All Play, No Work (Tony/Pepper)

[Virginia Potts]

* * *

Shaking her head as she stepped out of the massive building, Pepper touched the metal piece that still curved over hear ear.

“Jarvis, could you send the file on Spider Man to Mr. Stark’s desktop, please?”

“File transfer in progress. File transfer complete. Would you also like me to create a reminder for the Boy Scout ba—“

“No, that will be all.”

Pepper smiled placatingly, dancing around to the opposite side of the car. She would tell him about that on short notice, or he’d find a way to slip out of it. But seeing as he was directly responsible for their recent acquisition of a sizeable modern art collection of some prominence, he could deal with being their keynote. She tapped the headset again, activating her voicemail; in this mode, Jarvis would be the only one with the permissions to contact her.

Sliding into the sleek car, her hand reaching to smooth her skirt out of habit, she went on.

“Peter Parker is a wholesome sort… when you get a chance, look through his file. The kid might need a mentor.” She shut the door firmly behind her. “You might ask Steve what he thinks.”

The last thing the world needed was a generation of superheroes championed by Tony Stark. Sure, she trusted him with her life, but he wasn’t exactly role model material. Not that she felt like sharing him at the moment, either. The spectacle of Iron Man had quieted a little, much to his dismay, but she couldn’t say she wasn’t happy with it; given the choice she would always prefer a distinct lack of mortal danger -- and the extra time it gave them to do things like take extended lunch breaks, of course.

Slipping a pair of sleek sunglasses on in the brightness of the November sunlight, she pressed the button to raise the convertible roof.

“Why is it Jarvis never sasses me like he does you?” she asked idly, already enjoying being from behind the confines of her work desk. “Does he like me more? That's it, isn't it. Probably a sore point, I'm sorry I brought it up.”

* * *

[Tony Stark]

"Boy scout what?" Tony looked to Pepper, but got no answer. Letting it roll off his shoulders, they continued along, "So, Spider-Man then. I hear he's not bad. Haven't run into him yet, but I'm sure that there's a good kid-" Pepper continued on, dropping a bit more knowledge on him than he expected, maybe she'd taken an interest in him.

Pepper had occasionally suggested he invite the odd hero or two into the Avengers, but the group hadn't met up since the battle six months ago, Thor wasn't even on Earth. Tony assumed that S.H.I.E.L.D wouldn't be very happy if he just started recruiting every person in a mask to play superheroes.

Then again, Tony had been considering suggesting that they step away from S.H.I.E.L.D a bit, so that they could operate as a group without the government breathing on them to become super cops.

“Peter Parker is a wholesome sort… when you get a chance, look through his file. The kid might need a mentor.” She shut the door firmly behind her. “You might ask Steve what he thinks.”

Well, that saved Tony the time of trying to figure out who Spider-Man was, a kid name Peter Parker, "Last name sounds familiar." Tony thought for a second, looking at the GPS screen in the car and saying, "Jarvis, send me information on his family too. I think I've heard about some people named Parker before."

"Very good sir. Shall I fluff your pillows as well?"

“Why is it Jarvis never sasses me like he does you?” she asked idly, already enjoying being from behind the confines of her work desk. “Does he like me more? That's it, isn't it. Probably a sore point, I'm sorry I've brought it up.”

Tony shot Pepper a glance before looking back to the road ahead of them, they were making good time on their journey into Los Angeles, "If Jarvis didn't have any personality, it wouldn't be any fun having an Artificial Intelligence, now would it?"

[Virginia Potts]

* * *

Pepper nodded knowingly.

“So you’re saying he does like me more.” She leaned back in the luxe bucket seat, tickled by the thought. “He’s very smart.”

The hint of a perpetual smile kept playing at the corners of her mouth, and she relaxed into the upholstery. She’d learned long ago not to look out the window when Tony – it was always at least twice as fast as Happy did. Lucky for her it was twice as careful, too. Well… maybe not so much careful as practiced. Tony was a bit reckless at everything, but he was good.

Not that she liked to admit that too often, especially to his face.

“I’ll take care of the pillows, Jarvis.”

She smiled recognisably this time, content with the idea that they would see each other at the end of the day. Depending on how the board meeting this evening went, it might just be for long enough to say hello before falling into bed. He’d been thoughtful enough to give her a room to herself, but so far the only thing it had been used for was to store her clothes.

