DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NOR HAVE CREATED THESE CHARACTERS OR ANY AFFILIATED CHARACTERS. They belong to Marvel, while the storyline belongs to meh. :D
Downstairs, Pepper had cooled down herself. She had begun to rummage through the kitchen, banging pots and pans together unconsciously, as she looked. Tony was a particularly…different…sometimes vulgar or immature man, but he always showed signs of control and care around her and others. She smiled thoughtfully, wondering if perhaps that trait came from his mother or father. Jarvis spoke up, awakening her from her thoughts,
"Are you looking for something, Ms. Potts?" Pepper threw a glance over her shoulder,
"Oh, yes. Just a small soup pot would do."
"Bottom left." Jarvis told her. She retrieved the pot and began opening a soup can. Pepper poured the goopy, chunky soup into the pot and flipped on the stove. Rhythmically, she began to stir it slowly with a wooden spoon. The healthy, spiced smell emerged almost immediately and began to waft throughout the house. Tony, upstairs, sniffed and asked Jarvis,
"What's Pepper making?" He replied,
"Soup, Mr. Stark." Tony grinned and shook his head,
"Y'know, soup's not the only thing that could help me get better." He noted. Jarvis questioned,
"Would you like me to tell Ms. Potts that?"
"Yes, please." Pepper cut off Jarvis before he could tell her,
"I heard, Jarvis. I'll talk to Mr. Stark later." She smiled quietly before pouring the soup out from the pot to a small bowl. Gingerly, she picked it up along with a spoon and deftly brought it up to his bedside without spilling a drop. The second Tony had it in his hands though, he yelped in pain.
"Ouch, it's hot!" He yelled, and spilled it all over his bed. Again, he howled in burning pain and jumped out of the bed. Pepper held back her laughs, knowing that the situation at hand was actually a bit more serious. He blinked a few times and looked to Pepper for her reaction. Her face was covered by her hand, and she shook her head a few times. He grinned sheepishly,
"I…will take a shower now." She revealed the small smile that sat upon her beautiful lips.
"That would be a good idea." Pepper commented playfully. He smiled. That look on her face only made her even lovelier. Tony scratched the back of his head in slight embarrassment and walked into his bathroom, shutting the door. She sighed and looked at the mess.
"Would you like me to tell you where the cleaning tools are located, Ms. Potts?" Jarvis politely questioned. Her fingers ran through her reddish orange colored hair, and she exhaled slowly,
"That…would be delightful, Jarvis." She managed to reply.
"The fifth closet to your right down the hallway to your left as you exit Mr. Stark's bedroom." He responded. Pepper forced a smile onto her face and went down the hallway to retrieve a little carpet soap and a dirty cloth or two. She soon lost count of the closets, becoming confused between which were rooms and closets. She bit her lower lip. Now what number was I on…? The right or left…? Pepper opened the closet door closest to her. The musty and dusty smell of the room made her stumble a bit. She made a face. Tony always managed to shove unwanted things in unwanted places. He was sort of like a young adolescent who didn't want to clean up his messes. Of course, he had a "maid" slash "PA" to take care of him. She shook her head. Sometimes she thought she was acting as more of a motherly figure than a real personal assistant. Her fingers found a light switch on the left side, and she flicked on a few lights. It revealed long metal shelves filled with all sorts of knick knacks and covered up pictures and heirlooms. There were thick, canvas-colored sheets covering nearly everything. Jarvis' voice box and video camera didn't seem to be located in the room either. She glanced behind her, before delving into the small, yet stuffed room. She lifted one canvas sheet, and it revealed a large portrait picture of the full Stark family. His mother was situated to the right, his father standing up behind her, and the little Tony Stark sitting in the center. They had eternal, almost wistful smiles painted onto their faces. The painting had been apparently slashed with several sharp objects. A little disturbed, Pepper moved on to pulling the whole, heavy sheet off the shelf. The dust was thrown into the air and hung suspended in the intensity of the moment. She fingered a beautiful pink pearled necklace adorned with little, sparkling diamonds in between. Her eyes widened slightly. Knowing Tony, he probably would've sold something like this on EBay by now, so this surprised her. It was probably more important than she was crediting it for. She heard a sigh from behind her. Caught off guard, she gasped, and tried to hide the necklace. Tony didn't look upset though, he looked…almost…sad…?
