River Song has hair full of spoilers. (polyandrist) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2017-10-07 21:25:00 |
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Entry tags: | river song |
Who: River and Tony Stark
When: Late May
Where: Jupiter, in the future.
What: River Showing off.
Rating/Warning: Low
Status: Complete
...
With a bright flash of light, Melody Pond appeared in Tony Stark’s back garden. She was exactly on time, as one happened to be when they were using to use a vortex manipulator rather than a TARDIS especially when you were as skilled at using it as River herself was. Dressing to kill wasn’t quite on the menu for this evening, even though she knew she looked good. No, this was about adventuring, so she wore her typical gray trousers and shirt, with a leather jacket over the lot. There was a fair amount of cleavage on display because River was always River, but other than that, she looked like she was out for possibly trouble and certainly something along the lines of stepping out into a new world.
The jacket hid the gun on her hip, but she pulled out the futuristic scanner that she
had, and started to move it around with a well placed grin. “Come along, sweetie. I know I’ve got a time machine, but I firmly believe in not wasting precious moments getting to where we are going.”
So, Tony Stark had absolutely no idea what to expect out of this evening. It wasn’t the first time he’d signed himself up for something completely blind, and it most likely wouldn’t be the last… but it was still a little exciting, a little electric meeting someone new, going off on an adventure. He wasn’t sure what to do, bring, wear, or say, really, so he headed out to meet her in some casual pants and a button-down shirt. There was a jacket slung over his arm. “You know I’m going to need the whole story eventually,” he added, eyes fixated on whatever it was she was fiddling with in her hands.
“Where's the fun in that?” River grinned at him quickly, her eyes moving over his form appraisingly. Apparently she liked what she saw, so she offered him a hand, the one with her manipulator strapped around her wrist. “Besides, don’t you think the whole story about someone is a bit overrated? Especially when it comes to people here.” For people on the network there were normally several stories, and Melody knew that better than most.
“You don’t tend to get queasy, do you? Sometimes the vortex manipulator can be a bit rough the first time around, and I am quite fond of these shoes.” River could run in heels and Melody had the muscle memory for it, but she would prefer not to. Instead she was wearing sensible and a bit sexy boots, the kind that she might wear on a dig. (Even if they were a bit newer than that.) The place she was taking them to knew her, and whatever they were wearing wouldn’t have been a problem, but she was glad that she had Tony both were ready for an adventure.
“All right, I’ll concede that.” Tony couldn’t help but smirk. He wasn’t sure he’d ever met a woman who was so much of a mystery to him. And that was a good thing--the ones who wore their hearts on their sleeves and opened conversations with life stories were a bit boring. It may have sounded heartless, but Tony wasn’t a young man anymore. He needed more than pretty eyes and a hair flip to get his attention now-a-days. And this woman had the whole package.
“I don’t get queasy,” he offered. That part was true enough. Doing barrel rolls in the Iron Man suit at ninety miles per hour wasn’t for the weak of heart. Or stomach. Then he lifted his hand to take hold of hers. “You’ll have to guide me.” In case he was… grabbing the wrong part of her hand. Or whatever. Awkward. But Tony never let the awkward show. He was still smirking his casual, sexy smirk.
If they ever had a conversation about younger people, River would have quite agreed with it. People who started out telling her their life stories were quietly placed into a box marked ‘children’ and she lost interest nearly immediately. Mysteries and puzzles were some of the best things about people in her book, and after all, she was a self-described bespoke sociopath; she really didn’t have the time to deal with such silly matters as people telling her their life story. When you had over two hundred years of memories in your own head, adding someone else’s who you didn’t care about was a right pain in the arse.
“I do enjoy when a man allows me to take the lead.” Her own smirk grew at that, and she reached over and traced her fingers over his hand, guiding it down to the vortex manipulator. The coordinates were already typed in, of course, and she applied pressure over his hand to push the button that would move them in a flash of light from Tony’s backyard to a small room with a large window overlooking the giant planet below them.
Well, if that didn’t make a man’s knees weak, what would? Tony jolted a little, his hand tensing against the machine under his fingertips as they were instantly transported to… a room? He wasn’t sure what he’d been expecting, but he knew he hadn’t been expecting something like this. It was enough to blow a man’s mind wide open, forget about his knees.
He didn’t release her or the machine. His hand tightened. He leaned forward a little to get a better look, now transfixed by the planet in front of them instead of the woman at his side. “...I’m speechless.” He felt like someone somewhere had lost a bet.
