billionaires | #inbox

"Nothing," she denies a little too quickly, managing a few small bites before abandoning her fork on the side of the plate for now, propping her elbows on her knees and rubbing her temples with her fingers.

"These visions... what exactly do you see? How often? Does it always look like you're about to have a stroke or something?" She's in research mode now, apparently unable to stem off her anxiety about this for longer than a couple of minutes.

"Uh... hm." He sets down his fork and finishes chewing so he can respond, glancing over at her so he can at least try to take something seriously for a change. "Sometimes it's just- impressions? Feelings? But usually, it comes with images. They don't always make sense til later."

A beat. "Did it look like I was having a stroke?" Damn, no wonder she's so mad. He runs his fingers back through his hair, embarrassed.

Pepper keeps her eyes on her neglected plate as she listens, not really seeing the cooling food from her preoccupation. At the question, though, she breathes a mirthless half-laugh, dropping one hand and cradling the side of her face with the other.

"At the very least," she says dryly. Not that she knows what having a stroke actually looks like, but she can imagine.

"And... then what? Do they all come true?"

"I didn't mean to scare you," he says like any of that was in his control at all. Then he ponders the real question. "Uh... maybe not how you're thinking, but. Yeah? Actually."

He looks uneasily over at her, trying to catch Pepper's eyes. He's nervous she won't believe him, but his wild gaze implores her to anyway.

"Okay," she utters just to say something, staring at her plate with unseeing eyes. It's not okay. She drags in a deep, shuddering breath, trying to quell the sick sense of anxiety welling up in the pit of her stomach.

"So, now what? That's not-- normal, Tony. I'm still really concerned something's wrong that's causing this." Her voice doesn't quite break at that, but it's a close thing. She looks back at him, something pleading in her eyes among the worry. "I mean, what exactly is the plan, now?"

"That's not normal. Yeah, no... That's an understatement." Tony hunches over himself and takes a bite without tasting it, just to occupy his hands and avoid her gaze that's making him go a bit hot behind the ears. "I can see the way out, Pepper. I know it doesn't - it's not logical. And you hate that, and I don't blame you. I'm not crazy about trusting fake-psychic intuition, but..."

He takes a deep breath through his nose after swallowing and shifts towards her a little more, forcing himself to look up at her face again, no matter how it makes his stomach drop as a result. The look she gives him is more understanding than he'd expected, though that shouldn't surprise him, should it? Not after all this time.

"I know in my heart that this is right. That it'll work. Do you believe me?"

Despite all, Pepper gives him credit for knowing her so well. It really isn't logical and she does hate it, but the scales are tipped back into balance by her trust in him. She wouldn't have stood by him this long if she didn't place her complete trust in him, and although sometimes his antics make her question her devotion for a brief second here and there, nothing he's done have ever discouraged her.

His words break her heart just a little, and she knows this time is no different. Her own intuition has never yet steered her wrong. Taking a deep breath herself, she sighs quietly and closes her eyes for a few seconds. She opens them again with a nod.

"Alright. If you're this convinced, then I'm with you, Tony." A small smile follows, and though it's still a little sad, it's also earnest.

His eyes fill with water and he nods right after her, setting his plate down on his knee so he can lean forward.

"In that case, Pepper, I... I should really- I mean, I get it, if you, but... There's just something I-" He swallows again, fear and adrenaline causing his heart to race. It jumpstarts like a livewire in his brain and he jolts, seeing bright flashes of color behind his eyelids as his food crash-lands, making a terrible noise as the glass shatters on contact with the floor and sends noodles and vegetables everywhere. "...Pepper?" Tony is blind a moment, and he knows it's bad how frequently this is happening now. It's why he's been so scarce, but now she's seen it for herself and it's going to take more than some flowery words to bring her down.

For all her lingering concern, Pepper's lips still twitch a bit in helpless amusement at his stammering. If only for a moment, before the worry overtakes her expression once more. What could be so difficult that it's making him so tongue-tied?

