Oh. Well, that eliminated the need for an excuse. Okay, sure, he'd take that. Stark was obviously getting irritated, so he'd need to make this quick. "Much obliged," he said, returning a little of the annoyance in his tone, and stepped inside after him.
And inside... oh. Oh, wow.
Aesthetically, Stark's lab was... well, it wasn't that unlike his own. Not the one he had now, obviously, which wasn't much bigger than a high school classroom, but the one he'd had back home. (Before another Tony tore it to shreds, anyway.) Huge, spacious, grand, sleek... And there was actually room for everything. He didn't have machinery crammed into corners or metal cabinets overflowing with junk components. And the tech!
Qubit finally pulled ahead of Stark to begin a slow walk into the room, his fascination momentarily overwhelming his caution. His eyes lit up, but with what, he couldn't say. Admiration mingled with jealousy and nostalgia and an unexpected, acute pang of homesickness... It was probably obvious he was paying no attention at all to the detector.
Idiot, don't get distracted!
Right. Right. Logic pulled him back to himself. He glanced back at Stark briefly, just to make sure he was still there (and that he had a little distance on him), then turned his attention back to the matter at hand. Detector. Right. Naturally, there were no distortions in here apart from Tony and his wake, which effectively answered that suspicion beyond reasonable doubt.
But Qubit wasn't satisfied with that. Stark had only let him in here because he didn't think he'd be able to find anything incriminating. Or, alternatively, because he wanted home-field advantage. But either way, Qubit was sure he was being underestimated here. Plenty of people made that mistake once; few made it twice.
"I like what you've done with the place," he said.
It didn't take long for his attention to be drawn to the suit. It was hard not to take note of it, given that it was the shiniest thing in the room. "What's this? New armor?" he said, pointing to the chrome monstrosity as he headed toward it and its brothers on the wall. One of these things was not like the others.
no subject
And inside... oh. Oh, wow.
Aesthetically, Stark's lab was... well, it wasn't that unlike his own. Not the one he had now, obviously, which wasn't much bigger than a high school classroom, but the one he'd had back home. (Before another Tony tore it to shreds, anyway.) Huge, spacious, grand, sleek... And there was actually room for everything. He didn't have machinery crammed into corners or metal cabinets overflowing with junk components. And the tech!
Qubit finally pulled ahead of Stark to begin a slow walk into the room, his fascination momentarily overwhelming his caution. His eyes lit up, but with what, he couldn't say. Admiration mingled with jealousy and nostalgia and an unexpected, acute pang of homesickness... It was probably obvious he was paying no attention at all to the detector.
Idiot, don't get distracted!
Right. Right. Logic pulled him back to himself. He glanced back at Stark briefly, just to make sure he was still there (and that he had a little distance on him), then turned his attention back to the matter at hand. Detector. Right. Naturally, there were no distortions in here apart from Tony and his wake, which effectively answered that suspicion beyond reasonable doubt.
But Qubit wasn't satisfied with that. Stark had only let him in here because he didn't think he'd be able to find anything incriminating. Or, alternatively, because he wanted home-field advantage. But either way, Qubit was sure he was being underestimated here. Plenty of people made that mistake once; few made it twice.
"I like what you've done with the place," he said.
It didn't take long for his attention to be drawn to the suit. It was hard not to take note of it, given that it was the shiniest thing in the room. "What's this? New armor?" he said, pointing to the chrome monstrosity as he headed toward it and its brothers on the wall. One of these things was not like the others.