ᴛʜᴇ ᴛᴏᴡᴇʀ ᴏғ ᴅʀᴇᴀᴍs

Tony isn't much for big parties anymore. He hasn't been since Afghanistan. The parties he did have tended to be smaller and more intimate, only the people he truly cared to see. But he wasn't in denial, or moping, or anything of the sort; he had forgotten his own birthday -- again. Which had left Pepper in charge of the festivities.

It's the cranking music that gets him back upstairs, wandering out of the lab with grease stains on his face and clothes. It figures. He mills through the crowd as he goes through holidays he could have forgotten. Memorial Day is past, their anniversary isn't until June. What are all these people doing in his house?

And then he does the math. Forty-five, today. Way earlier today, actually, but when you're up for days on end it's easy to loose track of time. He pretends to be surprised and laughs like a pro, but the truth is his anxiety's up to eleven. He needs to get away from so many bodies, and quick.

Maybe a one-on-one with a friend will help.