Contacting

Waking up she worried about Tony Stark because yesterday he looked so troubled and sad while drinking himself unconscious.

Wanting to distract herself she went to her computer to do a little in-depth research. Sitting on a barstool in her bistro she read all about the billionaire. Apparently he called himself a genius, playboy, billionaire, and philanthropist. Making an Iron Man Suit during his capture to escape impressed her. There were rumors that he took revenge and slaughtered the Ten Rings terrorist, she hoped that if it was true, the killing had soothed some of his fractured mind. Reading about Obadiah Stane really enraged her. No wonder Tony didn't seem connected to many people after someone you looked up to as a mentor and possibly father figure betrayed you, trusting people was near impossible. One of the reasons he stopped being a playboy was probably the lack of trust in people after Stane and the terrorist.

Debating with herself she lost to temptation and visited Tony again.

The fascination she felt was not about his public persona but the Tony Stark he was in private.

He was clearly a genius. The arc reactor was an unparalleled masterpiece, no doubt about it but what really surprised her was the fact that they had more in common than she ever could have guessed.

He had nightmares and didn't sleep more than a few hours in one night.

Visitors were a rare occurrence except for Pepper and even she visited rarely. He would spend days in his workshop with hardly any breaks. The more time she spent with him, of course always invisible, it became glaringly obvious that he was a driven man. Maybe just maybe he was as broken as her.

Vali could see the lonely man he truly was. In company, he was always flashy, self-confident and charming but in his workshop, you could see the real Stark. With his single-minded focus on his new theories, he didn't notice anything else. It was, she supposed, the normal working of a genius mind but his surroundings weren't so understanding. His friends would always scold him when he forgot to eat, go to his meetings or even pick up the phone.

Observing Tony while he was working, she came to the conclusion that although he was magicless his mind had to be magic to conjure up so many mindblowing things.

More often than not she ported to his laboratory in the evenings to observe the genius at work.

He didn't guard his expressions and would speak frequently with JARVIS and his robots. Anthony E. Stark was a kind, funny and loyal man but it seemed he went to great length to hide these aspects of his personality. Why he felt he had to hide his best personality traits, she had no idea.

Vali could see that something troubled him but didn't know how to help. Following closely for a few days she couldn't find anything that would cause his eyes to be hollow and haunted. The only suspicious thing she found out by coincidence. Every day he would zealously measure his blood values after that he would drink a violet liquid with a face that screamed revulsion.

Mentally taking note to investigate further, she wasn't particularly worried because Tony seemed so vital. His skin color was a healthy brown and despite not eating regularly he hadn't lost weight since she started to visit him.

She felt like they were kindred spirits although she was still scared of him. Anthony Stark was a scientist and magic she read on the internet was every scientist's wet dream. So showing herself to him was out of the question. Even if he didn't capture her and torture her, she feared that he would only be interested in her magic. To her chagrin, Valerie was soon realizing that she as a person wanted to be fascinating too. Far too many people in her past were only interested in her because of her talents in magic and she didn't want that from Tony.

She didn't even have a clue how she would introduce herself: Walking up to him saying hi I want to be your friend? yeah, she already knew that ending.

Tony was a celebrity and like her, there were only a few people he trusted. So introduction was out. Even if they became friends she didn't want the publicity.

Her goal was a normal life and to be friends with Stark- not so normal. No, meeting him face to face was definitely not an option.

Nevertheless, she followed Stark more and more often but always stayed invisible. She accompanied him to meetings with Pepper, Rhodey and board members. The board members, even Pepper and Rhodey, didn't take him seriously. They put him down verbally and she saw him going to great lengths to not contradict them. She couldn't understand how neither Pepper or Rhodey could see the hurt in Tony's eyes when something like this happened. It made her really angry with them and she could feel the first doubt rearing its head: Maybe contact was unavoidable. The desire to get in contact with Stark was growing every week.

His presence eased her mind and her loneliness felt a little less pressing.

While visiting Tony Stark again, Pepper came to the mansion and brought a Starbucks coffee for him. Vali saw his eyes lighting up and his genuine delight about the gesture. Which was doused as soon as he noticed that Pepper wasn't there to bring him a present rather to get some papers signed. „Do you want to grab a bite to eat?" Tony asked hopefully. "Tony, I am sorry but I don't have time, I have to be back at the company at 12 o'clock am. Could you sign those papers quickly, I am already running late." "But Pep you just got here. At least you could come downstairs and look at my new inventions." Shooting a look at him that screamed selfish, Pepper wordlessly held the business contract out to him. "Please be reasonable, Tony." Seeing how the happiness in his eyes vanished, to be replaced by the sad and hollow look Vali already knew too well, she felt hurt on his behalf but having to watch how he tried to get Pepper to spend some time with him and how she coldly shot him down was making her really furious.

Why did nobody consider his needs or his mental wellbeing? Pepper was the first visitor after weeks and she clearly didn't want to stay. Why wasn't there someone who considered Tony's needs their first priority?

It would seem that it was time to make contact. Maybe she could distract the genius from his sad and desperate mood. She took notice weeks ago that Stark loved coffee but he seemed to forget to buy sugar or milk, sometimes even the coffee beans. The coffee machine in his workshop was simply a monstrosity, with it good coffee was an impossibility.

Her plan was simple. Deliver Stark a self-made coffee from her bistro and with that she would lead him on a merry chase. The execution would need a little more work.

With her magical coffee machine, she made a big caffè latte, mixed a double shot espresso in it, topping it off with a shot of chocolate sauce, sugar and a pinch of cinnamon. The coffee from her bistro was made from magical beans, fresh from her greenhouse. The coffee was not only super delicious but it would also boost your health a little.

In the Morning, hexing herself and the freshly brewed coffee invisible, she ported to Tony Stark's Malibu Mansion and deposited the coffee on the kitchen counter. As soon as it touched the countertop it became visible. On the one hand, she was really frightened because of her own daring, on the other hand, she was giddy because she hoped Stark would be happy about her present. In the end, she got cold feet and teleported away before she could see Stark's reaction.