part nine!
Penny ends up counting up the signatures on the petitions, mostly because no one else wants to bother. It's tedious, but it's got to be done if they want to know whether they've got a prayer of getting that vacant building - really, they probably shouldn't have waited this long to do it. The building's still there, at least.
But the signature count she's got when she's halfway through the petitions isn't very promising. She takes what's left to the laundromat on Wednesday, but even laundry can't soften the blow of the numbers not adding up, and before she knows it she's thinking out loud about how this does not look good at all.
"Something wrong?" someone asks, from a couple chairs down. Penny looks over, an explanation half-formed in her head, and almost drops the petitions when she sees who it is.
"Oh! I'm sorry. I... hadn't realised anyone else was here." Or that the laundromat was attracting celebrities - which is silly, since even famous people need to wash their clothes, and Pepper Potts isn't famous so much as the acknowledged power behind the throne.
Or office chair, whichever.
Pepper smiles. "It's all right. You weren't bothering me, I just couldn't help overhearing, and... well, it didn't sound good."
"It really isn't. I volunteer with one of the homeless shelters in the area, and we're trying to convince the city to give us a vacant building that'd be perfect for expanding a little, instead of tearing it down. But I don't think the petitions got enough signatures to pull it off."
"Oh, dear. Is there anything I could do to help?"
Penny stares; she certainly hadn't been expecting to hear that. "...I couldn't ask - I mean, I'm sure you have more than enough to keep you busy. We'd come up with something eventually."
"Mr. Stark's always saying I should do something for myself every now and then. This may not be exactly what he has in mind, but..." Pepper shrugs. "It's certainly for a good cause. Besides, I have some experience with this sort of thing, given how often I end up organising the Stark Foundation benefits."
"True. And, well, none of us are really professionals - we're just trying to do things to help people, as best we can."
They start talking about things the shelter might be able to do alongside the petitions; half an hour later, they've moved on to 'instead of the petitions' and have a benefit half planned out. They're both thinking that if the shelter can't convince the city to just donate the building, anything with Tony Stark's name attached to it could bring in more than enough money to buy the building, give the inside a full overhaul, and keep the place well-stocked for months. Penny's so caught up in the idea that she almost misses Billy's entrance entirely; she catches motion out of the corner of her eye, but doesn't process it until it stops suddenly.
She and Pepper both look up at about the same time, but Pepper's the first to comment. "Hi, Billy."
"...Hi. What are you doing here?"
"Washing machine at my apartment broke. Kind of frustrating, but what can you do?" One of the dryers buzzes; Pepper eyes the bank of dryers for a moment. "I think that might have been mine. Penny, I'll keep you posted - I think we've got a solid plan here. It was nice meeting you."
"You too." Penny smiles. "And thank you for your help."
"Of course." Pepper gets up and heads for the dryers; Billy finishes loading a washer, then takes her vacated seat.
"So what were you two planning? Should I ask?"
"Just stuff for the shelter. It... looks like you were probably right, about the signatures thing, but she thinks if she pitches it right, she can talk her boss into having a benefit that'll help us buy the building and fix it up."
"Hmm, Tony Stark throw a party... it'll never happen." Billy smiles. "Seriously, though, good for you. I think he'll go for it - good PR for supporting a good cause."
"I hope so." She hesitates for a moment, then decides she'd better plow ahead anyway, just so they're both clear on where they stand. "So. About your blog."
"...I should have known I wouldn't get out of talking about that."
"Yeah. I... singing telegram posse? Seriously?"
Billy shrugs. "Don't look at me. They're not my henchmen."
"I know, but - that was completely ridiculous. Seriously, why did you even consider listening to those guys?"
"I... the world is a mess. I think I can fix some of that, if I have a chance. And, well. First time I had a good look around, I decided the last thing I wanted to be was Captain Hammer."
Penny considers that for a moment. "I can't say I blame you there, or for wanting to fix the world. But I really don't think Bad Horse is aiming to improve things. It's not what you'd call a typical evil motive."
"Yeah, I've - I'm letting that drop, I think. If anything, Tony's a good example of now not to be a hero or a villain and still get something done that the world will notice."
"He would be - wait, so he is...?"
"Of course he is," Billy says, like he's stating the obvious. "This is the guy who did showy missile demonstrations in the middle of the desert. He's not gonna say he's got this great new toy and then turn around and say that was a joke."
"I guess you have a point there. He is kind of... flashy. Do you know what you're going to do with the blog?"
"I haven't entirely decided. I don't want to close it - if nothing else, Dr. Horrible's good for stress relief - but... I don't know how often I'll have stuff to put on it. As interesting as I've had in the past, anyway."
"Well." Penny's washer goes off; she gets up and starts loading her clothes into her basket. "You could always make up a plot as you go along. I found it through people trying to figure out if you were being serious or not, so you could probably keep up the feel of it."
"Huh. Probably."
They talk about other stuff, after Penny loads her things into the dryer - she's satisfied with his answers, so she's willing to let him change the subject. The big surprise, though, comes when she's got her stuff out of the dryer and is about to go.
"Um." Billy stops, looking even more nervous than he had when she brought up the blog. "I - do you... would you like to go out for dinner, sometime?"
It's a surprise, that he's asking, but Penny thinks it's a good kind of surprise. "Sure. I'd love to."
Billy grins. "Great! Um. How's Friday?"
"Fridays aren't the best - I usually help with dinner at the shelter. How about after laundry on Saturday?"
"Sounds good. I'll... see you then."
Penny's still smiling, when she gets home.