Return to Malibu - PSL for Arthur

[starknaked]

After certain delightful interludes in the office, as well as teasing the pointman rather mercilessly on the plane ride back to Malibu through teasing looks and comments that wouldn't mean much to anyone but him and Arthur, Tony found himself ready to do nothing but avoid work.

Which left him in a precarious position because he wasn't entirely trying to avoid Arthur.

Sleeping in, he had taken calls he couldn't avoid, made one to Mal that revealed nothing but was designed to ensure she wanted to know more. Having planted that idea in her head, he considered his options. In the end, he went down to the lab.

Surrounded by work, by Dummy and parts and things that could well explode, the chances were good that even if Arthur did seek him out, this would not be a place for the sort of work they were meant to do. It wasn't that he didn't want his mind militarized and protected to keep the suit safe. It was that he was certain that Arthur would do his job, do it quickly and efficiently, and he wasn't quite sure he was ready to let him leave his life. Not yet.

Comments

[specification]

Despite his every intention of booking a hotel and staying separate from the billionaire when they weren't working, Arthur (reluctantly and not so reluctantly) saw the logic in staying at Tony's Malibu home. For one thing, he had more than enough space and for another, it did seem logical to stay there in case anything should happen. It made working together easier as well, since there wasn't a commute.

Militarization was inherently different than your run of the mill (and those that weren't so run of the mill) extractions. For one thing, you worked closely with the client and there was a certain about of trust that you had to build with them. Still, Arthur could say that he had never slept with his clients before...until Tony. But oh, it had been good. Fantastic, really. The teasing looks and comments that Tony had teased him with on the plane ride was unlike the teasing banter and snide remarks that came with the territory in his friendship with Mal and his co-worker relationship with Eames (respectively). This had a certain about of heat laced underneath and he found himself far more amused than he did annoyed or anything else. And...perhaps, wanting to do it again and soon.

It was noon when Arthur finally went to search for Tony. It was Sunday, meaning they wouldn't officially start until tomorrow if that was still the plan but at least this way they could spend more time around each other and getting used to the other. From what he had read and heard, Tony could lose himself into his work for hours so if that was the case, Arthur would easily be able to entertain himself for the day.

After much searching and some well placed hints from Pepper, Arthur finally found himself taking the elevator down to Tony's lab.

Oh.

It was certainly impressive.

[starknaked]

Glancing up as the doors opened, he had large virtual screens surrounding him, showing a plethora of schematics for what appeared to be a flying ship of sorts that he was toying with, his hands moving this part and the next as he worked out whatever issue seemed to have him perplexed.

Smiling at Arthur, he gave a nod for him to come in. "She told you were I was, didn't she," she asked, waving his hands and sending the screens away with that single swipe.

[specification]

He had heard of this technology of course but he had never truly seen it. It was absolutely interesting and fascinating. Arthur stepped further into the lab after the doors opened for him and smiled. "She did," Arthur said, looking around. "It's interesting to see how far technology has come - especially coming out of Stark Industries."

He was dressed casually - slacks and a casual button down shirt. "If you're busy, I can go," he said, looking at Stark.

[starknaked]

"She's a horrid, wonderful rat," he said with a smirk, moving to a work table where a hand built replica of that same ship lay. He tinkered with something, a small action figure of a man less than finger length with an eye patch. "Yeah, we're cutting edge of the cutting edge. Most of this stuff will never see the marketplace either. Like this thing. Private commission for a private organization I'm not good enought to play with, though they want me to play," he admitted, flicking the figure.

He glanced up at Arthur, laughing softly. "What makes you think I'm busy? I mean, this is what I do. If you're going to back down every time I'm in the lab, we'll be here until next year."

He perched on a stool, watching Arthur. "What do you do for fun?"

[specification]

His lips curled up in amusement as he walked closer and looked over the ship. "I can't imagine anyone not wanting to play with you," he said, maybe a tad bit dryly but there was still an edge of humor there.

Arthur looked up at him and raised an eyebrow. "I'm not backing down. It's still Sunday so you technically have the day off. Now if this was tomorrow, I would be asking you why the hell are you avoiding work (definitely not him). Not this work but the work that I'm involved in." He smirked. "So no, I'm not planning on 'backing down' every time you're in the lab." He wanted to make that clear. He wasn't the best by being a push over.

He shrugged a shoulder and looked over the model, taking in every detail. "A little bit of this and a little that," he said, looking up to give Tony a grin. "When I'm not working? Attend museums, amusement parks, movies, traveling and running." Despite popular opinion, he did like to do other things beyond research and read.

[starknaked]

He laughed at that. "The government isn't really fond of me and my inability to play well with others," he pointed out with a chuckle.

"So you're willing to risk your way down here," he asked with a smile. "Don't you think that's a risk? Dummy could think you're on fire."

Even as he said it, the robot moved up on his hydraulics, the face of it tilting, acting honestly as if he was looking at Arthur. When he moved, so did Dummy, tracking him. "See? He likes you. I'm sorry."

