It’s hard not to be impressed by what Matt can suss out about people from barely a description and whatever it is his brain does to give him a sense of the world around him beyond sight. Tony doesn’t know the pair and they don’t know Matt has seen them coming so the eccentric billionaire is within his right to ignore them for the bar.
They’ll likely follow, but not before he has a drink in his hand.
“Murdock.” The voice is grating. Tony doesn’t look up. “So you made it.” The justice system doesn’t usually favor the guy with the better voice but if it did, it would be no wonder Matt constantly won over him. Tony takes another drink, holding the liquid in his mouth, before he puts on a smile and turns to face the two men.
“Yeah, well, I twisted his arm,” Tony says, letting the other man know that they have more than just an acquaintance. “It’s an important cause and, you know, we rarely celebrate the people we should so—“ he gestures at Matt.
It's not even that Matt takes a completely adversarial approach to the DA's office most of the time; they're doing their jobs, just like he is, and they do good work. It's just that some are climbers, looking to move beyond the office to whatever they consider to be a higher position in the government or politics. People for whom the call for justice isn't enough and doesn't matter unless it inhibits their ascent. This is one of those men, so Matt hasn't been particularly impressed with him in or out of the courtroom. So it doesn't surprise him at all that he approaches when Tony Stark is there.
Matt does smile when Tony makes it clear that he's the reason that Matt's there, showing their affiliation.
"I try not to be in this for awards or accolades," Unlike some people. "But like he said, my arm was sufficiently twisted." He turns toward Tony, "Do you want to sit back down?" It's an attempt at an escape from the conversation.
Making people sputter is one of the perks of being who he is, and Tony relishes it. He doesn’t have the ability to read people the way Matt does, but Tony can still tell that the dislike between the speaker and his date is mutual. Tony can’t drop it.
“Didn’t you want to introduce me to someone? We’ll be sitting most of the night,” Tony says, scanning the room and ignoring the still flustered DA.
Obviously, Tony is going to take his good graces away from this upward mobility tract in a suit and give his attention to people who Matt thinks is more worthy. You can’t out powerplay someone like Stark. Not for very long at least.
Does he need to sit? Yes. Breathing hurts. But he’ll grin and bear it for a good cause.
"I did, but you're going to have to take me around the room," Matt says with a smile back to Tony. He doesn't actually want to because now he can definitely tell that he's in pain but similarly, he can't just pick someone out of the crowd without it being obvious and since it's part of the ruse, he doesn't necessarily have anyone in mind. Maybe Kirsten. She's with the DA's office as well, but she's someone who Matt thinks is brilliant and with the right ideals.
"Come on," he prompts, extending his elbow for Tony to take to lead the way far from the current social climbers.
He does appreciate the exit strategy and how Tony has managed to grind the hopes of the other lawyer to a halt.
Once they're far enough away, he leans in, "I know you're limping. Are you sure you don't want to sit somewhere?"
Despite the words, Tony finds himself smiling. It’s not for show, it’s not for anyone looking at them. There is a certain soft care in the tone of voice that Tony likes. Matt isn’t demanding he sits. He’s just giving him the option.
“I do want to sit,” Tony replies. “Had a little too much fun in Italy this week. Broke my suit to pieces. But I also want to rub that asshole’s nose in it. Oh look, we don’t have to wait long. Woman, early 40s, dark skin and hair—
This would be Kristen McDuffie, the very person Matt had been thinking about. Tony turns on an easy charm, though he immediately forgets her name once she and Matt start talking.
"I'm not sure you and I have the same definition of fun." Except maybe they do in some kind of way, but he lets it go for now. He can't cast stones with the bruising on his hand and the ones that are covered by the nice tux.
He ends up chatting with Kirsten and while she has a degree of nerves in front of Stark, she doesn't let it outwardly show. The conversation is brief, also around how she's surprised that he came at all. He smiles through it more genuinely and says that he really did turn the invitation down but fate had a funny way of working things out.
