(for everyone who had such kind words for me and the Toasterverse, let’s just skip ahead. To the fic after “Hunting the Hero,” which, you know, I can finish. And which I think we need badly right now, because canon. )
“What time is it?”
“Five o'clock, sir.”
Tony paused, his coffee cup hovering in front of his mouth. He squinted at the holographic interface that swirled around him, wondering if he should ask or not.
Jarvis sighed. “AM, sir.”
“Excellent,” Tony said. “That’s… That’s definitely excellent and not at all worrying.” He pressed the heel of his hand against his left eye, wondering if the ache behind his temple was from eyestrain or just a lack of sleep. “Clear my schedule. I’m taking a day.”
There was a beat of silence. “Clear your schedule for how long, sir?”
Tony paused, and then set both of his hands on the workbench, leaning his weight into them. “What’s on my schedule that you’re trying to protect?”
“You have a rather busy week, sir,” Jarvis said.
“Right, and none of it is important in the least,” Tony said. He reached for his coffee cup. It was mostly empty, but he had a feeling that pouring a new cup would not be a good idea. For his sanity or his heart. He took a sip. “Run me through it, Jay, and I’ll let you know what you can ax.”
“Of course, sir,” Jarvis said. He cleared his non-existent throat. “Monday, four pm, meeting at SHIELD about-”
“Oh, god, I don’t care, if it’s SHIELD, just knock it off of there right now,” Tony said, squinting up at the hologram. “I don’t think we need this extra shielding, do we? I mean, we can-”
“You’ll die, sir, so please, let’s just leave that. Tuesday, noon, lunch with Col. Rhodes and Ms. Potts.”
“Are we going somewhere good?” Tony asked.
“Col Rhodes chose it,” Jarvis said. “You tend to agree with his taste in such matters.”
“True.” Tony spun a wrench between his fingertips. “Next?”
“Tuesday, six PM. Board meeting of-”
“Look, I’ll do the StarkIndustries stuff, because Pepper will kill me if I don’t, but let’s tell me about those when I’m more…” He paused. “Not hallucinating from lack of sleep or possibly paint fumes, did we start a new fabrication at some point last night, I don’t-”
“Thursday, ten AM, team meeting. You are tasked with bringing donuts this week.”
“Yeah, yeah, place an order for me, Jay. Next.”
“Thursday, six PM, speech for the Honor Society of Empire University. Friday, seven PM, dinner meeting. Steve Rogers proposes. Saturday, eleven AM, brunch meeting for the Maria Stark Charitable Foundation. Two PM-”
Tony held up a hand. “Wait.”
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