Players:
Summary: Alessia and Kaji arrive at Stark Towers to check on Tony. The pair wind up under the full force of what its like to deal with Tony Stark.
Date: July 1. 2010
Log Title Eccentric Evening
Rating: R (LV)
NYC- Stark Towers - Personal Residence
It was the first of July, six pm in the Big Apple. With nothing noticeably going on corporately for the day, Tony had been back and forth between the labs and his apartment on the 93rd floor for hours. With no plans to wander around the city or deal with the rest of the world he finally stopped the insane back and forth by shutting himself in his bedroom. Having not seen anyone all day it made it easy to pretend he'd vanished again. The only clue giving that away would be the ear splitting eighties power ballads coming from behind the closed doors of the master bedroom.
End of her 'regular' hours had Al coming up to the 93rd floor to check and make sure nothing else needed doing, or tweaking. Red hair was pulled back with combs before it had been brushed to lay over her shoulders. Her blue button-up was buttoned up to her throat, neatly untucked to disguise the gun at the small of her back for work. Black dress pants, the usual heeled boots, a touch of makeup as if this was a day like any other day. A look around, as she gets off the elevator, brows lifting at the power ballads blasting. "Hello?"
Sprawled out on one of the leather couches is Kaji, in his anthro form and he's watching some TV. His tail draped over a leg as he holds his head up with a fan. The music from behind the door isn't bothering him /too/ much but he does have the closed caption on on the TV. When Alessia comes into the room, he looks over and waves a hand in greeting. "Yo."
The music is still blasting from down the hall. Someone really ought to mention that a soundproofing needed to be done for the sake of visitors. It clearly doesn't bother Stark, who hasn't been seen in hours, but is definitely hold up in the bedroom.
Alessia blushes faintly, even as she heads for the couches. "Hey, Kaji." There's a sort of an empathic knocking in Tony's direction, just a little fluctuation of emotion to try and clue him in that his redheaded security head is there. "Y'all had dinner yet?"
Kaji flicks his eyes over towards Alessia and shakes his head a bit before he changes the channel. Time Warp coming on. "I haven't eaten yet. I'm pretty sure Tony hasn't. He's been in his room the entire day." Apparently, he's tried to knock on the door. But the music drowned it out entirely.
The recluse in this equation of friends is face down atop his bed. Neither person out in the living room have been around Tony long enough to know that this is the recovery phase of a mental meltdown. This method was shades better than drowning in several bottles of Scotch but the effect was the same. There's a sudden flicker in his awareness that lets him know that Alessia is probably in the apartment somewhere. Kaji would probably be out there as well. He may pull it together, and go see what is going on with them.
"Ah know there's fixin's for a decent stir fry, if that sounds decent." Alessia knows that because she put the stuff away, of course. "Some rice, maybe a salad?" A glance back towards the blasting power ballads. "Should Ah go see if he's even willing to eat?"
Kaji looks over towards the door, half tempted to throw something through it to get his attention. But he's also knowing that if he did that, bad things would happen. He looks over at Alessia and smirks a bit as he says, "Is there anyway I could get a steak or a burger out of ya? Wolves do like some meat in their diet."
"Chicken in the stir fry isn't meat enough for ya? Ah can grill ya up a burger instead, if ya like. Not like it's hard." Al chuckles, hurrying towards the kitchen. Not that she's avoiding Kaji, or anything. "So is that a no, Ah shouldn't go see if he's hungry, or ya don't have an opinion on the subject?"
Kaji sits up on the couch, and shrugs. "Maybe if you start grilling burgers it'll lure him out. Guys and grilling meat always seem to pull one towards the other." His tail flicks in slight happiness that there's going to be meat on the way. "But, in all fairness. You should see if he's hungry."
Alessia laughs. "Good gawd, just because ya like meat…" But she's pulling out beef with which to make Kaji a burger (or two, in case Tony wants one), and shooting another of those little pulses at Tony. Anybody home? "ya haven't seen him all day?"
Kaji shakes his head. "I came here a few hours ago. Music was blastin'. Knocked on the door. With no answer, I just flopped on the couch and started to watch TV. Thinkin' that he'd come out sooner or later." At the mention of meat, he grins wide and chuckles. "What can I say. Carnivore."
