Morgan Stark (iron_maiden_) wrote in angellogs, @ 2019-07-08 22:21:00 |
|
|||
Entry tags: | elthina vael, morgan stark, stephen strange, tony stark (iron man) |
Who: Tony Stark, Stephen Strange, Morgan, Ellie
When: Current
Where: Strange's school in Greece
What: Tony's going in to get some medical help with his migraines. He ends up going with Stephen to get looked over, and faints suddenly. Being dignified doesn't seem to be on the menu.
Rating/Warnings: Tony's got some headaches and medical stuff makes him anxious, but mostly, they're just talking.
Status: Complete
Tony's got - it's a mild migraine? But it's not fun, and he actually went down to the office and he'll probably end up talking to Strange, because Clint did some calls, but - at least he's not going to get people disappointed that he didn't try. He's got a chair that would be about a two out of ten, and the choice of a golf magazine, a woman's magazine that smells of perfume, and something that he can't see clearly from here.
Stephen’s not exactly here as a doctor, since he’s more here as a patient himself, just in to pick up his monthly scripts more or less, but he’s been also discussing the possibility of a few nervous system hacks, so to speak, with a doctor here, so it’s in the same general office vicinity as Tony. He’s on his way out now, and he stops short when he spots someone who isn’t from HIS universe but has the feel of it anyway.
“Tony? Clint mentioned you were here. I’m not on staff at this clinic but if the wait’s going to be super long, I CAN just do something for you. I’m still licensed and allowed, it’s just that MY neuro is here, so major interest conflict. Migraine, again?” He sounds fairly sympathetic on the last.
Tony waves. "Tony, yeah. And - I can? Can I skip out on filling out the paperwork again?" He's a little careful about standing up, but the world's behaving. "I'm not getting in the way of your stuff, am I? It's not super bad."
“You definitely can.” Stephen nods. “We’d need to transport away from here, or get to somewhere else quiet but I have plenty of room at my place for people to rest and get some quiet. My apprentices are really good about giving me space and keeping things calm. One more than the other, but she keeps him in line.”
And nah he’s definitely not.
“Free afternoon today.” Stephen explains. “I usually end up needing the whole day for these appointments since they seriously overbook and I end up waiting around so I have nothing planned. The kids are SUPPOSED to be working on projects but are probably…” Setting off explosions and playing with demons… “...online.”
Tony blinks. "Is that a 'I might pop out to make sure they're not googling bad stuff'?" He adjusts his shades. "And lead on. I may close the shades if it's bright in there. You can yell at me for that."
“It’s a I trust them since they’re old enough to know what they’re doing sort of a thing. And…” he laughs a bit. “Shouldn’t be an issue there. I can always go ahead and make them dark tinted for you.” He goes to grab his device for coordinates.
Tony grimaces. "In my world, you were a pretty amazing surgeon, and that was it. Can I make a - at least warn me before you're magicing a ton near me? I'm not - I hate how magic seems to be a zero sum game if you don't play along with it. At least from the news."
Since of course, you get the UFO fan types going all "Villain of the month is a magician, but because you didn't honor the hospitality rite of their tiny archaic culture, you're screwed" sort of stuff. Or the "of course I can fix it, if you give me whatever" sort of ridiculousness.
“Sorceror Supreme.” Stephen nods, pretty proud of the fact. It took him a LOT of reflection and determination to get there, even if it IS sort of by a weird default process. “And sure. Magic and technology, right? These things are just the coordinates to get back to my place. Easier than pulling up a portal, but I was thinking for you in terms of what I could write for the worst of this.”
He’s not quite in a spot where he’s able to DO magical treatments after all. The idea of it is pretty damned amazing, but he’s got to be realistic too. “ I do have SOME idea of what’s out there. How’s the reactor holding up here since we last talked?”
"Mostly I've been tracking my blood pressure and heart rate and - avoiding it. I don't feel any worse, and -" Tony sighs. "Making a new arc reactor is kind of out of the picture right now. But - I've been - tracking it, I guess? I don't want to try to get a doctor, explain what happened, get x-rays. I don't even know if I still have the shrapnel in my chest."
