InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "He's my chance of a lifetime."

I am Iron Man. (builtwithscraps) wrote in wariscoming,
@ 2011-11-01 21:30:00

Entry tags:

felicia hardy/black cat, tony stark/iron man

WHO: Tony Stark & Felicia Hardy
WHAT: Chatting!
WHEN: Evening.
WHERE: Complex
RATING: PG-13.

Bruce Wayne. Batman. What had he been thinking, exactly, when he had decided to show up at that silly costume party dressed as his comic book opposite? The answer was a lot simpler than Tony Stark would have liked for it to have been. He was a man of many beliefs and opinions ; some of which were admittedly a little more shallow than others. Evasive relationship practices? They lay among those opinions and beliefs, perhaps higher than most others. Tony wasn't going to lie to anyone. He was a get 'em and leave 'em kinda guy. Women were fun. They were the people he chose to spend his time with when he went out and fulfilled that playboy reputation of his. That was it. Nothing deep. Nothing serious. Nothing important. That was why Tony often chose to overpower them with his wit, charm, and sarcasm, so that those women he chose to stand up for the night wouldn't leave anything remarkable behind when he – or, okay, Pepper – kicked them out the front door the next day.

It was a tad different with the woman who took to dressing up as a cat in her free time. Not that Tony ever had any intention of admitting that out loud (no, that'd require a certain amount ritual sacrifice RE: his pride that he wasn't ready to participate in just yet – or ever, really), but he was well aware that there were these niggling feelings building up inside him in relation to her that he didn't really understand.

It was her fault, really, with her shiny hair and bright smile. Just like it was her fault that he went to that stupid party, all dressed up and ready to be social and magnificent, when everything exploded in all their faces.

Hmph.

Exasperated with Lawrence and, furthermore, himself, Tony decided he needed air. He climbed his way up to the roof, knowing that it was usually fairly quiet and comfortable during the evening. He had grown to like being up there, whether it be for his own personal space or because he just wanted to think. To work out some invention or another, to figure out the mechanics of whatever weapon of the week he was looking to piece together for that apocalyptic cause of theirs. The roof was sort of like his new found workspace at home, but less cluttered and far less riddled with expensive technology that Tony knew it would take years for him to replace here.

Which was sort of depressing, really.

What was more depressing, of course, was the adventure that he had endured the night before. He had spent his entire evening running around the city, trying to figure out what had happened to Gotham, his butler, and his costume. All in all, it had been a pretty crappy Halloween.

It was a shame, actually. He could have gotten drunk. Flirted it out with a couple models, lured them back to bed...

Or Felicia. No. Strike that. No Felicia.

Well, maybe...

Tony leaned against the ledge of the roof and looked out onto the streets below. If he didn't know that there was an apocalypse on, he wouldn't have been able to tell. The world was quiet. Normal. It was like nothing was really happening out there, when in reality everything was going on. Everything that ever was and ever would be, all ripping apart beneath their very feet and not one person was looking down.

A friendly reminder as to why Tony disliked this place. See also: people.

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builtwithscraps
2011-11-03 04:17 am UTC (link)

This was why Tony was fond of Felicia. She didn't scowl and get all cranky when Tony decided to throw a few lines her way. She stood her ground, gave him a little cheek, and they both walked away winners. It was nice knowing that not every person in the world had a terrible sense of humor. “I think that would make you tenfold more prepared than you were,” Tony declared smugly. “What kind of hostess doesn't plan ahead for attacks via archangel in the middle of an apocalypse? Honestly, woman, it's like you've never done this sort of thing before.”

The costumes weren't all tragically horrible, he had to agree. Some where downright silly. Others? They were just sad. Namely his costume. Tony had his moments of depression, he couldn't deny that, but as soon as he had stepped in the life of one Bruce Wayne, he had spent nearly every waking moment of his pathetic existence juggling anger and unimpressive bouts of sadness over deaths that he should have gotten over a hell of a long time ago. Tony didn't even want to get started on his unexplainable need to slink back into the shadows half the time either because, frankly, that was a little too close to crossing into creepy guy in the shadows than badass bat-shaped vigilante. He really didn't understand the character appeal whatsoever. “I'm glad it didn't stick. Bruce Wayne might have been clever, but he was no Tony Stark.” Tony would have preferred his high tech suit over wandering throughout the city streets dressed up like a giant bat, anyway.

