(no subject)

[in_extremis]

WHO: Tony and...open? Look, I do see those other two open waterworld posts down there, I just didn't want to get this all over them.
WHERE: Tarf system! I'm assuming Keith would put the Bloodsport on waterworld, too.
WHAT: Mini-event, mega-breakdown! Tony is feeling sorry for himself, so he makes use of the local delicacies.
WHEN: During the pit-stop event.
WARNINGS: First of all, I'm sorry. Second, mind the alcoholism and a relapse situation, it's a little dark in here.


The thing was, it really didn't matter.

If someone asked Tony what he thought they were doing here, he didn't have a good answer for them, except that maybe some people were here as a mercy, away from a planet or dimension that was strangling them and they were barely on their toes. It didn't matter what he was doing here, because some kind of mistake had been made along the way, obviously, and the entities in charge of making these decisions had made a severe miscalculation of his worth to this group that they were gathering. If it mattered at all, he was the rope.

The thing was, he wasn't really accomplishing anything anyway. The most material production he could claim was a few bullets, ever the weaponeer under the slightest bit of pressure, born out of a problem of his own making and a total lack of resolve for the slightest moral engagement. It was even worse knowing from Reeve that he should have been capable of being better than that. If he was worth anything, it was supposed to be that he was smart enough to be better than that. He hadn't really been from the start; making weapons was what he was best at, and what he always did, and the jewel in his bloody crown was the repulsor that he pretended was a clean energy system until that slight pressure.

And the thing was, Tony was the only one really pretending otherwise. Steve knew well enough to get out when he had the chance, that he wasn't really happy in the world Tony was building for him, and none of Tony's glittering visions of the future were ever going to be realized while he suffocated them under his control. Tony had maybe a few more months, back home. He knew what was coming, he always did. The dazzle of Tony's manipulation was going to wear off quick without the support of the Illuminati, and he was going to be standing alone trying to convince Steve that the whole world saw them as weapons.

That's the thing, the real thing boring a void through Tony's chest that he thought he could slap some duct tape on and ride out until something else could take him out first. Everyone figured it out eventually, that they were better off keeping their distance. Jon was smart, and bore the vastness of the present the same way Tony adopted the eternity of the future. The dazzle shouldn't have worked as long as it did. Reeve had done him one better and figured it out for him, knew there was only one place that path led, and Tony still dragged him back down it with a razor smile. Sansa was mourning, for god's sake. Maybe he did it on purpose. Nothing obsessed Tony and made that void grow sick on its own emptiness like the vulnerable flutter of his scarred heart at the sound of Jon's compelling voice.

The thing was, if Hellrung was here to say any of this to, he would recite the Prayer at Tony and Tony wouldn't be able to tell him if it was the serenity, the courage or the wisdom he intended to find in this bottle. It was just the first of several that Tony had slowly accumulated, not intentionally at first. Space, the ships, the whole new planets, that all should have been thrilling his heart to bursting, and he bounced down onto the sand fully intending to make good use of his sunglasses and at least pretend at what he was supposed to be doing. He knew Jon wasn't handling the ships well, and maybe if Tony found something here that would make the trip easier, maybe Jon would accept it and talk to him again. The natives were more than happy to watch Tony rehang a door that was slowly slouching out of its frame, then laugh at the face he made at a whiff of the leather and offer a drink instead. Good stuff, they said, takes the sting right out of the nostrils, and maybe out of being cramped in a spaceship that wasn't easy on the nerves. He came back for another, this time coaxing a winch back into repair that had snapped and left a net of still flapping fish on the dock as he worked, after he couldn't bring himself to go looking for Jon with just one bottle in hand. This wasn't a one bottle problem he had caused.

His fingers were pricked with splinters and his toolbelt notably lighter by the time Tony reclined on the sand with half a dozen bottles propped up in it next to him, holding one up to the sunlight curiously to watch the liquid refract inside.

The thing was, it didn't really matter what he did now. It wasn't going to change anything.

Comments

[theladyofwinterfell]

That many bottles means something's wrong. Sansa hadn't known Tyrion to drink during their marriage but before their marriage, he'd been legendary for it, and she's been around enough Lannisters to know when drinking is both for courage and to numb away feelings.

Since they're on a planet, she's in modern clothes - shorts and a tank top - and it's much easier to sink down on the sand beside him.

"Before you ask, he's with Steve. I have to pass my child around so everyone gets time with him. Good thing he is. You stink of alcohol. What has you in your cups, hmm?"

[in_extremis]

Jesus, Tony didn't even think about James. He was already 3/4 of a bottle deep on a predictable path, that baby didn't deserve that, no baby deserved to have that around, Sansa was right. Dad would have been proud. Tony only sniffed and tilted his head to watch Sansa out of the corner of his eye, squinting around his sunglasses, and eventually said, "You're going to get burnt. What are you wearing? Did you always have that?"

