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Tweak says, "Ho ho and mistletoe."

after_burners (after_burners) wrote in tensor,
@ 2011-03-08 02:07:00

Entry tags:

sam_guthrie, tony_stark

Tony - Monday afternoon
He'd finished the last of the upgrades he had planned for his bike's engine (for now), cleaned up his workspace, and dumped the grease stained rags he'd used in the laundry before grabbing a bottle of water out of the engineering common room's fridge. He was just chugging the last of it down when he heard someone else come in and turned to the door.

"Hey, Tony." He grinned, quick and easy, and lobbed his now empty bottle at the recycling. He was a heck of a lot more comfortable and relaxed here, hair disheveled and grease smeared across one cheek, than he'd ever been decked out in the height of fashion and trailing around after Bobby and Kitty in Paris over the weekend. Not that he hadn't had fun, it had been a blast and he wouldn't trade it for much of anything, but this was his element. "Working on anything interesting?"

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stark_raving
2011-03-08 04:07 pm UTC (link)

Tony looked up from his phone and grinned at Sam. He held the phone up so he could see a diagram floating on the screen.

"I am always working on something interesting," he assured Sam. "But this particular bit of awesome is extra awesome because it's from scratch. Or, well, from scratch with some parts we had lying around in the scrap bins already, but I fixed them so they don't suck."

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	after_burners 2011-03-08 06:38 pm UTC (link)
	"Good point," Sam agreed, wandering over. "Guess that should'a been what interesting thing are you were workin' on?" he amended, before whistling appreciatively as he bent to examine the diagram Tony was displaying. "Sweet. You, uh...you mind if I have a look?" (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	stark_raving 2011-03-08 06:54 pm UTC (link)
	Tony set the phone down on his workbench and uncovered the engine he'd started building. It was still in its early stages, and it wasn't pretty (yet) but it was a good beginning. "Sure, go for it," he told Sam as he unbuttoned his shirt and took it off so he could work in the t-shirt he'd had on underneath. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

after_burners
2011-03-08 07:28 pm UTC (link)

Sam followed Tony to his workspace and waited while he uncovered the engine. Once it was on display, though, he stepped forward to examine it eagerly, oblivious to Tony's presence for the moment.

It might not be pretty yet, but after having looked at the diagram the bones of what it was going to become were evident and Sam paced around the workbench in fascination, carefully not touching. He wasn't even entirely sure how some bits of it were meant to go together, and if anyone but Tony had been building it he'd have questioned whether an working engine would really be the end result.

Given it was Tony, though, his mental gears were spinning full speed trying to see how much of it he could piece together, because there was no way it wasn't going to work. Or be incredibly fast, efficient, and elegant as hell. He wanted to start asking the man exactly how it was all meant to go together and about its expected performance specs once he was done. He forced down the bubbling curiosity and tucked his hands into his pockets as he stepped back.

"You know what you're gonna put it in?" he asked instead.

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stark_raving
2011-03-08 07:38 pm UTC (link)

Tony grinned. He was always happy to show off what he was working on, especially when it was coming together like this engine was.

"Yeah. I think I do," he said, picking up the phone again and pulling up a photo of a tiny car. "One of these. I've got the parts coming in next week. Custom paint job and interiors. bought it without any innards. So it's all on me to get it up and running."

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	after_burners 2011-03-08 08:54 pm UTC (link)
	"Oh man, that's gonna be a sweet ride," he murmured, turning back to the engine. The car was important, yeah, but the engine was what really mattered. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

stark_raving
2011-03-08 08:59 pm UTC (link)

"The original engine had some problems and I thought hey, I can fix that right up. Get it working smooth and fast. I mean, the car's meant for racing. Not NASCAR or anything, but racing all the same."

Tony went over to one of the bins and pulled out a couple of pieces, then opened his tool box and rooted around. "Want to give me a hand?" He normally didn't need help, but it could be fun, working on a project with someone else. And he'd seen Sam's work. He knew what he was doing.

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	after_burners 2011-03-08 10:43 pm UTC (link)
	"No, definitely not NASCAR," he agreed. "But good an' fast for its size." He looked back at Tony's question, face splitting in a broad grin again. "Oh hell yeah." No way would he turn down that kind of offer. "Just tell me what you want me t'do, boss." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	stark_raving 2011-03-08 11:36 pm UTC (link)
	"That's what I like to hear," Tony said, chuckling. "I should write something to give the robotic arms voices, but I'm afraid of what they'd say if I did." He connected his phone to a laptop he kept at the station, pulling all the diagrams over with a thought, since he'd put both together himself. "Right, so, we're following that." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

after_burners
2011-03-08 11:53 pm UTC (link)

"Just so long as you only gave 'em voices, not personalities," he suggested, coming over to have a closer look at the diagrams Tony'd moved from one device to the other with no more than a thought. He loved his power, loved flying more than just about anything, and, hell, he'd have been two years dead without it, but sometimes he envied Tony his a bit. "That could get messy."

