Mk VIII: Sympathy by the Mother-load

[thecoolexec]

| 5723 Cunningham Lane | Interior

Tony Stark is up a little earlier than usual today, sipping some orange juice and eating some toast in the kitchen. For once, he didn't spend the night at Olney's or tinkering in his lab, so he actually got to bed on time. That's not so weird. What is a little weird, though, is the sort of...persistent feeling of... something. He feels a little preoccupied by something, some niggling, tingly thought in the back of his head that he can't quite put his fingers on. It's not something he forgot, is it...? Feels different. Whatever it is, it feels somehow... beneath him. Interesting. 

He notes that his "daughter" isn't up yet. She usually is up around now, all smiles and pleasant demeanor. ...She really is great...


| Olney's Bar | Mid-afternoon

What is the matter with me today? Tony finishes his glass and sets it down on the table. Something is wrong with him on some level, and he needs to try and booze it away. Maybe if he forgets that he feels off, he'll stop feeling off! Psychosomatic. Or Mind over Matter. Take your pick, self. He glances around him and sees mostly a few dejected regulars in the bar with him right now. A few more women are here than usual, though. He gives one a closer look to size her up... but suddenly feels like a... a... pig. How dare he! Imagine how much women have to put up with already without him undressing them with his eyes! It's bad enough in the real world, but in Mayfield, haven't they suffered enough without him trying to sleep with them?

......Nope.
Yes!
No.
Yes!
God, NO, what are you saying, man? Remember who you are!!

Tony stares at his hands and orders a Jack and Coke without even looking up. He is having a crisis here.

Comments

[answerer_sword]

Tony.

[Bazett slides in on the seat next to him.]

Is...anything the matter?

[thecoolexec]

Bazy! Been a while! You look nice. I like your hair.
[He sips his drink, a little thoughtfully. That was... an innocuous compliment. Maybe he's going soft.]

[answerer_sword]

I...have not done anything particularly special about it...

[Though come to think of it, she might need a haircut at some point.]

Um...I like your...

[She has to think a little about this one.]

...shoes.

Re: 5723 Cunningham

[thecoolexec]

Thank you! Do you really? Like them, I mean? Do you want them? I'll give--
ah... s-sorry. I don't... I don't know what that was.

.........Let's pretend it was a sneeze.

5723 Cunningham

[adropofjupiter]

[Marisa checked the address she had written down. Yup. This is where Django told her Tony Stark lived. Tucking the paper away, the teenage girl knocked on the door and waited.

...it felt so weird to actually knock instead of just letting herself in. BUT SHE NEEDS TO BE POLITE. Or something.]

Re: 5723 Cunningham

[thecoolexec]

[Hm? Company? Well, maybe it's one of the others in the house. He hasn't seem them around.]

Coming~~! Unless you're Jehovah's Witness! In which case I'm an axe murderer~~~~!

[adropofjupiter]

[Note to self: Ask Ciel what a Jehovah's Witness is.]

I've never met an axe murderer before...

[She hopes if Tony is an axe murderer, that he's told Meiling about that.]

Olney's Bar

[burnbabyburn19]

[At the bar, sitting near Tony is this lady. Jeanne D'Arc, wearing pants and a regular shirt, with a large mug of beer before her. She seems awfully tense/upset about something. Dare you approach?]

Re: Olney's Bar

[thecoolexec]

[Tony turns his gaze away from the first woman he looked at and sees Jeanne on his left. She has stiff body posture and looks like she's concentrating. He peers at her in curiosity, begins to shrug in disinterest in her problems as he is so wont to do... but feels his feet lifting and dragging him over to her. And before he really knows what's happening, he's clapped his hand gently onto the top of her hand.]

[burnbabyburn19]

[Jeanne's eyes practically bulge out of her head in fury. Were her hand not also in the line of fire, she'd have stabbed through it. She turns to him and gives a firey glare.]

Why... why are you touching me...

bar

[forever_cheery]

[Aurora doesn't frequent the Olney's often, but she does have a good friend in town who is a bartender there and decides to stop in to say hi while coming home from work. Not paying attention at first, she hops onto the stool next to Tony. When she does notice him, he gets a bit of a cold shoulder. She remembers this guy from that "kissing booth" operation and isn't too pleased with him.]

Re: bar

[thecoolexec]

[Tony nods to her politely. Yeah, he's got no idea who she is.]

[forever_cheery]

[Typical, Tony! Well, even sweet Aurora can't help but make a smartass remark sometimes.]

I'm guessing that kissing booth thing didn't work out?

[fifthtimearound]

[Hey, Tony, have an early twenties young woman coming into the bar with a slightly dazed expression. Everyone is acting like they're possessed today. Even the drones are over the top! She takes a seat at the bar and sets her chin on her hand, staring at the bottles. She wants tequila, but that doesn't look very likely.]

Bourbon neat and don't ask me about what my husband would think if you want a tip.

[thecoolexec]

Helloooo beautiful! Can I buy that for you or is my artificial heart going to break?

[fifthtimearound]

[She glances over, giving him a decent attempt at a smile.]

I'm not going to pass up on a free drink, but I can't be responsible for your artificial heart's issues later.

Olney's Tavern

[hisnameisthecaptain]

[He sits down near Tony, a beer in hand.]

You're the least cheerful person I've seen today, and I saw a Nazi getting beaten by a baseball bat.

Re: Olney's Tavern

[thecoolexec]

That's where you're wrong actually. I'm cheerful. Disturbingly so. That's the problem. I don't know why I am.

[hisnameisthecaptain]

Then don't worry about it and enjoy it?

Tavern

[hontobakabaka]

[Ruri peers over at Tony from her table and her 4 or so holographic screens floating around her which she isn't bothering to try and hide today.]

....Problem?

Re: Tavern

[thecoolexec]

[Have a doubletake, Ruri. Who is this woman and why aren't her holo fields in his life?]

My problem is that I don't have any mobile holographic interfaces like yours in my life (and apparently, EVERYONE ELSE does.)
So much for being a bleeding-edge innovator... maybe that's more of a literal title.

[hontobakabaka]

Well, to be fair you probably don't have access to a 23rd century battle cruiser, and odds are half of your blood hasn't been replaced with control nanites. All in all I'm not entirely certain the trade off was worth it.

bar; hope i'm not too late!

[gandere]

A what now?

[ Wait a second; Why is a girl that looks like she should be preparing for prom not only behind the bar, but picking up a bottle of wine to fill out his request? ]

Yeah, you're just going to have to drink this until that idiot comes back. [ Sliding it towards him, she doesn't even bother to unwrap it, nor pull out the cork. ] You can figure it out, right?

You'll be my last one! :)

[thecoolexec]

FOR YOU? Anything.

[immediately he grabs the glass and bottle and starts clawing at the cork.]

aw yes :D

[gandere]

Er... I don't think that's how you're supposed to do it. [ Oblivious as to why he's behaving that way, Rin will only spare a sigh for him. ] Maybe you're supposed to smash it. I don't really know. My father opened those all the time, but rarely drank in front of me.