(Untitled)

[wildlyconflictd]

Things had been going so well.

Okay, maybe "well" was a bit of an exaggeration, but things were a decent approximation of well. Nothing was blowing up and no one was in mortal peril, which was the best Pepper could hope for on any given day. It was all about perspective, really.

Things had been going without incidentThere were several reasons

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[notawastedlife]

That did not look encouraging.

"Buck up, Potts," he said, coming down the boardwalk, on his way to the scrapyard. "You look like someone ran over your puppy."

[wildlyconflictd]

Without speaking, Pepper lifted the broken shoe over head with one hand. She wasn't even completely sure where the heel had gone; beneath the boardwalk or off somewhere in the bushes, most likely.

No, no one had run over her puppy, but in theory this was worse. A puppy would be more easily replaced.

[notawastedlife]

"Someone ran over your puppy," Tony confirmed, wincing and looking around, rubbing the back of his neck with one hand. "Those weren't... expensive, were they?"

Of course they were. That normally wouldn't be an issue, but here 'expensive' meant 'hard to replace.'

[wildlyconflictd]

Pepper hummed briefly in the affirmative and dropped the shoe back into her lap. "It's my fault," she admitted, despite her earlier inclination to destroy the pathway. "My mind was somewhere else, and I forgot I shouldn't be wearing them out here."

[notawastedlife]

"Maybe if we had some glue," he murmured, half to himself, "or... a shoemaker..."

Then he looked at Pepper again. "Somewhere else? You about to spring some important project on me?"

[wildlyconflictd]

The idea of gluing a Manolo was so heinous to Pepper that it took a moment for her to realize that Tony had actually followed it up with a question.

"What? I- No, why?" she asked, confused and looking it.

[notawastedlife]

"Something had you deep in thought, apparently," Tony said, placing his hands in front of him, several feet apart, palms towards each other. "I'm trying to narrow the field." He brought his hands inwards, as if squeezing the space.

[wildlyconflictd]

"You suddenly care about my thoughts on things now, do you?" Pepper asked, more baffled than harsh. "Apparently miracles do happen." Okay, perhaps that was a bit harsh, but not entirely uncalled for.

[notawastedlife]

"I care," Tony said, defensively. "...and I don't have anything to do right- no, I care."

He did. In his own way. That didn't always involve listening to said thoughts.

[wildlyconflictd]

To Pepper's credit, she didn't even consider throwing the shoe at him. "I'm not planning on springing a new project on you, no," she answered instead, and pushed herself to her bare feet. "At least, not right now. I was just thinking about life, I'm allowed to do that."

[notawastedlife]

"Ms. Potts, are you getting philosophical on me?" Tony said, leaning first to one side and then to the other, as if attempting to examine her from all sides.

[wildlyconflictd]

"My life, Tony, not life, the universe and everything," Pepper corrected with a wry smirk. She looked to the shoes in her hands, considered just throwing them into the bushes, and then decided she didn't have the heart to. "I should probably go find some sneakers, I can't walk home in bare feet."

[notawastedlife]

"Introspective, then," Tony said, eyeing her bare feet. "You don't want me to carry you? You could wait here, I could get the suit, it'd be very Superman and Lois Lane."

Well, except Superman wouldn't run out of power halfway through the trip and fall out of the sky.

[wildlyconflictd]

"I wasn't aware you could secure everything on the suit without me," Pepper quipped in return, already sauntering past. "Although I do appreciate the offer, of course. Very selfless of you."

[notawastedlife]

He didn't deign to comment on that, because he couldn't. Yet. He was working on it.

"Well, I am a superhero," Tony pointed out, sticking his hands in his pockets.

[wildlyconflictd]

"This is true. You even save me on occasion." Not nearly as many times as she'd saved him, but at least it was progress. "I think I can probably manage from here to the Compound without being flown, though, thank you."