Okay, guys! I've gotta run! Leaving for a few days, but I PROMISE I will update ASAP! Thank you all so so so much once again, for all of your support and feedback! I'll be back, refreshed and ready to write again, on Tuesday! (unless I luck out, and somehow manage to update sooner!) Have a wonderful weekend! And happy reading! :D
That afternoon, after leaving the restaurant, Tony and Pepper traveled back into the city to acquire the rest of the necessary office implements Pepper would need that she was forced to surrender in the days before. She had chuckled to herself as she stood back and watched Tony, like a kid in a candy store, jabber to the sales people at the computer and phone stores about the latest tech and newest gadgets on the market. He fiddled and futzed with each device, knowing for sure that what was in his hand was the latest and greatest, until his eyes wandered to the next in line, and he'd let out an excited "Ooo!" or a "Oh, look at this one, Pep!" At one point, in the computer store, he'd dragged her by the hand to a laptop he thought would just impress her to no end, chattering about the processor, the hard drive, and memory, and whatever other information he felt she'd be just as excited as he was to know. When they'd finally come to it, he stopped and stared at it, amazed and enamored. Pepper just glanced between him and the laptop cluelessly.
He then turned his gaze to her, grinning. "Well?" he said expectantly.
"It's...very nice?" she offered, wincing, knowing he'd expected far different a reaction from her.
Tony deflated. "Okay. Clearly, I've failed you," he grumbled, and Pepper couldn't help it. She started chortling and chuckling, trying not to mock his clear frustration with her lack of technical knowledge.
He pouted at her, and then the corners of his mouth began to turn upwards, and he found he couldn't help it, either. He surrendered and started giggling, too.
"Awww, I'm sorry," she said, patting his shoulder, and trying to sound sympathetic through her giggles. "Honestly, I don't really care what it does as long as I can read and write emails with it, and open and print documents. That's the extent of my requirements for a laptop," she stated.
Tony smirked. "Well, then you'll look damn good doing all of that with this thing," he said jokingly, throwing a flippant hand in the computer's direction. "We'll just call it the super-duper email writer, and document open-upper-er, okay? Since all other functions are..." he said, exhaling with mock exasperation. "Obviously lost on you," he said, narrowing his eyes, and pursing his lips at her.
Pepper just giggled even more, and Tony rolled his eyes and smirked at her, secretly loving teasing her so much. "So, are we done here, Ms. Computer Whiz? Do you think this one's our horse?" he asked.
"Why are you asking me? You're the one who's so enamored with it," Pepper replied.
"But you're the one that has to use it," Tony argued. "So whadya' think? Should we tell 'em to wrap it up?"
Pepper smiled and nodded resolutely. "Let's do it," she said definitively.
"That's my girl," Tony said proudly. "Way to trust the tech geek."
"I thought you were the gear-head?" Pepper quipped, smiling at him wryly.
"Many hats, Potts. I wear many hats," Tony replied, faking seriousness, and then giving her a smirk as they walked to the sales desk.
"Oh. Okay. Gotcha'," she said, smiling to herself in amusement.
XxXxXxXxXx
With all of their required implements bought and stowed in Tony's car within a couple of hour's time, they found themselves once again on the highway, headed back in the direction of the mansion. They still had a few hours to kill before the cars would be delivered, but their to-do list had been completed. Pepper fiddled with her new phone in the passenger seat as Tony drove, doing well to maintain the speed limit really for only one reason- driving faster meant getting home quicker which meant they'd been ending their day together sooner. And, quite frankly, this left him feeling a bit anticlimactic, to say the least. He'd very much enjoyed their time together, and hated to see it end. And he sensed Pepper was feeling the same way, as she been completely quiet, and very pensive, since they'd started driving again.
After a while, she took her eyes off the screen of her phone, and put it into sleep mode. She sighed softly, turning her head to gaze out the window. Tony looked at her sidelong, observing her body language. "Today was fun, wouldn't you agree?" he asked her.
Pepper slowly nodded as she continued to watch the scenery go by. "Yep," she said. She smiled to herself, but Tony detected a bit of melancholy in it.
He turned his head back to the road, and narrowed his eyes, working his jaw in thought. "You know what we need now?" he asked, after a moment.
"Hmmmm?" Pepper said, turning her head to look at him and raising her eye brows in curiosity.
"Ice cream," he said. "Like, from the pier."
"Your sweet tooth bothering you again?" she teased.