Pleased, she rested her hand atop Tony’s on the gearshift, letting him do the work as she closed her eyes behind her sunglasses, enjoying the drive.

"By the way... you'll find a new painting in the east wing of the building some time next week. It's a personal favourite of mine, so I'd appreciate you not switching it for cheap pop art next time I'm out of town."

The smile was still evident in her voice. If he switched it, she'd just switch it back. Along with several pieces of furniture in his office.

* * *

[Tony Stark]

"No promises," the response came as soon as Pepper said that. He tended to take things down and replace them with the latest fan art of Iron Man that would be sent his way. His staff knew to have things framed before sending them to his home, so that he didn't even need to bother with framing them himself.

The city was nice this time of year, just how Tony liked it. Hot enough to have the top down when Pepper didn't mind her hair becoming messy, but also cool enough that he could wear a suit outside without melting under the sun.

There were plenty of walls and plenty of buildings that Tony called his homes, so he supposed the odd piece of art here and there didn't. Not every inch of every building had to be a shrine to his Iron Man experiments and different suits of armor. He'd already spared Avengers Tower of that by keeping them in the basement.

They pulled in front of Norma's where the valet was waiting with a smile, "Mr. Stark, Miss Potts. It's nice to have you back again." Tony slipped a twenty into the valet's hand so that he wouldn't bury his car under a pile of other parked one. Then he nodded and said, "Sure it is. Take care of her, eh kid?" He went and opened the door so that Pepper could get out.

"When we come back, give the keys to Miss Potts? I don't like to be handed things. It's kinda an OCD."

[Virginia Potts]

* * *

No promises. That meant she needed to spend some time searching for the most uncomfortably modern couch she could find, likely from Ikea, to switch the one in his office with when he removed that painting. Not that he was in his office all that often... so maybe she'd replace the one in his favourite sitting room at the Malibu residence.

Silently promising he'd pay and promptly forgetting about the issue for the time being, she whipped off her sunglasses, storing them safely in her purse. She swung her long legs out of the door first, again smoothing her skirt as she stood.

"Please, call me Pepper," she smiled warmly at the valet; "Miss Potts" made her feel like a Disney character. Well, it did when anyone besides Tony used it; his voice did nothing to conjure up the innocence of cartoons in her head.

"But do remember about the keys."

With that, she turned her attention back to Tony, determined to enjoy their lunch break. He was exceedingly good company when he was in these kind of spirits, even if she knew the backlash was coming -- likely from the direction of SHIELD. She quickened her steps momentarily, a little skip that brought her to his side, and she surreptitiously linked her free arm with his. This part still felt surprisingly new, and her cheeks glowed as they entered the restaurant.

Jarvis' settings were such that when they embarked on an outing, if at all possible he was to call ahead to let the establishment know that Mr. Stark was on his way. Norma's was apparently used to the drill, and they were whisked right to a table as they stepped in. The cool interior of the restaurant made Pepper remember her blazer, and she slipped back into it before taking a seat. Pausing until the waiter had stepped away, she regarded Tony amusedly, thinking she knew the answer before the question ever passed her lips.

"So will you be gracing us with your presence at the board meeting tonight..."

* * *

[Tony Stark]

A few steps ahead, Tony smiled as Pepper reminded the valet to make sure to hand the keys over to her instead of him. It was just much easier that way, Tony absolutely could not stand to be handed things by just about anyone. He didn't know what it was really, chalking it all up to an OCD or some kind of a disorder.

Regardless, everything was going swimmingly, Pepper had caught up and looped her arm around his. He actually rather liked how her arm fit snug into his, excellent. They were easily the power couple of 2012, someone magazine needed to wise up and bring them in for a photo shoot. Tony was surprised there hadn't been one already.

Getting a nice table was always easy enough, thanks to Jarvis. Tony was sure that regardless, they be interrupted by something, whether it be someone pleasant like a young fan after an autograph, or something annoying like a reportor, or even worse, Justin Hammer. If Tony ever saw Justin Hammer again, he'd do something TMZ worthy.

"So will you be gracing us with your presence at the board meeting tonight..."

Tony tilted his head, looking up from the menu that his eyes had been peering through. He looked confused, then asked, "There's a board meeting tonight?" If he'd been in one of his suits, Tony was sure that Jarvis would have had some kind of witty response prepared already. However, it was Pepper, so he'd have something even more sarcastic waiting for him.

