(no subject)
I've had this sitting on my HD for months because I kept meaning to expand it, but I think it's destined to be a shortfic. Given that there's a lull (again) in OC ficdom now seemed as good a time as any to post it.
Author: beege
Fandom: The OC/Iron Man
Title: Dinner Date
Rating: G
Warnings: None
Disclaimer: None of the characters or situations used in this fic are in any way my intellectual property.
Dinner Date
“Pepper! Pepper! Come and take a look at this!”
Pepper Potts-Stark (because: I am damn well keeping my name, Tony!) doesn’t even bother with the long suffering sigh as she puts down the instructions she’s leaving for her temporary replacement and heaves herself from the seat to see what new toy Tony’s so enamored of this time. He’s supposed to be attending a board meeting right now before coming home so they can go over the house plans together - and she really should know better than to ever let him out unsupervised. Impending fatherhood hasn’t changed him that much.
In the next room Tony is poring over house plans with a stocky blonde man she recognizes as Ryan Atwood, the up and coming young architect she chose to design the house that Tony decreed that they simply had to have after she told him she was pregnant. Pepper likes Ryan a great deal. He is quiet and calm and organized and seemingly unfazed to be working for the notorious Tony Stark. Before she’d ever met him Pepper had been impressed with the work he’d done designing sustainable low cost housing for low income families, accommodation that was economic to build and maintain while still being pleasant to live in. In fact, she’d first heard of him while arranging a donation from the Stark foundation in support of a privately sponsored urban renewal project in Berkeley.
Ryan is better known for the stunning, vaguely art deco mansions he designs for California’s self appointed elite, work that according to him he does ‘on the side to pay the bills’. So he disarmingly told her the first time they spoke in person, a meeting that went so well they were on a first name basis by the end of the hour she’d scheduled. His portfolio of work for other filthy rich clients displays an impressive ability to make even the most outrageous self indulgences appear tasteful, an ability Pepper suspects will be tested to its very limits by Tony’s determination to insert himself into every phase of the design and construction of their ‘dream home’.
It also doesn’t hurt that he possesses an excellent butt, although Pepper’s sure that’s just the pregnancy hormones talking (Tony’s butt is very cute also, she tells herself loyally).
“Ah Pepper, excellent, come and see what you think of the plans for the house. We were discussing how Jarvis would be integrated into our new home, but this architecture stuff is interesting. It’s going to be a sort of California bungalow by way of Victorian mansion with a dash of Hearst castle.”
Because you can never have too many swimming pools, Pepper thinks wryly, knowing exactly what motivates Tony’s choice of architectural influences.
“Because you can never have too many swimming pools, and I think you’ll be impressed by the way . . .”
Over Tony’s shoulder Ryan winks at her, an expression she interprets (accurately) to mean that her instructions about politely humouring all of Tony’s ideas and then ignoring them completely are being followed.
After awhile Tony runs down and wanders off to ‘do something about anti-gravity’, as he puts it, which probably means a working prototype within 48 hours and Pepper Potts-Stark regards Ryan Atwood inquisitively, knowing that this is the first time he and Toy have actually met. He seems customarily unflustered (his default state of being, judging by everything she’s seen of him), but no-one survives their first Tony Stark ambush intact.
“You know,” Ryan says thoughtfully, gazing after Tony with a slightly abstracted air, “he kinda reminds me of my wife.”
Okay, that wasn’t the response Pepper had been expecting.
<> <> <>
Several hours later Tony has returned from his workshop without Pepper having to go down even once to find out what the horrible crashing/banging/groaning/squeaking/oh-my-god-is-he-ritually-sacrificing-goats-down-there? noises are, because the combination of marriage and impending fatherhood have achieved the impossible and actually caused Tony to grow up (a little bit). Her husband has a question for her as he comes into the kitchen, trying to clean his greasy hands on an equally greasy old t-shirt.
