Burden

[in_extremis]

WHO: Tony and OTA??, though a few people are getting mentioned (Kaz, Jon, Cayde, Ronan?, Bucky?, this is already falling apart)
WHERE: Around Temba where all of those people can be found
WHAT: Tony's delivering gifts again
WHEN: A little while after the Eyepocalypse
WARNINGS: There could be talking about the event-related trauma in here, but none of that to begin with.
NOTES: You can interpret this as catching Tony at any of these places to interact with him, or just find the package and text him later, or not respond at all and just know you have this thing in your life now. I'm not your boss, surprise me. You may also intercept a package that isn't for you, unless the rightful owner tags in here first and claims it. Fight.


It wasn't like he was getting much sleep, so Tony had plenty of time to work. He had some apologies to make, first and foremost, and only some of the construction was like rocket science. It was the deliveries that turned out to be challenging. Most of the Iron Man's helmet was finished, too, before he was making his reluctant way through the city, D.A.T.A. bumbling along behind him to cover more ground quickly and let Tony retreat again before he lost his nerve. It wasn't like the blood wasn't already on the ground.

None of the packages were very big, easy for the robot to carry and wrapped neatly in scraps of what felt like toasted paper, which crumbled under too much handling. Small, brass tags fixed them together, bearing the name of their recipient to be found at their doorsteps.

...at the Bloodsport
A soft, squishy package labelled with KAZ. Inside, laid carefully on top of each other and smudged slightly in the ash of the paper, is a pair of black gloves whose texture is closer to vellum than leather. Maybe its this thinness that lets the wearer sense so easily through them, and interact with touchscreen devices. Its not at the sake of durability, though. A knife will leave a mark, but that's not how you're getting through these gloves.

...at the library
A small, cylindrical package labelled JON. To different people, this might look like a high calibre bullet, or a gold tube of lipstick. It's a sleek electric lighter, though. No patterns on the case.

...at the clock tower
This package clatters slightly when it is moved, which might be worrying because it only has the explosive hazard symbol on the label. If it is handled gently, you'll find a pair of generously heavy dice inside. They're slightly oversized, and feel like they might be solid iron all the way through. Every time they are rolled, they always turn up on an ornately stamped pair of feathers in place of snake eyes.

...at the theatre
Another squishy package, though this label just says 'FOR NEXT TIME'. It's another pair of black gloves, though these ones don't cover the tips of the fingers or the thumb at all, and there seems to be a distinct weight to the knuckles. They cover most of the way up the forearm, like they might be part of some kind of...superhero costume...

...at the hotel
About the size of a chocolate bar, and labelled JAMES. That black vellum-looking material has been formed into a small, stiff domino mask. Its eyes are darkened with some kind of glass. Try it on, and it will prompt you to pair with your communication device, and suggests vaguely on this HUD 'TRY ME'.

Comments

[deal_me_in]

That had the Exo jerk his head up before he shoved himself upright, swinging his feet around the recliner to sit. "--Did you just glowy eyeball me?!" It hurt enough that Jon was getting all uppity about a zipline Cayde had been using for over a month, but he hardly saw any reason for the Archivist to be going that far. If it was only because this particular time had involved Tony then he wasn't quite sure how to take that. Still, the fleeting reminder of the things they'd all gone through not too long ago made him clamp his mouth shut rather than venture aloud about it.

He sighed and leaned against the couch again, propping his head against his hand as he glanced from the direction of the bathroom to Echo. Right, put some distance on the subject, if that was at all possible. It wasn't too hard to laugh at the idea of communication issues with the Agrii that Cayde didn't need to force it. "Yeah, what all were you doing when it decided to rain ramen crates down on you?" he helped prompt before adding Tony-wards, "-speaking of which, dad, you think you can hook me up with a mini oven for the bar? I have a crapload of leftover pizza in the cold box for some reason and as quick as it would be to solar heat 'em for people I'd hate to waste a good charge on my knives."

