Tony Stark's Garage - Malibu, California. October 2008

[has_a_heart]

Tony has been staring at a busted light on the ceiling of the garage for the past half hour. Ever so often, he writes something down on a piece of paper, but each time, he goes back to examining the broken light.

There's something on his mind.

Comments

[runsthehouse]

"The easiest solution to that problem, sir, would be to replace the bulb."
...Well, it's as good a place as any to start.

[has_a_heart]

"Thank you, Jarvis. Pithy as always." Tony sighs. "I'm not really examining the light. It's just... there."

[runsthehouse]

"In that case, what seems to be the problem?"
There usually is one, when Tony gets this... thinky.

[has_a_heart]

"It's Pepper." Tony sighs, spinning in his chair. "She's been... over-stressed lately. And it's slightly worrying."

[runsthehouse]

"Indeed, sir."
Tony hardly has to tell Jarvis this; he's probably seen more of it, all things considered.

[has_a_heart]

"You're no help." Tony sighs. "She's been taking on too damned much stuff, especially with the open executive position. Hell, I'd give -her- the postion, but I can't lose her doing what she's doing now." He might be slightly tipsy. "I just wish there was something I could do to help her."

[runsthehouse]

"Is there some way in which you might spread out her workload, sir?"
The tricky part there is who to trust with it. Or maybe it's not so tricky...

[has_a_heart]

"Actually... hmmmm." Tony sits up with a start, pulling up a new file. "You might be able to help with this one, Jarvis."

[runsthehouse]

"What do you have in mind, sir?"
Jarvis will at least hear out the idea, if it stands a chance of removing some of Pepper's stress.

[has_a_heart]

"Well, if I connected you to the main Stark serverspace and gave you a few more administrative and analytical functions, you could possibly take over some of Pepper's paperwork." He pauses, a bit awkward for once. "That is, if you wouldn't mind." Yes, Tony Stark is asking permission.

[runsthehouse]

"Well, I certainly ought to have the capacity to handle such functions."
Translation: Permission granted.

[has_a_heart]

"Well, if you don't have the capacity, I can try and find a way for you to have the capacity." Tony twirls his chair to the main terminal. "Alright, show me your code, Jarvis. Let's get this thing moving."

[runsthehouse]

"Indeed, sir."
And so it goes. They've at least got enough of a start, by the end of the night, to transfer some of the paperwork.

[has_a_heart]

Tony works far into the night creating new phones for both himself and Pepper, with a connection to Jarvis' main programming.

By about three in the morning, he's got something that'll at least work. It's not -pretty-, but hey. It's a Mark One.

By ten in the morning, Pepper's is installed in her office.

[yes_mr_stark]

Pepper doesn't get into her office until about ten-thirty. A dry-cleaning run, a meeting with Shield, and a necessary stop at Starbucks made her slightly late.

When she gets in, she eyeballs the phone, but doesn't think much of it, sitting down and pulling up her paperwork. Staring, she blinks at her screen, talking to no one in particular. "Alright, I never thought I'd say this, but who the hell stole my paperwork?"

[runsthehouse]

"No one stole it. as such."
She can probably hear Jarvis smirking.