It's frustrating for a man who can't sit still...

[arrogantalloy]

WHO| Tony Stark and anyone who comes across him.
WHAT| Tony has come out from the safety of his little Marvel Shop nest to wander about and scavenge.
WHEN| The end of week two through to the start of week three
WHERE| Marvel Shop, Food Court, the Sporting Goods Store.
WARNINGS| Maybe be some violence, but nothing Tony can't survive.

(A) -- The Marvel Shop --

After two weeks in the store, Tony is starting to get antsy, and to those who are also using the store as their home base can probably easily tell. He's taken apart everything he can and has made a viarety of tasers, flash bangs and smoke bombs. The last two aren't even remotely dangerous due to the fact Tony doesn't have the best equipment at his disposal, but what they do, do is be at least distracting enough to create a getaway for the user. Whatever materials are left are things that he can use but needs other parts.

In particular he wants to start working on building less powerful versions of the one-use repulsors he had created back home. No way was he going to be able to make them as good as they could be. But they could certainly do some damage to a person's body, repulsor burns are a bitch.

The most obvious part of his antsy ways is his pacing. Not many outside Bruce would be familiar with it in the shop, and while he doesn't act so frustrated while he paces, it doesn't make it any less annoying for anyone who has to deal with it for extended periods of time. The pacing isn't too bad during the day, because he knows he can leave and occasionally will disappear for an hour or two before coming back. But it's at night when his pacing is at it's most unavoidable as they aren't able to escape it.

(B) -- Food Court --

Tony loves food. It's not something he telegraphs and does have a tendency to forget to eat when he's focused. But he still loves food. And as lovely, charming, and reviewable 4 and 5 star quality food is, the man will always go for fast food before fine dining. It was a teen novelty which turned into a habit, there was just something about slapped together burgers that just appealed to him.

Right now he's taken a moment to stretch his legs and find something to chew on his own instead of waiting for those he knew to come back with food for him as if some baby bird. He shakes his head at that thought as he comes up to a juice bar and peers around before jumping the counter to start going through all the available fruit to see what's worth sticking in cups to bring back for the others, and mostly himself.

Unlike his last arena where he wasn't at all trying to keep an eye out for danger, this time Tony's looking up to scan the area as he fruits up, still not often enough, but he at least has a regular period of looking up and around, muttering to himself through the whole process.

(C) -- The Authority - Sporting goods

Tony knew there would be two important facts about the sporting store: One, that it would be a good place to sniff out some electrical goods and supplies. Two, that it would be a great ambush spot because of all those supplies.

He stood back from it for a long while, watching and watching it. Careful to keep an eye out for any movement. However Tony's own impatience and his strong desire to stop being out from the safety of the Marvel store push him to venture in idly picking up walkie talkies, a paintball gun, and flash lights. He's clearly more interested in taking anything that looks like if can be remade into something else or that can be mixed together. Unlike in the food court, Tony's actually making an effort not to make too much noise.

Comments

[yourmove]

Stumbling away from the Hummer crash in the ice rink, Alex Murphy comes to the conclusion he needs repairs and they won't be coming from Omnicorp. OmniCorp authorized repairs are preferable, of course, but so far they have sent zero replacement parts, have done nothing to fix his faulty feeds to the outside world. Alex has no choice but to assume OmniCorp is...unavailable. Immediate maintenance is required to continue his patrol.

Alex compiles a short list of Tributes with a background in cybernetics, robotics. As Jet is blind now, he gets removed off the list. The next up is "Stark, Anthony".

His credentials check out. Alex stalks down Tony at the Marvel store, oblivious to the plushies and kiddie masks of the Hulk he passes. He troops in a single-minded line toward where Mr. Stark is likely to be, holding his damaged arm dangling in one hand. The rest of that arm? Hanging in a stump that sparks and hums dangerously every now and then, wires protruding out. What could either be blood or lubricant continues to drip onto the carpet.

