✶ — › TONY STARK

@thephoenixstart​

“ Oh don’t you dare throw that on me. i swear to god i’ll-” Felicia was cut off as a splash of paint was thrown her way.

Her ice-white hair was covered in red paint and her left cheek was too. she was left fuming for a few seconds before getting the idea to retaliate.

With a shit-eating grin on her face, she picked up a paintbrush of her own that was covered in yellow paint and flung towards the other.

..

                wrong  place  at  the  wrong  time.  that’s  the  only  words  you  could  use  to  describe  what  was  about  to  transpire.   tony  had  just  come  out  of  the  building,  slipping  his  glasses  on  and  instructing  J.A.R.V.I.S  to  have  his  driver  bring  the  car  around,  when  he  sees  the  paint  brush  get  flung.   it’s  a  knee-jerk  reaction  that  sees  him  slamming  his  hand  into  his  chest,  freezing  when  he  remembers  the  nanotech  suit  isn’t  with  him.   instead  of  the  suit  covering  him,  protecting  him  from  the  onslaught,  a  streak  of  yellow  paint  splashes  the  front  of  his  three  piece  suit  instead  of  its  intended  recipient.  he’s  stunned  speechless  for  a  moment,  fingers  moving  to  touch  the  paint  slowly;   like  he’s  expecting  it  to  burn  his  skin  like  acid,  or  transform  him  into  some  magical  version  of  big  bird.    (  he’s  seen  enough  magic  firsthand  to  know  he  doesn’t  like  it.   he  doesn’t  rule  anything  out  these  days.  )    “  you... ”   he  trails  in,  sucking  a  breath,  before  directing  his  question  to  J.A.R.V.I.S  instead.    “  jarvis,  why  are  they  throwing  paint  out  here  on  the  sidewalk  ?  what’s  —  why. ”    the  bot  starts  to  answer,  a  clipped  “ sir,  i  really  couldn’t  say—”  answering  his  question,   but  tony’s  already  looking  back  over  at  felicia.   “  NEVERMIND.  let’s  phone  a  friend.   you. ”  he  points.   “  what.  are.  you.  doing. ”

@prcdigy​ despite her collection of odd-jobs in highschool and in college, mary jane had never been a personal assistant before. despite that, mary jane felt that she was totally rocking it. maybe it was the $40 an hour motivating her, but she had managed to get all of her tasks done in a super timely manner (mostly in thanks to living in the city for more than half her life) and found her days felt productive and absolutely flew by. she would be the first one to admit that she was horribly sad that her broadway career was experiencing a bit of a try spell, but she knew she had to just keep at auditions and one would be the right one for her. until then, she was more than happy to be tony stark’s errand girl if it meant she got to look fine as hell in business wear and seriously pad her savings account. she had rapped her knuckles on the office door, hesitating for only a moment before leaning down to partially open the door, fulling opening the rest of the way with her foot. hands full with a takeaway bag and a drink caddy, she moved to carefully place both on his desk. “alright, so, lunch and coffee. there’s two lattes because they screwed up the first one and well, free coffee and you’re a busy man.” and she would be damned if they let them fuck up tony stark’s order. “also, i got all but one of your accounts unfrozen as of …twenty or so minutes ago.” it had been a long, grueling process, and…well, her methods for most of them hadn’t been exactly legal, but it was done. “the last one isn’t budging and is insisting on meeting in person. something about requiring a notary and some signatures that couldn’t be done online. and believe me, i tried.” she more than tried, as far as she was concerned. “do you want me to set that up?”

..

the  job  hadn’t  exactly  been  glamorous,  or  easy,  but  after  his  AI’s  had  failed  to   get  things  done...  he’d  had  no  choice  but  to  turn  to  real  live  humans  to  try  and  fix  things.  in  the  age  of  heroes  and  villains,  you  think  it’d  be  easy  to  overturn  a  death  declaration  but  no.   they  had  to  make  it  difficult.   he’d  provided  his  SIN,  DNA  records,  and  whatever  else  they  wanted,  but  the  bank  still  needed  to  see  him  in  person.   which..  for  the  record,  he’s  avoiding.  mostly  because  he  hates  socializing  and  partly  because  he’s  tired  of  being  stared  at  like  he’s  a  mythical  unicorn.  the  tony  from  this  universe  died,  people  are  confused,  he  gets  it...  but  it’s  getting  old.   hence  why  he’s  staying  inside.

