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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We're not about to have a CEO-off, are we?

I'd like you to come by the place and have a rant with me. Begging your pardon, Tony, but I've met few who seemed to need to blow off steam more. And I'm all ears.

I feel so much safer, knowing you'll protect the rights of Quidditch players.

I'm pretty sure we are.

[BRING IT]

[Chess Tony could benefit from. Anything to focus his mind on, to give his hands something to do. To divert his energy and attention enough to actually have a normal conversation for longer than a few handfuls of seconds. There's a reason he gets drunk, why he stays drunk so much at home. His tongue is looser while drunk, it allows him to slip more into social norms, to dull his mind just the slightest amount, so he can stop living in Tony Stark's world and speaking that fast-paced language all his own. A language no one other than his own computer spoke and understood.

And even then, JARVIS couldn't quite keep up.

But he could benefit from a chess game, especially one with Charles. The guy was smart, for someone devoted to only one discipline. A geneticist, sure, and not his own personal choice in studies, but there was nothing inherently wrong with them. Not the smart ones, at least. The ones that found that their focus branched into others, that biology wasn't the end all be all of breakthroughs.

Still, he leans forward slightly on his knees, eyeing Charles with a stubborn blankness to his face, just the slightest hint of curiosity in his eyes.]

I thought I smelled money on you. What was it, inheritance? [Surprisingly enough? After a small pause, Tony's actually... giving something up. Just a small thing. But it's still something from his past. From a vault usually locked up tighter than Fort Knox.] At parties, that's what I was supposed to be. Seen, not heard. The son they showed off who never opened his mouth, never knocked anything over. [He smirks] Didn't light the kitchen on fire during a benefit trying to make a stove cook faster.

[Charles knows. Even when he'd been living in a tiny flat in Oxford with Raven, they still dressed and spoke well, him especially, and it wasn't like someone who had degrees from Harvard, Oxford and more than one Ph.D. was strapped for cash.

And his room on the Barge was from the family mansion, so there was that, too. It's hard to ignore, and while he doesn't really like talking about it and certainly doesn't brag, it's still not something people were generally able to ignore.]

My father came from money, although I wouldn't say my mother was destitute before she married him. [Her family had been well off, from what he remembered, and they'd probably met at some society function or another. He wasn't actually sure of the details, as it had been explained to him when he was young and he'd never really asked again after Brian Xavier had passed away. His mother had seemed pretty content never to discuss him unless she had to, and while he knew they loved each other, it seemed better to just let sleeping dogs lie.

And he shrugs this off too, focusing instead on the tidbit Tony offered up and grinning, amused, because that was a bit more extreme than anything he and Raven had gotten away with as kids, except maybe Charles convincing his mother she had a daughter, but. That was different.]

Did you actually do that? How old were you?

[There's a long pause from his side of things, but eventually he's just ducking his head forward, chuckling under his breath before he can help himself, shaking his head soon after]

I'm not- I don't really rant, sorry. I blow off steam in other, more productive ways. Like hammering dents out of metal, inventing the next mindboggling technological advancement.

The secret goal of heroes of any universe. Don't let the government fool you about that one.

[Poor people could spot money by looking at a person and seeing polish, a lack of dirt, no scars on their hands or lines around their eyes. By seeing a lack of wear on the knees of pants, no stretch in shirts from pulling them on and off more than once a week. Rich people could spot money in an entirely different way. The way someone answers a question, how long the pause is. The way people sit, reach for objects. The way a conversation can go.

Tony was bred to have manners, to know all the social customs of high society. He just didn't give a crap anymore. He'd had all of that beaten into his head and then he'd gathered it all up and dumped it on the curb almost as soon as his parents died.]

What, the stove thing? Six, maybe seven. Jarv- [He stops, mid word, brow pinching before he grins, wide and harsh, eyes sharp as he stares at Charles, his expression guarded.] You're good, I'll give you that. You use the mind thing for that? [The slip of the tongue, the information he'd started to give out, information that even Pepper and Rhodey didn't actually know.]

