3225/Who needs sleep

Who needs sleep
Date of Scene:	03 September 2020
Location:	Stark Tower: Penthouse
Synopsis:	Tony's up late, and unveils a health issue lurking in the background.
Cast of Characters:	Tony Stark, Pepper Potts

---

Tony Stark has posed:
Is it a sleepover if there isn't a lot of sleeping? That may still be a yes. But is it a sleepover if one of the people leaves for most of it? That probably makes it a no.

Pepper was staying over for 'safety reasons' - seeing as her apartment had become ground zero for unexplained mystic activity, including a villain - and most people would make certain 'assumptions' about a woman staying in Stark's Penthouse. In this case, though, there was food, a movie, some passing out... and before anything went beyond that, Tony was pulled to help deal with Avenger Issues. He'd left Pepper to get some rest, though, while he sat up in the main room of the penthouse, still in his comfy sleepwear, to talk through some mission parameters.

Hours later, he's still at it, seated on the floor, head back resting against the couch cushions, eyes closed, talking to the ceiling. "All right. Glad to hear they're safe now. I'm going to crash," Tony comments conversationally in response to some assurances from an official-sounding voice: probably emergency responders, one hand lifting to rub his eyes and over his nose bridge.

Pepper Potts has posed:
While Pepper has been in the Penthouse many times, sleeping there is something more than a little new. Falling asleep on her couch in the office, not so much, but falling asleep on the couch up top? That's still very new. Tony had taken a phone call, and with a mutual nod, he'd left her side to go be a hero. She watched him with a look of pride, and was quickly lulled to sleep by the sound of his voice in the background.

Finally, she pulled herself off the couch, and with a quick acknowledgement of him and the fact that he's busy, Pepper found her way to the bedroom. She's still tired, and knowing Tony? He'll be out in the living room until the job's done. Hours later, though, she's waking a little more naturally, and blinking once, twice.. she's made that realization //where// she is, the smell of him on the pillow bringing that around to her awareness. So, the morning routine is quick; only brushing her teeth and putting her hair up into a pony tail. Fresh and clean from washing her face, she pads out to the main living area in loungewear (Penguins on sleds!). Brows rise to catch him slumped on the floor in front of the couch, the phone at his ear for a few more moments.

"Tony? Everything okay?"

Tony Stark has posed:
"It is now. I was mostly..." Tony considers, and moves his hands like a tired conductor, "Wielding my influence for a good cause to direct some emergency responses ... and Stark drones... to respond and pitch in. But the victims are being moved to hospitals now, so, that's that." Tony technically just had an earpiece, not a phone, but he strips it off with a toss to an end table, and looks up and over at Pepper appraisingly.

Tony hasn't actually moved; he's still seated on the floor with his head back against the couch cushion, knees up. His arms are relaxed, forearms resting on each knee, with his fingers loosely hooked together between them. He's exhausted but he has that 'game face' he always gets when he's made a decision to power through something important. It comes with the quiet time when he 'comes down' from that high: be it heroism, or a party, where he's still present and steeped in the emotions of what was going on, that's keeping him alert... and happy.

"Like the bed?" Cheeky.

Pepper Potts has posed:
Pepper nods in the information, with a soft, 'Good,' and makes the cross from the door over to where he is and sits on the couch, just above him and to the side. "I'll make sure there's enough for shelters, if it's needed." Well, she'll start the process; it is, after all, a well-oiled machine in terms of emergency funding. "After coffee." The chances are good that things are already moving, so it's a matter of checking on it.

But first?

She looks down at his face, and there playing is concern with pride, and the moment he asks about his bed? A hand comes to brush against the side of his head, fingers to to play in his short hair. She laughs softly, a little bit of pink rising to her cheeks. "Oh," and she's perfectly willing to accept the fact that she slept well, surrounded by â??himâ??, as it were. "You were out here, didn't need my help," which she's good with! "So, I .. slept." There's a pause before her voice lowers a to something of an intimate whisper that even HOMER might have a hard time hearing as she leans over to the other ear, "It was a little lonely, though."

