vintagevalor-blog

[vintagevalor-blog]

A good awkward silence passed trying to figure out Barton's comment about loving doors and windows. Before Steve had a chance to wonder if those minimally entertaining objects had been somehow improved greatly since the 40's, the second comment reminded him of his neighbors adept joking abilities. He'd really have to start making mental notes of these sorts of things.

Steve followed along the path Barton walked pointing out various security details here and there. His gaze lingered on the door long after Barton had finished talking about it. "So you're saying..., this will make the tower safer? Ah, just go ahead and show me what you're going to show me." Steve peered around the room as if they were about to get caught from hidden cameras, "I just don't want Stark on my back about whatever it is you're about to do."

Security Measures | Steve

Finally spotting Steve among the retro memorabilia, Clint gave the other man a wan smile. He vaguely remembered hearing something about not being able to get drunk, from Coulson maybe, or he’d heard something about a fast metabolism and put the two together, it hadn’t really been relevant at the time so he’d promptly forgotten the exact details. The way Steve said it triggered the word ‘challenge’ in Clint’s mind and despite himself, he was almost sure that smile twisted into something slightly more devious at the thought.

But he was getting sidetracked. The fact the the Ol’ Captain seemed to think that a couple of beers translated to getting completely stinking drunk definitely said something about him. Or maybe about Steve, he wasn’t really sure which.

“I was just thinking a couple of beers and pizza, maybe catch the end of the game.” Clint hedged his bets that Rogers was as all American as he claimed to be and would enjoy sports to some degree. And then he mentioned security and Clint was sure that he was developing a tic, because he swore one of his eyes twitched at the mention of windows.

“Nah, I just really fucking love doors and windows,” he said without thinking, a biting tone of sarcasm tracing into his voice. Then he looked at Steve’s face and started back pedalling as fast as was mentally possible. “I mean, yeah I am. Stark’s security isn’t as top notch as he claims it is.” He had been meaning to talk to Steve about the security, having him onside for the eventual confrontation of Tony, maybe he could give him a quick demonstration before they went out. “I’ve been looking at the locks on the doors, they’re microchipped with an alarm system,” he glanced over at Steve for a second, “if you put the wrong key in, Jarvis hears about it.” Clint gestured towards the nearest door to him that had a lock installed. “Do you mind if I…?”

[vintagevalor-blog]

Smoothing the wrinkles from his seat on the bed, Steve was a little perplexed as to why Barton would be visiting him for friendly outings.

"A Beer? Well, if you're aiming to get me drunk you're out of luck." He started tidying up small things that could hardly be considered out of place, "Not that I mean I'm a sloppy drunk, I mean I can't actually... get drunk." That really didn't roll off his tongue well at all.

Wincing slightly at his inarticulate sentence, the idea of actually getting to know his new neighbors sounded infinitely better and easier than being a perpetual loner, so he added, "Sure, that sounds like fun."

He picked up his wallet and pulled on his jacket and made his way over to where Barton was touring. "So, how's the security sweep thing going? That's what you've been doing, right? That's the only thing I can figure you'd be doing examining doors and windows all day."

Security Measures | Steve

Really, as the elevator slid to a smooth halt and the doors opened in front of him, Clint wondered why exactly he had decided this was a good idea. Rogers seemed nice enough, in the way the kindly old man who lived on the street corner who would give out bubblegum if you helped him cross the road or take out his trash did. That wasn’t an entirely fair comparison he supposed, Steve could probably at least take Clint on if it came to sparring, if not completely destroy him hand to hand. Considering the captain’s efforts against the Chitauri, Clint reckoned it would probably be something closer to the latter.

He stepped onto Roger’s floor and raised an eyebrow at the decor. At least the jukebox was a nice touch, but the fact that Tony had decided to go with such a retro theme for the place screamed sarcasm to the archer.

“Cap, it’s Barton,” he called out, scanning around for the man in question. “Jarvis said you were up here and I was wondering if you wanted to grab a beer?” Already his intrusion seemed pointless, but the worst that could happen was Rogers saying no, and so Clint found himself stepping further into the apartment, eyeing the 40’s look with a small amount of distaste clouding his features.