When the conversation ends, he tilts his head toward the table, "Come on. Let's sit down. You can tell me about Italy."
Though they’ll be interrupted a dozen times, Tony does manage to get out the ‘cooler’ parts of the mission to Matt. The nitty gritty of his other life isn’t as exciting as most people think it is. It’s a lot of meetings and planning and then a follow through that throws all plans out of the window.
“I lost the dampeners first. I thought they’d found a way to disrupt the electrical flow to the reactor but the suit was still moving. It just seemed to freeze the pistons. One gauntlet ejected itself before I fell out of the sky but I used the repulsors in the boots to try and keep myself from spinning out of control. Partial success.”
He doesn’t go into the after math, the paper work, the handover of captured foes to other authorities. Or that he had to sit out the clean out of the stronghold because he was getting field stitches.
Being glued back together? Not the sexiest conversation.
“I need to start over on a new armor,” he says. “I have backups but they’re just…backups.”
The interruptions actually highlight just how much Matt likes spending time with Tony because if he didn't, he probably wouldn't become somewhat annoyed by them. He doesn't let it show. He's polite and charming when conversation turns his way but he does find just how much he prefers their time together to be spent alone. This whole event was something of a dare and he's not upset he took the bait, but next time, he's going to prefer something quieter.
Funny that he's again thinking about next time.
"Kind of sounds like you're lucky to be alive." He doesn't say it with scolding, nor does he say it with wonder like some might. He knows close calls. It's just an observation. "Sounds like you're going to be spending a lot of time in the lab then," he mentions, "Am I setting myself up for disappointment to try to schedule something with you that doesn't involve a crowd like this because you'll be too busy?"
Hunching to ease the pull at his ribs, and drinking yet another full glass of scotch to dull the ache, Tony doesn’t remark on his life. He had backup. He had resources. He had people that pulled him out of the wreckage and put him back together. That’s the way of things. One day, he won’t have any of that and if his brain doesn’t work overtime, he’ll die.
He hopes that doesn’t happen, though. He is pretty sure he knows there’s nothing on the otherside but he doesn’t want to find out just yet.
Tony glances around the room to try and catch a waiter’s eye as the room settles down to find their tables when Matt’s question causes his eyebrow to pop. “A man has to eat,” Tony says. “Even if it’s just take out in the kitchen. I’m not fun to be around when I’m working. But I can use a little distraction to make sure I don’t dehydrate again.”
Are they already making plans for the next time? Maybe.
“You’re the one with the award winning overworked lifestyle here.”
Matt doesn't have backup in that kind of sense when he's out fighting. It's just him most of the time and he knows a thing or two about the kind of field triage that comes about as a result of it. Their methods are very different but ultimately it all comes down to the kind of risks that they take for what they do.
"I turned down accepting the award until you brought me here," he points out, "But I get your point." He is overworked and he doesn't always have the luxury of choosing his schedule depending on what's happening in Hell's Kitchen.
Still, he does take an opening when one is presented to him. "So if I stop by with food, you'd actually be willing to take a break now and then? Is that what I'm hearing?"
“If you stop by with food, I will do my best to take a break now and then,” Tony partially corrects because he knows himself. “I might lock in with my work but I have been told I am persuadable with the right distraction.” Food won’t do it. The man bringing the food? That’s a different matter all together.
He’s shouldn’t be so open, or seem so eager, but he is. For right now, the stars are aligning and Matt is interesting in all of the right ways. Tony never wants to get to know people anymore, or so he’d thought, until Murdock came into his life. And now? Now he has trouble thinking about not seeing him again.
He’s about to say something else when the lights partially dim and the host of the evening comes out on stage.
“He’s wearing a gold bow tie,” Tony says, leaning towards Matt. “And the podium is gold with I think ivy or something carved into it.” It’s not much more then ‘this is a photo of a sunset,’ but it’s better than nothing.
"I'm going to hold you to that. I will call before I stop by just so I know you aren't on some superhero mission somewhere. I know a really good Korean place. Sparkling clean kitchen," he answers. He knows that seemed to be a thought that Tony had about the last place and now knowing what he does about Matt's senses, he can trust that he's well aware of the good places to eat in the city.