“I like that reaction in a man, especially in one that I bet doesn’t have that reaction often.” Just from what she had seen on the network, Tony reminded her of her husband in that way. She just kept smirking at him as his hand tightened, and Melody didn’t bother to pull away. After all, knowing that the first time someone did this was important and amazing and frankly, in her opinion, life changing, and she didn’t want to bugger it up by doing something that might make him afraid like pulling away in case he thought he was to be abandoned here.
“Welcome to the Grand Jupiter Hotel. This is the sixth iteration of it, after they were invaded in 5784 by daleks.” River had been here then, and it was one of the adventures that she’d had without the Doctor (any of the Doctors) by her side. It was a bit messier than he would have done it, but in the end the result was the same: no more daleks and the day saved.
And now of course she had lifetime privileges here.
“Their speciality is deep fried feitghish. Tastes a bit like chicken. But once you’re ready we can go out on the balcony and see some of the real views. I always land in a storage cupboard. Don’t want to cause to big of a fuss when I show up.” For River Song, fusses tended to come when she was on her way out and normally was in quite a hurry to do it.
“This is the view from the storage cupboard?” Tony asked, finally turning to look at her instead of the view. Okay, this was something he could probably get used to. Eventually. Maybe. The flights of fancy to distant futures, distant pasts, and traveling through space as well as time? Unless she was able to pull his leg in some amazing and gigantic way. He was trying not to make judgements or jump to conclusions.
He realized he was gripping her device with white knuckles, and released his hold on her. “All right, then.” He tried to regain some semblance of dignity, giving her a slightly sheepish smile as he straightened his shirt. “Lead the way.”
“I know, but they were determined to make certain that you could see the planet from every nook and cranny, and frankly for what it costs to stay here, they should. You should see the view from the lou in some of the suites, actually. It’s brilliant. You can take a bath in one of the six person tubs and just watch the sunrise.” She paused, and then looked down at the planet again. “Sort of. The sun really doesn’t rise, but it changes about every nine hours or so.”
River opened the door into the hallway, which as true as she had said was practically entirely made of windows to showcase Jupiter on one side, and the rest of the universe and its stars on the other. She paused at one of the windows, and looked out, pointing down at a shifting mass of swirl. “We’re here on a good day, sweetie. We’re going to quite the show, but also not have the hotel be in danger.” She said that almost like it was something that was bittersweet rather than the good thing that someone else would have said. River was a better driver and she was less altruistic than her husband.
Tony’s mind was having a bit of a hard time wrapping around the six person tubs as they stood together to look at the planet. But then they were heading out into the hallway. It was still hard to believe. Tony’s eyes were wide and he was quite uncharacteristically silent and gawking as they moved along the corridor. A hint of vertigo washed over him as they moved. The vastness of space made him feel small, and the brightness of the planet was so very beautiful.
“It’s amazing. You’ve been here before? Done all of this before?” He asked, eyes trained on the planet beside them instead of the world around them.
“Yeah, been here several times actually, in different eras. This one is my favorite though. The height of luxury without all of the waste that can typically come with it.” She paused in her step so that they two of them could look out the window overlooking the planet if Tony wanted to, and she rested her hands on the railing that was probably meant to keep people from leaving fingerprints on the panel. Of course given the way that the station was automated, they probably wouldn’t have lasted for more than a second before something came and wiped them away. River leaned the massive amount of hair she had against it while she watched him for a moment. River wasn’t really all that good at the whole checking in with companion things that the Doctor could be. Though at least thanks to Melody she had some idea of how to do it.
“You alright there, sweetie?” The question was soft and there was no judgement in it. Just because she had never experienced it as overwhelming didn't mean that she blamed other people for finding it so. “We can take a minute or two if you like. I do have a time machine, it doesn’t matter how long we take.”
Tony was still wrapping his mind around the idea of time travel. Back and forth in time and space seemed like a lot for one person to take on. He wondered what it must have done to this woman's psyche. Then again, she was wonderful. He was very much enjoying his time with her so far. He paused alongside her and leaned over the railing, taking a good look at the planet below. It was absolutely magnificent. "This is a once in a lifetime view," he mumbled softly to himself. "Unless you're you, of course," he added to River.
Then he stood up straight again, slipped his hands into his pockets, and did his best to look unaffected. Actually, it was sinking in. He was adaptable. This was either the best adventure of his life (and Dreams) or he was hallucinating big time. Either way, he'd do his best to enjoy it. "No, I'm good. We can keep moving."