"Mr. Stark." Alex's voice echoes in the main entrance of the store near the cash registers. He spots a shape that could be Tony, his head swiveling toward it as it paces. "I require your service."

[arrogantalloy]

When his name is said, Tony frowns at what he's working on. There have only been two people to call him 'Mr Stark' in this world, and both of them are women.

This wasn't a woman's voice.

Tony looks up in the direction of the voice and stares.

"Uh." He knits his eyebrows "This is isn't something I expected." He then looks at the damage and the dripping. "Could you just." He makes a gesture at him to come forward onto the wood and off the carpet. "Believe me, whatever your oozing, isn't carpets friend."

[yourmove]

Alex pauses, as if he's ready to ask why the carpet matters. Protocol kicks in, he turns his amputated arm so it's dribbling slowly instead of leaking, and he's sorry to say he can't stem the flow entirely.

"Is there somewhere I should sit? Data you need?"

Alex doesn't argue when Mr. Stark indicates that he should join him on the wood floor. He troops over, pistons and servos hissing as they alternate, his armored graphene feet scuffing the wood until he's standing next to Mr. Stark. He doesn't look at him like he's expecting the other Tribute to draw a weapon because in his mind, Mr. Stark will repair him because it's in his best interest to be a model citizen. Refusal will not end well. It starts with verbal warnings and escalates from there.

"Here." Alex hands Mr. Stark his severed arm like it's a bumper from a car. "I understand you have limited resources. 80% of my functionality will be more than enough if you can handle that."

[arrogantalloy]

Tony continues to just stare as all the visual information he's being offered along with the vague amount f verbal information he's getting.

"Okay, I don't like being handed things, so let's just start with that." He starts putting his hands up in the universal gesture of keep it back.

"And yeah, I think I'm going to need some data. Like who the hell are you and why you've come looking for me after apparently losing a fight with the T-800?"

[yourmove]

Alex files that away, still holding onto his arm, the graphene hand flopping with a clicking sound. "Detective Alex Murphy. Like I said, I need repairs. You're in my files as being capable of...creative repairs."

Not approved methods, of course, but Alex believes that he can override that because it's more important that he get back out there. Alex moves to set the arm down on a shelf, careful to keep the dripping to a minimum before he faces Mr. Stake again.

"Can you do it or not?" Alex looms over him - he's not trying to throw his weight around and threaten the man, exactly. It's more like he needs a yes/no answer.

[arrogantalloy]

"My files." Tony comes back with mildly. "Good to know people are still keeping a close eye on those." He pauses to look at Alex who is looking at him with a rather serious face. "Guess this file didn't point out how I'm also a pain in the ass to deal with?"

He gives him a critical look when he's asked if he can do it or not, then slides off the counter to look grab at the arm off the shelf. He starts turning it around in his hands, looking at the wiring and structure inside, his mind working like it hadn't been since he got here, what with this feeling like an actual potential challenge for him. He mutters to himself about components, stripped wires and sheared joints, before turning back to Alex, utterly ignoring everything about him which isn't his arm, conducting the same visual rundown with muttering. Then he finally looks at his face again.

"Really, it says creative repairs?"

[yourmove]

"It said you were 'eccentric'," Alex didn't seem to realize that was the PA way of saying the same thing. He waits by silently, barely seeming to blink and he doesn't even shift his weight from foot to foot to get comfortable like a normal human would. "Unorthodox repairs. You're not on my approval list for repairs."

In fact, he has a suspicion that OmniCorp would view Stark Industries as a rival company. Alex will have to report his breach of protocol after this. For now he contents himself watching Mr. Stark, who seems to be more at ease dissecting his graphene arm with his eyes than having a face to face conversation. Perhaps it's because he's a cop.

"You can fix it, can't you?"

Marvel shop

[frozenfractalsallaround]

Elsa's already been in the shop once, but she had liked it enough that she's been wanting to come back for a while now. It had been interesting, to see what sort of merchandise is on sale for people like Thor. The foam hammers they have for sale had been cute, but what had caught her eye and she's been wanting to surprise Anna with are the giant green foam fists that she'd seen. Those look like something Anna would like, so she's been trying to find a good time to come back.

