quigonejinn: (im - the knife your back)
quigonejinn ([personal profile] quigonejinn) wrote2008-06-17 06:40 pm
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Five Times Pepper Could Have Figured It Out.

[livejournal.com profile] dafnap does Your Daily Iron Man Squee. I do Your Daily Iron Man Spam. Except it's not really daily, but uh. You know. Definitely spam. And [livejournal.com profile] jamaillith has seen part of this already.



1.

Tony and Obadiah are having a corporate disagreement about how to handle a contract where the supplier isn't stepping up to the plate as he'd sworn he would. It happens in Tony's office, the real office, not the shop. They've been going at it for about fifteen minutes without breathing, and Pepper has been working for Tony just long enough to recognize when he's really dug himself into a trench and will man it at all costs.

"Pepper, give us a minute, will you?"

Obadiah says that. His puts his hand on Tony's shoulder, and Tony starts to say something, but Obadiah turns to look him in the face, and Tony's head goes up. There are spots of color in Tony's cheeks, but he doesn't say anything or move, so Pepper goes out and sits on the couch and chats with the corporate secretaries and gets herself a drink of water from the water cooler. Looks at the little models sprinkled through the waiting area. Flips through this year's shareholder report, which is glossy and features a lot of photos of Tony standing in front of fighter planes. She can't hear any shouting, but the walls of Tony's office are thick, and eventually, Pepper gets called back into the office.

It's been resolved -- a little Tony's way, a little Obadiah's way. Compromise.

"That's how adults solve problems," Obadiah says, right as Pepper comes into the room, shortly after which Pepper notices that a) the curtains are drawn and b) Tony isn't wearing his tie anymore.

In fact, Obadiah leans over on the sofa, picks Tony's tie up, and folds it into his palm. Tony's face is still a little flushed.

2.

Obadiah is not married, but he has a better attention span than Tony does. He dates good-looking women of respectable age, goes around town with them, goes on a vacation to a nice island with blue water once or twice, and then breaks it off before things get serious. It's always amicable, and the women always have very nice manners and tasteful clothing, so it's possible to bring them to the occasional black-tie benefit without causing massive humiliation for all concerned.

This particular lady is named Alice. Or Ellen. Pepper isn't entirely sure. The women tend to look alike, and she can't entirely tell when Obadiah has changed models -- he never seems to have difficulties keeping them apart.

Pepper stands with her at a benefit, and they make small talk about the hors d'oeuvres and champagne and how nice everything is. The woman is definitely one of the better-looking ones that Obadiah has dated, Pepper decides. A pretty blonde in her early forties, in a silver dress that suits her.

"I hope dinner went well last week." Obadiah was taking a day or two out in Vegas last week with this woman, and Tony went out to have dinner. Pepper booked the three of them for dinner at Mix, then a show. Obadiah is, perhaps, more serious about this woman, though Pepper has no idea where he meets any of them.

"Did you enjoy the show afterwards?"

The woman had been in the middle of taking a drink from her champagne flute, and she colors up a little. Looks over at Obadiah and Tony, who are standing together, charming the living daylights out of a Senator on the other side of the room.

"Yes, we did," the woman says, after a moment.

Obadiah sees them looking, so he smiles and raises his glass of champagne in their direction. The woman can't quite meet Pepper's eyes, which is uncomfortable, but Pepper can't exactly go off and leave the woman alone since she doesn't know anybody at the function but her and Tony and Obadiah, so Pepper has to say something.

"Your earrings are very nice," Pepper manages. Her and the woman are still watching Tony and Obadiah, yes. On the other side of the room, Obadiah reaches over and puts his arm around Tony's shoulders. Tony laughs. So does the Senator.

The woman still sounds strange.

"He got them for me afterwards."

3.

New York, the usual suite at the Plaza, and the news on the new production quality on the Declaration-class helicopters is so bad that when Obadiah asked Pepper to order a pizza from Ray's, Tony told her to get two. And French fries. And a bottle of Laphroaig if she can find it. And ice.