“Well, there’s always a first time for such things for me too. I do love to discover new things.” New things, new people, new worlds, new timeframes. There was a reason that River could never sit still too long in one place; she had the call for adventure in her just as much as her husband did. Of course, her motives could be quite a bit less altruistic than his own, but it was a sense of adventure nonetheless.
“I was awed when I first came here. It’s impossible not to be.” River gestured to the planet and to the stars beyond. “There’s so much out here to see, sometimes it takes your breath away.” She smiled at that, a real smile that might as well have had the stars inside of it before she nodded. “So, my dear, what shall we do first? Dinner? Exploring to see more views?” A beat, because sometimes she thought people needed it: “a drink at the bar? It’s got one of the best views in the universe when the sun comes over the horizon.”
Tony did take that moment to think, to consider. Was he hungry? Hungry for adventure? He gave a gentle shrug of his shoulders, slipping his hands into his pockets again. The awe was amazing, but it wasn’t all-consuming. It was starting to fade enough for him to process other things. “A drink at the bar sounds right up my alley,” Tony finally said, giving her a smirk. Then he offered his elbow to her. “I’ve never seen the sun rise over Jupiter.”
“A man after my own heart,” the words were grinned to him as she slipped her hand into the crook of his elbow and started to lead them down the hall. “If you’re a fan of scotch, I’m going to recommend the Alderbran brandy. It’s quite good, like the best scotch that you’ve ever had only made hundreds of years before you were born so it’s had time to mellow. It’s one of my drinks of choice.” One of many, obviously, and she smirks as she looks up at the door signs, taking a right into a different corridor. “Though I should warn you they make liquor quite strong in this time period because humans have gotten so used to it. You won’t taste it, but it certainly can sneak up on you.”
“Why my dear lady, are you trying to get me drunk?” Tony asked, straight-faced. Then a little smirk tugged at the corner of his lips. “I’ll absolutely let you if that’s your aim.” He hadn’t met a scotch he didn’t like. Then again, he’d never seen the sun rise over jupiter, so… he let River lead the way down the corridor.
“Oh, of course. What’s the fun in visiting a bar if you’re not getting drunk?” Her tone is teasing as she lead him into a much larger hall with far more people and a better view of Jupiter. Well, ‘people’ might have been the wrong term since the place was full to the brim of aliens. Yes, there were a fair amount of humans as well, but they were mixed in with aliens of all sizes, colors and genders. Her hand tightened on his arm a little bit with the intention of both comfort and a tiny bit of possessiveness. Really, she didn’t want anyone to get any ideas about him. She had at least some bit of concern of care, as her husband would say.
To the left as they entered was a bug-looking alien standing in front of a podium, and River steered them over to it when she spoke softly. “Dr. River Song and guest, suite 9763.”
“Of course, Doctor Song, please head right in.” The bug looking alien gestures to doors that slide open and River looks to Tony with a grin.
“Ready?”
Tony thought he could fall in love with this woman. He smirked as he followed after her, finding there really was no argument against that. What was the fun in visiting a bar if he wasn’t getting drunk?
And then he stopped in his tracks. Aliens. Lots of them. He was in awe, but was trying not to show how awed he was. He cleared his throat and turned to look over at her. “Doctor Song?” He added, then offered his arm to her, elbow extended. The smirk came back to his features full-force. “Lead the way. Doctor.”
“Yep. Doctor of Archeology and occasionally professor, which is what I do back in Orange County. In the dream world, I tended to be a bit more… mobile in where I taught at.” After all, there was that good long period of time that River had spent in prison where she had both taken classes and then taught via the internet which was quite a lot different than it was here. Also in the future it was a human right and no one could take it away from you even if you had a hundred consecutive life sentences or whatever it was that River had by the time that she’d ended up breaking out and into her prison so many times. And of course saving the universe and the Doctor’s ass multiple times.
“My profession tends to have a bit more prestige in this era, a bit like it does in the 20s surrounding Egypt. People tend to want to know more about the Earth when they’re scattered among the stars.” River gestured towards the windows and the aliens before she took a seat at the bar and smiled to the bartender who happened to be a rather attractive woman who was rather River’s type. “A bottle of the Alderbran brandy that Ricarx tends to keep on tab for me, please, as well as two glasses.” River had done the owner a favor once upon a time, and when someone owes River a favor she tends to call it in with alarming regularity.
“Food, darling?” The question was asked to Tony with a smile. “I’m sure they could find something to your liking.”
“I could eat.” Tony wasn’t sure how well his stomach was going to take it, but he’d chance it. This felt like a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. He couldn’t pass anything up. He gave the bartender a charming smile, then turned his attention back to his host.
