voidtreckerexpress | Good morning

Entry tags:

Good morning

Who: Tony Stark + OTA
Where: Dining Carriage/ Kitchen
When: Month Apple, Day 2
What: Come bug him while he's eating breakfast/ having coffee
Warnings: Language maybe?
Notes: I'll make a note on a tag if it contains Endgame spoilers, but I'll try to avoid them.

Oh god, it wasn't a dream.

Some habits died hard, like his internal clock that had him waking early to a dark cramped space that after some moments confused, he remembered to be his bunk on a train. Moving as quietly as he could, he gathered some toiletries and slips into the bathroom for a shower trying not to wake anyone. From there it's a change of clothes and then the hunt for the one thing that will keep him sane during this trek- coffee.

Wearing one of the red polo shirts he'd been given, Tony arrives at the dining car early. He leaves the wheelchair downstairs in the kitchen, finding for just the short journey upstairs he doesn't need it. While he was in the kitchen, he doesn't protest too hard when someone on kitchen duty fixes him an egg white omelet, toast, and coffee.

Upstairs, he finds a good spot where he could watch the door and settles in to enjoy his breakfast and ponder over the fact that this situation he was in might not actually be a hallucination after all. He sorely misses his tablet where he could check the world news like he usually did over breakfast, but these things happen when you're randomly kidnapped by a freaky train in middle of the void.

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"I did be being, mister Stark." A lie. But the truth would mean more questions and she's still trying to convince him she's not scared. She scooched down the bench when invited, sliding her plate along until she was opposite him.

"Did you be sleeping alright?" Junie had been trying to teach them better conversation skills the last few months. To prepare them for whatever Priestess Elena had planned for them next. The temple, she knew now. But she wasn't good at it, in any way. She poked at the egg again.

He smiles even if he doubts her answer. He couldn't imagine what this might be like for her. She didn't even know what a train or shoes were. Everything here had to be confusing. At least he hadn't heard about her trying to stab toasters yesterday.

"It was alright," he answers, also lying. He watches her reaction to the egg for a moment. "Do you have eggs where you're from?"

"Of course we do be having them. Do you no be having them?" There were worlds that had no eggs? That was a strange thought, but she supposed there were places that had flying long-ships and places that had magic machines and places that had pokemon and a hundred other things she had seen in the last day. A place that didn't have eggs didn't seem too strange, when compared to all of that she supposed.

"Do you be feeling better? Did Priestess Lightning be healing you?"

She had heard his voice in the sky, calling for her. So they had clearly met.

"We do you're just.. you don't look like you want to eat yours." The girl had to be hungry. As upsetting as this likely was for her, he could understand her not having an appetite.

He was considering that when she asks about his condition. What? Light had healed him before he met the girl.. what was- oh!

"Yes, thank you. It wasn't actually for me. I was calling Gwen and Peter- two other kids running around here- that got into some perfume they were both allergic to. It made them sick, but she was able to make them feel better. Did Lightning tell you she was a Priestess?"

"I do no be being hungry." Another lie, she pokes the eggs again. She knows she should eat. It's important so you grow and don't fall over.

Distraction was better. "I did be working it out." It hadn't taken much working out, honestly. "She did be showing me her power."

She hadn't met anyone called Gwen yet but there was a Gwendolyn on cabin 1, A. Maybe it was a nickname. She had met Peter though, they had got sick? Off a perfume?

"Really? I sure was when I woke up." He figures she was trying to cover up her needs like she did yesterday about being scared. He can sympathize with her on wanting to feel strong and independent- both of which he was currently having a lot of trouble with too. He might be over-assuming things, but it was likely the food was just too strange in addition to everything else around here for her to feel comfortable.

In that case, he reached down to a small object sitting next to him on his seat. It was one of his new socks with a flat object inside. He slids it across the table with a grin. "Maybe this will look more appealing than those eggs. I didn't have anything to wrap it in, so maybe you can make a puppet or something out of my sock."

He listens as she explains how she knew Lightning was a priestess and it made sense. It did bring up other questions about the world Buttercup was from though. "Are you from a world that has magic?"

