Tony couldn’t help but laugh at his bodyguard’s words, “oh don’t you worry, I’ve been doing this since I was born” He winked and as the limo pulled to a stop his expression harden and he pulled his sunglasses out from his suit pocket before slipping them on, like a mask it seemed as if Tony Stark became that billionaire playboy without a care in the world. He pulled his known press smile, fake and calculating as Brock stepped out of the limo first, the sea of flashes and screams seemed to deafen the man as he stepped out when he motioned too.
Leaning closer he mumbled, “I don’t shake hands, you don’t know where they’ve been” he smirked at the man next to him before letting himself be lead into the sea of vultures. He gave a few reporters a cocky response that made most people hate him come morning.
He hated all of this, the faceless demons with their cameras and invasive questions, the screams and proclamation of love and ‘have my babies’ he heard constantly was not as fun as someone would think and oddly enough the hand on the small of his back gave him the stability to move forward without punching anyone in the face. Some would say it was the perks of being famous and rich but for him it was more of a nightmare.
He stopped for a couple seconds to sign an autograph from a child who was looking at him with pure awe when a recording device was shoved into his face and he heard a question that made his blood boil, “Mr.Stark! How does it feel to know your weapons were the reason hundreds were found dead? weren’t you suppose to be protecting those people but instead you killed them?” He swallowed and glanced at the child who looked at him in confusion and before he could say anything he was ushered inside.
Ah yes, the dark days when he was too busy partying and being the typical rich kid to see the under the table dealings. When he found out about the deaths that were on his hands he immediately shut down his weapons manufacture division and shifted his companies focus on other technology. Renewable energy, advance prosthetics, medical advancements. But no matter how much good he tries to do, he would always be the Merchant of Death.
Once inside his anger was evident and he squeezed his eyes shut for a moment to compose himself, “vultures, all of them…” he muttered before placing his ‘mask’ back on and showing everything inside as he picked up a class of champagne from a passing servers tray.
Brock BARELY fought back the urge to roll his eyes at Tony’s comment about shaking hands. “You know what I MEAN,” he muttered in a low growl. There were a few hands that got TOO close for comfort and Brock easily stepped between Tony and those reaching for him, blocking the other man easily so he could keep moving.
It was hard to keep a straight face and not cringe or make his DISGUST clear at the questions and strange things screamed out at his charge. How anyone dealt with this on a regular basis was BEYOND him. Why some people WANTED this sort of thing was even further beyond him. What a mess. But, Tony handled it with practiced grace and didn’t seem to let it get to him. He kept a hand hovering just over the small of his back, giving a GENTLE and guiding touch every so often to remind him to keep moving.
When Tony stopped suddenly, Brock TENSED, until he saw him crouching to sign something for a small child. He stayed close beside him, making sure no one bothered him while he did his little good deed. His head SNAPPED around at the question shouted, stepping over, one hand closing around the recording device. “No comment,” he snarled quietly, shoving the offending device back towards the man holding it, FORCING him back a couple steps. The look on the child’s face was enough to make him want to BREAK the reporter’s face. Who the hell does that? “Mr. Stark, you’re NEEDED inside,” he commented quietly, touching Tony’s shoulder to encourage him to move on.
He led Tony inside, letting him DIVERT away from the main crowd. “I know, but you handled that well,” he murmured, turned slightly so no one else could pick up on their conversation. “Just take a BREATH. We’re inside, so you can take a moment before joining the rest of the crowd. Just take a moment.”