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seren_ccdTitle: Gray - Theme 007
Series: Tight Coupling
Rating: PG
Pairing: Tony/Pepper-ish, movieverse
Disclaimer: Still not mine. All Marvel's.
Summary: Morning, coffee, and Rhodey finally shows up. Oh, and remember the guy from Spicy? Well, he’s back.
A/N: Thank you, thank you to everyone who is following and reviewing. Sorry this took a bit longer. Please let me know what you think!
The next morning dawned a bit too slowly and too overcast for Pepper. When she looked out the window and sipped her coffee, she kept expecting the sun to beam out brilliantly from behind the clouds. In fact, she stared at the sky for a full five minutes letting her coffee cool waiting for the sun to break through. When it didn’t, she’s not sure if she’s relieved to know that the world keeps turning and weather patterns just continue on their merry way or if she’s insulted that the rest of the world can’t feel as changed as she does.
She did decide, however, to let Jarvis wake Tony up. And then tried to stop checking her wrist for a handprint or a bruise or maybe a neon tattoo that reads ‘Tony Stark Kissed Me HERE’.
Instead, she consulted the schedule for the day and rescheduled some meetings. Then, because she’s obviously become a masochist in the last six months, she turned on CNN.
They’re actually using stock footage she notices and no one actually seems to know what happened. Just that Iron Man swooped in and rounded up a lot of bad guys with big guns that should never have been sold to them in the first place and said guns are now missing or destroyed. The talking heads are debating on whether Iron Man should be labelled a hero or vigilante. Pepper winces and makes a mental note to speak to Public Relations later about the press release they’ll have to send out.
“Miss Potts?” Jarvis called from above.
“Yes Jarvis?” she replied, taking a note of the pundits with the most animosity towards Iron Man.
“Colonel Rhodes is approaching the house.”
“Thank you Jarvis,” Pepper said. She stood and turned the television off and headed into the kitchen. She’s making another cup of coffee when Jim appears the entry to the kitchen
“Morning Pepper,” he said. “Don’t suppose there’s enough for poor ol’ working soldier?”
“The day you are considered ‘poor’ or ‘ol’ is the day I eat my shoes,” Pepper smirked over her shoulder. “Milk only, right?”
“Yes ma’am,” he answered. “How are you Pepper?”
“Me? Oh, I’m fine. It’s his royal idiocy I’d be more concerned with,” Pepper said as she handed him a cup.
“Oh I am,” Jim tells her. “I fully plan on reading him the riot act. Not that he’ll listen, but it’ll let me practice sounding forceful and disapproving.”
“Well, good luck with that,” Pepper said with a smile.
Jim took a sip of his coffee and shook his head.
“What do you do to this stuff?” he asked. “It’s perfect, every time.”
“Personal assistant code prohibits me from revealing my secret,” Pepper told him.
All of a sudden they heard what sounded like a cross between a growl and yawn and most definitely a groan. They looked at each other and then in the direction of Tony’s room.
“I do believe that’s my cue,” Rhodes said finishing off his coffee.
“Have fun,” Pepper said with a smile.
Jim headed down the hall in the direction of the cursing.
Pepper headed back to her laptop and began looking at her emails. It was one of the tasks Tony always teased her about doing, saying that Jarvis was more than capable of answering most of them and the AI was certainly capable of sorting them, however it was one task she didn’t mind doing herself. She busied herself with reading over the projections that each department had been asked to create. Most were optimistic, some were slightly less so. She opened the one from the Telematics Department and pursed her lips. The hope had been to aim the current project using GPS configurations more towards vehicles and possibly aircraft, taking the focus away from the missiles and surveillance equipment.
It appeared that Dr Hake was still not pleased with the current direction of Stark Industries and was apparently stalling the creation of new projections. She skimmed the rather verbose declaration of discontent and made a note to call the head manager to see if it was just Hake making noises or if the entire team felt the same.
Pepper shook her head. Dealing with Hake was the last thing she wanted to do.
Her PDA beeped at her. She checked the time and realized that if Tony didn’t get his butt in gear they’d miss the demonstration that Energy Department was staging today. She headed towards Tony’s room, but slowed down when she heard voices through the partially opened door.
