sciencesaggressively | 6/29 open to all!

It’s been a good morning.

As much as Newt prefers to have his wife around, he also can’t deny that every once in a while, having a day off when Kate is scheduled to work can be kinda nice—even when it means Jeff tries to cuddle up next to him when he’s trying to lounge naked on the couch. What makes that worse is the way goddamn Cat stares at him like he’s trying to peer real deep into Newt’s soul.

Otherwise, it’s perfectly relaxing, and he knows Kate would say the same of when he’s out long enough for her to have the condo to herself for the day. Of course, being that the place is so big, there’s only so much tinkering and TV watching and baiting the dog with the cat that he can take before he needs to be out and about. That wouldn’t have been a problem at the ‘Dome, he’d been totally content to be alone in a dark lab for hours on end, not even bothering to take a break to eat unless Hermann would sigh at him from across their diving line before going to grab him a tray from the mess hall. Nowadays, though, he’s about to be around people. It gets too boring without having some to talk at, and the pets don’t count.

Once it hits noon, Newt decides that he’s craving something he doesn’t have to go the trouble of making himself for lunch. Indian, maybe, or Thai. Or pizza. Chinese? A burger. No, probably Thai. Definitely Thai, and he can grab something to go before he leaves the restaurant to drop off for Kate at The Dressing Room to earn himself some extra Super Awesome Husband points. Yes, good, a plan.

Before he leaves, he makes sure the dog has done her thing and the pet bowls are stocked up with food and then he’s out the door, nodding at Jack the Door Guy as he passes through the lobby doors. The Thai place is only a couple blocks away, his mouth is already watering at the thought of shoveling some pad thai in his mouth, but he has to take a moment to pay attention to his surroundings because it’s such a nice day out. The sun is shining, the sky is clear, and all Newt can think is that he’d better not get a burn because he’s so not prepared to deal with a peely nose. Granted, he probably should have remembered to slap on some sunscreen before he’d left but the thing is, he hadn’t so really, it’s up to Mother Nature now to do him a solid.

Squinting up at the offending sun, he adjusts his glasses, losing track of where he’s stepping because of the distraction. Before he can process what’s even happening, Newt crashes into another body, nearly landing his ass on the ground.

“Dude!” he exclaims as he steadies himself, arms held out to maintain his balance. “That was totally my bad, sorry. You good?”

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"You have a Snap-On guy? Is that legit or is that just code for something else? I can keep a secret, y'know."

Newt really can't but Maybe Tony Stark doesn't need to know that.

"But thanks," he continues, glancing down at himself. "It's pretty sweet, isn't it? Got all sorts of fucked up before I came here but once my ass landed at that train station, it was all mended, like nothing happened at all. Guess Darrow's good for something every once in awhile."

"That is legit. Well, almost legit. He's really a Crack-On guy, which sounds even worse, but nevertheless provides me with quality ratchets that are very hard to bust."

Tony gave a snort, taking another casual look at the jacket which, indeed, was very cool and also intact. He hadn't been so lucky on his own arrival, but he supposed he'd been lucky enough for him.

"I'm uh, Tony. Tony Stark. Got here not long ago. Kinda still wishing I hadn't."

So it is Stark.

Newt doesn't plan on telling the guy there'd apparently been a different version of him running around Darrow for a bit, that's never a conversation he wants to have with anyone. He hates the idea of telling someone that almost as much as he hates the very possibility that someone might one day tell him they recognize him from some shitty movie or TV show. There's just something about realizing he could be fictional that makes him feel invalidated, like his whole life is a lie, even though he's lived it.

Anyway, it doesn't make much sense, so Newt's happy enough to actively not let it dwell on his mind.

"Y'know, I met a guy once who looked pretty much exactly like you," Newt tells him instead. That's a little more fun and yet, still somewhat harmless. "Darrow's weird like that, in case you hadn't notice the whole doppelganger thing yet. You'll get used to the place, though. It kinda grows on you. Mostly because you have no choice but to let it."

"Robert Downey Jr.?" Tony asked. "Beause there is this guy who swears to go I'm that guy and also that I'm on the downlow with Mark Ruffalo. Which, I mean, you could do way worse, so at least he thinks I have good taste."

Tony gave a helpless little shrug. Darrow was already, sort of, growing on him, in a way he didn't really want but couldn't avoid.

"How long you been? Here, I mean. You seem chill about it. Or maybe you're just a chill guy."

It would not surprise him, although the guy had energy. More energy than Tony. Which was saying something.

"Who?" Newt wrinkles his nose, shaking his head. "Doesn't matter, I don't care."

