Chapter 11: My Room
The truth is, Allen cheated. When he returned home yesterday, he looked into his future. Not too close and not too far, enough to see his teens. Tony will be a good father to him, he saw. He knows he'll be ok, but he can't help but feel uneasy. He is able to be this happy? This is Andrew level happy, he doesn't deserve it, he's Allen. The Allen who killed his mother.
He's in front of the same door now. This time he knows who is behind the door. He entered the room and sat down opposite from Tony.
"Hi," he said stiffly. Looking at the bowl of biscuits that was placed on the table.
"Hi," Tony said back, just as stiff. Allen looked up at him. Tony looked tired, the rims kind of red. He can see bags appearing underneath the eyes but other than that he looked fresh. Clean slick backed hair and a cleanly shaved chin.
"I'd like for you to stay with me," Tony began, "Up to you of course."
"You're letting me decide?" Allen's eyes widened.
"Yeah, of course, I don't want to force any of this onto you."
Allen didn't know what to say. A small part of him didn't want to go, he liked the stability of Kamar Taj. A bigger chunk of him thought otherwise. It craved the happiness Allen got in the future and maybe, just maybe, Allen could give it a try. He's sure The Ancient One would accept him back if he begged.
"...ok"
"Yeah, I know that staying with a stranger you just met is a bit far-fetched but let me- wait what. You will? Just like that?" Tony stood up.
"Yeah, just like that." Allen gave him a shy smile.
"Allen," Tony placed his hands on Allen's small shoulders, "I may not be the best dad. But I promise you I will try my best." He said so with so much certainty that Allen had to believe him. "Oh no." Allen's heart dropped, did he not want him after all? "Your room isn't ready yet," Tony said, noticing his scared face, "I wanted to surprise you."
"I always wanted to decorate my own room," Allen said softly.
Tony smiled, "Perfect! We can build your room together. A two-man project, me and you!"
"Yeah,"
"Let's start now! We can go shopping for the materials." Tony guided Allen to the door, only to be stopped by Alice, who held a stack of papers.
"I'm afraid that you must fill these paperwork first before we can let you have custody of Allen." She said stiffly, "and we must inspect your house and process the files. The process may take at least a week."
"And if I happen to throw some money into the equation?"
"Mr Stark are you trying to bribe me?"
"No… is it working?"
"No. Frankly, Mr Stark, your track record isn't looking very great, and if you want to remain in custody of Allen, you will have to cut down your… adventures. That is, if Allen wants to stay with you."
They both looked at Allen. He nodded shyly whilst looking at his shoes.
"I don't mind the wait. If Allen doesn't mind. But will it be alright if I take him out to pick stuff for his room?" Tony asked.
"Of course, please fill these out," she gave him a slip with a smile. Her smile widened when Tony groaned.
Tony told him to grab stuff from his room whilst he was filling out the paperwork, so he did. Holding a cardboard box he scanned him room in Kamar Taj and stilled. He didn't have much. Just some old books and a bloodied stuff bunny. His clothes from before didn't fit him anymore, and bringing robes will be weird. He stacked the books he owned into the box and paused at the two remaining items. A book and a doll. The last two gifts he received from… her. He frowned, Tony would think it was too childish, so he carefully tucked the items back into his dresser and returned back to Tony.
Tony greeted him happily and led him to the car where a man was waiting. He had a suit and sunglasses on.
"Allen meet Happy my bodyguard!" Tony introduced. "And Happy, this is my son, Allen."
Allen couldn't see Happy's eyes so he didn't know what he was thinking, but he did nod stiffly at Allen.
When they entered the car Tony instructed Happy to take them to a mall and gave Allen a tablet. "This is what your room look like now. Sorry only the wall has been finished."
Allen stared at the pictures. The room had light blue walls and huge windows. There was a darker blue accent wall with some animals on it. He squinted at the animals, trying to make out what they were. "Aren't the animals too immature?" He asked.
"Hm? No? I thought you liked animals? We can get rid of it if you want." Stark looked up from his book.
"No it's ok," Allen hurriedly said.
"Mm ok… tell me if you wanna change it, we can do that anytime."
Before they reached the mall, Tony placed hats and sunglasses on both of them, he lead them straight to the clothing section where Tony picked whatever Allen glanced at. Then they went to the toy section, where the exact same thing happened. They finally went to look at the furniture section. But Allen didn't seem to like anything in particular. Tony noticed it too.
"How about this mini me, we'll get some sheets and curtains for your room then we'll go and get some lunch." Tony suggested.
With Allen's nod they went and did that. At lunch, Tony seemed to be busy calling and texting some people. Allen tried to ignore it and started playing with his fries.
Tony placed some paper in front of him with some images of beds. "You wanna draw the bed you want for me? It'll be easier to pick it out when we go looking."
Allen picked up the pen and started drawing. It looked like a complete mess with squiggles but Tony nodded seriously when Allen explained what each thing was. When they were satisfied with the design they went back to the car and off they went. Instead of reaching another furniture store, Happy drove them back to a mansion.
"This is my humble abode," Tony presented. "Come, I'll show you around." They went around the large house, Tony explaining each part of the house and pointing out the uses of each room. "This is my room," Tony pointed then he waved to the door next to it, "and this is yours."
They entered and honestly, it wasn't anything much yet. The paint on the walls were still dried and the images of the animals were half done. But there was a bunch of wood on the floor.
"I thought you'd want to pick out where you want the shelves to be and maybe- we can build your bed as well?" Tony said with a sheepish grin.
Allen quickly nodded. He looked around and imagined his own space. "I want my desk to be here." He pointed at the spot next to the window. "And I want a bunch of shelves here- and here-," he stopped. Was he asking for too much?
Without missing beat Tony continued, "your bed is gonna be here right? That's a perfect choice! We can do that." He ruffled Allen's hair.
Happy brought in all the stuff they bought, including Allen's box of books.
"You wanna get started now?" Tony said, looking at the curtains.
They managed to place up the curtains and began working on the shelves when Allen had to go. "Please don't finish it without me." He begged while sending one final look at his room. His room, his own place, he feels so giddy inside.
"Promise," Tony said.
.
.
.
.
.
"Oh that's ok." Allen held onto the phone a little tighter, pushing down the disappointed feeling.
"I'm sorry kid, I promise I'll make it up to you when I get back." Tony voiced muffled through the phone's speakers.
"It's ok, your meeting is more important. You can take your time."
With a final apology and farewell the call ended. Allen returned back to Kamar Taj.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
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