“You do know that was a hell of a risk you took yesterday,” Jim’s voice was saying. “I didn’t know the suit could do that.”
“Yeah, well, neither did the suit,” Tony replied.
“Jesus, man,” Jim said. “You can call me you know. It is actually my job to do these kinds of things. I can provide back-up at the very least.”
“I’m aware,” Tony said. “But, they’re my weapons. I’ll deal with it. And hey, you should be thanking me. I’m saving you a hell of a lot of paperwork. And money come to think of it.”
“Oh yeah? Who’s savin’ you?” Jim retorted. “Don’t think I don’t see you walking like you got a stick up your ass.”
“Oh, that,” Tony said. “That’s nothing. Pepper just got frisky with the tongue depressors last night.”
Pepper’s eyes shut in disbelief. Or was it disgust?
“Man, there are just some things I don’t need to know,” Jim was telling Tony. “And don’t you dare knock that woman. How she manages to put up with your crap, I will never know.”
“If you saw her 401K, you might get a clue,” Tony said.
“Yeah, right,” Jim muttered, rolling his eyes. “Just, think about calling us next time. Unlike you, we are actually paid to do this kind of thing. We even have schools and degrees in this stuff.”
“You got it, honeybear,” Tony said, his voice getting closer to the door. Pepper straightened up and made a move to push the door open just as Tony opened it fully.
He actually looked like he’d gotten some sleep. His eyes were bright and he looked freshly cleaned and was wearing a suit and a smirk to match.
“Well, good morning Miss Potts,” he said.
“Good morning Mr Stark,” she said. “Sorry to interrupt, but you have a demonstration at the office in thirty minutes; Happy should be bringing the car around about now.”
“Ooh, that’s right!” Tony said as they walked into the living room. He turned to Rhodes. “Wanna come see my new toy? It has lots of pretty lights.”
“Thanks for the invite,” Jim said chuckling. “I’ve got a training exercise to get to.”
“Take care man,” he said patting Tony’s back and staring at him pointedly when Tony flinched. Jim turned to Pepper with a small smile. “Thank you for the coffee.”
“Not a problem Jim,” Pepper said. He patted her shoulder as he headed towards the door.
Tony’s eyes narrowed. However, he waited until Pepper and he were in the car and heading down the winding drive away from the mansion.
“Since when do you call him Jim?” he asked.
“What?” Pepper asked, tearing her eyes away from the report in front of her.
“It used to be Colonel Rhodes,” Tony informed her.
“Oh. Well. It was,” she said turning her attention back to the report. “Now it’s Jim.”
“Hunh. Okay,” he said. He sat for minute, staring out the window.
Pepper continued reading and then realized that it was far too quiet. She glanced over at him.
“Are you sulking?” she asked.
“No,” Tony said far too quickly.
“You are. You’re sulking because I call Colonel Rhodes ‘Jim’,” she said.
“Am not.”
Pepper opened her mouth with the obvious rejoinder but caught herself and instead just smiled a little and went back to her report. It was quiet in the car again.
“You should try calling him ‘sugar butt’,” Tony said finally. “I tried once and he nearly decked me. He may let you get away with it.”
“Tony, I’m not calling him ‘sugar--’,” Pepper struggled a little and finally settled on, “’sugar’ -anything.”
“Not even if I dared you?” Tony sing-songed. “Not even if I triple dog-dared you?”
“Not even then,” Pepper said firmly.
Tony sighed.
“No one ever wants to play with me.”
Series: Tight Coupling
Rating: PG
Pairing: Tony/Pepper-ish, movieverse
Disclaimer: Still not mine. All Marvel's.
Summary: Morning, coffee, and Rhodey finally shows up. Oh, and remember the guy from Spicy? Well, he’s back.
A/N: Thank you, thank you to everyone who is following and reviewing. Sorry this took a bit longer. Please let me know what you think!
