Tony Stark (tonysastark) wrote in aafterthebattle, @ 2012-08-20 11:58:00 |
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Entry tags: | aurora watson, tony stark |
Who: Tony Stark and Aurora Watson
What: First meeting
When: The day after Bruce and Tony's talk.
Where: Stark Tower
Being the secret brains behind the third top Fortune 500 company’s CEO meant a lot of work for Aurora Watson. Her brother was often close to running profits into the ground and yet she strived to keep things afloat. At least now he was beginning to listen to her, so perhaps by next year they could move up a notch instead of waiting a second year. The top spot was too much to hope for, but she had her hand in so much anyway that second place would be good enough. Her own business amassed its own profits and she tended to fix more of the lawyer aspect of what her brother screwed up, which is what led her to New York City -- sampling the finer hotel rooms one week at a time.
Leaving the Plaza and sending her things ahead to her next destination, she took an important call about the whereabouts of the person in charge of her latest snafu. “Stark Industries?” A pause. “Address...” With a frustrated sigh, she interrupted, “No, send the address to me, you incompetent neophyte! I didn’t upgrade my mobile office so I would have to carry pens and papers with me. I’ll stop by the building after my conference call.”
Her phone beeped with the information and she didn’t bother verbally signing off before ending the call, passing on the address to her driver. The conference call would wait until after she met with the billionaire playboy, or even during. She honestly had no regard for the man who built up and tore down his own tower due to the “hero” persona he called “Iron Man.” Pulling up to the building, she sighed again. A drink was certainly going to be in order before the day was through.
It was the day after his line of meetings, and Tony was a bit more relaxed after burying himself in work with Bruce. He decided that he was taking a personal day, simply because he didn’t want to deal with the outside world. He was busy working on one of his suits when J.A.R.V.I.S. interrupted him.
“Sir, a woman is outside demanding entrance. She wishes to speak with you.”
“Who is it,” he sighed, focusing a bit harder on what he was doing.
“She won’t give me her name.”
“Well until you get a name I’m not available.”
“I’ll relay the message.”
It was already annoying that there wasn’t a person to talk to, just a voice. Aurora felt as though she was dealing with a speakerphone, and she despised those things.
“I don’t know what sort of person you are, but it’s only human to wish to speak face to face.”
“Ma’am, I am not a person. I am a computer program, and I can only tell you that Mr Stark is unavailable until I am given a name.”
“Wonderful,” she sighed, thinking that was worse. “You can tell him Ms. Watson on behalf of some rather irritated contributors would like to speak to him before she overrides your computer program.” She decided to add, voice rather snippy while she took out her PDA, “if he’s not too unavailable, that is.”
“I assure you that would not end well for you, were you to attempt such a thing.” There was a pause as J.A.R.V.I.S. relayed everything to Tony, who rolled his eyes and advised of the next step.
“Please go to the elevator, Ms Watson. It will take you to the tenth floor. Across from the elevator is a conference room in which Mr Stark will be waiting. Thank you for your patience.”
A slow smile crept across her lips as she poked a bit at her PDA and then went to the elevator. “No, thank you, remarkably polite program.” Doing as she was told, Aurora took everything in curiously and began to tap notes, even about the ride up. She hadn’t met Tony Stark in person, but she was rather ready for an overgrown teenager when the doors opened again.
Tony made his way up from the floor he was working on to the tenth floor on his private elevator and made sure he was in the conference room before this ‘Ms Watson’ was. He assumed she was somehow related to John Watson who Jarvis was kind enough to remind him was CEO of Chevron, but he really had little idea as to why she would need to speak to him personally.
He was just pouring a glass of scotch when she walked into the conference room and he kept his back to her as he said, “Scotch? Or do you want something else?”
Her heels made a solid clacking sound as she walked in, and she noted the marble floors. The temptation was great to accept his offer, but this was something of a game and that wasn’t her next move. She pocketed the PDA before looking around the conference room and spoke with her air of confidence. “I didn’t come to a bar, Mr. Stark, I came to speak business with you. By all means, feel free to enjoy your own, however.”
He shrugged, “suit yourself.” He took a sip and turned around to look at her, eyebrow quirking, “speaking of suits, that doesn’t suit you. You would look much better in a dress.” He walked over and pulled out a chair for her at the table, then moved to sit across from her. “So what business does Chevron have with me? I run on clean energy. No need for gasoline. Except for my cars, and I hate to tell you, but I go with Shell there.”
She accepted his gesture and sat in the chair, taking out a small portfolio and setting it on the table. “Dresses don’t really give the best impression of business the way this does,” was the way she dismissed his comment. She didn’t have her hair pulled up in an annoying tie or bun, just merely away from her face, but the suit was smart with a skirt that gave just enough femininity for her taste. Still, better to get down to business. “Your little stunt cost both our lawyers and the company’s interest quite a bit of money. I’m here to resolve mutual interest.”
