#starting relationship

Author: foreverday

Rating: Teen

Word Count: 10to20k

Genre(s): fluff, romance, drama

Film-specific: no

Tropes: pre-relationship, getting together, dating,

Summary: ‘I want to date you,’ said Tony.

‘I think what you actually want is to sleep with me,’ Pepper said.

‘Well,’ he said, ‘I want to do that as well.’

Tony and Pepper try dating.

Thank you for being patient! Here is your request!

"What the hell are you doing?"

I couldn't tell if Faye was questioning me ducking behind a wall, or the two pillows tied around my waist. I look around the corner quickly. "I'm hiding." I decide to answer her.

She scoffs. "You guys are still playing that ridiculous game? How long has it been, a month?"

"And?" I really didn't see what was wrong with playing a children's game with a friend. It was true, though. Spike and I have been playing a game for about a month.

A tickling game, to be exact. A game where whoever is able to tackle the other and tickles them wins the game of the day. So far, it's a tie.

This is why I have pillows tied to my waist, to cover my most sensitive spot.

"Well, you're out of luck. Spike is out on a mission. Said he won't be back till tomorrow." Faye says, her hands resting on her hips.

"You can't be serious." I stare into her eyes, looking for a shred of dishonesty. But there didn't seem to be any. I sigh, standing up to untie the rope holding the pillows. "Alright. I suppose I wouldn't need these around the ship for two days."

Leaving the pillow and rope on the metal floor, I figured it would be a good time to eat lunch. As soon as I walk into the kitchen, a heavy weight was crashed into me, my body hitting the floor.

I yelp at the sudden attack. I open my eyes to find Spike himself straddling my hips, a big grin plastered onto his face. "Faye!" I call out in frustration. "You liar!" I try to wiggle out of my friend's hold.

He chuckles darkly. "I got you now!" His fingers reach to my sides, tickling me to death. I laugh and laugh, gasping for air as I try to make him stop.

For what felt like forever, he finally stops, laughing at my torture. "I win!" He smirks.

"No fair! You played dirty!" I hit his chest playfully. My giggling fest stops when I feel him gently grasp my clenched fists. I squirm at his touch and the look in his eyes. A look I have never seen before.

"W-what...?" I stutter. I could feel my face getting warm.

He leaned down, his nose so close to touching mine. I didn't move, couldn't move. What was he doing? This isn't like him.

"(Y/N)... I like you."

My eyes widen, hoping he wouldn't hear the loud thumping my heart was making. He didn't let me say a word, his warm lips connecting to mine. It was quick, sending a shiver down my spine. He didn't lift his head far, looking into my eyes for a second, then kissing me again.

This lasted for a while. Separating once in a while to take breaths, then back into a heated kiss. That is...until someone clearing their throat startles us.

Jet stands at the doorway, avoiding to look at us. "Mind moving that somewhere else? I'd rather cook in silence."

A COUPLE STARTED!!

After a long time knowing each other and having a beautiful friendship, finally Mortise and Iridessa decide to start a SENTIMENTAL RELATIONSHIP as a couple; they are both very excited (and very nervous).

Queen Clarion tells them that they should be patient, trust each other, understanding and being very sincere with each other... "Love each other with all your heart", she ends by saying and congratulating them on this new step.

We want you to love each other with all your hearts and that your love can be eternal!!

Sherlock had to stay in hospital for a few days as the doctors wanted to keep a close eye on him. When the fire was put out fully, Moriarty and two of his snipers were found dead in the debris. It seemed Sherlock had managed to rid the world of a dangerous threat yet again, but this time it almost cost him his life.

The first night John had to go home to shower and sleep. As he lay in bed, he thought about everything that had happened a mere day before, and what was to come. He felt bad about leaving Sherlock at the hospital if he was honest. They had gotten word that Mycroft would be giving them a briefing of what steps would be taken next in a day or so, and John didn’t want Sherlock to have to face the scolding alone. It was as much his fault as Sherlock’s that they ended up in that situation.

After three hours of lying there with sleep nowhere in sight, John sat on the side of his bed and looked down at his feet. It was amazing that only a few months ago he had been a limping, depressed man with no purpose, and now he was the flatmate of a man with an incredible mind. That first night of them living together had been one of the best nights of his life. True, he had been shut down by Sherlock when John was about to ask him out, but the chase and tracking had well made up for that.

