[Tony wins! He got a hug out of Cloud! Poor guy. At least it doesn't last very long. Although, Tony's hand remains on his shoulder as he draws back.]

Care for a drink? I have a special drink called the 'Shieldmaker'. Back home it's called a 'Boilermaker' but that comes with half a dozen references no one here would understand so.. come on, it's best with our stout but do you have a preference on your beer?

Shieldmaker, it's beer with a shot of whiskey. Come on, you'll love it.

[He leans over the bar and takes a mug to pour the stout on tap himself. Unfortunately the whiskey he wants is out of reach, so he snaps his fingers to get the bartenders attention.

In the meantime, he looks back at the young man.]

You clean up well.

You're welcome.

[He glances back at the crowd as though looking for someone, but he doesn't find them. No one jumps out to Tony as 'this is Cloud's date'.]

Are you here alone? How's someone who looks like you here alone?

[Tony stares at Cloud for a moment before he shakes his head a bit exasperated at Cloud. Clueless bastard..]

Wow. First, that was a compliment on the fact you were attractive. Second, now we know why you're single.

[He points at Cloud and tells the bartender 'Guy needs whiskey stat'.]

[Tony laughs seeing Cloud's face and just pats him on the shoulder good-naturedly. He clears a space on the bar and suddenly not only does the blonde have whiskey but he has a beer too.]

Alright, so a Shieldmaker.. the idea for this shot is you are taking the shot right along with the beer, okay? Trust me, tonight's going to me for after this.

[He doesn't wait for any more encouragement before he's showing Cloud how to do a 'depth charge' (i.e. drop the shot of whiskey into the beer and then drink both down). As a professional party man, he, of course, can do this with ease no matter how many years it's been since he did one last. And yes, he makes a show of it and gets several people at the bar to clap for him because, he's Tony Stark and you know he needs applause to floss his teeth.]

It's done by thousands of very drunk people. You'll do fine.

[And Tony cheers when the young man indeed succeeds. Cloud is rewarded by.. a second Shieldmaker (or third, whichever). That's about how long Tony's attention span lasts before he spies the present Cloud brought and had put on the gift table.

He went over and snatched the box. Setting it on the bar, he flashed the blonde a grin.]

You know you didn't really have to get me anything, right?

[He raised an eyebrow.]

What? I'm opening my present. Is there a special way to do that where your from because my plan was to just tear into this bad boy?

[Oh he was just precious, wasn't he? Tony smirked at the young man and shook his head (for the how many-eth time?). It was just too much fun to mess with this guy! Of course, Tony was also drunk so he might be a little too easily amused.]

Well, come on then!

[He picked up the box and snagged Cloud's wrist. With a hard tug, he pulled the fellow into the kitchen away from the majority of the crowd. In the kitchen there were some people flitting in and out for one reason or another, but the area was large and since it was all catered the majority of the space wasn't being used.]

This better?

[Totally opening his present. Poor guy, why are you friends with Tony again?

The older man blinked when he stared at the gloves. He was teleported back to a time when he was boxing with Happy and still worrying over his arc reactor in his chest. That's how he'd met Natasha, though he hadn't known at the time who- or more like what- she was. She'd been a good friend..

He shook his head, shaking loose those old thoughts to the present. He still trained hand to hand combat. That had to be how Cloud knew to get these but.. it he looked at his friend pleased.]

Thank you. These are really cool. What made you think of gloves?