“So.” He raised an eyebrow. “Tell me why this Ricarx keeps a bottle on tab for you.” It sounded like it’d be an interesting story, and so far the woman beside him was one hell of a storyteller.
“Good.” Melody wasn’t worried about any allergies or the like that he might have had; medically they could fix just about anything in this century. Hell, they had fixed her giving her out all of her regeneration energy in one go which who knew had even been done before. She just flexed a finger at one of the staff, and they nodded and then seemed to disappear. Having a standing order in places like this was quite a good idea, especially when it meant that their service would be quick and varied.
Once the bottle was placed on the bar with it’s two glasses, River poured one for him and one for herself, and then took hers in hand with a smirk. So many of the people that she’s met in Orange County had wanted stories and it wasn’t that River liked to brag… no it was exactly that River liked to brag so telling stories was no hardship to her. Of course that didn’t mean that she wasn’t going to tease him for it. Leaning in, Melody just asked: “shall I start with ‘once upon a time’ sweetie?”
Tony smirked. “Please do. It’ll feel like a bedtime story.” He lifted his glass to clink against hers, leaning in and maintaining eye contact the whole time. Out of all the Dreamers he’d met, she was definitely one of the most intriguing.
River laughed at that, and then she lifted her drink and drained it in one go before setting it down on the table in front of her with a decisive clink. She didn’t expect him to do the same thing because she’d warned him after all, but if he did well he did. Despite the story she was telling him, Melody Williams was certainly not his mother. That said, she did quickly say, “once upon a time.” The words were followed by a smirk and a pregnant pause before she continued on.
“This place was about to go bankrupt. There’d been reports that the station was haunted. People kept seeing ghosts of old events, and saying that people had been touching them and they were terrified. Picture a sort of universal yelp only that was government run and because of it people took it quite seriously. If the government says that a place is haunted, well then most people probably would believe it. Thankfully for darling Ricarx, I’ve never been the sort of woman who shies away from a good ghost story. Honestly, I would give a great deal for a ghost story that doesn’t have it’s answer boil down to being ‘aliens.’”
River, be careful what you wish for, especially given where it is that you’re living.
But she continues on. “So of course what else is a girl to do but to show up on the very next ship that she can get her hands on?” And it was a ship this time, not the TARDIS or her vortex manipulator. “I’m not the sort of person who scares easily, but whatever it was that was here was certainly laying out their damned to try. But the problem was that their fears were oddly specific. Think of a boggart in Harry Potter. Unfortunately for them, my fears aren’t in any databases. So, it was just this generic thing that would never frighten me. Armed with that knowledge, I started looking in the computer data banks, and found out that his ex husband and ex wife had implanted the idea in here to ruin his business when the three of them divorced.” She paused for a moment before she gave him a broad grin. “Basically, they Scooby Dooed it.”
Wow, the woman could drink. Draining a glass in one go? Tony tipped his back for a gulp, and was surprised and impressed by the flavor. Man. He wanted to stock this in his wet bar back on Earth. Would it be possible to bring a case home with them? But she was talking again and he was listening intently, eyes sparkling as they rested on her face.
This was a little bad. Just a little. Tony was having stirrings for this woman--a woman he'd only just met. And not the get-drunk-and-spend-the-night-together kind of stirrings. This was more I want to make breakfast for you in a villa in France kind of stirrings. Hopefully he could squash them quickly.
"And they would have gotten away with it, too. If it weren't for you meddling kids." Tony beamed.
“Exactly. Alas I didn’t get to pull off the sponge head or whatever it was that they wore in those old cartoons, but it was still satisfying nonetheless. So now, I have an open suite here, and I have a bottle of the most expensive brandy in the universe, and basically can come and go here as I like. As jobs go, the ending of it wasn’t too bad at all.” River grinned at him, and then she poured them both another drink, settling back into the comfort of her chair as she watched him.
“So, what do you think, Tony?” She settled her hand on her palm for a moment with that knowing and amused smile. “Well worth the trip to the back garden?” There was a laugh in her tone to go with the sparkle in her eyes, and Melody Williams found herself quite fond of Tony Stark. It was probably going to end up terribly, as everything always did for a woman who found herself with two spouses here, but for now, she was quite contented to show off.
Tony nodded. He could tell this was going to be a friendship he’d cherish. The woman was wild, and beautiful, and smart as all get-out. He leaned back in his own seat, lifted his freshly refilled glass, and offered it up in a toast. “Well worth the trip.” He said, and drank.