Who: Tony Stark, Philo When: Current Where: The thrift store What: Philo's shopping at a thrift store and discussing sci fi. Rating/Warnings: Not really. A digression on fairy wings with these nerds. Philo's a lying liar and that's mentioned too. Status: Complete
Philo’s decided to swing around to the shop with the books, since he’s gotten coordinates for it, and might as well opt to see what it’s like for himself. He’s not too certain how his tastes in reading stack up against what’s here, or the terms used, but at the moment, while he’s debating where to take the police academy examinations in this world, he might as well see what it has to offer in the way of reading material, right?
The shop looks cheerful enough, and the typewriters on display are sort of fascinating. They’re definitely not from NOW, though they look more advanced than the sorts he’s seen used at the station. He’s not very good at typing, himself, so he usually opted to pay, or bribe someone into doing the work for him, while he hung around, of course, to make sure it was done correctly. You have to have some scruples like that when you’re an officer, after all.
Anyway, he’s glancing those over, and then his attention’s caught up by a footstool that, while it could use SOME repairs, looks remarkably like something someone richer may have at home. He’s almost tempted to pick it up for furnishing the flat he’s renting now. He hasn’t acquired much in the way of furniture yet. The last renter left behind a sofa, and he picked up a basic mattress and platform springs attached to some legs that takes the place of a frame for now. He assumes the right furniture will start presenting itself when its time. Maybe now?
Tony's got a glass of water and he's right now taking a look at the insides of one of the typewriters. "Hey. If there's anything I can help you with, let me know?"
“Ah, hello.” Philo gives him a bit of a nod and moves to slip off his hat, having forgotten that momentarily. “I believe we spoke on the message board. Philo.” he adds, “I assume you’re still Mr. Stark, unless you have a twin. You do look like your picture.” Photography is another of those things that’s grown a lot in the distance between universes or time periods, perhaps. Philo does wonder if the Burgue would be different in a day and age like this one, or if it’s like the strangely fascinating space movie he managed to find, where things seem to be taking place in the future but are set ‘a long long time ago’. It’s an interesting thought experiment, to be sure.
Tony gets up and offers his hand. "Nice to meet you. Please call me Tony? I always expect people to be talking about my dad when I hear people say Mr. Stark. We were talking about books. Want to check out what I've got other than that Verne collection?"
There - looks to be some paperbacks with characters from that space movie over on the shelf. Just judging by the logos. Some, by the "young jedi" text and the size of the books, might be aimed at younger people.
“I would, yes. And perhaps…” Philo decides he might as well go for it. “A price on the footstool there. It reminds me a bit of something that may be found at home. I sort of like it.” he heads around to the books now, blinking a little at the young jedi ones.
“I just managed to watch one of the movies.” he says, nodding at those. “And they’ve written novels in that universe for children? That’s fascinating, actually.”
"Ah - Star Wars? I've seen some of them, but not the newest stuff in the series. Apparently some of them get - odd. And I've read some of these books. Some of them are good, some are kind of - weird?" Tony heads over to look at the footstool. "There's some scratches in the wood, here, and the fabric on top has some wear, but it's in decent shape. I'd say about thirty bucks would be about fair. Would that work for you?"
“I can do that.” Philo nods. “Seems fair to me.” With a bit of cleaning, it should be fantastic, after all. “And I see where some of those concepts COULD do that, considering.”
"You know, I think Clint - Clint Barton, does Star Wars watching? Like watching through that and other movies he missed out on." Tony shrugs. "I missed out on some of the movies, due to when I got here. Want to flip through these books and see if anything appeals? I can answer questions if I've read them."
“Something to keep in mind. I’ll admit it gives me a bit of a headache, television.” Philo says, shaking his head. “Computers not so much. It’s easier to narrow your focus there, and to save the information if you want to look back at it quickly. And please.” Though he does have to laugh when he uncovers what is obviously a romance featuring a faerie of some kind. Only… the wings…” He can’t help snorting as he stares at them.
“They’re so UNWIELDY..” He says, mostly to himself, which attracts Bucky’s attention.
“Oh God, is that the paranormal fairy book? That’s amazingly weird. I”m Bucky and I’m about…” he stops to do the math. “Eighty odd years out of date. I think.”
Given Philo’s actually got a hat under his arm, he assumes that the guy’s from a while ago. “Uh there’s some Victorians running around. I think Jacob and Emmett and Harry are from the 1880s, Evie’s from the 1860’s and the French contingent are ...the thirties. But I mean, FRENCH. I’d be careful of those. Also mostly teenagers. And a poet. The doctor and...whatever Bahorel does are reincarnated from that so they’re a little saner.”
“Oh I met Combeferre.” Philo says. “He and Doctor Strange were there, when I arrived.” And he was able to get around Strange doing the doctor thing pretty easily. Combeferre took some work. And ingenuity.
And he’s pretty sure he’s convinced Combeferre he has the same rare disorder Stephen does. It’s something to do with the brain and nerves and...anyway, he hadn’t said directly that he had it, but he hadn’t corrected the assumption when Stephen described how it might feel to touch a body part that’s affected either. He’ll feel bad about that later, when he feels like telling the truth’s a real option.