[ open starter // @thephoenixstart ]

          clint let out a sigh as the last of the large group of women walked out of the shop. it was the thing he hated the most about this time of year, the ugg wearing women coming in wanting their blessed pumpkin spice drinks. if it wouldn’t kill his business he’d not sell anything pumpkin, but he had to sell them so when he was working at the shop he’d put on a brave face and pretend like he wasn’t sick of pumpkin spice. “i never thought i’d say this but i miss summer. can we go back to the days when no one wanted pumpkin spice?”

..

sure,  he  has  a  personal  assistant  that  fetches  his  coffee  for  him  these  days,  but  there’s  no  better  cure  for  insomnia  than  annoying  some  of  his  fellow  avengers...  even  if  they  aren’t  his  avengers.   “  bird  brain. ”   he  greets  as  he  enters  the  shop,  stepping  back  to  avoid  getting  knocked  into  by  a  teenager  occupied  with  staring  at  her  cellphone’s  screen.   “  just  the  guy  i  was  looking  for. ”   he  grins,  elbows  finding  a  new  home  against  the  counter,  as  he  makes  a  show  of  looking  up  at  the  menu.   “  i’ll  take  a  pumpkin  spice  muffin  and  a  pumpkin  spice  latte. ”   he  pauses,  a  sly  grin  fighting  its  way  past  his  poker  face.   “  extra  pumpkin. ”

…

displacement  sometimes  offers  itself  in   D U A L I T Y  seeping  through  open  wounds:  margins  of  contradictions —-  of  wanting  to  stay  and  wanting  to  return  in  formal  unison  as  if  she’d  become  nothing  more  than  engineered  pieces  clinging  to  the  technology  she  had  at  hand  (  she doesn’t deny the idea that she has reasons to stay..to never return to a place where she feels empty and hollow but she’s cursed with morality – with the vicious cycle of thoughts regarding what she’d left behind there ). she’s  not  blind,  would  argue  she’d  been  here  too  long.  that  she  wanted  proof  she  should  go;  reasons  to  not  keep  fighting  fate  because  SHE  WASN’T  SELFISH. 

what  offers  pause?  memories.  a  face  she’d  known  for  such  a  small  fraction  of  her  life,  sealed  in  embedded  scars.  she  remembers  the  first  few  years  after  his  sacrifice:  how  sad  her  mother  was.  how  she’d  hide  away  in  the  garage  because  it  was  the  closest  SEMBLANCE  of  the  father  she’d  lost —-  it  was  the  reason  she  opened  her  first  book  on  mechanics.  the  reason  she  buried  herself  so  deep  in  everything  he’d  been  known  for  because  it’d  been  all  she  had  left  (  i love you 3000 scribed into metal because no one could fill that void  ).  she  doesn’t  stare  for  long,  finds  her  throat  dry  with  the  nerves  that  swallow  her  whole  but  she’s  trying.  she’s  smiling  because  she  wants  to  be  ignorant  to  how  hard  this  is:  to  the  blistering  source  she  can  feel  stinging  her  heart. when  she  swallows  back  the  idea  of  being  honest  it’s  not  to  spare  herself  but  HIM. “ you’re the famous tony stark. ”  it  feels  strange – that  string  of  words  tethered  to  something  real.  she’s  not  used  to  it  but  it’s  strangely  comforting. “ sorry…- i’m just a fan of your work but I figure you get that a lot? ”

..

distracted,  he  doesn’t  make  direct  eye  contact  straight  away.  “  yep,  that’s  me.  no  autographs  today,  kid.  i’m  off  the  clock. ”   the  words  are  an  automatic  response,  eyes  still  scanning  the  room  in  search  of  other  avengers.  in  theory,  it’ll  only  have  been  a matter  of  seconds  that  he’s  gone  in  their  timeline  —  regardless  of  how  delayed  he  ends  up  here  —  but  the  whole  fate  of  the  world  resting  on  his  shoulders  thing  likes  to  play  itself  out  with  urgency.   at  the  comment  about  his  work,  he  does  turn  his  head...  only  to  get  hit  by  a  dizzying  wave  of  deja-vu.   he  can’t  figure  out  why,  exactly,  he  feels  like  he  knows  her  but  he  does.  “  comes  with  the  territory. ”   he  answers,  tone  contemplative  as  he  tilts  his  head.   there’s  just  something  he  can’t  put  his  finger  on  and  he’s  never  been  one  to  walk  away  from  an  unsolved  equation.    “  sorry,  but,  have  we  met  ?   call  me  crazy  but  there’s  something  and  i  just  can’t  place  it. ”   he  snaps  his  fingers,  brow  furrowed.   “  wait,  let  me  guess.  stark  industries  intern.   no,  that’s  not  it. ”   he  squints.   “  one  of  peter’s  friends?  c’mon  kid,  help  me  out  here. ”

