April Showers Drabblethon Prompt 13
Title: Cipriani
Author: pukajen
Prompt: Prompt 13
Fandom: Iron Man
Character(s)/Pairing(s): Tony/Pepper
Genre: Angst
Rating & Warnings: G
Word Count: 1,000
Summary: As he sits in the dark hotel in Cipriani, Tony tries to figure out the best strategy for getting Pepper to come to him.
Tony doesn’t spend too much time reflecting on what his life was like before his abduction; there was laughter and excitement, drunken revelry and beautiful women, fast cars and indefinite leisure time, now there’s keeping Stark Industries going on its new track, fighting the good fights, and trying to figure out how to get Pepper to trust him to correct a mistake of neglect made one night on top of years of casual disregard.
It hurts that she pulls away from his touch now. Oh, it’s nothing big, just a subtle shying away when he puts his hand on the small of her back when they walk or how she doesn’t stand as close to him as she used to. The one time he tried to see if she was open to something more, Pepper deftly turned the question around on him.
Now, he debates daily with himself if what he wants, needs, is worth the risk of pushing her. If finding out if what he thinks is between them can be turned into something real, something more. The thought of pushing for, of getting something that resembles a fulltime, committed relationship scares the shit out of him.
Though being without her scares him more.
He knows she thinks he’s given up the women, the partying, because of the reactor and it’s easier to let her to go on believing that for now. Eventually, Tony wants to be able to let her know that while he has no good memories of that hellhole in Afghanistan, he did have considerable time to think and the conclusions he reached were hard-won, but true.
One was, he couldn’t be a party to making weapons any more. While he always knew that his products were designed, manufactured, and sold for the express purpose of killing people, he somewhat naively believed that they would always be in the hands of the ‘good guys’. Before Obadiah’s outrageous betrayal, Tony never once considered that there was the possibility of his weapons being sold with the express purpose to kill American soldiers.
Now, many departments were changing their focus and it was amazing how many components of weapons could be turned to other uses; better jet propulsion for rockets, faster and more accurate GPS and tracking systems, better robotics for artificial limbs were just a few.
Another decision was that he would do whatever it took to round up and destroy all of the Stark weaponry that had been sold on the black market. The list was getting shorter every day, and Tony wasn’t sure exactly what he would do when there were no more items left, Iron Man was part of him now.
The final and most complicated was what he felt for Pepper. And what he was positive she felt for him. Was almost positive.
Unfortunately, he wasn’t sure how to go about romancing her. None of his typical methods would work; mainly because he always got Pepper to coordinate those things. Nor was she impressed by his wealth or reputed sexual prowess.
As he sits in the dark hotel in Cipriani, Tony tries to figure out the best strategy for getting Pepper to come to him. If he pursues her openly, he knows she’ll either retreat behind a granite-hard mask of professionalism or dismiss him out of turn. There’s also the niggling fear that she’ll leave, that she doesn’t feel the same, and any move on his part to change the nature of their relationship would be the end of them.
There are times when he thinks that losing her will cause him more pain than he can possibly bear, when he knows that if she were to leave him, his existence would be worth less than nothing. But the flipside is also true; the life they could build together, the fun, the laughter, the adventures, the love, all part of a fantasy he long thought was for other people.
Nothing lasts forever, but while there’s a chance, he wants to be able to share it with Pepper. He could die on his next mission or live into his nineties. Either way, the life he wants, whatever its span, is one with Pepper at his side as more than his personal assistant.
Shifting, Tony hears the faint sound of a door opening into the main room.
“Tony?” Pepper calls softly, as if unsure he’s really there.
“Over here.” Tony keeps his voice equally low, hoping to draw her to him without having her turning on the lights.
“Why are you standing in the dark?”
“I like watching the lights.” He holds his breath as Pepper makes her way to him. Turning his head, Tony surreptitiously takes in her man-style silk pajamas. The four large buttons have his fingers itching to undo them and her soft, clean scent makes him want to bury his face in her neck.
“How long have you been out here?” She turns to him as she speaks, her face hidden in shadows and mysteries that have nothing to do with the lack of illumination.
“A while.” Tony takes a swallow of water from the heavy Waterford tumbler, trying to pretend that all he wants is her company. That pulling her down to the floor to make love on the carpet while the muted sounds of water lapping from outside seep into the room. “It’s peaceful.”
“Do you want me to go?”
“No, stay.” He takes another sip of water. “If you want.”
And so they stand in silence, perhaps the longest, most peaceful silence they’ve ever shared and watch the night. For all that they aren’t touching, Tony is hyperaware of her, and if the flush on her cheeks and slight elevation in her breathing is any indication, she is just as affected by his nearness in the dim light cast by Venice.
There are no guarantees in life, a lesson he learned at an early age, but no one could have the happiness of yesterday without the pain of today.
