A/N: Wow! The response to this has been so overwhelming. I'm so glad that you're all enjoying this as much as 4persephone and I are enjoying writing it. So, just for all of YOU, we made sure to include a Tony drabble in here to balance the Pepper drabble we had in the last one.

Two days later Pepper gets home from the office a little later than usual...though for once it isn't because of anything Tony's done to muck up their schedule. If anything, he's been unusually...well...COMPLIANT lately. Either he's apologizing for something she doesn't know about or he's up to something.

'Probably the latter,' she admits with no little amusement. Her boss had been spending HOURS in the shop lately working on something or another...a new project she can only assume.

She only hope whatever it is won't put holes in the floor this time.

Pepper kicks off her shoes and pulls out her hair tie with a happy sigh before padding back to her bedroom to change. For her evenings in, Pepper likes to get comfortable. It's not until she's washed her face and changed into her sweats and an old t-shirt that she settles down in front of her laptop at her coffee table with a plate of reheated lasagna and a glass of wine. Then she wakes up her computer and navigates to StarkNet which has become her new guilty pleasure.

She's been a little...stunned...by the positive reception to her work, actually. She's managed to spawn…well MINIONS she supposes is the best term. Which is impressive, she acknowledges with a wry grin, since she'd made such an effort to keep her own reputation low key.

Her first fiction had been complimented for its humor. The second for its "intriguing alternate universe feel." The third for "having the guts to assume even an obnoxious ass might occasionally be sympathetic and human."

She'd been the first to the ship, though she'd ADAMENTLLY objected to its nickname. She'd tried for something a little more dignified but had been scared into submission by the suggestion they go with the identification 'Topper's' instead.

She didn't even want to imagine how Tony would have reacted to THAT one, because like it or not, Tony was never far from her thoughts when she's working through this.

Pepper shakes her head at herself and takes a bite of her dinner while checking the messages left for her on the site. There's the usual reviews - "I loved it," "I read through all of your stories and didn't get any sleep," "Please update," etc. She bypasses most of those for what they are, looking for the ones that have an ounce of actual critique in them. She likes knowing when a misspelled word or a misplaced one. She also likes – as long as the reader isn't haughty about it - seeing how her perception of Tony measures up to general public perception.

A message at the bottom of the list in particular catches her eye. 'Fascinating concept...though you might want to tone down the "Geek" Stark habit a little bit. I very much doubt he is actually that obnoxious when working on a new project.'

There's a space then, followed by, 'Rumor has it you beta occasionally for new writers attaching themselves to this dingy. Is that true?'

Pepper just shakes her head at her own stupidity. She shouldn't even be encouraging herself, much less others in this mad enterprise. However, she's also taken it upon herself to try to...guide...how other people portray Tony. And herself, if she's honest. The last thing she needs to be portrayed as either a hussy or a wimp.

'Occasionally,' she finally types back. 'But not the stuff that's purely...titillating.' She really can't imagine much worse than reading someone else's imaginings of her and Tony...

"Oh god," she murmurs to herself as she sends the message off and pulls up Word. A few times her own stories have gotten away from her and led into what can only be described as erotic territory. However, she doesn't keep those on her computer. They're buried in a notebook in the bottom drawer of her nightstand, meant for no one's eyes, not even hers once she's written them down. She ought to burn the thing just to make doubly sure Tony will never see it.

She's a few paragraphs into proofreading her next story when a new message appears in her inbox. 'No worries. I don't work at Harlequin. The worst of it is a little bit of necking.' Again, there's a few lines blank before she reaches the gist of the note.

'I like the way you actually remember to make your characters human. You know. Tony's...likeable. Though he's also an epic level ASS.'

Pepper snorts to herself then hits the reply button. 'I suspect that the contrast is actually part of the addiction.'

They're common misconceptions. After all, most of what the public sees these days falls into two categories: Tony still running off at the mouth in front of the media, and his superhero mask. There's not a lot of room for humanity left between the two.

She thinks a moment then, 'Research what the man and his company have done that he doesn't constantly bullshit about in front of a camera...you'll start to get a more realistic view of who he might be.' Every comment and explanation she makes to people HAS to be explained away by the kind of general knowledge that anyone could possess. Anything indicating personal knowledge is verboten.