[on_repeat]

Green static was very hard to ignore. Echo straightened up, obviously aware of the shift now that the hair on the back of his neck stood on end, mostly surprised because he wasn't even sure what to make of it. Cayde's reaction received another look, one that would have had more questions attached to it if it wasn't for an interrupting Tony.

"This is ridiculous-- I've been going about my business just as anyone else around here has. Which was nothing out of the ordinary and certainly nothing that needed to be addressed with crates full of ramen. I think we all know the Agrii have translation problems when it comes to suggestions," he answered firmly, holding the Exo's glance before looking back toward the bathroom.

Oh yeah, it was another stern Look. Just for Tony.

"Are you implying that I was engaging in activities that I would normally not participate in?" His question had some overlap with Cayde's request, both of them clashing with their respective vibes.

[beholding_archivist]

"Omega stays with Echo every once in a while." Jon offers the answer to Tony's curiosity, though his answer and lingering scowl is staying with Tony and observing his scratch-washing. Though he isn't willing to let himself get distracted into any such trivial matters. And that's what the toothbrushes are.

As is all this talk about randomly appearing ramen crates. So rather than reacting to that any further, Jon turns his head towards the open bathroom door to inform Cayde: "I did!" And he will leave it at that for Cayde to come to his own conclusion.

[in_extremis]

The scratch-washing wasn't particularly competent or focused, each of them in the bathroom valuing the diverging conversation wildly differently and the water mostly left on so Tony could continue in a hiss just to Jon, "You've got to go easier on him." Not Echo, they were clearly all here to shamelessly wear Echo out, though Tony did consider the toothbrushes, the fort, and the print on the mirror with a new, charmed fondness with this revelation. Of course Omega was staying here.

"Of course not, I'm implying that your normal activities are disruptive enough that the Agrii think you need to be punished--what have you been suggesting?" Tony corrected Echo first. "You've got a very devious streak, someone must have noticed it was getting out of hand, we're trying to work together here." In the lull that felt a lot like a pause for audience laughter, Tony continued seamlessly back into his whisper, "I think he's kind of messed up about Ikora, and Sundance isn't coming out, and maybe that's nothing but, you know--" Abruptly, back to shouting, "What do you mean, mini oven? Like a toaster oven? Please, I design luxuries, you should expect only the best from your father." Sotto voce: "Besides, you can't keep glaring at everybody like that, it's obscene, actually, let's lock this door right now and work it out..."

[deal_me_in]

He wasn't quite glaring in the direction of the bathroom but he didn't look all too happy with his exchange with Jon either. It was all fine and dandy making with the creepy effects when they weren't in their right mind- well okay, not really, but doing it knowingly was something else. They'd popped over to have some fun and it was quickly losing steam that Cayde felt like the lines Tony kept attempting to throw to keep things together were slipping through his fingers the more frantically he grasped for them. Not that he didn't appreciate the man for trying.

Hauling himself to his feet, Cayde gave Echo a preemptive wave to keep him seated where he was. "Maybe it was the Agrii's way of hinting you needed to take a break," he offered, but his heart wasn't into it, although the sentiment might have been. He flashed a loose salute over his shoulder, which was more of a flick of his wrist as he mounted the stairs to head back up, off to his usual egress.

[on_repeat]

"Hey, I'm not the one setting off accidental explosions," Echo called back, mildly offended by the assumption. Despite being low-key irritated by Tony's goading, the breath he exhaled almost sounded like a chuckle. "Give me more examples of how I'm getting out of hand an' maybe I'll consider it."

There was no ignoring the tension that still lingered after Jon's exclamation, brown eyes flickering to Cayde as he made the signal. "...Yeah. Maybe it was."

He should have noticed the signs earlier. Concern washed over his features as he watched the Exo head toward the stairs, voice lowered as he let his hands close into loose fists. "Cayde?" He hesitated, but would eventually get to his feet once the Exo was out of sight.

