futurista: (007)

[personal profile] futurista 2018-04-21 03:28 am (UTC)(link)
After her brother had called her from the air, Shuri had arrived to the landing area at a dead run, and she hadn't moved much slower getting the wounded man to her lab. There hadn't been time for questions while his eyes had looked so glassy, but she gets him onto her lab table and all her focus goes to the arm. It's faster for her to do most of the work herself, but her assistants are keeping up as best they can. It isn't until she has the damaged sections removed entirely that she has a chance to look up at the other man, the friend who had refused to budge and had stayed out of the way while keeping his eyes on her patient without a pause.

"Captain Rogers," she greets him a little wearily, waving him forward. "My brother told me about you. I didn't want to meet you like this."
futurista: (002)

[personal profile] futurista 2018-04-25 09:23 pm (UTC)(link)
"Stop calling me 'ma'am,' that will help," she says with a laugh. "Call me Shuri. I was happy to do it. He's stable now, there is no pain."

But that's about the best news she has for him. Instead of asking, she takes his wrist and tows him to the stool she'd been sitting on for the procedures. "You are a mess. Yes, yes, you'll heal, does that mean you need to look like a mess on the way there?" She grabs a sterile cloth and swipes it down his cheek, then shows the streak of dirt and blood from his face before she keeps going, more gently now that she's made her point.

"The trauma of losing his arm...is not so bad, not as bad as it could be. He is safe, he's stable. But I needed to remove the rest of the arm. I want to remove the rest of everything, but I cannot until I know exactly what is there." She's silent for a moment, then adds more quietly, "I need to know what they did. Do you know?"
holdplease: (pic#)

hoppin on the au train. choo choo

[personal profile] holdplease 2018-05-08 12:30 am (UTC)(link)
[ This is the best and worst plan. Best because it's working. Steve Rogers, America's Former Sweetheart, is a war criminal. Tony Stark, angel of the limelight, is soaking up the good PR. No one should be surprised by this. Life should be good. Great, even.

Actually, it isn't. It isn't cause this lie they've been living for over a year now is a pain in the ass. It's a pain in the ass in the way that Steve usually is and not in any of the fun ways. It works, though. Steve moves places carefully on instruction with the others, and Tony soaks up the information Ross gives him, and deflects it. Tony only pretends to go along with the Accords because of course he would.

Of course he would.

This brilliant idea was Steve's. It's a good idea. Still is. Doesn't mean Tony has to like it. This week is one of the few times he can escape the spotlight cast on him, and travel out of the country under the radar. By under the radar he means in a suit that has a fantastic stealth ability that he's never going to share with anyone that isn't a part of the team. 117 countries signed the Accords, and Tony is sitting incognito in one of the 78 that didn't.

It's a dingy cafe that he usually wouldn't have been caught dead in, but it should be worth it. If the person he's meeting can make it, that is. ]
holdplease: (pic#)

[personal profile] holdplease 2018-05-15 12:12 am (UTC)(link)
[ This is one of the easier ones, for sure. At least it doesn't hurt so much, in that dull ache sort of way that sits heavy in the chest. One of them is more or less free to do as they please, and the other one is left playing the game closer to home. It's dangerous.

Hell, if Ross found out about their little meet ups that'd be the end putting him on hold for hours at a time. Sometimes he thinks he'd like him to find out just so he could see the look on his face. For Ross to realize he got played in a big way. It'd almost be worth it.

He looks up when someone approaches, unable to hide the quirk of a grin that tugs at his mouth when he speaks. It's a new look for Steve, definitely. He's not sure if he's overly fond of it or if he wants to drag him a bit. ]


No, but I didn't invite the Unfrozen Caveman Soldier. [ He's trying really hard not to laugh, even though his get up is not much better. Leather jacket, t-shirt, jeans, and a ballcap pulled down low. ] Who're you?
Edited (sorry messed up the title it's been a while) 2018-05-15 01:29 (UTC)
holdplease: (pic#)

[personal profile] holdplease 2018-05-15 08:35 pm (UTC)(link)
Jury's still out.

[ There's a distinct lessening of the ache that's been living in his chest for months now when he sees the other man's face, hears his voice. It's been difficult, there's no hiding that. All of this bullshit pageantry and nothing to really show for it. Unless exhaustion counts. He sleeps less. A lot less. ]

Well, I guess you can stick around. Don't know what the other guy'll say when he gets here. [ He waves someone over for coffees for the both of them, fingers fiddling with the edge of the mug. ] Likewise. This place isn't as bad as FRIDAY made it out to be. Are you guys holding up okay?