Oh, she did have him. As much as he hated to admit it, it was a little embarrassing having to turn to someone else for money for the first time in...well, ever. Tony was so used to being so rich that he wouldn't have even noticed if a couple million went missing under his nose. He threw money away left and right like it was nothing and now he had to be careful about what he spent, otherwise he'd have to go running back to Felicia over here, who would then proceed to be even more smug. It was kind of mean. "I imagine a lot like how it's going to feel when I finally get my hands on some of my own money and build my way back up," Tony replied, shrugging, "in which I will find some way to ensure that you work for me, whether you want to or not." Tony flashed Felicia a smirk. "I'm thinking sexy maid. You could pull off sexy maid."

"I'm not getting used to this place," Tony countered, "this roof? Absolutely. Lawrence and all that comes with it? Never." In some ways, he preferred home. In others? He liked Lawrence better. While he was ridiculously poor in comparison to his former status, Tony didn't have to worry about being as responsible here. He wasn't being forced to sign this contract or to attend that meeting or whatever it was that was lined up on his schedule. Tony could just go to his apartment, bury himself into his work, and not have to worry about anyone or anything for however long he wanted, because it was mostly just him here. Not his company. Just Tony Stark.

"What makes you different from the average thief? I'm sure they could get a costume, too. You might end up competing with the Yellow Puppy one of these days, if you're not careful..."

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crossyourpath
2011-11-03 12:55 pm UTC (link)

Felicia sighed dramatically. "You're right. I should never be allowed plan a party ever again. How could I forget Angelic Meddling insurance. ...Its my own fault. I'm a terrible hostess! However can I show my face in Lawrence, ever again!" She supposed most people wouldn't get them. To all the world it did probably seem like they were wrong both so completely charming and witty when they needed to be but anti people by choice. Like spirits had found one another, and Felicia was alright to let it continue.

As for the costumes, she was more than a little glad it hadn't stuck either. He was right about Wayne. The man spent most of his time hiding away from the world and being a pain in the ass. How Selina actually liked him was anyone's guess. But she wasn't much better in Felicia's opinion. She seemed altogether too entitled and altogether too full of herself. And Felicia was by far the better thief, and she did say so herself. "We're smarter than them Tony, and more intelligent. And much, much better looking." she joked. And Tony really was smarter by all accounts. He was an actual honest to goodness genius but Felicia had decided a long while ago not to let herself be intimidated by it. There were ways in which she was smarter than him. Not actual knowledge ways obviously. But she bet he couldn't have liberated the Mona Lisa with little to no effort only to put it back half an hour later just to prove she could.

And he would make his money back here. She knew that, so really she didn't have too long to gloat. A year maybe and he'd be a millionaire, a few more and the billions would roll in. Having to hide the name Tony Stark was less than ideal probably but there was little to be done about that. That said Felicia wouldn't work for him. Mostly because then he would win, and she couldn't have that. He was not allowed to win. "Sexy as I'd look as a maid, and believe me, I'd look good. I just don't see that as where my career path lies." she said idly looking down the eight or so stories to the ground. "Besides I hear those maids outfits are all kings of impractical. Though considering you currently work for me, if I was a meaner person I could insist upon a dress code, what do you think. I can personally think of a few looks that I think you could manage on a day to day basis to keep me amused."

Felicia hoisted herself up and started to pace along the wall, eight stories up, without a care. She had exceptional balance and felt as comfortable here as she expected Tony did in a lab making things. "Its growing on me." she said as she picked up speed along the roof edge. "The place, the people. Okay so, not Kansas so much. You really do have to come with me to New York someday. I need the culture, then Washington. Have you ever been to the Smithsonian Tony, beautiful museum. Choc full of history." History and the Hope Diamond but who was being picky. As Tony further teased Felicia slowed down slipping off the roof edge to stand beside him overlooking the city.