[vintagevalor-blog]

[vintagevalor-blog]

The echoes of the last punch died out as the sandbag eased its swing. Steve had hastily wrapped his hands and his knuckles were taking a toll. The bloody patterns starting to form on the cloth drew him from his furor, and then he noticed the stinging. Walking to the restroom, he started to unwind the wrappings. The ice cold splashing of the faucet pricked at his raw skin while he assessed the damage. What blood there had been had made it look worse; it was only his first two knuckles on either hand that had any damage. And then just barely. The second ones were more raw than cut up. They’d heal pretty quickly, but there was no point in making them worse.

Steve applied some simple tape bandages, and slung a damp towel around his neck. It was refreshing, easing the tensions of his workout. Drinking from a water bottle, he walked over to the giant bed. He wiped his brow of sweat and threw the towel to a gym bag that was resting on the ground. The edge of the bed welcomed his weight, but as he was letting himself relax on the cushions, the elevator chimed signaling its stop on his floor.

“Ah, there’s always something,” He mumbled quietly to himself, looking towards the hall wondering who it would be this time.

Security Measures | Steve

The small computer chip gave one last fizzle and sparked slightly before the lights flickered off and the tiny thing fell to pieces in his hands. Clint tried not to groan aloud. That was six different commonly available acids that could destroy the control chips Tony used on the door locks for everyone’s rooms. Of course removing the chips from the door in the first place required a steady hand and a specialised drill, but that wasn’t the point. There were a whole range of ways to disable the locks before the alarm inside them would go off, and Clint had just spent the last three hours compiling a list of them.

“Jarvis could you possibly not tell Tony about this until I speak to him?” Clint looked hopefully at the ceiling.

“Certainly, Agent Barton.”

The automated tone came back swiftly and, seemingly satisfied, Clint got up from his perch on the stool he had been sitting on and stretched his legs out.

“In fact, who’s around?” Three hours on his own, frustrated over Stark’s supposedly top class security had worn him out. A beer and maybe a pizza would settle him enough to work on it some more later.

“Captain Rogers is currently present,” Jarvis said, “although he may not be-“

“Thanks, Jarvis,” Clint replied, scratching at the back of his head. He’d been hoping that maybe Natasha would have been around, although she wouldn’t have drank beer or eaten pizza with him, she at least would have sat with him while he did. Rogers had always seemed a little straight laced to Clint but maybe now was a good time to convince himself otherwise. He headed to the elevator and pushed the button for Steve’s floor.

[vintagevalor-blog]

who's the old man in your sample para :O? is it just his old barber or..? haha

((I made him up! He's just supposed to be a long lost glimpse-of-the-past barber I guess, for the sake of feeeelings))

[vintagevalor-blog]

abowandarrowtype replied to your post: Hey, Cap, JARVIS is telling me that Bruce has hulked out. Suggestions?

Honestly, I don’t think me going down to his level is going to do anyone any good. I’ll keep a lookout on the entrances and exits. I have one arrow that might work, but it’s never exactly been field tested.

Alright, tell me if anything's suspicious or if something goes wrong. If it does, it sounds like it's time for a field test.

I'll try to get Jarvis to get in contact with people who need to know what's going on.

[vintagevalor-blog]

Hey, Cap, JARVIS is telling me that Bruce has hulked out. Suggestions?

We should suit up and put the nearby areas on alert. Is there a tower protocol for this sort of thing?

Jarvis might have to be our eyes unless you feel like braving Bruce's floor or until he leaves the tower. If he does get out, get to a place you can see where he's going. If you've got something that won't make him angrier, use it. 

Tony's probably got some ideas about calming him down.

[vintagevalor-blog]

Steve picked up his glass and turned to leave, “if you feel like eating or talking, I’ll be in your kitchen.”

