EVENT: SWIPER, NO SWIPING!

[cuddlemods]

EVENT: SWIPER, NO SWIPING!

As the blustery winds and steady snows of January give way to the cool breezes of February, the city begins to notice strange trends amongst its volunteer citizenry: an uptick of online searches for things like flower shops and cheap romantic meals, a surprising increase in chocolate purchases (though, perhaps more surprising, no increases in consumption), and a report from the local pharmacies regarding a sudden shortage in contraceptives, of all things! Consider the administration officially flummoxed — that is, until the city's favorite and only volunteer coordinators begin to investigate further. You see, Valentine's Day isn't quite the thing in Cadelle. Here, St Valentine never led couples in matrimony under Roman rule, and so, no time-honored capitalist dream could be established. However, the date of February the 14th is still a special one in the city — it's the day that many honor as St Trifon's Day, or "Winemaker's Day". It's a day of celebrating the first pour of the prior year's winemaking, with the first bottle of each vintage reserved for drinking with one's special someone... preferably privately, where post-drink merriment may commence uninterrupted. (Scandalous.) Not wanting to leave out any of their volunteers from the city's special day, the volunteer coordinators have arranged a collection of meeting locations, each perfect for getting to know a potential special somebody in advance of the big day. To help people get acquainted, they've partnered with that reclusive (and anonymous) mogul behind okCuddle to add a limited time special feature for the season — that's right, a matchmaker! Simply press the bright red button on your app's home screen to be enrolled in a Match Meeting. There are five unique locations, each offering a different experience to appeal to those who might find true love or common ground in its midst, and each location will host a different couple each day to ensure everyone has an opportunity to meet their one-and-only... or maybe just their one-night-only. (We won't judge.) ▸ Any opportunity to incite a little romantic feeling would be remiss if it didn't include the time-honored date experience: a candlelit steakhouse dinner at the city's best dining experience, DeWolfe's. Whether you're hungering for a porterhouse medium rare or a more demure airline chicken breast, the wait staff here will be more than happy to attend to any needs you may have, and delighted to disappear shortly after, providing plenty of privacy for quiet conversation and those ever-important lingering glances. Feel free to extend your night with a walk through DeWolfe's famed gardens out back, or perhaps a nightcap... the only question left, then, is their place or yours? ▸ Let The Good Times Roll offers those who enjoy athleticism and coordination an evening of nostalgic fun under twinkling lights — courtesy, of course, of the disco ball hung prominently in the center of the risk, a perfect match for the classic jams that are piped out from the speakers on each wall. Strap on a pair of rental skates, and when the lights get low, be sure to hold your honey's hand tight for that all-important couple's skate. When you're done zooming around the linoleum, be sure to try a bite of the rink's famous pizza and popsicles meal, the perfect treat for summer campers and kids at heart alike! Groovy! ▸ The Vinery, while not necessarily a classic first-date location, offers a bit of non-traditional romance with its gorgeous hill country views and a seemingly endless assortment of local blends to sample. Visitors paired up for a Match Meeting here will have the opportunity to enjoy a rarely experienced grape-stomping session, during which they'll become bonafide vinters (winemakers, for the uninitiated) and the proud recipients of a complimentary bottle of the Vinery's own St Trifon's Day special blend — the perfect reason to ask for a second date, no? (And if you don't want to wait, there's always the cover of a gazebo or the fields nearby...) ▸ Animal aficionados, fear not: the expansive nature reserve at Nahtazu offers an opportunity to get up-close and personal with your favorite wild beasts — no, not the ones in your pants — and one of the reserve's most knowledgeable guides to show you the way. Of course, since it's an hour away aboard the local trains, the city has arranged a private compartment for two, where Match Meeting attendees will enjoy a catered lunch, the perfect way to fuel for a long day of hiking, climbing, and maybe even a few jungle swings. On the way back, feel free to enjoy the plush seats for a little post-adventure cuddling... or more, we won't tell! ▸ At The Worm Hole, nerds and geeks and casual gamers alike will find plenty to shoot and score on over pints of everything from sweet ciders to dark ales. There's no shortage of games here, so if your idea of a great night out involves beating your date at Super Smush Brothers — and no, that's not a typo — you'll definitely enjoy your time here. To help set the mood, a special booth has been set aside for Match Meetings in the far corner of the room: get cozy, play some Pong, and maybe make things interesting. Strip Marco Kart, anyone? Of course, those that opted not to sign up for the city's version of eHarmony won't be left out of all the fun! In preparation for the big day, Flora and Cornelius have put together what they're affectionally calling the single mingle: a weeklong invitation to enjoy the best in everything but romantic films and features at the local theatre. Feel free to come alone or bring a pal or two, and enjoy complimentary admission and select snacks each night — just don't let them catch you getting frisky! That's what the drive in is for! Surprise! It's a Valentine's event that's almost not about Valentine's Day! For those of you that participated in our survey, you should have received a private message from our moderator journal with information regarding your character's match assignment by now. If you did not receive one, please let us know! Because this event runs a little differently than many of our other events, we've opted to tweak our process a little as well. For your character's date, please locate your appropriate date and location in our BLIND DATE THREAD HERE. If it's still empty, your character has beaten their date to the punch (and maybe the free food, too). If there's already a reply, greet your date! (Pretty simple, right?) For all other threads, including pre/post date experiences, feel free to post traditional open top levels as usual! For example: Flora may have a blind date with Cornelius on Monday at DeWolfe's, so she'll comment to the Monday thread's DeWolfe comment with her starter. This will make it easy for Cornelius to find her thread and reply. However, Flora may also be lingering outside beforehand looking nervous, or shopping in the mall the day before and looking for help in finding an outfit — these prompts can be posted as traditional open top-levels! If you have any further questions specific to this event, we encourage you to ask away on our QUESTIONS COMMENT here in this post. If you have general questions, or prefer a more private venue, our GENERAL INBOX (and SCREENED INBOX) is always available for you. In addition, if you've got an idea for a future event, feel free to drop us a line at our EVENTS SUGGESTION POST. Peace out, cuddle scouts!

