Sorry Always Seems the Hardest Word

[runs_on_batteries]

Who: Tony + Varies
What: Varies- but a lot of apologies
When: Basoon 18 (And 19 and 20.. you know, whenever)
Where: Varies
CW: None, language is a given
Notes: If you want something added here, just let me know

[For Tony, Ash and Renee: Mid-Morning 18]

After the council meeting, Tony had approached Ignis and requested that he let Tony and Ash approach Renee. There were a few things he wanted to talk to her about anyway and, frankly, he wasn't sure Ignis would be able to admit his team had needed help.

So mid-morning on the 18th, Tony found Ash and sought out the young redhead who had done so much for the mission. He spotted her in the dining car and waved in greeting. "Hey Renee, mind if Ash and I join you? You've not been an easy person to find the last few days. If I didn't know better, I'd say you were avoiding me." He, of course, knew this to only be a joke. Why would she be avoiding him?

[For Tony and Ignis: Mid-Afternoon 18]

Tony had opted after the awkwardness in the luggage carriage to give Ignis a chance to cool off. He didn't know if the man would see it that way, but he hoped for the best. When he spotted him in a quiet carriage, he tapped on the door and gave the other man a weak, forced smile. "May we talk?"

[For Tony and May: Over dinner]

It had been a couple days since he'd reacted so poorly to the news of his fate and he needed to set things right with the person who Peter held in even higher esteem than himself- May. So, he invited to have dinner with her. He'd roped someone else into dealing with the meal prep and clean up for this meal. He'd already done his share for the day. Instead, he'd made an effort to set up the table, make iced tea with some berries to sweeten it, and freshen up. She was important, after all.

[For Tony and Peter: Late night dessert]

It had been a long day, but one of those types you had trouble winding down from. He needed to talk to Peter and wasn't all that sure how to do it. Obviously, the right decision then was to seek him out late in the evening when the majority of the train had already gone to bed.

He'd poked his head into the dresser carriage and said quietly (knowing Peter would hear him) 'ice cream'. He hadn't even waited as he headed to the kitchen, knowing the boy would follow.

[For Tony and Reigen: Sometime on Basoon 20]

He felt bad about what had gone down when Ignis and he had been caught by Reigen in the luggage car. He knew what he'd said to the young man wasn't deserved. As he started grumbling about where the little bugger was, he finally found him in the game car.. playing Jenga by himself. Oh the poor bastard.

"Hey, take this, I'm tired of carrying it for you." Or maybe he should've used a more polite greeting. It was Tony, what did you expect?

Comments

[afterburner]

Renee was finishing up breakfast--toast and a couple of hard-boiled eggs that were left over, with a cup of coffee steaming nearby. She was hunched over it in the characteristic posture of someone who'd been food insecure at least part of their life, and she glanced up at Tony, narrowing hazel eyes at his approach. Her gaze drifted over to Ash behind him, and gave the Viis a nod.

"Sure, it's a free train, right?" Renee wasn't exactly going to justify the comment on her avoiding him with an actual answer. Just glance at his neck and the chain there for a moment, then back down to her food.

Next time she'd just take it to go.

[runs_on_batteries]

Well that wasn't quite the warmth he'd expected. It was Renee though and she seemed the type who could get moody. Either way, he was going to assume it wasn't about him. Besides, he thought she and Ash were friends and that wasn't much of a greeting to the bunny either.

"That it is. All the freedom except the freedom to leave," he joked and sat down across from her. "How've you been? Did the weapon classes go well?"

[bombashbunny]

Ash wasn't too far behind Tony, but she did make herself a cup of coffee. She sat down across from Renee, making absolutely no attempt to trap her or anything. If she wanted to go, she could. There wasn't really much for her to say yet, so she gave Renee a nod and took a sip of her coffee. It was her way to defer to someone else unless spoken to or needing to give her own insight, so for now she stayed quiet.

[afterburner]

"I didn't go to any weapons classes," Renee admitted. "Though Edge and I were trying to give Madoka some specialized one-on-one self-defense stuff. Or, well. He was teaching, I was there to give her someone to hit." That was something Renee was good at, anyway. Taking hits.

"I kinda figured, she's so shy, she might not do better in a bigger class, you know?" She shrugged at that--it had seemed like it went well. At least to her. Renee would never say she was a teacher.

She glanced from Tony to Ash, then, brows furrowing. "So...am I in some sort of trouble? Gonna remind you that you were the one who left me in charge of the train when you went blasting off God-knows-where on the last mission, Tony, so if you got something to blame me for, you can turn that right around..."