Jarvis, the family butler, had given me a cake a few weeks before, so I'm pretty sure I was seven. Parents celebrated my birthday whenever it corresponded with a benefit. It was easier, and I never actually cared. [Which is why he can say it with a shrug of the shoulder, burying the one pertinent piece of information under a load of facts completely detached from any sort of... affection. Worth. Things he'd let the papers know, let them think was a juicy piece of gossip.

He honestly just didn't care. Birthdays didn't start to matter until they were an excuse to go even more wild than he already was.]

[IT'S ON.]

Established in the 19th century with Wayne Shipping and Wayne Chemical. Now includes Wayne Entertainment, Wayne Medical, the Wayne Yards, Wayne Electronics, Wayne Foods, and Wayne Industries. Annual income of over 98.5 billion dollars. We run the Wayne Foundation, donating directly to various charities every year.

[... Goddamnit.]

Huh. Okay, then. Stark Industries was established in the 19th centry by Isaac Stark Sr, started as a modest electrics company, built up from there. We're one company, one branch. We don't spread out through medical or foods, but we supply just about everyone. We're primarily a research and development company, and provide the framework and funding for world expos every now and again. Most recent in 2010, Flushings, New York. Annual income of 20.3 billion, two headquarters, two factories, one of each on each coast. Military contracts were exclusively ours for seventy years, since breaking that off we're branching into developmental technology for armors as well as war and poverty relief. Next up on the block is clean, self-sustaining energy. We head the Maria Stark Foundation which does pretty much the same exact thing as your Wayne one.

[He'd bet half his cars that his own personal net worth is greater than Batman's, okay. It'll make up for the... kind of ridiculous annual income gap, there.]

Edited 2012-08-25 01:44 (UTC)

Oh well, all right. I suppose the best I have for you then would be some interesting technological challenges.

[Definitely smirking here bro.]

We're also in 170 countries world wide, and employ hundreds of thousands of people globally.

But I just keep tabs on the company, I didn't build it. My thing is the Neon Knights. It's an anti-gang youth program. It was picked up around the country, and went international a few months back. [He is ridiculously proud of this Tony, don't knock him. :c]

Self-sustaining energy - does that use the same tech that's in your chest?

No, I didn't. [He could have, and while he was listening in to make sure Tony wasn't directly lying about anything, or hiding too much of the truth from him, he wasn't actively digging around trying to find information or make Tony talk about anything he didn't want to discuss.

He could be a bit of a dick about how and when he used his powers, but he did have some idea of right and wrong.

So he listened and nodded when he was finished, understanding, and again offering something else up.]

I used to have to "tell"- [And here he gestured at his temple, just to make it clear what kind of telling he really meant.] My mother what my sister and I wanted for Christmas or our birthdays. I didn't care so much about myself, but I wanted to make sure Raven at least had a decent holiday.

[There's an odd sense of... well, he doesn't even know what it is, really. Something that's just not setting right in his stomach at the look on Arkady's face, the sound of her voice. The words she's saying.

He should be doing something, shouldn't he? Saying something? Maybe changing a decision he'd made to better suit a rational emotional response?

... Too bad he doesn't really know what to do.]

You bring a tech challenge to the table and I will literally build you anything you want.

Huh. Sounds like overcompensation.

[Short hand for you win for now, bro.

But... he might be an asshole, but he isn't an outright dick, not to stuff like that.]

And Wayne backs it? [He quirks an eyebrow] Volunteer work or salaried, and you sure he's not using it as a tax write-off, siphoning out the money that should be going to the organization out through tax gaps and loopholes?

[His eyes twitch, just slightly. Narrowing almost suspiciously at Tim as he reaches up and drums his fingers against the arc reactor, the click of skin hitting crystal audible even across the communicator]

Modified from it, yeah. Kind of a Stark Family secret. [Vanko doesn't count]

I wish I could bring you home with me for a few weeks. I really do. Get the taste of this place out of your mouth, show you a world where your talents would not only be needed every day, but actually appreciated every day too. Not to mention the tech-offs with Carolyn.

See, would've been a lot cooler if you'd taken credit for that. [He's pointing at Charles, giving him a look] Now? I feel like an ass and really thinking about just going right back into roundabout, interview answers that give you everything and nothing all at the same time. Those I'm good at.

[... Okay, he should probably stop drinking and talking, but you know what? Fuck that.]