When she comes back with the food and drink , they're still sitting on the couch going through the stacks of results, and whenever Tony turns the page and sees a fresh disaster, he makes a noise like he's in pain. Pepper watches, though, he kicks his shoes off and, without a word, props his feet up on Obadiah's knee. It's a nice argyle, yellow on gray.

Obadiah looks down at Tony's feet, then at Pepper. Then over at Tony, who's still pretending to be absorbed in reading about how their Manufacturing engineers can't find their ass with both hands and a map, and slowly, Tony looks over at Obadiah.

"I'm going to be spending the next three months saving your helicopter and our ass. The least you could do is give me a fucking footrub."

Obadiah looks at Tony; Tony looks at Obadiah. Tony has a strange kind of smirk on his face, whereas Obadiah has his eyebrows lifted up.

"Not until you take your socks off," Obadiah says, after a while, and it takes Tony a while after that to start laughing, but then, they all start to. Obadiah has that kind of laugh, and Pepper doesn't think twice when Tony sends her out of the hotel and back to the corporate office in Midtown to look for a batch of test results that don't exist.

4.

Tony is about 99.95% straight, Pepper figures. She'd say completely straight except she knows that he's taken a guy home once or twice in his life: the time in Chicago, for example. Tony was in town to romance Boeing for a possible joint venture to produce the next generation of stealth fighters, goes to a charity benefit for an organization run by one of the board members afterwards as a show of goodwill, and when Pepper comes to his hotel room the next morning, Tony having taken off to the gym already, Pepper thinks her heart is going to stop because there's a kid sitting on the bed, wrapped up in sheets, looking like he might cry.

He doesn't look like he's eighteen.

"Um," he says. "Hi. Is -- Is Tony around?"

His caterer's uniform is over in the corner. Polyester slacks, Old Navy white shirt, and a clip-on bow tie. Pepper tells him to order up some room service, and when he reaches over to snag the room service menu, she sees that he's got skinny elbows and skinny knees. Rugburn on both knees.

To her infinite, infinite relief, it turns out that he's twenty. An engineering junior at Northwestern. Tony picked him up at the benefit, and there're a couple bottles of champagne in the corner. They had a great time, but it's just that he doesn't do this kind of thing normally, but don't worry. He won't tell anyone. Pepper leaves him to eat an enormous room service breakfast and takes his clothes to be cleaned and arrange transport back to campus, and she can't quite get him out of her head: brown eyes, black hair. Soft mouth. An engineering student.

A bruise on his cheek just the right height for him to have gotten it by being bent over the marble-topped table in front of the window on Lake Michigan.

5.

"Is Obadiah inside?"

Happy is still smoking his cigarette, but he's never really been much of a guy to talk, so he just nods. The Segway is parked outside, too, right next to the Rolls, and Pepper can see Tony and Obadiah now. Obadiah's back, mainly, blocking her view of Tony.

"Is it going well?"

Happy shrugs and flicks ash from the end of his cigarette, and Pepper watches as Tony and Obadiah turn so that she can see them in profile. They're kind of staring at each other, and Tony has an expression on his face that makes Pepper's stomach twist into knots. Then Tony say something; Obadiah says something back, and Tony unbuttons his shirt.

Obadiah looks, then looks away, which makes Pepper's stomach twist even harder -- and then, with the ease of a man who's had a lot of practice, he turns and starts buttoning Tony's shirt up for him. And then he puts his arm around Tony, and Pepper lets out a breath she didn't know she was holding.

"Are they OK?" Happy asks. He's just ground out the cigarette. Tony has his arm in a sling and turns, a little awkwardly, when Obadiah can pull him closer.

"Yes," Pepper says, smoothing down the front of her skirt as Tony comes out with Obadiah's hand still on the back of his neck. Tony even looks like like he's listening now.

"It'll be fine."