He left the way he’d come in, trying not to get lost in the short distance from here to there. Everything was right where it had been left, no surprises. Hastily eating some delayed cereal breakfast, he grabbed a second bowl down from the cabinet just in case his offer would be taken later.

Sleep wasn’t always on the agenda for Tony Stark. If he got caught up in his work he could go without sleep for days on end, if only because he’d lost track of time. He shrugged in response. “I think what I managed to get is pretty good, actually.” Tony said, “And I haven’t really had the chance to speak to anyone yet but it’s on my to-do list. Barton was the first to arrive and he only just got here last night. And that’s exactly why I brought you down here now. But alright, go eat your cereal. We’ll make time for this later.”

[vintagevalor-blog]

Steve stood up and walked around, looking at the holograms that appeared, “This is actually a lot more than I thought you’d have. Do you just stay up every night or something?”

He stopped after looking at each of them, unsure what was an upgrade on each one or what had been part of it originally. 

“ If your info is too lacking, you could always ask everyone what their ideal upgrades would be, and maybe you could expand even further from there? It’d be less intrusive and could even be seen as a friendly gesture.”

He walked back over to his empty glass, “Anyway, care if we finally eat some cereal?”

“Jarvis, show Steve the Avengers work,” Tony said, and a large set of holograms appeared across the room. There were various blueprints and designs for upgraded weaponry, clothing and armour for the team; there was even a very early design for a quinjet.

“It’s not a lot,” he shrugged, “Well, not as much as I’d have liked to have worked on, but like I said, I’ve been busy. SHIELD wouldn’t send me any of the reports they have on the team so I’ve mostly been working with what I remember and from what Jarvis was able to retrieve from their databases. Which wasn’t really anything, by the way,” he added quickly as an afterthought, remembering the last time he’d hacked into SHIELD’s network Cap hadn’t been too happy with him and he still wasn’t quite sober enough to deal with that just now.

“Nothing personal. Just a couple of details on the various training programs they use and the weapons they’re normally equipped with, if only so I could design better versions of them. There’s a large training area down by the labs by the way, and a gym. Also a meeting room that’s linked directly to SHIELD headquarters so we can talk to Fury whenever we like. I’m sure he loves getting drunk calls at 3 in the morning. It’s also a perfect place for us to strategise our next plan of attack, or to have an intervention when one of us finally snaps.”

He began pacing the room, looking up at the different displays and making mental notes as he walked past them, more ideas coming to his head for how to improve the designs even as he was showing them off.

“Other than that… there’s not really anything else I can show you right now. At least not without a trip to the downstairs workshops. I suppose I could give you the reports I have on everyone though… like I said, it’s nothing too detailed, but I don’t see the harm in passing that information into you.”

[vintagevalor-blog]

[vintagevalor-blog]

Tony’s enthusiasm, at least what sounded like it, was a little staggering. No use denying a potentially useful upgrade for the sake of denying Tony’s ego, though. “Alright, you sure were awfully convincing, I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to try it out. It sounds like there’s enough steps I can change my mind, before you completely ruin my shield,” he smiled.

“So...” Steve paused, fiddling with the balance of his glass on the table, “I don’t imagine my shield was the only thing you were working on? I can’t properly command a team if I don’t understand it, now can I.”

“Are you saying I’m over the top?” Tony scoffed, crossing his arms over his chest. “Eh, tell me something I don’t know.”

Moving over to the hologram, he pulled it down closer and increased the size so Steve could see it better.

“No need to lock in any contracts or keep you and the shield apart for too long. Dad did tell me you were attached to the thing. All I’m asking is that you give it a try. And that you let Jarvis scan you so I can work out the best way not to throw out your balance. Or your hip,” he said, smirking at the older man.

“I’ll see what I can do about a replacement. This thing’s a bit small anyway. But once I have one, we can run some tests and other simulations in the other labs, yes?”

[vintagevalor-blog]

Fumbling with the paper and the glass, he mouthed the numbers over a few times, and slipped the paper into his back pocket. Steve wondered if there were going to be times he’d need to get in Tony’s lab without anyone else around to open the door, especially Tony, but didn’t want some long joke explanation Tony would give him for the answer.