Tony Stark has posed:
Tony had released a deep breath, allowing himself to start to come down into relaxation, to rotate some of the tension from his upper back and shoulders with a movement of his upper body. He drew one hand to her shin just above her ankle; a minor point of contact while she came over to support him in his tiring heroic effort.

He let his eyes close and smiled -- up until her last statement, which was unexpected and caused him to immediately open his eyes with a flare of curiosity, turning his head up and towards her more to meet her eyes.

"I've found it the same way. Glad someone else was able to back me up on that feeling in there," Tony answers, twisting towards her, and lifting one forearm to set it across her knees, and sets his chin on his forearm, leaning on her legs and smiling up at her. He's tired, but there's attentiveness: and a 'real' quality that comes when he's not in a showy mode for whatever reason. This one just being worn out, and not trying to fight to put up a front.

"Maybe you can show me where exactly, and we'll compare notes."

Pepper Potts has posed:
For as much as Tony surprises her, and more often than not they've been good surprises lately, there's something that just makes her happy that she can surprise him. And surprise him in a good way. There's a brightness to those dark eyes as he looks at her, and she can see his attention, his care, and his fatigue. She almost feels sorry that he's so tired, but not completely.

His head is there, and she shifts a little more so he's leaning on her and as she looks down at his face, she's got a ghost of a smile. "I think I might be able to show you. I think that'd be easier." Leaning over, she is ready to brush a kiss across his forehead.

Tony Stark has posed:
"Yes. Specifics help, in cases like these," Tony teases back, watching her as she leans forward. He's prominantly, thoughtful, but smiling as she leans forwards. He clears his throat a little bit, and then his eye is attracted to the flashing on one of his consoles he'd been using. There's a red bar along the bottom: 33%, it determines.

"Sir," HOMER begins, "Per your request--" he begins, but Tony interrupts, "Yes, I see it. Leave it for now. Consider yourself snooze buttoned," Tony answers. He instead relaxes his head back, and just looks at Pepper instead.

Pepper Potts has posed:
Red bar flashing. That's always something that draws an eye, and once she lays a featherlight kiss against his forehead, her brows rise. "Something-" but no, HOMER is 'snoozed', as it were. There's a happy smile before her fingers play in his hair again, brushing the short brown hair at the temples.

"Well, the air is a little chilly in there," Pepper muses softly, and blankets just don't seem the same."

Sliding forward on the couch, Pepper is off and ready to take his hand to encourage Tony to rise, her full attention only for him; his face, his arms..

"Think I can convince you that you need some sleep?"

Tony Stark has posed:
There's a brief but deep sigh as Tony determines he's getting up, but does it without issue, and good agility. The wonders of what Tony is capable of when he's not fall-over drunk. The drunk quality is just so often a big part of his navigation in the penthouse, that being sober is the stranger state!

"You and your thrilling plans for our activities," Tony 'marvels' at her, but it doesn't have any real cutting edge to it. He joins her standing, with a brush of fingers down her wrist to hook a few of his own fingers against her ring and little fingers.

But there was also that 33% thing .... and Tony doesn't just /leave/ items. They tug at the side of his multitasking attention. "HOMER, if it hits... 38 percent, then tell me ag--"

"Sir, it is 38%," HOMER says dutifully.

Pepper Potts has posed:
Once Tony is on his feet, she's watching him, the moment wrapped up as her entire world. Pepper takes a step back, away from the sofa and tables, maneuvering a step, two steps with his fingers entwined with hers.

A breathy laugh exits the woman, and she turns to look at him, her brows rising in playful affection. She's so lost in him.. "Name one time I did something for you and you were bored.." comes as a whispered challenge. "One.."

It's not strange for Tony to issue those last minute orders to the various AIs before attending to.. other things, and now doesn't seem any different. Right? Right?

Except for now.. when HOMER does exactly what Tony asks him to do. There's a pause, brows rise, and there's a whispered exhale of a sigh. "What is it?" Obviously, it something important, and percentages are rising.

