1964-04-13 - A Serious Conversation
Summary: Tony and Carol have THE TALK.
Related: None
Theme Song: None
tony carol 


Even Agents of SHIELD get a lunch, and Carol's no exception to that rule. Dressed in a rather professional office outfit that doesn't give away her actual job, she walks along the sidewalk, headed for a small little out-of-the-way Greek place. Mainly because the office has been crazy lately and if she takes a little extra on her lunch hour… well, it IS Uncle Sam's dime after all.

*

When one owns the company, they can take as long a lunch as they want. At least, that's Tony's thinking. He didn't hesitate at all to meet Carol down in the Village for lunch - at least it's close enough to the Financial District. He's dressed in his usual well-made suit since he had to go into the office that day…he's there most days, really, since no other Admin has been able to handle the company as well as Pepper could. It means he has to actually do some running of it, which means less time tinkering at home.

At least the construction is pretty much completed on the building and he's begun opening up the apartment next door for a new personal lab expansion.

All that is, frustratingly, running through his head as he heads over to the little restaurant to meet Carol. Maybe they can extend their lunch just a little longer still since it's been a little while since their last rendezvous. He arrives around the time she does and gives a smirk before opening the door for her to precede him inside.

*

Tony does get a wry smile as he opens the door for Carol, letting her pass by into the restaurant, "It's been a little while, hasn't it?" She tilts her head back towards him, and then waits a moment for the waiter to show them both to a table. Her tone isn't accusatory in the slightest, though it might sound that way to those that don't know her as she follows up, "I mean, I know you've been busy with your work and everything."

*

"Yeah, training a new assistant isn't as easy as I thought it would be," Tony offers with a grimace. "He's good…had the good credentials and everything, but," but he's not his previous assistant who has now betrayed him by working for the Competition. "But you shouldn't be left in the cold because of that." He's also Tony, so he often gets distracted by his own projects. "Needed to get away from your own 'office', huh? This isn't exactly close to Chinatown." Yes, he knows where the SHIELD offices are.

*

Carol smiles wryly, "Hey, just be glad you didn't hire me… I'm better at shooting the competition than negotiating with them." Okay, a bit of an exaggeration, but still… not entirely unaccurate.

At the mention of Chinatown she chuckles, "Chinese with Phil and Pegs is nice and all, but sometimes you need to get out and explore a bit. And this is probably the best Greek place in Greenwich." As the waiter shows up to escort them to a table, she grins, "I knew what I was signing up for, in any case."

*

Tony arches an eyebrow, "You sounded like you weren't interested when I brought it up." And while he was sure she'd be able to do the job, he would have been distracted. Ahem. "Shooting some of them wouldn't be such a bad thing."

He politely waits for Carol to be seated before he takes his seat as well, "Yeah? Good to know. Have you been to the sushi place in Chinatown though?" It's a fairly new restaurant and the only one in the city. "Amazing. Just amazing."

He starts to glance through the menu before he looks over it at the other, "How do you mean?"

*

Carol looks at the menu, as that's a convenient way to not look directly at Tony as she says, "Oh, you know… no strings, that sort of thing." She ahems a bit, "Well, shooting some of them maybe, but then you'd have to be the one to explain to Peggy why I wasn't working for her anymore." And who really wants to try and do /that/.

At the mention of the sushi place, she peeks over her menu and smiles at Tony, "Mikuni? Yeah, that's a pretty great place, though it's still a bit spendy for my salary on a regular basis."

*

"That part's easy. I'd pay you more." Because really…is SHIELD a good living? Tony glances down at the menu as well but then glances back up. "Next time we'll meet there then." He doesn't seem concerned about the prices on the menu there or anywhere, really. It's part of the privilege of heing a Stark. "See, if you worked for me, we get take-out from there every now and then…" although if this place is as good as she says, he may have to add another to the menu list.

At the mention of 'no strings' he leans back in the chair, "You ok with that arrangement?"

*

With that question, there's a bit of a pause, then she looks over her menu again at Tony, "Are you okay with that arrangement? Because it really seems like you want me closer with all the job offers." She smiles a little, teasing there… but not completely, then she sets the menu down and looks at Tony.