“So, did I permanently traumatize our boy wonder architect? Because I gotta tell you Pepper, he seemed fine when I left.”
Pepper grins. This is going to be good.
“He says you remind him of his wife.”
A pause.
“I what!?”
And that’s how Pepper ends up inviting Ryan Atwood and Taylor Townsend-Atwood to dinner with her and Tony.
<> <> <>
At first Pepper doesn’t see the similarities. Taylor Townsend-Atwood is not quite what she expected from a Sorbonne graduate with a degree in romance languages and a work history that includes translating for the UN. Extremely pretty yes, and very nicely presented, but obviously nervous in the presence of Tony Stark. And Pepper herself, for that matter.
Then she starts to talk, and Pepper understands what Ryan meant.
Taylor has the same all-consuming fascination with the world - all of it - that drives Tony to do the things he does.
Taylor and Tony (and doesn’t that just sound like the title of a bad fifties sitcom, Pepper thinks) are quickly chattering like magpies - an apt analogy given the way both of them seem to hoard knowledge of all forms just for the sake of having. Pepper might find it trying - and god knows how most husbands would handle this situation - except that she and Ryan spend the whole evening exchanging wry looks and knowing smiles as their respective significant others dominate the conversation like the hyperactive five-year-olds they essentially are.
Over the course of the evening the conversation veers from world economics and the history of the Civil War to more personal matters after Taylor reveals that Ryan has a comic book character based on him. Tony pouts that no-one ever based a comic book character on him and Pepper points out the vast range of Iron Man merchandise available at any Target and the rate at which it sells, even though Tony has been flying around in his red and gold midlife crisis suit for years now. Tony insists that it’s not the same and wants to know what Ryan Atwood has that he doesn’t (Pepper thinks it’s a shame that no-one will ever know what amazing self control it took to keep her from answering his question with “a six pack and a slightly cuter butt”). Instead she suggests gently that billionaires who have their own flying suits of powered armour aren’t really allowed to be jealous of anyone else and Tony, reluctantly, concedes the point. The shift towards the personal leads to Tony boasting triumphantly of extraordinary college pranks (Pepper knows from Rhodey that he actually isn’t exaggerating, which is slightly horrifying) and in a spirit of fairness she makes a few minor admissions of her own. Taylor regales them with the saga of her French ex-husband, which may have been something of a tactical blunder as it causes Tony to exclaim to Ryan: “Wait, you’re married to Peaches!? I love that book!” before simultaneous raised eyebrows from Pepper and Ryan cause him to back away from the subject with some alacrity.
Pepper congratulates herself on having trained her husband very well indeed.
Ryan states, in a tone which brooks no argument, that people who have comic book characters based on them don’t have to recount embarrassing anecdotes, although Taylor teases him about Karaoke and being mistaken for an available single father during college when he went places with his little sister, Sophie Rose (Tony completely fails to resist the temptation of making various inappropriate observations about hot single moms). Their dinner conversation is filling in some of the texture around the bare facts of Ryan’s life, although she notices that his juvenile record doesn’t come up (Pepper feels no guilt at all about accessing sealed records either; anyone who’s actually going to be in their home gets the most intensive background check imaginable). Mention of Ryan’s little sister gets them onto the subject of children and though Pepper’s never been a huge fan of stories about oh-so-adorable children (mostly because they’re usually told to her by smugly doting parents who seem determined to make her feel inferior) she has to admit that Sophie Rose Cohen sounds like a sweetheart. Judging by the glint in Tony’s eye when he looks at her he agrees, and Pepper suspects she’s about to be subject to a campaign by Tony for a large family indeed.
One Tony (or Antonia) Stark junior will be quite enough, Pepper thinks. Half a dozen of them would probably conquer the world while still in diapers and force congress to dress in Barney costumes. But it will be fun letting him try to convince her otherwise.