Stephen nods. “Just wanted to be sure in terms of what I might prescribe. And huh. I could take a look at that if you’d let me. I’d have to go magic for that route, Can’t get all the equipment up in the Mountain Sanctuary but it may help if you’re curious. Otherwise I’d say treat it as a pacemaker of sorts.”
He nods at that. “Even here, where people know OF you, that’d be weird to explain.”
"I used to have a prescription for triptans, but the doctors at home said they're a bad idea. Uh - mostly it's been - caffeine seems to help a bit. OTC painkillers seems risky, but I down a bit of them if it's really bad?" Tony copies over the numbers. "Did I get that right?" Since it's easier for someone else to read it off his phone.
Stephen nods. “There’s the possibility of trying marijuana. You’d need someone licensed in state to do the paperwork, but I’ve got some if you want to see if that’ll help. Some say it really does, some don’t notice a difference or are allergic. I’ve got nasal spray and pills of that, myself. It’d be a microdose so it wouldn’t make you extremely high off dubious weed you picked up behind the 7-11. Uh let’s see, Botox is an option…” He squints. “Have you tried any anticonvulsants? Antidepressants?”
"Anti -" Tony blinks. "I don't think I'm depressed? I mean, my therapist isn't here, but I think she mostly thought it was other issues." He runs a hand through his hair. "I've had migraines for years. Usually they were stress based? At least that was the guess? I'd go lose myself for a dozen hours peering at something and inhaling weird fumes and get a headache sort of things? This isn't that bad. I mean - I've had worse migraines."
He's - pretty sure his perception of pain is kind of messed up though.
"My therapist said I'm pretty bad at diagnosing how much pain I'm in though. I mean, I can handle being upset and categorizing that, but the level of upset - stuff?"
“Yeah, not saying you are.” Stephen says. “I’m not a psychologist. It’s just that they work off label for migraines or chronic pain sometimes. Serotonin issue. They help produce what people with depression are lacking and some chronic pain stuff, and migraines, can be caused by a lack of it. So it’s less a Get Thee To A Padded Cell and more a ‘this COULD be a thing.'”
And he nods at the other part. “So...interesting. Are other people able to pull you out of that? Do you feel especially bad after those? I’m not doing much treatment but I”m working with a kid with epilepsy. Sometimes he has absence seizures like that. Loses time by just starring out.”
"I think I was on sero - no - it was melatonin? For insomnia?" Tony grimaces. "And uh - a lot of it was that I - was a barely functioning alcoholic and abused just about - Dad had a friend who was pretty free with offering stuff to give you a good time, and I tried a bit of everything. Was never addicted, per se, to anything, but - had some awful hangovers. And then I had open heart surgery in a cave with minimal pain killers." Which sounds way too blunt out loud. "Uh - so - as best I can tell, my ability to recognize pain is all messed up."
“Afghanistan, right?” Stephen asks, nodding. “I remember the basics of that. I was dealing with a lot of my own stuff at the time, but I remember everything making the rounds of the journals. And huh. Would you say it’s the pain making you space things out then?”
Tony blinks. "You know, I don't really know? A lot of - the stuff I hate is the light sensitivity and the - I guess dizziness and the - what's the term. Haze? Visual stuff. If it was just light sensitivity and I could still do stuff, I'd not hate it as much. But the combo with the pain really gets - annoying to deal with. And I hate feeling so scattered."
Stephen nods. “Because it could be...I’m going to suggest you get that scanned. I COULD look but it might be better to have it on official record. I know somebody with severe migraines who has a pretty good practicing neuro who can probably get you in. He’s another doctor so he sort of has an idea what’s going on. Moving to GP from an ER. Actually, he might be a good bet for...he’s from another universe himself.”
Tony nods slowly. "Usually back at home it was a lot of - can you do everyday stuff, which - uh - I'm not great at because engineer and PTSD mess, but a lot of capability versus - what it's doing? But I'm willing to talk. Mostly because Steve and Clint are worried, and I'm trying to make sure they're not going to be too worried."
He hesitates. "You know, I really thought you'd be more - how's the squishy bits of your body doing, versus emotional impact statements? I mean, I'm not objecting, since it's getting me to think about stuff, but it's - different."
Stephen nods at that part. “That sounds, yeah. My PT was satisfied when I got to a certain, really shitty point and was ready to have me go, but...I wanted to be whole again. Which didn’t end up happening. Still hasn’t.” he winces as he glances at his hands.
