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[buildsomething]

You have not reached Tony Stark. Clearly. Leave a message and I'll get back to you if I feel like it.

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[buildsomething]

Hm? Oh. [Right, other actual person. Tony glances briefly over at him, then beings to point out bits of the design as he talks.]

It's kind of like a prosthetic, only not full limb replacement, obviously. It works as a brace for balance, but uses a little bit of power to guide movement and make it easier. The -- guy I designed them for, he can't walk at all without them, so the current design is probably a little intense for you. But I can tweak it.

[ragnarsson]

[Ivar nods as Tony explains the process. It seems fairly straightforward. It does catch his attention when Tony mentions he's done this before.]

Did your friend lose use of his legs in battle or is he more like me?

[Ivar's thinking tends to relate everything to his own era, and for Vikings, those were the only two ways to end up being unable to walk. He was curious. Hearing about anyone else crippled was rare.]

[buildsomething]

[Tony's mouth opens, and then just closes again. Battle might be overstating that clusterfuck slightly, but he's not sure what else to call it. Certainly a fight, if nothing else.]

Something like that. Damaged his spine.

[ragnarsson]

That happens sometimes back home.

[Someone would get their back sliced open or have the bones of their spine shattered just hard enough to render them paralyzed. Such warriors were celebrated rather than pitied for having fought bravely in battle. Still, their chances of getting to Valhalla after such an accident were slim.]

And you made him a pair of legs to get around. You've got a good heart.

[He meant that, for once, being entirely sincere. What else would you call a man who helped others walk? He hadn't even asked Ivar to pay him for doing this.]

[buildsomething]

[He shrugs, shifting just a little uncomfortably.]

He's my best friend, of course I'm going to help him out.

[It has nothing at all to do with guilt, of course not.]

[ragnarsson]

I have a best friend or two. I still wouldn't do anything like that for them even if I could.

[Then again, Ivar was a terrible human being, so perhaps he wasn't the best person to judge the friendship yardstick by.]

[buildsomething]

[It might help to realize that 'anything worth doing is worth overdoing' is practically Tony's life motto. And that he likes making things for people. And the guilt thing.

In the end, all he says is:] I owe him. For a lot of things.

[ragnarsson]

Sounds like there's a story there.

[But he doesn't press for details. Ivar's just got a natural curiosity about people's pasts. Stories about their lives was the way Vikings passed along information and learned about prominent members of their culture. Ivar turns his attention back to the leg braces.]

How soon do you think you can have them finished?

[buildsomething]

[Tony's eyes slide over towards Ivar, but he's not going to complain about the subject change. Instead he eyes the design in front of him, hand coming up to cover his mouth as he thinks.

Allowing for the fact that he has to build everything by hand these days...]

End of the week, maybe? Gonna need to do at least one proper fitting before I send you off with them.

[ragnarsson]

Good. Thank you for this.

[It's hard for Ivar to show how much this really means to him. His emotions aren't the most stable things. So he just settles for a friendly clap on the back, though Tony is probably still going to find it a little harder than necessary. Ivar doesn't always know his own strength sometimes.]

[buildsomething]

[Tony huffs a little under the force of the contact, but he's spent too much time around people too strong for their own good to do anything but brace himself better.]

Sure. I'll shoot you a message when we're ready for testing.