sorry mario

[fe_male]

WHO: Tony Stark
WHERE: The Fountain, Blacksmithy.
WHEN: 25 Sept.
OPEN TO: All
WARNINGS: Tony Stark.
STATUS: Open, ongoing. Like I'll ever remember to edit this once it's not.

---

ᴛʜᴇ ғᴏᴜɴᴛᴀɪɴ

He squints.

Both at the sunlight and the fact that the world seems to have rearranged itself somehow in the last little while since he most recently took survey of his surroundings, and he's not entirely sure to which direction things have swung but he knows he doesn't like it.

Level one, assessment. He's sitting up on the bottom of a probably-concrete pit outside, and he can hear wildlife. No, wait, not a pit, a fountain, unless one makes the argument that a fountain without any water is technically a pit anyway. "Somebody changed my clothes, sure, why not, that's not weird at all. That hasn't happened since like. Ninety four." Investigating the backpack tells him very little aside from the fact that someone around here apparently lacks forethought and that he's retroactively pretty happy this fountain is empty aside from one increasingly irritated engineer.

"Alright, I don't know what kind of game this is, but it's pretty crappy! Like, terrible. Duke Nukem wouldn't even touch this with a wavebird, and now I'm just talking to myself in a hole. Fantastic. I have red pants, a peacoat, and nothing to get out of here with."

Shouting into the void seems like potentially a Bad Idea, so instead he's gonna poke around and see if he can finagle something out of the pipework maybe. Probably with running commentary to himself.

ʙʟᴀᴄᴋsᴍɪᴛʜʏ

Well this is familiar. His hand releases the strap of his backpack over his shoulder and trails over the edge of a shelf. Tony hasn't seen much of wherever the hell this little place is - nothing even really indicates whatever country he's supposed to be in now - but he can't really say it looks that appealing. If there's a blacksmith, then this might be a little bit more rustic than he's comfortable with. Either that or he's found the last bastion of hipsters. That might at least explain the overalls.

Comments

[fe_male]

Well that sort of. Like he knew something bad had just happened, because she told him, but he wasn't really thinking about it. It does sort of sober him up a little bit, although he's not sure how to go about responding until he's caught back up alongside her.

"Any other patterns?" Because that's the best way to move past awkward things - you just sort of pretend it didn't happen.

[womanofvalue]

"The earthquakes had been followed by a tainting of the water, but then a spring appeared. It healed wounds and left a rather glowing effect on any who used it. There was a crate of weapons found not long after we arrived, too, but there are others who vanished right before they got here."

She settles back against a spot of ruin that she can perch on, watching him idly. "I'm sure any of these homes would suit you."

[fe_male]

"Glowing aside from healing wounds? Does that mean they actually glowed?"

Not that the weapons thing isn't interesting, neither is the people disappearing something he wants to dismiss. He's mostly just more interested in something he might be able to understand, science-based or maybe otherwise. It's easier to pretend whatever might have just happened didn't just happen.

She seems as though she's more than willing to wrap up the conversation though, and Tony's not quite sure he's ready for that. They might be stuck here together in a potentially confined environment, but this is the first time he's properly spoken to her in years, if not decades. Maybe he doesn't want it to end. "Which one would you recommend?"

[womanofvalue]

"The sort of glowing a woman typically only has when she's pregnant," she clarifies. "It seemed to enhance natural beauty and make one's skin feel rather incredible." She can speak from experience thanks to that lovely little dip in the spring, but she's hardly about to tell Tony all the benefits she'd noticed after that little foray.

As she studies him, she wonders how much like his father he is. "Do you like large, ostentatious styles and homes? There are some here that are quite large. Four or five bedrooms, I think," she says, having seen them in her exploring. "You won't be able to decorate it as lavishly as a Stark mansion might be, but it should suit."

[fe_male]

Tony's not initially actually familiar with the description - despite his somewhat-previous-hilariously-difficult-to-shed public playboy persona, he's never actually knocked anyone up - thank god. And it's not like pregnant women haven't been near him, or whatever, but in all honesty they're usually in mobs and he just can't remember.