"Goddammed Yellow Puppy. That bastard thinks he's better than me you know." she retorted. "But what makes me better, than anyone else out there. Class, skill, and wit. Also people tend to not suspect the sexy blonde socialite attending the gallery or museum to be the one to come back later that night and fleece them. So, y'know, element of surprise. If we're playing that game though, What makes you different from the average genius industrialist?" she asked, tilting her head just slightly.

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builtwithscraps
2011-11-07 05:47 am UTC (link)

Most people didn't understand their wit and sarcasm because most people didn't exactly find that sort of behavior endearing. Tony supposed he could understand, on a tiny level, why they would feel that way, what with them being more people persons than he was. Then again, they didn't have the reliability of being rich, famous, and clever enough to come off as eccentric to pass as an excuse for the unpredictable and rude behavior that Tony was so accustomed to handing folks on a regular basis, so they had to play nice with people to get on in the world, didn't they? Tony couldn't imagine having to bend on knee and kiss ass everywhere he went to get what he wanted ; truthfully, he felt sympathetic for those who did have to. Not enough to, you know, cease demanding that people bend on knee and kiss his ass when they were employed by him, but still. He didn't envy them, did he?

“Hmm. I guess you could make costume demands of me. Of course, then there's that pesky situation where I'm the one responsible for upping the defense systems and weaponry around here in support of fighting the big fight with the apocalypse. It would be a terrible thing if my funds were rejected by an outside party who had been making ridiculous enough demands for me to abandon my goals. Imagine how much of an advantage all those poor people would have without me supplying them with what they needed to help them survive because I refused you...” Tony sighed dramatically at that. Surprisingly, if he had no other choice, Tony probably would have given in to Felicia's costume demands if he had to. As often as he claimed that he was no hero, Tony wouldn't have had it in himself to walk away from innocent people who needed protection. For all his anti-people tendencies, he certainly cared for them more than one would assume.

All joking aside, as soon as Felicia started going on along the ledge of the roof like some sort of acrobat walking the ropes in the middle of a circus act, Tony couldn't help but twitch a little. He might have been pretty height savvy when he was jetting through the skies in his suit, but it was a teeny bit different of a situation when he was standing in front of someone he was fond of who looked as though they could tumble over the edge of a roof at any second while he was there without his suit on to make with the rescuing if the tumbling were to ever happen. Felicia might have taken the claim to the name of a cat for a reason, but that didn't make Tony comfortable with the way she hopped from building to building as though it were the easiest thing in the world, nor did it make him happy to simply stand there and watch as she paced along the ledge in front of him without a single care in the world.

Tony cleared his throat awkwardly. “I'll make you a deal. You stop doing that – “ He nodded to the ledge, indicating that he wasn't all too fond of her crazy pacing up there. “-- and I'll go to New York with you. Museums and all.” Tony wasn't an idiot ; chances were, Felicia was probably going to pull some sort of stunt at said museums, but right now Tony would happily play the fool if it convinced Felicia to stop running around up there. He really was getting twitchy about it.

“Class, wit, and skill, huh?” Acceptable enough answer. Tony had a pretty simple one for his own as well, of course. “I'm better. Period.”

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crossyourpath
2011-11-09 12:59 pm UTC (link)

Felicia was ready for him. He was adorable when he got all sulky and tried to make demands. She knew what he was though. He might not have been the most typical of hero types but Tony Stark was a hero. He put on that suit of his and he saved lives because it was the right thing to do. He definitely ticked the relevant boxes. "Nah, you wouldn't stop working on the security any more than you'd stop from saving people if it came to it. You sir are a hero. Might be a grumpier hero than the usual, but you'll keep going cause I don't think its physically in you to abandon your goals. Truthfully though you can wear what you want cause contrary to popular belief I'm not altogether soulless. I couldn't have your genius on the shelf because of me." she replied smirking slightly as he flailed at her. Because yes, flailed was the only word to describe how he was being about her balancing act.

