2011-05-25: Slow And Steady

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Pietro_icon.jpg Tony_icon.jpg

Summary: Pietro runs a simulation designed to show Tony how superspeed is.

Date: May 25, 2011

Log Title: Slow and Steady

Rating: PG


Avenger Mansion


The Avengers Mansion, lower levels, and the training room. It's taken Pietro quite a while to set this simulation up because it's not something he normally does, nor is he technologically inclined. Still, there the man stands in the blank room, waiting for his friend. Hasn't started anything because he didn't want to ruin the surprise. And when Tony finally arrives, Pietro asks, "Are you sure you want to do this?" Asked with amusement. No one seems to believe him those few times he tells that living with superspeed isn't all that fun.

There are distractions to be found everywhere to keep Stark from arriving on time as usual. There's phone calls to return, documents that need signing, people to ignore and Jarvis caught him on the upper floor of the Avenger Mansion with a tray of homemade cookies and a cup of coffee. A stop here and there to talk to various staff members and finally after such an arduous journey Tony enters into the training room empty mug of coffee having long since been passed off to the last passing staff member. "Would I be here if I wasn't?" Imperious eyebrow lifting to his short and spiking hairline. "I'm interested so here I am, and in appropriate clothing."

Pietro doesn't mention how long he's been waiting. Never known Tony to care. Instead brows arch and the speedster folds his arms over his chest. He's not in costume it should be noted, for he felt there was no need. This isn't about combat, and he thought to spare the inventor that aspect. "Very well." If Tony wants to see, he shall. Lifting his face to the ceiling he says, "Begin scenario." No fancy names or anything, for this isn't fancy.
The blank room changes with his words and turns into a coffee shop that should be familiar to Tony. A familiar layout of tables, the barista behind the counter, gaggle of people being social.. everything but for the fact that these people aren't moving. It's one of those stop motion commercials come to life. People locked into a moment of their lives as though they had been frozen there. And yet they really aren't statues. These people are moving. Albeit very slowly. If one takes the time they can watch as expressions slowly shift and mouths move. It's kind of painful though.
The painful part is that there's no sound. No music playing, no laughter, no general bussle of people. There is only this low, basso thrum that goes along in the background. If one pays close attention one can make out where a part of that sound might be this or that person talking, the scrape of a chair, and other things, but it can be hard.
With things taking shape, the speedster motions to the counter. He's the only thing here that moves normal speed. "Your goal? Order a coffee."

The room has been turned into a coffee shop that Tony frequents so he's familiar with the goings on here though not certain what a coffee shop has to do with what Pietro wanted to show him. The people around the room seem to be frozen for a moment though upon closer inspection they are moving incredibly slow. It's as if someone hit the slow on their BluRay player so everything moves at a fraction of it's normal speed. Turning around he sees that he appears to be moving like normal as is Pietro and that the sound in the room is unintelligible. "I'm not to cheat am I?" For he could use his an ability to figure out the thrumming sound though he doesn't. The point of this exercise was to see what the world was like at superspeed not for Tony to hack the scenario like the Kobayashi Maru.

"And what would be the point if you cheated?" Pietro asks back at you, his voice a little strange, but not remotely like that other sound. "You said you wanted to see what it was like. There's no win in this situation. Unless you count achieving a cup of imaginary coffee to be a win." That arm he used to motion has dropped, and there's a seriousness to the speedster. "Would you like me to speed things up and make it easier on you? Like it was when I was a boy and things weren't quite so fast?" There's a smirk to that as he watches the inventor.

"Just getting that out in the open," Tony comments as he peers over at the counter where someone is pouring from a coffee pot into a cup though the liquid appears as if it's connected to both objects and is barely flowing. "This is how things appear to you now?" He of course walks right up to the counter leaning over it to watch the pouring with a stark curiosity.

There's certainly no attempt to stop Tony from peering at things. Doesn't matter how long the inventor takes at this. Pietro nods, watching his friend. "It depends." He admits as the counter crunches beneath your hands and things slide forward. "You didn't take velocity into account." The man warns as parts start a slow slide towards that poor barista. "Might want to do something about that." There's a smirk there, "I gained the ability to turn the speed off about a year ago, so I spend much of my time at normal speed, but if I shift to speed this is how things appear. I would try very hard to slow down before I lost my powers five years ago, but maintaining that was difficult at best. Slow enough to where I could see mouths move more easily. Watching expression to gauge words you almost can't hear." He's looking at a young couple paused in talking intimately. Just close and looking happy.

