OtC 61.5: 60.3: The truth is... (Aka; Toto, We're Not in Kansas Anymore... Night One)
OOC: This is for tm_northstar, who presented the notion I just didn't have the capacity to resist. Backdated to somewhere towards the end of my silly and prolonged absence, and because of that, Tony's silly and prolonged absence. Partially influenced by listening to the song 'Ulysses' by Franz Ferdinand too many times. I'm not sure how yet.
'Drunk'. It was a good word.
Why there were people in this world that were so against it was something Tony didn't think he'd ever understand. The act'd shaped the decisions of great men and women alike, caused the births of many, influenced art and literature, all kinds of things. And yet, in the right circles -- or the wrong ones if you wanted to be technical -- an individual could be ostracized for the act. People were so negative.
Plus, it was fun to say. Drunk. Drunk drunk drunk druuuuuuu--
Was he even speaking?
No. He was thinking. Thinking wasn't speaking, it involved strictly the brain and nothing to do with working the mouth. Sometimes this stuff was hard to keep a handle on.
Tony was at the sixth party he'd been to in four days, and for once, he wasn't sure how much more he could take. Possibly because this 'party' was really more of a banquet, or a benefit, or something stupid like that. Like all the others had been. And he was getting sick of behaving himself.
So maybe there was a meld of the unconscious and conscious mind, a conspiracy that'd been formed entirely behind his back, and maybe they'd managed to make him drink a bit more than he should've. It wasn't noticeable, not yet, but it was getting there. And he knew he couldn't afford getting busted like this. Not now.
The shit had been hitting the proverbial fan for Stark Industries lately. Scandals were suddenly showing themselves all at once; one of them involving a liason for his company and the other company's liason being busted together in a conference room. By the Japanese CEO who was a strict believer in women not bending themselves over a table for anyone but their husband.
The girl had been aware of that, and promptly copped out and blamed it on the guy. The one who worked for Tony. The CEO chose to believe her. The Japanese company had promptly walked away from resigning their contract with Stark Industries after that.
Add onto that busted prototypes meaning missed deadlines, three heads of departments quitting abruptly for unknown reasons, Iron Man, and a nice list of other equally upsetting occurrences... Tony was stressed. He still wasn't getting to see Laura as much as he wanted to, because of the impeccable timing of his own personal hell starting twenty four hours after she came back to New York.
So Tony did what came naturally. He drank. Privately, comfortably delving into unconsciousness at the end of every extremely long day. The hangovers were massive and debilitating, but he was a pro, and he lived with it. It got him through whatever came next. Pepper was biting her lip to near bleeding point more than usual, Rhodey kept telling him that when his liver crapped out on him sometime next week Tony damn well wasn't getting a piece of his. Laura was quiet when they saw each other, tell all looks getting ignored. And Tony pressed on.
Tonight's fuck up that he just couldn't seem to stop himself from committing couldn't be ignored, however. After all, it meant he had to leave. So he could go continue this latest stupid move at home. Funny how that worked.
Tony excused himself from the eighty year old woman who considered herself 'business savvy' enough to explain to him the ins and outs of the world economy, and managed to only slur two words in the process. She didn't seem to notice. He grabbed himself another glass of champagne as he stealthily slipped out the back.
Shoving the door open to a back alley, Tony stumbled going down the stairs and caught himself sharply on the railing. He steadied himself, raised the glass to his lips, and tilted his head all the way back as the liquid slid down his throat. And then there was none. He tossed the glass over to the side, ignoring the smash of crystal meeting pavement. Whatever.
Now, where had he parked...
Tony dug his keys out of his pocket, contemplating whether or not he needed to bother Hogan at this hour. He decided it wasn't necessary, if only because Happy would likely report back to Pepper. He didn't need that moment where she finally exploded at him. And then called Laura so they could tag team him for the next few days. This oversight would be one he kept to himself.
He made his way to the parking lot, wishing that he hadn't elected to park for himself and just used the damn valet. The fifteen minutes he'd spent in the car composing himself so he could get through this and put on a proper good face weren't worth it. Walking past the teenagers and waving when they waved at him, he glanced around for the Audi. It was around here somewhere. Just a matter of where.
The walk could be good for him. Sober him up some, make the drive a little less dangerous. After all, getting into an accident would give him away just as much as calling Happy would. That was undeniable. Also, he really didn't want the Audi to suffer because of his problems.