Comments

Tony Stark | Open | Prose or Brackets, whichever you like more.

[nonstopnarcissist]

🜞 Shopping

[ It's a hell of a time to roll into town, the natives and volunteers alike all aflutter over winemaker's day or valentines day respectively and Tony? Is content to leave them too it, taking advantage of the lack of crowds in other areas as he hits up hardware stores and electronic depots to get a miniaturized version of some kind of workable lab up and running. Repairing and reworking the armor into something decidedly nonlethal takes priority, not falling into a bottle and reminiscing over the strained ending to what could've been the best thing that ever happened to him.

No time to be maudlin, no. Tony keeps a close eye on his budget, double checks with FRIDAY as she reminds him that purchasing food is a thing he'll have to do and that costs money and might take a higher priority than a third soldering set. Bickering to thin air in the isles while being interrupted by a pleasantly wry brogue is a thing. Nothing strange to see here, move right along. At least the bruises have faded and he's unknown enough to get by in casual (but warm) clothing, even if his posture remains tense, his hands slung in his pockets or tapping idle tattoos against his shopping carts as he inspects the next bit of whatever in the store.

Which one is it this time? Oh, right. Food. This is why he grabbed a blender. ]

🜞 Movie Night

[ Coming up short on his meal budget apparently isn't going to be the end of him; sure he'll have to pick up employment (ugh, deadlines, actual work hours, being vastly overqualified for damn near everything) later in the week but the movie nights allow him to stretch what he has a little further. A lack of appetite does help. FRIDAY attempts to ping him (silently, even AI aren't allowed to talk during movies) by vibrating his phone to get him to consume something between films. Most of it's familiar in a comfortable way- anything space oriented or set during world war 2? Has him slipping out for another round at the snack table or a bit of fresh air.

Not something he really needs to see again. ]

🜞 Debugging

-imited memory, Boss.

