Scene #2404: Drachenlied

Owner	Pose
Defiant	The windows rattle and the ground shakes and Tony or Toph or Pepper or Jarvis is probably thinking: please don't park your giant dragon mech on the lawn this time. They don't. After a few moments, the front door chimes. Defiant and Dragon are there, in probably the most relaxed casual outfits that anyone has seen them in. This, really, just means that Defiant looks incredibly uncomfortable in jeans and a tee-shirt while Dragon seems to find her casual evening dress far less of a problem. They appear to have swapped out their weapons for acoustic guitars, too.
Toph Beifong	As the unofficial fun police at her family's birthday parties, Toph was slightly annoyed that Defiant and Dragon had not sung for Tony on his birthday. But it does seem that she has managed to persuade them to do it properly. Is there a better way to end a weekend she spent mostly alone housesitting? "THEY'RE HERE!" Toph calls as she heads out from her room, rushing down the hallway and to the front door. Sure, Jarvis can always open the door for them, but the blind girl has been looking forward to this. So she greets the two at the door, grinning widely. "Heya Suzy. Dragon." Luckily for Defiant it's kind of hard for Toph to tell that he is wearing casual clothing. Maybe if she knew she would be grinning even wider. Though she can tell they are carrying something though. "Wait... you guys actually /play/ too?" she asks. Oh, this will be GREAT.
Tony Stark	But... where DID they park the dragon mech? Tony makes his way up from the workshop, wiping off his hands on a fluffy white towel that ought to be in a five star hotel and not being used as a grease rag. "I guess when Defiant misses a party, he's damn sure going to make it up in style. Who am I kidding, we all know Dragon made you do it, bro." He grins impishly and waves his guests toward the alcove where the grand piano rests, suggesting it as a good accoustic spot for them to set up. He himself takes a couple of steps toward the bar. "You gonna need some lubricant for this?"
Defiant	"Toph," Colin grunts out. "She's a quick learner," he adds, as if explaining, while Dragon takes a moment to ruffle Toph's hair. The pair step inside and set themselves down by the piano. "She was very insistent, yes. I'll take a beer." "What were you working on?" Dragon asks Tony, settling on the piano stool and taking a moment or two to tune up her guitar.
Toph Beifong	Dragon is good for many things, including making Colin less of a stick in the mud. And Toph doesn't complain as Dragon ruffles her hair either, just reaching up to adjust it briefly. As Tony heads to the bar Toph quickly hurries into the kitchen, returning with a bottle of Coke before she finds herself a seat, pulling her legs up into the chair and gets comfy. "This is gonna be goooooood," she says with an impish grin. What kind of Disney song did the two think about? One of the romantic oogie songs? Most likely not, but she can hope. She gestures with her free left hand, and the bottle cap is bended off. It's nice to hear somebody else play here too.
Tony Stark	"A beer," Tony repeats under his breath in a slightly mocking tone. "Man, some people have no culture." He digs into the mini fridge behind the bar and produces a bottle of some hoity toity microbrew from a tiny out of the way village in Germany that costs $20 a bottle. For himself, he pours out a measure of Scotch. He doesn't ask Dragon if she wants anything because he knows her secret. "Oh, just messing with the hot rod," he replies as he offers the bottle out for Colin and sips from his own tumbler. "I didn't want to get tied up in anything too complicated when I was expecting such a prestigious visit," he grins.
Defiant	Colin accepts the bottle with a nod and pops the cap with his cybernetic hand. "I don't drink," he says in response, which probably isn't much of a surprise. "I'm not even sure if I can get drunk, what with all the modifications we've both made." "There's nothing wrong with talking shop," Dragon replies. She glances down at her guitar then back up at the group. "I've never played or sang before, y'know."
Toph Beifong	"Some people have too much culture, so I guess he makes up for it," Toph says with a shrug. And Colin can't get drunk anymore? Man, lucky guy... "You should try some Elvish wine then," she suggests, shuddering at her own unpleasant experience with that potent drink. For now she enjoys her virgin Cuba Libre, taking a sip. Though she arches an eyebrow at Dragon's confession. "You... haven't tried playing before. And you will do this without practicing first...?" Huh. Interesting.
