2817/Playboy gonna play

Playboy gonna play
Date of Scene:	07 August 2020
Location:	Stark Tower: Penthouse
Synopsis:	Tony's drunk, Pepper bargains with him.
Cast of Characters:	Tony Stark, Pepper Potts

---

Tony Stark has posed:
The message came through from Homer, at Rhodes' request - that Pepper be informed that Tony has had a /lot/ of drinks, and probably should be gently cut off out of too much more. He has to go, but he figured she'd want to know.

--

The penthouse isn't an explosion, but it is a den of plenty of drinks and various booze, some boxes of hotwings and some other foods. There's a blare of music, some AC/DC spilling into the elevator.

Some strong guitar, and drums come in -- "SHE WAS A FAST MACHINE, SHE KEPT HER MOTOR CLEAN," goes the music.

Tony is present, by the bar. He's in some snug black jeans, and one of his snug athletic-style shirts with bright golden piping often worn when he's recently had some pieces of the Iron Man suit on him. No pieces are on for now, though the access to the lab is aglow with light. The party probably started down there.

Pepper Potts has posed:
The immediate response on Pepper's lips to a missive like that, particularly from Rhodey, would be 'Why did you let him do that in the first place?'. She's working late to catch up on the various purchase orders, the bid requests for open contracts, and now... this. Pushing herself gently away from the desk on her leather chair, she tucks her feet into her sensible heels and rises to her feet.

"Okay," is what she manages to say. "I'll go and make sure he gets to bed and doesn't do anything..." stupid. She stops short of saying that, even to Rhodey.

It doesn't take her long to make it to the penthouse, and as the elevator door opens, she can hear the music emenating from the living area beyond. Girls weren't mentioned, but the chances are better than even there's probably a bevvy of them in there right now, encouraging the drinking, the loud music, and she steels herself for the tableau when she opens the door.

And she finds.. no one. Well, not 'no one' but the tornado that's hit the room was formed by the single eye, as it were. No women in various states of undress, no... nothing like that.

Next best, however, is Tony in his jeans and piped shirt that he almost exclusively wears for the suit. It's not a stretch, then, to see the light from the workshop below, to know where it'd all started.

And it's undoubtedly going to end, thanks to the party pooper.

She's in her business suit, minus her jacket, her hair pulled back in a pony tail as she stands at the door, looking out.. and it's not hard to see all those thoughts before,

"Tony.." The music is loud, so she has to go a little louder as she steps in, finally, "Tony!" A beat of frustration rises in those tones as she takes a different tack, "Homer, lower the music, please."

"Tony."

Tony Stark has posed:
HOMER lowers the music, but only to about half-volume. They've done this enough times to where it's been easier to not shut it off, or too low, as Tony does not usually want that.

"Hey, Pep," Tony greets, his tone bright and sunny. He's entirely pleased to see her and all of it shows up in his expression. Then again, he might have been so pleased to see any friend (or woman?) show up in his penthouse right now. He crosses around from the bar, with a drink in his hand, the ice tinking in the glass.

Tony's a very high-functioning alcholic but all of the signs of being really blasted are there; he's feeling no pain. "I was thinking of going out. Get my party on," Tony suggests as he comes over directly, though he loses his footing a little on one of the stairs up out of the lowered living room area and has to catch himself on the back of the couch slightly with one hand. Whee. He takes the moment to be sure he didn't spill his drink and have a good drink of it. Dark eyes refocus on her.

"Rhodes is, of course, a stick in the mud," he asserts, more ruefully than actually with any dismay. "I even recalibrated some things for War Machine. Free of charge." Charge having probably been some drinks, which have since been completed! Mostly. He has a mostly-full glass in his hand now, loosely held.

Pepper Potts has posed:
Half-volume is at least the level where she can form a cohesive thought through the maelstrom that is Tony Stark on a bender. Her jaw stiffens and her cheeks tighten as she closes the door behind her to step fully in, navigating around the empty boxes and the randomness that is the bachelor pad in disarray to meet him halfway.