"I don't see why not. Unless I get caught up in the Mark VIII plans. I'm working on breaking through the atmosphere. Think about it Pepper, Iron Man, on the moon. We could put that on Christmas cards."

[Virginia Potts]

* * *

Pepper would have snorted, but it wasn't remotely ladylike, so she refrained.

"This is what you think about on your lunch break? Christmas cards?"

She set the menu gently aside, knowing she wouldn't need it; she never needed it here, her order didn't deviate. Something else that never changed was Tony's habit of being absent from board meetings, and she was surprised he was even considering attending.

"Well I won't hold my breath, but I'll save you a seat."

Knowing how he tended to be consumed in his lab for hours, sometimes days, she wasn't optimistic about the odds of him showing, but she didn't mind. Every upgrade he made to the suit in theory reinforced the safety of the design. More, it gave him an advantage he didn't sport in the previous render. And as blase as superheroes were becoming, Pepper couldn't quite bring herself to feel that way; every time he bolted into that suit left her with half a tonne of worry on her shoulders.

But Tony was good at what he did -- developing some of the most advanced technology in the world -- and Pepper was good at what she did -- not letting her worry get in her way. And doing a damn fine job at Stark Industries, for that matter. So she would handle the board, and be happy to let Tony tinker in the lab, knowing he was spending his time crafting advantages.

Of course, outwardly she planned to give him a hard time about it. If anyone was going to take him down a notch, it was definitely going to be her.

"I think a proposal for casual dress Friday is on the table..."

She gave her order to the waiter almost by rote before looking across the table at Tony with a shrug.

"You can think about the likelihood of collegiate t-shirts and mom jeans while you're working on the atmosphere. Of course, there's also the little matter of the energy budget for next quarter."

* * *

[Tony Stark]

"Make sure it's one of the ones that swivels. I hate when they don't." Tony liked to rock back and forth in his chair while they were in meetings, mostly because that was far more entertaining than the actual meeting itself. Usually, the board would complain about something meaningless, Tony would ignore it, and then they'd move onto the next part of the meeting, rinse repeat.

Shrugging, Tony said, "I suppose I could make an appearance. The armor specs could wait a night or two."

He closed his menu and set it down, having chosen what he wanted, however he hadn't yet picked what he was going to drink. After all, he needed to celebrate, he'd just taken out some nasty weapons before they could fall into the wrong hands. They were much better off destroyed than in the hands of Victor von Doom.

He tilted his head when Pepper suggested that they have a casual Friday, "You mean, we don't have a casual dress day already? Hm." He thought back to all the times that he'd crawl into work with a hangover, wearing some kind of Iron Maiden shirt and a pair of jeans. Luckily he hadn't wandered into the office naked, yet.

"Consider it done." Then he thought about the energy budget and quipped, "Well, we're an energy company now. So, I don't know, a big increase in the budget?" He hadn't done any of his reading this week, having spent the hours he should have been working on Earthly matters, trying to get a peek into Asgard, in case they ever needed to contact Thor.

[Virginia Potts]

* * *

”One that swivels. Check.”

Her tone was dry, but details were what she was good at it. He wanted a swivel chair, by god it would be there with bells on.

“We don’t officially have a casual day, no, but it’s mostly already observed, they just want to waste my time by making it official.”

Pepper wasn’t annoyed with the concept, she was annoyed that it had been a seven page proposal that had including everything from sociology research about business environments to actual polls taken anonymously by employees. There were about 8,011 more important things she could have done with her time besides leaf through that report, but much like in government, she needed to make sure there weren’t any sneaky clauses hidden in the fine print.

“And yes – that’s the issue with the budget. It obviously needs to grow. Well, grow is an understatement… it needs to triple. And there are entire sectors of the budget that are now defunct, so presumably it won’t be that hard to rearrange…” She smoothed a stray piece of hair behind her ear before moving on. “Though there’s still the work to do of sniffing out exactly which board members were in Obi’s pocket. I would suggest we fire them all and begin again, but since the decisions weren’t unanimous on his proposals, so it stands to reason that not everyone was crooked.”

She took a careful sip of the water that had been placed to her right, the cold condensation of the glass chilling her fingers, though not unpleasantly.

“I have to say, I didn’t expect there to be any actual business on this business lunch.”

