Beauty I'd always missed with these eyes | Closed

[houseparty]

WHO: High Chancellor Stark and Pepper Potts
WHERE: The White City
WHEN: Following the Gala
WHAT: Iron Man welcomes Rescue to TWT. Technically that's true.
WARNINGS: Language, identity crises, tragic reunions...



The White City still shines at night, bright enough to see over the black waters of the Gulf, a neon jewel rising as a symbol of hope, or perhaps a shout of sheer defiance to its silent neighbor: due east, the rest of Florida lies dark and dead under the canopy of the Deathdome, the Porter at the ruins of that far coastline running ceaselessly as latecomers are steadily drawn into this world, strangers soon to make their way across the globe. A weather alert pings in his HUD, the satellite images of some nameless storm churning far out in the Atlantic, projected to hit land in a handful of days with no one alive to meet it. In the past they might have sent imPorts to disperse them if the Porter risked a direct hit, before they learned the dome devoured everything, even the massive, deathly vortex of a hurricane.

Stark does have things to do, really, more than clearing his head through this impromptu flight. There's always the endless list of action items to accomplish prior to a Synod, tasks to see to the bitter end, whenever that truly happens. Rey will strike when she sees fit, and he must be ready for her.

...okay, seriously. Enough dicking around.

He feels it ahead of the alarm of sensors as he returns to land, the murmur of a system in the distant vicinity, a system he knows as surely as himself- and doesn't, all the same, bright and chatty amid the streamlined cacophony of electronic input. There's a suit of armor out here, touring the bright skyline, and it isn't one of his. The four Legion droids that flank him shoot forward at a thought, thrusters burning:

Intercept.

Comments

[efficacy]

Pepper gives him a look right back, a flat stare. The kind Tony's been on the receiving end from her too many times to count, probably.

"So, the stuff you're going through is... your wife is -- literally -- out to kill you?" She breathes an incredulous half-laugh with no actual mirth involved. "You sure know how to pick 'em, Mr. Stark."

Okay, no, she's not here to judge. (Much.) Shaking a head, she turns more serious and forges on. "Come with me. There's a whole world out there to disappear into, I assume."

[houseparty]

What can he say? Stark doesn't know how much Morgan takes after him, with the look of fondly mild exasperation he gives Pepper, an expression she typically focused on her dad.

Searching Pepper's face, he steps closer, quick to kiss her cheek. "No. "

[efficacy]

The expression on his face is so much like Morgan's just then that Pepper is almost overwhelmed with longing and heartache, blinking rapidly a few times to get rid of the hot sting of sudden tears, closing them entirely for a moment at the kiss to her cheek.

Her voice is soft when she insists, "You can't be planning to stay. Why are you risking yourself like this?"

[houseparty]

"Would he stay, or would he run?"

It's unexpectedly tough, seeing her so briefly, knowing what he knows now, and having to usher her away. There's no future left for him here, not with her, and she can't survive this place if she tethers herself to him. In the end, he knows, he has to finish what he started, wherever it may lead.

[efficacy]

That's unfair. Totally below the belt, and it effectively robs Pepper of whatever counterargument she may have had chambered up and ready to go. It shows on her expression as well, a pained grimace with a hint of exasperation flickering across her face.

"I would disagree with him, too. Vehemently."

[houseparty]

A-ha. If only he could feel any kind of victory in that, and not the temptation, however small, to ask her to stay. It'll help nothing, so he just smiles tightly, eyes shining.

"See? I know what I'm about."

[efficacy]

"Ugh," Pepper huffs quietly and glances down at her feet, the noise caught between reluctant amusement and mild exasperation. "You're... infuriating."

Just like her husband. Her smile is wan when she lifts her gaze again. "And you're not gonna change your mind, are you?"

The inflection of a question is there, but she already knows the answer, betrayed by the calm acceptance in her eyes.

[houseparty]

That's precisely the Pepper he remembers, the woman he could annoy and amuse with the same statement. God, he has so many regrets, so much he should have done back then.

"Not a chance, Miss Potts." Pause, then a thoughtful correction, "Mrs. Potts. Stark-Potts- did you hyphenate, how did that work out–" And also so like him, to get caught on that, stalling for just one more fraction of time.

[efficacy]

It's so him to get caught up in a detail like that. Pepper's heart squeezes and lines are blurred-- for a moment, there's just Tony. Just the man she loves. She breathes a watery little laugh, helplessly endeared...

and leans in to kiss him before she completely realizes what she's doing.

Her lips press against his for a couple of seconds, lingering long enough to be evident before she pulls away, looking a little wide-eyed and taken aback. "Oh! Sorry, I..." What? She doesn't even know.

[houseparty]

Shock colors his expression, eyes wide for the sudden press of her mouth to his, melting so briefly beneath her warmth, her taste, her touch until it's gone.. Even as Pepper draws away, he'd like to pursue, and stops himself, settling his hands at her waist.

"Now we're really delving into cliche," Stark tells her, even as he smiles, and it's his turn to be fondly exasperated. "And you gotta go."

[efficacy]

Common sense returns quickly to her after that. Come on, Potts. Don't go kissing your husband's lookalikes... or alternate universe versions of him, rather. Something like that.

"Yeah, I know," she agrees, lips tugging into a hint of a wry smile now. "Don't sue me over a goodbye kiss."

She just decided that in the last few seconds, but it works. More seriously, she adds, "Be careful. And don't tell me you're always careful, you probably aren't even if you think you are. Call it a hunch."

[houseparty]

He offers up a briefly flat look that really doesn't have much of an impact, not when there's the too-familiar gleam of affection in his eyes. His next smile manages to be slightly chastened, thoughtful, while he searches her face again, as if committing her to memory.

"...Goodbye, Pepper."

This time, he doesn't linger, calling his suit to him without a second thought.

[efficacy]

The small smile Pepper gives him in return is sad, even if there's a similar warmth in her own gaze, silent as he watches her. This has been a surreal night, and Pepper is kind of dreading how it will unfold after they separate. She doesn't know how she's going to navigate this strange world, but she can't hang her hopes on this facsimile of her husband, either. Suppose she does need to try to find Jane Foster and map out her options going forward. It's her turn to watch him when he calls the suit to him, swallowing a bit thickly at the goodbye; it's hard not to hear anyone else in those words but her own Tony.

Tearing off the band-aid, she lets the helmet of her own suit pull back over her head, the eyes glowing bright blue as the HUD comes online. "Goodbye, Tony." Be safe.

Assuming she doesn't have to worry about the Legion droids this time, she fires up the repulsors and lifts off the platform with a bright flare of thrusters, taking back to the skies with a heavy heart.