exsiliumlogs | (no subject) (part 2)

[ story of her life really she likes knowing things. ] And you didn't ever hide your identity?

For about... Well, not counting the part where I was unconscious in the clinic, I did for about twenty-five minutes back in my room before the press conference.

Why? [ beat, and then shrugging. ] Not that you have to answer, it's just - there's a lot of reasons to keep an identity hidden.

I know I don't. The intrigue is intriguing. [ His turn to shrug. ] I had a lot to make up for under the alter. I figured them being one in the same would help fix that.

Curiosity and all that. [ Leave it casual, no personal reasons to care about this sort of thing. ] What were you making up for?

[ He's just gonna eat more of his soup for a little while, because, okay. He doesn't actually have a problem explaining it - oddly - but he doesn't know how to phrase it because he's never really needed to. ]

I was responsible for a lot of deaths. [ The Merchant of Death. The most famous mass murderer in the history of the world. ] Thought I was making things to protect people, but my tech for years was perverted and used to oppress and kill them instead. It was the first thing I fixed when I became Iron Man - got all my tech back, got a lot more adult about how well I kept up with where it was going. [ Soup soup soup. ]

[ Thoughtful as she listens, attention flickering between him and staying on her own food because if he's going to answer the question she's going to try to avoid making it seem like she's demanding it out of him. ]

That's the thing about tech. Either side can use it. [ Soft, a little uncertain. She's not sure what to do with him actually telling her that. ] Sounds like you put a lot of effort into making up for it.

[ Yeah, well, she asked, she gets to deal with the answer. He, for one, is going to shrug it off. ] More than I put into causing it in the first place. That's why nobody gets my cool tech anymore. Just me, until I've figured out how to make it totally mundane and everyday.

[ She thinks she's glad he answered, it's just a surprise. He does that a lot, though. Surprises her. She should probably expect it by now. ] That's a lot more responsibility than most people have with their tech.

[ A considering beat, and then she turns her attention fully to her food. ] So not really a midlife crisis as much, then.

[ Well if she wants to keep up this thing that looks like friendship she probably should get used to it, yeah. ]

What are you talking about, that's like, a total one-eighty, that's definitely a mid-life crisis.

[ Yeah, well, the whole 'friendship' thing is kind of a huge surprise too. She's adjusting. ]

I'd call it more a crisis of conscience. Midlife crises are more about being bored with what you're doing.

Get all technical with the details, sure. You can be bored with your own lack of conscience. Boredom's a great motivator, it's basically the father of invention.

I'd argue for necessity over boredom. Boredom's never really gained me much. [ But then she can't remember the last time she was bored and didn't have a lot of reasons to not be able to be productive with it. ] I guess it might for some people.

Necessity's the mother. Boredom's the father. Invention is the tiny little baby who grows up into the sullen, manic adolescence of innovation and later industry.

[ He's basically finished eating at this point, although sort of looking at the menu again for something else because still hungry. ]

You make it sound so unattractive and demanding. I'd almost wonder from that why anyone bothers inventing.

[ Glancing over. ] Have they got dessert?

I can't imagine why that would sound unappealing. It sounded quite normal to me.

They think they do, but I wouldn't classify having the option of pie with garnish or pie without garnish as qualifying for the use of the plural, here.

Sullen manic adolescence? That sounds the exactly opposite of appealing, yeah. Seriously.

Do they say what the garnish is, or is that left to our imaginations?

[ Shrug. ]

I think it's claiming to be ice cream but I'd be surprised if they could serve it without melting out this far.

I'd be shocked. Let's see if they can live up to their claims, then.

[ Okay, cool, he'll order them two pies with the garnish and hand back the menus and then lean back in the chair a little bit. ] Have we done the whole 'where are you from' conversation yet?

I don't think so, actually. Where are you from, then?

The coasts. Mostly New York City. California. Any other place with a nice breeze. You?

Big fan of beaches? [ shruug ] New York City, originally. I've been travelling for a long time, though.

It just tends to work out that way for some reason, although a fair part of it is probably the view.

Good cities for business, too. I guess that's a big part of it. Did you grow up there?