9097/Infinity Stones: Return of the Tesseract

Infinity Stones: Return of the Tesseract
Date of Scene:	06 September 2019
Location:	Gym, Avengers Mansion
Synopsis:	Tony and Steve talk Tesseracts... and trust.
Cast of Characters:	Captain America, Iron Man
Tinyplot:	Asgard's Requiem
Tinyplot2:	Infinity Stones

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Captain America has posed:
The nice part about living in the Avengers mansion is access to sturdy workout machines. The gymnasium portion of the place is dedicated to allowing full expression of the strength brought to bear by all members, which, in some cases, is rather spectacular. The machines also endure a beating sometimes, even in something as simple as a treadmill.

With earbuds in and his mind meandering instead of latching onto the nearest problem to resoolve it, Steve keeps up his ground-eating loping pace on the treadmill. He reaches out, increases the speed by two levels, and only just now is it starting to smell like the gears are taking some strain. Warm and metallic, harsher than sweat, the note rises. Steve doesn't seem to mind it as he runs on in his t-shirt and sweatpants, sneakers pounding away. There's something to be said for finding his heart-rate unconsciously matched up with the BPM of the music in his ears. It brings a distant, passing smile to his face.

Iron Man has posed:
Tony isn't there to work out. The drink in hand proves it, moreso than the attire: Tony COULD, in theory, work out dressed as he is, in a version of the sleek wear he often has on underneath his armor. His workouts aren't things he does in the Avengers gym, though, he does them back at the tower, with private facility and trainers. That said, he's responsible for the gym being the amazing place it is, and like all of the mansion, goes wherever he wants!

"Hey, Cap," Tony greets, as comes up around the side of the treadmill group (the machine is loud, and Steve has earbuds, so it's probably unusually stealthy: situationally).

Tony gestures a hand at the earbuds in a clear 'take off, we talk' motion of hand, and a half smirk, taking a drink from his glass.

Captain America has posed:
Subtly jolting in his regular pacing at Tony's appearance (proof of stealthy approach succeeding, mission complete), Steve then fishes out one and then both of the earbuds. A reach across his body pauses the music where it emits wirelessly from the receiver strapped around his bicep and he gives the genius-inventor's drink a look.

"Tony." A mild breathlessness can be found in his words as he continues pounding away on the treadmill. Apparently, he can multitask! -- or intends to try to. "Thought you'd be back at the tower still. Mingling with the hoi polloi?" He can make fun of himeslf easily enough. After all, the Captain is technically part of the unwashed masses right now; centrally, sweat darkens his Army-green t-shirt.

Iron Man has posed:
"Tower? No, I took Pepper to the Bahamas," answers the relaxed billionaire. Yep. There's some sun and pleasant tan to Tony's skin, revealing the truth of it.

Tony mounts one of the bicycle machines: sort of sideways, one arm resting across the handlebars, one foot dangling loosely. "After that, caught myself up. I read about a SHIELD mission you led," Tony begins. There's no insult to it, the statement is informational, and has a pause, as Tony allows Steve to orient on what the topic is. Tony spins his glass his a little in wrist to make the ice spin, and some condensation drips onto the gym floor under the bike.

"There's some redacted things in there. Something felt funny about it. Should I know?" Tony asks, tone mild, but intelligent gaze perceptive, sharp. Tony's quick, when his brain is oriented at a puzzle.

Captain America has posed:
"Hmm, the Bahamas." There's a lack of surprise in the Captain's voice to hear this, especially given the habit of spontaneous known in his teammate -- and just a smidge of jealousy. Oh, vacations, those mythical things of fancy. Continuing on the treadmill, his fingers still brush across the panel-interfacing to slow down the speed of the track to bring down its ambient noise. His sneakers make a quieter rhythmic cadence now.

More of his skin shows clear after he brings up a white towel hung over the bars to blot at his temples and forehead. It ends up slung around his shoulders regardless. Tony gets an oblique glance at his question. "SHIELD likes to play their cards close to their chest, Tony, you know that. Lots of things get redacted 'nd this mission was no exception. Which black bars do you want erased?" His mild tone is almost warning, as if still had Pandora's Box behind his back and didn't want to open it.

Iron Man has posed:
"I'm asking if there's anything /you/ want to summarize, that I should know, as a co-leader of this team," Tony says, with a soft little laugh, dropping his eyes into his glass for just a moment, only to then watch Steve from under his lowered brows. There's an amusement there: that Tony may already know a lot, in his own ridiculous way of gathering information.

"It doesn't make any difference to me that SHIELD runs missions that are secret. I'm not interested in lots of what they do, I have my own fun to enjoy. When there's a sudden trip to Hawaii - and here YOU are with no suntan---, eh, I get curious about if I should be in the loop."

Tony grins, then gives Steve a steady look. "There's a Tesseract missing somewhere, you know. We've had some energy readings from it now and then. Sudden portals throw red flags."

Captain America has posed:
Hawaii should make the soldier smile. Mentioning Hawaii does not make the soldier smile. A grade-A glower masks Steve's face as he lets out a slow, controlled sigh. "Can't get a tan anyways," he grumbles through another swipe of the white handtowel across his face. Tony will recognize the Captain struggling to weigh out his answer even if he's presented with the blond's profile rather than a held gaze, this being avoidance in itself.