The query brings up the times that the elevator had traveled up to the apartment. After the string of codes that were his, there is one of Kaji arriving hours ago and a note of Alessia's arrival a few minutes ago. Tony forces the music to skip the current song to one that isn't as 'dramatic.' There is another nudge that is slightly alarming. The empathic nudge is better than an explosion or the violence of blaring alarms in his mind. He rolls over onto his back then sits up at the foot of the bed. He'll be out once he screws his head back on.
Alessia rolls her eyes at the wolf, even as hands get busy forming actual patties out of the meat. "Ya want a cheeseburger, or just the plain?" There's a small symphony of movement going on in the kitchen, as the empath gets busy making hamburgers and stirfry and a salad. Which she will beg, plead, or force fed to the boys. "He do this a lot?" A significant look towards the door where the music is still blasting from.
Kaji looks over towards the door for a second. "For the time I've been working for him. I haven't seen him do this in his bedroom. Lab, yeah. But not this." His ears perk up as he watches her make the patties and he says, "Cheeseburger, please." A wide grin, and then added puppy-eye expression.
Alessia laughs at the puppy eyes, shaking her head. "Ah offered, save the big, sad eyes for when ya need it. Though if Ah'm set against somethin', forget it. No puppy eyes are gonna save ya." There's a clatter, her cheeks going warm. "Uh… maybe you should knock. Ah… he might have company."
Kaji snickers. "I need all the practice I can get!" He hops up off of the couch and heads over towards Tony's door. The anthro humming to himself before he starts to knock on the door, hard enough to be heard he hopes. And it's in the tune to one of the songs the two men heard in the Bahamas.
Alessia covers up the fact that Tony might be having 'company' distresses her by keeping busy in the kitchen. There is meat sizzling, and veggies as well. She's totally assuming a guy like Tony has a rice steamer, so she's using that while getting the (bagged) salad from the fridge in order to add tomatoes and cukes and things.
When there is a din in the current song Tony can clearly hear that there's a knock on the door. He lowers the volume a touch and realizes it must be Kaji due to the terrible choice in songs that the man is humming happily along to. He rises from the bed to pull on a shirt. As he does the music flips to a song, clearly the sound of shuffling through the song till Kaji can hear, "And the hand of God just smacked you back into yesterday…" Which might get a laugh if Kaji's being nostalgic about the Bahamas. It really means that he's coming out now.
Kaji lets out a bright laugh as he hears the words, and he starts to move away from the door. "I think my terribad song choice lured him out." He moves to the edge of the couch, and hops back down onto it.
Alessia actually starts humming along with Godsmack, the words coming under her breath "there's no denyin' you were cryin' like a bitch…" Salad put in a bowl and put aside for now, her attention fully on stir frying veggies and meat. "Well, he better hurry if he doesn't want it gettin' cold." There's cheddar going onto the burgers, as she's still humming.
The bedroom doors open just as the music shuts down completely. Tony walks down the hall to see Kaji sprawled out comfortably on the couch. The sounds of cooking and feminine humming from the kitchen lets him know where Al is currently. "What?" Tony asks in general as he slumps down in the one seater that faces Kaji. The wolf may notice the UM tank and shorts. Tony clearly couldn't be bothered to put on anything else.
Kaji looks over towards Tony as he comes out of the room. "Sup, boss." Then he looks back at the TV for a second, taking in a good whiff of the air as he takes in the scent of burgers cooking. Much more to smell as an anthro and it smells nearly five times as better. Or more!
Alessia is all too aware when Tony actually comes out to join the living, her empathy sort of looking for him, as it were. A subtle tension winding its way through the redhead's posture, tightening up her shoulders. "Ya want a burger, Tony?"
"No, thank you." Tony replies to Al's question. He sinks back into his chair as his gaze travels over to see what Kaji is watching. At least it wasn't a Deadliest Warrior marathon again. Once was more than enough.
Kaji glances over at Tony, and hms. "Seems we've found a guy who doesn't like his meat." To branch back to the previous string of conversation with Alessia. He looks back at Time Warp, and moves to sit up. "I'd say don't get any ideas from this show, Tony. But, you've probably already gotten some in the past."
"Have ya eaten today? Ah'm makin' up a sitr-fry an' there's a salad too." Alessia is at least a little subtle about trying to tell Tony he should eat. A glance at Kaji, smirking. "Maybe. Ah still say chicken counts as meat, Kaji." Burgers on a plate with salad that has dressing on it, and it's brought to the Wolf.
