aggravating | 10th Command; Video - dated to the night after the breach ended

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10th Command; Video - dated to the night after the breach ended

[Nope. Screw you Bargians, he's not saying anything to you publicly.

... Oh okay, fine. Have a quick bullshit grin, the one he normally pulls at press conferences he'd rather die than be at.]

Well that was fun. We should petition to keep the brooms around.

[Private to Charles]

Alright, Chuck. Let's talk strategy, here. What's the plan for getting me out of inmate status? [He has a few things in mind as far as deals go, at this point. And he can't get those so long as he's stuck in the doghouse of the Barge.]

[Private to Steve]

What happens during Floods stays in the Flood. [Nope nope nope nope nope]

[Private to Arkady]

Any way I can have a few bottle of scotch to keep in my room, gorgeous? [He has a litany of BS excuses to give her, if she decides that's... a little much.

But Pepper's going to realize something's up sooner or later, and he wants a nice back-up supply of booze before that happens.]

[ooc: Hi I'm Em and I don't know the meaning of a hiatus. (at least not for tonight/tomorrow, beyond that I will be a little scarce)]

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[This is why he likes you so much]

That... is actually kind of impressive. I didn't think people actually got scared up trees in anything that isn't some 90's family comedy.

Almost as impressive as flying on a broom. [Amused] What did you do?

[Charles ignores the comment about the last six months for now, because he knows that's not true. If anything, the last six months were probably what pushed him over the edge in terms of what position he'd be able to serve, here, but that's not what he needs to hear right now, so he keeps quiet.]

It's a start. But I don't think the solution's quite that simple.

[She shouldn't have to be, is what Steve very nearly says in reply, but he bites it back.]

One drink. I figured that was the deal.

Then what?

[Finally, his patience is snapping. Subconscious roaring to the surface loud and fast enough that if Charles was speaking to him face to face? It no doubt would have felt like an empathetic slap to the face.]

Because I'm sick of wasting my time here working on some self-help regimen when I could be using it actually doing some good. [That's what his life is worth for now, here, a bargaining chip] Forty years and my life is crap, I don't care. I have money, I have Rhodey, I have Pepper, I have the suit, I apparently have a team to look forward to but sitting around here doing nothing- [lost cause, god he needs a drink] -is kind of detrimental to every goddamn step I took towards bettering myself back home. [Breaking a promise to Yinsen, what can he do here? He can't help, he's not a warden, he's one of the ones to be helped. Not making the most of the time he'd been given.]

So what the hell am I supposed to do here. Throw me a bone, send me a therapy schedule, make me keep a damn journal about my feelings-- all I know is me being here, like this- [an inmate, it's hard to say the word, leaves a bad taste in his mouth] -isn't doing anyone any good.

Edited 2012-08-02 17:14 (UTC)

[To be honest, that's part of why Charles doesn't love communicating over the network sometimes. It's easier to pick up on the emotional intricacies and surface level thoughts people projected, which sort of gave him a leg up and some weight behind saying nope, you're lying or very clearly not okay with this.

And while he knows some of the truth behind what he's saying right now, it's not the same as really having the evidence to be able to throw back in his face immediately.]

Alright. For starters, where would you prefer we talk?

[Which is why he's losing it here, and now. Getting the frustration out of his system so he can curb his thoughts, sort through and comb them out. So he can put on the best front he possibly can when he and Charles meet in person.

His public face is one of the best practiced. He doesn't give anything to the press that he doesn't want blasted through the headlines. And damn if he'll let anything other than a thorough mental dig reveal anything else.]

Pub. [He rubs at his eyes, pinches the bridge of his nose for a quick second] Could use a drink.

[A few weeks ago, Charles might have said yes. He likes alcohol just as much as anyone, and while being fall down drunk isn't really a smart idea when you're a telepath and can lose control of your powers and stuff like that, being drunk was fun.

But. Tony the amount of alcohol you've been consuming lately is troubling. :|]

No. Either your room or mine, or we can use one of the warden conference rooms up on deck.

[His eyes scrunch at the sides in annoyance, but he wipes his face clear after just a second, letting one side of his lips quirk up just a little as he shrugs a shoulder]

Sure. One. [He'll just work Steve over in person. No big deal.]

