revivalproject | [Open] Sports Are Another Woman's Job

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[Open] Sports Are Another Woman's Job

WHO: Tae Takemi, Tony Stark, Open
WHERE: Pry Says Tent, Sports Day Events
WHAT: Longing For Pry Says, Trying to Sport
WHEN: May 2nd through 5th
WARNINGS: None

I. Look At All The Pretty Things | Closed To Tony Stark

Tae had not really been excited to hear the Agrii's announcement. In some ways it had felt like a jab right at her. She hadn't been so helpful during that fight, and the running off barefoot had not been fun. Still, she hadn't really been a sports club person in high school, and while she did enough exercise to keep healthy, competition wasn't really her thing.

Which was why she had come here. To look at the Prizes and tell herself that it clearly wasn't worth it, especially since the hospital was starting to get going well here.

And instead here she was, eyeing a pair of black leggings with a gray spider web pattern on it. Which was after she'd looked at some practical, work suitable tennis shoes. And some wonderful stiletto heals. Not to mention the leather mini skirt.

"Dammit," she sighs as she looks over it all. "How am I going to get enough for these and the vouchers and the other supplies. If there was ever a time I could use the guinea pig around, this would be it."

II. Balloon Popping Queen | Open

It was a starting place. A miserable one given what Tae had on her shopping list, but a starting point. Because amazingly enough, sports were a lot easier to do when you weren't wearing platform high heels, right? Still, Tae had absolutely found the best solution to getting started.

Which was why the woman entered the balloon pop fenced in area with the straps of her boots loose. As soon as the timer started she stepped out of them, picked one up in each hand, and started at the offending balloons with the sharp heels. Which was pretty effective, given the points they came to. The woman clearly knew what she was doing with how often there were popping noises. That said anyone watching might want to take a step back, because the glitter was sure flying.

"This glitter better be biodegradable, aliens."

III. Trying Your Best | Open

Alright. It had taken her almost a third of the day once things had started to buy the shoes she needed, and she had needed to wash her legs and clothes during a light lunch on her ship, but now she was back and the doctor looked... intent as she moved through the games, her pockets jingling with chits.

"Alright then," she said, facing down the line of games. "I suppose it's time to get started. Now, how do I know which of these are even worth trying?"

She needed the best pay out possible for someone of her level of skill, so she was probably not going to do well here.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Some of the men were pretty small, so Tony had to tilt his head with a dubious pout, then challenge, "You don't think I'd look good in them?" The imbalance shouldn't be so reassuring, was the point, so he nodded in understanding, and made a swirling wave over the shoes and the table around them that they would use to promise to cover Tae's selection away from eager eyes.

He was less sure he understood her dichotomy, 'pie in the sky' vs. 'practical', and he had to weigh his head side to side to try to get around it before concluding, "Let's say we're planning for what you need. What you need isn't always practical. Sometimes it's downright extravagant. The tennis shoes, then, and these. You can say they're for my pleasure, if it makes you feel better. I couldn't deny making a woman feel her best."

"You'd look good in them, but only if you had leggings or a skirt to properly show off your legs," she said immediately, and with a smirk.

But what really gets her is the 'for my pleasure' line. In spite of herself she chuckles. What can she say, she did like feeling her best.

"This place doesn't seem as friendly to the extravagant as Tokyo is. I had to flee one of those giants barefoot. I don't recommend it."

It was not the time to slink away guiltily for apparently leaving Tae to be eaten by giant beasts, so Tony tried to fussily fix his hair like he wasn't even that focused, worrying his lip briefly before pointing out, "You just gotta have a backup plan. You bring an umbrella when you get a blowout, you know. And now you know that you can give me a call any time, and I'll fly you out of there, no problem. Are you okay?"

Hey, she didn't blame him for the giants thing. She didn't even know Tony was super powered. To her he was just an inventor. Though she laughs at the blowout point.

"I've heard of those. They're not as common in Japan. Our hair type is typically not suited to it. But I'll take your word for it."

Though from her experience, people were very prone to carrying umbrellas any time the weather called for it. A lot less people forgetting that in Tokyo. It's a cultural thing. Still, she has to pause and look at him in shock.

"You can fly? And yes, of course I'm okay. Radley helped me bandage them once we were at that place with the replicator, and my favorite apprentice, Billy, healed them up after."

"Couldn't keep me on the ground," Tony didn't really answer, mumbled like a secret with a coquettish smile. The last thing he was interested in was trying to prove himself to Tae, it wasn't going to get him anywhere, so he was much more open with raised eyebrows and a surprised grin to ask, "He's your apprentice now? About time someone turned him into a real doctor. Never listened to me about anything, though, you must have really charmed him."