"You should...?" she prompts gently, shaking her head a fraction, expecting him to fill in the blank. That's only a second before he jolts, his gaze going strangely vacant, dropping his plate on the floor. Pepper yelps in startled surprise, hot food splashing across the carpet and splattering their feet.

"Tony!" Spilled food and shattered glass forgotten, Pepper scoots closer on the couch and reaches out with both hands, cradling the sides of his face in her palms. "Tony? What's happening? I-is it the thing, the visions? Oh god," she babbles, her anxiety going from zero to hundred in about two seconds. "What do I do?"

Tony pushes closer to her the moment he feels her hands on him, pressing himself into her embrace in a hopeless display. He needs to tell her what's happening or he's going to lose her forever. Then again, maybe he will anyway. Maybe this is all a sick delusion.

"I need... I need you, Pepper. I just need you." It's a relief to finally say it, laying his head on her shoulder and just hanging on for as long as she'll allow. He tries to push out the rest, the: 'Also, I'm pretty sure I'm dying,' but it just won't come out.

If she's taken aback by his apparent neediness and yearning for... contact? Comfort? she only hesitates for a second before she folds him into a hug, one arm going around his shoulders while she clasps the other hand over his nape when he lays his head on her shoulder. Fear mingles with concern now, making her tremble a little.

"I'm-- I'm here, Tony," she stammers a little, blinking back sudden tears that burn behind her eyes. She clutches him to her a little tighter, the hand on his neck climbing up to stroke his hair. "I'm not going anywhere. I'm right here."

He squeezes her harder when he feels that tremble, his vision coming back in patches as he slowly pulls back an inch to focus on her face. Wow, they're close. It makes it even harder to think than it already was, but that's his fault too.

"Can't really figure that one out, after all I've put you through, but I can't say I'm complaining." His eyes draw down to her lips and he holds his breath, heartrate spiking dangerously all over again.

Pepper shudders once more, though it's no longer completely due to any lingering fright. She wants to offer some protest to that, some retort or a scold or a wry quip, but she has none left, her heart giving a tiny flutter at the way he stares at her mouth. Her lips part a little on a tiny intake of breath.

"Are you okay?" she asks in such hushed tone it's nearly a whisper. Right now, she means, but the rest trails off under the sheer magnetism of his close proximity.

"Oh yeah," he answers too quick, but a warm smile follows it up. They're so close his beard brushes sharply against her smooth chin. "Never better." It's a bald-faced lie, but right now he can't even really regret it.

"Tony," she admonishes on a knee-jerk instinct, but softly and almost playfully-- for a moment, anyway, gasping at the brush of his beard against her skin. The contact only drives home all the more sharply just how close they are, teetering on the edge of some make-or-break moment yet again. Those were becoming increasingly more frequent, and Pepper isn't sure how to proceed, for all that her gaze dips down to his mouth in return. She knows she's attracted to him in a way that goes beyond their professional relationship, but is that enough reason to... well, to do anything about it?

Her fingers tighten on his shoulder, though she reasons she should probably pull back and break this stalemate they're caught in. "I should... get you a new plate," she whispers a little shakily, but makes no move to leave yet.

His smile twitches into something more playful in reaction to her tone, a jolt going straight through his middle at that gasp. He could close the distance and show her rather than tell her everything that's been on his mind, but again he hesitates just a microsecond too long.

"Oh, uh." Tony clears his throat and forces himself back another inch, noticing how equally reluctant she is to move. "Okay. I mean, thanks." His shoulders slump in defeat and he unwinds himself enough so that she can make a getaway.

If there's a flash of disappointment flickering across her expression, it's there only for a second before she draws away as well, slipping her hands from his shoulders while trying to tamp down on her reluctance. Forcing a smile, she shifts back on the couch and gets up, her own meal forgotten as she steps around the spilled food and pieces of broken plate.

And if she takes a few moments in the kitchen to take some deep breaths and calm herself down, well. Returning with a new plate and a a roll of paper towels, she hands Tony the plate with a soft "Here," and sets to clean up the spill. Thankfully, most of the mess landed on the hardwood floor and not the carpet in silence.

