3772/I'm not dead yet

I'm not dead yet
Date of Scene:	31 January 2018
Location:	Stark Tower Penthouse
Synopsis:	Pepper tries to get the ill Tony to get some sleep, but meets resistance.
Cast of Characters:	Iron Man, Pepper Potts

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Iron Man has posed:
Tony mostly lets the illness show when he's not in public. So, in the car, though most of the entourage also needs to not be there, or he's still running on fumes of trying to impress them. This time though, since Pepper is wise enough to have him just with her in the back of one of the cars, he actually ends up sleeping for much of the ride, though it takes some coaxing just to get him to shut up long enough to rest. When they arrive he's actually confused and surprised that he did sleep. It was an accident.
    Tony revs up enough to get inside and manage people some - which makes him hard to drag away immediately, but when Pepper FINALLY gets him away from others and up to the Penthouse, he starts to ease down out of the adrenaline and look as fried as he really is. He works his suit coat off with effort and works on the tie, tired and pale, but keeping the ship sailing.

Pepper Potts has posed:
In the car, Pepper knew exactly what to do. Very quiet words, not much talking, her shoulder an easy place to rest. Eventually, her arm coming around him, wrapping him up in her warmth and familiar scent. She didn't know if she felt like home to him as much as he did to her, but even if she did a little bit, it was enough. He slept, and that helped. She was ever so gentle in coaxing him out of the car, past people, upstairs...

Once there, she's barely leaving his side. She steps out of her high heels and peels out of her jacket -- a move to make him feel less defensive about getting undressed and more at ease in their positions of power. Then she's coming up to him and reaching for his tie herself. "...Let me. Just... relax. Please?" She asks so gently, as her fingertips work at the tie, then the buttons of his shirt.

Iron Man has posed:
Tony almost doesn't have it in him to make a comment about this. Almost.

"This isn't usually something that precedes me relaxing," Tony flirts.

It's almost halfhearted, because he's fried. But he's strong, and part of that strength is being resilient even when he's in really bad shape.

He drops his hands from the tie, though, and watches her do it, a little bit unresponsive. That's scarier, perhaps: he's just not interacting with a sharpness or clarity. He lifts one hand and rubs the finger and thumb firmly into his eye sockets, and coughs twice. He's had a shortness of breath issue, which was one of the major reasons he has to rest, and this parading out into the charity event, in some attempt to not show weakness, may end up being what destroys him.

Pepper Potts has posed:
"Hush. I promise, when you are back on your feet, we can absolutely do things which are... not relaxing. I promise. But tonight is relaxing." There. Pepper's said it. Given him the best motivation she can find to survive through the treatment and surgery. Even though she's basically just promised to seduce him, her smile is still soft and a little worried as she unlaces the tie from his neck and tosses it aside on the desk before coming back to finish with his shirt. That is gently guided down off of his arms. Next is the pants. That's a bit awkward, but she does it all with clinical, gentle hands. This is almost just business.

Almost. "...You want the flannel pajamas I got you finally? They are warm AND comfortable. I promise. I know it's not an ACDC teeshirt or... commando, but it'll be warmer for you..." The cough gets a worried look, but there is nothing she can do save what she is doing -- take care of him and get him to rest.

Iron Man has posed:
"Hey, hey, I feel like I'm being undressed for my funeral. I'm not that bad yet," Tony says, kicking in sometime around when she gets most of the shirt off, to do much of this himself. His independence is strong and he may have faded out for a little bit there, he's back now again. It's irregular: he'll fade then come back in with a passion. "Maybe just the pants from 'em," Tony bargains, about the flannel. He throws the suit pants over out of the way, with no shame about stripping in particular. Of course not: Tony Stark, after all.

"JARVIS, download all of those readings off of MK-12 before I forget, and run those batch analysis protocols I wanted," Tony commands, remembering. "Yes sir," JARVIS agrees.

Tony wanders into the bathroom to tiredly do general bedtime hygiene, while she's going after the flannel, just wandering in his boxers. Really only going through the motions, though.

Pepper Potts has posed:
"The pants, then." Pepper looks a touch pleased about that, at least. The fact he's letting her take care of him even a bit, it does help. She takes just a moment to steal a look over him -- partially enjoying the chance to see him mostly undressed, and partially to look at just how sickly he might actually be. She's too worried to be considering anything other than sleep, but she still enjoys looking.

WHile he's in the bathroom, she does set out those fuzzy, warm flannel pants that she got for him from the top end camping line. It's the sort of flannel you want to roll up in and just purr. Then she goes over to the single, little drawer she's started keeping here since he's gotten sick. She hasn't gone home to her own condo in weeks, but sometimes stays in the guest bedroom. Sometimes not. She pulls out her own sleep shorts and camisole, making quick work of her pants and bra so she's in far more comfortable things when he's out of the bathroom. "Pants are on the bed for you."