Pepper sends that, then turns her attention back to her story. She's been jumping around in her stories, mainly posting ones that were lighter in subject matter. Ones that were funny or ironic or just blazing examples of stupidity on either her or Tony's part. But now she's run out of those, and is left with the ones that MEAN something. Just like she knew she eventually would be. The "lightest" fic left to be posted isn't all that light and really just isn't up to par yet. Maybe it won't be. There's something about it that makes her want to keep it private.

'Yeah, SOMETHING,' Pepper mocks herself as she takes her dirty dinner dishes into the kitchen. That something is that this fic doesn't paint her in the best light. It delves into how she's sometimes jealous of the things Tony gives his attention to willingly when it seems like she has to force him to acknowledge her presence. It's unflattering and ignoble...but the emotion in it is true, and that's really the only benchmark she's ever held herself to. And since no one KNOWS that Pepper Potts is actually behind the fics that feature her almost without actually mentioning her name...

Well, then pride is a silly reason to hold herself back. Might as well continue to be honest.

There's another new email waiting for her when she comes back to the table. This one has a file attached.

'There you go. Forgive me if I'm not quite as verbose as you...still new to this whole fanfiction thing. Also if my nick's not a clear enough clue, I have a Y chromosome. Let me know if the testosterone or mechanical details ever start drowning an actual story.'

Pepper glances at the right corner of her screen: "TurboCharged," she murmurs to herself, shaking her head. 'Don't worry,' she writes back. 'I know a few things about cars. And by all accounts, Stark likes fast cars himself.'

She clicks open the file….

"He offered you WHAT?" Pepper's voice is disbelieving...

I shrug in reply as I unfasten my tie and suit jacket and throw them over the bar as I reach for a….ooohhh, a REALLY good bottle of rum. "Three sheep, two goats, and a really honking big swordfish. Mai tai?"

She looks at the bottle of rum, not out of interest, but because she seems to be absolutely speechless. "You...he..." She sputters. "You're seriously saying that the chief of that tribe tried to BUY ME?!"

"Don't be ridiculous, Ms. Potts. On the behalf of his son, he offered what he saw as a reasonable bride-price. I was told the goats are especially good breeders..." I reply as I set out two glasses and start looking for the appropriate juice to cut the alcohol with.

"Ha! No doubt gambling on the hope that the same could be said of me. What did he do when you told him 'no'?" When I don't answer immediately, Pepper's ears start to turn red and I have to work really hard to keep a straight face. "You DID tell him, no, didn't you?"

"I tried, Pepper. I really did. But then he offered me a season's worth of pearls."

"An. Thon. Y. Stark..." If Pepper Potts were a cartoon character, right now puffs of smoke would be shooting out her ears.

"Don't worry. I wasn't tempted by the pearls. They're really not 'bling' enough. However, when he offered me my own island -"

"They will NEVER find your body."

I think better of offering Pepper her drink. In this state she might actually toss it back in my face…and then she'd feel bad later. I just can't keep from teasing her a little more though. "Potts -" I call as she turns to storm out of the room. She pauses very briefly on the threshold of the room. "It was a really nice island." I can't see her face, but from the way her back goes ramrod straight, I can imagine what her face must look like.

I can't hold in the laughter any more and Pepper shoots me a look that normally would have me shaking in my boots before she leaves the room. "No! Hey, Pepper! Wait." She doesn't of course, and I can hardly blame her; I get up and case after her.

"It's not like I was SERIOUS," I defend, falling into step beside her. "It's just...he was so EARNEST. You have to admit it's a LITTLE bit funny..."

"I'll remember that the next time you beg me to offer the high bid at a charity auction." Pepper's demeanor is stony, unyielding.

'Oh.' I wince at that. Pepper's always my ace in the hole to get me out of trouble at those things. "Sorry."

"No you're not."

She's got a point there, but it's not as if I can admit it. "Potts, I tried. I've never said no so many times to someone in my life. It's not MY fault he thought I was trying to haggle with him." We reach her bedroom on the other side of the villa from mine. She shuts the door in my face. "Com'on, Pepper."

"The deal is DONE, Stark. Go out and surf with the sharks for awhile or something. "

Oh Pepper... "As long as you're in there, change into something nice. The chief decided to deal with you directly since I was clearly going to charge him an arm and a leg."

The door wrenches open. "He's supposed to come barter with ME?"

I hold up my hands defensively; she's got the pointy heel of one shoe right in my face. She might actually be considering the merits of stabbing me.

"I told him you'd say no but he didn't believe me. What do you want me to say? He clearly knows a good thing when he sees it."