The holograph caught Steve off guard, there were definitely still some things he needed to get used to. The shield was intriguing, but he wasn’t sure he could guess what all the wires were for. “It seems a little over the top?” He paused, unsure how to explain himself better. “I’m not exactly Iron man, I don’t need anything fancy, all I need is a working shield.” He figured that might have sounded too condescending, so he decided to soften the edges.

“But since you put in all this effort, maybe if you explained what all these gizmos did, I’d be more inclined to like it.” Setting down the glass and pointing to the diagram, “Though, I don’t like the gun slit.” He kept thinking of things to add, “And If I like what you say, and decide to let you tinker with this stuff, nothing exciting better happen in the down time.”

“At least not without some sort of suitable back up.” That was going to be the last thing he added. He made sure it was by finishing off his second glass.

“This is where I’ll be spending most of my time and doing the majority of my work,” Tony said as he reached the bottom of the stairs, all previous renditions of the Iron Man suit visible through the glass doors of his workshop. Punching in his code, the room lit up as they entered, the monitor’s coming out of sleep mode and various spotlights bringing attention to certain areas of the room. “Everyone’ll need their own code to get in, this is yours,” he said, grabbing a pen and scribbling it on a sticky note for the Captain. “Don’t give that to anyone else. Or lose it. I know your memory’s probably not what it used to be in your youth but do try to memorise it. It’s safer that way. Now, this is what I’ve got for you.”

He brought up a holographic display beside Steve, a blue print of a shield he’d been working on, then walked over to one of his workbenches as the Captain looked up at it.

“So between rebuilding this tower and helping New York get back on its feet, I’ve been looking into improving our weapons. Not that I’d really call this a weapon but you seem to know how to use it as one.”

He held up a small red and blue shield with a giant cut star in the middle. Thin, black bars stretched across half of it, from the center of the shield to the edges, and held some electronic components and magnets to the back. There was also a slit in on the half that didn’t have the bars, large enough so if Cap wanted to he could fire a gun through it without poking his head out from the cover.

“It’s my father’s design. I’ve been… tweaking it over the years.” Tony said, passing the shield over and watching as Steve looked it over.

“It’s just a prototype now. Not as strong as your current one, vibranium’s not exactly easy to come by,” he continued, resting his chin in his palm and subconsciously covering the arc reactor in his chest. “But, if you were to let me modify your shield like this one, you’d actually be able to control it better out there. I noticed you have the whole boomerang thing down with it, but with just these few extra components, your aim could be improved tenfold. Save you running around the battlefield all the time too. The slit’s optional, that’s just something I’ve been toying with. It’s not exactly the safest thing though…”

He took a short breath, trying to read the Captain’s reaction as he went on. “Of course, if you have any other ideas for this, I’m all ears. It is for your benefit, after all.” 

[vintagevalor-blog]

Steve’s glass of milk had been full near the beginning of Tony’s explanation, but by the end it was almost empty. For some reason he’d expected Tony to have skim or 2%, but it was whole and it was delicious. He hadn’t managed to find a spoon though, but decided he’d see what Tony had to show him. Cereal could wait, it waited all morning. Before heading towards the depths Tony left to, he swigged the last of the milk and refilled the glass. Following shortly after Tony, he paced himself with smaller sips this time.

“You really are something, aren’t you?” Tony asked, watching as Steve poured a glass of milk. He hadn’t had just a glass of milk in… well, ever. Not that he could remember anyway. Maybe when he was a boy?

“I’m good. I prefer my milk in latte form. And it works, by the way. What’s the point of giving you a broken juke box? I told you I had style didn’t I?” Smirking, Tony placed the box of cereal on the bench and crossed his arms over his chest. “Though Pepper and Jarvis did have a little input with your place. Like this much,” he threw his fingers up to gesture the small amount of help they’d tried to give. Or what he’d accepted anyway.

“Well I’m glad you like it. Actually, I have something else for you in the workshop. Sort of. Anyway just come, it’s not like this cereal’s going to go anywhere.”