[beholding_archivist]

"Tough." Jon whispers back at Tony with a snarl. "We all lost friends here that went home, but that's not a reason for him to be irresponsible and risk getting his remaining friends hurt. If he wants to try luring Sundance out by jumping off a building, stupid, but fine as long as he doesn't drag anyone else along who doesn't have a Ghost able to heal or revive them. Christ, Tony! Have you even bothered to look down?" Jon's attention is now entirely on Tony and he grips the man's upper arm while looking at him imploringly. "It's all fun and games until someone breaks their legs and we have to figure out how to properly set these bones with what limited resources we have here. And I really don't want this someone to be you."

That said, Jon releases Tony's arm and reaches for his hand to look at the scratches and make sure these get washed rather than just be physically present near some running water. It's something else to focus on for the moment. A distraction from having to fret over the possibility of Tony getting hurt. Jon lets his shoulders drop and slowly shakes his head, muttering. "Let's get these cleaned up."

[in_extremis]

Jon's snarl was easy to answer with a flirtatious smirk like Jon had just called Tony a sweet name instead, because Tony evidently hadn't been clear enough to distract him into blushing yet, but it quickly fell as Jon continued and Tony had to try to interrupt, "But nothing happened, everyone's fine, and it wasn't like he offered, I saw it and went up and I'm the one that made that choice and, honestly, it's better that he was there because he would catch me--" Like Tony caught Jon's hold on his arm in his free hand, he was listening, he did get it, even if it didn't really look like it as he continued to talk over Jon, "No one's breaking anything, I'm invincible, I don't know if you've heard. If you have to glowy eyeball someone, it's not Cayde."

It was about this point that it was obvious they had been 'quiet' in the bathroom for far too long. Tony called out suddenly, "That was a very controlled explosion, I had it under control," with his focus still on Jon, eyebrows raised to ask if they were alright before he turned away to peek out the door. His arm remained stretched behind him in Jon's hold by the sink, fingers twitching energetically like he was still using them to illustrate as he said, "Hey! You remember, that day, when I asked you to take D.A.T.A. on patrol--...?"

He looked from side to side, then back to Jon over his shoulder to ask, "Where'd they go?"

[on_repeat]

Too quiet. Not like Echo had a problem with it, but this was how the outpost was whenever he wasn't in.

Footfalls eventually announced the ARC Trooper's return to the fold, rubbing the back of his neck as he sat back down. His pensive expression slipped a little, noticing the water was still running.

"...Someone better not be drowning in there."

[beholding_archivist]

Since Tony doesn't seem to be any of the cleaning himself, Jon has started doing so, but not without a sigh and a slow shake of his head in response to Tony trying to defend Cayde in this. If it really has been Tony's idea in the first place, it should have been Cayde to remind Tony of how bad of an idea this would be.

They both know that Tony isn't as invincible as he claims. He gives the hand a small pat before releasing it, wordlessly asking if there are other wounds that should at least get looked at.

"Caye left, hasn't he." Jon calls out of the bathroom, not necessarily appearing surprised by it.

[in_extremis]

It might not have been a surprise for Jon, but it was a concern for Tony, who raised his eyebrows inquisitively at Echo's lone reappearance. They hadn't even gotten to the whole reason they came over here yet, and Cayde left without saying anything. Out loud finally instead of in a hush, still standing in the door to the bathroom where he could see both of them, he said, "I told you something was wrong." He flicked the water from his hand and gave a small shake of his head, he was fine, his lumps were surface damage.

[on_repeat]

Concern found its way into the frown Echo wore as he met Tony's gaze, his brow still set. "You're telling me," he said with all seriousness, looking past the man to wherever Jon was within the bathroom. "And I'm sure this all could've gone differently if we all weren't doing what we've been doing."

[beholding_archivist]

"The departure of a friend is no free ticket to put your remaining friends at risk of physical harm." Jon points out, turning the water off and drying his own hands quickly before stepping past Tony out of the bathroom. Not, however, without casting a glance up at the other man, just letting him know that yes, he has heard what Tony has said while they were in that bathroom.