Finally, with a grunt, Steve's fingers slap on the treadmill's panel to bring it to a slow and steady halting. Backing off of the track, he takes a moment to shake out his hands as if they were tingling -- or if he wanted to hit something -- and completes a small circle of pacing on the mat at the end of the workout machine. "I think we both know who likes to play around with extradimensional relics like the Tesseract." Now Steve's eyes find Tony's face and they're glacially-cold. "Least it was Hawaii and not god-knows where else."

Iron Man has posed:
"We can get you a spray tan, no problem," Tony answers easily, with a sleek little half smile, and lift of one eyebrow. "I'd /enjoy/ asking Pepper to set that up," Tony says, entirely truthful. He would enjoy that, and the reaction of Pepper.

Still, back to serious topics. "Hawaii seems more like you were done a favor. I know he's erratic, but, yeah: why there? Somebody make a deal with the devil?" Tony laughs, with a shake of head: unaware that the joke probably is too close to the truth to be funny.

"I'm getting readings from it all over the city, this week, but we're not seeing armies. Any clue here? Mean anything to you?" Tony asks. "Thor's not responding, but that's not unusual."

Captain America has posed:
Tony gets no flicker of amusement for his light-hearted jibe about bad deals. Instead, he gets the broad span of Steve's shoulders and back as the man turns to pace away a few steps. Can one scrub a frown from their face? At least the sweat all comes off before the white handtowel is flicked with vicious, frustrated speed into the nearest hamper, sure to be washed on the bi-weekly rounds of laundry.

"I dunno what the mad bastard's up to, Tony." Ooh, a swear. Apparently, the Captain can handle giant murderous robots like juggling balls, but heaven forbid someone introduce some magical shenanigans into the mix. "If I did, I'd already be trying to find a way to get dig up Thor, even if it meant humping out to New Asgard itself 'nd pounding on his front doors. Somebody needs to check Loki 'nd do it fast." Steve makes his way back over to the treadmill and leans back against the handrails. One arm crosses his chest diagonally in half of an arm-folding while the other spans a hand across his eyes. "...before anybody else gets into it up to their ears," he mumbles just barely above a whisper.

Iron Man has posed:
Blah. "Let's send somebody to New Asgard. Maybe Vision? Thor could just be busy, but if he's put out of commission by Loki, -- well, I already feel like we're playing catchup," Tony says, starting to shift out of a cheerful mode, and more into one of his focused ones: his dark eyes sharpen up, and the engine in Tony's head starts to really apply to what's coming. "--although if he's replaced Thor--"

Tony looks at his drink and finishes it all in one go. They're chasing a trickster god that has a head start. "I'll focus on these tesseract signals. If you've got someone that can get to Loki - what about Nat? She was there, and she's done well with him before? - maybe we can catch up, before he laps us."

Captain America has posed:
"Yeah, focus on the signals." Emerging from behind his hand, Tony's teammate nods sharply. Folding his arms fully brings out the build through his chest in a subconscious flexing of muscle. Trouble has managed to sneak up obliquely on them at this point...again. "It'd be up to Nat. 'm not looking to send her into a situation with him again without proper precautions. Loki was behind glass before 'nd 'm not even sure that counted in the first place, given what we say him do afterwards."

Surely both men have recurrent nightmares now and then about near-human faces crawling buildings and block-long behemoths of toothy monstrosities.

"What about the Doctor we talk to now and then? Strange, right? He's gotta know something?" Steve offers, his eyes still on Tony. "Wing him a message too."

Iron Man has posed:
"I'll put up a message to the team, about all of this," Tony agrees, stretching one shoulder, leaning over to a table beyond his bike perch, and sets his glass down. He fishes a mobile device from a pocket, manipulating the hologram interface that erupts from it.

"So, no clues from your teleport adventure? Damn. I was hoping we'd have a nefarious plan," Tony observes, getting off the bike.

Captain America has posed:
"Good." While terse, it's confirmation of agreement in Tony's plan. Steve knows the genius-inventor will be about as tenacious as he in communicating with the available Avengers and their allies. He makes to leave the area, headed for his room and a long, hot shower, when Tony asks his question. It brings the Captain to pause and he rests his hands on his hips, chin tucked.

"Anything that Asgardian does is nefarious, Tony, even having his goddamn tea in the morning -- if he even drinks tea. Look, just... Nobody's in over their head yet with him. I can still get out of anything he bargained for. It's somebody else being the martyr for once," he comments flatly, fully aware of the press's favorite put-down in his name. And boy, does that make Steve grit his teeth.

"I'll watch my phone for further information. Let me know when you need me." With that, he turns and moves to continue walking off towards the living quarters.

Iron Man has posed:
"We've come back from worse," Tony reminds. "Avengers, after all; we do our best work when we react," Tony says, with confidence. Tony's charismatic self-assurance is often infectious. He keeps his self-questioning and second guessing to himself. He's constantly unsure.

"If he's got leverage over you, trust me, though, all right?" Tony asks, the snark dropping for a moment. They're friends, right? Right.

Captain America has posed:
Framed in the doorway leading out to the hallway and its eventual stop of his bedroom, Steve lingers. His shoulders can be seen to rise and then fall an incremental amount before he turns, hands now in the pockets of his pants. Tony gets a considering look lasting several seconds. The faint divot between the Captain's brows deepens with something like forbearance.

"I trust you, Tony." His voice is quiet but the emptiness of the gym area allows his words to carry well enough. "We should talk." A smile shows in passing, half-wattage, before fading away into solemnity again. "Probably going to need a drink myself."