InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "I feel pretty"

Tony Stark (thanksjarvis) wrote in utr_logs,
@ 2011-12-29 18:53:00

Entry tags:

jimmy stark, tony stark

WHO: Father and Son Stark
WHERE: Palais-Royale, Paris, France
WHAT: Bonding! Okay, more like COPING! But still.
WARNINGS: It's Tony Stark. Assume he's drunk and swearing.

It hadn't been particularly difficult to track his son's location, but Tony also suspected his son hadn't really been trying to hide his movements either. In any case, here he was. A cafe in Paris hoping to God he didn't fuck this up.

He'd fuck it up. Why did he even bother?

Fiddling with his watch band, he waited. Tony had never been great at waiting, but the stakes seemed so much higher this time.

Any second now. He'd texted Jimmy a message to meet him for coffee.

Jimmy. His son. His fucking son.

This was going to be terrible.

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inthestark
2011-12-30 05:28 am UTC (link)

Tony had been kind enough to give his son time to sober up before the meeting, which Jimmy had mostly taken advantage of. The idea of having coffee with his dad wasn't nearly as frightening for Jimmy as it probably was for Tony. The only thing he was dreading was having to talk about his mother.

Jimmy knew he'd screwed that up, and he really had no idea how to deal with it. So he wasn't. He was getting shitfaced in Paris and sleeping with models. He'd just given one cabfare to get home before he'd headed to meet his dad. He was a gentleman like that.

He walked into the cafe, taking a seat across from his Dad. "Hey."

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thanksjarvis
2011-12-30 05:47 am UTC (link)

"Hey."

Face to face, little things struck Tony like a load of bricks. He had Pepper's facial bone structure, but his coloring. Definitely his smirk, but his mother's dimple.

Oh fuck it, next thing he'd be doing is uploading pictures to Facebook and talking about what a proud father he was.

Rubbing a hand over his face, Tony motioned to the waiter for another espresso. Jimmy wasn't the only one who needed to sober up.

"Gotta admit, I've got absolutely no idea how to handle this. Except for I'm glad you look like me and not Rhodey. That'd be awkward."

That joke fell flat since Rhodey wasn't around. That weird twinge always hit him when he thought of his missing best friend.

"I named you after him, didn't I? Eh, doesn't matter. What's with the..." he trailed off, motioning at his son's hair.

His son's blue hair.

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inthestark
2011-12-30 06:43 am UTC (link)

"Yeah, that would be pretty obvious, huh?" Jimmy smirked a bit. "Yeah. After him."

Jimmy ran a hand through the blue hair, shaking his head. "If a wizard tells you they've almost perfected a hangover cure, might ask them to do a few more tests first." Jimmy had somehow managed to make the look work for him. He was less GQ chic and a bit more haute punk today. "It'll wear off. Shouldn't be more than a day."

He shrugged. "You're handling it fine. Better than could be expected."

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	thanksjarvis 2011-12-30 01:03 pm UTC (link)
	Tony grinned. "Well, it helps that you don't seem to hate me. Can't have fucked it up that bad in the long run, right?" He hoped. Pepper had been upset to see just how much like Tony their son seemed to be, but Tony viewed it through a lens of his own youth. Which is probably why she was so upset, come to think of it. (Reply to this)

inthestark
2011-12-30 06:15 pm UTC (link)

"I don't. Don't hate either of you, you're great parents." That was why he was taking his mother's rejection so hard. Sure, she'd been exasperated with him before, and he'd gotten some lectures. But to be told--in less colorful language--that he was a fuckup... That was rough.

He only ever wanted his mom to be happy. If he'd been thinking more about his mother being here, and this being the first she'd ever seen of him, he probably would've cut back on the banter with Zelda and Hope. But he'd gotten carried away. Normally his mother rolled her eyes and ignored it, but he should've been on his best behavior. First impressions, and all.

"Guess so."