"Amusement parks? Huh?'

He grinned. "Jarvis, protocol nineteen nineteen," he said, moving his hand.

A virtual rollercoaster suddenly wrapped around the room, surrounding them. "Want to play with the ultimate in simulation programs?"

[specification]

"I do remember you mentioning something like that and yet I still can't see where they would ever get an idea like that," he said, tone still dry but giving Tony an amused smirk. "They're not exactly fond of me either," he admitted. "Though the feeling is mutual so I'm not concerned."

He raised an eyebrow and watched as the robot moved closer and moved as he moved. "That means he likes me? How can you tell?" He was genuinely curious. "And why are you sorry?" There were worse things than having a robot like you.

All thoughts of robots and robots feelings slipped from his mind once the simulation started up. Christ. He turned to look at Tony with a large grin. "Is that even a question?" The Arthur standing before Tony wasn't the point man Arthur that everyone knew - this was just Arthur. The man who loved roller coasters and amusement parks.

[starknaked]

"They're horrid people doing worse crimes than you and I would ever do and that, in the end, is their problem. They hate competition," he pointed out, smirking.

Dummy, despite the program, moved closer to Arthur.

"It means he thinks you'll protect him. He's probably right," he said, not trying to hide his fondness for the robot.

Grinning, he pointed out a panel on the wall. "Go and press your hands flat to that so that you're programmed for the virtual monitor."

My mind thinks that when Arthur does so, Tony soon finds out about the name Calvin soon after! LOL!

[specification]

Arthur had to agree with him on that. They were doing far worse things than even criminals and men like Tony did. He said as much to Tony. In the end, all he could remember was what they put people like him and his fellow soldiers through in the name of science and dreams. Half of the men he originally started out with had succumbed to madness or worse. Arthur couldn't find it in himself to regret joining the dream share project but it didn't make what they did any more right or wrong.

His lips quirked up when Dummy moved closer to him. Oddly, Tony was right - Arthur would protect him. If you had told him that some kind of robot would have taken a liking to him last week he would have scoffed but this was Tony Stark and a part of his genius. Normal rules didn't seem to apply. "He's probably right," Arthur agreed.

Arthur grinned and moved over to the panel that Tony had indicated and placed his hands flat on it, not exactly sure what to expect.

[starknaked]

Tony watched Arthur, a twitch of his lips showing fondness, though for Dummy, the point man or both was up for interpretation. Whatever it was for, he waited until Arthur was connected to the system and then he moved to start punching at the air as one might a touch screen. “All right. Here’s your controls. You can do just about anything you want and it doesn’t have to obey the law of physics. Except, you know, if you do it too poorly, the little people will fall out or be squished by G forces,” he said with a chuckle, amused obviously by his own programming. “But that’s how you find out what you’ve done wrong, right? Better here than with real people.” He stepped back, giving Arthur a nod. “You’re up.”

[specification]

If Arthur noticed anything, he didn't mention it. Instead, he walked back over and looked over the controls, studying it. He chuckled and sent Tony a smirk. "You can't laugh if I don't figure it out right away," he teased. There was a bright spark in his eyes though that said in not so many words that he didn't care if he did it wrong or right - it was just about enjoying himself for now.

[starknaked]

"You kill virtually people and I will laugh," he said, not going to lie about it. He laughed at himself when he did it. "But beyond that, no laughter. Promise."

Okay, maybe he would at a lot, especially with the way Arthur was smiling. "Have at it."

[specification]

Arthur chuckled, nodding his head. "I would too," he admitted, knowing himself and the given atmosphere between the two of them. He gave Tony a grin before turning back to the controls and giving it a shot. It took a few minutes for Arthur to get the hang of both the technology and what he was supposed to do but soon he grasped it. It wasn't too much longer after that, that Arthur would, every once in a while, intentionally do something wrong in order to watch the virtual people falling out. If anyone he normally did business with saw him now, they would wonder if he was even the same point man.

[starknaked]

For Tony it was a delight. He did this often for his own amusement, and had shown it to Pepper but most that ever saw the lab were there for business. Or insisted on business though more often than not, Tony worked hard to avoid it. Arthur though, he seemed to be willing to leap right in.

“Remember, you’re working on virtual space. You can do things here that true architecture would never support,” he noted with a laugh as the people went flying out due to the centrifugal force.

Moving his hands, sections of track moved and rearranged themselves, spiraling downward from a steep peak and then dipping down below the floor, unseen though he picked it up a bit further down and, when activated, they disappeared through the floor, coming back up on the other side.

“You can make them virtually aware of that and they panic too,” he said, shrugging at the programming he himself had written.

[specification]

"So like the dream space," he mused once Tony said he could do anything here that the laws of gravity and physics didn't apply. He chuckled and watched as the people flew out of the carts.

