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Tony Stark ([personal profile] runs_on_batteries) wrote2022-02-14 12:37 am

IC Inbox/ Interactions 2.0



[For IC messages/ posts in suggestion box/ 'I don't want to flood the comms stuff'/ etc etc etc.]
iustaegis: (pic#13558827)

[personal profile] iustaegis 2021-03-25 01:51 am (UTC)(link)
[ Her stance relaxes, and she takes a few more forward. Fortunately, this roof has a solitary light marking the entrance to the top floor of the building, glowing a dim red, and the faint glimmer of the barrier above makes for pseudo-stars that paint the sky. Her eyes drop to the glow of the power core upon his chest, briefly, before lifting up to meet his gaze. Similarly, her own raiments give off a faint, teal-emerald glow...

She smiles as she approaches. ]
If you're... taking a break, you wouldn't mind some company, would you?

[ She doesn't know him well enough to assume that it's strange for him to engage in activities alone, but she does know that he's social. Still, even the social ones can prefer time alone, which is why she asks.

...There's also another question on her mind for him, in light of recent circumstances, but she'll sit on it a bit to make sure it's appropriate to ask. In the meantime, she observes his expression. ]
iustaegis: (pic#13566216)

[personal profile] iustaegis 2021-03-25 02:34 am (UTC)(link)
[ She takes his hand and silently allows her hair to be ruffled without protest, but the corners of her lips droop a touch at she takes a seat by his side.

After a moment, she speaks up: ]


...You seem... tired.

[ Granted, it is late at night, but... Well, she can't assume. And coincidence as this might be to find him upon this roof, she had wanted to check in on him anyway. ] It's... not flying that makes you tired, is it?

[ Flying is far more freeing, she finds, but she opens with this question because it gives him the opportunity to go on the tangent of flying, if he feels like speaking about that instead of speaking directly about his apparent exhaustion. ]
iustaegis: (pic#13566193)

[personal profile] iustaegis 2021-03-26 09:04 pm (UTC)(link)
[ A “trying couple of weeks”, he says, and she inhales quietly in response, her fingers curling around his. Reflecting on previous conversations, she wonders if she had missed any signs— any thing she had missed, any moments where she could have asked sooner how he was doing. What’s worse is that he’s only just arrived.

He had been so upbeat when Gladio and her and him and all shared dinner together. He had been enthusiastic as he chatted about what he envisioned for the arena. He had been hopeful for the VR game they were going to make. He had been passionate, supporting her. Through all this.... it seems she hadn’t noticed until now that something had been weighing him. ]


...Tony. [ She wants to apologize for not having asked sooner, but she also wants to make up for it, wants to help, wants to be encouraging.

She gives his hand a squeeze. ]


What you have to say... you’re worth listening to.

[ She wants to listen to him, if he gives her the time. ] Has something happened?
iustaegis: (pic#13566216)

[personal profile] iustaegis 2021-03-26 11:32 pm (UTC)(link)
[ As he turns his gaze towards the city, Pyra watches his profile steadily, her expression not changing.

Heavy. What he says is heavy, the words weighted with something not just sorrow, but the immense, nigh immeasurable anchor of loss. Perhaps he's crossed many lines, despite good intentions. Perhaps his lack of redemption comes from misplaced guilt. Either way, there's no going back to him, not to his world, and not to the past. Regrets will forever remain shackles, yet...

He apologies to her, as if he has something for which to apologize. She offers a smile, even if he may not see it, but it fades quickly as his words coming to mind. "Once someone gets hurt, like real hurt,"--....

Between them, her thumb brushes over his. Carefully, she encourages: ]
....I have the feeling that... Tonight, you're the one who is hurt. Or who has been hurt.

[ -- And to the extent where that 'mask' has slipped. ]
Edited 2021-03-26 23:48 (UTC)
iustaegis: (pic#13942031)

[personal profile] iustaegis 2021-03-27 01:57 am (UTC)(link)
[ She glances carefully at him. He's ragged, and again it seems he's focusing on someone else's hurt-- other than himself. She feels as if he should be framing it as just the opposite: he tried to help someone, and he got hurt instead. ]

I have the feeling... [ "There's no redemption. Whatever you were doing whatever, whatever was at the heart..." ]

That you blame yourself for things out of your control. [ It must be a hero thing. ]
iustaegis: (pic#13932509)

[personal profile] iustaegis 2021-03-27 03:26 am (UTC)(link)
[ She parses his answer. He can do much. He says he should be able to do so much, and so... the burden when he fails, or when he believes he fails, is high on him.