Pepper groans, banging her head against the door gently several times. "Why didn't you just tell him that I'm already TAKEN, Tony?"

I look at her, struck speechless myself. "Well...he didn't ask if you were taken. He asked if you and I..." I motion between us meaningfully; Pepper's a smart girl and she can figure this out without me saying anything. It'll only embarrass her further if I say it out loud. As it is, she turns just the slightest bit pink.

"In case you were wondering, that was the first time I told him no."

"He really offered a SWORDFISH?" she finally asks after a moment.

"Stuffed and mounted. I think. Or maybe it was filleted." I can't remember if swordfish is a delicacy. One of the issues with price NEVER being an issue.

Peppers snorts a little. "I think I'd have preferred a pufferish."

"Aren't they poisonous?" Rather than answering, Pepper closes the door again. And locks it. "Pepper?" No answer. "Pepper?"

The story itself is fairly compelling...a vignette of sorts, this time from the male perspective. The author's word choices are a little repetitive but his snark makes her grin and his basic premise is believable. If there's anything that she has issue with really, is that he's taken what might be seen as the easy route with his Pepper character. She's…well, Pepper can't say that the reactions are off. God knows that if she ever found out that Tony had been made an offer for her, she'd probably blow her top. But that's all this Pepper is doing. There's only that one note.

After reading the story through again and highlighting a few recommended changes, Pepper prepares to bundle the story back. 'Overall this is pretty damn good. Your concept is solid and so's your characterization of Stark. The two things I would advise you to do is to watch your use of vocabulary – there's a few sections that got a little repetitive – and watch your handling of Potts. Let the humor that shines through the rest of the story touch her too. It doesn't have to be big and flashy, but it'll help her to be as human as Stark is.'

Pepper looks at her advice. It seems…objective. It doesn't sound defensive. It doesn't sounds as if she's defending herself. It's just advice on how to firm up characterization. As for any "necking"… Well, if "Turbo" has written it, it's not in this story. Which is a relief. She still doesn't read anything involving Tony that doesn't a) appear in the media or b) get sent to her by uncertain writers, who more often than not make her cringe. Not because they're particularly tasteless, but because she doesn't like the thought of anyone else speculating about how intimate she and Tony are. Especially since everyone is wrong.

Not just wrong about the level of intimacy between she and Tony, but they…they don't get the issues or the emotions right. Not surface emotions like joy or fear or lust, but the ones that matter – trust, commitment, and vulnerability.

Pepper pushes those thoughts out of her head and tries to focus on the screen in front of her. She manages to get through a full page of proofreading and second guessing before her last message is replied to, this time in a new format.

A small window pops up on the screen, the text box for the site's instant messaging program. -Sorry. Had to check on my own mechanical baby for a minute. Thanks for the advice. I hear you on the Potts thing. She's been portrayed in so many ways by so many of the other writers that it's hard to always get a real feel for her to be honest. I mean, minus her mental workings. That's probably why your stuff actually works so well, come to think of it. *tilts head* So have you ever considered doing one of these things with both a male and female perspective? Just to see how it changes the flavor?-

Pepper thinks about that for a long times as she works through cleaning up her own story. Writing something from Tony's perspective would definitely shake things up some, or at least, it'd shake up the people reading her stories. But...

Pepper eventually writes back, -I could probably fake a pretty convincing Tony Stark. But that's all I'd be doing. With Potts, I can understand where the emotion comes from. I wouldn't have that same understanding with him.-

A smiley face appears on her screen. -That was kind of my POINT to be honest. How well can you understand any conversation if you don't understand BOTH participants' perspectives? Aren't you really providing only half the equation?- Across town, Tony eagerly waits her answer. She seriously doesn't think she "gets" him? There's days where he thinks they could enact that old Johnny Carson skit – the Great Carnak. "Expense reports, first draft of the MIT speech, and the new episode of House." "Things I'm not going to see today."

Out of all the people he knows, Pepper's one of the ones who "gets" him the best.

