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Carol was given one of the guest rooms, complete with it's own full bath, to change as Tony changed in his own bedroom. The Penthouse Apartment is quite large with a lot of windows open to view the expanse of New York City. There's a sunken Living Room and a large workshop with various projects in different states of completion. There is also a fully-stocked bar and a sleek, stylish kitchen…a lot of space for someone who just has too much money to know what to do with.
It doesn't take Tony too long to shower and get changed into a nice suit and he's at the bar when Carol comes out. Two drinks have been made…although neither smell of alcohol. "Selzer and lime," is stated as one tumbler is offered to the other.
*
Carol walks out of the guest room, dressed in a navy blue dress that seems to fit her perfectly. About her waist is tied a red and gold sash, and she gives Tony a smile, taking the glass in her hands. "Sounds good to me, thanks." She looks around and whistles softly under her breath, "This, is definitely nicer than the little Midtown place I have, that's for sure."
*
Tony lifts his own glass in a salute before taking a sip and shrugging. "It's all right," is offered blithely. "I was renovating the penthouse nextdoor, but I might just break down the walls and expand my workshop." Since it isn't being used anymore and its renovations are currently stalled. "There's still the house near the Park, but when my dad came back from the dead, I let him have it." Too many weird memories there.
"Where are you in Midtown? East or West?"
*
Carol hmms a bit, taking a sip of the drink before answering, "East. Have a nice little one-bedroom not much of anything… but then I tend to work so much about all I do there is sleep anyway." She chuckles, "I don't know if Peggy told you, but I tend to be a real workaholic. Of course, since the… change, I think I only really need about two or three hours of sleep a night."
Then she pauses and blinks at Tony as something he said registers, "Wait, he came back from the dead? How'd he manage that trick?" She looks a little baffled, as she tilts her head towards Tony.
*
"East side? Good…the West is a little scummy. Peggy has told me very little about you…I didn't even know we would be meeting that day." That's how much he was told. "I don't sleep much either," but that's mostly because his mind just doesn't turn off well.
As far as his father is concerned, Tony just rolls his eyes, "I have no idea. He disappeared for a couple of years, I was told he was dead, we did the whole shebang…and then he comes back, looking younger than he should and all 'Oh, I'm not really dead! Let me be the father I never was'!" which he is obviously not buying.
*
Carol blinks, "Well, that's decidedly weird." She makes a mental note to follow /that/ up with Peggy, later, mostly to preempt any gloating that her boss might be doing right now. Then she grins, "Well, couldn't really be too much worse than my dad." She gets a bit of a grump in her voice, "Now now young miss, we can't afford college for you so just go find yourself a good man and start making babies like a woman should hmph hmph HMPH." The last hmph is /definitely/ hers as she rolls her eyes a bit, taking another sip of her drink.
*
"I don't know if we want to go down that route. I was shoved into Boarding Schools as soon as they could get rid of me and I had to deal with my dad's constant affairs around my mom and his complete ignoring of my existence until he came back from the 'dead'. Which was like…a year ago." He sips at his selzer again and watches Carol, "That doesn't sound different from what most women seem to get. Nothing wrong with it," it's a sign of the times.
*
Carol snorts, "Well, nothing's wrong with it except everything, I think. Not every woman wants that sort of thing, Tony. I certainly don't." She grins, "So when I turned eighteen and got out of school, I said 'to hell with it' and walked right into the Air Force recruiting station and didn't look back." The grin goes a bit sad, though, "Still talk to my mother, but with my dad it's… awkward." She shakes her head, and gives Tony a look, "That's got to be rough though." It's not an unsymathetic look, really.
*
Tony isn't going to get into a discussion about gender rights. He's the -last- person to get into that discussion. "I just wish he treated my mom better when she was alive," but there's another shrug then. As far as the roughness of it, "Not really. I figured out a while ago that my dad didn't really care about me, so the feeling became mutual. I had a better relationship with our butler. It's just the way of things."
*
Carol nods, "The butler." She grins wryly and shakes her head, "And I just grew up in Boston with my parents and way too many brothers." Her lips quirk, "So I guess I had the motivation to try and keep ahead of them. But I guess that's what helps give me drive."
*
"It was just me. I figured the indignity and discomfort of raising a child once was enough." Tony glances over at one of the clocks, judging the time. Not that he cares if they're a little late for the reservation. "What gives you drive now. What -do- you want now?" Not that he's necessarily looking forward to the future with her, but it would be nice to know if they're sort of on the same wavelength.
*
Carol smiles, "Well, right now? To be honest, I want to go to space." She laughs, "Well, not /right/ this second, but working with NASA, I still want to be involved with their astronaut program." A wry expression, "As far as anything else goes… well, to be honest, I hadn't thought that much about it, really." She gives Tony a curious look, arching a brow towards him.
