billionaires | #inbox

[ linking part 1 for easy access. ]

It's been a few months since the beatdown, and things have more or less gone back to normal. Their version of it anyway. Save for a few small details, that is. They now sleep in the same room, six nights out of seven, it's reasonable with how often Eduardo checks in on them. Though maybe it all stems back to that one night they stayed together when he had his concussion, he tries not to think about it. Especially when analyzing it might mean it stops.

Professionally, things have gone really well for them, too. Pepper seems to be making progress with Nadine and Eduardo is eternally indebted to him for figuring out that whole ear problem. What's more than that is ever since, Tony seems to have a new lease on life and while he's still frustrated by being under Stane's thumb, he finally sees a way out. A way forward.

His sunny outlook isn't all that's different about him, however. The visions didn't stop with the concussion's passing, something he still hasn't quite worked up to telling Pepper. They're doing so well and he's afraid she'll think it's medical and force him back to the doctor's. But he knows what he's seeing is real — Eduardo's son was only the beginning. He's no longer scamming his clients, but really helping them. When he takes their money, he feels secure in the knowledge that he's earned it for the first time in his life.

Tony bids his last customer of the day goodbye and starts poking around the house to see if Pepper's home, he thinks he heard her car pull up an hour or so ago, but she could have easily left again without his notice. Sure enough, though, he finds her in what's now more a "guest room" than hers, though she still has all of her office in here for the most part. He sneaks up on her while she's still deep in the numbers and leans over her shoulder to impulsively kiss her cheek. It's warm and familiar, though it's not a gesture he's ever extended to her before. It felt natural and so he went for it, but now his throat flushes a little from the move, hoping she won't find it offputting.

"I was thinking about ordering something for dinner. You in? Thought I could save you the trouble." Of slaving over the stove, he means, not like he wouldn't help her with the cooking if she asked, too, but this way they can just chill for a change.

Pepper doesn't hear Tony enter the room, too preoccupied with the books; staring down at the pages with a slight frown of concentration, tapping the end of her ballpoint pen distractedly against her bottom lip and chin. She jumps just a little in surprise at the kiss to her cheek, startled out of her tunnel vision and sitting up straight, blinking up at Tony a few times. The spot he'd kissed tingles, a hint of color dusting her cheekbones.

That was new-- another thing they didn't used to do, but now (apparently) did. She's noticed the change in Tony, these past couple of months. Of course she has. And it isn't just the fact that they share a room and a bed now, if only to keep up more appearances with Eduardo stopping by so often. It's something deeper, something Pepper can't quite put her finger on. She hasn't pressed Tony about it yet, remembering how forthcoming he'd been about the details when that meathead had beat him up, but she knows he knows she suspects something is up.

It's not that it's bad, really; it seems to Pepper as if Tony has shed some invisible weight off his shoulders-- he's happier, that's the only conclusion that feels even halfway correct to her. And though he hadn't been drinking as heavily as he used to back in their Vegas days in a long while now, he'd cut back on that even more, too. All in all, she should be satisfied, and she is -- but she also knows there's a reason to it all, and he has not yet come forth with it to her. Try as she might to let it go, she still can't help but wonder why, when they already share everything else with each other.

"Uh... sure. Sounds nice." She recovers after a brief moment, shaking her head a little as if to clear it as she starts to stow everything away onto their proper places. "Not pizza though. How about Thai or Nepalese? Indian?"

The little jump has him shifting backward out of reach - okay, too far. He won't do that again.

"Ohh," he says, unable to mask his interest when she brings up his favorite, leaning on her desk now to stay in her orbit. "Indian."

Reluctantly, he straightens up, pointing to her as he slowly backs out of the room.

"You want your usual?" Of course, he knows her order. For every restaurant she just listed and more.

"Yes-- please," Pepper nods in the midst of meticulously replacing every pen, paper and book, blowing out a breath and ruffling her bangs our of her eyes. "And remind them not to skimp on the naan, this time."

She had a Complaint, last time... Tony leaves, and Pepper takes a few more moments to tidy up. Compulsive maybe, but she can't stand to leave her desk in anything but tip top shape. Finishing, she smiles slightly to herself; out of satisfaction from completing this simple task, but also in anticipation. It's been a while since they last ordered in and just spent time together, nice and simple. Maybe it's also a chance to get to the bottom of some of the things that have been bothering her, lately.

Pepper beelines for the fridge while Tony wraps up their order, studying their options. She already has a bottle of water in one hand when she calls over her shoulder once Tony's off the phone, "Wanna share a beer?" She rarely drinks a whole one by herself, so.

When she takes a moment to follow, he knows exactly why and it makes him smile. They're such opposites in so many ways, but he loves these quirks she has that if anyone else did them might be annoying. He finds himself smiling all the way through his phone call, haing some nonsense smalltalk with their usual Indian restaurant before setting them up for delivery.

"What? Oh... yeah. Sure." He pushes a hand back through his hair and messes it up even more than it was already, all without noticing of course. "Sounds good."