Parties aren’t Pepper’s favorite thing, they really never have been. She works better behind the scenes, something she’d had to change since becoming CEO. They’re not the worst, that would be dramatic, but she’d be lying if she said she enjoyed them. There were other events she preferred, even different sorts of parties she preferred. But she’d already started enjoying herself in the short time since she’d arrived. She finished her glass of champagne and put it on the bar, turning to go back to the friend she’d been talking to when she swore she spotted someone familiar. Was that? No, it couldn’t be. Tony was long gone, both the one she’d known in her universe, and the one she’d come to know and love in this one. 

And yet, Pepper can’t shake the feeling that there was no one else in the universe that could capture her attention with just a glance the way Tony just had. Her eyes looked for him again, finding him with ease. Her stomach churned. It was Tony. It had to be. She’d know that face anywhere. For a moment, she debated whether it would actually be a good idea to approach him, or if she was better off pretending she hadn’t seen him at all. After all, maybe her mind was playing tricks on her. But before she knew it, she was behind him, tapping on his shoulder. “Tony?!” she said, turning him around. “My god, it’s really you,” she added, her hand covering her mouth. For a moment, she can’t find any words. “What are you- how are you here?” 

..

he  turns  when  someone  taps  his  shoulder,  hands  at  the  ready  as  if  he  fully  expects  to  have  a  repuslor  attached  to  it.    some  habits  are  hard  to  kick.   when  he  sees  pepper,  the  tension  bleeds  from  his  shoulders  and  the  smile  he  gives  is  genuine.   it’s  good  to  see  her  even  if  it’s  not  his  her.   (  yeah,  try  not  to  get  confused  by  that.  )   “  the  one,  the  only. ”  he  confirms,  lips  twisting  into  a  hint  of  a  smirk.   “  you  know  me,  pep.  can’t  resist  a  good  party. ”  his  tone’s  light,  a  little  reductive,  but  it  gives  him  time  to  consider  her  words. 

how  not  why,  meaning  the  other  him’s  probably  not  back  in  the  lab  somewhere  working  on  a  suit,  or  home  with  morgan.  if,  and  his  blood  chills  at  the  thought,  morgan  even  exists  here.   if  the  world  —  his  world  —  wasn’t  on  the  verge  of  collapse,  he  thinks  he’d  ask  a  few  follow-up  questions.  “  now  that’s  a  long  story.  i’d  love  to  fill  you  in  but  we’re  on  a  bit  of  a  time  crunch.   world  to  save. ”   he  talks  quick  like  he  always  does  when  he’s  making  plans,  his  brain  often  moving  much  faster  than  his  mouth  is  able  to.   “  let’s  say  i  want  to  find  hank  pym...  or  banner.   yeah,  banner’s  a  good  start.  either  one.   where,  here,  would  i  find  them  ? ”

One beer. Peter didn’t even drink all of it while socializing with some of the other guests at the party. He really should have known better considering how it affects his body. The curse of being partially an arachnid. Alcohol tends to affect him stronger than anyone else but isn’t quite sure as to the reasons why. All it would take is a few of them to make him black out. Which makes it safe to assume that drinking doesn’t happen often as a result, so Peter doesn’t really feel great. Not in the sense of wanting to throw up, his stomach felt fine but it was his senses that are bothering him. It’s like being overstimulated and it hasn’t happened since that fight with Mysterio. Better not to think about that now, focusing instead on walking outside onto the balcony where he thought nobody else was around for the moment so the boy decides to call Uncle Happy and put him on speaker.

“Happy! I’m so glad you answered!“

“You know this is my day off, kid.” You can hear an audible sigh from the other end of the line.

“I know but … I need to ask you something!”

“What is it?”

“I drank three quarters of a beer and I want to know if I’m going to die? It feels —“

“Peter. You’re not going to die. Can you just take a deep breath for me? You need to drink some water. What did I tell you? No alcohol. You know what it does to you.” Something inaudible muttered under his breath. There was also the hint of worry in his words at the end.

