4495/Just a head wound

Just a head wound
Date of Scene:	22 May 2018
Location:	Unknown
Synopsis:	Pepper meets Tony after the Mutant Kidnapping mission ended.
Cast of Characters:	Iron Man, Pepper Potts

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Iron Man has posed:
    Friday.

    At around 3pm things started to unravel. The kidnapped mutant that was rescued not long before was in jeopardy, someone was trying to re-acquire her. Tony had to call off the meeting he was about to be in, to the surprise of the investors in it. Hardly a problem, though: he said what it was about. Iron Man was needed. The initial annoyance of the reschedule of the meeting shifted to a quiet awe. It's one thing to talk business with Tony Stark, and still another to then directly observe the Avenger need to go save lives.
    The mission was in Gotham, as the young mutant was still in the hospital, and Tony took off quickly to go to her defense, with SHIELD, at least one X-Man, some others. The news covered it quickly, and was something Pepper could watch easily: the Hospital was taken over by hostiles. However, soon enough SHIELD and the others resolved the situation, and saved the patients. Tony is directly in front of it, answering all of the reporter's questions, for a good twenty minutes. They captured the man responsible for the kidnappings. Tony doesn't remove his helmet for some reason, though, which is odd.

    It is now a an hour later, and JARVIS reports that Tony is headed back, and landing at the tower.

Pepper Potts has posed:
    Pepper has gotten used to this dance, or so she tells herself. In truth, she'll never be used to the dance. But she's trying. She finishes off the meeting while he heads off to be Iron Man, she cancels all of his (and her) appointments for the rest of the day, then she stations herself in front of the television upstairs with a cup of coffee and her work email, trying to distract herself from the constant reports coming in and, truthfully, unable to look away. She's been there since the hospital was taken over and she hasn't left. Now, with the clean up, she's trying to relax and not worry...

    That doesn't mean she doesn't jump to her feet the moment JARVIS reports that Tony is headed back. She abandons her coffee and laptop, running dwon to the landing pad and garage in stockinged feet. She isn't even bothering to put her high heels back on. "What's his condition, JARVIS? Why... why didn't he take off his helmet? He never misses a chance to smile for the cameras..."

Iron Man has posed:
    The answer may be some of what she feared when the news cameras did get a good look at an enormous pitch-black furred mutant that was trying to crush Iron man in a super tight bear hug. Fortunately, though, it appears his ego (and maybe the rest of him) is not so crushable. Why he didn't pull the helmet could be related to that event. JARVIS clarifies when she asks: "Part of the control array fused during the battle. It will be safer to remove here, and not risk his vision."

    Because that's not a whole other scary idea to add into it all! He did look battered on camera, but didn't seem to be anything other than himself when talking. Confident, pleased with it all, and sly with answers. The usual.

    Tony wings into the garage, splitting up from War Machine at that point, and directly into the mechanical bay area - the place where he works on pieces of new armor. He's plopped down into one of the big chairs, and has robots swarming in on the helmet immediately. Sparks sizzle and fly as it's dealt with, machines whirring and drowning sound out.

Pepper Potts has posed:
    It's shortly after he's plopped down in the chair that Pepper, half in her work suit still and stockinged feet, looking worried, disshelved, and very much in love. It's Pepper's normal look. She heads over to Tony's side, not quite reaching for a hug or getting in touching distance, but she's coming as close as she possibly can. "Tony... How... well... JARVIS, how is the removal going?" She asks, since Tony can't probably quite communicate right now.

Iron Man has posed:
    Tony doesn't ignore her, but probably is looking right at her based on the helmet location. Well, sort of. He fans one of the robots out of the way, to flash her an armored-gauntlet thumbs-up. See? He's fine!

    JARVIS replies, "Almost complete. Expecting eight more seconds."

    Indeed, it comes free, and Tony quickly sheds the other pieces of the armor, climbing out of the chair and once his hands are uncovered, wincing and touching his head a little.

    It's just as well he didn't take the helmet off; he has more than helmet hair: some head wound on the upper right side that has caused a lot of blood to run all down that side of his face like a broad war paint stripe. There's discoloration on that side similar to a starting black eye at the eyebrow ridge. He snares a towel from the side of a robot and wipes his goatee and jaw off, and flashes Pepper a big smile.
    "We /got/ the creep. It's all over," Tony says, upbeat, despite the heady exhaustion under it.

