Virgil Hawkins (shock2ursystem) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2016-12-16 13:58:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, tony stark (iron man), virgil hawkins (static) |
Who: Virgil and Tony
What: Tony has a proposition for Virgil
When: During the Naked Time plot
Where: Stark Halloween party
Warning/Rating: Low/none
Status: Complete
Virgil was hardly beefy enough to really pull off a Bishop costume, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t make the attempt. Between work, school, and his side-gig as a newbie superhero, Virgil didn’t have a lot of free time, but he’d still managed to find the time to cobble together a halfway convincing Bishop costume. He’d managed to inherit his dreamself’s distaste for guns, and so he hadn’t included them in the costume, but he was still pretty pleased with the end result.
He wasn’t really sure how he felt about rubbing elbows with the big bossman outside of work (the last thing he needed was to stick his foot in his mouth), but it seemed only right to go say hi before going to hang out with some of his own peers. “Hey, Mr S!” he called, waving to Tony.
Tony Stark was simply wearing a tuxedo and carrying a martini glass. It wasn’t much, but it was, indeed, a costume. When asked who he was supposed to be, he responded with Bond. James Bond. Shaken, not stirred. And he got a kick out of it himself. He didn’t really care what other people thought.
But here came one of the new hires. Tony didn’t know everyone who worked for him by name, but he tried to get to know as many of them as possible. He was cool like that. He gave a nod, a smile, then offered his hand for the kid to shake. “Enjoying yourself at the party?”
Virgil recognized Tony’s costume nearly right away. While he wasn’t as big a fan of the Bond movies as he was of say, the Star Trek movies, it didn’t mean that he didn’t appreciate the British Super Spy, and had watched all the movies, many of them more than once.
“You bet,” Virgil said. “This is ballin’. That’s a great costume, by the way. You a Bond fan?”
“Bond has style.” Though, Tony was pretty sure if it was a test of wits? Stark or Holmes would have Bond out, hands down. Tony sipped his martini. It wasn’t his favorite drink, either, but it was all for the costume. Pains for the cosplay, so to speak. He turned his attention back to the kid. “How’s work? It’s only been a couple of months, hasn’t it?”
“And class,” Virgil said. He didn’t have a drink himself yet, though he’d likely grab himself a coke once he was done talking to Tony. “Five, sir,” Virgil said. He’d been keeping track, even if Tony himself hadn’t. Almost to the day. He was still pretty excited to be working at Stark Industries. Though even if Tony didn’t know exactly when Virgil started, Virgil was still both excited and impressed that Tony had some vague sense of when Virgil started. “But work’s da bomb. They even got me off making solar panels,” which Virgil was beyond pleased about. It had been such boring work. But he went on to explain the work he had been doing with the company more recently.
Tony gave a little chuckle. “And class,” he repeated, in complete agreement with the kid, then lifted his martini glass in another toast. He sipped, and lowered it again. “Ah, the solar panels. How’s that project coming along?” He paused for a split second, then shook his head. “You know what? No. No work talk. This is a party, right? Have a drink.”
Virgil had opened his mouth to talk about his project, but then Tony said that he didn’t want to talk about work he closed it again, and fumbled. He really didn’t know what else to talk about with his boss. Tony was a wealthy billionaire genius, and Virgil was just some poor kid from the sticks who’d managed to get lucky with a great job and a scholarship.
“Oh, maybe just a Coke,” Virgil said, hesitantly. “I’m still only twenty.”
“A coke!” Tony lifted a hand and flagged down a waiter. “Another of these, please?” He motioned to his own glass which was now surprisingly empty, “and a Coke for my young friend here.” Tony clapped Virgil on the shoulder. “I’ve been thinking about tearing out some of the offices on the thirteenth floor,” Tony said, lowering his hand once again. “Departments don’t seem keen to set up there. I’m debating putting in some crowd-pleasers. A little theater, perhaps? Another exercise room? What do you think?”
Virgil couldn’t help but wonder how many drinks Tony’d already had. He was being awfully friendly, though Virgil didn’t mind too much the hand clamped on his shoulder. “Oh, what about a gaming room?” Virgil asked, grinning. He could definitely get behind a gaming room, whether it was video games or board games. No doubt he and Richie would spend most of their breaks in there.
“A gaming room!” Tony agreed with a nod. He was a little tipsy, and his inhibitions were practically nonexistent. Suddenly, a gaming room felt like the best idea ever. “I’ll put you in charge of stocking it. How does that sound?”
“Seriously?” Virgil asked, his eyebrows raising in surprise. That was easier than he’d expected. Not that he’d come in here looking to get a gaming room installed, but the fact that it just fell in his lap was amazing. And to be put in charge of stocking it, well, it was more than he could have asked for in terms of making an impression with the boss man. “That’d be ill. With extra large flat screen TVs?”
Tony scoffed. “As if we’d use CRTs.” He couldn’t help but grin at his own joke. Maybe it was the martini talking, though. But actually, a gaming room would be a great idea. They could have tournaments of whatever games were popular… and get employees excited about coming in to work. Build comradery. Win-win? “You think you’re up for the task?”
Virgil grinned back, less at the joke and more at the idea that this sounded like it was actually happening. “You bet!” Virgil said enthusiastically. “I’m the man for the job!”
“Good man.” Tony clapped the younger man on the shoulder once more, in a friendly, paternal-y way. Then he lifted his martini and downed it all in two great gulps. He set the empty glass on a nearby surface. “Well, I should go mingle. You enjoy yourself.”
Right, mingle. Virgil quickly scanned the crowd until he spotted his best friend, Richie. “Yeah. It was great talking to you, Mr. S,” he said. “I’ll catch up with you later.”