[vintagevalor-blog]

By the time Tony showed up, Steve had already started peeking around at all the odds and ends of Tony’s apartment. It was quite a collection of outdated suits and things, impressive looking, though he didn't know what half the stuff did.

“The view’s ah, nice.” Steve hadn’t really taken the time to look outside the apartments, being so enveloped in the contents of them first. It was an extravagant view, and the buildings shone magnificently in the early morning light. “It’s really something,” he added, ‘nice’ hadn’t seemed like a descriptive enough word, not that 'something' is either. Steve was still pressed against the window, starstruck by the reflections of the sun on all the buildings below. It was really an incredible view, so different from the New York he'd been used to. The next question distracted him enough to look away from the window, and directly at Tony. He answered truthfully, “My room is certainly better than I had expected,” he thought back to all the details, “Did Jarvis help you plan it, or was it Ms. Potts?” Steve chuckled a little, “But really, a Jukebox?” Realizing he hadn't taken a closer look at it he added, "Does it even work?" As Tony went over to the pantry, Steve checked the fridge for milk. He was glad to see there was plenty enough to go around. “You want a glass?” He asked, looking in the cupboards for dishes and a spoon.

As soon as Jarvis announced Steve’s arrival, Tony stopped what he was doing and made his way to the main living area of his apartment. While he didn’t live on any of the floors he had originally planned to use for his pent house, he had still given himself quite a large place.

It was a split level apartment, the lower level his personal lab and workshop, and the upper his living space, with the large balcony he used as a take off and landing pad when in the Iron Man suit. There were a few pieces of Iron Man memorabilia on display around the apartment; a few prints and some replica models of his suits, set up in such a way that they added to the stylish set up of an apartment owned by one Tony Stark. His real suits were stored down in his lab, still on display, but he preferred to have them close by when he was working on them.

He grinned at Steve when he saw him, glancing back to the large window that revealed the vast New York skyline. “Nice view, huh?” He asked, completely ignoring that Cap would have had the exact same view one floor up.

“So besides the lack of food, everything’s okay with your place, right?” he asked, before pointing him toward the kitchen and searching through his pantry and found a box of Cheerios right at the back (how long had he had those?).

[vintagevalor-blog]

Waiting for the call to end, unsure if he should try to terminate it himself, he decided to wait until Tony did. When nothing really happened he spoke unassuredly, “Sounds good. I’ll be down in a few... then?”

It was probably too much time idling in awkward thought, so he turned away unsure if the video feed had still been active when he said that. Forgetting about it quick enough he took one last look at his new residence, and it’s decor. His shield shone in the small spotlights, certainly deserving of the stunning display. It wasn’t as bad as the initial surprises had been, and maybe he could get used to calling this home.

Steve headed on over to the elevator but it's arrival took more time than normal. How long would he have to wait when the tower was actually home to more than the first four? There are always stairs, and he could always use the extra workout. By the time he'd decided to take the stairs, the elevator opened. It slid smoothly to the lower level, and Tony was out of sight.

"Hey, Jarvis, you can tell Tony I'm here?" he called into the seemingly empty rooms.

While Tony didn’t bother hiding his amusement at the slightly baffled look on Steve’s face, he didn’t say anything about it, instead shrugging and answering his other question.

“Milk, yes,” he replied with certainty, tapping the mug of coffee in his hands. Seeing as most mornings it was all he had for breakfast, milk was about the only staple he made sure he always had.

Cereal on the other hand, he had to think about. He wasn’t exactly sure what breakfast foods were stocked in his pantry because he usually skipped that meal or ate out. Sure there were the eggs and… whatever else he’d used in his breakfast this morning, but he wasn’t a hundred per cent on cereal. And if he did have anything stashed away it was likely to have way too much sugar, and he took the Captain for a bran kind of man. Or maybe corn flakes. Something boring at any rate.

“I think I might have something,” he said decidely after a few seconds thought. “Maybe Lucky Charms? Just get down here, I’m sure there’s something for you. Have Jarvis call me when you get here.”

