[Tony agrees with a kind of deadpan solemnity, but he does accept the beer with a nod of thanks. He glances out over the landscape as he takes a drink, noting the definitive lack of nothing much to see.]
So is this a heights thing or are you just feeling dramatic?
[Honestly, it could go either way. And Tony would understand both options, really.]
[It’s nowhere near the sense of comfort and peace he found in the view from the Atlantis control tower balcony, or even a beer on the pier, but it’s as close as he can get.
John misses Atlantis. His city. His people. His job. His responsibility. His purpose. Being too busy to feel alone. Too engaged in just surviving, and making it through the next day, and maybe the day after that, to put much thought into his future, or lack thereof.
All this time to himself, in his own head, is killing him. One of many reasons he’s screwed his way through what feels like half of Riverview. An endless stream of faces he doesn’t really want to remember, minus the few he’s seen more than once, who are somehow more friends than fuckbuddies. It isn’t about the sex. He’s so much more pathetic than that. John hates being left by himself, with himself.
Probably because he hates himself.
That’s where John’s head is while he drinks in silence beside Tony. It’s rude, really, considering he has company. He leans back on one arm to look at him, swirling what’s left of his beer in the can.]
Are we doing names, or is the anonymous thing sticking?
[And that does explain a lot, actually. Tony's known a whole lot of airmen in his life, and that's discounting his own flying tendencies at the moment. There's something freeing about having a birds-eye view on things. Or maybe they're all just adrenaline junkies and they like the idea that they could fall at any moment. Either works.
He does flick a quick glance over though, smiling faintly. He'd wondered, in that moment or so of silence, if this was going to be one of those drink-as-fast-as-possible sessions, but the fact that he's out here at all means his knew friend probably doesn't want to be alone, despite the location.
And hey, if Tony's good at anything, it's distraction.]
As amusing as it would be to have you calling me Mr X or something, it's Tony. Mr Stark if you're nasty.
[John laughs for what feels like the first time in a long time. He doesn't realize how badly he needed to laugh until his head is buzzing with it, a weight lifting from his chest.
Life still sucks, trauma is still trauma, but for a brief moment, there was light. John holds onto it. Knows better than to let those moments slip away when they're so few and far between.]
Name's John. Sheppard if you've got a thing for Little Bo-Peep.
Lieutenant Colonel if you collect dog-tags.
[And he doesn't mean from fallen soldiers.]
So, Mr. Stark, what do you do around here? Other than get drunk in high places with strangers.
[Tony can't help but huff out a laugh at that, thankfully after he's lowered the bottle. It'd be a shame to let good beer go to waste.]
Seems like I am, some days. Surrounded by the Air Force.
[From the faint smile on his face and the way he lifts the bottle to toast nothing in particular, it seems like he doesn't mind much.]
Technically, I supposed to be helping reclaim all that. [A gesture towards the expanse beyond the wall.] The abandoned bits, at least. In practice, I do a lot of tinkering.
[He slides a dry look John's way out of the corners of his eyes.]
Everybody loves a good explosion.
[But as to the rest. Tony stares off at nothing as he tries to figure out how to put everything into words. Most of the time, trying to describe what he does just sounds like he's showing off. Which Tony very much is not averse to, but for some reason at the moment he'd like to be taken seriously.]
I'm an engineer, mainly. You name it, I can fix it. Probably. Or at least make it look more impressive.
I like engineers. You guys have saved my ass more times than I can count. Here, back home, and in Afghanistan.
[The Afghanistan part slips out. Blame the beer, and the fact he'd already spilled his guts to Tony over text before either of them had known each others names.
John's not really the type to share war-stories. He's a soldier, and he doesn't pretend to be anyone else, but there's nothing romantic or nostalgic about the time he spend in the Middle East, or any of the other hot zones he'd flown in and out of.
He holds his beer between his thighs and leans back, looking up at the stars.]
I dated a combat engineer. I swear she built bridges just so she could blow them up. Talk about someone who loved a good explosion.
[One side of Tony's mouth twists a little wryly at the mention of Afghanistan, but he lets it lie. John is obviously not too interested in talking about that part, and it's not like Tony is. Besides, that's just to be expected among military of a certain age, and Tony's mostly used to it.
Besides, it's hard to want to focus on that when they're talking about much more interesting things.]
I don't really specialize. Maybe not civil or mining, but I do bits and pieces of all the rest.
[There's a split second pause while Tony decides whether or not to add anything. Ordinarily he wouldn't but with an airman?]
