tampered | Log; Ongoing

Log; Ongoing

When; Wednesday evening
Rating; PG
Characters; Tony Stark {

idmakeitaweek} and Reinette {

fireplacegirl}
Summary; Tony asks Reinette to meet him at Lux for drinks and conversation, and she accepts.
Log;

Reinette slipped quietly out of the TARDIS. She hadn't seen the Doctor in a few hours, and assumed he was in one of the TARDIS's many rooms, still reeling from the arrival of the other Doctor. Best not to disturb him.

She removed the network device from her pocket and, after a few moments of fiddling with it, pulled up a map of the City. Nearly a month there, and she still had trouble finding her way about. The path to the library was one she could probably walk in her sleep, but the way to Lux was one she was unfamiliar with, having been only once before.

With some difficulty, Reinette found the bar, though at nearly fifteen minutes past the half hour they had agreed upon. She waded through the crowd inside the bar, searching for the face from the network. He wasn't hard to find; there were mostly women sitting at the bar tonight.

She put a light hand on his shoulder, offering up a smile. "Mr. Stark?"

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Tony didn't mind the lateness. Punctuality wasn't one of his strong points anyway. He was sitting at the bar with a scotch talking to the bartender as well as some of the people around them. He turned when he felt the hand on his shoulder. The smile on his face is clearly his 'press' smile but it warms to a real one at the sight of Reinette. He stands up and turns to face her, catching the hand on his shoulder as he does and presses a kiss to her knuckles.

"Reinette...or I've just flirted with a stranger. Either way, it's a pleasure to see you."

"We are still yet barely more than strangers." She inclines her head, knees bent slightly in a small, but courteous bow. "It is a pleasure to meet you. In person," she clarifies. No matter how she might warm to technology in the future, Reinette remained convinced that no technologically-facilitated manner of communication could replace face-to-face contact.

"Good point. I don't mind flirting with strangers," he smiles at her and offers his arm. He actually would agree with the thought on face-to-face contact. "We can take a table over there if you like," he nods to a corner. He's already cleared this with the bartender suspecting that maybe she'd want something a little more private.

She slips her arm in his and begins to follow him to the table. "I begin to think you would have no qualms flirting even with a married woman. It is a trait I should find reproachable, were I not guilty of it myself." She was, after all, the mistress of a married king and lover of still another man. She laughs. "Such is the reason I wished not to judge your lifestyle."

"You've got good instincts," Tony chuckles and pulls her chair out for her. He sits across the table from her. "That'll be refreshing. What would you like to drink?"

Reinette takes her seat across from him, smoothing her skirts. "Red wine, please. And if I may- Would I also be correct in assuming your charm typically gets you quite far? You are likely unaccustomed to hearing the word 'no' from anyone."

She pauses for a moment, smiling at her companion.

"Of course, if I have taken my assumptions too far, then please, do not hesitate to correct me."

Tony gestures the waiter over, orders a bottle of red wine and another scotch for himself before he turns his attention back to Reinette.

"You may have to define the word 'no' for me," he jokes. "Your assumptions would be correct but it's also my money that helps get me what I want. If I can't charm someone into giving me what I want, I can usually buy it. I don't see the point in taking no for an answer when there are so many ways to say yes."

"I would express my belief that it is healthy to be denied things every now and then; it makes one aware of one's limits, one's boundaries. But I do not believe you would recognise a boundary if it backed you into a corner. You would likely charm it into submission."

She thanks the waiter as he returns with their drinks.

"No matter what I might think, I also come from the kind of world where power buys you everything you could ever want, and money buys you that power. It seems such a concept is universal and stands the weathering of time."

"And you claim not to know anything about me," Tony chuckles. "You're right. Boundaries are for other people."

It sounds egotistical because it is. He usually does good things when given few to no boundaries. Like privatize world peace. He takes a sip of his scotch and nods in response to her comment.

"Now it's Business Men and movie stars with the power instead of kings and queens but yes, the concept remains. See, you're more at home in this world then you realize."

"How could I have said such a thing; I feel as if I have known you all my life."

She laughs and sips at her wine. Tony intrigues her in the same way candlelight intrigues a moth. Reinette has more wits about her, though, to be wary. Those with unchecked power in her world have gone on to destruction.

"How dangerous you truly could be with that attitude in my time. A king without boundaries, you would have conquered the entire world. You are not a king in your world, not in name. But you hold perhaps as much power, from what you have told me. And so the question is, what do you do with all this power? When you can do whatever you want, what is it that you do?"

"I have that effect on people," Tony chuckles.

And Reinette intrigues Tony because she's beautiful, because of her documented history and because thus far she's proved to be much more fascinating in person than she ever was in French History class.

"You mean I should be doing something with it besides international playboy?" He looks shocked and appalled for a moment before he laughs again. "Alright. You've got me. So far I've been single-handedly responsible for bringing about world peace."

No, he's not joking and yes it is egotistical. However in this case, at least for the moment in his world it's true.

"Single-handedly? I suppose I should eat my words. Here I imagined all the destruction one man with no limits and so much power could create, and you have gone and done the opposite."

She sits back in her chair, the impression clearly evident in the grin on her face.