*
"Well, sure, I figured that much," since they chatted briefly about NASA and the Space Program. Tony then arches his brows and gives a little one-shouldered shrug, "Good enough for me." She doesn't want to be tied down and she doesn't want to start a family. Sounds like they at least have those common goals. "Shall we head to the restaurant? You sure you still want to drive?"
*
Carol gives Tony a wry look, "Well, I won the race /and/ drove us here, so I can take a break. Besides, I've heard you have quite the car collection." She then sets her glass down, finishing the non-alcoholic beverage before tilting her head towards Tony, "If you don't mind, anyway."
*
That was really the reason he asked; he wanted to show off his car collection. "That I do. Would you like to see it and choose which one we should take out tonight?" He also sets his glass down and gestures for her to follow him back out to the elevators. As much as he'd like to, he hasn't been able to get permits to build a penthouse garage.
*
Carol smiles and follows along, "Gladly, and I /promise/ I won't ask to drive them. This time." She gives Tony a sly look, walking alongside him as he leads the way to the elevators, "If there's a next time, then we might have to talk about it." Though, her tone makes it pretty likely there would be a next time, barring something unforeseen…
*
Tony grins back over his shoulder at Carol, "I'm not so good at sharing, but if you ask nice enough, maybe I will." He's quickly learning the push and pull interaction that seems to exist between the two…otherwise he gets walked on and Tony isn't going to have that. He already let one woman sort of dictate the terms of their relationship and she's no longer there…because he put his foot down finally. Not going to make that same mistake again.
The elevator will take them down to the private garage where there is an array of exotic, expensive cars available. "So, what catches your fancy?"
*
Carol grins, "Well, I'm sure we can work /something/ out. Sometimes they just need a woman's touch." She winks at Tony, teasing a little as she takes a look out at the garage, stepping out of the elevator, and she lets out a soft whistle.
"Okay… /this/ is impressive." She grins, looking back at Tony before casting her eyes around the garage, "I feel a little like a kid in a candy store."
*
Tony smirks as he leans against one of the walls, his arms crossed in front of him, "What can I say, I have a weakness for sleek curves." Dark eyes are on her, however, and not on the cars. "Careful or I may hold you to that promise."
*
Carol laughs very softly, though she does turn to meet Tony's eyes, and pauses, that smile still on her lips as she processes the look, then says simply, "Let's go with the Aston Martin, then… and see how things go?" She tilts her head, gesturing to the car in question.
*
Tony reaches over to flip open a panel on the wall to reveal a cabinet of keys. One is chosen and the panel is closed back up before he makes his way towards the car of choice. "Excellent choice tonight, mademoiselle." He even moves to gallantly open the passenger-side door for her. "All comfy?" It may not be a sportscar, but they're driving in the city. Another time they may take out the more exotic cars for a -real- ride.
*
The restaurant that was chosen had no issue in finding a table for Tony Stark and his date du nuit. The dinner was, as promised, expensive and extravagant and decadent, even without the wine pairings. Decadent desserts were also ordered and after some lively conversation and the paying of the bill, the two finally headed back to the car.
"You do realize," Tony offers, not terribly quietly but not purposefully loud either, "That while this is the most expensive restaurant in the City, it's not necessarily the best." The valet is tipped when he brings the car around and hands over the keys. "The best is a Jewish Deli on the Upper West Side."
*
A soft laugh emits from Carol at that, as she stands next to Tony, "Oh really? I think I know that one. Though it's a bit late to be going there right now, don't you think?" She smiles at Tony, giving every impression that she did, at least, enjoy the evening so far. "And frankly, after that cheesecake, I don't think I'm going to be able to have anything else… at least if I still want this dress to fit."
*
Tony glances at the dress for a moment, "Well, if it gets too uncomfortable, you can always take it off." There's even a little smirk at that. "Which one are you thinking of since there's probably a dozen up that way." The car is started but he's not moving anywhere yet. "So. Are you so full that you don't want to go back to my place for a drink? Soda…" he clarifies. "Am I driving you to your home or mine?"
*
Carol laughs, "Good point." About what, she doesn't exactly clarify. Though, she hmms a bit, "But I think I can handle a soda back at your place." Her eyes fix on Tony's a bit, as she seems to be measuring his intentions, "At least, that sounds good to me. Though I hope you don't start trying to design a new suit to keep up with me on the cocktail napkins." Her lips quirk just a little, at that.
*
If she's heard anything at all about Tony Stark, his intentions are probably rather clear. He's fairly transparent. "Who needs a cocktail napkin?" is asked as he starts off back towards his building. "I've already got ideas in my head. Napkins…pfft," he scoffs. There's a moment before he offers, "Not sure that I could. Not yet, at least. Maybe…just -maybe- I can break Mach 1. But don't think I won't work on it."
