i took one last good look around, so many unusual sounds [OPEN]

[myheartglows]

WHO Tony Stark [OPEN]
WHAT Teenaged Tony.
WHEN From Monday the 14th to Friday the 18th.
WHERE Stark Mansion, and out in the city.
NOTES time and place in your subject, please! if you'd like to threadjack with someone else, just discuss with me and them first. ♥ Several scenarios are given in the log start, or if you have an idea you like, fire away

Comments

[myheartglows]

Later in the night, there was rummaging through the upper cabinets in the kitchen, and if Steve were to walk in, he'd notice Tony standing on top of the kitchen counter rifling through the cabinets that would otherwise be far out of his reach.

What'd a guy have to do around here to get some decent junk food?

[myheartglows]

The hologram reacted to Steve's touch.

"Sure is," Tony chirped, all triumph and pride. "Well, okay, it's actually my future self's stuff, but that's kind of the same thing, right?"

[backin_theworld]

Steve pulled his hand back quickly, afraid he might have broken something, and looked up at Tony questioningly.

"Your future self? You don't normally look like this?"

[myheartglows]

"Nope," Tony said and munched on another chip. "I'm actually supposed to be thirty-something. I replaced my future self. Dad came from the past, too."

[backin_theworld]

As far fetched as it sounded (and he was already realizing that everything in this place was enough to make anyone feel crazy), Steve nodded.

"Yeah. Your Dad and I knew each other in the past." he said, distracted by another piece of technology.

[myheartglows]

"I know." Tony set the bag of chips down onto some table as he wandered over to the sink. The water turned on and he held the scraped arm underneath it. He winced when he tried to scrub at it, then leaned in close to inspect it. "He always talks about you with a lot of respect."

[backin_theworld]

Steve moved over to where Tony was, and eyed the scrape while he reached for the kit.

Does he?

"Guess it goes both ways then." he said, opening the box to look for the right sized bandage. "He's a good guy. I'm glad he's here."

[myheartglows]

It wasn't much, just some skin scraped off the top and pinpricks of blood. He ran it underneath the water until the bits of blood washed away and then held a nearby rag towel over it; the pressure made it hurt less.

"Yeah, I guess," Tony said, a little uncomfortable (he got so used to people talking about his father as a good man and a great patriot, but this Howard had showed him more consideration than Tony's ever did), before he brightened along with a subject change: "Uh, hey! I got something to show you." He peered out over the busy workshop. Where was it, where was it, where had he seen...

[backin_theworld]

Steve took the backing off the bandage and nudged the towel Tony had been holding on his arm and pressed it on lightly. The tone wasn't lost on him, but he had no other option other than to chalk it up to a typical father/son thing. Not that he knew anything about that, but he's heard enough classmates complaining about their parents, or, particularly their father's.

"There." he said, referring to the bandage and couldn't resist a chuckle when all was forgotten. Now he was just curious what sort of thing it was that Tony wanted to show him.

[myheartglows]

Tony barely noticed the bandage, off to rummage around in the workshop's shelves and littered tables as soon as Steve released his arm. He had gotten the idea earlier that day, about what gift to give to Cap while he'd been driving around the city, and he knew he had seen it befo...

There!

He used both hands to lift it and slide the papers away that had piled on top; in his hands, he held a familiar-looking shield, but this one was picked apart and scrapped and only a prototype in development, left unfinished and tossed aside. He held it out to Cap a little like an offering.

"It's not yours," he explained. "I think it's just a prototype, but it's not vibranium, either. You didn't come in with yours, right?" The hero worship and awe in his eyes shone through a little clearer. He ventured, "Maybe I ... could build you one."

[backin_theworld]

He followed a good distance behind, eyes on the other mechanical masterpieces he passed. Steve was in such awe that he stopped short a few feet away from one and tried to fathom what its purpose was. But, the colours on the shield grab his attention almost immediately.

Of course, he knows it's not his shield, but it's the thought behind it that counts. Steve looks up from it and draws closer, taking it in his hands.

It's then that he realizes how lost he feels without it; how if he had it, that it might be just enough to give him some sort of identity. He wasn't sure who he was anymore.

Steve looked up at Tony and then back to the shield in his hands. He turned it over, ran his hand over the outer edge that hadn't been cracked off and looked at the inside of it as he shook his head.

"I don't think so. I searched for it, but couldn't find it." he said quietly, still looking it over.

The question forced him to look up again.

"Can you do that here?"

[myheartglows]

Tony smiled a little wider, because seeing Cap with a shield, even if it were just a knock-off of the original -- that was the Cap he had grown with up.

"Why not?" he said, and sidled in closer by Steve's side, poking a finger at the beehive-like mesh of the prototype shield. "See this build in here? It's probably to try and make it vibration-absorbent and lightweight. Like making vibranium without the vibranium." He peered it closer. He had only given it a passing glance before, when he had found it. "Even if I can't find the right material, I can probably work something out."

[backin_theworld]

Steve listened. He had never thought about it until now; until the shield - even though it was only a prototype - was in his hands, but he really missed it. It had become something of a partner.

"Really?" he replied, glancing up briefly to look at Tony. "I mean, it's fine if you can't."

But, deep down, he really was hoping that he could.

[myheartglows]

"Can't?" Tony echoed with a smirk and a raised eyebrow. "Okay, when it comes to building things? Starks don't know the meaning of the word can't. I'll have it done, even if my future self has to finish it."

[backin_theworld]

That warranted a chuckle. He'd seen enough of Howard's talent to know that it had to be passed down. One quick look around the room proved that. Still, as much as he wanted to have his shield back, he wouldn't expect it.

He spun the metal disc around to look at the front, and smiled softly.

"Thanks, Tony. For showing me this."

[myheartglows]

And Tony smiled wide.