2012-07-16 Seconds

Stark Tower. No. Tony Stark's Office. It takes some major stuff going on to get into this office... without an appointment. Luckily, there's appointments made for all the Stark Future applicants and since Tony Stark is going to be in the office anyway, today, he might as well knock 'em all out at once. Easier. And less anger from the Potts.

Currently, Tony Stark is sitting at his desk, feet up on it and relaxing. There's no paperwork or anything on his desk because it is hardly used. He's playing with his S-Phone, as per the usual and the door is wide open to await the arrival of the first of what is probably many Stark Future applicants.

The last time Stephanie was here, she ran in nervous and late and very possibly may have made it to this second round for no other reason than because Pepper Potts had pity upon her.

So this time, she's ready--ish. She's wearing a nice white blouse, black skirt, and white blazer; the latter was pulled from her mom's closet on the way out of the house, so it's a little big on her. She's got a portfolio clutched to her chest, but the only things inside are her rail card, her last report card, and a grossly inaccurate biographical comic about Tony Stark's life. Today, she is better than on time: she is early. After a quick doubletake at the relaxed CEO in his unguarded office, she gingerly steps inside, waving a little with her free hand.

"Hi--Mr. Stark? My name is Stephanie, I'm sorry if I'm--" She squints at his empty desk for a moment. "... well, anyway, it's an honor, sir," she finishes as she looks back up at him.

"No Mister Stark. I'm Tony. Mister Stark sounds hold and not nearly as awesome." Tony swings his feet down and sets up at this desk with a bit more pretend authority. "Go right ahead and sit down and we can get this show on the road, alright?"

Tony puts his phone down and click-clicks at the screen, which pulls up a holodossier of Stephanie Brown, her application and whatever notes Pepper wrote on her. It's all hovering there right in front of Tony's face and is totally readable backwards if Stephanie can pull that off.

"Pepper deals with all the hard hitting questions so don't worry, relax, we're gonna' go with the easy ones. Like say... how much do you love Stark Industries?" Oh brother.

"I--"

Is--is this, like, a radio contest? Is she supposed to scream 'I LOVE STARK INDUSTRIES!!!' for the internship and Lila Cheney tickets? Stephanie's mouth begins to move as she considers trying to do just that, only to shut before any sound comes out. Her brow furrows.

"A--a lot?" she tentatively murmurs.

Beat.

"A... whole lot?"

"Excellent Answer." Tony says and makes a big green check on the box on his holoscreen. Then he's stroking his chin, as if he's trying to really come up with something better to ask. Or something that might be a bit more hard hitting. Something that might actually shake up the way this interview is going. He's even peering through the holoscreen to make sure his eyes are looking all scrutinizing and stuff. Rar.

"Who is your favorite super hero and why?" comes the next question. Funny how there's a huge Iron Man poster on the wall above his desk, isn't it?

"Superman," Stephanie immediately says, not wanting to be caught off-guard by another one of Tony's questions. Her eyes flick to the Iron Man poster as soon as the Man of Steel's name leaves her mouth, and a bolt of panic shoots through her.

"Be--" she swallows and forces herself to focus on Tony. "--because he seems like he genuinely cares about /everyone/, even if he can't actually be there for everyone; it seems like he's trying, really hard." She slowly exhales, addled nerves relaxing somewhat. "I can respect that," she quietly finishes.

"Correct again! You're getting good at this." Stark pings another green check in place and it doesn't look like he has many questions left. In fact, are these questions even written on that screen? Probably not. Since he just seems to keep coming up with this stuff off the top of his head. It's so weird. He's so weird. He's so Stark.

"Alright. This one's gonna' be a little bit harder. But I think you can handle it." He waves away the holoscreen because this is important. "Where do you see yourself in five years? What's the Future hold for you?"

/Two/ green check marks? Stephanie is /acing/ this interview. She straightens her, crosses her legs, and folds both hands atop her knee, ready for whatever Tony wants to throw at her next.

The screen - and her check marks - going away not long after that bolstering elicits a look of vague disappointment, but it's gone by the time she has to answer his next question. "Oh, well--" She pauses; the pictures Oracle showed her - of fed up criminals mere moments away from ending her brief career as the Spoiler - slideshow through her thoughts. "--well--" she stammers, gripping her knee a little tighter; her eyes slide down to Tony's empty desk.

"--I guess I'd--like--to go to college," she slowly offers. "Maybe--maybe be a lawyer, or something."

"Green Check Mark!" Tony throws his hands up to show that the test has been passed. "If you had said Super Criminal or something, totally would've been a red flag instead of a green check mark." But he's up and on his feet, smiling and extending a hand. "Welcome to Stark Future. You start Next Monday at Nine AM. Sharp. Don't be late or Pepper will get mad." Tony grins. "Get ready to change the world, Stephanie Brown."