didknowthat | appt. 1: video

[Hey, guess who's not answering? And actually shutting off her device. And uh. Not knocking before barging in. She never knocks unless it's his bedroom. Which he's never in, anyway.

And look how seemingly floored she is just to see him. To the poin that she's actually swinging the door shut behind her and stumbling over to wrap her arms around him. And squeeze. Very, very tightly. Just give her a minute, okay.]

[R U D E PEPPER.

And he even has his mouth open to tell her that when the look on her face hits him. Has him shutting his mouth with a click of teeth, a look crossing his face that he normally only has when in the suit, staring down an enemy.

The words don't come until a bit later, though, when he's taking that hug and returning it just a little awkwardly, arms stiff and a little out of place.

Pepper never acts like this. Not even when he'd stepped out of a plane on his way home from Afghanistan. So this... must be something even bigger than being pulled onto a weird-ass space barge.]

Okay, whose ass do I need to kick? Because I have a few really inventive ideas right now.

[It's only a little weird not having him wrap his arms back around her. Because really? He could just be in shock, kind of like she was. She's just a little more quick to physically show herself coming out of it than he is. ... At least in this sense.

Or maybe she's just making excuses.

None the less, his question gets a laugh out of her. Something that sounds like it could be wet or caught in her throat, because her nose stings and her eyes tickle, right in the corners.]

Your own, for starters.

[She wants to hit him, or punch him or harm him or kiss him.

She opts for the latter.]

[He doesn't... really like touching people outside of sex. Even Pepper and Rhodey, he had to bite back on the feeling of discomfort and remind himself that yeah, this was okay. She wasn't going to grow claws and rip out his chest piece, she wasn't going to stab him and most importantly? She wasn't Justin Hammer.

So while he initially tenses up, his hug gets a little more natural after just a few seconds. Like how he always is when she hands him things, even. All his life, and she's the only one that's been able to hand him something without it turning into some sort of big, whining deal.]

Kicking my own ass would kind of-

[But then, you know, the kiss happens. And Tony's left blinking, surprised, lips still moving with the rest of that sentence for a few, muffled words before he presses in, slips into something easier, more practiced. The kind of contact he's used to and-

No, hold on.]

Not that I'm complaining, because believe me, I'm not, but uh... [He's just kind of speaking from an inch away, brow furrowing just slightly in confusion.] And I'm probably going to regret this, because kissing is definitely a good thing, but...

This is either how you show deep-seated "hey you didn't tell me you were dying" anger or I missed something. Like, an alien invasion of New York and a few years kind of something.

[Yeah. Hold on, is right. Because her heart is practically leaping into her throat as he pulls back, keeps talking. Sure, he's done that before to her, but not at a time like this. Not when he knew something was wrong.

And then he says that magic word. Missed. He missed something. And ... Knew about it?

Now it's Pepper's turn to be confused. And you know what? Fuck paradoxes. Pepper doesn't know shit about paradoxes so no, that's not going to stop her. Time already seems to be messed to hell and back here anyway.]

You weren't just dying, Tony. [Does she sound angry? Upset? Hurt? A little insane? ... All of the above?] You were dead. What do you mean you 'missed something'? You don't--

[...Oh.] You're from a year ago? When you were dying- because of.

[She glances to the glow in his chest, partially obscured by his shirt. And she steps away. Out of arm's reach because he doesn't .. He doesn't know anything. Anything.]

[All of the above. It has his hands reaching out almost instantly, landing on her shoulders and sliding down to her upper arms, squeezing gently, reassuringly, keeping her from pulling back too far. Moving too far away from him.

To say that he hadn't wanted that kind of contact for a while now - ever since that night when they danced and he went to get her a drink and.... left her on the balcony.]

Yeah, which is why I'm here. Working through some things to try and get back. I died, with Vanko. I mean, obviously not forever because Steve's walked me through some things, but...

[And then she confirms it, moves back even more, out from under his hands. But that's okay, because that lets him reach up. Lets him hook his fingers in the neck of his t-shirt and pull it down, showing her the arc reactor, its V-shape. The lack of black lines running through his skin.]

Palladium poisoning. Look, I know things happen. With aliens and the Avengers, and I apparently have a lightning resistant suit and I think something was said about a tower.

