Dinner Gathering

Evening, the Stark Mansion underground laboratory.

Tony rubbed his chin continuously, staring back and forth at his Mark armor.

He had maintained this state for a long time.

Leon struggled to hold back his laughter beside him.

"So, why did you dye her pink?" Tony finally spoke, pointing expressionlessly at the Mark armor, which had turned a maiden-pink color.

"This, you see." Leon instantly wiped away his smile, putting his hands behind his back and looking solemn.

"This is a surprise carefully prepared for you by JARVIS."

He stepped forward, pointing at the spot on the armor's chest used to house the energy core.

A faint, subtle circle of English text was engraved upon it.

Leon read it out: "Tony has a pink heart."

He winked at Tony. "Well, aren't you touched? Pink represents innocence and kindness; JARVIS is complimenting you."

"Hmph, thanks for the explanation, otherwise I really wouldn't have guessed." Tony pressed his lips together and sneered.

His face was dark, and he couldn't even imagine how "delightful" the scene of him wearing this armor again would be.

Before he even made a move, the enemies would likely laugh themselves to death on the spot upon seeing that circle of English text on his chest, saving him even the ammunition.

Tony took a deep breath, words choking in his chest unable to come out, which made his face flush slightly with frustration.

Watching Tony's dramatic facial expressions, Leon almost failed to keep from laughing out loud.

Finally, Tony turned his head away, no longer looking at his precious armor.

"JARVIS, why did you dye her pink?" Tony asked the other primary culprit.

He truly loved his first set of armor, even referring to it with female pronouns.

"Sir, this was Master Leon's suggestion. He said that you would be even happier seeing the armor repaired and dyed pink." JARVIS seemed to be explaining, but in reality was secretly ratting him out.

"Oh, wait, JARVIS, you didn't object at the time, we all thought that way, didn't we?" Leon dragged JARVIS into the water with him.

"Master Leon, please forgive my offense; you know artificial intelligence has no thoughts of its own."

"Artificial idiots have no thoughts. JARVIS, you even remind Tony that Pepper will get angry whenever he invites cover girls over, so it's normal to want to prepare a surprise for Tony now."

Tony's face looked increasingly worse.

"Enough!" he shouted, glancing helplessly at Leon, who was already laughing out loud. "Don't think I don't know you're getting back at me."

Leon didn't deny it: "So you also know that making me make a special trip back to the cave to lug the armor back for you was wrong?"

Tony spread his hands. "Fine, fine, I admit defeat. Let's leave this matter at that, alright? I'm not angry, and don't torture me over that little thing anymore."

Over the past decade or so, Tony had been tortured by Leon plenty of times.

He had already grown accustomed to the emotional self-regulation required as a guardian when dealing with a "mischievous" child.

Of course, this mischief was purely Tony's own opinion; in everyone else's eyes, Leon was exceptionally well-behaved.

For instance, back when he was little, Leon hated that Tony always brought new cover girls home.

Several times, right as Tony was about to seal the deal, Leon would play recordings outside the bedroom door at maximum volume of sweet nothings Tony had previously said to other girls.

Then, just as the woman embracing Tony became enraged with embarrassment and slammed the door as she left.

He would pop out from the corner, wave his little hand, and say, "Goodnight, sleep well, Tony."

Whereupon Tony would flush bright red on the spot, brandishing a pillow and chasing Leon all over the house.

And Pepper, upon hearing Tony's complaints the next day, would gleefully stuff Leon's pockets with plenty of pocket money on the spot.

However, Leon only kept up that kind of behavior for half a month.

Because half a month later, Tony's newly customized soundproof bedroom was completed.

After that, even if Leon threw a rave outside the door, Tony could play a piece of Mozart inside, creating a tranquil ambiance to spend a wonderful evening with a beauty.

Similar "clashes" like this.

The two of them had kept it up since Leon turned three, continuing all the way until he started dating girls at home after entering high school.

The night Leon first held a girl's hand and brought her home, the big guy and the little guy locked eyes and smiled knowingly.

Thus, the two brothers reached a reconciliation right then and there.