He leans against the building, trying to relax. It’s easier to do away from the crowd at least but not completely gone. “I’ll try. I wasn’t really thinking …” The phone call doesn’t last much longer than that, putting the device away and hopes that he wouldn’t have to ask his uncle for a ride home later. Maybe this feeling will go away, but abandoned the beer in his hands on the ground as he slowly sits down for a moment before rejoining the party. He doesn’t take the mask off, that part doesn’t bother him since that’s almost normal far as Peter is concerned.

..

his  prayers  are  answered  but  in  the  worst  way  possible.  he  asks  for  an  avenger  and  he  gets  his  wish  but  it’s  the  kid.   the  kid  he  failed;  the  kid  he  got  killed  on  an  alien  planet  because  he  dragged  him  to germany  on  a  school  night  to  fight  a  fight  maybe  he  shouldn’t  have  been  fighting  to  begin  with.   his  stomach  flips,  reminds  him  of  the  mornings  he  used  to  wake  up  after  too  much  partying  in  college,  or  how  the  palladium  had  poisoned  him  all  those  years  ago,  and  for  a  split  second  he  wishes  this  was  his  2022.   he  wishes  the  world  was  decimated,  in  ruins,  because  then  he  wouldn’t  have  to  confront  his  guilt  and  all  the  ways  he  failed  as  a  mentor  to  the  young  man  before  him.  or  this  time’s  version  of  him,  anyway.

he  doesn’t  draw  attention  to  himself  at  first,  simply  listens  to  the  one-sided  conversation  with  happy  as  his  heart  speeds  up  and  hammers  in  his  chest.  he’s  still  wearing  a  mask  so  he  could  turn  on  his  heel,  pretend  he  never  saw  the  kid,  but  he  can’t.   there’s  a  reason  why  he  kept  that  framed  photo  up  on  the  mantle  and  why  he  hung up  the  suits  for  good  after  morgan  was  born.  he’d  failed  one  kid...  he  couldn’t  fail  another.   hanging  out  in  space  for  twenty  days  gave  you  a  lot  of  time  to  think  about  your  shortcomings,  about  the  moments  you’d  redo  if  you  had  the  chance,  and  this  was  one  of  the  many  that  haunted  him.   so  while  it  might  have  been  easier  to  walk  away,  he  holds  his  ground  and  approaches.  

“  spider  boy. ”  his  tone’s  low,  not  wanting  others  to  hear,  as  he  lifts  his  mask  up.   “  just  the  teenage  -- ”   he  pauses,  correcting.   “  or  not  so  teenage,  apparently.  that’s  ...  interesting,  huh. ”   distracted  slightly,  he  loses  his  train  of  thought.   “  whatever.  doesn’t  matter.  i  need  your  help. ”

what  he  has  noticed  however  is  that  this  2020  is  nothing  like  the  2022  he  left  behind.  for  starters,  there’s  no  snap;   no  support  group  ads  on  park  benches,  or  abandoned  buildings  with  foreclosure  signs  and  missing  posters  on  telephone  poles.   everything’s...  normal.   like  the  snap  never  happened.   like  THANOS  never  happened.   he’s  not  sure  what  to  make  of  it  but  he  knows  it’s  not  real;   his  life,   his  family,  are  back  home  and  he  can’t  get  sucked  into  some  alternate  timeline  just  because  he  accidentally  stumbled  into  it.   

he  hears  about  the  masquerade  party  by  accident,  overheard  in  a  coffee  shop  where  he’s  hacking  into  the  wifi  to  try  and  boost  the  range  on  his  suit.   he  doesn’t  want  to  meet  another  version  of  himself  but  he’s  not  above  taking  advantage  of  his  own  tech.  finders  keepers...  besides,  you  can’t  steal  from  yourself.   someone  named  pym’s  on  the  guest  list  which  means  he’s  tony’s  best  chance  at  getting  his  hands  on  more  particles.   the  party’s  just  an  added  bonus.    clad  in  the  best  suit  the  cash  he  had  on  hand  can  buy  and  some  cheap  jester-style  mask,  he  moves  through  the  room  looking  for  familiar  faces.   he’s  looking  for  pym  but  alternate  versions  of  any  of  his  fellow  avengers  would  be  helpful  right  about  now.     @thephoenixstart​