As it is, today is that day. It seems subtly different since the last time she'd been there, but just the same as last time, it doesn't take her long to spot someone inside. She's always a little nervous when it comes to meeting people she doesn't know, considering they could be the last person she meets.

It's silly, but before she can help herself she reaches out to tug one of the foam hammers into her grip, holding it close to her chest like a weapon. "Hello?" Elsa calls out hesitantly, hoping that he comes in peace. If not, she just hopes she can bop him in the face hard enough with this hammer to make a difference.

[arrogantalloy]

Tony had been fussing about the store before the young woman arrives, taking apart things he had built to make other things, and generally being annoying enough to the others to give him enough space to be alone for the moment so he could only bother himself. When he heard the hello he had just stepped into an aisle of comics, so his head pops up over the racks too look at the woman.

He raises an eyebrow at her.

"Yeah, if you're looking for something to defend yourself, this technically isn't the place to be."

While Tony doesn't doubt she has potential to be a danger to him, Tony's best defense is to dismiss people, mostly because it gives people enough pause to either realise he isn't a threat, or wonder that if he looks like he doesn't care then maybe he's more of a threat than they know.
So as such Tony disappears behind the racks again before rummaging through comic titles to see if anything will help distract him from his restless energy.

[frozenfractalsallaround]

Well, he doesn't seem like he's particularly murderous, so that makes her relax a little. But she does suddenly feel a little awkward when she realizes that she's seriously holding a foam hammer as if it's going to do anything. Elsa lets it fall to her side slowly, trying not to appear too embarrassed about it.

"Actually, I'm not here to find anything to defend myself with," she says. "I'm just here to look around- actually, I wanted to find those... you know, the... er, green fists? They seem like something my sister would like."

But she does note that he seems a little off, even for someone she's only just met. "Are you alright, though? You seem like you've had better days."

[arrogantalloy]

When the girl says she's after Hulk fists he stops fussing at various comic books then comes out from behind them, clearly wearing various clothes that were in the store.

"You mean the Hulk gloves?" Tony points to the gloves that sit high on a shelf to her right. "Your sister has some interesting taste."

He runs a hand through his hair and makes a dismissive gesture, the hand in question has a the bracelet on it that indicates he was part of the jail break.

"I haven't really had a good day since I came here. So I'm doing well enough considering."

[frozenfractalsallaround]

When he points out the gloves, she moves over to reach for them- it's a little difficult with how high they are, but she manages to snag a pair and debates on trying to grab a second one. It feels like the kind of thing Anna would want a second pair of, for some reason.

"She does," Elsa says with a nod, fondness in her voice. "Her name is Anna- she's always been into silly things, so this just seems like something like that."

At his statement, she can sympathise more than he knows. "I know what you mean," she says. "It's hard to be well in an arena, isn't it? Everything is just so... stressful."

[arrogantalloy]

When she mentions Anna, Tony snaps his fingers shortly after she speaks, as he makes the appropriate connections.

"Izzy, no. Elsa? Met your sister, cute. Tiring, but cute. Keeps actually bumping into me."

He comes closer to her but stops at a respectable distance back, sweet looking girl or not anyone here could be dangerous, including him so why put either of them on edge right now?

"The stress I can live with, my every day is stress." After all, you can't be a world class inventor and businessmen if there's no stress in your life, even if Tony does have a tendency to try to avoid some of that stress.

"It's lack of." He makes a vague gesture which really doesn't suggest anything. "Interesting things?" That's not right. "I haven't got real tools to work with here, so arenas are frustrating more than stressful."

The Authority

[molotov]

Honestly, all Molotov wanted was a new camping pillow -- hers was already seeing the effects of being in a fairly bloodsoaked environment, and her hair was gross enough without adding to the issue. The sporting goods store was pretty much ransacked, since most things in there were actually decent supplies, and she had spent most of her time so far kicking away empty packaging. Even things that would be worthwhile didn't have any batteries.

