14490/Why Friday

Why Friday
Date of Scene:	24 March 2023
Location:	Malibu house
Synopsis:	The aftermath of the after party is conversation with concessions and agreements.
Cast of Characters:	Pepper Potts, Tony Stark

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Pepper Potts has posed:
Leaving the post-Oscar party post-haste isn't as difficult as one would imagine, what with all the emergency vehicles with their lights flashing. Those red and blue dancing lights cause enough of a controlled confusion that the helicopter is gained easily enough. After all, what's the point of consorting with spies if one can't use their inherent sneakiness to benefit?

Once in the air, Pepper is picking at the suit, trying to work out how to actually remove pieces, and failing. After all, Tony has an entire system designed to remove the pieces one by one until the conveyor at the end results in a de-suited Iron Man. She's got that battle going on, vacillating between talking in those nervous tones once more and falling completely silent, trying to figure out exactly what is going on in her head and how to reconcile everything that just happened.

While the house in Malibu is a great deal smaller than the Stark Tower (obviously), it is no less expansive on the inside. It has its touches of hominess, however; a centerpiece that is a fireplace holds a cheery flame, and the large living room has that view of the ocean beyond. The sun's gone down, and the stars are out, twinking over the waves.

Once 'home', and Pepper is considering their various houses and penthouses as 'home' now (Malibu, Paris, Dubai, and of course New York), she's trying to divest herself of the suit and struggling with it. She wants to get out of it, to get rid of the evening and the memory of it. At least its ending.

"Friday.. Tony.. how do you get this thing.."

Tony Stark has posed:
There are a mix of feelings going on within Tony as they are on the helicopter. You would think his first impulse would be to help Pepper out of the suit, or that he would be traumatized by having the gun pointed at him. But that is not what has Tony's mind going most of all.

"It'll be easier to let the suit do the work," says Tony, leaning against the side of the helicopter, that one finger resting up against his temple as his fingers curl against his jaw. He is looking at Iron Man, talking to Iron Man, which is somewhat surreal. Even more surreal than the first time he talked to Rhodey in the War Machine suit, which was a lot like an out of body experience.

Tony knows that he should probably be doing more to get Pepper out of there. To get her comfortable. He knows that she is probabably feeling claustrophic. He did, that first time, once the exhiliration of knowing it was what got him out of an even more claustrophobic situation, figuratively at least. But somehow, this is making things easier on him. Because he has a lot going on in his mind. And a very literal weigh in his pocket that somehow feels very different now than it did an hour ago.

"Trust me," he says, reaching out to pat Iron Man on the knee. And as they come into cliff-side mansion, he guides Pepper towards the off-ramp. "Just stand there, let it all do the work." It progresses her along through the act of removing the various pieces of armor, and Tony is right there to take her hand once it finally removes the last of it.

He avoids the impulse to wrap her up in a hug, determined to play things off as cool. He is very much not cool, and he knows that Pepper seeing that will not be good for anyone. So he keeps the facade up. He is good at that.

"So, now that you've taken it for a test drive, what do you say? Want to head down to the dealership and pick one up for yourself." He snap points at her. "I'll bet we could get a nice one in green to match your eyes!"

Pepper Potts has posed:
The relief is palpable when it's off, though the gown beneath is ruined. The suit is most decidedly designed for 'not dress'. Pepper takes a deep breath, and her shoulders slump a touch in the beginnings of her own 'not cool'. Without anyone else around, the redhead has the ability to vent her particular feelings on the matter, and this?

It matters.

"Tony, you could have been killed. Who were those people? And why were they coming after you? And.." And.. and...

The words come rapid fire with barely a breath in between, echoing her both her pacing and handgestures as she works to get her thoughts in line. "And that suit.. the suit. The suit YOU should have been wearing. I'm not supposed to.. it's yours, and you.." The stream of consciousness ends abruptly with her staring at him for what feels an eternity, but it's actually only a couple of heartbeats. "I can't believe I did that." Tony could have been killed, and her entire world would have been shattered. She never, ever wants to relive the feeling that she'd never see him again, that he'd never quip like..

