002 - The Stargazing Meme

[aflockofmemegulls]

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!

prompts

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!

Comments

[manofiron]

“I….” Cannot, in good faith, actually say no to that or in any way turn it down. Whatever objection Tony thinks he ought to make dies in his throat and he shrugs, grinning a lopsided grin. “…am not going to turn down a veritable all-I-can-stand buffet of blow jobs, but you don’t have to have a special Tony Is Coming meeting. Seriously.”

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.”

[therealgenius]

Justin wanted to argue that he could handle it in a way that would make it good for everyone, that he could find a compromise and work it into something where no one would feel uncomfortable. He wanted to say he could make sure that no one got in his business, but...children were involved, and sometimes they did things that couldn't really be foreseen. What was he going to do, say he'd fire their parents and pass out food stamps instead of retirement?

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."

[manofiron]

It was actually kind of endearing, the way Justin seemed to be so worried about it. It was months away, and as far as Tony knew, it wasn’t the part of the year. Yet Justin was clearly concerned about it and that meant that those concerns needed to be addressed.

“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.