14222/Could it be magic

Could it be magic
Date of Scene:	23 February 2023
Location:	Avengers Mansion - Basement
Synopsis:	Pepper finds Tony and Natasha, and tells the two of them about the 'subtle anomaly' in the Tower.
Cast of Characters:	Pepper Potts, Tony Stark, Natasha Romanoff

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Pepper Potts has posed:
Late afternoon, almost early evening. The sun is setting over the City that Doesn't Sleep, and the business day is over. Complete. Or, at least it is for 'normal' corporations and business execs. And, while one corporate exec, that is, owner and CEO may be off and putting in time on a completely different endeavor, Miss Virginia 'Pepper' Potts is planning on putting in a little extra time in order to try and solve a mystery. One that HOMER had dumped into her lap and she's not quite sure how to resolve it, if it's resolved, or..

Of course, minus calling in the magical 'the big guns', but she actually doesn't have access to said 'big guns'. Or if it's even warranted.

So, to that end, Pepper knows where Tony is (she usually does), and has a driver take her to the Mansion; her heels *clicking* on first the concrete walk up to the door, then across the marble and carpeted floor. Her winter coat is wrapped about her tightly, scarf fashionably keeping her neck warm as she makes her way towards the elevator leading down.

Tony Stark has posed:
While he has his head buried in a car, somehow Tony has a sixth sense that Pepper is coming. That, or he has some sort of tracker on her that lets his in-ear AI notify him. Or it's magic. Something like that.

Either which way, by the time Pepper is getting close Tony has pulled his head out of the car and is slowly wiping off the grease from his fingers on a small towel. If she walked here herself, and didn't want for him to get back to the Tower, that definitely means something.

Natasha Romanoff has posed:
And there enters Natasha, having been doing some reading over in the room. She has a book in front of her that's bulky and faded. It's a collection of Soviet propaganda newspapers from the Seige of Stalingrad. SHe's idly skimming through pictures. For a rare moment seeming actually lost in thought. At the entrance of Pepper she would glance over. "Pepper, I hope all is well. Tony, how faresyour latest projects?"

Pepper Potts has posed:
It's been a long time since Pepper's felt the need to TRY to shut Tony's extracurricular activities down and suggest that he go home and 'sleep it off', or whatever. She's not here for that. Tony is right, however, in terms of the feeling of urgency; instead of waiting until Tony comes home, she's out and needing to talk to him. And not only talk to him, but talk to him face to face, for whatever reason.

*ding*

The elevator opens, and Pepper steps in, and while it brings her down, the redhead seems a touch distracted, and a little fidgety. The cool, calm, professional veneer isn't in place, and when the door finally opens to the floor, she takes the step out. It's only a couple of heartbeats later that she hears the familiar voice of Natasha, and twisting around, smiles quickly; it's there and gone in a touch of nerves.

Never let Pepper stew.

"Tony," she begins, and she adds the one more, "Natasha. Good. I think you might.." Help? Be good? She pauses, a touch of a stumble over her words, ".. I'm glad you're here," she finishes up before she looks back to Tony, her expression perhaps saying it all in terms of her slight but growing unease.

"I don't know if HOMER told you," she begins, but waves her hand in the air dismissively, "Probably not. I don't think he realizes he can actually talk to JARVIS.. but.. HOMER found something strange in the tower earlier today."

Tony Stark has posed:
Looking over towards Nat, Tony chuckles. "Splendidly, actually. I think I am going to break my own record again at the..." He trails off as he sees Pepper arrive looking very un-Pepper like. He is allowed to be unsteady. Pepper? Not at all.

"Look, it was meant to be a surprise," he says, a bit of a grin on his face as he crosses over towards Pepper. "But gosh darnit it it is /so/ hard to keep those giant sized tardigrades in one place!" He leans over to give her a kiss on the cheek, and then his demeanor shifts. Humor should be used sparingly when trying to defuse such a situation.

"What's going on, Pep?"