Arthur made a soft noise and started to move pieces together this way and that, manipulating the track so that it never ends and reverts back on itself. Effectively, what he was trying and hoped to successfully create was a paradoxical roller coaster filled with twists and turns and upside down spots where it folded back in on itself. "So you built this," he asked, looking over at Tony as he arranged pieces of the track and put it back together. It was a pointless question of course, it had Tony Stark written all over it but still - Arthur was amazed. Truly amazed.

[starknaked]

"From what Mallorie told me, yeah," he said, nodding. It sounded a lot like the things she had told him, if he was honest about it. And some of it may have come from playing at it without being ready to enter the dream world as she had often invited him to do.

"The simulation program itself? Yeah. It only works with the same virtual screen program itself and I'm one of the few that have a fully working prototype of it," he admitted. "Because I created that too."

[specification]

"It's really impressive," Arthur said, giving credit where credit was due. Because it truly was an impressive simulation and program. He might be intelligent on his own merit but he was on no where near Tony's level of intellect.

"I'm surprised," he admitted, sparing him a glance. "You two are such good friends -- she must have invited you into a dream before. Did you never want to?"

There was something about being around Tony that allowed Arthur to feel comfortable enough to lower his guard and to enjoy himself to this degree. He was usually the so-called stick in the mud point man around all others but...well, come to think about it, he was more like his old self with Tony. He was more like Calvin -- the man inside the point man who wasn't nearly as uptight as most thought and knew how to enjoy himself.

[starknaked]

He shrugged, folding his arms over his chest. "I thought about it but there was something about it. Still makes me nervous." Facing his dreams, his subconscious possibly revealing things he never wanted to talk about, that was something he worked hard to avoid facing. "She offered several times but I declined, then Cobb didn't want me around. Something about chocolate covered strawberries and chocolate dip."

"Why didn't you ever sleep with her," he asked, taking a stab in the dark.

[specification]

Arthur nodded. He could understand that feeling. It wasn't exactly something that many people wanted to face because you couldn't hide from your own psyche nearly as well as one might hope. He made a slight face at that. That's something he didn't exactly what to hear either.

"It was never like that," Arthur shot him a look. "I care for her and adore her but it has always been more of a familial feeling with her than it was a romantic one." He turned back to the track in front of him and tilted his head. There was once a time when he thought of her like that but when it came down to it, it just wasn't like that.

[starknaked]

Tony blinked at that, staring at Arthur. "Wait. Never. You never thought of her like that? Did you ever see her in those vintage swimsuits she wore? And you never thought of her that way," he asked, stunned. "Are you actually gay? Or just for me?"

[specification]

"Trust me, I've seen but just never thought of her in that way." He paused and looked at Tony with a smirk. "You realize that men and women can in fact care about each other without having thought of the other in a sexual sense, right?" He shrugged a shoulder and looked over the track he was building closely.

He bit out a laugh and smirked at him. "I'm bisexual and I won't deny that she's beautiful because she is but it's just not like that and hasn't been."

[starknaked]

Tony was impressed. He had worried after he said it that Arthur might get pissed, and it wasn't like he wouldn't have a reason to either.

"I've heard these rumours but I'm not sure I believe in them," he said, smirking as he watched Arthur work on the roller coaster track.

"If Cobb asks, I never mentioned this," he said, sliding his hands into his pockets. "I'd like to keep him from forbidding me from seeing her entirely."

[specification]

"Well now you have living proof right in front of you," Arthur said, sending him a smirk. He could feel Tony's gaze as he set up the roller coaster track. He tilted his head as he looked it over and studied it silently. It would just be like a roller coaster if there weren't any lines or a place to get on and off at. Still, the track folded back in on itself and it actually looked pretty cool. He expected most of the virtual people would either fall out or be sick by the time he stopped it.

He chuckled. "I don't plan on telling him anything," Arthur looked over at Tony. "Doubt he'll ask, anyway. He's not exactly supposed to know." Arthur had gotten a call from Mal not too long before he started looking for Tony asking when he planned to come for dinner. As it stood, he was going to try and make it out to LA by Friday to have dinner with them and the kids.

[starknaked]

Moving to stand behind Arthur, he ran his hand along the narrow line of his hip. It was almost possessive, caressing the lines of his body. "But men and men that you deal in different ways," he asked, chuckling as he leaned down, kissing the back of his neck.

"Just don't want to make life more miserable for her because of a past before he ever knew her," he said with a snort, nipping the back of Arthur's neck.

[specification]

Arthur felt the heat from Tony's body and couldn't help but lean into that possessive touch. He hummed and tilted his head for that kiss and licked at his bottom lip. "There is a man," he said, his voice a little lower than he had intended. "That I've been having sexual thoughts about," he admitted before continuing. "A very distracting man if I must say." His lips curled up and glanced back at him with a teasing wink.

He started up the track and watched as the cart started down the track going through the loops and twists and turns before the track folded back in on itself and started all over again. He smirked and bit back a soft moan. Oh, he liked that. "No, I wouldn't want that either," he said. "Going to dinner with them on Friday." Arthur wasn't sure why he felt he had to share that but he did it regardless.