Yet "clashes" in other aspects didn't stop.

Sometimes Tony caused trouble for Leon, and sometimes Leon struck first.

Pepper's assessment was that these were simply two children who refused to grow up.

"JARVIS, pack this armor away and repaint it for me, or I never want to lay eyes on her a second time."

Tony waved a hand. "By the way, help me procure a batch of materials; I'm going to build a new armor."

"The conditions in the cave were crude, and the armor made there can't display my true strength. Leon, this time I'll definitely make you see that my armor isn't a 'toy'!"

Leon shrugged indifferently. "As you like, I'll just wait and see."

At that moment, Dum-E, U, and a few other intelligent robotic arms in the laboratory hurried over, jointly pushing the pink armor out.

Leon even lent a hand.

He had told JARVIS to spray-paint the armor pink just to tease Tony; he had never imagined Tony would actually wear it.

Yet what he didn't expect was that a decade later, when he visited Tony's armor showroom.

This most bizarrely styled armor would stand out from the rest, prominently displayed right at the front of Tony's collection of Mark armors.

"Starting to build the armor right now?"

When Leon turned back around.

Tony acted the moment he thought of it, having already cleared the desktop with a sweep of his hand to prepare for a new round of work.

"Could it be that you just can't wait to prove yourself right now?"

"Watch your phrasing, Leon; Tony doesn't need to prove himself, he only challenges himself," Tony said.

"Fine, then when you're challenging yourself, remember to come upstairs before dinner."

Leon walked toward the laboratory stairs.

"To celebrate your safe escape, Pepper plans to host a family gathering, and Yinsen and Rhodey are both coming."

Rhodey was Tony's good friend in the military, and their relationship in the movie was good enough for him to gift an Iron Man suit.

"Just the few of us? No problem, as long as I'm not the one cooking, anything is acceptable." Tony replied without lifting his head.

Ever since the grilled sea bass he cooked last time turned entirely to charcoal and Leon laughed at him for ages, he had sworn never to step foot in the kitchen again.

Pepper arrived at the mansion after cleaning up the mess Tony left behind at the press conference.

She gave Leon a gentle, emotional hug in the living room.

"Leon! Oh my god, when Tony said you were already back, I couldn't believe it—especially since the Mark Spacecraft was still flying around outside Earth!"

The spacecraft Tony personally built had been named the Mark Spacecraft by him.

"And yet you actually flew back all on your own! It's incredible!"

"Oh, my goodness, your body is really so strong now, you're practically like two different people compared to half a year ago!"

Pepper patted Leon's chest, the marble-like texture causing her to cover her mouth in exclamation.

"If I'd known you were this strong, I would have contacted you a few months ago, and then Tony wouldn't have had to..." As she spoke, she grew a bit guilty again.

Leon hurriedly comforted her: "It's fine, Pepper; you were just afraid of worrying me, weren't you?"

"If I hadn't grown strong like Superman, even if you'd told me the news of Tony's disappearance, I would have been completely helpless in the lonely universe."

If Tony was both an older brother and half an old fogey to Leon.

Then Pepper, who had raised him since childhood, could entirely be considered half an older sister and half an adoptive mother.

Leon blinked as he spoke: "Besides, though the process was a bit twisted, for Tony, since he cheated death, it might not necessarily be a bad thing, right?"

"Is that how you see it? But I feel like he's become somewhat more irrational instead." Pepper furrowed her brow.

"That's probably because you don't yet understand Tony after he's had a near-death experience."

Leon pushed Pepper toward the kitchen. "Let's go, Pepper; you'll have to trouble yourself to make dinner, and I'll tell you all about Tony's fantastic adventure this time while you work."

A few hours later.

The family gathering concluded successfully to the delight of guests and hosts alike.

Through Tony's introduction, Yinsen met Pepper and Rhodey, smoothly integrating into this small circle.

For a long time to come, Yinsen would work at the Stark R&D Department, doing what he wanted to do.

Meanwhile, at the dinner table, Tony also articulated his thoughts on wanting to do things more beneficial to the world.

Regrettably, Rhodey couldn't quite understand that just yet.