Right now, the greeting is such that it probably could be anyone, including Fury, that he'd be happy to see right now. Nothing like feeling no pain... or getting that high from a drunken binge. She's seen this a hundred times, and taking a deep breath, shakes her head as he staggeringly approaches, to reach for that glass to take out of his hand.

"I don't think that's such a good idea, Tony. And Rhodey called me to be sure you didn't.. hurt yourself. He was concerned." After all, Tony hasn't truly partied like this since, what, Vegas? And there's been too many literal earth-saving moments since then. "I'm sure he appreciated it, too." Beat, and she reaches for an arm, in order to lead him around to bring him back to the center of the penthouse; away from the direction of the door.

Tony Stark has posed:
"Hurt myself?" Tony scoffs immediately, orienting on the drink that has somehow mysteriously left his hand, after taking in his empty grasp for a moment. She just did a magic trick. How about that.

"Hey hey, thief, I was using that," Tony laughs, pursuing her with one hand coming out to her elbow, to pull the glass back into range of his other hand. He doesn't keep it, though, he picks it up by the top and moves to put it on a nearby surface distractedly.

Tony is led away from the door, but then does a partial turn to draw her in, a scooping motion of other hand slid to small of back to neatly adjust her into a dance position. "Party's here, then?" Tony teases, amusement alive in eyes and grin, loose and comfortable.

The grin adjusts into a silent lip-sync of the music's chorus: 'Youuuuu shook me all night looooong'. He attempts to draw her in, and even lead her into a spin, if she's willing to play.

Pepper Potts has posed:
Voila, and there it is, the disappearing drink trick! Pepper's got it for only a couple of seconds, however, before it is less than gracefully retrieved, but not before she tries to do a quick 'keep away'. There's a //look// on her face as she loses it again, but before she attempts to retake it, the drink is set aside, away from him, from them for a moment.

It's the sweeping into his arms that causes her to stiffen a little, her expression a battleground of conflict before she makes the first attempt to extricate herself. That's not done, however, before she shakes her head, "Tony, I think that's enough.. this is not.." Right. Not the way it's supposed to be.

Maybe it's the way other girls flock and fall under the spell of his charm, but to her?

Not sexy.

It's at the attempted spin, then, that she's able to take the momentum to break out of it. "Tony.. really. I think you've had enough. It's been a long day, a hard week.. Maybe you should sleep this off."

Tony Stark has posed:
Tony doesn't quite lose his balance, but there's some focus needed to not tip when he had expected her to stay there with him to dance and she broke away. He doesn't force any of it, though: that's not his style. He dances with willing women. Same with the rest of how he's always functioned - people having a good time can also have fun with Tony.

"You can't be that terrible of a dancer; I've seen you. Don't be so modest," Tony teases her, though, but doesn't actually push. There's a strange little flare of disappointment in his gaze as she tells him no.

But it doesn't stick around. He remembers his drink, and turns to cross back towards where he left it.

Pepper Potts has posed:
Pepper stands there, hands at her side, and her chin rises as green eyes watch the man's emotions run through from 'fun' to 'disappointment', and fall back into the pattern of drinking. A long, slow exhale exits the woman before she pushes some escaped hair back up onto her head as if she was girding herself for battle.

"Please don't, Tony," her voice is almost a plead. "I really don't like it." As if that'd mean anything?

One step is taken in his direction as if to follow him, then another, "You were doing so well. I thought.. it felt like we could take on anything." And that was a big part of her emotional.. fall.

"You were there for me like, you hadn't been before." He hugged her. Gave her soft support. "But that?"

"That's Vegas. That's.. that's hiding."

Tony Stark has posed:
The drinking does a lot to ease all of the tension of serious feels. And while he can still process many things very well, recognizing detailed feelings isn't one of them.

That's sort of the point of drinking.

It blurs and blends together all of the uncertain feelings and amplifies his personality instead. But he's sharp enough to get what she wants him to do. To stop drinking.

He looks steadily at her as she makes her plea, and there's a softened quality to his gaze. "...Alright, this is my last one, then. Okay?" Tony says, bargaining. Even that is quite significant. He doesn't want to let her down.