Tony walked down the rows and rows of ridiculously expensive cars, thinking more about what he'd do when he got home more than anything else at the moment. Probably get sober. Call Laura. Get drunk again. He didn't have to do anything until eleven tomorrow morning, he could make this work.
His mind started sliding to stock reports he'd been handed recently, and the upcoming meeting with the board where he'd have to reassure them all that it was going to be okay once again. They'd been through worse shitstorms. They'd come back from this just as great as ever. Better. It just meant a little more work than usual to keep everything from going down in flames. Damage control. Nothing ma--
Why the fuck was he thinking about work right now?
Instead of having to contemplate that next, Tony was jerked from his thoughts by his phone vibrating. He looked down at his pocket like it'd offended him, reaching it and grabbing it. Pepper's face smiled up at him from the screen, 'Potts' underneath it in exactly the same colored lettering as her hair. She was checking up on him. And he realized that he hadn't really been paying attention to the phone all night. If he didn't have missed calls from Laura and Rhodey, he'd be deeply surprised.
Tony whipped his phone in the opposite direction.
He heard it crash, snap, and skitter once it hit the ground. The vibrating stopped. That was nice.
Catching a glint of silver off in the distance, Tony was relieved. The Audi. Finally. He turned sharply, or something resembling sharp, and his next step ended with his foot getting caught on the wheel of the BMW he'd been next to. So what happened next didn't really surprise him all that much.
The fall felt like it too longer than it probably did, allowing him time to think about how he probably shouldn't've thrown his phone after all. He saw stars when his temple connected with the mirror of the Beamer. He saw black when he finally hit the ground.
When he opened his eyes again, Tony groaned out of irritation and indignation than anything else. Planting both hands on either side of himself, he slowly started to push himself up into a standing position. He didn't seem to notice that his hands were on warm and comfortable grass, not cold and unforgiving pavement. He did pick up on it being daylight.
And that he didn't feel drunk anymore. He wasn't in any pain. Tony squinted, looking up at the bright sun. Then to the picturesque countryside. The people walking around him in variations on modern and less than modern attire, some of them not walking around in much at all. But only the pretty ones.
He started to look down at himself, but something else on the ground caught his attention instead. A gold crown, with a gold scepter laying next to it. He snatched up both, and felt something smack him in the leg. Tony looked to the sheathed sword attached to his hip, and stared.
Something was very, very wrong.
It took a few moments of studying all three objects before he realized how he was dressed.
Something was very, very wrong.
"... What the fuck?!"
Indeed.
Muse: Tony Stark
Fandom: Iron Man
Word Count: 1419
'Drunk'. It was a good word.
Why there were people in this world that were so against it was something Tony didn't think he'd ever understand. The act'd shaped the decisions of great men and women alike, caused the births of many, influenced art and literature, all kinds of things. And yet, in the right circles -- or the wrong ones if you wanted to be technical -- an individual could be ostracized for the act. People were so negative.
Plus, it was fun to say. Drunk. Drunk drunk drunk druuuuuuu--
Was he even speaking?
No. He was thinking. Thinking wasn't speaking, it involved strictly the brain and nothing to do with working the mouth. Sometimes this stuff was hard to keep a handle on.
Tony was at the sixth party he'd been to in four days, and for once, he wasn't sure how much more he could take. Possibly because this 'party' was really more of a banquet, or a benefit, or something stupid like that. Like all the others had been. And he was getting sick of behaving himself.
So maybe there was a meld of the unconscious and conscious mind, a conspiracy that'd been formed entirely behind his back, and maybe they'd managed to make him drink a bit more than he should've. It wasn't noticeable, not yet, but it was getting there. And he knew he couldn't afford getting busted like this. Not now.
The shit had been hitting the proverbial fan for Stark Industries lately. Scandals were suddenly showing themselves all at once; one of them involving a liason for his company and the other company's liason being busted together in a conference room. By the Japanese CEO who was a strict believer in women not bending themselves over a table for anyone but their husband.
The girl had been aware of that, and promptly copped out and blamed it on the guy. The one who worked for Tony. The CEO chose to believe her. The Japanese company had promptly walked away from resigning their contract with Stark Industries after that.
Add onto that busted prototypes meaning missed deadlines, three heads of departments quitting abruptly for unknown reasons, Iron Man, and a nice list of other equally upsetting occurrences... Tony was stressed. He still wasn't getting to see Laura as much as he wanted to, because of the impeccable timing of his own personal hell starting twenty four hours after she came back to New York.