"Might I inquire as to your methods? Perhaps I could take a little something back to my time."

Tony takes a sip of his scotch and decides he ought to be honest. After all everyone in his world knows. "I used to," he admits. "I own the largest weapons manufacturer in the world. Weapons made by my company have been used to kill hundreds of thousands of people. It wasn't until I was confronted with it in a very personal way that I realized the full scope of what Stark Industries did."

In a long gulp he finishes his first scotch and picks up the second, leaning back in his chair as he does. She might be able to see the blue glow of the arc reactor in his chest through the white shirt he's wearing. He's long lost the tie that went with it so it's open at the neck.

"But the method of gaining world peace is the same as gaining world domination. It all depends on how you use it. Have a bigger stick and make sure no one else ever gets their hands on a stick as big as yours. I've got the biggest stick in the world."

He raises his eyebrows at her, chuckles and takes another sip of his scotch. He intends the innuendo that goes with his words.

There Reinette have some darkness with your Tony because if you read between the lines, it's all there to see.

Reinette clears her throat, looking first down at the wineglass in her hand, then back up at him. She's too caught up on his words to pay attention just yet to the glow, that there, just out of the corner of her eye.

"There is a distinct motivation, I have found, for those who have lost everything to be even greater than their loss. We have all done things we regret, but I believe it is how we redeem ourselves and our actions that truly defines who we are."

Of course, she's caught the innuendo and, laughing, she throws it back at him.

"It seems you rely heavily on the size of your weapon, and not the method of its use."

He hopes she's right. He's counting on it but he knows he'll never really be redeemed. Of course that's the secret he hides deep inside. It's the reason he drinks scotch like water and the reason that sometimes in very quiet moments, in the transition between solitary genius and billionaire playboy a man with his back bowed under the weight of everything he thinks he needs to do can be seen.

It's easier to stay silent until the conversation turns to innuendo again. He grins at her before volleying it back to her.

"The size of the weapon is important, Reinette but without the right method using it will end up a disaster."

She leans forward in her chair, smile as wide as his.

"Your confidence suggests you have extensive experience. One would be intimidated facing you in battle."

Tony chuckles because she's very good at this game and this is fun. He leans forward, elbows on the table and swirls his scotch in his glass.

"And one would be very intimidated facing you," he tells her quite honestly, pausing for effect. "If they didn't have my extensive experience."

"Hm," she says, settling back in her chair. Her eyes linger for a moment on his chest, his open shirt revealing a bit more of the arc reactor as he leans forward.

"It is a shame, I think, that you and I are unlikely to meet on the battlefield."

"It's my heart. Technically it's keeping my heart running. Long story. I'll tell you if you like," he says in response to her lingering gaze. He's used to having the arc reactor stared at.

"And why is that?"

"A mechanical heart? That is a story that I would indeed like to hear."

Her eyes settle briefly on the arc reactor before meeting his again. "You shall have to forgive my staring; I am not usually quite so rude."

She leans forward once more, voice low. "As charmed by your... big stick philosophy as I am, this is simply one war I cannot wage."

Tony unbuttons a couple of buttons on the shirt to allow her a better look at the arc reactor. "There was an accident--an explosion--rigged so that I could be kidnapped. In the explosion my heart was damaged. Shards of metal pierced it. A very clever man managed to save me so that I could build this." He gestures to the arc reactor. "It keeps the shards out of my heart, powers my heart so it will continue beating. And I don't mind the staring. Obviously."

He chuckles and shakes his head. "That is a shame, Reinette. I'm sure it would be a war worth waging."

"A man like you, you thrive on the stares. It sounds like you are an incredibly lucky man. Is that, perhaps, the incident that changed you?" Reinette puts a hand to her own heart as she looks at his.

"And it is a shame indeed," she says, laughing. "I wonder if I have, in a roundabout sort of way, just told you 'no.'"

{ooc; /beats lj notifs }

"Madame, you as well as anyone should know that a person like me...or you has to learn to thrive on stares. It's sink or swim. I think we both learned how to swim very well," Tony smiles at her. He takes a sip of his drink and watches her touch her own heart. "That would be the incident. They wanted me to build them a weapon so they could wipe out a good deal of their country. I did what they wanted and then used it against them."

He chuckles and dares to reach out to glide his fingertips over the curve of her neck and across her shoulder. "I didn't say I'd stop attempting to incite battle."

"Then allow me to call you resourceful rather than lucky. I think you will agree that one must be resourceful in order to be successful, no matter one's aspirations. Though when worded as such it makes the pair of us sound ambitious and cold."

She sits nearly motionless as he touches her, all the while smiling and doubtful he should ever succeed. Mistress or no, she is fiercely loyal to the men she loves; especially so to the one who saved her life. "Then we shall see if persistence alone pays off. Because I can be bought by no sum of money, nor am I so intimidated by your power."

"I would agree completely and yes. That very thing has been said about me before. In print and I'm sure it's been said of you verbally. We both know the truth."

He withdraws his hand and leans back in the chair. "Very well then. My assistant assures me I have the attention span of a golden retriever but I think you're interesting enough to hold it a while."

At least as far as this flirty thing goes.

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Log; Ongoing

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