Chuck Bartowski is a huge nerd. (chuckmate) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2013-12-03 19:18:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, chuck bartowski, tony stark (iron man) |
Who: Chuck and Tony.
Where: Stark Industries.
What: Chuck meets his idol.
When: Mid-November.
Warnings/Rating: PG for Tony Stark.
Status: Complete.
The Halloween party had been great. Chuck was forever glad that Padme had agreed to go with him, and she kept him from being too awkward. Of course, there had been a lot of people there, and people way more important than him, so he never actually got the chance to talk to Tony. But he’d seen him, and he was almost beside himself. And that had been that.
And now it was a couple of weeks later, and life was going on as life did. Chuck went to work, went home, went to work in the morning, and went home again in the evening. Today was looking like it could end up being pretty short, since Chuck was flying through things. There was a regular test being run on the company network to make sure it was, as always, impervious to viruses and hackers. Having a somewhat illicit (and infamous in the computer world) hacking reputation, Chuck was more than up to the challenge. He sat at one of the computers and clicked away furiously, seeing if he could dodge any of the blocks put into place.
Tony Stark was carrying around a very alcoholic beverage in disguise. The coffee cup that held said beverage read “World’s Greatest Boss” on it, and was only about half-full. Tony had been sipping as he’d wandered from place to place, checking in on people and shamelessly flirting with the ladies. He stopped by Chuck’s desk in IT and glanced around, then bent down to take a look at Chuck’s computer screen over the other man’s shoulder.
“This test needs to go well today,” Tony said, not bothering to lower his volume. “I put fifty bucks down that Kevin Flynn couldn’t hack his way in.”
At first, Chuck’s nose nearly crinkled at the smell of the alcohol, but then realization hit him. He nearly pressed a wrong button, but kept his cool. Keep calm, Bartowski, he told himself. It’s only Tony Stark hovering over him, watching him work. No big deal.
“Well, with all due respect,” he said, hoping to sound cool and not like himself, “if I can’t get in, no one can.”
“Oh, no, I trust you.” Tony said, clapping the young man on the shoulder. “I’ve no doubt of your abilities at all, my friend.” And, so far, he hadn’t seen anything going on on the other’s screen that would be contrary to that thought. “...I just don’t want to lose that fifty bucks.”
And Chuck definitely did not want to be the reason Tony Stark was out fifty bucks. “Honestly? I don’t think it’s gonna happen. The first couple blocks are maybe too easy, but this -” Chuck pointed to the screen. He realized he didn’t need to explain it, since Tony probably knew all about it, but he wanted to show that he’d caught on, “this is the tricky part. While you work on decoding the one half, the other half randomly generates a new code? So by the time you get through one, and start the other, unless you’re Speedy Gonzales, you’re not gonna get through. I’ve been at it for at least five minutes.”
Tony leaned over the other man’s shoulder to get a better look at the screen. He nodded after reading everything on it. His mind was thinking quickly, running through scenarios and numbers, working like a computer to try and figure out loopholes in this particular design. A well oiled computer, actually. The fuzz around his brain power, caused by the flask in his pocket, was actually making it a little difficult. He clapped the guy on the shoulder once with his free hand. “...good work. Surprisingly good work.”
Chuck couldn’t help the way he grinned. Sure, from anyone else, surprisingly good work might offend him a bit, but coming from Tony Stark it was like an honor or something. “Thanks. What I can I say, I know my way around a computer.”
“That’s obvious.” Tony said. He could see a couple of flaws, but nothing extreme. Apparently, the hiring department did a good job with this one. “If you’re interested, I may have a project or two that I could use an extra set of eyes on.”
He almost died. Almost. But he was pretty sure his eyes glazed over in adoration. “Really?” Chuck snapped back to earth and schooled his face into what he hoped looked keen and not over-eager. “I’d love to help. Nothing like putting the ol’ degree to good use.”
“Good.” Tony broke into a grin himself. “Nothing like it. Well, we’ll see. I’ve got some pretty interesting projects coming up. Listen, why don’t you come by my lab tomorrow afternoon. When you’ve finished running all of this…” He lifted his hand to wave it in the general direction of Chuck’s computer screen. “We’ll talk more then.”
“That sounds amazing. I mean, really, thank you for the opportunity. I’ll be there.” Chuck nodded, and wondered if he should shake Tony’s hand or just … Not. He decided not to. “And let me know how that fifty bucks turns out.” Because Chuck would totally reimburse Tony Stark for bets like that, and probably pay interest, too.
“Good. That’s my man.” Tony patted the other man’s shoulder again, then stood up to his full height and reached into his pocket. There was a flask there by his hip, and he wrapped his fingers around it. “I’ll send you an email after I collect that fifty bucks from Kevin.”
“I’ll keep my eye out for it.” He paused for a second. “I’m Charles, by the way. Charles Bartowski.” Because, he maybe should have introduced himself forever ago, but his brain was in the process of being broken. Also, it’d be handy if Tony was, in fact, going to e-mail him.
Tony nodded. “Right. Chuck. I read about you. When you were first hired.” He said, pulling the flask from his pocket to uncap it and take a swig.
“You did?” Chuck was surprised. And pleased. He wasn’t just a blip on the company radar anymore! “I hope it was a good read.” Wow, that wasn’t awkward at all.
“It was… well, to be honest, most of the employee reviews are pretty boring.” Tony said, honestly. Though not unkindly. He shrugged his shoulders. “I’m sure it’ll become more interesting as time passes.”
Well. Of course they were boring, right? Everyone has the same degree, most people went to the same school, and, really, when you’re being somewhat compared to a man as accomplished as Tony, it was hard to be exciting.
“Pretty boring is still better than heinous and laughable, so I’ll take it.”
“I figured you would.” Tony said, then lifted his flask in a bit of a toast, gulped from it, and pulled himself up to his full height. “Back to work, soldier.” He said, saluted, and turned to head to the elevator. Along the way, he leaned pretty far over to one side to check out a rather curvy woman around a cubicle.