10955/Surviving Infinity: Mostly Surviving

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Surviving Infinity: Mostly Surviving
Date of Scene: 02 February 2020
Location: Medical, Avengers Mansion
Synopsis: Pepper checks on an ill Tony.
Cast of Characters: Iron Man, Pepper Potts
Tinyplot: Surviving Infinity


Iron Man has posed:
There were two messages for Pepper. The first? That the Avengers got an emergency contact from Tony, and were going to respond. It included a request for medical assistance, suggesting an injury of some type. That happened at about ten at night. Where? Off-planet. A big group of them went to deal with it, and there was no information for just over an hour.

Then, the next contact was again JARVIS, giving update. The team had returned safely, via Bifrost. Both men, Tony and Steve, were under care in individual rooms of Medical, but were not marked in serious condition. Dr. Pym was on Tony's case, Dr. Banner on Steve's.

Pepper Potts has posed:
Pepper's initial response was relief. A message from Tony. He was alive and found a way, just as his message said he would. She never doubted he would be trying if he could. Her concern had been he couldn't.

Then the rest of the message. Medical assistance needed. That shifted her gears from relief and happiness to a bit of frantic. There was nothing to do but wait. She found herself moving restlessly around the penthouse. One moment, sitting and trying to look at paperwork, the next off in the kitchen doing some dishes by hand. Then she would get frustrated with that and be off straightening cushions on the couch. It was just her trying to find anything to focus on but the worry.

When JARVIS gave the information they were back, she was out the door like an arrow fired from a bow. Happy was downstairs to meet her, the car ready and waiting at the curb. The trip was a blurr for her. Everything was a buzz of thought after thought, chasing each other through her mind.

At the mansion, she was given an escort to medical where she slipped in and immediately moved to Tony's bedside. Her state of dress showed was more casual than she generally wore in public. Jeans, a pair of flats, a white button up shirt. Her hair was down around her shoulders.

Iron Man has posed:
Of the two split occupied rooms of medical, Tony is on the right (Tony is always right). There's some scattered sounds from Steve's side: he probably has visitors. Tony's side is quiet: but that may be more of a sign of the doctor in charge of the room than anything else. Dr. Pym has never been friendly on visitors. He's on his way out when Pepper arrives, but isn't particularly forthcoming, just waves her in while he disappears into another room.

Tony looks like he has the flu, but he doesn't look terrible, considering the cases that could have been going through Pepper's head. He had his eyes shut at first, relaxing, but he hears her approach with the click of her heels, and opens his eyes around the same time as she ends up at bedside.

A smile smoothly arrives: tired but always up to smile at her, no matter what. "Hey," Tony says simply, offering a hand.

Pepper Potts has posed:
"Tony." A simple word, said in a slightly breathless tone as Pepper closes that distance so quickly she might as well have teleported across the small room. Her hand slides into his, her other hand wrapping around the outside of it as she clings to him as though through her will alone, she will keep him from ever disappearing again.

She can't help smiling just to see him there, moving, alive. Quickly she looks him over for any obvious injuries but then focusing back on his face as she squeezes his hand. "I was so worried. Are you okay? What happened? Where have you been?" Too many questions, too quickly. She takes a breath and her smile softens. "I got your message. I knew you would find a way. You always do."

Iron Man has posed:
Tony snares her hand and weaves his fingers with hers, pulling her hand towards him with a somewhat loose tug to set their tangled fingers on his chest. There's a little 'clunk' as the impact of it hits the edge of arc reactor. Just bringing her closer, too, hand holding her hand there.

"Yes, I've just got a space-flu. I'm loaded with space-antibiotics, and I'll be back to ordinary color soon enough. Maybe not as soon as Captain Cheater and his immune system from a bottle, but if he were playing by the rules ... AND it were a competition -- I'd win," Tony rambles.

Tony's chatty: he'll really be okay. He clears his throat with a cough but grins at her briefly. "Normally I'd request a kiss, but then you'd be on these pills too. I'm feared contagious, if you believe Pym."

Pepper Potts has posed:
"If he believes you are contagious, humor him and stay put until he gives the all clear," Pepper suggests. Which is another way of saying that he needs to follow doctor's orders, even if he thinks he is smarter than the doctor. Or if he's simply going to be stubborn.

If she figured it out, he likely can too. Pym allowed her into the room so it can't be that contagious. He likely is telling Tony it's contagious to keep him from wandering out of the building immediately.

Or Pym doesn't care if she catches it. That's not nearly as amusing to think of. He does have the bedside manner of a honey badger typically, after all. Something to not think about.

"I suspect that if it were a competition, playing by the rules or not, that you would win," she points out with another of those smiles. She does release her second hand from where it was covering his atop his chest. Only to bring her hand up to his cheek, pressing her fingers there softly. Her voice drops lower in volume. "I think it would be worth having to take the medication to have a kiss. I've missed you so much, Tony. What happened?"

Iron Man has posed:
"I do know that him being an asshole does not make him automatically /wrong/," Tony replies, grumpy, but not unwilling to face reality, so long as it's on his own terms, that is.

