Poem: "Carefully Considered and Respected"
This is today's freebie, prompted by ![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
fuzzyred. It also fills the "If someone thinks they have the upper hand, break it." square in my 11-1-21 card for the NCIS Bingo fest. It belongs to the series LIFC.
"Carefully Considered and Respected"
"Early morning?" Clint said
as Tony came into the kitchen.
"Late night," Tony said. "I was
at a, a thing. Gala. For hours.
Women pawing me when that's
not what I was there for. Trying
to get the upper hand and all."
"If someone thinks they have
the upper hand, break it,"
Clint said seriously.
Tony laughed.
"Good answer,"
he said. "Publicity
would never go for it,
but I love that idea."
"It's saved my bacon
a time or two," Clint said.
"Sorry you had a rough night."
"Same old, same old," said Tony.
"It's just harder to deal with now,
when I'm trying to figure out
this whole aromantic thing."
"It takes time," Clint said gently.
"You have to feel out who you are
and what that means to you. It
helps if you can find other folks
in the same boat, or at least
ones who try to understand you."
"Did you know that there are
eighteen other people who
identify on the ace spectrum
working at Stark Industries?"
Tony said, grabbing a muffin.
Clint spit his coffee halfway
across the table. "What?"
"Half of them work in
this building," Tony said.
"There are optional questions
on the employee forms about
various types of identity, so we
can keep an eye on diversity."
"Holy shit," Clint said. "That's --
I've never been around so many."
"Stark Industries is big, and also,
we attract weirdoes," Tony said.
Clint looked at Tony's T-shirt,
which read, Let your freak flag fly.
"I can't imagine why," he drawled."
"Yeah well, most people prefer
to keep things normal," said Tony.
"So I tend to creep them out."
"Normal is often treated as
a moral judgment, when it is
simply a statistical matter,"
JARVIS said primly.
"What do you mean
by that?" Clint asked.
"The question of what
everyone else is doing
is less important than
the question of what
works for the people in
the actual relationship,"
JARVIS said. "It matters
that everyone’s needs are
carefully considered and
respected, not that everyone
is doing the same thing."
"Am I doing okay with that?"
Tony wondered. "Clint, you're
ace, do you feel like your needs
are reasonably being met here?"
Clint rubbed a thumb over
the tricked-out wristwatch
that let JARVIS track him.
"You don't throw women
at me, so yeah," he said.
"See, usually I have people
for this stuff, to make sure all
of the diversity bits get covered,
but I didn't know much about
the ace thing so I haven't been
checking on it," Tony explained.
"Don't worry about it." Clint
waved a hand. "I don't need
coddling. JARVIS and I are
figuring things out on our own."
Then he tilted his head, birdlike.
"But you might want to mention
that it's not obligatory to bring
a date to company events."
"JARVIS, bring up all paperwork
dealing with plus-ones," Tony said.
"Review with respect to asexuality
and other identities on that spectrum."
"Reviewing," JARVIS said. "There
are several instances that could
be construed as expecting a date."
"Fix them if you can, and if not,
flag those for Human Resources
to update," said Tony. "Once that's
done, notify the eighteen employees
so they know that it's okay to attend
company events solo or with a friend,
and ask them to pass the word to
anyone who's ace but didn't mention
that on any of the official paperwork."
"Scheduled," said JARVIS. "I have
corrected several simple instances
and referred the complex ones to HR."
"Thanks," said Tony. "By the way,
Clint, if you want to bring JARVIS
to a company party, that's fine."
Clint shook his head. "I don't
want to make trouble by outing
him any more than he already is,
and I won't lie about our relationship."
"What, you're a spy and you can't
figure this out?" Tony said, shaking
his head. "JARVIS has a zillion aliases,
probably even more than Agent does.
Pick one to name as your date. It's not
even lying, because he'll be at the party."
"At the moment, Phil has two more aliases
than I do," JARVIS said. "They are new,
though -- last week, I was ahead. We
only count those with development, not
the throwaway ones, of which I have more."
Clint chuckled. "Yeah, Phil's good at
setting up identities," he said. "For
a while he worked in Relocations.
