Plane Crash: Part 2

Rhodey blinked, sure that he'd heard incorrectly. Or perhaps he'd interpreted incorrectly. Tony couldn't possibly mean… "Ask her what," he prodded cautiously.

Tony huffed and looked Rhodey square in the eye. "Isn't it customary to ask a woman to marry you?"

Rhodey sputtered and choked on the brandy that he'd just inhaled. "I'm sorry… WHAT?!?"

He was kidding, right? He had to be kidding. Rhodey knew that Tony went a bit overboard from time to time, but this took the cake! Had he not heard the words that had come out of his own mouth about Pepper running from Kel's proposal?

Tony sighed dramatically. "I said, 'isn't it – ' "

"I heard what you said, fool!" Rhodey snapped. "Can you please elaborate?"

The other man shrugged. "I'm going to ask Pepper to marry me. What more is there to explain?"

"Are you kidding me with this? I'd better not be getting Punk'd. Is this Candid Camera?"

"Not at all."

But to Rhodey, it really seemed like he was making light of this whole thing. "Then will you please explain it to me?"

Tony nodded and folded his hands in front of him. "How is it confusing?"

Rhodey threw his hands up and stood, pacing in the open space of the jet. "I missed it! The boat left and I wasn't on it! When the hell did you decide to ask Pepper to marry you?!"

"Well, in a nutshell, I'm in love with her, so I'm going to ask her to marry me."

Rhodey paused and forced a patient expression. It probably wasn't working. "As far as nutshells, that was a pistachio. How about a walnut?"

"We're comparing the information that I give you to the size of nuts now?" Tony asked with a smirk.

"Did that Kel guy put you up to this?"

"Not entirely…"

"Because you could probably do better than follow the advice of the guy that she literally ran out on."

"Yeah, but he's her best friend. He knows her better than anybody!"

"Even so, I'm sure he didn't mean for you to propose to her as soon as you get home!"

Tony pointed to himself with a proud smile. "That was my idea."

"Yeah, I bet it was…"

"What's the advantage of waiting to ask her?"

"How about dating!? You know, what normal people do! And not giving her a conniption could be advantageous…"

"You said yourself that I've been in love with her for years and just didn't know it yet. Well now I know it, and I didn't need to date her to find that out. She's smart, she's funny, she's caring, she's my best friend."

Rhodey gave Tony a horrified look. "I'm your best friend…"

"Don't worry. I don't think it'll come to that between us. But, if it does, I'd buy you a drink first. Or maybe take you camping."

They shared a quick laugh before the moment passed. "Are you sure about this, Tony?" he asked, shaking his head skeptically. "Couples get engaged. You don't want to take Pepper on even one date?"

"People don't fall in love on dates," he said flatly. "They fall in love by getting to know each other. Admittedly, dating is a way of getting to know each other, but so is having a slightly unhealthy work relationship for over seven years. Dating is a way for people to see how much they like each other. I already know that I like her. In fact, I like her so much that I want to spend the rest of my life with her. When people make decisions like that, they usually get married."

"Yeah. Sometimes they even like to think decisions like that through - you know, for a minute or two - but I don't think you need to get that radical..."

"It's simple, Rhodey; I love her, she loves me. Why not get married?"

"That type of thinking might make sense in theory, but this isn't a scientific equation. And you know damn well that Pepper isn't that practical."

"She doesn't have to be. I know that she loves me."

He sounded sincere, and it almost pained Rhodey to point this out to his friend. "You don't know that. She might have a bit of a crush on you, but that may be all that it is."

"I know that she loves me," Tony repeated calmly.

"How can you know something like that?"

"It's just… something inside. I can't explain it, Rhodes. I just know in my heart that some part of her loves me the way that I love her. Why else would she stick by my side like she has the past seven years?"

Rhodey stared at him for a long minute. That was a pretty profound statement. He could see the truth of it in his eyes, too. Tony absolutely believed that Pepper loved him as much as he loved her. It was kind of… nice to see Tony so happy. His confidence in Pepper's love for him made Rhodey just as confident for him. Tony could do this!

Rhodey cleared his throat and looked away from his friend. Perhaps all of that Dr. Phil was starting to get to him. "You're a sap," Rhodey said, his voice dropping an octave.

"Aww, don't be bitter, Jimmy! I love you too!" He stood with his arms opened wide for a hug and his lips even puckered, but Rhodey shoved him back.

"Not on your life, Stark! It can never happen between you and I!" He fake sobbed and turned his back on Tony. "You're meant to be with Pepper. And me… well, Halle Berry and I will find a way to work out – what the hell was that?"

Tony coughed uncomfortably. "Pardon?"

"I know you heard that," he accused. His eyes widened when he actually identified the sound. "For the love of God, Tony…"

"I was hoping that we could go the entire flight without this coming up." Tony raked his fingers through his hair with a sheepish smile before walking over to one of the doors and opening it. "Come on out," he called.

Rhodey shook his head. "Can I ask what the hell possessed you?"

Tony shrugged, watching as the creature poked its head out and looked around. "Kel had two dogs…"

"What does that have to do with this?"

Tony stared at him innocently. "You really don't see the connection?"

Rhodey rubbed his forehead. "Only in your world, Tony…"

"His dogs were really nice."

"But getting a dog is too simple for you, isn't it," Rhodey accused, shaking his head. "A cat would be too simple too. No, you choose to get the goddamn duck!"

The creature let out an obnoxious quack and flapped its feathers a few times before it began waddling over to Tony. "I'm not a dog person," he said with a smirk. "Or a cat person. And if you call him a goddamn duck one more time I'll throw him at you. He'll fly."

Rhodey bit back a hysterical laugh at the absurdity of his friend. "So you're a duck person…"

Tony bent down and picked up the stark white duck, letting it nest in the bend of his elbow as he stood tall and looked his friend squarely in the eye. To his credit, he kept a completely straight face, even when the bird began picking at his shirt collar. "Is there something wrong with ducks?"

"Honestly…" Rhodey sat down, chuckling under his breath. "I don't know why I'm surprised. Considering what animals you would consider to be pets, a duck is pretty mild. And the fact that he just fixed your shirt collar is an added bonus."

Tony flashed his friend a winning smile and looked down at his new pet. "There, you see, Gladstone?" He pet the duck's wings affectionately and it ruffled its feathers in response. "I told you Rhodey would like you!"

The name Gladstone came from Sherlock Holmes, and the inspiration for the pet duck is from a dream I had two nights ago. But in the dream I named him Charlie Murphy…