A Flock Of Meme Gulls (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
aflockofmemegulls) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
homemeless2013-02-22 08:55 pm
aflockofmemegulls) wrote in homemeless2013-02-22 08:55 pm
002 - The Stargazing Meme
the stargazing meme
oo1. comment with your characters
make sure to put names, series, & preferences somewhere!
you can use < ! > sans the spaces to make the comment "blank"
oo2. reply to others in character
oo3. use the rng and enter 1-10
oo4. play out what happens—anything goes!
oo5. profit? oh yeah!
one → meteor shower you just saw a falling star! and another! make a wish!
two → aliens what was that? was that really? omg no way a ufo!
three → lunar eclipse you've been sitting out for hours, waiting for this. it's so cool!
four → comet does it move fast or slow? either way, it's amazing.
five → full moon the moon is so huge! just don't look too long, it's really bright too.
six → star dust anything can happen in space. make up your own plot!
seven → solar eclipse this might be happening in the middle of the day!
eight → planet sighting is that a new star? nope, just a neighbor in the solar system!
nine → constellations do you know the stories behind these odd patterns?
ten → deep space normal stargazing isn't that much fun. you got a telescope!
no subject
He heard Wilbur mention the white wine-grape juice SNAFU as he rooted around for his underwear. That Justin might have swapped them out on purpose was a consideration that never crossed his mind. He certainly wasn’t suspicious that he was trying to sabotage his months of sobriety. Shit happened. Depending on the manufacturer, the bottles could look similar, especially to someone just reaching into the fridge to grab one prior to leaving on a trip. So Justin had gotten the wrong one. Tony wasn’t such a huge alcoholic that simply knowing that there was alcohol in the vicinity would destroy his determination to be sober. Justin could have drunk the whole thing in front of him, it wouldn’t have mattered.
By the time he’d pulled himself back into the tent, Tony had found the underwear, put them on, and was in the process of pulling his jeans up his legs. He caught sight of Justin’s expression and grinned at him, not nearly as put out as someone else in the same circumstances might have been. Tony didn’t have any family but the one he’d made and picked up along the way. There would never be a well-meaning father interrupting his sleep. He didn’t mind and he wasn’t going to pretend that he did.
“That depends. If I say that I’m scarred for life, does that mean I can get a sympathy kiss out of you? Because in that case, yes. Completely scarred. I’m an emotional cripple for the rest of my days.”
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The word cripple stuck out like a sore thumb, reminded him of pandas and Belize and something like an argument that wasn't really an argument. But he didn't let any hesitation show, and he certainly wasn't going to say anything about it.
"A sympathy kiss?" He watched him carefully for a moment before sliding his hand over his arm to take a hold of his neck, leaned forward, and kissed him gently on the forehead. "There, there. We'll get you a new toy to play with on the trip back to California, and everything will be better. How's that?"
Because Justin hadn't brushed his teeth, and although he didn't have issues when Tony hadn't...well, who wanted to suck an uncleaned tongue, right?
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It’s not as bad as he’s making it sound. Justin’s comment didn’t automatically bring to mind the entire contents of a sex shop. But Tony is awake enough to make the joke and pretend like it had. Truthfully, there are a variety of things that qualify as toys to him. Circuit boards, model cars, cellular phones, tablets, five dollar wooden mind teaser puzzles; they’re all things he can tinker with for a short span of time.
Having gotten his kiss, he finishes putting on his pants and starts digging around for his socks. He finds one and glances up at Justin as he slips it over his foot. “So what’s on the agenda for today? Pack up and head back? Go hiking or something?”
Aside from sitting around a campfire, Tony’s limited exposure to camping tells him that there are about three different activities one does in the daylight hours: hike, fish, and collect firewood. Or maybe get chased by chainsaw-wielding psychopath bears.
no subject
Was Tony expecting that? Was he expecting playing Lewis and Clark (or was it Lois and Clark?) all day long, that Justin knew which berries were acceptable eating, which were poisonous entirely, and which would just give a person diarrhea? Because that was all stuff he'd have to think about for a while, try to remember, and eventually decide it wasn't worth it. A red berry could look like another red berry, and he hadn't studied them like he would have if he knew that's what Tony was considering. Maybe that was his fault, like not having brushed up on his constellations.
