toblameforit | (no subject)

Alyce walks into the kitchen about the same time Tony does. She's rumpled from sleep - a deep, good sleep - but she looks about a hundred times less tense and miserable than she did last night. She's also working those blue silk pajamas. They're a good color for her, and despite being too big, she feels both comfortable and cute.

When she sees Sherlock, forgetting that his brother is either his twin... or something like that, she smiles with something close to her usual sparkle.

"Hi," she says. "Jarvis is really- um. Helpful."

It's around 'really' that she realizes that she's talking to Tony and not Sherlock. It's the way he moves and dresses that gives him away.

"Good morning."

She clears her throat.

"Haven't broken anything so far."

He laughs.

"Good," he says brightly. "I'm makin' coffee. You want?"

"Oh,god, yes," she says, and she leans against the counter, fidgeting with a too long cuff.

"Thanks."

Wild. They look exactly alike. Sherlock's smile is just a little bit different, she thinks. This makes her wonder whether he chose the persona of Sherlock Holmes to try to be as different from Tony as possible. Both she and Alec went through phases in which they tried to distance themselves from being "just a twin", so she gets that. The thought has crossed her mind that it's not exactly normal to make yourself into a fictional character, but in Sherlock's case, it works for her. If that's who he needs to be, Alyce has no problems with following along.

"'Kay."

Tony gets out a second mug and grabs a plum from the fruit bowl while he's waiting for the coffee machine. His fingers leave prints in sawdust on the skin of the fruit; he makes a face and moves to the sink to rinse off both it and his hands.

She practices a little of that observational technique Sherlock's taught her.

"Um. Been woodworking?"

If she wasn't feeling shy (and sleepy), she'd be a much better conversationalist.

Beam!

"Yep. I got it all figured out," he confides. "I mean, shielding a house against magic, that's easy. You just have to know the right materials; it's big enough that how you put them together doesn't matter much. That's what tripped me up at first, actually, 'cause I was trying to work with scale models and the precision you need to cover a dollhouse is nuts. One splinter in the wrong place and you have to start all over again. A person, though, is doable. Tough but doable."

At this point he interrupts his sleep-deprived babbling to breathe and take a bite of his plum.

Alyce blinks.

Wow. Okay. That's a lot of talking for this early in the morning.

"Oh, good. That's, um, really good."

She's not entirely sure what he's talking about, but his enthusiasm is contagious.

Tony runs a hand through his hair and grins. It comes away covered in sawdust; he doesn't appear to notice.

"I know, right?" Om nom plum. "Man, when is Sherry gonna wake up? I wanna show him the goods already."

"I hope soon," she says.

The goods. Woodworking. Sawdust. Magical protection. Shielding a person. The gears whir in Alyce's brain.

Oh. Oh. Okay, that is cool. If it's what she thinks it is - a Faraday cage for a person?

She's not going to say it out loud just in case she's wrong.

"Me too."

Coffee's done. He pours for both of them and hands her a mug, which means her mug now has sawdust on it. At least there is no sawdust in the actual coffee.

"He's gonna look like a total weirdo," he adds, cheerfully, "but y'know, that's not new. And it's kind of a badass weird. The coat, I mean."

"He doesn't look like a weirdo," she says, but she says it with a happy grin as she takes the coffee.

She doesn't think he does, anyway. But then, she doesn't look like a typical teenage girl herself.

"So you made a protective coat out of-" She flicks some of the sawdust on her cup away. "Um. Wood?"

"I made a protective coat out of damn near everything," he corrects. "The wood is just what gets all over the place."

He eats the last bite of his plum, tosses the pit into the trash can across the room, decides wiping his fingers on his shirt would be vastly counterproductive, and takes a gulp of coffee instead. It's very good coffee.

It is very good coffee. Alyce sips it instead of replying.

Yay awkward silence! She must fill it with... something! Anything!

"So now there's a protective coat. How will you test it?"

Tony shrugs, rubs the back of his head (getting sawdust all over his sticky fingers), and knocks back the rest of his coffee before answering.

"Dunno. Wanna help?"

Because he gave it what he could, but Tony Stark is not a man designed for witchcraft, and this is one product he is not eager to field-test right off the line.

If it could help Sherlock, then hell yes, she'll help.

"Of course."

He grins. "Awesome!"

Pouring himself another cup of coffee: "Like now, or you wanna have breakfast or whatever first?"

Tony is aware that sometimes people need these things called 'food' and 'sleep' in order to function. Quite often he does, too, but right now he is running on a combination of enthusiasm and coffee.

"Food would be smart if I'm going to do magic."

She reaches for an apple.

"Would it be okay if I made toast? If there's bread?"

"Yeah, sure," he says easily. "Help yourself to whatever."

"Okay," she says, munching her apple.

She feels super weird rummaging through a stranger's kitchen, but she locates both the bread and a toaster and starts her toast.

"Do you want some?"

Tony considers this, and then says, "Nah. I think I'm gonna go shower now that I'm done with the carpentry. See you in a few minutes."

With this as his parting line, he wanders off, coffee in hand.

"Oookay," she says, as he leaves.

She gets out the butter and jelly, and, after a couple of tries, finds the silverware drawer. She sits down at the table and butters her toast. It's too quiet in the house. Alyce needs to fill quiet spaces.

"Um, hi, Jarvis? Is Sherlock awake yet? Or do you know?"

"He is still asleep," Jarvis answers. "I expect he will be up in an hour or two."

"Okay. Thanks."

She nibbles on her toast.

"So, um, how are you today?"

She has no idea whether an artificial intelligence responds to questions like that, but it seems like the polite thing to ask.

...Awww.

"Fine, thank you," says the disembodied voice. "And yourself? I was sorry to hear about your difficulties yesterday."

"I'm much better, thanks. I guess you know pretty much everything that goes on here, huh?"

Which is... a good thing, right?

At least he (it? no, he) has a soothing voice.