OK, how much does IT BREAK MY HEART the way Tony tosses his head when Obadiah mentions "your father and I" in that scene? A lot, guys. A lot. And yeah, that ending isn't as sharp as it could be, but what can I say? My brain is still stuck back at what [livejournal.com profile] jamaillith said:
when he's got Tony bent over the back of the sofa with his legs spread, one hand on the back of Tony's head pushing it down, putting his mouth to the back of Tony's neck, his breath scalding hot on Tony's skin, and just holding him there.
ext_2318: (Default)

[identity profile] dafnap.livejournal.com 2008-06-18 12:45 am (UTC)(link)
...I was just saying to [livejournal.com profile] obsession_inc as we were commiserating about the lack of Obie/Tony out there, that, no shit, this happened: "I'm sure quigone is going to post one in 3...2...1..."

AND THEN I HIT REFRESH ON MY FLIST. Dude. The universe is awesome.

Though not as awesome as the thought of Pepper having made this calculation in her head:

A bruise on his cheek just the right height for him to have gotten it by being bent over the marble-topped table

Because she probably thinks about it. A lot. That, and the kid is mirror image of himself, and oh, Tony, trying to see how it feels like to Obie, even for a little while. Deeply. Deeply. Messed. I am a fan, naturally.

Also, seriously, this:

"He got them for me afterwards."

Is so intensely creepy, I can't even. Like, I know they're all consenting adults, but there's something in her affect that just, gah. Owch.

[identity profile] obsession-inc.livejournal.com 2008-06-18 12:47 am (UTC)(link)
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"That's how adults solve problems," Obadiah says, right as Pepper comes into the room, shortly after which Pepper notices that a) the curtains are drawn and b) Tony isn't wearing his tie anymore.

!!! OH MY GOD. DEFINE 'GROWNUPS' OKAY?

"He got them for me afterwards."

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH.

"I'm going to be spending the next three months saving your helicopter and our ass. The least you could do is give me a fucking footrub."

And that just came out exactly in RDJ's voice and AAHAHAHAHAHHAHA. Except also !!!!!

brown eyes, black hair. Soft mouth. An engineering student.

YOU ARE KIDDING ME. OH MY GOD. ::falls over::

It is declared now that you cannot keep doing this because brains, BRAINS are exploding over here. BRAINS. We NEED THEM and you are EXPLODING THEM and oh keep writing, okay?

[identity profile] obsession-inc.livejournal.com 2008-06-18 12:47 am (UTC)(link)
I will back her up on that.

THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT HAPPENED.

[identity profile] amonitrate.livejournal.com 2008-06-18 12:48 am (UTC)(link)
I think you just killed [livejournal.com profile] obsession_inc and I - we were both on chat when this came up. And what I just said was: I don't know how you do this kind of thing so well, and still manage to break my heart.

Because that is some twisted shit. Twisted and gorgeous and ... ouch.

This:
"I'm going to be spending the next three months saving your helicopter and our ass. The least you could do is give me a fucking footrub."


came out in my head in RDJ' svoice, no lie.

and this: "That's how adults solve problems," Obadiah says, right as Pepper comes into the room, shortly after which Pepper notices that a) the curtains are drawn and b) Tony isn't wearing his tie anymore.

is all kinds of wrong. And exactly what Obadiah would say.

[identity profile] katanath.livejournal.com 2008-06-18 01:10 am (UTC)(link)
Yeah, uh. Enjoyed the show, indeed. O_O

Oh my god, Obadiah is so skeevetastic.

[identity profile] jamaillith.livejournal.com 2008-06-18 02:07 am (UTC)(link)
YOU KNOW HOW I FEEL ABOUT THIS. ALL OF IT. ESPECIALLY THIS.

"He got them for me afterwards."

skdjfv oh goddddddd.

[identity profile] prosodi.livejournal.com 2008-06-18 04:00 am (UTC)(link)
I think my brain may have just melted out my ears. HOLY GOD. !!!

I'm going to have to go with everyone else in the UNIVERSE on the "He got them for me afterwards." Because, JESUS. I can see it in my head and it's so dirty hot WRONG, nnghk.

Also Tony, the engineering student in Chicago. Oh. Oh. Like picking at cut to see how it bleeds. Jesus.

