tushanshu | 11 ❄ ( VIDEO )

[ Jack looks better than he has in months and the combination of his newly cooled 3-A treehouse and the wearable unit Jack kept under his hoodie for when he went out meant he was back to his usual good (ahem) spirits. He was busy during the Yard Sale and may have borrowed some of his "allowance" from his shares of SI to fund a few of the things, but he thinks they'll be well worth it. All gifts are delivered overnight with no excess fanfare, just his initials in the corner of each simple folded card. ]

So, someone should catch me up on what kind of summer holiday things should be happening around here. Not that they'll be nearly as good as winter activities, but I'm gonna be gracious and give them a chance.

[ private to Tony Stark (MCU) / basic encryption; ]

[ There's no evident trace of Jack's consternation from a few days ago in Jack's voice -- nor his expression, though he doubts the man has acquired the ability to see him yet. ]

So I wanted to apologize for the mix-up when you arrived and introduce myself properly. My name's Jack, it's nice to meet you. Don't worry about the whole not-seeing thing, that'll probably wear off, it's kind of part of the spirit thing. Also, please don't mind the bed that's in the Stark Building freezer if you go in there, kind of a long story. Anyway, it sounds like Pepper and Bruce have got you settled in, so maybe we'll run into each other at SI some time! Catch you later, Tony.

---

((OOC: Since we have lots of new people, don't forget to check out Jack's permissions post for whether your character can see/hear him or whether they will view an empty feed/audio only/etc. ))

Bean: A small study book of beginner's Greek and a box of assorted sweet treats.
Bruce B: A little fountain for meditating that moves fire as a liquid, similar to the ones in Fire Sector.
Clark: An audio file sent to his console with approximately 30 min of basic sentences first by the Wind, then translated by Jack.
Costigan: A pair of baseball gloves and a ball.
Damian: A fill in the blanks book for creating your own story and a box of assorted sweet treats.
Finnick: Rent in full on the fishing shop paid for a month and dinner at Finnick's favourite place to get food.
Henry: An (according to the kedan, at least!) endless-ink pen.
Ivy: A simple music box shaped like a bird.
Kara: Tickets to a local kedanese play.
Korra: A note for a prepaid outfit of her choice from a seamstress in the Earth Sector willing to match Water Tribe style and a coupon book for "10 free bedtime stories".
Leonardo (2012): Directions to a restaurant where he can get damn-near-accurate-pizza free for a month.
Midii: A book on string games and a box of assorted sweet treats.
Pepper: A large coffee mug with cute sayings like "remember that you make someone smile!" painted in rings on the inside, so the more coffee drank the more of them are revealed.
Percy: Reservations for him and Annabeth at a high-end kedan restaurant where tables are impossible to get and a note marking their dinner paid for in advance.
Renly: Another bottle of the wine he purchased during their conversation at the Yard Sale.
Rose: A paid visit to a local spa.
Santo: A series of hyper-buoyant belts and rings made from a special kedan "foam" that can keep even Santo's weight afloat so he can go swimming if he wants.
Traci: A paid visit to a local spa.
Vanessa: One of the recipe books she had been eyeing at the Yard Sale when they spoke.
Victor: A crate of every sports ball and accessory Jack could think of.
Victoria: A jenga tower and a box of assorted sweet treats.
Zatanna: A new tin of her favourite tea and tickets to (basically) kedanese opera, complete with formal wear required.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ He mouths the words Green Lanterns, forehead wrinkling with something like confused disbelief. What kind of name is that? ]

That's stupid. And impractical. Who thought that up?

[ Probably the leader of the spirits or whatever. Tony rolls his eyes. ]

Look, why don't we just fix it? You're obviously there. You can touch the console. There's got to be a way cut through the superstitious red tape.

[ That part, he agrees with you on. ]

Thaaaat's a whole other kettle of fish, Tony. Trust me, it'll be easier to take it in small steps.

Belief is... belief. Sorry, but you can't fake it.

[ He's not really all that great with belief. He'd rather just avoid it entirely. ]

Belief implies the lack of knowledge. I don't need to believe you're there. I know you're there. So it's not really believing in you. It's believing in the system that you're part of.

Belief isn't a lack of--!

[ his voice abruptly has clear frustration in it, as this is both a touchy subject and evidence of emotions not so far below the surface ]

... fine, whatever. Think of it however you want, let me know how that works out for you.

[ He hears that frustration, recognizes that he's blundered into a touchy subject. ]

Look, I'm not trying to insult you. I'm a scientist. This isn't really my area of expertise.

[ it's tamed away again quickly; not wanting to derail things already ]

That's fine, there's others here that... use that method.

I'll work on it. In the meantime, I'll see if I can calibrate my equipment to see your energy signature. I know it's not the same, but it'll be a start if I can manage to do it.

Sure, that sounds great.

[ not even a little bit great. ]

[ He's made enough comments like that to know when it's insincere. Part of him wants to make a snide comment about inferior models, but he has the wherewithal to keep his cutting remarks to himself. No sense tainting the guy's memory of that other guy by revealing himself as a petty jerk. ]

If you don't already have one, tell Bruce you want office space at the company. I hear he's in charge now. Give him some work to do.

[ Jack opens his mouth to reply, what would I need with office space? that would like the opposite of fun! but he closes it again. If that's what Tony wants... ]

Yeah, I can do that but I don't think he's in charge. Wouldn't that be Pepper?

[ When he'd actually had an office back home, he'd filled it with toys. His equivalent of toys, anyway. Made it a lot of fun. ]

I don't know. Is it? I heard he's the one making personnel decisions. That sounds like the boss to me.

[ And it bugs him. So Tony's made it his mission to refer to him as the boss as often as possible. ]

I can ask both of them, I guess.

Part of the fun of owning a part of something means that you don't have to ask permission. Relax. It's fine. You know them, right? You know they're good people. You don't have to worry about tiptoeing around them.

[ quiet, fond ] They're very good people, that's why you fit in with them. Seems to be a Tony-specific thing.

It's not really a fit. They just have more patience than most people do. I'm glad you found them.

[ a pause and then: ]

You're gonna need a whole new thing on not putting yourself down, huh?

Not particularly, no. Lectures don't do it for me.

They don't for me either. Besides, it's better to show than to tell.

Helpful tip? Dinosaurs. They're a more impressive presentation than an old stamp collection. Real dinosaurs if you can swing it. Plastic ones if you can't.

[ The implication here is that he took actual dinosaurs to show and tell as a kid. Which is utter bullshit. That would imply Tony had friends as a child who weren't the ones he built. ]

How about snow ones?

Snow dinosaurs are perfectly fine.

Okay. You bring... you, and I'll bring the snow dinos.

Where am I bringing me to?

It's a surprise.

Secrecy's going to make my getting there really awkward. FYI.

(no subject)

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