“As old as you can get…” Tony repeated in exasperation, looking at his Sim self more closely. If he ignored the grey hair – which was probably closer to reality than he would admit to himself – the man was close enough to looking like Tony, but it was clear that Cassie had been having fun creating caricatures of the original Avengers, saving all of the flattery for her team instead. Tony got it, he understood. Team (or family) loyalty and all that. “Why does Nat look amazing and everyone else is a mess? Carol too! That just screams favouritism, Cassie.”
The whole situation just reminded him of walking around IKEA with Sharon, seeing in the mirrors just how damn old he was getting. He remembered Bruce mentioning once that he was older now than his parents had ever been; Tony hadn’t quite reached that stage, but he was getting there, especially with his mom. It was a strange thing to think about, all things considered, but he wasn’t having some kind of midlife crisis or anything – after all, it was more like an endlife crisis with his heart in the current position that it was struggling through. It was easy not to think about his health issues when the world was at war and the Syndicate were roaming the streets, when he could chalk his chest pain down to stress over the Panel, but now that had all blown over, the Syndicate seemingly disappearing, everything was calm enough for him to start fretting over that instead, too.
God, when had Tony Stark became a worrier? (The day he was born, realistically, but Tony was always good at ignoring his own sentimentality. It was a coping mechanism, at the least.)
“Now that’s just inaccurate,” Tony said, pointing to the screen. “Sure, Steve’s taller than me, but he’s blond, tall and handsome in real life too. Nat is the smallest Avenger, height-wise speaking.” He would die if he ever said that out loud though. Nat would, of course, be the one to figure out how to stab him with one of Pepper’s stilettos, probably while Pepper watched. Recorded it. The works. “The neighbours. Please tell me the neighbours aren’t someone we know. If it’s Reed Richards I’m setting my own Sim on fire to join Clint. Sue’s alright though.” He hadn’t talked to her in a long time; they went far back. He wondered how the kids were doing, but was mostly just pleased that the Richards family was out of the firing line, getting a little bit of a retirement.
Tony nudged his shoulder against Cassie’s as he leaned over to look at the screen again, an amused grin on his face. “Mean,” he said simply, though she would know from his tone he was only joking. He doubted they ever took anything seriously when they were together – unless they were in a fight, or either one of them were injured. Cassie was a little ray of sunshine in the middle of the day, always had been. Her and Sharon were the kids that played around in his workshop, and he had a special place in his metal heart for both of them. Family was more than just blood; he had proven that over and over again. “A day and a half,” he repeated. “Albeit I have moved things a lot lately. I should probably just get Jessica to do it but my ego wouldn’t allow me.”
Watching his Sim and Steve’s interact brought a laugh tumbling from his lips, but it also made Tony a little bit melancholy. Everything was coming together now. The Avengers were re-banding. The Accords were sidelined in the midst of another foe. For all accounts and purposes, it was business as normal, back to how they had been, but there was this gulf between them now, particularly Tony and Steve. They didn’t agree on a lot of things, and where that had once been a strength, allowing them to find a compromise that worked better than any individual plan, it was now a roadblock threatening their potential to work together. Tony changed the control to his Sim and clicked on Steve. He cycled through the social interactions before settling on ‘Get to Know.’ Starting over again, he supposed.
“Believe me, he was caught in that outfit a lot in MIT,” Tony said with a gleeful grin, actually finding himself having a good time, and maybe it said a lot that he was surprised he even knew how to laugh these days. He took the laptop, placing it on the edge of both of their knees so they could both see the screen. “Rhodes was the pinnacle of fashion back then, believe it or not. Frat guy was the go to – he was the most popular guy in the whole damn class, everyone loved him.” That was part of the reason why Tony was so surprised when Rhodes chose him to befriend rather than any of his other options. He was hardly the coolest guy in the class. He just spent his time in the corner tinkering with a bunch of robots. Clearly, Rhodes had seen something in him that even Tony hadn’t; though that went without saying.
“You fought the Syndicate? Were you okay? Did they use the gas?” When she continued on and explained that Mockingbird and the Flash came to her assistance, Tony allowed himself to relax a little bit – and his heart thanked him. “I bet you came out on top though, right?” That was basically a given considering she was sitting on the sofa right now, but Tony needed to say something to stop the worry in his chest from overwhelming him. “Bobbi’s amazing. I haven’t met the Flash, but I heard from the other Strike Force members that he’s a good guy. I’m glad you had someone with you.”
Tony let out a sigh. “Yeah, it didn’t go so well,” he admitted. He wasn’t surprised that people had been talking about him, Carol and Thor’s attempt to take down Attilan’s walls, but it still stung his ego a little that their defeat had been documented. “We were cocky. Didn’t give the Syndicate enough credit. They were stronger than we were expecting.” He paused for a second, just as his Sim self started dancing in the middle of the kitchen in his underwear, Rhodes watching with a frown. “That’s why it’s so hard to believe that they’ve just disappeared. Where did they go? They had the war won! Or at least had a good shot. It’s all very sketchy.”