Though, considering what happened when they'd talked about them last, maybe that wasn't such a bad thing. Eating berries that made them puke up their stomachs and shit out their colons? Not so potentially sexy.
"I. Didn't have that idea in my head, no. I was just planning on going back to Mom and Dad's and taking a shower. Getting something to eat. Seeing which DVDs were in which cases and thinking about telling him she was doing it on purpose. I didn't really have anything planned out, no. Why, did you want to...do that?"
Shit. Shit. Justin wasn't at all prepared, and quick thinking led him to:
"After a shower, though. I feel kind of gross. The shower's big enough for both of us, if you'd like to save time?"
There were a few things that Justin had noticed distracted Tony thoroughly. Science. Certain types of food. Justin naked. It was odd, that last one, because he wasn't sure how he felt about it. But if it was something he could default to in order to get out of staring at moss and trying to think up the scientific name—that is: looking like a Goddamn idiot, even though they'd discussed that being a genius didn't mean he knew everything under the sun—while inwardly thinking about how awful an idea it was and was that a bear? That couldn't be a bear.
A cougar? Oh, there weren't cougars around any more? Then what the hell was that? No. Bad idea. Camping was smores and tents and campfires. Justin wasn't about to play Nature Boy and salute and talk about Scout's honor. He was going to play the Natural and Naked card as long as he possibly could.
no subject
But hiking or fishing? Collecting twigs and rocks and possibly malaria from mutated albino winter mosquitoes didn’t sound like a particularly good time to him. Even if there weren’t any such things as mutated albino winter mosquitoes.
“Yeah, no, I don’t want to…” With his socks on, Tony had turned to start trying to roll up the sleeping bag, but he paused now to make a dismissive gesture. “A shower sounds great. It sounds perfect, actually. Even before you mentioned the two-for-one deal. Let’s do that. All of it except coming back out and doing mountain man, bear wrestling type things. I’m really not—I’m okay with hanging around the house.”
Point made, he hoped, he turned his attention back to the sleeping back, only to pause again to glance up at him. “I had fun. Don’t think I didn’t. I really did enjoy this. But it’s not, we don’t have to do anything more than what we want to do, you know? The Hammer-Stark camping protocol makes me happy enough.”
no subject
If there was one thing Justin didn't like, it was being a situation he couldn't maneuver himself around, slide into like an eel, or come out of better than he was before. True, sometimes he worked on a project that got the better of his patience, but he could always step back for a little while and figure it out later. Or, usually. There were some things he hadn't ever really understood, and that...
"Good, because I am not equipped for a day in the great outdoors. I'm just not." There was nothing wrong with admitting he couldn't do something. Really. And, apparently, Tony hadn't been wanting that, so didn't it just work out well for both of them? "I can handle a campfire, but then it's straight back home. So. You know. Bribe you with a shower to make sure you don't want to convince me otherwise."
Leaning forward, he placed a quick kiss to lips he'd once only believed existed to brag and toss barbs in public (and, obviously, spend nights doing other things, though Justin hadn't thought about that much before) before pulling back with a grin as he moved to finish dressing himself.
"Glad it worked."
no subject
If anything, he looked like a nerdy tech guy who wouldn’t know what to do the second he stepped out of his cell phone’s range of reception and found himself cut off from the internet. Granted, it was a case of looks being deceiving. Tony wouldn’t step out of the range of his phone. It was a phone he’d designed and built. It was connected to his own personal network, which was fed by a satellite he’d made about six years ago. There wasn’t anywhere in the world that wouldn’t be able to get a signal.
Of course, he wasn’t worried about getting on in the first place. As based in technology as his life was, Tony liked to go off the grid. It gave him some peace and quiet. He just didn’t know what to do when his source of entertainment was a couple hundred acres of woods.
He snorted. “I’m not. At all. But,” he pointed a finger at Justin. “Even though bribing me with the shower wasn’t necessary, I still want it. So no backing out. I expect to see your hot ass in the shower with me when we get back."
no subject
"Here, come here."
The sleeping bag could wait. Putting the tent up could wait. Hell, they could probably spend the rest of the day out here and not have anything to worry about. His dad probably just wanted what was in the cooler, nothing more. Well, besides making his presence known. Other than that, he doubted it was some signal to come back to the house and get ready and dressed by lunch time. They were grown men, after all; they didn't have a schedule and they didn't have to leave until they were ready. Knowing all of that was good and well, but since he'd mentioned showering and thought of something other than the lumpy ground, he'd gotten the idea in his head that they really should head back.
