Tony Stark is a Piping Hot Mess (avengingstuff) wrote in pathways_log, @ 2021-05-09 22:38:00 |
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Entry tags: | mcu: tony stark, tvd: caroline forbes |
Who: Tony and Caroline
What: Getting lunch and party planning!
When: Sometime in March
Where: Some nice restaurant. Tony’s buying!
Ratings/Warnings: Tame, probably.
Status: Complete
It was one of the fancier restaurants in Vegas, one that had some freaking amazing Lunch offerings and where Tony almost always had a table saved for him. He liked doing business over lunch. Not that a meeting with Caroline was strictly business, because she was one of the only people in his orbit he could call a friend.
He was excited about this. A man's birthday only came once a year, after all, and this year seemed like a special one. He didn't really know why, but he did like any reason to throw a huge party.
Tony waited until they'd ordered and had good drinks in their hands before toasting her with his glass. "Alright, Care Bear. What do you think? Fancy dinner? Rowdy party? Do I rent out an entire place?"
Caroline usually met with clients in her office. Sometimes she would meet them for coffee and on the rare occasion a meal. It was easier to get down to the planning when at her office. She had her binders full of different caterers, florists, decorations, etc. But there were a certain few who didn’t need all that. Usually ones Caroline worked with a lot and even became friends with. Tony Stark definitely fell into that category.
“Well,” Caroline said, taking a sip of her drink. “If you want the party of the year I definitely recommend renting out an entire place. Maybe some caterers circling with food, an open bar. And entertainment. Not just a DJ or a band, something interactive as well.”
"Something interactive..." Tony mused. "I'm starting to feel like what I need is a high class Chuck E Cheese party. You ever been to an arcade? Imagine a bunch of guys in suits and ladies in fancy dresses trying to play those racing games or shooting games. Heh, is that something you could do? But I'm betting you had a completely different idea."
She usually did, and it was usually something a lot better and less like a five year old's party. "Please tell me it's a better one. I'm a little afraid of mine."
Caroline almost burst out laughing. “Not exactly what I was thinking.” Arcade games weren’t exactly what she had been thinking. Though if Tony really wanted some she could strategically place a few throughout the venue. “But if you want something technology based there’s always LED floors.” Those could be pretty cool. “They light up and make different designs under your guests feet.” She wasn’t sure she needed to explain that to Tony Stark. She was just used to having to explain these types of things.
“I was thinking more performances,” she went on. Acrobats were a good go to, but she had used those a few months ago for one of David’s parties. She didn’t think Tony would want to do the same thing. “You could have artists scattered about creating works of art in front of your guests eyes. Or mentalists interacting and amazing your guests with their tricks. Or… we could go all technology based. Have LED video walls, a light show, the LED floors.” Now that she thought about it that all seemed more Tony’s style. But still it was his choice. She was just giving him some options. And then she would put it all together of course.
"See, this is why I pay you the good money. Because you definitely had a better idea, and I'm pretty glad that you're here." If Tony planned his own parties, they'd be a complete disaster. He knew that for a fact, because he'd planned a couple before he'd started hiring Caroline.
He rubbed at his chin a bit, thinking through her various suggestions. She was right, technology was definitely more his style. "OKay but what if we did some combination of the two. So we have these light up floors, which are amazing for dancing on, and we do a light show, super high class. But then with the LED walls, what if it's artists? There's a few street artists over on the Downtown that paint with light. Maybe we get some people like that in, and they're doing light painting on the walls. And then something that my guests can kind of participate in sometimes?"
“That’s just because I do this for a living,” Caroline replied with a smile. “You have way better ideas than me at like inventing things. Besides your ideas aren’t so bad,” she teased. “They just need a bit of guidance.”
But then he went on to give an idea of his own. Caroline beamed, that was actually a good one. She was proud. “That’s perfect,” she said to Tony. “You could have your guests suggest things for the artist to draw.” That way there wouldn’t be too much going on.
"Yes!" Tony clapped his hands together, because Care had just nailed that one. "I think desserts we serve should have some of the light painting colors as decorations to tie it all in. Can we get neon pink and green in a drizzle? I bet you can get anyone to do anything."
He pulled out his phone and made his own quick notes, mainly so he could refer to them later when he was hyping the party up to people. "We definitely need some kind of cake, but maybe not a big one. Since we've got people wandering and interacting, something in bite sized pieces? Petit fours and macarons and... well I think at this point we almost have to have some kind of fancy brownie."
Caroline wasn’t at all surprised that Tony was focussing on the desserts. “We could do mini cupcakes?” Caroline offered, those were definitely bite sized. Well maybe two bites. But it would definitely work. “Or cake bites,” which were basically little balls of cake covered in frosting.
She nodded at all his other suggestions, writing them down in her notebook. “I know a baker who makes great brownies. We can stop by after lunch if you want? Or I can set something up for another date. What kind of non dessert food do you want?”
"OOo, cake bites. I love it. Gotta have those." Tony nodded, and took a sip of his drink. "Also, brownies after lunch sound amazing. But I want you to know that I'd have taken your word for it anyway. Because you’re like… honestly the most trustworthy person I know. Also you really have my tastes down to a science."
As for what else to eat, Tony honestly seemed stumped for a moment. His eyes squinted shut, and he tapped on his chin for a few seconds, "Mini burgers? I guess we call those sliders now? Is that the fancy term?"
