head.

The thing was, Kendis was a competitive little shit. It was the one trait she didn’t manage to outgrow.

When given the longest book list she had ever seen in her life (and with her growing up with a bookworm like Hermione, she didn’t say that lightly) Kendis buckled down and started reading.

Well, Kendis might have scanned a lot of the books that still counted!

Every time she got a break, Kendis would hole up in her office, reading the books that Tony (or rather Jarvis) bought her in paperback.

Tony only owned a few physical books because he preferred to read on his tablet. Meanwhile, Kendis preferred physical books to ebooks.

As weeks went on and they both went down the list, they realized a lot of the books were self-help rubbish or propaganda for lonely Christian housewives. But there had been a few gems here and there.

And so, every time they spent time together, they would discuss the books they read, and it would bring about certain entertaining but educational discussions.

When reading “First Date, Last Nerve” by Dr. Diana Lang, Kendis thought about all the fights she had with Ginny over the course of their relationship.

This led her to think about all the things that the people with whom she had brief flings did to annoy her.

“I hate clingy people,” Kendis blurted out one night.

“Oh god, yes!” Tony said. “Sometimes I just need some space to commune with science.”

Kendis nodded her head vehemently. “I don’t like when people text me all day wanting to know what I’m doing. Sometimes I forget to text, or I don’t answer because the notifications overwhelm me.”

And they had led into a long talk about annoying habits and relationship rules that didn’t make sense to them.

The next time they had another one of those discussions was when Tony read “What We Talk About When We Say ‘We’re Talking’” by Jamilah Andre.

“I don’t know why people can’t just say what they are feeling. I hate when people are vague about that, like I am supposed to read their mind.” Tony flailed his arms in the air. “And don’t get me started on the silent treatment! It’s so fucking childish and manipulative.”

“Preach,” Kendis said, shaking her head. “Add autism on top, and that is a disaster. If I bugger something up, just tell me what I did so I can make it right.”

The next book that sparked a heated discussion was “Attachment Styles and the Hot Mess of Modern Dating” by Lisette Davidson.

“I think that I have been emotionally attacked.” Tony gave a long sigh.

“Yeah, that one about anxious attachment really did me in,” Kendis groaned.

“Avoidant attachment,” Tony blinked. “There is a word for it.”

“I don’t think you are that bad. You didn’t lead your exes on, did you?”

“I did marry two other people before you,” Tony winced.

And they read a few books specifically about newlyweds. It didn’t do a lot for them because their situation was different than most married.

The first big difference was that they were strangers when they got married, so they still had a lot to learn about each other. Another issue was that they lived apart, and they both agreed they were in no hurry to change that. Besides, no book could really give advice on how to navigate a relationship between a wixen and a jet-setting billionaire.

But one thing that got their attention.

“Date nights?” Tony prompted, “My schedule is pretty—”

“I wouldn’t mind doing an occasional date night but no pressure,” Kendis said as she highlighted a line.

“Let me talk to Pepper.” Tony tapped his finger on his tablet. “She knows my schedule better than I do and maybe I can convince her to squeeze sometime in—”

“I thought you were the boss?” Kendis shot back with an amused grin.

“You would think so, wouldn’t you?” Tony laughed. “But I think that Pepper only keeps up that illusion because she does not want the extra work.”

Kendis laughed because, honestly, it was the same with Hortense.

Kendis might fix the bikes and play figurehead, but her business would crumble without her best friend.

She shook her head and then sighed, “But how about we don’t go more than 48 hours without talking to each other?”

“Talking?” Tony frowned in confusion. “So, what text? Video call? Letter sent by owl?”

Kendis shrugged. “Whatever, but I would like at least one real date once a month.”

However, things got intriguing when Tony read “Our First Fight and Other Sacred Traditions” by Rachel Velasquez.

“Okay, so—“ He shoved the book in her hands, and Kendis glared at him. However, she softened as she saw how nervous Tony looked. Kendis decided to humor him and read the page. “We really haven’t had our first fight.”

“No, but if you keep leaving your crap around, we will.” Kendis snorted.

“We have maids for that sort of thing.”

“Not at my house.”

And that led to a discussion that got pretty heated for a moment or two about the division of household labor. After Kendis left to walk Alke and to blow off some steam. They came back and calmly came to a compromise:

At the mansion, he could use domestic staff and bots, but at her house, he was to pick up after himself.

“Look, we had our first fight.”

Kendis snorted, “We didn’t raise our voices, so that didn’t count.”

Tony grimaced. “I hate when people do that. My parents used to have these loud fights. You haven’t lived until you listen to your mother curse out your father’s entire bloodline in Italian.”

Kendis shook her head. “My uncle shouted a lot, but Mr. Weasley and Mrs. Weasley have been married for 30 years, and I have never heard them yell at each other.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, she will yell at her kids, but she had seven kids, so I think that is allowed.”

Tony shuddered. “Way too many damn kids.”

“Spending time with Mrs. Weasley’s family really showed me that I am really not fit for traditional motherhood,” Kendis grimaced. “I’m cool with being the cool aunt and raising Alke? But real human kids?”

Tony shuddered at the thought of raising a brood of screaming kids. “I usually don’t mind being around kids, but I don’t want any myself. Dum-e, U, Butterfingers, and Jarvis are more than enough.

“Thank you, sir,” Jarvis replied dryly. “It’s nice to know that you care.”

“Shut it, J!” Tony muttered.

“Listen.” Tony took a deep breath. “I am very okay with my bloodline dying with me. What about you? You are Lady Black of Blackmere. Don’t you need heirs and all that crap?”

“Technically yes,” Kendis shrugged. “But there are spells in which I can give a non-blood relative the seat. I plan on doing what Sirius did and passing it on to one of my niblings. The Black family would be rolling in their graves if a Weasley were to inherit the Black title.”

“Have I mentioned that I find you being petty really hot?” Tony wagged his eyebrows.

“Let’s get back to the original point of our discussion, shall we?” Kendis snorted and threw a balled-up piece of paper at him. “I think it’s unrealistic to expect us to agree about everything, but we should be able to have a normal discussion without either of us raising our voices.”

“Yeah, that makes sense.” Tony sighed. “So, no yelling.”

“No yelling,” Kendis agreed with a nod.

But it was the book, The Five Love Languages, by Gary Chapman that really put Tony over the edge.

“Absolutely not,” Tony said. “There is pseudoscience and quackery. We do not do quackery in this house, Kendis.”

“Come on, it will be a fun lark.”

Tony huffed and puffed, but in the end, he gave in and read the book.

“It’s giving strict gender roles.” Kendis grimaced.

“Most of this shit was bullshit,” Tony agreed.

And then one day, they sat down and detailed their love languages; to their surprise, a lot of their love languages were the same.

“Acts of Service, Physical Touch, Words of Affirmation.” Tony bit out quietly as if he were scared someone else would overhear them. Once again, his cheeks were flushed a bright cherry red, and it took everything for her not to pinch them and coo at how adorable he was.

“Yeah, I also got quality time.”

Tony sighed, “Yeah, that checks out.”

For the hassle that came up with their little group project together, in the weeks ahead, Kendis would be thankful that they talked about these things.

As the world tightened around them and the obstacles piled up, the one thing that didn’t change was that Kendis and Tony knew where they stood with each other—and that was priceless.