Author's note: My first attempt at Iron Man fic, as I simply loved the movie. I did it only for fun. Please be nice – English is not my first language. And to the die hard IM fans out there – I placed it in the movie universe as I know that one best and liked it very much.
That one gift
by Agrafka
What can one give to a man who has everything?
And if there's one thing he doesn't have, he'll surely get it by himself, Pepper mused, strolling through a part of town little less infected by The Christmas Fever.
She very much disliked the overdecorated, overlit and overcrowded shopping centres, especially at this time of year. In her opinion it took away the magnitude and magic atmosphere of that one special holiday.
Sell, sell, sell.
So when it came to buying gifts, she preferred the suburbs and little shops which still had their charm, reminding Pepper of her childhood. And the presents always had to mean something. She never bought pretty trinkets to be worn once and thrown away. Pepper would rather spend her off hours (yes , she did have off hours) thinking and rethinking her choices, noting down ideas than to get the first thing she saw on display behind the glass.
This year was no different. She carefully planned the gifts and bought them one at a time, slowly gathering the little collection. There was a pair of black pearl and silver earrings for her mother (she absolutely loved pearls), a one of a kind brushed steel and leather thermos for Happy and fluffiest black slippers she could find for Jim (Pepper nearly ridiculed the idea of Colonel wearing those until she saw it with her very own eyes). As Jarvis wasn't exactly a person one could give a present, she opted for a set of very soft and very professional wipes used by opticians when working with delicate lenses to clean the touch panels around the house. She was sure the AI would 'notice' that with his sensitive sensors.
Those completed, wrapped and neatly stacked away, left only one name on the list.
Tony.
She couldn't come up with anything. Whatever came to her mind, he had it. Personal things like ties, scarves and such were out of question. He had so many of them, for each day of the year and counting. Of course Pepper was paid well enough to get him something very high-end, but that dangerously neared the 'expensive trinket' territory, so it was also put aside. Books, music in every form, weather a rare vinyl to add to the 'buy it, store it' pile or a newest exclusive edition on blue-ray, Tony had it all.
She sighed heavily, her breath turning into a small white cloud in the cold December air.
There's not a thing on Earth…, she thought, absentmindedly staring at a window of a small toy shop. And when finally her eyes registered what she was looking at, Pepper almost burst into uncontrollable giggles. But as she was a professional PA extraordinaire, she covered her mouth letting out nothing than quiet hiccups of laugh.
Not thinking twice, she entered the little store, asked for two of the items, paid and placed them in her bag.
* * *
The Christmas morning was a quiet, peaceful one. Snow was everywhere and Jarvis had to leave windows slightly tinted to ward off a bit of that blinding whiteness. The Tree color theme for this year was cream and silver and every other of the elegant decorations neatly placed around the residence followed that code.
And underneath the tree there were colorful packages varying in shapes and sizes. Not too much of them, as they were only from the closest of friends and family.
Pepper was the first to wake up. She wrapped herself in a soft plushy bathrobe and went to the kitchen. Coffee wasn't already waiting for her because at that one time of year she wanted to make it on her own. Without Jarvis or anything and anyone to help her. Too keep the magic Christmas atmosphere.
When finally she had a big steaming cup in her hands, Pepper decided to see what hid under the tree.
She quickly recognized the first gift. A very long dark blue and violet velvet shawl with shiny fringes had to be from her mom. Next one was a pretty and simple in it's design USB flash drive in form of a round black tube on a very thin steel cord and adorned wit one small sparkling sapphire. That came probably from Jim. Or maybe the chauffeur? She wasn't sure. But when she opened the third package and found a pair of warm, woolen, rubber-soled socks with pompons on satin strings, she knew it was from Jim and the USB from Happy.
Ok, here it goes. The last one. It was a long flat box the color of night sky, one you'd expect to contain something very precious. She opened it slowly.
Inside, cushioned on a soft lining, was a disk of what looked like sanded glass, probably around one and a half inch in diameter. It was attached by its edge to a small silvery cylinder with equally silvery string threaded through a small hole. Pepper cautiously lifted it out of the box and was utterly surprised as it was taken out of her hands.
"Do you like it?", asked very familiar voice behind her back. Then the frosted pendant was placed right under her collarbone and two ends of silver string connected on the back of her neck.
Pepper wanted to reply, but something very odd happened with the pendant. At first it turned from matte white to light blue and then… Then it begun to… glow? She couldn't believe her eyes. There was no battery or other power source visibly hidden, not to mention anything that would give off this strange light.
"It's temperature sensitive. The warmer you are, the brighter it glows. And definitely not in stores yet." Tony added with a smile, when she turned to him.
"It's beautiful." she said, wide-eyed. And just then she chuckled.
"No way…"
"What?" he made a totally innocent face.
"That." she pointed at his chest with her index finger.
He did not drop the innocent face.
"Now you have your own light."
Pepper only rolled her eyes and - before he could say anything more – kissed him lightly.
"You are impossible, you know that?"
"So they say." he said softly into her ear.
"Go and see what Santa brought you." Pepper whispered back.
"You know how to destroy a moment." Tony sighed and she shook her head. He was impossible.
He was much quicker with the wrappings and bows – and Pepper knew he had to be like that when he was a kid. Some things never change. Especially 'boys and their toys' thing. Out of two boxes came a very detailed miniature of a classic Ford-T and a set of black and silver cuff links. Then he reached for the third box. It wasn't wrapped, but it had a neat bow perched on top. Tony opened it. And froze. And then turned to Pepper in a way he rarely used when not in public.
"Miss Potts, you certainly outdone yourself this time. Does it really look like this?" he outstretched his arm so the gift in question was mere inches from her nose.
It had two arms, two legs, a head, was soft, plushy, and totally red and deep yellow. And strangely looked quite like the Mark III armor. A very little one at that.
This time it was Pepper who made an innocent face.
"What?" and she giggled like a schoolgirl, "There is some resemblance…"
There was no way for Tony to stifle a laugh.
If he only knew she kept the other one for herself…