Once he finds himself standing more or less in the middle of the other two, Jon's attention is more on Echo for now and he adds with a shake of his head. "Sulking won't change that. Now, can I borrow a knife from you, Echo? I will go back upstairs and cut that rope."

[in_extremis]

As Jon moved passed him, Tony met his eye then looked to Echo again over his head with a look of exasperation and started, "He didn't do anything--" again because, as far as Tony knew, that wasn't the problem they were trying to solve, but Jon was so stubborn he was starting to doubt that.

With a deep breath, he flapped his hands, letting Echo decide if giving Jon a weapon was a good idea, and tried to refocus on what he was supposed to have been doing this whole time. With the change in energy, it didn't sound nearly as fun to try to trick Echo, so he asked more directly, "Listen, we were talking, and we came over here because Cayde said you might be able to paint. Not right now, you can go back to...what were you two doing? And don't worry about the details. We're going to make a mural, with everybody, the whole team, up on a wall downtown."

[on_repeat]

Jon asking to borrow a knife was one thing, not too out of the ordinary when they were all living under such conditions. Jon being brusque, however, deserved a look of its own. Which was probably why it took him a little more time to reply in turn. Fortunately that also delayed retrieving a knife. "...We've been exposed to harm, Jon. Risks are risks for a reason, but that doesn't stop people from taking them."

Although he didn't look at Tony when he came clean with the project he had in mind, his brow softened by a degree. "How do you think I got my stripes?" With a subtle headshake of his own, he added, "That doesn't sound like a bad idea."

[beholding_archivist]

"There is a difference between being exposed to risks and taking them for-" Jon starts sharply, but pauses when Tony shares the reason for this visit. "-a mural?" That's when Jon's attention drifts back to Tony and Jon just... Looks at him with a single raised brow. They threw themselves off a tall building because they want to paint a wall. Letting out a silent sigh, Jon pinches the bridge of his nose and mumbles a quiet curse to himself.

Under different circumstances, he would have agreed with and supported the idea, but combined with what the idea has led to so far, it has already put a bad taste into his mouth. He flips the hand that has just been used to pinch the bridge of his own nose up in what may be some sort of disgruntled defeat, he turns away and heads for the door. He needs a cigarette on that. Or two. Which he intends to have on his way home.

[in_extremis]

The whiplash from Echo's approval making Tony brighten considerably, to Jon's judgmental and distinctly unenthusiastic expression making his shoulders and smile immediately drop, left Tony looking drained and apologetically inquisitive at Jon's retreating back, without the energy left to argue his case. It wasn't the worst idea he ever had. It might have been a waste of time. Slowly, in his own defeat, not sure what he had done this time to have this visit fall apart so quickly, he looked back to Echo and produced a faint smirk. "Look what you did," he accused.

[on_repeat]

He did mean it. He hadn't seen any large-scale projects in a while, and he missed seeing creative designs painted and livening up the spaces he and many other clones occupied. He also said nothing more when the Archivist started and stopped himself from continuing, allowing Jon his personal space since it wouldn't have been wise to talk him into staying.

After a few beats, the clone snorted, albeit halfhearted in its intended annoyance. "Me?" Echo feigned offense, sharing the look with Tony. "If I knew I was going to have multiple visitors, I would've made some ramen."

[in_extremis]

"Oh, please," Tony trilled, puffing his chest for a delicate hand to his heart with the other raised, pinky in the air, "No need to prepare the banquet for my sake. You know I'll settle for a good vintage and a nibble of the season's caviar." As he exhaled the lofty breath, the whole performance went with it and he finally dropped bonelessly into a chair where he slouched with his legs outstretched and chin against his chest, frowning.

"Is he okay?" he asked after a moment of sulkily wiggling his fingers, trying to avoid the admission that the question demanded entirely. He let Echo decide which men that had walked out without a farewell that Tony meant, because Tony wasn't sure which one he did himself, and it seemed like Echo knew better than he did in either case.