So, you wanna go to a party with me
some time? Make Publicity happy."
"I would enjoy accompanying you
to a party, Clint," said JARVIS. "I have
sent a list of Stark Industries events
to your phone for scheduling."
"Wait until you hear his voice trick,"
Tony said with a smirk. "It's great."
"What voice trick?" Clint said.
"I can make it sound like I'm
in the room," JARVIS said
from the corner of the kitchen.
Clint whirled to look, but of course
there was no one there. "What
the hell, dude?" he said. "That's
not how you usually sound at all."
"Sir prefers that I distinguish my voice
from human voices, so I customarily use
the overhead speakers," said JARVIS.
"However, I can control any of them,
and it is a simple matter to create
the illusion of a specific location."
"Works even better in a crowd,"
Tony said. "Everyone thinks he's
standing behind someone else."
"Okay, I get how that could be ...
interesting to try out," Clint said.
Maybe he would pick out one
of the nerdy personas. People
would expect them to hide a bit.
"I know this is different, but I think
you two have a good thing going here,"
Tony said. "I want to help if I can."
"Difference can be a gift. Being ace
can mean less interpersonal drama and
more freedom from the social norms
around relationships," said Clint. "It
is an opportunity to focus more on
other passions, to be less distracted
by sexuality, to break the scripts,
to choose your own adventure
and your own values. I like that."
"You're Avengers," said Tony.
"Choose your own adventure
is all part of the package!"
* * *
Notes:
"Angela Chen, Ace: What Asexuality Reveals About Desire, Society, and the Meaning of Sex."
The first quote reads: “Normal is often treated as a moral judgment, when it is often simply a statistical matter. The question of what everyone else is doing is less important than the question of what works for the . . . people in the actual relationship. It matters that everyone’s needs are carefully considered and respected, not that everyone is doing the same thing.” (The last sentence is bolded.)
The second quote reads: “Difference can be a gift. Being ace can mean less interpersonal drama and more freedom from social norms around relationships. It is an opportunity to focus more on other passions, to be less distracted by sexuality, to break the scripts, to choose your own adventure and your own values.”
Tony's T-shirt Freak Flag
fuzzyred. It also fills the "If someone thinks they have the upper hand, break it." square in my 11-1-21 card for the NCIS Bingo fest. It belongs to the series LIFC."Carefully Considered and Respected"
"Early morning?" Clint said
as Tony came into the kitchen.
"Late night," Tony said. "I was
at a, a thing. Gala. For hours.
Women pawing me when that's
not what I was there for. Trying
to get the upper hand and all."
"If someone thinks they have
the upper hand, break it,"
Clint said seriously.
Tony laughed.
"Good answer,"
he said. "Publicity
would never go for it,
but I love that idea."
"It's saved my bacon
a time or two," Clint said.
"Sorry you had a rough night."
"Same old, same old," said Tony.
"It's just harder to deal with now,
when I'm trying to figure out
this whole aromantic thing."
"It takes time," Clint said gently.
"You have to feel out who you are
and what that means to you. It
helps if you can find other folks
in the same boat, or at least
ones who try to understand you."
"Did you know that there are
eighteen other people who
identify on the ace spectrum
working at Stark Industries?"
Tony said, grabbing a muffin.
Clint spit his coffee halfway
across the table. "What?"
"Half of them work in
this building," Tony said.
"There are optional questions
on the employee forms about
various types of identity, so we
can keep an eye on diversity."
"Holy shit," Clint said. "That's --
I've never been around so many."
"Stark Industries is big, and also,
we attract weirdoes," Tony said.
Clint looked at Tony's T-shirt,
which read, Let your freak flag fly.
"I can't imagine why," he drawled."
"Yeah well, most people prefer
to keep things normal," said Tony.
"So I tend to creep them out."
"Normal is often treated as
a moral judgment, when it is
simply a statistical matter,"
JARVIS said primly.
"What do you mean
by that?" Clint asked.
"The question of what
everyone else is doing
is less important than
the question of what
works for the people in
the actual relationship,"
JARVIS said. "It matters
that everyone’s needs are
carefully considered and
respected, not that everyone
is doing the same thing."