“But yeah, I’d say a scan might be a good idea, see if there’s other brain activity. And well..” He shrugs. “There’s a lot of factors that could get into migraines. But Combeferre, once he’s transferred, he gets the other universe and WEIRD thing. Trust me, he’s dealt with a lot. “
"I'm not expecting it all to vanish? Mostly it's - they're still there, and I shouldn't ignore it?" Tony smiles lopsidedly. "Which I'm trying to. I keep saying I'm here because they'll worry."
“Pain also has a way of hitting the squishy bits first and foremost.” Stephen adds. “So that’s less emotional impact statement, though pain has its way of making things tough. Or stress can make the pain worse. Particularly neurological types of it. And no, pain never really DOES vanish.” He makes a face. “Pain’s an old friend of yours too, isn’t it? But if it’s keeping you from functioning how you should….”
Tony snorts. "That's not how - it's not how I should, it's how I need to be. That's one reason why I like it here. I'm not always fighting a ledger of everything I'm failing at. Or a ledger of how I need to show off my good marks to get someone to care about anything." He grimaces. "And that sounds bitter. Sorry. Usually I need to be drunk to ramble."
“Lack of things to prove you’re failing’s good.” Stephen nods. “The only people who know mine here are those I’ve told.” Which he hasn’t. Some things he doesn’t speak of, really.
“Bitter’s fine. Plenty of things to BE bitter about. But if they can be broken a little, why not, huh?”
"I guess so?" Tony stretches his shoulder. "Right - how do you want to do this? I do need to get home by six." There's a baseball thing, with the college, and he's not interested but Steve might be.
“I’ll dial us to my place, give you a look over with the equipment I’ve got and try out a few options I can offer you for relief in the meantime.” Stephen says, “Once I’ve got a little better history and can listen to some vitals for myself, I’ll have a better idea for how things will work. And I can get ahold of Combeferre and get him to give you his guy’s info and start a work up on his end? You could also rest for a while if you need or….do you like pomegranates? I’ve got trees.”
"Are they good to go at this time of year? I'm fond of them." Tony's not really sure how fruit will help with headaches, but - maybe that's how Stephen makes friends?
“These should be okay. A little early but the property’s got them coming up, so…” Stephen shrugs. “They won’t really help with the immediate problem, but if you’d like them, then they won’t end up wasted.”
And he’s dialing the coordinates and reaching for Tony’s arm now, just to have him come along. They’re surfacing on a mountainside, with fairly pleasant weather, and a bit of a breeze. There’s an old monastery of some sort up ahead, and Stephen’s pointing it out. “There we are. Easier to walk the little path than interfere with the wards I’ve got up by landing there.”
Tony's squinting at the mountains around them, but he's fine with walking. "Steve would probably love it here. He's been talking a lot about trying to brush up on his skills and sketch from nature. Uh - on the vitals - the - I'm missing some bones, in the rib area. I'm not sure if your Tony did, or whatever. But - I can be a bit touchy about anything near that."
“I’ll keep that in mind.” The path is fairly short, though Stephen’s watching Tony carefully, in case the air’s a problem. He’s got a spell he can use to help if it becomes an issue but thankfully, it should take them about five minutes to get to his door. He’s heading inside and listening for a moment, but it’s pretty quiet.
“James? Ellie?” he glances around for a moment as he gestures Tony to come inside. “My medical room’s just off the library there.” The library used to be a dining hall that he’s converted since it was larger, and he’s pretty sure no one’s in THERE. He leads Tony through, pushing open a door to a room that was probably intended for first aid, though he’s fixed it up. There’s a more padded and comfortable exam table, and some basic tools for checking vitals, along with several cabinets of supplies.
“Want to take a seat? You could go on the table or one of the chairs if that’s easier.” He nods to those.
Tony eyes the table, and does a telltale attempt to look totally casual and confident - as he takes a chair. "Probably better to do it this way." He's sitting a little to the right, and there is a slight uneven cast to his shirt, like there's some texture issues with his skin beyond the arc reactor. If he's got it in. The light's not shining through his shirt, but he might just have that covered.