[runs_on_batteries]

That must've been what he saw and just assumed.. He nodded in agreement that she was shy and that likely had been the best choice. Leave it to Renee and Edge to think of it- who would've thought?

As the tone shifted, Tony's expression changed to confusion. Oh, maybe she was upset at him for something. He glanced to Ash, unsure what this meant, but he was going to take a stab at it.

"Uh, no. I.. we're here to thank you for what you did- are you alright? Did I do something to upset you?" Was she just mad that he'd gone by to check on the blue team? He'd own it if that's what it was, but he needed to know. "I was worried about the kids you all were in charge of and wanted to make sure everyone had made it out safe, but you're absolutely correct. I left you in charge of the train and you have done nothing wrong. You were incredible, in fact. You were the most valuable person in that mission and I wanted to tell you how proud I was of you for that."

Mid-Afternoon

[faithfulsupport]

Somehow Ignis was surprised that Tony was here and yet he wasn't. "Of course." The politeness was there but the crisp tone wasn't. He wasn't sure what this was all about and couldn't figure out why the older man was bothering to come talk to him. He'd politely bowed out of the situation, concurred easily with what had been said, what more was there to go over?

The truth was the truth no matter how it was sliced and served. The only error had been in himself not in the other man.

[runs_on_batteries]

It was expected, but Ignis didn't seem himself when he answered. There was a weakness to his greeting that had Tony's heart wrenching in his chest, knowing the damage he'd caused.

He slipped into the booth across from his friend and sighed. He wasn't good at apologies, but he knew he owed one here. So he opted to start with something else- anything else- but the actual reason he came.

He pulled out of the pocket of his hoodie one of his socks with something inside it and pushed it over to him. Tony gave a self-conscious look at the weird object to put on the table. "I uh.. so I have this thing with Buttercup where we give gifts in socks. It was because I gave her some chocolate when we first got here and I couldn't find anything to wrap it in. She's done it back, which was pretty cute since she has tiny red socks that hardly fit anything inside." They were now hanging up in his workspace and yet not one person has ever asked him about them. It worked out since he didn't really want to admit that story to just anyone on the train. "So uh.. just pull the thing out and I'll take the sock back. It's clean, I promise."

[faithfulsupport]

Tony was acting strange, which was saying a lot. Green eyes blinked puzzedly at the sock sitting now in front of him, and he listened as the story was told. Any mention of Buttercup was always welcome and it helped slightly. The tiniest smile came out when the advisor pictured tiny red socks trying to be makeshift gift bags but his attention focused back on the gift.

Ignis was happy whenever he got anything, so a gift was an unexpected thing. Pulling the object out, the sock was slid back without looking at it or the man who'd given it to him. As he examined it, he realized what it was, and immediately took out his phone. Saying nothing, he went to the gallery and turned the phone around to Tony. That was the picture he'd taken of Tony and Peter napping in what looked like a web hammock.

[runs_on_batteries]

Tony grinned when Ignis seemed to figure out what the present was. It was made of a thin layer of padding and fabric from the chairs he 'recycled', but it was a little case for his cell phone.

However, he didn't get a verbal reaction, which he was surprised about. Curious as to what he was being shown, he leaned in to see and.. he stared in shock. It was enough to get his cheeks just slightly getting a dusting of red. "I.. wow. Uh.. It's too bad we don't have a way to print that off yet." He'd start working on it though. It was very sweet the other man had thought to even take that picture- but embarrassing he'd been caught unaware like that. It took another moment before he could pull his gaze off of it and back to the man across the table.

Now there was only one thing left for him to do. With a deep breath, he pushed forward. "I'm sorry about that scene with Reigen. I.. I know I didn't handle it the best. We'd talked about what we were going to do when we feared we might be caught leaving the bathroom the other day, but perhaps what I said wasn't the right thing."

[faithfulsupport]

"You've more than enough projects on your plate." Ignis replied. "It's too bad you don't have a phone that I can transfer this to in order for you to share with Peter." Tony's reaction had been so worth it and he couldn't help but smile a little.

Putting his phone into the case, the advisor listened and inwardly bristled. His tone remained calm enough with the reply. "You told Reigen the truth. There isn't anything going on other than being mere playmates." This hurt Ignis to even say that, but he wasn't showing it and it was still the truth. He wasn't about to spare himself or his feelings.

Facts were facts.

[mayp]

May hadn't blamed Tony for the reaction he had to the news that he died. It wasn't something that you wanted to hear every day and honestly, she had been hesitant to tell him but knew he deserved to know the truth. She had accepted Tony's invitation to dinner even though she thought there was nothing to apologise for. Stepping into the dining area, she looked around her. "It looks lovely," she said as she took in the effort that he had gone to. "You didn't have to though."