"I'm happy where things are right now, don't get me wrong…" She hmms, and shrugs a bit, "But I'm wondering if we're just settling for the easiest way to do it, sometimes. That's all. And I'm wondering if you were thinking the same thing." She tilts her head at Tony, taking a sip of her water as she looks at him, since the conversation seems to have veered to Serious Territory, at least for the moment.

*

Uh-oh…Serious talk. "I'm mostly teasing about the job offer. Mostly. You just seem like a go-getter and that's what the job needs, but I think you'd be bored and miserable." She's a woman of action, that much he's learned. Sitting at a desk all day probably isn't her idea of fun. Oh, she put the menu down. That can't be good, can it? Tony does so as well, albeit a little more hesitantly. There's a pause as he considers her statement before he offers a question of his own, "Is that such a bad thing? We do things the hard way -all- the time. Isn't it ok to take the 'easy way' every now and again?"

*

A soft laugh comes from Carol at that, "No, it's not. Like I said, I don't mind what we have, it's just…" She pauses, and her eyes narrow just a little. Not much, but enough, even as she still wears that hint of a smile. Then she says, "You know, you didn't exactly answer the question Tony."

*

"Technically, you didn't ask a question," Tony points out with one of his usual smirks. Oh, what he would give for a drink right now! Serious conversations should not be had sober! "I'm not sure I believe that 'I don't mind' statement…"

*

Carol rolls her eyes a little at that, "If I minded it, I wouldn't still be doing it, would I?" She grins at Tony, matching his smirk with a wry look of her own, "But I think I deserve an answer to the question that I haven't yet asked, only in the most technical sense. Though I think I already know the answer." Her eyebrow arches just a little bit as she keeps her attention focused on Tony.

*

Tony just blinks a moment. "Uhm. What's the question that you didn't ask? I don't really know what I should be answering here." Yeah, he could really use that drink around now. "I'll happily answer it when you ask it though."

*

Carol chuckles, very softly, "Are you happy with the way things are right now, or do you want something more than what we've got right now?" She leans back in her chair, looking pretty nonchalant either way as she watches Tony sweat it out.

*

Ohhh. -That- question. "You do realize that's a dangerous thing to ask," Tony points out, quite possibly stalling just a little bit. "I'm happy with the way things are now but…are you looking for something more?" Because if it's one-sided, that can always lead to trouble.

*

Carol hmms, "Maybe. I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm pretty happy with just meeting up for a night, or day, out once in a while with how busy life gets for me." Because, you know, superhero AND superspy at the same time can be complicated. She then shrugs a little, "But by the same token… hell, I like you, Tony. That's why part of me is wondering, you know, maybe we're missing something that'd be even better?" She grins, "But like I said, it's been a nagging thought, especially with the constant offers of a job to keep me closer." With that, she winks, then takes a drink of her water.

*

This is always where it gets deep. Tony isn't so good with depths…it's far easier to be shallow. Why aren't they drinking and discussing this? He flicks a couple of times at the menu before giving a sigh; having to go too deep is always hard. "I like you too, Carol, and I enjoy when we spend time together. But to be brutally honest, I'm not good at -real- relationships. I muck them up and I'd hate to hurt you by screwing things up. If you want to take that risk, Hell, I'm all for it. But consider yourself warned."

*

Carol gives Tony a wry look, "Oh, don't sell yourself short. You aren't exactly looking at a paragon of relationship success." She reaches across the table, offering Tony her hand, "But like my Latin teacher says, sometimes you have to carpe a diem, you know?" Her eyebrow arches towards Tony, lips curving in a grin, "And I haven't gotten where I am by being afraid of risk."

*

Tony takes the offered hand but doesn't look quite as confident as she, "Sure, but you're the one who'll get hurt." Because that's sort of the way Tony is. He hurts those he cares for because it's so much easier to only think of onesself. "I'm always willing to take risks," but he's not usually the one hurt by them.

*

Carol grins and gives the hand a squeeze. Not at full strength, obviously! "Hey, you know what? Getting hurt is part of life. The question is if we give up and stop, or if we keep going." She leans forward, rising up out of her chair and giving Tony a light kiss on the cheek, whispering, "And… I think I'm due for an afternoon off. Just sayin'."