“Sure.” Stephen agrees, and glances at Tony. “How’s the light level? Need it dimmer? I can look without you having to be exposed.” He’s coming closer. “Uh, warm enough? I don’t want this to be uncomfortable. It’ll make the headache worse, probably. But I think to start, we’ll do some torradol. It’s not a narcotic and works pretty fast in the bloodstream. Are you okay with needles? That’d tone down the pain and then we can work out the roots.”
Tony takes off his shades and squints a little as he gauges the light level. The leg tremble's started up, but he nods slowly. "I think I'm okay with needles. Pain level's uh - a three, I'd guess?" But his scale might be screwed up.
Stephen actually laughs at the three. “Sounds like your three’s my sort of three so let’s go with the meds. It’ll be pretty fast. Mind if I pull one from the cabinet without using my hands?” He CAN cross over if it bothers Tony, though.
Tony blinks. "Mind if I stare a lot? Because I know the answer is that there's no duplication without arts unknown, but it's still cool."
“Of course.” Stephen waves a hand absently, then traces a pattern in the air, bringing over a preloaded syringe and antiseptic cleaning pad. “Prefer I pop this anywhere? I’ll need a muscle.”
Tony grimaces and squirms his arm out of his shirt pretty quickly to offer the bicep. "That'll work? Stomach sets off a flinch reflex pretty badly, in my experience. And I'm fine with - the questions work, but if you work better just telling me what you're doing, I'm usually okay with that. I don't know - how you work, I guess?" And he's not that nervous. Well, he is, but he's trying to not be.
“Uh honestly I’m floundering a little?” Stephen admits. “Usually when I worked with patients they weren’t conscious or were so drugged they might as well have been. Ketamine’s one hell of an anesthetic.” He adds, then moves around. “Okay, I’ll poke you now. It might sting going in, but….” he’s making fairly quick work to get the medicine in without it hurting TOO much, then he’s wincing as he gets rid of the sharp and uses the other hand to pop on a bandage.
“Now I’ll give you a few minutes for that to start working. Do you mind lavender? I’m not sure if it’s psychosomatic or not, but it seems to help some people.” He’s tugging out an incense stick.
"Steve's been giving me some teas with it in there. It smells a bit concentrated bed linen store or old lady, but I can handle it." Tony frowns. "Sometimes I think I should go to France and associate it with fields, you know? And floundering's fine? I'm not trying to climb out your window. Combeferre gave me a pill, but I can't remember what. Uh - when he came by."
“That’d be definitely a nice thing.” Stephen nods. “I mean, we could easily make that happen if you wanted to today. You know the coordinates? There’s people who live in a village in Provence, so their’s are out there. Dr. Combeferre’s best friend, actually.”
He’s bringing some fire to the tip of the incense stick by concentrating, then blowing it out quickly and popping it across the room.
“So, before I flounder really bad, let me ask some basic info? I’m thinking sending you with a script for the pain but something else to keep it from popping back.”
Tony nods. "Ideally nothing too - narcotic? I don't trust myself, if that makes sense. And - sure." He squints. "This stuff - I think it's helping? Or I'm relaxing."
“Easily avoided.” Stephen nods. “There’s plenty of other stuff that only works on migraine pain, since it affects different places. And good.” he nods. “It’s pretty fast. Top of the line for kidney stones too, in most ER’s, even more than narcotics.”
He’s going ahead and getting some questions in to determine things now.
Tony sounds like he did hit up some migraine specialists, but they were more in the - he bluffed about his pain level, and mostly it was treated with heavy doses of triptans and instructions to down caffeine and painkillers versus trying much else. Post the hostage situation (it sounds like it was very close to when Tony got here,) Tony basically hadn't had a serious one. So beyond being told triptans were banned, he had no real coping ideas.
He's got a chunk of his sternum gone, no real idea which ribs are messed up, but it's not hard to guess with the sternum missing, and orders to not drive. Some muscular issues on his left side, due to favoring it while he was healing. Possible occasional blood pressure issues? Apparently he'd recently updated the arc reactor due to fears of radiation poisoning.
Tony's heart rate totally jumps when Stephen's checking his pulse, and he kind of scrambles to his feet and sways.
Stephen’s tried to be careful with telegraphing his movements and explaining them, since the last thing he wants to do is freak out the patient, but apparently that’s easier said than done, isn’t it? He’s stepping around to grab Tony quickly and sighing.
