Tony beams.

"So you're an engineer, right? What are you working on?"

"Some classified stuff... a laser pointer Sherry can keep around without setting himself on fire by accident... restoring an old car... I dunno, stuff," he says. "Iron Man built himself a particle accelerator, I'm kind of tempted to try that."

"Ooh, classified stuff. What are particle accelerators for?"

"They are for accelerating particles!" laughs Tony. "Um - physics stuff. He used it to synthesize an element that makes a really efficient catalyst for cold fusion."

"Nifty. Does it scale? That's the advantage science has over magic, pretty much, is that it scales better."

"Tech...nically yes," says Tony, "but you'd have to ask him about the details, I still haven't actually seen this stuff."

"Gonna collaborate or figure it out for yourself as a puzzle?"

"Figure it out, of course."

"No of course about it, depends on whether you're interested in the solution or the process and whether you're in a hurry."

"It's an of course for me."

"Well," says Pattern, "I guess that tells me whether you're usually in a hurry and whether you usually care about process or results more, then, doesn't it."

"I'm not never in a hurry, but if I was in a hurry to have Iron Man's arc reactor I'd have one already," he explains.

"Ah. I should have been more specific. Whether you ever attend parties while in a hurry."

He snorts.

"What all do you do besides engineering, or is that your all consuming passion?"

"Um... engineering and Sherry," he says, "pretty much. And cars. But cars are related to engineering."

"I suppose they are. I sort of have a car. Charlie never got rid of the station wagon I had, when I died, so it's still around."

"Guess you don't have much use for one, with all the magic, huh?"

"Right, I mostly teleport places now, if I feel like indulging in sheer travel-related delight I fly."

"Driving's fun," says Tony, "but I think that's a me thing, not a general people thing."

"I think flying's pretty universally compelling, except for people scared of heights," says Pattern, hopping a few inches into the air.

"Flying sounds awesome!" says Tony. "But I wanna do it myself, you know?"

"And having a stable magic superpower for it doesn't count?"

"It'd still be somebody else giving it to me. I want to invent it myself - well, build it at least, Iron Man did the inventing already."