[ MINGLE ] FORGE AFTER HOURS

[nonstopnarcissist]

WHO: Tony Stark
WHERE: South Village Forge
WHEN: January 8th
OPEN TO: Smitherns (Thor, Brigitte, Annie Cresta, Siefer), Plus Ones, Passers by, and Friends! Anyone, really, come on down.
WARNINGS: Language, discussion of canon typical violence probably, drinking?

---

THE HEARTH

With the bulk of the work and chores done for the day, the heart's banked down to a tolerable level rather than steel meltingly hot, positively cozy. Tables are cleared of metal filings and shavings, the floor is swept, extra chairs and seating or overturned crates serve as places to kick back and enjoy the warmth. A large kettle of tea is kept brewing all night, another of coffee, and a jug of cool water for those thirsty with no real requirement RE flavor. There's a rack for coats and scarves when people don't need to be quite so bundled up, and space cleared enough for milling about, tossing ideas back and forth, or simply relaxing. Arguments happen at The Debate Wall, not by the fire.

THE FOOD

It's an eclectic spread- a pot of stew, some crusty bread, frittatas, a few large, simple cheese pizzas, bottles of wine, and whatever other food the Smitherns or their Plus Ones chose to bring. It's a bit of a potluck, food spread out on one table for perusal, plates waiting and a bin for dirty dishes. Tony will scrub up at the end of the night. By the fire there's a waffle iron and as many toppings as they could find for waffles- jams, zalpaca butter, dried fruit, preserved peaches. Serve yourself or sit and sample!

THE CHILL OUT CORNER

For the more introspective or anyone taking a break from The Debate Wall, there's a comfortable chair tucked in the far corner where the light isn't as bright, the sound not quite so loud- and in this chair sits a young Peacat, a smaller pot for tea, and a few books. Elton's a friendly sort and will chirrup to lean for pets or simply sit on a lap and purr, offering calming, quiet company.

THE DEBATE WALL

Scrubbed clean for the night, the wall opposite Tony's Scrawled projects, equations, rules and definitions- currently marked only with a few notes RE proper charcoal use 'It's for the wall, not your hands, not anyone's clothes', the large space cleared for marking out or drawing out- well. Games, hangman, tic-tac-toe, sketches, or debate points. The only other rule listed is 'If you're going to pick a hill to die on, cite your references'.

Comments

Tony

[nonstopnarcissist]

Hosting!

A good host minds their guests- he's cleaned up a little from the day of work, scrubbed his hands clean, combed through his hair, made sure he didn't smell like ozone and metal, but it's a casual get together more than anything else. After being taken by the spine and shook pretty hard the month previous- he's better. Still weary in the slump of his shoulders and the darker circles under his eyes- but they're not as bad as they were. Tony's smiling, laughing, teasing. Inviting people in for a little warmth and ideas. He tops off glasses of wine if anyone's drinking, pats shoulders, and points everyone to the waffle station Rhodey's manning because- honestly? Nothing seems to make the man happier. Every new visitor gets a smile and a wave in to sit and chat, and everyone gets asked the same three questions. "What do you think we need in the village? What kind of problems have you been noticing?"

And the most important: "Which is better, pancakes or waffles? I've got a bet going."


The Chill Out Corner

Glad as he is to have everyone (and he is, it's nice to have company, a full gathering of people talking about ideas, how to make them, how to solve problems, tossing inane, frivolous inventions back and forth like it's a sport- he needs a moment to breathe a little. When no one else is settled there Tony slides into the chair, scooping Elton up to settle against his chest, the peacat's head tucked up under Tony's chin as he purrs. It's a familiar, soothing sound by now. A few minutes of this ad slowly stroking Elton's fur and feathers? And he'll be ready for another round of hosting.


Wildcard

Got something else in mind? Hit me.

Hosting

[firacrux]

Tony looks like he's in good spirits, and he's a familiar face. So Seifer abandons his hiding corner of safety to use Tony as his hiding corner of safety, mostly so he can sneak over to grab a snack. There's stew, how could he resist stew? He didn't know how to cook much just yet so his contribution had been a large pile of pancakes to battle Rhodey's waffles.

A battle he will not officially lay claim to. "Oh no, boss, I know better than to answer that one. You want me on Rhodey's shit list?" He teased back. Using the excuse of Tony to sidle closer so he could snag himself one of said waffles. He likes his pancakes but he eats them all the time. "What about you?"

[nonstopnarcissist]

"Donuts." Easy. When in doubt, pick a third option. He reaches out to clasp Seifer's shoulder (though it's less out and more up, fuck the kid is tall) and give him a friendly shake. "And as long as you don't bring up Puerto Rico and Spring Break of 87, you're fine. The rest is all posturing anyway, he's all fluff."

Wrapped around steel but- that goes without saying. "The fact you brought pancakes is hilarious though, let me tell you. He's going to be laughing about it all night.'