Tony lifts his feet up onto the couch so he's not in Pepper's way, feeling guilty even as he takes the plate from her with a tiny nod in thanks. Even now, she's far too good at taking care of him, and it only forces the words he should say further back down his throat.

"You're the best," he manages before quietly digging into his meal.

"So you keep claiming," she says a bit breezily in effort to return to the normal way of things as she wipes up the spills and carefully stacks pieces of plate on some more paper towels to take to the trash. She sucks in a breath through her teeth in a quiet hiss when a sharp shard of glass slices into her thumb despite her caution, harrumphing in annoyance and sucking on the digit to stem the bleeding.

That hiss immediately gets his attention and he frowns at the sight of blood on her hand. It's like a metaphor for their entire lives together: she keeps getting hurt because of his messes. It's time he ends the cycle.

"Hold on, don't move." He sets down his plate on the coffee table and carefully steps around the glass to head into the kitchen. It takes him a minute to find a trash bag and the first aid kit, but he manages before heading back. Tony kneels down to help her with the rest of the mess before guiding her back onto the couch and insisting on dealing with the cut himself, no matter how minor. He cleans the small wound and bandages it, reluctant to let go of her hand once it's done. Tony slowly meets her eyes as he tilts forward to kiss the tip of her finger. "Think you'll live?"

"You don't have to," she protests, but Tony's already gone. Sighing, she tears out a fresh paper towel from the roll and wraps it around the bleeding thumb for now. They make quick work of the remaining mess on the floor once Tony returns, and Pepper lets him herd her back to the couch, disinfect and bandage the cut-- though she insists (without much heat) he doesn't have to fuss. A shiver runs through her as his calloused fingers brush against her skin at his careful attention, almost gasping at the touch to her palm. She can't look away from his eyes when he kisses the bandaged digit.

"Maybe you should kiss it again," she murmurs after a beat. "Just to make sure."

"Yeah?" he challenges, turning her hand in his so his rough thumb runs the length of her lifeline. Keeping his eyes on hers, he leans forward again to brush his lips against the digit, this time moving in so he stays just as close even as he slowly pulls away. "Did that do the trick?"

She gives the softest noise, somewhere between a gasp and a whimper, at the drag of his thumb across the sensitive skin, eyelids fluttering a little. Her mouth goes dry and she wets her lips with the tip of her tongue unconsciously, something inexplicably sensual about this it's stealing her breath. Her hands are apparently more sensitive than she'd ever realized, or maybe it's just Tony.

"Y-yeah," she gets out, shakily. "That's... good."

That sound affects him deeply, igniting an electrical pulse deep within his belly. Their eyes catch just right, and he can't stop it— what happens next. He convinces himself it was her who broke the dam by kissing him that first time, but this is entirely his choice and it shows in the painstaking care he takes with her now. His free hand goes to the side of her face, gently gripping before he moves in, close enough to breathe the same air. Here goes nothing. Except she's his whole world, and if he screws this up... But he can't think that way, he can't think at all as their lips collide, a firmer point of contact than he'd calculated though he quickly adjusts for both of their comfort, leaning back just a little even as a desperation enters the kiss - something hungry and unsatiated that they've both been staving off giving into.

"Is this weird?" he asks suddenly, already trying to catch his breath after the brief, but heated touch of their lips spins him out. "It's weird, right?"

He telegraphs his intentions so obviously she has all the time in the world to pull back if she wants to, to put a stop to this-- but that's the last thing she wants, content to be carried away by the wave of wanting that overtakes her, breath catching faintly as his other hand gently cups the side of her face. She can't look away from him, those beautiful brown eyes always swimming with emotion, and then his lips are on hers; even the minute roughness at first only serves to turn her bones into jelly, loosing a tiny moan into the kiss as it gains ardor.

"I don't think it's weird," she whispers breathlessly, gripping his hand while her other blindly grasps his thigh for support, a soft, almost lambent look in her heavy-lidded eyes as they're drawn back down to his mouth.

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