*

Tony isn't a stranger to being hurt. No doubt it's why he has so many walls and hides behind so much. He actually looks thoughtful until Carol leans forward to whisper those magical words to him. Eyebrows lift and he raises his hand to catch the attention of the waiter, "We'll be taking this 'to go'…"

*

Carol stifles a bit of a laugh, unable to help it, "Sounds good to me." She grins, finishing her water as the waiters bring boxes for lunch, her head tilting a bit towards Tony, "Penny for your thoughts? Well, aside from the obvious ones?" She did catch the thoughtful look earlier, after all, though she's still good at teasing, just a bit.

*

"Aside from the obvious ones?" Tony smirks, "Just thinking that you're probably too good for me and you'll realize that soon enough." It might be a good thing that she's not a mind-reader. "Your place or mine?" If she even asked nicely, he'd make some space in his closet for her. It's not like any door-men will give knowing looks, especially if she flies in through the balcony.

*

Carol grins, "Well, since I want to keep this… ah, relationship going for longer than the five minutes you're in my tiny apartment, probably yours." She winks, "And I wouldn't worry too much about that. I've seen you up close for a while now."

*

"I've been in small apartments before, you know." Not often, but on occasion. Tony stands and reaches for the take-out boxes, "And you haven't run away yet? I guess that bodes well…" she also knows his secret, so there's that impetus to try and make things work, at least for a little while. The last thing he needs is Peggy barging in demanding to know why his heart isn't actually working on its own.

*

Carol chuckles, "Not only that, I wanted to go further. Imagine that?" She looks wryly at Tony, "But sure, we can go to my place… it's actually pretty quite this time of day, everyone's at work." Her lips quirk, "Though it's really more a place I just sleep than anything else."

*

"I'm not entirely sure you really want to do that," Tony offers in regards to her going further, but he offers a hand to Carol. If she's willing to give it a shot, Hell, he will too. If anything, she'll push him to be competitive? 'Anything You Can Do, I Can Do Better!' anyone? "Well, if everyone's at work, we won't have to worry about bothering anyone, will we?" Besides, it will do him good to see how the other 99% live.

*

Carol grins wryly, taking Tony's hand and giving it a squeeze as she takes the boxes in the other. "That's kinda what I'm thinking, actually. It's pretty quiet this time of day. And not /that/ far from here."

*

And no whispering co-workers…not that they'd necessarily see them, but in order to get to the elevators, one must go through the foyer of th building. The LARGE foyer. Full of people. "Close is good…gives us more time." To eat and enjoy the rest of the afternoon. "You sure you won't get in trouble for this?"

*

Carol shakes her head, "I've got a ton of vacation time saved up, I'm pretty sure I can take an afternoon off. Though I can't really beg off for being sick…" She looks a bit amused at that, "Since, well, I can't anymore."

*

"SHIELD gives you vacation time?" How…progressive of them! And here he thought it was an old Boys' Club despite the fact that a woman is in charge. "You can't get sick, huh? That's a nice little upgrade…" not that he wants to try to get her sick or anything. Has he gotten sick since his return from Vietnam? Not from any virus…maybe just hung over. That sort of sickness. "All right, m'Lady…lead on," since Tony doesn't quite know where he's going from here to her apartment.

*

It's not a far walk from here to her apartment, which actually is right on the border of Chinatown. She goes up about two flights of stairs, then manages to get the door unlocked.

Inside, it's far too spartan to be a mess, but it's pretty obvious that Carol spends most of her time at SHIELD HQ or out doing other things as this place barely looks lived in. There's a stereo cabinet in the corner, along with a couch and a recliner. The kitchen is full of… nothing, really, though there's a blender and a few other gadgets on the counter. The door leading to the bedroom is open just a crack, and a feline head pokes out as Carol's cat makes an appearance, the tortoiseshell feline peering at Tony suspiciously with a "Mrowr?"

*

Tony was expecting a chaotic sort of place with clothes all over and uniquely decorated. The simpleness of the apartment has him doing a little double-take, "Haven't lived here for very long, have you?" he offers before the cat pulls his attention. "Who's this?"

*

The cat, well, more like a kitten really, bounces out and peers curiously at Tony, as if inspecting who this newcomer is. Carol chuckles a bit, and after setting down the boxes of lunch, holds her arms out, which causes the cat to do the standard buttwiggle/pounce right into Carol, who makes the catch.

