Домашние животные / Pets

Steve folded his arms across his massive chest, the way he always did when he was angry, which was impressive and even a little intimidating. Tony, however, did the same out of spite. Putting aside the pocket computer on which he was giving instructions to the development Department of stark industries.

-You're here on business, stark. Take your mind off things.
-I'm a businessman," he shrugged cheerfully.
-There are things that are more important than your business," Rogers said, returning to the gathering. Director fury is looking for additional sources of funding, and I would ask Natasha to do the same, she is doing a good job.
-No problem," she said, " I have someone in mind."
-I'll join in," Clint said, smiling out of the corner of his mouth.
-Uh - huh," stark said, not looking up from his computer. Enjoy.

Steve gave him a disapproving look.

"Take it seriously.
"I'm as serious as a suicide bomber," he chuckled, looking up with a sly black eye, " But even a suicide bomber can't compare to you, Captain Pathetika."

Steve's face tightened. He politely (too politely for a normal person) brought the rest of the collection and announced that everyone was free.

"Except you, stark.

Tony turned around with a sneer on his face. This man was definitely driving Captain America to distraction. This man was ironic even about the collapse of the world before his eyes. Even when they all thought stark had gone one way, he made his jokes.

"Don't you have anything more to say, you could die every second?» Rogers said. "That's the beauty of it," Tony snorted, " Maybe that's why I'm still alive."

"What do you want to hear?" My apologies? I didn't do anything."

Rogers took a deep breath to calm his anger.

"Our fees are more important than your business, stark. Please come to them, and not like last time.
"Of course, I can't afford the money," Tony snorted, not sure if he was serious or not.

Steve frowned at him.

"Don't pretend you don't. You haven't done anything yourself for a long time, do you think no one knows? Does anyone know that your Secretary does everything for you?

Tony raised one eyebrow, grinning all over his face, which Steve immediately wanted to smash just to wipe out the damn grin.

"Then what do I do?"
"Oh, it must be something important," the Captain said disgustedly. Drink. Having fun with women.

Stark seemed amused.

- Certainly. I don't know who counted my whisky glasses, but there were clearly more than two of them. And girls. Again, I don't know who counts them. But I'm sure they pay him well for it "- he made a mock gesture with his hand, his eyes unreadable - " don't you think I'm too particular?"

Once again, not knowing if this was a serious genius or if he was mocking her again, Steve managed to say:

"You'd even kill a dog if you had one." How can you expect someone to want to spend the rest of their life with you? he shook his head.
"If I'm free from my upbringing, I think I'll go." It was naive to think that after my dad died, there was no one to take care of me, right? Tony said with a wry smile and disappeared from view.

Positively, Steve hated him. It seemed to him that this hatred could be sorted into shelves with explanations "for so-and-so". 

Director fury will be back tomorrow, so he'll probably do all the work himself, and Steve can just sleep for a few days before lunch and get some rest.

***
It was a fairly large light Retriever, in fact, such as there are model retrievers from dog shows. The most appropriate word for it would be "intelligent", at worst "neat".  The dog sat politely in the Parking lot of stark's Tower and seemed to be waiting for someone. Tony prepared to walk by, because a business dog like that couldn't possibly be waiting for someone like Tony stark, who was always late. Tony was especially late from the Board of Directors, as he was now.

But no, the dog was waiting for him. Stark laughed at his own fantasy. The Retriever was just waiting for someone to find it, that's all. Well, why not do a good deed by returning the dog to its owner.

"After you," the genius said, opening the door and nodding mockingly at the dog, who moved noiselessly inside and followed stark into the Elevator, holding his eared head high.

In the Elevator, he did not worry, sitting in the corner opposite, apparently not bothered by the closed space. Tony also noticed that he wasn't wearing a collar and was a little surprised. Don't care, however, no one canceled, and the billionaire just went to his penthouse. He was as tired as a draft horse.

"Good evening, sir." Do you have a new pet?  Jarvis asked politely.
"He'll stay with us until we find the owner." Do it, " Tony ordered, and reached into the refrigerator.

When he turned around with a slice of pizza in his hand, the dog was sitting a meter away, staring.

"Are you hungry?"  stark waved the pizza.

The dog tilted his head, as if he wasn't being too complimentary about stark's genius.

"And too proud to ask, eh?" "I like it." I'm sorry, Chappie, I don't eat, so you'll have to settle for my dinner tonight.

Holding out another piece, stark saw that it was the correct characterization: the dog got up and carefully pulled the pizza out of his hands with his teeth and moved out of sight to eat it. Tony chuckled.

"I sent out a request," Jarvis reported, " But no adult purebred Golden retrievers have been lost anywhere recently.
"It's too clean for a waif, isn't it, doggie?"

The man bowed his head again, and there was so much reproach in the gesture for mental retardation that stark was ashamed.

"Jarvis, did the Shield call?"
"No, sir," I said.
"That's good," Tony said, " because some people seem determined to make me a model superhero." That's me. Hey, where's the guest?  he looked around for the dog.
"The animal is exploring the house, Mr. stark.
"Holy shit," the genius agreed, wincing as he drank a glass of carrot juice.

At that moment, the dog came into view and sat down next to him, looking down at Tony. Surprising, given the difference in height.

"Would you like some carrot juice?" "there's a lot of vitamins in Here, and it's good for you."

The Retriever sniffed politely at the glass and looked at stark with a kind of puzzlement.

"That's right," the other agreed. But without it, I'll die of beriberi pretty quickly. You can't just eat pizza.