“By the ageless Vishanti.” he mutters. “Tony? You okay? “
And that’s when he registers that there’s someone directly outside their door. Ellie will be listening before she knocks, in case she’s stepping into something, and making it worse by knocking ,but he’s letting the door open anyway, since she wouldn’t be coming if it wasn’t some sort of situation.
“Kind of a bad time, but since you’re here, can you help before you ask me anything? This is Tony Stark, and he’s not great right now….you have a friend over. Did I know that you were bringing a friend?”
There’s a girl behind Ellie who looks a couple years younger, maybe sixteen as opposed to almost eighteen, with dark hair curling beneath a red hat and there’s something weirdly familiar about her that he can’t place but...the air is pretty familiar.
“Wait. You’re from the future….”
“This is Morgan, eh...Morgan Stark.” Ellie isn’t sure that saying it right here, given the Tony thing is great but no sense hiding it now is there? “Facts are chiels that winna ding, after all”, which apparently translates to something like not being able to deny the truth, so she’s not going to do that. “She ah...turned up down the village a few hours ago.”
“Hii Doctor Strange…” Morgan starts, then she blinks. “Wait. Did you say...Okay, I’M gonna faint now.”
"Don't be a copycat, kiddo. Fainting's no fun." Tony says, sounding pretty faint himself. Which he promptly does, thankfully not flinging himself at anything sharp or Stephen.
“So this is a family thing then?” Ellie wonders, backing out of the way to let Stephen work.
“He’s dead…” Morgan mutters, starring. “Well, and probably from a different universe but...he went on a mission when I was almost five, the first time any of his Avenger friends showed up in MY life and then he was just...never came home.” She’s not exactly pale but she does grab a chair and looks pretty concerned while Stephen’s setting to work.
Thankfully, it just seems like a dip in blood pressure, possibly due to - stress or something?
Tony's moving gingerly as he pulls himself back up. "Did I hallu -" He blinks at Morgan. "Hi. I'm sorry if I was terrible. The other me. Different dimension."
“Easy.” Stephen’s stepping around. “Here, let me...do you mind if I cushion you a little? Magically?”
“Less terrible, more not there.” Morgan says, “Not through any fault of your...HIS own. He uh, died. When I was little. You DO look a lot younger, slightly different. Hi.”
Tony stares at his hand, which is shaking a bit. "I think I might do better to keep - what's it - head on the knees? I forget the first aid stuff." He blinks. "Sorry. I mean - the - dying bit. I know you can't help it, when stuff like that happens, but it's - not easy."
“That works too.” Stephen’s tugging over the pillow from the bed and putting it by Tony’s feet. ‘Here. Rest there. Elle, can you get the wrist cuff to take his...Thank you.” He’s being passed a portable blood pressure cuff that he pops onto Tony’s wrist, then settles it onto Tony’s left hand, raising it so that it sits by his chest.
“Just...breathe for now, okay? New girl. Miss Stark, can you just...actually staying right there’s perfect. Less in the way.”
Ellie snorts at that part. “I’ll go get him water. Actually, I think we all could use some.” Luckily, since this was all once a dining room for the monks, it’s not far to a kitchen, right across the library so it’s easy to dash over and fill a pitcher with ice and water, then float it , and some (plastic) cups in front of her on the way back while she also snags some of the quick energy foods hikers usually use that Stephen stashes here in case of study or astral projection emergencies.
“James would say that this is one of those times his grandmum would want to put on tea, I think. My uncle too.” She adds, crossing back over to rejoin them. Master Stark? Water?”
Tony's looking - a little less pale, at least. "Thank you. Sorry for - I've got no clue why I got so light headed there." He squints. "Uh - can we stick with Tony? Or - something like that? Last name's a weird mess, and Master sounds like I'm going to go to the lecture hall or check on my sheep in my holdings or something."
“Aye, right.” Ellie gives him a quick nod. “And I’d imagine it’s a shock, this. Though I’m no expert myself.” Her eyes shift to Stephen, where she eyedarts as if she finds some of this a little amusing.
“That and sudden movements couldn’t have helped.” Stephen says, nodding at Ellie. She may not have the abilities of a healer, but she’s good with the instinct, and could first aid in a pinch.