Honestly, she was less looking to have him prove himself in that flight thing than she was intrigued. How was that even possible? But she's also met elves. Sooooo Yeah, she supposes she's got to take it in stride.

"I would hardly call the kid an apprentice. But he's devoted and he had so much working before I showed up. I'm doing my best to make sure that all that eagerness of his makes it somewhere."

And she seems a bit pleased about that. She's proud of Billy for how much he had already taught himself just from books. Though she chuckles at Tony's comment about him not being listened to.

"I think he listens to me because I have something he wants to hear. If I told him he was too young, or that using magic to heal wasn't something I would work with, or any other number of things, he wouldn't listen. Though I also had a kid like him around back home. Got used to how to talk to him."

Her expression says that had actually taken some work.

"And most people don't accuse me of being charming."

After a stricken blink and glance around like he had to check if he was hearing things, and those very pointed examples that Billy must have given Tae, Tony had to conclude, "I'm getting the sense that you prefer it that way." At least it wasn't just him that experienced the hostility, if 'most people' had also had a taste. He raised a hand before she had to punctuate the point, pushing away from the table to go collect those more practical shoes that he had clearly been neglecting, and add them to the collection.

Truth be told, Tae had never heard anything one way or another about Tony from Billy. Or, well, anyone. No, that wasn't true. She'd heard he was a great resource for getting things made, but he'd also pointed that out himself, and the one device he had made for her so far had impressed her.

"I don't," she admits as he goes to get the other shoes. She looks at the two pairs together and sighs before going to get the leggings and pants as well. "Forgive me if this seems a bit forward to ask or presumptive, but you're American, yes? I ask because I think part of the answer I would have to the 'prefer it that way' has to do with differences between Japanese and American cultures, as well as our business and medical systems. Sorts that even Americans abroad might not run into."

The leggings Tae chose were starting to build a cohesive picture, making Tony give a thoughtful tap to his chin as he considered the clothing on offer. There was a skirt that seemed her size, and a matching jacket that Tony thought would take at least some of the damage in a poorly judge motorcycle turn. That was kind of like armor. He leaned back against their gathering counter with them folded against his chest as she made her presumption, with a lopsided smile and tip of his head to welcome the designation that he thought must have been pretty obvious.

"Try me. I've been to a couple of Japanese restaurants," he invited her to continue, some private joke tugging at the corner of his mouth. That might not have been the extent of his cultural experience.

Was he close enough to see the woman roll her eyes. Because she was rolling them. If she was rolling them any harder then she'd probably hurt herself. Of course the line made her stand straighter as it gathering her pride.

"Then perhaps you have some of the stereotypes for how a Japanese woman behaves. We're meek, submissive, biddable, docile, sweet."

Her tone grows sharper and more disgusted with every word, as if to say those are clearly words that don't suit her. Clearly they don't actually. Just the frustration of the whole thing gets her moving quickly toward the clothes and she moves with hard steps, her shoes clicking sharply on the floor. Yes, she needs more to go with that leather jacket and skirt. Don't mind her as she gets a mesh over shirt and a dark teal dress.

"It's seen to be even more so in service industries. You've got those stupid maid cafes and cleaning services, or all that idol crap, or you've got workers at restaurants and convenience stores that are supposed to just short of prostrate themselves to customers who can be abusive, and there's always that quiet background judgement that most women should be in the married and providing male sons, or taking care of their parents. You don't get out of it just because you've got higher education either. Years of study at one of the top universities, success in medical school, being the lead in developing a-"

She catches herself, realizing that it's getting very personal but in the wrong way, and takes a moment to fuss with folding things and putting them on the table. Give her the credit for being neat. Perhaps that comes from being a doctor. Perhaps it's cultural. Perhaps it's just all Tae.

"What it comes down to is that, as you might be able to tell from the hair, the accessories, the clothes, I don't exactly fit the mold of what is 'charming' in a Japanese woman. I enjoy punk rock culture, and I don't apologize for it. It's getting better now than it was when I was younger, but people still don't expect their doctor to not fit into the little boxes they make. So maybe I don't want to be charming as they perceive it, not when it means I have to check their boxes and squeeze into expectations. And stop dying my hair. Maybe I should just be allowed to be me, and fuck the rest of that trash."

That earns a grimace. She's going to have to figure that out. Maybe she can't get to any concerts here, or buy accessories, or even hit dive bars, but dammit she was going to keep dying her hair blue.

