05 § video;

[definingfuture]

[Tony starts out sitting in front of the console. He's a little slow to start up what he wants to say-there's an awkward pause beforehand like he's just sizing them up through the video itself.]

So, I've been busy lately. And I've gotten a little distracted by other things, but-

[Something catches in his throat and cuts him off. Tony clears his throat and tries to look casual and calm. He's distracted and maybe in need of some sleep, with his attention wandering from the feed, but he's not going to drop the flippant tone. Especially not now.]

But apparently there have been some strange disappearances lately, and those people might actually still be around.

[He seems to want to say more, but his heart isn't in it. Maybe he should be offering to try to help those semi-disappeared people. Probably. Unfortunately he can't make himself do that.]

That's not what I want to talk about. I need... [Don't finish that, Stark.]

I need someone who knows how to take care of flowers. Horticulture isn't my thing and I have some and I have to make sure they, they don't die, so if you have any advice, I could use it. That or animal counselors. I'm sure those exist out there somewhere.

[ooc: cw for mentions of child deaths and violent arguing.]

Comments

Re: 2/2

[fuckcable]

What I want you to say doesn't matter. You're not going to mean it, so what's the point?

[Ric grew even more furious at the laughter. It was a dismissal, and he knew it. The 'without any reason' part reminded him of something, though.]

Maybe I am. So, that makes me like everyone else. Or were you too busy worrying about Stamford to remember that a busload of kids got killed for being ex-mutants? The problem isn't that you wanted to train heroes. I get that. I registered. The problem is that not everyone's like me. They've got families, kids living with them. They can't trust their information to any database.

Especially not one with as many backdoors as the Avengers.

[definingfuture]

[Tony's barely registering the shift in anger. He expects Ric to be angry, so he almost doesn't pay attention to the fact he's getting angrier. He wasn't even looking directly at the console, more or less getting ready to hang up.

Until he hears the response. Tony's head jerks back and he all but leaps out of his chair.]

You stupid, selfish- Just what the Hell do you think this is? A game?!

It doesn't take a genius to figure out that public sentiment wasn't great. So now you want to tally up the numbers to see who was suffering more? Because these kids or those kids are what, exactly? Worth more?

[The exactly details are fuzzy, but he's read up enough to know the basics. It's enough to make the metal creep up his arms like a twisted, living thing.]

I don't know what I wanted. I didn't want that. But what I'm hearing is that "everybody else" doesn't give a damn either!

[Tony's body gives a short jerk that cuts off when the feed suddenly disconnects.]