InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "We are our Secrets..."

Tony Stark (campusking) wrote in snapthread,
@ 2020-02-27 17:06:00

Entry tags:

harry osborn (msm), tony stark (avac)

WHO: Tony and Harry
WHAT: Time to meet the cool Tony
WHERE: Around town
WHEN: Today

Tony was - well he was doing what he normally did. Keeping his head down working on this and that and staying out of trouble mostly. Which was - well not new, but not exactly par for the course, not that Tony was ever sort to get into trouble, at least not on purpose - but sometimes things didn't go exactly as planned. But it was easier to keep things not quite so over the top here, it wasn't like they were fighting villains every other week here so it was a bit more calm than the life he'd left behind.

Maybe a little too calm, but Tony was making the most of it, using it as a chance to stretch his skills and his abilities and try and figure this out. Just because he hadn't been able to do it just yet didn't mean he wasn't going to solve it eventually.

For now though Tony thought maybe he'd get out and clear his head for a little bit, maybe he'd head over to Steve's gym and get in a little bit of movement, get the blood pumping and all that, or whatever people did when they felt like they'd been sitting for too long.

On his way there though Tony saw a familiar face, even if he hadn't had the chance to really talk to him yet - "Hey," He called out to Harry, he thought it was Harry at least, that was what he thought he'd heard. And in any case he could use a bit of a distraction from himself so there he was. "It's Harry right? I'm Tony," He jogged up toward him with a hand extended to properly introduce himself.

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goblinglider
2020-02-28 02:09 am UTC (link)

Things were definitely quieter here than they had been at home. It was more than the lack of traffic and the usual ambient noise he associated with New York. There was less going on too. There was no villain attacking, no one trying to hold him hostage, and nothing chasing him. It was a lot to get used to but that was okay. It was better than okay. He'd take the occasional boredom over what he was dealing with back home.

The lack of responsibilities and crises meant that Harry had more time to focus on his projects. Unfortunately, focusing on his projects meant he spent a little more time than he would've liked cooped up in his house and being antisocial. He was actively trying to change that. That's what he was doing wandering around town. He was thinking about ducking into COFFEE or visiting his giant man-sized Peter. Maybe he could pop in on Gwen... Before he could decide where to go he heard someone trying to get his attention.

Harry turned and watched as the younger Tony Stark came jogging up to him with his hand extended. "Hi, yeah, I'm Harry Osborn." He said as he took the other's hand and shook it. "And I know who you are. Sorta. The Tony Stark I'm used to is a little older." Or a lot older. It was still nice to see a Tony Stark that was closer to his age.

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campusking
2020-02-28 02:31 am UTC (link)

Tony grinned when Harry introduced himself, it was interesting - Harry was the first person he'd met who had a tie to someone he knew from home but hadn't been at the academy with him too. He was curious now. Osborn, he knew Norman, who was kind of a mess but not all bad - and now here was Harry, did they know each other? Maybe a brother?

He huffed softly and nodded, "Yeah, I hear that a lot," He admitted with a little laugh, at least that was something that was familiar, it was nice that there were others hims around, in a strange sort of way. That something about him was enough to make him a constant in a lot of places, even if the shape of him was different.

"You wouldn't happen to know a Norman Osborn, would you?" He asked, unable to hold back his curiosity, and who better to ask than Harry right?

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goblinglider
2020-02-28 04:12 am UTC (link)

"I know there are other versions of me in a few different worlds." He offered. So far, however, only Gwen and the adult Peter had mentioned him. He wasn't too disappointed that this version of Tony didn't know him. Even if he existed in this particular version or their shared world he doubted Tony Stark would know him. Harry didn't think he was someone important enough to be on the other's radar. He was the son of a businessman. Nothing more, really. "If it makes you feel better you're the first Tony I've met?" He offered. "I didn't really get near the one in my world. He didn't like my dad."

And Norman absolutely hated Tony Stark. Harry had listened to his father rant and rave about Tony Stark and Stark Industries. He'd been present in the room while the two of them smiled and pretended they didn't hate each other. It was uncomfortable. The fact that this Tony was so much younger than his counterpart meant Harry wasn't as conflicted in his feelings. He could give this one a chance without worrying too much about what his father would say.

Speaking of which... He frowned as Tony asked about Norman, curious if there was already a negative association he was going to have to find a workaround for. "Norman Osborn? Yeah..." He said, frowning just a little. "He's my dad."