Shaking her head quickly in prelude to an answer, Pepper finds her voice yet again, "No. It's not me. It's you. Everyone expects it to be you, but.." if she did have one, it'd mean that she'd not lose Tony to the suits (again? Still?).

As she begins that wind down, Pepper looks down again at her outfit; she's a mess, but Tony? He's got blood on him, though it's not his. Thankfully. Padding across the short distance to the couch, Pepper falls into the cushions and exhales with a long, audible breath. "I wonder if that was because you're you, or that you're Iron Man."

Tony Stark has posed:
"Next time I'll remember to stop and ask the assassins for ID," quips Tony. Because that's how he deals with these things. Quip, deflect, move on. Except somehow, he does not think this is something that can be moved on from. No matter how hard he tries.

He reaches out to slide an arm around Pepper to guide her inside. Maybe towards the bar. The bar might be a good idea. "By the time I got the suit on, they could have hit you. They were crappy assassins." He smiles at her. "Besides, you know how I like to field test things. I'd be itching for a chance to see how you'd look in a suit. So thankfully we had the chance." He winks at her. Maybe his charm can prevail on the day afterall.

"Sometimes, people expect things but don't realize what they really want," he says with a shrug. "And people got used to Rhodey pretty fast. They could get used to you." He glances down at Pepper's chest as she slips away and heads towards the couch. "I mean, I could, you know, modify the body design..." He makes little circular hand motions in front of his chest, and then grins over at Pepper.

"If they were after Iron Man, they'd have sent something more powerful." He had already been thinking that through. This wasn't a super villain.

Pepper Potts has posed:
The bar? The bar would be great, but if Pepper hadn't gotten off her feet, she may have found her knees buckling with the stress and strain of the evening. Actress shot right in front of her with a bullet that was obviously meant for Tony. And then, Tony being confronted with another gunman; if she hadn't been there, if Friday hadn't registered it on her sensors...

The thought is too horrible to consider.

"Rhodey is a military officer," Pepper reminds from her spot on the couch. "And one of our best friends." At least one of the 'inner circle' that they trust. That word is so rarely assigned, but for Rhodey? It's the truth. "He's gotten you out of probably more things than I even know about." She knows that she doesn't know half of their escapades.

The gestures actually have Pepper looking down, then back up, and finally... finally, there is a smile that is wrested from her. Brows rise ever so slightly as she nods, her lips pressed together.

Instead of commenting on that, Pepper nods and moves to that next, "That's true. They thought you were vulnerable. Didn't know that Natasha was there, or Clint." Which begs the question, did SHIELD know something was up? As she considers, her head tilts and she gives that particular thought voice, "Did they know that something might happen?"

Tony Stark has posed:
The bar will come to Pepper. Tony pours her a glass, and then carries that and the bottle over to the couch. None for him. Perhaps a surprise.

"Yes. That's true. But you have gotten me out of more things than anyone else, living or dead." He hangs the glass over and leans back on the couch, turning to rest his side against the cushion and face Pepper. "I'll ask Clint. He's pliable. Nat would lie to my face and convince me I had my own birthday wrong." He reaches out with his free hand to brush back some of the strawberry locks from Pepper's face. "I was fine. You were fine. Even that actress, I think, is going to make it." He smiles reassuringly at her. Or tries to be. "And would you have tried on the suit if you'd had a moment to think about it?"

Pepper Potts has posed:
Wine. Wine is good. A half-glass of wine with a single ice cube; something to both cool it and water it down. Pepper doesn't drink to get drunk. She drinks to wind down, to calm down. She accepts the glass gratefully, cradling it in hands just after the first sip is taken.

A genuine chuckle escapes the redhead, "I have to remind you when your birthday is coming," she teases. Just another way that she is indispensable. "When you start seeing me decorate the yacht, or hiring the DJ for the Malibu house.." it's a hint!