At a certain point, he thinks this place is going to have to stop surprising him but every time Newt believes he's getting there, some other shit happens to change his mind. That whole thing with the Academy Awards, for instance, when that gal who'd look spot on like a just slightly older Kate had won something for some movie, had been so bizarre; and yet, Newt had still felt proud that his wife had totally won an Oscar. Okay, not his actual wife but close enough.

It makes him wonder if there's a guy out in that same universe as Not Kate, running around making movies and being generally awesome. Not as awesome as the real deal, obviously, but Newt's sure anyone who looked like him would still be super cool.

"Coming on three years in a few months," he says, and it's strange to say that out loud. It's not as long as some people, but it's still a good chunk of time. Tons of people have come and gone since then, he just hopes he won't be next in line to get his ass removed anytime soon. His life is here now, everything he loves is here. Newt's not sure how he'd adjust to losing it all. "Kinda crazy, isn't it? Three freakin' years. And I am totally a chill guy, dude. The chillest, even, I'm ice cold."

"Christ," Tony breathed. Three years. He wasn't raging at the walls to get out of Darrow. Maybe some day he would. But three years seemed like forever just then, even if it hardly was.

He tucked his papers up under his arm.

He wanted to ask the man if he wanted to get back home, but what a pointless damn question that was. Didn't matter, it wasn't a choice.

"Where'd you come from?"

"Hong Kong. World was nothing like this one, not even close. It was pretty close to being non-existent, in fact, but y'know. I saved it. No big deal."

It's a huge deal and makes him super badass, actually, but Newt's changed since coming to Darrow. He's like, humble and shit now. And still totally awesome, obviously.

"What about you? Is Darrow actually kind of an improvement? It is for some people. Once you're past the forced containment thing."

Tony snorted, because that was a big fucking deal, and he was sure they both knew it, but also, when you did save the world, you were cool, and being cool meant you were practically obligated to also play it cool about saving the world. No being a yutz about it.

"Uh, that depends? Politically, I left a clusterfuck nightmare. But also, I left a clusterfuck nightmare." Which needed to be solved. He supposed that spoke for itself. "Also, I showed up here without all of my money. You know those people who say more money equals more problems? That's a lie."

He gave Newt a very assessing look.

"You can't just drop the world-saving bomb on me and not elaborate. You realize that, right?"

"I mean, I could. Like, I kind of just did. But on the flip side, I like talking about it too much to not go into detail. Check these out."

Newt rolls ups his sleeves to show off his tattoos, grinning proudly up at Tony as he keeps his arms held out. "Okay, so imagine these at around three hundred feet, give or take, and about twenty-five to ninety hundred tons. Shit just got real, am I right? They took out half the world, man. San Francisco, Manila, Sydney, Cabo. Forty-six attacks by 2024. Yes, 2024, I'm from the future and it sucked."

Well. He'd enjoyed certain parts of it, which he's sure hadn't helped his case when trying to make friends at the 'Dome, supposed shrine on his body to the kaijus aside. That hadn't really mattered, though, it's not like he'd been there to buddy up.

"Anyway, I figured out how to like, basically mindmeld with half a kaiju brain--that's what they were called, kaijus--and boom, figured out how to stop 'em." He pauses, wrinkling his nose. "Might have had some help but whatever, that's neither here nor there. So you're not the only one who left a clusterfuck nightmare, although I did help fix mine."

"Jesus Christ," Tony murmured, leaning closer to look at the detail on the tattoos. Which is amazing enough to give him a few too many chills; it's all a little too reminiscent of the Leviathans, even if they'd been more mechanical than biological. He grabbed hold of Newt's arm and turned it, getting a better look at the tail on one of them.

"And you fucking-- went deep with one of these things? Accessed its consciousness? Why would you do that?"

The thought of it is basically abhorrent to Tony. He wouldn't even touch Lovecraft anymore. Life was fucked up enough to begin with.

And Newt was apparently twice the crazy asshole that Tony was. Would wonders never cease.

"Somebody had to do it."

Maybe that's not true. Maybe they could've figured out another way to stop the kaiju from busting out of that goddamn hole at the bottom of the ocean but if that's the case, Christ knows how much longer it would have taken. His approach might have been dangerous and stupid and crazy and blah, blah, blah, all that shit everyone had told him it would be, but he'd done it and it'd worked. It'd worked, goddamn it, just like he'd said it would.

"Anyway, I did it twice. Had help the second time, but it's what helped us understand how to put an end to everything. That's how I freakin' saved the world, man. I'd do it all over again if I had to, no regrets."

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