He does grin at the mention of distractions. "So if I deliver food and leave my clothes in the elevator, what kind of distraction is that, on your scale?" he teases, keeping his voice low and between the two of them. They're already attracting attention from the way they're whispering to one another anyway.
Matt is a little disappointed that the conversation is interrupted by the event starting. He realizes right about now that he probably should have prepared a speech--except he had no idea he'd actually be here until they were in the limo. He'll probably have to wing it.
As much as Tony would have liked to answer the question, he decides a show and tell would be much better in the long run. So, “Korean sounds good,” is all Tony will say for now. Perhaps it’s an incentive to see if Matt actually will just stop over.
He’ll have to write some protocols for that so FRIDAY knows to expect him. And maybe he’ll tell Banner—
No. That would defeat the whole purpose of Matt being someone just for him. For however long it lasts. He doesn’t really want questions. People can speculate but Bruce cares about him. And Tony doesn’t want to deal with the emotions he might have surrounding someone he connects with.
Someone who will eventually leave. Probably with his heart.
He’s tired of building new ones.
After the droning of the host goes on for awhile, dinner is brought out. The people at their table seem delighted. Tony isn’t so sure. More scotch? Fine. Prime rib with a bunch of fancy small plates?
“On a scale of one to McDonald’s after this is over, how safe am I to try some of this?” Should be interact with the other people around them? Sure. Is he? Nope.
There are a few ideas bouncing around his head about what he can do to get Tony's attention the next time he comes to the tower with food and maybe not much else, but he'll have to decide on that later. He does assume that he's giving enough warning now that there won't be questions from FRIDAY or any other robots about who he is and what he's doing there if he shows up.
What matters right now is that they're having fun. Maybe the gala itself isn't a laugh riot but it's immeasurably more tolerable for Matt than it would have been if he'd come alone or with a different plus one. He knows he's shitty at relationships, not made any better or easier by the fact that he is constantly lying throughout one, but it's good for now and that's what he's hanging his hat on.
Since Matt had no initial intention of coming to this dinner, he ultimately decides that he doesn't have to do much more socializing with anyone else. Who would really expect him to, when he's Tony Stark's date? So at least he has a reasonable excuse.
The question about the prime rib makes him smile. "Avoid the salad. They didn't wash it enough so I don't trust it. You'll be safe with the meat and potato...whatever that's called." Probably some fancy name.
“No salad. Got it,” Tony says, shifting his body to ignore the woman who is hitting him every so often with her elbow and apologizing. He knows that ploy. He’s not taking her up on the conversation tactic.
The food is fine for what it is. Tony picks through the potatoes and cuts out the very center of the prime rib to eat. He’s particular, as Matt has likely noted from multiple other interactions, but sometimes he’s more particular than others. His little bottle of hand sanitizer makes its way to the open several times during the meal.
“Your turn. How was your week outside of the, uh. Fight. With the car door?”
Matt is decidedly less picky, though he does avoid the salad as he noted. He's hungry and that tends to come from long days where he forgets to eat while he's in the office or during court. He's pretty sure the last meal he had was a less than good breakfast in the morning so he eats far more than Tony does.
He's aware of the attempt to get Tony's attention but he similarly ignores it, except for a passing smile to him when it happens again.
"Less interesting than yours," he answers, and that's true even if it writes off the work that he did in and out of the suit. "Picked up a new 'one for them' case and had the requisite boring meetings around it. Did a couple of really minor pro-bono cases. Trespassing, petty theft, a guy who got busted for pissing on a dumpster behind a store because they didn't have a public bathroom. A very glamorous life, as you can imagine." He ignores the part about the bruise on his hand, or the one on his side that the suit is hiding.
So many mysteries. Tony is patient, for the most part. He’d already done a lot of digging into his date and he has learned many lessons about throwing his tech-specific weight and political influence around. It’s hard to hide things from Tony if he really wants to know them, but he’s grown a little bit as a person since Pepper left him.
