meet-and-greet | January 2016

[governors]

The Governors do this, sometimes; they hold a meet-and-greet for the new arrivals to help them get acclimated, and also to distract them from destroying their rooms. A message goes out to all the new arrivals informing them of a party with free food. Everyone likes free food, right?

In one of the recreation areas - sadly, not one of the ones accessible by slide - there are some chips, dip, some sodas and Solo cups, several large pizzas, and a surprising amount of Oreos.

Party.

Comments

[highprofilerichkid]

What, Jack, you don't like a little dress-up every now and then to spice things up? insert Brokeback Mountain cowboy joke

"I'm supposed to graduate this spring," Tony says, getting a little defensive. "I wasn't even planning on going to high school." Realizing that that probably requires some explanation, he adds, "I was homeschooled until two years ago." Aaand now he's talking himself into a corner. "...I'm really smart," he finishes lamely.

[aquilawful]

Not everyone dresses up in armor for kicks, Tony.

"Why the switch? Not enough girls at homeschool?" Jack is utterly oblivious of what he's walking into. "Definitely really smart, if you're contracting for something like SHIELD."

International organizations like that didn't just let kids tag along unless they were assets in their own right.

[highprofilerichkid]

Tony might try to brush that off with a joke, normally, but he's not at the top of his game right now, between the recent apocalypse and being mysteriously kidnapped to another dimension. He's also not used to people not knowing about his situation, so the question takes him a little by surprise.

"...My dad disappeared in a plane crash," he blurts. "So. Uh. There wasn't anyone to homeschool me." Whoops. "But yeah, there were cute girls. At school." Too late, Tony, you already made it weird. He rubs the back of his neck and winces.

In the hopes of directing the conversation elsewhere, Tony turns back to the subject of SHIELD. "Me and the director don't always get along, but he knows I'm the best. And my dad designed a lot of the tech they use on the Helicarrier, so when he was gone, I was the only person who could fix it."

[aquilawful]

Jack is no stranger to loss, but losing a parent at Tony's age - that was something he would never wish upon anyone. Well, maybe the cretins who nabbed Daniel a few years ago, and a handful of other completely disgusting people, but not on general humanity.

"Tough break, kid. I'm sorry for your loss," he sympathizes with a solemn nod. And then frowns. "Did you just say 'Helicarrier'?"

Because that just sounds both ridiculous and frankly quite impressive.

it flies, mostly over downtown Manhattan, because THAT'S safe

[highprofilerichkid]

"Um. He was okay, actually. Kidnapped. I didn't know for a year, and it took another six months to get him back after that. But he's, you know. Fine. Now." Tony's Life Is Bizarre: Exhibit A.

He perks up at the question about the Helicarrier - that's one question that's easy to answer, at least. "The Helicarrier, yeah. It's— an aircraft carrier, except it flies." Pretty much what it says on the tin.

totally safe of course

[aquilawful]

"Kidnapped in a plane crash. That's elaborate," Jack comments with mild disbelief. A heist like that wasn't unheard of, but it required planning and resources that very few organizations or people had.

But apparently they've got flying aircraft carriers where Tony comes from so... maybe not so implausible.

"I would love to see that," he admits, giving him a small smile. "I've been on an aircraft carrier and they're impressive enough in the water."

[highprofilerichkid]

"Not really," Tony says dryly, though this time, he doesn't offer details. "Would have been nice if it was a little more elaborate. Maybe he could have bothered to kidnap me, too." Tony crunches down on one of his chips. Fun fact: it is actually possible to look bitter and angry while eating a stale Dorito.

But, no, he's getting mopey again. Sociable, Tony. Be sociable.

"It's cool," he admits, giving Fury credit where credit is due. The Helicarrier is very cool. "Kind of a pain when I have to keep it from crashing into the Chrysler Building, though."

[aquilawful]

"At least things turned out mostly okay in the end," Jack remarks. He can see that Tony is making an effort to not just be the mopey teenager - which is a challenge even when you haven't gone through what Tony has.

