Work Text:
Tony's phone buzzed on his desk as he fiddled with the robot parts on the desk in front of him. The Pacific ocean waves crashed against the rocky shore just outside the window of his Malibu mansion, but he ignored that too. Rock music blared in the background as he muttered to himself and searched for his magnetic screwdriver.
"Sir," JARVIS chimed from all around him. "Are you going to tend to your phone?"
"Later, Jarvis," Tony dismissed the AI butler with a flippant wave of his hand. His phone buzzed again and he glanced at it briefly before spotting the screwdriver he was looking for just beyond where his phone lay.
"Sir, I really think you ought to check your messages," JARVIS spoke more insistently. His phone lit up and buzzed again, and this time when he glanced up he spotted Darcy's name dancing across the screen.
"Ah, shit," Tony muttered as he scrubbed a hand through his hair and over his face. "How long has she been trying to reach me, J?" He grabbed the phone and checked his missed notifications.
"It seems she's only reached out the one time, Sir, however, she's off work today and is still in bed."
Tony read through the message quickly before pressing a button and holding the phone to his ear. "C'mon, c'mon," he paced in front of the window with his eyes on the horizon, the sight of the waves reminded him painfully of the message Darcy had sent to him moments ago.
"Daddy?" Darcy's sleepy voice on the phone sounded like music to his ears.
"Hey there, Baby Girl, did I wake you up?"
"Mmm, no," she said around a yawn. Tony could picture her stretching in their bed and wished he could be there with her to see it. "I've just been kind of dozing all day."
"It's getting kinda late in the day over there for you to still be in bed. Have you eaten something at least?"
"Yeah, Jarvis made me go make a sandwich around lunch. He was oddly insistent."
"I may have programmed him to make sure you took care of yourself before I left," Tony shrugged while silently thanking himself for being just a little overprotective. "You want to tell me what that text message was about, Sweetheart?"
"Hmmm?" There was a pause on the line before Darcy replied. "Oh! Uh, those are just some song lyrics from a song I loved forever ago, and I've just been feeling kind of sad and when I thought about how you're probably spending all of your time in that lab with the gorgeous view of the ocean I just... I miss you, Daddy."
"I miss you too, Darcy. But I'll be home soon, just a few more days before I can wrap this up and get out of here."
"I'm sorry I'm being so angsty," Darcy said softly. "I knew I'd miss you, but I didn't expect to be this sad about it. Let's not be separated this long again, okay?"
"No need to apologize. It's been a long month, Kid. How about I call it quits for the day and we have us a long-distance movie date? We'll get the same delivery food and have Jarvis start the music at the exact same time, and if you move into the movie room we can get some picture-in-picture action and see each other."
"That sounds perfect, Daddy," Darcy replied with what Tony knew to be her sleepy smile. "I love you."
"Love you, too, Baby Girl."