Natasha Romanoff has posed:
Natasha Romanoff would bow her head over to Pepper, "You seem like you have your attention on something, Pepper." Reading over the expression of 'help' from the redhead gets her somewhat interested. There's no real amusement over in it, just interest. At the mention over of 'something strange' her lips go to thin. WIth all of the attacks on planetary and SHIELD installations lately, that's of immediate interest.

Not to mention with various members of the team switched about in bodies. IF this is something that leaves them vulnerable. . HEr lips purse as she goes to look among the other two.

Pepper Potts has posed:
It's almost a physical reaction to seeing Tony; for all the problems that he (sometimes) causes, he does find his way to solutions, and in the last few years, she's truly grown to rely on him as much as he upon her. Her shoulders lower a little from the tenseness in her back, and she gives him that attempt at a smile in the face of levity, though it's no question that it's forced. Not in any annoyance or irritation regarding appropriateness of timing or subject matter, but more in the fact that something is weighing on her, and she needs it out. She needs it solved.

As a result, the 'surprise' portion of that will probably be revisited, around 2:00 in the morning as she lies in bed, awake, staring at the ceiling while listening to the measured breathing of another.

She nods at Natasha quickly, even as she moves to stand a touch closer to Tony; the kiss on the cheek does go a lot way. "HOMER. Did he call you?" She's repeating herself, and quickly realizing that he hadn't, Pepper pushes forward in explanation, her hands out and moving to underscore her words in gesture. "He discovered an anomaly. Magical.. because, you know that Amanda had put up warning wards against magic." Remember? Amanda is Pepper's friend from University; she's living in The Dakota, in Pepper's former apartment with 'Patrick', the little cleaning robot that Tony had built for the girls. Only now, Patrick is so much more.. he's a slayer of snakes and has survived an encounter with Loki. (Fully believing that he'd single-handedly protected the pair from the Asgardian trickster prince!) "He'd triangulated it down to HR, and then lost the signal. I went down, and there was nothing. I mean, there was a little birthday party for Amy in HR, but other than that? HOMER had lost the signal. It was subtle, there and gone, but just enough to trip the ward."

Tony Stark has posed:
Nodding slowly, Tony smile at Pepper. "Yes, those HR parties are usually a magical experience." He rolls his eyes. "I'll bet HOMER was just bored and was trying to test out that new humor model I programmed in." He takes a step back and moves back to the car, puling the stand out and dropping the hood back down before looking back at Pepper. "I mean, I haven't been to an HR meeting since we stopped hirings all those cute interns..." He tilts his head, as if a thought was coming together. Then he points accusatorilly at Pepper. "Hey, did you do that?"

Natasha Romanoff has posed:
Natasha Romanoff goes to glance over at Tony for a moments, wagering things through her mind as she would listen to him and to Pepper. She goes to shift her expression just a nudge. Over to 'contemplative' if one were to check her outward expression. THere's just enough sincerity there to be taken as genuine. But Natasha's not a particularly warm or expressive person.

"So magic, Loki, and more loveliness from the Asgardians." They've had so much of that going on lately. Ever since THor's vanished and eveyrone out that wants to take a hack at the Prince instead turning their attentio over to Midgard.

She would think, "Have you tried any alternative methods of checkingup on him? Satellite? Transponders? Do you have any sort of tracking devices on his person that you've tried activating? Have there been any other signs of unnatural things?"

Pepper Potts has posed:
How not to ease Pepper's concerns in one easy lesson; talk about how hot ALL the women in HR are, and how 'magical' their parties are. Add to that Pepper being his girlfriend. A brow rises, and she straightens with her chin rising slightly, those green eyes looking directly at the joking Tony. "This really isn't any time to laugh, Tony. I'm serious. HOMER wouldn't have said something if it was just a blip and gone. And if it's him being funny?" It's obvious from her manner and mien that she's not finding it the least bit amusing.