Tony pulls his hands back from the counter when it crunches beneath his palms. Objects are moving towards the barista but how does he stop them from hitting the poor ficitional woman without causing another disaster? So if normal speed for him were enough to cause this problem he would then have to move slower; the working theory at least. Reaching for a container of sugar that is sailing through the air he attempts moving slower than before though instead of easily snatching up the container he ends up breaking it. "Yeah, I'll cover that."

Pietro is heartless in that he lets Tony make mistakes and discover things on his own. Ignoring that he had years of slower speeds to get used to this. "Let's not touch any people, hmm?" Asked just to be an ass. "Did you hurt yourself?" If Tony broke glass he might have just cut his palm and fingers, which is never good. Those pieces are still heading towards the woman, and now there are sugar granules flying through the air as well. They glint in the light, strangely beautiful in a way.

Scenario two, Stark zero. This is not how the billionaire expected things to go. Near him there are a few people waiting at the counter that he slides away from for he doesn't want to find out what would happen if he attempted to touch one of them. "You're finding this hilarious aren't you?" Turning his hand over the glass has indeed cut him a bit and a small piece is stuck in the center of his palm. Fishing that out he watches droplets of blood move at a snails pace across his skin. "This is nothing like one would think it to be. Don't worry about this as it'll heal over in a second…or minutes given this scenario."

Finding this hilarious? "No." Pietro admits honestly. Approaches to try and check that hand, reaching the inventor after that piece is plucked out. Allow and Pietro turns that palm towards him. "I don't find this funny at all. You, however, are leaving that poor girl to suffer injury however. Is that acceptable?" Letting go of that hand and looking to the barista. Bits of the counter are still flying at her. Very nearly there too. When did they move so fast?! "The world is moving around us, and will continue to move. You are running out of time."

The look bestowed upon his friend is one that says that obviously it's not acceptable. "See, that's what I don't get. It's as if time is moving slower than being stuck in a board meeting and yet for them; What do they see? If anything." Strange to have enough time to walk around the counter towards the impending catastrophe while watching the effect of his movements. Frustrated by the pace he must keep in order to make it to where he needs to be.

"I don't know." Pietro answers honestly of what people see. "You are asking the wrong man. What do you see when I move?" He doesn't see himself as someone without superspeed would. Arms are folded over chest as he watches that careful approach. Things are going better now that Tony is thinking about it. The pace isn't comfortable though. Not at all. The girl is starting to react as well. Fear is creeping in over her features and she's starting to drop both coffee pot and cup. Both will be long minutes hitting the floor, but it will make for one more issue to have to deal with. All over the coffee shop other people are reacting as well. Some at the counter are moving away, and people are beginning to rise from chairs. They are aware of the two in their midsts, even if they can't see them properly.

One disastrous event gives way to another like a chain of toppling dominoes. Tony's instinct is to rush in and keep the barista from being burned by the coffee though he knows if he does the desired reaction will not be what occurs. Biting his lower lip he inches forward painfully slow and passes through a cloud of sugar granules to raise a hand toward the bits of broken counter that are much closer to the poor woman than the falling coffee.

Patience and perseverance will earn you those pieces, Tony. Inch along and you may pluck them from the air before they reach a woman moving too slow to get out of their way. Pietro watches in silence as the counter pieces are removed from doing the girl harm. "You're doing well." He notes no matter how it may feel. Remaining on the opposite side of the counter there will be no way to see if the pot and cup drop further down, but the man doesn't move. People are making a clear circle around him, if shift by shift, and yet the speedster pays it little mind. They are making things easier for him.

"It certainly doesn't feel like I am." Still frustrated even though he's managed to gather up the bits of broken counter. The sugar is still in the air though a patch of it has been moved leaving a weird image though there's no time to think about that. Coffee cup is not as dangerous as a half full pot of coffee that is still falling to the floor pouring out what looks like thick brown glop that flows like molasses. "How do you put up with this?" If he can get around the barista to take hold of the handle of the pot he might be able to follow the trail of liquid down so that no liquid is spilled. It might just take more finesse than he's capable of.

The look Pietro wears says he understands only too well. No, he really doesn't find pleasure in this. There is a satisfaction that someone else will have an idea of what life was like now, but no pleasure. "I had no choice." Claimed simply. "There was no way to make it stop, and I had all the time in the world. It was either learn and be an angry ass, or go entirely mad." Pietro isn't sure he isn't mad, but leaves that unsaid. Finally he can't remain quiet anymore on the issue and offers advice. "Don't try for the handle. You'll probably snap it off. Find a pot holder, use your shirt or something, and cradle it from underneath. It shouldn't have enough force of movement to break if you go slow." Easier said than done. The barista is moving away from you, starting to look like she's been nudged hard. "Don't worry about the girl. She'll stagger only."