The next morning dawned a bit too slowly and too overcast for Pepper. When she looked out the window and sipped her coffee, she kept expecting the sun to beam out brilliantly from behind the clouds. In fact, she stared at the sky for a full five minutes letting her coffee cool waiting for the sun to break through. When it didn’t, she’s not sure if she’s relieved to know that the world keeps turning and weather patterns just continue on their merry way or if she’s insulted that the rest of the world can’t feel as changed as she does.
She did decide, however, to let Jarvis wake Tony up. And then tried to stop checking her wrist for a handprint or a bruise or maybe a neon tattoo that reads ‘Tony Stark Kissed Me HERE’.
Instead, she consulted the schedule for the day and rescheduled some meetings. Then, because she’s obviously become a masochist in the last six months, she turned on CNN.
They’re actually using stock footage she notices and no one actually seems to know what happened. Just that Iron Man swooped in and rounded up a lot of bad guys with big guns that should never have been sold to them in the first place and said guns are now missing or destroyed. The talking heads are debating on whether Iron Man should be labelled a hero or vigilante. Pepper winces and makes a mental note to speak to Public Relations later about the press release they’ll have to send out.
“Miss Potts?” Jarvis called from above.
“Yes Jarvis?” she replied, taking a note of the pundits with the most animosity towards Iron Man.
“Colonel Rhodes is approaching the house.”
“Thank you Jarvis,” Pepper said. She stood and turned the television off and headed into the kitchen. She’s making another cup of coffee when Jim appears the entry to the kitchen
“Morning Pepper,” he said. “Don’t suppose there’s enough for poor ol’ working soldier?”
“The day you are considered ‘poor’ or ‘ol’ is the day I eat my shoes,” Pepper smirked over her shoulder. “Milk only, right?”
“Yes ma’am,” he answered. “How are you Pepper?”
“Me? Oh, I’m fine. It’s his royal idiocy I’d be more concerned with,” Pepper said as she handed him a cup.
“Oh I am,” Jim tells her. “I fully plan on reading him the riot act. Not that he’ll listen, but it’ll let me practice sounding forceful and disapproving.”
“Well, good luck with that,” Pepper said with a smile.
Jim took a sip of his coffee and shook his head.
“What do you do to this stuff?” he asked. “It’s perfect, every time.”
“Personal assistant code prohibits me from revealing my secret,” Pepper told him.
All of a sudden they heard what sounded like a cross between a growl and yawn and most definitely a groan. They looked at each other and then in the direction of Tony’s room.
“I do believe that’s my cue,” Rhodes said finishing off his coffee.
“Have fun,” Pepper said with a smile.
Jim headed down the hall in the direction of the cursing.
Pepper headed back to her laptop and began looking at her emails. It was one of the tasks Tony always teased her about doing, saying that Jarvis was more than capable of answering most of them and the AI was certainly capable of sorting them, however it was one task she didn’t mind doing herself. She busied herself with reading over the projections that each department had been asked to create. Most were optimistic, some were slightly less so. She opened the one from the Telematics Department and pursed her lips. The hope had been to aim the current project using GPS configurations more towards vehicles and possibly aircraft, taking the focus away from the missiles and surveillance equipment.
It appeared that Dr Hake was still not pleased with the current direction of Stark Industries and was apparently stalling the creation of new projections. She skimmed the rather verbose declaration of discontent and made a note to call the head manager to see if it was just Hake making noises or if the entire team felt the same.
Pepper shook her head. Dealing with Hake was the last thing she wanted to do.
Her PDA beeped at her. She checked the time and realized that if Tony didn’t get his butt in gear they’d miss the demonstration that Energy Department was staging today. She headed towards Tony’s room, but slowed down when she heard voices through the partially opened door.
“You do know that was a hell of a risk you took yesterday,” Jim’s voice was saying. “I didn’t know the suit could do that.”
“Yeah, well, neither did the suit,” Tony replied.
“Jesus, man,” Jim said. “You can call me you know. It is actually my job to do these kinds of things. I can provide back-up at the very least.”
“I’m aware,” Tony said. “But, they’re my weapons. I’ll deal with it. And hey, you should be thanking me. I’m saving you a hell of a lot of paperwork. And money come to think of it.”