Could it be the great Tony Stark cared what happened to her. He seemed far from comfortable with how she was balancing on the wall much as Felicia knew she'd be perfectly fine. "You worried about me Tony? I'm flattered but honestly, I'm fine." she told him, once she was down and in a position to turn her attention completely to him. She probably shouldn't have found it as utterly cute as she did that he was so willing to give in to her just to get her down from the roof edge. But if he did care about her, she wanted to know it.

"New York it is then. And lets be clear on this. I want the whole experience. Everything we miss for as long as we can before this place pulls us back. We'll go be New Yorkers again and I'll relish every second. And you switch off the hero thing when I tell you to, how about that as a compromise. In return I'll stop freaking you out with the walls." It had never freaked Peter out but then she supposed he ran up and down them and sometimes just kind of hung there. Felicia was more than willing to give Tony a chance to prove he could handle the other sides of her personality.

Apparently, part of that was wall crawling. Or the cat version thereof. And he didn't know what to do with it. He was worried about her. Worried she'd fall, and promising her all sorts of things so she'd get down. It was kind of cute if she did say so herself.

"You're better. But you're still worried about me aren't you? All worked up and willing to give in to what I want just to keep me safe. A girl could be flattered" she teased, leaning back against the rail with a positively wicked smirk.

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builtwithscraps
2011-11-13 01:27 am UTC (link)

Tony was going to point out that he could definitely abandon his goals if he wanted to (which was a lie, but he was allowed to lie, wasn't he?), but Felicia started getting so annoyingly smug about how much he had worried over her nearly falling off the roof that Tony couldn't help but skip the subject altogether to shrug the subject off as soon as he could. And by shrug the subject off, it really meant that he was trying to come up with something witty enough to throw her off the path of the somewhat dangerous territory they were venturing into.

Of course, that didn't stop him from letting out a notable breath of relief at the sight of Felicia abandoning her stance on the edge of the roof. As natural as it was for her to walk around like that to her hearts delight, Tony found himself waiting for something bad to happen just at the mere sight of it all. Which was kinda funny, really, since Tony Stark was all about living life on the edge. Huh, what do you know? It was kind of ironic, too.

“What? I'm the only one who gets to switch off the hero/not hero mode when we get to the big city? What about you, Cat? Am I gonna have to beg to get you to keep your hands out of everyone else's pockets?” Not that he would. Beg, that was. Tony liked to think he was above it. “Fair is fair.” Well, it was more fair for him, anyway. Tony was exceptionally fantastic at slacking off, partying, and doing everything against what people generally thought was best for him and his schedule. Tony could swoop off to New York for a couple days without giving in to some crazy urge to rush off and save the world, no problem.

"And about me being worried?" Tony couldn't help but smirk. "You're right. I am. If you fall off that ledge, someone could really get hurt. There are people walking around down there, you know. What if you hit someone?" Aha! Bingo. Wit. He found it. "Oh, sorry -" Tony put his hands up at his sides, giving her a shrug, looking as if he just didn't quite know what to do with himself. "- was that me being a hero again?"

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crossyourpath
2011-11-15 11:18 pm UTC (link)

He wouldn't. Tony Stark was physically incapable of abandoning something once he put his mind to it. This may not have been the one she'd known at home but he was still the man he was. There was no way he could walk away from something important to him. What this was, very simply, was Tony not getting over the fact he was worried about her. That maybe just maybe, the great Tony Stark was starting to care. Felicia was happy enough to let him flounder around in the mistaken opinion that it bothered her what he thought.

It didn't of course. Not one bit.

But when she got off the roof Tony actually seemed to relax. Yup, he didn't care at all. That said she'd scare him more when she got him to New York. All the museums, all the beautiful art New York had to offer. There was an analogy about kids and candy stores. And she'd be there with an oh so heroic hero type. So clearly she couldn't do anything nefarious. Clearly she'd be on her very best behavior. Even if he had insulted her, "...pockets?" she said coolly raising an eyebrow at the very thought of it. "Pockets? Seriously? Oh come on, I am so far above pickpocketing its not even a thing. But you don't need to beg me to do anything. I would never impugn upon your heroism Tony, and I'm fairly sure even I wouldn't stand a chance against that suit of yours if I did decide to find something pretty for my apartment."