At the end of the evening, as they say their goodbyes, Pepper exchanges a glance with Tony and they both know that they’ll be seeing Ryan Atwood and Taylor Townsend-Atwood again.
Author: beege
Fandom: The OC/Iron Man
Title: Dinner Date
Rating: G
Warnings: None
Disclaimer: None of the characters or situations used in this fic are in any way my intellectual property.
Dinner Date
“Pepper! Pepper! Come and take a look at this!”
Pepper Potts-Stark (because: I am damn well keeping my name, Tony!) doesn’t even bother with the long suffering sigh as she puts down the instructions she’s leaving for her temporary replacement and heaves herself from the seat to see what new toy Tony’s so enamored of this time. He’s supposed to be attending a board meeting right now before coming home so they can go over the house plans together - and she really should know better than to ever let him out unsupervised. Impending fatherhood hasn’t changed him that much.
In the next room Tony is poring over house plans with a stocky blonde man she recognizes as Ryan Atwood, the up and coming young architect she chose to design the house that Tony decreed that they simply had to have after she told him she was pregnant. Pepper likes Ryan a great deal. He is quiet and calm and organized and seemingly unfazed to be working for the notorious Tony Stark. Before she’d ever met him Pepper had been impressed with the work he’d done designing sustainable low cost housing for low income families, accommodation that was economic to build and maintain while still being pleasant to live in. In fact, she’d first heard of him while arranging a donation from the Stark foundation in support of a privately sponsored urban renewal project in Berkeley.
Ryan is better known for the stunning, vaguely art deco mansions he designs for California’s self appointed elite, work that according to him he does ‘on the side to pay the bills’. So he disarmingly told her the first time they spoke in person, a meeting that went so well they were on a first name basis by the end of the hour she’d scheduled. His portfolio of work for other filthy rich clients displays an impressive ability to make even the most outrageous self indulgences appear tasteful, an ability Pepper suspects will be tested to its very limits by Tony’s determination to insert himself into every phase of the design and construction of their ‘dream home’.
It also doesn’t hurt that he possesses an excellent butt, although Pepper’s sure that’s just the pregnancy hormones talking (Tony’s butt is very cute also, she tells herself loyally).
“Ah Pepper, excellent, come and see what you think of the plans for the house. We were discussing how Jarvis would be integrated into our new home, but this architecture stuff is interesting. It’s going to be a sort of California bungalow by way of Victorian mansion with a dash of Hearst castle.”
Because you can never have too many swimming pools, Pepper thinks wryly, knowing exactly what motivates Tony’s choice of architectural influences.
“Because you can never have too many swimming pools, and I think you’ll be impressed by the way . . .”
Over Tony’s shoulder Ryan winks at her, an expression she interprets (accurately) to mean that her instructions about politely humouring all of Tony’s ideas and then ignoring them completely are being followed.
After awhile Tony runs down and wanders off to ‘do something about anti-gravity’, as he puts it, which probably means a working prototype within 48 hours and Pepper Potts-Stark regards Ryan Atwood inquisitively, knowing that this is the first time he and Toy have actually met. He seems customarily unflustered (his default state of being, judging by everything she’s seen of him), but no-one survives their first Tony Stark ambush intact.
“You know,” Ryan says thoughtfully, gazing after Tony with a slightly abstracted air, “he kinda reminds me of my wife.”
Okay, that wasn’t the response Pepper had been expecting.
<> <> <>
Several hours later Tony has returned from his workshop without Pepper having to go down even once to find out what the horrible crashing/banging/groaning/squeaking/oh-my-god-is-he-ritually-sacrificing-goats-down-there? noises are, because the combination of marriage and impending fatherhood have achieved the impossible and actually caused Tony to grow up (a little bit). Her husband has a question for her as he comes into the kitchen, trying to clean his greasy hands on an equally greasy old t-shirt.
“So, did I permanently traumatize our boy wonder architect? Because I gotta tell you Pepper, he seemed fine when I left.”