Carol grins at Tony, "This is Angel. Had her for almost a year now. And yeah, I don't spend that much time here…" Against one wall is the standard pilot "I love me" wall, with Carol and some of her wingmates standing by fighter planes of various kinds, as well as her graduation photo from the Academy.

*

"You have that…cute little cat and you don't spend time with her?" Shame! Tony isn't that great with animals, but he reaches out a hand to tentatively scritch at the cat's head once she's in Carol's arms. He glances at the wall briefly even as his eyes take in the rest of the apartment. "It's nice. In a very…Military sort of way."

*

Carol snickers, "Well, I was /in/ the military, and I do spend time with you, don't I Angel?" The kitten purrs, doubly so when Tony adds to the scritching, and Carol then looks over at Tony, "I'm here when I can be, but between SHIELD and superheroing, sometimes I do wish I could just stay in for a day and play with the cat. Isn't that right Angel?" With that, Carol lets the cat scamper up and perch onto her shoulder, not minding the claws since… well, they'd have to be pretty tough to break her skin.

*

"What about weekends? Are you still working at SHIELD and superheroing on the weekends?" Granted, the latter tends to be at a moment's notice, but the former? "I think everyone needs some time like that." He certainly does, as that's when he ends up working on his own projects…well, then and pretty much all the time. His assistant is there to go to meetings for him!

*

Carol hmms a bit, "Well, I do have weekends off, which I actually spend here. And really, I might have been exaggerating a little." She smiles a bit, "I know Peggy's pretty good at giving me time when I need it, especially with everything that's happened the past year or so."

*

"All right then. Nothing that cute should be left alone all the time," Tony offers with a grin as the cat perches on her owner's shoulder. It's cute…until it gets into all of his delicate components and scratches up his very expensive furniture. Better keep the cat where it's a little safer. Of course, now they may have an audience.

*

Carol chuckles, "Well, I think so. And she's very well behaved. Doesn't even scratch anything aside from the scratching posts, isn't that right?" She rubs under the kitten's chin, who looks completely smug that there are now two human minions for it instead of just one. Then the kitten leaps off Carol and bounds to the couch, curling up on the corner of it as if it tired of the tribute the minions offer for now.

*

Typical cat. Tony watches as it bounds off towards the sofa to take up residence there. "Hmm," is offered in response to the comment about 'well-behaved'. He isn't sure he quite believes that. Now that the mood is broken a little though, he glances back at the food, "I guess we should eat before it gets too cold?" While the cat either stares at them or takes a nap. Maybe the latter so then they can sneak off into the bedroom later.

*

A quick nod, "Sounds like a good idea." She saunters ahead to the kitchen, "Want plates, or just out of the box? I mean, mine's a gyro, so…" She gives Tony a curious look, then adds, "Sadly, my place is dry, I just have water, milk, or tea. Though I could put some coffee on."

*

"I kind of got that from you…no booze at all." And he's even trying to be polite by not drinking it in front of her. Maybe he's been to meetings before, maybe he just knows some of the signs. "Water, I guess. Milk or tea might go weird with the food." He got a souvlaki platter himself, so not too different. "I'm fine with eating out of the box…" it seems to suit the spartan look of the place.

*

Carol laughs a bit, "I know, I'm horribly subtle about these things." She pours two glasses of ice water, heading out to the dining table to put them down there, along with some silverware, "After I first got my powers, I started drinking… a lot. And it just got, well." She shrugs, apparently at some semblance of peace with it now as she sits down at the table.

*

"And now you don't touch it. And I'm guessing you'd prefer that I not touch it either…" which means he may or may not have to time his visits well. He can stay off of it, but one, he doesn't think he has a problem, and two, he kind of likes it. He likes the image, he likes the taste, and he likes the way it feels going down. Tough to beat that. Tony waits for her to sit back at the table before digging in.

*

Carol glances over at Tony, and smiles a bit, "Didn't say that. You do what you want to do, Tony, I'm okay with that." She chuckles, "I'm not gonna preach about the evils of it or anything, I'm just in a good spot where this works for me. You're free to do what you want." Carol then winks at Tony, before going to work on her gyro.

*

There's an arched eyebrow before Tony asks, "Are you sure?" Because if they're going to 'take that risk', shouldn't he be mindful of that? Although maybe this is part of that risk? Or is she just saying that now so she can chide him later for it? Yeah, Tony's dated some real 'winners' in the past. He also works on his meal and considers the implications of this particular topic. "Well, I'm glad you're in a good spot, at least."

