[open] gimme fuel, gimme fire

[buildsomething]

who: Tony Stark and Open
what: Tony and his bots making themselves at home
when: September 4 - 30
where: Tony's workshop, shared housing, and anywhere in between
warnings: None yet


To the surprise of absolutely no one who knew him, once Tony's workshop was even moderately livable he essentially disappeared into it. He could occasionally be found heading back and forth towards where he (technically) slept, but that was mostly to grab something he'd forgotten or on the extremely rare occasions where he decided seeing actual daylight might be a good idea. Or someone else decided it for him, and was quite happy to hold his work hostage until he went along with it.

But being able to actually work, having his own private space to get things done, settled him in a way he couldn't articulate. A slight tension to his shoulders had loosened, something that would have been hard to notice until it was suddenly gone. Tony smiled a little easier, seemed much more pleased with himself with his hands covered in grease and soot.

With Dum-E and JARVIS there, the armor tucked into a corner like a watchful sentinel, it was almost like the best parts of the last few years. Sure the lack of his usual resources made it hard to forget that he wasn't exactly at home, but all said, Tony was about as settled as he was likely to get.

At least while dealing with everything else that got thrown at him, anyway.

Comments

[buildsomething]

It was enough to earn Jensen another vaguely curious look. But it wasn't like you could just come out and ask why someone was so suddenly interested in your wellbeing, so Tony shrugged rather than attempt to make anything awkward.

"Appreciated. And I'm fine. I just tend to get pretty wrapped up in work when I get into it. If you need something, though..."

Tony trailed off into thought, his expression sliding into something more considering. "How are you for computer gear here?"

[fingergunning]

"Haven't exactly gotten myself situated yet. I'm still trying to get a hold of more than the stuff they give me at work so I can see the differences and try to hybridize or Frankenstein if I need to. Why, you got some extra bits lying around? Little junk I could rifle through?" He looked incredibly hopeful at that notion, looking between the bot and what looked like a suit of some sort in the corner. The guy was clearly miles above himself in terms of brain power and ability, and Jensen felt a little bit of awe.

But not so much that he wasn't going to try to puppy eyes his way in there. He'd hit on a girl who carried around rocket launchers and collected ears. Jensen's survival instincts were skewed.

[buildsomething]

At the question, Tony had turned a little to glance around with a critical eye like he was trying judge exactly what he did have handy. When he glanced back, though, he couldn't help an amused snort at the almost pleading expression he was being graced with.

"I mean, yeah. Or you could give me your specs and I can throw something together for you." It wouldn't be hard and Tony was looking for projects anyway. And it wouldn't hurt to stay on the good side of the other tech types wandering around.

[fingergunning]

"... You won't freak out if I tell you I think I love you, will you?" Because Jensen wasn't stupid. He'd been paying attention since he'd gotten to this place as to who was capable of what, especially in terms of computers and tech. Stark had always come up in conversation, though most people seemed to have a problem with him being either a smartass or a smug prick. Jensen could happily deal with that. He'd handled worse. His best friend was an almost mute sniper and his other friend threatened to kill him every other day.

"Mind if I come in?" He was still lingering near the door, having stopped when Dum-E had started over, not wanting to intrude or set anything off.

[buildsomething]

The declaration just earned an amused eyeroll. Nothing Tony hadn't heard before and not like he was going to complain about the sentiment. Who didn't like being appreciated?

"Yeah, come on," he said with a vague gesture for Jensen to come in. Tony leaned back in his chair and watched him with a faintly considering expression. "So gimme the list of what you need. I can't promise supercomputer or anything but I'm pretty sure I can throw something usable together."

[fingergunning]

"Well, shit, now you're going to make me narrow it down outside of 'everything'. I wouldn't mind something portable. At least, for starters. If I do wind up heading out into the great green, I'd like to be able to have access to a few things. It's not like I'm trying to access US servers from Peru or anything here, at least distance-wise. But I haven't had a chance to test out interference or if there's any magnetic flares on a... moon."

Had he just said that? Yes he had.

[buildsomething]

One of Tony's eyebrows quirked upwards, but he just nodded. "I haven't noticed any access issues, but I haven't been everywhere." And the armor wasn't quite on wifi. But that was besides the point.

