Chapter 6
2008
2 days, 1 week, 0 months, 0 years
There was a moment of silence as Pepper processed the mass amount of new information Tony had just unloaded on her.
“That doesn’t explain why you couldn’t seem to answer the damn phone to put our minds at ease,” Pepper snapped. “Or JARVIS not answering for you.”
Tony gave her a guilty look.
“I put JARVIS on standby mode so he didn’t call you to tell you’d I’d gone insane and was taking too myself. It means he wasn’t monitoring my incoming texts and calls either.”
“Tony. You can’t do that, not after what happened,” she groaned.
“I don’t want to talk about Stane,” Tony snipped back.
It was harsh and rude when he knew she was just trying to be a good friend. He wasn’t ready to talk about it though, definitely not yet, and maybe not ever.
Pepper didn’t try to push, but the silence between them still became quickly awkward.
“Aww,” Peter groaned from the sofa.
He sounded royally disappointed.
Tony ignored Pepper once again in favour of joining Peter on the sofa. There was a strong pout on his lips and his arms were folded across his chest. Balanced on his knees was the plate Tony had given him.
“What’s up Underoos?” he cooed.
“They all taste the same.”
There were bites out of one of each of the different shaped sandwiches except the gingerbread man shape, which peter had eaten all of. Tony picked up the half-eaten remains of a circle and stuffed it in his own mouth. He chewed happily and swallowed before speaking.
“They still taste good though, right?” he encouraged and Peter gave him a smile and a little nod. “This is one of my best friends, Pepper Potts. Would you like to say hi? I know she can’t see or hear you like I can but I could tell her what you say or you could draw her a picture. I’m sure she’d like that.”
“Tony…” Pepper sighed.
She’d settled on the opposite sofa. Her knees were crossed neatly and her hands were resting on her lap.
Enthusiastically, Peter hopped over to where he had left the paper and crayons on the coffee table. He scrawled across a fresh page in red and light grey and pink and brown. Using blue and yellow happily to add extra shapes next to the first colourful blob. When he had finished, he picked it up and took it over to show it off to Tony proudly.
“Go on,” Tony prompted. “You can give it to her.”
Peter smiled and carefully approached Pepper who was stiff and awkward.
Slowly, Pepper looked down at the picture he placed on the sofa next to her. In the middle of the page was a hastily scribbled woman with pink skin and brown hair in some kind of bun. She was wearing a whiteish grey top and what looked almost like an apron over a red and grey stripy skirt. Where her feet would be, Peter had drawn two undefined brown shapes to be shoes. On her right was a blue teacup and saucer, complete with two yellow rings just bellow the rim of the cup, and on her left was a rather indistinguishable drawing that looked like it had a slightly lopsided ‘P’ on the front.
“It’s Mrs. Pepperpots!” explained Peter with an eager grin on his face. He bounced happily on the balls of his feet. “She was in the stories Aunt May used to read with me. I really liked her; she could talk to animals – just like the princesses!”
Tony gave the kid a fond smile.
“Peter say’s it’s Mrs. Pepperpots from some books he used to read with his aunt,” Tony passed on.
A minute of silence passed. Tony was getting a little worried when Pepper reached out and picked it up. She took a closer look at the clumpy smears of wax on the page and traced the woman’s vague face with her fingertips.
“I made a reference to those books when you first called me Pepper,” she whispered. “You had no idea what I was getting at and I didn’t bother to explain it.”
“I never read them.”
Relaxing a little, she leaned forwards and placed it on the coffee table just in front of her. She straightened up.
“Can you tell Peter thank you and that I love the drawing. If it’s okay with him, I’d like to put it up in my office.”
Tony watched Peter’s face light up in sheer joy.
He said, “He can hear you and, if the look on his face is anything to go by, he’d love to have it up in your office.”
Pepper smiled a little but then turned to give Tony another stern look.
“We need to have a serious conversation about this and about Stane,” she stated. She was using her ‘I’m not asking you, I’m telling you’ voice that meant she was in now was willing to compromise. “You, me and Rhodey. And soon.”
Tony gave her a mock salute. He didn’t bother to argue, even if he really wanted to.