17796/April showers bring May flowers

April showers bring May flowers
Date of Scene:	28 April 2024
Location:	Avengers Mansion - Kitchen
Synopsis:	Thor helps with the beginning stages of new landscaping, and offers Pepper a tour of Asgard. She accepts both the help and the invitation.
Cast of Characters:	Pepper Potts, Thor

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Pepper Potts has posed:
Early spring, and the rain is more plentiful than the sunshine. They say 'April showers bring May flowers' but it also brings the mud, the dreary grey skies and the like. It's those flowers, however, that are wanted, no, needed now, and a little color in Avengers' Mansion will never go amiss.

Ms Pepper Potts is within; it's been a little while since she's been here //not// in the Medical Bay, and she's obviously enjoying her time. She's in casual clothes, that is, capris jeans with low sneakers, a camisole and a long sleeved shirt half-buttoned over it. Red hair is pulled back into a pony tail, and she's directing some workers as to where to put some of the planters. She's out by the front door at the moment; the front yard of the Mansion needs a little TLC after the winter.

"The larger pots need to go by the walkway, where I think we'll be installing new lights." Pepper advises, "Those bushes need to be trimmed, and I think that one needs to be moved away from the window."

Thor has posed:
"What needs moving? I've a ready hand, daughter of Pott!" Thor's friendly voice carries from where he approaches, the general direction of the interior. He's upbeat, and was expecting something giant to need to be moved ... not a tiny potted plant. So upon seeing the planters are not, in fact, ogre-sized, has Thor looking amused and bashful.

Thor's a funny sight at the moment. He'd flown in, soaked from all of the rain, and changed into his mix of Avenger-indoor wear -- sweatpants, and sweatshirt, without bothering with a shirt under it. His hair is haphazardly ponytailed. It's still short, so it's a sort of tuft of blonde at the back of his head, most of it falling forward near the ears. Shoes? Nah, they're drying out. Thor is unconcerned, the Avenger house is clean indoors!

Pepper Potts has posed:
While people //say// they're ready to meet Thor, or even see him, they're really not. The perks of getting a contract with Avengers' Mansion are numerous, and one of them is to get a glimpse of one of the heroes. But no one is ever truly ready to see Thor. Particularly dressed as he is. Even Pepper isn't completely used to the sight.

Turning around to the sight that is the Crown Prince of Asgard, Pepper looks momentarily surprised, followed by a bright smile of greeting, though a hand rises to her chest for a second before dropping once again. "Thor. It's okay. I have the workers-"

The large pots are large by her standards at any rate! She does glance at the workers and their trucks and trollies, and back to the Avenger before she exhales in a sigh. "We probably could use your help," she admits.

Thor has posed:
"What are we doing? A gardening display?" Thor questions of the activity. "My mother, Queen Frigga, is an expert at such beautiful gardening as you would scarcely believe," Thor shares openly, with a warmth and intensity that can be a lot up front, from the large Avenger.

"I, sadly, do not inherit her green thumb, but am still versed in the movement of statues or bowls containing materials." Thor crosses his arms, though it's loosely so, and turns bright eyes towards Pepper. "Though I do question where Stark is! Not assisting you in this hobby?" Thor asks, as if to Thor's eye, assisting a lady in such a thing would be an honor.

Pepper Potts has posed:
"Getting some color out front. We have yellows, lots of yellows," with the bright forsythia bushes, the daffodils, "Pinks from the trees," early blooming dogwoods, "But we need some other colors in the ground. And some to bloom at different times." Pepper lays her hands on her hips, if only briefly, as she considers the front yard and entry, giving it a long look.

The mention of his mother being a gardener has the redhead looking back at Thor, her head tilting, "Really? So she enjoys it?" She hadn't actually considered doing it //herself//; she's got people, who have people. "It sounds.. relaxing."

Still, Thor's admission has Pepper chuckling, and she nods, "Everyone has a part to play. I can't move statues, and I might guess that your mother would rather not." Just so she can see how the statues look in their spot!

Now, where Tony is is usually the question of the moment whenever Pepper is espied. He's usually not far away, or can be far away. Toss of the coin, really. "He," she's used to this, really, "is working. Now that I've taken over more of the work, it gives him a chance to get more done with the things he..." she pauses before, "..feels he needs to get done." So practiced, Pepper is. "Actually, we have a project that we want finished, and he's working on that." Better answer. "We want to roll it out sooner rather than later."

Thor has posed:
Thor was lost to the other side of the universe, missing, and hasn't even really been in the Avengers mansion for two years running. And now, here he is, around far more often - though he hasn't seen Pepper within that time, that he can remember.

But none of that really matters, since the long-lived Asgardian doesn't necessarily feel the same way about time as humans do. So it is entirely natural for him to pick up wherever it was from two or more years, as if there had been no gap. But really, maybe there wasn't....

"I do not mean to press or make it appear that you are incomplete without him here," Thor clarifies. "More to say it is a shame for HIM if he is missing out on sharing such a thing with you. I shall give him a good shake later," Thor teases her.