Tony just needed to put his shoes on first.
He took a moment to undo the laces before he moved in for it, taking a hold of one socked foot and wriggling the shoe on before tying them up as though he'd done it a thousand times before. He hadn't tied many people's shoes in the past, but he thought he could manage it well enough.
"They like you. My parents." Tying shoes was as good as anything to keep his hands occupied, wasn't it? And to make it look like his focus wasn't wholly on trying to keep himself from stuttering like a damn idiot. "I was worried that, that the reality of you being with me would upset them. Because of the, uhm," Very eloquent "because you're a man. But apparently, apparently that's no problem. So, you know, if you are totally serious about...us...then, uhm. And if you want to, I only really come to their place four times a year, like I said. If you're, if you're cool with it and you're free then, we could, we could, we could just come together. From now on. If you want."
no subject
That too got to him, wormed its way inside of him and choked him up. Justin’s family was normal, real, everything his own never had been and everything he had always wanted. Justin wasn’t just giving him the opportunity to do something on the holidays. He was giving him a family.
“Totally serious is probably an understatement,” he said after a moment spent swallowing the lump in his throat. “I don’t think that there are actually words that wouldn’t be an understatement to describe how serious about us I am.”
Reaching down, he gripped Justin’s shoulder and gave it a grateful, affectionate squeeze. “I’d love to. Let’s do it.”
no subject
—no, no, if there was ever a situation that ludicrously fucked up, Justin would have stopped, cameras in the area or no. He hadn't want to spit and dance on his grave, hadn't wanted him dead, hadn't wished he'd fly into the side of a building and kill himself. But outside of unsightly scenarios, nothing else would have gotten Justin to tie Tony's shoes for him.
But then something had happened, something that Justin couldn't recall but vaguely wondered about from time to time, and it had all just turned on its head and, apparently, ended up with them going camping at his parents' place. Some days he waffled on the idea of asking JARVIS if he knew what the hell had happened, if he had any records of whatever had occurred, but he wasn't so sure he wanted to know. Because if he found out on his own, he'd have to tell Tony, and what if it made him look bad? But what about it could make him look bad, and what made him think Tony would give a good Goddamn, all things considered with what they had going on with them now?
But here he was, seven months and almost a week later, tying his shoes in a tent they'd spent the night in, eyes focused on fixing the laces into proper double knots that would last. Oh, sure, they just had a short walk back to the house, but who liked their shoelaces coming undone, right?
"A-All right." Could you be any lamer? "I'm skipping Easter this year because I've got a bunch of company stuff on my plate but...after that, it's Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's, and Easter...it's just a lot of visits over the course of a few months, you know? But, ah...Fourth of July ends up being a big deal for the company. Government work and all, there's usually some sort of party. I don't know, I got sent away before I went to one. Apparently, though, it's supposed to be a really big deal, so it's fortunate I never did anything with my parents then."
no subject
As the CEO of Stark Industries, attending holiday parties had been expected of him. He didn’t always go, of course, but sometimes he did. To the Christmas party, to the company picnic for a few hours in the summer. When he remembered and he had absolutely nothing to do – and wanted to get laid – he went. But now that Pepper’s the CEO, putting in appearances is her job, not his.
He can stay home and hang out in his workshop. He can fly around the world or put on the suit and save someone in need. Tony’s opportunities are endless, and since he doesn’t put much value in holidays, he doesn’t feel like he’s missing out when one goes by unmarked.
“You’ll be able to go this year, right? To your Independence Day thing?” A Hammer Industries company party isn’t any place for him and he knows it. “You want me to get Steve to put in an appearance? It’s his birthday, I’m sure he’d be happy to go to a party.”
no subject
And then he has to go and ask that. Justin understands the reasoning behind it, he really does. It's not that he's assuming he won't be welcome, though he picks up that on pretty easily. It's that he offers up Steve as some sort of replacement, because he knows Justin admired him as a child and...what, would rather someone who's a legitimate stranger make an appearance because he's Captain America?
