[ He already looked faintly happy with things, her, standing here on the stairs holding hands, but when she says she made arrangements, his face brightens further. There's a lot of things to read into from that, and while 'don't spend all your time in the workshop' isn't one that springs to mind immediately - it doesn't take long though, it comes along in the middle of another mental delineation of meaning - there's plenty of others that do that he likes the idea of. Or at least the feeling of. Anything that indicates she likes everything that's happening, with them, with life, and wants to continue it - anything in that vein makes him happy. Like he's doing things right.
Taking care of himself was definitely not one of the first ideas out of her statement though, but he'd contest the 'forgetting what's important' bit. He does quite well with that lately, he thinks; she just has her priorities in a different order than he does. ]
What? [ It's a little quick, even with her smile and how he knows she's not sincere. ] No, we're staying here. You can't tell me one thing and then move on to another. My choice now, staying longer.
Although not on the stairs forever, right? You meant stay longer in the house. Not that I mind the stairs, these are great stairs, but I think once we run out of things to talk about they'll get boring pretty fast.
[ She speaks mildly, a tease in those words. Of course she'd meant staying in a general sense, nothing specific like he's implying. But it's like Tony to cover all bases but the important ones, and Pepper knows that too. Still, she has her own ideas, and while they might not be what he expects, it's not as if he wouldn't enjoy them. Eventually.
The hand he isn't holding rests on his shoulder, and she uses it for a bit of leverage, leaning forward as if to whisper something. Like they're not alone now, like it could be a secret no one else should know just yet. Instead, she simply presses a kiss to the corner of his mouth, chaste and simple and particularly fleeting. Then, she's gone from his personal space, withdrawing both hands and stepping back as though she intends to leave him there on the steps.
The look she gives him might be a little too knowing, even for her. But she's turning around and walking again without saying anything at all. ]
[ It was a facetious bit of specificity, but it's nice for her to confirm it anyway. And he typically does enjoy her ideas, normally. When he gives them time to come to the fruition she was looking for, he does, anyway.
He feels like he should have been expecting something like that, but it doesn't make it any less surprising when it happens, when she pulls back, and then pulls back a second time, completely. He watches her, carefully, because she's being particularly cagey right now and he's not sure why. He doesn't have a problem with it, and when she starts to walk away, he definitely moves to follow her - he always follows Pepper. It's just how it goes. But he doesn't know why she's acting like this, and that itself is intriguing enough to provoke pursuit, even if the opportunity to watch her walk from behind wasn't incentive enough.
It is pretty quiet though. ] You sound like you already have. I'm not sure how I feel about you not telling me anything right now, you've been pretty vague. It's great, staying here longer, that's totally cool, but. Vague. What are we doing?
Don't start that. It's not vague. [ There's another look, leaning just enough to retrieve her PDA from the table she'd left it on. He's certainly the master of mystery in comparison anyhow, skirting around important topics when she needs him to be straight-forward. A glance at her hand, at him, and Pepper sits rather purposely on the sofa, legs crossed so that it's much more obvious just how barefoot she is. Relaxed here just as much as she had been the few times they'd managed being alone together.
She doesn't bother to look up as her fingers move to type. ]
As a matter of fact, there are plenty of things to be done. We'll get to each of them. But you should sit down first. I think. [ And only then does she tilt her head in his direction, hand dropping to rest on the empty spot beside her--a clear invitation. Not that he would ever need one, hasn't really, but sometimes, Pepper likes to give him that little reminder as though he might eventually forget it. ]
[ Well he found it to be vague, and he's pretty sure he's allowed to find things vague if he feels like it, except apparently he isn't so. Okay.
This is starting to feel more and more like it was actually a trap, and he watches her for a little bit, because he can't completely pinpoint precisely why it feels like a trap, just that it does. It feels like he's been lured and teased out of his workshop and the reward is instead doing different, much more boring, work up here, and while he can't really deny that the company is marginally better - sorry, Dummy - he's not sure what to make of it regardless.
But he never says no to being with Pepper, really, especially when she looks this at ease and sexy about things, and if he's going to be trapped he might as well be comfortable. So at the invitation - and no, he didn't need it, but that doesn't mean that even he doesn't appreciate the gesture of 'hey, I actually want you here' over 'well I don't bother myself with moving if you happen to get close to me' - he does move to sit, more or less flopping next to her on the couch and trying to peer over at whatever it is that she's working on. ] What things to be done? You sound like you have a list, and I'm almost abjectly opposed to those, just so you know, I'm not fond of them, the obligation of them. Unless you're on the list. I'd be okay with that.
Yes, because I don't know how much you dislike them. Which is why I make them, so you can complain about it. [ She's a little exasperated, true, but it's nothing new between them. In fact, Pepper's leaning closer so he can look at what she does as though it's on purpose. It's nothing significant, not really; a few emails, things that could be seen to at another time. She sometimes likes to be there with him, together in that silence and comfortable, as if there's something completely normal about who they are and what they're doing.
She tilts her head, fingers covering the screen as she drops her other hand lightly atop his thigh. A smile stretches her mouth, and she looks at him. ]
But all of that can wait for now. I like this better. Don't you?