I always thought Santa Claus would be fatter, somehow.
[That, and most defense contractors don't particular care who's naughty or nice. John's played with plenty of toys that weren't his own, developed by the same people who supply the US military with theirs. He could judge Tony, but he won't. Doesn't see the point in it. His hands are far from clean.
John's a lot of things, few of them decent, but he's not a hypocrite.
As a test pilot, and a soldier, he'd gotten just as excited to try out new and interesting ways of killing people as the rest of them.]
And less attractive.
[Yeah, that's him making a move. With all the subtlety of an A-10 Warthog.]
[Tony flashes him a quick grin at the compliment, but it fades back into something more considering quickly enough. He's never sure how much of this story to tell. Usually he doesn't need to, except in this place, where knowing a goddamn thing about him is a whole lot rarer. You'd think that would make things easier.
He's not quite buzzed enough to be completely honest yet. But Tony's not feeling a need to completely avoid the subject, either. Not with a soldier, at least.]
Turns out you kind of lose interest in building missiles when you take one to the face.
[John stretches his arms out over his head until he falls backwards, so he's lying on his back looking up at the stars. He misses the Pegasus Galaxy, but there's beauty to this moon. Sometimes he has difficulty seeing it, but tonight isn't one of those nights.
Atlantis will always be his home, but he's feeling less like a POW in Riverview with each passing day. It's not the city so much as the people, but John can't deny he's a sucker for the night sky.]
It's kind of sad to think most people on Earth only ever get to see the same stars.
[The reminder makes him twitch, just a little, but Tony is at least well past any panic attacks at the reminder. He's got so many other fun things to worry about instead.
But it does mean that he can tip his head back to glance up himself, even as he slides John a look out of the corners of his eyes.]
[A beat, kicking his legs out into the air over the wall.
Zero fear of heights over here. If he could jump off without pancaking himself, he would. Anything to feel the wind through his hair.]
Being grounded sucks. A guy gets used to zipping through space. Where I'm from, there are so many planets, moons, people... We have our problems, but for the most part? It's beautiful.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2018-04-26 04:17 pm (UTC)[Tony agrees with a kind of deadpan solemnity, but he does accept the beer with a nod of thanks. He glances out over the landscape as he takes a drink, noting the definitive lack of nothing much to see.]
So is this a heights thing or are you just feeling dramatic?
[Honestly, it could go either way. And Tony would understand both options, really.]
(no subject)
Date: 2018-04-26 05:00 pm (UTC)[It’s nowhere near the sense of comfort and peace he found in the view from the Atlantis control tower balcony, or even a beer on the pier, but it’s as close as he can get.
John misses Atlantis. His city. His people. His job. His responsibility. His purpose. Being too busy to feel alone. Too engaged in just surviving, and making it through the next day, and maybe the day after that, to put much thought into his future, or lack thereof.
All this time to himself, in his own head, is killing him. One of many reasons he’s screwed his way through what feels like half of Riverview. An endless stream of faces he doesn’t really want to remember, minus the few he’s seen more than once, who are somehow more friends than fuckbuddies. It isn’t about the sex. He’s so much more pathetic than that. John hates being left by himself, with himself.
Probably because he hates himself.
That’s where John’s head is while he drinks in silence beside Tony. It’s rude, really, considering he has company. He leans back on one arm to look at him, swirling what’s left of his beer in the can.]
Are we doing names, or is the anonymous thing sticking?
(no subject)
Date: 2018-04-27 01:35 am (UTC)He does flick a quick glance over though, smiling faintly. He'd wondered, in that moment or so of silence, if this was going to be one of those drink-as-fast-as-possible sessions, but the fact that he's out here at all means his knew friend probably doesn't want to be alone, despite the location.
And hey, if Tony's good at anything, it's distraction.]
As amusing as it would be to have you calling me Mr X or something, it's Tony. Mr Stark if you're nasty.
(no subject)
Date: 2018-05-06 09:41 pm (UTC)Life still sucks, trauma is still trauma, but for a brief moment, there was light. John holds onto it. Knows better than to let those moments slip away when they're so few and far between.]
Name's John. Sheppard if you've got a thing for Little Bo-Peep.
Lieutenant Colonel if you collect dog-tags.
[And he doesn't mean from fallen soldiers.]
So, Mr. Stark, what do you do around here? Other than get drunk in high places with strangers.
(no subject)
Date: 2018-05-07 07:34 pm (UTC)Seems like I am, some days. Surrounded by the Air Force.