"So, portable. We talking laptop portable or tablet portable?" He twisted back towards his computer as he talked, pulling up a note file to begin throwing everything into it. They could narrow things down once he had the basics. "I'm figuring you want more power than just checking email and facebook."

[fingergunning]

"Yeah, that'd be nice. Eventually I'm going to move out of the common bunk area when I find somewhere decent, so I'd like something that'd hook up to a home unit. I figure I'll configure that to tap in to what I need in the city, and having access to that remotely would be good." He came over closer to where Tony was, looking over at the man's set up and feeling a tingle of envy and maybe a little something else. God, the guy had great toys.

[buildsomething]

"Laptop, then. Or at least something with a laptop's processing power." Tony made a faint humming sound, more to himself, and typed out a few more mostly-incomprehensible things. It made sense to him, at least.

Though he did twist to fix Jensen with an amused look. "Tell me straight. You're not intending to hack the planet or anything, are you?" Pretty clear by his tone he wasn't being entirely serious, but hey. Call him curious.

[fingergunning]

"Wha-a-a? Noooo..." He gave Tony the most innocent look possible. So maybe the thought had crossed his mind about breaking into the city's records. Could anyone blame him? He'd be surprised if Tony hadn't already done it. Come on, Tony. Tell the truth.

[buildsomething]

"Uh huh," Tony snorted dryly. Okay, so hacking was a go. He considered his list for a moment before adding that in.

"Long as you don't turn me in as an accomplice, Angelina Jolie, you have fun with that. And please don't bring down the network or anything. I'd cry."

[fingergunning]

"I rate a Jolie? Awesome. But nah, man. I'm not going to try mass destruction or a Fight Club or anything. I just like to have access to things I need, and I like to be the one to decide what it is I need. You never know until it comes up, right?"

[buildsomething]

And there was something to be said for that, even if Tony acknowledged it with a noncommittal sort of hum. It wasn't like he could really say anything on the subject, anyway.

"Fair enough. Anything else you want specifically, or should I just go nuts?"

[fingergunning]

"... Not gonna lie. I'm kind of curious about what your definition of 'go nuts' is. Have at it. Hey, you want a beer or something? I mean, it's the least I can do, go out and snag some food and brews while you're doing all the heavy lifting."

[buildsomething]

The question made Tony pause, just the briefest hesitation. Did he want a beer? Sure. Should he have one? ...probably not, and not just because he'd been doing a whole lot more drinking than he probably should have during that whole mental regression thing.

"Make it a soda," he found himself saying, "and you've got a deal. Alcohol and soldering do not make the best combination."

[fingergunning]

"Two sodas coming up," he said, turning to head out of the man's shop to go procure drinks. If one wasn't drinking, it was just bad form to have the other one do it. "Food too?"

[buildsomething]

"Up to you," Tony said with a slightly distracted shrug. Eating wasn't a particularly high priority when he got in to work and he could already tell that this was going to be a good one.

[fingergunning]

"Back in a bit, buddy." Yes, Tony, someone was calling you buddy, and it wasn't Rhodey. Don't get all weepy over it.

Jensen headed off to find a store that sold cold drinks, picking up something like a gyro, only with meat from something he wasn't sure about, but he knew from experience tasted damn good. Grabbing two of those and a six-case of pops, he headed back to Tony's workshop, whistling as he came in. "Got some grub. Hope you don't mind orange pop. The cola whatever they have here's a bit too sweet for me."

[buildsomething]

"Just put it over there," Tony said, waving vaguely towards what was probably one of the other worktables. His attention was pretty much entirely on the screens in front of him and the bursts of incredibly rapid typing that would start up and then just as abruptly stop every so often.

Really, the fact that he'd managed to notice he was being addressed at all was probably a good sign that he wasn't too deep into it yet.

[fingergunning]

He went over to where he'd been waved, moving to set out the two gyros, popping open one pop for himself, then coming over to set another nearby Tony, but not within knocking over range of his moving arms. He'd been in this headspace before and knew that constant pestering pissed him off more than helped, so he just slid a hand in his pocket, sipped his pop, and watched a maestro work.