Thing was, the feelings John had never really faded away. He had thought about possibly telling Sherlock that he was bisexual and fancied him, except Sherlock showed absolutely no interest in anyone or anything except the Work. John had tried dating in order to get over Sherlock’s rejection, but no one had grabbed his attention like the detective had. If only John was able to get through Sherlock’s defenses, maybe, just maybe, something could happen.

Right before John got up to make some herbal tea, he got a text on his phone. Who the hell would be texting him-? Sherlock, it had to be Sherlock. John took his phone off the charger and as he thought, it was Sherlock. The text read,

[Come to hospital. Bored. –SH]

Not wanting a repeat of the wall incident, John got dressed and got a cab to the hospital. It was around 3 am when he arrived, which meant Sherlock hadn’t slept. John went inside and asked which room Sherlock was in. He had been moved to a different room on the third floor, and when a nurse asked who John was visiting on the elevator, it seemed that the detective had tormented the staff enough that a grimace appeared on the nurse’s face.

On the third floor, John merely had to follow the sound of scathing deductions to find Sherlock’s room. By the time he got there, a woman in scrubs was crying while pushing a computer monitor with her. She must have done something to piss Sherlock off big time if she was in tears. John managed to enter the room without further encounters and saw Sherlock was on his right side toward the door, a look of distaste on his face. John sighed,

“Couldn’t go a day without ripping the staff apart?”

“They’re all idiots.” Sherlock said. “They persist in trying to start conversations with me, discussing topics that don’t even matter.”

John merely sat down in a chair next to Sherlock’s bed.

“They’re trying to be decent human beings to their patients, it’s not a crime to try to be nice.”

“Since when has ‘trying to be nice’ included complimenting me in a way that could only be described as being ‘chatted up’?”

The nurses… hit on Sherlock? True, he was a very attractive man, but that broke lots of medical guidelines and rules. No wonder Sherlock was in such a piss-poor mood.

“You could report it if you’d like.” John offered. “That breaches code of conduct for staff to patients. They could be doing the same thing to other patients.”

“The difference being other patients would be stupid enough to have their confidence boosted by the attempts at flirting.” Sherlock shifted his position so he was on his front. “It truly reveals that someone is shallow and lonely when they’re willing to flirt with their patients.”

Well, John couldn’t argue with that. However, Sherlock could have misinterpreted the compliments as flirting when they were just being nice. John tended to compliment patients at times, but it was strictly in a friendly manner.

For about two hours the two started discussing random topics ranging from deductions of the other staff, to how Sherlock had answered some cases via email on his phone. John started to get a bit drowsy by the end of those two hours and said he was going to go home to sleep, but Sherlock stopped him as he was about to walk out.

“John.”

“Hm?”

“The covers they gave me are rubbish, and at this point I need physical human contact to be comfortable.” Sherlock put down one of the railings on his bed and scooted over. “Come help me warm up.”

John couldn’t help the blush that ran over his cheeks at Sherlock’s request. Sherlock was basically asking to cuddle in his bed. How could he ask that so casually without being embarrassed? This man was an enigma that John couldn’t understand most times. He cleared his throat.

“Why not ask one of the nurses for a heating pad?”

“If I wish to turn over, the bed will be heated in all areas, not simply my own spot.”

John saw something in Sherlock’s eyes that betrayed that line of logic. It was almost… fear. Was Sherlock afraid to be left alone? There were many things Sherlock Holmes was known for: being clever, pissing people off, deducing someone to pieces, but never was he afraid. The whole explosion thing must have really shaken him up.

Instead of pointing out that he was lying, John simply took off his coat and shoes and awkwardly got into the bed next to Sherlock. He made sure to face away from his friend so that it would be less awkward. Thing was, he didn’t expect Sherlock to suddenly turn onto his side and rest his front against John’s back. It suddenly made the soldier acutely aware that there was only a flimsy hospital gown separating himself from Sherlock’s body. It wasn’t exactly arousing, just… constant.

They laid there in silence for a few minutes, simply experiencing the moment. It was weird, almost surreal for John. He had never imagined being in a bed (well, hospital bed) with Sherlock for the night. However, Sherlock being Sherlock, had to be blunt and get to the point.

“You seemed to like when I held your hand in the ambulance.” Sherlock observed.