She's about to give up and leave to just try rinsing off the pillow she has when she hears a rack rustle slightly. She drops down and stalks toward the noise, leaving her carbine in her kit bag; instead, she grips hard at a hunting knife she's had since the beginning, when this store was stuffed to the brim with useful products.

It takes Molotov only a moment to climb high enough to see the man distracted by... a paintball gun. Okay. Whatever. He's still fair game. She swings down into his aisle, knife brandished and glares.

"Toys won't help you here."

[arrogantalloy]

There are two things that go through Tony's mind when he sees the woman approach him.

This is not Natasha.
That is a knife.

He looks down at his paintball gun then utilises his best defence. Which is utter disinterest in the situation.

"Well, sure not like this. But I can't take them apart and turn them into something actually useful."

Despite what he obviously has in his hands, Tony isn't completely defenseless right now, after all, on his right hand he has a very roughshod version of his one-use repulsor blaster. He doesn't want to use it unless he has no option, partially because if he misses he's screwed but also because he has no idea if he'll come out of the moment with both his hands intact.

The best he can hope for if she does try to attack him is that he gives them both a second degree burn to give him a chance to get away.

[molotov]

"You have to live long enough to do that," she says, clearly eyeing him up and down, analyzing his threat level. She can see... well, there's something on his hand, something weird and stupid and superscience-looking. She doesn't care about it, whatever it is, since he's obviously making his... hand things out of toys. She will stay the fuck away from it, though.

One of her feet stretches forward, a tentative step. Molotov actually doesn't want to fight here, there's too many people lurking in this area, looking for distractions to use as opportunities, but if this little man doesn't back down, then she won't either.

"If you run now, you have a much better chance of playing with it than if I come over there and try to share the toybox."

[arrogantalloy]

He keeps himself as apathetic as possible to her being a very likely threat to him, though he is still trying to be wary of her.

"Well, I'm kind of liking my chances. I've gotten pretty good at getting out of scrapes here and there."

He becomes more attentive to her when she starts to move forward, he has too much pride to just give ground, but at the same time he's not so stupid as to provoke a physical fight.

"Yeah, I've never exactly been big on running. But how about this? You, don't use me as a place to store that knife of yours, and I don't try to defend myself from any knife based attacks." He pauses long enough to grab up a walkie talkie box only to frown and toss it aside when he realises how empty it is.

"I don't know about you, but I think it's a pretty workable idea."

[molotov]

"Believe it or not, I am not afraid of any defenses you might have planned." It's an annoyed huff more than anything else -- she really wants him to just leave so that they don't have to do this right now. The hand holding her knife is the one she uses to gesture at him, waving it almost dismissively. "How about this: you run regardless of your feelings, and I don't slash your throat from ear to ear? Sounds better to me, really."

Her center of gravity drops suddenly, and she's ready to launch herself if necessary. Which probably really isn't something he should be wanting.

[arrogantalloy]

Her dropping her center of gravity does give Tony pause.

"Okay, yeah threats work on other people. Not so much me. What is even over here that makes you want me to move on, instead of just casually ignoring me?"

Tony knows it's probably easier to just leave, but he's got too much pride to let him just back down, and also he's finding this all weirdly curious.

marvel store

[aboveangrybees]

Steve lays there in the dark thinking about the things he's done while here. Not so much here in this spot or this arena, but his whole time since arriving. The progress made, strides taken, the miles he's gone - no, that he hasn't gone. Because, he has to be honest with himself, what really has he done, what good has come from his actions or inactions? Was the gamble to keep quiet worth it? Was the risk of rescuing Carlos beneficial enough to the end goal? And his stunt in the cornucopia-

Self doubt is something he rarely suffers from, but as the whole side of his face radiates and burns with pain, as he lies here with nothing but time to think, sleep escaping him, those doubts creep and fester in the small spaces of his mind. Kicking up dust in the ignored corners of his head.

