Endeavour Nikolas Stark is perfectly fine as is.
As a child he had been extraordinary, finding a home among the friendliest of people at Charles Xavier's School For the Gifted, and finding himself Gifted in many ways just beyond the X-Gene in his DN...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
The weather is not the way it was before.
"You sure you don't want anything Einstein?"
Nikolas hummed in reply, shaking his head as he rocked back and forth in the seat across from his dad. He knew that his dad was aware of just how temperamental Nikolas was in this moment but he appreciated the offer despite the current overstimulation that he sat in.
The only part that made perfect sense in this moment was the lack of pain that Nikolas felt. It was as if he were numb to the world and to the knowledge of his injury currently pulsing under his hands.
"Tony." His dad's name was said with emphasis, and Nikolas blinked as he tried to place the voice, looking up at the roof of the car as if it had come from the sky. "A burger, really?"
Nikolas looked over to his dad, his eyes on the bridge of his nose with a frown as he tried to place what emotion was in the woman's voice. "Dad?"
"She's annoyed." Tony staged whispered it before reaching over Nikolas' shoulder to accept the bag of take-out.
Nikolas' odd eyes landed on Pepper Potts, or rather Virginia "Pepper" Potts in all her frazzled glory. Despite the fact that Pepper Potts has worked for his dad for the past nine years and seven months, his half asleep mind provides the second part of the time without his prompting, Nikolas has not grown particularly close to her.
She is a bold woman, intelligent and knowledgable in areas that matter and Nikolas' dad likes her which means she has earned a good marking in his book. This does not, however, change the fact that Nikolas finds her presence odd, solely because she was introduced to him over the span of multiple months. The introduction had been to the point where Nikolas had not even recognized her presence as a constant at the end of the timeline, though he did appreciate the slow introduction.
Above all, Pepper Pott's mind is loud. Oftentimes, too loud, though Nikolas has grown use to its volume in nearly every situation.
In this particular moment, she looked ready to yell at his dad, but held back, her hands moving in small sharp movements on her lap as she avoided startling the younger Stark.
"I am not annoyed Nikolas." Pepper contradicted Tony's words almost immediately, glaring at his dad out of the corner of her eyes before smiling at Nikolas and settling her hands on her knees. "I am glad you're okay Nikolas, how are you feeling?"
Nikolas smiled, "I am okay." It was the only word he had to currently describe how he felt.
She made a point of looking at his face though she made no move to form any sort of eye contact. Pepper leaned forward just a bit, the seatbelt pulling taunt over her shoulder. Nikolas leaned in as a response, resisting the urge to unbuckle the heavy polyester currently sitting over his own hips. "Would you like your headphones?"
The knowledge that she had thought far enough ahead to consider his need for his headphones made him pause.
Nikolas slowly nodded, his smile dropping briefly as she reacted with a bit more enthusiasm then he had expected. She moved for her purse at her feet, and unconsciously Nikolas leaned back against the leather seats looking towards his dad for confirmation that everything was okay.
Tony nodded subtly, lifting his free arm and showing it to him palm out before slowly closing his fist. Safe.
Nikolas hummed.
"Here!" Pepper smiled as she said it, lifting the headphones from her purse with a bright smile and holding them towards Nikolas with an open palm.
The action put Nikolas in charge of the situation, she would not cross the rest of the distance and would give him the chance to form contact.
He crossed the distance, lifting the headphones delicately and settling them over his ears in one quick action despite the pull to the stitches in his stomach.
Almost instantly soft music began playing, the melodic sounds of a cello and piano accompaniment joining together to block out all possible sounds felt wonderful.
Nikolas noticed his dad's eyes on him the moment he began tapping his head against the leather headrest behind him, fully aware that his dad may consider the action volatile if he picked up the pace. Nikolas did not, but rather let the beat tap to the tempo of the song, humming the passages he recognized despite the fact that his dad and Pepper Potts may find it annoying.
The control over his auditory input gave Nikolas the chance to pause, take a deep breath, and re-evaluate his current overstimulated state as his shoulders rose and fell in time with the music.
He blocked out Pepper's mind from his, fitting it into a box in the car beside Happy's box and attempting to focus on the radiating calm that his dad provided. There is a difference between the current attempt at calm that his dad was outputting and the traditional calm his dad imparted.
A hand passed through his line of sight that was sure to stay out of his personal space. "We're here Nikolas." His dad's voice spoke through his headphones clearly and Nikolas could not help but feel a little bit more comfortable with Pepper and her ability to think ahead at the sound.
His dad's voice was clear as day in his headphones, speaking over the music just enough for Nikolas to hear but not enough to disrupt his calm. Nikolas noted the small microphone on his lapel almost immediately, before letting his eyes fall to the specific way that his dad was dressed.
And suddenly Nikolas felt out of place in his comfort clothing that consisted of an oversized sweatshirt from his time at MIT and sweatpants from his dad's collection.
It was almost as if Tony noticed the question before Nikolas had to ask, "I called for a press conference first, then home."
Nikolas hummed again, rocking back and forth as he watched his dad exit the car. It took all of three seconds for the doctor to decide that he would follow his dad into the press conference.
He stood in the opening of the car door, surveying the press with the faintest of smiles as he balanced himself in between the door and the rest of the car. Nikolas became vaguely aware of the fact that Obadiah Stane was attempting to speak to him, the shape of his mouth forming the commonly used phrase of; "You should not be here."
The reaction to Nikolas' appearance buried Obadiah's words, the questions from the news reporters doubled, muted voices shouting for any amount of information from the younger Stark. Nikolas just frowned and watched closely as Happy brought around a wheel chair for him to move into, he felt strange being on display for the press' eager eyes.
His dad took control of the wheelchair, pushing it with steady hands as he spoke, his voice coming through the doctor's headphones. "How would you feel about speaking to the press?"
Nikolas believed that the answer to the question was rather obvious, considering his current headphone and rocking back and forth state. He glanced over his shoulder, accidentally making eye contact with Obadiah and nearly wincing at the look found there.
There was a dissonance to be found in the relationship between Doctor E. Stark and Obadiah Stane.
Nikolas did not like the man, as his mind pressed at the younger Stark's in such a specific way, like he was completely aware of the mortal minds capabilities on his. The knowledge was not possible but it did not change the fact that Nikolas was aware of Obadiah's distain directed at him.
The doctors reply came softly and with little consideration for his own preferences. The need to prove Obadiah wrong taking front stage in Nikolas' mind.