However, as assured as Tony is, Pepper's less so. She looks at the question on her computer screen and thinks. How well DOES she know Tony? It's certainly something she's explored in her stories and she doesn't have anything else to say about it that she hasn't already shared. So she opts for humor. -You want me to walk up to Tony Stark and demand that he explain himself? I'd get thrown in jail.-

-LOL- appears on the screen. -I suspect that would depend on whether you're his type or not.-

-Type? The gossip columns seem to think that's anything with a pulse.-

-I thought you said the tabloids were a poor way to judge true character. Unless you're claiming you know him personally...?-

Pepper freezes. "Shit." She sits there quietly for a long few minutes then types, -I'm not judging character. I'm judging taste. They're not necessarily the same thing.-

-And what flavor is he?-

-I'm sure I don't know. Clearly I'm trying to make a case for some sort of relationship between Stark and Potts, but as you pointed out, from the viewpoint I write from, that's more indicative of her taste than his.-

-But if tastes aren't complimentary why even bother to TRY a relationship?- That's something else Tony can't figure out. None of the stories he's read so far involve any mention of an intimate emotional relationship, much less a physical one. But they all sort of circle around this unexpressed longing or sense that there's something MORE behind them than what's written.

Pepper snorts, though she also acknowledges the validity of the point on some level at least. -I suppose that's why I'm writing fiction rather than trying to hook them up in real life. It's less of a stretch. I can make him respond to her the way I want him to and neither of them gets hurt.-

Pepper shakes herself. This conversation has gotten very somber. Or at least it has from her end of things. Time for a change of topic. -You take your fiction very seriously.-

-I'm a bit of a perfectionist about my work,- Tony admits. Then chuckles to himself. -Though I know some people who would rudely call it "obsessive."-

Pepper laughs a little to herself when she reads that admission. -If it's any comfort, I've been called a workaholic too.-

-I figured. Your stories are nearly perfect. Tells me you spend a long time on them rather than leading with your gut and puking your inner workings all over the internet.-

Pepper snorts. -Did you just compare fanfiction to VOMIT?-

-I've read some stuff on this site that was pretty hard to stomach. Though I shouldn't complain…I chose to hit the back button a couple times as well.-

Pepper chews her lower lip again. -I understand. I don't even read most of it to be honest.-

-So what got you into it then?-

Pepper shoots the answer back, since she's not ready to answer it herself. -What got you?-

-Honestly? Plain curiosity. Now what about you?-

Oh...so many ways to answer that question. But she was being honest, which left one answer. -I was looking for a way to express myself, I suppose. I mean, I try to focus on the emotions and let the characters be secondary. Who hasn't felt like Potts has, or at least, the way I write her?-

A pause then. -Well I suppose that's better than me. *grin* I heard rumors of tentacle sex. -

Pepper laughs out loud, for real, her laughter ringing through the apartment. -I'm not beta-ing anything like that.-

Tony grins, shifts in his seat and cracks a bottle of Perrier. -You know, you're gonna have to lose your smut virginity eventually. The masses demand it.-

-I'm a grown woman. I don't have to do anything I don't want to.- 'And my boss isn't around to order me to.'

Tony snorts. -Don't worry, Padawan, you'll come to the dark side eventually...-

-Wrong fandom, Turbo.-

Tony debates for a moment or so. -If you say so, Fanny.-

Pepper's eyes widen. -I've been posting here for nearly two months now, and no one has dared call me that. Give me a moment - speaking of posts, I need to upload a new one.-

-Oooh....crack then. Your nick's too formal...not to mention unspecific.-

-My username was specifically chosen to reflect exactly what I wanted it to. And, since I seem to be responsible for launching what seems to be turning into a fandom in itself, it applies.-

-Whatever you say, Fanny. You gonna be online again tomorrow?-

-Depends. My job gets hectic sometimes.-

-Jerk ass boss?-

-No...just a little high maintenance.-

-Aren't we all. I'll work on this some more and then get back to you for a second read through if you don't mind.-

-I'll think about it. Asking me using my full name might get you somewhere.-

-Yes, Ma'am.-

-That's NOT my name.-

-Neither is number one fan. I'll see you later.-

Before Pepper can reply the window pops out, and a message window informs her that TurboCharged has left the chat room. "That was NOT amusing," she tells herself sternly, before leaving the room as well.

She does smirk just a little though, for the rest of the night.

'Paperwork finished. Equations double checked. Inventory of shop supplies done – make sure to give Pepper the sheet with the list of stuff to reordered first thing in the morning.'

Not tonight though, or she'll likely try and fill out the corporate forms before she leaves.

Which would be nice, but for the fact that it would cut short their weekly critique night. He and Pepper had fallen into a pattern of sorts, over the last few weeks. Or at least, Number1Fan and TurboCharged bumped into each other online most Tuesday or Thursday evenings. He orders pizza and Pepper consumes whatever leftover are in her fridge while the two of them chat and work on their individual vignettes.