Need anything.

[ He wouldn't have to pull money here, he already has stuff set aside to give over if they need it. ]
holdplease: (k)

[personal profile] holdplease 2018-05-17 12:43 am (UTC)(link)
[ Tony has missed it too. The mansion is too sparse without them. The halls echo in odd ways, and it feels less like home. Home was less the place and more the people in it. ]

I can't help but think that's some kind of code for it's terrible.

[ A lot of people don't clock him for it, but Tony worries. A lot. He and anxiety are old friends. He wants to do more than just give them a heads up when Ross is sniffing too close.

He's about to answer, but then snaps his mouth shut, smiling. ]
That's subjective, you know. I keep busy too.
holdplease: (g)

[personal profile] holdplease 2018-05-18 01:15 am (UTC)(link)
Guess working is all we've got. [ It's sad, isn't it? This is what they've all been reduced to here. ]

Yeah, think it is. [ His mouth twitches like he might smile, but it doesn't reach his eyes. Ross is more trouble than he's worth, and he's got scary amounts of power to back it, as Tony is starting to realize. Not all of it is legal either.

It's like Banner all over again. ]


Nothing putting him on hold for hours on end can't cure.
holdplease: (j)

[personal profile] holdplease 2018-05-29 06:16 pm (UTC)(link)
It's fine.

[ Which means it really isn't. Everybody knows what fine stands for after all.

Ross might have had his near-death epiphany, but it fueled the same monster that had made Banner's life a living hell and torn him away from Betty. The same mistakes that she still had yet to forgive her old man for, and probably never would. ]


Don't be. We chose this, we knew what could happen. [ He reaches out, before he really even realizes it, and claps a hand over Steve's, squeezing. ] We'll get through this.

Together, right? [ Even if the rest of the world doesn't know. Can't know. ]

IW SPOILERS ( beautiful souls torn apart. )

[personal profile] mottlediron 2018-05-17 09:11 pm (UTC)(link)
[ It had taken everything in him after the blast of lightning that rained down from the sky, from the one whose brother had already failed his father, in order to try and climb back to his feet. Tony had been flung far enough away from the energy that he survived, clothes smoking and arc reactor sputtering in a way that caused his face to twist in pain. He calls his suit out from implants, mottled silver cresting over exposed skin as his vision clears.

In enough time to see the Asgardian bury an axe in his father's chest. His horror is muted only by what the Titan spits out at the much shorter man, snapping his fingers in a blinding flash that renders the gauntlet into smoking scrap. Tony's hesitation vanishes as the wounded man calls on a portal, and he uses the nanites that pour out of his skin to mold at his command into repulsors that drag the Titan the rest of the way through.

It closes and Tony slumps, weakness finally getting the better of him. He hears one of the others demand to know Thanos' location with a weak and hurried where is he, and laughs, settling back on his knees. ]


It doesn't matter. You've failed.

[personal profile] mottlediron 2018-05-18 12:27 am (UTC)(link)
[ Tony is healing, more rapidly now that the nanites are reforming and regrouping to do their jobs. He'd done it partially as a way to be better, but also to help himself when he'd first came to Thanos. When he first rebelled. They're self-replicating. Self-repairing. Not just armor he calls up if he wants or weapons, but his augmented body and tissues.

The arc reactor in his chest stops sputtering with it's pale blue glow, and brightens once more. Just in time for Thor to haul him up. There's a high-pitched whir of power pouring into the reactor, and it blasts out with enough force to throw the Asgardian free of him. Tony skids back, regaining himself in a crouch, and calling on a blade to form around one hand. It digs into the ground and stops his backward motion.

He pulls it free of the dirt, eyes narrowing on the others, especially the captain. His voice is a sneer when he speaks again: ]


No.

[personal profile] mottlediron 2018-05-29 06:46 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Tony is on his own. His father is too wounded to come back for him yet. He knows he will, but he doesn't know when. He will do whatever is necessary to ensure Thanos is protected. He's been betrayed too much by lesser creatures.

Thor is still getting up and the Captain is closer. His plan is to leave. At least try to make it to one of the landing ships and see if there is anything salvageable to use to escape capture. Barring that, he'll make them suffer for as long as he's able. ]


You don't know me so stop trying. [ Once, they did, but Tony doesn't remember that now. Capture bonding. His mind did what it had to in order to survive. ] Good, makes it easier to hurt you.

