incitethemuse Edmund Burke quote
SPOILERS FOR IRON MAN 2
OOC: Open to anyone in Tony's hotel suite in Monaco. Each thread will be considered a different conversation.
No passion so effectually robs the mind of all its powers of acting and reasoning as fear. -Edmund Burke
Pepper has one hundred other things that she could be doing with the time it takes to get to Monaco and be in Monaco. Never mind that she does want to see the actual race, but still, there are other things that she could be doing. But it's still almost worth it to see Tony actually sleep the entire way and when they'd arrived he seemed more like his normal self than she'd seen in a while. As long as she'd worked for Tony, Pepper has never seen him so distant, so completely internal. It had been worrying her for weeks but there was nothing she could do until Tony was ready to talk about it. So until that happened - Monaco.
Of course arriving for the race, Pepper is confronted again with the fact that no matter how changed Tony may seem he is still and always Tony Stark. Natalie Rushman meets them as they walk through the door. Pepper should know better and she does. The fact that Tony hired Natalie isn't a surprise. It's not even a mild hiccup. What's annoying, what is always annoying is that he couldn't have been bothered to take literally five seconds and say "I've hired someone to fill your job. So you don't have to think about it anymore.". But Tony often operated under the guise of the naughty schoolboy regardless of the fact that the choice of assistants was his. A fact Pepper knew better than anyone. It's the passive aggressive childishness of it that is what irritates her so much.
So much that when Justin Hammer and Christine Everhart join them at the bar, Pepper takes an unnecessary shot at Christine. As soon as it's out of her mouth Tony picks up on it and continues. It makes her annoyed with both of them and she excuses herself. She'll make her apology after she's had something to drink and a few moments to collect her composure before stepping back into the ring.
It seems to be the unwritten law, Pepper turns her back and the world goes to hell. One minute she's having a quiet drink alone at the table and the next Tony's face is on the screen and he is dressed in a racing uniform.
"Natalie? Natalie! Did you know about this?" She couldn't have known about this. Of course she didn't. Tony never announces his plans to pull a stunt like this. If Natalie Rushman needed an introduction to life with Tony Stark she was about to get on in spades. "Where is Happy? Get him. I need Happy."
He's actually going to drive in the race. Out there on the track exposed to anyone. It's not the same as Tony occasionally going for a drive on his own in New York or out in Malibu. It's different now. Especially since Tony's little "I haven't come across anyone who's man enough to go toe to toe with me on my best day" speech at the opening of the Expo. He cannot be out there unprotected. She knows this even before the man in the orange jumpsuit steps out onto the track. The rest of the crowd might be confused as to what is going on but there is no question in Pepper's mind why he's there or that something terrible is about to happen.
Pepper is infinitely grateful when Happy blows through the barricades and onto the track. Happy runs into the whip wielding psycho with the full force of the Rolls, sending Pepper flying back in her seat. She's thinking that Happy must have killed him and there are still drivers trapped in wrecks on the tracks and no one has made a move to help them when suddenly she and Tony are yelling at each other. When he gets done yelling about better security and deigns to get his butt in the car half the car door is sliced off and she's screaming again as Happy rams into him again and again.
She tries to hand off the case with the portable suit but she's being tossed around in the backseat and the case is heavier than it looks. One of the whips slices through the roof of the Rolls and Pepper can feel the hot sparks raining down over her in an electric shower. He just keeps slicing away until the door on her other side is whacked away and she can finally throw Tony the case.
The track smells like fire, smoke, burnt rubber, gasoline and burning flesh. It isn't until the police have the man in custody that the ambulances come. Getting from the track to the hotel is an absolute blur. Pepper isn't even sure how she got out of the Rolls. But once they're there she's FINE. She's not surprised when Tony leaves. She's not shocked that he didn't bother to wait for Happy. In fact, she doesn't expect anything more or less. She's simply there.
When the hotel's on call doctor arrives it surprises her, but she gladly takes the Alprazolam. At least gladly until the water she drinks to take the pill with hits her stomach and instantly sends her running for the bathroom where she spends time doubled over and retching until the doctor gives her a shot. She takes a shower while she waits for the shot to kick in. It takes a long time before she can get the smell of gasoline out of her hair and off her skin. By the time she emerges from her side of the suite she's completely numb; mentally, emotionally, physically.