Pepper does lean into the touch, as gentle and fleeting as it was. "It could have been 'not fine', Tony." Therein lies the difference between the pair. She looks at the 'what could have happened' and Tony lives at the 'it didn't, so we're good'. She chuffs a breath and shakes her head quickly, her hair moving in the action, "No," she admits. "Though I still think it'd been better if it was on you, because you were the target." It was a horrible thing to do, to put her in that position! Though it does show that her workouts with Happy have benefit. As does her jogging in the Park.

"If anything had happened to you because I was too slow? Or I didn't know what I was doing?" She'd never be able to forgive herself.

Tony Stark has posed:
Tony watches Pepper sip at the wine. He knows she needs it. There was a day when he would have, too.

"I just like to keep that up because it makes you happy." He leans over to brush a kiss against her lips. "And I do like it when you are happy." He sighs quietly. "It could have been not fine, but that's the world we live in, Pep. All we can do is find a way to make sure we mitigate those risks. And while it was almost not fine, do you know why it /was/ fine?" He tilts his head. "Because I had a suit ready to throw on you to make sure you wouldn't get hit, and I have been taking tumbling classes from Steve." Another grin, and he reaches out again to play with a wisp of her hair. "What if we both had one? Then you wouldn't be arguing with me about putting you inside."

Pepper Potts has posed:
The wine does help settle her nerves, and after another couple of sips, Pepper leans forward briefly to set the glass onto the coffee table. Once done, she leans back again, and exhales in a soft but deliberate sigh and looks back at that handsome face that is so close. The kiss goes a long way to also help quash all those fears of 'what could have been', leaving behind 'what happened'. "Oh, Tony.." and she shakes her head slowly, and breathes that sigh again. "You..." and she lets the thought dissipate, only to bring up her preliminary thoughts on that next.

"We both had one?" Pepper peers at Tony, her head ducking as she looks up at him, trying to read that face, attempting to work out the direction all this is now going. "I thought you were considering //not// wearing one anymore?" But, there is something of a soft confession that is torn unwillingly from her, "I can understand why you do that now." Being in that suit, albeit under a stressful situation, was unlike anything she'd experienced before. "It's... I can't explain it, other than it was terrifying and brilliant all at the same time."

Tony Stark has posed:
For a while, he just watches her. Watching the calm, cool, and collected Pepper slowly come back. He just smiles back at her, letting her play through her thoughts.

"Yeah. Both of us." He reaches out to take her hand. "When the bullets were flying, all I could think about is what my life would be like without you in it, and I would rather not see that day. So I had the suit protect you." He tilts his head. "And I realize you were scared while I was out there, but think of what it is like for me, roles reversed, right?" He gives her hand a squeeze. "But if both of us had one, we wouldn't have to choose who is hidden behind the best technology I can muster."

He nods as she talks about being in the suit. "It's amazing, isn't it?"

Pepper Potts has posed:
It seems they both have the same thought, that is, the loss of the other would be almost insurmountable. Pepper shakes her head and lifts a hand to rest fingers on her forehead and leans there for a long moment. The hand, then, is taken in earnest, and she meets that dark-eyed gaze, looking into his eyes and seeing the truth therein. "But you know what you're doing out there," is protested, "but," and she will admit, "I'm always worried when you're in your suit."

Having a suit, well... "That'd do the exact opposite of what you said you wanted to do." He was almost //promising// that he'd put the suits away and just come back to her as 'Tony Stark'. "That's.." and Pepper pauses to gather her thoughts on it, and her expression is such that she looks as if she's reliving those moments when she felt such power and protection around her. "... that's not what we were going to do."

She does nod soon after, the agreement brought out unwillingly, but she won't lie. "I can see why you like it. And why it scares me. I felt almost invincible. Like, nothing could hurt me in there."

Tony Stark has posed:
"Would it make you feel better to know I have absolutely no idea what I am doing, I just rely on Friday?" Far from the truth, and meant as a joke. And likely Tony knows that that will NOT make her feel better in the slightest. But he is trying to take the edge off. If he can't do it with quips, he may have to turn to Plan B.