“What can I say,” Caroline replied with a grin. “It’s one of my many talents,” she teased. Though it was partially true. She was good at knowing her clients’ tastes. Part of what made her so good at her job. That and all the connections she had built since moving to Las Vegas almost two years ago.
“Sliders, yes,” Caroline confirmed, making a note of it. “Do you want truffle fries to go with that?”
"Oh my god, truffle fries. Yes, yes I want those." Tony nodded his head a few times, looking extremely excited at the entire concept. If he'd been a dog, his tail probably would have been wagging.
"Man I'm glad we're literally about to eat food. This entire discussion is making me so hungry. So we'll probably need some kind of veggie option, something super tasty, and then probably something low carb and gluten free for that crowd. And maybe a couple of other sides, like salads and such."
“Kind of the best time to discuss it right?” Caroline replied. Sometimes she had meetings to go over food options when she wouldn’t be eating herself for a few hours. And it was kind of tortured. “I’ll email you over a list of some of my favorite vegan appetizers. Some gluten free ones too.” Because Caroline had a feeling Tony would respond better if he saw pictures of the appetizers along with the name. Instead of Caroline just telling him things like ‘Panisses With Sage Leaves and Lemon.’
And then as if right on cue their food arrived. Caroline almost immediately started digging into her panini. “So,” she said after a bite. “How is everything else, Tony?” He had mentioned having a rough week.
Tony took a knife to his patty melt, cutting it into a more manageable slice of sandwich. And because then he could direct his attention at his food and not at Caroline. "Uh... well. You already know about the manicure. The old man actually sent me a text about that later. He hasn't texted me in five years. It was pretty weird."
He'd sounded proud of him. "I... I think it almost sounded like a compliment? I'm not sure, the man's never opened his mouth at me except to criticize me, so I'm not sure what his compliments actually sound like."
The look on Tony's face was mildly distressed as he lifted up a chunk of patty melt to devour it.
Caroline did not understand the whole manicure thing. It all seemed pretty ridiculous to her. But she did understand wanting parental approval. “I know he’s your dad and all,” Caroline said with a frown. “But I’m not sure you want someone being proud of you for getting a manicure in the middle of a board meeting.” She paused taking a bite of her sandwich. “You have accomplished so much. That’s what he should be proud of.”
Tony pointed at Caroline excitedly as he finished chewing his bite. "That's exactly it! Like okay, don't get me wrong. They don't take me seriously. No one on that board does, because they remember me and all of my embarrassing younger moments. And my dad sure as hell isn't letting me forget them. In a way, this entire... manicure thing, it did me a favor."
"But... I don't know if I want to actually become David Xanatos when I grow up. Sure, he's probably making more money than I am. Not that money even matters after a certain point. I just... you know, I want to be me. I want what I do to be the thing people like about me."
Caroline took a bite of her food and nodded as he spoke, waiting until he was finished to speak again. “I don’t think Las Vegas could handle another David Xanatos,” or the entire world for that matter. “You should just keep doing what is best for you and what you believe in,” she went on taking a sip of her drink. “You don’t need to be like your dad or David or anyone else. Eventually they will all see that. And if they don’t…” she paused trying to think of a more eloquent way to say ‘fuck em’. “They aren’t worth your time.”
Half of his sandwich was devoured hungrily as Caroline spoke, though Tony maintained eye contact here and there so that she'd know he was still giving her his attention. He nodded his head here and there, definitely agreeing that Las Vegas didn't need another David Xanatos. It could hardly handle one of them with everyone else that existed there.
When he'd finished taking a sip of his drink, he nodded again. "Not worth my time, yeah. You have to do a lot of networking in this town to get all these parties settled, so you know how it is. You end up giving them your time anyway. And then you wake up one morning on the floor of your workshop and wonder what the heck you were wasting your entire life on. But that's just my experience. Probably your own networking is nicer. Just... you know. Honestly it's mostly the weapons contracts. Funny thing is, sometimes I think about them and think I remember a time when I was happy to build weapons for a living. But I never was, so... that's pretty crazy."
He squinted for a moment as he realised he'd just rambled off, and darted his eyes off to the side. "Sorry, Care Bear. Anyway, you're always giving me good advice. You should talk about yourself a bit before I take over this entire conversation."
“You know,” Caroline said with a grin. “I’ve never woken up on the floor of my workshop… or office,” considering she didn’t have a workshop. “Or anywhere really.” Nor did she wonder what she was wasting her life on. Caroline was actually pretty fulfilled. She didn’t feel like she was wasting her life in the slightest. “But I get what you’re saying. If I built things that resulted in killing people, I’m sure I would regret my life choices too.”
Caroline laughed at his last comment before finishing off her own food. “My life isn’t half as fascinating,” she assured. “Besides, that’s what I’m here for.” Well it was actually to plan his party. But giving advice was just as important if not more so.
"Oh like hey - sorry, yeah, you definitely don't look like you do regret yours, or that you should. You're super good at your job and sometimes I think it makes you glow? Or is that just really good moisturizer?" Tony asked, while squinting at her. "It probably isn't. It's probably just you. But I mean... I definitely do."
"And I don't recommend waking up on your office floor. It's pretty awful on the back. And on your front. Or your head, if you fall far enough. My head's hard enough to take the abuse though as we're all pretty aware. But seriously, how ARE you doing? Aside from being busy with everyone's parties."
Caroline was pretty used to Tony’s rambling. All she could do was give another laugh before going into what she had been up to lately, aside from work, though she made a point to leave David out of it. She just wanted to enjoy the rest of her lunch with Tony after all.