myheadisaprison | (no subject)

Tony looks him over and then shifts, tilting his head. "Snart, right?"

Not his best opener, but he's working with what he's got here. Which, is unclear. He promised Barry he'd check in on the guy and he also wants to feel him out, considering he's already won Peter over. He picks up his whiskey and moves into the seat between them.

"Captain Cool."

He almost manages to get something like, "Depends who's asking." out of his mouth, full of snark and lack of real answers. But the guy that seems to think he has any right whatsoever to take up residence in a space that close to Leonard's personal bubble keeps going and the thief goes from mildly amused to irrationally annoyed in 0.2 seconds.

He slowly turns his head to look at him for the first time, expression a carefully crafted mix of annoyance and incredulity. "You know," the drawl that often accompanies his words is thicker than usual, more persona than person in the moment, "if you're going to use a moniker at someone, you should at least get it right."

Tony raises his eyebrows in feigned innocence. "Is that not right?"

It's actually not that surprising. Up until a few years ago he called one of his best friends 'Capsicle'. Though, that was a complicated term of affection. This is more of a test of sorts. He takes a sip of his drink. "What is it again?"

Test failed. Probably. But whatever, Leonard was never all that concerned about secret identities. Not like some people happened to be.

"Cold." He corrects him, "Captain Cold." he finally turns to properly face the other man, an eyebrow raised curiously at him. "Why are you looking for him, anyway?"

"Other than the fact that he's an escaped criminal?" Tony sets his drink down and turns towards him. "I've got a message from a friend."

That was a stretch. Technically, Barry hadn't given him a message, just asked him to look in on him. At least to Tony's credit he didn't feel like punching the guy yet.

"Tell me something. Why Cold? Why Captain, for that matter? Is there an actual ranking system when it comes to criminals or do you just like the symmetry of it?"

"There has to be something else, or wouldn't you be pulling out the cuffs, officer?" His voice is dripping with sarcasm with the last half. No way is this guy, nor has he ever been, a cop. He cants his head a little at the statement about a message. "What friend?" He can't imagine the two of them have anyone in common.

"I like alliterations." He deadpans before taking another sip from his drink, waving his freehand. "And... I didn't come up with it. Someone else did. And I didn't hate it and it kinda stuck." He shrugs. That was about as fond as he'd ever get about Cisco, shame the nerd wasn't around to hear it.

Tony snorts at being called a cop. "The Flash sent me. He wanted me to check up on you. He must know you pretty well, considering he called the whole escaping from prison thing."

This guy's deadpan is something to be admired, Tony has to give him that. "Not the most traditional way of coming up with a moniker, but I guess it's fine. If you're lazy." He sighs and taps his fingers against his glass. "So I gotta ask, as Captain Cold, what exactly are your intentions here?"

"Of course he did," he sighs, but it's an amused sound, and the smile he wished didn't come attached to it is fond more than anything. "Yeah, we go way back."

Leonard shrugs, "You call it lazy, I call it playing the role I was given." That was definitely how it started, anyway. Things spiraled in ways he never could have imagined them to. "I don't know what you're expecting the answer to be? I'm a thief, I do what thieves do."

"He's clearly got a soft spot for you." One that seemed mutual considering the look on Snart's face at the mention of Barry. He can't help but think there's probably an interesting story there. As far as he can tell, the two seem like complete opposites.

Tony was expecting a blatant lie. At least some kind of spiel about how he'd turned over a new leaf. What he wasn't expecting was the unashamed statement that he was still a thief who intended to keep thieving. He raises his eyebrows for a moment and then sighs, shaking his head.

"You know what? I don't care. It's below my paygrade." He takes another sip of his drink. "What I do care about is if you steal from me. Or if you cause trouble in this neighborhood. You've already met the neighborhood Spider Man."

"Well, it's mutual," burns somewhere at the end of his tongue, but never quite makes it past his lips. Leonard's good at not saying things, generally, but what does make it out of his mouth is, "That's hardly special. He's got a soft spot for the world." He's sure this guy knows the type.

"Below you're paygrade?" He repeats, eyebrow arched. "Well, aren't you swanky?" He smirks and takes a sip from his beer, amused. "Oh, yeah, met him pretty early on. Hadn't been in New York long and...we had a run-in. Locked the both of us in a bank vault. He...needs a little work on his executions." The words are said with nothing short of fondness, though. He likes the kid. Annoyingly enough.

Tony gives him a look that says he's not entirely buying that, even if Barry does seem like the type that would have a soft heart in general. He reminds him a little of Steve and a lot more of Peter. It was almost impossible to not like him immediately based on that alone.

"I watched the footage," Tony says, with a small sigh. It definitely hadn't been one of Peter's better moments. But Snart had been decent, all things considered. He'd even put up with Peter's habit of rambling with a fair amount of patience for a criminal stuck in a vault with a super hero. Of course if Peter thought his that his suit recordings weren't backed up on Stark servers, that was another thing entirely. Despite pretending to get his name wrong, he'd done as much research as possible on the man sitting beside him beforehand.

"He needs to work on his compulsive need to make small talk." He'd obviously been charmed by the thief, something that Tony immediately saw for the danger it was. Barry's trust in him only went so far. "Look, it's not exactly public knowledge, but Spider Man is an Avenger. His turf is Queens, so as a favor to the Flash I'm telling you to stay clear of it. He will catch you and send you right back to that cell. And then you're on your own."

He holds Snart's gaze. "One get out of free card, that's all you get. Do not pass go. Do not collect $2,000. Go straight back to the land of public showers. Understand?"

Leonard doesn't really care if he believes him or not. It's true, despite everything else that may lie in the distance behind it that he hasn't quite looked at himself, yet. His relationship with Barry was already off-kilter and complicated enough without adding something else to it.

He perks an eyebrow at that information, and he can't help wonder why he was told at all. Especially if it isn't widely known in general already. Interesting choice. "Public showers really are the worst." He grimaces and finishes off his beer before actually answering with, "Yeah, I got it."

"Great," Tony says, tapping his glass before pushing it away from him. "Glad we could work that out."

He pulls out a twenty and puts it on the counter. As far as he's concerned, he's done his part. As far as he can tell, Snart looks like he's just doing fine as a free man. And as long as he heeds Tony's warning he should be able to stay in that state. "Do you have a message you want me to get back to your BFF?"

"Likewise," he drawls, watching as the other man gets to his feet, obviously preparing to leave.

"No thanks. I can talk to him all on my own." He appreciates the offer, though, and despite the words being what they are on the surface, the sentiment is there in the tone all the same. "See ya around." he drawls with a two-finger wave.

"You might want to do that, sooner than later. He seems like the worrying kind." Tony knows the type all too well. He'll report back what he's seen, but something tells him that's not going to be enough to satisfy Barry's curiosity.

Tony nods at the wave before turning and heading towards the door. "See ya, Cold Cap."