Iron Man has posed:
Tony is too out of it to know he's being looked at, so he doesn't do any flexing or roostering. He's just barely doing the whole walking thing now, held together with willpower style tape. He cleans up: his face, teeth and so on, and comes back out. The lighting is better from the bathroom, so when he turns to come out she'll see something bad: there's discoloration around the arc reactor, the skin is angry. Some red tendrils of showing veins and irritation come out from it. This began a few days prior, and while it isn't hugely worse, things aren't great either. The light from the reactor itself makes it less apparent, except under the good lighting from his epic bathroom.

"I remember these," Tony says. He totally doesn't remember but he's being nice. He pulls the offered pants on, and tiredly considers her. His dark eyes are ill, but fighting. He's still present, at least for now.

"Why do you always look so good when I'm about to pass out?" Tony queries.

Pepper Potts has posed:
"Because I always look good, and you're like a kid who never wants to go to bed on time, looking for any excuse to stay awake." Pepper states with a deeper smirk, though her voice is all fond as she says it. She steps over to him with the pants, putting them directly in his hands just in case he thinks he's going to crawl into bed without them. "Put them on. It'll fell better. I promise." She then leans up and kisses his cheek, trying to soften some of her over protectiveness with the affection.

"I'm... going to stick around tonight. Early morning meeting. You rather I take the guest bed or... ?" A quiet offer hangs in the air. She will stay in here with him. From the indication of her voice, she'd RATHER stay in here, actually. Especially as her eyes catch sight of that discoloration, the quiet knowledge he's getting worse. SHe doesn't want to leave him alone.

Iron Man has posed:
"My excuses are far surprior to a kid's excuses," Tony assures her evenly as she puts the pants into his hands in that manner. He gets them on. "I'm telling you, I'm fine. JARVIS, do a scan and pull up my current status," Tony instructs, indicating one of the large television sets. JARVIS does as bidden, and it appears. However, there are several things that are flashing red and angry on it.

"Well, that could look better," Tony says after a pause. "Yeah, shut that off, JARVIS. I could... use a drink," he observes, not yet quite giving an answer about if she's supposed to stay in the room with him, or not. He's doing a little bit of selective hearing, though some of it is the exhaustion level.

Pepper Potts has posed:
"Tony. The LAST thing you need is booze. If you want water, or some herbal tea or something, I'll get that. But no booze." Pepper states firmly, especially after looking over that scan, her heart in her throat in a way it wasn't five minutes ago. She's trying to hold it together, to appear calm and collected, but her worry is ramping up by the second. She stares at him quietly, her expression full of concern and heartache. "Let's...let's just go to bed."

Iron Man has posed:
"I know. Hank gave me medicine I can't take with it. At least let me pine after it, and the loss of getting to swing from the chandelier tonight," Tony laments. He can't look directly into her worry and walks past her to the side of his bed. He will, at least, take the medicine. Kind of a lot of them, it appears.

Hank gave him these weird gummy-things, like you'd give a child. Of course. Tony did not miss the clear message there.

Pepper Potts has posed:
Apparently, she's just not giving him a choice. Pepper follows him to the bed, giving a half smile as she sees him going for the meds. "Take the meds. I'll be back in a minute." And she reaches up to fondly muss at his hair, part of her just looking for excuses to touch him, before she turns away to disappear to the bathroom herself. SHe's absolutely staying here the night. How could she sleep rooms away, always worrying if he's still breathing?

The sound of water can be heard running and it's barely a few minutes before she's back out of the bathroom, face slightly damp from being washed, all her make up off, hair down. It's the most raw and honest anyone ever sees Pepper Potts and he's the only person in the world who gets to see it.

Iron Man has posed:
When she comes back, Tony is ... poking at one of his holographically projected screens. He is looking into the medication. Because what if it doesn't ACTUALLY interact badly with alcohol? That's really worth checking on. Definitely worth it. He lacks enough mental bandwidth to react to her return -- well, at first.

Pepper Potts has posed:
"...Tony. Sleep. Come on. Please?" Pepper asks, the last part a bit softer, a bit more heartbroken as she slightly clues into what he's doing. Now she has no doubt in her mind that she's staying. She pads barefoot up to 'her' side of the bed, the one that she's just habitually begun to take the nights she ends up spending here. Nothing ever done but idle cuddling, keeping the bed warm, but it's been nice those few times. She sinks down into the bed, pulling up mostly bare legs to slip under the sheets. She's all bare, soft limbs and loose strawberry hair right now. It makes her look a decade younger.

Iron Man has posed:
Sadly, Hank isn't a lying liarpants, and it can't be taken with alcohol. Well, not without side effects. Tony looks at them. Yeah, NOPE. He shuts off the bright screen and turns around to look at the bed, tracking over to where she is.

