Tony Stark (cutsthewire) wrote in thedisplaced, @ 2020-01-23 22:40:00 |
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“Are your shoes customized for the armor?” Julia asked. It wasn’t a stalling tactic but her nerves were showing. She had wondered what worked best under the armor, what would be too thin or thick, how it would feel. She trusted Tony absolutely. They’d joked for years about putting her in the armor and taking a test flight. Julia barely got out of putting the armor on earlier when she won a bet, and Tony had to shave for a week. The purpose of the fitting wasn’t to take flight. But the thought that the armor could fly, not that it would, was enough to still give her butterflies. Her eyes caught Tony’s and she smiled. The workshop felt smaller when she wasn’t focused on him. “Nope,” Tony replied, handing her the nanotech housing unit and taking a step back, putting his hands in his pockets. They had put a lot of thought into the housing unit. Without the need for all the bells and whistles of Tony’s armor, and because of the smaller package it would be surrounding, less nanoparticles would be required. And so he had designed a pendant with a nanotech chain, shaped like one of Julia’s hedge tattoos. Much more practical than the chest piece he wore. “Clothing is suggested, though not required.” His eyebrow twitched suggestively. Julia reached behind her neck to put the necklace on. There wasn’t a traditional clasp. The nanoparticle chain simply came together. No weak links to break it apart if pulled, but easily released if needed. Everything had thought put behind it. She rolled her eyes, smirking good naturedly, “Have you been naked in the armor? ...Wouldn’t it pinch?” Her eyebrows winced slightly when she thought about it, but by her amused expression she was also clearly picturing it. Her hands reached for him to close the space between them, but it was also partially done to stall the big moment. “You’ll find the armor is form fitting.” As if that answered both of her questions. When she reached for him, he returned the gesture, taking one of her hands in his while his other wandered to her waist and a bit lower. “It contours to the body, you see.” Tony knew she was stalling, but he didn’t mind. Throughout this process, he was all about making sure that she was comfortable. He had even taken care to disable flight capability, unless a special emergency mode was activated. Unlike Peter’s suit, there was no training wheels protocol programmed in, though the A.I. would always be available for tutorials. Here, now, Tony was around to show her the ropes like he should have been for the spiderling. “Hm,” she answered as his hand slid down in demonstration. There was a constant playfulness between them. It helped her relax. Logically she knew the flight capability was off. She knew this moment was important. That the armor was Tony’s way of protecting what was important to him. She leaned forward to kiss him. It seemed to give her the courage she was looking for. Besides, Tony had her back. Taking a step back, Julia raised her hand and made a tut-like gesture to activate the suit. It was a strange sensation to feel for the first time; like a snake skin peeling in reverse, covering her quickly scale by scale. There were smaller details that were too smooth to truly appreciate. The way not a single hair on her head was pulled by extending armor. The way she moved freely with every joint in her body. The mechanics that kept the design from feeling like heavy, added weight to her small frame. The design truly was a marvel and she hadn’t even attempted to cast yet. “Any requests for our first casting test?” she said. Tony watched the process with the detailed eye of an engineer, always with a mind for improvements or alterations. Everything seemed to work smoothly, and Tony’s lips curled into a satisfied smirk. “Better make it a classic,” he replied, circling her to get a better look at the armor. He thought of the little sparks she often cast. Or the infamous cattle prod. “How does it feel?” He knew how his own armor felt, but he had spent the last 15 years in various incarnations. To say he was used to it was putting it mildly. Julia brought her hand close to her face, as if for inspection. In truth she simply appreciated how easily she could move. She thought of the nanotech as it spread like millions of small scales. “Like magic,” she said. Another tut-like gesture and the armor pulled back from her fingers, creating small shields behind her hands to protect them. Ideally the armor would some day allow her to cast while still wearing it, but it wasn’t quite there yet. Without really wanting to examine why, Julia cast a spell that created the illusion of snowfall in the workshop. The same spell Q had cast during his high stakes game of push, only this time, with ambient magic levels higher, the spell didn’t short out after a few brief seconds. Spell cast, the armor pulled itself back on over Julia’s hands, easier than a glove. She may not have meant it as a compliment, but Julia’s response made Tony grin like it was one. The suit was responding perfectly to her movements, the technology reacting as if it was a spell being cast. “Missing snow already?” he asked, looking up at what could have been a hologram of snow falling around them. The illusion faded. Julia’s smile was hidden under the helm. It took her a moment to remember how to pull part of the armor away, freeing her vision and dismissing the Heads Up Display. “I feel like a dragon in the suit, but I probably look more like a power ranger.” The thought made her smirk as she pictured the verbal command It’s morphin’ time! activating the armor. Tony would probably die first before he allowed it. He would. Tony was still keeping a close eye on the mechanics of the suit as Julia moved within it. “Wearing that, you should be able to take on both.” That had been the reason for all of this. Knowing Julia would not stay out of harms way and not expecting her to, after the incident on Halloween, he wanted to protect her the best way he knew how. “When you get used to it, we can take it for a test drive in the combat simulator.” “Probably easier to just talk to them,” Julia said. She was smirking, but then remembered he couldn’t see her face. What was the control for removing the helm portion of the armor? It took a moment before the nanotech pulled away. She may or may not have been avoiding the topic of the combat simulator when her armored hands settled on his waist. “Maybe,” Tony conceded. “But this,” he gestured toward her armor, “is for when talking isn’t on the table.” He glanced down at her hands at his waist. “You know, you still owe me some time in the other armor.” He was purposefully vague to see if she would remember. When his eyes returned to her face, there was a playfulness about them. Halloween really hadn’t gone as planned. Julia forced herself to smile at the thought of the skimpy Iron Man costume anyway. She was doing better since the coma. Her casting rarely failed her after the long recovery, but occasionally she still had moments of an uneasy fog. That, she supposed, was also what the armor was for. “Running and hiding is still my favorite battle strategy,” Julia said. That wasn’t entirely accurate. The hedgewitch had stood up to gods knowing she was hilariously overpowered. While she was capable of bravery, she also terribly practical. She kissed him again. “It’s my favorite battle strategy too,” Tony replied after her kiss. “For you,” he clarified with a smirk. Not that he expected it of her. The fact that he made the armor for her was evidence of that. But it was also to give him peace of mind. His biggest motivator was always protecting those he cared about the best way he knew how. And it had been fun. “Right.” He stepped back and out of her grasp so he could give the armor another once-over. “Feedback?” “You should try it sometime,” she teased. Their mutual incapability was what made the joke funny. When Tony stepped back, Julia obliged and the helm came back on. There had been adjustments made the Heads Up Display-- Julia didn’t require or want the same level of information Tony did on his, preferring something more streamlined, which relevant information regarding magical circumstances surrounding her, including current moon phase and position of the constellations, as well as elements and bodies of water in proximity. Julia stretched, tested the range of motion in the armor, but despite the added weight, the strength of the armor compensated and made the movement feel more than flawless. She wondered if the armor had measures to counterbalance any clumsiness. Knowing Tony, she wouldn’t have been surprised. “Let’s see how I do when we get to the combat simulator,” Julia said. There was a mild anxiety to the idea of the simulator-- like she was about to take a test she hadn’t fully prepared for but desperately wanted to ace. “There’s no rush,” Tony shrugged. With any luck, there wouldn’t be a reason to put it to the test any time soon. Making a tut-like gesture of his own, magical energy-charged nanobots from the bracelets on his wrists encircled his hands. “How about we have a little fun first.” “What did you have in mind?” she asked. |