"Yes. Do you no be being?" For a moment that took all her attention. A world without magic sounded even stranger than a world without eggs! She could barely imagine it.

But the sock also had her interest. Why was he giving her a sock? It had something in it. Cautiously she extracted the item, putting the sock safely to one side. She doesn't understand why he had to wrap whatever this silver block was in the first place but she lifts it up and turns it around it her hands, examining it carefully.

Oh. This is a wrapping too, like paper but shiny and crinkly under her fingers. She carefully takes that off too, glancing up at him as if to ascertain whether this was some kind of test, a puzzle or a lesson she was meant to be learning.

Her confusion only grew when she was faced with yellow-white joined up squares. It's hard but softens under her fingers as she holds it. He had said it might look more appealing than the eggs. So...

"Do it be being food?"

"It does have magic, but most people don't know it exists," he explains. He'd been one of those right up until he met Thor. He hoped that beer-gutted unicorn was still out there somewhere in the universe.

When she looks so confused about the sock, he raised an eyebrow. Poor kid never received a present before? He tries to ignore what that thought did to his heart. He smiles at her patiently as she looks to him for something- perhaps reassurance or an explanation? He doesn't know. "It's a present. When you like someone and want to be nice to them, you give them a gift to show it."

He nods when she asks if it's food. "They don't have honeycakes here but they had this instead. It's chocolate." Okay, so there was some debate whether white chocolate was really chocolate and it was often one he had between Pepper, but he wasn't going to get into that now. "Just break a piece off and try it."

A present? She knows what a present was. She had her dagger off Kant with her, it had been in her rucksack. He doubted he gave her the dagger as a present because he liked her though, it was just something that made her more efficient.

But maybe presents worked differently in Tony's world. Something to give someone who you liked and wanted to be nice to. He wanted to be nice to her? Even after she had fallen on him and kicked him.

She hadn't even managed to do as he had asked. "I did be checking the whole lon... train. I did be looking in all the cupboards and even all the bags in the bit full that do be being full of bags. There do no be being any alcohol. No even bad alcohol."

She has broken a piece of the chocolate off but pauses as she reports. Just in case her failure makes him change his mind about this present.

It took a moment for him to figure out what she was talking about. He'd forgotten he'd sent her on that quest. He was fairly certain he hadn't even been serious about it. There was a pang of guilt that she'd tried so hard for something he'd forgotten about. Not to say he wouldn't have loved getting some alcohol if she'd found it.

He notices she's waiting for an answer before she takes a bite. What had this poor child lived through to be so cautious? "That's alright. Thank you for looking for me," he answers gently. "I'm not mad, I promise."

He sits back and watches her, wondering what she'll think of the chocolate. "You know, chocolate is usually brown. The darker the color, the more pure the chocolate or cocoa beans it comes from. The sweetness is added ingredients. There are some in my world who would argue if this white chocolate is even real chocolate, but I've always been a fan of it. Call it a guilty pleasure- not something you can have often, but as a treat every once in a while. If you eat that whole bar at once it could make your stomach hurt. I'd recommend you eat some of it and some of your eggs and toast if you can. However, it's better if you eat the chocolate than nothing. I don't want you to get sick for not getting enough food."

He's not mad. That's good. At least he's not the kind to get mad when a mission was failed through no fault of her own. It wasn't her fault there was no alcohol on this stupid long-ship. Sailors loved drinking so it didn't even make any sense!

She looked back at the chocolate and listened carefully as he explained. The darker the chocolate the better it was, white was as good but it was still a treat. If she ate it all it would hurt. Was that a real hurt or was it like when Taiwin claimed that if she ate all her honey cakes at once her stomach would explode?

She brought it close and stuck her tongue out to taste it, there wasn't much she could taste like that so she bit off a corner and chewed it. Her eyes widened. It was a different kind of sweet than honey cakes. Milky but different than milk and honey too. Sweet filled her mouth as she took another bite. It was delicious. Not like anything she had ever tasted before.