And people always want to be rich. [His lips twitch up into a bitter smile] Funny how much it actually sucks.

Honey, just send me home and I'll get all of that.

[Pause] Minus the Carolyn. Which sucks. Could use a few geniuses to bounce ideas off of.

And I didn't even tell you how it's the tallest building in the city. [He's just amused by now, because as far as he's concerned, Tony wins. He built that company, more or less. Tim's just there to keep their enemies from pulling it apart.

He manages not to snort at the questions, but he doesn't mile a little.]

I manage all of it. It has close ties to the Wayne Foundation, but a lot of the money that went into it is mine. [Not all, because...you know, Bruce is a billionaire and it definitely is a perk for WE, but.] The money's definitely going to the right place.

[Jeez, Tony. That look tells him a lot, though he doesn't let it slip into his face. He just takes in Stark's reaction, files it away and makes sure the connection's private.]

Have you had issues with theft before?

I can't teleport between worlds yet. I wish I could. But I can only pass between my world and here. And I almost never take vacations. It doesn't seem fair to those still stuck here.

And she is a genius. Sometimes people from my world do call in or show up. If she does I shall point her at you straightaway.

[Charles doesn't really react to the quasi threat to go back to not talking much about specifics. He'll keep pushing, because if Tony wants to get out of here, he needs to be pushed, to really take a hard look at his problems and find a solution to them, instead of trying to convince everyone they don't exist.]

It does, doesn't it? [He wasn't stupid enough to argue that they'd had it worse than anyone else, but it was sort of amazing that having all the money in the world still didn't guarantee a happy childhood, or good relationships with your parents.

Or at least, it hadn't for them.]

What was it like, finding the tape?

[It's the people that push that get the closest. The people that let him spout crap but never actually listen. The stubborn people that repeat the same things and just grab him, force him to do what needs to be done. They're the people he gets close to, the people that make a difference.

And Charles, so far, has been one of those people. For better or for worse.]

Everyone has some sort of issue. [He's not stupid enough to argue that either.

He's seen soldiers coming back from war, seen the look in refugees eyes in the middle of the desert, walking through endless sand dunes to try and escape the terrorists destroying their homes, their lives.

But oh, Charles has to go for the big ones, the ones that make Tony visibly flinch, have him quiet for a long time, comparatively speaking, just staring absently at the wall over Charles' shoulder.]

... One minute doesn't change seventeen years. [.........] Too little, too late.

[Honestly? He still doesn't know. His own bitterness has more than soiled that message, as of late]

[It is his job, but at the same time, Charles really did honestly want to help. He liked being able to push people to be the best they could be, and he didn't see why this was any different, despite the fact that teaching the kids and Erik to control their abilities was a lot easier than trying to get through Tony's armor.

Even if some days it seemed like it was going to be next to impossible. Today, at least, it seemed like they were making some kind of progress.]

Understandable. [He honestly didn't know what he'd do if he found something like that years later. Being a telepath, he knew his mother wasn't really that thrilled about actually being a mother, and he wasn't sure if that was better or worse, having a parent who couldn't hide how little she cared or a parent who seemed incapable of expressing their concern in any healthy way.] What was he like?

[And he wanted an honest answer, not some story for a newspaper or whatever.]

[For a moment, Tony just stares at Charles, tempted to lie, mulling over the option in his head. But that hasn't gotten him very far, has it? Doesn't have him anywhere close to graduating. And it sucks, being stuck here as an inmate, in with the people who really can't function. The psychotic and unbalanced, the murderers and butchers. Sucks when he says he's an inmate and gets treated like a criminal.

So he reaches up, rubbing two fingers against his temple, closing his eyes for a moment, trying to remember what he told Fury.]

Cold, distant, never told me he loved me or even liked me. [That part, said like a speech. Remembered words he'd said in his annoyance. The next bit? More fluid. Said as he opens his eyes and almost seems to slump.] Drunk and strict, didn't believe in playing, just believed in success. Any time I wasn't inventing or studying I was just an annoyance. More involved in his work and SHIELD than his family.

[There are stories there, obviously. But for now? That's the most honest he's ever been about his relationship with his dad.

And it's not sitting well with him.]

Edited 2012-09-17 14:45 (UTC)

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

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