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A few minutes later, Tony swung open the front door. He looked around to make sure there was no sign of Pepper, and then proceeded to enter, dragging the tree he'd cut down behind him. It swished loudly on the wood floor, and that made him wince, knowing Pepper could probably easily hear it.
When it had cleared the doorway, he dropped it where it lied, and dashed to the fireplace to grab the kindling bucket. Dumping the sparse contents remaining in it out onto the hearth, he quickly took it to the corner of the living room, setting it beside the front windows. Then he walked to the cut end of the tree, and heaved it over to the bucket, setting it across the top carefully so as not to tip the bucket over. Then he moved to the top of the tree, and quickly tipped it upright, so the bottom would plunk down into the bucket, and he could right the tree into position. Much to his satisfaction, the bottom few branches sank handily inside, and the tree fit snugly.
Tony stepped back to admire his work. "Nice," he murmured, with a very pleased smile. Then he swiveled around and turned his attention to retrieving the gun, and the goose.
XxXxXxXxXx
Pepper could hear a lot of rustling around in the living room, as she washed her hair under the faucet of the bathtub. She was unable to help a curious, giddy smile from spreading across her lips. Her blues from the morning were quickly dissipating, even just from having Tony near her that morning. She couldn't deny- wherever he went, he brought a certain infectious energy with him. Really, it was what she loved most about him- the boyish sense of adventure he'd always had. Granted, at times, that made her the mother hen, having to talk him out of doing something that she knew had no way of ending well. But on the whole, she could honestly say that she had never been bored in his presence. And in this situation, in these circumstances, she was quite grateful for that.
She felt the familiar flutter of excitement and attraction to him in her stomach, and she smiled fondly. She could hardly wait to see what he had planned for them.
She finished washing her hair, and reached for another towel to wrap it in. Then she glanced at the clothes on the stool that she'd been wearing and grimaced. It would be nice to have fresh clothes to change in to, she thought. These were the ones Tony had found for her the night of the accident, so she wasn't sure there would even be any other clothes anywhere. But she decided to try to look. Hopefully, without Tony detecting her leaving the bathroom.
She wrapped her bath towel back around her body, and carefully opened the bathroom door. She poked her head out to listen for his whereabouts. Just then, she saw him dash to the fireplace, and grab the kindling bucket from the hearth, before she quickly ducked her head back inside. She waited for a moment, hoping he hadn't seen her. When it was clear he hadn't, she reopened the door, and snuck out into the hall, quickly making her way into the bedroom just across the way.
Softly, she closed the door behind her. Instantly, the air from the closed room chilled her skin, and she shivered. "Whew. Chilly in here," she huffed, rushing to the dresser by the bed. She began opening the drawers and rifling through the contents. In the first drawer, she found a couple of pairs of flannel pajama bottoms, both men's medium in size. She also came across a couple of old t-shirts- one with the name of a local softball league on it, and another one with the picture of two palm trees on an island with the word Hawaii scrolled over the top of them. But so far, nothing different to wear for an outer shirt, or more wool socks. She'd hoped to find more of those for both herself, and Tony. "His poor feet," she murmured to herself, with a frown.
Still, she was happy she'd be able to give each of them a change of clothes, and these would do nicely. They would even be coordinated- one being red and gold plaid, and the other being green and gold plaid. Pepper giggled. "How Christmas-y," she remarked, with a smirk.
She gathered up all of her findings, and opened the bedroom door again. All of the rustling she'd heard before seemed to have ceased, and she didn't detect Tony's movement in the house, either. Suddenly, curiosity rose up in her mind again, and she momentarily considered walking down the hall to secretly have a peek at what he'd been doing. But she decided against it, not wanting to spoil the surprise, and bustled back across to the bathroom once more to get dressed.
Once she'd finished, she poked her head out of the door, and listened once more for Tony. But she didn't hear him. So she decided to call out. "Tony?" she said.
"Yes, Ms. Potts?" he teased in a very formal tone.
She chuckled. She heard him walk from the kitchen, and he soon appeared down the hall. He grinned. "You rang?" he said.
She smiled. "I was wondering if I'm allowed to come out? Can I be freed from the bathroom, now?" she joked.
"I just finished, so, yes. You are officially sprung," he joked back. He surveyed her new attire. "New duds? Nice," he said, with an approving smirk. "Feel better?"
"Much. And I found you some, too," she said, smiling.
He grinned at her consideration. He put his hands on her hips, and leaned in to softly kiss her lips. "Thank you, baby," he murmured. "So, shall we?" he cooed, stepping to her side to ceremoniously offer her his arm.
Pepper giggled, and accepted it. "We shall," she cooed back, and they began their promenade into the living room. "I just thought I should ask first. With all of the rustling around out here, I didn't want to..." But she immediately stopped talking as soon as they entered the living room, as her breath was taken away by what she saw in front of her. In the corner, stood an honest-to-goodness Christmas tree. Sure, it was bare, with the bottom branches stuffed into their kindling bucket, and sticking precariously up and out in all directions. But it didn't matter. The fact that Tony had thought enough to put it there touched her deeply, and tears flooded her eyes at the sweet gesture.