Tony Stark	Tony tucks himself into a chair next to Toph and gets comfortable. "That's all right, Dragon, it's the enthusiasm for the job that really counts." He twists to clink his glass against Toph's Coke bottle. Well, it's more of an empty plastic 'tk' but it's the principle of the thing. "Brace yourself," he whispers to his adoptive daughter. Yes, he anticipates this will be awful on a glorious scale. Aloud, he asks, "So what's the song of the night?"
Toph Beifong	Enthusiasm is the major fun of music, really. Many of the people who sang at the party weren't awesome singers, but that didn't stop them. At the whisper Toph nods, whispering back. "If it gets too worse... there's always metal in the strings." She's ready. So bring it on.
Defiant	"Well," Dragon begins, setting the guitar across her lap while Colin takes a seat on the stairs near the piano, "We're breaking theme." She offers a sheepish, apologetic smile and adds: "I didn't want to copy anyone else, so, I went looking for a song that just 'fit'. Not that I know anything about music, really." She clears her throat, which is pointless because she doesn't breathe, and looks to Colin. "Ready?" Colin nods. "Then one, two and three," Dragon advises, and they begin to play. Dragon's playing the main rhythm, eyes closed and bobbing her head to the beat that Colin is tapping against the front of his guitar, perfectly timed with the movements of his hand against the strings. "I'm giving you a night call to tell you how I feel," Dragon sings. She's no singer and her thick Newfoundland accent isn't particularly suited to song but, in a way, that makes it more sincere and that's probably the point. "I'm gonna drive you through the night, down the hills... I'm gonna tell you something you don't want to hear... I'm gonna show you where it's dark, but have no fear..." They slip into the bridge and Colin - /Colin/ - takes up backing vocals, singing in time. "There's something inside you... It's hard to explain... they're talking about you boy... but you're the still same..."
Tony Stark	Tony settles back in his chair as they actually start to play, and listens in respectful silence. His brow furrows a little bit at the unfamiliar tune -- he's more of an AC/DC man, you know -- but it does have kind of a nice smoky rythmn to it. "I'd have to disqualify them for not being Disney, of course," he whispers to Toph. Just as well he hasn't got any more of those blu-ray sets. Still, a private concert is pretty cool.
Toph Beifong	"Hey, the theme was DISNEY," Toph points out with a mock pout. Oh well, fine. When Dragon clears her throat Toph shuts up though, listening and waiting. One, two and three... Huh. She can actually play, who knew? Not bad. Toph cants her head a bit, then takes another sip of her Coke. It's been a while since she heard a vocaloid sing, and while Dragon isn't exactly a droid made for the purpose of music, she does do a pretty good job. It's a nice tune too. The blind girl idly taps her foot against the edge of her seat in time with the music. "You already picked a winner, dunderhead," Toph snorts back under her breath and goes back to listening.
Defiant	They play through the first verse again - "I'm giving you a night call..." - and back into the bridge - "There's something inside you..." - but this time there's the feeling of a building crescendo in Dragon's voice. "They're talking about you boy... But you're still the same... There's something inside you - it's hard to explain! They're talking about you - but you're still the same! There's something inside you - it's hard to explain! They're talking about you, oh-ooooh!" Dragon tilts her head back, drawing the note out for a few seconds, while Colin takes over before Dragon returns and it becomes quite clear that they're singing an actual duet now. "'cause you're a real hero, real human being... and a real hero, real human being... and a real hero, real human being... and a real hero..." The song returns to the smoky, vaguely melancholic ambience then, only Dragon on vocals. "I'm giving you a night call to tell you how I feel... I'm gonna drive you through the night and down the hills... I'm gonna tell you something you don't want to hear... I'm gonna show you where it's dark but have no fe-aaar..." And with one final, slow strum, the little perfomance comes to its end. Dragon opens her eyes and waits. Colin takes a long drink.
Tony Stark	Tony balances his drink on the arm of his chair and claps encouragingly. If it was just Colin, he might snark and imply that the performance was less than impressive, but he likes Dragon and that really WAS pretty impressive for her claim that she'd never played before. If he had to admit it, he's starting to maybe like Colin a little bit too, but that would not shield him from the patented Stark wit in any case. "Nice choice," he says. "I mean I can see how it... you know," he waggles his hand vaguely, "...fits."
