Warning: Pure Fluff ahead
Fabas indulcet fames
Translation: Hunger sweetens the beans" or "hunger makes everything taste good."
Tony and Pepper talked so much during the ride back, it was a wonder, either side understood what the other was saying. Both were full of information and wanted to formulate their next step. Unfortunately for them, Le Loup was not at the inn. So Tony and Pepper retired to their room.
In the room, Tony stood near the sink and Pepper stared out of the window. Tony said conversationally, "I am impressed at how much information you managed to gain, Pepper. Your spying skills are good, especially since you do not have any formal training."
She was silent and Tony looked at her curiously. Then she turned and he asked worriedly, "What is the matter? Why do you look so pale?"
She swallowed and said, "Tony, the moon, it is... red."
He walked to her side and looked up at the waxing gibbous moon, which was a dull blood red. He nodded grimly and said, "Yes, this is what I saw last time, I think I told you. I do not know why it has turned that color."
She was standing so close to him, that when she shivered, he felt it too and clasped her shoulder comfortingly. "It is okay, Pepper. We will find out what is going on and stop it. Come now. Go to sleep. We need to be up, bright and early tomorrow."
He moved back to the sink and Pepper said "I need to bathe, Tony and I think you should too. Sitting in the garbage cart has given us both an aroma."
He grinned at her. "Milady, you can have first turn at the sink and I shall bathe after you."
Pepper raised one eyebrow and gave Tony a look of skepticism. "Anthony Stark, are you proposing I bathe in the sink?"
He shrugged. "Why yes, why not?" He gestured at the soap and pitchers of water on the sink. "You can use a cloth with soap and wipe down and wash away. I will get more water. What's the matter?" He asked as she shook her head with amusement. "I bathe like this, every day."
She sighed and said, "Well, Lord Stark, it is not right for a lady to bathe in a sink."
He asked amused, "Oh do tell, how does a lady bathe then?"
She said primly, "In a bath tub of course, soaking oneself in a lot of hot water."
Tony blanched as the most arousing images started to appear in his mind.
Pepper in a bath tub, her long, lean body surrounded sexily by soapy bubbles and one pale, endlessly long, firm leg sensuously stretched out as she soaps her inner thigh... Gawd!
He cleared his throat and said casually, "Sure, if you'd like, you can call for a bath. I shall inform the inn keeper as I go down."
"Why are you going down?"
"To eat while you bathe of course. You need privacy, so I shall stay out."
Pepper placed her hands on her hips and stared at him. "If you will eat in the salon as I bathe, when will I eat? Alone after I bathe? Downstairs in the middle of the night?"
Tony quickly shook his head. "No, there's no need for that. You can eat in the room."
"Tony, do not be unreasonable, you need to rest too. I feel bad banishing you from your bed and rest, just because I want to bathe. Look, there is a screen divider here! I will bathe behind it and you can sit here, near the bed and the fireplace. Besides," she bit her lip and looked at him pleadingly. "I would feel better if there was someone I know, in the room, while I bathed."
Tony took a deep breath, trying to still his beating heart. I need to be a gentleman about this. Plus, I do not want her to eat in the salon, alone at midnight!
"Tell you what, let me sit behind the divider, looking out of the window. You need the full room and the fireplace to keep warm in the water. You finish bathing and we eat together in the room. What do you say?"
Pepper smiled at him sweetly and he grinned back reflexively. "I will go tell the innkeeper about the bath, you gather what you need."
A half hour later, Tony was sitting near the window, polishing his armor and trying his best not to pay any attention to the soft splashing sounds coming from behind the divider. At least his mind was trying to, his body was insistent on listening and reacting to every little sound.
Pepper's bath tub had been filled and she was luxuriously soaping herself. This Tony was sure of.
How do you know this, Anthony? The dragon hissed lazily.
Because, Dragon, I can smell her soap. Also, I can hear the soft swish of the loofah as she moves it over her body and then the splash, when she dips it in the water. Stop chortling, Dragon and go away!
With one last laugh, the dragon grew silent and Tony sat and stared into the darkness, from his window. The smell of vanilla and lilies was so strong in the air. It did not help that Pepper was gently humming as she bathed. Tony was nodding along absently to the tune and started to polish his armor in the same motion, he imagined Pepper was rubbing herself. Gently over collarbones and neck, then firmly caressing the shoulders, then rubbing one long, slender outstretched hand...
Then he heard a knock at the door, Pepper asking "Who is it?" in a low, lazy tone and the chambermaid entering with another bucket of hot water. Tony heard the gentle splash of the water as it was poured into the tub and then Pepper moaned long and deep with pleasure.
Tony blinked rapidly as he was picturing an entirely different situation in which Pepper would make that same moan. On my bed, hair all splayed on the pillow, like a reddish fragrant cloud and Pepper, bare in all her glory, eyes closed, glorious porcelain skin, long, heavenly legs beneath mine. She'd make that very same noise when I run my tongue along the velvety triangle of flesh beneath her soft stomach, right above her curls... and then when I move below... I wonder how long I can get her to moan...
He felt his pants tighten painfully as his sensual thoughts had woken up his libido. Consarn it, get your head out of the gutter, man! Let the woman bathe in peace.