'Note to self – find an excuse to go to that new Greek restaurant in the downtown some time tomorrow or Friday.' Pepper as it turns out LOVES Mediterranean food. Exotic olives especially.

"Ms. Potts has left the house," Jarvis informs Tony, startling him out of his thoughts.

"Great. Make reservations for that new Greek restaurant on Bellevue for tomorrow or the day after." Tony pushes out of his seat and trots up the stairs to raid his fridge.

"How many in the party?"

"Uh…just two, unless you can manage to schedule a lunch meeting there. Did you order my pizza?"

"I put in your regular Thursday evening order approximately twenty-three minutes ago. Your order should arrive at 6:45 pm as per usual."

Tony nods and fishes a beer out of the back of the fridge. At some point the last few months, power drinks and fruit juices have edged out beverages of the alcoholic variety. 'Signs of the times,' he tells himself as he tosses a bottle cap into the garbage and heads back downstairs.

He wonders what Pepper's going to say tonight. Over the internet she comes across as charmingly honest, and Tony supposes that's because she IS honest with him during their chats. She's just not very forthcoming about anything personal.

In one way, he's glad. Never has she let slip anything that could identify her, and he's paranoid enough about her safety that he's happy that she's taking her physical privacy seriously. However, it also makes getting any info about her day like pulling teeth. He likes hearing about her day from her standpoint. Or from Fanny's standpoint rather than Pepper's, he supposes. Pepper is a good little soldier and doesn't complain or shirk orders. Fanny has an opinion on almost everything.

It's made the effort to get to know her a rather intoxicating game. And what he HAS learned has been as much through her stories as their internet chats…assuming she's not making up the majority of her character's tastes and occasional memories.

It had been...interesting…reading about some of the things they'd worked together on over the years. Seeing her perspective on some of his projects, both good and ill. Interesting, and hard. He'll admit to that. He'd had to learn fast to leave his ego at the door.

Pepper tells the TRUTH...well at least the truth as she sees it. Her insights - on other people they worked with and the problems they'd encountered - were often thought provoking. Though of course that was a puzzle too, since she never used any other SI employee's real name. Still, there was at least one member of SI security who was going to get a promotion next time one came open.

He tries to be as honest with her in his responses as she is to his questions, but Pepper rarely asks anything past surface questions and he suspects that if he hadn't gotten her to be his beta, she never would have searched out his writing at all. She honestly has no interest in what other people think about her - and he'd include himself – himself as Tony - in there if she hadn't written several brutally honest pieces about them.

It intrigues him that Pepper doesn't try to excuse or explain away the dance between them. Not "the dance" as in him in a tux and her in that blue dress and them on an empty balcony, but the metaphorical dance between them that had everything to do with interdependence and mutual attraction and a feeling that SOMETHING wasn't quite right yet.

She'd gotten her first serious load of critical reviews for a piece that didn't cast her in the best light - a woman walking out on a wounded hero out of spite. Now, Tony knew what had really happened, and so he was able to see how her own feelings had magnified his injuries. Yeah, she'd been rough and terse, but he'd been poking at her to distract himself and had gone too far. But she hadn't included that part.

He'd - well, "Turbo" - had asked her why she'd chosen to come down so hard on Potts (one of Pepper's unspoken rules was that she only referred to them both by last name. It seemed to help her set the characters aside from the people). She'd answered that everyone was human, and everyone responded ignobly sometimes, and no one could always be perfect. That was just how life worked.

Her fairness had been heartening. Not to mention a relief. It was nice to know the woman he cared for wasn't actually seeking actual perfection. Just a strong grasp of self and a decent sense of empathy.

-You're sure quiet tonight. What's wrong, pizza guy deliver the wrong order?- The blinking window finally pulls Tony out of his internal musings. Normally he buzzes Pepper first. After all, she has to drive home where he just has to choose which computer he's going to use.

-Nah...just reading reviews.- It's not technically a lie. It's just that only one new one had been posted since he checked his two vignettes last night. -You know...these readers scare me sometimes.-

-You mean how a lot of them are looking for a fairy tale instead of messy human lives and get righteously angry if you dare give them something other than a happy ending?-

-No...I meant the nut who just informed me Stark's far too 'butch' to ever wear silk underwear.-

-LOL!- Tony has to smile at Pepper's expression of amusement. He thinks he might have actually gotten a genuine laugh out of her. Still, he'd love to see her response to that. Not that he thinks she'll say anything to give herself away.