That had clearly been building for a while, and Tony wasn't sure if it was because he was the one who had been signalling that she should be more docile or was just collateral damage in a major pressure disaster. Maybe he didn't help by tipping his head to make a show of narrowing his eyes out at a middle distance while she shot out her list of frustrating traits, like, oh, maybe he had heard of something like that before... By the time she was folding like the clothes were arguing with her, he was still leaning casually against the table, not budging to get out of her way or treat the clothes he had picked out with nearly as much care, and watching Tae with an amused glimmer that he wasn't working hard enough to conceal.

When it seemed like she had finally discharged, Tony gave her another beat to intimidate her fabric before he admitted, "My girlfriend had the same problem." Meaning, maybe he did understand, a little bit--at least enough to be in the advanced class. "Not the punk rock thing, exactly. She was a party gal, liked cute things, had this little stuffed animal purse--She was old money, though, and a lady behaves a certain way, and that's before she gets a top position at her dad's very public company. She earned it, she was deadly efficient, didn't have the patience for anything less, but that didn't stop everyone around her from telling her to slow down. Me, too, when I was on the back of her bike and she was playing chicken with a semi." That clearly hadn't scared him too much, because he smiled wistfully and handed Tae the jacket to beat into submission. "What I did learn very quickly is that I wasn't supposed to defend her. Not from that, anyway. The one time I tried to step in at a party when a guy was giving her that kind of shit, he gave me a broken nose, and she gave him permanent brain damage." His grin widened and he offered, "I think, if you want people around you to at least pretend you're 'allowed', maybe you just need to figure out how to optimize your damage output."

At lest he listens, and doesn't blow her off. That's always something good to hear. So she does the respectful thing and listens to him as well, though she does smile at the 'stuffed animal purse' thing. She knew that too. So many girls gave that up in high school because it wasn't entirely appropriate anymore. And an heiress to a major company? That would definitely not be an image that someone would want out there in public.

"Business men fathers are rather like that with their daughters," Tae confirms as she does, sure enough, fold that leather jacket. Though with this she has more care. No way she wants to introduce creases that are forced into it enough to lead to wear too soon. For all she knows it's not real leather, but pleather, and that crap shedded, bad. "I am sorry for your girlfriend. People would have assumed the position was nepotism, which would not be unfair to assume given how things work back home."

Though the playing chicken with a semi gave her mixed feelings. It would probably be a rush, but as a doctor the idea of anything so dangerous gave her a bad feeling. Even in her ER rotation she'd had to deal with people heavily injured by the things and their foolishness.

"While I cannot condone permanent brain damage, I can understand why she did it. And I don't need to optimize damage output. I just point out that I can make it look natural."

Tony raised a hand to push away that apology, waving as he promised, "She took it in stride. The worst thing you could do to her was not give her attention. Played her own games." He twirled a finger up toward his temple with a challenging smirk.

Hopefully, she wasn't actually telling him she had populated her own morgue. That was a very different kind of armor. "A threat can only get you so far," he countered. "If that's what you're relying on, if you want the guys already on their knees and ready with the 'whatever you want, Ms. Tae,' you need a mythology, you need infamy." His gesturing hand landed with an inviting tap on his chest. He might have known something about building a brand, too. "We could fire up the rumour mill right now, if you want to."

Yes, Tae had known women like that too. They weren't often the sorts that she wanted to deal with though. People that needed that much attention were just so much work and she wanted to give her time to things she deemed important, not to maintaining people's minimum requirement for 'look at me I'm special'.

"You're not wrong," she agreed. "Mostly I just walk away or if they're in my clinic I offer to introduce them to local police who would be happy to escort them out."

But the community she had settled into was mostly quiet so it wasn't too much of a problem. Most days. Then there were the days where the assholes went away because Ren had stepped in. It was its own frustration when the high school boy got taken more seriously than she did.

Though what really got her was the word 'infamy'. She winces at it and oh, would you look at that? She can see this really nice mini dress in black and gold that she's going to go collect. Retail therapy at its finest, even without the money. May she should just live in the Pry Says tent, have people bring her medical equipment here.

"I've tried infamy and rumor mills. They tend to lead to sharp whispers and prank calls."

There's definitely a story there.

Prank calls weren't really a problem in Tony's line of work, per se, but he certainly knew a sharp whisper, and he also knew what the source of every one of them was. The molten core of that story was, "What did you do?" He was still leaning against the table, hands tucked innocently at his sides then to grasp the edge and keep them from wandering while he raised his eyebrows like he couldn't imagine how that could sound like an accusation.

Oh it does. To the point where Tae shoots him a dark look. She knows she did nothing wrong. Ren and the Phantom Thieves even went so far as to prove it and get her former boss to confess.