Cause the only thing you'll get from me is pain.
klebrige: (pic#13917678)

[personal profile] klebrige 2020-10-28 04:30 am (UTC)(link)
His alarm goes off late, snoozed one too many times and Peter's in a rush the moment he falls out of bed. May, for all her due diligence, looks up at him expectantly over a mug of coffee and the morning newspaper. The TV still chatters on and on and on about the death of Tony Stark, even if it feels like the great battle was such a long time ago. He makes a point to turn the station when he hurries past it in the kitchen.

He'll never forget the charred, distant eyes, the sound of Pepper's voice, the hologram at the funeral. How many people lost their lives to save the world? Worlds in fact?

Nothing could prepare him for this, though. The sudden return to normalcy, the sudden quiet that comes with returning to the life of a normal, every-day, teenage boy who is just running a little late for school. School that he loves, with friends he loves even more. And while Peter Parker doesn't exactly feel that different from the guy he was when all of this started, he also knows he'll never be the same. But he tries. It shows in the way he rushes to brush his teeth, the way he scrambles for clothes and dunks his head under the sink faucet to do something about unruly curls, the way he groans when he can only find one sneaker, not two.

"May, I'm leaving! Love you!" He all but screams as he webs his backpack from across the room, just in time for it to slip through the door.

Peter Parker doesn't feel the same, but he's trying. He has a chemistry test later today that he stayed up too late "studying" for. (He played Minecraft with Ned for literal hours instead, but what May doesn't know won't hurt her, right?) He bounces down the stairs and almost misses the man altogether, eager eyes set so far up the road that it's the man's voice that has him stumbling, shoes skidding o the pavement.

"W-whoa. Oh. Uh. Hey. Brooklyn, right?" He winces, because it sounds much more lame when he says it. He knows who this man is and his heart thunders in his chest. "Captain America. Sir. I... how'd you know where I live? I mean, it's cool that you know, because you know you probably know way more than I do about this whole city and all, but—"
klebrige: (pic#13890324)

[personal profile] klebrige 2020-10-28 05:00 am (UTC)(link)
"No way, you're not old. Well, I guess you were frozen for a billion years but that's just a technicality and—" he lets out a breath, hands held up mid-gesture like he's mock surrendering. "Peter. I mean, that's my real name."

Sure, they've probably done introductions a dozen times before, but the opportunity to introduce himself as anything other than Spider-Man had never really been on the table up until this point. There was the funeral, but even then, they all still had so much to do before they could go back to normal life.

And here he is in the flesh, Captain America. Ned's actual brain would explode if he showed up on Cap's ride, and a part of him almost wants to indulge. Peter almost visibly relaxes until Steve mentions Happy, and his brow furrows. "Wait, Happy sent you? Am I in trouble, Cap— Steve?"

He's done all of his homework since he's been back, he's aced all of his tests, he's only webbed into one lady's apartment window and he stayed to help her patch it up like the good, friendly, neighborhood Spider-Man that he is. (He's even paying for it with his own Science Fair prize money, thank you very much). And the last time he saw Cap? He'd left, right?
Edited (icon why) 2020-10-28 05:00 (UTC)
klebrige: (pic#13894574)

[personal profile] klebrige 2020-10-28 05:52 am (UTC)(link)
The air rushes out of him almost immediately and one raised hand presses against his chest. "Jeez, you scared me." Happy usually only gets in touch when things go south or he's gaining unwanted publicity, but even Peter suspects that's more out of a duty to Tony than it is to him. Either way, he seems to relax finally, looking less like a wind-up toy and a little more like a regular high school kid. Maybe a tired one, but still a regular kid.

More surprising, however, is that Steve Rogers, Captain America, is here for a glorified wellness check. Who on the whole wide Earth could say that they have Captain America dropping by to check in. He feels a little silly, acting like they're strangers, but they are in a sense. They fought against and alongside one another, but the devastation of the world left them little time to try and clear whatever air sat still and stagnant between them.

"I'm... doing good, yeah. Got a chem exam final period today that I'm gonna ace, and first block's started— it's politics so they're talking about the blip anyway— so I kind of made myself late already. They probably won't miss me, anyway," he shrugs one shoulder, shifting the weight of his backpack, one hand gripping the strap. Peter Parker, open mouth, insert foot. He clears his throat.

