Will Them Into Existence

Quinn

Instead of splitting off in the elevator as per their usual routine, Tommy stayed standing beside his brother as the windows on either side of the small space showcased the many floors sliding past. On regular days, the blonde would depart on F61 - the floor massively dedicated to Human Resource. This time, however, he caught site of his red-headed brother from the corner of his eye and leaned against the wall, silently signaling to Friday his new plan. Wilbur stared resolutely forward, barely moving even as the rustling of the elevator increased with the height of the uppermost floors.

The elevator dinged, the doors opening on cue as the two stepped out.

"Welcome back, Wilbur. Hello, Tommy." A mechanic voice echoed out from overhead, and the blonde smiled, slightly elbowing the other to no response. He sighed, and then leaned against the wall lightly.

"Hey, Fri." He rubbed the back of his neck for a moment, looking between the read head and the door to the lab just up ahead. "Uh, Wil, you can go ahead and go do...whatever it is you do. I just need to steal Tony from you for like, four minutes tops to go over something for Pepper."

Wilbur smiled, and patted the blonde's shoulder as they passed. "Okay. Take your time." They walked up to the door, and the latch released, letting them inside and immediately latching again once they were beyond the door. Tommy huffed, crossing his arms and tapping his foot against the ground, thoughts racing as he set his head against the wall behind him.

Less than a minute later, a wife-beater clad Tony Stark came out of the shaded doors, a dirty rag in his hands. He smiled dimly at the blonde teen, and then raised an eyebrow, gesturing in his general direction. "What's with the attitude, kid? You okay?"

Tommy pushed off the wall, glancing around the hallway and then swallowing and nodding back towards the elevator. The brunette man followed him a little ways down the hallway, and then laid a hand on his shoulder, turning him around. "Seriously, kid. Between you and your brother, I'm starting to think someone died."

"No one died." The shorter responded, opening and closing his mouth a few times before sighing. "I don't know. I mean, I don't think anyone died. Wilbur's not really talking to me right now."

Tony's eyebrows shot up, and he glanced back towards the lab door. "Wilbur? Really?" He said, tone laced with disbelief.

"Okay, well, we're talking. It's just," He paused, circling his hand in front of him in the air. "Not substantial. It's like they aren't even...I don't know, it's like they aren't even there."

Tony nodded. "I've noticed." He said, pausing for a beat. "I'm not...the best...at this type of thing, but I promise you, kid," He raised his hand and lightly squeezed Tommy's shoulder. "I'll do my best to help them, if they'll let me."

Tommy stepped away with a smile. "Thanks, Tony." He said, clearing his throat and then gesturing back towards the lab behind the brunette. "For what it's worth, Wil's always looked up to you. Just be yourself."

Tony scoffed, rolling his eyes good naturedly and stepping backwards. "Kid, I'm Tony Stark. Who else would I want to be?"

The blonde teen laughed, twisting the bottom of his jacket around his hand and motioning towards the elevator. "Pepper is probably wondering where I am. Don't forget we've got that press conference in a bit, yeah?"

The brunette nodded, cracking his knuckles and turning to walk back to the lab. "Yeah. Pep wouldn't let me forget. I'll go make sure Wilbur is ready, and..." He trailed off, gesturing vaguely at the state of his oil-stained clothes.

Tommy nodded, and then stopped, his eyebrows creased. "Hey, Tony." He called, hand on the door of the elevator.

"Yeah?"

"Did Wil make a...a hair dye? Here?"

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The shadowed doors closed behind him, and he threw the rag in his hands at DUM-E, one of the experimental cleaning robots in the lab. He cleared his throat, raising his eyebrows at the figure hunched over the second table, covered with sketches of various red and blue suits, metal framework, and tools.

"So. A hair dye that only activates when you're stressed." Tony said, leaning casually against the table where Wilbur sat, pen in hand. "That's a really clever way to tell your friends to stop asking."

The red-head continued with their work, a slight twitch of their eyebrow the only indication they noticed his re-entrance. "Come on, Wilbur. What's so important you can't indulge my curiosity? Usually you're all for it." The brunette pushed off the table, patting the top of it as he turned to get a better look at what they were working on.

On top of a barely organized pile of various suit designs sat three papers, new and hastily scribbled. The lines were warped, like the pen used to draw them shook frequently in the artist's hand. Green accents lined the places Tony had grown used to black residing in his mentee's sketches, and one word graced the sides where the teen usually wrote equations or tech they wanted to add: "QUINN".

Immediately, Wilbur jerked up, shielding the sketch from view. Tony stepped back, tilting his head and glancing towards the other sketches on the table, raising an eyebrow at the teen. "You really want a repaint, huh?"

The red head looked down at the table, and then smiled up at his mentor. "You could say that."

Tony narrowed his eyes, stepping back further and then turning towards his own work station to shut down his computers for the day. "Uh huh. I thought you were pretty sure of your blue-red brand?" He said, watching from the corner of his eye as the teen kept smiling.

The teen didn't respond, instead they stood from their seat and calmly pushed it in, grabbing the top sketch from the pile, folding it, and putting it in their pocket. "I'm going to change. For the conference." They said, out of the lab doors and presumably to the elevator that would take them up the remaining two floors to the penthouse, which contained Tony and Pepper's private living space as well as the two 'guest' rooms (now renovated and decorated for Wilbur and Tommy respectively), where they would change into a suit for the press conference.

Tony sighed, and hit his head lightly against his desk. "What am I going to do with them, Fri?" He said, pulling himself up and clapping twice to close down the lab, locking it down as he exited the doors and entered the elevator.

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( Q-$YNT3C )