[vintagevalor-blog]

Steve wondered if Tony had seen the confused look he had as a screen appeared on the desk. He’d fumbled around prodding the moving glowy bits, but eventually saw the (obnoxiously labelled, arrow and all) ‘ANSWER’ button. He tried not to look like he’d been completely befuddled when Tony’s face appeared, but it probably showed anyways. The salute was a little over the top, but it was Tony. He only half paid attention when Tony was talking about Director Fury and personal chefs and how it wasn’t his fault there was no food for anyone else. “Huh. Bad day?” He questioned, not waiting for a response he added, “and I don’t quite need that many calories.” Steve debated his options. He was hungry. He could punch some bags around but preferably not on an empty stomach. “Well... do you at least have any cereal? I’d come down for some cereal. Provided there’s also some milk.”

“You give people a free place to live and it’s not ever enough, is it Jarvis?” Tony sighed, “And what is a ‘communal kitchen’ anyway, is this an office?”

“Technically it is sir, as this is now the base of operations for the Avengers, and you will be working together-“

“Mute,” Tony said, causing the AI’s voice to disappear as he brought up a new screen, first sending instructions on how to answer the communicator he’d set up on Steve’s desk (press the big ANSWER button) and dialed for Steve’s apartment.

“Captain,” he said with a salute when Steve appeared on his screen, then, “There is a ‘communal kitchen’, as you like to call it, but I haven’t had a chance to stock it yet. I was also trying to get SHIELD to hire a chef for you guys but Fury hasn’t gotten back to me on that. Well he did, but I’ve decided to take ‘are you kidding me’ as ‘pending approval’ until he gives me a definitive no, because he didn’t respond when I told him I wasn’t. Other than that I do have some food down here if you’re that hungry? You probably are. Don’t you need to eat like ten thousand calories a day?”

[vintagevalor-blog]

The elevator eased to a stop and Jarvis chimed “Sir, Mr. Stark wants me to tell you he is on the floor directly below yours if you need anything.” The hall from the elevator was pristine. His steps echoed as the lights flickered on. “Mr. Stark also says there is a tub on the roof if you are “into that sort of thing”.” “Is that some code for something?” “No, sir, there really is a bathtub on the roof.” Steve gave up trying to understand that statement's implications and looked around. The room was surprisingly nice, his ‘outfit’ had been carefully arranged in display on the wall and his shield had its own spotlights. There were punching bags and a couch, a small kitchen as well as a large comfy looking bed. And.. a jukebox? He couldn’t tell if it was mocking or genuine. Probably mocking. At least his whole room didn’t look like a museum. He could tell there was at least a little thought put into it. He set his dufflebag on the bed and looked the small kitchen over. Empty for the most part, except some kind of illegible note in the freezer signed by both Barton and Stark, which had probably resulted from drunken escapades. Ha ha, ice jokes. They probably were funnier when drunk. “Hey. Jarvis?” He leaned against the bare marble counters of the small kitchen, “Is there some kind of communal kitchen that's actually stocked? Or is the tower all look and no show?” He semi-hoped his slightly insulting remark would be relayed to Tony.

Normally Tony would have music blaring as he worked, the loud beats somehow making it easier for him to concentrate when he was piecing something together. But this time, he worked in silence, trying to keep the air calm as the remains of his hangover lingered at his temples. It was rare he had such peace and quiet-

“Sir,” The loud voice of Jarvis came booming in the lab. “Mr Rogers has arrived,”

“Capsicle?” he asked, pinching the bridge of his nose. He wasn’t quite sure he wanted to see the Captain in his current state. “Did you teach him how to use the elevator?”

“He assures me that he knows how an elevator works,”

“Good man,” he said, pushing himself away from the workbench and refilling his empty mug of coffee.

“Tell him,” he paused, not really sure if he wanted to offer what he was about to offer. “Tell him where I am if he needs help working the tv or something. Oh and let him know there’s a bathtub on the roof too. Maybe he’s interested in that sort of thing.”