"Inane question," not an apology for asking how the speedster put up with it as it was more of a realization of how difficult this must be to live with. Tony sighs, "Most probably have the wrong handle on this as I did. I assumed that you would be zipping about while we were all at normal speed. Are you sure you haven't gone mad?" Grabbing the handle is a bad idea so he searches for a pot holder and finds none. Pulling his shirt off he attempts to do as suggested though he doesn't think things will go the way that they should.

Is he sure he hasn't gone mad? A moment of quiet before Pietro answers, "No." Madness is a family trait after all, and Pietro has been called insane more than once in the past. The coffee pot can be handled if care is taken. "Get close, then let it settle into your hands. Be mindful of splash." Finally leaving his spot, the speedster walks around those fleeing people and joins Tony behind the counter. There's not a ton of room back here but he doesn't mean to crowd. Merely get a better look. The bottom of that pot is hot even through the shirt, but do things carefully and it will settle uneasily into hands. Slowly, ever so slowly, sloshing to one side.

Tony narrows his gaze on the task at hand which is getting not only a hold of the coffee pot but keeping the liquid from splashing about scalding not only himself but the poor slowly retreating barista. "I'm one to talk about sanity." With the tip of his tongue poking out from between a corner of his lips he moves as slowly as he can manage which takes considerable effort not to rush the process. Finally the coffee pot crisis is solved as he attempts to set the pot down on the floor and remove his shirt. Tension radiates off him in such a way that it encompasses the space around him. "This is a pain in the ass." Folds arms across his chest then remembers to pull his shirt back on which is overly warm thanks to the coffee pot. "It's not only about control it's about probabilities. Will this go here or that go there."

There's a snort of laughter about sanity. "Avengers would know, right?" For everyone has had their moment. Or moments as the case may be for the speedster. "Well done." Because he knows this is frustrating. The barista is doing her stagger against the back counter, and that coffee cup sinks downwards towards the floor. It's turning over as well, dark liquid falling first. Pietro leans around Tony as that shirt is pulled on and snags the pot by the handle. Makes it look easy. "This is your first time, and you didn't grow up with it gradually getting to this speed." So he doesn't blame Tony at all for being grumpy about it. Leaving the barista to do her thing, the man nods to you. "You are sure to see them better than I, but yet. Unfortunately it means I often miss details." Which he looks unhappy about. Unhappy and plucking up a cup to slowly pour a cup of coffee. This will take a while, but he stands there patiently waiting.

Tony watches how effortlessly you seem to do things and the sight of the speedster pouring a cup of coffee is amusing. Pietro appears calm as liquid trickles into a mug. "I wouldn't be able to do as you do. I think even if I had the training." Motions with a hand waving towards himself. "I'm far too busy minded. Everything has to be go-go-go. This? This would drive me into the Betty Ford Clinic."

That cup is offered once it's filled. "Betty could never hold you." Pietro notes with a small smile as he puts the coffee pot back where it belongs. Easier now that the barista is starting to run towards the back. If in extremely slow motion. "I had no choice, Tony." He says of his powers. "You know what it means to create new choices, and I did the best I could. That no one was ever satisfied with my efforts was merely another part of life that was unpleasant. It's why I read so much. Books don't break for pulling them off a shelf, and are more forgiving for the turning of pages." There's a pause as he leans over and takes up a sugar dispenser that isn't broken. Want? "But then I couldn't build your armor. We all have our gifts and curses. This is mine."

The cup of coffee finds it's way into Tony's keeping as he laughs for Pietro's joke. "I'd drive the insane, insane. You can say it." The poor barista is watched with a odd tilt of the head as he's trying to gauge the woman's reaction to everything that happened around her. It's difficult to read a persons facial expression at this speed. "It certainly has been an eye opening experience. What was the other day like for you when AIM popped by the Towers? Do you run a sort of slow motion circle to create the funnel?" Sugar? Please. The cup is extended and he waves off the pour when enough has wound up in the dark beverage. Slowly he reaches for a stir stick though he ends up sending several into the air like a hail storm. "Fortunately for you there is no true way to simulate what it is like for me. I daresay you would probably have a similar reaction to my situation as I am having to yours."

"It needed saying?" That Tony would drive someone already insane far worse. Pietro isn't paying attention to the girl and instead pours sugar. Which again takes time. "Combat is really no different. I spend most my time trying not to hurt everyone, which doesn't let me be very effective. Sometimes I almost wish I were a violent man. It would be easier. I could have found pipe and beaten them out of their armor, but it might have killed them. I could send off shockwaves every second, but that could kill innocents. The list goes on and on." He shrugs and starts plucking sticks from the air and laying them on the counter. "They thought to trip me. The AIM idiots I mean. They strung a chain across the street and rocketed at high speed. Might have worked if their own jets hadn't given them away in the haze."
As for Tony's own experience. "You are under the impression I want to be in that head of yours?" Asked with a grin. "No thank you. It's difficult enough being on this side of your skull." Teasing of course!