He stared at the ridge in his pants, willing it to go away. Think of sheep, Tony, sheep, white fluffy sheep, in a meadow, eating grass. Minding their own business. No Peppers around.
Just as his brain started to relax, he heard a splashing motion, the sound of the loofah being massaged or rubbed. I wonder what Pepper is washing now. Behind her ears? Rubbing her neck? I bet she's all soapy and glistening and soft. Every part of her coated in white suds. I do not think she is washing her hair. She must have tied it up. So her long, slender neck is exposed. She's got that sensitive spot near her shoulder. And the lobes of her ears must be sensitive too. I wonder how she will wash her back...
He grimaced as his erection showed no signs of going away any time soon. Then the object of his fantasies, called out inquiringly, "Tony, are you alright? You are awfully quiet."
Tony dropped the gauntlet he was cleaning, in shock and it clattered as it fell to the floor.
Pepper asked with alarm "Tony, what was that?"
"Nothing, Pepper, nothing, I was just dozing, so I... I eh... I just woke up and dropped the gauntlet. Sorry if I scared you."
Pepper was silent for a moment and then said, "Oh Tony, I am sorry, I have taken such a long time to bathe. You must want to sleep. I am going to finish very soon. Can you call the chambermaid from the window?"
Very happy to oblige, Tony stuck his head out of the window and yelled for the maid to come up with a draining bucket and some clean water. He wondered if this was a good chance for him to escape to the stables. I need to get rid of something with a very cold shower and I cannot do that in the sink.
He heard two maids enter and he wrapped his cloak around himself and then placed his helmet on his head, so he wouldn't see anything. He walked straight to the door, looking neither left nor right, hand raised to the side of his head. He heard a gasp or two and then deep giggling as Pepper asked in a voice that was struggling to contain her laughter, "Tony, where are you going dressed like that?" He had reached the door and did not turn around but answered, "I'm going to talk to the inn keeper about dinner. You relax and finish up, Pep. I will be back in fifteen minutes."
He closed the door behind him with relief as Pepper broke into laughter at his appearance. Then he ran to the stables.
Pepper was so relaxed after her long, warm soak, she felt as if her bones had melted and she was just a mass of flesh. She stretched languorously on the stool as she waited for dinner to be served. She heard a knock at the door and smiled as the maid brought in two steaming dishes of lamb and rice.
She also brought a giant tureen of marrow soup, bread and some ale with two glasses. Pepper poured out two bowls of soup and drummed her fingers impatiently as she waited for her dinner companion. Whose promise of returning in fifteen minutes had extended to half an hour.
I can't blame him completely. I took half an hour to finish up. He may have come, seen all the maids and left.
Just then Tony entered, looking so fresh and soft, that Pepper smiled at him, forgetting her impatience.
It is getting more and more difficult to stay objective around Tony. Hell, it is getting more and more difficult to stay angry and distant with him. I think, try as I might have to avoid it, I think we have come back to being friends. And if that's all I will get, then I am grateful for it.
He sat down and tucked his napkin in his collar, then picked up his spoon and looked at Pepper inquiringly. She was admiring his squeaky clean, slightly damp, scrubbed appearance and he flushed.
"Why the staring, Pepper? Something on my face?"
"You bathed in the stables, didn't you, Tony?"
He adopted such a fake expression of innocence that she giggled.
"How did you ever notice?" He murmured around a spoonful of soup.
She smiled at him apologetically. "I'm sorry Tony, I took too much time to bathe. It will not happen again, I promise."
He looked at her, head tilted. "Pep, come on, do not apologize. The stable shower suits me better. I'm not the sort to sit in a tub. Besides, I should thank you for letting me sleep here."
She lightly tapped him on the head, with a spoon. "That's enough of that. We both split the room's cost, so there's no need to thank anyone."
They ate in silence then, both too hungry for any more small talk. After they were done and the maid was clearing up the dishes, Tony put his armor away and Pepper turned down the bed. She took a piece of clothing and stepped behind the divider, to change into it. Once she finished, she stepped out in her night shift and moved towards the bed.
She looked at Tony, sitting on the settee with a pillow and blanket and huffed. "Anthony Stark, do not tell me you are going to sleep in discomfort on that settee. That is not a bed, you need to rest your back."
He looked at her with confusion. "Are you suggesting we share a bed?"
She flushed at the images his words invoked in her mind. Tony and I in bed, legs entwined, bodies pressed together from head to toe. I finally get to caress that muscular torso of his and watch his flame pulse as I do so.
Then she shook her head lightly.
"Yes, why not? The bed is certainly large enough for us to stay separate as we sleep. I insist, Tony. Else we flip a coin and the winner gets the bed."
Tony just stared at her and she yawned, rubbing her eyes sleepily. "Come on Tony, do not dawdle, just come to bed. I won't harm you, I promise." The last was said with a smile and Tony came over to the left side of the bed, with his pillow and blanket.
Pepper lay down on the left side, Tony on the right, a bolster between them. Tony blew out the candles and the room was bathed in soft moonlight. Pepper was tired, so she muttered a "Good night, Tony" and drifted immediately to sleep. Her second last coherent thought was of thankfulness, that the moonlight was not red in color even if the moon was. Her last coherent thought was that Tony smelled so damn good.