[theladyofwinterfell]

“I had these, yes. I don’t wear them normally but on a planet like this, one ought to show a little more of themselves in spirit of the ocean life.”

Sansa peers at him with concern and touches his shoulder lightly. “Why are you drinking so much, my darling? It isn’t good for you, you know, and if it were me doing this you’d be all over me for it.”

[in_extremis]

That wasn't an entirely satisfactory explanation to Tony for never having seen Sansa in something so confidently modern feeling, but it was still what might happen to a redhead's skin after being exposed to the sun for the first time in at least however many months Tony had known Sansa that was making him restless, already starting to shift in the sand and glance around for a solution. It hadn't occurred to him to bring along a hat. The touch to his shoulder stilled him immediately, and he breathed a laugh and tipped his head to the side until his cheek touched her knuckles at the diminutive, but he didn't really have a great answer for her. He knew he'd had plenty of reasons before he uncorked the bottle that were very convincing, but to Sansa he smiled, "In spirit of the ocean life." That was what you were supposed to do on the beach, get shitfaced.

Very slowly, not content with the stillness for any longer than that second, he rolled himself to the side, then carefully and surprisingly unsteadily to his feet, taking his time finding his balance with a noise of appreciation for how strong this stuff turned out to be now that he was more vertical. "I'll get back to you on the being all over you part, I've got a line for that, give me a minute," he promised, and promptly walked away. Once he found his equilibrium, it wasn't so bad, and he went crashing into the foliage a few feet away, searching noisily to emerge a few minutes later with a remarkably large leaf that made a disconcerting wobbling sound, like sheet metal in the wind. Flopping down again into his depression in the sand, he propped his find up on its branch where it shaded most of the sun at Sansa's back, and its complaining settled into an atonal humming in the breeze. Fixed.

[theladyofwinterfell]

"Thank you for my parasol," Sansa says, giving him a brilliant smile in reward for his act of kindness. She's a little surprised he managed to do so, considering how many bottles were in the sand, and she trips her fingers up along his forearm before asking her question again.

"I know you have something to say about being all over me, darling, but I want to ask my question again. What has you in your cups, truly? Is it just being upon the beach? If it is, I would remind you that drinking to excess makes it difficult for men to enjoy themselves in bed."

[heeeyadora]

Catra didn't know nearly enough about Tony to worry about finding him on the beach with so many bottles, but she did know that was more than enough for one person, snatching one away to claim for herself with a smirk. He could afford to share and she didn't feel like doing chores to earn her own.

Her nose wrinkled at the strong smell of it, but she shrugged and drank it down regardless. "There's too much water on this stupid planet. Why'd we have to stop here?"

[in_extremis]

That Catra was doing something mildly annoying and sticking her paws where they didn't belong was not enough of a surprise to get Tony to react, only watch with a weary sigh and slowly tightening frown before he complained, "Hey, okay." Barely shifting to raise his hand out of the sand, he quirked a finger for her to replace that bottle now, that was more than enough for someone her weight and already clearly stunted development, psychologically. "For the local culture," he did provide willingly. "Maybe if you participated a bit, you could sneak your own drinks like a proper teenager."

[heeeyadora]

"Why would I do that when I can just sneak yours?" she counted with a smirk, taking another swig before returning the bottle to the sand and plopping down beside him. "Looks like you've got more than enough to share."

[in_extremis]

"Because I'm not sharing," should have been obvious enough, and Tony plucked up that bottle that Catra had claimed to possessively hold against his chest. "I cannot be encouraging this kind of behaviour for someone your age. I did plenty of first hand research and my results are conclusive: fucks you up. If you have to work for it, slows you down a bit."

[heeeyadora]

"Someone my age," she laughed and rolled her eyes as though that really meant much with her, but she didn't put up much of a fight about it either, not minding to parental attention so much as she pretended.

"So do you just get used to how it tastes or what?"

[rage_on]

A shadow suddenly fell over him, and an oddly shaped one at that.

Here and there Raphael had caught a glimpse of the man busying himself with the locals. He'd seen him come from one of their ships to know he was part of their odd ensemble of supposed heroes.

The turtle had been doing his own end of bargaining and bartering. While he was no handyman, he could do a fair bit of heavy lifting, and one local had been very happy to have help in getting their stuck pet out of the top of a thirty-foot tree. What Raphael came back with was a slightly larger inventory that made him feel a lot better for at least some of the things he'd come without.

He'd been on his way back to the ship with his latest acquisition, a quiver of arrows (he could do without the quiver- seriously, what is that smell?!) and a bow, when he'd seen the figure splayed out on the beach. The glint of bottles surrounding the man had not gone amiss.

