A week later Clint gets a text from Pepper asking if he's free in the afternoon. He just got back from a short surveillance mission so he replies that yes, he is, and a moment later his phone buzzes again.
New York Hall of Science, 3 p.m. Dress casual.
'Dress casual, I can guess what casual means,' Clint sighs, mentally reviewing his wardrobe. He has another shirt he can wear and maybe dark jeans won't be too bad… Well. This friendship might yet require some sacrifice: he has to go shopping. It's not that he doesn't like that, there was just never a need.
I'll be there, thx for the invitation, he replies, checking the time. Three hours to go. He should get up, shower, grab some lunch with Natasha, she'll kill him if he doesn't share all the gossip the op.
At 3 p.m. sharp, dressed casual elegant which seems to be the only casual Pepper does outside of the safe haven of her apartment in Stark Tower, Clint it waiting in front of the museum. Just a moment later a black car with Stark 13 on the license plate stopsin front of him.
'Hey,' Pepper greets him, getting out of the car and waving at the driver.
'Hello yourself,' Clint says, taking a black suitcase of out her hand. 'To what do I owe the pleasure of this meeting?'
'I wish all men were courteous like this,' Pepper says instead of answering his questions, sounding mildly frustrated. A bad meeting, Clint guesses, following her into the museum.
'I was hoping you wouldn't punch me in the face for saying that,' he admits, pocketing his sunglasses as they enter the building. Pepper does the same, exchanges a few words with a security guard and they are asked to wait for someone to take them inside.
'No, it's cute,' she assures him. 'And as of why we're here, well, we're having an exhibition with some lectures over the next few weeks and it opens in a few days so I have to oversee how everything's going. We as in Stark Industries, of course –'
'Since it's Hall of Science,' Clint finishes for her, nodding. 'Any cool toys?'
'You know Tony, guess – he hardly ever makes anything else,' she laughs.
A moment later the guide comes to get them straight to where the exhibition will take place and they follows him silently, Pepper tapping on her phone with an annoyed look on her face, and Clint two steps behind, taking in every detail of his surroundings since it's a habit he can't break.
'I thought you're more into art art,' he says when the guide leaves them alone in the vast space where some workmen are already installing things and positioning cabinets. She looks up, and when their eyes meet, they both say, 'Natasha.'
'Yes, I am, it's little more than a hobby. I've been curating Tony's art collection for over ten years and then he decided to donate it all to the Boy Scouts of America just like that. Of course, later I learned that he was dying so it justified the decision a little bit,' she adds, laughing tightly, gesturing at him to follow her to see closer what's going on. 'but I was so, so mad at him, you wouldn't believe. It was worth billions of dollars. I just – okay, let's not talk about that. At least he's remotely interested in what's happening here, since it's all his toys.'
'S.H.I.E.L.D. R&D would love some of these gadgets. I would love some of these gadgets, I think – is this a hand?'
'It's a fake hand. Though it's remotely controlled so it could sneak up on you like, like in the Addams family. It's a perfect replica of a human one, you know, with all veins and tendons and every single detail,' she explains casually, moving to the next exhibit. When Clint gives her an incredulous look, she snickers. 'Tony dated this surgeon for like a month. Apparently he got inspired.'
'Okay,' Clint replies slowly, wondering why the heck doesn't Stark Industries try something in the medical field then, if Stark can make this in less than a month – but well, he's saving the world with clean energy, so maybe his priorities are different.
'How about you, Clint? I still feel like you're a walking mystery. There isn't much gossip about you I can access.'
'I threatened Natasha with no more cooking for her, a few months back, when she was being mean,' he admits, leaning over an uncovered glass case holding something that look like a James Bond's gadget. 'Sorry. She gets bored and she gets mean. So be warned,' he adds solemnly.
'All right, I'll keep her occupied then, I guess – so you? Art? Anything?'
'I spent most of my life pretty uncultured. No school museum trips or anything like that. I'm more of a cinema guy, not really into great painters and all that.'
'Movies?'
'Old movies,' he clarifies. Pepper takes the suitcase out of her hand the same way he took it from hers and opens it on one of the cluttered tables, taking out a thick folder. 'Give it to Mr. Grisham,' she tells a passing man, handing it to him, and turns back to Clint, with an eyebrow raised expectantly.
'Old?'
'Less action, more details… I can relate. And they're calming. Normal.'
'I could use normal.'
'Sure. I guess text me when you have time – is that the original Stark S1 satellite?'
'It is,' Pepper says, following him to the corner of the room where the item is still sitting in its protective case. 'And you know, just for the record, you do realize that tomorrow you'll be the mysterious man I cheat on Tony with?'
'I thought you two weren't exactly –'
'You still will be,' she says, giving him an amused look, and he groans, before moving on to see the rest of the exhibits.
A/N: Thank you for reading & your lovely support so far. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, too :)
