3119/Better than a Dance

From Heroes Assemble MUSH
Jump to navigation Jump to search
Better than a Dance
Date of Scene: 27 August 2020
Location: Pepper's Apartment
Synopsis: Tony visits Pepper's balcony for some honest talk.
Cast of Characters: Pepper Potts, Tony Stark




Pepper Potts has posed:
Late night in the city, or it could be early morning. Regardless, the sun is down and the lights are up in the neighborhood, but slowly those in windows are winking off. It's a quiet night; cars aren't driving down the side streets anymore. There are are only a handful of pedestrians on the sidewalk, and they're heading home, only to have their apartment lights blink out soon after.

In Pepper's apartment, however, the lights are still on. They're dimly lit in the windows, but the shape of a person can be discerned from the backlight on the balcony that overlooks the street. She's got a cup in hand, and she turns around to lean on the railing with her back. A little laptop is open, and there are a few windows that are active; news reports, word processing..

Pepper's dressed comfortably now. She's got a pair of lounge pants and an oversized t-shirt on, her hair is down and sitting on her shoulders. As she speaks, the dictation software she has active on the word processor prints out her dictation.

"... thank you in anticipation of your continued assistance.."

Tony Stark has posed:
Patrick the little cleaner robot wakes up and rolls out of his spot near the far wall, to head over to the larger window adjacent to the balcony. He orients his robot face up and out, looking. At Pepper, maybe? He waggles his little self.

There's a massive flare of light out of nowhere, a blast of sun through Pepper's kitchen window over the sink, then flares across like a wild UFO to the balcony. With a significant thump, the light drops down some, though still a blaze of a few tones of golds and blues, emitted from the Iron Man suit that's just dropped out of nowhere directly onto Pepper's balcony. It's disorientingly out of place here, without the STARK tower or anything else with it.

But perhaps Tony is also disorientingly out of place here, too?

"BEEP," says the cleaner robot at Pepper against the glass, muffled.

"/BEEP/."

Then Iron Man cocks a jaunty little wave. "Hey. Dropping by unannounced," Tony says, quite obviously, cheeky, his voice louder from the relay of the suit.

Pepper Potts has posed:
Pepper pauses in her dictation as she catches Patrick's movements. There isn't anything to clean up that would bring him out- nothing that.. and she stares at him and his behavior for a few long heartbeats. "Patri-

She doesn't even get the little robot's name fully out before she jumps, startled, her breath caught in her throat. Her hand flies to the general area of her heart and throat in surprise, just before it completely registers what.. and who it is. It takes a couple of seconds, because the lightshow really, really is a little disorienting. Particularly in the dull night's glow of the neighborhood.

*BEEP*

Pepper catches the sound again, and after a couple of seconds of just not registering poor Patrick's plight, she opens the slider for him.

"Oh my god, Tony," Pepper's a little breathless, "I... I really didn't- " Expect him? "When I'd called, you were out flying, and I just figured--" It all comes out in a mass exodus of surprise, though from the looks of it, not a //bad// one. Just.. one.

After the initial shock, however, there's that //look//, and once she can breathe again, she laughs in a soft breath, "Yes.. yes you are."

Tony Stark has posed:
"Well," Tony begins, but pauses, to raise the front faceguard of his helmet. He's then entirely visible, with the visor part up. "It's on my bucket list to surprise the lucky woman that gets to date me by landing on her balcony, and so I thought..." Tony sort of shrugs, and then makes a little checkmark in the air near her, with a bemused look.

Tony's being impossible, arrogant and teasing, but his gaze doesn't hold those emotions. His eyes hold something pleased, quiet, and gentler: a little 'yay' spark of getting to see her when he'd wanted to see her.

Still. Armor.

"Going to invite me in?" Tony asks. As if this were normal. Any of it.

Pepper Potts has posed:
Pepper's eyes are shining now, and there's a glow that hadn't been there seconds before his visit. There's another laugh; this time, affectionate amusement, and when it passes, there's her smile. "I see," she begins again, "I'm glad you found the right balcony."

Pepper has her sliding glass door, and opens it for him, making a slight sweeping gesture. She closes out her work on screen, and the top of the laptop is shut with a soft *click*. She stands in the way, however, her head canted, and her hand raises as if to stop him. "I always thought you looked handsome in a suit." Once she says her piece, only then she stands aside to let him in.