[in_extremis]

Flat on his back in the smooth sand, breathing in the ocean air and basking in the heat of the sun and practically meditative, at complete peace, basically a monk, this was an incredible idea, the unexpected intrusion of the shift of light through his eyelids made Tony's brow pinch in irritation. He was nirvanaing here. Reluctantly, he squinted one eye open to know who it was that had no respect for his enlightenment, then didn't move any further for a very long time. It was true that this was a difficultly reverse image to parse, and that Tony might have been dealing with some mild heatstroke and dehydration that had only a little bit to do with the alcohol, but there was no way he was looking at a big turtle.

Eventually, he tried to cock his head in the sand to get a better look at this intruder, twisting it to the side and not getting much better results. He had seen plenty of large lizards in his life, this could have been worse, surely there was a reasonable explanation for this apparition. "You're not what I think God would look like," he easily ruled out. That wasn't something he'd ever thought very hard about, but if pressed in this exact moment, if there was a God, Tony was sure it would be an atom. "Too big," he reported.

[rage_on]

"...."

That had to be the strangest first reaction he'd ever had from anyone. His red bandanna bunched at the middle as his brow furrowed behind it, green eyes casting a dubious look at the man. Finally Raphael leaned back, still staring down at him.

"You're already marinated, I think it's time for you to flip over before you get well-done."

[in_extremis]

The turtle man may have been correct, but the turtle man had little respect for physics and not accounted for how difficult it was to move after being completely inert. Although Tony did make a valiant attempt to flip over, he got as far as lifting one shoulder then frowning, nope, not gonna happen, with a, "Hm," to explain the really very interesting science of it. "Aren't you supposed to be in the water?" he asked. The mysteries of the animal kingdom were not Tony's area. "Or is that tortoise-men? That's the difference, right? Turtle-tortoise. I heard, once, that tortoises are so delicious, it's illegal to eat them. That's why. Because they're amazing."

[rage_on]

Raphael watched the guy flop around half-heartedly like a dying fish, unimpressed.

"I've got better things to do than go for a swim. Also, I wouldn't try eating me even if I was a tortoise. Granted I don't slap the sunburn off of you, I'm sure it's a bad idea eating mutant turtle."

Folding his arms, he tilted his head at the upside-down man. "You gonna lie there and cook all day?"

[doubled_speed]

Oh boy. This was a sight. A lot of a sight. Tommy had been more or less minding his own business, but even he can't stand by when he sees someone just downing so much alcohol. It's not okay. Or at least, he has to guess that is what the point was. For Tony to get wasted. Which was a problem. Even Tommy of all people knew of the alcohol abuse problems Stark had. It was practically public knowledge back home.

And what hero worth his salt would ever let someone slip back into that. So there was Tommy, suddenly at Tony's side, the bottle out of Tony's hand and in his instead.

"Pretty sure the first rule of heroics is not to let your vice rule you."

[in_extremis]

The bottle getting snatched away when half way to his lips did not startle Tony as much as it probably should have, and instead he raised his eyebrows then frowned with mild irritation as he planted his empty hand into the sand and tilted his head to squint up at his assailant through one eye and the glare of the sun around the frame of his sunglasses. "Second one is 'thou shalt not steal'. I might be thinking of another list," he replied. His head slowly dipped further to the side to indicate that Tommy should put that bottle down now, please, anywhere among the others would be fine. "You'd be the first to expect me to follow any rules," he pointed out, then, more suspiciously, "I don't think we're from the same dimension, you guys are so weird. I saw Thor and Wanda in Billy's head, they were in the Mansion. I don't even have a Mansion. Or a Thor. I wasn't even on the team. I know I'm going to fuck that up, you don't have to try to hide that from me. You're doing a shitty job of it anyway. You're not a very good liar." Did that make this potential future more believable? Theoretically, but Tony still wasn't buying it, he was capable of fucking things up in multitudes.

[doubled_speed]

Of course it doesn't startle him. Tommy'd put money on his uncle doing it to Stark before. All his good tricks don't work on a guy that knew fucking Pietro Maximoff. It's a real shame.

"Totally another list, and seeing as I'm not Christian and a really shitty Jew, I'm gonna let that one go."

With that Tommy sat down in the sand, taking a swig of the alcohol. Nope. You can't stop him, Tony. He's too young and he gives no fucks.

"Maybe you aren't from the same dimension as us, but given you've been trying to be all 'papa Stark' at us, I intend to be all up in your business in return. But if you want to hear all about your shitty life choices and the Civil War and all the bullshit with Wanda and Doom, and then Asgard and everything else, fine. I'll tell you. But you don't need that much shit on your shoulders, right? And you haven't done any of it yet."

Which means Tommy shouldn't hold it against him, right? Right? Fuck tell him he's right, please. Because otherwise he has to stay angry. And frankly? Angry has been making him tired. But he takes that swig and whistles in appreciation again. Just like when he drank with Jon. Fuck this stuff is potent, even for his body.