[He's eyeing Pepper now, carefully] Cap didn't say anything about you and me, though. ... And last time I checked you'd sooner slap me than kiss me. [Even though the kissing is really nice.]

[She's shaking her head like she's not even sure what she's hearing. Died? With Vanko? No he hadn't. He and Rhodey had gotten out of that, scathed sure, but alive.]

You didn't die- You weren't even with him. You took off and took me with you- which might I add, you're still never allowed to fly me with the suit, and everything was exploding and the entire Expo was wrecked--

[-Shit, wait, getting off topic here. Let her just, pinch her nose because there is definitely a headache coming on, here.]

And then I quit and then you kissed me and- Rhodey said we looked like seals and then you revoked my resigning and-- [Oh my god stop her she's babbling, please.]

[Okay this is-- confusing, for one. But most of all it's just annoying because, damnit, he has questions and she's flipping out and he feels bad about it and this was all just so much easier when he wasn't falling for her.]

I did die, I can pretty firmly say I died. I wouldn't be here if I didn't die because, apparently, the world doesn't like me enough to have me here helping people- that is not fair because - Pepper, how am I supposed to know why I was flying you? There had to be a reason, and I will stand by that reason, because flying isn't that bad and you're just annoyed because you were probably hundreds of feet in the air in a dress and yes I know it was wrecked, I kind of saw the wrecking, but you know what they were shooting at me. It is not my fault when things get blown up because people are trying to kill me.

[No, really, stay off topic. Or on topic. He's starting to get into the scream-y bickery levels of their conversations]

You quit? You're not allowed to quit, I don't accept it. The forms don't even exist for you to quit, you'd just be going on a long vacation and I refuse to pay for more than a day of that, and- wait. Pepper. Pepper, Pepper. Pepper, Pepper, Pepper.

[He's exasperated by then, having said her name enough that she has to be paying some sort of attention to what he's saying]

I kissed you? I really- I mean, yeah, I was planning to. But this is- so this a thing? You and me?

Edited 2012-07-10 10:12 (UTC)

[Yes, they're both babbling, over top each other, interrupting, voices rising and let's really hope they're not disturbing anyone ~~Natasha~~ from their R&R time or something because it's certainly not on Pepper's mind.

And it's really only until he's repeating her name in every enunciation possible that she finally stops for breath.]

What?!

[Yes she is responding. Give her a moment. At least she's not red in the face. She could be though. Don't tempt her. And yes, okay. Taking another few breaths to calm herself.]

Yes. You had a good reason. The- suit, Hammer's droids. They were bombs and you- got me out. [She wasn't worried about her stupid dress, damnit.]

And .. Yes. We're a. Thing. [She doesn't like that term.] We have been since then. But- God, Tony, you don't know any of it. You don't know the first kiss or the first date or dinner or night we actually spent together, you don't-- And no I didn't actually quit, I'm still your PA and we built Stark Tower and then got into clean energy with the Arc Reactor and then Phil came and we were having champagne and it was nice and--

[And that was the last time she'd seen him. Left him promises as incentive to finish his homework.. And then he'd taken the nuke and flown it into the portal and .. vanished. Died. No one knows. The portal had closed and he'd never come out of it. And that was the whole reason she was here, goddamnit.]

Edited 2012-07-10 10:29 (UTC)

[The pause and snap is something, at least. And it has him biting his tongue, just watching her and waiting, counting every word that comes out of her mouth and categorizing it as he waits, aching to butt in, to interrupt but not actually doing so.

When it matters, when it really comes down to it he can be an adult. Can be mature and worried and even though he wants to jump up and down on the bed, whooping for joy over the fact that Pepper and he are, apparently, a couple even going on two years in the future?

He's not. He's waiting until she's done and starting to get emotional (97 words later, if anyone was curious) before taking a few steps forward, resting gentle hands on her shoulders and rubbing reassuringly]

Alright, so I don't remember all those things I somehow managed to not mess up. Which sucks, because I'm pretty sure I can't actually do any of that without making you want to stab me with a fork to get me to stop talking. Or being stupid, but- hey, Pepper.

Hi, look. Here. I'm here. And I tried to tell you about the Palladium, I tried to take you to Venice. And Rhodey might not be here to make aquatic animal jokes, but that doesn't mean the feeling's not the same for me as it must have been back home, so...