The dog waited patiently while stark rinsed the glass, put it back on the shelf, and made coffee, then watched him walk to the sofa.

 You're supposed to do what? - suddenly thought of Tony, a boy or a girl?

The dog tensed noticeably as the Iron Man got up with the obvious purpose of exploring, and disappeared into another room.

"Jarvis, scan this prude if he doesn't like me."
"The dog, sir," replied the Butler, " is Perfectly healthy and well developed. Have you come up with a name for it yet?
"Why?" "let him live," Tony said philosophically, as he slumped on the sofa with his Cup and turned on the news. Pepper won't mind, will he?
"I don't think so while miss Potts is in Mexico," Jarvis said, not without a sneer.
- That's nice.

After a while, a wary dog's face poked out of the room.

"Don't worry, kid, I don't need to look for proof of your manhood anymore," Tony chuckled from the couch. "keep me company, buddy," and he patted beside him.

The dog approached cautiously, apparently still afraid of humiliating checks. However, the eccentric billionaire did not seem to show any signs of research thirst, so the Retriever jumped up nicely on the sofa and curled up at the other end.

"What a polite animal," Tony said, and with one indelicate movement he pulled the dog toward him.

The dog, eyeing stark warily, settled down next to him, warming his side. He was almost asleep when a hand fell on his head. The Retriever tensed. The hand, however, did nothing wrong: stroked, scratched behind the ear, began to touch the long smooth fur. The dog dozed off.

***
Tony didn't care much about the people in the house. He was not used to taking care of anyone at all: Jarvis demanded different treatment, and pepper could take care of herself, and she had time to take care of Stark himself. 

It was lonely without her, and Tony would Wake up with a strange feeling of emptiness behind him, like falling into a portal and that hungry, star-spangled blackness of space. Pepper told him that several times during the night he tried to find her with his hand. She asked what had happened, but the genius was fast asleep. He just needed someone to be around, and gradually she stopped waking up from that gesture.

That night, he awoke again to find nothing behind him (he usually slept on his side). Grumbling the doomed "again", he got up to drink juice or, at least, water. He could have taken sleeping pills, but he didn't. Pepper would ask why he needed the pills (pepper always knows everything for some reason), and he would have nothing to say, because "I can't sleep alone" is just a weakness and a whim. I mean, not for Tony.

In the living room, on the sofa, a sleepy stark suddenly found the Retriever and hovered for a moment, remembering where it came from. The brilliant idea came unexpectedly. The dog woke up and twitched, barking piteously, but Tony surprisingly quickly dragged him to the bedroom.

"You're heavy, my friend," he said, setting the animal on the bed. Not discuss.

In the blink of an eye, the dog was mercilessly embraced from all sides. For a long time, he didn't dare move. Pleased with himself, Tony, feeling the warmth of someone else at his side, fell asleep almost immediately. The faint smell of the dog didn't bother him, and neither did the fur on the bed.

The Retriever raised its head cautiously and stared at stark for a moment, too intently for the dog. Then, very tentatively, he sniffed at stark's hair and the black curls on his chest. He sighed and settled his head on his paws. 
Tony often frowned in his sleep, though no one, not even pepper, knew it.

***
The alarm woke Tony at seven-thirty in the morning. It took him another half-hour to wash and dress in his usual business suit and start eating Breakfast. Genius found the dog in the kitchen looking longingly at the refrigerator. 

"Good morning," he said. 

The Retriever inclined his head in a familiar gesture.

-Yes, Yes, now, I am a very bad host, which is why I do not have such as you, - snorted stark and rummaged in the entrails, fished out sausages. "Will you?"

The dog gave a perfectly human sigh.

"Jarvis, order this meat or whatever it is recommended to feed thoroughbred wool snobs." And everything else.

The dog ate the sausage, however, and asked for more, eventually destroying almost the entire supply.

"You're a glutton, my friend," Tony chuckled.

The dog suddenly barked. Not evil, but very emotional. 

"Are you Steve's property?" "why, you two look alike." You can't tell. Especially this reproach in her eyes. And a proud face.

The dog barked impatiently again, and Tony decided to call. Rogers was probably on a mission or brainwashed someone by turning off the phone. Calling phury for the dog seemed so ridiculous and funny to Tony that he promised himself he would do it later to make old nick sick.

***
"Mr. stark, are you sure about the presence of an animal?" I can arrange it somewhere here or call a special service, " the Manager asked delicately.
"Why not?" "Order food and find bedding." 

The Board of Directors did not respond to the PSA. The man crouched uncertainly in a corner and apparently tried to pretend that he was not there. The sight of the eleven stockholders (almost all older than stark, dressed in suits and ties), their faces bleached from politics and financial squabbles, could have been disconcerting. Stark, however, merely settled himself in his chair and prepared to begin.

The meeting lasted almost five hours. The men, in low voices, gravely gave each other a stream of figures and exchanged suggestions. From the outside, it seemed that Tony was looking around the room with a tired and absent look. At the second hour, however, he suddenly raised his hand, and there was a momentary silence. The dog looked up. He had eaten well and was lying on a pillow, the only one who was comfortable enough.

Tony said a few words in the same low voice, and the discussion ended. Apparently, he made the decision as CEO. Eleven people, among whom the bright Tony stark somehow faded, turning into a surprisingly serious businessman, dressed to the nines, but exactly the same colorless as everyone else here. He even spoke through clenched teeth. The tension was not visible, but it was felt in the straight back, in the hands that lay on the table too calmly for stark to be active.