Pepper grins. This is going to be good.
“He says you remind him of his wife.”
A pause.
“I what!?”
And that’s how Pepper ends up inviting Ryan Atwood and Taylor Townsend-Atwood to dinner with her and Tony.
<> <> <>
At first Pepper doesn’t see the similarities. Taylor Townsend-Atwood is not quite what she expected from a Sorbonne graduate with a degree in romance languages and a work history that includes translating for the UN. Extremely pretty yes, and very nicely presented, but obviously nervous in the presence of Tony Stark. And Pepper herself, for that matter.
Then she starts to talk, and Pepper understands what Ryan meant.
Taylor has the same all-consuming fascination with the world - all of it - that drives Tony to do the things he does.
Taylor and Tony (and doesn’t that just sound like the title of a bad fifties sitcom, Pepper thinks) are quickly chattering like magpies - an apt analogy given the way both of them seem to hoard knowledge of all forms just for the sake of having. Pepper might find it trying - and god knows how most husbands would handle this situation - except that she and Ryan spend the whole evening exchanging wry looks and knowing smiles as their respective significant others dominate the conversation like the hyperactive five-year-olds they essentially are.
Over the course of the evening the conversation veers from world economics and the history of the Civil War to more personal matters after Taylor reveals that Ryan has a comic book character based on him. Tony pouts that no-one ever based a comic book character on him and Pepper points out the vast range of Iron Man merchandise available at any Target and the rate at which it sells, even though Tony has been flying around in his red and gold midlife crisis suit for years now. Tony insists that it’s not the same and wants to know what Ryan Atwood has that he doesn’t (Pepper thinks it’s a shame that no-one will ever know what amazing self control it took to keep her from answering his question with “a six pack and a slightly cuter butt”). Instead she suggests gently that billionaires who have their own flying suits of powered armour aren’t really allowed to be jealous of anyone else and Tony, reluctantly, concedes the point. The shift towards the personal leads to Tony boasting triumphantly of extraordinary college pranks (Pepper knows from Rhodey that he actually isn’t exaggerating, which is slightly horrifying) and in a spirit of fairness she makes a few minor admissions of her own. Taylor regales them with the saga of her French ex-husband, which may have been something of a tactical blunder as it causes Tony to exclaim to Ryan: “Wait, you’re married to Peaches!? I love that book!” before simultaneous raised eyebrows from Pepper and Ryan cause him to back away from the subject with some alacrity.
Pepper congratulates herself on having trained her husband very well indeed.
Ryan states, in a tone which brooks no argument, that people who have comic book characters based on them don’t have to recount embarrassing anecdotes, although Taylor teases him about Karaoke and being mistaken for an available single father during college when he went places with his little sister, Sophie Rose (Tony completely fails to resist the temptation of making various inappropriate observations about hot single moms). Their dinner conversation is filling in some of the texture around the bare facts of Ryan’s life, although she notices that his juvenile record doesn’t come up (Pepper feels no guilt at all about accessing sealed records either; anyone who’s actually going to be in their home gets the most intensive background check imaginable). Mention of Ryan’s little sister gets them onto the subject of children and though Pepper’s never been a huge fan of stories about oh-so-adorable children (mostly because they’re usually told to her by smugly doting parents who seem determined to make her feel inferior) she has to admit that Sophie Rose Cohen sounds like a sweetheart. Judging by the glint in Tony’s eye when he looks at her he agrees, and Pepper suspects she’s about to be subject to a campaign by Tony for a large family indeed.
One Tony (or Antonia) Stark junior will be quite enough, Pepper thinks. Half a dozen of them would probably conquer the world while still in diapers and force congress to dress in Barney costumes. But it will be fun letting him try to convince her otherwise.
At the end of the evening, as they say their goodbyes, Pepper exchanges a glance with Tony and they both know that they’ll be seeing Ryan Atwood and Taylor Townsend-Atwood again.