I know, I'm working on it- [ Is it recommended to be poking at microprocessors while a device is still on and powered? No. Does Tony care? Also no. These phones are-

Well they're fine. They're serviceable. But they're also strangling his baby girl and that? That won't stand. ] Should've said something earlier, Fri.

[ Her answer's a garbled burst of broguish static and Tony sighs, fingers rattling on the bulge wrapped by his coat next to him on the table. She's fine as long as the hidden helmet's got it's independent power source running but- she needs space. Two other phones cannibalized in front of him and he really, really just needs to pitch a Starkphone here, but having a working prototype would help said pitch and give FRIDAY her space, so. Sitting at a random table (anywhere, honestly, this happens more than once as she stretches and reaches the new limitations of what he's managed) talking to his girl, and performing a little microsurgery on the fly.

No biggie. ]

🜞 Wild Card

[ He can be found at MetaMalt, Where's Siri?, and The Garage trying to condense his achievements into something marketable, or walking about and getting a feel for the city. ]

M-M-Movie Night!!!!

[sidecars]

[ Buck feels the same way—about war movies at least. Sci-fi, he is all about. He’d watch them all day and night if given the chance.

He comes out only a few minutes after, keeping nothing yo himself as usual. ]

Jeez Louise, no one stays that clean on the front, I don’t care how much of a looker he is...

[ Beside the food counter, Buck empties what’s left of his soda and tosses it into the trash can. That’s when he notices the old man a few feet away taking a breather. ]

Not doin’ it for ya either, huh?

aw here it goes

[nonstopnarcissist]

Not a fan. Grow up hearing about war legends and it kind of loses it's shine after awhile.

[ Tony's squinting at his phone's screen, doublechecking budgets and the increasingly long list of things he's going to need to buy or build to get his lab up and running to make the tools to make the tools to rebuild the suit.

At least he won't be bored anytime soon. ]

You not much of a fan of war movies, Brooklyn?

[sidecars]

That's Jersey, not Brooklyn.

[ GET YOUR SHIT RIGHT, OLD MAN! OR PAY THE PRICE! ]

And I lived it, so. No. Like you said, it loses its shine. 'specially when war never really has it in the first place.

[ That's the problem with Hollywood, they turn terror and death into romance and propaganda. Yeah, it's worth the fight, but their patronizing goes a little too far sometimes. ]

[nonstopnarcissist]

And the attitude suddenly makes sense.

[ Tony's voice is light and wry, some of the tension in his shoulders ticking down by infinitesimal increments. A) Just a kid and B) no one he knows. ]

So where'd you serve? [ That's the usual question, right? Given the slang and the commentary he can take a stab at when; but where? ]

the garage.

[advena]

( she's supposed to be bringing a bag of dog treats over for robbie. it's supposed to be a quick trip, something easy and done with in just a few minutes, but supposed to be takes a sharp detour when she realizes he's not there. not even 'stepped out for a few minutes' gone, but completely and utterly missing — which is weird, for him, because he's usually exactly where she expects him to be during his working hours. most people with jobs are.

the realization leaves her standing in the middle of the workspace, looking around a bit sheepishly with a white sack in her hand, trying to find anyone she recognizes in order to relay a message. sure, she could text him, but... well, people are easier. technology is finicky.

when she can't manage to find someone she knows, kara settles instead for the closest living body. it happens to belong to an older man surrounded by technowreckage of the sort that cisco ramon might drool over, but what she doesn't recognize has never stopped her before. definitely not. )

What is all of this?

( it's a sentence uttered out of nowhere, but not an unkind one. it's genuine curiosity. )

[nonstopnarcissist]

Miniaturized proprietary repulsor propulsion systems. Or the bones of them, at least-

[ He extends a hand in her direction without looking up, wiggling his fingers in the universal signal for 'C'mere', he needs a second pair of hands for this bit and Dum-E is, sadly, unavailable by dint of being in another dimension entirely. Poor Miss bystander will have to do. ] Fri, run the sim again?