Morgan laughs at the bit about lecture halls and sheep. “I mean you COULD be sitting on the jedi council.,obviously.”
"Ugggh - is the Jedi less of a weird thing in your era?" Tony makes a face. "The newquels were weird. Prequels?"
“I mean, the focus isn’t on the jedi now.” Morgan says. “Not after the last major trilogy, and those ended before I was born. But occasionally you’ll get a standalone that’s pretty okay. “ She leans in, eyedarting a little. “There’s talk about doing one about Rogue Sqaudron, you know, the X-Wing pilots? I’ve always thought that being a space pilot would be AWESOME. Flying, you know? There doesn’t seem to be anything like it. I’m almost ready to get my...”
And then her face falls a little.
“And I just realized all the work I put in to that’s been wiped out by this whole new world thing. DAMN. But, at least the company’s pretty stellar. I can live with it since there’s a version of you to harass who isn’t a really lifelike looking hologram.”
Tony laughs, and waves a hand as gracefully as you can while someone's checking your pulse and you're sprawled out. "Might want to get a feel for me first?" He closes his eyes. "There's a Captain America here? And - Hawkeye? I think there's a Black Widow too, but I've not met her. So - I don't know what your world's like. Sounds like some big stuff went down."
His blood pressure's kind of terrible, from what he can tell from the numbers, but he's feeling a lot less light headed now. A lot less - jumpy as well. Jumpy might be a word for it. Hyperventilating. "It's not your fault, doc. I mean - the fainting thing. It happens?"
“Well, I mean..” Morgan shrugs. “It’s nice to have a friend who kind of gets little things that most wouldn’t. I’m not saying I’m going to move in with you and beg for your credit card so I can hit up Hot Topic or anything.”
She nods at the rest of that though. “It...yeah it definitely did. Big purple space alien decided to wipe out half the planet, and the Avengers tried to fix it. The way to actually make it happen ended up with Ironman getting a massive dose of radiation and dying on the spot. “ And she frowns a second.
“You know, I’m not sure how everyone else got away with no radiation sickness from being in the area. I’m GLAD because my mom was there, and I needed HER, especially if I wasn’t going to have my dad, but it could have taken them both out. It’s weird space science didn’t seem to do that.”
"I think it's bad taste to blame it on magic, just because I'm assuming purple space aliens were messing with it. And xenophobic as well." Tony sits up a little, causing his numbers to jump a bit before they settle, and he snags a glass of water. "Uh - Hot Topic, huh? Did they get less dickish about using other people's art? Or did that kind of die out later on?"
“It’s complicated.” Stephen says to that, as he checks Tony over. “Feel like you can sit up a little?” He asks, grabbing a pillow to pop behind Tony.
“From what I’ve seen of the timeline to come, Earth’s not the only place Thanos picked to do it to. He’s got this thing about conserving resources so everyone’s served. And he needed the...are you familiar at all with the Infinity Stones? They basically have cosmic powers and when you get them all, you’ve won the right to make...whatever you want to happen happen. Thanos...got them all. Apparently, I gave up the stone *I* guard.”
Thankfully he has it perfectly safe here, resting on his chest at the moment, and the Eye of Agamotto swings a little on its chain as he reaches over to grab a few of the quick energy snacks Ellie had grabbed. “You need to eat something to get your blood sugar back up. We’ve got Kendal Mint Cake, which is probably your best bet, but there’s also fig bars and some almond butter and crackers or fruit once you’re a little more stable. Anything I should know about in the realm of allergies? Last thing we want’s you freaking out your not quite kid with a reaction.”
“Not freaking out.” Morgan waves from her chair. “Well, totally freaking out, but not freaking out the same WAY. Not now, at least. “Anyway, Mr Purple Alien, who frankly, had a face that looked like something pretty rude to mention in front of your not! Dad, vanished a bunch of people and they were gone for five years, at which point I happened while people tried to readjust to the world, and then Doctor Bruce and Uncle Clint and Uncle Steve and...I have a TON of nonrelated family now, by the way, joined my dad to try to fix that. And, here we are now.”