Pyra looks over at him again, meeting his gaze. ]


But...that doesn't mean it's meaningless, when you are simply you... no?

[ Her expression is thoughtful, patient. That mask of his had worked so well, that she hadn't noticed how torn he was until today. She doesn't want to fall to that again-- he shouldn't have to keep up that façade, not for her, not for anyone, and that he feels that he has to keep it up as a 'superhero', is something of which she promises to be more aware. ] ...What you have to say-- what Tony has to say, beneath everything... It's worth listening to.
iustaegis: (pic#13558830)

[personal profile] iustaegis 2021-03-27 03:12 pm (UTC)(link)
[ As she watches that weak smile of his, she only grows more troubled. However, it's a concern that's worth bearing because she'd rather know than not. What he speaks about-- nightmares, anxiety, and anger-- reveals the turmoil that's stirred up within. This isn't a light issue, she thinks, and it shouldn't be brushed aside for the sake of appearing as a superhero. Of course she's glad she asked.

Too many, she thinks, too many let their wounds continue to ache, believing they can bear them. She wants to help him. ]
So... You can see it, can't you? [ she says slowly, gathering her thoughts, her tone sympathetic. ] It's-- really effecting you. And not in a good way.

[ This does get her to pause. Perhaps, whatever Tony is working through hadn't been as bad as it is now. What changed is his latest interactions, words said to him, unkind and selfish and toxic, and somehow, it makes him guilty still-- just because of the way he is of wanting to help. That's not to say Tony's actions aren't completely right, but...

Moreover, he's concerned about how it effects how he is with Gladio, their friendship. If left unchecked, it seems he's worried it might damage it. That desire to be better for a loved one-- she understands it, truly. She knows that want of not wishing to regress, but move forward. ]


If... you were speaking to someone in your position. What would you say?

[ It's unhealthy to continue like this, she thinks. But she wants to know what he has to say first. ]
iustaegis: (pic#13566193)

[personal profile] iustaegis 2021-03-27 04:27 pm (UTC)(link)
[ "Everyone who gets close to me winds up hurt".

His words hang in the air between them, oppressive as the silence that follows.

Then Pyra takes his hand, giving it a firm squeeze as if to get his attention. ]
...Can you ask Friday to play back that clip of Pepper and Morgan on the beach? Or...how about when we all had dinner together?

[ Two instances, two memories of when things had been peaceful and fun for him (or so she assumes). The memories might be colored melancholy while looking through his current lens, but the proof is in the past: those moments, he hadn't been hurting anyone. Rather, it's just the opposite. He's bringing joy to those with whom he interacts and cares as well.

...And whether or not Tony asks Friday himself to play such recordings back and it actually happens, she'll continue to speak. Her point isn't the memory itself, but just the gentle reminder that such times exist within his heart too. In the depths of trauma, it can be difficult-- nearly impossible-- to see the greater picture, and the worth one has, the joys one experiences and give. She's sorry that he has experienced such strife, that it continues to plague him to this day. She's sorry that it effects him so, makes him anxious and his voice crack...

But what she's trying to do here is reach in and help. ]
It's... such like a hero to look more at the losses than every other good you've done,

[ Her hand strokes over his knuckles again. Everyone who winds up close to him ends up laughing and smiling too, from what she's seen, despite not every interaction being perfect. But no one can be perfect, and relationships are not infallibly smooth all the time. ]

The smiles you bring to others... Myself, Gladio... can't you remember them?
iustaegis: (pic#13566180)

[personal profile] iustaegis 2021-03-28 02:22 am (UTC)(link)
[ The more he speaks, the more it seems as if he's spiraling. So trapped he is within his own fears, she feels as if she's watching him become undone from reality in real time. What's holding him together is slowly slipping, she's seeing it on his expression, she's hearing it in the strain of his tone. But... What safer way to have that happen, than in the company of someone who cares for him? First and foremost, she wants to let him know that it's okay. ]

Tony--..... Tony. [ She repeats his name, the second time said more firmly than the first, as if she might call his attention back to her-- to her, to the present, to the reality that they have, not in any anxieties or the future of ifs, of worst-case-scenarios he already believes will happen, when he cannot tell the future.

...She'll address his concern of hurting others he cares about in a moment, of potentially hurting Gladio. But right now-- ]
....Over here, mm? [ She brings their hands up between them, clasping one of his in both of hers, as if holding his one in a prayer. ] Come back to me.