I thought you wrote off the Mark 42 as an absolute tragedy, Boss.

[ Light and lilting, the screen on Tony's phone brightens and dims in time with FRIDAY's speech patterns, a sign that for the moment? She's fine. Tony shakes his head and turns to give whoever it is that's joined them for whatever reason (looking for the owner or an actual mechanic, whichever, he can work with both) a wry look, head canting to his phone. ] Sass. All I get is sass- work with me. Run them again and tell me if it'll work or, I don't know, blow up. You, mind holding this for a second?

[ This being a red LED diode blinking. A beacon, more or less, to call whichever part he wakes up first. Gauntlets, maybe. ]

[advena]

Um. ( really, it's super helpful commentary from miss danvers herself, but she supposes she might as well say something. and it's not as if she's never seen techno-tinkering before, between winn and cisco and all the nerds — her sister included, even if alex's specialities leaned her more towards medical sciences than the engineering side of things — at the deo... she just has no idea what any of it is called, or what it does, or how to make things happen with it.

but, on the bright side, she does find it particularly fascinating to watch. and to help, too, when someone directs her appropriately. she'll take said diode and hold it up to her face, recklessly curious and seemingly unphased by any potential for explosions or other disastrous consequences. she'll live, in any case, even if it does explode. )

So... basically, small stuff that goes fast? Like a rocket ship? ( maybe she understands more than she thinks she does. ) I've never seen a ship that looks anything like this.

( a space ship, mind you, though she doesn't offer the descriptor. )

[nonstopnarcissist]

Running numbers-[ Her screen flickers to display the snippets he'll need to actually see; holographic displays aren't a thing yet, that's going right on the old priority list as soon as he's got her enough memory to work and actually run them.

Baby steps. Walking before running and that is a novel sensation isn't it?Her screen flickers to display the snippets he'll need to actually see; holographic displays aren't a thing yet, that's going right on the old priority list as soon as he's got her enough memory to work and actually run them.

Baby steps. Walking before running and that is a novel sensation isn't it? ]

That is- not exactly right but closer than most people get at their first try. [ He reaches over to snag a bag of blueberries, offering the open end to her. ] Blueberry?

Simulation shows a 92.4% success rate for the gauntlets, Boss.

Good. Right, hold that little blinking light off to the side, Fri keep the velocity low so we don't maim our new friend here aaaaand- [ He flicks his arm in the direction of the diode- two scraped but functional gauntlets lift off the table, tiny repulsors directing them at the diode- they come in nice and gentle (he learned his lesson), stopping to hover level with the red light. ] Huh, how 'bout that?

shopping!

[doctoral]

[ Reid is, well, a bit of a disaster when left to his own devices sometimes. He swears he's a competent adult who's been taking care of himself independently for, well, almost his entire life, actually. But sometimes he's just ridiculous.

Like now, where he's trying to navigate through the grocery store while simultaneously struggling with a much too large stack of books from the library and his cane. He's awkwardly managing it all at the moment, and is currently staring at food on the shelves like he's deciding which battle to pick when Tony turns down the aisle. ]

Oh-- hi, Mr. Stark. I uh, think I took too many library books out.

[ And why doesn't he have a cart, you ask? Because he didn't have that much forethought. ]

Reid Plz

[nonstopnarcissist]

You think. [ Absentminded as he is- at least he can recall that carts are on occasion useful. His is a mishmash of home appliances and easily blendable foodstuffs (fruit, juices, powders, etc) as chewing is for other people. He could leave his here and jog back to the front to grab something for Reid but between the cane, the weight of the books, the amount of time that'll take? He sets the box of whatever, he didn't look, doesn't matter back in his cart and shrugs out of his coat to massage the inner skin of his forearms.