Even when he was in pain, he had observed John’s comfort in that action. No doubt he also deduced how John felt as a whole. John sighed. He might as well not deny it,

“Yeah, I did.”

“And you have been dating women below your standard since you moved in. Even Sarah is more of a good friend rather than a girlfriend. You also haven’t been trying to fully commit to any of the girls you have dated, and all of them have said they were competing with me.” Sherlock wrapped his arms around John lightly. “You are attracted to me.”

John shivered from the sudden contact and the affirmation. He wasn’t surprised that Sherlock had figured it out, but how long he had known would be the important question. If only he could see Sherlock’s face, even if it was covered by the classic Holmes mask.

“How long have you known?”

“Since you asked me about my love life the first night. However, it seems the attraction has grown from physical to emotional since then.”

“Yeah, it has.”

“And you haven’t pursued me since then. Why?”

There were honestly a multitude of reasons why John didn’t ask Sherlock to date, but it was mostly because of the way he acted. He didn’t even react when Molly would flirt with him or ask him on a low-key date. That was the biggest red flag that Sherlock didn’t date.

“You don’t date at all, you don’t even like caring about people. I thought you just weren’t interested in relationships, so... I didn’t say anything.”

Sherlock pulled John closer to him, almost possessively.

“Well your assumption was incorrect. I have in fact had romantic relationships in my life, though The Work had overshadowed that need for years.”

John was shocked, to say the least. There’d been no indication in the past that Sherlock would be interested in that kind of thing. The fact that he had even done that in the past was shocking. Sherlock usually acted like that was beneath him in some way.

“And now?”

“Now there is a candidate that I am considering to be my significant other. He helps me immensely with The Work, makes me adhere to my body’s needs for sleep and sustenance, and reprimands me when I have broken a social norm.”

He’s… he’s talking about me. In his life (or rather the past few years), John hadn’t expected Sherlock to be interested in him. John never thought of himself as anything special. He was an average bloke who had served his country as a doctor, nothing more. Sherlock was a genius beyond his time, socially inept, yes, but cleverer than John could ever be. The question was, what would happen now that they admitted their feelings for each other.

“So… what now?” John asked.

“Well it is fairly obvious you haven’t had a relationship with a man before (or rather a serious one), so we shall start with what people would call ‘seeing each other’. I believe that is when someone is romantically attached to another but instead of officially becoming a couple, they go on dates, share romantic gestures, things of that nature.” Sherlock paused. “Unless my attempt at cuddling is making you uncomfortable.”

“No, it’s fine, it’s all fine.” John held onto Sherlock’s hands with a smile. “Whatever you want it to be, I’m fine with it.”

And he meant that. Sherlock was willing to give a relationship a chance. That was incredible in itself. Granted, the circumstances could have been better for them to start dating, but what was their life without a little danger in it?

Author:  remreader Rating: teen Word Count: <2k Genre(s): fluff Film-specific: post iron man 2 Tropes: starting relationship, the bots, movie night, date night

Summary:  Tony, Pepper, and the bots watch WALL-E. It makes for an eventful movie night.

Author:  TheIronMechanic Rating: gen Word Count: <2k Genre(s):  fluff Film-specific:  post iron man 2 Tropes:  starting relationship, post expo, love declarations, misunderstanding

Summary: “It’s not-“ she sights “We both know how you are, with girls, with relationships.” Anger starts clearly showing up on his face “If we are being realistic, the probabilities of us actually working out are of a 15 to 20%-“

“No, no.” He turns, his back to her, his feet on the ground and his head on his hands. “You can’t-“ He sights, his throat burning up, tears on his eyes, aching to fall. “You can’t say that. You can’t tell me that after what we just did.” He’s met by silence. “Please, just don’t make me regret this. Not this.”

Author:  fandoms_tea_and_feminism Rating: teen Word Count: <2k Genre(s): angst, hurt comfort Film-specific: post iron man 2 Tropes: starting relationship,  ptsd,  supportive!pepper, hurt!tony

Summary: Tony knew he was touch-starved, knew after that mental breakdown in Rhodey’s arms. But Stark men were made of iron. So what was wrong with him?

Author:  afteriwake Rating: teen Word Count: <2k Genre(s): fluff Film-specific: no Tropes:  starting relationship, first time, morning after, insecure!pepper, caring!tony

Summary:  Some pillow talk after Pepper and Tony's first time together.