Tony turns his head towards her more as she touches his cheek. He needs to shave, there might be some memories of the state of his beard reminding her of what he looked like when he came back from that cave of hell, so many years ago. But this time, it's different: she's with him, able to react with him on a level that allows, even welcomes, the touch to his face with her palm. The touch registers in Tony's dark and slightly feverish eyes. His face is pale and hot to the touch, as his fever hasn't broken from the medicine quite fully: not yet.

Tony releases a breath through his nose. "A villain is after some powerful relics that are here on Earth," Tony says, simplifying, but not skirting the truth: he trusts Pepper absolutely. "Infinity Stones, they're called. We have had a few of these universe-altering power relics here. So, this villain sent one of his lackeys to come look for it. She ambushed Steve, Carol, Rogue and I, and we fell into different portals, that led to traps. I assume to interrogate us later. We escaped ours, and got stuck on the planet. Basically a painful episode of 'Survivor'; camping in the woods with the boy scout." It's rueful, but Tony doesn't describe Steve unkindly. "I figured out a way to get a message back here... and here I am, awaiting kisses."

Pepper Potts has posed:
To be honest, he looks wonderful to her. Despite the scruff. Despite the slight loss of weight. He's there. She could feel him. Her hand remains on his cheek for long moments then, slowly, reluctantly, she draws it away. A quick brush of fingers through his hair which needs a trim.

As he explains, Pepper focuses fully on his face, watching his expressions, weighing his words. None of that sounds good. At all. "Like the Tesseract." Not really phrased as a question. It was a world altering relic and there was a global attack involving it. What could more of those things attract to Earth?

"At least together, you were able to pool your training and help one another." To make a positive of the situation. Alien planet, probably had a time figuring out what was or was not safe to use to keep them alive. She can't even begin to imagine what hardships they might have faced.

When he finished, her smile was back, amusement obvious. "More than one? Mr. Stark, you are being positively scandalous." She purses her lips "Forgot who I was speaking to for a moment. Of course you are. It's your modus operandi."

A slow evaluation of him as she looked into his eyes. "I think it's worth it." Then she began to lean closer. He had a chance to stop her, of course. If he really was worried about catagions.

Iron Man has posed:
In fact, Tony does stop her. He doesn't have the energy to lift his hand very far, but he does lift it. "Pep, in truth? I don't want you sick. I've been vomitting my guts out," Tony says, which likely makes him less appealing to put her lips on. It also speaks a great volume of what he does feel towards her. He's protecting her: above his own desires. It's subtle and said in an offhand way, but there's the clear, direct evidence of something immense between them.

"And Pym deliberately is NOT shrinking the pills as much as he could be," Tony growls, more towards the door. That might not be paranoia: it's probably outright true. And maybe deserved?

Tony's eyes come back to Pepper. "So the plural there on kisses is for the interest I intend to have raised over time here," Tony quips. Of course he wouldn't just let that tender moment survive, he has to chatter more.

Pepper Potts has posed:
As soon as his hand lifts, she stops. No pushing, no forcing him to interfere in her motion. Pepper gives a nod, dropping her gaze to their joined hands on his chest. A light squeeze then she is looking back to his face.

Always watching over her, protecting. Even when he's the one that needs to be cared for right now. It's his way. So many people don't see all the qualities she knows are there, the ones that have her feeling so strongly for him. This is just another moment that verifies it all.

Until he chatters. Good feeling over as she laughs very softly, shaking her head. "Thirty-One days worth of kisses? That might take some time. I'll have to keep an afternoon open on our schedules." Her own teasing since he better not be anywhere near that office for a long stretch.

Iron Man has posed:
"All of my time should be alloted as 'advanced R&D', as I have researched exactly how annoying it would be to have limited tech on a planet where the locals try to feed you space slugs. It is the absolute worst possible version of room service, Pep. The tent was smaller than my bathtub," Tony laments, though his rolls his eyes a little bit in a way that suggests a bit of fever delerium in there.

"Speaking of that. I have put in more than one request for a burger," Tony says, with one finger raised pointedly, trailing the IV cable. "And I do not buy for one moment that Pym forgot. He is the worst assistant. In addition to maybe even being /the worst/ in a more general way," Tony continues, happy to have someone to throw under the bus. It's a normal pattern for Tony: being sick or bedridden garners this behavior, when he's on the mend.

He does lapse his head back tiredly, letting his eyes close for an overly long moment. His energy at seeing her is starting to wane back down. But again, there's that shadow of trust: letting her see that he isn't perfect.

Pepper Potts has posed:
"I'm sure he is not nearly so bad." While he might have a bad bedside manner, Dr. Pym is brilliant and she has no doubt he is taking excellent care of Tony. Despite Tony's grumblings.

She tries not think about eating space slugs. It sounds horrifying. While insects might be something many people on the planet ate, she wasn't going to be one of them by choice.

"I'll have Happy get you a burger while you rest a bit," Pepper suggests with another squeeze of his hand. She isn't going to leave. She can't. Even if he falls asleep, she needs to be there with him for now. To make certain he doesn't poof into smoke.

Iron Man has posed:
Tony lifts his free hand a bit, indicating two fingers.

"Two cheeseburgers," Tony decides. He hasn't let go of her hand... He isn't expecting her to leave, though he does seem to be trailing off into unconsciousness.

"With fries..."

Priorites.