Tony smiles as she face lights up. It was fun to see her discover new things, a lot like it had been watching Morgan grow up. Well, to this point. He was going to miss the rest of it. Still, there was something nice about getting to enjoy this feeling again, even if she wasn't his child.

He waits and lets her fully enjoy her bite before interrupting the experience again. "Buttercup, why don't you tell me a litle more about your life and where you're from? I'd like to get to know you better." What must her parents think about her being gone? He couldn't imagine how heartsick they'd have to be discovering she's missing. He lost Morgan for five minutes in Central Park and he about had a heart attack. Fortunately the girl had just crouched behind a bench after spotting a friendly cat.

"What sort of family do you have?"

She ate the square slowly, savouring the taste. All of a sudden this long-ship train did not seem so bad, if it had treats like this. It doesn't mean she doesn't want to go home, but she can endure being here a bit longer.

She freezes at his question, he wanted to know her better? Was he a spy? Had she somehow done something to make him suspicious? She had been very careful. She stared at the chocolate for a moment, so it had been payment. For information that she had not given yet. A trick to put her in his debt.

She had fallen for it, she's not used to this. Being alone, not having someone to brief her. Not having...

"I do no be having a family." Her voice is casual. She wants to flee into the emptiness but that would just build suspicion, especially if he was suspicious already. But she also doesn't want to think about the fact that that is true. She doesn't anymore.

"I do be coming from Gauig, I did be telling you that already. I do be working in an inn it do be being near the docks. We did be living there all ou... my life."

She keeps the flinch off her face, hopefully he didn't notice the slip.

Unfortunately, Tony misunderstands her reaction. He can see he hurt her by asking her questions, but he believes it to be the topic and not misconstrued payment for the chocolate. He hums a soft sympathetic note and shakes his head.

"I lost my family years ago too. I have a new one now with my wife and daughter, but I can understand it being difficult being without family. I'm sorry I brought it up, Buttercup. I didn't mean to make you sad."

He hears the slip, but doesn't know what it means. He doesn't think much of it, other than assuming she's still recovering from his last intrusive question. He's more curious about her inn work. "You're awfully young to be working. I hope they're treating you well there."

"I did no be losing them." She shook her head, "I just never did be having one, did no be needing one either." She pulled a face at his words. He hadn't made her sad. She didn't get sad. Sad was like scared, liable to get you dead.

She needs to get it together. She knows how to handle scrutiny, she's been able to deflect it for a long time. She pulls a further face. "I do no be being a baby. I do be being eleven." Plenty old enough, "And I did be working there as long as I did be smart enough," She grinned, "Which do be being a really long time."

Her situation and how to react to it seemed way above his maturity level, but he was the only one present. If Pepper were here, she'd be doing a much better job at this than he was. He listened but was unsure how to respond for a moment.

"No, you're not a baby. I can tell you're smart, Buttercup, but you're young and you deserve to be treated well and kept safe from harm. It's the same I want for Peter and Gwen. They're both smart and capable, just like you. But they're young and as an adult, it's my job to keep all of you safe and happy."

It's his job to keep young people safe and happy? What kind of job was that? A strange one? Was that what had gotten him injured?

He was light following, she had figured that much out. But the rest? He fascinated her. So quick to be nice, to give her a name. Quick to compliment her. He clearly wanted information. But what else? What would he do with that information?

She has to think. Remain focused. If she hadn't ended up on this stupid train she would be going to the Temple in a few days. Maybe even today. She would have been alone there, without guidance. She wasn't a baby. She had to focus.

"How did you be losing your first family?" She tilted her head one way and then another. "You did be saying you did be having a daughter who did be being nearly my age. Do she no be working with you?"

She wasn't wrong. Tony does want information. It's like his goal in life to know literally everything about everything. In this case, he figures the more he knows about the people on this train the better he can protect them. And no matter what Sarai says, he knows it's his job to keep them all safe. It's who he was.

Tony is taken back a bit at the question about his family. He hadn't expected her to turn the questions on him, but it seems only fair. "They were murdered," he explains, with some pain in his expression and tone. It didn't seem to matter how many years went by, it hurt that he lost his parents- and in such a brutal way too. He would never forgive Bucky, no matter what Captain said.