Her smile was warm and mischievous. While she adhered strictly to her own rule at the office, anywhere outside it was fair play.

“So while we could use this opportunity to discuss that trip to Wales – or for me to give you the Cliff Notes on the proposals up tonight..." She gave him a Look to let him know she had his number. "...I, for once, suggest we don't."

* * *

[Tony Stark]

“I have to say, I didn’t expect there to be any actual business on this business lunch.”

Tony agreed a bit, tilting his head and lowering the corner of his mouth in an expression of agreement. However, they could move that all aside, it was boring, and Tony would read all about it ten minutes before the meeting where he'd pretend to stay focused during the entire spectacle of the meeting. Now it was time to push those thoughts aside and enjoy lunch like a normal human being should.

Waving toward a waiter, Tony had the young man come over and said, "Yes, we're celebrating the successful termination of a bunch of deadly weapons. So I'll have a vodka tonic." He looked back to Pepper and tired to remember what her drink of choice was, "And she'll have a martini, dirty, with lots of olives, like, at least three?"

That sounded right, he was sure of it. Certainly his memory couldn't be impaired at the moment, he hadn't even had a single drink. All the while, Pepper was mentioning their planned vacation outside of the United States.

“So while we could use this opportunity to discuss that trip to Wales – or for me to give you the Cliff Notes on the proposals up tonight..." She gave him a Look to let him know she had his number. "...I, for once, suggest we don't."

Tony shot Pepper a grin and said, "Wales huh? So you finally picked a place to go. Well, what are we going to do in Wales?" He nearly said, 'Y'know, besides drink and mess around in their hotel room.'

[Virginia Potts]

* * *

She slipped a glance to either side, eyes darting around the room to see who was listening in. They weren’t exactly busy, it being a weekday and all, but Tony was a celebrity. And when he talked, people listened – even if she didn’t want them to. It wasn’t that she didn’t expect a certain amount of impropriety from him – it was in his DNA, it seemed – but she didn’t exactly want that tone of voice broadcast to the world. It wasn't that she was ashamed to be dating the man who used to be her boss -- far from it -- it was just that she was an inherently private person.

“Mhmm, I hear what you're asking. You keep your voice down, or you’ll be sleeping on the couch, Mr. Stark.”

Her voice was matter of fact, but the hint of a smile that played at her lips suggested that she would give as good as she got, just as she always did when they weren’t in a glaringly public locale.

“And yes…” She smoothed her hair behind her ears unnecessarily, obviously a nervous gesture. “I’ve decided we’re going to Wales.”

Straightening up, she mentally moved on, but the blush was still evident on her cheeks, dimming her subtle freckles with its glow. This was really her element, planning and business, and she moved into full planning mode, effectively changing the subject.

“Really, I’ve always wanted to go. I’ve done a bit of research to scout a few locations for us to sightsee while we’re there – no use to waste a trip. There’s the obvious Cardiff city centre – I hear you’ll love the bars – but I’d like to trip out to Swansea to visit Southerndown Beach. And a hike through the Brecon Beacons could be nice..."

She could tell he was probably losing him with talk of tour groups and historical importance. In her hurry to change the subject, she had slipped into rambling. The mention of alcohol had been a ploy to avoid that, but it seems it hadn't worked. Quickly correcting herself, she took another sip of water.

“And of course there’s the findings that Jarvis picked up, a scientist that seems to have found an element he can’t place. He’s been running tests, and so far it’s reacting identically to vibranium.” She shrugged, pretending like it wasn't fantastic news. “I thought you’d be interested.”

* * *

[Tony Stark]

The mention of Vibranium was much more interesting to Tony, "We've got a lock on some vibranium? That's interesting." All of the known vibranium there was in the word was currently in Captain America's shield, but if they could find some more out there, the amount of things that Tony could do with it would be absolutely incredible.

Sitting back in his chair and thinking on it some more, Tony mumbled, "I wonder if there's enough to build a new suit out of it." He rubbed the back of his head before shaking it off and looking back up to Pepper, "Great. Wales. Can't wait." He really couldn't the hike towards a possible Vibranium collection would be incredible.

Maybe not as incredible as spending time with Pepper and being up to no good, but certainly incredible all the same. At first Tony was planning on spending the whole trip in three places, the bar, the pool and the room. However, now there was all sorts of ideas jostling around in his mind, Tony certainly couldn't wait to get started.