He learned a lot from loving her. He’s tried to become less invasive and manipulative, less willing to ignore what’s right in front of his face. It’s not an easy way to be.
Maybe Matt can benefit from that. Tony doesn’t once pry or demand answers about the swelling. Matt will tell him. Or he won’t. And Tony just had to be okay with that.
“Are those vigilantes really taking all of the good crime these days? You’re left with public indecency and trespassing?”
It's strange but there is almost some part of him that wants to be truly honest with Tony. Maybe it's that ever-present need to be understood by someone that he hasn't really felt since Elektra and knowing that, as much as they try, no one in his life really knows what it's like to do the things he does. It wouldn't be a one-to-one for Tony either, of course. He lives his identity out in the light while Matt never can. Still, it's odd to even think about what it might be like, especially after so few dates.
He doesn't, though. He'll keep lying. It's better for everyone.
"Sounds like it. There was some gangland violence this week that wasn't stopped by the cops, according to the papers. I'm not interested in defending those kinds of clients so I'll stick with the indecency and trespassing." Arguing the defense for the men that he is responsible for putting behind bars tends to defeat the purpose of what he's doing. "Besides, I assume that crime lords can pay for their own attorneys."
The more Matt brings up Daredevil, even when he doesn’t bring him up, the more clued in Tony will become. The lying is a problem, it is for anyone in a relationship (not that this is a relationship), but Tony gets it. Sometimes you just need to do it to protect people.
Maybe not people that live in ninety story towers and fly around in red and gold metal suits of armor, though.
Tony shakes his head. “I’m not really clued in to what goes on at that level,” he says. “But it’s something I think about sometimes. I could be doing more. Then again, that’s why we have police, right?”
He’s just talking out loud about something he doesn’t have much of a clue about. Lots of men in masks are playing Avengers in the small scale. And he doesn’t have too much of an opinion on it either way.
“I was thinking that—“
There is movement on the stage and someone in a suit comes over to touch his shoulder. “Woah. Hands off the tailoring,” he says.
“Excuse me, Mister Stark. But we’re ready for you.”
Matt has a lot of opinions and Tony is opening the door to all of them. He references the need for the police and Matt has some thoughts and feelings about that too but he doesn't get the chance to voice them because they're interrupted before he can say something.
"We'll stick a fork in that," he tells Tony because ultimately he does want to return back to it. He's curious about what Stark thinks about it, even if he hasn't really paid it much attention. He imagines that with everything that is really going on in Tony's life and his interest in protecting the whole world instead of just a few square blocks of the city like Matt is.
He gets it. And he also gets that Tony wouldn't take kindly to learning that he's lying but it's not just for the protection of others that Matt keeps his life secret.
"Knock 'em dead," he says, giving Tony a pat on the arm.
“See you in a few minutes,” Tony whispers before he scrapes back on his chair. Someone else is talking on stage now in a silver dress that completely clashes with all of the gold. Tony wants to tell Matt about it— Maybe later, on the way home. “Someone is going to come and escort him, right?” Tony can be heard saying as he’s led away backstage. Matt doesn’t need the escort but Tony is still focused on it.
He focuses on Matt a little too much, considering the conversation that Matt can now focus in on with Tony’s blathering about vigilante justice over. There is a lot of speculation going on. Mostly about where the tall strawberry blonde Tony usually has on his arm has gotten to.
A few minutes later and Tony is announced. He makes a striking figure in his tuxedo striding across the stage like he owns it. He half leans on the podium, not because he’s trying to hide his pain, but because that is his personality. He lounges and leans because he can. Because this is his space. Because everyone needs to recognize that.
“I’ve given out a lot of awards before. Gotten a few myself,” Tony says, holding the statuette. “Usually I don’t think a lot about them. The sentiment is fine but we all know it’s about stroking ego.”
There are some grumbling in the audience.