"But... unrelated to him, we have not spoken as of late. Are you all right?" Thor asks, more quietly, and offers a broad hand to attempt to clasp her shoulder. He's a giant man, particularly compared to a petite thing like Pepper, but gentle when he means to be. "You do have time for yourself, to breathe?"

Pepper Potts has posed:
"I know, I know," Pepper agrees easily, "I didn't think for a second.." and she lets that trail off. Hopefully she's convinced him, no offense taken!

Though, Thor really hasn't been around, and now? Here he is in the flesh. She turns fully as the workers do their thing, as requested, Pepper gives the Asgardian a long, fond look. "You look good. You've been missed around here. It feels more complete around here now." A chuckle exits and she shakes her head, "Sounds stupid, I know. I'm almost never here, but it did have a different feel, before."

As for how she is? Pepper offers a slightly tighter smile, her lips a thin line as she offers a quick, single-shouldered shrug. "I'm doing okay," is it convincing? "A lot has been going on," and the chuffed laugh holds a lot behind it, "A lot different, but," here, she nods again, looking up at the large man, "doing okay."

The hand on her shoulder has her taking a breath, a funny look on her face before she rolls her shoulders slightly, her hand rising to put hers atop. "I appreciate you asking. Really. And," she manages another laugh, soft but a little self-deprecating. "I'm in charge of the company now. There's no time. Ever."

Thor has posed:
"I would over to give you a tour of Asgard, get your mind off those things for a while, but I do suspect you might spend the whole trip worrying about what you left here that is needing your attention, would you not?" Thor asks Pepper, then, with a wrinkle of smile that comes in strong around his eyes as well as lips, before they part into a softened laugh and grin.

"But taking time to feel another environment can be healing. I suspect you know this. Consider it a possibility that I offer to a rare few," the prince smiles. But he'd like to help Pepper. He can sense her stress level, even as she attempts to seem relaxed under his hand.

"Sometimes we have to make the difficult ones step up now and then, even if it pains us," Thor asides to her quietly. "Makes them grow a little bit." Loki did, too, even if Thor had his doubts, he's proud of Loki for stepping up.

Pepper Potts has posed:
Pepper looks surprised at the offer, her words coming first as a stutter, "Thank you. I-I-I mean, that's very kind. And I'm honored, really." Is she ready to say 'no'? There is a long pause where she actually looks to consider it, weighing all the pros and cons in those few heartbeats before, "I'd love that. I do need to get everyone used to the fact that I'm around, though. Particularly when I.. wasn't doing so well." Stark Industries had essentially gone dark for week or two, with very little communication coming from the management out to the news, which of course led to SI being in the news more with questions. "And," Pepper's expression brightens, the freckles on her cheeks more pronounced in the display, "a trip to Asgard deserves my full attention."

The hand is given a squeeze under hers before she lifts it, freeing his own. "I'll plan for it, and then you can tell me when would be a good time." Reports need to be submitted, the project plans, meeting notes from Gracie Mansion.. and of course follow up meetings...

Thor has posed:
Thor chuckles and gives her a warm squeeze and a little half-tug in; a sort of barely-there side-hug. He can tell she's not the sort that would appreciate an actual big embrace, so he toned it down just for her, to be sure she'd still be comfortable enough, and releases and steps back.

"I would hardly expect you able to drop everything on a sudden whim! Do you not strike me as such a fanciful type," Thor answers. "Certainly, make your plans as you need. Though do not bring work with you, I might be insulted by such," Thor says, with a mock direct stare. He may or may not be serious about that one! But Asgard, a fanciful land of gods: perhaps it could be worth unplugging for a little while? And Thor does know this, as well as what he feels as the healing power of his home, for this kind woman.

"Be not so surprised. Avengers are welcomed. And are you not yet one of us?" Thor asks. He considers her basically being one! Close enough.

Pepper Potts has posed:
Pepper accepts the polite Thor side-hug gratefully. She's a slip of a thing, but the return squeeze is perhaps a little stronger than in the past? She's grateful for the quiet attention no doubt. There and released, the redhead stands, her smile unwavering.

"It would be a shame to waste the opportunity by bringing work." She can unplug, really! Maybe. Mostly. Okay, she might be as bad as Tony is. "I can't just leave everything and go-" Pepper begins again, "I have to plan for it. I mean, when I go anywhere, I can usually be contacted, but on Asgard?" Nope. "I wouldn't do that."

The question, however, brings a barked laugh, and she shakes her head. "No, no I'm not. It may seem like it on occasion, but I'm the Plus One."

Thor has posed:
Thor perceptively squints at her a little bit, as if deciding if he'll argue with her about being a plus one. But no, he would not do that. He'll trust it is as she says, and that she knows best. "As you say!" is verbalized, as well, with full support. "A plus one until you determine otherwise." And then Thor will agree with that, too!

"In the meanwhile, there are gardens to arrange, to get you back time to do more work, are there not?" Thor questions of the display still in front of them, and flexes his hands and forearms with a deliberate (and probably unnecessary) warmup. Thor's ready to do a little heroic work, the worst of it, for the workers of the Avengers Mansion!