tampered | Log; Completed

Log; Completed

When; Monday evening (05/19)
Rating; PG
Characters; Toshiko Sato

warped_inside and Tony Stark

morethanasuit
Summary; Toshiko and Tony meet at the Lux, followed by a tour of Tony's high-tech apartment.
Log;

Despite her current fears over going out alone, Tosh actually worked up the courage to leave work for a frantic shopping trip. She might not have been as fashion-obsessed as her mirror counterpart, but no way was she going on a date that included dancing without indulging in something nice to wear. Besides, she really needed to get the memory of those stilettos out of her head.

Shopping and primping accomplished, she was back at the Lux earlier than necessary, killing time while she waited by studying some of the flowering plants decorating the entryway.

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Tony spent most of the day up to the time of the date working on various projects. Compared to home, his time in the City was almost like a vacation. It was amazing how much free time he had when only monitoring one City's worth of communications and not the whole world's.

Dressed in one of the suits Edna had made for him Tony made his way to Lux, keeping an eye out for Toshiko. Spotting her, he smiled and made his way over, presenting her with a corsage of a flower that matched her eyes.

"Good evening, Tosh."

Tosh smiled as well when she looked up, her eyes brightening at the corsage. "Tony, that's beautiful! Um, would you...?" She touched the fabric of her dress (http://adn.is.bluefly.com/mgen/Bluefly/prodImage.ms?productCode=2104804&width=300&height=300) in a request for him to fasten it in place for her.

"You're looking very handsome."

"Of course." He stepped forward and deftly pinned the corsage to her dress before stepping back and offering her his arm.

"You look amazing yourself," he said, smiling warmly at her. "I'm definitely going to be the envy of everyone else in the place."

Taking his arm, Tosh gave herself a quick mental reminder about the habits of attractive, well-spoken men, and then let herself settle in to enjoy the evening.

"I think I'll refrain from arguing with you, and just say thank you. I've got us a table far enough from the band that we can talk, but still be able to enjoy the music."

"You can feel free to argue if you'd like," he said, flashing herself another smile. "It would give me a good excuse to spend the entire night telling you how beautiful you are. I'm sure all the jealous looks I get from the men inside will be more than enough."

He leads her into the place and glances around, giving a low whistles. This is definitely the kind of place he could enjoy.

"Oh well, if that's your plan, I suppose I could manage a protest or two," Tosh laughed, ducking her head a little.

She looked proud at Tony's reaction to the place, though. "Nice, isn't it? My friend Blue plays trumpet with the band, although I don't know if he's got a set tonight or not. He's been teaching me piano," she added, nodding toward the grand piano on prominent display.

He chuckled and reached over to pat her hand. "Good, I'm glad we can come to some sort of agreement then."

Glances over at the piano and then nodded, rather impressed. "Maybe you'll be playing a set here one day. I admire you for learning, I never did when I was a kid and piano lessons just are something most grown men consider taking."

Shaking her head, Tosh replied, "Oh no, I doubt that very much. I don't think I'll be playing in front of anyone. It's mostly just something I've always wanted to do, and I promised someone I would. And Blue's been nice enough to help me. In exchange for computer lessons."

She looked up at Tony, speculatively. "This is a good place for doing things you never got the chance before, you know."

"Not for anyone?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. "Not ever? That's sad, Tosh. You shouldn't keep that sort of thing to yourself."

Smiles at her knowingly.

"What sort of things would you not get a chance to do before?"

"I suppose maybe for one or two people, once I feel confident enough at it. Ishiah heard me, and said I wasn't doing badly. It's not hard to learn the notes, that's really just math, but I haven't got the...feel for it, you know? I'll never be a really good piano player, because I haven't got the passion for it."

Tosh smiles back, and there is a little sadness in her eyes, although it doesn't come through in her voice. "Well, learn the piano for starters. Have dinner at a jazz club with a handsome man for another."

He noticed the sadness in her eyes but didn't comment on it. "Well if you ever decide to play for someone I'd be glad to listen."

Tony reached over and touched her hand, smiling at her. "Hey, you want to dance before we're too full from the food to move?"

"Maybe I'll do that. Just remember that you asked, when you're sitting there having to listen and be politely complimentary."

