i am a woman of war

tony stark’s flight suit may compare lowly to technological marvels in galaxies far, far away, but carol can’t help but admire its build - it is sleek, showy almost to the edge of ostentatious (she’s noticed stark steps over that line on the regular). she wouldn’t doubt that it ranks in the best earth has to offer.  but acknowledgement of success breeds challenge - a compulsion buried deep in  carol’s dna. flight? CHECK. energy expulsion? CHECK. a laugh bubbles in her throat as she rises to meet his descent.

she says that as if this were his big, bright idea or something. tony didn’t want to do it. his response to her is a mere grunt as he takes off his sunglasses and sets them on the table.  he’s going for a coffee now, wistfully wishing for something a little stronger. tony turns to  the machine and avoids looking at her as he reaches up into a cabinet to fetch the coffee grounds and a new filter.

❝ just what they wanted to hear. enough to keep them writing stories for a few weeks before they come back. —- you seem remarkably moody. do you need coffee too?  ❞      

the corner of her lip hikes, dry amusement largely hidden from the man with a hand buried in a cupboard. the tony stark she remembers - vaguely, briefly from news reports and magazine covers - loved media attention. last she was here, he was tantamount to a celebrity. 

his notoriety is still intact, she’s gathered.

                        ❝ can you blame me?  ❞       carol spins on a heel, heads towards the kitchenette sink to rescue the coffee pot she’d dumped after her last few cups. she leaves it for him on the bench between them, unwilling to crowd his side in the presumption that, like her, she’d rather some space when she’s desperate for a coffee fix.                          ❝ another one can’t hurt.                                                               ---- do the avengers have a good relationship                                                                      with the media? gathered there’s been a                                                                      few issues of late.  ❞ 

omg i thought abt doing this too for 616 threads. IT JUST LOOKS SO APPROPRIATE

carol creates in others an instinctual understanding that she is a woman who does not do well with inactivity or captivity. she’s been a hair’s breadth from breaking the window in front of her for the past twenty minutes - it’s sheer force of will that she’s thinking over the logic of it at all.  her knuckles tense in fists, shoulders square in a pose slightly more restricted than the military usual. she hasn’t had a lot of visitors. the logic is sound - she’s an unknown entity to almost everyone in this facility, and certainly to most on earth. taking off into airspace until the situation is thought through isn’t smart, but fuck it if she isn’t itching to get into the air outside of the unnecessary safety features of a plane. she hasn’t touched the edge of space in weeks. 

stark’s reflection precedes him.

                ❝ looked like you had you had every reporter in new york                     packed into the media room this morning.                                                                     tell them anything good?  ❞

@cptwhizbang liked for a starter

  it isn’t the first time that howard’s been caught down in tony’s workshop without the younger genius around; it usually bothers tony, makes him anxious that someone might discover the one-hundred-year-old living in his basement. but howard finds it funny.  he’s working on an old hot rod when someone comes down. howard doesn’t even look up.  ❝ sorry, tony isn’t here — ❞