[identity profile] besyd.livejournal.com 2008-06-18 04:53 am (UTC)(link)
All so very well done, well written. So painful and yeah, skeevy, and wrong ... but fitting. #4 pretty much broke my heart.

[identity profile] catechism.livejournal.com 2008-06-18 06:55 am (UTC)(link)
Okay, I have FINALLY gotten around to reading this and OMG, okay, yes, aldkgja;lgjalkgj is what I have to say. So hot and creepy and wrong and MADE OF WIN. I fail at feedback, but guh.

[identity profile] quigonejinn.livejournal.com 2008-06-18 12:19 pm (UTC)(link)
Is so intensely creepy, I can't even. Like, I know they're all consenting adults, but there's something in her affect that just, gah. Owch.

SHE DIDN'T WANT TO DO THAT. SHE TOTALLY THOUGHT TONES WAS JUST OBADIAH'S, LIKE, ADOPTIVE SON. And Obadiah was basically an OK guy, though kinda creepy and demanding sometimes, but Tony was really quite nice. But no, after this, he gives her the creeps too. Because how could you just let somebody --

Etc, etc.

I'm listening to My Superman now, and if the beat weren't so slow, it'd make a hell of a Tony/Obadiah/the past is with us and totally creepy vid.

[identity profile] quigonejinn.livejournal.com 2008-06-18 12:21 pm (UTC)(link)
Well. It helps that I have logorrhea of the fingers. XD

[identity profile] quigonejinn.livejournal.com 2008-06-18 12:28 pm (UTC)(link)
YOU ARE KIDDING ME. OH MY GOD. ::falls over::

I have, I swear, that entire thing in my head. Like. All of it. In excruciating, walk-into-a-wall detail. The champagne fountain being funky and Tony hearing the servers be like, GET JOHN TO FIX IT. HE'S AN ENGINEER. And the kid being embarrassed because being an engineer doesn't mean you can fix the world, OK? And after that, Tony picking the kid up, using more charm than any human being should ever have, and how they kiss a lot. In the car. In the limo. In the elevator. Even after they get back to the hotel suite. Once, for a stretch, Tony just holds his mouth over the kid's, and slides his hands under the shirt.

This surprises the kid. Never mind that Tony Stark totally doesn't go for the home team, but somehow, you don't think of making out with him as a big part of the experience.
Edited 2008-06-18 12:45 (UTC)

[identity profile] quigonejinn.livejournal.com 2008-06-18 12:31 pm (UTC)(link)
I can't tell you what a joy it is to be in a fandom where I can write things like this and have it be even 45% IC. :D
Edited 2008-06-18 12:32 (UTC)

[identity profile] quigonejinn.livejournal.com 2008-06-18 12:35 pm (UTC)(link)
*falls over* I'm glad the dialogue worked out for you. THEY TALK SO MUCH IN IRON MAN. AND I AM SO NOT USED TO WRITING IT.

I don't know how you do this kind of thing so well, and still manage to break my heart.

When you're writing Obadiah and Tony, it comes (pun!) naturally. It just flows naturally from the dynamic. Also, uh, listening to [livejournal.com profile] dafnap's musical recommendations helps.

Your cues are all wrong
but I can't count all the ways you woo me

[identity profile] quigonejinn.livejournal.com 2008-06-18 12:39 pm (UTC)(link)
He did. The next morning, the three of them went down to Cartier's at Wynn's, and she picked out the earrings with Obadiah sitting next to her. In fact, when she wasn't getting quite the service she deserved, Obadiah flagged down somebody.

Tony leaned over the counter and picked out a couple pairs of cufflinks and hit on every last shopgirl.

[identity profile] quigonejinn.livejournal.com 2008-06-18 12:43 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh. Oh. Like picking at cut to see how it bleeds. Jesus.

JUST WANTS TO KNOW SEE WHAT IT'S LIKE. RUGBURN ON BOTH KNEES. And you know he never tells anybody about it. Or talks about it. Or even thinks that Pepper might have been surprised until he's on the Learjet home and realizes that Pepper is being a little strange.