The part about his daughter brings some light back and he shakes his head. "No, my world, we don't believe in child labor. Children are supposed to go to school and be taken care of. Morgan will be five in a few months." And he'll miss it, just like all the following years. "She's pretty like you are and smart." She was the best parts of him and Pepper. To him, he couldn't see her as anything but perfect.

Murdered. She watched him as she spoke, he looked sad but a moment later he seemed happier again. She guessed it was true he had said he had gotten a new family now.

She wrinkles her nose as he began telling her about Morgan. "Five do be being much littler than eleven." No where near the same age at all! "How will she be learning if she do no be working with you?"

She knows that in that regard she is no different than any other child. Even children with parents were learning their trade, definitely by the time they were Buttercup's age but probably helping even when they were littler.

"What do school be being?"

Tony has to laugh at her expression. He couldn't blame her, five and eleven were pretty different. To them anyway.

"You'll have to forgive me for my age. You all just seem young and precious to me." He would roll his eyes if someone else criticized his age, but to a young girl like Buttercup, he knows how he must appear. Age was such a double edged sword. It gave him such valuable experience and knowledge, but it made his joins hurt and feel about a hundred some days. Especially lately. He'd never quite felt as haggard as he had since arriving here.

Anyway, back to her questions. "School is a place children go to learn and stay out of trouble till their adults. Some are there for months and only come home for vacation while others only go for several hours and come home every night." He'd grown up with the first one.

It was true, he was old. Even older than Kant. Maybe when you got that old all children seemed the same, even if five and eleven were vastly different.

School was a place children went to stay out of trouble and learn things. Were children so troublesome in Tony's world that they had to be sent away? Even one's as little as five?

"It do be being like the Temple then. But all children do be going there. Do Morgan be going for months or do she be going home every night?" That had to be a lot of travelling.

"The temple?" Tony asks, tilting his head a little to the side, subtly inviting her to share more with him. "What is that?"

He knows what a temple was in his world, but he wasn't going to assume what it was in Buttercup's. This temple could be just like a little kid convent or it could be something else more important. If he remembered correctly, she mentioned priestess earlier when talking about Lightning. Did these children serve the priestess?

"No, Morgan is still too young. She stays home with me or her mother, Pepper. Mostly me though." He had more flexibility with his schedule, after all. Since he'd been rescued from the space ship he'd refused any more public appearances that weren't absolutely necessary. They'd found a quiet home in the woods and he'd been home recovering and focusing on the important things in life.

"It do be being in the mountains." The Temple had always been a place she liked to hear about, there were lots of stories about it. But now she knew she was to go there she was less sure about it.

"It do no be being very warm there and in winter it do even be snowing. But it do be being where people who do be having magic do be going to be learning to be being priests and priestesses. They do be going when they do be being children and they do be learning every day until they do be being grown ups. If you do no be having magic you can be going there to be becoming a Warrior. That do be taking years and years and years of training too."

It sounded very much like Tony's school. Morgan would definitely be too young to go there.

It's hard not to cringe at her speech pattern, but he didn't want her to think she'd done something wrong. It wasn't her fault she'd been raised by people who couldn't talk properly- by his standards. It was entirely possible this was their version of English, however horrifying that thought might be. If he could put up with Thor telling a story, he could handle this.

"Which are you trying to become? A priestess or a warrior?" He asks, curiosu about what she'd been in training for. "Do you know any magic?"

She shook her head, "I do no be having magic. I have no never been going to the temple either."

She stared at the chocolate for a moment, he was from a different world from her. Though she still had to be very careful. But she can tell him, it's not really a secret. "I will be going though. I should have been going soon." Maybe today, or tomorrow. She's lost track of time.

"I will be training to be being a Warrior. So one day I will be being a Warrior and protecting a priestess or priest. They do be being really strong, the best fighters in the whole world."

There's pride in her voice but also sadness. She had always hoped, in her secret heart, that they would get sent to the Temple. That she would become a Warrior like Kant. But now... Going alone. It was not quite what she had thought.

And now she isn't there at all, but on this train with people from whole different worlds.

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