Chapter 59: The Marvel Studio Visit
"You're bringing me WHERE?"
Penny's voice goes up an octave.
"Marvel Studios. Iron Man 2 set. Friday afternoon. I cleared it with production."
"Stuart. STUART."
"I'm aware that's my name."
"Iron Man. Robert Downey Jr. Actual movie set."
"That's typically where they film movies, yes."
She throws a pillow at me. "Don't be glib! This is—I'm going to meet IRON MAN."
"You're going to maybe see filming. Meeting anyone isn't guaranteed."
"But possible?"
"Possible."
She screams into another pillow.
"Is that a yes?" I ask.
"That's the most yes anything has ever been."
Friday afternoon. Marvel Studios lot in Manhattan Beach.
Security waves us through. I have a consultant badge. Penny has a special visitor pass.
"This is happening," she whispers as we park.
"This is happening."
"Stuart, I'm going to embarrass you."
"Impossible."
"I'm going to fangirl so hard."
"Expected and encouraged."
We check in at the main building. Kevin Feige's assistant escorts us to Stage 4.
"They're filming the workshop scene today," she explains. "You're welcome to observe from behind the monitors."
The sound stage is massive. Tony Stark's workshop recreated in perfect detail. Arc reactor displays, holographic interfaces, the armor suits in various states of assembly.
Penny grips my arm. Hard.
"Oh my god."
"Breathe."
"I'm breathing."
"You're holding your breath."
"Oh."
She breathes.
Robert Downey Jr. is in the workshop set, in costume, running lines with Jon Favreau.
"—no, I think Tony would deflect more here. Make it a joke—"
"But the emotional beat—"
"Can happen under the joke. That's the whole thing with Tony. Deflection as armor."
They notice us. Jon waves.
"Stuart! Good timing. Come here."
Penny's death grip on my arm intensifies.
We approach. Professional. Casual.
"Jon, this is Penny. My girlfriend."
"Pleasure." He shakes her hand. "Stuart's been invaluable on authenticity stuff. Saved us from a dozen continuity errors."
"That's—that's great," Penny manages.
RDJ extends his hand. "Robert."
"I know." Penny takes it. "I mean—yes. Hi. Penny. I'm Penny."
He grins. "Relax. I'm just an actor in a silly suit."
"You're Iron Man."
"Technically Jon is Iron Man. I'm just the face."
"Pretty important face," Jon counters.
They banter while Penny continues holding RDJ's hand without realizing.
"Penny," I whisper. "Hand."
"What? Oh god." She releases. "Sorry."
"All good. You should see the actual fangirls. Way more intense."
Jon pulls me aside. "We've got a question about the arc reactor display. The technical readouts on the monitors—they need to be accurate enough to pass muster with engineers but not so accurate they're actual functional designs."
"Show me."
We walk to the monitors. Behind us, RDJ's chatting with Penny about Nebraska and acting and how he got started.
She's relaxing. Laughing. Being charming Penny instead of starstruck Penny.
The Attractiveness power working on her too, making her naturally charismatic even in intimidating situations.
"These readouts," Jon shows me the screen. "Too much?"
"Actually too little. Engineers will spot this as fake immediately. Add more technical density. Real scientists use way more jargon."
"Can you mark up the changes?"
"Yeah. Give me ten minutes."
While I'm working, Penny's getting a full set tour from one of the production assistants.
She returns glowing.
"Stuart. They have the ACTUAL ARMOR. Like, the real practical suits. I touched War Machine."
"You touched a multi-million dollar prop?"
"They said I could!"
"Did they though?"
"Probably? I was excited and they didn't stop me."
RDJ overhears. "We encourage touching. Makes people less nervous."
"See?" Penny gestures triumphantly.
After my notes on the monitors, we're escorted to craft services. Where Penny discovers that movie catering is legitimately impressive.
"There's a sushi station."
"I'm aware."
"On set. Just—here. For anyone."
"Film budgets are stupid."
"I'm never leaving."
Driving back to Pasadena, Penny's quiet.
Then: "You're really successful, aren't you?"
"Define successful."
"Stuart. You just casually brought me to a Marvel set. Where Robert Downey Jr. knows your name. And Jon Favreau asks your opinion on technical stuff. That's not normal."
"It's the consulting gig."
"It's more than that. The shops, the money, the connections, the—" She gestures. "—everything. I knew you were doing well. I didn't realize you were doing THIS well."
"Does it change anything?"
"No. I mean—maybe? I don't know." She's processing. "My friends think I lucked out. Dating the successful businessman. They're not wrong."
"I lucked out dating you."
"That's sweet. But also—Stuart, you built this. Two years ago you were struggling. Now you're—" She struggles for words. "—a completely different person."
"Same person. Better circumstances."
"That's underselling it."
"Okay. Same person with supernatural luck that I don't fully understand and sometimes feel guilty about."
That's closer to the truth than I usually get.
"Why guilty?" she asks.
"Because I don't know if I earned it. The success came fast. Too fast. Sometimes it feels like cheating."
"You worked your ass off. You made smart decisions. You took risks." She touches my hand. "That's not cheating. That's just—being good at life."
If only.
"Thanks."
"I mean it. Stop downplaying. You're allowed to own your success."
"Even when it feels undeserved?"
"Especially then. Because it IS deserved. You just can't see it because you're too close."
At her apartment, she kisses me goodnight.
"Thank you for today. Seriously. Best day ever."
"Better than power outage date?"
"Different category. Both top tier."
"I'll take it."
"Stuart?"
"Yeah?"
"I'm really proud of you. What you've built. Who you've become. All of it."
The words should feel good.
They do feel good.
But underneath: the knowledge that she's proud of success built on stolen time.
"Thanks, Penny."
"You're welcome. Now go home and do whatever successful people do. Probably spreadsheets."
"Probably spreadsheets."
She laughs. Goes inside.
I drive home thinking about RDJ asking my opinion and Penny touching War Machine and Kevin Feige trusting my judgment.
All built on foreknowledge.
All real anyway.
Both things true simultaneously.
Success built on cheating still requires execution.
That's what I tell myself.
That's what lets me sleep at night.
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