Author: pukajen
Prompt: Prompt 13
Fandom: Iron Man
Character(s)/Pairing(s): Tony/Pepper
Genre: Angst
Rating & Warnings: G
Word Count: 1,000
Summary: As he sits in the dark hotel in Cipriani, Tony tries to figure out the best strategy for getting Pepper to come to him.
Tony doesn’t spend too much time reflecting on what his life was like before his abduction; there was laughter and excitement, drunken revelry and beautiful women, fast cars and indefinite leisure time, now there’s keeping Stark Industries going on its new track, fighting the good fights, and trying to figure out how to get Pepper to trust him to correct a mistake of neglect made one night on top of years of casual disregard.
It hurts that she pulls away from his touch now. Oh, it’s nothing big, just a subtle shying away when he puts his hand on the small of her back when they walk or how she doesn’t stand as close to him as she used to. The one time he tried to see if she was open to something more, Pepper deftly turned the question around on him.
Now, he debates daily with himself if what he wants, needs, is worth the risk of pushing her. If finding out if what he thinks is between them can be turned into something real, something more. The thought of pushing for, of getting something that resembles a fulltime, committed relationship scares the shit out of him.
Though being without her scares him more.
He knows she thinks he’s given up the women, the partying, because of the reactor and it’s easier to let her to go on believing that for now. Eventually, Tony wants to be able to let her know that while he has no good memories of that hellhole in Afghanistan, he did have considerable time to think and the conclusions he reached were hard-won, but true.
One was, he couldn’t be a party to making weapons any more. While he always knew that his products were designed, manufactured, and sold for the express purpose of killing people, he somewhat naively believed that they would always be in the hands of the ‘good guys’. Before Obadiah’s outrageous betrayal, Tony never once considered that there was the possibility of his weapons being sold with the express purpose to kill American soldiers.
Now, many departments were changing their focus and it was amazing how many components of weapons could be turned to other uses; better jet propulsion for rockets, faster and more accurate GPS and tracking systems, better robotics for artificial limbs were just a few.
Another decision was that he would do whatever it took to round up and destroy all of the Stark weaponry that had been sold on the black market. The list was getting shorter every day, and Tony wasn’t sure exactly what he would do when there were no more items left, Iron Man was part of him now.
The final and most complicated was what he felt for Pepper. And what he was positive she felt for him. Was almost positive.
Unfortunately, he wasn’t sure how to go about romancing her. None of his typical methods would work; mainly because he always got Pepper to coordinate those things. Nor was she impressed by his wealth or reputed sexual prowess.
As he sits in the dark hotel in Cipriani, Tony tries to figure out the best strategy for getting Pepper to come to him. If he pursues her openly, he knows she’ll either retreat behind a granite-hard mask of professionalism or dismiss him out of turn. There’s also the niggling fear that she’ll leave, that she doesn’t feel the same, and any move on his part to change the nature of their relationship would be the end of them.
There are times when he thinks that losing her will cause him more pain than he can possibly bear, when he knows that if she were to leave him, his existence would be worth less than nothing. But the flipside is also true; the life they could build together, the fun, the laughter, the adventures, the love, all part of a fantasy he long thought was for other people.
Nothing lasts forever, but while there’s a chance, he wants to be able to share it with Pepper. He could die on his next mission or live into his nineties. Either way, the life he wants, whatever its span, is one with Pepper at his side as more than his personal assistant.
Shifting, Tony hears the faint sound of a door opening into the main room.
“Tony?” Pepper calls softly, as if unsure he’s really there.
“Over here.” Tony keeps his voice equally low, hoping to draw her to him without having her turning on the lights.
“Why are you standing in the dark?”
“I like watching the lights.” He holds his breath as Pepper makes her way to him. Turning his head, Tony surreptitiously takes in her man-style silk pajamas. The four large buttons have his fingers itching to undo them and her soft, clean scent makes him want to bury his face in her neck.
“How long have you been out here?” She turns to him as she speaks, her face hidden in shadows and mysteries that have nothing to do with the lack of illumination.
“A while.” Tony takes a swallow of water from the heavy Waterford tumbler, trying to pretend that all he wants is her company. That pulling her down to the floor to make love on the carpet while the muted sounds of water lapping from outside seep into the room. “It’s peaceful.”
“Do you want me to go?”
“No, stay.” He takes another sip of water. “If you want.”
And so they stand in silence, perhaps the longest, most peaceful silence they’ve ever shared and watch the night. For all that they aren’t touching, Tony is hyperaware of her, and if the flush on her cheeks and slight elevation in her breathing is any indication, she is just as affected by his nearness in the dim light cast by Venice.
There are no guarantees in life, a lesson he learned at an early age, but no one could have the happiness of yesterday without the pain of today.