[runs_on_batteries]

"Please, it's my pleasure." Since it was a long table with benches for seats, he couldn't actually get her chair for her, but he offered a hand to help her sit before going to the other side of the table for his seat.

Sitting down, he picked up the pitcher of iced tea and poured her glass first. "How are you settling in? Has some of the initial shock worn off by now?"

[mayp]

May let him help her onto one of the benches, which wasn't something she normally would do. She knew better than to argue with Tony, he could be stubborn from the little she knew of him.

"It's passing, it's an odd place but I suppose it could be worse. I can't say I like looking like I'm in a prison though," she laughed indicating the bright orange jumpsuit that she was wearing.

[runs_on_batteries]

His reputation in this instance was very accurate, although if she had insisted he might have backed off given her reputation.

"That it is." He couldn't argue this place was strange. It was also congested with people. He missed his large, multistory buildings with plenty of places to be alone. Here, it felt like he was nearly constantly on display. The glass walls in the quiet carriage didn't help. He frowned at her complaint about the clothes. "Unfortunately, you get used to them. Although, I believe they've recently started offering other clothes." He might have to get her an outfit or two. "Peter somehow had some of his t-shirts from home as sleeping clothes, so he tends to remain in those."

He, on the other hand, went around sometimes in his undershirt but it wasn't often very comfortable given the cooler temperatures in this train. They worked at least when he worked out. "I meant to ask, we've all been given something from home when we arrived. What was it that you had with you?"

[mayp]

May wouldn't have minded but she wouldn't say anything. "I'm not surprised, it's just a shock for now? It's easier to focus on this than everything else," she admitted after a moment. Easier to focus on the clothes than the whole another dimension, travelling train magic whatever it was. "Still I might look into other clothes just so I have some variety," she mused. She would figure out how to acquire them at some point. she would get settled first.

"Peter's spiderman outfit," she tells him. "I was surprised he didn't have it already," she admits to Tony. "He was glad to receive it though."

[hashtagparkerluck]

Peter usually spends at least sometime in his bed staring at the ceiling in attempt sleep might happen but usually, just like tonight, he gives up after about an hour and finds something else to do. Now that he has a chemistry book again and is currently grounded from video games, he's up in a hammock reading. He's already almost done despite that he only got the book two days ago. He's gonna need to order another one, it seems.

He looks up when he hears Tony step close to the dressing car and takes two seconds to process what he just said. Ice cream? He rolls off the hammock, taking his book with him and landing gracefully on the floor before springing up and following after Tony somewhat akin to an over excited puppy.

Ice cream? Really!? How did you...? Did you make it or did it just kinda turn up? I mean I'd be hella suspect if it just showed up. But hommade ice cream! Ohmygod it's been so long. Is it vanilla or did you manage chocolate? What about strawberry? I guess mints waaay out of the question."

[runs_on_batteries]

Tony chuckled, pleased he could predict at least some of Peter's reactions to things. His enthusiasm was certainly one of the many good qualities he had, specifically when it came to treats. "We're going to make some." He glanced back at Peter with a grin. "So we can make more than one flavor- but no mint! I saw some vanilla and we do have cocoa powder. We don't have any strawberries to make that."

Getting to work as soon as they were in the kitchen, Tony started handing things to Peter. "We need salt, cream, sugar- see if there are any plastic bags in that cupboard." He was still looking around a bit for ideas on the flavors they could use. Oh! There was some leftover coffee, they could do mocha flavored. "May seems to be doing well so far."

[hashtagparkerluck]

Peter stops mid-steps at Tony's words and makes a face before following after him again, enthusiasm never wavering-not really. "Okay, so are you saying no mint because I'm allergic or because there's no mint flavoring? Because I'll have you know that Buttercup, as sad as it is, had never had ice cream, which includes mint and it's gotta be like a full on crime that she's made it this far into her life having never tasted mint ice cream. Or Ice Cream in general." He says sagely as they make it to the kitchen.

"I mean, she likes sweet stuff, I figure that I can live vicariously through her." At least when it comes to mint flavored things. And Lemonade. Although, he might still try to get away with that last one. He sets about searching the cabinets and does happen to find some bags and sets them down on the table. He might have said something about cooking and chemistry being similar but his attention is snagged on the comment about May and he nods. He's in a much, much better mood since her arrival and it probably shows.

"Yeah, she may not look it, but she's tough and... uh. Good at adapting. I mean, you kinda have to be-to be in our family." He says a little more seriously.

