He made some bad investments.

[letmetakeaselfie]

After working with her at the Battle of New York, Tony had come to respect Rescue -- and the woman behind the suit, of course. But to say they were friends was a gross overshot. Pepper and he could get along. They both had tough shells and were ready equipped with all sorts of sarcasm and wit to deflect any unwanted attention. Because they were essentially Iron Man and Iron Woman, however, the press had their own ideas about the relationship between the pair.

Nick had phoned earlier to tell them about a recent threat, and words came out of his mouth that Tony was pretty sure he misheard. So he made the other man repeat them like, three times. But they didn't change. SHIELD wanted Rescue and Iron Man to shack up, publically. "Officially" so that when the bad guys came they'd have two heroes to contend with, but also so they'd think they were each other's weakness. Since they were only teammates, what could be the harm?

Before he knew it, a press release was set for the morning and Pepper Potts was on her way over to the Tower to move in. He had about a thousand rooms in the place, but if Dr. Doom did find his way inside they should be together just in case. It's all very -- sudden for a man who's never even had a girlfriend. And he still doesn't, but he has to convince the world he does. #Awkward.

"Welcome to Stark Tower, Ms. Potts. And please..."

"Wipe your feet," Tony interrupts JARVIS and his big, sweeping introduction, lifting his eyebrows as he watches her arrival. Should he help her with her stuff...? Probably. After a beat's hesitation, he moves to grab the larger of her two bags.

"Enjoy your stay," JARVIS corrects steadfastly, much to Tony's chagrin. But he offers up a meek little smile for her all the same.

Comments

[efficacy]

Pepper sets her glass on the coffee table and fans out the cards in her hand, arranging them idly. She arches a pale brow at the question, lips twitching. "Something a little less ear-splitting than Iron Maiden at top volume," she teases. "Classic rock, usually. Or just classic, for unwinding."

[letmetakeaselfie]

He smiles at her, some of it stemming from self-consciousness as he calls out to his A.I. "J-man. Queue up mp3 folder: Favorite Composers." Tony is leaning over the table so he can sip his drink through the straw while also organizing his cards arbitrarily. He's hoping this game comes back to them as they go and isn't lost in some distant drunken pocket of his memory banks. Edvard Grieg's In the Hall of the Mountain King comes on at a decent volume in sharp contrast to the slurping straw noise coming from Tony's side of the coffee table.

[efficacy]

Pepper tips her head at the familiar opening strains, lips curving further as she watches him warmly for a moment over the fan of her cards. "Well, well. You're certainly turning out to be a constant surprise, Mr. Stark."

[letmetakeaselfie]

That look she gives him shoots warmth up under his skin anew, glancing over from the shelter of his eyelashes before looking immediately back to his hand. Here goes nothing. "Can this be a practice round?" he asks brightly, pushing his already empty mimosa glass towards the center of the table with the popcorn bowl.

[efficacy]

"That rusty, huh?" She re-arranges another card with a smile before reaching out and bringing the straw of her drink to her lips for a quick sip. "Can't say you're the only one. Practice round sounds good."

[letmetakeaselfie]

"Pretty rusty," he pings back, already nodding in a satisfied manner to her agreement. "And you know, it's not that... surprising. That I like old movies or -- this music." And he's going to tell you why!!! "I'm older than you, my mom loved Katherine Hepburn. I mean, who didn't, but. Also, classical music and heavy metal share a lot of -- technical. Similarities."

Okay, he said his piece, though why that had bothered him so much is anyone's guess. He's discarding and getting a new card. His hand is junk, but he already looks disgruntled by his speech so at least he's not giving it away.

[efficacy]

"No?" she queries softly and curiously into the brief lull when he says that, lifting her gaze up to him on the heels of discarding a card on her turn. She listens to his explanation with a tiny smile that grows slightly the further he gets. "Technical similarities." Looking back down at her cards, she nods once. "Well, you've properly chastised me. When you put it like that, it no longer sounds surprising at all."

She glances up again, mouth curving into a slight smirk. "Though you're only like, four years older than me..."

[letmetakeaselfie]

"What, have you been surfing my Wikipedia page?" Four years seemed kind of specific for a random comment, or maybe she had just gotten a look at his SHIELD file. Either way. It's funny that she knew that off the top of her head. "We're talking about the difference between Yoko Ono and Watergate here. Those were some serious four years."

[efficacy]

"It seemed less harsh than five... or more," she quips back without delay, grinning. His birth date wasn't exactly a grand secret, but it's not like she wants to admit so readily she'd read up on him, at one time. When in doubt, re-direct the conversation. "But don't worry, I find the grey hairs very charming."

[letmetakeaselfie]

She always turns it around on him. The comment makes him forget it's his turn for too long, remembering to discard at the last minute. "I need a refill. You?" He picks up his glass and stands up, feeling that familiar crawl over his skin that means he won't be able to sit still a second longer. He needs like so much more alcohol to endure her poking fun at him. If that's even what she's doing. But she can't be serious... can she? He forgoes the champagne this time, vodka and juice is good enough for him.

[efficacy]

"Um." She glances at her own glass, a few sips worth of drink left in it. They probably shouldn't add even more alcohol into this situation, but she's reluctant to point it out; she knows she can be overbearing sometimes. Oddly, it's never particularly bothered her before, so why now? Telling herself to stop overthinking it, she points out, "Well, it would be a shame to see that champagne go flat... so, hold the vodka for me, please."