Pulling out a few bottles of water and a beer, Pepper totes them along with two glasses to the table, smirking a little at the way Tony's hair sticks up messily when he runs his fingers through it-- a habit he'd had for as long as she'd known him.

"So," she starts as she slowly pours half of the beer into one of the glasses. "How was your day?" A banal question, perhaps, and one quite suited to the charade they still keep up, but she is genuinely curious.

"My day?" he asks like he doesn't understand the question, even as he sits down next to her instead of across as had become his custom lately. He can see her face better from the corner nearest her, and though he wouldn't, he could reach out and touch her so easily. It's a comforting thought, one that he tries (and fails) not to analyze. "It was good, I think. I mean, boring, but in a good way. Nothing to report."

He swallows to get himself to stop rambling, watching her pour the beer and suddenly feeling very thirsty for it.

"Uh - sorry, you?" His gaze flickers up to meet hers, all of his rapt focus on her alone.

Pepper glances over at him briefly mid-pour, arching a brow at his rambling and smiling a little in amusement.

"That's... good, then." The tiny, hesitant pause is unintended, but it slips there regardless of her intentions. No news is good news, right? And still, Pepper can't shake this feeling she keeps having that something is going on Tony hasn't yet shared with her. She slides the glass over to him with a small smile before pouring the rest of the beer into her own glass.

"Much the same, really," she says with a shrug when he turns the tables on her. "Nothing to report." Again, she gives him that brief, tiny smile, idly tapping her fingers against her glass with no obvious intention to drink from it just yet. Instead she simply watches him in silence for a moment, a somewhat pensive look in her eyes-- silence that stretches on and toes the line of being vaguely awkward, though they rarely used to have such between them.

That little smile has him ducking his head, though the Tony Stark that the world knew never had a bashful moment in his life. Pepper knows a much different side of him than they do, even Obadiah. His fingers brush hers as she hands him the glass but then he too holds it without drinking so he can watch her watching him.

"Good, that's... yeah. Good." His head bobs into a little nod and he tries not to smile goofily at her but that ship sailed, honestly. He feels giddy for no particular reason, but also sees no reason to hide it from her when they're already getting along so well lately. Ever since he stopped focusing so much on himself and started focusing on their life together. But the smile falters a little because if he succeeds, they won't have a life together anymore.

She can't help but respond with a softest of laughs at that goofy smile, looking down at her glass for a moment to steady the erratic fluttering in her chest. A rush of intense fondness squeezes at her heart at the earnestness on Tony's face, but it's followed by a strange prick of wistfulness, too. This strange holding pattern they were in -- professionally and, yes, more personally -- couldn't go on forever. She'd be lying if she said she wasn't a little worried how that pattern would come to break, because eventually it would. Somehow.

"Is everything okay, Tony?" she asks quietly out of the blue as she glances back at him, mostly evenly but not without a faintest hint of a concern leaking into her tone. Instantly, she feels self-conscious about the abrupt question, hurrying to elaborate with some hesitation, "Lately... it just feels like maybe there's something you haven't told me."

"What?" he asks, even though they both know he heard her. Now's his chance to tell all, he thinks, but wouldn't that just be too simple? He doesn't want to freak her out either and besides, it's not exactly a bad thing so it's not exactly lying. ...Right? "Oh... oh, yeah. Never better, Pepper. Seriously. I feel great."

And for the most part? He does. She's used to his eccentricity but even he knows recently he's been at an 11.

"It's like... for the first time in my life? I can see everything clearly and I know I'm on the right path. You ever feel that way?"

Pepper is instantly on guard some, lips twisting a little into a moue of suspicion. Whenever Tony claims he's fine in such abundance, he usually is anything but fine-- it's so ingrained in her by now to react this way it's almost in instinct.

It's not very flattering, so she attempts to school her features into something more neutral, wetting her lips as she considers what he's telling her; as well as the question. She isn't exactly sure what to make of this, still having this niggling sense there's something... more.

"I'm not trying to rain on your parade. It's nice that you've been feeling so cheery. I guess I'm just wondering what's brought that on," she eventually settles on, slowly.

So, that's a 'no' then. He swallows some beer with a little twitch of his nose before putting it down.

"What's not to love about my life, huh? Quaint house in the suburbs, beautiful wife, flourishing business..." He trails off, still grinning. Sorry, Pepper, he's insufferable (like she doesn't know.)

He is insufferable and she well knows it, dropping her chin and giving him a Look; the long-suffering one she always does whenever he's being... well, himself.

"You're so full of it," she says dryly in return, but a hint of a smile tugs at her own lips. She really hates it when he pulls out the charm, she's not as immune to it as she likes to pretend.

"Yeah," he agrees, but in a tone she knows means he's gonna drop some smugness on her. "Full of truth-bombs." Mic-drop. Or more like a long sip of his beer and prolonged, bemused eye contact.

Pepper can't help it. That's such a stupid, ridiculous, frat boy thing to say even by Tony's standards that it hits like a ton of bricks, startling a somewhat unladylike chortle out of her-- a sound that morphs into lilting laughter of amusement. Thank god she wasn't drinking herself when he said that.

