Tony and Rhodey were sitting around in the lab doing what they usually did. Tony was working armor repairs, and Rhodey was sitting around talking when Pepper walked in.
"Oh, good you're both here! I need someone to go shoe shopping with me!" Pepper exclaimed. Rhodey immediately stood up and headed for the door.
"Gee, I'd love to Pepper but my mom just called me home to help her with something. Sorry, see you later!" He exclaimed.
"Whoa whoa whoa, where do you think you're going? You're not getting out of this that easily." Tony asked, grabbing Rhodey's arm.
"Ohoh, I'm allowing you to have some quality alone time with Pepper while making a hasty escape from a day filled with shoes." Rhodey explained.
"Alone time? Why do we need alone time?" Tony asked, confused.
"Dude, you haven't just hung out with her in a while. I think you could sacrifice a day to spend some time together. I'm sure it's all she wants out of this." Rhodey explained.
"You can't be serious. Come on, don't leave me to this torture alone!" Tony begged. Rhodey smirked.
"No can do, Tony, I think it'd be good for you to spend some quality alone time with Pepper. Come on, just go."
Tony was silent for a moment before he sighed.
"Fine, you win." Tony said, releasing his grip on Rhodey's arm. Rhodey smiled in triumph and headed for the door.
"See you two later, have fun shoe shopping all day!" Rhodey said with a wave as he headed home.
"Alright then, just you and me! Let's go!" Pepper said excitedly as she grabbed Tony's hand and dragged him out. Tony sighed miserably as he was dragged to his car and downtown.
Once they got downtown, Pepper dragged him into shoe store after shoe store, trying on and purchasing innumerable amounts of shoes.
"Why are we shoe shopping anyways?" Tony asked.
"Oh, my cousin's wedding is in a week and I need some shoes to match my outfit." Pepper explained. Tony shrugged off the excuse as she dragged him into a shoe store.
Tony was sitting on a bench put there for customers to use to try on new shoes, watching all the bags full of things she'd already bought when a man who seemed to be in his mid-twenties sat down beside him.
"Shopping with the girlfriend, eh?" He asked, as he seemed to be in the same situation. Tony blushed heavily.
"Oh, s-she's not my girlfriend, we're just friends." Tony explained.
"Yeah, sure. That's what I said and look at us now," The man said, sighing in delight. His girlfriend called him over shortly after that, leaving Tony to sit there and think.
Later that day, Tony and Rhodey were returning to the armory and Pepper was returning home after a long day.
"So, how was shoe shopping, since this day got so hectic that I couldn't ask?" Rhodey asked.
"So weird. I didn't think Pepper was into all that girly stuff. I just wonder what could've gotten into her to make her so…oddly obsessed with shoes." Tony explained.
"Why, are you complaining?" Rhodey asked curiously.
"A little bit… being completely honest with myself, I liked the old, I-want-to-kick-some-butt Pepper, the Pepper that wasn't afraid to get down and dirty into an Iron Man problem once in a while. This new…girlier Pepper only reminds me of Whitney." Tony explained.
"Is that supposed to be a good thing or a bad thing?" Rhodey asked.
"Bad. Whitney's just not my type."
Rhodey raised his eyebrow in curiosity.
"And Pepper is?"
Tony blushed and went silent.
"M-maybe…" He said quietly.
"You like her, don't you?" Rhodey said with a smirk.
"I do not!"
"Come on, Tony, let's not do this. Admit it, you like her." Rhodey said, folding his arms.
"Alright, fine, so maybe I do. What about it?"
"What about it? Maybe she's only pretending to like shoes because she'll think you'll think of her like you did Whitney and want to tell her you like her." Rhodey explained.
"She did call it a date…" Tony said, thinking aloud. Rhodey smacked his face with his palm.
"And that didn't give you any hints as to why she was acting strange?"
"No…" Tony admitted shyly.
"God, Tony, how oblivious can you get?"
Tony only smiled sheepishly as he put the armor away and the two headed back home.
I'd have added more to this, but I wanted to get it done tonight and I'm pressed for time because I have to get to bed now. Soo review?