Tony Stark (in_extremis) wrote in oh_marvelous, @ 2010-05-14 14:30:00 |
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Threshold
Characters: Tony Stark, the Crimson Dynamo, Carol Danvers and Sue Storm.
Setting: Office hours, come on in! Stark Tower
Content: 'He said in Russian'.
Summary: Tony gets a strange phonecall from an old friend.
"Would it be inapropriate of me to ask you to dinner at this juncture?"
She only smiled and swept her hands gently down his bare back, too experienced to treat him to the sweet ring of her giggle anymore. Experienced enough to press the heel of her hand into a knot in his shoulder just at the moment he sucked in a breath to continue, pressing a groan out of him before he could pick up the thread again, his lamentations about their professional relationships and extollations of the virtues of putting aside the propriety all gone and his face pressed into the stark white towel. Tony would make reservations anyway.
"Mr. Stark, Major Bukharin is on the line--" A girl's tentative voice trailed off, leaving the office quiet again. Unsure, the masseuse eased her pressure, just rolling her thumb at the small of Tony's back and listening for him to make his decision. There was another beat before he drew a deep breath and pushed himself up on his elbows, glancing curiously towards his desk like it might have held some answers for this unexpected call.
"Don't stop," he invited first, and the masseuse dutifully reapplied herself to the task, working around the bunched muscles in his shoulders where Tony held himself up as he waved a hand. "Put him through-- video conference, project." This was mumbled, a flick of Tony's fingers encouraging a wavering screen to spring up before him, dancing blue light becoming recognizable figures like a solidifying mirage at the head of the table.
"Tony Stark, my friend!" Dmitri's voice was clear and enthusiastic, his hands raised like he might reach through the screen and pick Tony up, and with his thick accent the masseuse didn't even realize for a moment who he was addressing when he continued, "And who do you have? Beauty, I am blessed." Despite this, Tony couldn't miss the anxiety; it was an energy that translated half way across the world.
In Russian, he greeted, "You're up early," and the energy transferred, something in his voice making the pressure on his back lessen again, the masseuse waiting for that request to withdraw.
"Strange times, Stark," Dmitri replied, forgoing his good humour and letting the weight bear on him. "I have seen my country through darkness, I know it when it comes. I am not a dog, but this I can smell in the air."
For a moment, as the Major went quiet to consider his approach, Tony only considered him. His chin in his hand, idly stroking his thumb over his beard, barely aware of the feathery touches over his back anymore. "I know about the Ukraine-"
"That is just a symptom. You do not listen, Stark, you never have. It is in the air, it is electricity. You understand electricity, don't you?"
"I understand that you can't smell electricity, Dmitri."
"Words, my friend. You come here and see me, you smell the air for yourself. These words are not poetry, Stark. The air is wrong. They won't let me know what is happening anymore. My rank means nothing. My people I trust, they are gone, disappeared. The people in charge, they come from nowhere. They have no family."
Tony had to release a breath and glance back at his masseuse, shaking out her hands and keeping her gaze downward, avoiding the floating image and the energy it brought. She didn't even understand Russian. Tony knew there had been some changes in the Russian parliament recently; unexpected wins, people that reports had also said 'came out of nowhere'.
"Are you listening yet, Stark?"
"You better have a spread ready for dinnertime, my friend."