Tony avoids the question of whether he's bothered to eat or not. Instead he comments that he's not much of a TV watcher as he only ever has the news running and the occasional film. Seeing as no one's called him today it was probably safe to say that things must be at least running at status-quot around the world. "Bored?" He asks in general.
Kaji shakes his head after he takes his plate. "Nope! Chicken ain't meat. It's not red meat." He takes a bite out of his burger; or more to the point a chunk, and he looks over at Tony after swallowing that bit. "Just another day in paradise." Then he scarfs down the rest of that burger.
Alessia notices the avoidance, and makes up a plate for Tony with rice and stir fry and salad anyhow, handing it to him without a word. "Cheeseburger in Paradise?" Smirking at Kaji as she heads back to the kitchen to clean up.
The plate handed to Tony is set down on the arm of the lounge like chair. He doesn't feel like eating even though it smells good and apparently can be inhaled. "This string of vacation like song references makes me want to go back on vacation."
After practically inhaling his salad, Kaji smirks a bit. "If another vacation is in store. Where would you go?" Notice how he didn't put himself in there. He looks back at Alessia and smirks. "If Tony ain' gonna have his burger. Can I?"
"Sure." Alessia's voice is pretty flat, not much inflection as she cleans up from what little mess she made and didn't clean while cooking. "Tony, is there anythin' ya want to eat?"
The current stoic facade is broken by the slight twitching of an eyebrow. "No. Thank you for offering." Kaji's question has left him a little stumped. It could be because he's locked down tighter than a space station access hatch. "I don't know," Tonys replies after a long pause. "Definitely not a sunny ocean paradise."
Kaji glances over at Tony, a brow quirked in worry before he says, "How about Vegas?" A glance over at Alessia before he looks back at Tony, just to watch reactions now.
"Ya can't go all day without eatin'." Alessia drawls, a glance at Kaji. Back her up here, man! "Yeah, that's a great place to go on vacation." She snickers, getting a bottle of water out of the fridge for herself.
Tony picks up the plate on the arm of his chair to lean across offering it to Kaji. Once his hand is free he leans back into his chair resting his head back on the back of the chair. "No, I broke the bank at the Grand not too long ago. I try to space it out." Puzzling over where he would go, let alone if he was seriously considering it, Tony rises from his chair to slip into the kitchen. He steps to the side of Alessia reaching into the fridge to grab the last of the bubbly water, his free hand briefly crosses over the back of her hand. He's not entirely distant with either her or Kaji on purpose. As he resettles into his chair he makes a mental note to act more lively before he ends up running both of them off.
Kaji takes the plate, setting it down on the coffee table before he looks over at his boss. "… Are you like… the living incarnate of luck when you go to Vegas? If so, next time you go. Take me with." He looks back at the TV, glancing down at the food. He looks over at him when he resettles down in the chair. "You know. Ya really should try the burger. Al did a really good job on it."
Alessia jerks at that touch of his hand, blue eyes quickly looking up at his face, her own flushing hotly. Her expression seems to ask if everything is okay, words she doesn't dare speak aloud with Wolfie right there and all. "Thanks, wuffie." She drawls when he's complimenting her burger.
"I'll have to try it another time." The cap of the bubbly water is twisted off and sat down on the glass table in front of Tony. He takes a sip of the drink before resting the bottle down against one of his knees. "Italy? The mainland, not the Corsican islands."
Kaji slides the plate over closer towards Tony, and says, "I insist that you try it, sir." He quirks a brow at the choice of Italy before he says, "Never been there." He looks back at Al, and motions towards Tony. Get him to eat.
"Ya know, Ah'll be kinda put out ya don't even try it. After all, Ah made ya pasta an' then ya went and pigged out on pastries last time." A look shot at Kaji, shoulders shrugging to indicate she doesn't know how to talk him into it. "Send me a postcard, huh? Somethin' pretty. Ah've never been anywhere outside the States."
It would be easy for the empath in the apartment to pick up a rising frustration from the mostly silent Stark. "Are the two of you babysitting me or here as my friends?"
Kaji clicks his teeth. "Judging from the smell of the room, you'ven't had any food in the past … ten hours or so? I doubt you've had it brought to your room, unless you have ways of getting it in there." He shrugs a bit before he says, "I'm here as your friend, and as your bodyguard."
