3958/Out of the Spotlight

Out of the Spotlight
Date of Scene:	24 February 2018
Location:	Las Vegas, Nevada
Synopsis:	Bruce and Tony get a moment aside to talk about real matters.
Cast of Characters:	Iron Man, Batman

---

Iron Man has posed:
The nights of Vegas can be neverending, and bleed into the mornings. The disarray of various events, games, women, drinking: it's all a giant smear, probably. Particularly to those that are entirely drunk.

At SOME point during a variety of gambling, Tony seems to have gone missing. Technically not really: like twelve people saw him go off to take a leak or whatever it was he was doing, in his brazen way. But that was ages ago, and he didn't come back. Then again, Tony is really good at forgetting things he might have been doing (if they didn't particularly matter to him) and moving onto other things.

And so it is, Tony's just up and gone. Because, in fact, he'd gone back to the suites, and can be found there, sprawled on one of the couches, with a few long brightly colored leads from one of his metallic cases that he brought (which does not remotely contain clothes) up under his shirt on the left side, and is fiddling with an almost-laptop console. He had been drunk, but had moved more towards semi-tipsy over the past two hours, and seems to lack a drink at least at that exact moment (it's over on the bar).

Batman has posed:
    "So is that therapeutic, or recreational?" Is the easy-going voice that is hard in the doorway, followed by a brief 'knock-knock' of knuckles rapping on the door to the entrance preceding his wandering on inside. Bruce Wayne had been taking part in the festivities rather well, apparently enjoying the attention when Tony gave up those occasional moments of the spotlight. He spoke about Gotham, and what the night life is like there, as well as regaled a few people with stories of what it was like being part of the old stodgy socialite crowd from some of the oldest money in the country.
    When Tony had made his departure, however, Bruce took it upon himself as something of a host to keep the party going and moving. He introduced a few young women to Rhodey, and even encouraged the attentions of one particular young male dancer from Cirque who seemed somewhat infatuated with Mariam. But after a tie, Tony's absence was marked.
    "People were asking after you. I told them you were a lightweight and couldn't hang." His lip twists.

Iron Man has posed:
"Can't it be both?" Tony asks mildly, hardly glancing up as he makes the joke in return. He makes no move to hide what he is doing at all. But then, Tony rarely covers or makes excuses. Always better to own it.

"People are always asking; I think it will eventually drive Rhodey into his grave, being questioned about me. Not the asking itself, but the complaining about it to me after. I might murder him," Tony teases.

He does turn his head with an arch of brow, and sleek smile. He has the slight affectation of tipsy, still. "I've got to not die. What's your excuse for coming up?" Tony asks, eyes back to his console for the moment, and then he yawns, and pulls his shirt up to idly decouple the leads, casually, like somebody would remove their socks.

Batman has posed:
    "Is that..." Bruce drops onto the matching over-stuffed chair catacorner to the sofa that Tony finds himself on, leaning to the side and resting his hands on the arms of the chair. His eyebrows quirk with curiousity as he eyes the device and the leads, then the reactor in the man's chest which assuredly has been a topic exhausted with the man. "Something to do with the last time we had a conversation?"
    A tilt of his head lets him look towards the laptop, but then it's put away without much fanfare. "My excuse is that most of the people have decided to go to sleep, or an approximation of it. Some form of rest." He smiles a bit as if accepting the foils of mankind in that statement.
    "It's hard for me to enjoy myself without an audience, so I came looking for one."

Iron Man has posed:
"I think I was unconscious the last time we had a conversation," Tony says, with a click of tongue in his mouth of dismay. "If so...? yeah. Pretty much exactly to do with it. Except it's shiny and new, now. I'm Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger."

The laptop had shown some long screens of various readouts of data, with graphs showing changes over time. He was tracking his health, quite obviously. And probably trusting that Bruce won't make heads or tails of it.

"Well, you came to an awkward place for an audience. I'm the kind of audience that just can't stay off the stage," Tony smiles back.