“This time, though, I can really get behind this particular honor. I’ve gotten to know the recipient a little over the last few weeks. He’s got a good nose for restaurants. He still uses a fax machine. And he genuinely wants to give back to the community. The guy’s smart. He doesn’t have to do what he does for free, but he does it because he believes that everyone deserves a defense. That’s a kind of faith I don’t think many of us have. So it’s my genuine pleasure to give this award to someone that actually deserves the recognition. Matthew Murdock. Come on up here.”
Matt does listen intently to the crowd around them while Tony gets up on the stage. There have been whispers about them all night, maybe because they too have been whispering to each other at Stark's table and maybe because when they're smiling at each other, it does seem to be something a little more than the kind that would be offered. The idea that Matt Murdock knows Tony Stark at all has seemingly prompted some speculation because they should run in very different circles.
And they do. Except he thought he was texting James.
He can tell that Tony is good at the attention part of this and the speech that he makes is sweet and sincere. The fact that it is gets more whispers going.
Matt allows the organizer to lead him to the podium where he smiles and shakes Tony's hand like he would with any presenter while he's given the glass trophy. He honestly has no idea what he's going to do with it.
"Thank you, Mr. Stark, for outing to everyone--including my potential courtroom opponents, that I still use an old fashioned fax machine." It gets a laugh.
He gives a quick speech with the kind of practiced, easy way he has with juries where he tells the anecdote about how Thurgood Marshall's writings were some of the first things he read after learning Braille and how as a child, all he wanted to do was to help people who didn't have the ways and means to help themselves. There are a couple of funny lines that get chuckles, but it's sincere, even if off the cuff since he didn't intend to come at all. He wraps it up without going long and is glad to be led back to his table and to Tony's company.
Matt speaks so naturally that Tony wonders if he’d been multitasking speech writing as they spoke or if he had a speech just waiting to go at all times in his back pocket. Tony is impressed, the same way Matt constantly impresses him. The moment the other man returns, Tony lets his leg touch the other’s under the table. “Great speech. Ten minutes and we leave?”
They’ve both done their duty. And Tony wants to get Matt somewhere horizontal and naked.
“Happy’s got the getaway car waiting. You coming back with me tonight?”
"It probably would have been better if I knew that I was actually coming here tonight. I was winging it," he deflects. Part of being a good lawyer is being able to speak off the cuff like that and to do so with sincerity in moments when it's necessary. He thinks he did a solid enough job with that. There are other awards but considering he wasn't going to come at all, a quick exit is acceptable.
He smirks at the question.
"Unless you want to spend the night at my place. I'm flexible. As you well know." He's open to either location as long as they're spending the rest of the evening together. He does eventually want to continue that conversation that was interrupted earlier but he's also a bit more interested in getting into bed with Tony first. Maybe it'll make odd pillow talk later.
These things go on all night. Everyone needs a pat on the back. Tony has already left a large donation, he’ll send in another, ear marked for underrepresented defense. The rest of these people don’t need it as much.
With their table situated as it is, leaving through the back is relatively easy and notice free. Tony doesn’t mess around, not even bothering to stop for one last drink before they’re in the elevator.
“I might actually be forced to sleep at yours,” Tony muses. And he does need to sleep. “Will you make me breakfast in the morning?”
Tony doesn’t seem to find telling Happy the plan, though the large former boxer looks confused when he’s told to leave him there and to go home after. “You…sure, Tone?”
“Yeah, Happy, I can get home on my own. I promise.”
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They’ll likely follow, but not before he has a drink in his hand.
“Murdock.” The voice is grating. Tony doesn’t look up. “So you made it.” The justice system doesn’t usually favor the guy with the better voice but if it did, it would be no wonder Matt constantly won over him. Tony takes another drink, holding the liquid in his mouth, before he puts on a smile and turns to face the two men.
“Yeah, well, I twisted his arm,” Tony says, letting the other man know that they have more than just an acquaintance. “It’s an important cause and, you know, we rarely celebrate the people we should so—“ he gestures at Matt.