"Not really." Thirty years ago, the idea of meeting Captain Steve Rogers, defender of America and her allies! would have been thrilling. Hell, even now, it makes him feel a bit of his youth. If it was anyone else offering, he'd probably take them up on it. But he's done things he's not at all proud of, and he wonders how in the hell he could ever tell Captain America that he was his role model when all he has to do is ask SHIELD (or Tony) who this Justin Hammer is and what he's done...and that's a whole barrel of shame that he'd really rather not feel.
Particularly not if they were meeting before or at a Hammer Industries event.
"I don't have to go. I mean, I probably should, but I don't have to do anything I don't want to do. Boss and all. I mean, if I go, and you're not, uh, uncomfortable, then, then...I'd like you to go with me. I, you know, I'm not going to take someone with me if you don't go, but if you're not comfortable, then I don't want to press you or anything. Which is fine. I promise there won't be any pictures of me with, what was it? Some woman with what you think I want, tits and ass and hair, with her perfect fucking fingernails all over me while you can't do anything about it."
He pauses everything he's doing, bites his lip, and then goes back to zipping everything up as though he hasn't said anything particular meaningful at all.
"And I don't care about Steve. I don't know Steve. I don't care about Agent Romanoff or Agent Barton or anyone else. I mean, I would, if they showed up at my door on some routine call or something or other, and I know you're close friends with Doctor Banner, so I'd, uhm. I'd care about what he thought about me, sure, but...whatever, I'm going to shut up now."
no subject
He's not opposed to going in the least. He turns up at the company's headquarters so often, it's getting to the point where he's starting to spend as much time at Justin's company as he does at his own. Slightly more, in fact, since he has Pepper to run SI and walking in there tends to get him cornered by people who want to ask his opinion on and advice about everything under the sun. At least at Hammer, most of the employees let him off with a glance of acknowledgement. And he likes Jack. He doesn't know what Jack thinks about him, but the man's nice and polite and he takes care of Justin.
In the end, that's all that really matters to Tony.
"I'll go with you. I just—I thought it would weird. For you, not for me. I don't—It's not weird for me." And he'll be on his best behavior. He won't be loud and obnoxious, he won't breeze in like a celebrity. He'll dress nice, but not too nice, he won't show up in the Iron Man suit, and he won't carry on like he's the center of the universe.
As for his sometimes coworkers, Tony waves them aside. "Okay. Skip Steve. Forget all of them. They're not invited. Unless you want to invite them, that's different, but I'm not going to do it." He bends to help him pack up the rest of the equipment, trying to make himself useful as he rambles. "And for the record, Bruce likes you. I don't talk about you all the time, but it's often enough that he's formed an opinion."
no subject
He'd had a tough time before Iron Man, what could he say?
I don't talk about you all the time.
No, Justin wouldn't think he did. He was sure he talked about him to someone, though, because he felt himself to be an integral part of Tony's life, and he'd mentioned that he'd told a few people. As far as it went for Justin, he talked to his parents and really no one else, because who else did he have to talk to?
Besides a few phone calls from Pepper, of course. And one conversation with Lieutenant Colonel Rhodes after a contract meeting, though it was short and sweet and neither of them really said bluntly what they meant.
"I'm glad he approves from a distance, then." What else was he supposed to say to that? Maybe he wasn't supposed to say anything at all. Maybe he just needed to stop talking in general. "And, yeah, sure. If I end up going, you can come with. Though, it's a lot of families and there's kids, so if you'd rather skip out on signing fifteen different things, I understand."
no subject
However, these people weren’t strangers. Not really. He didn’t know them. It was unlikely that he would ever know their names and their stories or that he would ever be able to do more than vaguely recognize them if he passed them on the street. But they were Justin’s people. They were the people Justin worked with day in and day out, and that made them somewhat different from the multitudes he met on a daily basis.
If one of Justin’s employees approached him for an autograph, he would give it. Once he knew that Justin was okay with that kind of behavior.
“You know, I don’t mind. It’s different when it’s people who are actually part of your life.” But Tony not minding wasn’t the same as Justin not minding, and he wasn’t about to mistake that. “The real question is, do you mind? The point’s for Hammer Industries to celebrate, right? I don’t want Tony Stark getting in the way of that, stealing the limelight or whatever. If you don’t mind them asking me for things, I don’t mind giving them.”
no subject
His willingness to do it is apparent in his voice. If it's not overly apparent, he slides his hand along Tony's leg to grip at his thigh lightly, eyes moving over his body and up to his face. A naked him in the shower seems distraction enough. While he has no desire to press Tony into anything he doesn't want to do, he's said he's open to going. Justin can't imagine he wants to spend a good chunk of time dealing with what would probably be the same handful of questions repeatedly. He can't imagine anyone would want to really deal with it.
