House Calls
May. 22nd, 2012 01:12 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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"I'm sorry, sir, but Mr. Stark is currently unavailable and unannounced house calls are highly discouraged. Please contact Ms. Potts to make an appointment."
Standing at the doorway of Stark's Malibu home, Clint gives the interface on the wall a mildly annoyed glance. The well-mannered rejection isn't unexpected, but Clint would stake his life on the fact that Stark's computer knows exactly who he means by "Mr. Stark". Only Stark would give his AI an attitude problem on purpose.
"No, not your Mr. Stark. I'm here for Stark Senior. I just need to speak with him, don't even need to step inside. Just patch me through."
"I'm sorry, sir, but I am not authorized to allow-"
“Stark, I know you're listening. S.H.I.E.L.D. has some questions for your dad, I'm here to relieve you of babysitting duty. Let me speak to him and we'll both be out of your hair within the hour."
The buzz and click of the door lock releasing comes almost before he's finished the sentence. The smooth English accent follows a short second later, all polite efficiency. "Mr. Stark is in the second guest bedroom on the first floor."
no subject
Date: 2012-05-24 08:57 pm (UTC)"Buddy, who hasn't?" He sets his hand against his chin. "So why do I get the feeling that you didn't decide to pick me up first just because I'm the most important part of this project?"
no subject
Date: 2012-05-24 10:32 pm (UTC)"The cube has started to give off traces of gamma radiation. You're our best expert on the cube, he's our best expert on gamma radiation." He pauses again to give Howard a pointed look. "You still on board?"
It's reasonable to assume that even if Howard says no, S.H.I.E.L.D. will be very convincing. But if Clint knows anything about the Starks, he won't say no. The chance to work alongside the biggest (literally) scientific and medical conundrum in human history is probably to Starks as a carrot is to horses.
no subject
Date: 2012-05-25 02:46 am (UTC)"Which, I would like to remind you, is exactly what any other sane person on this planet would probably be doing right now if they were in my shoes."
no subject
Date: 2012-05-30 04:19 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-05-30 04:47 am (UTC)His eyes shift, scanning the cockpit of the plane-- or at least what's visible of it. "So, Agent, you spend a lot of time in these birds, right?"
no subject
Date: 2012-05-30 05:21 am (UTC)"Right." The momentary distraction of whatever he spotted in the cockpit ends, gaze shifting back to Howard. "They a bit smoother than the ones you used to fly?"
no subject
Date: 2012-05-30 05:57 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-05-30 06:59 am (UTC)And by cargo, he mostly means Bruce Banner. S.H.I.E.L.D. isn't particularly concerned about Howard Stark doing damage, at least not while he's so far from a lab.
no subject
Date: 2012-05-30 05:31 pm (UTC)He hopes. But they wouldn't drag in Dr. Jeckyll If he was so out of shape that he couldn't function...or at least they wouldn't send one agent and Howard Stark.
"Maybe later you can take me out for a spin, huh? Let me see what this thing can really do."
no subject
Date: 2012-05-30 09:42 pm (UTC)"I'm sure that can be arranged. If you can convince the boss it's essential for your research, you can probably even fly one yourself."
no subject
Date: 2012-05-30 10:21 pm (UTC)Howard doesn't fidget the way thay Tony does while talking, but his attention is still divided between Clint's pleasant little smile and the various nuts and bolts holding the plane together. Whenever there's a small pause in the conversation he reaches over to give one a solid little tug as if connecting the schematics in his head.
"So are our conversation topics limited here, or are you authorized to tell me about yourself?"
no subject
Date: 2012-05-30 10:27 pm (UTC)"Depends. What do you want to know?" Short and direct as the question is, it's still friendly. Clint has no problem with chatting - in the past people who know him well have called him too chatty - but he's not really one to volunteer information at random, either.
no subject
Date: 2012-05-30 11:50 pm (UTC)He doesn't expect much information from any agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., but he's not looking for much more than a few bits of gold in the desert; one tiny scrap of information should be more than enough for him to pick at before unearthing the rest. It's just more fun that way.
no subject
Date: 2012-05-31 12:38 am (UTC)"I'm a pretty good marksman. Sometimes they ask me to shoot things."
no subject
Date: 2012-05-31 09:11 pm (UTC)"So what do you shoot with? I've always been a fan of the 1903 pocket hammerless, myself. At least when it comes to the civilian quality stuff."