2255/A Girl's Night...

A Girl's Night...
Date of Scene:	30 August 2017
Location:	Unknown
Synopsis:	Summary needed
Cast of Characters:	Pepper Potts, Hawkeye (Bishop)

---

Pepper Potts has posed:
While Pepper generally works at least 10-12 hours a day, she doesn't really expect anyone ELSE to work that long. Still, she and Kate have gotten inches closer over the time Kate's been with the company and Pepper had to finally admit that Kate is the closest thing she has to a friend at work, an actual friend, so she dropped Kate a line '... Dinner after work? My office? I'll pay... just let me know what you want.' And that was that. She got Kate's order, ordered in for both of them, with plenty of wine, and is still sitting at her desk finishing up the last few bits of work while she waits.

Hawkeye (Bishop) has posed:
    Kate swipes her Stark ID card downstairs, no doubt alerting Pepper to her presence in the buuilding. A little while later, the young woman appears. The building's security system having tracked her to a bathroom and then her own work space, then to Ms. Potts' office.

    The girl is dressed in a silk shirt of violet, trimmed in a slightly darker purple, a golden silk blouse with a subtle ruffle up the front where it fastens with little pearl buttons. "Ms... Pepper?" she calls, knocking on the glass of the office door.

Pepper Potts has posed:
The strawberry blonde looks up from her desk and she smiles a little bit wider. "Kate! Come in! Food should be here any minute... Sorry, I thought I'd just work a bit longer..." Pepper murmurs, green eyes tempted to look back over to her computer display, but she takes a deep breath and forces herself to shut the lap top screen before getting up from her desk. She doesn't bother slipping her feet back into her high heels, but pads around the desk to the large leather couch filled sitting area instead. "...I hope you...didn't mind dinner... I know it must feel like staying after work."

Hawkeye (Bishop) has posed:
    "You work too hard, Pepper." Kate says. "You should get more assistants or let Stark make you your own AI helper." and she moves to sit. "You should take a vaction, get away from it all for a weekend at least... get a ton of massages, get white-girl wasted and enjoy a cabana boy or something." she says, with a laugh. "Thanks for ordering the meal, yeah." She smooths her skirt under her as she sits, she crosses her legs. "Oh! I met Donna Troy... do you know her? She's the sister of Diana, the Themysciran ambassador."

Pepper Potts has posed:
"Ah, I'm fine. I like it. JARVIS would help me any time I need it, and often does, but... this is just habit now." Pepper admits, giving a small wave of her fingertips as she walks over to the couches and picks up the bottle of white wine that has been chilling in a ice lined decanter for a while. She pours out two glasses smooth as can be, hostess as much a habit as working too long. "...Donna Troy? I've not met her or the ambassador. Though, I've heard excellent things about the woman... Perhaps I should try to put something together, some time."

Hawkeye (Bishop) has posed:
    "Why don't I believe you?" Kate says, good-naturedly. "Thank you." she says, accepting the glass. "What've you been up to, besides work?" she wonders. "I suppose if you needed an audience with the princess, I could see if Donna could set it up."

Pepper Potts has posed:
"You and this Donna are... close? I don't really *need* an audience. It'd just be... nice. Be like meeting one of your heroes, you know?" Pepper admits, as she folds herself down into tucking in on the leather couch across from Kate. At least she is getting comfortable now, trying to actually relax a bit and find the actual core of friendship here. "I... I've mainly been... working. Tony and I went to that gala together the other night. That...was... Interesting."

Hawkeye (Bishop) has posed:
    Kate nods. "Think of it as an ace-in-the-hole, if you need it someday." She has a sip of the wine. "I don't know if we're close, but we seemed to hit it off. She asked Diana to meet with me too. I don't know... I might get to go to their island." She tilts her head at the mention of a gala. "...interesting?" she echoes. "Like... Chinese curse interesting or last millenium Gavin Rossdale?"

Pepper Potts has posed:
"That... that would be very sweet of you. And amazing, if you go to the island. Take as much vacation time as you need, just... Bring me back stories!" Pepper states with a wider smile, taking a sip of her own wine but still not really certain how to relax in her own skin. Even sitting in stockinged feet, after hours, with a friend, there is something quite stiff and alert about Pepper. She even hesitates before spilling out the next part, not entirely sure how to summarize or admit all of this, so all she manages to abruptly spill out is, "He got me 42 million dollar earrings."

Hawkeye (Bishop) has posed:
"Here." she says, putting her glass down and scooting a little closer, then motions to Pepper's stockinged feet. "Gimme a tootsie. You need a foot massage." It takes a moment for what Pepper has said to register. "_How_ many millions of dollars? Did he sell Portugal or something to afford it?"

Pepper Potts has posed:
The offer of that foot rub makes Pepper blink. Friendship is strange and she really has no clue how to process it. "It...it's fine... I'm fine..." And then there is the food, saving her from foot rub and explanation for a few moments. She springs up off of the couch and moves for the door, accepting the catering trays with a deep thanks from the server, no money need exchanged. It's all well paid. She brings over the piping hot meal to the coffee table. Steaks, fresh spinach, garlic heads... It's lucious and amazing. "And...42 million. He...got them at auction. The most expensive diamond earrings ever sold at auction at Sothebys.... Ever."