"What, we can't be concerned? Ah just wanna make sure ya eat somethin' today is all." That frustration dealt with even as Alessia looks a little on edge, pushing a gentle hint of calm towards Tony. "Isn't part of why Ah'm here? Make sure everythin' is ship-shape an' taken care of? Seems to me Ah remember that someone told me he'd /like/ it if Ah cooked an' made sure he ate."
The coffee table is too low for him to be able to effectively bang his head down onto. When he feels the 'alien' touch he sucks in a steadying breath. "Don't," He says about as levelly as he can manage. The calm lasts all but a moment and the force of his thoughts lashes back out. "Look, I think we all need to start over again."
Kaji blinks at the statement before he quirks a brow. Staying silent for now as he leans back against the couch. Silent for now.
"Tony…" Al's voice is low, trying to be soothing, reassuring. "We just wanna make sure ya eat. Ya know, keep ya fueled up for whatever it was ya were hidin' away all day for."
That certainly didn't help matters but it wasn't their fault that one too many things drove him off the deep end. How in the hell was he supposed to explain? Pepper was witness to his inability to ever speak English when it came to expressing his feelings. Kaji being his first target for a response. "I intended you to be my personal guard. I even admit to wanting to push you through Avenger training because I think you can handle it, and will be an asset to the team. I may be taking it wrongly but I had, hoped, that you'd let go of me being boss man."
Kaji nods softly. "You hired me. And now, I do see you as more of a friend than as my boss. But there's still those moments when I am playing 'dog' where you are my boss. Any other time, you're a dear friend." He smiles at the admittances and he nods, "And I thank you for pushing me through that, I do hope that I will have your help in that training."
Tony seems to relax his shoulders slightly. "I can't be sure what you think when you may be avoiding me or exclude yourself. You think I'd really go off jet setting and not want you to come with? Not in an official capacity."
This is where those psy-blocks of Tonys are a real pain in the ass. Alessia takes up a lean, sipping her water, eyes trained on the floor. Her expression is closed off, the only clue to anything not being perfectly calm within the redhead is that her jaw is clenched.
Kaji smiles softly, though it's hidden by the black fur. "I know that you wouldn't. And, there're times where exploring a paradise would be fun alone." The places he can go as a wolf. Numerous!
Tony casts a serious look at Kaji. "Have you noticed? I am alone. Why the hell would I want to go be alone in different country? A mountain is a mountain no matter where its at."
Tony cuts a glance over at Alessia and back to Kaji as he's really telling both of them the same thing. "You know its different when you see something through the eyes of others. People you consider friends."
Kaji says, "Touche, mon capitan," quips Kaji. He nods firmly and says, "But, now you have a wolf who won't leave your side. Be sure to not wear that novelty out." Joking to try and lighten the mood."
Plastic makes a sharp sound under squeezing fingers, as Alessia lifts her eyes from the floor to look at Tony. A moment, just a few heartbeats, is all he'll have to see that fleeting expression of hurt before her face is calm and controlled again. "Then eat somethin', drink your water, an' Ah won't worry an' bother ya any more." A moments pause as her throat aches with an acidic taste there. "Tonight, anyhow."
Tony shakes his head, completely oblivious to what Al is actually saying. "I can't. Wonders of tech aside, I'll get sick and neither of you really want to hear me wretch for ages."
"You can't drink water or juice? Bullshit. Ah don't know what ya've been up to all day locked away, an' maybe ya don't want me to know." A sharper note in Al's voice that could almost rend flesh. "But like hell Ah wanna let ya get all dehydrated an' gross, so Ah gotta call that doctor fella." There's a flush starting to stain her otherwise blanched features, blue eyes dark. "Ya jackass."
Kaji quirks a brow, watching Alessia before he looks back at Tony. He seems a bit lost at the moment before he says, "Alessia. I don't think that Tony got what you were trying to say." He looks over at Tony before looking back at the empath.
Tony could burn holes through Kaji as the poor guys right where Stark is staring. Several times his jaw works as if he's going to say something and refrains. /I'm all right. I'm not going to blow up. I'm not going to panic./ A mantra that he snaps out of when he hears Kaji speak. "What? I honestly can't eat. I'm too…" He can't even say it. Admitting a flaw would be opening up too much of a gaping hole in his personal armor and with his current state of flux, not wise.