His little stunt. Mhm. “My little stunt?” He leaned forward a bit. “And which one would that be? The one where I helped save the city, no, the whole world from annihilation from an invading alien army that anyone with eyes could see coming through that giant hole in the sky? Or the one where I took a nuke that our own government was sending to destroy New York City and went into space with it, so very nearly killing myself to make sure we didn’t face nuclear winter for the next 100 years, which also happened to destroy said army? Please, tell me which ‘little’ stunt you’re referring to.”
Okay, so maybe he got a little defensive, but after the other day’s meetings he was getting sick of dealing with the blame.
Her face remained considerably blank as he went on his tirade. While she had seen everything on the news, she had no interest in blaming him for everything or even anything associated with him saving the world, though this perhaps was connected. “The demolition of our lawyers’ offices and the refusal to pay for said destruction, actually.” Her eyebrow quirked curiously. “You are Iron Man, after all...?”
“You have got to be joking. You know what, get in line. I’m donating millions to the rebuilding of this city. You need money to rebuild your lawyer’s offices, fine. But you’re at the end of my list. I’m more interested in rebuilding homes, schools, and shelters for the people who need those things. Have your lawyers work out of a mobile office for a bit, it won’t kill them.” He drained his glass and stood up. “Thanks for stopping by.”
She smirked, standing and taking out a paper from the portfolio, sliding it on the table with just enough force to land at his edge of the table. “You don’t understand, Mr. Stark...when I say ‘our’ lawyers, I mean that. We share lawyers. Four on both of our payrolls and two filing to sue if they aren’t attended.” She scoffed. “It’s ridiculous, actually. This is from what...? Months or a year ago, even. You’re only seeing it now because they’ve threatened to go public with personal information that could bankrupt both of our companies in a matter of weeks. I’ve fought very hard to keep my brother where he is now, and I don’t know about you, but I think you just may want to have the funding to keep those needy people taken care of around here.” Aurora turned to head for the elevator. “But you’re welcome to flounder on your own, if that’s what you want.”
He frowned, picking up the paper and reading it over. “So what do they want, then?”
She wondered if he didn’t speak English or simply wasn’t listening, so she spoke slower and enunciated clearly. “They want to be relocated and paid because their offices were destroyed. You can attend to their needs or you can say goodbye to your clean anything.”
Tony sighed heavily and sat back down, rereading the paper a bit more carefully. “All four of them, or just the two who are threatening to sue? They’re fired anyway, but I guess I could give them a nice severance package.”
“Take care of all of them and make them feel safe. I wouldn’t worry about the ones without access to company records any longer, but yes, a nice severance package should probably keep them quiet.” She paused thoughtfully. “I don’t really know how you do business anyway.”
“I don’t, usually. Someone else handles all this but she isn’t around anymore.” Tony sighed and leaned back in his chair, clicking tongue a bit. “I have other lawyers who can figure this out.” He shook his head, “Jarvis, remind me to contact the legal team tomorrow.”
“At what time, sir?”
“Uuhhh... eleven. I’ll be busy until then.” Tony looked over at the woman and quirked an eyebrow. “Anything else?”
“Jarvis? Like a butler?” She looked around for some sort of keypad, or even a person behind the voice.
“Sort of. He’s based on the butler that used to work for my family. J.A.R.V.I.S. stands for “Just A Really Very Intelligent System,” Tony’s lips quirked, thinking back on the real Jarvis, missing him for the first time in several years. He’d lost too many people in his life. “He’s the one who greeted you when you came in. And yeah, if you had tried to dismantle him, you’d be in more trouble than you know.”
“Indeed. Is there anything else you need, sir?”
“Not right now, thanks. I’ll let you know, though.”
“Of course, sir.”
“I wouldn’t dismantle him; I don’t know where his main interface is located, and any access I could gain to him would be secondary...” She shook her head, putting the portfolio away. Aurora was considerably brilliant with technology, but she didn’t like to show it more than a glimpse at a time. If she caught on that he was going to speak on her brainy level, she might see if he was interested in other ventures like that clean energy idea. “You have enough security on him to run him through the entire building, so that says quite a lot.”
“Well that’s my great secret, Ms Watson. His main interface is in a place no one can get to.” Tony chuckled, “not just the entire building, but good catch. Usually he keeps quiet when company is around, but I’ve had to rely on him a bit more lately.”
“Lost your recent she, have you?” She recalled having to get memos signed by Pepper Potts, but her signature looked like Stark’s when put close together. Did he lose her as well in the scuffle? Aurora didn’t think so, at least not physically. That didn’t matter as much as this very intelligent system, anyway. “Just how vast is his intelligence spread...?”
“My assistant, yeah.” Tony shrugged again. “Vast. I can’t give away all my secrets now, can I?” He winked at her, falling back into his public persona. “So now that business is done, you want a drink? Because I think I could use another,” he said lightly, suggesting that he wasn’t going to speak about Pepper anymore as he moved to the bar again.