He watched her get emotional over what he'd done, and he smiled in adoration at the sight. He stepped behind her, and wrapped his arms around her middle, resting his chin on her shoulder. "Merry Christmas, Pep," he said softly.
Pepper nodded. "Yes. Merry Christmas, Tony," she replied back. She slowly turned around, and wrapped her arms around his neck, planting her lips firmly on his, and kissing him deeply. Tony wrapped her in his arms tightly, and returned the kiss.
They went on for several moments. And when the kiss wound down, and finally broke, they both inhaled deeply, and grinned lovingly at each other. To Tony's surprise, Pepper still had tears in her eyes, and he moved to wipe a stray one from her cheek with the pad of his thumb. "I take it you like what I've done, here?" he joked, with a knowing smirk.
Pepper giggled, and nodded. "Oh very much so, yes," she replied. She turned to look at the tree over her shoulder, but Tony kept her in his arms, planting a tender kiss to her temple. She then turned back to look at him, with pure love in her eyes. "It's wonderful," she said softly. Her eyes danced over his face, and her grin spread even more. "And you're pretty wonderful for doing it," she finished.
Tony beamed. Then he nodded in the affirmative. "I'll take it," he replied. He grasped one of her hands in his, and delicately kissed her wrist, the two of them keeping their eyes trained on each other. He then brought the hand he held to his chest, and patted it lovingly. "I know it isn't much, but I wanna give you the best Christmas I can, Pep. You deserve it."
Pepper spluttered sheepishly, as fresh tears filled her eyes. "Tony Stark, you're going to make me cry again!" she joked. They both chuckled.
"Come 'ere, baby," he said, pulling her into a hug. He kissed the side of her head, and rubbed circles on her back. "Don't cry, okay? Just enjoy. After all of those years you brought a little Christmas cheer to me when I was feeling down? This is the least I could do."
Pepper hugged him tightly around the neck, and then pulled back to look at him.
"Well, thank you," she said. "It means a lot. Really, it does."
Tony grinned and nodded. "You're most welcome, Ms. Potts," he said, with a smirk and cocked eyebrow. She giggled.
Tony took a deep breath, and blew it out sharply in reluctance. "Now," he said, turning around to lead her to the kitchen. "We've got a job ahead of us, I'm afraid," he said.
Pepper furrowed her brow. "A job?" she asked, but then she gasped, followed by letting out a shocked yelp at what she'd seen. Her eyes went wide, and she nervously glanced back and forth between what was splayed out on the kitchen table, and Tony.
He gave her an impish grin. "Like I said," he replied, shrugging.
Pepper broke away from him to cautiously circle the dead bird he'd brought in, her eyes filled with trepidation. "What are you...expecting me to do with this thing? Exactly?" she asked.
Tony frowned and chewed his lip in thought. "Yeah, I...kinda didn't fully think that part through when I shot it," he admitted. But then he brightened, and pointed a finger at her in epiphany. "But you did grow up on a farm, though, right?"
Pepper nodded. "Well, yes, but that doesn't mean..."
"Sooooo, don't they...do this..." Tony began rotating a hand around in the air. "Kind of stuff on a farm?"
Pepper gave him a wry look. "Do what kind of stuff, Tony?" she asked.
"Well, you know?" he asked. "Whatever it is that you...do to birds when they're...they're..."
"What? Lying dead on your kitchen table?" Pepper asked.
Tony spluttered and stammered nervously. "Well...yeeeah, Pep. I mean..." he said. He gesturing toward the bird. "We know you don't eat the feathers. And you don't eat the...the..." he stopped to search for the words. "Innards," he finally managed to say. "So, that means all you'll have to do is..."
"All I'll have to do? Oh, no. No,no,no," Pepper warned. "If you think, for one second, that I'm going to be the one to..."
"We'll do it together," Tony quickly offered. "How bad can it be? After all, the Colonel does it all the time. Right?"
Pepper frowned in confusion."I doubt Rhodey does..."
Tony frowned. "I'm not talking about Rhodey," he corrected. "San-ders. The Colonel? Get it?"
Pepper wasn't amused. She just scowled at him in silence.
Tony sidled up to her, and put his arm around her shoulder, rubbing it in assurance. "Come on, honey," he cooed. "Don't you wanna play mountain man with me?" he cooed in a syrupy sweet tone, and batting his eyes at her.
Pepper just cocked her eyebrow at him. "Hey, that's your fantasy. Not mine," she said. She looked at the lifeless goose in front of them, and cocked her head in thought. "But in the name of survival, I guess there is only one thing left to do," she relented.
Tony beamed. "Ah, there's my frontier woman!" he crowed jokingly. He then began belting out a raucous rendition of Home on the Range, and rocking them both from side to side.
Pepper just cringed, then tried not to chuckle at his antics. She closed her eyes and shook her head. "God, if the stuffy socialites of Beverly Hills could see me, now," she muttered to herself.
