[Thread] How I know your face

[poppingseeds]

Characters: OU!Tony Stark, AU!Persephone
Where: Ast-Tessera
When: Mind erase plot
Summary: Persephone has no idea what the heck is going and invites Tony over to hang out. Because that's what you do when you can't remember stuff. Hang out. Heck yeah.
Warnings: Shenanigans?

Comments

[yeah_i_can_fly]

Tony went to Persephone's apartment as soon as he said he would. He made sure not to forget his PDA as he thought it would be very vital to their little conversation. Considering he didn't understand a word of Greek without the program he had wrote to translate the foreign symbols into a sense that he understood...

His right hand and wrist was covered in what could only have been the gauntlet of Iron Man's armor. Beneath the stylish suit he wore the device was hooked up to the Arc reactor at his chest. He was in a lined overcoat, too, for the weather. It was a stylish trench coat. If the colors had been right he might could have passed for a double in the Matrix. It was almost rather sad.

That all aside, Stark made his way to Persephone fairly quickly. Despite the recent events (battling with Finitevus not too long ago, hearing his roommates room had been plundered, and the upcoming show-down with Belldandy he was waiting impatiently for) he seemed relatively calm and cool. He had been quite happy, too, thanks to a little mischievous get-together on his part earlier in the day.. but now his favorite fertility goddess was off-the-wall and he wasn't quite sure what to do about it. It did seem to coincide with another person seemingly forgetting certain memories and that...

--Gave him an idea. When he arrived he knocked on the door and waited for her reply.

[poppingseeds]

A muffled 'come in' in Greek came from the couch where the not-goddess had thrown herself, face down, onto it. The world. It was aggravating right now and Persephone probably looked the picture of teenage angst.

Rolling over, she waved a little to her friend and offered a quick smile before sitting up completely. She wanted to say something, but there didn't seem to be much point in it -- Tony probably wouldn't understand anyway.

[yeah_i_can_fly]

Tony didn't understand the words--heck, they were so soft he barely heard them at all, much less could distinguish their sounds--but he took it for what it was anyway. He opened the door and let himself in, closing it gently behind him before facing the goddess.

Uh-oh. Teenage angst. Sooo totally not Tony's strong point. He wondered how he had been at that age and--promptly decided not to go there. Shiver.

He returned her smile with a flashing, brilliant one of his own. It was genuine, at least, despite how practiced it looked out of habit. He walked over and sat down on the opposite side of the couch from her, turned slightly so he could look at her. His head was cocked slightly to the side as he gazed at her.

"...Think you could try speaking in this language now, or is it beyond you yet?"

[poppingseeds]

The look Persephone gave him was flat and unamused as she moved over to make more room for him on the couch. "Τι πιστεύετε?" It wasn't like she could speak anything else, dur. At least not right now.

This was going to get old fast, Persephone could already tell. Other than the annoyance on her face, though, the girl looked fine, at least physically.

(("What do you think?"))

[yeah_i_can_fly]

"Beyond you yet..." he muttered to himself as he gave her a sheepish look for her troubles. He still had no clue what she was saying but he was determined to get around this. Somehow.

That was a plus though. Tony glanced over her only briefly and was satisfied that she appeared undamaged to the naked eye. Of course, in the long run that didn't necessarily mean much but it made him feel a little better anyway and he relaxed slightly without realizing that he hadn't been completely so in the first place.

After a moment he reached forward though and made as if to touch the back of her head, just to check, but he paused and gave her a questioning look before committing to the action. "May I...?"

[poppingseeds]

Persephone looked at him calculating for a moment before ducking her head, letting him take a look at it. There was no bump there -- she had hit the floor, but any bump she would have gained from it was long since gone. She may not have believed herself to be a goddess, but the genetics were still working in top shape.

"Είναι κάτι?"

(("Is something there?"))

[yeah_i_can_fly]

He felt around gently first at the base of her neck and then working his way carefully up from there. Nothing that he could find, and he leaned back after touching her shoulder to indicate he was finished. He shook his head.