[on_repeat]

There was a chuckle hidden somewhere in there, but Echo felt just as tired the second Tony visibly deflated. Hands then clasped together, pressing lightly against each other as he studied them, only glancing up when the vague question was posed.

"Quieter than normal." A small, sad smile briefly showed on his lips. "He stole your sunglasses."

[in_extremis]

Tony went, "Hmf," to the observation, that had been hard to miss, though harder yet to understand. And if he did, if Tony could figure out the precise axis of lost friends, the frenzy that they had all been in that lead to both guilt for their actions and a challenge to what trust they had in each other, the specific threat that Jon had levelled against Cayde, and the myriad of clumsier slips and inattentiveness that Tony was prone to, if Tony knew the angle of all of these mechanisms, if they were even what was wrong, it was not in his array of talents to fix that kind of problem. He had to draw himself up out of this fugue, belatedly refocusing on Echo to actually process what he had said then, and breathed a sardonic laugh to accuse, "And you let him? Is that how you handle problems when you're out there doing your route, just catalogue and report?"

[on_repeat]

In receiving no immediate response, Echo sat quietly as Tony went through his own thoughts. He could have sworn he saw the gears working, wondering what made the man tick the way he did. Layers of complexity made him difficult to read, but the gist of it wasn't so bad.

He wasn't too surprised when this came up, exhaling a sigh as he rolled his shoulders, unclasping his hands so that they rested on his thighs. "Sounds about right," he affirmed with a ghost of a smirk. "It's always good to have it on record. If you want, I can tell him to give them back."

The banter was close to familiar, missing what he had while thankful for the fact that it could still be done. It helped ground him, keeping him here in the outpost, letting his own thoughts return to what happened with Jon. "Has he always been like this?"

[in_extremis]

Already scratching his beard thoughtfully in a way that could not mean good things for Echo, Tony grumbled, "Jesus, no, then he'll know that they're valuable." If Cayde knew that, it would be much harder to extract the sunglasses. "You have to go in without him knowing. This is a stealth mission." They hadn't quite recovered the levity in the room for Tony to be committed to this impish impulse, though, dropping his hand again and tipping his head back in his seat so he was looking down his nose at Echo, even as he frowned with some confusion at the question.

"I'm not actually his dad," he didn't realize he had to clarify. Cayde could have decided on all new sensitivities and proclivities the day he woke up in this situation, and Tony would have no idea. Only after that was out of his mouth did he realize, with a thumb pointed toward the door where he had gone, "Jon? I don't know. Maybe. He's done that to me, but not for a while..." Not sure what that could mean, Tony only pouted then added, "He's stubborn. Was he like that before we flew in?"

[on_repeat]

His nose scrunched slightly, but he should have known it wouldn't be so simple. "You had to make it a challenge," Echo mildly complained, his heart not completely into the tone he was trying to voice as he waited for an answer.

The admission of not being Cayde's dad made the corner of his lips quirk, but he nodded once Tony figured he wasn't asking about the Exo. "He was going about business as usual. I didn't notice anything different before that..." He then tipped his head to one side, letting a pause slip in as he thought about the development. "Maybe...he's just worried about you."

[in_extremis]

That was an embarrassing enough statement for Echo to say out loud that Tony thought he might slouch even more into his seat, his shoulders already up around his ears and rocking his heels on the floor, and he briefly managed a look in Echo's direction that suggested he had been profoundly insulted by this before dropping his gaze more bashfully to the ground between them. It was only further embarrassing that the issue might just be that they were all worried about each other, and Echo and Tony were still talking about the people who didn't actually want to talk about it.

"What about you?" Tony asked with a decisive shift, then cleared his throat to push himself up properly in the chair and fold his legs more primly, returning to his trained posture with a hand in the air that looked like it should be holding a glass. "How do you feel about me, of course--you can tell me if I've been keeping you up at night, it's understandable, you wouldn't be the first person with that problem," he qualified so the question didn't sound too heavy.