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thanksjarvis
2011-12-30 10:03 pm UTC (link)

Tony watched his kid with rapt fascination. How could this had happened? Jimmy seemed well adjusted, likable, friendly... Where had Tony gone right?

Oh right. Pepper.

"You talked to Mom already, right? We just got back in town and she's been playing catch up." He hadn't kept up on the whole conversation after he and Pepper had talked. Although, come to think of it...

Oh right.

"She's been stressed out, all I'm saying." See? Parenting. This wasn't so bad.

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inthestark
2011-12-30 10:18 pm UTC (link)

"Agh, yeah, that. Really can't blame her." He'd been an idiot. And while he was used to his mom putting up with that, this Pepper didn't have any of the background knowledge to realize Jimmy wasn't just the gigantic tool he'd been acting like. Jimmy rubbed his forehead. That headache couldn't be a hangover. Just plain stress, apparently.

"I'm thinking I should probably stay out of her way for a while." Paris wasn't so bad a place to exile oneself to. "You guys could use some time alone anyway. Newlyweds and everything. Last thing you need is a seventeen year old son getting in the way."

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thanksjarvis
2011-12-31 06:13 am UTC (link)

"Normally I'd agree with you, except that only is delaying the issue." Tony shrugged, downing the scalding espresso with the practiced air of a caffeine addict. "Your mother is going to feel pretty guilty, if she doesn't already, for laying into you the second you got here. Believe me."

He sat back, putting his arms behind his head. "And trust me. She'll want you there on New Years. The family thing has a pretty strong appeal. To us both."

Honestly, Tony was pretty excited his kid had shown up. It was a validation, when you chose to look at it that way.

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inthestark
2011-12-31 06:52 am UTC (link)

"I know family's important to her, but the timing kind of sucks. I really don't know if that's a good idea right now." Jimmy already had a date and everything. He was just ninety percent sure he was going to back out and take Hope to Venice instead.

"She doesn't need to feel guilty; I'm fine. Really. She didn't do anything wrong." Jimmy ran a hand through his hair, sighing. "I want her to enjoy her party, not worry about me."

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thanksjarvis
2011-12-31 07:05 am UTC (link)

"Worrying is what Peppers do best," Tony said with forced joviality, but he wouldn't press the point. He knew better than to try and convince a teenager to do something.

See? Instinct.

"So, just you then? Any brothers or sisters or anything I should know about?" Tony was itching to know if something ridiculous was about to blindside him down the road. Maybe Nick Fury showed up with a sex change.

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inthestark
2011-12-31 05:35 pm UTC (link)

"Yeah, she'll worry anyway, I know. But at least if I don't show she won't have to watch me all night for more evidence of me being an asshole." Not that it would take all night, unless Jimmy opted to go sober. He supposed that wasn't entirely out of the question, though Hope would probably make fun of him.

He shrugged. Could go either way. Needing a second to shift and decompress, he got the waiter's attention and asked for a cup of coffee.

"Yeah, just me." Jimmy had 'only child' written all over him. And he'd certainly been spoiled by the two of them. "No grandchildren, I swear," he said, cracking a grin. He was careful about that stuff.

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	thanksjarvis 2011-12-31 06:30 pm UTC (link)
	Tony had to laugh at that. "Well, same goes for half-siblings. Always fucking hilarious when someone would claim it and I'd require a test... Hasn't happened here though." Probably because he hadn't slept with anyone but Pepper. Fuck but he'd gotten boring. "You got a set up here then? In Paris?" (Reply to this)

inthestark
2012-01-01 07:34 am UTC (link)

Jimmy smirked. "Yeah, you're safe." Jimmy had seen one person try to claim it. It had been utterly ridiculous. His dad said he'd never met the woman, and Jimmy believed him. So had Pepper, thankfully.

"Yeah, nice hotel. It'll work for now." He wasn't planning on staying here permanently. He absolutely intended on patching things up with his mother, but this would buy him some time. No need for them to be forced into things too early because of outside factors.

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