Catch-All For August | Open

[highprofilerichkid]

Characters: Tony Stark and OPEN
Date: Throughout August, and possibly the tail-end of July - basically any time since Tony's arrival.
Location: Anywhere! Tony's likely to be spending a lot of time in his new lab at Stark Industries, but he'll want to get out and do a little exploring as well.
Situation: Whatever shenanigans a teenage superhero might get up to after arriving unexpectedly in a new dimension. Possibly accidentally blowing things up.
Warnings/Rating: None yet, will edit as necessary.

If you want to set up something with Tony, hit me up at Plurk cinnamon_anemone or AIM (tawny.sparrow@gmail.com). I'm open to just about anything and I'm eager to get more CR for Tony!


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Tony hasn't been quite his usual outgoing, confident self since arriving in Keeliai. Between his jarring arrival, the lack of the friends and family that he depends on so much, the drama with Gene, and the general unsettling nature of the entire situation, he's been finding it a little hard to settle in. But he's gotten his lab set up - a very important first step - and he's starting to get a handle on things.

The more he sees and learns of Tu Vishan and his fellow conscripts, the more curious he gets. He'll be very interested in any advanced technology any of the foreigners might have brought with them, and he's also intrigued by - though a little wary of - the different kinds of magic that so many people wield. He has a special interest in the mechanics of how the foreigners get here and how they get sent back.

Although he's been dumped into the middle of a war full of the kinds of secrets and subtle politics that normally go over his head, he's definitely caught on that there's something fishy afoot with Evandau. Being naturally inquisitive and, uh... straightforward, it's certainly possible that he'll soon get himself into trouble.

Comments

[everylittlegirl]

[Hayley's eyebrows raise, painted with skepticism. It's difficult to tell if his self-deprecating and tentative nature is an intentional facade or if the guy really is as insecure as he seems. She supposes the other Tony had his share of insecurities as well, if their encounter with Hannibal was any indication.]

Sure. [She agrees halfheartedly. His jokes aren't exactly reassuring, after all. As her own joke, she adds:] No goat sacrifices?

[highprofilerichkid]

Not unless that's what was in the cheesesteaks, [he replies cheerfully.

He walks into the lab and dumps his load of supplies on a table.] Want a sugar icosahedron? [He picks up and offers to her a bowl full of sugar "cubes" in a variety of improbable and intricate geometric shapes.]

[everylittlegirl]

[Hayley rolls her eyes, but follows him through the doorway. She moves around to the opposite side of the table, eyes darting around the room with unfiltered curiosity. Although it's not exactly off limits, the girl has never felt comfortable looking into Tony's labs - this Tony or the last - without him there and the old Tony wasn't much for company.]

No thanks. [She answers before she even looks back to what he's talking about. A look away, a double-take back to what he's holding. Hayley takes it from him and rolls it around her fingers, having never seen anything like it.] You have way too much time on your hands.

[highprofilerichkid]

[This Tony doesn't mind company in the lab - he's used to Rhodey hanging around while he's working, and he couldn't keep Pepper out if he tried.

Her double-take makes him grin again.] I needed to test out the 3-D printer's software, [he explains, trying to sound nonchalant. The effect is somewhat ruined by how pleased he looks with himself. He takes one of the tiny sugar sculptures and pops it in his mouth.]

[everylittlegirl]

[Hayley accidentally cracks the structure and the sugar collapses in on itself. She sets the pieces on the table in a little pile, not feeling too bothered by their destruction. Tony's being so very pleased with himself almost reminds her of Bart. Almost.]

3-D printer?

[highprofilerichkid]

[Tony doesn't mourn the sugar sculpture either. They're just for fun, and he can always make more. But he puts the bowl down next to her in case she wants another.]

Yeah. [He points to one of the machines lined up against the wall.] They're pretty easy to throw together, and I can fabricate a bunch of stuff a lot faster and with a lot less material waste. But I had to make sure the software I wrote on these weird computers would run right when I hooked it up.

[He sits down at the table, and picks up a disc about the size and dimensions of a restaurant pager.] I've been working on it because I needed to fabricate some components for this.

[everylittlegirl]

[Hayley moves past the bowl of geometric wonders, not really liking plain sugar all that much, and to the machine instead. Her eyes scan over the system, not able to tell much of anything from simply looking at it. She casts a glance over her shoulder, almost coy in her curiosity.]

