open post v2.0

[gotup]

action/text/pictures/whatever I'm easy

something less lazy coming in another two years

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[myheartglows]

[ that's okay, tony appreciates his own jokes just fine. ] Oh, this old thing? [ he returns, faux-modest, looking down at himself and hand splayed out in presentation. ] Just something I threw together in my basement. You like it? [ a chance to talk about the suit? of course he'll take it. by the way, there's a wrong and right answer here. his question had a casual but earnest pitch. ]

[gotup]

It's very flashy.

[He looks amused and a little uncertain of what to say about it, but at least he seems to honestly like the suit. Something in the way Tony shows it off resonates in those buried memories of his, the flippant behavior, the search for approval.]

I'd ask how it works, but I'm pretty sure I wouldn't understand any of it. It's impressive, though.

[myheartglows]

[ must've been the right answer, because iron man's body language unfolds, his legs spreading out flat in front and arms limp by his sides like someone sunbathing without a care. ] You should see the first model, [ tony hums. ] It's a graceless tree trunk, but it did the trick. [ he pauses. explaining more will open him up to questions, but turnabout's fair play. ] Got me out of a bad situation, [ he murmurs. ]

[gotup]

[Predictably enough, he tilts his head and furrows his brow slightly.]

A bad situation?

[He knows what it's like to not want to talk about things, so he'll understand if Tony chooses not to elaborate; his question leaves it open-ended to say as much or as little as he wants.]

[myheartglows]

[ tony doesn't know why he even brought it up. they were talking about the suit, and they're sitting in a cave, and simba told his cruel captivity story, but it's pointless to dwell on what happened. tony got out. that's all that matters. ] Uh-huh, [ he says, but it sounds weirdly distant and his skin feels charged. he hasn't talked about his captivity with anyone, really. some bare-bones debriefings. he doesn't want–it's pointless to– ]

I'm gonna catch some Z's, [ tony declares too loudly, head swinging back to simba. ] Do whatever business you gotta do. Once I wake up, we set to work. [ he leans his head back and shuts his eyes. ]

[gotup]

[Golden eyes blink slowly, cat-like, at Tony, and he nods. Reaching out, he rests one hand on his shoulder for just a moment before drawing back again. He at least has the distance of years between him and captivity, while Tony's wounds are fresh and raw. If he wants to talk about it, he will in his own time.

He curls up like a cat to sleep, holding the pack against his chest, his tail wrapped around him. Like a cat, he drops off to sleep quickly, his chest rising and falling in silence as he breathes.]

[myheartglows]

[ some time later, the gion might be awoken by whirs and clanks. tony says nothing. the whirs and clanks pass by, reverberating through the cave floor, farther into the darkness. another stretch of silence passes, long enough to fall asleep again, before the first clonk sounds out, somewhat muted; tony is making only half-hearted attempts to be quiet. more periodic clatter ensues, a couple times punctuated by tony: a whispered "whoops" when metal on rock rings out louder than others and "shi–!" when there's a duller thud before the clonk.

eventually, tony calls from around the bend in the cave, voice echoey, ] Hey, Lion-O! You up? [ a short wait for an answer. ] Some natural predator you are if you're not. Stop lazing and come give me a paw.

[gotup]

["Lion-o?" he mouths with confusion. He's quickly coming to understand that Tony makes a lot of jokes that go over his head, presumably just for his own amusement. Slowly, he stretches, then rises to his feet, padding through the cave.]

What are you doing? [He yawns, his mouth gaping wide to reveal a truly impressive set of fangs.]

[myheartglows]

[ the outside light is enough to make out tony's form with the white-blue beaming from his chest. he's standing amidst pieces of the armor removed from his person; only the torso and arms really remain. underneath he wears tight, black neoprene like a diver's. ]

Getting ready, [ tony says, distracted as he removes the second pauldron. he drops it without looking (clonk) and digs his bare fingers under the edge of the cuirass at his collarbone, wincing. ] Gonna need you for this part, [ he hisses. ]

[gotup]

[His pupils are wide in the darker area of the cave, and his eyes shine in the small amount of light emitted from Tony's chest. Unsurprisingly, sight isn't much of an issue for him right now.]

All right. [He steps closer, right up into Tony's personal bubble, but doesn't reach out to touch just yet.]

What am I supposed to do?

[myheartglows]

[ tony doesn't seem bothered, despite barely reaching the curve of the gion's shoulder while out of the armor. ] See the flaps on my back? [ still feeling inside the cuirass, he twists around. four in total, the panels are partly lifted from tony's shoulder blades. ] Four of 'em. There're switches inside. Push each of 'em up; order doesn't matter. And... mmh–ow! Got it, [ tony says triumphantly, shaking his hand after he frees it and then sucking on his pointer and middle fingers. ] One side down, [ he mutters and repeats the process above his right breast. ]

[gotup]

[It's a tight fit, but he squeezes his fingers inside and presses the switches until they release.]