[firacrux]

"Hah! Alright, I might take the case for donuts." Portable, not always nearly as messy, and still delicious? "What about pastries?" If they're going for any potential dessert like snack item there's always a case for a cheese danish or strudel. He is very tall, one of his parents might have been part Behemoth. He wouldn't know. "What's a Puerto Rico?"

Or an 87 for that matter. Rhodey might be fluff, and really he was, Seifer was still cautious with how much he stepped on toes. Still feeling out how free he really can be here. And sometimes just not realizing it's possible. The pancake comment earned a broad grin. "Think so? Might as well have both parties represented." Okay it was mostly because that's what he's best at cooking. He needs to get his hands on some potatoes.

Hosting!

[skyward_eyes]

Frankly, Nida hadn't expected to be addressed by this person. By anyone here. He hadn't even expected to b here. But here he is, Seifer already having disappeared, posed with three questions. And since this guy was apparently the one behind the food today (yes, Nida's watching out for Seifer told him that this guy was Tony Stark and the chief blacksmith), he was going to answer.

"First, waffles. Crispy surface, space to hold your syrup, and a versatile food because you can go ahead and put jam on it, gravy and the like. In fact, while a pancake is easier to make, a waffle iron is a far more useful tool too. You can make brownies in it."

Lesson of Garden he had learned. He could make brownies in a waffle iron. Good news. The other ones actually get Nida to pause and think more seriously.

"Meat is a problem," Nida answered immediately. "A barn isn't enough for our current population. Not something you can deal with. But it means that there needs to be a larger intake of meat. Not just fish, you need red meat. Which means hunting. Which means hunters. And you can't take everything down with a bow and arrow. Especially since there are apparently giant boars. There needs to be boar spears, maybe crossbows, items for taking down larger prey. Though from my understanding from Seifer, asking for something like a spear, much less a halberd like I use."

[nonstopnarcissist]

"Waffles and gravy- Not something I've done but Rhodey probably has. He'll be happy for another member of Team Waffle." Tony huffs, happy enough to stir the embers of an ultimately harmless rivalry. Breakfast foods are breakfast foods, no one gets hurt by them.

The rest, though-

Spears, cossbows- he's made one of those already, but a Halbeard? "I'll take a vote on if hunting spears can violate the no shank rule. A Halbeard is going to be a hard no. Self defense and hunting for the village is one thing but-"

He'd spent so long taking the teeth out of his tech. This is older shit, easier to navigate in some spaces, but- "I'd like to limit how many actual weapons we have floating around. We don't have any invasive hostile forces, just weird shit that happens to us."

[skyward_eyes]

"Yeah, Seifer's told me," Nida admits with a shrug. "I understand you flipped out over gunblades. Which is kind of funny when you consider how useful they are as a weapon. I mean, not as useful as most of the polearm classification, especially when you're taking on things like behemoths, but what can I say, he was always too flashy. Pretty sure he based his combat stance off of a movie. He would have been better off with a broadsword."

Oh look, another one of the child soldiers. At least he would probably agree to the fact that gunblades are a bit much.

"I can get you specs on the head of a boar spear if you need."

Hosting

[loyalrebel]

Malik blinks at Tony before shrugging at the first two questions, and at least has the grace to swallow what he'd just eaten before speaking.

"The first two depend entirely on what the long term goals are here, though a library of things besides manuals would not be a terrible idea." He admits, giving up on eating for the moment to simply roll his eyes at the question of pancakes and waffles.

"Neither is an acceptable breakfast food, but if they are as part of a dessert... still neither. Brownies are superior to both."

[nonstopnarcissist]

"Safety and sustainability." Easy. They're going to keep getting people. They'll also keep losing people but Tony will take the disappearances with some grace as long as no one starves or freezes to death. Some shit can be avoided. "Printing Press and Papermaking, got it."

That's what he could swing, at least. Nonfiction didn't seem to come through all that often and he doesn't know of anyone that writes stories easily. Paper production would be the tougher nut to crack just for consistency. They've got enough pulp ad woodchips.

"...Brownies? Care to unpack that one for me?"

[loyalrebel]

Malik hums at that, considering, "Walls, or at least some sort of fortified and supplied position to retreat to in events of emergency. Sustainability without trade partners is not something I am well versed in, sadly." He admits, "The printing press can come later, there are enough birds about to make quills and ink is fairly easy to make once one knows how."

He gives an amused look at that, "Brownies are one of three inventions of the post-industrial world that are not inherently depressing. As far as sweet foods go, they are second only to baklava and perhaps the Girl Scout Samoas."

Wildcard

[to_defend]

7 had wanted to talk to Tony about making a shield - she's been trying to keep an eye open for discarded or natural objects that might work, but it was harder in this world and this size to just cobble something together, she'd found.

