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Tony and May met in a pottery class or people trying to work through trauma. Heal yourself by creating something new, or something like that. Tony was pretty sure Pepper had told him the class title and the official description for it, but it had gone in one ear and out the other. His description sounded accurate to him.
They were in an intermediate class. They'd started out in the beginner one, a couple years back. Tony had gotten back from being kidnapped, and May had been trying to deal with the death of her husband. Tony wasn't sure the class had helped so much as time, and also being around other people who occasionally started sniffling while shaping a bowl. It made him feel better, because at least he wasn't crying, even if he was having nightmares. Eventually the nightmares faded. They happened less often and were less intense when they did happen, which Pepper took credit for since she was the one that signed him up for the class and forced him to go-- 'it's for your own good, Tony, I promise'.
Point is, Tony was carving a design into a pedestal he was making, and May was drawing designs into a bowl.
"What are you drawing there, hotshot?" May asked.
"Acanthus leaves."
She paused what she was doing and leaned closer to get a better look. Then she tilted her head. "They don't really look like leaves."
"What are you drawing?" Tony asked, rolling his eyes. Fondly though, because she was right. He was going for the Corinthian column style, but that didn't mean he was good at it.
"Uhh, well it's supposed to be a squirrel."
He glanced over at her bowl. "I wouldn't have guessed that."
"Right?" May said, laughing.
Tony thought, not for the first time, that he wanted to ask her on a date. But his most serious relationship had lasted barely a year, and May had been married to someone for over a decade. Even if she wasn't depressed over his death anymore, that didn't mean she was willing to date. And even if she was willing to date, that didn't mean that she'd be interested in Tony. She had custody of her nephew, after all, and she probably wouldn't want to take a chance on Tony. Hell, he wouldn't take the chance if he was her.
He turned back to his misshapen leaves, his chest warm with the light of a comfortable crush. He wasn't convinced that the class helped, but the company sure had. May was easy to be around, and she was perfectly willing to joke around with him in a way most people weren’t comfortable with.