Tosh's smile warmed at the suggestion, and she nodded. "I'd like that, please. Promise I'll do my best not to ruin your toes."

Tony smiled at her and lead her out to the dance floor, not worrying at all about how she might step on his toes.

"You know what, if you keep smiling like that and I'll be so focused on that I won't notice if you step on my toes at all," he told her as he set a hand on her waist.

Well, that certainly earned Tony another one of those smiles, as Tosh raised her hand to his shoulder. She couldn't help but rub her finger against the fabric for just a second. It was a nice suit.

"Maybe you've discovered my secret weapon," she teased lightly.

Tony raised an eyebrow at that comment. Did she really not know how beautiful she really was? He made a mental note to find out who was from her world and what was wrong with them.

"It's hardly a secret, Tosh," he said as they began to dance, Tony gently pulling her just a little bit closer. "Besides your brilliance I'd say it's your best asset."

No, she really didn't. Or at least, she was far more confident in her brains than in her beauty.

Letting herself be held closer, Tosh accepted the compliment with a gratitude that was plain in her expression, and deflected it with a gentle joke. Taking things like that too much to heart was a bad habit she was intent on breaking, and Tony wasn't making it easy for her. "Actually, besides my brilliance, my best asset is my skill at playing pool."

Tony was again intrigued. Computers, piano, pool, dancing? There didn't seem to be an end to how fascinating she was. She was a very special woman.

"I don't know, that's quite a smile you've got there," he told her as he moved her around the room. "You must be one hell of a pool player."

"I am one hell of a pool player," Tosh laughed. "Ask Ianto, he was the last person I slaughtered mercilessly."

She really was having a wonderful time, and slowly found herself relaxing more and worrying less. "But it's your turn to tell me something I don't know about you, now."

"Well we'll have to play sometime then," he chuckled, flashing her a wink.

"Hmmmm, something about me you don't already know." He ponders the question for a moment, thinking of one obvious thing but not quite ready to tell her yet. "I was a homeless bum for some time. Grizzled beard and living on the street and everything."

"That sounds like fun. I know a perfect place, they've got fantastic beers on tap too."

She listened, frowning a little at Tony's answer, her hand unconsciously tightening in reassurance on his shoulder. "I'm sorry. Can I ask why? Choice, unfortunate circumstances, something else entirely?"

Tony gives an honest shrug, not really concerned about it at all. He wasn't really bothered by the admission. In his world it was common knowledge. Still, he didn't mind the comfort she was offering.

"A little bit of both. I had serious problem with alcoholism for a long time. Combine that with a very stressful job in general and a competitor who manipulated me into an emotional crash and I lost it for a bit."

"That's understandable. Even the strongest person I know struggles sometimes. I'm glad you got yourself put together again, though. Has it been very long?"

Coming from some people, the words might have bordered on platitudes, but Tosh was serious. She'd seen people have to face terrible things, and barely keep themselves sane. Sometimes she wasn't sure they'd actually managed.

She did feel as though a personal glimpse like that deserved one in return, though, and after a moment she said softly, "I spent some time in prison."

He gave her a somewhat wistful smile. "It's my own fault. Normal people build up support systems of friends and family. Between all the time I spend tinkering on something and the fact that I don't like to involve other people in my problems or let them get close it's my own fault."

Tony looked down at Tosh, able to tell by the change in her tone that it was something very personal to her. "Computer hacking?"

Oh yes, Tosh knew pretty well about that. Until Torchwood came along, she was in pretty much the same boat.

At his question, she shook her head, smiling wryly. "Crimes against national security. As in, stealing secret government files, using them to build a dangerous alien device, and then handing the device over to terrorists."

Which yes, sounded now like possibly the stupidest idea ever, but at the time...well, she really hadn't been thinking very clearly.

Tony was very impressed. Toshiko was proving to be more and more unlike what he had expected the more he got to know her. Even the stealing of national secrets was really a plus.

"I'm sure that you had a very good reason to do it," he told her as he spun her around and then pulled her close, a bit closer than she was before he spun her. "Or at least what seemed like a good idea. Is that why... I eventually had to let you out of the room when I locked you in?"

Pausing for a moment, Tony decided that she might not want to answer that so he should give her another line of conversation to follow.

"I was in prison for a short time myself."

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