State of Nature
Title: State of Nature
Series:A Meeting of the Minds
Sequel to: The Sacred and the Profane
Author: akat
Fandom: Iron Man
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: I do not own BtVS or Iron Man.
Spoilers: BtVS through Season 2. Takes place before BtVS series and Iron Man movie.
Summary: Jenny determined to put all thoughts of Tony Stark far behind her. Then an instant message popped up from a username she didn’t recognize.
Word Count: 1081
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Jenny set her bags down just inside the doorway of her apartment and sighed. Though she was grateful for the break from her family obligations, it was good to be back in New York.
Deciding to leave the unpacking until later, she poured herself a glass of wine and sat on her couch. With each sip, she felt herself unwind a little bit more.
It wasn’t that the technopagan gathering was bad. In actuality, it was wonderful seeing everyone in person -- with one glaring exception.
Jenny’s expression darkened as she thought about Tony Stark. Almost reflexively, she drained the rest of her wine glass. She immediately went to refill it, her previous calm completely destroyed by his arrogant face.
Though he had said and done all the right things at the gathering, Tony Stark had no business being there, that much Jenny knew. He had made his fortune making some of deadliest weapons known to man; there was no reason to believe he wouldn’t do the same here despite his reassurances, and he’d do it with the same callous attitude and disregard for life. On top of that, the guy was every bit the pompous, womanizing ass the press made him out to be. He was lucky he made it out of the gathering without Jenny decking him, or worse. As it was, she took particular delight in cutting him out of the all the important technopagan matters.
Her lips curled in a smile as she remembered the look on his face when she had proposed that all new members be excluded from certain discussions and rituals -- for their own safety, of course. The best part was when the High Priestess had readily agreed to her suggestion, much to her and Tony’s surprise. Perhaps the woman wasn’t as smitten with their newest member as she appeared to be.
Imagine that, Mr. Stark. Two women repelling your charms in one day, she thought smugly.
Her smile quickly faded, however; for behind her anger and righteous indignation, there was a profound sense of disappointment. When she had been in school, she was fascinated with Stark Industries; they were always on the cutting edge of technology, and Tony Stark himself was a genius in that regard, as much as it pained Jenny to admit it now. It was such a letdown to see the man in person, knowing what might have been if he wasn’t such an egotistical, war-mongering jerk.
There was no sense in dwelling on the impossible, though, so Jenny walked over to her desk and turned on her computer to browse the web, determined to put all thoughts of Tony Stark far behind her. As soon as she connected to the internet, however, an instant message popped up from a username she didn’t recognize: StarkRavingMad.
[StarkRavingMad]: I’m disappointed. ‘Technowitch’ is neither creative nor mysterious.
Jenny frowned as she typed her response.
[Technowitch]: Who is this?
[StarkRavingMad]: If I burned some sage and chanted around the computer, would that help?
Jenny gasped.
[Technowitch]: You!
[StarkRavingMad]: Me.
Jenny could practically hear the self-satisfaction in his voice. Angrily, Jenny typed in her reply, her keyboard shaking with each angry jab.
[Technowitch]: How did you find me?
[StarkRavingMad]: Do you remember who you’re talking to?
There was that arrogance, the one that got under her skin like no other. If he thought she was just going to sit and take it, however, he was sorely mistaken.
[Technowitch]: …
Jenny then sat back in her chair, taking angry gulps of her wine as she waited. And wait she did, unwilling to give in. After a few long minutes, he finally relented.
[StarkRavingMad]: Oh, alright. I asked the High Priestess for your information. So you don’t have to worry that I’m some crazy stalker.
Jenny arched her eyebrow. That remained to be seen. Deciding that they had exchanged enough pleasantries, she decided it was time to cut to the chase.
[Technowitch]: What do you want? And by the way, you made fun of my username, ‘StarkRavingMad’?
[StarkRavingMad]: Mine is cleverly disguised. No one would ever think that I would be associated with this name.
Jenny scoffed as her fingers flew over her keyboard.
[Technowitch]: I beg to differ.
[StarkRavingMad]: Ouch. I see the cat still has claws… Okay, in truth, I made the mistake of asking my new assistant to set this account up for me. She may have been… frustrated when she created it.
Jenny laughed despite herself.
[Technowitch]: I like her already. Now what do you want?
[StarkRavingMad]: You.
Jenny’s jaw dropped as she stared at the screen in disbelief. She had thought he was going to get on her case about the gathering; she had already been preparing her retort. Never in a million years did she expect this. For a moment, she didn’t know what to say; she didn’t even know if he was serious or if he was merely using the opportunity to toy with her. She quickly recovered, though. It didn’t matter what his intentions were, her reaction was the same -- uninterested and unamused.
[Technowitch]: No, thank you. Good bye!
She started to close the chat box but paused when a message popped up almost immediately after hers.
[StarkRavingMad]: Can’t you take a joke? I just wanted to pick your brain about something you said the other day.
If he intended to soothe her ruffled feathers with that, he had failed. In fact, his words had the opposite effect; Jenny was soon seething with anger.
She knew he couldn’t be trusted. He was just using them. This only proved it. She hastily typed out a reply.
[Technowitch]: And I’m still not interested. Let’s not do this again.
The chat box indicated that he was typing something else, but she didn’t wait to see what it was. She closed the window and viciously jabbed the ‘off’ button on her monitor, then got up to pour herself another glass of wine, banishing all thoughts of Tony Stark from her mind once and for all.
When she received the job offer in the mail from Stark Industries two days later, she burned it and sent StarkRavingMad a picture of the ashes.
It took 20 minutes to download the damn thing, but it was worth every second.