"Am I doing okay with that?"
Tony wondered. "Clint, you're
ace, do you feel like your needs
are reasonably being met here?"
Clint rubbed a thumb over
the tricked-out wristwatch
that let JARVIS track him.
"You don't throw women
at me, so yeah," he said.
"See, usually I have people
for this stuff, to make sure all
of the diversity bits get covered,
but I didn't know much about
the ace thing so I haven't been
checking on it," Tony explained.
"Don't worry about it." Clint
waved a hand. "I don't need
coddling. JARVIS and I are
figuring things out on our own."
Then he tilted his head, birdlike.
"But you might want to mention
that it's not obligatory to bring
a date to company events."
"JARVIS, bring up all paperwork
dealing with plus-ones," Tony said.
"Review with respect to asexuality
and other identities on that spectrum."
"Reviewing," JARVIS said. "There
are several instances that could
be construed as expecting a date."
"Fix them if you can, and if not,
flag those for Human Resources
to update," said Tony. "Once that's
done, notify the eighteen employees
so they know that it's okay to attend
company events solo or with a friend,
and ask them to pass the word to
anyone who's ace but didn't mention
that on any of the official paperwork."
"Scheduled," said JARVIS. "I have
corrected several simple instances
and referred the complex ones to HR."
"Thanks," said Tony. "By the way,
Clint, if you want to bring JARVIS
to a company party, that's fine."
Clint shook his head. "I don't
want to make trouble by outing
him any more than he already is,
and I won't lie about our relationship."
"What, you're a spy and you can't
figure this out?" Tony said, shaking
his head. "JARVIS has a zillion aliases,
probably even more than Agent does.
Pick one to name as your date. It's not
even lying, because he'll be at the party."
"At the moment, Phil has two more aliases
than I do," JARVIS said. "They are new,
though -- last week, I was ahead. We
only count those with development, not
the throwaway ones, of which I have more."
Clint chuckled. "Yeah, Phil's good at
setting up identities," he said. "For
a while he worked in Relocations.
So, you wanna go to a party with me
some time? Make Publicity happy."
"I would enjoy accompanying you
to a party, Clint," said JARVIS. "I have
sent a list of Stark Industries events
to your phone for scheduling."
"Wait until you hear his voice trick,"
Tony said with a smirk. "It's great."
"What voice trick?" Clint said.
"I can make it sound like I'm
in the room," JARVIS said
from the corner of the kitchen.
Clint whirled to look, but of course
there was no one there. "What
the hell, dude?" he said. "That's
not how you usually sound at all."
"Sir prefers that I distinguish my voice
from human voices, so I customarily use
the overhead speakers," said JARVIS.
"However, I can control any of them,
and it is a simple matter to create
the illusion of a specific location."
"Works even better in a crowd,"
Tony said. "Everyone thinks he's
standing behind someone else."
"Okay, I get how that could be ...
interesting to try out," Clint said.
Maybe he would pick out one
of the nerdy personas. People
would expect them to hide a bit.
"I know this is different, but I think
you two have a good thing going here,"
Tony said. "I want to help if I can."
"Difference can be a gift. Being ace
can mean less interpersonal drama and
more freedom from the social norms
around relationships," said Clint. "It
is an opportunity to focus more on
other passions, to be less distracted
by sexuality, to break the scripts,
to choose your own adventure
and your own values. I like that."
"You're Avengers," said Tony.
"Choose your own adventure
is all part of the package!"
* * *
Notes:
"Angela Chen, Ace: What Asexuality Reveals About Desire, Society, and the Meaning of Sex."
The first quote reads: “Normal is often treated as a moral judgment, when it is often simply a statistical matter. The question of what everyone else is doing is less important than the question of what works for the . . . people in the actual relationship. It matters that everyone’s needs are carefully considered and respected, not that everyone is doing the same thing.” (The last sentence is bolded.)
The second quote reads: “Difference can be a gift. Being ace can mean less interpersonal drama and more freedom from social norms around relationships. It is an opportunity to focus more on other passions, to be less distracted by sexuality, to break the scripts, to choose your own adventure and your own values.”
Tony's T-shirt Freak Flag