So Tony did what came naturally. He drank. Privately, comfortably delving into unconsciousness at the end of every extremely long day. The hangovers were massive and debilitating, but he was a pro, and he lived with it. It got him through whatever came next. Pepper was biting her lip to near bleeding point more than usual, Rhodey kept telling him that when his liver crapped out on him sometime next week Tony damn well wasn't getting a piece of his. Laura was quiet when they saw each other, tell all looks getting ignored. And Tony pressed on.
Tonight's fuck up that he just couldn't seem to stop himself from committing couldn't be ignored, however. After all, it meant he had to leave. So he could go continue this latest stupid move at home. Funny how that worked.
Tony excused himself from the eighty year old woman who considered herself 'business savvy' enough to explain to him the ins and outs of the world economy, and managed to only slur two words in the process. She didn't seem to notice. He grabbed himself another glass of champagne as he stealthily slipped out the back.
Shoving the door open to a back alley, Tony stumbled going down the stairs and caught himself sharply on the railing. He steadied himself, raised the glass to his lips, and tilted his head all the way back as the liquid slid down his throat. And then there was none. He tossed the glass over to the side, ignoring the smash of crystal meeting pavement. Whatever.
Now, where had he parked...
Tony dug his keys out of his pocket, contemplating whether or not he needed to bother Hogan at this hour. He decided it wasn't necessary, if only because Happy would likely report back to Pepper. He didn't need that moment where she finally exploded at him. And then called Laura so they could tag team him for the next few days. This oversight would be one he kept to himself.
He made his way to the parking lot, wishing that he hadn't elected to park for himself and just used the damn valet. The fifteen minutes he'd spent in the car composing himself so he could get through this and put on a proper good face weren't worth it. Walking past the teenagers and waving when they waved at him, he glanced around for the Audi. It was around here somewhere. Just a matter of where.
The walk could be good for him. Sober him up some, make the drive a little less dangerous. After all, getting into an accident would give him away just as much as calling Happy would. That was undeniable. Also, he really didn't want the Audi to suffer because of his problems.
Tony walked down the rows and rows of ridiculously expensive cars, thinking more about what he'd do when he got home more than anything else at the moment. Probably get sober. Call Laura. Get drunk again. He didn't have to do anything until eleven tomorrow morning, he could make this work.
His mind started sliding to stock reports he'd been handed recently, and the upcoming meeting with the board where he'd have to reassure them all that it was going to be okay once again. They'd been through worse shitstorms. They'd come back from this just as great as ever. Better. It just meant a little more work than usual to keep everything from going down in flames. Damage control. Nothing ma--
Why the fuck was he thinking about work right now?
Instead of having to contemplate that next, Tony was jerked from his thoughts by his phone vibrating. He looked down at his pocket like it'd offended him, reaching it and grabbing it. Pepper's face smiled up at him from the screen, 'Potts' underneath it in exactly the same colored lettering as her hair. She was checking up on him. And he realized that he hadn't really been paying attention to the phone all night. If he didn't have missed calls from Laura and Rhodey, he'd be deeply surprised.
Tony whipped his phone in the opposite direction.
He heard it crash, snap, and skitter once it hit the ground. The vibrating stopped. That was nice.
Catching a glint of silver off in the distance, Tony was relieved. The Audi. Finally. He turned sharply, or something resembling sharp, and his next step ended with his foot getting caught on the wheel of the BMW he'd been next to. So what happened next didn't really surprise him all that much.
The fall felt like it too longer than it probably did, allowing him time to think about how he probably shouldn't've thrown his phone after all. He saw stars when his temple connected with the mirror of the Beamer. He saw black when he finally hit the ground.
When he opened his eyes again, Tony groaned out of irritation and indignation than anything else. Planting both hands on either side of himself, he slowly started to push himself up into a standing position. He didn't seem to notice that his hands were on warm and comfortable grass, not cold and unforgiving pavement. He did pick up on it being daylight.
And that he didn't feel drunk anymore. He wasn't in any pain. Tony squinted, looking up at the bright sun. Then to the picturesque countryside. The people walking around him in variations on modern and less than modern attire, some of them not walking around in much at all. But only the pretty ones.
He started to look down at himself, but something else on the ground caught his attention instead. A gold crown, with a gold scepter laying next to it. He snatched up both, and felt something smack him in the leg. Tony looked to the sheathed sword attached to his hip, and stared.
Something was very, very wrong.
It took a few moments of studying all three objects before he realized how he was dressed.
Something was very, very wrong.
"... What the fuck?!"
Indeed.
Muse: Tony Stark
Fandom: Iron Man
Word Count: 1419