Preliminary tests were promising but FRIDAY's not used to running only bits of the suit at a time. Call it a test. ]

Let me get you a cart. [ he taps his fingers in the initiation sequence and the sub audible hum settles in along his back molars; good to know the micro-repeaters are still functioning just fine. A gesture (less dramatic than the original programmed stance) to the far door and- yeah, Friday will handle it in about two, three minutes. ] ...Alright as long as that works....just. Give me some of your books until then, okay? You're going to fall over and that'll be terrible.

he's the kid brother you always wanted!!

[doctoral]

[ Reid's not convinced he got too many books because he really wants the books. They're a completely random assortment of highly technical, dense topics such as quantum physics and esoteric theology, and then some medieval poetry and a few Pratchett novels. His interests are wide and varied. They're also not all in English.

He watches, fixated, as Tony... does something mysterious? He's started to expect people to casually do incredible things around here, even at grocery stores, so he's alert. ] I'm not going to fall over, [ he complains, in exactly the same tone he'd said you're lucky I'm used to being called kid when they met. It absolutely does not help his impression as someone who needs the help.

Despite the grumbling, Reid forks over some of his towering stack of books, awkwardly navigating the exchange. ] Thanks, [ he sighs. Then, immediately: ] What did you just do? With the hand gesture?

He was an only child he knows nothing about having siblings oh no

[nonstopnarcissist]

Maybe not but I'd rather avoid it. [ Begrudging acceptance is still acceptance, Tony shifts the- he squints at the spines of the books in his hands and Reid's before a small smile settles into place, softening the bland albeit pleasant mask of earlier. ] I'm getting flashbacks to my college days. Less the theology, but.

[ Is that...approval in his voice? It might be. Must be. He shifts his stack to brace against his side rather than the center of his torso, hefting the weight to his right, eyes flicking back up to Reid's. ] And, please, it's Tony. I'm not your boss or employee, it's fine.

Boss, Incoming.

[ Friday's voice is somewhat muffled by the pocket of his coat, but Tony turns in time to see a shopping cart come around the corner at a steady clip, wheeling toward them while propelled by the Mk WTF (he hasn't finished naming it yet, repair or overhaul, he's not sure)'s gauntlets gripping the handle. ] Hey, right there's good. Thanks Fri.

[ And right into the basket the books go, Tony offering Reid his arms for the rest. ] Sub-dermal micro-repeaters. Certain gestures call the suit to me- or what I have online at the moment. Which are the gauntlets. Full remote piloting isn't a thing yet but Friday can handle following you with the cart and pushing it so you can focus on walking and figuring out what you want.

debugging

[gardenofthegalaxy]

[ Gamora had been watching him for some time from her table in Deja Brew. She knew exactly who he was (now) after their discussion on OKC. He wasn't kidding about being a genius. Rocket would have been proud despite the fact that there were still issues with his talking machine.

She finished her coffee as she debated whether or not to approach. Sometimes it was better to leave a mechanic to his work. Not to interrup the thought stream, or the dissection of whatever problem they were working on.

Her gaze flicked back and forth between Stark and the counter a few times before she finally moved to order herself another coffee (this one to go) and then one for him.

There's no hiding the green skin of a hand that will dart into his line of sight as it sets down a coffee for him. ]

[nonstopnarcissist]

[ Thanks comes by way of a soft grunt and a nod, Tony's focus entirely on the tiny wires and leads he's soldering into place until FRIDAY's voice comes back clear. ]

Much better, Boss. This should hold me awhile.

Until you get ambitious again, you mean. [ He takes the coffee Gamora brought and downs half of it in one long swallow before, right. Green hand. Company. ]

You always say I should dream big.

True. Say hi to Gamora, FRIDAY. [ Tony himself looks up to offer her a smile, shoulders loose, faint bruising around one eye mostly faded by now. He's been embroiled in work for awhile but- FRIDAY's talking again, he can relax. ]

[gardenofthegalaxy]

[ Gamora watched the exchange curiously, still intent on walking away and leaving Stark to it before he greeted her. Well, told FRIDAY to greet her. ]

Hello, FRIDAY. Hello, Stark.