[From the faint smile on his face and the way he lifts the bottle to toast nothing in particular, it seems like he doesn't mind much.]
Technically, I supposed to be helping reclaim all that. [A gesture towards the expanse beyond the wall.] The abandoned bits, at least. In practice, I do a lot of tinkering.
(no subject)
Date: 2018-05-13 04:23 am (UTC)[A sage, slightly tipsy nod as he lifts his own bottle, clinking it against Tony's.]
Sounds like we do the same thing from different angles. The reclaiming part, anyway. I'm more of a breaker than a maker. Good ol' C4.
[Another long drink, kicking his legs in the air. If Tony couldn't tell already, he's not afraid of heights.] What kind of tinkering?
(no subject)
Date: 2018-05-13 10:25 pm (UTC)Everybody loves a good explosion.
[But as to the rest. Tony stares off at nothing as he tries to figure out how to put everything into words. Most of the time, trying to describe what he does just sounds like he's showing off. Which Tony very much is not averse to, but for some reason at the moment he'd like to be taken seriously.]
I'm an engineer, mainly. You name it, I can fix it. Probably. Or at least make it look more impressive.
(no subject)
Date: 2018-05-14 02:49 am (UTC)[The Afghanistan part slips out. Blame the beer, and the fact he'd already spilled his guts to Tony over text before either of them had known each others names.
John's not really the type to share war-stories. He's a soldier, and he doesn't pretend to be anyone else, but there's nothing romantic or nostalgic about the time he spend in the Middle East, or any of the other hot zones he'd flown in and out of.
He holds his beer between his thighs and leans back, looking up at the stars.]
I dated a combat engineer. I swear she built bridges just so she could blow them up. Talk about someone who loved a good explosion.
What kind of engineer are you?
(no subject)
Date: 2018-05-14 05:50 pm (UTC)Besides, it's hard to want to focus on that when they're talking about much more interesting things.]
I don't really specialize. Maybe not civil or mining, but I do bits and pieces of all the rest.
[There's a split second pause while Tony decides whether or not to add anything. Ordinarily he wouldn't but with an airman?]
Used to be a defense contractor.
(no subject)
Date: 2018-05-19 11:28 pm (UTC)[That, and most defense contractors don't particular care who's naughty or nice. John's played with plenty of toys that weren't his own, developed by the same people who supply the US military with theirs. He could judge Tony, but he won't. Doesn't see the point in it. His hands are far from clean.
John's a lot of things, few of them decent, but he's not a hypocrite.
As a test pilot, and a soldier, he'd gotten just as excited to try out new and interesting ways of killing people as the rest of them.]
And less attractive.
[Yeah, that's him making a move. With all the subtlety of an A-10 Warthog.]
Why'd you quit?
(no subject)
Date: 2018-05-20 01:47 am (UTC)He's not quite buzzed enough to be completely honest yet. But Tony's not feeling a need to completely avoid the subject, either. Not with a soldier, at least.]
Turns out you kind of lose interest in building missiles when you take one to the face.
(no subject)
Date: 2018-06-24 04:38 am (UTC)[John stretches his arms out over his head until he falls backwards, so he's lying on his back looking up at the stars. He misses the Pegasus Galaxy, but there's beauty to this moon. Sometimes he has difficulty seeing it, but tonight isn't one of those nights.
Atlantis will always be his home, but he's feeling less like a POW in Riverview with each passing day. It's not the city so much as the people, but John can't deny he's a sucker for the night sky.]
It's kind of sad to think most people on Earth only ever get to see the same stars.
(no subject)
Date: 2018-06-27 02:14 am (UTC)But it does mean that he can tip his head back to glance up himself, even as he slides John a look out of the corners of his eyes.]
'Most' people? You another one with space travel?
(no subject)
Date: 2018-07-08 09:57 pm (UTC)[A beat, kicking his legs out into the air over the wall.
Zero fear of heights over here. If he could jump off without pancaking himself, he would. Anything to feel the wind through his hair.]
Being grounded sucks. A guy gets used to zipping through space. Where I'm from, there are so many planets, moons, people... We have our problems, but for the most part? It's beautiful.
(no subject)
Date: 2018-07-09 07:57 pm (UTC)[Tony considers it, and John for a moment, then folds his legs in front of him and braces his arms on his knees.]
We have space travel, apparently. I haven't done much of it.
[Not willingly, at least.]
Flying, though. That, I'd miss if I couldn't do it anymore.