"So - god, I can't really ask alt! cool daughter how awful it was for weird face morphology. Not Star Trek forehead crinkles, I take it." Tony's sitting up carefully, and trying a nibble of mint cake before sliding a piece toward Morgan. "I am feeling better? Uh - I think mom had issues with sulfa drugs, so I avoided them, but beyond that I was fine." Mint cake to his taste, is a lot of simple sugars and mint. Sort of breath mint on steroids, but in a good way.
“It was totally bizarre I’m told.” Morgan grins. “I mean, it’s fiction here and the last movie’s out so I’ve seen a couple posters just in town on the way up here, but yeah, Dangles. And hey, Alt Cool daughter. I like it.”
She snags the offered bit of mint there. “Better is good.”
Tony pulls himself into a chair to feel a bit less weird and tries to not have his hand shake while he's holding a glass. "It is. Uh - I was here asking for some help with my headaches, basically. We were talking some pill options, more or less."
“Migraines?” Morgan winces. “The WORST. “ And she looks thoughtful and turns to Stephen. “You know, I wonder; Alternate reality but if genetics are at work, maybe…” She’s mentioning a couple things they use for hers now.
“And there’s always, okay, this sounds weird, but along with your caffiene, if you get something to suck on, I like those unicorn pops, I think it’s something with the pressure getting relieved.”
Stephen’s frowning a little. “Does passing out often happen with them, Tony?”
Tony shakes his head. "Dizziness sometimes? A doctor thought it was the low blood pressure resulting in - something? I had it happen once, when I was having a panic attack in the hospital garage, so - different circumstances." He grimaces. "And pops, huh. I haven't tried them, but I could see that helping. I had a thing for the caffeine mints."
He's flexing his hands and carefully pushing himself up. "Yeah - not getting the world fading out when I do this. I didn't eat a lot today either, so that may not have helped. Nausea issues."
“I’d GUESS It has to do with creating a pressure in your brain by sucking on something bigger.” Morgan explains. “Or it’s like a total psychosomatic comfort thing, because with the girl who told ME about it, it was ring pops, so who knows?” She smiles.
“Yeah not eating a lot could DEFINITELY cause that.” Stephen frowns at him. “I get nausea issues when you’ve got a migraine but it’d be BETTER if you could try something. They make this protein powder that you shake up and it’s basically clear watery stuff that’s flavored. They have lemon and punch flavors. Or these truly vile little….they look like test tubes but they’re full of this noxious grape protein supplement. It’d be better than nothing if you can’t eat.”
"Ew. I tried the protein things, I think. Lost some weight when I got back." Tony grimaces and leans back in the chair. "Uh - also - cool kid's here, probably wasn't expecting to get weird biology talk. I can make sure I eat stuff?"
“The shakes are usually really bad,” Stephen nods. “When you can go liquidy watery it seems at least a LITTLE better, to me at least, I lost some weight after an accident and wasn’t eating great, but I mean, if you can't stomach anything else, it works in an emergency. There’s gum too, I think, Gatorade or someone makes that. But eating, especially when you feel it coming, that’ll help. It’s…” He pauses.
“I’ve got a thing with overwhelming pain, makes it hard to want to do anything to function other than lie there in the dark and hope death takes you soon, so I know how hard eating can GET, but it usually gets worse if you don’t eat, so...maybe keep something in a drawer by your bed? I’ve got apprentices who’ll force me to eat real foods, but not everyone’s a strange wizard, so...anything you can stomach with a lot of calories would help initially. My go-to for alone moments are these macdonian sesame things. They’re sort of in a strip or bigger ones are bars.” He unearths one from what Ellie pulled over.
“And hey, cool kid isn’t gone yet. She probably likes you.”
Tony squints. "Nope, not going to talk commitment with a migraine. That sounds like I'd say something weird." He smiles though. "Uh - I've been doing sort of veggies and dips stuff. When I'm ordering dinner and the like. Grazing's easier."
“Yeah, that’s probably a good idea,” Morgan nods. “Or you know, practice writing stuff down before you say it. You can always white it out or erase it, or whatever before you hit the send key.”
“How DOES food go on a normal, non migraine basis?” Stephen asks. ‘That’s when the grazing comes in is what i’m hearing? If that’s what works, go for it. There’s a whole realm of dieticians who say going for more frequent smaller meals is a better way to go, and if you’re having blood pressure fainting issues, sounds like you’d fit the criteria to make that a better choice.”