Truth - there have been many ladies in that bed. But certainly not in this manner. This honest directness is a removed bandage, a quick tear somewhere. It hurt, somehow.

Tony looks at her, dark eyes tired but full of her.

Pepper Potts has posed:
Pepper remains sitting up for the moment, looking like, for all of the world, she belonged there. Like a wife would going to bed with him -- no make up on, no fancy night gown or lingere. Just cotton short-shorts and a loose cotton camisole. No bra. Bare skin, bare arms, soft collarbones. It's so achingly normal, like she's always belonged, and yet she is still an intruder on this world.

She reaches one hand up to gentle brush fingertips down his arm, almost trying to coax him into laying down. "You...need anything else? Water, or anything? I'll get it. YOu just... lay down. Sleep. Actually... Sleep. For me?"

Iron Man has posed:
Tony Stark tries to sort out how he feels about any of this. There's a clash of rebellion that he can't define. Like he's /supposed/ to fight. But there's too many good things about it. There's a relaxation into it that's tempting in a far different way from usual 'temptations'. He's really split, and it's a confusing sensation. When torn, Tony generally just makes a choice and runs with the risk. But there's something /important/ about this choice.

Tony watches her touch his arm, his jaw flexes some. And up comes the first thing off the back of the truck that is Tony's verbal retorts: "Seems like such a waste to spend time staring at the back of eyelids, when I can look at you."

Pepper Potts has posed:
"Well, you get through this mess and play your cards right, you can spent several more years looking at me. But... first, getting through this mess. That's the only thing I ask. You want this again? More? We... we actually want *this*? You have to survive, Tony. And that means actually taking care of yourself. Sleeping. Listening to Hank. Letting this happen. Please, that's... the one thing I'm asking. Please do that." Pepper murmurs softly, trying not to put too much desperation behind her words, not wanting to drive him away in fear, but she meant every last breath of them.

She then leans over and presses a little kiss to his temple, letting her nose linger against his hair for just a heartbeat or two. "Come on. Even I'm tired. Sleep. I'll be here in the morning." She whispers into his hair, before moving to pull away so she can settle into the sheets herself.

Iron Man has posed:
Tony scoffs a little, with a sudden arrogance. "I'm not going to /die/," Tony says, with such self assurance that it may be actually pretty easy to just believe him. He doesn't bother to go all the way around the bed, he just pushes his way in on the side he's on (next to her), moving an arm to scoop her legs and pull them aside to make more space for him to sit there, intruding on her space. Of course he is.

"You keep saying things that /will/ be, but.... we're already here, Pepper," Tony points out.

Pepper Potts has posed:
The blonde blinks a bit as she's scooped up from her place, not squirming away from him, she just happily makes room for him. She doesn't pull out of his arms, or away at all. Pepper just leans there, considering his face as he says that. "I... I suppose we are." She breathes out quietly, no apology or fear in her tone. "I.... just want to *stay* here, and as much as you say you're not going to die, I watched you arrange everything for the company. I've seen the way you are acting. I KNOW you... and I know you're scared. And I am too." She admits softly.

Iron Man has posed:
Tony adjusts, slipping into the bed on 'her side' with her in a tangle, arm around her somewhat loosely. He can't maintain acting 'normal' for very long, and he starts to peter out in energy after that move, reclining back with several difficult and shallow breaths.

"I just really don't like having to make contingency plans for failing. Let's just stay successful, please," Tony suggests, playful, but... yeah. Death is a scary thing.

Pepper Potts has posed:
"Then... sleep. Let's sleep. That's a step in the right direction, Tony. I promise." Pepper almost begs. Almost. She does not extricate herself from his arms but, insteadn, guides both of them to gently laying back. One arm stretches down, tugging at the sheet and blanket to pull them overtop of both of them. THat's what matters, keeping them warm, keeping him close. There is no pulling away tonight and pretending to sleep on the opposite side of the bed. She tucks in against his shoulder instead. "I'm here. I'm not going anywhere. I promise." That's probably about more than just sleeping tonight.

Iron Man has posed:
Tony draws her hand in towards his bare chest, near but not touching the inflamed skin near the reactor. There's some pain there and he doesn't need her to see him flinch. He tires to maintain focus and so on, but he's really in bad shape, so despite his wishes to be stronger, he ends up sort of just... melted, leaning his head forwards towards her and letting his eyes shut. There's considerable trust, really. To give in, finally, after a long war of the day -- or week.

Pepper Potts has posed:
It's enough. Pepper tucks down with him, curled in close on the bed, not budging from his arms. SHe doesn't quite sleep yet, but listens to his breath, ensuring that he drops off to sleep before she dares even think about it herself. But, good to her promise, she doesn't move

Iron Man has posed:
Tony doesn't quite fall asleep yet. "If you want, though, I'm not TOO dead yet-- we can make out," Tony mumbles at her sleepily.

Tony Stark might just survive after all.