"Out of all the closets, eh?" He questioned a little softly, his body resting on the doorframe. A towel was draped around his neck, and his floppy, wet hair stuck to his forehead. She began to stutter,
"Mr. Stark…I…I…" She placed the necklace back in its niche and lowered her eyes,
"I suppose all I can say…is I'm sorry." He glanced up at her with weary, tired-evident eyes. A sad smile crossed his face; he placed a hand on her shoulder. The guilt Pepper felt nearly overwhelmed her.
"It's okay, Pep." She shook her head,
"No, it's not. I'm terribly sorry. I'm…I suppose snooping is the right word for what I'm doing." She responded sorrowfully. Tony laughed,
"The one thing you never do Pepper is be obnoxious or nosy. Curious, sometimes, but never are you a snooper." Her face reddened. There was a silence. Not an awkward silence, just a silence. He pushed past her slightly and looked at the various things that adorned the shelves. His eyes reflected different memories and emotions washing over him, as he laid his eyes upon different things. He picked up the necklace that Pepper had retrieved and looked at it for a little bit. Pepper, still feeling quite embarrassed and uncomfortable, offered,
"I can leave the room if you want, Mr. Stark." He looked over at her,
"No, that's alright. Here's you can look at these too." She hesitated and shook her head,
"It's…not my place to…" Tony pulled her over and silenced her with a look.
"You're not only my PA Pepper, you're a friend." She blinked in disbelief at what she was hearing. Tony then looked away, leaving her stunned. Pepper was still getting used to this new Tony. Half of her didn't believe what he was saying and thought that it was merely because they were in this sad, memory filled room. The other half thought that perhaps a different side of Tony was being revealed. And Pepper liked this other side. Well, she had always thought Tony was an interesting character, but seeing him almost near tears made her feel…different… Not that she liked seeing him cry, but it meant that he was changing; something inside of him was changing. He handed her the necklace again, and she was once again pulled into the loveliness of it. Tony smiled a small, invisible smile before speaking,
"Y'know, it was my mother's." He responded nonchalantly. She nearly dropped it. She stuttered,
"Oh, well…then maybe you should…take it back." She thrust it back into his hands. His eyes were sparkling, as he laughed again,
"It's okay, Pepper. You're being too polite." She bit her lip, before lowering her eyes back to the small trinket in her hands. Tony's eyes swept over the dusty and forgotten memories that he had locked away in the closet. Pepper fidgeted and began to back out of the closet space.
"I…really think I should go and clean up the mess." Tony didn't seem to hear her. His mind was completely absorbed into everything around him. He made a sound from the back of his throat. Concerned, the female touched his shoulder lightly,
"Are…you okay?" He coughed,
"Yea, I'm fine. I think it was just my cough acting up." He muttered. Pepper nodded,
"It's about time for the next dosage then." Tony began to walk quickly back to the bedroom. Before he was out of Pepper's voice range, she managed to state,
"You must have wonderful parents and wonderful family…" He stopped shortly. She continued hesitantly,
"Because, I mean, you all look incredibly happy in the pictures…and…they really raised you well…" Although she couldn't see it, she could sense the small smile that formed on his lips. Tony responded,
"Well, I'm not a really good role model for anyone, but I agree with the first part of that statement." She breathed with relief and smiled hopefully. Pepper closed the door and followed Tony. He stopped abruptly at another closet door. He then opened it and picked up a few cloths and buckets. Pepper took a few of them from his hands. She glanced up at him slightly, and he was smiling. She smiled once again back at him. Once they were in his bedroom, they began to "mop" up the mess into the buckets, carry them down to the kitchen, throw them out in the trashcans, and repeat the process. As they went about the cleaning business, Tony struck up another conversation,
"Y'know…those pearls actually compliment your hair a bit." She blushed,
"No they don't, Tony. You're just saying that." He shook his head, as he picked up another bucket,
"No, no I'm serious. You have that sort of strawberry-blonde kind of hair." The sides of her lips turned up, in slight embarrassment of these compliments.