Batman has posed:
    A glance towards the door is given in the direction of which Mariam might well have taken up as a post if she hadn't retired already for the evening. Then Bruce looks back to the other billionaire and smiles wryly, "You're in luck, my bouncer took the night off it seems." Having said that he settles further into the seat and glances towards the end table which assuredly has a suitable bottle of liquor and glasses. Likely it's already been opened and if so he'll pour, taking up one of the drinks and holding it in hand.
    "So, I figure we can do the dance, or we can just reach the end of it. You can assume I showed concern and the like, and then asked if there was anything I could do, you turned any offer of such down graciously and I pressed a few times only for you to again deny the offer. Then we finally settle on an agreement if things get worse..."
    He waves a hand, not needing to end that sentence. If things get worse he'll help if he can. A beat, then he adds, "But please do remember me in your will."

Iron Man has posed:
"YOU, my friend, are going to like Pepper, my executive assistant. You both are exceptionally /rational/ about skipping to the end of games with me," Tony observes, in an impressed tone. He scoots back just a bit, using the edge of foot to push the laptop away just a hair, and loosely tosses the pile of leads into a jumble next to it. Not exactly captain organization. But creative types often aren't.

"I also appreciate that you think I'm gracious. I might be too tipsy for gracious," Tony says, and glides his eyes over to the bar, as well as Bruce's glasses. He was about to ask for some, and his eyes went to the laptop. Tony fights with his alcoholism a little, standing up and crossing to the bar to ... get an apple out of one of the huge number of gift baskets, and a bag of some kind of candied nuts, and then rolls back to his seat, flopping onto it.

"It's just an ongoing leftover from my time being a prisoner. I like the reminder whenever I go near a metal detector." Tony's flippant, but some better information follows on the tail of it. "It could be better. But I'm healing fine. Unless you have a healing factor mutant in your room, it just... is what it is."

Batman has posed:
    Smiling at Tony's response, Bruce does look away a little and then scrunches up one eye towards Tony as he offers up, "You know that Lucius my COO made quite a generous offer to Ms. Potts some..." He looks back and his brow furrows as if trying to drag up the memory, "Oh a few years back I think. She turned us down cold. Clearly you must have some dirt on her."
    He takes a sip of his drink and watches as Tony moves around then retakes his seat. For an instant Bruce eyes the other man's chest as if gauging that injury, but then he says. "I know you have Dr. McCoy working with you. But I have some contacts that might be able to help. They're at your disposal if you like." Apparently he only played lip-service to the idea of letting the game play out as he offers those words.
    "My father... traveled in strange circles. And I might know a few people that even you might have a hard time getting a handle on."

Iron Man has posed:
"--Oh, another thing to leap to the end on-- I am very pleased with myself. In that I guessed you were smarter than you let on. Points for me, in being right," Tony says, over his apple, eyes slightly narrowed in amusement. Tony doesn't push on it, but clearly made a point. He flips the apple to the other side, to bite there, otherwise enjoying his graceless sprawl on the couch.

"If your contacts aren't going to yell at me when I disobey their advice, I might take you up on them," Tony siiiiighs. His doctor clearly has opinions about Tony's behavior. The whole not resting and going to Vegas things, probably. "Strange circles? Don't let me guess: right now I'm thinking cyborg cultists?" Tony questions.

"Pepper... isn't going anywhere," Tony says, in a manner that actually has some real emotional weight underneath the cocky statement. There's something else there, a distraction when he thinks more about her.

Batman has posed:
    "I wouldn't say that I'm smarter, more that I'm good at faking it." Bruce smiles gently, a little bashfully as he lifts a hand as if to fend off the words hurled his way. "When you grow up in the crowd of people I did, you start to get a hang of going along to get along no matter the subject." An entirely different way of growing up than Mr. Stark likely adopted.
    A glance is given at the words about Pepper, and perhaps politely he drops that branch of the conversation. He takes a deep breath and the exhales slowly before another sip is taken. He knits his brow together in a moment's thought then shakes his head, "Cyborg cultists? No. Just old families. Old secrets." Bruce hrms, "I have some contacts with the Justice League and some of their support personnel. They're decent people. Secretive. But I've seen some crazy things."
    There's a beat, then he looks up, "Though I'm sure in your line of work you've seen a million times more. But still."

Iron Man has posed:
"Faking what?" Tony asks with a grin, tips his head back and forth some, and focuses on his apple. Entirely different, really, than Tony's personality. The attention seeking extreme extrovert of Tony. But the question of what does get faked? Well. Tony's brushing on past it. "I would never fake being healthy. I can't imagine that," Tony deadpans. "Pretty sure it's going well though, overall." Bits of truth in the rain of playful bullshit. "People /believe/ in me." Slightly sobering. Responsibility is heavy.