On a red bar.

Tony Stark has posed:
Tony considers - he doesn't answer right away. Which should be the biggest warning bells that there are: he didn't just flippantly tell her in his brief but succinct way about what the warning was about. It isn't that he doesn't know: it's that he's deciding how to filter the information to her. Which could mean several things, and none of them are great.

Tony opts to step towards her, releasing her hand and drawing an arm around her slim waist instead. He'll give the information near her left temple as he attempts to lean his chin and cheek there against the side of her head. "Technically not a problem until around eighty," Tony prefaces. That's a 'so don't freak out' sort of statement. He uses it when a robot is loose and exploding walls. It's fine so long as they aren't in the room next to it, sort of 'fine'.

"My heart rate has had some irregularities. I have a few soluations, but seeing as I /am/ going to go lay down... it should be fine, and not increase." See? 'Fine' things.

Pepper Potts has posed:
Pepper knows that look. She does. She's seen it more than once, and it's never a //good// thing. She stands there, her head canting, and her attention is fully on him, but there's been something of a shift from that low, burning look to concern with a touch of confusion.

"What?"

As he brings her in for that embrace and explanation, she can feel his warmth, his arms around her. Pepper does the same, wrapping her arms around his waist, and the wait for the explanation short. It is the 'don't freak out' voice that he's got, when, yes, something takes a turn for the unexpected or worse, and a solution is either 1., on the way, or 2., will be forthcoming soon.

"Tony.. irregularities? Your- your heart? Oh.." and green eyes widen as she considers the ramifications, and.. "Oh, Tony.. how long has this been happening? What- what does the 38% mean?"

Tony Stark has posed:
"Only a week or so. There just hasn't been a good time to deal with it yet, but it's not going to take me out," Tony says, a tease to his tone, but this /is/ serious, and he isn't treating it like nothing. "Just part of the badge of honor I wear here," Tony adds, with a reasonable tone. He has an arc reactor /in his chest/ to protect from shrapnel, and it comes with different sorts of health troubles related to it and to the condition it treats.

"It means--- that I should have been resting back at around 15%," Tony admits. "Give or take. So we're going with your plan: which, as it turns out, is a good idea." Tony smiles and this time, leads the way towards his room, though the tone has probably changed significantly. "I set up periodic tests that monitor how my blood's doing. If, ha ha, things go towards maybe seventy-five percent -- I've a treatment ready. HOMER can advise you if it gets there. I may or may not be super awake at that point. But.... shouldn't get to that. Sort of surprised it's high now... but maybe not surprised, I burned my candle a lot tonight."

Pepper Potts has posed:
That's also how Pepper knows it's serious; the lack of cavalier attitude to it all. In fact, this is very, very.. real of him, and she gives him that back at him. It's that bit in his chest that she's been concerned about since he'd come back, and all that comes with it.

Pepper sighs at the explanation before she nods, though this whole 'sleeping' thing is going to end up taking a slightly different definition than the one she'd envisioned. That'd be 'sleep', sleep. She does follow him, though she pauses at the door, her hand touching the threshold lightly. "He'll tell me," she repeats before she enters fully. The explanation is making a great deal more sense, and while there is concern that plays on her face, there's that need to help him; to make sure that it doesn't get to a point where there is only crisis management. She couldn't handle that.

"So, you need to sleep," comes up once more. "You deserve it after the night you had."

Tony Stark has posed:
Considering Tony is very well versed in what 'sleep'-sleeping is, that was probably rather significant of him: to be real with her. Had he not, though, it would have come up later to bite him, and.... he just wasn't interested in any of what that would entail. He'd rather she know.

How else can he trust her to look after him?

"None of this means I don't want to hear about the improvements made to my bed, to where they won't be as lonely," Tony reminds her, though some of it is going through the motions. He does know. He's able to be smart in more than just the genius-inventor way: when he allows himself that luxury.

"Though I think I have a pretty good idea of a solution."