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Series:A Meeting of the Minds
Sequel to: The Sacred and the Profane
Author: akat
Fandom: Iron Man
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: I do not own BtVS or Iron Man.
Spoilers: BtVS through Season 2. Takes place before BtVS series and Iron Man movie.
Summary: Jenny determined to put all thoughts of Tony Stark far behind her. Then an instant message popped up from a username she didn’t recognize.
Word Count: 1081
+++
Jenny set her bags down just inside the doorway of her apartment and sighed. Though she was grateful for the break from her family obligations, it was good to be back in New York.
Deciding to leave the unpacking until later, she poured herself a glass of wine and sat on her couch. With each sip, she felt herself unwind a little bit more.
It wasn’t that the technopagan gathering was bad. In actuality, it was wonderful seeing everyone in person -- with one glaring exception.
Jenny’s expression darkened as she thought about Tony Stark. Almost reflexively, she drained the rest of her wine glass. She immediately went to refill it, her previous calm completely destroyed by his arrogant face.
Though he had said and done all the right things at the gathering, Tony Stark had no business being there, that much Jenny knew. He had made his fortune making some of deadliest weapons known to man; there was no reason to believe he wouldn’t do the same here despite his reassurances, and he’d do it with the same callous attitude and disregard for life. On top of that, the guy was every bit the pompous, womanizing ass the press made him out to be. He was lucky he made it out of the gathering without Jenny decking him, or worse. As it was, she took particular delight in cutting him out of the all the important technopagan matters.
Her lips curled in a smile as she remembered the look on his face when she had proposed that all new members be excluded from certain discussions and rituals -- for their own safety, of course. The best part was when the High Priestess had readily agreed to her suggestion, much to her and Tony’s surprise. Perhaps the woman wasn’t as smitten with their newest member as she appeared to be.
Imagine that, Mr. Stark. Two women repelling your charms in one day, she thought smugly.
Her smile quickly faded, however; for behind her anger and righteous indignation, there was a profound sense of disappointment. When she had been in school, she was fascinated with Stark Industries; they were always on the cutting edge of technology, and Tony Stark himself was a genius in that regard, as much as it pained Jenny to admit it now. It was such a letdown to see the man in person, knowing what might have been if he wasn’t such an egotistical, war-mongering jerk.
There was no sense in dwelling on the impossible, though, so Jenny walked over to her desk and turned on her computer to browse the web, determined to put all thoughts of Tony Stark far behind her. As soon as she connected to the internet, however, an instant message popped up from a username she didn’t recognize: StarkRavingMad.
[StarkRavingMad]: I’m disappointed. ‘Technowitch’ is neither creative nor mysterious.
Jenny frowned as she typed her response.
[Technowitch]: Who is this?
[StarkRavingMad]: If I burned some sage and chanted around the computer, would that help?
Jenny gasped.
[Technowitch]: You!
[StarkRavingMad]: Me.
Jenny could practically hear the self-satisfaction in his voice. Angrily, Jenny typed in her reply, her keyboard shaking with each angry jab.
[Technowitch]: How did you find me?
[StarkRavingMad]: Do you remember who you’re talking to?
There was that arrogance, the one that got under her skin like no other. If he thought she was just going to sit and take it, however, he was sorely mistaken.
[Technowitch]: …
Jenny then sat back in her chair, taking angry gulps of her wine as she waited. And wait she did, unwilling to give in. After a few long minutes, he finally relented.
[StarkRavingMad]: Oh, alright. I asked the High Priestess for your information. So you don’t have to worry that I’m some crazy stalker.
Jenny arched her eyebrow. That remained to be seen. Deciding that they had exchanged enough pleasantries, she decided it was time to cut to the chase.
[Technowitch]: What do you want? And by the way, you made fun of my username, ‘StarkRavingMad’?
[StarkRavingMad]: Mine is cleverly disguised. No one would ever think that I would be associated with this name.
Jenny scoffed as her fingers flew over her keyboard.
[Technowitch]: I beg to differ.
[StarkRavingMad]: Ouch. I see the cat still has claws… Okay, in truth, I made the mistake of asking my new assistant to set this account up for me. She may have been… frustrated when she created it.
Jenny laughed despite herself.
[Technowitch]: I like her already. Now what do you want?
[StarkRavingMad]: You.
Jenny’s jaw dropped as she stared at the screen in disbelief. She had thought he was going to get on her case about the gathering; she had already been preparing her retort. Never in a million years did she expect this. For a moment, she didn’t know what to say; she didn’t even know if he was serious or if he was merely using the opportunity to toy with her. She quickly recovered, though. It didn’t matter what his intentions were, her reaction was the same -- uninterested and unamused.
[Technowitch]: No, thank you. Good bye!
She started to close the chat box but paused when a message popped up almost immediately after hers.
[StarkRavingMad]: Can’t you take a joke? I just wanted to pick your brain about something you said the other day.
If he intended to soothe her ruffled feathers with that, he had failed. In fact, his words had the opposite effect; Jenny was soon seething with anger.
She knew he couldn’t be trusted. He was just using them. This only proved it. She hastily typed out a reply.
[Technowitch]: And I’m still not interested. Let’s not do this again.
The chat box indicated that he was typing something else, but she didn’t wait to see what it was. She closed the window and viciously jabbed the ‘off’ button on her monitor, then got up to pour herself another glass of wine, banishing all thoughts of Tony Stark from her mind once and for all.
When she received the job offer in the mail from Stark Industries two days later, she burned it and sent StarkRavingMad a picture of the ashes.
It took 20 minutes to download the damn thing, but it was worth every second.
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