That water bottle is capped and set down none too gently by the empath before she's getting in Tony's face. Her calm facade has started shatter, showing the hurt, the backlash of anger it causes showing through the cracks. Her hand on his cheek to try and make him look at her. "Then drink. You're too what?"
Kaji's ears fold back at the stare, and he just shrinks back into the couch. Staying silent for now.
There is a considerable lump in his throat making it difficult to swallow. Never before had he ever come out of his self imposed prison before he was rational. Now he faced his newest friends and was completely incapable of letting them get /that/close. He doesn't scare easily or if at all when faced with things normal people would run screaming from but this, normal human interaction, was completely alien to him. His anxiety returns in full force, nearly out of control, again. "Please, let it go. I can't explain, I don't know how."
Alessia looks at his face, frowning. "Tony…" Her hand dropping away, curling into a fist. "Fuckin' blocks in your head." She snarls, that myth of redheaded tempers very much a reality in that moment. "If they weren't there, ya wouldn't have to explain it..but ya worry me in this state yer in, an' Ah can't…Ah don't know what to do. Or if Ah even have a right to do anythin'." Her voice growing steadily quieter as she speaks, hurt welling up and trumping Anger.
Kaji flicks an ear, listening to them both before he says, "We're here for you, Tony. Whenever you're ready to tell us." Even if he thinks he knows. He looks up at Alessia and doesn't say anything before he just calmly goes back to listening.
"What in the hell do you think is the damn problem!" Tony's famous control is no longer present. Its not out of character for him under extreme stress but those that had spent over a decade living in his personal sphere aren't here to help him now. His hands are fidgeting in a way that is spastic one moment then tense the next. "I manipulate and I have ulterior motives in everything I do. I'm trying to…you two..my damn motive was to…" He can't finish the sentence as he growls begging for one of them to please, for the love of God, get it.
"Ah think your problem is ya can't be bothered to talk to me!" Al's temper is so very, very close to a true explosion. "Your motive? Your /motive/?" Her voice is rising, blue eyes a stormy hue now. "Manipulate an' have ulterior motives, huh? Is that is, Tony? Just wanted to see how easy Ah'd be to …manipulate? We your little ant farm, shake us up ta see what happens?" There's a flash of a small, pale hand, and if Tony doesn't act to stop her, there will be the crack of his face getting slapped. "Ah don't know /what/ your problem is." Her voice has gone from fire to ice, as she willfully uses her empathy to submerge her own feelings from being so active. "Ah don't know what your motive was. Ah'm starting to think this was all just some big …tell me, Tony. Don't make me finish that damned sentence. Ah …Ah think better of ya than that. Ya know Ah do."
Kaji goes to say something, and then the smack happens and his jaw just hangs open for a moment. He draws his maw closed before he says in a calm, yet slightly frightened by a scorned woman, tone. "Tony. Listen. You may have hired us in the beginning. But, that's in the past. We're more than just someone you hired. We ain't going to leave you just because you told us something. I mean, would you have hired me if I told you that I had a problem with chewing shoes in my sleep?" Off the wall? Maybe.
Tony reels from the impact of Al's words before the hand even strikes. He's been slapped before so many times he's lost count, drinks thrown in his face and worse but this, this is devastating. Tony visibly deflates before their eyes. "To.." he can't even look up at them. "To show you that I /care/ before others convince you that I'm a manipulative lying bastard."
"To…to show me… You idiot!" Al's hands are fists, pounding against the side of her leg. "Ah can't speak for wuffie over there, but…ya think Ah don't know you /care/? After…Ah should slap some sense into ya, gawd help me." But she doesn't, a hand up to stroke over dark hair instead. "Think about it, Tony. Ya think ya haven't shown me?" Her voice quiet, almost a whisper. "Until ya locked yourself away an' didn't /talk/ to me, Ah never had a second thought."
Kaji lets out a soft laugh. "Honestly, Tony. Do you think that we don't know that you care?" The anthro has his own reasons behind saying that before he lets Alessia have the majority of the speaking time.
Even as he hears both of them speak to him he knows something that they don't. They haven't been around him long enough to know the truth of things. Stripped down to how he works they would know that even though he means every word he says he will end up hurting them. He will manipulate when he must for everyone's own good. This is why he can't face this. The sad thing is that even though he does this to people he cares about they still remain. He's an ass. A complete and total ass and he deserves far worse than an anxiety attack and getting his head knocked off by both of them.
