The Tenth Man (Rift)

[John Kilroy]

Vernake despite all appearances as the Hollywood actress Gal Godot, Veranke wasn't a fan of these sorts of Charity dinners. it was not that she was against Charity, but the issue with these sort of events was that they more or less tended to be self-congratulating, self...well there were words for it but they were not exactly appropriate.

Still, she had to be a part of these things, after all her human persona was a famous Hollywood actress. She had to keep up appearances. But the more Hollywood reporters began to go on and on, the more she wanted to yank her ears out (something that would be easier if they were in her normal form.

*Somebody please kill me or at the very least hurry up with the breadsticks and chicken cordon bleu.*

Suddenly her bracelet began to flash as their was a beep that only she can here.

"Veranake here." she whispered talking into her bracelet.

"My lady...HE is here."

[Rift]

An expensive vehicle coming in far too fast came to a screeching stop causing various paparazzi to leap back in surprise. The car door opened upwards revealing the driver to be none other than Tony Stark who, unlike many of the other celebrities in attendance, had driven himself to the charity dinner. More and more since the end of the Skrull Invasion and the rather drastic steps he had taken to help protect the public during the event, Stark was finding he preferred to be more solitary and do things under his own power. Part of it was because he was not yet fully recovered from purging the Extremis from his body, a sudden process that had caused damage to him both physically and mentally in ways he had not yet even begun to understand. People close to him like Edwin Jarvis, Pepper Potts, or longtime allies on the Avengers would no doubt fret and concern themselves if they noticed that he was not operating at his usual hyper fixated levels of efficiency. Another reason was that for the first time in a long time he was enjoying the limitations that most people had to live with on a daily basis.

Gone were the days of him accessing satellite feeds and searching the web with a mere thought. In many ways the advantages of the Extremis Virus having rebuilt his body and how it functioned had removed him from the basics of what it meant to be human. He'd been almost more machine than man in many ways that counted and getting reaccustomed to the baseline human condition was taking time. Time that would bring about uncomfortable questions if he spent too much of it around other people.

Bonus points for this being the first time in what feels like ages that I don't have S.H.I.E.L.D agents playing nanny. Not that I'm stupid enough to think there are not some mingling in the crowds just to keep an eye on me, but at least they are not holding my hand publicly. For now. Whether or not I resume duties as Co-Director of S.H.I.E.L.D is still up in the air and if I know Stormin' Norman he's going to pull every string he can to keep me out of the chair. And truthfully, I probably shouldn't be in it, he thought.

Getting out of the car, the door closing automatically behind him, he waved and flashed a smile for the cameras, not letting his diminished condition show. Making his way down the red carpet he gave a thumbs up to somebody in the crowd, deftly avoided answering a question from somebody he recognized from TMZ, and headed inside. The dinner was after all for a good cause, aiding victims of the Skrull occupation, and besides that he had other business to attend to.

Could have just made a donation without ever leaving home, but then I'd miss out on riveting conversation with some folks that are difficult to make contact with. Besides, if my time playing Diet Fury has taught me anything, its that sometimes the most secretive of business gets done right out in the open, he thought as he took a glass of ginger ale from a server.

Times like this I miss drinking, he thought.

[John Kilroy]

Veranke looked up and noticed the great Tony Stark enter the dinner hall, and immediately a smirk came to her face. In truth she wanted to meet him for a long while, ever since he began endorsing the SRA she originally wanted to warn him and carol both about how the SRA was all a conspiratorial trap formed by the ilum'antai. Even if she had though, who would possibly believe her? After all, she was a Skrull.

But, she needed to warn him of the things to come. After all, things with the Skrull were far from over. This was simply the calm before the storm. So when she was sure she locked eyes on him. She gave a sultry smirk and gave a "come hither" signal. To be fair this wasin't ALL about getting him right where she needed him. He was brave, a fetching rogue and had a knack for creativity and engeneeering. This was a perfect triad that was rarer than a mythical beast. Plus as Gal Gadot she was labeled as the sexiest woman in 2017. Maybe thier would be a natural spark.