This story's 30 advanced chapters have been uploaded on my Patreon.
Here's the link: patreon.com/Hussain678 — all 30 advanced chapters are available there.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
They sat at the table—both of them.
On the screen…
The video continued.
[Little Pepper looked at the sumptuous dinner set beside Tony, clearly annoyed.]
After all, Tony had asked her to come home early for dinner—but now, he was eating without waiting for her. Worse, he had even sent a remotely controlled Mark suit to flirt with her.
Any woman would be furious in her position.
So, hands on her hips, she spoke to Tony.
Pepper: "Tony, you asked me to dinner but didn't wait? You ate first!??"
Tony's voice sounded a little out of breath.
Tony: "I've been really busy lately. I didn't know if you'd come back for dinner, so I just took a couple bites."
Tony quickly changed the subject, a hint of jealousy in his tone.
Tony: "Besides, I didn't know if you'd be having a drink with Killian."
The mention of Killian made the atmosphere tense.
Pepper's mouth fell open in shock.
Pepper: "Killian! Are you… spying on me? You're at home tinkering with these machines… so… was this Happy's doing!?"
[Pepper remembered the way Happy looked wary the first time he met Killian, and she felt furious.]
Tony: "Happy cares about you."
Pepper: "No! That's espionage!"
Seeing Tony still standing there with arms crossed, a nonchalant expression on his face, Pepper rolled her eyes and turned away.
Pepper: "Fine, I'm going to bed."
[Seeing the pleasant dinner disrupted by her anger, Tony felt panicked.]
Tony: "Wait! Please! Hey! I admit it! I was wrong, I'm sorry."
He raised both hands in surrender.
[Seeing Pepper pause and turn to look at him,]
Tony finally decided to confess everything.
Tony: "Honestly… I'm a mess right now."
For a long while… he hadn't spoken.
Little Pepper looked at him, realizing he was about to open up. She slowly walked down the stairs.
She knew he hadn't been doing well lately.
He spent his days in the underground lab, endlessly improving the Mark suits. He had rarely been seen outside. The suits had become his family.
[Even when he went out with Rhodey once, according to Rhodey, they didn't even talk ten minutes before Tony dashed out to check on his Mark armor.]
He seemed inseparable from the suit.
[So even though Pepper had been angry earlier,] deep down, she was genuinely worried about Tony.
Seeing Pepper approach, Tony continued.
Tony: "After the events in New York… everything changed."
Pepper: "Really? What changed?"
Tony: "You went through it… and even though it's over, you can't fully understand.Gods, aliens, other dimensions…But I'm just a regular guy in a world of iron.I haven't fallen apart because you moved in.Thank God. I love you. I'm lucky.But…Darling…I can't sleep…"
Pepper's eyes softened with concern as she listened.
Back at the military base.
Captain America still didn't understand Tony's reaction.
Why was Tony acting like this?
It's just some alien armies and high-tech weapons, right? Couldn't they handle them one by one?
To Steve, no matter how strong the enemy, they couldn't withstand him and time itself.
This included when he was a skinny kid, dragged by a bully into the alley behind a theater and beaten nearly senseless.
Even though he was nearly pummeled, he would say:
I can stick with you all day.
In other words…
I can keep fighting with you!
Steve had always possessed the courage to give his all.
So he was deeply interested in Tony.
Battling aliens was tough, but in the end, they won.
Yet, Steve felt a bit frustrated, even insomnia-stricken.
He admitted he couldn't fully understand.
Howard sighed.
Although he would probably never be Tony in his life, his own knowledge might help Tony understand the current situation.
So Howard explained to Steve.
Howard: "Steve, do you know about the Curse of Knowledge?"
Steve found the question strange.
What? Knowledge… can be a curse?
Of course, he didn't understand.
If he did—or even touched the edge of the concept—he would have leapt out of the plane in the original story rather than sit foolishly in the cockpit.
Howard saw a glint of confusion in Steve's eyes and sighed again.
Howard: "Be patient. There are two interpretations of the so-called Curse of Knowledge.First, smart people can understand many things at once, but they often lack the patience to communicate with those less knowledgeable.They can't 'downgrade' their understanding to connect with those who haven't reached their level.
In other words, once someone gains knowledge, they can lose empathy for those who don't have it.
This is one of the common problems geniuses face."
Steve listened carefully and nodded.
Steve: "Ah, no wonder sometimes when I look at you, it feels like you're looking at me like a monkey.I thought you were curious about the results of the Super Soldier serum, but it wasn't that."
Steve didn't take offense.
He knew everyone had their own talents.
He couldn't build high-tech weapons like Howard.
Howard couldn't single-handedly wipe out all enemies in a Hydra base like Steve.
So Steve didn't care about being looked at like a monkey.
Seeing Steve understand, Howard continued.
Howard: "Alright, Steve, I believe you've grasped the first interpretation of the Curse of Knowledge.Now, let me explain the second interpretation…"