What she wasn't expecting was to find the forge in such spirits. She looks about, then wanders in and tries to find Tony.

"Hey, do you have a minute? Or should I come back later?"

[nonstopnarcissist]

"Hit me, 7-11. What've you got?" He pours himself another mug of tea- and pours one for her, pressing it into her hands without waiting for her to decline. She needs to mind herself, a little reminding doesn't hurt.

Not that he's really one to talk.

[to_defend]

Oh! She'll take the tea, nestling it in her hands and appreciating hte warmth as it seems through, giving Tony a little frown, "11? There's no 11, there were only 9 of us."

She blows on her tea for a moment before taking a sip. There hadn't been any others, after 9 ... and anyway, how would Tony even know that? She's the only one of them that's even here, as far as she knew.

She eyes him for a moment before continuing with her request.

"I was wondering if you could help me make a shield? I haven't been able to find anything that'll work."

Chill Out Corner

[313_248_317_60]

Peace, quiet, and the comfort of a beloved pet. What more could anyone want amidst a stressful social gathering? Probably not the shadow that falls over Tony. Or the voice that comes with it: calm and deliberate with just the faintest shadow of contempt.

"What a... charming gathering."

It's Connor, of course. But the unit standing over Tony looks entirely undamaged, no stiffness or slight lag to mark a wound. While he's donned the black wool coat provided in the backpacks, the front is unbuttoned, revealing clothes in a dark navy blue.

Cold eyes inspect the seated human, flicking from the recently-cleaned hands to the animal pressed up against him. To the hairline scar across Tony's face, and onwards. All points of data for analysis.

"I'm told you're the engineer?"

[nonstopnarcissist]

He's had a few minutes to just- relax with Elton rumbling away on his chest, watching the crowd as they talk and mingle. A few valuable ideas have come up, people have been fed, so far? A plus, good integration back into being active in village society after a month of 'fuck this noise'.

And then.

A shadow.

The 'fuck this noise' urge is returning and he can't place why until he looks up and- that's Connor. But that is not Connor, there's no damage to the chassis and, well. He's met Connor.

Brows lifted and his face a perfect mask of civil indifference helped along by Elton's continued rumbling and the earlier dose of anti-anxiety endorphins, Tony nods. "That's me. Engineer, master smith, whatever. Tech Santa's also had a good ring to it. Iron Man would be a hell of a lot more literal here than it is back home but- you get the idea. I'm the tech guy. Why, you've got a request?"

[313_248_317_60]

Babbling. What an excellent start. Connor's eyes stay fixed and dispassionate, taking in details. His lip twitches, though: a sneer aborted before it can complete. He's scanned the project board, as well as the pitiful collection of archaic tools. Having his objectives delayed for a full week has been... infuriating. But Connor is neither so desperate nor so delusional as to think this human could make anything to fix that.

"Information, for now," he replies, voice cool. "How long have you been here?"

[rebornpaladin]

Shiro felt a little strange essentially crashing a party in a community as small as the village, He recognized more faces than he didn't, but he was only actually looking for the one. He found it looking particularly introspective and perched on top of what looked like a peacock and a cat mixed together, which was only weird because it was an amalgam of animals Shiro knew, and not some totally new alien life form.

He paused at the threshold of the demarcated space, appreciating the quiet of it, and lifted his hand to gently wrap his knuckles against the wall.

"Sorry for the intrusion, but - Tony Stark?"

[nonstopnarcissist]

Elton shifts from nestling happily on Tony's lap, eyes half closed to clamoring onto his shoulders, feathered tail falling behind him, ears flicked forward. Inquisitive. Tony himself sits up and paints on his Hosting smile- wide and warm and maybe a little more teeth than absolutely necessary if this is going to be business talk. "That's me. What can I do for you?"

Pulling on the mantle of Village Smith isn't terribly visible but it is in the set of his shoulders the flick of his eyes taking Shiro in from head to toe, lingering for a moment (but only a moment) at the absence of an arm. Right that's a thing. Prosthetics. He needs to add prosthetics to the list.

Hosting

[notyourrookie]

He isn't entirely sure how he'd ended up here. He'd only made a periodic trip to the most inhabited village, and there's been light and warmth and someone inviting him in and now there's some kind of party and it's hitting him as he looks around, that he really doesn't remember how to do this. How to... be around people. In a non violent revenge-fuelled way.

There's swiftly a mug of tea pushed into his hands, and there's the sound of relaxed chatter. It would be cosy if it didn't make discomfort prickle down the back of his neck.

He drags himself back to the man who'd invited him in, focusing on the question. "Waffles. With fruit and syrup."

[nonstopnarcissist]

"Yet another member of team waffle. Rhodey will be pleased. Help yourself, he's got a station set up over by the fire. If you tell him your vote he'll probably make you a fresh one." And there's nothing quite like a fresh waffle in the middle of a cold ass night. Tony pats the man's arm lightly with the back of his hand, an offhand, glancing sort of comfort as he sips his tea. Not wine. He's trying to get rid of the wine for-

Reasons.