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Matt does smile when Tony makes it clear that he's the reason that Matt's there, showing their affiliation.
"I try not to be in this for awards or accolades," Unlike some people. "But like he said, my arm was sufficiently twisted." He turns toward Tony, "Do you want to sit back down?" It's an attempt at an escape from the conversation.
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“Didn’t you want to introduce me to someone? We’ll be sitting most of the night,” Tony says, scanning the room and ignoring the still flustered DA.
Obviously, Tony is going to take his good graces away from this upward mobility tract in a suit and give his attention to people who Matt thinks is more worthy. You can’t out powerplay someone like Stark. Not for very long at least.
Does he need to sit? Yes. Breathing hurts. But he’ll grin and bear it for a good cause.
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"Come on," he prompts, extending his elbow for Tony to take to lead the way far from the current social climbers.
He does appreciate the exit strategy and how Tony has managed to grind the hopes of the other lawyer to a halt.
Once they're far enough away, he leans in, "I know you're limping. Are you sure you don't want to sit somewhere?"
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“I do want to sit,” Tony replies. “Had a little too much fun in Italy this week. Broke my suit to pieces. But I also want to rub that asshole’s nose in it. Oh look, we don’t have to wait long. Woman, early 40s, dark skin and hair—
This would be Kristen McDuffie, the very person Matt had been thinking about. Tony turns on an easy charm, though he immediately forgets her name once she and Matt start talking.
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He ends up chatting with Kirsten and while she has a degree of nerves in front of Stark, she doesn't let it outwardly show. The conversation is brief, also around how she's surprised that he came at all. He smiles through it more genuinely and says that he really did turn the invitation down but fate had a funny way of working things out.
When the conversation ends, he tilts his head toward the table, "Come on. Let's sit down. You can tell me about Italy."
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“I lost the dampeners first. I thought they’d found a way to disrupt the electrical flow to the reactor but the suit was still moving. It just seemed to freeze the pistons. One gauntlet ejected itself before I fell out of the sky but I used the repulsors in the boots to try and keep myself from spinning out of control. Partial success.”
He doesn’t go into the after math, the paper work, the handover of captured foes to other authorities. Or that he had to sit out the clean out of the stronghold because he was getting field stitches.
Being glued back together? Not the sexiest conversation.
“I need to start over on a new armor,” he says. “I have backups but they’re just…backups.”
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Funny that he's again thinking about next time.
"Kind of sounds like you're lucky to be alive." He doesn't say it with scolding, nor does he say it with wonder like some might. He knows close calls. It's just an observation. "Sounds like you're going to be spending a lot of time in the lab then," he mentions, "Am I setting myself up for disappointment to try to schedule something with you that doesn't involve a crowd like this because you'll be too busy?"
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He hopes that doesn’t happen, though. He is pretty sure he knows there’s nothing on the otherside but he doesn’t want to find out just yet.
Tony glances around the room to try and catch a waiter’s eye as the room settles down to find their tables when Matt’s question causes his eyebrow to pop. “A man has to eat,” Tony says. “Even if it’s just take out in the kitchen. I’m not fun to be around when I’m working. But I can use a little distraction to make sure I don’t dehydrate again.”
Are they already making plans for the next time? Maybe.
“You’re the one with the award winning overworked lifestyle here.”
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"I turned down accepting the award until you brought me here," he points out, "But I get your point." He is overworked and he doesn't always have the luxury of choosing his schedule depending on what's happening in Hell's Kitchen.
Still, he does take an opening when one is presented to him. "So if I stop by with food, you'd actually be willing to take a break now and then? Is that what I'm hearing?"
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He’s shouldn’t be so open, or seem so eager, but he is. For right now, the stars are aligning and Matt is interesting in all of the right ways. Tony never wants to get to know people anymore, or so he’d thought, until Murdock came into his life. And now? Now he has trouble thinking about not seeing him again.
He’s about to say something else when the lights partially dim and the host of the evening comes out on stage.
