2013.08.22 - Appointment Request

This is weird. No, wait. Weird is fist-fighting mutated animals in a sewer system being stormed by yellow clad scientists with beekeeper hats... This? This is just -strange-. Van isn't the one to fidget but right now, feeling this disarmed and painfully visible? He fidgets. In the waiting area outside of Peppers office, getting that LOOK from the secretary lady. He straightens the magazines on the table for the fifth time in a row. He's already read them all in record time. Now he's pondering a second skim through of Better Homes and Gardens. Is this what it feels like to be a civilian? Like an exposed nerve? He sighs. Pushes long hair from his face and offers the Gate Keeper an awkward smile. She wasn't even looking. When she did look? He was still smiling. Okay, now he feels weird. Is he smiling too much? Too much eye contact? This is so weird. He should have just broke in... SO MUCH EASIER. At least then he wouldn't have to consider stacking the magazines for the sixth time...
The secretary lady's phone boops once, and then she is giving Van that stink-eye again. "You may go in to see Miss Potts now." That's all she says aloud, but what's left unsaid is VERY clear: do NOT cause trouble. 
Inside the office, Pepper has just finished a conference call she could not get out of, and that ran over the allotted time as conference calls seem to ALWAYS do. She quickly tidies her desk which consists of moving both paper files and virtual documents displayed through the glass surface, and is standing and smoothing her skirt by the time the door opens to admit Van. "Good morning, Mr....?" Maybe that's why the lady outside was all stink-eye?
"Thank you, ma'am." Van says with a more restrained smile this time. The look she gives him brings the urge to chuckle a little bit but he hides that well enough. The conversation about 'simply having to have a last name' was one he will cherish for all his days. Into the office he goes. If Pepper has seen Patrick without his mask? Well, she's looking at the -same- face. If not? Well, blue jeans and a Captain America t-shirt. It's called blending. Juuuuust your usual cloned, tech covered teenager here folks! Walking on up to the desk, he offers a hand and a bright, sunny smile. "Miss Potts. Just... just Van. My handlers set up the appointment for me. I hope I'm not interrupting anything important but I wanted to talk to you about something, well, special. If not completely insane and weird."
Handlers? That's SHIELD terminology. Interesting. "Wait, you're not Patrick," Pepper says as her face goes serious. It's not a question. She is by no means a 'dumb blonde', and she picked up on the personality differences almost immediately, to say nothing of the longer hair. "Are you twins, or just siblings?" And, finally, she gestures toward one of the chairs facing her desk for visitors to use before stepping back toward her own seat.
Van does chuckle this time. A light, easy sound that comes naturally to him. Oh yes, quite the difference in personalities between the two 'brothers'. "No. I'm not. I could be though if it helps." He says it so easily. Taking the offered seat, he smiles relaxedly as he settles in. "We'll go with siblings for now. Easier to explain that, I guess." Head tilting aside ever so slightly, he takes in a deep breath and lets it out in a calming sigh. "The fact that you know Pat makes this easier though. We're both in possession of something that... well, kind of begs the attention of Mister Stark. He's the creator of something we have. Or he will be. I'm not sure yet."
Pepper Potts settles into her chair and nods slowly, her teal shoulder bag tucked up against her desk but somehow still touching her ankle. "I see. And you're wanting to speak with him about it."
"I am. It'd be extremely helpful to both of us, I think." Van says with that cheery smile on his face, if somewhat faded by the casual nature of the conversation so far. He seems all too relaxed. Content. "It's concerning his armor and... well, mine. SHIELD may have a lot at their disposal but what I need? Only Mister Stark has answers and solutions for."
Pepper Potts can't help but notice the increasing number of Stark-type armors she's been seeing lately, both coming through the building and on the news. It's honestly a little worrying. "Well, let's put something on the books then, shall we?"
"That would be fantastic." That smile of his widens a touch. Did he notice the concern she has? Did she give it away in her eyes? A near completely hidden tell? Van is the the better 'spy' of the cloned soldiers that make up his family. He tends to read people rather well. Go figure. "If it helps, I'm here because I want to be as up-front with him as possible about this weirdness. And trust me, it is weird, Miss Potts."
Pepper Potts nods, tapping at the screen perched at one end of her desk, the other end housing two very different yet somehow still complementary orchids. "I appreciate your candor, Van. It's rare enough these days." After a moment of checking Tony's schedule -- which is nearly completely booked for the next while because of the Expo set to start in just a few days -- she indicates a day on the calendar. "Will this work for you?"
"Well, it was either be up front about it or infiltrate his facilities one by one until I find what I'm looking for. Figured this way would get me shot at less." Van shrugs as if it's no big deal. Just the truth, which is a fun little change of pace for him lately. Leaning forward to look at the schedule, he pouts out his bottom lip a bit and nods approvingly. "That looks good. I'll let my handlers know. My own schedule isn't really mine to make either. Expo, huh? I never got to go to those."
Pepper Potts edits the calendar, adding Van's name and a few other words. "Perfect. I'll make sure Tony knows to expect you." When he mentions the Expo she nods. "Yes. Starts this weekend. If you get a chance, definitely stop by. For the foods that Tony has insisted replace the waffle stands if nothing else. All right?"
Standing up from his seat, Van sweeps that long, auburn hair from his face once again. That polite, sunny smile not having really faded from his face. "Oh, I'm on a very specific diet, ma'am. The food is probably good but not for me. Maybe one of those foam finger things would be pretty cool though." An eyebrow perks upward then, smile dimming but not vanishing completely. "Do you know if Mister Stark has made any headway in nanoscale power reactors yet?"
A very specific diet? Seriously? Okay, if you say so... Pepper ahs and nods, then blinks in momentary confusion at the technobabble. "Nanoscale? Um, not that I've directly heard of... That might be something you'll want to ask Tony himself." Preferably in a secure location because those words combined in that order just sounds ... like a tungsten filament singing as it heats up and starts to glow.
"Ah. Well then, should be a fun conversation." Offering a hand across the table, he smiles all the wider. So bright and happy. Who knew that doing semi-normal person stuff could be so interesting? Nobody trying to ninja kick him. No lasers or psychotic, cloned Asgardians. Just scheduling. Fun! "You know, you're more blond in this dimension. I like it... Oh, you guys validate parking?" Says the guy who web zipped here.
Pepper Potts reaches to shake Van's hand, but then looks at him oddly. "More blonde?" But she doesn't have time to really question that. "Oh, um, yes, just ask at the front desk. Thank you for stopping by, Van."
Taking her hand for a firm but not STEEL GRIP shake, Van nods approvingly. Perks up and turns for the door. "Awesome. I don't have a car but I always wanted to ask that. They say it on television." What weird parting words. Van heads out of the office, a bounce in his fluid, strolling pace.
Pepper Potts watches Van leave, her eyebrows drawn together in mild confusion, but then she shakes her head and dismisses the thought when her phone rings. There is still work to be done, after all.
Category:Log