Almost being the key word. [His eyebrows raise] Nothing much. Apparently made a habit of blowing up my room, though.

[Which, judging by his grin, is a very good thing. To Tony, at least.]

....Thank you.

[He'll meet your worry with a fuck you, Charles. An opinion that's making itself pretty clear in the way his face is stoning over, closing off. The way he's rolling his jaw to the side and quirking his lips up in a humorless smile.]

... Right. [Note to self, someone in this rust bucket is finally noticing. He'll have to start using his brain with this one.

Which, given his level of genius, isn't really a problem.] Yours, unless you wanna run interference with magnet boy.

Normally, I'd be all for that, but I'm sure some of the folks around here would just use it to maim people.

[There are two things happening here. One: Tony's playing Steve like he'd been played. Taking advantage of trust for his own gain because screw you Captain Buttface, how do you like it. And Two: He's proving that, when push comes to shove, he knows exactly how to play an audience.

He knows the ins and outs, knows what to do to throw someone off track, to change the game. He knows what smiles to make seem fake, to get a person grasping at straws in that topic, just as he knows how to make them real to anyone who hasn't known him for a decade or so.

Not good at lying-- screw you, Captain America.]

No problem. Olive branch, right? God knows I've been an asshole before. [A shrug, but he's making sure to still look a little tense.

Yeah. Okay. He can do this.]

[Which he is definitely noticing, and man this is going to be bad, isn't it. There are times when he feels hilariously under qualified to be here, and the idea of having to police a developing alcoholic is definitely triggering some feelings of I'm a professor, this is so far out of my area of expertise.

But he keeps his cool.]

Erik won't be a problem.

[A little bit of a sigh.] I have, too, and I don't really know how to make up for it.

...Meet you up there?

[You'll go bald by the end of it all, Charles.

But he's shoving things aside in order to get a bit of power behind a grin]

Right, right. I'll be up in a few minutes, then.

[Which is when he's reaching over to turn the video feed off, giving himself a moment to scowl to himself, to glower and get pissed. Not just at Charles, but at himself.

He's not an idiot. He knows, in his gut, that he's drinking too much. He just doesn't care. The ache and need to drink outweighs the glimmer of discomfort. And god knows drinking will get rid of it all together. But he has to be smarter, has to work, now.

Thank God he's getting a supply for his room, now.

Either way, true to his word, about ten minutes later he's leaning his shoulder against Charles' door-frame, rapping his knuckles rhythmically against the door itself.]

Right, the whole unstable psychopath side of the barge. We have telepaths, right? We could get them to screen everyone before they're allowed on the brooms.

[... He's thinking way too hard about this.

Someone keep him away from the supply closet.]

Aye aye, Cap. [Look, he's even giving you a weak-wristed, two finger salute

... But yeah. If there's one place he knows how to get to, it's the bar. So he'll be waiting outside of it, just leaning against the wall and drumming out AC/DC with his fingers.]

[Charles waits, patiently, hoping that Tony will actually come down here sooner rather than later and he won't have to go looking for him around the pub again, after getting text messages about how something more interesting had come along, so the knock on the door is something of a relief.

He gets the door open and gestures into the room.]

Hello. Please, take a seat.

[And Steve's showing up a short time afterwards.] ....Hey.

Edited 2012-08-02 19:17 (UTC)

[He tenses, minutely, but shrugs it off with a roll of his shoulders.

At least that he can play off as wariness. Because he sure as hell has a lot of that around Mr. American Hero over here.]

Eloquent. Still figuring you'd greet me with the pledge of allegiance as the instrumental version of the anthem plays from nowhere and someone unfurls a flag behind your head. [He nods towards the door] So. Drink?

Did you create anything impressive? [She doesn't doubt that he did.]

[Maybe he is, but now she kind of is, too, because Quidditch was definitely the best part of being a teenaged wizard.]

I'd say we could just do it like most other restricted parts of the Barge - leave it up to the discretion of Wardens. Not that that ever stops the really psychopathic ones.

Your costume doesn't look like a flag. Otherwise I might. [It's a lame joke, yes, but he's trying, at least? --And there's a little nod, as he lets them in.]

Yeah, let's go.

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10th Command; Video - dated to the night after the breach ended

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