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campusking
2020-02-28 06:35 am UTC (link)

"Yeah the multiverse is a crazy thing," Tony agreed, so he wasn't surprised to hear that some of the others knew a version of Harry too. It was probably a good thing, it meant they had an idea of what they were in store for with Harry, which was a good thing - some of the others who had made their way through town had been entirely unknown quantities and maybe they'd been okay mostly, but you never could be quite sure.

Tony laughed, delighted when Harry told him he was the first Tony he'd met here so far. "Well then this is your lucky day, running into the coolest Tony in town on your first go." He teased with a grin, but well if there was anything Tony was good at it was talking himself up, especially with someone new who didn't really know him well yet.

He didn't miss that frown when he asked about Norman, and he wondered if maybe he'd made a mistake in asking. "Oh, well - that's .... weird." He said after a beat when he realized that it wasn't a brother or cousin or something but instead father. "I know him back home, we go to the Academy together." He explained, "He's kinda weird, but not bad really, I mean he wouldn't be at the Academy if he was, you know?"

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goblinglider
2020-02-28 07:56 am UTC (link)

"Oh yeah, I've noticed." There were two Peters here and neither of them were his. There was a Gwen here who wasn't his and whose life, as far as he could tell, was pretty different from his own Gwen's. There were two very different Tony Starks here. Everyone was so very different from what he was used to while being so very similar. The multiverse was, indeed, a crazy thing. He still liked meeting these other Peters, this other Gwen, and this Tony.

"Coolest, huh? I don't know if I can believe you. I might need to track down the mayor and introduce myself. Compare the two of you." He laughed. He wouldn't actually do that. He still had his hang-ups about the older version that seemed closer to what he was used to. It was just slightly scarier knowing that the older one was sort of Gwen's father figure here and possibly Pete's. He was happy sticking with this Tony.

"Which Academy?" He asked, curious to know more about Tony's world and this younger version of his father. It was possible that Harry should just was his hands entirely of anything to do with his father but, well, Norman's his father. Harry was still willing to believe that there was good in him. He still loved the older man in spite of everything he'd found out. "It's actually nice to here you say he's not that bad. Back home the two of you did the whole... backhanded compliment thing. It was uncomfortable."

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campusking
2020-02-28 08:30 am UTC (link)

He grinned, "Yeah I guess you just have to take a look around here and you'd pretty much get the message about the multiverse." And these days it was even more subdued than it had been when they'd first arrived, with more doubles than there were now. But even what they had was plenty to make the point.

Tony clutched at his chest when Harry suggested he might not be able to believe him, "Oh come on, have you even seen that guy?" He scoffed holding a hand out in a vague sort of direction like Old Tony might just be standing right there. "He's definitely squaresville." Tony assured him, "But me, I mean - I don't even have to tell you, just look." He then shifted his hand to gesture to himself, like that made the point well enough.

"Avenger's Academy!" Tony told him, "There were a lot of people there, people from here - well not people who are actually here, but you know, the multiverse thing. Peter and Gwen, and Bucky, and Steve, Quill and Gamora and even her scary sister Nebula." Tony told him, "We were all there, learning about this hero business working together to save the world, right up until things got a little too dicey having so many of us together like that, so we closed the school down after a few years, everyone went their own ways doing their own things." He shrugged, "But yeah, Norman he started out kind of well not evil, but he was working for the wrong side for a while but no one is too far gone you know? We managed to get through to him and got him into the Academy, he was great with chemistry."

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goblinglider
2020-02-28 01:21 pm UTC (link)

It was more than enough to make a point. Harry didn't need to come into a world with numerous copies of people he knew or knew of back home. The two sets of Tonys and Peters here with their obvious differences was more than enough.

He hadn't been around any version of Tony Stark to know whether or not the humor was specific to this Tony or not. He found himself laughing a little as the other clutched at his chest. "I have not met him. I've seen posts from him on the network but I haven't gotten around to meeting him in person." He would have to eventually, he assumed. He'd focus on that when he had to though. For now it was about the younger Tony. He took a step back and looked the other over before nodding. "Okay. I can see your point. You do look pretty cool." And he felt easy to talk to, easy to tease. It went a long way.

He had never heard of Avengers Academy but it wasn't really the sort of place he'd assume any version of Norman Osborn would end up in. Given his father's age in the place it also seemed like another world where he didn't exist and wouldn't be friends with Peter. That always made him a little sad. He could dwell on it later though. He didn't want to become moody or dramatic in front of Tony.

