[They say that time heals all wounds. Well, that's one hell of a lie. How is anything supposed to heal a wound the size of half the universe?
A month. Three. Six. A year. It doesn't matter how much time goes by when night after sleepless night it's the same thing as if Thanos himself were still in his head, making it all replay back over and over. Mr. Stark... Ashes. The cold, empty void of space. You can pretend, put on the mask and go on like everything is fine, but the ones who matter notice.
And so you lose them, too.
To say that he's totally lost Pepper would be overdramatizing things, but the fact that she's migrated to the couch over the last couple of weeks says all that it needs to.
It's a really comfortable couch, to be fair.
But he knows it's more than just an impeccably cozy couch, it's that he's falling back into old habits; tinkering, drinking, being aloof, he doesn't need FRIDAY to run analysis on his marriage. The thing is, now he just doesn't even have the energy to try.
What he does have the energy for is keeping up with the kardashians interns and their progress. Call it a relapse, but he's been feeling far less charitable these days and is ensuring that his interns really earn both their place and their grants for scientific research.
As such, when the morning comes it's Tony himself scanning them into the building when they arrive for the start of the day. Which is... almost cruelly early at 5 AM, tardiness being unacceptable; anyone arriving past 5:01 AM aren't allowed in the building.
As he scans each interns' badge he verbally tics off their names. Ending up at the last one-]
...Strider.
[There's vague condescension, but that's pretty standard across the board. It's only been a few days, but it's been a very strange few days. There's something in the way the kid speaks that feels... familiar. Which, from being painfully self-aware, Tony knows is textbook projection on his part from the very millisecond it happens.
So the logical thing to do would be to go "Something something sorry, but due to [redacted] your internship is over."
But he didn't and he's compartmentalized it and it's done, wrapped up in a bow where it can't hurt him. Easy.
Except behind the condescending tone there's a different sort of feeling to it. Like... a brother scolding their sibling for nearly being irresponsible. Or a dad wanting his son to do better. Something. It's as weird as you make it.]
no subject
A month. Three. Six. A year. It doesn't matter how much time goes by when night after sleepless night it's the same thing as if Thanos himself were still in his head, making it all replay back over and over. Mr. Stark... Ashes. The cold, empty void of space. You can pretend, put on the mask and go on like everything is fine, but the ones who matter notice.
And so you lose them, too.
To say that he's totally lost Pepper would be overdramatizing things, but the fact that she's migrated to the couch over the last couple of weeks says all that it needs to.
It's a really comfortable couch, to be fair.
But he knows it's more than just an impeccably cozy couch, it's that he's falling back into old habits; tinkering, drinking, being aloof, he doesn't need FRIDAY to run analysis on his marriage. The thing is, now he just doesn't even have the energy to try.
What he does have the energy for is keeping up with the
kardashiansinterns and their progress. Call it a relapse, but he's been feeling far less charitable these days and is ensuring that his interns really earn both their place and their grants for scientific research.As such, when the morning comes it's Tony himself scanning them into the building when they arrive for the start of the day. Which is... almost cruelly early at 5 AM, tardiness being unacceptable; anyone arriving past 5:01 AM aren't allowed in the building.
As he scans each interns' badge he verbally tics off their names. Ending up at the last one-]
...Strider.
[There's vague condescension, but that's pretty standard across the board. It's only been a few days, but it's been a very strange few days. There's something in the way the kid speaks that feels... familiar. Which, from being painfully self-aware, Tony knows is textbook projection on his part from the very millisecond it happens.
So the logical thing to do would be to go "Something something sorry, but due to [redacted] your internship is over."
But he didn't and he's compartmentalized it and it's done, wrapped up in a bow where it can't hurt him. Easy.
Except behind the condescending tone there's a different sort of feeling to it. Like... a brother scolding their sibling for nearly being irresponsible. Or a dad wanting his son to do better. Something. It's as weird as you make it.]