Lab Below Stark Industries, Friday Morning

[imafuturist]

It was safe to say that Tony too had not noticed anything strange today. Mostly because he rarely used a filter when working with JARVIS and had been working since the night prior with only a few coffee breaks.

On one hand, he was getting closer to finding where HYDRA currently was, but on the other.... sleep deprivation.

Choices, choices.

He took a sip of lukewarm coffee and fiddled with the code on a bot he'd designed to watch the traffic cameras in Queens. For the tenth time that hour.

Yeah.

[open for anyone lookin' for him!]

Comments

[imafuturist]

"You know Freya?"

He'd feel bad about interrogating her like this soon enough.

[fjordicswagger]

"She... may have been my boss," Tamsin said, rubbing at the skin behind her ear. "At one point and ugh, do not use this power for evil, Stark."

[imafuturist]

"Right. Sorry." He was the worst at this now that the knowledge was there. "But not the same universe, so whatever you'd know might not even apply."

He rubbed at bridge of his nose to keep distracted. "Say something else so I can stop this."

[fjordicswagger]

Tamsin tilted her head. "You think Jessica likes me?"

Beat.

"Okay, I need to get better at improvising."

[imafuturist]

"Yes, I think she likes you," Tony said, so glad to be a topic not about his shit show of a life!

[fjordicswagger]

"Okay," Tamsin said.

A beat.

"Maybe I should just staple both of our mouths shut."

[imafuturist]

Tony sighed and glanced at where her phone was on her personal to mentally text: Wouldn't help me.

[fjordicswagger]

Tamsin pulled her phone out of her pocket, grateful for a distraction that wasn't talking to Tony, and--

"Did you just text me with your brain?"

[imafuturist]

"Yep. I can also see things via satellite, but the vertigo isn't worth it."

Which ruined all the dramatic dialogue about it.

[fjordicswagger]

"Trust you to wire a computer into your head," Tamsin said.

[imafuturist]

"Well, it was that or possibly die and defiantly end up being unable to walk normally for the rest of my life," he replied in a pretty matter of fact tone. Such was his life. "I had to remove the bits that drove the previous test subject insane. Well. More insane."

[fjordicswagger]

"What even is your life?" Tamsin asked him. "Don't answer that. It's rhetorical and I mostly don't care."

[imafuturist]

"That's sad, I care about yours." A beat. "I care about everyone's."

Another beat.

"Bleeding heart."

[fjordicswagger]

"Sometimes I wish I could care, but then I remember what a pain in the ass it is," Tamsin said "No thanks."

[imafuturist]

"I didn't care when I was younger, but watching people die because of me put a damper on that," Tony muttered into his bottle.

[fjordicswagger]

"Really?" Tamsin said, sipping from her bottle. "Usually it's the other way around."

[imafuturist]

"I built weapons for a living. Really, really effective weapons."

Cry more, Tony omg.

[fjordicswagger]

"Congratulations?" Tamsin said.

[imafuturist]

"No," he said, shaking his head. "Not really. Can we go back to talking about your love life?"

[fjordicswagger]

"No," Tamsin said sharply.

[imafuturist]

"Then what's a subject that won't make one of us get alcohol poisoning?"

Maybe if they ever talked about their problems with a professional...

[fjordicswagger]

"I don't know," Tamsin said. "You watch any particularly stupid police procedurals lately...?"

[imafuturist]

And there was Tony laughing again. "No, sadly I don't have much time for TV."

He gestured toward the piles of armor scattered around the room.

[fjordicswagger]

"Maybe you need another hobby," Tamsin said, squinting that way. "It's like Revenge of the Man-Eating Tin Cans in here."

[imafuturist]

"I did think about starting a poker night before everything went to crap," Tony said.

Because oversharing was caring today.