"Isn't yours?" Tony asked, smirking and cocking an eyebrow. "You pretend to be all health-conscious, Potts. But I know if I put a cone in front of you right now, it would be hard for you not to go Godzilla on it," he joked.
Pepper spluttered, and laughed out loud in surprise. "Godzilla?! Excuse me?!" she cried. "I do not go Godzilla on anything, I'll have you know," she protested, trying to not smile at his teasing her.
Tony scoffed. "Pssshhh. Please! That two o'clock energy slump you always complain about? Who do you think you're kidding? I've seen you inhale a whole piece of double chocolate cheesecake in two shakes just for the sugar high!" he retorted.
Pepper gasped, grinning. "That was one time, Tony! One time! And I was desperate! I didn't sleep well that night, and could barely stay awake that afternoon, and I was craving chocolate like nobody's business, so I..."
"Inhaled it. Like I said," he finished smugly. "Honestly, Pepper. You don't have to make excuses. There's no shame in admitting you have a problem. In fact, they say that's the first step in recovery," Tony preached to her sanctimoniously, while smirking.
Pepper huffed and gave him a look of disdain, but couldn't keep from blushing and grinning in the process. "So, what does that make you? My enabler?" she jabbed back.
Tony just chuckled at her. "Yep! Sure does, honey, and I am shameless," he joked. "So ice cream at the pier, it is," he proclaimed, flicking on his turning signal for the fast approaching exit to the Santa Monica Pier.
XxXxXxXxXx
When they arrived at the Pier, they found parking relatively close to the little soda shop, and Tony, as had been his custom that day, insisted on opening Pepper's door for her, and offering her his arm. And, of course, she accepted. They strolled leisurely together down the boardwalk, neither of them in any hurry to get to their destination. They chattered about various subjects, their ease of conversation so natural between them that they both were unaware they'd eventually come to the shop they'd made the trip for in the first place.
"Oh! Look! Here we are, already!" Pepper said in surprise, stopping them and pointing at the red and white striped awning of the store front.
Tony opened the door, the welcoming ching-ching of the doorbell chiming when he did this, and gestured for her to enter. She smiled and nodded, walking past him as he held the door for her. Instantly, the smell of freshly formed waffle cones, and the hum of chest freezer display cases enveloped their senses. The black and white checkerboard floor gleamed beneath their feet, and the small, rotund man, with rosy cheeks and tufts of gray hair above each ear, who was dressed in a white coat and apron, greeted them warmly from behind the counter.
"What can I get you folks, today?" he asked them jovially.
"A milkshake and two straws?" Tony quipped softly, but only saying it half under his breath. He looked at Pepper sidelong and smirked, wondering if she'd heard him and daring her to respond.
Pepper heard him, but played coy, giving him a fleeting glance, and a wry smirk before bringing her attention back to the man. "A waffle cone with one scoop of..." she said, looking down at the selections. She pointed at a tub of very tempting, decadent-looking chocolate. "What's that one?" she muttered to herself, and then her eyes went wide when she read the label, her cheeks instantly reddening.
Tony laughed out loud. "Double chocolate cheesecake?! Well, that's perfect for you, isn't it, Pep?" he bellowed. He flicked his eyes to the man, and pointed at Pepper. "She loves that stuff. Can't get enough of it! A fiend for it, this one! If you ask me? I think she has a problem," he chattered, teasing her.
Pepper giggled,and shoved his shoulder playfully. "Nobody did ask you, so shut up!" she joked back, her cheeks turning more and more red by the moment.
Tony gave the man, who was chuckling at their exchange, a knowing smile, and nodded cockily. "Yeah, it's pretty bad. We're trying to get her some help, but in the meantime? Better give her what she wants, or I can't be held responsible for her actions. Fair warning, pal," he joked, throwing up his hands in surrender.
Pepper rolled her eyes and then closed them, shaking her head with embarrassment. Finally, she opened them, and gave the man an impish grin. "Please ignore him. He's being...obnoxious," she said, smirking as she flicked her eyes to Tony, who was wearing a goofy grin and still chuckling at her.
"The butter pecan," she said, adamantly, with a stern look at Tony. Then she turned back to man and smiled. "That's what I'll have, if you please," she said resolutely.
"Very good! And you, sir?" the man asked pleasantly.
"Me?" Tony asked. He grinned smugly. "Oh, I'll have the double-chocolate cheesecake!" he announced proudly.