The drinks came soon after and Tony held his out towards Pepper, "All this exciting stuff, and I still found time to flew to Eastern Europe and reek a little havoc, it's been a great day so far."

[Virginia Potts]

* * *

Pepper could see the wheels turning in his head. She probably shouldn’t have mentioned the vibranium so early; now he would fixate on it. She tapped her earpiece again.

“Jarvis – what’s the likelihood that the metal in question is indeed vibranium?”

“Appropriation of Dr. Foster’s records show her metal to have an 88% correlation with similar experiments on vibranium. It should be noted that her experiments are not completed yet.”

She tapped the piece again, the subtle glow behind her warm red hair fading as it fell back into sleep mode.

“There we are: an eighty eight percent chance. Still room for error, so don’t get your hopes up.”

Raising an eyebrow, she nudged his knee with hers under the table as their food was delivered, meaning to shake him out of his reverie. Though if his mind was on a future render, that meant it was probably out of the gutter, which she supposed was good news. Still, she’d rather have a tame lunch for once. With a smile that was still a bit disapproving – she hadn’t forgotten about the mess in Eastern Europe – she raised her martini glass to his.

“No more work talk. I mean it.”

Giving him her ‘I mean business’ face, she took a sip, only now realising what she was doing: drinking in the middle of the work day. But after the morning she’d had, the cool drink didn’t seem like such a bad idea. Tapping her fingers against the glass as the servers stepped away, she slanted her eyes toward the drink briefly.

“And don’t you say anything.”

* * *

[Tony Stark]

Giving Pepper access to Jarvis from wherever she was was a double edged sword. On one hand, Pepper could get access to information about anything they were talking about almost instantly. On the other hands, Pepper could get access to information about anything they were talking about almost instantly. It was hard to look impressively smart when your super computer was able to spit out answers even faster then you are. However, he didn't really regret it. He'd rather Pepper have access than be left in the dark.

She gave him a warning as she went to drink during business hours. So comically, Tony pantomimed zipping his lips, then broke into a smile, "I mean, really, no one has to know Pepper. It's not like you're some kind of raging alcoholic. Or that the other boss doesn't keep some of the good stuff in his office."

It was true, Tony always kept something nice sitting in his office, in case he was working on closing a deal and wanted to celebrate with whomever he was doing business with. It was just in good taste. Especially since Tony was a drinker. However, it was hard, because he was always mentally reminding himself to cut down on his drinking, but never followed through. He wasn't a Super Soldier like Steve Rogers, he could certainly get drunk, and that led to bad things sometimes.

"Right, so, Swansea. Southerndown Beach. What else is there to do there? I've got my eye on a building in Cardiff. I want it. Don't know what I'll do with it, but I want it." Maybe he'd make it another armory, in case he was stuck in Europe without an Iron Man suit.

[Virginia Potts]

* * *

Pepper cocked an eyebrow.

“I thought you’d decided you were getting rid of the bar in your office.”

Though it was something else that made her worry, it was nothing compared to the burden of knowing he was out blowing up small countries. She could deal with the vodka and the gin. He did it a lot, but he rarely overdid it these days. Of course it helped that he was a high-functioning drunk…

“Swanzee,” she spoke over him again. “Zee. The second s wants to be a ‘z’ when it grows up.”

Forcing herself not to roll her eyes, she searched her mental picture book for structures that seemed like that would interest Tony. She’d only scanned a few travel guides, but Pepper knew it could only be one of two places. Spearing a piece of mango with her fork, she chewed thoughtfully before continuing.

“The Millenium Center? I think it’s an opera house or something…” She’d known Tony for a long time now, and he was definitely not the type to be attracted to the opera. Especially since he knew she wasn’t impressed by functions like that, which had no doubt been a relief for him, she was sure. But on the other hand, it was a flashy building, and flashy was exactly his style. Unable to decide, she continued on.

“Or the other one? The one with the water? I think it’s a monument of some sort; it’d be like buying the Statue of Liberty. Which you also can't have. You’ll have better luck with the opera house.”

For all she knew, he’d made a bid on the Statue. She imagined for a moment a rotating bar in the torch, and took another sip of her martini, deciding to take that idea to her grave. Knowing Tony, if she breathed a word of it, he’d get caught up and make it happen; grandeur and alcohol were two of his biggest vices, after all.

* * *