Philip and Tony, Mid-Halloween Party

[om_ironman]

Cylon meets MIB while partying. Philip is remarkably resistant to actually enjoying himself and Tony is annoying. So what else is new?

Even after a year, Philip wasn't entirely into parties, but he thought that he could put forth some effort for this one. The kids had put a lot of time and energy into it, including his roommate, so there should be some solidarity. He didn't have much of an inclination for a costume, but decided that his new suit would work along with the equally new set of quality sunglasses he'd picked up.

So he found himself standing near the back of the room, arms folded stoically as he watched the room in his perfectly tailored Man in Black glory.

"So tell me," Tony suddenly announced as he appeared next to him. "Does the flashy thing come with the outfit or is it a gift for good behavior?"

Philip glanced over at Tony, tipping his head just enough to look at him over the sunglasses. "You know I can't tell you that."

"You mean you could but you won't," Tony countered cheerfully and held up one of the two cups he was holding. "C'mon, and I brought you a present and everything."

"I live to bring mystery into your life," Philip said dryly. He did take the cup but didn't drink, at least not yet. "How concerned should I be about the 'present'?"

"Depends on how well you trust your classmates," Tony said with an easy grin. "All I did was pick up the cup."

"What makes you think I trust anyone?" Philip said as he took a cautious sip.

"Because you haven't yet collapsed into a mess of paranoid delusions?" Though Tony did give him a once over and snort. "That I know of, anyway. What you do in your spare time is your own business."

"Paranoid delusions are frequently too attention grabbing," Philip said dryly. "At least stereotypical ones. I've had good examples of those."

"Now that," Tony said, gesturing in his direction with his cup, "sounds like a story. Do tell."

"One of my uncles," Philip said as he started thinking about just how much of this to edit. "In his defense, he claims he was experimented on, the by what seems to vary. You'd never get an answer out of him, the story changes every time he tells it. He is both remarkably paranoid and remarkably insightful and behaves in public like the Mad Hatter. It's pretty odd."

"Sounds like fun," Tony said with a faint smirk. "Everyone's supposed to have a crazy uncle or something, right? Someone to talk about at all the holiday gatherings. Or at least this is what I learn from popular media, perhaps the Hallmark Channel is not actually the source of all knowledge."

"I am not the expert on normal family gatherings," Philip said dryly. "And I know that you're smarter than to think that."

"Why, VIKI," Tony exclaimed, eyes going comically wide, "that was nearly a compliment. Are you feeling alright? Do you need to go lie down?"

"Some day you're going to run out of names, use my name by accident and fall dead of a fatal heart attack," Philip said as he tipped Tony another look over his sunglasses.

"I've been hearing that a lot lately," Tony said without a shred of remorse. "I choose to believe it just makes everyone else seem less creative."

"I really, really hope you're not talking about the die of a heart attack part," Philip said with a frown.

"The nicknames, smartass. Can't have a heart attack if you've got no heart," Tony returned, just a shade too brightly to be entirely genuine.

Philip snorted and gave Tony another side-eyed look. "And that line might fool other people, but not me."

"I think I should be hurt. That one was actually true."

"I'm not talking anatomy and you know it," Philip said. "But don't worry, you know I'm good at secrets."

"If I have any,"
Tony said with an eloquently arched eyebrow, "I'll be sure to keep that in mind."

Philip gave Tony another piercing look, the one he'd tried hard to pick up from his mother. His success varied with that. "Saying you don't have secrets is like saying I don't."

"Says who?" Tony spread his arms out wide and gave him the kind of smirk that was designed to be irritating. "I'm an open book, Agent, ask anyone on the internet."

Philip just kept looking at him blandly, his own version of irritating. "You've got good masks, Stark, I'll give you that. But don't try to fool someone who's lived with them just as long."

"Oh, whatever," Tony said with a snort, more amused than genuinely irritated. "You still think I'm ten, what do you know?"

"If you didn't act like you were ten..." Philip said with exasperation.

"You seem to be the only one who thinks so," he said, instantly back to brightly cheerful.

"Funny how that works out, isn't it?" Philip said as just the corner of his mouth tipped up.

"Pretty sure that just means you're wrong, but sure we can go with that." And Tony gave him a long searching look, half mockingly and half actually measuring. "Are you actually going to spend the entire party in the corner here?"

"I should tell you yes, but no, I have a few people I want to touch base with. But I don't want to be too out of character, now do I?" Philip said.

"Touch base with," Tony echoed, looking dramatically pained. "It's a paaaarty, Philip. You are aware of what those are, right?"

"A social gathering where one creates and maintains connections, also a useful cover for activities that you don't want others privy to," Philip deadpanned in his best MIB voice.

"If you say so, K," Tony snorted and saluted him with his cup. "Try not to fry your programming by having a bit of fun."

"I will certainly try," Philip said dryly. "Try not to fry your own self while you're at it."

"I'm hurt that you think that's even a possibility," Tony called over his shoulder as he turned to go, mostly to try and get the last word in.