poeticterms | (no subject)

(no subject)

The thing about the Stark house is that it looks perfectly normal unless you are paying attention.

Perfectly normal houses are not covered in quite so many discreet cameras. Nor do they have pressure sensors under the driveway to record where guests choose to park. (Jarvis is already learning Cal's favourite spots in the loop.)

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In all innocence: "Who, Obie? But you don't even like him."

Oh dear.

Cal takes a bite of pizza to give himself a few seconds to recover.

After he swallows he says,

"Yeah, but it's not my party, Mother'll invite whoever makes us look good. He won't be there, though. Uh - no offense, but nobody cares about Stark Industries right now. I mean, nobody we need to care about."

That and after the events in New York, Violet wouldn't dream of inviting Obadiah anywhere near her son, regardless of social relevance.

"Y'know, I don't get that. I mean, Dad was good, but he wasn't Jesus. They're still kicking ass even without a Stark running the show."

Cal shrugs a little.

"If we were in business, it'd probably be different," he says. "She'd probably have to invite him. But this is politics, it's a whole other thing." It doesn't have to actually make sense, for starters.

He puts down his pizza to reach for his drink, continuing,

"It's Stark Industries without a Stark, so - basically it's just 'Industries,' and there are lots of those. Socially there's just nothing special about it."

"Well, whatever. In four years I'll get behind the wheel, and then I'll send Obie to all the boring parties for me anyway. He loves that shit."

Beat.

"Not your boring parties, though. 'Cause you don't like him."

Looong swallow of soda.

Casually: "Thanks."

Cal returns to his pizza.

"Anyway, in four years Dad'll probably be President and then it would look bad if you didn't come yourself anyway."

"Oh please, I'm Tony Stark. I can blow off the President if I wanna."

Sherlock cracks up.

Cal would deny that the sound he is making into his pizza crust is giggling.

He would be wrong.

"Dad wouldn't care," he says. "Mother'd be pissed, though."

"Yeah, well—"

The words your mom can blow me are rejected almost as fast as he thinks of them, because no.

"—as long as she doesn't get my contract cut off, it's all good. And from what I hear your mom's smarter than that."

"I would like to register the opinion that Violet Chandler would make a positively terrifying First Lady," Sherlock comments.

A wry smirk quirks the corner of Cal's mouth.

"Mother and Uncle Grahame have always been the ones running the show," he says.

Make of that what you will.

"So I gather."

"Shit, why doesn't she run for President?"

"They got started like twenty years ago," Cal says. "A woman President - they didn't think it would be possible for like another fifty. So now she doesn't have any political experience so no one would vote for her anyway."

At least, not enough people.

"Makes sense, I guess. Man, am I ever glad my family wasn't in politics. The only thing that counts for running Stark Industries is if you can get the actual job done."

"Yeah, only voters care about whether you can get stuff done in politics, and they only count one day a year."

He snags a new slice of pizza.

"You spend the other 364 getting on their side."

Tony and Sherlock are filled with patriotism and a deep and abiding faith in democracy and the US of A now, right?

"You're almost as cynical as Sherry," he says admiringly.

"Can I take over the country and institute a hereditary monarchy?" asks Sherlock. "Would anyone mind?"

"I'm not cynical, I'm realistic."

It's not Cal's fault they're the same thing.

To Sherlock he says,

"I dunno, that'd make Mother a nightmare to live with."

"I could make you king," he suggests. "Or would that be worse?"

"Sherry, quit plotting treason in my kitchen."

"Then I could just throw her in the dungeon. Okay, I'm in."

Tony didn't say anything about Cal not plotting treason!

"Or perhaps send her into exile," he suggests, ignoring Tony, "or assign a division of the royal army to keep watch on her. Aha, I believe I have found a new job for Peter Beardsley."