Something about what he said struck a chord with Harry. Back home, his Peter had been trying to convince him of the worst about his father. It was true, of course. Harry had always known that. Norman was manipulative at best and scary at his worst. He'd been responsible for getting Harry kicked out of Horizon in order to have him under his thumb, and had manipulated Harry into believing that remaining at Oz Academy was in his best interests. He had worked with criminals and had been the mastermind behind a lot of the suffering that Spider-Man had gone through, a lot of the stuff that Harry went through. Peter saw the worst and tried to warn him away. Harry tried, was still trying, to look for the good. "I'm glad you guys could. We weren't so successful back home."

Again, though, he was trying not to get moody or dramatic. Harry wanted to make a good impression on this Tony. "Chemistry's my strong suit, too." He offered with a smile. "I'm pretty good at a lot of things but Chemistry is my specialty."

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campusking
2020-02-29 09:45 am UTC (link)

"Take my word for it, who would know a Tony better than me, right? He's boring as heck." Not totally true, but sometimes you just had to go over the top when you were trying to make a point. He did actually kind of like the older version of himself, even if he was half jealous of him most of the time, it was good to see that he'd turned out pretty well, at least in that world. He supposed he still had a long way to go to know for certain about himself. But Tony grinned hugely when Harry agreed with him, "See, I knew you were a smart guy."

It was kind of nice to tell someone about home for a little while. It had been some time since he'd met someone totally new like this, so a chance to remember what he'd done in the past, his friends and his home was a welcome one. He could see though that what he'd said wasn't exactly easy for Harry to hear either, though he didn't seem upset about it. But he thought he could understand that. It'd be like if someone told him something about his dad, well even then not quite like that, but sort of.

"It's - you know sometimes things get away from people. I mean sure some people are all bad and stuff, but I think a lot of the time things just get out of hand and then you're in too deep and well. It's hard to come back from that for some people." He told him, he didn't like hearing that things had gone differently for Norman where Harry was from. He was a nice enough guy, a bit weird but well - doing that whole goblin thing would probably make anyone a bit weird.

But he grinned when Harry told him he was good with chemistry too. "I'm not surprised to hear it. Chemistry is great, I mean I'm more into engineering myself but you know it's cool. You know I've got my lab, if you ever want to come around and..." He shrugged, "I don't know, I don't have much in the way of chemistry stuff, but we could probably get some if you wanted."

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goblinglider
2020-02-29 01:42 pm UTC (link)

"You know what? That checks out." Harry joked, nodding solemnly at the other's words. He doubted there was a single version of Tony Stark who was boring but, for the purposes of this conversation, he'd gladly accept that as fact. He still needed to get around to meeting that older Tony Stark. Someday. He'd set it as some sort of future goal: talk to the father figure of your friends here. He chuckled and allowed his smile to become something a little more confident. "What can I say? It runs in the family."

While it was a little hard to hear that there was a version of his father who turned out good was difficult he also appreciated it. His father had been difficult to live with, impossible to please. Any care or attention he showed to Harry was always with an unlterior motive behind it. Anything offered always came with conditions. His love and approval always felt out of reach. None of that, however, changed the fact that Harry loved his father. That he wanted nothing more than to please him. He'd failed miserably but he was coming to realize that he'd been set up to lose from the start. Hearing about this one gave him hope for other Harrys in other worlds.

"I agree." He said softly and, maybe, hearing that from any version of Tony Stark made it mean a little more. "And, okay, it's hard to hear it because of the way things went back home but..." He shrugged, "It makes me hopeful, I guess? I told my Peter over and over again that my dad was a good guy. Deep down, there was good in him. I was right, at least, about the Norman Osborn of one world. If he ever has a son maybe things will be better for them." He was hopeful and, now, curious. Tony's world seemed like an odd one. "Is anyone else from your world here?" He asked. He hadn't seen anyone but Harry hadn't been the most social of people and it was possible he'd missed a bunch of smaller avengers running around.

You learned a little bit of everything at Horizon. Harry may have gotten accepted into the school for his skills in Chemistry but he was in no way limited to just that field. He just wasn't as strong in other departments. He smiled as he listened to Tony, the smile only becoming a little brighter at the offer. "Mr. Stark, are you suggesting we share a lab space? We've only just met." He teased. "Seriously though, I appreciate it. I would love to see it some time and if you really don't mind the company..." He was all for having someone to talk to while they both worked on things.

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