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[gotup]

action/text/pictures/whatever I'm easy

something less lazy coming in another two years

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[gotup]

[He wonders idly just how many rooms Tony has, and what he uses them all for - if there's someone around who keeps the place clean. Maybe that's what this 'Pepper' does, although it seems like a daunting task for just one woman. Someone as rich as Tony wouldn't call the help by their given name, but Tony also seems eccentric enough to do whatever the hell he wants, like take in stray monsters.]

We'll need soap, too, [he says suddenly.] And towels - I guess you probably have towels somewhere by the pool, though.

[Great, now he's hopping from topic to topic, too. It must be contagious.]

[myheartglows]

You mean you don't just lick yourself clean? [ tony says, partly a tease and partly an honest question, before he veers off to the left, past an open door into a bedroom. ] In that case: pitstop! [ outside of this door and others, a blue, electronic panel with a black knob hangs. if simba touches it, it'll flash green and jarvis will speak, granting him access. inside, more windows with a balcony overlook the pacific. the middle of the room has a king-sized bed, neatly made. parts of the walls are polished dark wood while others have contemporary wallpaper–at least two kinds, so no adjacent wall is the same. near the windows stands a telescope, pointed up.

tony disappears into another room off the side. if simba follows, he'll find the master bathroom and tony shifting through bottles. tony calls back, ] Feelin' anything in particular? I got black walnut, cedar, eucalyptus, peppermint oil...

[gotup]

[He huffs, but doesn't sound especially insulted.] That's a lot of licking.

[And there are other reasons, but he's not going to delve into them right now. Instead, he follows Tony through the master bedroom and into the bathroom, and-]

I don't know?

[Scented soap is a luxury he's never been able to indulge in, and liquid soap is just bewildering, and he's not sure why anyone would want to smell like trees.]

Nothing overwhelming, [he adds. His sense of smell is sharper than a human's, and he doesn't want anything too strong.]

[myheartglows]

What about that? [ poking around in the closet, tony points without looking at the bowl-shaped bathtub housed behind plexiglass. apart from it, across ceramic tiling, is a shower drain and handheld nozzle. the wall behind them is another window wall, also thankfully facing the ocean. tony picks out one bottle and reads the ingredients. ] Can you fit in that? Try it out, [ he suggests while he's occupied. ]

[gotup]

[He pads across the smooth floor and stares out at the view of the ocean for a long moment. It's amazing, but something about the expanse of blue makes fear coil in his gut, and he's not sure why. Tearing his gaze away from the vista, he climbs into the bathtub.]

There's, uh, not really any room for water. [Which is more or less the point of taking a bath, so that's probably not going to work. But while Tony's preoccupied with soap, he climbs out of the tub and sheds his loincloth, poking at the controls for the shower until he manages to produce a spray of water.]

[myheartglows]

Yup, figured, [ tony says, reading another bottle. he glances over at the spray of water, does a double-take, then stares openly at the naked gion. frowning back at his various products, tony grumbles, ] Shower works, too. If you wanna be pedestrian about it, [ and rummages till he picks out three bottles: one shampoo, one conditioner, and one unscented body wash. he carries them past the plexiglass barrier. ] I still vote pool. I could hose you down after. I'd be good at it. I've judged my share of wet t-shirt contests.

[gotup]

[He makes a face and turns the shower off again. Thankfully, he's not dripping wet from the spray, just lightly damp. He grabs a towel and wraps it around his waist; it looks more like a short skirt, but it does the job.]

Fine, we can use the pool.

[myheartglows]

[ halfway to slotting the chosen bottles into the hanging basket for simba to use, tony pauses. he snaps his head over and cocks it. ] Really? [ he blinks, taken off-guard. ] I mean, I wasn't serious. You can use the shower.

[gotup]

No, you're right, I don't want to clog the drain.

[Look at how innocent his smile is, he's definitely not plotting anything at all.

(Plus, to be fair, he does feel like he needs more water to get clean.)]

I hope you have some bigger towels by the pool, though.

[myheartglows]

[ a smile sneaks onto tony's face. he pushes the bottles to the gion's chest. ] Here. Those are for you. [ spinning on his heel, he points forward. ] Onward! Follow the leader. [ on the way by tony picks up a tablet from his bedside table.

he leads them out the room, onto the veranda, and down the stairs that curve around to the back. the veranda continues along the cliff outside of the house's first story with one door connecting to the guest bedroom. a crystal-clear cyan, the pool itself is heated, suitable for use even in winter months (not that malibu really drops below 50 degrees), and lit under the water and around the patio perimeter. the far side of the pool sits level with the edge, ideal for laying one's arms on it while floating to watch the ocean and its horizon. the cliff below is all rock with green bushes sloping down into a sheer drop. a couple palm trees are planted on the slope. ]

Here we are. [ tony presents it with a sweep of his arm. ] A giant chlorinated tub to shed in to your heart's content. [ he sits with his tablet near the stair bottom, away from the water. ] Go ahead. Skinny-dip. It's seen worse.

[gotup]

Jesus.

[He stares in awe at the pool setup. Out of everything, this is the most ostentatious display of wealth he's seen (although the car collection is a close second). All of this, just for one guy? He can't believe it.