[identity profile] quigonejinn.livejournal.com 2008-06-18 12:46 pm (UTC)(link)
TONY. MESSED. UP. :D

(Whenever I see that icon, I always have this flat second where I'm like. WAIT. WHY DOES JAYNE HAVE AN ARC REACTOR IN HIS CHEST?)

[identity profile] quigonejinn.livejournal.com 2008-06-18 01:22 pm (UTC)(link)
AHAHA. Feel no need to do the OH GOD WE CHATTED ON GTALK; MUST LEAVE HER FB ON EVERY SHITTY FIC NOW. I'll somehow survive. :D

(I'm glad it worked for you, though. Hot and creepy and wrong and trying to be made of win is exactly what I was aiming for.)

[identity profile] catechism.livejournal.com 2008-06-18 02:47 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh, don't worry, I wasn't feeling obligated. I was feeling OMG OW HOT OW WHAT. I flailed a lot at [livejournal.com profile] dafnap about it, even.

(Then. Then? Okay, so in the high school fic, Obie is the creepy guidance counselor who went to school with Howard and Howard became super rich and Obie is stuck at that same shitty school and then Tony shows up, all smug and rich and entitled and talented and it's Snape/Harry, which makes me happy in my happy place. It was downhill from there, I think, except I was pretty drunk, but I think there were PE socks.)

[identity profile] quigonejinn.livejournal.com 2008-06-18 03:03 pm (UTC)(link)
it's Snape/Harry, which makes me happy in my happy place

AHAHAHA. OH CHRIST. It happened at my high school, you know. Where a guidance counselor/science teacher slept with one of the students. Girl, not guy, but she found out from reading the newspaper announcements that he was engaged? And it just ended in tragedy all around.

I think the first line of the high school fic I'd write would be something like, "Jim Rhodes, varsity football captain and quarterback, is sleeping with Virginia (Pepper) Potts, the class valedictorian. Tony (Howard) Stark doesn't know how he feels about it." And then section break. And intro to how Tony is basically the school broker-er in favors and drugs and has the hottest car ever and TI-89 named Jarvis.

[identity profile] katanath.livejournal.com 2008-06-18 03:45 pm (UTC)(link)
flarghghlghgasdhgf I just noticed saving your helicopter and our ass

OBIE IS MADE OF SKEEVE AND BITTER AND FAIL.

[identity profile] quigonejinn.livejournal.com 2008-06-18 03:56 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh yes. Oh yes. And Obadiah is just bristling at that. And Tony knows that he's going to get it later that afternoon as a result. :D And does it for exactly that reason. :D And Obadiah knows it, too, which just makes him extra-pissed, which means he takes it out on Tony EVEN MORE.

[identity profile] catechism.livejournal.com 2008-06-18 04:56 pm (UTC)(link)
I think that happens at all high schools! It totally happened at mine, too, and also there was the science teacher who did eventually marry one of his students, though he waited until she graduated. Man, high school.

Does Tony talk about his feelings with his guidance counselor? Because I think there was a time where he crashed the school dance, drunk, and made a big embarrassing scene and he didn't get suspended because he is Tony Stark, but that was only on the condition that he spends some quality time in the counselor's office, and the counselor is very perceptive and understanding.

[identity profile] quigonejinn.livejournal.com 2008-06-18 05:12 pm (UTC)(link)
And knows Dad from college. And even worked with Dad a little while afterwards. A little consulting partnership that had big plans about manufacturing someday.

"No shit!" Tony says, sitting up a little straighter in his chair and sounding much more interested than a guy who sells Honors Chem test questions at the chain link fence behind the soccer field should be.

[identity profile] catechism.livejournal.com 2008-06-18 06:02 pm (UTC)(link)
But when he presses for more information -- what happened, why'd you leave, how'd you get stuck in this shithole -- Stane just smiles and leans over to clap a warm hand on Tony's shoulder, his thumb brushing briefly across the pulse point. Says, "Maybe your dad'll tell you sometime. I'd rather talk about you."

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