[letmetakeaselfie]

He smiles as he picks up her glass, tipping his head at her order. Hers ends up being mostly champagne with a few splashes of juice while his is at least 50% vodka. It really has less to do with her than it does his constantly intruding thoughts. Alcohol was always good for slowing himself down -- too good, he knew, if he weren't careful. Still. Tony sets her drink down in front of her without the straw this time, tossing a pillow down from the couch so she can get more comfy.

"You didn't sneak a peek, did you?" He sips his drink and sets it down too as he sits, putting his cards back in his hand and peering over them at her.

[efficacy]

She murmurs a soft thank you, for the drink and the pillow both, making use of the latter first before taking a small sip of the former -- it may not be real champagne but it is still very good.

"Mm. You found me out," she pretends to lament, sighing as she sets her glass back on the table. "That's the first thing I did when you turned your back on me."

[letmetakeaselfie]

"I knew it. Look, don't be intimidated, baby. I'm sure your luck will turn around." Thank god this is a practice hand, that's what he's really thinking. He stretches out one leg under the table, swapping cards around again before he discards and takes a sip.

[efficacy]

Pepper purses her lips against a wide smile. "Why, thank you for that vote of confidence... sweet cheeks," she cracks as she discards a card herself, unable to hide her smirk any longer, face pinking a little -- she blames the alcohol.

[letmetakeaselfie]

There's that flush again. He can't help but wonder if he caused it, pulling from his drink as he studies the pigment as it intensifies and then slowly begins to leech away. "You have freckles." He gestures with his glass. He'd never noticed before.

[efficacy]

That gets her to glance up in surprise, wetting her lips unconsciously. "You noticed only now?" she asks after a beat, a small smile of amusement curving at her mouth.

Okay, to be fair, she covers them up with foundation a lot of times. Maybe he really hasn't seen them before; it's not like they've seen one another so often outside of missions and during those not much but her face is visible when they're done with the action.

[letmetakeaselfie]

"I never really..." Looked? Is that offensive? He tried not to stare at his female compadrants for obvious reasons, not least of all being his reputation. "I'm slow, give me a break." It's Tony's turn to blush, though he tries in vain to hide some of it behind his glass.

[efficacy]

"It's not a bad thing," she hurries to reassure, shrugging slightly as she looks down at her cards. It isn't a very good hand, and they're almost out of the stock pile. "I cover them up anyway most of the time, so you probably wouldn't have."

[letmetakeaselfie]

"Oh." So what is it then? It's on the tip of his tongue when she admits something else. "Why would you do that?" The game is almost entirely forgotten for him in that moment. He needs to know why she hates one of her most attractive features.

[efficacy]

"It's..." she begins before trailing off, finding herself a little thrown by the question -- and its answer. Why does she do that, really? She doesn't always bother with it, but... "They're freckles. They're so... I don't know, girly. It hard enough sometimes, being taken seriously out there. Much less with a face full of freckles." Her lips quirk a little self-deprecatingly, shrugging. "And maybe it's a habit left over from adolescence. I used to get teased mercilessly in school about them. The moment I knew how to apply make-up, I hid them. They've lightened some now though, they used to be a lot more visible."

[letmetakeaselfie]

He doesn't like the way she says that. He sets his cards down in favor of picking up his glass, the stretch putting his foot up against her leg. It hadn't been intentional, but he leaves it there, acting like he doesn't notice the shift as he takes another sip through his straw. "They were jealous."

[efficacy]

Her lips curve a little more, quietly pleased though she's not entirely sure why -- or that's what she keeps telling herself. The warm press of his foot is also a contributing cause for her smile. "Is that what you think?"

[letmetakeaselfie]

"Genius, remember? That's what I know." He taps a temple and takes another long drink before setting it aside. The classical music and the easy game of cards coupled with this conversation and the alcohol weighing in his belly -- all of this feels so natural. He's rather struck by it, just now. "Seriously, what's not to be jealous of? You're... gorgeous and smart and anyone who judges you by some pigment on your face is-- just threatened." Not that he hasn't been, threatened by her, on occasion. But now he couldn't see himself working with anyone else, even with how they sometimes clash. He can always count on her intuition in the heat of battle, and no one had the capacity to keep up with his erratic nature the way even keel Pepper Potts could.

...Was that too much? Suddenly he feels like he's made some grand speech, pulling his cards back into his hands and staring down at them instead.

[efficacy]

Another glib, joking response is right on the tip of her tongue when he unexpectedly goes on and elaborates, sounding shockingly earnest. Thrown off, she gives him a slightly startled look, blinking rapidly. "Oh," she says finally, dumbly, staring down at her cards without really seeing them. It's quite something to be called smart by Tony Stark. She's trying not to dwell on the gorgeous part, but she's sure she's blushing again anyway, a bashful smile she can't quite suppress tugging at her lips. "That's... kindly said. Thanks."

Thankfully they're out of the stock pile and effectively at the end of their practice round, giving her a convenient topic change. She sucks air through her teeth and shakes her head as she counts. "Well, I've got a set of fours and unmatched for... twenty-one."