[... have a kiss, Pepper Potts. A quick jerk forward of his head, one hand curling around the base of her skull to try and keep her in place, to hold the kiss for just a minute as he pulls back, thoughtful]

Weird. Was that weird? I don't really think it was weird, but-

[Yes of course she's getting emotional. She's stressed and was here for him and he wasn't even from the right, stupid, time and it's aggravating to a fault.

But, like a good PA, she shuts up when he says her name, gets a word in edgewise. She might be more than just his PA now, but sometimes old habits die hard. And if she's honest, and they'd already talked about this- he had tried to tell her, and she'd been so busy running the stupid company that she had just ... missed it. She'd been upset with him, royally so. She'd nearly been sliced in half by Vanko and ... well, there were a lot of reasons. She still rolls her eyes whenever he brings up Venice, though.

But she's mid-roll when he leans in and plants one on her, leaving her just a little star-thrown and just a teensy bit weak in the knees. This is all seeming very oddly familiar.]

... No, it's not weird.

[And maybe just relaxing right now is what best. What will keep her from exploding in exertion, and ... she's missed him. He was gone back home, had been for weeks now and .. she missed him horribly.]

[Like a first kiss all over again, right? But with Tony it's never really like a first kiss. Awkward and nervous, not sure what to do or how to do it. Other people... it takes them time to figure out what their partner likes. It takes practice.

Tony Stark... well. He's always been good at figuring things out and figuring them out fast.

In ten seconds, it's not just a press of lips to lips. It's not just a fumbling kiss more charged with adrenaline than emotion. In ten seconds flat he's slanting his lips against hers just right that, with a pleased little hum in the back of his throat, it's like coming home.

Or, well, that'd be what he would say if he was inclined to be sappy and romantic and have little birds and naked angels sing and throw confetti around his head.

It's kind of more like, in his words, ten seconds and it's pure, fiery sex radiating out from where their mouths connect.

Yeah. That's totally better, that's--]

-- who's Phil?

Edited 2012-07-10 11:07 (UTC)

[That's an interesting way to put it. Pure, fiery sex... Yeah, she can go with that. Because it's not like she's coming up with any of her own descriptors right now. Not when he's found just how she likes it all over again and to be honest she didn't even notice because hey, he's pulling back again.]

He's- what? Phil's Phil. Phil Coulson.

Edited 2012-07-10 11:10 (UTC)

[No. Hush up about the fiery sex of his kisses for a minute, Pepper.

This is important.]

Coulson? Uh, no. He doesn't have a first name, he's- ... Phil? Why is he Phil?

[She was enjoying them, thank you. She's kind of missed them horribly for a few weeks now. Why is this important?]

He's Phil because he's a friend.

When did that happen?

[.... No. No fair. No making friends during........ the years he hasn't had yet.

Goddamnit. First Steve telling him about Tony saving the world and now there's Pepper and relationships and friends?

She can totally have friends, don't get him wrong, just not... agent-y friends that... are agents. Who Tony knows. And isn't friends with.

Shut up he's so not five.]

He's a nice guy. And... [Her jaw tightens and she immediately feels ... sort of crushed. Like she'd forgotten and remembered something all at the same time.]

He died, too.

[He notices the expression switch just a split second before she keeps talking, before she says words he doesn't hear, refuses to hear. Words his mind are muffling out, like they're trying to push their way through cotton.

Because he can practically see them on her lips before she even says it.

He died.

Coulson. Died.

The man who'd saved Pepper's life with Obadiah, who'd worked with him even in passing through the Palladium. He wouldn't call him a friend, not like he would Pepper and Rhodey, but if he'd had more time, another meeting with him, then maybe- he would have liked it. Coulson was... he didn't take Tony's shit. And people like that were few and far between. Even rarer were the people Tony trusted, the people who had put their lives on the line to help keep something he cared about safe. Someone safe.

It's like liquid nitrogen dripping down his spine, freezing him solid and making him brittle all at once. The deathly cold realization that Steve- Captain America. The big, ol' American Ideal. Truth, liberty, justice, and all that bullshit.

He must have known.