Anyway, he can guess it readily enough - it's not as though he's never seen a pregnant woman, although until now he'd tended to associate the sheen to various other potential sources. This only added one more to the convoluted mix.

At the housing suggestion, Tony gives half a shrug - if that even translates as movement at all - and replies: "Don't really want that many potential roommates. Anything that looks like a studio offhand?" Tony also doesn't want all that potential space, familiar and not all at once. There's a reason his NYC pad isn't the same as his Malibu one, and it's complicated no matter how you look at it.

[womanofvalue]

"I think there are a few bungalows that only have the two rooms," Peggy promises. "There's also a fair number of people here that seem to hail from your world. Sam Wilson, Thor, to name a few. If you weren't looking to live on your own, I'm sure one of them would be willing to take you in. I'd offer, but I'm already intruding on someone's hospitality," she says, hoping that they don't get into the details, even as she's not sure as to whether she'll stay with James or whether she's going to continue to look for a new home.

The awkwardness has dissipated a little, which has helped with her wanting to stay, but the thought always lingers there in the back of her mind.

[fe_male]

That seems better, Tony seems a little more comfortable there - not because he personally wants less space, but because oddly he meant what he said about potential roommates. And he appreciates the heads up regarding people from his own timeline, but he doesn't want to live with any of them. He's not really at That Level yet. With any of them.

Anyway, if she were anyone else, he'd probably attempt to follow up on the - no, who's he kidding. "Anybody I know?" he asks with a dry edge, conversationally, but it's still a pry into whoever she's talking about. Sorry, Tony's all about details. Especially when they aren't his. Especially when they involve people he potentially cares about.

[womanofvalue]

"I'm staying with Sergeant Barnes," is her even reply, and she can presume that Tony at least knows the man, but her tone warns that she won't accept any nonsense from him on the subject. "He was kind enough to offer me space when my house collapsed after the earthquake. We have enough experience working in the same circles that any awkwardness is easily broached," she says, as professional as ever.

Besides, Tony is from the future and hopefully has different perspectives and opinions about men and women living together.

[fe_male]

Tony's only reaction to her apparently living with Sgt. Barnes is as follows:

"Like, Barnes Barnes? Or his nephew? Potomac Barnes?"

His reaction isn't unlikely to be misinterpreted, but he's not even considering the element she seems to be concerned about and obviously wouldn't care about it anyway. It's the time travel - or. Well. Not time travel so much by now, but. Tony doesn't really know. He doesn't have good files on current Bucky Barnes. Nobody has good files on current Bucky Barnes.

[womanofvalue]

"Sergeant James Barnes," Peggy clarifies, "He and Steve grew up together, so I thought it would be at least somewhat familiar in order for me to stay with him. Perhaps not entirely appropriate for the age, but seeing as I'm surrounded by modernity, I've decided to adopt some of the cultural acceptances," she says with a lift of her chin in stubbornness.

[fe_male]

Tony absorbs that for half a moment and then shrugs. "Makes sense," he says, a glance around, just as much because it's instinct as much as it is for effect. "Place like this, you'd want some familiarity."

Personally, Tony wishes things were a little more modern, but. Well, if this were at least a meeting in the middle he might be happier about it. Either way. Not much he can do about it.

He glances back at her with a bit more amusement, maybe even teasing. "Okay I know you're from the ancient era still but this can hardly be more modern. I know what existed in the 40s." Playing obtuse? Yes.

[womanofvalue]

"It's not what I'm used to, no," Peggy says, since running water is one of the lovely perks that she'd been taking for granted, she thinks. "But that said, I also lived through six years of war. Rations, miserable conditions, camps, and that's to say nothing of the time spent in Russia or the New York sewers," she says.

"This place might be backwards, but at least it's not hell," she says, quite frank in her opinion. "This must be quite difficult for you, though. Those from the future do seem to struggle a tad."