Pepper
Romione02
She shouted his name through the whole house when she entered it. Of course, he would ignore it, like he always did.
"Tony! I'm talking to you"
No answer, as always.
She went down to his basement, where he was doing experiments with his suits again, or better: he should be doing that, while he was just sitting on the floor and staring at the wall.
"Tony!", she shouted again.
"I can't talk right now, can't you see, I'm working?"
"Doesn't look like working to me, by the way you're always working. Just once, can't you just... Take a break?"
"Crime never sleeps, honey."
Pepper sighed and looked around.
"Jarvis, activate Plan A", she told the robot and he did as he was told. The ceiling opened up and two pillows fell out of it.
"How did you do it? How did you manage to get those in here without me noticing?", Tony asked but Pepper only smiled mysteriously as an answer.
"If I told you, it wouldn't be a secret anymore. So, we've got the pillows, we still need... Jarvis, activate operation 02"
"Operation 02, the one with the romantic music, is activated. But if I could give you a piece of advice, I'd say you should...", Jarvis answered, but Tony cut him off.
"Now even my own robot is betraying me!"
"You need to have a rest, you can't always just run on loads of coffee and fake narcissim, that's not how it works."
Tony could not say anything, he just stared into the emptiness even more.
The romantic music was playing, but Pepper was sick of it. She had planned all of this and she would not let Tony's stupid anxiety get into the way of her perfect plan. She threw the first pillow at his face and took the other one.
"What's this all about? Are you trying to seduce me with your pillow-throwing-skills? I mean, they sure are impressive, but you know that there is nothing I am better at than fighting, even with a pillow."
Pepper smiled. It worked.
"I don't believe that, you're clearly lying. You're never gonna be better than me", she said and Tony stood up faster than she could have imagined.
He ran into her direction, the pillow in his hand as if it was a sword and Pepper could not help but smile. Pepper loved those moments, where she just randomly thought how much she loved him, it could have been the most random thing he was doing, but it was still fascinating.
"What are you laughing at? Great that you can laugh at yourself losing this fight."
"If I didn't know better, I'd say we were a battle couple", Pepper whispered, as Tony finally threw the pillow, but she bowed down and he missed his target.
Tony on the other hand, was stunned by her words and therefore could not move out of the way and was hit directly in the face with the pillow.
"If you didn't know better?", there were question marks in his eyes, while Pepper picked up the second pillow and threw it in his direction mercilessly, after he sat down.
"I mean, we... I just... We aren't a couple, are we?", she asked, and Tony seemed to have given up completely. He didn't even pick up the first pillow, just decided to sit down again.
That was when the second pillow hit him and he sank down on the floor, totally confused.
For a few seconds, Pepper was unsure what she should do, but then she slowly walked to her fallen possible boyfriend or whatever they were. Because after all those years in the Stark house, she had learned that Tony sweet-talked anyone and that often, he was not serious with it. So why should that be different with her?
He had closed his eyes, which was a little worse than him staring at the wall. Because when he laid there like that, he looked like he was sleeping and that was followed by the thought of him never waking up again and then... If her mind reached that point, she just fell into panic. They had a weird attachment, at least Pepper had a weird relationship to Tony, she had no idea what was going on in his head.
He was full of anxiety, while also being wildly confident, which was a dangerous mix. But Pepper knew, that most times the anxiety was stronger than the confidence. The anxiety was just better to hide at times.
He looked peaceful when he was lost in thought. Like a fallen angel, possibly.
This had been her plan, her plan of getting him out of his anxiety bubble he was in, every time he stared at the wall.
She laid down on the wall as well, turned her head to him and slowly combed through his hair. It was very soft, and she noticed that he was smiling now. There was nothing better than this.
Pepper Potts was very well aware of her feelings for Tony Stark, but feelings were always a danger in business situations. But looking at him would not hurt, right?
"Pepper...", he whispered and her heart skipped a beat.
"I just can't sleep. I want to, but its just not possible and my thoughts... They just run faster than I could ever run. It makes me mad and it scares me that I can't control them and... I just wait for them to be over."
"That's why you stare at that wall?", she asked softly and then added: "Jarvis, activate operation 05 and then turn yourself off."
Another pile of pillows fell out of the ceiling.
"It gets better with you though. Can you... Stay here for a little longer? I just... I thought it was obvious that we are in a relationship, Miss Potts, but..."
"Oh come on, you flirt with every single human being on that planet. Why should I be different?"
"Only you make my demons go away, Pepper. And you know how to fight off my anxiety. You need to know that I love you, that you are the only one I want and I love and... Just stay here a little longer."
"Sweet dreams, Tony", Pepper whispered and then closed her eyes. Surprisingly, she fell asleep in Tony's arms that night. And if she was not mistaken, he also fell asleep.
