Stark Industries, Monday

[endsthegame]

Today, Ender had wired his laptop into the hologram system. He was just trying to get some bead on the kind of alloys you'd need to fly a spaceship. He didn't know them as anything other than a lesson or a blink of light in the simulator, and he was curious to know how they fit together.

It seemed like knowledge that could come in handy later. So he found stuff on the internet, and fiddled with the holograms to give him a better look.

[ open! ]

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[memberslonely.livejournal.com]

After getting settled over at the hotel, Lindsay found her way to Stark Industries about fifteen minutes before her interview and was a little surprised to find such a young kid manning the office.

And then there was the fact that a corporation was in such a small town. And the holograms. Okay... this place is a little sci-fi weird.

"Um. Excuse me?" she said looking around the place. "My name is Lindsay Boxer. I have an interview with Tony Stark. Or Pepper. One of the two."

[endsthegame]

Ender looked up over the edge of his laptop, but only a little bit. "Jarvis," he said, "Fetch Stark, please."

Of course, the computer boomed, before it fell silent again.

"Sit down," Ender added, with authority. "I'm not the doorman."

[memberslonely.livejournal.com]

Lindsay paused a moment to see where the voice of Jarvis was coming from only to have her interest interrupted by Ender's "command."

Who the hell was this kid? She raised an eyebrow at him. Too young to work here. Probably the owner's kid.

Great.

"Sorry," she said trying to hold back on the sarcasm. "Didn't mean to interrupt your video game."

[endsthegame]

It had taken him a little time to get used to the fact that people thought of him as younger here. And then, as time went on, he'd gotten unused to it again: his friends had learned otherwise. So, with some impatience, Ender said, "It's not a video game," his eyes flicking up at the holographic display once. "Tony Stark should be down here in a while."

[memberslonely.livejournal.com]

"Great," Linz said, taking a seat. "Thank you. You've been very helpful."

Which he had really but that didn't keep her from being slightly sarcastic.

"Do you mind if I ask you what you are doing?"

[endsthegame]

"Figuring out which alloys hold best in space," he replied. That was enough of a signal if any for him to bend over his laptop again. Maybe practice his multi-tasking.

Not that Ender had ever been bad at that.

[memberslonely.livejournal.com]

Linz's eyes widened a little at the comment. Oooookay.

The kid had to be at least fifteen and he was working on-

Nah. Had to be a joke. Then again.

"Seriously? This isn't some prank everyone's playing on the new girl?"

[not-ironmaiden.livejournal.com]

"Jarvis, transfer the files on the material used in our satellites to Ender's computer," Tony said, striding into the lab like he owned the place. Mostly because he did. "Miss Boxer?"

Not bad...

[memberslonely.livejournal.com]

Linz blinked as he turned her attention to the man who would be her boss. Maybe.

"Yes. I'm guessing you're Tony Stark," she said offering her hand for a handshake. "Nice to meet you."

[not-ironmaiden.livejournal.com]

"The pleasure is mine," Tony replied, taking her hand. "I gather you spoke with my assistant?"

[memberslonely.livejournal.com]

"You mean Miss Potts?" Linz asked. "Yes. She gave me a few details on the job before bringing me out here. I assume you have some questions for me?"

[not-ironmaiden.livejournal.com]

Tony looked her over carefully. "No, I trust her judgment."

[memberslonely.livejournal.com]

"So that's it? I just walk in here and-"

She paused and looked at Tony. It'd been a while since somthing like this had happened to her so it took a moment to realize what he was doing.

"Wait. Are you checking me out?"

[not-ironmaiden.livejournal.com]

"That would be the point of the interview, wouldn't it?"

[memberslonely.livejournal.com]

"Then why do I feel like I'm a piece of meat being dangled in front of a hungry dog?"

[not-ironmaiden.livejournal.com]

"Don't be silly, Miss Boxer," Tony replied, walking over to escort her out of the lab and up to the apartment. "Did Pepper get you situated with a hotel room?"

[memberslonely.livejournal.com]

"Yeah, she did. Haven't checked in yet," she said following him, her doubt apparent in her tone. "Though I don't have a heck of a lot of details on what I'd be doing here."

[not-ironmaiden.livejournal.com]

"Quite frankly, I'm not sure either," Tony admitted. "It's a quiet island save for a few... things. My best bet is she wanted someone else to help her keep me from getting myself killed."

[memberslonely.livejournal.com]

"Does that happen on a regular basis?" Linz asked trying to keep the sarcasm out of her voice. "Or do you just have a death wish?"

[not-ironmaiden.livejournal.com]

"I wouldn't say that," Tony said, moving to put a hand on the small of her back to lead up the stairs. "But strange things have a tendency to happen here."

[memberslonely.livejournal.com]

"Like teenagers working on spaceships-"


Linz straightened her posture at the touch of his hand on her back. Wow. This guy was smooth.

Still she reached out to gently push his arm away. "Let's keep this professional," she said evenly as she headed up the stairs.

[not-ironmaiden.livejournal.com]

"I wouldn't dream of it being anything else, Miss Boxer." Smooth she had yet to see.

[memberslonely.livejournal.com]

"Good. I'd hate to have a misunderstanding and end up dislocating your shoulder," she said with a small smirk.

[not-ironmaiden.livejournal.com]

Tony just gave her a look. "That would just look bad. Injuring the person you're supposed to protect?"

He walked past her, going to the scotch. "Drink?"

[memberslonely.livejournal.com]

"Yes but it would be more fun than a sexual harrassment lawsuit," Linz said playfully. "And isn't it a little early in the day for a drink?"