He shook his head. “No, of course not,” he said. “I’ll make Pep, put her in there, and his niece, Lila. Maybe the whole Rhodes family so I can go round to see them. Isn’t there a cheat or something to make us billionaires? Because it seems like there should be.”
cassie looked up to all of the avengers for many different reasons. even in the game, where most looked a little stranger or older than usual they tended to have some of the best traits. “have you seen nat and carol lately? they always look good, no matter the occasion. i gotta add bobbi, too now.” and much the same as nat and carol, bobbi would look fabulous and be able to kick the ass of the male characters in the game.
cassie tried not to look too amused by the whole situation. tony seemed like he was coping with how his character looked but she knew from experience that people could be incredibly touchy about their age and their height. still, she couldn’t resist but to tease him just that little bit further. “well, maybe i made nat’s height suit her power, status, and attitude. you know, how tall she acts. and that would make her taller than all the rest of us, for good reason.” it was just a bit of fun though, and honestly, maybe she had made all the heights a little different just to mess with tony. she brightened up as tony continued and honestly that was a brilliant idea.
“that would be the best. come on, you’d love living right next door to mr richards. i mean, probably it wouldn’t be the best for this neighborhood. I can only imagine the kind of crap and stupid experiments that would go on as you try to one-up one another.” the whole place would be on fire, not just clint - though at least clint would have the experience now to get on with it. “maybe i should make that happen, that could be cool. and besides, i think my little sim town needs a big celeb and hot guy like johnny storm around. that could be cool.”
she gave an amused grin herself at the nudge, glancing over at tony before looking back to the screen. it felt nice to be just joking like this, and to have someone else around. with her room-mate moved out now and the young avengers mostly all busy it was good to have company. cass was a people person, and she really needed others around. and when cass needed time out and someone to hang out with tony was up there by the top of her list (admittedly the young avengers were top off the list, you know, since they were her age and all).
cassie had known tony since... practically forever. he had played a large part in her life growing up, even though their situations changed a lot. cassie almost felt bad for the number of times he must had had to eat the horrible concoctions she’d cooked, and for all the tech he’d likely had to fix after she wanted to take it apart. cassie far preferred taking things apart and seeing how they worked rather than putting them together. poor tony, she must have been the cause of many a headache. but still, she got along well with him and had always enjoyed any opportunity to spend time with her honorary uncle. the tower didn’t feel as cosy as her childhood home because of its size perhaps, but it certainly held many happy and warm memories inside. tony had been a constant in her life, just like her parents, just like the young avengers now were. it was only now, as she grew older and began to see more of the world she realised and began to think about how much pressure he had on him. and to think his health a bit more.
she was pleased to hear him laugh, and cassie watched with amusement herself as tony and steve interacted. cassie didn’t know the full extent of how the avengers ‘break-up’ had affected tony, but she knew that the pain or maybe betrayal had to have run deep. was it weird for him seeing the game characters interact? but since things with Orse’s panel were now over, surely things could at least start to go back to normal. maybe. hopefully. when the avengers broke apart it really affected everyone. cassie realised her belief and trust in the group had maybe been so high it was childish, but it had felt awful to see them fight one another.
she perked up from the darker thoughts as tony continued, and his words on rhodes made her laugh. “no way. i don’t believe that. i’m going to need, like, picture proof of this.” even with the sim in front of her dressed in that outrageous get-up, cassie couldn’t truly picture rhodes like that. it just didn’t seem to suit him! he was... well, maybe uptight was the wrong word. strict? logical! that was it, calm and logical - that was the best way to describe him. and those clothes just didn’t fit that picture. “i can completely believe he was the popular one but honestly... those clothes? no way, it’s not him. are you sure this outfit isn’t something you’d have worn? come on, you can tell me. didn’t you wear these things too?” cassies own taste in fashion varied. mostly she went with whatever the hell was comfortable. and affordable. she was a brilliant thief but since she knew so many heroes and preferred to help others she never really ended up using that talents. simply couldn’t bring herself to steal to help herself out. so mostly it was hoodies and jeans, band t-shirts and shirts. whatever she had that was actually washed.
aw. she knew she shouldn’t have brought it up. over-protective mode was never much fun. nice to know he cared, but she didn’t need him stressed. “of course i was okay. look at me! i’m fine, right? and like i said, i had mockingbird and the flash there to help out. there was never any real trouble.” but she didn’t think that would appease him. “it was a little dangerous. they had the gas but didn’t end up using it. i was sort of cornered at first, but you know me. i’m great at getting out of that kind of situation. and they’re gone now, right? disappeared. its fine.”
or hopefully it was fine. as she listened to tony speak she realised just how odd it was that the syndicate had disappeared. had some hero taken them out and not claimed credit? how could a group so large just vanish? she wasn’t going to complain, but it was weird and unsettling now... tony was right, those questions would plague her now, too.
“maybe there leader was taken out. maybe they were just scared and with everything else that has happened they fell apart. i guess they could be working in the shadows, but those attacks must have taken a lot out of them too!” sure, lots of good people had been hurt and cassie hated that. but they’d really showed the syndicate a thing or too. “are you alright? really? it’s so... so weird. i can’t think of the three of you being beaten. maybe they knew you’d be coming...” but that couldn’t be right either. none of the three of them would have told on the others or been involved in a cult so disgusting as the syndicate.
she turned her attention back to the game, though questions of the sydnicate still floated around in her mind. still, she was glad of the distraction. “good choice. pepper is needed, maybe she’ll stop everyone getting set on fire. show you a thing or too.” she laughed, then said, “oh definitely. definitely.there’s a code for that. thing is, that’s cheating. i’d like to see how you cope with like, no money whatsoever. buuuut if you get stuck i’ll find a way to get some money.”
“its a good game. its fun making all these people i know and throwing them together. its weird cause like... nat and clint grew close in the game too, right? destined to be. and you and bruce hang out a lot as well. thats not always a good thing. you guys burnt parts of the first house down.”
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