-I don't know. If you're dressing to impress, then only the best will do, right? That's why women splurge for the fancy Victoria's Secret stuff. Functionally, cotton works just as well as silk, but it doesn't have the right impact on a date.-

Tony's eyebrows nearly disappear into his hairline. Pepper is discussing her underwear? With a near stranger? -Is this the voice of experience talking?-

-I might confess to once or twice buying intimate wear that cost more than the monthly rent on my first apartment.-

Tony grins, shaking his head. -I suppose we all have at least on weak spot for luxuries. Though yours sure sound a lot more...potentially mutually beneficial...than mine.-

-What would you do if I claimed I needed it for work?-

-Lingerie?- His eyebrows climb skyward again.

-Well...there's days a girl needs to get her support from somewhere.-

Tony chortles aloud. -I take it you don't get a lot from your colleagues?-

On the other end Pepper shrugs a little at herself. -My position tends to make me an odd-ball out at my particular company. Not hated but not really a regular at the water cooler either.-

Tony looks at that message a long time. He supposes she's right, though he's never thought about it. (There's been a lot of things Pepper's said over the last few weeks that he's never thought about.) When they're here at the house, she interacts with him and with Jarvis; as her boss, she can't really come to him with the kind of small complaints and gossip that's exchanged at water coolers, and Jarvis for all his programming, isn't a person. When they're at the office, Pepper rarely leaves his side unless he needs her to do something for him, and so doesn't really get a chance to do more than exchange raised eyebrows with other PAs.

That really only leaves Rhodey, and while the lieutenant could probably be considered a social "equal" who - if he can believe what Pepper's written - she's gone to when she needs to unburden herself, they aren't actually coworkers.

In fact, Pepper technically doesn't have ANY coworkers. She works for him, not SI.

-Sounds...- Tony isn't sure what to say.

-Sounds...?- Pepper responds.

-I'd say "lonely," but I don't think you'd appreciate the sentiment.-

There's a pause then that has him wondering what she's thinking. Her reply is a little surprising. -Would you judge me if I admit most days at least its actually one of my FAVORITE parts of my job? That the banality of office politics in my old job used to drive me stark raving crazy?-

Tony blinks. -You're saying you LIKE the isolation?-

-When it save me from having to spend my days biting back the urge to verbally decimate idiots? Yeah. I'm wearing a t-shirt with the logo 'I see dumb people' right now actually.-

-Why, Fanny. Your faith in the human race inspires me.- Tony grins as he pokes at his keyboard. He has to admit that trying his hand at creative writing has been some serious mental exercise. He'll also admit that if it weren't for Pepper, he probably would have given up on it awhile ago. It's not that he's bad at it, just that he doesn't have her flair and there are always other things to do. So, it takes him a lot more time to work up something that's ready for the public eye than it takes her. -Hey, after all this talk about underwear, does that mean you're ready to pop your smut cherry yet?-

-Not on the third vignette,- she shoots back smoothly, thankful that he can't see the way that she's blushing

-You're complaining because you're finishing more vignettes than me? Most women think that makes for the perfect guy.-

Pepper snorts soda out of her nose.

-You are TERRIBLE,- she finally shoots back chidingly.

-You're the one who advised me that in order to write Stark I needed to immerse myself in him. You can't complain about the results.-

He has a point she admits. -Yes well, you seem rather eager to prod me into the deep end of a pool where there's also a distinct lack of YOU.- She's hoping...futility probably…that he'd back off at the suggestion he can't tell her to write smut if he hasn't.

-In my opinion, smut should be a two person operation. You just let me know when you're ready.-

Pepper flushes, because her unruly imagination – the one that got her into this in the first place? – has only gotten more unruly with freedom and practice. And when Turbo suggests that they write…erotica…together… It's a far more tempting offer than it should be, and only the fact that it'd still come down to writing her and Tony together keeps her from giving in to his teasing. -Thanks, but I'll keep my cyber-garters ON for the time being.-

She adds a smiley face hoping the let down didn't come off as too scathing...because the offer is...flattering...well sort of anyway. And more so because it's been awhile since she's so genuinely enjoyed anyone's occasional company. If she's honest with herself, Turbo reminds her a little of a harmless Tony Stark - if such a thing existed. He's pleasant company without actually being company, he doesn't badger her for anything except advice, and he can make her laugh with his oddball observations.