"Perhaps it did." Tony finds himself laughing despite the stricken expressions on the nearby patrons of the coffee shop. "Being a hero factors in a lot of variables that the supposed bad guys never have to contend with. They could care less if a car went through a shop front or if people were being pelted to death with debris or if a stray shot will harm a innocent bystander." Carefully the stir stick is moved around the cup in a clockwise fashion before the stick is laid to rest against a side of the mug. "I had to come up with a way to keep bullets and the like from bouncing off me and hitting everything and everyone around me. I don't mind if the idiots kill themselves but innocent people?" There's laughter about the AIM mechanized squad that should have thought better to attack Corrin in front of the Towers. "I'm sorry I ruined your fun by the way. I found it laughable that they continued to fight in my presence when all I had to do was break their gear without moving a finger. They never learn. " A few sluggish sips of coffee that leaves much to be desired he shakes his head at you then rubs two fingers across his go-t. "To think some would kill to be in your position and yet I'm cursed with you, go figure."

"Then you damn yourself." Pietro smiles with the laughter. The serious mood is shifting at least. "And thus why I don't do a great many things I can." Said of that being a hero is hard. "That I can evacuate people never feels like quite enough, but I know what it would mean if I didn't." He takes comfort in that. The AIM idiots made even that tough. A speedster can never be fast enough when it comes to trying to save people. "As I said.. if only I were a more violent man. Then I wouldn't mind." But Pietro isn't, so he's careful. "That was hardly all that much fun. Even if you had left them active, which I'm glad you didn't, there was little I could truly do. Disable their armor myself was the best option. I'd merely have to work more at it." A pause and a smirk, "And it'd have been messier."
No, AIM people never learn. But tease him back and Pietro arches eyebrows. "If you grow weary of me then you need to tell me to go away." He knows he's being teased, but he says that with a straight face. "I may even consider it."

Tony nearly snorts in his coffee, "Right. Like you would ever listen to me." Amusement radiates off the smiling man as he carefully sets that cup of coffee down onto the counter. "I'd tell you to piss off and you'd come back in an hour with a box of jelly donuts and a pizza. What happened before that? I don't recall." There's some good natured teasing about playing jump rope with the AIM goons and how Pietro must have obviously been rehearsing to play the part of the cyclone for the Broadway production of Wicked. "Can we PLEASE get out of this strange world of slow motion? I've time to kill though I doubt you'd want to have a go at sparring. Don't think I haven't forgotten about that." If agreed he'll turn the program off with a thought and they can create chaos or sack Jarvis in the kitchen.

"Have you ever been serious?" The man counters of that he bribes his way back into your good graces. "I brought you udon from China Town. And seriously, Tony, you need not to be bribable with your stomach." Pietro does totally do that too. Ask nicely to get out of this place and the speedster tells the ceiling, "Cancel simulation." The room immediately returns to empty. Sadly it also means that coffee is gone. Strangely enough there's a bit of a perk for sparring. "I could if you were willing not to use your armor. I can't say I remember us ever having done so." Doesn't promise not to use his powers because he wouldn't. What would be the fun in that?

"Please, I'm the epitome of serious when I want to be." Tony obviously heavily accentuates the want to be. What can he say about his bottomless pit of a stomach? It was truth and the speedster tended to swing by the Towers on a fairly consistent basis leaving treats for him. Just the other day it was a container full of lamb kabobs on saffron rice which was quite a welcome sight after the long day he had.
With the room having gone back to white Tony takes a look about himself with a breath of relief. Nothing to bump into and send flying, no imaginary people to accidentally skewer with parts of a cappuccino machine, and best part was he was about to bounce his way into a sparring session with Quicksilver. "We've never went toe to toe, no. Part of the reason I suggested it ages ago. So what classifies as armor hmm?" Letting you mull that over as he tosses an arm around your shoulders and walks out with you towards the other room more suited to a physical fight.

Yes, and Pietro uses that well. The arm around his shoulders has the speedster not shedding his jacket. Which he will do once the two are in place. "The gold counts as armor." That skin tight stuff. "But I'll allow it if you want. Then I don't have to hold back, but it will put you at an advantage. I'm durable, but no where close to your extremis coating." Not that he seems concerned over it. "You want to change, or throw down here?" Either way, the man will enjoy himself. Might even surprise Tony in that he actually does know how to fight. Learned that when he had no powers. Not trying to hurt Tony, and whether he wins or loses, it will be fun to spar with someone again.

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