[ She returned the smile, trying not to study the bruise too closely. If he had been a hero as he said, then there would have been injuries. Especially if he hadn't been here for long and they were still healing.

She held up her own cup of coffee before clearing her throat and motioning towards FRIDAY's -- body? ]

I wasn't going to interrupt. I just assumed you might have needed anything if you're anything like Rocket. Do you often create your own friends?

[nonstopnarcissist]

Hello Miss Gamora.

[ Friday's voice is bright, almost cheerful now that she's not scrambling for space. Tony shakes out his wrist as he slumps back, glad for an end to this particular bout of manic emergency phone surgery. Not that he hates the challenge, but- yeah. He misses his uplink to his home server. ]

No, I could use the break, hunching over like that for hours on end is murder on my spine. Aging, not great, do not recommend at all. Avoid it if possible. [ If he could? He would. ] She's my assistant and copilot, normally she's got a stable uplink back to the compound's servers giving her the room to stretch out but it's in a different dimension right now and while I am a genius I haven't figured out interdenominational quantum data tunneling. Yet, anyway.

movie night }

[prosecutorial]

[Laurel Lance is trying to pick a movie.

(Translation: Laurel Lance may just be here for the delicious-but-bad-for-you movie popcorn.)

Seeing a movie is one of those things that most people her age probably do with some frequency when they need a break from the fast paced life of being a law student, but when it comes to slowing down, Laurel is notoriously bad at it. Which is why she's still standing in the lobby, eating her popcorn when Tony comes out and she frowns.]

That bad?

[nonstopnarcissist]

[ Space, this time, and he used to love them. Hate them for how inaccurate the science could be but one wormhole, one nuke, and a brain scrambling to remind him of the same? He'd tried to stick it out, felt that vice like grip in his chest and bailed; wrapped up as he is in trying to breathe through it (like he had to learn, like J walked him through forever ago and now it comes with the double whammy of anxiety and grief which is a fun combination let him tell you), arms braced on the nearbye counter, it takes him half a second to realize that he's being spoken to.

He straightens even though it lights up a fissure of pain in his left shoulder, hand trembling, right reaching up to rub it as he shrugs like he hadn't been (still isn't) trying to breathe through a bone deep need to curl up and never move again. ] Not really my thing. Too much shitty science. As an engineer I find it offensive.

[prosecutorial]

Fair enough. My dad was the same way about cop shows.

[Not the shitty science, but the bastardization of her profession. Does notice that he's seeming a little rough around the edges though and she pauses before passing over her soda in case he could use something to help wash it down.

She's too much of a caretaker to ignore it, but she's also not going to call him out either.]

I'm still trying to decide what to see.

[nonstopnarcissist]

Nn, thanks but- I don't like being handed things. [ Still he manages a slightly larger smile as he brings down his breathing, in and out, slow and even until the worst of it passes. Mostly. When is he going to be able to see this shit without an attack?

Fucking aliens. Fucking Hyrda. ]

I think there's attack of the 50ft woman, either the original or the remake later? And the mummy.

Debugging

[frostedire]

An instinct for enemies has kept Loki alive a long time, and when it whispers into his mind to be wary, he's immediately on the hunt for the source. From a distance, a man sitting at a table should be just that, but there had been something about the particular hunch of his shoulders that had caught Loki's eye without his even being aware. Perhaps it was the dexterity and quickness of movement over the electronics spread out in front of him, or the scraps of muttering he could hear even across the street.

If anyone had been looking at him, they would have seen him move through several emotions strikingly similar to the five stages of grief extremely quickly, culminating in a deep sigh, an aggrieved rub of his forehead, and a green sheen of magic changing his clothes from his customary leathers to the black suit (now with a green waistcoat and tie, so he cannot be accused so readily of dressing like a witch, Thor). Better to get this over with.

He crosses the street and approaches from the side Stark is facing, so as not to sneak up on him. He is making an attempt in this city, after all, to be upfront and direct.

