"I'm ready. Ready to begin the test."
Wearing a white lab coat, Tony stood on a raised platform in the room. Above his head, more instruments than the naked eye could count rapidly moved into position. With a light press of the start button on the control panel, they would immediately begin constructing a "spacetime tunnel." This was the [Quantum Tunnel], refined through round after round of improvements.
Steve stood below the platform, beside Banner, whose fingers flew over the controls. Unable to make sense of the numbers scrolling rapidly across Banner's screen, he simply looked up and focused all his attention on Tony.
"All right, old ice cube, cut out that lovey-dovey stare. You're making me think you've fallen in love with me."
Tony put on his metal faceplate, his teasing voice echoing through the room over the comms.
"You know, the last person who looked at me like that..."
He paused.
Even through the faceplate, they could see the dangerous look in Tony's eyes. "The two of us went at it all day."
The implication was so blatant that Steve's expression immediately changed. Even the Guardians of the Galaxy, who had grown bored and were about to leave, turned around and sat back down, looking eagerly curious.
"Oho! Went at what? Give us the details," Rocket egged him on, always happy to stir up trouble.
Natasha felt a little awkward. Dirty jokes were nothing unusual among the old crew, but making a spectacle of themselves in front of their new friends was hardly appropriate.
"Tony!" she warned him. "Watch it. Pepper won't be happy."
Given what Tony had said earlier, Natasha naturally assumed he meant Pepper Potts. She knew he was trying to ease the tension with a joke, but she strongly disapproved of him discussing something so