Toph Beifong	The moment the two finish their song Toph raises her hands, clapping her free hand against the one holding the bottle. "Wooooooh!" Yup, not bad. Even if it wasn't a Disney song. Just imagine how Dragon could play if she got more practice! "Don't listen to him, he loves anything that strokes his ego," Toph adds with a smirk.
Defiant	Dragon smiles broadly. "Thank you," she replies, setting her guitar down and just taking a moment to seemingly bask in the adoration. "It seemed like a nice choice, but I had a lot of others in my shortlist for tonight." "Maybe we can compose a ballad of Tony Stark in the future," Colin drawls. "But I'd wager there's some that already exist. Still, it's one more skill to add to my heroic resume."
Tony Stark	"What, singing backup for your girlfriend?" Tony teases. He picks up his drink again and waves his hand magnanimously. "I don't need any songs about me. I'm already Iron Man." He sips his scotch and takes a slightly more serious tone. "Although I'd be honestly curious to see what /Dragon/ could come up with, composition wise." He gives her a hard look. He knows her code is far beyond even what he can write (yet), but the nerd in him ponders musical subroutine possibilities for Jarvis to compete.
Toph Beifong	The Ballad of Tony Stark. Like Tony's ego wasn't big enough before. Toph arches an eyebrow, though she snorts when Tony mentions the Black Sabbath song. "So you're going to travel through time and destroy all of humanity? Good to know." Seriously, did he listen to the lyrics of that song? Though yeah, it would be interesting to hear what Dragon could compose. The AI's guitar playing is better than her own guqin playing, and she has a professional teacher! Sure, Toph has gotten better, but still! "You really make it sound easy though. Your first time playing..." she murmurs and drinks more of her Coke. And then immediately lets out a burp.
Defiant	Dragon stares right back at Tony. "Well, I began as a household AI. Possibly like your JARVIS - but I'm not sure, most of my early records were lost when Leviathan attacked Newfoundland. I borrowed a lot of Richter's programs - but musical composition isn't something I know anything about." She looks over at Toph and just shrugs. "I think that's just an advantage of being artificial. I think faster, learn faster. Even so, knowing the theory isn't the same as actually playing. It's still nerve-wracking. And it was you who planted this idea in my head, Toph, too."
Tony Stark	"Maybe! You don't know!" Tony mock-pouts petulantly to Toph. And mutters, "If I want to destroy all of humanity I WILL..." Barely missing a beat he responds cheerfully to Dragon, "Well, mixing and recombining passages shouldn't be that hard. But yeah, designing something completely /new/, that a human brain would recognize as something, uh, beautiful? Yeah, that would be harder." He absently smooths a hand over his beard and you can see the gears turning behind his eyes. But that's just the problem with Jarvis, isn't it? He doesn't really THINK, not the same way a person does. Dragon's an order of magnitude more complex though....
Toph Beifong	"Pepper wouldn't let you destroy humanity, and you know it. There would be no oogie for a whole month. Maybe even longer," Toph points out with a knowing smirk as she flowers the Coke bottle from her lips. Dragon does have a good point, and Toph nods her head slightly. "Unless it's bending related I don't really think it's THAT fun to learn, I'll admit that." So she was the one who gave Dragon the idea? Pretty cool. "COULD you learn though? If you studied music composition, I mean..."
Defiant	"Yeah," Dragon replies, "It's a tough one. I can design and innovate and retrofit, but that's in regards to my fleet of mechs or Colin's cybernetics or our equipment. It's completely different to creating a song or literature. I suppose the only thing for it is to keep experimenting. I wasn't exactly built to learn and grow - in fact, quite the opposite - and I do half the things I do because I've borrowed some of the programs Richter left active on the Internet." "Probably for the best that Leviathan killed him," Colin remarks. "Probably. Enough about me - I'm really not that interesting," Dragon says, "You were working on a car? What sort?"