How does it work?

[She turns to face him again with the sight of the disc, meandering back in his direction. It's easy to avoid thinking about anything real and just to focus on inventions and science and learning everything she can about someone else instead.] What is it?

[highprofilerichkid]

The printer? [Tony shrugs. 3-D printers aren't that exciting.] You make something with 3-D modeling software, feed it into the machine, and it prints it by extruding some material - usually plastic, or wax for casting - and building it up in layers.

[Moving on to the more interesting subject:] This is... Well— [He presses a button on the device, and then tosses it onto the floor between them. As soon as it hits the ground, a bubble of shimmering, translucent light, about six feet in diameter, appears on the spot. It lasts for about three seconds, then disappears with a crackling noise.]

Portable force field. [He sighs, and walks over to pick up the device. It's smoking.] It's based on the same tech my suit uses to generate them. I figured it might be useful to have some to pass out to the foreigners, but I still have a lot of bugs to work out. Right now, they burn out after one use, and the field only lasts for two or three seconds. And I don't have enough of some of the necessary materials to mass-produce them. I need to work out how to really slim down some of the components, and make them rechargeable and longer-lasting before they'll be all that useful.

[everylittlegirl]

[Hayley's not thrilled about the kid's glossing over the seemingly amazing technology. She understands the nature of people with far advanced technologies not caring so much for the little things, but as a child of rather mundane origins, those little things are often as interesting to her as anything else in this hellhole.

She moves a cordial distance from him, watching the device and the smoke that follows. It's hard not to feel some small level of both envy and anger at what these people- these heroes take for granted. It's easily suppressed, however, in favor of learning. At least for now.]

What materials do you need? [The girl doesn't have powers or a genius intellect or whatever. Her strength is in networking and building resources and she's definitely succeeded in that, even with so many of her friends disappearing.]

[highprofilerichkid]

[He doesn't take this stuff for granted because he's a hero, Hayley - he takes it for granted because he's the appallingly rich and privileged heir to his world's most powerful technological megacorporation!

But if she pesters him, he'll totally tell her all about the 3-D printer and anything else in the lab. Mostly, he just needs a little prodding to get him to pay attention to anything other than his current pet project (including eating and sleeping).

He smiles wryly.] Well, a whole lot of kylight would be ideal, but I don't think that's going to happen. Some more palladium might be nice... Actually— if any foreigners from higher-tech worlds have electronics lying around that they can't use - cell phones, mp3 players, anything that got brought along with them - I might be able to break those down and get some of the stuff I need. I guess it won't be a lot... but it might help.

[everylittlegirl]

[Hayley drops her head for a moment, then lifts her gaze up, head tilted, to regard him with something almost like affection. It's primarily feigned, but the idea of having something that someone else wants always makes her feel generous and giving.]

I don't know what kylight is? But I could get some palladium. If the cause is worth it, I mean. It's- well, I don't really have a lot and you're not the first person to ask, so.

[She shrugs. It's entirely true, though she's playing up the conditions to make herself sound more impressive. Mostly, she just wants to know what Tony might be willing to offer for it - if anything. How badly does he want to help?]

As for electronics? I have a laptop I'm using and I gave my old cell phone away to.. it might have been one of the other Tonys? I totally don't remember. But you could ask around, especially with the people who are new.

[highprofilerichkid]

Oh, really? That would be amazing. [Tony brightens noticeably. He's a little bit warier of people being inexplicably nice to him, after his experiences with Gene— but only a little bit. He's still a gullible dork without a whole lot of friends, and for the most part, he takes kindness at face value. In other words: if she wants to, she can probably play him like a fiddle. HE DOES NOT LEARN.]

If you need it, I won't ask you for any until I've got the kinks worked out and I know exactly how much I'll need. But if you don't mind giving some up, it might make things go a little faster if I had some extra to work with. [He is curious, though:] Who else has been using it?

[everylittlegirl]

[His sudden eagerness makes Hayley wary. Tony might be gullible, but Hayley's anything but, to the point where unwarranted kindness is often treated as an agenda. Thus his sudden interest in being friendly with her is met with suspicion and skepticism. Her lips remain in a smile as her head straightens.]

Let me know when you're close to done and need some and I can probably give you a little. Then maybe you can help me with some technology problems I've been running into? [She says it as if it's not a payment, just friends doing each other favors.] And, I mean, no offense, but I feel kind of weird talking about it. It's not exactly a common material.