"Do I want to know when you had the chance to read the fairy book? I thought the one with the feathered wings and the detective were more interesting, though it felt a bit - odd." Tony's digging around for it. "This one here. They have this weird thing about value of wing colors and it feels kind of - I don't know. I like owls. Shrikes don't seem like they'd be ominous."
“Feathered.” Philo snickers. “Like a bird? That’s ridiculously weird to me, sorry. And wait, wing colors?” He blinks. “That’s...a new one. I suppose every universe has its quirks.” He did get the memo about being fictional to this universe and having manifested here after all, and he’s accepted the idea.
“I flipped through when it came in.” Bucky eyedarts. “And feathered...yeah you’d think that would be more angels. Though you’d have to assume a more Judeo Christian reality for something like that. There’s an archangel here, but…”
"I think they were trying to avoid the wings equal angels thing, but it seems kind of - weird to have a fairly modern world and then throw in a bunch of totally not racism references. But I'm weird about Harry Potter so what do I know." Tony's digging out the polish. "Let me put some of this on the legs while you're looking at books, okay? It'll make the scratches better. I was planning on doing that, but got into the endless hole of typewriters."
Philo blinks at that. Racism applies to things like species? Really? That’s kind of interesting now. He’s making a note to do some research on that.
“The typewriters are interesting. I’m fairly awful at it, but most of the ones we used at work are...older. I’d usually bribe a deputy into submitting my reports.” he laughs a little.
"Pre-electricity where you're from?" Tony tilts his head. "We've got a pile of them from a typing school. I'm not sure if modern laptop stuff would be easier." He's working on the wood now. "If you're from a place that does tea, the guy I'm dating is working at a tea shop. They're kind of doing an international and healthy vibe with a lot of it, but it's good quality stuff."
“Some but not extensively so.” Philo says. “Houses don’t use it, but some businesses have it, and there’s a train above the ground and such. Unless our electricity is a form of magic.” He can see that being a possibility too. Stephen Strange seemed interested in that possibility.
"So kind of different. The internet must be cool." Tony's smiling. "I'm loving all the innovations and I'm just ten years out of date." He eyes the typewriters. "That grey one, with the greenish cast? It's a fine model, with a new ribbon available, just not a trendy color. It's ten bucks, but I could lower the price."
“It’s fascinating.” Philo says. “Patrick...Officer O’Clery mentioned that they use it a lot in law enforcement here, and that a lot of the testing for most of the academies is done there. I’ve got a lot to learn about that sort of a thing. I don’t suppose you’d know programs to make someone better at typing? Exercises?”
"I think they do lessons at the college? Officer O'Clery may be your bet for finding a good source. I fear most of my speed is just from typing for a while. Typing stuff to people and things like that. So letters - that kind of thing." Tony tilts his head. "What about you, Bucky? Has anything really - worked well?"
“Hmm.” Bucky considers. “I had a class in high school, so I sorta knew what I was doing. And sometimes they had me do reports in the field. Not usually, but there were times it happened. Here, honestly, things aren’t clunky like they used to be. That helped a LOT.”
"Which is good." Tony's moving back to work on his typewriter again.
“Definitely.” Bucky nods. “You do pick it up pretty easily here. And if not, they got voice recognition stuff.” So that’s an option too. “You have to train it to your voice but..”
“That’s an idea.” Philo nods slowly. “Worth keeping in mind.” He IS adding a few other novels to the couple he’s managed to find so far. There’s some Heinlein, among others. Stranger In A Strange Land, which he FEELS these days.
Still, it’s better than it was initially already. It’ll just take time.
"And it's good you're doing okay. The Vaels, if you haven't met them, are pretty open to talking to newcomers? I could get you some contact information if you'd like." Tony's fiddling with a bit in the typewriter. "Let me know when you need stuff rung up."
“The daughter, the mage, was nice enough.” Philo says, nodding. “I’m told they’ve got a bit of a monopoly on that sort of thing in Scotland. A good monopoly, it seems.”
"They were pretty nice to me when I got here." Tony stretches his back. "Want to see if this is behaving better, Bucky? I need to stretch my back out and take a break on peering at things."
“Sure.” Bucky steps around. “How IS the back by the way? Need any help with that?”
"Mostly just been in one spot too long." Tony's snagging his water. "How's the book hunting going?" He's noticed that Philo seems to - definitely have a taste for classic sci fi. He seems a little - tentative? Maybe? Tony's not sure, but that's partially why he's kind of trying to not hover.
“Quite well so far.” Philo smiles. “You’ve got a selection that, well it SEEMS close to what I liked at home. It’s a pity I didn’t have anything ON me at the time to share. But I’ll see how these go if you’re curious and don’t know some of them. I heard rumors of a book discussion group.”
"I'm always happy to hear suggestions." Tony leans on the counter. "I can't remember who does that group, but I think they meet at a cafe occasionally. Steve might know? I think it's near the hospital."
“I’ll let you know.” Philo promises, giving Tony a nod. Hey, he’s glad to have found what seems to be a fantastic source for books, after all. And you know, furniture as well. He’s already thinking of a good place for the stool to go.