You didn't have to get naked at the first opportunity, you know. You could wait for the honeymoon.

[myheartglows]

Obviously you have not heard of me, [ tony smoothly returns; he's not really known for not getting naked. with a final twist of his fingers under the cuirass, the upper torso pops open at the seams to reveal the various latches and locks that seal it together, still hanging onto him like an overlarge shirt. ] Hold onto the back half while I jimmy this thing off, [ tony says. ]

[gotup]

[Dryly:] Obviously not.

[But, obediently, he holds onto the back of the cuirass.]

Let me know if you need me to pull anything, [he offers helpfully. He's good at pulling!]

[myheartglows]

Ayup, [ tony says, clearly distracted once more as he feels inside the seams on both sides. he bumps his fingers into simba's, telling him to "scooch" them when they get in his way (in the dark tony is operating mainly on touch), until finally every lock releases and he catches the breastplate before it falls. the back half comes loose in simba's paws, allowing him to pull off the plating. underneath is an intricate silver mesh of metal built to form around the ribs and back with elegant grooves and complex, interlocking parts; the front is similar, too, except more solid and centered around the reactor. ]

All right, I got it from here, [ tony grunts, despite removing everything normally being the task of a large automated machine. he begins manually loosening the plackart around his stomach and waist. ]

[gotup]

[He pulls the plating off once it's loose and gently sets it down with the other parts of the suit. He's sure it's durable - it's armor, after all - but he's still careful with it because he knows that's what Tony would want.]

You decide to go all King Arthur or something when you built this?

[He remembers fiction more easily than he does his own life - in this case, books read when he was younger, one of the few things that could keep him occupied when he was stuck in bed.]

[myheartglows]

No, but he was an inspiration, [ tony answers idly. he wasn't going to say more, not at first, but his own guilt trips him up. he might not talk about the cave or what happened there ever, but he can talk about this. sure simba can just look him up online once he learns how, but he deserves to hear it from tony's own mouth.

tony sighs, pausing the removal. ] I used to make weapons, [ he admits. ] Decided I didn't want to anymore, so ... I made armor. [ silence settles in. to busy his hands he twists one last thing. with a loud clunk the plackart comes free. the lower back of the armor shifts, too, the bits that are modeled like vertebrae whirring and lifting out. tony flips the plackart around so that the red gleams back at him, his reflection vague and shadowy. nothing interrupts him, and he can't bring himself to look back at simba yet, so he continues, his voice lifting with pride, ] And now I protect people. Best decision I've ever made. [ finally, he cranes his head around and catches simba in the dark. his smile looks genuine. ] Not that the bar was ever that high.

[gotup]

[As Tony drops each piece to the floor, he picks it up with more care, adds it to the collection.]

Armor's a better choice, [he agrees softly. He thinks of the shield tucked away in the pack. He'd protected people once, before they'd turned him into a killing machine. Now the best he can manage is keeping people safe passively, by staying away from them.] Anyone can kill people. The real work is in protecting them.

[myheartglows]

[ tony fiddles with the silver casing next. one of the heavier parts, it houses a lot of the circuity and mechanical guts. ] I dunno, been kinda a breeze so far. A blast, even. [ ha. ] You know we're in talks to make an action figure of me? [ his grin is filled with a childish awe and glee. ]

[gotup]

A what?

[Sorry, all of his human-specific concepts are extremely dated.]

[myheartglows]

An action figure. It's a toy. A lil' Iron Man. Yea big. [ tony demonstrates with the space between his thumb and pointer finger. ] We're thinkin' light-up eyes and reactor right now. Maybe a mini-missile launcher. Although, don't little kids swallow those?

[gotup]

[He just looks a little baffled in the dim light.]

Like a doll?

[l o l]

I don't see a rocket launcher.

[He doesn't even try to look at the suit again. He's familiar with the concept of shoulder-fired missiles - barely - but as a separate entity, not anything that could be contained in the suit.]

[myheartglows]

... sure.

[ :| ]

[gotup]

Well, you're pretty enough for it, I guess.

[Drawled sarcastically in that Brooklyn accent again. Something in the sound of his own voice sparks a memory, a man with a quick smile and dark hair slicked back with pomade, wearing a crisp military uniform. The memory bursts like a bubble, like they always do, and he's left with nothing. He huffs, exasperated by his own fickle mind.]

[myheartglows]

Should I be making this a striptease? [ tony looks down to his hands on the silver casing as if honestly pondering it. simba's certainly joked like that enough to warrant some gay chicken. ]