Even though he knows the inevitable future he can not send them away from him. Maybe, just this once, he might be able to fight against his nature. To fight against his greater good mentality. That fact that he always knows best. The head of the most troubled man in the States falls forward so that his forehead connects with Al's stomach. "I'm sorry," He tells both of them. He's sorry for the dramatics of this evening, he's sorry for being who he is and he's sorry for what he will wind up doing in the future.
"Tony…" Al sighs softly, hands stroking over his hair. "Hey… it's all right. Ya shouldn't get all worked up in your head like this. Just does more harm than good."A glance over at Kaji, though she can't quite meet his eyes.
Kaji looks over at Alessia before he looks back at Tony. "It's alright." He stands up, shifting into his human form before he pats a hand against Tony's shoulder. "We'll be here for ya."
"You know," Tony's voice is muffled because he's talking into a shirt and refusing to move. "This has all been some terrible soap opera plot. All because I'm too much of a normality cripple. Or is it emotional cripple? Don't go telling anyone this. I'll kill you both and they won't find the bodies."
"Then don't tell me to not touch. A little work on my end an' we could probably avoid half this drama, Tony." Al smiles faintly as she ruffles his hair. "Who is gonna believe me, even if Ah did tell, huh?"
Kaji chuckles a bit. "I won't tell anyone. Secrecy is something that I know a good thing about." Now more than ever. He looks over at Alessia before he looks back down at Tony. "I think you're going to need some time to blow off some steam."
Tony doesn't think he has any steam in him but he's quite sure he has enough stress to power a battleship for the rest of its days. "She hits harder than you do," Tony says as he sits back to look up at them both. "I don't deserve either of you but I'm going to try and not fuck it up."
Alessia laughs, "You're such a sweet liar, Tony." A glance up at the much bigger Kaji who has a good foot on her and who knows how many pounds. "Ah think he's jus' sayin' Ah don't hit like a girl."
Kaji clicks his tongue a bit as he smirks. Then he goes to tap Tony's wrist. "You keep tellin' yourself that, bud." He looks at Alessia and laughs, "I'll take that version of things."
Tony looks offended. "Look who's talking," he reaches up to poke at Kaji's chest to emphaize his point.
Alessia arches an eyebrow. "Gonna clue me in here, fellas?"
Kaji rubs at his chest with a laugh. "Yeah, yeah." Then he looks over at Al, before he hms a bit. He glances down at Tony and says, "Do you want to do the honors? Or shall I."
Tony is probably going to get yelled at. "It wasn't anything. Kaji wanted to learn hand to hand combat, so I showed him he shouldn't pick a fight with a much better looking and incredibly talented New Yorker."
Second eyebrow arches to join the first. "Ya mean the two of ya beat the tar outta each other, is what you're tellin' me."
Tony says, "No, I beat the hell out of him, and he bit me.""
Alessia gives both of them a sharp look. Tony gets a swat to the side of his head, and Kaji gets a boot heel for his shin. "That's it, beat on each other, so someone else can come in an' have an easier time takin' out both of ya."
Tony reaches up to cover his head. "Why does everyone hit me?" He doesn't dare, no he does.."I knew she was trouble. Red heads always have violent tendencies."
Kaji lets out a grunt at the boot heel. "Hey! I at least learned my lesson from him! He hits hard for an old guy." He looks down at Tony and laughs a bit before he says, "I think I'm gonna step over here." And with that he steps a bit away from the two.
"Bullshit. Ah'm just passionate. Don't be a moron, an' Ah won't hit you. For a genius, you're pretty slow to figure that out, Stark."
"You!" Tony calls out to Kaji, "I'm not old. For Gods sake I'm not even anywhere near 40." He then looks up at Alessia, "And you! Resorting to last names are we?" He tugs her down to fall ungracefully into his lap. "Slow my ass, Fiore." Completely ignoring the moron comment because its true. Tony waves Kaji over. "Sit back down, Scooby. I'm not going to get blood all over my carpet."
Kaji sticks his tongue out at Tony before he vaults over the back of the couch, landing on the cushions to lay out. "Older than me," mumbles the mutant before he looks back at the two others.
Alessia laughs, before she gives a squeak at being pulled into his lap. Going scarlet, a wide eyed look at Kaji as Tony's arm gets pinched. Though Kaji's probably already done the math.