The balcony is attached to the kitchen and the little dinette area. It looks.. feminine. Tea pots are set on the counter, next to her coffee maker, and little piles of sorted paper are set on the kitchen table. She moves them to the bookcase in the living room before she pads back, her expression apologetic. "I'm sorry.. I really didn't expect anyone, much less you over-" She's in her pjs!

This isn't normal!

Tony Stark has posed:
Tony laughs as she asserts about his suit, stepping towards her, deliberately bringing the armor of the front of his chest up against her raised hand that might have stopped him. He'll step right up against that limit, to her touch. But she's moving aside and in.

"I like the penguin pjs," Tony says flippantly as she goes inside. He steps deliberately over the threshold, his armor heavy, and casting all sorts of interesting lights into her dinette area. "They're charming. Are they sledding?" Tony asks, with a flick of a nod to her cute pants. Patrick has come over not to Tony, but to greet the eight little drones that have now dropped out of the air onto the balcony.

"It's fine if I strip here, right?" Tony asks, and doesn't wait for approval, he just starts to remove pieces of armor, and the drones eagerly assemble to take them and assist in places with the 'stripping'.

Pepper Potts has posed:
Pepper stares at Tony in that momentary bit of.. what? that is apparent on her face before she looks down. "Uh.." Great. Just.. wonderful. "Yes, yes they are." There's a momentary pause before she launches her defense, "They're comfortable, and it get chilly at night."

Wait.. wait.. drones? "Tony.. you.. the neighbors are probably staring right now.." and before she can actually close to the door to them, Patrick's got a happy sounding *beep* as he greets them. Twisting around again, her hand still on the slider, Pepper is once again speechless. "St- " Moving around them, finally, she at least manages to draw the blinds even if she can't close the slider. "Wait.. wait.." and now she's even more flustered. "Tony-" He's always had his black flight clothes on under it, so she's trying to be oh so nonchalant about it.

It's one thing to see all this going on in the Tower, but in her apartment? Like he's just coming home from a day at work, changing out of work clothes? Doesn't. Happen. Every. Day.

Tony Stark has posed:
Tony calls everything to a halt suddenly. Which means he's basically just in lower body armor, as the chest and back get removed and handed off to a little drone that helpfully moves back out of the way and compacts the items for travel.

Tony is by no means naked under the suit; he has one of his zip-up flight shirts under it. "Yes? What? I'm waiting. Totally stopped, Pep," Tony says, surprised, but smiling. He did stop. "....Okay just a little more, one second," he changes his mind, and removes a piece from the lower back.

"Now I'm stopped."

He looks at her. And then slowly unzips the flight suit jacket just four inches down his throat. And gives her a scandalous /look/. Entirely playful, trying to draw a relaxed laugh.

Pepper Potts has posed:
And there it is.. the black flight suit has made its appearance, showing off his arms, shoulders in clear definition. Is she staring? Probably, and at the moment, not in concern for the neighbors, or for the fact he's got a bevy of drones that are pulling armor pieces and compacting them down into something that can be easily carried.

Pepper comes out of her reverie only after a couple of heartbeats later, and the shock of the surprise seems to be wearing off, leaving behind the pleasure of the fact that he's here. That, and the fact that he's so.. handsome, funny.. and with the playing of the zipper, she does bark that laugh; a totally warm, affectionate and humoured sound.

She stares at him for a long moment before she shakes her head and takes a step forward, avoiding the drones. The mirth is still in her eyes, the playfulness is full in her manner and mien, echoing his before it.. just slips out, "God I love you.." Inside voice becoming.. outside?

And she didn't even realize she said it. Out loud.

Tony Stark has posed:
Tony was grinning, ready to move into some other part of his odd armor striptease, but then she said /that/, that thing he did not expect in any world anytime soon, and it entirely makes him lose track of what he was doing. Pepper may not have realized she said it, but Tony heard it.

He doesn't freeze up entirely, but he also doesn't have some ready response. Brows are sky high, and he's looking right at her. Waiting for her to adjust that, or ....? He doesn't know. There wasn't a script for this situation. And the words landed deeply.

One just doesn't drop the 'L' word casually. Unless it's about cheeseburgers, or something. Maybe that's how she meant it.