"In the end, though, I'm doing you a favor. Should take all this away. I was going to come over here and insist that you be smart guy at me and maybe see if I can actually learn some shit after that whole thing in your brain, but now? Now I feel like I have to be your sober companion or some shit."

[in_extremis]

"I'm trying what...?" Tony muttered as Tommy talked, grimacing at this papa Stark accusation and gently trying to take the bottle away from Tommy if that's what was happening. It was bad enough that Tommy had it and Tony didn't, and it was bad enough that he drank so much already apparently, for none of the benefits and only the brain damage, so Tony really didn't appreciate being 'papa Stark' and encouraging some kid to drink at the same time. He didn't think the booze was getting to him, but he was nauseous all at once. He wasn't really paying attention to what Tommy was saying, but could respond with confidence, "But I'm going to. I can see the future."

That didn't make either of them feel any better, and Tony slouched down onto his elbows so he could tuck his shoulders up around his ears, pouting. "You're not going a very good job," he pointed out as his sober companion emptied his bottle. "I wasn't sober for most classes, either, we can make that work. What did you want to learn? I've got some more aerospace engineering on tap if that's still your thing. Goes better with something maltier, but some of those were morning classes, I've been known to have a vodka breakfast."

[doubled_speed]

Don't even. The second Tony starts to reach, Tommy's sitting on the other side of him, bottle still in hand.

"Bullshit. No one can see the future. Not a certain one. There's too many of them. David told me about it, because the X-Men play with that shit too much."

Once he's settled he puts the bottle to the side. Better not to be tipsy. Tony was right. He was doing shit at this already. Still, he's frowning now, at Tony's statement. Yes, he DOES want to learn. Tony had seemed intrigued by Tommy's observations in Tony's memories. And Tommy, in turn had a LOT of fun when they'd had that moment, because it was one of those rare moments when he didn't feel like an idiot. But this?

This is more important.

"Sure, we can talk whatever you want. After you tell me why you're taking this stunning rush at ruining your sobriety."

~sometime later. About when the hangover should be kicking in.

[wearingthestars]

Billy approached with a concerned expression he was clearly trying to mask, offering up a water bottle silently and moving to sit beside him. Given the look of him and the number of bottle he wasn't going to be feeling super hot about now. Speaking of hot, that pink skin didn't look too comfortable, but it could definitely be worse.

"...Hey," he offered finally, dusting the sand off his hands, "How you feeling?"

[in_extremis]

The sand had been freezing at night, but Tony hadn't moved to far, curling around what was left of his bounty for the warmth the alcohol could offer until he found himself blinking irritably in a far too bright morning sun. Only then, he crawled flinchingly away from it, up the beach toward the edge of the foliage and into the shade and the first dusting of grass valiantly stretching its roots under the sand, where he sat curled over his knees for Billy to find, contemplating the easiest way to die without moving any further. He could watch Billy's approach under his elbow, and unlatched one hand from the hug around himself to accept the bottle with only some disappointment that it wasn't more of this planet's alcohol.

"Great," he muttered into the fold of his arms, "Always." He did submit to the minor humiliation of opening the bottle and trying to sip carefully. The burn from laying in the sun for most of the afternoon the day before wasn't so bad, Extremis had largely taken care of it overnight and Tony was more tender than about to shed a layer, but the water did seem to sit on top of his heart while his stomach protested, and tipping his head back to drink was inadvisable. He hadn't been hungover in a very long time, and drinking and cooking at the same time was never going to have a different result. He was wrung out. "Our ship doesn't need anything, thanks, taking care of it," he said before Billy could ask any more stupid questions.

[wearingthestars]

"Yeah?" Billy nodded, and for a moment he just sat there with him, looking out at the water.

"...You wanna talk about it, or is it easier if we don't?" he asked finally, producing a sleeve of painkillers from the air and offering it up in question.

[in_extremis]

There was no real dignified way of accepting that offer now, and he wasn't about to decline, so Tony just took the pills with a pout of resignation and only the slightest challenge in the narrowing of his eyes, daring Billy to share this with anyone and find out what happens. "Nothing to talk about," he insisted, not about to fall that far, but he did pause very thoughtfully after extracting a palming one of the pills. After a beat, he lifted a single finger, just a minute, and primly left the bottle of water where he sat to roll over onto his knees and crawl not nearly far enough away to hurl in decent privacy. Had to get that out of the way before he went wasting Billy's very generous and unprompted offer.

[wearingthestars]

"Right-" Billy started, looking after Tony as he crawled away and wincing when the reasoning became clear. He waffled a moment between given him his privacy and offering him comfort, crawling through the sand after him to rub between his shoulder blades like his parents did when he was unwell.

"You're okay-" he soothed.