Kendis remained seated, appearing remarkably calm. With her legs crossed atop the coffee table, she examined the most significant woman in Tony’s life.
Pepper was pretty in a way that would have made her look twice if she hadn’t been already so tangled up in Tony. Long ginger hair slicked back into a tight bun, a faint trace of freckles over her beautiful face. She looked impeccable in a black skirt suit and red-bottom black leather patent Louboutin heels.
Everything about Pepper Potts screamed ruthless efficiency.
“What do you want?”
“What?” Kendis shook her head.
“What do you want?” Pepper crossed her arms. “Money? Fame?”
Kendis just stared at the woman for a long moment, and then she laughed. She laughed so hard that she had to wipe tears from her eyes. By the looks Pepper was throwing at her, she was probably questioning her sanity.
Kendis put her hand as she tried to gather herself. “I don’t need or want Tony Stark’s money, and I have had my fair share of fame, thanks.”
“If you are some corporate spy—”
“I’m going to stop you there.” Kendis shook her head. “I am a mechanic and I’m perfectly happy with my job.”
“A mechanic?” Pepper paused, bewildered.
“A mechanic,” Kendis confirmed, then she grimaced. “And Tony already did a background check.”
Pepper frowned at her, obviously bemused by the entire conversation. “If you want nothing from him, then why haven’t you signed the annulment papers?”
Kendis sat up, her mouth dropping. “I signed those papers a few weeks ago.”
“Then why haven’t hasn’t Tony filed them?”
Kendis just sat there, shocked at her core. When she handed Tony the signed documents back in her office a few weeks ago, Kendis thought he would hurry to be free of her. “I don’t know,” Kendis replied, dazedly.
Pepper stared at her, and then she paced back and forth in clear agitation. Kendis could only watch the woman as her mind whirled around and around in her head. She didn’t understand it.
Tony was a proud fuckboi. He wore it like a badge of honor, but then Tony had every opportunity to let her go. Hell, at one point, Kendis had practically begged him to leave her alone.
And although Kendis didn’t excuse or condone his stalking, she still felt anger at his invasion of her privacy. Kendis planned on kicking his ass if he ever did that shit again.
But Kendis couldn’t deny the warmth inside of her at how, in the middle of the night, Tony had driven across town to help her at one of her darkest hours.
“I see,” Pepper said, and Kendis looked up to meet the woman’s penetrating blue eyes. Kendis opened her mouth to ask what exactly she saw, but Pepper shook her head.
“I don’t know what you two are doing,” Pepper started. “But you better be damn sure about what you’re getting into. Tony was an asshole most of the time but was soft and vulnerable underneath that tough exterior. And I refuse to let another person break his heart.”
“Ms. Potts, we are just friends,” Kendis protested.
“Believe what you want to believe.” Pepper shook her head. “But if you break his heart, I will ruin you.”
Kendis stared at Pepper as she turned on her heels and marched away with the clack of her designer heels.
***
Tony was quieter after Pepper and Obadiah finished. It was near six o’clock in the evening, and both of them had missed lunch. They ordered Chinese and finished the rest of Godfather Part I, and then Tony quickly made his excuses and hurried downstairs to what Jarvis later explained was the entrance to his lab.
Holding onto her magic for so long usually exhausted Kendis. Holding a tight rein on her magic for hours, worn hard on her. But she was so exhausted that she couldn’t go to sleep.
Kendis flipped and flopped on the bed, trying to get comfortable. She wonders if more nightmares lie in wait for her. She hadn’t slept so well in ages as she did that afternoon, napping with Tony. Kendis had imagined it would feel odd in another’s arms, yet with him, she felt safe.
Pepper’s words whirled in her head, and she finally put a pillow over her face and screamed.
“Are you quite alright, Mx. Black?” Jarvis asked.
Kendis jumped, but she managed to keep a tight grip on her magic. “I’m fine. Is there anything like a phone around here?”
The wall panel slid open, revealing another small robot with a square body and two arms rushing towards her. It quickly opened a compartment in its belly and retrieved a sleek cell phone.
Kendis patted the robot on its head, “Thank you.”
The robot gave an enthusiastic beep and then spun around and rolled back into the opening.
Kendis checked the time. It was eight o’clock, and she still had half an hour before the clinic closed. Kendis had been damn lucky that Dr. Lan had been willing to come to her aid so late. His husband always complained that he went to bed so early.
Kendis had meant to call them earlier, but Tony had distracted her.
Lucky for her, she was able to remember the number of Misty Heights Animal Clinic. After a brief chat with Lan Sizhui, she was transferred over to Dr. Lan.
“Alke is still sleeping,” Dr. Lan said curtly. “No changes so far. I will update you if anything changes.”
Kendis quickly thanked Dr. Lan and hung up. She stared at the phone and wondered if she should call Jason and Ian. But Kendis wasn’t up to explain everything, and she knew they knew her well enough to pick up any emotional subtext in her tone.
Kendis decided to explore the mansion. Rather than being bored in the guest room, this would be better. Passing Tony’s bedroom, Kendis walked across the first floor. She, unlike Tony, would respect his privacy. However, she discovered a home movie theater, an indoor pool, and a fully equipped gym.
Jarvis ensured she didn’t get lost by guiding her during her walk. Her mind drifted back to her earlier talk with Pepper and the way Obadiah had looked at her. Those around Tony were justified in their suspicions of her. Kendis was a mysterious stranger who interrupted Tony Stark’s careful plans.