He carefully sets the bottles down at the edge of the pool before unwrapping the towel and stepping in. He wouldn't be too bothered even if the pool was unheated - it's still warmer than the underground springs he has to rely on at this time of year. He does, however, look a little surprised by the warmth, and his eyes close in sheer pleasure for a moment as the last of the chill from the plane is banished.]

Fancy, [is his only comment. He looks at the bottles - while he's familiar with concepts, he's never used things like liquid soap (which he assumes is what the body wash is) or shampoo before. He's pretty sure soap is soap, no matter what you call it.

In spite of his earlier comment, he actually does dunk his mane under the water, running his fingers through it so that the water penetrates the dense layers of fur. He glances over at Tony.]

You mind giving me a hand? I kinda got a lot of hair to wash here.

[myheartglows]

[ tony watches with a pleased smile the whole time. ] Sure. Lemme just pull up a dog-bathing tutorial real quick, [ he says and acts like he's browsing his tablet, mouth almost a V from holding back the shit-eating grin. ]

[gotup]

[He bares his teeth, and a quiet growl - not as loud as it would be if he was truly threatening - rumbles in his chest.]

Asshole.

[It's not something he likes, but he knows that Tony doesn't mean it as a real insult, that he hasn't been around him long enough to know how much he hates being treated like an animal. (He is an animal.)]

How many dogs with manes have you seen?

[myheartglows]

Off the top of my head? Collies. And pomeranians, [ tony lists without a beat missed, but he sets the tablet aside and stands. ] Same principle, right? [ rolling up his sleeves, he walks closer. ]

[gotup]

[He gives him a mildly displeased look.]

Think of it as washing a girlfriend's hair. I'm sure a fella like you has experience with that, right? Your bathroom's sure big enough for a crowd.

[myheartglows]

[ tony kneels on the edge and picks up the shampoo bottle. ] I got more experience getting down and dirty than clean. Now c'mere, boy! [ he calls, patting his knee and whistling. ]

[gotup]

[In one swift move, almost too fast to register, he grabs Tony's shoulder and pulls him over the edge into the water. Underneath the surface, his tail twitches, creating its own local turbulence near the bottom of the pool. He doesn't make any attempt to hold Tony down once he's in the water - he's not trying to drown him - and he waits for him to resurface and get his feet under him.]

No more pet jokes, [he says calmly, holding Tony's gaze.]

[myheartglows]

[ one arm breaks and slaps the surface of the pool as tony instinctively twists. after two seconds of flailing, he finds his feet and shoots into a stand with a loud gasp, drenched head to toe and his arms bent away from his body to hold them above. the pool's surface undulates from the commotion, spreading out, with constant ripples from the water dripping off him. tony stands in the waist-high (for him) water staring at it stock-still save for his quiet, gasping gulps of air.

then his eyes snap over and bear a different wildness, guarded, like someone preparing to fight tooth-and-nail to survive–but quickly he shuts them, and breathes in deep. ] Okay, [ he concedes. ] I deserved that.

[gotup]

[He notes that flash in Tony's eyes, that too-familiar look, and how quickly it disappears, and he worries for a moment that he's done something terribly wrong. He likes Tony, or what he's seen of him so far, and under different circumstances, he might have dunked him playfully instead of out of irritation with his stupid jokes.

He offers Tony a hand to shake, a silent reconciliation, then adds,]

Before you even think about asking about kitty litter, the answer is no. Although- [and he hesitates for a moment out of tact,] I think the toilet might be too small.

[For his ass, he means.]

[myheartglows]

[ tony stares at simba's proffered hand for too long, uncomprehending almost, before he halfheartedly shakes it and pulls back too fast. ] Fee-fi-fo-fuminize your toilet, got it, [ he mumbles. he flicks his eyes across the water. ]

[gotup]

Just as long as I don't have to climb a beanstalk to get there.

[He offers Tony a small smile, testing the waters, so to speak.]

I was serious about you helping, by the way. If you don't mind.

[myheartglows]

[ tony's bangs lie flat, dripping over his eyes which are locked on the water. ] Yeah, [ he croaks distantly, then finally slicks his hair off his face and straightens. he hasn't smiled back. ] Maybe not in the pool.

[gotup]

[He hesitates for a moment before he wraps his hands around Tony's waist and picks him up, setting him on the edge of the pool. Stepping closer, so he fills Tony's line of sight, he gently puts his hands on his shoulders.]

Hey. I didn't know, okay? I'm sorry.

[myheartglows]

[ "what're you–whoa! whoa," tumbles out of tony's mouth as he's picked up and moved, his hands clamped around the gion's arms. once he's put down, a puddle on the asphalt immediately spreads around him, stretching out far.

hands still on simba's arms, tony sits, befuddled and wary. ] It's ... fine. It was fair retribution. [ he awkwardly pats simba's arm. ] No harm done. Promise. Just a ... thing I have.

[gotup]

Then we've both got our things.

[He grins wryly at Tony, squeezes his shoulders softly, like he's still trying to reassure him.]

I'll be more careful in the future.

[Because if he has issues Tony doesn't know about, there's a pretty good chance the reverse is true, and he doesn't want to inadvertently do anything that might hurt him again.]