(no subject)
Title: No Man's Land or A Really Terrible Idea
Author: lilallisun
Rating: PG (a couple swears)
Author's Notes: Some dialogue because these two are a whole lot of fun. :D Reviews would be greatly appreciated!
Tony was sitting at Pepper’s desk as she stood over him, supervising. She was trying to get him to sign about a million papers. They were all over her desk and she had dragged him in to sign these goddamned things. He’d wondered why she couldn’t just bring them to him in the workshop, but now he knows. She’d need a forklift.
And to make matters worse, the pen she gave him to use sucks.
“I’m leaving in a few minutes, Mr. Stark, so if we could have this finished in a timely manner…”
“I hear that way too often. Where are you going? Home? It’s early. This pen is terrible, by the way,” he answers without looking up. He hates paperwork and wants to get this over with more than she does.
“I have plans.”
This gets Tony’s attention. His gaze snaps up and he frowns.
“I’ve told you a million damn times I don’t like it when you have plans. Get rid of them. Stop making them. Move in with me.”
Well that was smooth. Too late to take it back, though.
Pepper apparently doesn’t realize at first what he’s said and tries to draw his attention to another piece of paper as she speaks.
“I’m allowed to have a social- wait, what?” she asks, freezing in place as her brain processes the words.
“What’d I say? Move in? I was kidding. It was a joke, obviously. Haha, funny; seriously, sell your apartment.”
Pepper lets go of the paper and takes a step back.
“I don’t think I’m following…”
“It’s pretty simple, Miss Potts. You move all of your stuff into my house. That’s why it’s called moving. Oh, and you’ll have to come too. That’s kind of the point. You’ll have your own room! I have four extra. Pick one. Or take them all!”
He’s starting to ramble, and she’s begun to regain some of her composure.
“That’s a terrible idea, sir,” she says, moving around to the front of the desk to cross her arms at him. Tony just sits back in her chair and smiles.
“Are you kidding me? It’s a great idea. You’ll be here, I’ll be here… You spend most of your time here anyway.”
“I enjoy having my own neutral space to retreat to,” Pepper replies. Tony waves it off.
“I’ll section off the area around your room. No man’s land. Pepper’s land.” It sounds ridiculous even as it’s coming out of his mouth, but it provokes a small smile from Pepper.
“I like having my own place,” she says, shaking her head.
Tony gets up and moves around the desk to stand in front of her.
“The excuses just keep coming, it’s amazing. Look at it this way. This is my house, right? And you basically manage my life. And you’d manage the house too, if it wasn’t for Jarvis. So it’s like you own the house.”
“…And you.”
“That’s a reasonable conclusion, yes.”
They hold a short staring contest. Tony wins, of course, because soon Pepper has turned her gaze to the paperwork on the desk beside them.
“I don’t think my moving in would be appropriate,” she says quietly.
“Why is that?”
There is a long silence. Pepper seems to be searching for something to say, but still hasn’t looked at him.
“If you mean Iron Man’s hypothetical girlfriend getting jealous, don’t worry. He’s only got his eye on one woman.” Pepper finally looks up. “And don’t say ‘for once’ or anything smart ass like that.”
“I wasn’t going to,” she says, and he loves that glitter in her eyes.
“What were you going to say? I could see it on your face, you were just about to-”
“I was just about to say it’s creepy when you talk about ‘Iron Man’ in the third person.”
“Well, like I was saying, he’s only got one woman in mind, and she doesn’t seem likely to budge any time soon. I think she’s playing hard to get.”
Pepper smirks as she picks the fountain pen up from the desk and lifts his hand between them, pressing the pen into his grasp.
“I doubt she’s playing.”
Next part.
Author: lilallisun
Rating: PG (a couple swears)
Author's Notes: Some dialogue because these two are a whole lot of fun. :D Reviews would be greatly appreciated!
Tony was sitting at Pepper’s desk as she stood over him, supervising. She was trying to get him to sign about a million papers. They were all over her desk and she had dragged him in to sign these goddamned things. He’d wondered why she couldn’t just bring them to him in the workshop, but now he knows. She’d need a forklift.
And to make matters worse, the pen she gave him to use sucks.
“I’m leaving in a few minutes, Mr. Stark, so if we could have this finished in a timely manner…”
“I hear that way too often. Where are you going? Home? It’s early. This pen is terrible, by the way,” he answers without looking up. He hates paperwork and wants to get this over with more than she does.
“I have plans.”
This gets Tony’s attention. His gaze snaps up and he frowns.
“I’ve told you a million damn times I don’t like it when you have plans. Get rid of them. Stop making them. Move in with me.”
Well that was smooth. Too late to take it back, though.
Pepper apparently doesn’t realize at first what he’s said and tries to draw his attention to another piece of paper as she speaks.
“I’m allowed to have a social- wait, what?” she asks, freezing in place as her brain processes the words.
“What’d I say? Move in? I was kidding. It was a joke, obviously. Haha, funny; seriously, sell your apartment.”
Pepper lets go of the paper and takes a step back.
“I don’t think I’m following…”
“It’s pretty simple, Miss Potts. You move all of your stuff into my house. That’s why it’s called moving. Oh, and you’ll have to come too. That’s kind of the point. You’ll have your own room! I have four extra. Pick one. Or take them all!”
He’s starting to ramble, and she’s begun to regain some of her composure.
“That’s a terrible idea, sir,” she says, moving around to the front of the desk to cross her arms at him. Tony just sits back in her chair and smiles.
“Are you kidding me? It’s a great idea. You’ll be here, I’ll be here… You spend most of your time here anyway.”
“I enjoy having my own neutral space to retreat to,” Pepper replies. Tony waves it off.
“I’ll section off the area around your room. No man’s land. Pepper’s land.” It sounds ridiculous even as it’s coming out of his mouth, but it provokes a small smile from Pepper.
“I like having my own place,” she says, shaking her head.
Tony gets up and moves around the desk to stand in front of her.
“The excuses just keep coming, it’s amazing. Look at it this way. This is my house, right? And you basically manage my life. And you’d manage the house too, if it wasn’t for Jarvis. So it’s like you own the house.”
“…And you.”
“That’s a reasonable conclusion, yes.”
They hold a short staring contest. Tony wins, of course, because soon Pepper has turned her gaze to the paperwork on the desk beside them.
“I don’t think my moving in would be appropriate,” she says quietly.
“Why is that?”
There is a long silence. Pepper seems to be searching for something to say, but still hasn’t looked at him.
“If you mean Iron Man’s hypothetical girlfriend getting jealous, don’t worry. He’s only got his eye on one woman.” Pepper finally looks up. “And don’t say ‘for once’ or anything smart ass like that.”
“I wasn’t going to,” she says, and he loves that glitter in her eyes.
“What were you going to say? I could see it on your face, you were just about to-”
“I was just about to say it’s creepy when you talk about ‘Iron Man’ in the third person.”
“Well, like I was saying, he’s only got one woman in mind, and she doesn’t seem likely to budge any time soon. I think she’s playing hard to get.”
Pepper smirks as she picks the fountain pen up from the desk and lifts his hand between them, pressing the pen into his grasp.
“I doubt she’s playing.”
Next part.