The shrug told her the assistant was certainly a tender subject and not one to be broached. She had gone through her own share of assistants until she found one who was decent enough, but even then so many preferred to quit rather than stay on longer than a fiscal year. Aurora Watson demanded brilliance and set her expectations high. A drink was sounding better and better, and it was near the end of her business day. “Perhaps one wouldn’t hurt. What do you have?” Perhaps, too, she could discuss this program that was considerably large and quite curious.
Tony smirked a bit at her question, glancing at her over his shoulder. “What don’t I have might be a better question. Anything you want, and only the best.” He poured himself another drink. “So, Ms Watson, you got a first name?”
That interested her, and she walked over to casually glance at the bar. “Oh really? That must be some bar.” She smirked as he appeared to start up a basic conversation. “Yes, I do.” Her snark was something that made her stand out from her family, and partly something that helped her rise to the top.
“Well, until I know what it is you don’t get to sample the best alcohol you could imagine,” he said, eyebrows lifting a bit to almost give him a boyish look. The events of the past several months had started to weigh on him, and it was nice for him to be able to sort-of-but-not-really flirt again.
“Oh really?” She looked at the labels she could see. “My name only gets me a sample?”
“Well... it could be a large sample,” he grinned, pulling out a glass and moving behind the bar. “You strike me as the type of woman who prefers a fine wine, but will drink brandy if it goes down smoothly.”
“That’s partly true, yes...and my name is Aurora Watson. Nothing fancy.” She tilted her head a bit. “What else do you think?”
“Aurora, hm? Like Sleeping Beauty or like the fancy lights up north? There’s a southern aurora too, did you know that? Most people forget...” He poured her a brandy that had been sent to him from Scotland and was touted as one of the best -- he certainly enjoyed it, whether it was or not -- and handed it to her before taking a sip of his own drink and looking her over curiously.
“I think you’re the brains behind the company, and that you really didn’t have to come here in person today, but you did. Bored by all your other meetings? I know it’s difficult to find anyone who isn’t a troll to talk to among CEOs.”
“Wouldn’t it just burn you if I was named after the southern lights?” She grinned crookedly and took her glass, swirling the brandy and sniffing it lightly. “Mm. Truthfully, I am in New York and decided to handle several things on my own. I had to see if you were one of those bridge trolls or mountain trolls.” With that, she smirked and took a sip, holding it a moment before swallowing.
“Mountain troll, of course. I like being at the top after all.” His lips quirked, and for the first time in a while he found himself enjoying a conversation with someone who wasn’t Bruce or a computer. “And actually, I’d have to send your parents a gift basket, were you named after the southern lights.” Tony took a sip of his own drink before motioning for her to sit back down at the conference table as he himself walked over and plopped down in a chair.
“So beyond the lawyers and figuring out what breed of troll I am, why else are you here?”
“You seem like an on top sort of person,” she finally said after enjoying the brandy and swirling the glass again. “With the exception of not knowing my parents are no longer living, that is.” It took her a moment, but she decided sitting wouldn’t be a bad idea until the end of her drink. One. Just the one drink, and then she would leave. She went to the seat and got slightly comfortable in her chair. “I can’t just tie up loose ends? Mr. Stark, I thought you were nearly on the right track about me...”
Tony couldn’t help but laugh a bit. “I do, hm?” When she mentioned her parents he cleared his throat. “Sorry.” He took another drink. “I uh... mine are too,” he finished lamely. Normally he was better at recovering from mistakes like that, but he just wasn’t in the right mood at that moment. “Well, the loose ends are finished, I think.”
“I know,” she took out her PDA, scrolling a bit. “Not to sound too haughty, but I did my homework on you before coming to meet you in person. You do know your alcohol, I can say that much...probably because you like to drink it all, yes?” She wasn’t offended, but talking about parents most likely wasn’t the best topic of conversations, especially while drinking.
“Not all of it. There are other people who live here too. Sometimes...” He shrugged yet again and finished off his drink. Despite being interested in furthering their conversation, Tony was starting to fall back into a sour mood and he wanted to get back to work on his suit.
He stood up and put his glass on the bar, then managed a smile. “You’ll forgive me but I do have a few things to attend to. I’m sure you can remember your way out.” With that Tony made his way out to his private elevator, running a hand through his hair and heaving a sigh as he walked.
While she had meant he liked to sample everything he purchased with regard to alcohol, she figured he was at the end of being polite, and decided to down her brandy when he wasn’t watching. “I can,” she said quietly, looking around and figuring that this Jarvis fellow was probably listening. “Thank him for the brandy and assure him that while I stay in New York, he won’t have to see me again. I won’t trouble him with tedious incidents while he gets to be the hero.”
Aurora headed for the other elevator after gathering her portfolio, even stopping to pick up a loose business card that fell while she walked. One less thing to worry about, at least.