Wait. Turbo doesn't remind her of Tony, he reminds her of a more human Jarvis.

-Ohhhhhhhhhhhh. Direct Shot through the heart. Ah well...back to tentacle sex then.-

The icon with a tongue sticking out makes her exhale in reflexive relief. This guy seems to be taking the rejection with his typical humor.

-Is there really tentacle sex on this site?- Pepper can't stop herself from asking.

-No. THANK GOD. I'd have never recovered.-

Pepper sighs in relief. THAT would be the worst thing she'd ever read about Tony Stark doing. -Oh good. Because I thought I'd done a good job when I vetted this site. Can't be posting stories about "messiness of life" stuff on a site that shares space with tentacle porn.-

-I agree. Even fangirls need standards.-

-And fanboys.- Pepper shakes her head. She'd always known that Tony had fanboys - science and robot geeks, that sort of thing. This sort of experience made the concept a little surreal though. -You don't build robots in your spare time, do you?-

There's a pause for a moment. -Ever or recently?- Then he adds, -Is it still geeky if in the past I've done it as a JOB?-

-I never said it was geeky,- Pepper replies. -Just...it figures. It just figures.-

-What does?-

Pepper looks at the question, slowly realizing that she can't say, "Well, all of Tony's fanboys are engineers." What startles her is that she wants to. However, if she does, she's going to come across as some kind of wacko who likes to pretend she knows Tony Stark. THE Tony Stark.

-Well, Stark's some kind of mechanical mastermind, right? So it makes sense that all the fanboys build battle bots or something in their spare time. When they're not writing, that is.-

-Pity. And here I thought you were going to say all engineers have similarly drawing personalities.-

-No. but there's definitely some evidence for overactive flirt and sarcasm genes. Must come from sitting in labs all day, talking to things that can't talk back,- she adds after a moment.

-Ouch. *splatter sizzle* You certainly through me on the griddle there.-

-Sorry. Sometimes my sarcasm gets away from me.- Pepper sighs. -I suppose I have a whole lot of room to talk, though. So far, our little chats are the closest I've had to a hot date in over a year.-

Tony considers; meaningful, stuff of life conversation than replies -I sympathize. Unfortunately the only cure for that is to log off and get an actual life.-

-But then you'd be left all alone with your tentacle sex and your battle bots.-

-Kinky.- Tony's about to type something more about Pepper being a tease when the TV comes on, flashing images of destruction, and Jarvis interrupts.

"Sir, your attention is needed in Peshawar. Armed militants are apparently using Stark Industries weapons to fire on a UN supply party crossing through the Khyber Pass."

Tony sighs, and finishes the smart remark he was going to send to Pepper. -Are you sure you don't want some engineering lessons?- "Jarvis, call Ms. Potts and alert her to the situation."

"Would it not be easier for you to tell her now, as you are in communication with her?"

Tony knows the concept of deception is not beyond Jarvis, however, his AI is being stubbornly disapproving of this little masquerade with Ms. Potts. So, he says very patiently, "No. 'TurboCharged' is in communication with her. And it's going to look fishy if I tell her that I-her-friend-Turbo has to go, and then I-myself-Tony calls to tell her I have to leave. So please call her so she can end the conversation."

"Affirmative, Sir." Jarvis complies without further argument.

-Why do I feel that offer runs along the same lines as helping to write smut? Brb, phone call.-

Tony sighs, disappointed that this night is coming to an abrupt end. Or at least, their conversation is. His night is only just beginning. While he waits for Pepper to tell him she's got to go, he moves to his kitchenette and makes up a smoothie, dumping in one of those five hour energy drinks just to be safe. He needs to be alert and hydrated when he hits Peshawar.

Sure enough... -I need to cut this short, Turbo. There's an emergency at work.-

-Emergency? Isn't it like...nearly eight?-

-You poor thing. You actually think that means something. I can get back on in an hour or so if you'll still be around.-

Tony casts about rather desperately for an excuse. -Actually, I'm meeting up with some other 'geek' friends of mine to see the biggest 3D experience of the year.-

Pepper assumes he's referring to the latest sci-fi thriller at the theaters, but she can't help but tease him, -Yeah, yeah. Try not to spend too much at the strip club. Don't part with those twenties for anything other than tentacles. See you later.-

She logs off without giving him a chance to reply.

Tony snorts, logging off himself. Then goes to shower and jump into his skin-suit.