i remember falling [open]
Late at night, the prodigal son returns to the streets of Minneapolis, hands tucked into his pockets and head down as he wanders, occasionally kicking at stray cans and other small, safely kickable objects
( Read more... )
It's not unusual for Pepper to be out, on her own, late at night--it's not advisable, but it's not unusual. Tony calls or she forgets something during the day...whatever the reason tonight, Pepper's out wandering with purpose, direction, because that's how she does these things.
She's also on a cellphone, but that may just be for practical reasons rather than actually taking part in a conversation. It takes her a second to realize that she recognizes that possibly-moping boy walking in the other dir--
"Dick!"
Okay, there are better names to raise your voice with on the street at ridiculous o'clock. The boy needs a nickname badly.
Reply
"I am not, I'm a great liar," Pepper disagrees, sulkily, looking at a point over his shoulder and then back at him with a sigh. "There isn't anything 'going on', Dick, I promise. Something scary happened - months ago - and it's over now."
Except for the claustrophobia and the nightmares, but...you know how it is. She stands up on her tip toes to give him a hug, though. "But thank you. For worrying. You just don't have to do it, okay?"
Reply
"Yeah, well now I'm really worried. What happened? I swear, if there are any teeth left to kick in, I'll do it in two minutes flat. I could, too."
Reply
Pepper leans back just a little to give him a look for that. "There are no teeth." ...there'd been teeth, and for a second there she's on tiptoe like she's trying to curl her feet in just thinking about it. "I got trapped while there was a hailstorm. Tony and Wanda and a couple of boys rescued me. I think I must've hit my head? I was unconscious for a while."
After a second - like she's making a concession of some kind to him - she volunteers, "I don't really like, um, small places any more."
Reply
Then he catches himself thinking like that and he's instantly disgusted.
It's true. He believes her. Of course he does.
"I'm sorry, Pepper. So...you're going to smack me, but you're okay, besides that?" He lets her go, finally.
Reply
In her defense, there had been a hailstorm - bad enough to make the news, with all the students that had ended up in the emergency room or even briefly hospitalized.
(That just hadn't been the whole story.)
She obligingly smacks her hand light against his shoulder, stepping back to more reasonable personal space. "Yes. I'm settling in, I think. And it's always nice to see you."
There's a beat, and then Pepper reminds him (and maybe herself) that she's still a teenage girl, not a thirty-year-old, "So there."
Reply
Reply
"Well, she's a friend of mine-" just imagine that for a second, Dick, two very polite forces of nature teaming up, "-and she's dating Tony now."
This seems to please Pepper. Maybe Wanda will be good for him.
"We took this boy - Ben...Ben Conoy? - shopping over the summer. His clothes." This is her face: O_O
Reply
"And count on you to micromanage somebody's wardrobe. You know, maybe his clothes were just fine without the intervention of Girl's Eye for the Meek Guy." Clumsy zing! At least he's not pretending the joke wasn't gag-worthy.
Reply
Pepper laughs into her hand. "That was so bad. He didn't mind, anyway!" ...it's very difficult for a lot of people to mind Wanda and Pepper bearing down on them with well-mannered enthusiasm. "But yes. Tony and Wanda. They're sweet. And it's nice - you know, Wanda's already my friend. I don't think she feels...you know, competitive with me. That would be so awkward."
Reply
Beat.
"And you love my cheesy jokes. Everyone does."
Reply
"I tolerate your cheesy jokes," Pepper corrects, half-laughing, and then pauses, putting on an expression of sincere worry. "Oh, but now we're going to see each other even more often...what if I could only tolerate the cheese in small doses? You're in trouble now, Mr Grayson."
Reply
Dick is not the layboy his guardian is, but still, a little bit of playful flirting has slipped in, even though he doesn't mean anything by it. It's his species' natural reaction to a redheaded girl what.
Reply
Pepper's a pretty redheaded girl, even if she does spend all her time running around after Yes That Tony Stark, and one who has not, in fact, forgotten how to flirt between the Tony!s and the shimmies down a rope ladder at 3:15AM.
Of course, flirting with Pepper is almost always harmless (and nobody really needs to wonder why; just because she's not interested in Tony doesn't make her above-and-beyond devotion any less of a pain in the ass for her social life).
"You can hold my hand," she says, brightly. "I'll just close my eyes and think of...um...the White House."
Reply
However, Dick is not one to avoid a challenge, even if that left like it came from entirell outside the field altogether.
"Well, if you say so," he says, grinning, and goes for her hand.
Reply
Pepper favors Dick with a moderately pleased with herself smile that seems to say - oh yeah, I totally won that. She did not foresee him actually holding her hand, but okay then, she'll laugh a little and link her fingers. "If only everybody would be so obedient when I say something!"
Reply
Leave a comment