I complain about them especially so you can feel like you've done a good job making them in the first place. [ But alright, this is alright. This is so far a little boring, but it's alright. He does take the opportunity to peer over better, watch her as she works on things that are also boring but he likes to watch her do things in general - she's so capable and efficient and understands things and yeah he's all those things too in certain elements, but her elements seem to be most of the table, and he's always liked watching a well oiled machine do its thing. She makes him slow down every now and then, like this moment, and while he protests it every single time she does, he usually appreciates it to some degree despite himself. He assumes that's part of the reason she keeps doing it.
None of this though - the mechanical appreciation, the snooping into her activities, the momentary pause - means that he's not happy when she seems like she doesn't actually want to just sit here on the couch typing emails to people that aren't him. He had no idea what they were doing - he didn't come upstairs with anything to mess with. Not that he wouldn't be fine with sitting either. He's just. Having a hard time getting into the right mindset for anything at the moment because he can't tell which one he actually needs to settle into. ]
Right now? This is nice, yeah. Chilling out. Not doing anything. Is this what we came up here to do?
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Taking care of himself was definitely not one of the first ideas out of her statement though, but he'd contest the 'forgetting what's important' bit. He does quite well with that lately, he thinks; she just has her priorities in a different order than he does. ]
What? [ It's a little quick, even with her smile and how he knows she's not sincere. ] No, we're staying here. You can't tell me one thing and then move on to another. My choice now, staying longer.
Although not on the stairs forever, right? You meant stay longer in the house. Not that I mind the stairs, these are great stairs, but I think once we run out of things to talk about they'll get boring pretty fast.
no subject
[ She speaks mildly, a tease in those words. Of course she'd meant staying in a general sense, nothing specific like he's implying. But it's like Tony to cover all bases but the important ones, and Pepper knows that too. Still, she has her own ideas, and while they might not be what he expects, it's not as if he wouldn't enjoy them. Eventually.
The hand he isn't holding rests on his shoulder, and she uses it for a bit of leverage, leaning forward as if to whisper something. Like they're not alone now, like it could be a secret no one else should know just yet. Instead, she simply presses a kiss to the corner of his mouth, chaste and simple and particularly fleeting. Then, she's gone from his personal space, withdrawing both hands and stepping back as though she intends to leave him there on the steps.
The look she gives him might be a little too knowing, even for her. But she's turning around and walking again without saying anything at all. ]
no subject
He feels like he should have been expecting something like that, but it doesn't make it any less surprising when it happens, when she pulls back, and then pulls back a second time, completely. He watches her, carefully, because she's being particularly cagey right now and he's not sure why. He doesn't have a problem with it, and when she starts to walk away, he definitely moves to follow her - he always follows Pepper. It's just how it goes. But he doesn't know why she's acting like this, and that itself is intriguing enough to provoke pursuit, even if the opportunity to watch her walk from behind wasn't incentive enough.
It is pretty quiet though. ] You sound like you already have. I'm not sure how I feel about you not telling me anything right now, you've been pretty vague. It's great, staying here longer, that's totally cool, but. Vague. What are we doing?
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She doesn't bother to look up as her fingers move to type. ]
As a matter of fact, there are plenty of things to be done. We'll get to each of them. But you should sit down first. I think. [ And only then does she tilt her head in his direction, hand dropping to rest on the empty spot beside her--a clear invitation. Not that he would ever need one, hasn't really, but sometimes, Pepper likes to give him that little reminder as though he might eventually forget it. ]
no subject
This is starting to feel more and more like it was actually a trap, and he watches her for a little bit, because he can't completely pinpoint precisely why it feels like a trap, just that it does. It feels like he's been lured and teased out of his workshop and the reward is instead doing different, much more boring, work up here, and while he can't really deny that the company is marginally better - sorry, Dummy - he's not sure what to make of it regardless.
But he never says no to being with Pepper, really, especially when she looks this at ease and sexy about things, and if he's going to be trapped he might as well be comfortable. So at the invitation - and no, he didn't need it, but that doesn't mean that even he doesn't appreciate the gesture of 'hey, I actually want you here' over 'well I don't bother myself with moving if you happen to get close to me' - he does move to sit, more or less flopping next to her on the couch and trying to peer over at whatever it is that she's working on. ] What things to be done? You sound like you have a list, and I'm almost abjectly opposed to those, just so you know, I'm not fond of them, the obligation of them. Unless you're on the list. I'd be okay with that.
no subject
She tilts her head, fingers covering the screen as she drops her other hand lightly atop his thigh. A smile stretches her mouth, and she looks at him. ]
But all of that can wait for now. I like this better. Don't you?
no subject
None of this though - the mechanical appreciation, the snooping into her activities, the momentary pause - means that he's not happy when she seems like she doesn't actually want to just sit here on the couch typing emails to people that aren't him. He had no idea what they were doing - he didn't come upstairs with anything to mess with. Not that he wouldn't be fine with sitting either. He's just. Having a hard time getting into the right mindset for anything at the moment because he can't tell which one he actually needs to settle into. ]
Right now? This is nice, yeah. Chilling out. Not doing anything. Is this what we came up here to do?