"A ride would be nice. I mean, if you don't mind. But, uh. Did you really come all the way here just to check in? I mean that's like a whole twenty-five minutes from Brooklyn, and even longer by bus." He's touched, even if he won't quite own up to it. As weird as it is seeing another one of the heroes, it's nice, too. Nice to know that he doesn't have to explain himself, really. That everything that happened can go unsaid when his mind wanders, when the news feels a little too real.
klebrige: (pic#13891573)

[personal profile] klebrige 2020-10-28 07:13 pm (UTC)(link)
"Oh, man. You don't need to be sorry. I'm still sort of new at this whole... you know," he lowers his voice, though there's no one really close enough on the street to hear, "superhero thing and Mr. Stark used to send Happy all the time when I'd goof up, so."

He shrugs a shoulder, sheepish, and moves to slide his other arm into the loose strap of his back, so that his bookbag is situated on his back. But he takes the helmet, turning it between his palms. "I've never ridden a motorcycle before. But I guess it can't be any scarier than webbing around, right? I mean, especially if you're driving. You're probably a way better driver than I am that's for sure."

Not that Peter's really had any experience driving, but sometimes the words come tumbling out when he's a little unsure of what to say. But they'll be headed to school again, and remembering that he's supposed to be plain Peter Parker right now seems to help calm the nerves. He doesn't have to be Spider-Man right now.

"Uh, speaking of driving, could we go around the back of the school when we get there? It's just that I'm pretty sure everyone's gonna notice me showing up late if we pull up out front. That and... well, I mean I have this friend who thinks you're pretty awesome and I know we're not exactly doing our made-up names and stuff anymore but it would be sweet if you could like. Wave at him. Or something. Our PE teacher uses a lot of your videos and stuff for class and detention— not that I get detention. I've just. Heard things, and stuff."
klebrige: (pic#13917674)

[personal profile] klebrige 2020-10-29 04:37 am (UTC)(link)
"Hey, webbing around isn't so bad once you get over the whole roller coaster feeling, you know? But the drop's the best part. Haven't tried the Empire State Building yet, but it's on the list."

Peter turns the helmet between his hands again and lets out a little laugh. The Washington Monument had felt impossibly high, but after being dragged up into the exosphere by an alien tractor beam, he's not sure any heights really frighten him anymore.

"My friend's gonna freak. It's why I said wave, because I think if he met you in person he might actually meltdown." There's a fondness in the way he speaks about Ned, a warmth in his tone and smile. He couldn't have landed a better best friend, a better Chair Guy.

"There's a spot out back, a little courtyard thing. We can sit there until first period's over. Got another hour before AP Physics 2. Second block. I mean, if you got time. If May finds me out here on her way to work she might kill me." He grins and moves to pull the helmet on over his head. He feels a little silly, admittedly, but he reminds himself he spends half his time in a powered spandex-turned-metal Spider-Man suit. Or is he Iron Spider? Nah, too lame. Way, way too lame.
klebrige: (pic#13860222)

[personal profile] klebrige 2020-10-30 07:14 pm (UTC)(link)
While riding on a motorcycle doesn't exactly seem all that exciting, the fact that he's being given a ride to school by Captain Freaking America? That's pretty awesome, and he knows for a fact that Ned's brain might actually explode when he shares the news.

The ride doesn't take long but Peter enjoys it for what it is. There's no pretending here, no reason to plaster on a silly smile to cover up the fact that he'd been much closer to Tony Stark than the public could ever know. It gives him some time to recenter himself, so that when they're walking in the courtyard after, he doesn't feel so taken aback, surprised.

"Nah, I mean if they catch me out here detention's really not that big of a deal anyway. I think they're giving a lot of people breaks, with the Blip and all." He shrugs a shoulder and digs a toe into the concrete, kicking a pebble along the walkway. "It's like thirty minutes of watching some videos and we can usually do our homework. Aunt May might yell at me a little but I think she's chilled out a lot. Turns out when you're the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man detention doesn't seem like it's that big of a deal."

He laughs a little and rubs awkwardly at the back of his head. As they walk, they come to a small fountain. It's not turned on, but in the center sits a tiger, the school's mascot, surrounded by stone birds and flora. "Hey, uh. Can I... can I ask you a question?"

Peter doesn't look at Steve as he approaches the fountain and moves to sit up on its edge. He looks across at the back of the school, the campus quiet as all of its students settle into their morning lectures. His phone buzzes and without checking, he knows it will be Ned.

"Does any of this stuff get easier?" His voice goes quiet, as though the fountain itself might overhead. "The uh, the fighting." The part where they lose people. "All the creepy alien stuff and the bad guys. When I found out what I was... I mean, what happened to me, I knew I should use it to do something good, but—" A small intake of breath. "It doesn't feel like enough."