And that would be her cover story. Then she'd claim womanly reasons for running off for a bit, go steal something pretty and he'd be none the wiser. Hero status maintained, and Felicia did her job. Everyone happy and they got New York out of it. Shows, fabulous meals and in general everything either of them could want, if only for a few days.

"Oh someone could could they?" He really did like to think he had an answer for everything, didn't he? Always with that wit. She'd have to do something about that. "Don't you know I always land on my feet?" she teased, returning the smirk in kind. "I mean not that I don't like seeing the heroic side of you on occasion but you won't need to rescue me Iron Man. Even if you would enjoy it."

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builtwithscraps
2011-11-22 05:51 am UTC (link)

It was cute how Felicia thought she could fool someone who, by the very definition of the word, was a genius. Tony Stark had done his research. Felicia Hardy (aka Black Cat) was the sort of person who simply couldn't keep her hands to herself when the opportunity to snatch something nice and shiny was dancing beneath her very nose. Tony couldn't resist tinkering with a fun, new toy when he spotted one, just as Felicia couldn't keep herself from doing what she did best. It was in their very nature to do the things that they did and far be it from Tony to play the fool when he knew better. At least not to himself. He might not have been so quick to point out that he suspected Felicia was lying through her teeth, but he wasn't going to stop himself from keeping a close eye on her. Close enough to make sure she didn't do anything too stupid, anyway. "No one can stand a chance against my suit," he bragged, shooting Felicia a confident smile, "it's top of the line. Practically untouchable." Unless one made a copy of the suit and tried to squash him like a bug while wearing it. That had been unpleasant.

Tony was beginning to notice that Felicia was rather fond of picking at his heroic side. Was that a thing? Was it going to become a thing? His heroics weren't exactly of the ideal sort, but Felicia seemed to find them worthy enough to make jokes about all the same.

Was it because she missed her own hero, Spider-Man? He had to wonder.

"Ah, you say that now. But wait until you find yourself stuck with a jar of peanut butter that just won't open," Tony teased, "then where will you be, hmm? You'll come begging for me to come and save you. And your lunch."

More like she was likely to get herself in trouble more than she cared to admit. A person couldn't go around stealing things all the time without something backfiring eventually. Dammit. Just another thing to add to his list of worries when it came to Felicia Hardy. And there he was thinking that her falling off the sides of roofs was going to be the worst of his problems.

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crossyourpath
2011-11-22 09:15 pm UTC (link)

He had an answer for everything didn't he? She had to admit she actually kind of admired that about him. It was refreshing sometimes having someone in her life she could properly debate with again, someone who didn't just back down from her. He was confident and he was witty and Felicia enjoyed every bit of banter she got from the man. "Oh I know, you say so often enough to anyone who'll listen back home. But then, you've no reason to wind up against me do you. I'm on the right side." More or less, how they put people like her in the same category as people like his enemies or Kingpin or people like that, she didn't know. She was a thief, she was a mercenary, and who was she even hurting with the things that she did.

"Damn, you worked it out." she teased, deciding to ignore the unpleasant thoughts of hero vs thief. She'd never steal from him after all. "I just keep you around for your inherent manliness. Jar opening and stuff on high shelves." There was also the aforementioned good company and the fact he was a hell of a lot of fun to be around. And good in bed. That helped.

Of course he was also confusing and troubling when they got into the comfortable place. She wasn't used to that. She wasn't him. She might have been a ridiculous flirt but relationships weren't her thing. They never had been and she didn't even want one with him.

...And if she told herself that enough it would be true.

"Is it just me or is it getting cold up here." she said, shivering slightly, standing still in her black catsuit wasn't a usual occurrence unless she was working. "I keep trying to find a jacket that goes with this, but y'know..." she joked.

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