He shakes his head. "I didn't say I was putting the suits away right now, Pep. I said I wanted to start planning for being able to put them away." He leans closer towards her. "And until that time comes, nothing says I can't do what I can to keep you safe, too." He reaches out to put a hand on her knee. Which feels far better than when she was wearing the Iron Man suit.

"Nothing could have hurt you in there. And you made sure nothing hurt me." He leans forward, and rests his forehead against hers. "We can be invicible. Together."

Pepper Potts has posed:
Pepper laughs and she shakes her head, "That does not make me feel any better, no." The further from the happenings of the evening, the easier it is to regain her equilibrium in it all. He's doing a good job at taking that edge off; she's allowing for it, anyway.

"Then shouldn't we be working the opposite direction?" Pepper pauses and shifts in her seat, facing Tony a little more fully. "Would that, would my doing that help you separate yourself from it?" She says it like she doesn't believe it, her expression and tones underscoring it. "I don't think it would." Those words aren't so much an accusation, but more a sad acknowledgment.

Pepper closes her eyes briefly at the touch, his warmth and breath filling in the bare distance between them. "I couldn't let him hurt you. He had a gun, and.. and.. it was so violent, but I couldn't think of anything else to do. I didn't even think twice before doing it." Invincible. That's exactly what it was, what it is. "I don't know what scares me more now. Not doing that or doing it."

Tony Stark has posed:
"Well, ok, I'm really good at it and know exactly what I'm doing," admits Tony. "But you're just as smart as I am, and if I could figure it out, without having an AI talking to me...don't tell me you couldn't be doing cartwheels around me in two weeks with Friday giving you a little nudge."

He tilts his head, and nods slowly as she shifts. His fingers give her knee a gentle squeeze. "I'd like for you to experience it, for a little bit, if for nothing else then maybe you'll start to realize why it has the pull on me that it does." He breathes out slowly. "I know you think it's insane. And you wonder what about it keeps me doing it. I think, I really think, that if you joined me, even for the last couple of years that I was doing it...it'd all make sense." He smiles. "And I think you'd enjoy it too."

He leans in a bit closer. "You did it. You did the right thing, at the right time, and if you weren't in that suit, I wouldn't be here now."

He takes a deep breath, drinking in of the mix of her perfume, her shampoo, her wine, and her lingering anxiety. "And I wouldn't want to be anywhere other than here." He leans in, and preses his lips a bit more firmly to hers.

Pepper Potts has posed:
There's the admission, and Pepper nods in that silent 'mmmhmm' expression that she wears. "I think she's a little annoyed with me." It's natural, talking about AIs as if they're actually real people. Tony's just //that good// in terms of programming them, complete with perceived personalities. "I don't think she'd be happy to see me again."

He's breaking her down, and the little chinks in her resolve are growing slowly but surely. Putting a hand up to forestall anything more, "I'll consider it," she admits. "If only to make sure you keep your promise." Not that Tony lies, but he's like a kid with some things; if it's fun or feels that he has to do something, he doesn't necessarily want to stop, nor can stop.

Pepper leans forward to press that kiss, meeting Tony in the middle. "Mmm.." she sounds considering, "I like you here, too," is murmured.

Tony Stark has posed:
"She loves you," replies Tony, as he shakes his head slowly. "But, you know, if you don't love her, I can whip up a different one. I can grow them pretty easily now." He grins for a moment. "I can name yours Tom after that actor you like."

He hears her say she'll consider it. And he knows he has her. "I'll do you one better." He leans in for the kill. Erm, for the kiss. "If you go along with this, give it a fair shot, give me two years, I promise you if you want me out of the suit, I'm out of the suit." There it is - a deadline. An expiration date. Two more years of Iron Man. If she still wants him out once she has her own suit, of course. Is Tony banking on her changing her tune? Maybe. But the offer is real.

"Good. Then we're agreed." On what, exactly? Who knows. But Tony is out of words, leaning in to allow himself to get lost in the kiss, thoughts of Iron suits drifting out of his mind...