Biography | Quentin Beck

Thursday, April 3rd, 2016

Tony was already at the building bright and early to help set up. Quentin was insanely nervous. Insanely. He showered twice, one last night and one this morning. He was usually freezing, so he decided to wear his black turtleneck. 

He even went as far as to clean shave instead of the stubble that he usually went for. Furthermore, he used so much cologne and deodorant he could have sworn it was more than half the bottle. He slicked his hair back and made sure he looked his best. The engineer had even tested the earpiece several times before showtime. Once everything seemed intact, he left for the building.

They had both taken separate cars, so Quentin drove his BMW all the way to Massachusetts while Tony rode in his iconic Audi. The pit in his stomach kept growing. He felt like he could throw up. Why was he so nervous? Tony said everything would be fine.

Speaking of Tony.. the show was starting. Tony glanced over at Quentin from the opposite side of the stage to make sure they were ready to go, which he confirmed with a thumbs up. They had worked together to make sure everything would run smoothly, and now the day he was waiting for was here. The world was finally going to see what Quentin Beck was capable of. All those bullies back in school would see who he really was. Not some loser child with a dream. A Stark Industries Engineer who made his dream a reality. 

The sound of a piano along with Howard, Maria and Tony's voice came through on his earpiece. Everything was going according to plan. Just like how they had rehearsed and practiced. A memory of Tony's last encounter with his parents before their car accident. Or at the very least how he had wished it happened as he announced.

"Binarily Augmented Retro-Framing, or barf." Quentin had frozen. Everything else Tony was saying went in one ear and out the other. Surely, SURELY, this was a misunderstanding.. Right? He PROMISED. He couldn't think as the crowd's laughter and chuckles filled his ears, causing him to throw his earpiece aside. Heavily breathing and sweat from the tightness of his turtleneck and the thought process of what people were thinking was suffocating him.

His vision was blurring in and out as he watched Tony exit the opposite stage. No, surely this was wrong. "Beck? Are you alright?"

Quentin didn't answer, in fact he ran past the stagehand to meet up with Tony because there was absolutely no way he did that. After Quentin had asked him NICELY not to. Who did he think he was? No.. calm down. He must have heard it wrong. He must have.

Tony had hit the call elevator button, not having a care in the world as he glanced down at his watch. That was until when he looked back up he saw Quentin who was.. Rather mad. 

However, he decided to give Tony the benefit of the doubt. Surely this was a mistake. So instead of blowing up instantly, he instead politely tapped his friend on the shoulder. The sudden touch caused Tony to turn around. Stark wasn't the smartest when it came to hints, but even he could tell that something seemed off.

"Everything alright?" He asked.

Quentin wasn't really sure how to express what he was feeling. Mostly because he didn't really know how he was feeling. He knew he felt sad, maybe a little angry and even betrayed.. but, it just must have been a misunderstanding. "Tony, can we talk?" He finally responded.

"Is it important?" He asked, which made Quentin's anger rise a little bit.

"Kind of, yeah." He snapped.

Tony cocked an eyebrow before glancing down at his watch and sighing. "Alright, fine, but I'm picking the place."

"That's fine. I'd rather not talk here anyway."

Stark explained the plan to Beck, and for once it was fairly simple. They'd meet up at the building of choice and talk inside. Quentin was told to leave first as Tony had some last minute things to do at the school. The people greeted him as the elevator doors opened when it reached the lobby. He gave them a quiet nod as he made his way to the parking lot and finally his car.