He has nothing to prove to anyone. Except himself.

And the doubts there make it hard to feel he's proven what he needs to to keep faith in himself.

As the night creeps on, Stark's pacing is almost like a metronome, but it doesn't do anymore than feed what troubles him. So, he's up, fishing the master key from his pocket as he makes his way towards the front of the store. If the man was going to pace around like a caged animal and Steve have to lay there with his aching face, they might as well exit the immediate cage they're in.

"Come on," he says, not unkindly or as an order, it as he passes the man, not glancing at him for more than a second, keeping the brand on his right cheek turned away from him.

[arrogantalloy]

When Steve calls him like one would a dog, Tony looks at him while not pausing in his pacing efforts. He recognised what Steve was about to do and follows after him without a thought.

Nights in the store were usually the worst for Tony. After all, he was locked in a dark room with the threat of death coming in the morning. It was far too much like his stay in Afghanistan, he had no idea if Steve would use his master key to open up the door for Tony just to feel freer, or because he wanted to step out himself and would have Tony join him just because he had continued his poor sleeping habits.

Either way, Tony never thought about how much this part of their going out would feel like a dog and his master, even if it really looked that way.

As he steps out into the quiet open area, he rolls his shoulders.

"This really isn't make me want to visit any malls when we go back home."

This coming from a man, head to toe in Avengers merch.

[aboveangrybees]

Steve didn't see it or mean for it in a dog and master way, he just is tired and in pain, saying anything more in that moment wasn't even something that crossed his mind.

After unlocking the door and stepping out, Steve shuts the door again, leaving it unlocked. He doesn't plan to be out of sight, so he's not concerned as he tucks the key back in his pocket, moving over to peer over the railing, seeing if anyone is in sight, but the mall is almost dead silent. They'll need to keep a low tone or they might draw attention.

"Last time I visited one," he moves to turn and face Stark, the branded cheek turned away from view, "SHIELD - well Hydra though we didn't know that yet - was hunting Natasha and I down."

[arrogantalloy]

Tony snerks at Steve's mall experience.

"Of course, you she takes to a mall, me she stabs in the neck at a donut shop."

He tries to sound snarky about it, but he can't. After all all she was doing was trying to help him so he could ultimately help himself. After all, you can't do something for a Stark, you can only point them in the right direction hoping they can figure it out from there.

Which they usually do.

But instead of snarky there's nearly a fondness there, not only of the woman they're talking about, but for their own world, where sure, death for either of them was just as common, but at least they could set their own rules at the same time.

[aboveangrybees]

Steve sends a smile Stark's way for that one. He might not be certain, but he's pretty sure he can hear the fond notes in the man's voice. It's nice to talk of home like this, but it's also an added ache to one he'd hoped would fade away eventually. Homesickness is something he's felt since he joined the war, only worsened with time and distance, and now he has a whole world to miss again. It's too familiar though to dwell on much anymore, instead making his mind focus on the gentle swell of pleasant emotions that accompanies it.

"Stabbed?" His tone says he knows the story. "Well, I'll count my lucky stars, worst she did was make me-" he shakes his head, grin getting tight in that way that he's holding it back, "-uncomfortable. But no stabbing, we actually did what we could to avoid that."

[arrogantalloy]

"It was a sharp object being forced into my skin. By definition that was a stabbing."

Tony was more than a little aware that the blonde's tone suggests he knows how the reports at least went down.
Though with how Tony usually acted around her, he wouldn't be all that surprised if she had pushed it in harder than she clinically needed to.

At the same time he also couldn't avoid noticing the pause, glancing at him he also saw his grin tightening. Really their being alone late in the night made it harder to not notice it. So of course Tony's not one to just let it pass.

"Uncomfortable?" His eyebrow raises just enough to show an amused curiosity. "Now what could she do that could make anyone feel uncomfortable that's actually trying to avoid getting stabbed?"