Chapter Text
Tony sits back on the new leather couch Vanko chose to decorate his little house with, a glass of vodka in his hand. Vanko settles in one of the wide, matching leather armchairs across from him. It's been good, the last few months. They cleared up a few things with the Russian officials - bribes, but eh, Tony's used to that - and Vanko had settled in nicely at his new position as lead R&D designer at the Moscow branch of SI. It hadn't been so much of a shock, really, that Howard had stolen the designs for the arc reactor from Vanko's father, but Tony had at least made things right between them. Working with Vanko against Hammer had been all sorts of fun, anyway.
“It's no good, man your age, alone,” Vanko says as he settles more comfortably in his chair. Tony has to admit the whole…’just got out of prison’ look Vanko willingly sports most of the time had thrown him for a loop at first, but he's mostly adjusted to it. “You need wife, someone to take care of you.”
Tony raises an eyebrow at Vanko. “I don't...want a wife,” he says, puzzling over this new topic. Why should Vanko care?
“Why not?” Vanko sips at his drink and studies Tony for a moment. “Miss Potts is very beautiful woman. You marry her, maybe you have beautiful children. If they look like her.” His lips pull to the side around his toothpick in a smirk.
Tony laughs. “True, but. I don't want, well, a wife .” He and Pepper weren't going to work, after all. So why bother hoping? He couldn't give up Iron Man for her, couldn't even be honest with her when he was fucking dying . It had taken both him and Vanko putting their heads together to come up with a solution for the palladium poisoning problem. Tony probably would have figured out a solution on his own eventually, but having Vanko around had certainly sped up the process. It was also really fucking nice to talk to someone who understood him. He could talk math and science at the man, and he would challenge Tony with harder concepts. It was a great partnership, and Tony couldn't wait to see what kind of things they could create.
Vanko studies him for a moment, then nods as if he's made some kind of decision. “Perhaps husband then.”
Tony chokes on his vodka and very nearly spits it all over the shiny blank marble coffee table between them. He doesn't get a chance to so much as argue before Vanko has his phone in his hand and he's texting furiously.
“I find you good husband,” Vanko says, looking up at Tony for a moment. “Good, strong man to take care of you. Yes?” Tony's shaking his head, but he still can't quite speak yet. He's still choking on the vodka he swallowed wrong. “To say thank you, Tony.”
Tony has a feeling he's lost this fight already. Whatever, let Vanko try. He'll find some way to gently turn down whoever Vanko sends his way. It's not that he's opposed to men, not at all, but he doesn't want anyone tied to him. No one deserves that. He's too busy and too eccentric. Not to mention the whole Iron Man gig and being a walking, talking security risk in every sense of the word. He sighs heavily and nods his acceptance.
Vanko smiles. “So, Miss Potts is single now, yes?”
“You know what?” Tony says, looking Vanko up and down and taking in his prison tats and wife beater and oil-stained jeans with bare feet. “Yes, yes she is.” Pepper wanted to give him so much shit over trying to hide the palladium poisoning to protect her? Let her have fun fending off Vanko. Vanko's actually a perfect gentleman, but he'll definitely not let his affections drop easily. Well, if nothing else, keeping Vanko around is bound to be damn interesting.