XxXxXxXxXx
They'd collectively realized that, since they knew they'd be roasting the whole bird, the whole thing would undoubtedly need to be plucked. So they got to work, despite them both being a bit squeamish, and began plucking the feathers together. It was tedious work, as once the big, heavy feathers were gone, the little downy feathers underneath, especially on the breast leading down to the legs and tail, were small, and hard to grasp. They also flew everywhere once they were freed, and each of them both stopped periodically to pick from each other the tiny pieces of fluff that had randomly settled on their hair and clothing.
"So, you've never done this before?" Tony inquired. "I thought for sure, being a farmer's daughter and all..."
Pepper attempted to itch her nose with the back of her hand, as her palms and fingers were covered with down. Then she shook her head. "Not poultry," she replied. "We did have chickens, but mostly for eggs. Only once in a while, when a hen would stop producing, would Daddy butcher it. And it was my mother who always prepped it for cooking. But I never did it, personally. I couldn't take it. My stomach was too weak."
"Really? Huh," Tony pondered. "Soooooo, how's your stomach right now?" he asked.
"Borderline," Pepper replied flatly, with a grimace.
Tony chuckled. "Then you're really gonna love what comes next," he teased, his eyes sparkling with mischief.
Pepper winced. "Eww! Don't remind me," she grumbled.
When they finished, Pepper swept up and bagged the feathers that had been strewn everywhere in the process. Now, a very naked goose lay before them, and her eyes scanned over it skeptically. She and Tony then traded glances.
"Okay, so..." he began. "I think we can deduce we don't need the head. Or the feet."
"And you're telling me this because?" Pepper replied.
"Because...we..."
"No."
"I?" Tony corrected, raising his eyebrows.
"Better," Pepper affirmed, with an approving smile.
"I'm going to...remove the..." Tony stammered, gesturing widely in the direction of the bird.
Pepper patted him on the back jovially. "Yes. You are," she replied, with a wide, sardonic grin. "So get to it, mountain man," she chided. "Meanwhile, I'll find something we can roast it in."
She left his side to go searching for the proper implements, and Tony gulped, looking at the goose with trepidation. He stepped closer to it, and picked up the head between his fingers, the eyes closed, and the tongue hanging out of the mouth. He frowned. "Hey, what if we both..." he started to call out to her, over his shoulder.
"No," Pepper interjected, cutting him off as she rummaged through the cupboards.
"But we could..."
"No."
"Listen to me. If we only..."
"Nope! Tony? You brought this thing home. Now, you need to deal with it," Pepper commanded sternly. "I'll cook it. But I'm certainly not..."
"Please?" Tony begged, giving her sad puppy dog eyes. "Pepper?"
She stopped what she was doing to look over her shoulder at him. "No. I said no, Tony," she responded firmly.
"Please? Come on. It'll be fun," he prodded.
"Oh, I highly doubt that," she replied. They both held each other's gazes for several seconds in silence. Tony raised his eyebrows expectantly.
She let out an exasperated sigh. "You're not going to let this go, are you?" she asked, walking back over to him with her arms crossed. He pulled her to him from around the waist, and lowered his head to nuzzle her neck, laying delicate kisses all along her jawline.
"No. Tony, no. You...don't get to..." Pepper tried to resist, but her eyes fluttered, and she secretly found it hard to keep her resolve. "This won't work. You can't just play this card every time you want me to do something," she argued. But judging by the way her voice became more and more breathy as she spoke, Tony doubted that she even believed her words.
"Can't I? Funny. Didn't get that memo," he muttered, his words muffled against her skin. He brought his head back up, and looked at her with a smirk. Her cheeks were flushed, and Pepper averted her eyes bashfully.
She puffed her bangs upward in exasperation. "You're hopeless, you know that?" she countered, bringing her gaze back to his.
"And you're helpless," he replied smugly. "Can't resist me. Even I know that."
Pepper glanced back and forth between him and goose, and then huffed, defeated. "Fine," she said. "I'll make you a deal. Get rid of the head, and the feet. Then, I'll help with..." she paused to find the words that wouldn't gross her out just by saying them. "The rest," she finished.
Tony beamed. "Okay. Deal, Potts. I'll be right back," he said, grabbing the goose around the neck, and heading for the door.
Pepper frowned. "Where are you going with that?" she asked.
Tony looked at her and shrugged, as he slipped his wet shoes back on. "To do what you asked, Pep," he said. "I've got an ax outside that's good and sharp. Can you think of a better way to..."
Pepper grimaced and waved a hand at him in dismissal. "No. Okay. Go on. Sorry I asked, " she said hurriedly.
Tony chuckled. "You see the things I do for you?" he asked with a teasing smirk.
Pepper just rolled her eyes, and smirked at him.
He grinned triumphantly, and then winked playfully at her before turning the door handle. "Okay! I'm off. Goodbye, my love! I shall dispatch with the head and feet hence forth!" he bellowed ceremoniously. "Luuuuuve you!" he called out, as he walked out the door, then closing it behind him.
Pepper chuckled to herself, as her cheeks blushed in response to his affection. "Love you, too," she whispered to herself, before she bit her lips together coyly, her heart swelling at actually hearing the admission of her feelings for him out loud. Even if she was the only one in the room.