[runs_on_batteries]

"No to you, because you're allergic and I'm not okay with you throwing up again." Tony gave Peter a really-not-intimidating-but-please-no look. "It does seem a crime that she's not enjoyed ice cream though. We should fix that immediately."

He started measure out ingredients and putting them in the bags. He ended up with three bags and handed them off to Peter. "Alright now you're going to just sit there and shake these okay?" The kid had too much energy, might as well use it.

He does pick up one of the three to shake though. "Yeah well, all your crazy antics have likely added to that too."

He had something he needed to talk to Peter about, but he wasn't ready for them to get into that just yet. Plus, stalling, it was a thing.

"Hey a few days ago, I told that Danny kid and Raven to come find you. Have you run into them yet?"

[hashtagparkerluck]

Peter just waves the comment off like it's nothing. "I'm not gonna throw up if I eat mint. I mean-I can't eat it. If I get it too close to my face I just feel like I'm on fire so no worries there." Except he can't have candy canes and that's a real tragedy.

"Oh, I see how it is." Peter says jokingly as he takes the two bags and starts to shake them. He's curious by nature and the more he shakes them the more he starts to wonder what'll happen if he shakes them really hard and fast? Will the bag break? Probably. It might be funny though.

"Huh? Oh yeah! They're both cool. Danny was concerned about missing school which, I mean, that's a mood tbh. And Raven kinda reminds me of MJ, a little. I bet I can talk to her about how screwed up the world is."

[internetsexsymbol]

Reigen was still a little hungover after making himself sick from the alcohol Ignis brought him, so that made being social a little harder than usual. Plus he just needed something mindless to focus on, so here he was, playing Jenga alone. He looked up from the precarious tower hearing someone's voice, only to be greeted by someone he didn't really expect to see, honestly.

"You mean you don't just make two cups of coffee for yourself?" Reigen responded sarcastically, before taking the cup from him. Hey, he'd never turn down free coffee even if it was from someone he wasn't sure he was on great terms with. "...why are you here?"

[runs_on_batteries]

Tony gives him an even smile. "Depending on the kind of day I'm having." Tony took a sip from the mug left for him and glanced at the tower. He was about to remark on the probability the piece Reigen had reached for would make the pieces fall when he was asked a surprisingly direct question.

"I was looking for you." He fished in his pocket and pulled out one of his red socks with an object inside. He handed that to Reigen like this was a very normal thing to do. "The sock is in lieu of wrapping paper."

[internetsexsymbol]

"For what? I already told you I'd keep quiet, didn't I--huh?" Reigen looked at the sock gift with confusion, not just because of being handed a sock, but the fact that this was apparently a gift. Being given gifts wasn't something he was used to. Was this a tactic to buy his silence? Would that even be in the equation after what had happened before?

Of course, as odd as he found it, Reigen still opened the gift to see what was even in here. "Do you want the sock back?"

[runs_on_batteries]

Tony sighed heavily at that question. "Yeah.. about that. Look, I know I asked Ignis to talk to you for me but.." He really hated apologizing. It seemed like such wasted time and energy in most circumstances. People were really stupidly sensitive for no reason and they held grudges for forever and.. it was annoying. However, when someone deserves it, they deserve it. And unfortunately Reigen deserved it- basically, by not deserving what he got.

"I'm sorry, okay? I never should've talk to you like that. Ignis was upset and it happened right in front of you.. so." He paused and looked at the other man with a huff. "Yeah, you don't.. give me that." He took the sock back just as a palm sized pocket knife came tumbling out. It had a reddish leather handle and three switches- a blade, a flat head screwdriver, and a phillip's head screwdriver. "I tried to make a wrench but on that small of a tool, it would just break off if you ever really needed one."

[internetsexsymbol]

Reigen was a little stunned, to be honest. He wasn't expecting an apology, or anything really, so it took him a moment to process how to respond. "Oh. Well, Ignis-kun said you guys worked it out, and I did call you an asshole back, so we'll call it even, yeah? Ack--I should probably apologize to Ignis for last night, too. Didn't think you guys would be looking for me after that, jeez..."

Reigen looked at the pocket knife, genuinely impressed at the craftsmanship. He could definitely put this to use for certain 'curses' or other potential issues that needed a screwdriver or a knife. "Wow, you made this...d-don't even worry about the wrench thing, it's good how it is! Thanks! Heh..." He looked at the tool with a tiny genuine smile, starting to feel a little embarrassed. Honestly, all this concern and kindness towards him wasn't what he was used to: first Ignis checking up on him, now Tony? Did he really deserve that?