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Tweak says, "especially since the vol"

i_amsoaring (i_amsoaring) wrote in we_coexist,
@ 2013-03-09 17:07:00

Entry tags:

hoban washburne, tony stark

Crash Test Dummy Pt. 1 (Tony)
It was 1am. Wash woke up to a sound, some high pitched sort of chiming sound. With much concentration and rubbing of eyes he verbalized his discontent at being waken at such a terrifyingly inappropriate hour with chimes.

"Mrph."

That being said, he turned over with a groan to find out where the chimes had come from. He had a suspicion. He opened a drawer on the leaning night stand (jimmy rigged to not fall over after his rumble with the thing) and brought out the thin phone Tony had given him.

With a resounding sniff to clear his sinuses he blinked his eyes and checked his messages. Tony wanted him in the lab. He was testing something. It was a brief message that left little room for argument.

Wash thumbed in a reply that read:
IOK 'm no my wqay Predictor text, be damned.

Thirty minutes later the phone's gps took him to a ridiculously tall building. He looked up, far up, at the gleaming letters.

"Oh! STAR-K," he exclaimed. He'd always thought it'd said STAR.

A genial voice that introduced itself as the seemingly omnipresent Jarvis met him at the gate. It traveled with him as he stepped into what must have been the presidential suite of elevators. He swallowed as pressure built in his ears from being lifted so high so quickly.

Then, Jarvis' voice led him down to where he saw Tony.

"I think you need dampers on those elevators, Tony" he quipped once he made it into the lab, making a show of putting a finger in his ear, though he'd already popped the pressure with swallowing.

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Look! Only 3 days this time!

i_amsoaring
2013-04-17 09:23 pm UTC (link)

And Wash didn't follow up on Tony's grazing of alcoholism. He'd already marked himself as completely sacrificial in this job. (This is, of course, before he becomes any important parental figure in any little girl's life.)

While Wash wasn't really a gun guy, there was some micron of comfort given by the words 'battle armor'. Granted, he didn't know that this was the lighter less protecting version.

"Huh," he replied eloquently as he studied the circle on his palm. He traced it with his other armored fingers. "So no giving enthusiastic high-fives, then."

Wash heard the clicks echo in his ears as the world was suddenly dark. He took a breath during the moment of dark, stuffiness. Then there was a whir in his ear as a slight breeze blew on his face, circulating oxygen throughout the suit.

His eyes shot open at the disorienting visuals. Numbers, Wash could do. He was good at numbers. This...was a lot of numbers. He swayed a little as he looked to where Tony's voice had come from. He caught himself and put his hand in view of the display.

He turned it over looking at the propulsion devise on his palm with new eyes and information. Then he turned it away with a flinch. It would be like him to accidentally shoot himself in the face.

"Yeesh," he whispered with that thought.

He wiggled his body to get a feel for the extra weight it carried. Though that weight was now definitely buffered by the powered up suit. He heard the tell-tale sound of hydraulics as he moved his arms and legs. He felt the extra boost that allowed his movements some help in being smoother and less of a struggle.

His first step was shaky. He started by overcompensating then under compensating, flailing his arms wildly to seek balance.

"Wah! Yi dwei da buen chuo roh!*" he chastised himself as he sought control.

He then took another breath and assumed the same calm he forced himself in when flying. With extreme patience he took several steps without falling down. Acclimating easily after that, he laughed in the success of such a seemingly small feat.

"Good news!" he announced. "I haven't thrown up...yet!" He grinned. He still limited his head movements to prevent that likelihood increasing.

(*Wah! Big stupid pile of stinking meat!)

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Re: Look! Only 3 days this time!

i_shoottothrill
2013-04-17 10:33 pm UTC (link)

Tony smirked, watching the man inside and wondering how he was dealing with the sudden influx of information. He watched for a moment, noting the nervousness with the repulsor, and shook his head. "It won't go off without specific instruction, and Jarvis has it powered down for now."

It was a bit counterproductive, since the suit was built to be completely independent from the AI, but it seemed like a prudent measure since unlike Tony, Wash hadn't designed the suit and was getting used to it one bit at a time.

He nodded, happy the man had neither puked nor tripped.

"Looking good. Alright, let's go. We'll hit the testing floor where there's less breakable stuff, and it'll give you more room to test it out. Follow me."

He walked over to the elevator, which Jarvis had ready for them. Then he held the door open, waiting to see how Wash made it over to a specific place.

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i_amsoaring
2013-04-17 10:49 pm UTC (link)

When Tony spoke Wash looked up from his inspection. He blinked hard. This...was going to take a little bit.

"Huh?" Wash then said to the request. "Oh! Yeah! Sure!"

He said this a little too enthusiastically. He walked stiffly behind him, trying desperately to focus on the shorter man as information kept distracting him.

Oop! Chair!

Oop! Table!

"I'm good!" he clarified needlessly and much too loudly.

In front of the elevator he leaned forward precariously clutching the door frame. And with sincere concentration he stretched one foot over the threshold, straddling it ungracefully, and then the other.

Finally he settled beside Tony with a nod and a huff.

"Okay! This should be fun!" he said with faked confidence.

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i_shoottothrill
2013-04-18 06:26 am UTC (link)

Tony watched, unable and unwilling to hide the large smirk that quickly plastered his face. When the newest Iron Man cautiously and gracelessly achieved elevator occupancy Jarvis closed the door and sent them down to the garage level.