*

Carol tilts her head, "Seriously, Tony, what you want to do is fine. I appreciate the fact you've been avoiding drinking when I'm around… but you don't have to stop on my account." She grins, "Relax. I'm not going to show up at your apartment with a horde of pamphlets or anything." With that, she leans over and pecks him on the cheek, "But I think it's sweet you're worried about it."

*

"Hey, I had to make a good impression, right?" is asked after that peck to his cheek. "I mean, as if my good looks and charm wasn't enough…" he pops a bit of the souvlaki into his mouth before giving Carol a grin. "Good to know you're not going to try to reform me. Lots have tried…" but none have been quite like this one. This will indeed be interesting.

*

Carol snickers, "Tony, I'm pretty sure that if I was going in with the intent of 'reforming' you, it'd last about two weeks. Or one week if you asked me to cook." She grins and takes another bite of the gyro, finishing that before continuing, "If you want to do it, I'll back you. But I'm not going to ask you to do it."

*

"That's what delivery is for, right?" To bring in food? Pepper always made sure that his kitchen was stocked but now without her, well…one of the assistants gets the job of grocery shopping for him. It hasn't been pretty. They still need some training. "Or we can try cooking something together and see what ends up catching on fire?" As far as his drinking goes, he just sort of drops the subject. He still doesn't see it as such a bad thing…for him.

*

Carol nods, "Well, we can try and team up on something… that would be… interesting." She hmms, "Though, you have to promise me that your butler won't laugh horribly at us while we make the attempt."

*

There's a little cough when Carol mentions his butler, "You mean the robotic one that I have tied into my security system? I mean, I think the only thing that he'd be able to do would be to call the fire department and employ the sprinkler system? Other than that, I don't think he'd care." But now he wonders if he should try and figure out how to give the robotic/computerized system a sense of humor.

*

Carol chuckles, "The Fourth Law of Robotics, under no circumstances will you be allowed to laugh at the fleshy people's feeble attempts at cooking." She grins at Tony, "Careful, I used to read quite a bit of Asimov for the Susan Calvin stories."

*

Tony gives a laugh, "Is that really a law?" Because he's totally going to try to program cookbooks into JARVIS now. "I mean, I might be able to get my dad's butler out of retirement, but…I think he's enjoying himself too much to want to come back just to peer over our shoulders and make annoying yet helpful suggestions."

*

Carol grins, "It's /my/ law now. Though I'm pretty sure Asimov just has the normal three." She shakes her head, "And no need to worry about a butler just yet, I don't think. I'm sure we can manage /something/. Grilled cheese, maybe." Yeah, that won't be a problem!

*

"I was thinking salad…or a cheese plate." Something that doesn't require much work at all. Start small and all that jazz. "I don't know that I want one. I mean, my place isn't -that- big and no one comes to the front door without me letting them in…" not like it was when they were at the house (mansion). That was a different beast all together. Tony works some more at his lunch, "So now you have a law of robotics?"

*

Carol chuckles, "Well, it's probably more like a guideline than an actual law…" She nods, "I'm sure we can figure something out. Of course, this is New York, ordering out is a time honored tradition."

*

"Probably less chance of food poisoning as well…although you're probably immune to that too." Tony looks at Carol for a moment, "I hope you're not immune to any of the fun things…just the 'not so fun' things."

*

Carol grins a little slyly as she looks at Tony, "I think you'll find I'm not immune to fun…" Her eyebrow arches, just a little bit, as her eyes meet his. "At least, I don't think I have been so far."

*

"Well, so far you seem to be enjoying yourself…" at least as far as he can tell. It would kind of stink if she were resistant to close human contact. Tony returns her sly grin, "You know, we do seem to have all afternoon now…"

*

Carol arches her brow, "Race you?" She grins, then suddenly bolts to her feet, not using anything more than 'normal human' speed to dart to the bedroom.

Meanwhile, Angel? Still sleeping on the couch. Pfft. Silly humans.

*

Wait, what? "I wasn't finished!" Tony shoves a last little bit of souvlaki in his mouth before he darts up from the table, losing the race. But he has food! At least she's not the shy, retiring type to play games! The match may be better than either of them thought.

*

Unless otherwise stated, the content of this page is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 License