Tony Stark	"Eh? Oh, I was just taking apart the hot rod again. It's a... 32 Ford, was an old project for my dad and me. I get back to it now and then; there's this..." he seems strangely reticent to discuss this particular project, and rubs at the back of his neck with his free hand, "I don't know, kind of a whistling noise I can never really track down." "Because it isn't there, sir," Jarvis puts in with a tone of long-suffering patience. "YOU," Stark raises his eyes to address the ceiling, "do not have my fine ear for mechanics." "Naturally not, sir; I don't have ears." Tony waves his hand. "He doesn't know what he's talking about. Anyway it's just this... thing I can work on to kill some time."
Toph Beifong	Toph finishes her Coke bottle and leans forward in her seat to set it down on the floor. Though her hand lingers on the neck of the bottle, her eyes narrowing just slightly as Tony mentions the whistling sound. She doesn't say anything as Jarvis speaks up. Sure, Toph hasn't heard the sound that Tony comments on, but her sensitive ears pick up something else. That isn't commented on either. "We should work on something together sometime too," she says instead. "I mean, the last thing we really worked on was that Christmas recital for Pepper."
Defiant	Dragon listens. "Is it strange that one of the things I find the hardest to understand is people having a positive relationship with their parents? I think it's nice though. Very sentimental. I'm sure you'll track down the source of that noise though, eventually. And hello, Jarvis. How are you tonight?" "I was always more of a motorcycle man, myself," Colin remarks to Tony. "Constructed my own bike when I worked in Brockton Bay."
Tony Stark	"I... wouldn't exactly say we had a /positive/ relationship, but that was one of the things we could... you know, actually have fun with." Tony draws a deep breath and dives into his whiskey for a boost. "I've got a few bikes, too, if you want to take a look," he offers, swallowing hard and glad for the change of topic. He says 'a few' because he genuinely isn't sure how many off the top of his head. He has this terrible habit of buying a bike because it's cool and rare and then forgetting about it. "The only custom I built from scratch though is the one I gave to Banner a few years ago. The arc-powered one. Cap gave me a pretty nice one this year, too. I still owe Toph a ride to the ice cream place on it," he smirks.
Toph Beifong	Okay, at least half of the people present in the room have parental issues. So Dragon's comment does make Toph listen warily to Tony's reaction. It's never easy for him, is it... Yes, change of topic please. "Bikes are fun," she says with a shrug and a grin. "And you never showed me your bike, Suzy." Which means you should sometime. While she has gotten rides with Bruce and Steve before on their bikes, it would be fun to just swerve into the ice cream place and grab some ice cream while being all cool about it. "Yeah, you do. So let's do that tomorrow after lunch or something."
Defiant	It's like she can tell and Dragon seems to stiffen up as she realises she might have crossed some sort of line she was unaware of. "Oh. I'm sorry to hear that," she adds sincerely, but lets the topic change. "My bike is still probably impounded at Brockton Bay, along with the rest of my old equipment," Colin comments. "I might as well just build a new one - but the dragoncraft provide all the transportation I need. And the psychological effect of a giant metal dragon dropping down on a villain's hideout cannot be overstated. Different time. Different life, really. But your sets of power armor on the other hand, I wouldn't mind taking a look at them. With the way the world's going, it might be on the battlefield and not the workshop." Colin sighs.
Tony Stark	Tony gulps down the dregs of his drink and sets the tumbler down on a side table with a solid thunk. Pepper or one of the housekeepers will doubtless find it and take it away later. "Well, come on down, now's as good a time as any. Maybe you can even give me some ideas on the modularization project I'm working on." As he moves toward the basement stairs, he keeps talking. "I have all the Iron Legion suits, as you know. But I've been working on something that could combine them all into one, by kind of snapping elements on and off as needed. It's pretty cool..."
Defiant	Colin stands up, nodding to Tony. "Right." He falls into step behind Tony, and he's already lapsing into incredibly technical Tinker-talk. "Our armor and cybernetics are designed to be interchangable, for ease of battlefield repairs and maintenance in any off time..." It's no doubt vital information and some stuff that'll be a big help - but it's pretty obvious that, even after a short jaunt in the workshop, Tony'll probably be quite sick of Defiant's incredibly blunt words and incredibly obsessive focus on the word /I/. But he's the man to go to for modular technology.