How things can go from bad to good and back again is a mystery of the world. This is just how a typical day occurs for those that personally know Tony. The roller coaster may be dizzying and you really want to get off but at the next turn you're enjoying it too much. "Any more smart ass comments Benji?" Tony is smiling even as he yelps at being pinched. "Knock that off, I'm fragile."
Kaji has done the math, and he really doesn't care at the moment. "Yer about as fragile as Alessia's temper." He's full of smart ass comments tonight as he nestles himself back against that couch. Getting his spot warm again.
"Fragile my ass, Stark." But as long as the damage is done, she might as well make the best of it. Curling up in his lap a little bit, squirming to get comfortable. A look at Kaji, sheilds dropped. Maybe she's just a little worried the Wolf will disapprove. A snort, before she's putting on her most angelic expression. "Temper? Me?"
Tony snickers before he can stop it. In fact, he's out right laughing and all ready covering up his head.
Kaji shifts back into his anthro form, and glances over at the two of them. "Hell hath no fury like a woman's scorn." A grin before he snickers softly. "And, Al? Your horns hold up your halo quite well."
"Pssht. Ah'm really just a harmless lil' kitten, until ya make the claws come out." Kaji gets a /look/. "Ah don't have any horns."
"She doesn't have a halo either,” Tony says.
( Tony gets a sharp elbow. )
Kaji laughs brightly.
Tony oomphs audibly and has decided that the violence against himself has met a quota for today. He's grabbed a hold of her wrists and isn't about to let go. "All right, now that, that's handled…"
Kaji laughs brightly. "Right, right. You two think whatever you want to. I'll just have my own smart alec remarks." (re)
Alessia snorts, and just squirms in Tony's lap. Her methods of revenge are less than subtle.
Tony quirks an eyebrow. He releases her wrists out of self preservation. "You really ought not to say anything. I'm quite sure she'll side with me, Underdog."
Kaji smirks, and just stays silent as he nestles himself into the leather couch somemore. Mentally drained really from what transpired earlier.
"Ah'll pick my own side, thank ya. Woman's prerogative." Al lifts her chin, smothering a mischievous smile.
Tony is watching the wolf settle in like he owns the couch. With an exasperated sigh he glances up at Alessia. "Hmm, think what you will but since he's camping out and going to get tribbles all over my couch I'm calling a retreat."
"Gonna leave me out in the cold, huh?" Al murmurs, sitting back against his chest.
Tony snorts, "Right. It would be entirely something I would do. Would you like your corner for your soap box to be down the block or at the North Pole?
"Just askin'." Al drawls, a grin up at him. "Ah mean, ya mighta had some plans.'
Tony says, "Before or after my breakdown?"
Alessia shrugs. "Didn't know that was what ya were doin' in there."
Tony nods, "More or less. Heavy on the former. There's more to it but some of it I can't say due to National Security, and yada yada. Come, let us away. He snores in stereo and with echo like Aslan."
Alessia slides out of his lap reluctantly. "Where ya wanna go?"
Tony honestly doesn't know. "I'll figure it out by the time I get in the car." He walks over towards Kaji picking up a pillow on the way past him and smacks the wolf with it. "Be right back!" Tony jogs off down the hall to actually put on clothes that he can go outside in.
Kaji mrfs at the pillow smack, and vaults off of the couch; shifting into his wolf form in mid leap before he stands in front of the door. Growling as he waits.
Tony throws on a pair of black jeans, a white t-shirt that is covered up by a long black sleeve button down, and shoes. A few things are shoved into his pockets before he opens the door to find a growling wolf blocking the way. "Well, at least it wasn't a spoon."
Kaji lets out a bark at Tony before he slips past him, climbing up onto the bed before he curls up right in the middle of it. His bed.
Alessia shakes her head. "Y'all act five, Ah swear." Sighing, taking up a lean against the wall. Watching Kaji curiously, a laugh. "Well, at least he isn't tryin' to keep ya from goin' out."
Tony doesn't turn around. If he does he'll kill the man. "Don't chew on anything!" He walks down the hall and wonders if brain cells vanish when two men cohabitate. When he reaches her side he extends a hand to take hers. As they get into the elevator Kaji would clearly hear Tony tell Alessia, "Don't worry, he's house trained." The doors shutting on Starks laugh.
