tony stark you know who i am. est. 2013, revamped 2017 brought to life by Manon mun/muse: 21+ please read about & rules tracking #ironformed prev. ironfallen. 4yrs exp. as tony |
❛ the same could be said about you~ ❜ she muses, all the while tightening their embrace with a gentle squeeze, closing any ounce of a gap between both bodies. pepper could nuzzle herself into him and be content for a lifetime.
tony can’t help but snort at that.
❛ so what you’re saying is that i’m your own personal heater?
❜ head pulls back just enough so that he can meet pepper’s gaze, a gentle smile settled upon his lips.
“ i,uh, wanted to talk to you. for a second. ” lips press into a thin line, words teetering on the edge of anxious. he didn’t like to bother people about things that weighed on him… every person had their own plights, their own thoughts, their own demons. no one wanted to listen to a kid talk about his problems, save for his aunt may but… he doubted she wanted to hear about the dangers faced as ’spiderman’. well, maybe she wanted to hear, but there would be a whole new world of worry on top of the one she had just been introduced to.
he still wasn’t sure he even wanted to tell the other, if he were going to be honest. he had more than enough on mr stark’s plate. in fact, peter was already one of those things. if you die, that’s on me. the words play over in his mind, the memory fighting the words he wants to speak & catching them in his throat. peter regretted opening his mouth near as soon as he spoke. there is a pause & dark eyes fall, “ if that’s okay, i mean.”
tony’s still getting used to this new position of being a mentor to the kid, but it’s not as hard as he’d previously believed… it’s REFRESHING, even. gives him a new perspective on life. upon hearing peter’s voice, he’ll turn to face peter completely, the two of them having just entered the avengers headquarters.
❛ yeah, of course it’s okay. — what’s up?
❜ brown hues narrow as if in concentration, the expression put forth in attempts to show the other that he’s ready to listen. arms even cross over his chest, head tilting. that’s how an adult shows someone peter’s age they’re interested in hearing what the other has to say, right?
❛ i’m not saying you can’t, just that it’s a little out of the ordinary for you. ❜ the never really went out together, mainly due to people gossiping. but so much had happened that they both just stopped caring. sure, ana had some hesitance, though her father was good at making that go away. ❛ can i ask what brought this on? like, what made you all of a sudden decided today we would go out? ❜ you didn’t live with tony stark for as long as ana and not learn how his brain worked. the younger didn’t know exactly what went on in there, but that wasn’t going to stop her., ❛ how are things going with the kid? peter, right? ❜ the blonde tried not to pry into her father’s business. after the whole ‘accords’ issue, she decided it was best to keep out.
he’s huffs at her, feigning irritation at the comment.
❛ i can be a good dad sometimes.
❜ tony says it as if he’s joking, but there’s an undertone of sadness that can be heard. they reach the car and he’s climbing in when the additional questions are put forth, though no immediate question is given; not until after he’s started the vehicle up.
❛ it’s just been awhile… things are different now, and i just want to make sure we’re still the same.
❜ that’s not so bad, right? as the mechanic begins to back out of the driveway, he shrugs.
❛ yeah, it’s peter. he’s good. — in school. keeping his crime fighting small time, which i respect.
❜ though he’s still shocked the kid had refused becoming an avenger, even if only for now. thinking on that moment triggers another memory in tony, though, and that’s what he’ll bring up now.
❛ you like pepper, right?
❜
nose wrinkles slightly, but an answer is given anyways.
❛ — kind of, yeah. but i always have time to come back home. well, i was born in long island but — you get the picture. why do you care?
❜
She’s been awake in this century long enough to learn a thing or two. To find out what had happened to Howard and mourn him. What’s more, she’d learned what became of his son, and oh how it broke her heart that she wasn’t there for him. Tony had only been a little boy when she’d closed her eyes and now, he was older than she was at the time. Older and with an entire empire he’d built from what Howard had started at his fingertips.
Not only that, but he was Iron Man, and worked with Captain America. No matter how many times she read the files and watched the reports, it was still mind-boggling to see the footage of Howard Stark’s son and Steve Rogers standing and fighting side by side. And devastating to watch the alliance they’d built fall apart.
Maybe he wouldn’t want to see her. Maybe he’d been hurt enough by the lies. Peggy was another in a long line of people who had betrayed him —– she’s sure of it. And yet here she was, waiting alone in an empty conference room where some gentleman named Happy had escorted her. Pacing, she exhaled her nervous energy out and continued working through what she could possibly say to him that would make everything okay.
it’s been only a few hours since the meeting for the accords, the most recent one following the fallout he’d had with steve, and much weighs heavy on the genius’ shoulders now. to say times are hard now would be an understatement, possibly the understatement of the century. his schedule is far too filled for him to focus on much else besides the cleanup ( physical and otherwise ) for what’s happened, though, and the sight to greet him in the conference room happy brings him to is one beyond words.
recognition is immediate, tony never forgetting that face —— but it’s not possible for her to be alive. technically, at least, though the man can only imagine what’s kept her alive. shield still has secrets no one knows of, not even tony stark. the door is closed quietly behind him, leaving aunt and NEPHEW alone in the room, but he won’t step forward as his jaw clenches and body stiffens. it seems like an eternity passes before he’s able to speak.
❛ — why now?
❜ there’s no point asking how, for it is what it is, but the question tony DOES ask seems like a fair one. he’s never told anyone ( save for pepper ) his connection to peggy carter, and surely not steve, for it’s something tony wanted to keep private. however, it hurts more than he can even comprehend.
he offered an awkward smile, pushing fake glasses up atop the bridge of his nose. “ well uh–if I could be honest, I don’t think it’s workin’ very well, Mr. Stark. “ people were staring, not at him, of course, at the billionaire.
❛ dammit.
❜ he’ll grunt under his breath, removing his glasses completely and simply focusing on tony. if the entire room knows it’s him already, there’s no point in hiding.
❛ how you doing, kid? i know it’s, uh, been awhile since we last spoke — i’m sorry about that.
❜ but being IRON MAN comes with a territory.
“So, Tony
Stark, huh?” Michelle looked over the man in front of her. “How did Peter get
into your super-secret internship?”
❛ my answer depends on who’s asking, so… who are you again?
❜ he knows the young girl is one of peter’s friends, and truly the billionaire is here only to help the kid out — to show that he does, in fact, know the famous tony stark.
❛ he’s smart. determined.
❜ he’ll respond with, however, but stops there with furrowed brows.
a shake of her head ensues, ❛ no, everything i need is right here. ❜ she grasps his hand in return, squeezing as though to further get her point across and tugging forward so that they may begin walking, otherwise she’ll be tempted to kiss him once more if she isn’t mobile; hell even when waltzing up to the exit, a part of her is tempted to spin on her heels and press herself against him in another tangle of lip locking. ❛ –perhaps when you and i tie the knot, we should ask happy to be the ring bearer? i’m curious to know whether he would be offended or overwhelmingly giddy. ❜
truly everything pepper says and does leaves tony in some state of awe, and when she squeezes his hand and begins to lead the way towards the exit, he’ll smile like a fool. never before has anyone made him as happy as pepper does ( except maybe his mother when she’d been alive ), and by now he knows it would be the dumbest decision of his life to let this woman go. they near the doors to leave now, but it doesn’t stop them from remaining in their own little world.
❛ i think he’d be honored to be an usher; he just wants to see us get married.
❜ with a soft chuckle, tony releases her hand and steps forward a bit to grab for the door and open it for her as he gestures for the strawberry blonde to go ahead.
❜
