Even though Tony spent many years being the life of any party he deemed worthy of attending, as he walks into the charity ball, he almost looks as if he would much rather be anywhere but here.
To be fair, though, charity balls had always been one of those necessary evils that he never quite learned how to enjoy. Sure, some were fun sometimes depending on the woman (or man) that he'd spend his time with after making the necessary appearances, but for the most part... All of this reminds him of a part of his life that he isn't all that sure he even misses. He misses Rhodey, and Pepper, and Happy. He misses his houses, his bots, and his cars. He misses the freedom of being able to do whatever the hell he wants without being watched. But stuff like this - the social obligations and the weight that his name carries? He definitely doesn't miss that. At all.
Which, that part is actually refreshing; to be able to arrive and not have a hoard of paparazzi trying to drown him with the flash from their cameras. Tony always knows how to turn on the charm, he learned from a frighteningly young age how to hide any discomfort so that the public could only see the smiles and the charisma he seemed to ooze, but god he hated all of that most of the time. Scotch helped to numb him out from most of it, but now that he doesn't have scotch to drown in, at least he doesn't have to deal with the press trying to get shots of him.
He would still much rather be working, though. Ever since his conversation with Steve yesterday morning, Tony's mood had settled somewhere between cranky and down altogether, seemingly too focused on his work at Lydia's shop to even give himself breaks (and yes, he has most definitely been avoiding HQ as well), but since he had said he'd attend the ball... Well. Here he is. His hair has been styled back, and for the first time since arriving in this place, he actually doesn't hate his clothes. the suit he's wearing is something he doesn't mind wearing, and the tie at least covers most of the glow of the reactor, so that's a good thing in his book. He knows he'll probably be dancing for a while, if someone bids on him for it, so until that moment he kind of keeps to himself for the most part as he tries to just...focus on literally everything but the thoughts that keep running through his head.
Open | Charity Ball
To be fair, though, charity balls had always been one of those necessary evils that he never quite learned how to enjoy. Sure, some were fun sometimes depending on the woman (or man) that he'd spend his time with after making the necessary appearances, but for the most part... All of this reminds him of a part of his life that he isn't all that sure he even misses. He misses Rhodey, and Pepper, and Happy. He misses his houses, his bots, and his cars. He misses the freedom of being able to do whatever the hell he wants without being watched. But stuff like this - the social obligations and the weight that his name carries? He definitely doesn't miss that. At all.
Which, that part is actually refreshing; to be able to arrive and not have a hoard of paparazzi trying to drown him with the flash from their cameras. Tony always knows how to turn on the charm, he learned from a frighteningly young age how to hide any discomfort so that the public could only see the smiles and the charisma he seemed to ooze, but god he hated all of that most of the time. Scotch helped to numb him out from most of it, but now that he doesn't have scotch to drown in, at least he doesn't have to deal with the press trying to get shots of him.
He would still much rather be working, though. Ever since his conversation with Steve yesterday morning, Tony's mood had settled somewhere between cranky and down altogether, seemingly too focused on his work at Lydia's shop to even give himself breaks (and yes, he has most definitely been avoiding HQ as well), but since he had said he'd attend the ball... Well. Here he is. His hair has been styled back, and for the first time since arriving in this place, he actually doesn't hate his clothes. the suit he's wearing is something he doesn't mind wearing, and the tie at least covers most of the glow of the reactor, so that's a good thing in his book. He knows he'll probably be dancing for a while, if someone bids on him for it, so until that moment he kind of keeps to himself for the most part as he tries to just...focus on literally everything but the thoughts that keep running through his head.