"Justice League? No kidding," Tony asks, brow rasised, and considers that topic. "I like 'em. Good at what they do. They like to keep things on their side of the wall, though," Tony says idly. "Mostly I think they are probably off stopping some other planet from invading that I'm not even aware exists," Tony jokes. "On a space ship--" pause. "--that I would very much like to take apart."

Batman has posed:
    "Faking being smart." Bruce answers, indicating himself. He smiles wryly, openly even as he shakes his head and looks away. "Faking having some particular insight into something, or some true understanding. When it's all just..." He gets a faint smile, his tone of voice shifting slightly, "Simple tricks and nonsense."
    But then Tony speaks about the League as it were and he gives a nod. "Some of them are down to earth people, despite all the craziness that surrounds them. Others..." He looks a little concerned as his eyes distance, "Others are like gods among us." He shakes his head again, then looks back to Tony, "Then again you and your people have an actual god or the like, if I'm right."
    "Still. There are some brilliant minds working for them, and others who might have something to at least..." He lifts a hand slightly in Tony's direction. "Help?"

Iron Man has posed:
"Tricks and Nonsense. Sure." Tony's fine with going along with it, at least for now. Tony's suspicious but it isn't important to him, really. "I'm still giving myself points," Tony informs.

"Actual gods... Yeah, Thor may actually show up here. Then you'll get to meet that particular god first-hand," Tony says, with a lift of fingers to rub them over his eyes in a pained manner. Thor can be difficult. "IF the casinos survive him," Tony adds with amusement. "Otherwise, other than me? Avengers are hot in magical voodoo people right now. I'm still not entirely sure how it happened," Tony laughs.

The option of the JLA 'helping' is clearly being batted around in Tony's head, while he talks. He's sort of struggling with it. A pride issue, maybe. But a little of the pride buckles. Near-death experiences do that. "I did think I had it under control. I usually do. But." He can't actually say it. He shrugs instead and rips open the candied nuts. Offers some over.

Batman has posed:
    Bruce leans forwards, the glass set aside. He rests his forearms on his knees and interlaces his fingers together as he looks towards Tony. "Then I'll contact them, and I'll make sure there is movement on it. I don't make this offer lightly and I won't treat it with the casual dismissiveness that is seen with some people in our own particular..." He looks to the side, at the door, perhaps beyond it to Vegas or the world itself, "Circles."
    That said he looks back over towards Tony, then says, "But, in any case Tony, thank you for inviting me to this. I don't get out and about as often as I perhaps should." He smirks slightly and adds, "Or rather out and about without having some sort of ulterior motive or doubling up of reasons."
    Which, to be fair, is rather true.

Iron Man has posed:
Tony Stark decides to drown the problem, and fills the other glass. He raises it some, perhaps to the 'circles', or more perhaps as the best style of appreciation that Tony can muster at this particular moment. Tony is a lot of things, but certainly not actually a bad guy, after the blindingly flashing part is peeled away. "I'll take it. There could be a mega-alien gizmo that will just suck all the poisons out. Worth asking." There we go. Tony managed to accept help!

"You are welcome! I was about to say, aren't you always out on some secret yacht getaway somewhere, hogging all the european models, though?" Tony questions in surprise. He does, of course, believe the general playboy story of Bruce Wayne. "How you stay secreted away is beyond me. Reporters are my favorite toy," Tony confides. He squints at a buzzing from his phone, looks. "Hmmmm. Something might be on fire. I should /probably/ put it out," Tony says. He's interested in the call, though, there was a perk of pleasure; his tone is bullshit.

Batman has posed:
    "True, always with a herd of minders, and usually some business event, and have to show my face at something or other. Kind of nice to have... a measure of free time." Though, to be fair, he might very well be making this a working weekend. When he can. He looks away for a moment, considering the matter before he looks back at the buzzing from the phone.
    "Nah, you handle that. I'll go try out this sleep thing that everyone is talking about." He gains his feet slowly with a faint exhaled sigh of exertion. He sets his glass down and starts to walk to the door. "G'night, Tony." Offered over his shoulder even as he steps to the door. And through.