Kendis knew, honestly, her friends could have been much worse. Ian’s shovel talks were a thing of legend. The one and only time she ever bought a date to Miscellany, the poor bloke ran out of the bar screaming.
They wondered what Hermione and Ron would think of Tony. Kendis knew Hermione was a muggleborn who stayed updated on Muggle news, so she most likely saw what the gossip rags were saying about him.
They wouldn’t understand that Tony was so much more than that.
“Mx. Black?” Jarvis interrupted her thoughts. “Sir has requested your presence in the lab.”
Kendis’s smile fell, “But my magic?”
“Kendis, there is nothing you can destroy that I can’t afford to fix,” Tony’s voice suddenly broken over a hidden intercom. “Get your ass down here!”
“Fine,” Kendis huffed, but to her frustration, she still found herself biting back a smile. She hurried around the waterfall and down the circular stairs that led to a panel of a transparent panel of windows that looked out into space, a scene that was ripped right out of a science fiction novel.
The door beeped, and it opened with a hiss. Tony was studying the 3D green lines of a schematic that hovered in the air.
“Wow,” Kendis said as she walked into the room. “This is brilliant!”
“Isn’t it?” Tony looked up at her and grinned. “I may not be able to heal cuts or repair windows with a flick of a wand, but it’s still pretty cool.”
Kendis bit her lip, “Tony—”
Tony rolled his eyes, and he got up, walked over to her, grabbed her hand, and pulled her further into his lab. Kendis eyed the holo table, the bank of computers, and the old-fashioned jukebox sitting between another two groups of doors. “How many doors do you need for one space?”
Tony shrugged. “Can’t have too many exits.”
Just perpendicular to the doors was a kitchenette, where she spotted a fancy espresso machine. But she turned and her gaze went right past the table that had tons of scattered spare parts and a welding iron, and a line of cars that all together cost the net worth of a small country.
“Sweet Merlin,” Kendis shouted as she broke away from Tony’s touch and went over to the cars. It was a good mix of flashy sports cars, but it was the vintage cars that excited her the most. There was a 1953 Ford Flathead Roadster that was black but painted with red and gold flames, a sleek black 1949 Mercury Coupe, and Kendis barely bit back a squeal of delight as they spotted a gorgeous blue 1967 Shelby Cobra.
Her fingers hovered over the Cobra. “Please tell me we can take this out for a joy ride before I go.”
“You are as rich as I am,” Tony pointed out. “You could buy one of these yourself.”
Kendis wrinkled her nose. “She’s lovely.” They patted the hood, “But they would take up too much space and bring too much attention. Besides, you are one of the few people who know how wealthy I am.”
Tony walked to her and nudged her playfully on the shoulder. “Okay, then I will take you out for a ride,” he replied, his voice was abruptly low and seductive.
Kendis rolled her eyes and nudged him back, “I bet you will.”
There was a whirl of noise, and Tony swore under his breath as a huge robotic arm rolled towards them at breakneck speed.
Tony slapped his forehead. “I’m surprised he lasted this long.” He muttered under his breath. “This is Dum-e, and Dum-e knows better than to leave his charging station when we have visitors down here.”
Dum-e slumped, and it should be strange to see something made out of metal emote so clearly. Yet, Kendis, she remembered Mr. Weasley’s old cantankerous Ford Anglia that had ditched Ron and her back in third year.
And not to mention Jarvis, who showed a bit of personality behind his stiff upper lip.
Dum-e gave her a dejected-sounding mechanical whine.
“It’s alright,” Kendis said as she reached out to pat him on the head. “I don’t mind.”
Dum-e perked up its head and then turned to Tony. His creator gave a put-upon sigh. There were a few whirls from a previously unseen corner, and Tony pitched the bridge of his nose.
“Fine.” Tony threw up his hands. “U and Butterfingers can come out.”
Kendis blinked at him, “You named your bots U and Butterfingers? Wow, I have heard some weird names—”
“I may have named them when I was drunk,” Tony mumbled under his breath, and Kendis laughed. But then, the two bots looked similar to Dum-e as both had robot arms, although shorter than Dum-e.
A few centimeters shorter than Dum-e’s.
They all looked identical to each other, but she spotted their names stamped on the side of their arm.
“Hello, Dum-e, U, and Butterfingers.” Kendis beamed at all three of them. During her brief stay so far, she had met a few cute robots, but she had to say that these three were downright adorable.
Dum-e’s exuberance reminded her of her old friend, Dobby. She felt a pang of grief. She had lost so much during the war, but she never expected Dobby to be one of them.
“You okay, Glenda?” Dum-e asked.
“Yeah,” Kendis laughed and did her best to shove away the familiar grief. “Well, it’s so nice to meet all of you,” she said with a grin. “I think we are going to be great friends.”
Dum-e offered his hand, and she shook it. And then he was dragging her across the room to a section where he had a sofa and a TV.
“Hey, let go of her!” Tony called out as he hurried after them. Kendis waved him off. She wasn’t worried, and then he dropped her on the sofa.
And then there were some whirls, and the TV popped on, and there was a movie title.
“Short Circuit?”
“Ugh, not again,” Tony groaned. “We’ve seen these movies a million times!”
“No worries, I never heard of it,” Kendis waved him off. “You go to work and I’ll hang out with your bots.”
A strange look passed over Tony’s face that she couldn’t quite decipher, but then Tony just simply shrugged and, with a last strange look, he walked back over to his workstation.
