[ For the moment it is definitely a pretty personal thing. A very personal thing, like on the scale of - no actually there is not a scale indicative enough of how much she wants to keep this close to her chest right now, and his too because she rests against it so often and he's just in general very important. There's very little she would actually keep from him. Less and less, these days.
It is fairly uncharacteristic, but right now she just wants to hold onto him for a little while, and his arms around her are very comforting. She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath in and releases it, then again, listening to him talk. There's another short silence after he finishes, and then she nods slowly against his chest. ] We do take care of each other. And you don't actually act like a child. [ She turns her head sideways a little, tucks it under his chin and just keeps holding on. ] I want it to be okay. [ It's a very shaky almost nonexistent laugh. ] I mean, we both know what not to do, right?
look i just wanted someone to share my pillow fort with i'm sorry ;;
[ How coincidental, because he just wants to hold her for a little while, so that totally works out well for the both of them. He hadn't realized he wanted to until she was there in his lap, but damn if it didn't kick in after that.
He lifts his chin a little so that she can fit more easily there, then rests it lightly on her head as he listens to her. His response to her final statement is more or less the same as hers just prior to saying it - a short, dark huff of amusement, or something a little more twisted than that. ]
Yeah, I'd say so. Nice clear negatives to print from.
sharing pillow forts with you is a totally acceptable brand of captivity it's cool
[ That does work out totally well, and she settles herself in against his chest and sighs out as he rests his chin on her head. She guesses this means it's time to think of the future. She doesn't really do that. Tony's the futurist. She's just been living day to day. It really hasn't been that long, comparatively speaking, since she first started even thinking more than a week ahead, or since she first started assuming there would be someone else present in her immediate day to day life.
At his laugh she lifts a hand, curls it around his neck so that she can rub the back of it. ]
I wonder if JARVIS has parenting tutorials. Maybe he can find them. [ And now she's the one rambling a little, combating a wave of unsureness. ] But you're right. We're better. With each other. [ A pause, as she evaluates how presumptuous that sounds. ] At least, I'm better with you. It will be ok, we'll - we'll be ok.
[ Yeah, well, futurist he may be, he never envisioned one where he had children. At least, not one where he had children he knew about before they were at least four years old and their mothers came back calling for paternity tests and child support and some sort of pro bono lawyer looking to make a name for themselves. That one he has thought about several times. This one? Not so much. ]
I've heard there are actually multiple parenting advice books and tutorials. Practically several, even. I'm sure he'll be able to hunt them down. [ He didn't take it that way at all. It's the truth, as far as he's aware. They're better with each other. ] It's mutual. We'll be okay. [ He suddenly realizes the way that they're talking about this. It's a baby. Don't most people consider this a good thing? ] It's a tiny person who can't tell us no or complain for like, a whole two and a half years. It'll be cake.
and in such a case i suppose stockholm would set in quickly. or immediately.
[ She's never envisioned such a future even a tiny bit. It just - there was literally never a moment that it seemed reasonable or a possibility or something that she could ever want. And she's still not sure that she does want it, but she thinks she does. She thinks she does. ]
JARVIS is a good guy. I'm sure he'll take care of us. And we'll take care of each other. And it. It'll be good. [ They'll be okay. And yes, it is the truth, it's just that sometimes she says these things and then wonders if he feels the same way, if he really feels as benefited by this as she does. She thinks so sometimes and others is terribly unsure of it.
Apparently most people do consider a baby to be a very good thing, but they're not normal people and they have a rather specific range of experiences and a lifestyle that makes their deep wariness of the entire situation pretty understandable. ] We'll have to keep it safe. [ Oh. Oh, god. ]
....idk if it would count if you were a willing participant prior to the onset of stockholm
[ He'll feel more and more as though it's a good thing as time progresses. He'll be cautious at first, because he too, will be unsure as to how she feels about it, but he'll eventually not be able to help himself - he'll wind up building bricks and beams for baby hospitals, new technology to monitor infants, better cribs and such that stimulate multiple forms of learning more efficiently. Better armor for himself not just in terms of firepower but in terms of protection, and the same for her in the gear that she utilizes. ]
We do an okay job of that with each other. And... it won't be rushing into battle every other day. For at least a few years, anyway. If we don't have a grip on things by then -- [ he was about to say then they probably ought to just let ...it, leave, but he realized this wasn't perhaps the best phrasing. ] I believe in you. I trust you.