Tony grimaces. "Well, it's kind of - two migraines in a month sort of thing, and setting up for an appointment and skipped eating stuff kind of an issue. And medical anxiety?"
“That’d explain the passing out here.” Stephen says. “Or..has that happened in other contexts too?” He’s a little worried about that concept elsewhere, especially with this being Tony Stark. “Yeah you don’t want to skip eating. Set a watch alarm if you need to. Anxiety wise I do think Combeferre, when he’s out of the ER, would be a good fit for you there. He works with a LOT of people who have stuff going on. One of my sort of patients has food PTSD and sometimes can’t eat, and then gets weird about medical help with that, and there’s the kid with epilepsy that we share. He’s actually got some pretty severe migraines too, so that might be a thing.”
As far as the two migraines go…
“I’m going to suggest we get you on a control med for the migraines. There’s a few dailies…”
Tony nods slowly. "I'm . . . honestly tempted to kind of - get my baseline before I get too serious about medicating stuff? Which probably means talking to Dr. Combeferre, getting some scans and tests. Kind of - tracking how I'm doing at things and if I've got obvious triggers? I don't know. It's hard enough getting me in an office, that - I'd kind of want to take it slow and also get my brain to not think this is a big deal. If - that makes sense? But - if you think dailies are good -"
“Baseline…” Stephen nods. “That MAY actually be a better idea. You see how the surgeon in me take over when it comes to stuff like this? And sure. That would be probably better. BUT the good news is, you can probably make it as unclinical as possible. I mean, I tried here, with this, but it’s kind of an afterthought. I’ll let him know I think it’s a good option?”
Tony grins sheepishly. "Trust me. Last time I tried to go in, I ended up not even getting out of the parking lot. You did good. It's me that's being a mess."
“You’re not the biggest mess I’ve ever seen, you know.” Stephen says. “My sister had some pretty significant medical PTSD going, to the point we decided to wait until I was able to be her doctor and out of school, so, you know. I’ve seen messes. You’re okay.”
"Just don't want you blaming yourself." Tony grimaces. "Right - uh - you're probably going to say I should eat something." He smiles at Ellie. "Hello. Sorry for fainting at you. What name do you like me to use? I think I heard - Elle? Something like that?"
“Ellie.” She offers a hand. “Elle to some of them here, and that suits me just as fine. Pleasant to meet you.” She adds, pushing some hair back from her face. “ Aedan’s sister, but I study here most times, though he mentioned he had met you. I was running some errands.” Girl errands, in particular, since she’s now got the cosmetics and soaps she’ll need for the next month, among other things that she had to grab.
Tony shakes her hand. "Tony. Thank you for the water."
“Whatever I can do, I will.” Ellie gives him a nod as she shakes back. “I’m none too good at healing, so I”m here to learn other things, but it’s good to know I can aid you when I can. You seem more pleasant than the last Tony Stark.”
"It sounded like he'd been through a lot." Tony grimaces. "I uh - read the stuff. Met Aedan. Didn't meet you? He mentioned you? But I read stuff. Couldn't sleep. But - I don't know. I might be just as annoying if I'd been through the same? I'll try to be pleasant to you and yours though." He's digging out his phone to offer it to Morgan. "Can I have a texting number? And - uh - all of you, I guess? I don't trust myself typing in numbers."
“More he had a lot of issues.” Ellie says. “And they didn’t always help when he took them out on others. You don’t seem to be doing that part of things, despite having your own things. Obviously we all do.” He does look younger, so she nods.
Morgan’s punching in her new number. “Got it. “
“And I’ll throw in mine and Stephen’s.” Ellie’s doing the same, and Stephen’s magically pulling out a phone for the same.
So far, so good.
"It's probably good luck though to apologize for stress with the other me. I will probably make my own stress in time." Tony smiles. "Uh - do I need to call Dr. Combeferre? Or will you handle it? I can send you my work schedule."
“I can let you know for scheduling.” Stephen’s perfectly willing to do that when Tony’s got a migraine. If he didn’t have magic and apprentices, and had to do a lot of hand stuff alone? He’d hate it. Working through some pain’s necessary, but when you have alternatives...may as well use them.