Pepper Potts has posed:
Pepper pauses in her cross, leaving the distance between them at about six feet. Her heels are kicked off, causing her to lose at least an inch as she side-nudges them with a foot to tuck under a chair so as not to be in the way. Her expression softens, and she recognizes the negotiation for what it is.

He wants her to be happy. Or at the very least, not as upset as she is.

He's looking at HER.

Pepper acquiesces, adding, "Okay. Last one." She'll give him that.

Though, now the curiousity hits, and instead of hitting him with it full face on, takes it somewhat obliquely, and steps to the side to start cleaning up some of the boxes strewn about the place. "I was sort of hoping that.." she pauses in her words while holding an empty white chinese food container, "Never mind." She shakes her head and sets it in a pile on top of a pizza box. "Forget what I said." It doesn't sound like she really means it, though, judging from the softness of her voice as the words come.

"Just sober up a little before you go out. And don't lose Happy."

Tony Stark has posed:
If Tony goes out... Tony will drink more. There's just too much temptation out there for the man who enjoys drowning things in liquor. And all the awkwardness between himself and Pepper that he doesn't have the wherewithal to address right now.

"Ehhhh," Tony says, with a deep sigh, and has a bunch more of his current drink, and wanders across the room, to poke at and fiddle with his music. He flips through about four songs before he just shuts it off instead, and stands over there by it, nursing the drink.

There's a strange quality to it, of being a little bit adrift. Uncertainty. But Tony regains himself, and sighs, crossing past her, and hands off the glass to her hands (not entirely empty, there's a sip left) and heads towards his bedroom.

Pepper Potts has posed:
Pepper watches Tony closely, watches his manner, his mien, and she can almost read those thoughts that are muddled, rushing around his brain in the drunken fog. She stands there, her hands in front of her, fingers in a knot with each other as she watches. There's that quiet hope that perhaps he will stay instead of an echo of those many cavalier moments when he'd simply raise a glass and tell her not to wait up. Hint: she did wait up.

Her green eyes are bright, and there's that touch of pink as he approaches her to set the almost empty glass in her outstretched hands as she's ready to accept it. She turns to watch him head towards his room before she says softly,

"I really wanted to kiss you that night. I've actually wanted to do that for a little while. Since, well, I found the little robot in my apartment." There's a slip of a fond smile at the thought of Patrick.

"I'm not sorry for that."

Tony Stark has posed:
"Huh," Tony says, simply, as if accepting some information that was giving him pause, set back on his heels. "So, a thank you," Tony translates. Shes given a puzzled little look and flare of smile. "You're welcome, then," Tony laughs softly, visually disappearing into his bedroom, but she'll hear him fiddling around in there, probably to change his clothes.

Prior rapport between them means she should stay by the door -- there's been plenty of times where she's been asking him work things and he had to change his shirt, and talked to her literally through this same door while he did it, with trust of privacy.

"There's not just one robot," Tony adds, smirk in his voice through the door.

Pepper Potts has posed:
Tony's interpretation of her words as translated through the amber liquid gains an exhaled sigh from her. Pepper stands there, listening to how he takes it all in, and doesn't //quite// get there.

Sigh.

Still, she's standing as she always does outside the door as he rifles around inside, and she can't help but recall the video call of a few days ago. Tony in his room, just.. calling her on a whim, ostensibly to check on the progress of the aid, but perhaps because he missed her?

The longer he's in there, the more she realizes that he is probably going to be staying in.

But.. what? Her brows rise and Pepper looks.. surprised. Happily surprised, but surprised all the same. Not just one? "Tony.." and she can't help but smile, her face brightening like that day she'd discovered that he was keeping her safe. "What.." What else is in there?

She honestly doesn't expect an answer. It's late, he's been drinking, and there's the distinct possibility that he could actually be stretched out on his bad, out like a light...

Tony Stark has posed:
No answer.

Yep, he relaxed for a minute, and Tony's out. She'll have to find out the answer to all her questions later. But she's gotten her way - to protect him.