[the feed turns on to show a pretty standard little suburban living room, if your idea of standard is modern middle-class America. there's the sound of a door opening and closing, and keys jangling as they're set down. a few heavy footsteps, and a man's legs come into view - the computer in question looks as though it's sitting on a coffee table.

there are shorts. shorts, and knee-high dark blue socks.]

'Lizabeth? Honey? I'm home! ... God, I am so done with this day, technician from Pitney Bowes took a good three hours to get over and repair the envelope feeder ...

[no response.]

You out in the garden, baby?

[nothing.]

... Huh. Must be. Left her laptop on again though.

[and then the man the voice and the socks belong to sits down on the couch and peers at the screen, squinting. after a moment's deliberation, he reaches out with one questing finger and clicks]

This doesn' look like my MSN homepage. Heck is this ...?

[the feed clicks on to show Tony, surrounded by holographic screens, sitting at a table. he looks as though he's waiting for someone, and reaches for a manila folder on the table in front of him. before he can open it, though, another man walks into view and puts a hand down on it.]

I don't think I want you looking at that. I'm not sure it pertains to you anymore. Now, this, on the other hand, is Agent Romanoff's assessment of you. Read it.

[raising his eyebrows, Tony picks up the offered folder and flips it open, scanning the contents] Uhhh, personality overview, Mr. Stark displays compulsive behavior. In my own defense, that WAS last week. ... Prone to self-destructive tendencies - I was dying. I mean, please. And. Aren't we all? ... Textbook ... narcissism?! ... Agreed. Okay, here it is. Uhhhh... Recruitment assessment for Avenger Initiative! Iron Man, yes. [he sets the folder down, not skipping a beat, or taking a breath, for that matter] I gotta think about it.

Read on.

Tony Stark not ... not? Recommended? That doesn't make any sense. How can you ... approve ... me, but not approve me? I got a new ticker, I'm tryin' to do right, uh, by --

[the other man sighs and gets up out of his chair, clearly exasperated by Tony's usual ... Tony-ness]

-- by uh, Pepper? I'm in a, uh, stable-ish? Relationship ...

Which leads us to believe that at this juncture, we'd only like to use you as a consultant.

[Tony frowns, and glances to the side, over the other man's shoulder - directly at the feed - before getting to his feet and offering him a firm, tacit handshake.] You can't afford me. [he starts to leave, then stops, thinking better of it, and turns around again.] Then again, I will waive my customary retainer in exchange for ... a small favor. Rhodey and I are being honored in Washington, and we'll need a presenter.

I'll see what I can do.

[the ghost of a smirk creeps across Tony's face] Oh, and uh, by the way? ... Just a hunch, but your life's about to get real interesting. [he glances over the other man's shoulder at the feed again and flashes a peace sign. SUP, COMMUNITY]

[The man turns, a confused look in his eye. What the fuck is he.... oh HELL no. His eye widens and there’s carefully contained anger in his voice as he addresses the feed]

I don’t know who you are or what you think you’re doing but you had better have a damn good explanation for this otherwise I will track you down and get a better one from you, myself. But that would be a waste of time I do not have at the moment and trust me when I say that neither of us want that.

((ooc: Red is Tony, obvs :D))

[Lancer was staring out the window when the recording starts--wearing perfectly normal civilian clothes. As far as he was concerned, it really didn't suit him...but then again, it was far easier to go around dressed like a human rather than a fully-armored knight. He assumed he'd get used to it, and he had to admit the glasses weren't so bad when it came to keeping one's focus off of his face. Even with the amulet, that kind of thing made him a little uneasy.]

[But that wasn't what was on his mind today. Leaning his head on one hand, the knight simply watched nothing in particular out the nearest window for a moment or two. There was a strangely wistful look on his face, the kind that few if any had ever seen him with before. Whatever he was thinking of, it was distracting enough to have him lost in his own thoughts. Even so, it didn't take long for gold eyes to shift in the direction of the video--one didn't simply miss a floating magic book recording them. At least, not often.]

Hm. Can't leave me alone, can you...? Very well.

[He stopped speaking under his breath after that, taking off his glasses and continuing to look at whatever was outside the window.]

I have something of a personal question in mind, but I'll ask it all the same since the community seems to insist.

Do you ever think about friends that you know you will not see again?

[ When the feed kicks on, THANKS COMMUNITY, there's some sort of pop music, in Spanish, playing in the background, the sounds of many voices speaking both English and Spanish, laughter, and the clinking of many, many glasses... There's also Claire, sitting at a table full of empty shot glasses, a nearly empty Tequila bottle, and a heaping pile of assorted forms of money, with an older, middle aged man laying practically passed out not too far from her. And there's a guy, college aged, talking to her, just as she kicks back another shot. ]

"Yeesh! Whad'ya weigh, like a buck ten?!"

[ The guy is clearly incredibly drunk. Claire is clearly not. ]

That's none of your business!

"I'm's -j's'ayin' man, y'js'... don't even look drunk."

[ Claire looks... suspicious, for a moment. A little unsure of how to proceed, she's carefully plotting her next move. And then, after a few moments of awkward, straight-faced silence, she bursts into some very feigned drunken giggles. Feigned flirtatious pep, feigned drunken slurring. ]

I think that you're just jealous that I caught up.

( CUT FOR LENGTH! )

( OOC; Canon move for Claire! She's being bumped to 3x21, Into Asylum! Woohoo! Feel free to note how not actually drunk she is despite having probably taken well over 20 shots of straight up tequila. This also signals my triumphant return from the impromptu extremely slowatus hiatus style thing life dictated. )

I know that a lot of you that can do magic and all sort of cool tricks, so I have a request.

I needs someone to make me a dozen of chapsticks that taste like doritos. Yes, I am aware it's a request weird as hell, but I have my reasons and you will have your reward.

[ooc: in case you are curious, this is why he's asking.]