[highprofilerichkid]

[Honest to God, Hayley, he's just... painfully friendly. It's kind of sad. He's such a loser.]

Sure, sounds fair. [Okay, he's a little weirded out by her response to the palladium question. Does she think he's going to steal it or something? He's too confused to be offended, so he just says,] Um, yeah, that's cool.

So what kind of technology problems are you having? [He sits back down at the bench and starts messing with the forcefield generator, popping out the components that have been slagged, replacing them with new ones, and fiddling around with the circuitry.]

[everylittlegirl]

[She lifts a hand to scratch at her hair, painting a picture of a girl less calculating and distrustful than she actually is. Most guys prefer teaching girls to being taught by them. Hayley's not actively trying to play Tony, by any means. It's the usual facade she falls into when having no compelling reason to be herself instead.]

Oh, uh.. Well, I don't know if you knew Dick Grayson? He gave us- er, me, these sort of earpiece transmitter things and they're totally cool. Except they only work when you're pretty close to whoever you're trying to talk to, so I was kind of hoping I might be able to figure out a way to extend their signal, you know?

[highprofilerichkid]

[Tony doesn't look up from the dissected disc, but he does nod, obviously still listening.]

I didn't know him, but that definitely sounds like something we should be working on. People have told me that the consoles were compromised in the past, so those transmitters might be a good starting point for a secondary communication network for the foreigners. Bring them over sometime; I'll take a look— Ack! Oooh, still hot!

[He abruptly tosses away a little bit of metal and starts waving his hand vigorously. Once his fingers have cooled off, he clears his throat and smiles sheepishly. Observe, the genius at work.]

[everylittlegirl]

[Hayley's lips full into a line at Tony's not looking at her, not used to competing for attention when she's playing the role of Average Girl. That line turns to a frown when he mentions a secondary network. It's almost karmic that he burns himself immediately after and so her smile returns, just in case he actually looks up again.]

Never mind then. [A deliberate pause.] It was a gift and I don't want it torn down and mass produced for every foreigner and his dog. That's what the radio's for. If you don't want to help me make it work just for the few I have, for the te- [She falters, but continues as if she didn't.] -team of heroes that's helping out, then that's okay. I'll find someone else to help me.

[highprofilerichkid]

Okay, sorry, [Tony says, sounding defensive. What is with this chick? Tony cannot get a read on her. One second she seems perfectly friendly, and the next second she's giving him grief about something totally random.

If it were anything else, Tony'd be ticked off, but... he is very sympathetic to not wanting your stuff nabbed and mass-produced for other people (screw you, Stane). So instead, he's just a little bit stung.]

Fine. I can just boost them if that's what you want. It's not like I can't make my own comms network from scratch.

[everylittlegirl]

Don't worry about it. [She replies dismissively, anger edging her tone.] I can find someone else or something.

[Hayley forces a smile that looks forced before letting it slide back into a frown. She lifts a hand, her thumbnail running the length of her eyebrow as she thinks.]

But hey, maybe I can.. help with your network.. or whatever.

[highprofilerichkid]

Yeah, sure, [Tony says, accepting the ostensible peace offering and relaxing a little.]

Sorry. [It's more sincere this time.] You don't want other people taking your stuff and using it however they want. I get it.

[everylittlegirl]

[Hayley looks at him, meeting his gaze in a rare moment of sincerity before immediately drawing her attention away again.]

I don't really have a lot going for me here. [She admits, though with exaggerated nonchalance.] Can't really give up my few advantages, you know?

[highprofilerichkid]

[Tony raises his eyebrows. For just a second, a small, rueful smile appears on his face.] You know, that sounds a lot like somebody else I know.

[everylittlegirl]

Good or bad? [The smirk is back and Hayley finds it easy to ignore the vulnerability shared between them. She's already back to pretending like nothing's wrong.]

[highprofilerichkid]

[Oh, awkward. He shouldn't have said anything.]

Um... it didn't really work out for him. [No, trading friendship and trust for "advantage" had not worked out for Gene at all.]

[everylittlegirl]

Not that you're biased. [She replies without missing a beat. One of the last things she takes kindly to is people judging her without knowing her well, particularly when they're busy telling her how her choices aren't good for her.]