Pepper & Tony & Tommy & Brian
Pepper smiled, pretending to listen to every word the elderly man said to her. Honestly, if she hated anything at charities, it was how everyone wanted to talk about work all the time. Everyone tried to impress her, but Pepper usually paid no attention to them, especially at the Christmas ball organized by Stark Industries. Tony disappeared, as always, so all these courtesy conversations stayed with her.
"Sounds really interesting, but I should go say hello to the other guests," she interrupted him politely when she finally saw Tony and found that he was having fun with a couple of men. That audacity! He leaves her and has great fun with her favorite couple without her.
"Here's our flower!" Tommy breathed a smile as she pushed her way through the crowd, half of whom they wanted to say a few words about. This time, Pepper turned them all down.
"Tommy, Brian, I'm glad you arrived," she greeted them and hugged them. It had been several months since they had last seen each other.
"You act like we missed your spectacular balls," Tommy snorted. "Am I right, love?"
Brian gave Pepper an amused look. “We really like the decoration this year. We told Tony before you came. It looks like a fairy tale here."
"Please, don't you think Tony has something to do with it," she laughed.
"That hurt, darling," Tony said dryly, handing her a glass of champagne he'd taken from a passing hostess. "Of course I agree with them. You really excelled this year," he praised her and hugged her around the waist. Tommy and Brian exchanged significant glances.
Pepper's cheeks flushed slightly. "You know very well that I cannot take credit for that. I don't have enough free time to oversee every detail."
"And where is Peter?" Tommy asked.
"Good question, we haven't seen him anywhere yet," Brian agreed, looking forward to the young Stark just as much as his husband, though Tommy would say he looked forward to him much more. Sometimes he was too dramatic. They often joked about it with Pepper - their beloved halves were sometimes exactly the same.
"He's not feeling well, so he's home and watching Star Wars with Ned," Pepper said quickly. The truth was that Peter was feeling quite well, but they agreed to skip this year's ball because of his sensitive senses. After all, there were so many people and the noise!
"You should have seen him, he was so relieved that he wouldn't have to take his suit," Tony grinned. "Would you believe that? How can my son resent the suits?” Especially when he clearly shared the desire to wear a superhero suit, he added in his head.
"You should stop by after Christmas. Peter will be happy to see you and we will have more time to talk," Pepper suggested, noticing that her assistant was approaching them, which meant only one thing, and that was that work was calling.
"Just say the day and time and we'll be there," Tommy agreed immediately.
"Miss Potts, I hate to interrupt, but it's time for your annual speech," the brunette said kindly.
"You'll excuse me, gentlemen, I hope we still run into each other, but if we don't, enjoy the rest of the evening," she apologized with a smile and followed her assistant on her way to the stage.
"Watch how everyone is turning to her," Brian remarked, trying to provoke Tony. Shortly before the redhead appeared to them, they asked him about marriage and not about the decoration of the ball.
"She's like a poinsettia," Tommy breathed dreamily.
"She really is," Tony said, having to drink from the whiskey glass he was holding.
"Really, what are you waiting for?" Tommy didn't understand.
Tony was slightly annoyed. He didn't like to talk about it, but these were Tommy and Brian. His friends. "Don't worry, I have everything in control. After all, Happy has been in charge of the ring since 2008," Tony grinned, knowing the reaction it would have.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I am honored to welcome you to our benefit ball this year as well, which is also our little Christmas celebration together." Pepper's speech had already begun, so the couple could not say anything. And it suited Tony very well.