And then in his efforts to be upfront and direct he rejects every opening gambit he can come up with and ends up standing with his hands in his pockets, watching Stark working on his phones with an expression of mild interest, in silence.

[nonstopnarcissist]

^{C̶͇̬͔̳͂̀͊͘ȯ̸̞͓̳͈͐͠͠m̸̗̠̞͓̅̒̀̓}p̴̡̡͎͇̏̀̕͘ã̵̧͕̫͓͑̈́͂ņ̸̟͖̱͆́́̑y̶̧̨͈̘͑̈́̽̊,̵͍̪̜̺͑͛̐̅ ̴̡̳̞̇̏̚͠ͅ_{B̶̥̗̝̠̋̌͋̒ǫ̴̞͎̥̿̊̉̉}s̷̢͉̻̲̀͋͋͠s̸̞̝͉̳̊̋̔̽-

It's a smear of static, crackling around the shape of Friday's voice and it's more than a little distressing. She's still functioning, he knows that, but it's too much like Jarvis going quiet in the Mk 42, too much like Yinsen's soft rasp of breathing winding down to nothing. Tony swears under his breath and plucks something delicate out of the guts of another one of the cuddler phones, trims the rough edges and solders it into place in a heartbeat with all the skill born of familiarity and the urgency of a man performing surgery. "Give me a second, Fri-"

^{B̵̡̡̝̲̖̰͔̝͉͎̼͉̼o̴̢̙͖̘̩̭̺̣̗̥̝̩̦}s̸̡̰̝̳͍̱̯͕̼̹͚̻̩̠s̴̭̯͙̖̟͍̞̘̮̝̭͔͎-̵̨̢͚̝̻͉̳͈̗̰̲̙͚ͅ ̶̡̰̗̗͎͔̙̬̰͓̤̹͖ͅ Clearer, barely, but still not good enough. Another chip, another solder, another tense moment as the little blue ring that is her personal display goes orange, flares bright, and settles again. L̴o̶k̵i̷ ̵_o̴n̴ y̸o̷u̵r̷ ̶ twelve o'clock, Boss.

He slumps over the mess of circuitry for a half second, glad to have cleared up the glitch before-

"Wait what was that?" Unarmed, no suit, no backup, and he looks up to see- Loki. In a suit. Staring. "...thanks for the heads up, Fri."

You're welcome, Boss!

[frostedire]

Whatever Stark is doing, he's doing it with no small amount of concentration. It's no surprise he's already dissected several things, he does have that sort of mind. Shockingly, Loki isn't trying to look intimidating or provoke a confrontation, though if he'd had more time to prepare, he might have come up with something more subtle than walking up in broad daylight with barely an attempt to disguise himself. Apparently this is what forthright honesty looks like on him.

At the chipper voice coming from the phone, Loki shifts his angle to look at the phone more head-on. "Hm. I don't recall that voice from your building," he says thoughtfully. "The building was decidedly sarcastic. Is...she?" he hazards, being at the moment rather attuned to the uses of pronouns, "is she quite well?"

[nonstopnarcissist]

"She's a relatively recent development." If a few years can be called 'relatively'. But it's been longer since he's seen Loki, for a moment (like every time he remembers) he misses J fiercely, his eyes gone dark and lips twisting in a grimace. "Cut off from home so things are a little...cramped. Phenomenal computation powers- itty bitty living space. We're working on it."

Which means upgrading the phone on the fly over and over as she stretches to fill what he's managed in the meantime. It's a little easier with every tweak and solder, learning the tech, it's limitations, engineering fixes with what he's got. "She's fine. You, now-"

And he does sit up, soldering iron still on in his hand (not that he'd get it up in time if Loki lunges but having some kind of weapon feels better than none) "...Look a lot better than the last time I ran into you."

Tony himself is pretty aware that he looks worse. Grey starting to come in at his temples, fading bruises around his eye and throat, dark circles underneath- a far sight from the confident, righteously angry man he'd been in the New York attack. "Time away from the glow-stick of destiny do you some good?"