part fourteen!
After a short break to let my brain recharge a little. This is... possibly the penultimate bit, but maybe not, given what happened last time I tried to give it a timeline. XD
By Thursday, the donations from the benefit are tallied and ready to be handed over. Pepper makes a point of taking the check down herself, rather than leaving it to someone else; she thinks in a case like this, the personal delivery is just as important as having the function itself.
That and she wants to see the look on Penny's face, when she sees how well the benefit did.
She parks down the street from the shelter, and walks down; fortunately, Penny's in the lobby, which saves a little time.
"Oh! Hi, Pepper. What brings you down here?"
Pepper smiles. "The donations are officially yours. Thought you guys might like to have it."
"That would be more help than you guys keeping it, definitely. How'd we do?"
Rather than answering, Pepper just hands over the check. Penny's eyes widen, when she gets her first look at it.
"Are you sure there are supposed to be that many zeroes on this?"
"There are. I think a couple of the regular contributors chipped in a little more than usual, and there were dozens of smaller donations. It all adds up, after a while."
"I guess so." Penny smiles. "Thank you. This is... really, really good. And probably more persuasive than a petition would be."
"Money is strange like that. Did everyone here have fun?"
"I've heard nothing but good stories. What about you and Tony?"
Pepper blushes, much to her chagrin. "It's... complicated."
"Whether you enjoyed yourselves on Saturday can't be that complicated."
"Well, no. That part isn't. It was... nice. I'm just not sure what to do with him asking me, of all people, and not insisting on anything else from the night."
Penny raises an eyebrow. "You're not going to protest that much if a guy decides not to put the moves on you, are you?"
"Not at all. It's a bit unusual for Tony, is all."
"I'll give you that one. Maybe he thinks you're worth the extra effort."
Pepper shrugs. "His methodology's improved since the first time he asked, I'll give him that. Then again, I think he knows if he stuck with his original approach, it would get him less than nowhere."
"Let me guess, he tried just hitting on you. And learned very quickly that that wouldn't work, or you wouldn't have agreed to work for him." Penny disappears from view behind a counter, presumably to put the check in a safe for the time being. "What do you think of him now?"
"...It's complicated." Pepper knows she's already said that, but there's nothing else that suits, really. "I know him better than anyone, in my life or his. That doesn't really make for much to recommend him. But... he's changed some, since Afghanistan." She means that in more ways than the part where he built a flying suit of armor and started hunting down terrorists who were stashing his weapons, but this isn't really the place to mention it.
Fortunately, Penny seems to pick up on the subtlety of that point. "The tabloids have certainly had a lot less to say about him since then. It's more the mainstream press that's had the field days."
"No kidding. Colonel Rhodes had to sit him down and explain exactly why the best arms manufacturer in the country suddenly refusing to supply the military would be a very bad idea. I'm just glad he tackled that one - I needed the break."
"I had wondered what happened with that one." Penny glances at a clock, and adds, "I should let you get back to your other stuff. And probably head to the bank. I just hope they heard we had a benefit at all, or they're never going to believe this number."
Pepper laughs. "If they give you any trouble, call me. I should be able to set them straight."
By Thursday, the donations from the benefit are tallied and ready to be handed over. Pepper makes a point of taking the check down herself, rather than leaving it to someone else; she thinks in a case like this, the personal delivery is just as important as having the function itself.
That and she wants to see the look on Penny's face, when she sees how well the benefit did.
She parks down the street from the shelter, and walks down; fortunately, Penny's in the lobby, which saves a little time.
"Oh! Hi, Pepper. What brings you down here?"
Pepper smiles. "The donations are officially yours. Thought you guys might like to have it."
"That would be more help than you guys keeping it, definitely. How'd we do?"
Rather than answering, Pepper just hands over the check. Penny's eyes widen, when she gets her first look at it.
"Are you sure there are supposed to be that many zeroes on this?"
"There are. I think a couple of the regular contributors chipped in a little more than usual, and there were dozens of smaller donations. It all adds up, after a while."
"I guess so." Penny smiles. "Thank you. This is... really, really good. And probably more persuasive than a petition would be."
"Money is strange like that. Did everyone here have fun?"
"I've heard nothing but good stories. What about you and Tony?"
Pepper blushes, much to her chagrin. "It's... complicated."
"Whether you enjoyed yourselves on Saturday can't be that complicated."
"Well, no. That part isn't. It was... nice. I'm just not sure what to do with him asking me, of all people, and not insisting on anything else from the night."
Penny raises an eyebrow. "You're not going to protest that much if a guy decides not to put the moves on you, are you?"
"Not at all. It's a bit unusual for Tony, is all."
"I'll give you that one. Maybe he thinks you're worth the extra effort."
Pepper shrugs. "His methodology's improved since the first time he asked, I'll give him that. Then again, I think he knows if he stuck with his original approach, it would get him less than nowhere."
"Let me guess, he tried just hitting on you. And learned very quickly that that wouldn't work, or you wouldn't have agreed to work for him." Penny disappears from view behind a counter, presumably to put the check in a safe for the time being. "What do you think of him now?"
"...It's complicated." Pepper knows she's already said that, but there's nothing else that suits, really. "I know him better than anyone, in my life or his. That doesn't really make for much to recommend him. But... he's changed some, since Afghanistan." She means that in more ways than the part where he built a flying suit of armor and started hunting down terrorists who were stashing his weapons, but this isn't really the place to mention it.
Fortunately, Penny seems to pick up on the subtlety of that point. "The tabloids have certainly had a lot less to say about him since then. It's more the mainstream press that's had the field days."
"No kidding. Colonel Rhodes had to sit him down and explain exactly why the best arms manufacturer in the country suddenly refusing to supply the military would be a very bad idea. I'm just glad he tackled that one - I needed the break."
"I had wondered what happened with that one." Penny glances at a clock, and adds, "I should let you get back to your other stuff. And probably head to the bank. I just hope they heard we had a benefit at all, or they're never going to believe this number."
Pepper laughs. "If they give you any trouble, call me. I should be able to set them straight."