If Tony had any doubt in his mind that Justin wasn't willing to take a few minutes out of his day to send an email or call a meeting about his presence, he was mistaken. And if he thought Justin wasn't serious about making sure it didn't happen...
"If it happens at all, even then, you can leave. I won't be mad. But if you stick it out, keep a counter. Every time it happens and you're annoyed, tally it up. I'll blow you for every time you can recall." There was a pause, and then, almost as an afterthought: "Not that I wouldn't blow you otherwise, because after seeing you and being with you but not being with you, I'm going to want to feel you against me in every way possible."
no subject
It’s not that he doesn’t appreciate the gesture. He does. It would be nice to go to something and be treated like a normal person for a change. Not a billionaire. Not a playboy celebrity. Not Iron Man. Just Tony, that guy who’s dating the boss. Or more likely, since that hasn’t been publicized, that guy who drops by and hangs out with the boss all the time at lunch.
But asking people not to bother him will probably only cause unnecessary tension, and no picnic is fun if everyone’s too worried about looking at one of the attendees wrong to relax and have fun.
He reaches down, clasps the hand on his leg, and gives it a squeeze. “It’s okay. If they ask me questions, they ask me questions. It’s been happening all my life. I know how to handle it. It’s your picnic. It’s your company’s picnic. I’m not there as your special guest to give the opening speech, I’m coming as your plus one. Don’t give me any more attention than that with your employees. It’ll make me into a bigger deal than I am and it’s your day, not mine.”
no subject
And then, a little part of him wants to say he won't do it but go through with it anyway, and that's? That's not going to happen. He can't think of any real secrets he wants to hide, nothing that he feels the urge to have to hide, and as long as he's open and honest and doesn't do things behind his back because of...what? A feeling like he was being challenged? Then it won't have to be an issue later on down the road.
An honest life was an easier life, because one didn't have to keep up with the lies that had been told along the road. Justin already had enough shit to keep up with, why would he want to tack on more to it when he absolutely didn't have to?
"Would you be okay with me sending out a note, just a basic head's up that you'll be there, nothing out of the ordinary is going on?" No need to worry about the Iron Man suit appearing, or extra fireworks, no astounding ego to have to suffer through if they decided to try and get too close. A moment of thought wherein his mouth opened and close as though he was trying to speak (because he was thinking and it wasn't going exactly as planned), and he eventually turned back away to toss the bag out of the opened flap. "What am I doing? We have plenty of time. We'll figure it out before then. It's not a big deal, I can send it around the office, like, the day before.
"As for all-you-can-stand blow job buffets, please. That's every day. Unless I'm sick and dying, you can have that whenever you want. Just say as much."
no subject
“It’s your party. Your company. You can do whatever you want. Have a staff meeting, send out an email, plaster the place with sticky notes.” He paused in the act of making sure everything was packed to wave a hand around. “It’s okay. I don’t mind. I’m just saying that you don’t have to worry about it. I want to come spend the day with you. I want to be there to support you. And okay, I’ll be honest, I want to have some fun with you. Normal people fun. Have a cookout, watch some fireworks, whatever else happens at Fourth of July parties.”
Movies told him one thing, his ridiculously extravagant lifestyle told him another, but Tony knew that there was a middle ground somewhere. One comprised of hot dogs and cheeseburgers, potato salad and pie, cold beers and cans of soda plucked from coolers by people sitting on folding chairs of metal and woven bands of fabric. The novelty of it, the normalcy, made it sound kind of fun. More than kind of, really. Justin didn’t need to overthink it.
“It’ll be great, don’t worry. And as much as I’d like to say let’s pay a visit to that buffet, we should probably not do that all over your parents’ house.” Stepping over to him, he took his hand and urged him to follow him out of the tent. The inside was packed up. All they had to do was dismantle it, fold it up, and then they could head back.
“So I’ll settle for a shower and take a rain check for the buffet until we get home. Deal?”
Apparently, Justin’s parents liked him. And he liked them. This visit had been a good idea, and while they still had time left, he intended to make the most of it. Even if they’d be back again come the next holiday.