“He’s wearing a gold bow tie,” Tony says, leaning towards Matt. “And the podium is gold with I think ivy or something carved into it.” It’s not much more then ‘this is a photo of a sunset,’ but it’s better than nothing.
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He does grin at the mention of distractions. "So if I deliver food and leave my clothes in the elevator, what kind of distraction is that, on your scale?" he teases, keeping his voice low and between the two of them. They're already attracting attention from the way they're whispering to one another anyway.
Matt is a little disappointed that the conversation is interrupted by the event starting. He realizes right about now that he probably should have prepared a speech--except he had no idea he'd actually be here until they were in the limo. He'll probably have to wing it.
"Sounds gauche," he whispers back.
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He’ll have to write some protocols for that so FRIDAY knows to expect him. And maybe he’ll tell Banner—
No. That would defeat the whole purpose of Matt being someone just for him. For however long it lasts. He doesn’t really want questions. People can speculate but Bruce cares about him. And Tony doesn’t want to deal with the emotions he might have surrounding someone he connects with.
Someone who will eventually leave. Probably with his heart.
He’s tired of building new ones.
After the droning of the host goes on for awhile, dinner is brought out. The people at their table seem delighted. Tony isn’t so sure. More scotch? Fine. Prime rib with a bunch of fancy small plates?
“On a scale of one to McDonald’s after this is over, how safe am I to try some of this?” Should be interact with the other people around them? Sure. Is he? Nope.
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What matters right now is that they're having fun. Maybe the gala itself isn't a laugh riot but it's immeasurably more tolerable for Matt than it would have been if he'd come alone or with a different plus one. He knows he's shitty at relationships, not made any better or easier by the fact that he is constantly lying throughout one, but it's good for now and that's what he's hanging his hat on.
Since Matt had no initial intention of coming to this dinner, he ultimately decides that he doesn't have to do much more socializing with anyone else. Who would really expect him to, when he's Tony Stark's date? So at least he has a reasonable excuse.
The question about the prime rib makes him smile. "Avoid the salad. They didn't wash it enough so I don't trust it. You'll be safe with the meat and potato...whatever that's called." Probably some fancy name.
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The food is fine for what it is. Tony picks through the potatoes and cuts out the very center of the prime rib to eat. He’s particular, as Matt has likely noted from multiple other interactions, but sometimes he’s more particular than others. His little bottle of hand sanitizer makes its way to the open several times during the meal.
“Your turn. How was your week outside of the, uh. Fight. With the car door?”
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He's aware of the attempt to get Tony's attention but he similarly ignores it, except for a passing smile to him when it happens again.
"Less interesting than yours," he answers, and that's true even if it writes off the work that he did in and out of the suit. "Picked up a new 'one for them' case and had the requisite boring meetings around it. Did a couple of really minor pro-bono cases. Trespassing, petty theft, a guy who got busted for pissing on a dumpster behind a store because they didn't have a public bathroom. A very glamorous life, as you can imagine." He ignores the part about the bruise on his hand, or the one on his side that the suit is hiding.
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He learned a lot from loving her. He’s tried to become less invasive and manipulative, less willing to ignore what’s right in front of his face. It’s not an easy way to be.
Maybe Matt can benefit from that. Tony doesn’t once pry or demand answers about the swelling. Matt will tell him. Or he won’t. And Tony just had to be okay with that.
“Are those vigilantes really taking all of the good crime these days? You’re left with public indecency and trespassing?”
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He doesn't, though. He'll keep lying. It's better for everyone.
"Sounds like it. There was some gangland violence this week that wasn't stopped by the cops, according to the papers. I'm not interested in defending those kinds of clients so I'll stick with the indecency and trespassing." Arguing the defense for the men that he is responsible for putting behind bars tends to defeat the purpose of what he's doing. "Besides, I assume that crime lords can pay for their own attorneys."
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Maybe not people that live in ninety story towers and fly around in red and gold metal suits of armor, though.
Tony shakes his head. “I’m not really clued in to what goes on at that level,” he says. “But it’s something I think about sometimes. I could be doing more. Then again, that’s why we have police, right?”