"I stood between a jealous man and the glory he thought he had a right to."

That was tantalizingly vague, and Tony fixed Tae with a narrow, calculating stare, restless fingers drumming along the underside of the table as he considered just how thoroughly one man could destroy someone if he was properly motivated. He couldn't quite dismiss the nagging awareness that he was always an active participant when in those crosshairs. "And did you get it? The glory?" he asked.

Yes, it was vague. Poor him, having to live with those vague comments. Tae, meanwhile, smirks.

"Like I said, I got the infamy, for a while. But you don't go into medical research for glory. Or you shouldn't. Especially not for rare auto-immune diseases. What matters is that I don't need to start off on the foot of 'controversy' here. Especially when I did nothing wrong last time."

It was too much of a hassle. Though maybe he doesn't need to look too closely into her medical trials with Eddie. Kid sure was willing to be repeatedly drugged to sleep.

It certainly wasn't a story that Tony was easily knitting together on his own. His brow knit with a baffled smile, and he concluded, "So, it's the principle you objected to." It didn't seem like she was proud of it. Before she had to argue him out of that notion, he clapped his hands then spread them flat, laying out the foundation before them, "Not controversy," he agreed. "But how you want to be seen. Treated. Nothing stopping you from building an identity from the ground up."

No, it wasn't just the principle, but he doesn't give her a chance to explain that, and it's not the first time. A deeper annoyance is starting to bubble up, but she's trying because Tony is a medical supplier, more or less. Playing nice with them is, while frustrating, necessary. Though at the same time he isn't an American vendor with their whole 'taking you to lunch' thing.

She could go for the sushi.

"And you think I'm not doing that already? It isn't perfect, but I'm getting on enough. People have been more or less alright with seeing me, even those who are not human. There's some distrust of course, but that seems more invested in being a doctor than in how I present myself."

Of course there have been bits of conflict but it's been mostly manageable. And with people who are difficult. Present company included of course.

"Honestly, things have been going swimmingly for being kidnapped. The hospital came surprisingly well stocked. Wesker's doing his own thing but it's meant there are useful resources. And a man named Jon has been making medication for a while. I could have used blind dates as prepared as those gentlemen have been."

Edited (well that missed a whole half a paragraph thanks to deletion. Fuck. ) 2023-05-14 14:45 (UTC)

With a slow, wry smile that didn't look entirely honest, Tony tipped his head against his shoulder so he was watching her through his lashes like it was a proposition when he said, "It's just me, then." The mythology tactic wasn't going to be nearly as effective on such a localized problem.

Wesker was an unusual variable that Tony hadn't yet figured out, and he tried not to tense too visibly as he considered just how strong and explosive he might be if Tae happened to disappoint him. Nothing in her posture told Tony that she was worried about the possibility, so maybe she didn't have to know. It was a very different kind of tension that had him drumming his fingers as he asked, "And what's you're exchange with him? For the medication."

Yes, he has been a rather... unique experience in a way. Though not the only stubborn one. Not by any measure.

"We haven't stipulated anything. I noted his healthcare is free, but I can't charge anyone anyway. I asked if he had medical texts on other races and he didn't. So I guess I will just have to owe him a favor."

Because what other option was there? It almost seemed like this whole place ran on favors.

Jon was unlikely to ask for a favour, of all things; he had to be needled into admitting what small comforts he wanted in his own office, so someone who kept an eye on him might have to cash in for him. Maybe not as abruptly as, "Just let him know you need him," which Tony did realize might have sounded a little weird, and waved a hand to try to smooth out, "When you need help. Tell him he can help." Maybe he'd be more receptive to it from a pretty face.

"Sounds like you know him," she says, her voice thoughtful as she goes to collect some more clothes. This time it's actually practical scrubs. Every girl deserves a set.

"Is that all? Nothing he likes that I can provide?"

Lightly curious? Yep, that's her. Granted she's never been in his presence, but someone who could rattle off chemical formula for medications and who was replicating them as forethought deserved consideration.

"Little bit," Tony muttered, mostly to himself as Tae turned to choose more prizes. What confidence he had in that statement slowly leaked out as it struggled to come up with an answer for something that Jon would be happily surprised to receive, and Tony'd had a few years now of trying to leave him the right gift.

Before his lingering smirk could entirely fall, he abruptly offered, "Conventional wisdom suggests you should always bring flowers, start the date off with a little luxury, and every time he sees them over the next few days he's going to have to think about you." The problem that he knew she was going to accuse him of, was how much Tony actually relied on anything conventional, so he was ready to continue mildly, "Jewellery lasts much longer, though."

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