If Tony's last comment were a car driving by, Jack would be doing a double-take.

"I'm sorry, why was it close enough to New York City to nearly crash into the Chrysler Building?" he asks with disbelief in his tone. If it was the size of an aircraft carrier that just sounds like a recipe for disaster.

[highprofilerichkid]

Tony shrugs and grunts noncommittally. It did all pretty much turn out okay. It just took two and a half years and almost dying a bunch of times to get there.

He looks a little nonplussed by Jack's shock - he's used to he Helicarrier making regular appearances. 'Why the hell is anyone letting an aircraft carrier hover over Times Square' had never occurred to him before.

"New York attracts a lot of supervillains. SHIELD's job is taking down supervillains, so the Helicarrier spends a lot of time around the city." Simple as that.

[aquilawful]

It's not the worst reason, but it still seems like a rather big risk to take. Not much Jack can do about that, nor does he particularly have to worry about it.

"You come from a pretty strange world, kid," he remarks amiably, shaking his head. "But I guess that kind of stuff is why you're here - you must have made an impression on someone."

[highprofilerichkid]

"How come I'm always making impressions on people who want to kidnap me or kill me or use me in their evil plots?" Tony grouses.

"Just once, I'd like to make an impression on someone, like, I don't know, Reed Richards." Is a personal invitation to MIT from Dr. Richards really so much to ask?

[aquilawful]

"I don't know; do you get in their way a lot? That's usually a pretty sure-fire way to get bad people to come after you," Jack remarks evenly.

Reed Richards. Hm. The name sounds vaguely familiar, but Jack was never much of a comic book guy, and he comes from a time before almost any superheros but Superman and Batman graced the silver screen.

"You probably do make good impressions, but the results of those aren't usually nearly as exciting as pissing off someone on the opposite side of the playing field."

[highprofilerichkid]

That makes Tony grin just a little. "Good point. I have a bad habit of getting in the way of bad guys. Or is that a good habit?"

Either way, it's definitely a dangerous habit. Despite his grumping, Tony can't say he minds. He's more than a little bit of an adrenaline junkie. And it's worth it to protect people.

[aquilawful]

"Depends on who you're asking," Jack replies, echoing Tony's grin. "It's some kind of good, at least."

Defending people did usually put a target on your back, but that was why you defended people in the first place - so you would be the one to fight and not innocents.

[highprofilerichkid]

"Works for me." And it (mostly) works for the people who know his identity, so Tony figures he's got his bases covered.

"Is getting in the way of bad guys the kind of thing you and your partner do back home?" He's curious what Jack's story is.

[aquilawful]

Taking a sip of soda, Jack considers the question. Like Tony, he doesn't really want to go revealing his background at the drop of a hat. It went against every instinct he had drilled into him during training. And he's got a lot of practice at pretending to be something else.

"Kind of. Although people usually don't know we're doing our job, good or bad," he says evenly.

[highprofilerichkid]

"Uh huh. Top secret. High-security-clearance stuff. Got it." Okay, now he's even more curious. But he can't blame Jack for being tight-lipped, since he's holding plenty of his own story back.

"So does that mean you're both Sentinels? Using your top-secret skills to bodyguard somebody from the mysterious bad guys?"

[aquilawful]

Tony wasn't an idiot, and if he's involved with people like SHIELD he clearly has some insight into clandestine activities. Jack doesn't confirm the teen's assumption, opting to move on to his questions instead.

"That's the idea; we both have training to protect high-value targets." Those targets weren't always people, but an assignment was an assignment. Here he pauses, deciding whether to share his status as Fatemarked or not. "We're on different sides of the equation this time," he finally says, gripping the plastic cup that's hiding his mark just a little tighter.

[highprofilerichkid]

Tony is totally going to be following up with that, because he's a nosy brat, but not right now. They've got their immediate situation to worry about first, before poking around in each other's backstories.

"A Fatemarked and a Sentinel? So one of you gets to go home, and one of you doesn't. Theoretically." The words are perhaps a bit too flippant, but his tone and expression are sympathetic. "That really blows."