Then why is his heart pounding in his ears?

Pepper Potts has posed:
All of a sudden, it seems like the earth completely stopped; cars frozen on the streets, everything just halted.. and Pepper looks confused. Puzzled. Even little Patrick twists so his sensors are looking up at her, a soft, whistling *beep* comes almost as inquiry.

She looks at Tony, and her mouth opens a little, and she looks like she's about ready to stammer .. something, anything.. but nothing comes out. That *beep* that sounds near her, however, gets a response, "What?", actually sounding more like a statement than a question.

It's back to Tony, however, and her face has pinkened under the growing realization of what she //might// have said.. and she again tries to formulate a response, some way to backpedal, but nothing comes. Instead?

"Um.." Try again? "I.." Oh hey...

"I didn't mean.. no.. I did mean.. no." She starts to correct herself, and there's really nowhere for her to go with it, other than,

"Coffee?"

Tony Stark has posed:
Tony has proceeded a little -- in that he's being released out of the lower part of the Iron man armor, and it's all being wisked away by the drones off onto the larger containment that is probably hovering over her apartment like some odd too-low satellite. Tony's mostly ignoring all of that, though, because he's also flushed, and watching her.

It's a mix of surprise, uncertainty, and the odd feeling as she backs away off of it: that honest admission, her trust and freedom to just say things like that. To mean them? Maybe to mean them.

Tony steps out of the boots to meet her. He draws her into his arms and kisses her.

Pepper Potts has posed:
It seems like a million years pass in the span of those seconds as she's stepped back a little, her feature flush with the realization of what she'd said; thoughts she'd had so many times over the span of her time with him. It'd been mixed in with pride, fear over situations beyond her control, relief that he was back with her in various states of health.. and now? It was the god's honest truth as she watches him in her kitchen, having those little drones peel off his armor to hold it for him until such time as he needs it again.

And she meant every word.

Thing is, how many times had she heard those supermodels utter the same words in an attempt to gain his lingering attentions? Many, many times.. and each time, he'd laughed, rebuffed them in his charismatic way, and life continued.

Pepper's more vulnerable now than when she'd first admitted feelings for him. This.. this is big.

The silence surrounding them seems to meld back into life; the occasional car passing on the street, the drones working to finish.. and when they are? Tony takes the step to close that distance between them again and--

The embrace is unexpected but allows her to release the tension. It's the kiss, however, that allows her to find both relief and that added piece of her heart's passion. Her arms snake around his waist as she presses in, and there, in the kitchen, there are fireworks that easily rival the red and gold thrusters that had heralded his approach. The kiss leaves her weak in the knees, her head spinning in dizzying emotions.

Tony Stark has posed:
The kiss has information in it that is very private, just between them. Power, for sure, as Tony finds his confidence, and a little bit of momentum. He chose this opportunity, to /act/ on this, with a bravery that he often feels in other situations, but not always the ones related to things close to his own heart.

But he didn't want to watch her stumble or pull that away, that little lifeline. He wanted to hold her tightly, kiss her a little bit hard, curl his fingers into her penguin jammies under the fluff of her ponytail. And Tony does all of that, wrapping her close. He breaks the kiss to pass his lips against her cheek, and then more to just near her earlobe.

But he doesn't say anything, he doesn't really trust whatever's going to come out of his mouth, so he just clears his throat in a little, quick way, pulling some composure back together, and using the moment, while she can't see his eyes, to scrunch them tightly shut, blink hard, and find a recovery...

Pepper Potts has posed:
Rescued.
Pepper's been rescued from herself; that lifeline thrown and caught just to pull her back and towards him once more. It's a kiss, an amazing kiss that simply speaks volumes in its ardor. She can feel her heart beating in her chest, feel the heat rising to her face as she flushes a little, and when it's broken, they stay close.

The feel of his beard on her cheek is a welcome, rough feeling, his scent a heady one. She holds him, pressing a kiss against the side of his neck in the embrace, her eyes closing so that sense is taken away. So much easier to lose herself in his arms, if only for a few moments. Her breathing hitches once, twice before she works to relax and even out her breaths. Once that is under control, her arms shift just a little and she can relax a little to lay her head on his shoulder.

This.. this is better than a dance.