31 Plays in 31 Days, #5 - “The Gift”
Aug. 5th, 2021 09:14 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
breakinglight11Well, my plan worked! By using this challenge as an excuse to draft the dialogue in my fan fic, “The Favor”, it was sufficient impetus to not only finish the third chapter, but also more or less draft the fourth and final in its entirety! Yay!
After getting the dialogue together enough to complete the scene, I filled it out with narration and edited it to make sure it worked as a prose piece, then posted it as chapter 3 of the fan fiction. I’m pretty happy with how it came out— not to mention the fact that it got a hundred and fifty reads in a day. Sigh. Now you know why I can’t kick the fan fic habit.
This scene immediately follows #3 – Sides, and basically spans the entirety of chapter four. It works pretty well as is, but… and I hate to say it, as it directly contradicts my frequently stated frustrations with the obviousness of prose… but this actually does lose a fair bit without Tony’s internal monologue. Particularly since the capper is in the narration.
Ah, well. It’ll be there in the fic. I’ll edit the chapter and post it in a week. And get a hundred and fifty hits in a day that I could never get on an original piece. :-/
Day #5 - “The Gift”
From Forever Captain:
Part 6 – “The Favor”
By Phoebe Roberts
~~~
TONY STARK, Iron Man, in the wake of the Sokovia Accords and the breaking of the Avengers, 47
GRANT CARTER, Peggy Carter’s widowed WWII vet husband, 110
Avengers Compound, 2017
~~~
(TONY leads GRANT over to a table in the workshop, draped with a drop cloth, under a light. He takes hold of the cloth.)
TONY: You ready for this? Really ready?
GRANT: (rolling his eyes) For what, your flair for the dramatic?
TONY: (chuckling) Guilty. All right, old man, have it your way. Hold onto your dentures.
(He whisks away the cloth to reveal his creation.)
TONY: There you have it. An Anthony Edward Stark original, your one-hundred percent functional, authentic vibranium Captain America shield.
(GRANT paces around the new shield, taking it in.)
GRANT: Damn, kid.
TONY: What do you think, good enough for the purpose? What’s it supposed to do again— barbecue platter? Saucer sled?
GRANT: It looks… perfect. Was it hard?
TONY: You kidding? What kind of amateur do you take me for?
GRANT: Well, you sure complained a lot for somebody who didn’t have to work very hard.
TONY: Well! I did make a few modifications, nothing big. The vibranium actually supports a thinner construction without losing any structural integrity, so it’s lighter now. So, you know, it’s not going to throw out your shoulder when you give it a toss.
GRANT: That’s considerate of you. But like I said— it’s not for me. Damn, son, you think I want to go tearing it up after bad guys at my age? I leave that to fit young bucks like you.
(TONY laughs as GRANT runs his fingers around the shield’s edge.)
GRANT: But you should know, Tony… I’ve got something important to do. It’s going to take me away for a while. And… I’m not sure when I’ll be coming back.
TONY: Hey, you sure everything’s okay?
GRANT: Everything’s fine.
TONY: Really? Because you’re starting to sound kind of murder-suicide.
GRANT: Ugh. I promise, son. Just something important I have to take care of.
TONY: Do the kids know?
GRANT: Not yet. But they will. (Chuckling) They’ll be happy to hear Granddad has something to keep him busy.
(Pause.)
GRANT: Aw, hell with it… maybe I will give it a try.
TONY: Knock yourself out.
(GRANT hefts the shield and turns it over in his hands.)
GRANT: Good weight. Perfectly balanced.
(Then, to TONY’s surprise, he slips the straps over his arm. He raises it and runs it through a fluid motion up and out and down again, as if gauging how it might throw. And in that moment, TONY thinks he sees something he couldn’t possibly have seen. He shakes his head abruptly.)
TONY: Shit, Uncle Grant.
(GRANT lowers the shield to the table in satisfaction.)
GRANT: You did good, kid. You did real good.
TONY: Yeah. Well. We knew that would happen. But who knew you’d look that good with it? Sure you don’t want to give crimefighting a try?
GRANT: Like I told you a million times. It’s not for me.
TONY: Yeah, yeah. A gift for some lucky so and so. Make sure they tag me on Instagram when they post it, I guess.
(TONY brings out a custom-made leather shield case.)
TONY: Can I wrap that up for you, sir?
GRANT: You think of everything.
TONY: Yeah, well. I wasn’t going to let you openly walk a million bucks’ worth of Stark tech out onto a city bus.
GRANT: Oh, we’re up to a million now, are we? We started at three-quarters.
TONY: Yeah, pal, you think my time is worth nothing? You’re just lucky you’re getting the friends and family deal.
GRANT: Guess so. Well, put it on my tab, why don’t you?
(TONY zips the shield away in the case.)
GRANT: I want you to know how grateful I am. For going so far out of your way for me. And doing it so well. I won’t forget it, Tony.
TONY: Yeah. I should be thanking you. It was good to have a project for a while. I think I needed the distraction.
GRANT: Things have been hard for a while, haven’t they?
TONY: It’s stupid, but… I just can’t seem to get a handle on it. (Barking a laugh) Some hero I turned out to be.
GRANT: You did the the thing that you thought was right. Even though it was hard. That’s all a man can do.
TONY: Yeah, well. If only everybody saw it like you do.
(Pause as GRANT lifts the shield in its case.)