“Oh yeah? Who’s savin’ you?” Jim retorted. “Don’t think I don’t see you walking like you got a stick up your ass.”
“Oh, that,” Tony said. “That’s nothing. Pepper just got frisky with the tongue depressors last night.”
Pepper’s eyes shut in disbelief. Or was it disgust?
“Man, there are just some things I don’t need to know,” Jim was telling Tony. “And don’t you dare knock that woman. How she manages to put up with your crap, I will never know.”
“If you saw her 401K, you might get a clue,” Tony said.
“Yeah, right,” Jim muttered, rolling his eyes. “Just, think about calling us next time. Unlike you, we are actually paid to do this kind of thing. We even have schools and degrees in this stuff.”
“You got it, honeybear,” Tony said, his voice getting closer to the door. Pepper straightened up and made a move to push the door open just as Tony opened it fully.
He actually looked like he’d gotten some sleep. His eyes were bright and he looked freshly cleaned and was wearing a suit and a smirk to match.
“Well, good morning Miss Potts,” he said.
“Good morning Mr Stark,” she said. “Sorry to interrupt, but you have a demonstration at the office in thirty minutes; Happy should be bringing the car around about now.”
“Ooh, that’s right!” Tony said as they walked into the living room. He turned to Rhodes. “Wanna come see my new toy? It has lots of pretty lights.”
“Thanks for the invite,” Jim said chuckling. “I’ve got a training exercise to get to.”
“Take care man,” he said patting Tony’s back and staring at him pointedly when Tony flinched. Jim turned to Pepper with a small smile. “Thank you for the coffee.”
“Not a problem Jim,” Pepper said. He patted her shoulder as he headed towards the door.
Tony’s eyes narrowed. However, he waited until Pepper and he were in the car and heading down the winding drive away from the mansion.
“Since when do you call him Jim?” he asked.
“What?” Pepper asked, tearing her eyes away from the report in front of her.
“It used to be Colonel Rhodes,” Tony informed her.
“Oh. Well. It was,” she said turning her attention back to the report. “Now it’s Jim.”
“Hunh. Okay,” he said. He sat for minute, staring out the window.
Pepper continued reading and then realized that it was far too quiet. She glanced over at him.
“Are you sulking?” she asked.
“No,” Tony said far too quickly.
“You are. You’re sulking because I call Colonel Rhodes ‘Jim’,” she said.
“Am not.”
Pepper opened her mouth with the obvious rejoinder but caught herself and instead just smiled a little and went back to her report. It was quiet in the car again.
“You should try calling him ‘sugar butt’,” Tony said finally. “I tried once and he nearly decked me. He may let you get away with it.”
“Tony, I’m not calling him ‘sugar--’,” Pepper struggled a little and finally settled on, “’sugar’ -anything.”
“Not even if I dared you?” Tony sing-songed. “Not even if I triple dog-dared you?”
“Not even then,” Pepper said firmly.
Tony sighed.
“No one ever wants to play with me.”
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2008-07-15 05:00 pm (UTC)-liz
no subject
Date: 2008-07-15 08:09 pm (UTC)This is fun and cool and very true to Pepper and Tony and Rhodes. I love the little routine you've thrown into Pepper's work without making it seem mundane.
And "If you'd seen her 401k plan..."
Best line ever.
no subject
Date: 2008-07-16 07:38 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-07-16 07:40 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-07-16 08:49 pm (UTC)Tony, I’m not calling him ‘sugar--’,” Pepper struggled a little and finally settled on, “’sugar’ -anything.”
“Not even if I dared you?” Tony sing-songed. “Not even if I triple dog-dared you?”
“Not even then,” Pepper said firmly.
Tony sighed.
“No one ever wants to play with me.”
ROFL........the above is a PERFECT example. Poor Tony, he so needs a playmate. Poor Pepper who knows exactly where encouraging him would inevitably lead ;p
no subject
Date: 2008-07-17 07:43 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-12-16 04:12 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-01-06 08:53 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-09-09 04:04 am (UTC)"No one ever wants to play with me."
BEST TONY LINE EVER! {cackling madly}