Where are we?
iustaegis: (pic#13566205)

[personal profile] iustaegis 2021-03-28 03:54 am (UTC)(link)
[ She feels the tremble his hand in hers, and it only makes her only smooth her fingers over the back of his knuckles. She repeats this, over and over until those trembles are but scant quivers. Would that she could dismiss his apologies away with the same motions, because he doesn't need to say he's sorry for... She doesn't even know what he's sorry for. For allowing himself to show this, for letting himself show these emotions?

Too much. He puts too much on himself, and she sees it clearly with his new pallor. She speaks gently, cautiously. ]


You're here, and it's now. [ Not the future, not anywhere else, and not in a situation in which he's hurt someone, real or imagined. ] I'm here.... And it's a privilege to be here, with you. Will you believe that?
iustaegis: (pic#13566204)

[personal profile] iustaegis 2021-03-28 04:29 am (UTC)(link)
[ The playful tone earns him a smile, as she seems to take it as a good sign. Better playful than morose, but she hopes that that isn't his mask simply slipping back into place.

Nevertheless, she doesn't lose sight of why she's here. ]
Because... [ She leans in a bit, as if to emphasize a point. ]

I care for you, silly.

[ Silly-- as if he's silly to believe anything else, doubt it, and so on. ] I care for you, I care for you, I care for you.

[ She'll say it as many times as she needs to! All this, before they really move onto the heart of the matter. ]
iustaegis: (pic#13566216)

[personal profile] iustaegis 2021-03-29 02:44 am (UTC)(link)
[ He can see her as he wishes. In this moment, it seems that he needs that, or so she perceives, some sort of allusion to his real family. Obliging, especially because he's hurt, is no burden to her as far as she's cognitively aware; so, she smiles at the hug-- returning it warmly.

When he pulls back, her hand lifts to place it upon his back, giving it a soft pat. And there it stays for a moment longer before she drops it back down to take his hand. This time, her fingers interweave with his.

"I'm so afraid of doing something that might hurt you." She knows that-- in this context, it can't just be her. He had expressed worry for his wife and child, he had expressed worry for Ignis from the train, for Gladio in this world. Swapping out that "you" for anyone, or the entire world, she believes, gives further insight into how anxious he is about causing harm.

She shakes her head, her smile sorrowful, pained at first from hearing how he suffers, but then sympathetic. ]
Tony. You, Tony, and you, Iron Man. You're fallible, and... you cannot see the future. [ Perfection is the opposite of good, and power leads to an air of capability. She sees how damaging this is to him; surely, he must see it, too. ] And relationships-- they're not always perfect. [ Her voice is sincere, but gentle. No one likes to be told they're not perfect, or that it's possible harm might occur, but to tell him that no harm will occur ever is a false hope, unrealistic. But she wants him here, in the present, and based in reality.] When that happens, that's up to you and other person.

[ She knows this to be true, and she's experienced it herself: hurt, then reconciliation, then moving forward, based on what both parties want. Reassurance is something she can give him, and she'll give him it as many times as it's needed, until that worried smile of his becomes something stronger, something grander, and something that he doesn't feel he needs to hide. That he worries at all, that he's confiding and seeking help-- she sees it as that he's already trying to better himself, already trying to be careful with his relationships. He's trying, and that's worth something.

A pause follows her words, and she adjusts how she sits, turning more to face him as another thought occurs to her. ]


Easier said than done but-- [ Her tone changes again, earnest, as if asking something of him... Or, perhaps, wanting something for him, because he should have this:] That fear... Don't let that come between what happiness you can have-- and bring-- to your bonds with others.
iustaegis: (pic#13566193)

[personal profile] iustaegis 2021-03-30 12:13 am (UTC)(link)
[ A general you, she interprets, and whatever suggestion she has here, she knows she won't be easy for him to oblige. Overcoming such things takes practice, time, and patience-- the second of which, unfortunately, he has only borrowed. Once he's gone from this world, he's gone.

There's too many like that in this world. Too many. ]


Balance.

[ She says at last. ] Balance, ...living in the present. [ She isn't saying that he should abandon all caution on how he treats others, and she isn't saying that he should retreat away from them. It's finding that happy medium, and living within these moments while they last. ]

...And allowing yourself to believe that you're wanted by those with whom you spend time.

[ Once she had told him to be kind. That still stands, only now, he must be kind to himself, too. ]

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