[Well-disciplined? Nah. Tony is just that good at repressing his past. His childhood. The things that bother him. Anything he doesn't need he buries under layers of code, lets sit in the dark to gather dust as he fills up the gaps with robotics, plans, equations and numbers. With the latest specs for the suit, the latest results on flight patterns, weaknesses in the joints, poor response times.

And then he fills the cracks, the space still there after he packs int he code with alcohol, women, gambling. Buying expensive cars and modifying them to go faster, run smoother. With dodging bullets in Dubai, racing in Monaco. With near-death experiences and the fact that Pepper's allergic to strawberries. That he has a heart beneath the one glowing blue beneath his shirt.]

Right. [His lips twitch upwards into a bitter half-smirk.] It was in the file. What he said on the tape.

[The conversational switch in Charles' tone almost throws Tony, but he's so used to interviews it barely shows. Just a quick quirk of his eyebrow, a flash of amusement at the sudden topic switch, the latching onto something he hadn't really thought was important. At least not compared to the rest. But hey, he'll go with it. He's been fielding questions about his parents since before he can remember.

How's it feel to be a Stark, Tony? Do you ever feel any pressure with who your father is, Tony? Will you be carrying on the family name, Tony? Now that he's gone, do you feel like you have to be the next Howard Stark, Tony? Would your father have stopped making weapons, Tony? What would your father think about the direction of your company, Tony?]

She started as soon as I could walk and talk. It was just something I had to do.

[They were a family of status. And even in the seventies, the upper class was still... a pretty fucking elite and mysterious group.]