"Why, thank you." She managed to murmur. He smirked, having cornered her into another blushing-mode once again. When they had finished cleaning up the room the best they could, Pepper and Tony hauled the blankets into a large laundry basket. The assistant wiped her brow and said,
"Well, I suppose I should take these to the dry-cleaners then." Her boss made a face,
"Couldn't you do it tomorrow?" She looked over at him,
"Why wouldn't I do it today?" He made another face,
"I dunno…I just…" He pursed his lips, in a thinking state. Pepper smiled knowingly,
"Oh, I get it. You'll get lonely." Tony stepped back a bit at her playful comment,
"Ms. Potts, how dare you suggest such a thing?" He played along mockingly. She laughed, and her laugh tinkled throughout the house, bringing smiles onto Tony's face once again. He commented a little more seriously,
"You have a really amusing laugh." She tried to stop giggling, although the suppressions didn't help much.
"N-no I don't…" Pepper replied between laughs. Her boss had another funny grin on his face,
"Yes, you do, and I must say it makes you all the more adorably cute." She grinned at him, wiping her eyes,
"Why thank you, Mr. Stark." Pepper sighed once again, as she looked at the sheets though,
"I'm really just afraid it might attract animals or smell or something." Tony raised his head slightly and said in the most serious voice possible,
"Ms. Potts you are not to leave this household while your boss is still…still…" His nose twitched as he sneezed,
"ACHOO!!!" She giggled once again and pulled out some Kleenex. He thanked her before he blew his nose,
"Dank oo." It came out muffled and congested. He made a loud snorting, almost similar to a horn. Pepper doubled over, as she tried to suppress herself once more,
"Oh Tony, stop it!" He grinned himself, as he wiped his nose and threw the dirty tissue into the trash.
"Stop what? I'm just clearing up my sinuses." She shook her smile covered face and pulled her boss back into his bedroom. He groaned,
"I've never ever been sick in my life…and so far it's beginning to suck more than I thought it would …" Pepper rolled her eyes,
"Tony, being sick isn't a freebie for getting out of work. Being sick means actually being sick. You know, infected with something?" His eyebrows wiggled again,
"You sure about that, Potts?" She glanced at him uneasily,
"You better not be 'pretending' to be sick." He raised his hands in his defense,
"Hey, you took the temperature and everything. I promise, I'm legit sick." She smiled, as he tried settling down under new sheets. He sniffled again.
"I guess it's nice that there aren't any people trying to hunt me down, calling me constantly, and leaving email after email at work." Pepper pulled her hair into a neat ponytail once again,
"You think you have it rough?" She questioned mockingly. Tony grinned,
"Well, that's what you signed up for, Potts. Although I must say you're doing an incredible job, and for that, I'm thankful I have you." She colored slightly,
"It's really nothing." Pepper mumbled. The sick boss rolled his eyes,
"It is, and I'm thanking you, Pepper!" She smiled thankfully. He continued,
"Besides, I bet your Blackberry won't even be able to hold the amount of voicemails and texts you're getting right now." She groaned,
"Oh, that's right. You killed my Blackberry…"
"Correction. I shut off your Blackberry….I didn't kill it." Pepper glanced at him,
"Well, you might as well have." He smirked funnily once again. Pepper's slender hands pushed Tony gently onto his pillow.
"Now get some rest. That's the number one rule when you're sick." He groaned,
"Aw, seriously?" She gave a small half smile,
"Yes, seriously. Your body needs to recuperate from the sickness." Tony commented back,
"Well, your body needs to recuperate from work. You better not run off to the offices while I'm sleeping." The small woman smiled,
"Are you still ordering me to stay here?" Tony nodded,
"Yep, and you are gonna stay put."
"Wow, Mr. Stark. This is like the vacation I never had." She meant it playfully, but Tony went from amused to concerned,
"Why? Do you need a vacation? I can arrange one. How about…" She put a finger to his lips and shook her head,
"No, it's fine…I was just kidding, Tony. You're speaking too much. Go to sleep." He struggled to prop himself up again, but she gently pushed him right back down.
"I'm serious, Tony. You need your rest, so you can recover quickly." He blinked a few times, before obeying his PA and yawning.
"Alright, guess I won't try arguing with your maternal attitude you've got going on right now." She flashed a small smile,
"Good choice."
AN: WOOO MORE FLUFF AND STUFF. :D lol. This was actually meant to be a oneshot, but let's call it a longish oneshot that will end soon. ;]