"You dweeb," she accuses a beat later through her chuckles, catching her breath and wiping her eye. Wow, that was absolutely terrible. And she couldn't have sounded more fond if she'd tried.

"You like it," he accuses, pointing at her. See, he's just in a really super-good mood. Nothing weird about that, right!! But he sobers quickly after, setting his glass down and licking beer off his mustache to level her with a more serious expression. "Can I ask you something, Peps?"

Pepper makes a slight huff and rolls her eyes at the accusation, but it's through a smile that breaks through despite her best efforts to play it cool. Whatever!

"Since when do you ask me if you can ask me things?" she begins, still clinging to the levity left behind the earlier quip-- but without waiting for a response, her expression turns solemn as well, her head tipping a little with attentiveness.

"What is it?" she asks softly, unable to completely quell a minute prick of concern.

He smiles wanly at that, she has a point. May as well come out with it, then.

"Have you thought about what you're gonna do when this is all over?" When they're finally done with Obie and running and all of it?

It's not at all what she'd expected to hear from him. Pepper blinks a couple of times, too quickly-- the way she does when something catches her off guard. Her lips part and start to shape out an answer; once and then twice, but nothing comes out. Has she? Honestly, not all that much. She has no plan and nowhere to go, really, no other family to speak of besides her mother back in Connecticut. It would be useless to deny Tony hasn't become a part of her family after all this time, no matter how professional they may have started out.

"Well... I guess I've always just assumed you might need a hand with whatever crazy plan you'll come up next," she eventually says, with a small shrug of one shoulder and a tiniest smile that has a touch of hesitancy to it. Shrouded as though it is in flippant wording, it's a promise she's not in a hurry to leave his side-- if he needed and wanted it, she would be there for him. To cover up the fact that she suddenly feels emotionally exposed, she adds with a bit more wryness, "I mean, someone needs to keep you out of trouble."

Assumptions. Their worst enemy. He doesn't want her to follow him any more, she has to lead her own life, have her own path- but every time he thinks of parting with her, his heart feels like it's going to crack inside his chest.

He reaches out, encircling her wrist with calloused fingers. He's about to say something dumb again, surely, but then that bright hot light floods his head again. Like a migraine that brings friends to throw a rager between your eyeballs. Tony gasps, bowing his head over the table and tightening his grip on her as he tries to work through it. He waits for the images he knows are coming, hoping this time he'll be able to make any sense at all of them. And then, just like that, he snaps out of it, drawing back up in his seat and sinking back in his chair, reluctantly letting go of her so he can curl his hand around his beer glass instead.

"Maybe we should go back to the East Coast," he quests casually, lifting his eyebrows like none of that even happened.

"Tony! Oh my god." Startled by his sudden fit, Pepper grabs his shoulder with her free hand in feeble effort to hold him up, though if he really toppled over there's little she could do to stop it. "What's happening, what is it? Tony?" she frets uselessly, as Tony seems beyond hearing her. Just when she's about to figure out a way to call the ambulance while Tony still has her wrist captive, he snaps out of his episode and sits back, casual as he pleases.

Pepper stares, speechless by the whole thing, by Tony's follow-up remark.

"Yeah, maybe," she finally says, but she sounds a little peeved now, her upset at him trying to brush off whatever just happened mounting. If he thinks she's going to let that slide by, he must have not been paying attention these past years. "What the hell was that? Are you okay?"

He smiles, a grim slip of a thing and finally: relents. After months of keeping it from her, here is the unbelievable truth.

"Remember when I hit my head?" When some idiot hit his head off the pavement a million times? Yeah, same difference... "That thing with Eduardo's kid wasn't a fluke."

Tony waits for that to sink in before going on. "I get visions. And don't— I know how it sounds, but it's true. I see things and they happen, I can't control it." He laughs low, a self-deprecating sound. "Fake psychic, real visions. Only me, right?"

"Do I?" Pepper returns a little incredulously, blinking at him even as she's exasperated by his choice of words. Some neanderthal meathead beat Tony up and he's saying he hit his head... christ. But then he goes on, and it brings her up short for a beat.

"...What?" Her expression scrunches up, nose wrinkling like she's smelling something rotten. For the longest of moments, she can only stare at him in mute disbelief.

"Have you been back to the doctor? What am I saying-- of course you haven't. You wouldn't go voluntarily even if your whole head came off."

Her tone doesn't rise, but she throws her hands up in exasperation and huffs. God save her from this impossible man! Predictably, her first reaction is to look for a culprit in something entirely reasonable, instead of preternatural. "You're right, it sounds-- well, it doesn't sound good! You're telling me you're having... visions? After a pretty significant head trauma, Tony. And based on what I just witnessed, really painful ones."

"The doctors cleared me, they didn't see anything in there, Pepper, but it's there. Something happened to me."

He presses the heel of his hand to his eyes, this is about why he didn't tell her.

"It's not that bad." The pain. Except he'd really like an ice pack and ibuprofen about now, really.

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