Coulson died. Dead. Another one- God. Another person he's known. Dead. And there has to be a story behind it. There has to be some reason Steve decided it would be better if Tony was lied to. Was he friends with Coulson, with Phil? Was it his fault?

He can see it being his fault. He pulled another asshole move. Self-centered, got himself into shit. And Coulson died getting him out of it. He could see it. That was the sad part. He could see it so easily.

But he has to speak, doesn't he? He has to look something other than carved out of stone, has to close his eyes in a slow blink, take a breath, and pull himself together. To just look sad and not- ... reasons. There's always reasons.]

Must've... been something. Big. I mean, Obie- [His voice catches on something bitter, but he pushes on, grinning just a little hollowly] -couldn't even scratch him. Bet he took half of them with him.

[She knows the kind of reaction it puts in Tony. Knows it all too well. So she lets him feel it, because there's no getting around it, really. Even if she does step back into his personal space again- if it were possible to get much closer, to squeeze his arm.]

I don't... know. Something to do with Thor and.. [What was the other one's name?] He took out the bad guy for a while, though.

[Phil's funeral had been the only thing she'd gone to or dealt with outside of looking for Tony. For finding a way of getting him back. She'd cried. Of course she'd cried.]

I don't know much of what happened. Just what was on the news... I was stuck watching from the jet. [And missing his last call.]

[He still thinks, somehow, that he can hide things like this from Pepper. That she can still look at his mask and see just that, the mask. The careful sadness people would normally have, the smile pulling at his lips that should have betrayed a fond sort of sadness.

He should know, by now, just how deep she can see into him. How she just knows how badly he actually takes the deaths of people he knows. Let alone the few people he lets himself feel friendship for.

Which is why he's letting her into his space, why he's just reaching out to place a hand on her hip, fingers wrapping warmly around her, holding her.]

Right, the lightning guy. Rogers told me about him. [He's looking at Pepper intently, now. Seriously. The same way he's looked at her in the middle of danger, of battles. Like he's wrapped up inside the suit, ready to lash out.] You avoided the alien invasion or whatever, then?

[He really doesn't know or understand just how nice it is to feel his hand on her- as innocent as it is, just because it's contact, him, something. Because he's alive and she knows she's crazy but she likes to imagine she can feel his heartbeat wherever he touches her. Maybe she is crazy, who knows. She'd have to be, to be in love with this idiot, after all.

So she nods, both for his statement, and his question.]

I took the jet out to DC the day before it happened. Everything was contained to Manhattan.

[He still thinks you're touched in the head for even being friends with him. Tony literally has no idea how he's managed to get Pepper to want to date him even once, let alone still be with him two years later.]

At least we managed something. [He's on a mission, now. Because if Steve hadn't told him about Coulson...

What else had Captain America left out?] Rogers said I saved the day, in the end. [Somehow, he manages a Tony Stark™ grin] Scale of one to ten, how kick-ass was it?

[You know, sometimes she doesn't know either. In the eleven years they'd known each other, it had somehow snuck up and bit her right on the ass.

And wow, has her expression ever flopped from annoyed to sad and somewhere in between faster? Probably, but she might be setting records, here.]

Eleven. [And now she just .. looks sad again. And maybe a little scared.]

[That... was the right answer. The answer she needed to get Tony leaning in again for another kiss, one hand against the small of her back, the other cupping gently against the side of her face, fingers stroking gently against her cheek. A reassuring gesture, one she'd no doubt seen him do on countless shy women he was coaxing into his bed. But this... this was the first time he'd done it without the intention of sex. That he'd done it simply for the sake of calming her down.

Because while it was what he wanted to hear, something was still wrong. He might not be the best when it comes to relationships, to emotions, hell even to friendships, but he did know Pepper. And he could practically feel something dark and unsaid wrapping around her.]

You never give me above a B-. And definitely not without notes. [Translation: something's wrong, Pepper. I just don't know how to ask what.]

[That was the right response, Anthony Stark. Letting her calm down again, reassuring her that he was there, intentionally or not. So she lets her eyes linger shut a few moments longer, lips tightening as he weaseled his way into asking without actually using a question. At least she can speak Stark.]

There was a nuke coming towards the city. You grabbed it and flew it into the portal. And then it closed. [And you were gone.]

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