GRANT: Someday you are going to save the whole world.
TONY: (scoffs) You really believe that?
GRANT: Kid. I know that.
(Exit GRANT with the shield.)
After getting the dialogue together enough to complete the scene, I filled it out with narration and edited it to make sure it worked as a prose piece, then posted it as chapter 3 of the fan fiction. I’m pretty happy with how it came out— not to mention the fact that it got a hundred and fifty reads in a day. Sigh. Now you know why I can’t kick the fan fic habit.
This scene immediately follows #3 – Sides, and basically spans the entirety of chapter four. It works pretty well as is, but… and I hate to say it, as it directly contradicts my frequently stated frustrations with the obviousness of prose… but this actually does lose a fair bit without Tony’s internal monologue. Particularly since the capper is in the narration.
Ah, well. It’ll be there in the fic. I’ll edit the chapter and post it in a week. And get a hundred and fifty hits in a day that I could never get on an original piece. :-/
Day #5 - “The Gift”
From Forever Captain:
Part 6 – “The Favor”
By Phoebe Roberts
~~~
TONY STARK, Iron Man, in the wake of the Sokovia Accords and the breaking of the Avengers, 47
GRANT CARTER, Peggy Carter’s widowed WWII vet husband, 110
Avengers Compound, 2017
~~~
(TONY leads GRANT over to a table in the workshop, draped with a drop cloth, under a light. He takes hold of the cloth.)
TONY: You ready for this? Really ready?
GRANT: (rolling his eyes) For what, your flair for the dramatic?
TONY: (chuckling) Guilty. All right, old man, have it your way. Hold onto your dentures.
(He whisks away the cloth to reveal his creation.)
TONY: There you have it. An Anthony Edward Stark original, your one-hundred percent functional, authentic vibranium Captain America shield.
(GRANT paces around the new shield, taking it in.)
GRANT: Damn, kid.
TONY: What do you think, good enough for the purpose? What’s it supposed to do again— barbecue platter? Saucer sled?
GRANT: It looks… perfect. Was it hard?
TONY: You kidding? What kind of amateur do you take me for?
GRANT: Well, you sure complained a lot for somebody who didn’t have to work very hard.
TONY: Well! I did make a few modifications, nothing big. The vibranium actually supports a thinner construction without losing any structural integrity, so it’s lighter now. So, you know, it’s not going to throw out your shoulder when you give it a toss.
GRANT: That’s considerate of you. But like I said— it’s not for me. Damn, son, you think I want to go tearing it up after bad guys at my age? I leave that to fit young bucks like you.
(TONY laughs as GRANT runs his fingers around the shield’s edge.)
GRANT: But you should know, Tony… I’ve got something important to do. It’s going to take me away for a while. And… I’m not sure when I’ll be coming back.
TONY: Hey, you sure everything’s okay?
GRANT: Everything’s fine.
TONY: Really? Because you’re starting to sound kind of murder-suicide.
GRANT: Ugh. I promise, son. Just something important I have to take care of.
TONY: Do the kids know?
GRANT: Not yet. But they will. (Chuckling) They’ll be happy to hear Granddad has something to keep him busy.
(Pause.)
GRANT: Aw, hell with it… maybe I will give it a try.
TONY: Knock yourself out.
(GRANT hefts the shield and turns it over in his hands.)
GRANT: Good weight. Perfectly balanced.
(Then, to TONY’s surprise, he slips the straps over his arm. He raises it and runs it through a fluid motion up and out and down again, as if gauging how it might throw. And in that moment, TONY thinks he sees something he couldn’t possibly have seen. He shakes his head abruptly.)
TONY: Shit, Uncle Grant.
(GRANT lowers the shield to the table in satisfaction.)
GRANT: You did good, kid. You did real good.
TONY: Yeah. Well. We knew that would happen. But who knew you’d look that good with it? Sure you don’t want to give crimefighting a try?
GRANT: Like I told you a million times. It’s not for me.
TONY: Yeah, yeah. A gift for some lucky so and so. Make sure they tag me on Instagram when they post it, I guess.
(TONY brings out a custom-made leather shield case.)
TONY: Can I wrap that up for you, sir?
GRANT: You think of everything.
TONY: Yeah, well. I wasn’t going to let you openly walk a million bucks’ worth of Stark tech out onto a city bus.
GRANT: Oh, we’re up to a million now, are we? We started at three-quarters.
TONY: Yeah, pal, you think my time is worth nothing? You’re just lucky you’re getting the friends and family deal.
GRANT: Guess so. Well, put it on my tab, why don’t you?
(TONY zips the shield away in the case.)
GRANT: I want you to know how grateful I am. For going so far out of your way for me. And doing it so well. I won’t forget it, Tony.
TONY: Yeah. I should be thanking you. It was good to have a project for a while. I think I needed the distraction.
GRANT: Things have been hard for a while, haven’t they?
TONY: It’s stupid, but… I just can’t seem to get a handle on it. (Barking a laugh) Some hero I turned out to be.
GRANT: You did the the thing that you thought was right. Even though it was hard. That’s all a man can do.
TONY: Yeah, well. If only everybody saw it like you do.
(Pause as GRANT lifts the shield in its case.)
GRANT: Someday you are going to save the whole world.
TONY: (scoffs) You really believe that?
GRANT: Kid. I know that.
(Exit GRANT with the shield.)
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