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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[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.]

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.

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.

[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)

[Charles... honestly doesn't know what to say to that. He knows it's not something Tony's said to just anyone - or anyone period, in all likelihood - and there's a part of him that almost feels a little uncomfortable about it, because he knows what that's like, to have a disinterested parent who cared more about their interests and desires, and drank too much. Hell, he'd never even talked about their mother's alcoholism with Raven, let alone anyone else. When she was younger, he'd tried to shelter her from it, and when she'd been old enough to understand, they just didn't discuss it.

So there's a part of him that feels like he should, again, offer something about himself in exchange for the information, assure him that he wasn't alone and he understood what it was like to be in that situation, even if they weren't entirely the same. But it's not something he likes thinking about, let alone discussing, and it's not the same as telling Erik or one of their recruits that there were people out there like them, so he swallows the truth and keeps the conversation focused on Tony instead.

Sometimes, he can be a bit of a coward.]

I know this is a strange question, and I'm not asking as an armchair psychologist, but- [And he hesitates for a beat, trying to decide the best way to phrase this.] What do you think he'd think of all this? Not about you being on the Barge, but about Iron Man, and where you've taken the company? Is there anything you wish you could tell him about it?

[There's a lot of earnestness in the questions, and his expression, in a way a therapist or an interviewer probably wouldn't be. He actually cares about the response, and wants to know what Tony would do, if for whatever reason Howard Stark arrived on the Barge tomorrow, because there are a few key things Charles would like to discuss with him, and he assumes there would be for Tony, too.]

[Charles' reaction doesn't really matter, in the end. Honestly, Tony's too lost in thought to really notice any pause, any debating in his expression. It's strange, this relationship they have. Something almost like a friendship, but with a hint of a therapist in there to. A relationship built out of necessity, predetermined roles that made Tony want to claw inside his head and rip his brains out rather than play the damaged civilian card.

And yet here he is, sitting in front of Charles, saying things he'd never thought he would to anyone. Things even Pepper hadn't heard him admit. Things the world guessed at, assumed, but never actually nagged enough to get Tony annoyed, tired, saying screw it and giving them what they wanted. It's just... strange, finding himself exhausted to that point of just not caring what Charles knows anymore.

It still helps that the file laid out the biggest secrets in his life.]

Not as an armchair psychologist? [Okay, he can't help but quirk an eyebrow at that.] All you're missing is a mustache, a few sexual harassment dolls, and a clipboard.

[But Charles' expression has him drawing up short. Sure, a part of him has always been prepared to answer this question... but here and now? He's taken by surprise, just furrowing his brow at Charles, not even thinking to look away as confusion floods through him, a touch of annoyance a second later.] He'd hate it. [A jerky shrug of his shoulder]

He made our name in weapons, carved out a place at the top because of it. The fact that I stopped? He'd hate it, wouldn't let me hear the end of it, either. Iron Man... [That one he's less certain about, actually. And it shows in the few seconds of hesitation, there] He'd like War Machine better. Sold to the military, outfitted with guns and bombs, all the bells and whistles.

[His lips twist just slightly, though, at that last question.] There's a few things I'd want to say to him. None of them are about the company or Iron Man.

[And he is so not going into that, Charles. No matter what kind of pushing you do.]

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

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