"Looks fine--and I didn't feel anything either," he said out loud, in general speaking to both her and himself even if he couldn't understand her words. Somehow some of the meaning got to him anyway. It was an obvious question after all, right?

"I don't know what that means," he said a second later with a shrug. His eyes searched hers as they sought out some answer to all of this. Memory loss? From what exactly, then, if not a wicked bump to the head?

[poppingseeds]

It was getting harder and harder for Persephone to keep the snark and sarcasm out of her voice. She was scared, something was obviously wrong by the way her friends were responding to her. Heck, some of them she didn't even really know and they knew something was wrong.

"Έτσι υπάρχει τίποτε το μεμπτό το κεφάλι μου?" she inquired softly with some hope.

(("So there's nothing wrong with my head?"))

[yeah_i_can_fly]

Tony gave a her blank stare for her effort in words. Of course he didn't understand her and for once the words mattered more than tone. Still, he thought about it for a moment and eventually the basic gist of what she was trying to ask got to him. From her tone he got the feeling she was looking for assurance--he could do that. Or try.

"I don't know what's wrong, exactly--but your head is just fine as far as I can tell. I mean, there was nothing there visibly and I didn't feel anything. If you did hit your head it wasn't hard enough to cause any damage." Pause. "You're fine. You'll be fine. Whatever else is going on will sort itself out in due time, I'm sure of it."

Okay, not the best of little speeches but--hey, he tried. He also gave her one of his most charming, winning, warm smiles he could muster up and flashed it her way.

[poppingseeds]

It worked, sort of. Persephone was relieved that nothing was wrong with her head physically, but even after Tony's reassurances, she still knew that things weren't right and definitely not fine.

She mimicked his smile, albeit shakily. The more she searched her memory, the more gaps she was finding, just little ones. The names of her parents, for instance. What were they? Nocturne had said his friend was suffering from memory loss, others mentioned general Econtra chaos. Maybe this was part of it? But then, what could have caused it?

Persephone shrugged, hugging a pillow to her chest. Her tone was tired, a touch frightened, but she was fighting it. "Εσείς Ca δεν καταλαβαίνουν. Δεν πιστεύω ότι τα πράγματα είναι ωραία, πράγματι. Αλλά, χάρη για την προσπάθεια?"

(("You can't understand me. I don't think things are fine, actually. But thanks for trying?"))

[yeah_i_can_fly]

Again the words were lost on him and he blinked once at her then did a bit of "soul-searching" with his eyes, imploring an answer it seemed from divine providence. Oh, why not? He was in the presence of an honest-to-God (gods?) goddess anyway. Right?

He shook his head with a wry smirk at his own thoughts. Sad, really.

He glanced back at Persephone then and decided to give her a grim nod. He figured it was as good a reply as any, because he probably wouldn't have had one if he knew what she was saying anyway. Odd how his response fitted practically perfectly anyway. It just seemed the right thing to do. That, and sigh. Which he then did, slumping back into the couch to sit forlornly with his friend.

[poppingseeds]

Life probably couldn't -- wait. It probably could get worse. Best not to dwell on that.

The once-goddess curled up on tightly on her end of the couch with a muffled sob, face pressed to her knees. What Persephone really wanted to do right now was cry or scream herself hoarse and hope that made things better, but she knew any effort on that front would be in vain. It would only aggravate the situation, make it all the worse.

But pretending for a little while wouldn't hurt, would it? She hoped, anyway, as tears leaked from her eyes.

[yeah_i_can_fly]

Tony grimaced at the sight of Persephone leaning over to cry. It didn't do anything for his heart (yes, he did have one, despite his frequent claims to the opposite) to see her like this. He looked worriedly at her, a little lost, and uncertain quite what to do. He went with what felt natural.

He scooted closer and leaned over to wrap one arm around her and pat her on the back comfortingly. This was not his strong suit.

"Hey... it's not that bad! I mean, it could be much worse. And it will get better... This is Econtra. Stuff like this always happens--and then it always unhappens." He chuckled lightly, a forced effort.