[ That's a reaction she can understand pretty well, and really seeing him get invested in the concept is as likely to make her come to a decision one way or another as anything else. Though right now, safe against him, she feels safe enough to think she does want this. ]
We do. But I don't want it to stop you from doing what you'd normally do. [ If that means rushing into battle, then okay, she can live with it. The Avengers have his back and if they don't she does and he's not going to die. She's most worried about the people who have already proved they don't mind coming after Tony and Max in person, on their downtime. She's going to have to make a list, of people she thinks would use a child against her. Against them. What she does then she's not sure.
But at those last words she sighs out her tension, presses her lips against his chest through his shirt. It's not about sex at all, or turning him on, just a simple expression of affection and faith. ] I trust you too. This will work, one way or another.
I doubt anything will stop me from doing what I normally do. [ It's a fairly self-deprecating remark, but it's true. Tony Stark habitually does what he wants. It's a thing. ] But it won't stop you either. We'll share. I think that's the whole reason it takes two people to do this. Two people, two chances for every little thing. [ More or less. He's talking himself into it, sort of.
But also considering her point-of-view on things, in as well as he can. The notion about their enemies using a baby as collateral or the ultimate bargaining chip is... yes, somewhat high, but he doesn't know if that's really something to be worried about. Sure, a baby is particularly defenseless, but it isn't as though both he and Max don't find themselves in harm's way due to prior history of some villain with the other. ]
Yeah, yeah. We'll make it work. We're totally intelligent enough to pull this off.
i'm totally right i think friendship is mutual stockholm syndrome
[ Her laugh at that is a little choked and cut off, but it's there nonetheless because it's true, this is Tony they're talking about after all. She's pretty sure if the entire world tried to tell him to do something he'd manage to do whatever he wanted anyways. ]
We're a little fucked up. [ It's possibly the wrong response to his reassurance (to her, to himself), but the tone she says it in says that she's not thinking of it as an insult at this moment. Some other time, maybe. Right now she's just stating it as a fact, a sort of darkly amusing one. ]
But you're right. [ The first tilt of a real smile on her mouth since she found out, and she tries to quell the sudden hope in her chest because that's not smart, being hopeful is a bad idea. ] We'll do good.
[ Good, that was the point. A little bit of levity, before the weight of the situation actually threatened to crush them both. But he does, genuinely, believe that they can at least create a functioning member of society. Maybe not like, the greatest - since as far as he's aware, half that shit's on the kid, too, to develop correctly - but still. A functioning member nonetheless.
He laughs a little, a breezy chuckle more than anything. ] Yeah. We totally are. So fucked up. But we'll be fine.
[ He can't see her smile at all from here but he hugs her to him just a little bit harder at that. Her acceptance, even temporarily. He feels better about all of this too, and whether it's the two of them faking for each other or they both actually believe what they're saying, either way, it looks like there's going to be a baby. Jesus. ] Hopefully. We'll go great. Make her better than both of us.
Edited (why were you laughing) 2013-05-25 05:55 (UTC)
but is that really a bad thing it could just be a really good thing
[ A functioning member of society seems like a pretty good goal. She'd be happy if this hypothetical (not really so hypothetical) kid grew up fairly happy and didn't turn into any kind of supervillain. That's really all she asks.
She'd really like it if it didn't hate her, too. ] You make me fine. [ But it's good to hear him laughing, equally good to be tugged closer to him, and she curls into him and breathes in and out against his chest, flattening one hand against his shoulder. ] I like that idea. Let's do that.
[ Making someone better than both of them might not be the healthiest goal to have for a child, but then it's own way it is. Someone without the things they had to go through, because maybe that shit builds characters but other stuff does too, all life experience does and it doesn't need to be that awful. It can just be normal. Normality. ] We'll make sure she can live a normal life.
Also that's totally a healthy goal. He's pretty sure he's seen like, at least a dozen movies where the parent basically says exactly that to their kid - 'I'm working so that you can have a better life than I've had'. Or something to that effect. That's what you want for people you love: for them to have an existence that was easier and lighter and happier than your own, free of the same issues you recall beating your head against in frustration and pain. ]
Well. I doubt it'll be normal. I'm going to be directly involved, and you're you. There's not really much of a chance for normal ever happening at all.
i don't know how i should feel about that statement
[ It's still in the hypothetical stages. Aren't all kids supposed to be thought of like that, until the most common stages for miscarriage are passed?