*
Carol hmms, "Well, you'd probably want to get more power in the suit, just because otherwise you'd be losing out on other things way too much. Not sure if it could be made lighter…" She grins, well aware of Stark's reputation it seems, at least in the area of science as she knows enough of engineering to feed that monster, as it were.
*
The 'more power' part is one of the issues. If he can get some other external power source, maybe…but he's not sure if increasing the current power supply would be detrimental. "Lighter is possible. I'm working on that." There's a quick glance to her before he turns back to the road, "you know, I'm not emasculated because you happen to be able to fly faster than me."
*
Carol grins, "Never said you were, Tony." She gets a wry expression, "I just wanted to help, honest. I'm pretty sure the way you've been looking at me when you thought I wasn't noticing indicates 'emasculated' is /not/ a problem you have." Her eyes dance a bit at that comment.
*
"Hey, you're part Alien. Who -knows- what you're better at than I am…" Tony offers with his own wry sort of smile. "I'm glad, though, that you don't have tentacles. That would have been strange." And he's seen those Science-Fiction movies, bad as they are.
It doesn't take too long for them to get back to the garage and to take the newly refurbished elevator back up to the Penthouse apartment. "Another selzer an lime, or are you willing to go a little crazy tonight? I have ginger ale and grenadine." The makings of a Shirley Temple.
*
Carol winks, "If I had tentacles, I'm pretty sure Peggy wouldn't have to set me up for dates." She hmms, "A Shirley Temple… I don't know… I might just get all /crazy/ if I had something like that."
A pause, then Carol says, "Sure, let's do it."
*
Tony smirks and moves to the bar to make her drink…and his, a Rob Roy (coca-cola instead of ginger ale). "Let me know if you get peckish. There's probably food around here somewhere. Make yourself at home," and since she's already been there to get the tour, he lets her choose how to interpret that.
Once the drinks are prepared he brings them over and offers her's, "Here's to…Peggy Carter."
*
Carol takes the drink, then clinks her glass against Tony's, "May she never stop being nosy… not that we're going to have to worry about that." She gets a bit of a lopsided grin, then takes a drink from the glass.
Then she looks wryly at Tony, "So, I guess the question is… what did you want to do for a second date?" As she avoids the question of what to do next on the first one…
*
"Is this one over?" Tony asks after taking a sip from his own tumbler. There's a glance around as if there was some indication that he missed before he looks back to Carol. "I mean, if anything, there's always breakfast tomorrow." It's 1964. That's about as smooth as it comes.
*
Carol laughs a little, "Well, it isn't over yet." She hmmms, finishing her drink and setting it down on the counter. Then she laughs a bit harder at that line, "Oh Tony… that's a little too predictable."
However, she then places an arm around Tony's shoulders, whispering, "Should I call you… or nudge you?" Her eyes look right into Tony's at that, her lips curving into a cheerful grin.
*
"You're the one who's full of surprises, Ms. Danvers," Tony points out with a grin. "Every paper and tabloid seems to know what I like to eat for dinner and what brand of socks I wear, among other things. I'm an open book," and thusly doesn't have to be unpredictable all the time. As she leans in and whispers, his smirk grows, "Who said we'd be getting any sleep?" He them moves in to begin the next phase of the First Date which, despite there being no alcohol involved, may or may not end up in the bedroom.
*
Carol mmms and places a hand on Tony's chest, her lips about an inch from his when she senses… something odd. Her fingers then pull back as she whispers, her lips agonizingly close…
"Is that a nuclear reactor in your chest, or are you just happy to see me?" Carol's eyebrow arches, just a bit, as she waits for a reply from Tony about /that/ minor detail.
*
There's just a brief second of tension and doubt before Tony flicks it away. He whispers back, "Just happy to see you," and moves to fill in that small space between their lips. Maybe he can distract her well enough to at least delay that line of questioning.
*
Carol mmphs a bit at the kiss, and is distracted for… well, a little bit, anyway. She then grins wryly, breaking the kiss as she murmurs, "If I didn't know better, I'd think you were trying to distract me, Tony… not that I'm complaining, but."
Her eyes flicker towards his, weighing him for a moment, then she says, "Tell me it isn't something I need to worry about, and I'll believe it." Because everyone has to have their own little secrets, right?
*
"I'm wondering if I should be offended that my distraction isn't quite working," Tony quips. As she looks to him and asks that question in that way, he's serious for a moment before tilting his head, "It's nothing you need to worry about. I'm not radioactive." Because that would pretty much suck for all involved.
*
Carol chuckles softly, "Sorry, since I got my powers, I can sense energy sources too… and there's a pretty big one right there that isn't due to philanthropy." She lightly taps Tony's chest, right over where the arc reactor is hidden.
Then she smiles a bit wider, "Though, if you want to be more distracting, I have some ideas about that…"
*