InsaneJournal

WHO: Howard & Maria Stark
WHAT: A somewhat awkward moment of domestic... something.
WHEN: Not long after this.
WHERE: Their apartment.
RATING: TBD
STATUS: In Progress

Although Colligo was far beyond anything she had ever imagined, and was quite a bit in the future compared to the year she was from, Maria liked to think she was making decent progress in acclimating herself to her new surroundings. She had spent a great deal of time studying the device she'd been given upon her arrival - a PDA, apparently is what it was called - and had taken equal amounts of time out of her days to try and familiarize herself with other advancements in technology that surrounded her as well. In some ways, it was relatively easy to do so, considering the wondrous and oftentimes far beyond their times creations that Howard came up with on nearly a daily basis. However, in other ways, it was also exceedingly difficult because all of the instructions and explanations for devices she didn't understand came with their own set of terminology that was as equally baffling to her as the device itself.

Still. For the most part, she was making decent progress. She had figured out how to use most of the things in the kitchen of the apartment that she'd been assigned, and had even managed to make a meal or two since she'd arrived without burning it to a crisp. The coffee pot was still a little confusing when she tried to figure out how to set it to brew without her there to press the button, and the microwave was quite possibly evil incarnate as far as she was concerned, but she had recently discovered how to program the television to record shows while she was away as well as set the answering system on her phone so that people could leave her messages when she wasn't able to answer their calls. True, she wasn't exactly clear on how to check those messages just yet, but she was halfway there and that was good enough for her.

Of course, if she had made half as much progress in her relationship with Howard as she had with the technology, Maria would probably say that her life was as swell as it was going to get, given the circumstances. However when it came to her husband, things were definitely slow going and so awkward, at times, that it was very nearly painful.

She couldn't blame him for that, though. Not entirely. She could only imagine how she might have reacted if their rolls were reversed and reminded herself on nearly a daily basis that she simply had to give Howard time and he would come around. Already he was making great strides to do so. Up to and including making sure he came home every night and not looking at her as though she was about to leap on him and demand he never leave her sight again lest he decide to stray. And, although she wasn't sure Howard realized as much, Maria had tried to do her best to accommodate him as well. Granted most of her accommodations were much the same as the ones she made in their marriage back home, but she saw no reason to let him know that fact. As long as he believed he was free to come and go without any questions from her whatsoever, it wasn't any concern of his at all when she had taken that nonchalant of a role even as his wife. The point was, she wasn't pressuring him to do, or commit, to anything he wasn't comfortable with just yet. All she had asked, in fact, was that he not stray. At least, not until he had given them being together in a serious way a real chance.

And that's exactly what he'd done, too. Which Maria couldn't be happier about. Even if her current happy mood had been somewhat dampened by the conversation with their son-from-the-future. Not because of Tony himself, but rather because she still had a nagging feeling that she had failed him as a mother by not keeping some of Howard's... less positive qualities from coming to light. And that was weighing heavily on her. A fact that she was trying her hardest to hide behind a soft smile as she made her way into the living room where Howard had, once again, taken apart his PDA and was studying it as intently as a child studied their favorite new toy.

Taking a seat beside him, Maria forced her worries about their son to the back of her mind and watched her husband work for a moment before asking lightly, "Call me curious, but are you hoping you'll memorize how the thing ticks so you can copy it when you get home, or are you really just that fascinated with all of those wires and things that make it go?"