Video;

[manofiron]

[ The video begins with a dark-haired man centered in the middle of the frame. He’s got dark eyes, a precisely cut goatee, and hair that’s a little too styled to be naturally that neat. There isn’t a lot to see beyond his chin, he’s sitting too close to the camera, but what can be seen looks vaguely like a shirt of shiny red metal.

His brow knits almost immediately after the feed starts recording, his expression edging toward disbelief as his lips twist into a mild frown. ]

Look. I get it. In a time of crisis, rationing’s necessary to keep resources moving in the right direction. Perfectly understandable. You guys needed to save your turtle. What responsible citizen wouldn’t do their part for that noble cause?

[ There’s a slight hint f sarcasm creeping into his voice, as though he’s heard the whole turtle spiel already and not only hasn’t been impressed, but also doesn’t really buy it either. Not even after having spent half a day scouring the network for information about what’s really going on here before making this video. ]

But really? Twenty bucks?

[ The low, indistinct murmur of another voice can be heard, though what it’s saying and who it belongs to is anyone’s guess. Whatever it says, it’s enough to make the man roll his eyes. ]

Juulan. Whatever. Doesn’t matter. The point — [ Whether he’s talking to the camera or the unidentified voice is unclear. ] — is that it isn’t enough for a day, let alone the entire bogus adventure.

[ It isn’t so much the way he looks at the camera – his eyes have never left it – but the change of his tone, less querulous and more curious, that indicates that he’s talking to whoever’s on the other end of the console. ]

So really. Turtle propaganda aside. What’s a guy gotta do to get some decent money around here? Sell his organs? Hit the street corners? Scrub barnacles off the bottom of the turtle? What?

Comments

[definingfuture]

Why not? You're a Tony Stark. People like to know what you're doing.

[Temper. He really doesn't have room to talk, but he's going to take the liberty to point that out anyway. It doesn't bother him here, where no one really knows what he's up to.]

[manofiron]

[ His eyes narrow, not taking well to that a Tony Stark business. ]

I don't care what anyone else wants. People can get their kicks nosing into somebody else's business.

[definingfuture]

[Oops, is that a button? Yeah, he has trouble with it too.]

Don't take it personally. It could be worse. They actually like you here from what I've seen.

[Or the last one. The other one. Whatever, he's still wearing his face and is probably closer than he himself is to that world's Stark.]

I was joking. I wouldn't actually do that.

[He gives the other man an almost concerned smile. As if he's actually questioning why Tony would be angry at him for the suggestion.]

[manofiron]

[ He doesn't smile back, just looks flatly at the screen for a moment. ]

Whatever floats your boat.

[ It's been too long of a day and it's been filled with too many unpleasant surprises. ]

Thanks for the heads-up about the cloning. I'll look into it.

[definingfuture]

[Ah, he really did push a button.]

I thought you might want to. At the very least they are replicating other worlds' abilities with the hope of fighting off their enemy.

[Maybe a parting gift will help. Or not, but he hopes that Tony will look at the bigger problem they have anyway.]

[manofiron]

Yeah. We'll see how well that goes.

[ It's non-committal, but at the moment, it's the best he can do. ]

I'll talk to you later.

[ That's all the goodbye he can muster and whether he means it or not, he doesn't know. But for now, he's done socializing with everybody. With a last glance, he turns off the console. ]