...and numb is the best she's felt all day.
OOC: Open to anyone in Tony's hotel suite in Monaco. Each thread will be considered a different conversation.
No passion so effectually robs the mind of all its powers of acting and reasoning as fear. -Edmund Burke
Pepper has one hundred other things that she could be doing with the time it takes to get to Monaco and be in Monaco. Never mind that she does want to see the actual race, but still, there are other things that she could be doing. But it's still almost worth it to see Tony actually sleep the entire way and when they'd arrived he seemed more like his normal self than she'd seen in a while. As long as she'd worked for Tony, Pepper has never seen him so distant, so completely internal. It had been worrying her for weeks but there was nothing she could do until Tony was ready to talk about it. So until that happened - Monaco.
Of course arriving for the race, Pepper is confronted again with the fact that no matter how changed Tony may seem he is still and always Tony Stark. Natalie Rushman meets them as they walk through the door. Pepper should know better and she does. The fact that Tony hired Natalie isn't a surprise. It's not even a mild hiccup. What's annoying, what is always annoying is that he couldn't have been bothered to take literally five seconds and say "I've hired someone to fill your job. So you don't have to think about it anymore.". But Tony often operated under the guise of the naughty schoolboy regardless of the fact that the choice of assistants was his. A fact Pepper knew better than anyone. It's the passive aggressive childishness of it that is what irritates her so much.
So much that when Justin Hammer and Christine Everhart join them at the bar, Pepper takes an unnecessary shot at Christine. As soon as it's out of her mouth Tony picks up on it and continues. It makes her annoyed with both of them and she excuses herself. She'll make her apology after she's had something to drink and a few moments to collect her composure before stepping back into the ring.
It seems to be the unwritten law, Pepper turns her back and the world goes to hell. One minute she's having a quiet drink alone at the table and the next Tony's face is on the screen and he is dressed in a racing uniform.
"Natalie? Natalie! Did you know about this?" She couldn't have known about this. Of course she didn't. Tony never announces his plans to pull a stunt like this. If Natalie Rushman needed an introduction to life with Tony Stark she was about to get on in spades. "Where is Happy? Get him. I need Happy."
He's actually going to drive in the race. Out there on the track exposed to anyone. It's not the same as Tony occasionally going for a drive on his own in New York or out in Malibu. It's different now. Especially since Tony's little "I haven't come across anyone who's man enough to go toe to toe with me on my best day" speech at the opening of the Expo. He cannot be out there unprotected. She knows this even before the man in the orange jumpsuit steps out onto the track. The rest of the crowd might be confused as to what is going on but there is no question in Pepper's mind why he's there or that something terrible is about to happen.
Pepper is infinitely grateful when Happy blows through the barricades and onto the track. Happy runs into the whip wielding psycho with the full force of the Rolls, sending Pepper flying back in her seat. She's thinking that Happy must have killed him and there are still drivers trapped in wrecks on the tracks and no one has made a move to help them when suddenly she and Tony are yelling at each other. When he gets done yelling about better security and deigns to get his butt in the car half the car door is sliced off and she's screaming again as Happy rams into him again and again.
She tries to hand off the case with the portable suit but she's being tossed around in the backseat and the case is heavier than it looks. One of the whips slices through the roof of the Rolls and Pepper can feel the hot sparks raining down over her in an electric shower. He just keeps slicing away until the door on her other side is whacked away and she can finally throw Tony the case.
The track smells like fire, smoke, burnt rubber, gasoline and burning flesh. It isn't until the police have the man in custody that the ambulances come. Getting from the track to the hotel is an absolute blur. Pepper isn't even sure how she got out of the Rolls. But once they're there she's FINE. She's not surprised when Tony leaves. She's not shocked that he didn't bother to wait for Happy. In fact, she doesn't expect anything more or less. She's simply there.
When the hotel's on call doctor arrives it surprises her, but she gladly takes the Alprazolam. At least gladly until the water she drinks to take the pill with hits her stomach and instantly sends her running for the bathroom where she spends time doubled over and retching until the doctor gives her a shot. She takes a shower while she waits for the shot to kick in. It takes a long time before she can get the smell of gasoline out of her hair and off her skin. By the time she emerges from her side of the suite she's completely numb; mentally, emotionally, physically.
...and numb is the best she's felt all day.