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	stark_raving 2011-03-09 01:47 am UTC (link)
	"But giving them personalities is fun," Tony said as he started piecing together the parts he'd pulled out, manipulating some of the wires after he'd put it all together instead of taking the time to do it beforehand. "But they'd probably drive me up the wall, so. Yeah. Probably better to leave them just arms." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	after_burners 2011-03-09 01:52 am UTC (link)
	"Yeah, but personalities can tell you where t'go an' how t'get there," Sam pointed out with a grin before looking between the partially assembled engine, the diagram, and the parts Tony had collected before digging out what looked to be the next logical step in the assembly and bringing it over to the bench. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	stark_raving 2011-03-09 03:56 am UTC (link)
	Tony glanced over and nodded when he saw that Sam had all the right pieces. "See, I've got the beginning of an AI on my system up in my room. He's shaping up okay, but he's a lot more sophisticated than Clumsy and Klutzy over there," Tony said, jerking a thumb at the arms in the corner. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

after_burners
2011-03-09 04:25 am UTC (link)

"Gotta admit I don't even know where you start with something like that," Sam said as he sorted the parts he'd brought over and laid them out for Tony. He wasn't half bad with computers, could handle screwing around with the computer systems in high end cars, or even jets after the last year of training. But actual computer program didn't catch his interest at all.

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	stark_raving 2011-03-09 04:27 am UTC (link)
	Tony shrugged as he undid what he'd been doing and started over, knowing there was something off about the connections somehow. "It's one of those things someone else might be able to explain, but I can't, you know? Still, somehow I managed to make him British. Not sure how." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	after_burners 2011-03-09 05:41 am UTC (link)
	Sam laughed. "You have a British AI in your room?" He managed to restrain himself from asking if it sounded as snooty as Braddock. Barely. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	stark_raving 2011-03-09 05:46 am UTC (link)
	"I do," Tony sighed. "I mute him when he gets on my nerves. He was glitchy yesterday so he's in time-out for the moment until I can take a look at his code and see what's up." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	after_burners 2011-03-09 05:54 am UTC (link)
	"Just what does an AI do to get put in timeout?" Sam asked, still chuckling. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	stark_raving 2011-03-09 05:57 am UTC (link)
	"Go through a 'why?' phase," Tony said, prodding at one of the pieces, then tossing it at the bin again. "I tried to program him to learn through experience but I think I succeeded in making a toddler." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	after_burners 2011-03-09 06:05 am UTC (link)
	That got him from chuckling right back to full blown laughter. "Oh Lord, that I can relate to." Entirely too well, considering how many sibs he had. "Hope it grows outa it faster'n kids do, Annie an' Lew are in kinder an' they still do it." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	stark_raving 2011-03-09 06:33 am UTC (link)
	"Well, fortunately for me, I can turn my toddler off. Remind me I'll be a really crappy father, will you?" Tony asked, grinning at Sam. And yeah, he was serious. Any kids of his would probably be terrors. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	after_burners 2011-03-09 06:36 am UTC (link)
	"There's times I'd just about pay for an off switch," he admitted. Though they were mostly few and far between. "An' check, remind you t'stick to artificial kids you can turn off." He grinned. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	stark_raving 2011-03-09 06:39 am UTC (link)
	Tony coughed a little, considering a project he'd been working on, then nodded. "Good. The more people remind me, the more likely I am to remember." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	after_burners 2011-03-09 10:14 am UTC (link)
	Sam grinned and shook his head in amusement. "'Course, you might just, y'know, change your mind some day," he pointed out cheerfully. "An' who knows, you might be an awesome dad." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	stark_raving 2011-03-09 02:43 pm UTC (link)
	"You never know," Tony agreed. "And I could always hire someone to keep an eye on the kid for me. Or build someone. Something like that." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	after_burners 2011-03-09 05:10 pm UTC (link)
	"Just make sure if you build someone it's a whole lot less clumsy than you say those two are," Sam advised, still grinning as he nodded towards the robotic arms. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	stark_raving 2011-03-09 05:59 pm UTC (link)
	"Oh, hell yes," Tony said, glancing at the arms. "Maybe I'll give them some tweaking tomorrow." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	after_burners 2011-03-09 06:49 pm UTC (link)
	"Just keep in mind that if you go the robotic route you'll still have t'provide the snuggles. Kids always want lots of that," he teased. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	stark_raving 2011-03-09 07:00 pm UTC (link)
	"I can build something for that!" Tony insisted. "It'll be great. I'll patent it and make billions." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	after_burners 2011-03-09 07:33 pm UTC (link)
	Sam laughed again and shook his head. "But that's the bit that makes puttin' up with cryin' all night an' potty trainin' an' the terrible twos worthwhile. You'd be missin' out on the good part." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	stark_raving 2011-03-09 07:39 pm UTC (link)
	"Right, well, not on the agenda any time soon. I'm sure I'll figure something out by the time my parents start expecting more little Starks." Tony sighed and put down his tools. "The perils of being an only child." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	after_burners 2011-03-09 07:50 pm UTC (link)
	"Maybe you can just clone yourself by then." (Reply to this) (Parent)