Loki's name is mentioned, and Pepper turns to look at Natasha. "Loki? As in.." She shakes her head, "I've met him," which may be a revelation to Tony; lord knows that Tony and Loki hadn't really been on speaking terms since the New York Invasion. "Twice." Just in case. She glances at Tony to let that sink in before she looks back at Natasha. "If it was him, why didn't he just say so? It doesn't make any sense." Particularly when,

"I mean, aren't we at peace with him?" Them? Pepper pauses, and then waves a hand, "Not that I'm supposed to know anything about that." But she does have the occasional chat with people within SHIELD. And the information is actually useful to her and her dealings. After all, again... Tony and Loki.

Tony Stark has posed:
There is a bit of a grin from Tony. It may not be fair, but it does serve his ego sometimes to get Pepper all riled up. Even though his time of having Pepper take out his trash are a distant memory. Although likely more distant for him than they are for her.

"It could be," Tony says, "Or it could not be." he admits. "What other information do you have to go on?" He glances quickly at Nat. "Why jump to that conclusion? Could just be a faulty servo somewhere."

He turns and looks over at Pepper. "Remember the time that combat droid was hit by an electrical surge and decided he wanted to become a toymaker in New York City?" He shakes his head. "Sometimes they behave unpredictably. Even /my/ tech is known to make mistakes from time to time."

Natasha Romanoff has posed:
Natasha Romanoff would glance over at Pepper, "As he's Regent of Asgard for the particulars of SHIELD Fury's given stand down orders on any active warrants agaisnt him so long as he maintains the status quo of Asgard and takes no aggressive actions against Midgard." That's something they have to work with. They've had the same sorts of situations with Doom and other types before.

Some of them that even make Loki appear benevolent. She would glance to Tony. "Possibly, but the fact that Pepper has brought it to our attention indicates that it's somtehing to follow up on. I trust her initiative and her instincts. Whether or not there's anything, it's a matter of concern to her."

Pepper Potts has posed:
Pepper releases the breath that she's been holding in the face of the teasing regarding HR. She never, ever fights with Tony in 'public' or even in front of anyone, and she's not about to start now. She's always given him this, and it'll never change. Doesn't mean that she doesn't get upset, and visibly so, should anyone know her well enough to see it.

She glances back to Tony, and his own expression says it all; he knows that she loves him because he can still get that rise out of her in terms of jealousy. It has been a long time since she's had to 'take out the trash', as it were, and beyond that, she trusts him enough that she knows that hotel room trysts aren't 'a thing' either. "Tony," and the word sounds a cross between a warning and an exhaled beginning of an explanation. One that perhaps underscores Natasha's.

Shaking her head, Pepper pulls her hands over and closes up her coat, closing herself in. "I remember," she begins, "but this is HOMER. Perhaps having JARVIS check HOMER's records? I wasn't going to ask him to do it, but seeing as it might be worth it?" Pepper nods in Natasha's direction; it does bother her. There's something going on that is tugging at her and she can't let it go. Years of friendship with a witch, Amanda Sefton, won't allow her to drop it... and sadly her friend isn't anywhere she can find.

In the face of it all, however, Pepper nods and drops her head briefly before turning to leave, undoubtedly to go back to the Tower. She's still willing to sleep there, even with the 'subtle anomaly'. "Don't be too long, okay Tony?"

Tony Stark has posed:
There is a lot of history between Tony and Pepper. A lot of public, but just as much private. There is an understanding, and that is the only thing that allows Tony to joke about it. She knows that while there are some things that Tony cannot resist - building more Iron Man outfits, taking off to save the world, making fun of Steve Rogers - one thing is never going to come back: the parade of women that he used to use to distract himself from his feelings for her.

"Fine," he says, giving that Tony Stark eyeroll. "I'll have JARVIS check out HOMER." He sighs. "But if you think that guy is going to be any less of a dick to you once I send him to the principal's office, you don't know just how much dick naturally finds its way into my AIs."

As Pepper turns to leave, he turns to regard Nat, and gives her a wink. "Car can wait until tomorrow. Gonna take this lift home instead, I think." He turns and half trots for a few steps to catch up to Pepper, briefly brushing a hand against the small of her back as he joins her en route back to the Tower.