"The tech follows your eye movements, more or less. It'll identify anything you should know about, but all the extra frivilous information comes from you concentrating on the object," he said. "The displays on the left side of the screen are armor related, your current power levels, system functionality, weapons inventory and a readout on the outter environment. The suit can go underwater or into space, but it'll usually lock under those conditions so it can't come off and... well, kill you."

Tony spoke quickly and clearly, but without much hesitation. He threw all his chips in, it was his personality, and believed in teaching in the same manner.

When the elevator doors opened he stepped out and into the cavernous concrete area, which featured a tempered workshop area with the basics, and....

"Dummy, who the hell invited you to the party?" Tony asked, sighing heavily as the robotic arm sat waiting patiently, fire extinguisher gripped in its hand. It cocked it's hand part quizically, then turned and motored off to the side where it waited, seeming to follow the new Iron Suit with a curious gaze. Or as curious as a wheel-mounted robotic arm could manage, not actually having a face.

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i_amsoaring
2013-04-18 07:17 pm UTC (link)

Wash listened intently, seeing the information lessen when he concentrated on Tony. His eyes flicked over to the left studying his readouts.

"That's nice to know," he said blandly to the suit refusing to come off in dangerous situations.

Tony's swift, succinct speech reminded him of Mal, if not for the accent.

"Huh?" Wash replied as they exited the lift, thinking with Tony's brashness that he was talking to Wash and not the small armature he suddenly spotted as he swiveled his head lower. "Oh."

The suit's readouts gave him more information than he needed to know about the small AI as he considered it as curiously as Dummy considered him.

He walked backwards as the mechanical creature followed him eagerly, almost tripping but recovering himself for the umpteenth time with wildly circling arms.

When he recovered and refocused on following Tony he said, "It...doesn't really seem to have much faith in me."

He thumbed back toward Dummy in indication. Walking was getting easier. Wash had little shame in making mistakes, so learning by trail and error was happening swifter than someone with confidence issues.

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i_shoottothrill
2013-04-18 10:07 pm UTC (link)

"Nah. It just likes to use the extinguisher," Tony said, remembering the man times where he'd crashed or tripped and gotten blasted with the fire supprescent.

"Alright, move around, get a feel for it. When you want to try flying I'll have Jarvis unlock the thrusters, but you should make sure you can move comfortably on the ground before you try anything drastic."

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i_amsoaring
2013-04-19 12:09 am UTC (link)

"Oh!" Wash said with a nod. He gave Dummy a little wave. "Nice little arm."

It came closer and he flinched.

"Sure! Moving! I can do that. I've flown more than a hundred types of space and air crafts in my lifetime. Walking in a suit shouldn't be a problem!" he said, a little cockily.

The Universe repaid the flourish of ego with an abrupt face plant. Wash didn't even think he moved!

"No! That's good! Educational!" Wash yelled, the suit having buffered him quite well. He made to get up when he heard a strong air sound and was informed by the display that Dummy had taken to show Wash his love for fire extinguisher.

He planted the AI in his vision and cocked his head.

"Thank you!" he said, sternly.

"Seriously," he whispered loudly as he finally got up on his feet to Tony's height. "That guy has a problem."

From this point he took a more methodical track to his getting used to the suit. He started by simply pacing the perimeter of the room. Then he crossed it. His paces got faster until he was confident enough to run.

He was unstable at first but as the minutes ticked by he got more and more efficient. He jumped and leaped.

He fell. A lot. If someone were to have somehow edited all of those trips and slips and falls and skids together they would have quite the prat fall playlist.

It was when he was able to run at full speed and stop right before the wall and run and stop again at the other side that he thought he was ready.

But not before goofing off a little. He spent a good 10 minutes dancing. Despite the suit's user friendliness, he was sweating. He felt an additional cool air cycle as his body temperature rose.

"Woo!" he exclaimed. "You might have to refit me, Tony! I can feel myself trimming up in here!"

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i_shoottothrill
2013-04-19 08:47 am UTC (link)

Tony hopped up onto the workbench and watched, wishing he had popcorn when he saw the man trip and Dummy quickly douse him thoroughly with the extinguisher. He smirked, for once able to appreciate the humor of the situation since he wasn't the one being humiliated further after an already embarassing failing.

"Yeah, well, careful. There's a miniature one running around somewhere that's just as likely to get you," he said.

The falls might be embarassing, but they were normal. Tony hadn't been graceful in the armor when he'd been inventing the damn thing, there was no reason to think anybody could just take to it without a few hiccups.

Not that every trip wasn't being recorded by Jarvis for the official instruction manual.

He smirked at the dancing, then got up. "Yeah yeah. We'll make the adjustments we need when you legitimately need them," he said, getting to his feet. "Alright. You look ready. Here, follow my movements," he said, extending his arms. The second newest armor, retrieved by Jarvis, flew out of panels in the walls and attached itself to Tony's arms and legs, though he only wore the gauntlets and knee-high boot platings. He jangled them selightly to be sure of their fit, then activated them, rising up off the floor.

"J will start you out at half a percent of power. It'll be a short burst, enough to get you into the air a few feet. Trust me, you'll want to practice landing before anything else."

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i_amsoaring
2013-04-26 12:38 am UTC (link)

Wash looked up at Tony rising with immediate jealousy. He wasn't quite sure how to activate the armor though. He wasn't sure if just the posture Tony had was the key or if it was something like a thought similar to the visuals through the suit. If he focused on it, it would happen.

He wanted to make sure before he tried, so he wasn't startled.

"Okay," he began conversationally as he pointed to Tony's levitation. "What are you doing exactly to make that happen? Is there a switch or a thought...?"

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