exsiliumlogs | closed | out of suffering, have emerged the strongest souls;

Date & Time: Moderately close to post date, albeit earlier in the afterevening.
Location: Tony's workshop, dawg.
Characters: Tony and Pepper ~~and potentially Jules?~~ and no one else at all.
Summary: Grilling, baby. And playing 20 questions. It'll be a real party.
Warnings: General warning for Tony.

[ Tony's in his workshop.

It's such a redundant phrase. Tony's usually in his workshop. He's building things, he's smashing others, he's hanging out, he's working out, he's talking to himself, he's singing along to music - he's just, being, in his workshop. But it makes him happy and sometimes Max drops by and sometimes Ros drops by and sometimes someone who needs something drops by - although he's going to at some point probably have to put his workshop in CM somewhere, because it would be moderately dumb to have two with such limited resources and that's where he wants people to be finding him anyway.

But yes. Tony's in his workshop. By this point, he's shown Pepper where it is, shown Pepper how to ping off certain people's locations on the network if you want to find them and they have their device with them. (It doesn't always work, because it's possible to block that, but for the laymen, it's kind of fun. He feels like he's got a cooler version of the Marauder's map, with more buttons.) She's off doing... something, right now, he doesn't remember, but in the meantime, he's just chilling out. He'd had a lot of energy today for some reason, and still does, so every now and then he's up to do some exercise, and then when he's a little calmer, he gets back to business. ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ Coulson came and went by too, he's just realized. It was a hilarious rotating ensemble there for a while, and he tries not to think about the fact that he seems to be the central character. He's always the central character, and it generally seems to have this sort of result. The new AI is also relatively, well, new. So mostly him and JARVIS and Ros.

He's uneasy until he feels her hand settle on his arm, glances at it and then her a little more properly because he wasn't sure how she was going to take that, doesn't typically share that much all at once, but it was the thing he needed to do, just then. She felt like she was going to leave and he couldn't handle it and he is capable of changing things, sometimes, to keep ahold of the things that he feels are important. It doesn't mean he's any more comfortable with that level of apparent vulnerability, but Pepper of all people has always been the person he trusted the most with his weak points.

He doesn't want to look hopeful at her words, because that would be stupid. That would be so many levels of stupid, because she can't promise that she's going to stay here, and he knows that, but it's nice to... read the words anyway. He can basically hear her saying them in his head. Pepper's voice is one he hears often, although usually it's not being so reassuring. Usually it's just sighing and saying 'No, Tony.' ]

We're from almost the same time then, I think. Probably not exactly, but near each other. That's -- good. That's good. [ One thing at a time. Processing still. ] It'll be okay. I'm fine, look. All in one piece, no new scars. Well, no big new scars.

[ She isn't going to say that she's still waiting for it to be fine. Things really hadn't been since she'd arrived, and even if that small reprieve in her apartment spoke volumes, it wouldn't make things better. Nothing's ever simple, though Pepper plans to make them as okay as possible. She wants to seamlessly fill the gaps her missing presence had left, even them out so they operated together just as they always had. Like, she hoped, they were going to do now.

The touch becomes a little more firm with his words, trying for comfort and not entirely sure she achieves that. It's enough for now, has to be enough. Until she can fix this situation with her weapon and let him hear it rather than see it, until there's nothing else between them. ]

And I want it to stay that way. You in one piece. I also need you to let me take care of everything. [ The 'even you' goes without saying, fingers moving to take his hand. She's suddenly grateful for her proficiency at one-handing typing. ] Really, I'm here now.

[ He doesn't want to think that a year, a single year, has been that long so as to fundamentally alter the way he tends to do things, but at the same time there's little voices reminding him that the same can happen in only three months, so... But still. He's still him, and she's still her. It'll work out. They always do.

He meets her concern, at least, as he always has: with an easy, practised smile and a deflection. ] I don't think I'd be considered as stunningly good-looking if I were in pieces; don't worry, I've got my own motivation on that one. So what's for dinner? [ If you're taking care of everything. ]

[ She should have expected something like that, had at the start but had been caught off-guard by everything he'd told her without much prompting. So, while it's not what she'd wanted, it's also a bit relieving. Pepper shakes her head in response, frown fading into something that would have been a quiet laugh if she'd been capable. ]

You'll just have to wait and see. [ A little mystery doesn't hurt, after all, and neither does the soft kiss she eventually leans to place at the corner of his mouth. ]

[ He's smiling back at her still, all the way up through the teasing and the kiss, and even afterwards a little bit. But this isn't quite them at normal, this is all new, and he's just got her and he's a little different and he's trying to be a good person and he's a little worried. ]

We're okay though, right? We're good now.

We're good, Tony. [ The presence of his name is used in lieu of that silent 'for now' that's hanging in there somewhere. She can't promise how long it'll actually stay that way, but they're okay. This is acceptable, and she's going to take everything in stride for herself and him too. ] Really, we'll be fine.

[ And levity springs back in an instant. As though they haven't sort of just had a minor fight, as though he hasn't just listed everything he's done without her for a year, or shown how much that year affected him. ] You want a cheeseburger? I know a good cheeseburger joint.

[ That's all it takes, and she's shaking her head at him, unable to hide the smile the question brings to her face. There's no reply, simply the moment she uses to rest her cheek against his shoulder before nodding. She's not sure why she's agreeing - there's so much work to be done, probably more questions to ask later - but she can give him this.

She wants to give him this, and Pepper takes his hand, a cue for him to lead the way. ]

closed | out of suffering, have emerged the strongest souls;

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talking to tony is emotional whiplash

good thing she's an expert in tony

indeed

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