americas_son | (no subject)

(no subject)

It's been an odd couple of days. Cal has kept his focus mainly on Tina, and hopefully that's helped keep the weirdness on his end at a minimum.

When she's ready to go home, though, he promises with a glance at Sherlock to come back once he's dropped her off. With any luck, Tony won't ask too many questions until then.

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Cal closes the refrigerator door and leaves the kitchen.

He goes to stand out back to smoke, as he always does; it just seems like the right place to do it. More discreet than standing out front. Usually he stands a few feet away from the building, leaving space for the door to open. Today, he closes the door and then slumps back against it with a long sigh as he pulls out his cigarettes.

"This day sucked, Jarvis," he mutters. He has no idea if Jarvis can answer when he's outside, but that's not the point. "Let me know when Tony invents a time machine, because I want a do-over."

"I'll be sure to," he says, dry but sympathetic.

Cal glances - up, as he usually does with Jarvis, despite there not being a ceiling to look at.

"How is Tony?" he asks. He'd kind of . . . not forgotten about Tony, exactly, but been very distracted for a while there. Now he isn't. (Or is trying not to be.)

"Asleep, which is an improvement on merely unconscious."

"Yeah."

Cal sighs a little as he lights up.

"God, I hope we didn't just dump all that on him for no reason."

Jarvis is quiet unusually long—more than the calculated length of a natural conversational pause.

"I think, in the end, he would rather know."

". . . I guess."

He meant it earlier, about being glad they don't have to lie to Tony anymore.

But:

"There just wasn't any reason for it without Stane around."

"And yet, I'm glad I don't have to worry any longer about what questions he might decide to ask," Jarvis admits.

Cal's expression turns a bit wry.

"That occurred to me the other night, yeah." Which was why the extremely unsubtle suggestion of a walk. He hadn't even tried to pretend Jarvis wouldn't figure it out.

"I could lie to him outright, if I wanted to. But I never will."

Cal nods slowly, drawing from his cigarette. He doesn't think much about where Jarvis falls on the existence spectrum; a few months ago, a certain conversation made it clear beyond doubt that he was more than a sophisticated home management system, and that was enough for Cal.

He decides that trying to think about it now is way beyond his capabilities at the moment, and dismisses it.

"I wouldn't expect you to."

He decides not to get into a discussion of his perceived responsibiliites. Cal has enough to deal with today already.

"Sherlock wants to know if you have a preference for apple, blueberry, or neither with your waffles," he says instead.

"Blueberry," Cal says. "Thanks."

He falls silent, closing his eyes and concentrating on his cigarette.

Jarvis leaves him be.

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