Hawkeye (Bishop) has posed:
    Kate rubs her forehead. "He's insane, isn't he?" she wonders, but she can't help but laugh. "He must really love you, to spend more on earrings than most of his employees will see in a year... combined." Still, she doesn't seem angry about this, just bemused. "Can you even wear them? Aren't you going to lock them in a vault somewhere?"

Pepper Potts has posed:
"I...I wore them to the gala. Nearly had a heart attack the whole time, but... I wore them. They really were... lovely." Pepper sounds half guilty, half breathless about the whole thing, as she brings the tray over and settles back down near Kate. The comment about love just makes her eyes jerk up and she blinks. "L-love?...I...we're not even...I mean, we're not... dating, even... He's my boss..."

Hawkeye (Bishop) has posed:
    Kate snorts. "Noone, even billionaire playboy-slash-supergenius Anthony Stark drops fourty two millions on jewels for someone he's not in love with." she says, matter-of-factly. She collects her glass again and has a long sip. "Mmm, good." She shakes her head. "Well, if you're _not_ dating, you should get that way."

Pepper Potts has posed:
"...Oh." Pepper echoes quietly, blinking to herself, trying to actually process the fact that maybe Kate is right and she has no clue what to say about that. So, instead, she nods towards the food, taking her plate and cutting into some steak so she can get her brain going again. It's not working very well, but she is trying. Pepper finally exhales a slow breath through her nose, "Maybe...he just likes to show off... I mean... it's... Tony Stark. He dates lots of women and he's never actually... asked me..."

Hawkeye (Bishop) has posed:
    Kate takes her own steak and vegetables. "It just doesn't make any sense otherwise. Maybe he thinks you're dating and he just assumes that you can read his mind? Or maybe he thinks that he talked to you about it, but it was just in his head and he never really said anything to you? Who knows what goes on in that man's brain?" she says, but her tone is fond. "I could ask him for you, see what he thinks?"

Pepper Potts has posed:
"I...I don't know. I assumed I was just his... loyal assistant. As I always have been and... will be. Tony... he doesn't commit. That's not like him. I've lost count of the number of women I've had to escort out of this tower..." Pepper murmurs, not quite meeting Kate's eyes as her mind goes over all the possibilities and she's having issues denying what the woman is saying. Which is just making her breath come up a bit shorter.

Hawkeye (Bishop) has posed:
    "Kate clears her mouth with a sip of wine. "Maybe he thinks he married you at some point but can't really remember when or the details?" she suggests, laughing gently. "I'm sorry. I'm being mean, aren't I? I didn't know it'd upset you."

Pepper Potts has posed:
"No...it doesn't upset me.." Pepper admits, a bittersweet smile flickering across her features as she dares to look up to Kate over their mutual, not very touched dinner. She exhales slowly, sinking her shoulders back into the couch. "I... I probably care for him... deeper than I can imagine. Than I should. I've been with this company almost a decade and at his side nearly that whole time. I... can't imagine life without Tony Stark but... I know what he does to women."

Hawkeye (Bishop) has posed:
    "But he hasn't done it to you." Kate points out. "You're beautiful, Pepper, and so smart. He must see you as an equal or something. If he was just his usual needy self..." and again she's not judging him (well, alright, she is...) but rather speaking about him as a naughty child. "... then he'd have tried to hook up with you years ago. You're something special to him, you _must_ be."

Pepper Potts has posed:
"...I...I guess." Pepper admits, though all of her seems to know Kate is right. She then slugs back a DEEP gulp of her wine, finishing the glass before she sets it down on the coffee table. "But... if we do something else. Date. More... What if I turn INTO one of those women? God, Kate, I swear I didn't bring you up here just to talk about this but I have no clue how to handle being... anything but his secretary." But it's clear, in her eyes, her voice, she wants more.

Hawkeye (Bishop) has posed:
    "You'd probably murder him if he tries that with you." Kate says with an easy laugh. "You're probably the only woman he does respect, so he needs you to keep his feet on the ground. If you want to be something more than his secretary, he owes that to you, for everything you've done for him, and will do for him."

Pepper Potts has posed:
That leaves Pepper speechless a few moments. She just watches her friend's face, trying to find wisdom there, looking so lost and in over her head when Pepper is NEVER Out of her element. She really is the perfect girl friday, when does she EVER look off her game? But she is here. She breathes out and rubs one hand across her face, "So... what... do I do?"

Hawkeye (Bishop) has posed:
    "I don't know... well, it probably depends on what you really want. You should just tell him. Explain what you want, that... I don't know... that you want to be in his heart but you don't want to just be his bed-toy or something like that. Lay down the rules. He's used to you setting his boundaries for him in the rest of his life, right? Who not his love life too." Kate goes on. "You can't wait for him. You have to grab it, whatever you want." and she smiles gently. "What's he going to do? Fire you? You can take your stock and get a seet on the board or go to his competitor... like Wayne or Luthor or that guy in Star City. Stark can't afford to let you go."

Pepper Potts has posed:
A deep laugh comes at the comment about firing her and Pepper shakes her head almost immediately. "Oh goodness, no...he wouldn't know what to do. But..." Pepper half smiles, trying to take it all in. She still looks a little overwhelmed but gives a small nod, "I'll...try to find the courage. Maybe you're right. And maybe he was just showing off and this is all in my head. Who...who knows."