Who: Tony Stark, Marcello Auditore When: Current Where: Tony's shop What: Tony invited Marcello over to chat a bit. Rating/Warnings: Status: Complete
Tony's shop has some windows looking out on the street and the construction is mostly over with. He's cleaning the windows right now, to get ready for some wintery themed decorations. Also he's waiting for the new guy.
It was fairly easy to make his way over, and Marcello’s pretty glad to have that ability. He could very well have started at the other place, but honestly, given the possible direction of that conversation, it’s probably a BIT better if he shows up there without being slightly charred. First impressions, right?
Besides that, the damage isn’t SO bad. He’s unharmed, which is a good thing, and he’s far away from his aunt who’ll probably be a little annoyed at the experiments in alchemy. Look, there’s reasons he wasn’t doing this at HOME, so...he does get it. Doesn’t mean he’s not glad to have a respite of sorts though.
And since it’s looking like this one will be a while...better to get information first off, right? He’s figured out the coordinates issue and arriving, blinking as he glances around. Well. That was...that was SOMETHING.
Tony turns out to be a dark haired man who looks like he's in his mid thirties at the youngest. Under fifty. "Hello there. I see why you were talking about a bath. Want to come on in? I'm Tony, from the internet."
“I had a BIT of a run-in with chemicals.” Marcello’s clearly in his early twenties and grins a bit sheepishly. “Science is not QUITE my actual skill. A bit of a hobby on the side, with emphasis on the BIT. And ah, thank you, Tony.” The accent is...really hard to place.
"Come on in? There's a sink if you want to freshen up a bit. Or I think you had someone else talking about opening up his place." Tony waved him in. "Shop's here, back room is this way, I live up above. Have you eaten recently?"
“Ah thank you again. And that DID happen. Still,” Marcello grins. “Best I not look COMPLETELY idiotic all at once. Let him down slowly when it comes to things like my intelligence, I think. That may be kindest.” He’s clearly joking about THAT, although, given the moment, it’s SLIGHTLY hard to tell. Slightly.
"As far as I know, science in your day was a lot of putting to things near each other and heating them up, and if you were lucky, you didn't get sick from the mercury." Tony waves him in. "I'm just glad you're not bleeding. Explosions can be messy. I think he was interested in chatting with you though."
He could imagine that the shop would probably look strange. Between the typewriters and the bookshelves of paperbacks and the enthusiastic student's least favorite projects.
“For the most part.” Marcello waves a hand. “People who know things write books about it to explain what happens but I’ll admit this was an impulse at the best. “ And he’s blinking. “That happens? That is a BIT worrying.” Slightly.
“And well, yes. Which is why it’s better to look something SLIGHTLY more myself at that point. The bits that they could print.” Which IS ironic, considering things that likely won’t be printed will come out of it, but still.
He’s glancing around the shop now, smiling a bit.
“My mother ran a bookshop for quite a long time. How she and my father met, actually. Nice to see they still exist, books. I had no real idea WHAT to go expecting.”
"There's other options out there now. You can do books that appear on a screen, kind of like the phone, and there's people turning these into online stuff so you can read - I don't know - kid's books from before your parent's time to see what they were like." Tony smiles as he leads Marcello back. "This way. I'm technically about ten years out of date for this year, but that's not such a major shock. As best I understand it, a lot of us are sort of - think of it like someone shaking a house, and we're books that fell off the shelf and ended up here."
"And one of the side effects," he continues, digging out washcloth for Marcello and demonstrating the taps and the drain, "Is that some of us are common media. There's a movie about - me. Like not my exact face, but close enough and my history. Stuff like that. It's strange, but it's nice that I'm kind of anonymous here, since I just look like that Tony Stark."
“They have books specifically for children now? That IS a good idea, I must admit.” Marcello nods at the ten years back part, though really, it all does sound fairly weird. “So a whole collection of people arriving here from different places in time, because they were characters in works of art?” Which has him wondering about himself, but, given his father’s even public profile...he does nod, slowly.
“That is...incredibly odd. Anonymous though. THAT must be useful in many cases.”
"I've ended up with a lot of 'you're not the first one to point out the last name' jokes, but - it's nice. Before I was the Stark, and a businessman, and people wanted to pester me a lot." Tony tilts his head. "Want me to snag a stool to sit on while you work, or do you want privacy?"
“That would be fine.” Marcello shrugs a little. “Privacy seems overrated, and I AM much more interested to hear more of what goes on in this place, I think. Has everyone who came managed to ah...find themselves, so to speak? Roles and such to play?”
"It varies? Some people do much the same thing they did before, just finding a way it works in the modern day. There's a guy who used to be a bodyguard and now he's a baker. I think he wanted a job change though." Tony shrugs. "The cards can support you for a while though. There's also some stuff to help you understand how things work now? So you can keep yourself safe."
How else to - "Legally, there's a cop that helps explain things for people who are really not from now, but a lot of the laws are different? Like - for example, I could marry a man, in a lot of places in the world."
“That will help.” Marcello nods slowly. “Time to look around and see.” And he supposes that, given there appears to be some kind of Ezio here, that there will, at the worst, be a place he can get information.
“Ah good. I WOULD hate to accidentally be arrested or something like THAT. It does seem like…” Then he’s blinking. “You...really? That IS a change. “ And he smiles a little. “Good for this world.”
"Also a lot of new science stuff. New for me, new for you. Which is pretty neat. I think your dad, if you want to talk with him, is the better one to talk about cloak and dagger affairs. Sort of the lay of the land." Tony waves a hand. "I know some stuff, but I'm kind of - civilian, running a shop because I like fixing things and this is an excuse to do that and support myself."
“I have the feeling it will take days for all of THAT catching up to be completed.” Marcello sounds excited at the prospect, though. And he nods. “After what I am certain will be a shock, it may be good to have the basics of that. I don’t pretend I want to join in, but even so. There were more than a few times when it was obvious why he was a little…” he shrugs. “He worried. About very real things that were not paranoia.”
He nods a bit. “Good allies ARE hard to find. But so. Science. I assume the carriages with nothing to pull them are powered by SOMETHING burning. “
"They are. I can show you how they work. Or are you planning something else, once you're cleaner?" Tony tilts his head. "You're an adult, right? I mean - the guy you were chatting with isn't human, as best I know, but he's allied with things that your dad wouldn't be paranoid about. I don't know him, but I've read stuff online. He holds a party at his house on his birthday, and invites folks in."
That’s a statement that has Marcello almost choking as he gapes at Tony. “Not...is this a translation error? I would swear you’ve said not human.” he glances around, as if there’s something here to translate again.
“And I do have time, I suspect. I did not make immediate plans yet.”
"I mean, I don't know what it means, but I saw casual mentions that he's not, so -" Tony shrugs. "Just that he likes guys and I've seen people being happy to spend time with him." He stands up and waves a hand. "Come on. I'll finish shutting down the shop for lunch and we can lunch and I'll teach you how the engines work."