"I haven't seen you around the village before, are you new?"

Time Out Corner, you mean

[sundr]

Loki hadn't planned to come to this. Regardless of how welcome Thor is here or how well he's allied himself one more with Stark, this is Stark's domain. Loki isn't so foolish to think that these doors would be warmly open for him even if their last meeting in the bunker hadn't gone disastrous in all the ways it could have.

He hadn't planned to come, fine with ignoring the Avengers as a whole as long as it suits him to, but curiosity, as it often does, got the better of him. After all, there's no greater time to get a look at the inside of the forge than at an open invitation gathering to decide whether or not establishing connections here is as important as he unfortunately thinks they might be.

Given the limits they're all working inside, Loki can reluctantly concede that it isn't a terrible operation Stark has put into effect. Smith work and forges are hardly Loki's area of expertise but there's an order here inside the hints of chaos this kind of work breeds that shows clear forethought and as much as he'd like to, Loki doesn't actually doubt that Tony knows what he's doing.

So he does his circuit, taking in what he can of the forge and the people inside of it, only really pausing in front of the board filled in with the tasks Stark and those who help him here are preparing to undertake, before inevitably Loki finds himself before the man himself.

"You've certainly established yourself here nicely." He's helped himself to a rather healthy serving of wine, which he brings to his lips for a long sip as his eyes shift to the iridescent shine of the creature in the other man's arms. His eyebrows twitch upwards. "Took "domesticable" as a challenge, did you?"

[nonstopnarcissist]

It'd been weird, living in the village, knowing Loki was poking around somewhere. Probably reading up as much as he can on the situation, he doesn't strike Tony as a mind that does well while idle and aside from the odd wormhole nightmare (Titan takes point most of the time lately) he- can't be bothered to feel more than a constant, low grade tension headache. A wall full of projects and an awareness that Thor will probably manage to keep Loki from doing anything too outrageous? Has kept Tony from worrying too much.

Well.

Too much more than usual. Elton handles the rest.

Having him show up would be uncomfortable and irritating if not for the terribly strange, terribly pleasant conversation he'd had with Connor's lookalike, He'd held up well enough, all Stark shining sardonic smirk, but when it passed? He'd slumped in his chair, eyes sliding shut as he pinched his nose, the mild migraine growing. Loki sidling up could be a problem.

Or.

A solution. "I hand raised him." Tony curls his fingers under Elton's chin, giving the blue fur a gentle scratch. "You, now- you probably need a project, right? something to keep you occupied? Something not boring?"

Hosting

[assemble_the_lovbacken]

"Pop Tarts," Thor rebuts with ease and confusion, as though this isn't even a question worth taking up his time. Although he'd very much enjoyed the pancakes he'd had during his first foray on Midgard, Pop Tarts had quickly and inscrutably taken place as winner for choice of sustenance. Just the name makes Thor's mouth water, and he's quickly downtrodden that he's got no such product to whet his appetite for them.

"Although Rhodey's waffles are a very close contender," he adds, offering a fond glance in the man's direction before looking back at Tony.

"As for problems in the village, I don't think any of the ones I've noticed are ones that can be solved with a forge and some hammers." He sighs wistfully, adding, "hammers," with a sad twinge to his voice.

[nonstopnarcissist]

"Can't blame a man for having preferences." Tony huffs a soft laugh, leaning back to sip his tea. Thor being around regularly has been- nice. He's a solid student, eager to learn, has some pretty high ideas that would be fantastic if not for-

Well.

The damn tech bottleneck.

"You'd be surprised. And even if it's not something we can design a fix to? I know people working in the other sciences. Maybe we can workshop a solution-" Oh. Right. Hammer. "...Tell you what, big guy."

Tony reaches up, squeezing Thor's shoulder. That's what manly warriors do, right? Squeeze shoulders and look each other dead in the eye? "We get a good ratio for steel made? Let's build you a hammer."

Hosting

[fishermansweater]

Finnick had chosen coffee to start his evening with, though he'll switch to wine later mostly out of partygoer's habit. The coffee, though, is a genuine rarity here and his small supply had long ago been exhausted. So he's feeling warm and contented when Tony stops by, and he greets the questions with lazy smile.

"I'm fond of waffles, especially with coffee."

All three -- the two breakfast foods and the coffee -- were luxuries in Panem, luxuries that he as a victor could afford, but that he still hasn't forgotten were once largely out of his reach.

There is a more serious question there, though, and there's an answer that's been on Finnick's mind for a while.

"I've been thinking it would be an idea to try to build or repair some small boats. They'd be useful for fishing, but we could explore further if we could use the lake and rivers better."