He’s just talking out loud about something he doesn’t have much of a clue about. Lots of men in masks are playing Avengers in the small scale. And he doesn’t have too much of an opinion on it either way.
“I was thinking that—“
There is movement on the stage and someone in a suit comes over to touch his shoulder. “Woah. Hands off the tailoring,” he says.
“Excuse me, Mister Stark. But we’re ready for you.”
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"We'll stick a fork in that," he tells Tony because ultimately he does want to return back to it. He's curious about what Stark thinks about it, even if he hasn't really paid it much attention. He imagines that with everything that is really going on in Tony's life and his interest in protecting the whole world instead of just a few square blocks of the city like Matt is.
He gets it. And he also gets that Tony wouldn't take kindly to learning that he's lying but it's not just for the protection of others that Matt keeps his life secret.
"Knock 'em dead," he says, giving Tony a pat on the arm.
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He focuses on Matt a little too much, considering the conversation that Matt can now focus in on with Tony’s blathering about vigilante justice over. There is a lot of speculation going on. Mostly about where the tall strawberry blonde Tony usually has on his arm has gotten to.
A few minutes later and Tony is announced. He makes a striking figure in his tuxedo striding across the stage like he owns it. He half leans on the podium, not because he’s trying to hide his pain, but because that is his personality. He lounges and leans because he can. Because this is his space. Because everyone needs to recognize that.
“I’ve given out a lot of awards before. Gotten a few myself,” Tony says, holding the statuette. “Usually I don’t think a lot about them. The sentiment is fine but we all know it’s about stroking ego.”
There are some grumbling in the audience.
“This time, though, I can really get behind this particular honor. I’ve gotten to know the recipient a little over the last few weeks. He’s got a good nose for restaurants. He still uses a fax machine. And he genuinely wants to give back to the community. The guy’s smart. He doesn’t have to do what he does for free, but he does it because he believes that everyone deserves a defense. That’s a kind of faith I don’t think many of us have. So it’s my genuine pleasure to give this award to someone that actually deserves the recognition. Matthew Murdock. Come on up here.”
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And they do. Except he thought he was texting James.
He can tell that Tony is good at the attention part of this and the speech that he makes is sweet and sincere. The fact that it is gets more whispers going.
Matt allows the organizer to lead him to the podium where he smiles and shakes Tony's hand like he would with any presenter while he's given the glass trophy. He honestly has no idea what he's going to do with it.
"Thank you, Mr. Stark, for outing to everyone--including my potential courtroom opponents, that I still use an old fashioned fax machine." It gets a laugh.
He gives a quick speech with the kind of practiced, easy way he has with juries where he tells the anecdote about how Thurgood Marshall's writings were some of the first things he read after learning Braille and how as a child, all he wanted to do was to help people who didn't have the ways and means to help themselves. There are a couple of funny lines that get chuckles, but it's sincere, even if off the cuff since he didn't intend to come at all. He wraps it up without going long and is glad to be led back to his table and to Tony's company.
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They’ve both done their duty. And Tony wants to get Matt somewhere horizontal and naked.
“Happy’s got the getaway car waiting. You coming back with me tonight?”
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He smirks at the question.
"Unless you want to spend the night at my place. I'm flexible. As you well know." He's open to either location as long as they're spending the rest of the evening together. He does eventually want to continue that conversation that was interrupted earlier but he's also a bit more interested in getting into bed with Tony first. Maybe it'll make odd pillow talk later.
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With their table situated as it is, leaving through the back is relatively easy and notice free. Tony doesn’t mess around, not even bothering to stop for one last drink before they’re in the elevator.
“I might actually be forced to sleep at yours,” Tony muses. And he does need to sleep. “Will you make me breakfast in the morning?”
Tony doesn’t seem to find telling Happy the plan, though the large former boxer looks confused when he’s told to leave him there and to go home after. “You…sure, Tone?”
“Yeah, Happy, I can get home on my own. I promise.”
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