Theme 8 - Brown
Title: Eyes
Author: ZionAngel
Theme: 8 - Brown
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 501 words (how am I suddenly able to make these short?)
Summary: He really does have incredible eyes.
As requested by LadyLane13, a recap of the story so far to keep folks up-to-date.
Days 1-3, the Firefighters Family Fund benefit and its aftermath. Days 4-10, “This isn’t the worst thing you’ve caught me doing” through “I am Iron Man,” filled with angst as Pepper tries to accept Tony’s new hobby. Days 11-13, press conference aftermath in which Pepper gives Tony the silent treatment and throws ice water in his lap. Day 14, Pepper promises never to quit because of Iron Man. Day 15, Tony apologizes for the press conference, and things return to normal. Days 16 and 17, ordinary days, with some pining. Days 18-23, off to New York to deal with the board of directors and take a mini-vacation, during which Tony gives Pepper a nice thank-you necklace. Day 24, Pepper returns home and Tony feels lonely. Day 25-26, Tony goes on a mission without telling Pepper, and she makes him promise never to do it again. Day 27-31 ordinary days and a few forced parties, involving a bit of humor and a bit of lust. Day 32, Tony tries (and fails) to seduce Pepper, and on day 33, he feels like an idiot for it.
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She’s not really paying attention to what Tony or the other men are saying. She just takes down notes whenever they say something that sounds important about the new arc reactor system, as if she’s on autopilot.
After a while, she realizes that she keeps staring at him, sitting across from her in one of the sleek, black leather chairs. It startles her when she realizes it, as she doesn’t want any of them - least of all Tony himself - to notice, too. But she isn’t surprised by it.
She’s still reeling from the other night, trying to wrap her head around it at the same time as she’s trying to forget it. She still can’t fathom why he did it, if it was a genuine attempt to seduce her or just Tony trying to re-learn old skills. She has even less of an idea as to what he was thinking as he danced with her, said the words, and drove her mad with the feel of his hands on her. And to add to all of her confusion, he hasn’t said a single word about it, either yesterday or today; he’s acting like they never even went to that party at all. She doesn’t know what she had expected him to say, exactly, when she came into work late yesterday morning. But nonetheless, she had expected him to make some comment.
She sighs, looking up at him again. Maybe he had planned to say something, but her discomfort and avoidance had made him change his mind. She really can’t guess.
Her mind begins to drift away again as she watches him, studies his honey-brown eyes as they give an unusual amount of focus to the head of R and D. He really does have incredible eyes, especially when they are filled with emotion - passion, humor, focus, it doesn’t matter. They’re so intense and expressive - so easy to lose herself in. Looking at them now, she can’t help but remember the way he had looked at her, eyes as beautiful as ever, as they danced. And she can’t help it anymore now than she could then - she did want it, wanted him and what he was offering her, whether it was a genuine offer or not.
She did - does - want him to take her home and touch her, kiss her, make love to her and let her touch him back, and drink her in with those eyes the entire time. She wants him to stare at her with that intense concentration he has when he focuses entirely on something he cares about -
And those eyes turn to her now, meeting her own, and she’s too enthralled to turn away immediately.
So she gives herself a moment - just a split second - to study those eyes a little bit more, not caring that he sees it, before her own eyes fall back to her notebook.
She wonders what love looks like in his eyes.