Phrased like that, it definitely sounds a lot better. She wants any child of hers, now that she has to think about it - she wants them to never have to know any of the things she had to learn. Other lessons seem like the sort needed to get along in the real world.
And oh god, really, she just kind of shakes her head in bemused amused. ] Well. Put like that, it does sound like it's chances for normal are pretty damn low.
[ Who knows. Tony doesn't know what to do with his own children. Other people's kids are easy - he treats them like they're tiny versions of himself and it tends to go well. ]
But that's good, I mean, who wants normal? Slightly abnormal, sure. Anything beyond that's just being greedy.
Sorry, I'm not really. [ She's pretty out of it, in some ways, still rattled and a little upended. ] On top of my game. I'd give you more specifics but. [ Just smiling, suddenly. ] Everything.
[ ... She's adorable. He's suddenly struck by how beautiful and adorable and that's not something that happens to him that often. ] Okay, I can handle being thanked for everything. It'll be tough, you know, but I think I can manage.
[ She would have no idea what to do with that revelation to him if she knew about it, just knows that he's warm and solid and she's very happy for that right now because it feels like everything sort of went spinning and she has yet to get it back. He's very good at making her feel safe, though. It's amazing sometimes just how good, just by being himself. ] I'm sure you'll find a way to survive. With some real effort and work put into it, of course, but I'm sure you will.
[ It's okay he's not sure what to do with it himself, actually. So, being the way that he is, he's going to keep it to himself, until he inevitably winds up telling her at some point later. Yay. But he snorts his amusement. ] Don't lay it on too thick, now.
[ To at least some extent, she'll probably be flattered. The rest of it - who knows until that moment? Right now she just laughs a little, tilts her forehead further against him. ] I'll lay it on as thick as I like.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no i need to know now stockholm syndrome is only for captives when did i become a captive D:
It is fairly uncharacteristic, but right now she just wants to hold onto him for a little while, and his arms around her are very comforting. She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath in and releases it, then again, listening to him talk. There's another short silence after he finishes, and then she nods slowly against his chest. ] We do take care of each other. And you don't actually act like a child. [ She turns her head sideways a little, tucks it under his chin and just keeps holding on. ] I want it to be okay. [ It's a very shaky almost nonexistent laugh. ] I mean, we both know what not to do, right?
look i just wanted someone to share my pillow fort with i'm sorry ;;
He lifts his chin a little so that she can fit more easily there, then rests it lightly on her head as he listens to her. His response to her final statement is more or less the same as hers just prior to saying it - a short, dark huff of amusement, or something a little more twisted than that. ]
Yeah, I'd say so. Nice clear negatives to print from.
sharing pillow forts with you is a totally acceptable brand of captivity it's cool
At his laugh she lifts a hand, curls it around his neck so that she can rub the back of it. ]
I wonder if JARVIS has parenting tutorials. Maybe he can find them. [ And now she's the one rambling a little, combating a wave of unsureness. ] But you're right. We're better. With each other. [ A pause, as she evaluates how presumptuous that sounds. ] At least, I'm better with you. It will be ok, we'll - we'll be ok.
ok good
I've heard there are actually multiple parenting advice books and tutorials. Practically several, even. I'm sure he'll be able to hunt them down. [ He didn't take it that way at all. It's the truth, as far as he's aware. They're better with each other. ] It's mutual. We'll be okay. [ He suddenly realizes the way that they're talking about this. It's a baby. Don't most people consider this a good thing? ] It's a tiny person who can't tell us no or complain for like, a whole two and a half years. It'll be cake.
and in such a case i suppose stockholm would set in quickly. or immediately.
JARVIS is a good guy. I'm sure he'll take care of us. And we'll take care of each other. And it. It'll be good. [ They'll be okay. And yes, it is the truth, it's just that sometimes she says these things and then wonders if he feels the same way, if he really feels as benefited by this as she does. She thinks so sometimes and others is terribly unsure of it.
Apparently most people do consider a baby to be a very good thing, but they're not normal people and they have a rather specific range of experiences and a lifestyle that makes their deep wariness of the entire situation pretty understandable. ] We'll have to keep it safe. [ Oh. Oh, god. ]
....idk if it would count if you were a willing participant prior to the onset of stockholm
We do an okay job of that with each other. And... it won't be rushing into battle every other day. For at least a few years, anyway. If we don't have a grip on things by then -- [ he was about to say then they probably ought to just let ...it, leave, but he realized this wasn't perhaps the best phrasing. ] I believe in you. I trust you.
maybe this is how friendship works then?
We do. But I don't want it to stop you from doing what you'd normally do. [ If that means rushing into battle, then okay, she can live with it. The Avengers have his back and if they don't she does and he's not going to die. She's most worried about the people who have already proved they don't mind coming after Tony and Max in person, on their downtime. She's going to have to make a list, of people she thinks would use a child against her. Against them. What she does then she's not sure.
But at those last words she sighs out her tension, presses her lips against his chest through his shirt. It's not about sex at all, or turning him on, just a simple expression of affection and faith. ] I trust you too. This will work, one way or another.
oh god maybe you're right
But also considering her point-of-view on things, in as well as he can. The notion about their enemies using a baby as collateral or the ultimate bargaining chip is... yes, somewhat high, but he doesn't know if that's really something to be worried about. Sure, a baby is particularly defenseless, but it isn't as though both he and Max don't find themselves in harm's way due to prior history of some villain with the other. ]
Yeah, yeah. We'll make it work. We're totally intelligent enough to pull this off.
i'm totally right i think friendship is mutual stockholm syndrome
We're a little fucked up. [ It's possibly the wrong response to his reassurance (to her, to himself), but the tone she says it in says that she's not thinking of it as an insult at this moment. Some other time, maybe. Right now she's just stating it as a fact, a sort of darkly amusing one. ]
But you're right. [ The first tilt of a real smile on her mouth since she found out, and she tries to quell the sudden hope in her chest because that's not smart, being hopeful is a bad idea. ] We'll do good.
ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
He laughs a little, a breezy chuckle more than anything. ] Yeah. We totally are. So fucked up. But we'll be fine.
[ He can't see her smile at all from here but he hugs her to him just a little bit harder at that. Her acceptance, even temporarily. He feels better about all of this too, and whether it's the two of them faking for each other or they both actually believe what they're saying, either way, it looks like there's going to be a baby. Jesus. ] Hopefully. We'll go great. Make her better than both of us.
but is that really a bad thing it could just be a really good thing
She'd really like it if it didn't hate her, too. ] You make me fine. [ But it's good to hear him laughing, equally good to be tugged closer to him, and she curls into him and breathes in and out against his chest, flattening one hand against his shoulder. ] I like that idea. Let's do that.
[ Making someone better than both of them might not be the healthiest goal to have for a child, but then it's own way it is. Someone without the things they had to go through, because maybe that shit builds characters but other stuff does too, all life experience does and it doesn't need to be that awful. It can just be normal. Normality. ] We'll make sure she can live a normal life.
with you it's equally likely both ways, yes
Also that's totally a healthy goal. He's pretty sure he's seen like, at least a dozen movies where the parent basically says exactly that to their kid - 'I'm working so that you can have a better life than I've had'. Or something to that effect. That's what you want for people you love: for them to have an existence that was easier and lighter and happier than your own, free of the same issues you recall beating your head against in frustration and pain. ]
Well. I doubt it'll be normal. I'm going to be directly involved, and you're you. There's not really much of a chance for normal ever happening at all.
i don't know how i should feel about that statement
Phrased like that, it definitely sounds a lot better. She wants any child of hers, now that she has to think about it - she wants them to never have to know any of the things she had to learn. Other lessons seem like the sort needed to get along in the real world.
And oh god, really, she just kind of shakes her head in bemused amused. ] Well. Put like that, it does sound like it's chances for normal are pretty damn low.
i don't have an answer for you
But that's good, I mean, who wants normal? Slightly abnormal, sure. Anything beyond that's just being greedy.
squinting at you
Oh, sure, being greedy. Well, maybe I feel like being a little greedy. [ A pause, and then with a laugh. ] I've heard pregnancy sex is weird.
do you need glasses
Although he snorts at that a little bit. ] Can be.
/you/
Thanks. [ After a rather long pause, turning her face further into his shirt. ]
8D
For the potentially weird pregnancy sex?
i'm watching you
For - everything.
should i put on a show
That's... broad. But mutual, at least.
i won't object
/grooves
/chinhands at you forever
...okay i can live with that
oh good then this works fine