Pepper Potts has posed:
    A bit of a yelp escapes her lips the moment she sees his face, "Tony!" She breathes out, reaching for him, but he's already getting the towel and dabbing at things. "Tony. Is that towel even CLEAN? Who knows where it's been in this workshop. Come on, right upstairs, let me... clean that out and we'll see if you need stitches or not. You're lucky you don't have a concussion! Wait... JARVIS: Do a deep scan. Can you tell if he has a concussion! Tony, you should sit down!" Pepper is definitely in over worried mode, but that much blood on his face probably pushed her over the edge of calm and waiting into quiet panic.

Iron Man has posed:
    "I'm really fine, I've been chatting with reporters for ages, and I did get a scan," Tony defends. But looks at the towel. "...But no, this isn't a clean towel, I'll give you that one," Tony admits, draping it over the head of one of the nearby robots, and looking down at his hands. He probably got some grease ADDED to his hands, from the towel.

    JARVIS responds, "There does not appear to be any damage on the scan, but the helmet was not in excellent cond--" Tony interrupts: "I'm really fine, the suit did it's job well: It's something /I/ made," Tony assures in his obnoxiously calm 'I am fine no matter what' manner. "I can sit upstairs." Tony starts to lead the way, the elated victory still going strong in his posture and movement: still high on it all, and the eager reporters only boosted that higher.

Pepper Potts has posed:
    "...JARVIS: Was the helmet damaged when he went OUT there? Or simply damaged in the fight?" Pepper asks, concern still under her voice, but she simply needs the clarity to figure out how many stupid risks Tony is taking now. She doesn't protest him going upstairs, she simply follows along loyally, content that he's agreed to her cleaning the injury to his face out.
    "I'm... glad you are fine. I noticed you with the reporters. The fact you kept the helmet on is what worried me in the first place, you normally always like to flirt with a pretty camera girl." Pepper smirks, no real saltiness in her voice. Mainly teasing. He might be trying to go somewhere else, but she loops an arm around his shoulders and immediately directs him towards the bathroom. "Clean that up. The dinner or a drink."

Iron Man has posed:
    She knows him well, he started to go towards the screens, no doubt to get to see himself and all the attention, but only fights for a little bit before allowing her to direct him to the bathroom. It was more of a passive resistance than a 'fight' anyway. It'll still be there. "Both. I'm ready to eat, and celebrate both," Tony answers. "Trust me, the helmet would have been off if it hadn't needed to be unwelded from the neck section," Tony sighs, but catches sight of himself in the mirror.

    "Oh. Yeah, okay, I suppose I could accept a second opinion from you on severity," Tony remarks of his reflection. He didn't realize how much blood was on his face and hair. And goes to a sink, running water over his hands, and probably intending to just wash himself.

    JARVIS supplies: "The helmet, left gauntlet, left thigh and abdomen panels all suffered damage during the mission, not before."

Pepper Potts has posed:
    "Sit, Tony. Let... let me." Pepper huffs, just about as stubborn as he can be, as she takes his shoulders and guides him to sit on the edge of the closed toilet, so she can get the best light from over the sink on his injuries. She then runs the water, so it's luke warm, and grabs at a clean washcloth from the pantry. The cleaning alcohol comes out, "This is going to sting, but after you put the damn shop rag in an open cut..." And sure enough, she gets the alcohol gently into the wound, bubbling up to clean out any possible bit of infection, almost certainly stinging like a bitch.
    "Thank you, JARVIS... Tony, when I'm done with this, you're letting me see your left thigh. And no, this isn't just an excuse to get your pants off. But...I'll enjoy that too." She adds the smallest bit of a flirting wink before she goes back to carefully cleaning out his head wound. At least it didn't look like it needed stitches.

Iron Man has posed:
    Tony sat, though his hands are still wet from the quick wash he gave them. He uses the bottom of the towel she's dabbing at his head with to dry his hands. Impossible man.

    The wound itself isn't too bad at all, looks like part of the helmet caved on one side and he got cut somehow on it. It's foreward, just above hairline on that side, and isn't as bad as the blood suggests. Head wounds just bleed heavily. Doesn't mean it feels good when she pours lava pain onto it, and he coughs loudly to mask any other sound of unhappiness.
    "With your tender touch, I'm very encouraged to show you anything you want. Ouch, that stings; can we do it without the stabbing knife you must have," Tony says, but doesn't squirrel away.

Pepper Potts has posed:
    "Long as you aren't bleeding anywhere else, I won't have to get the stabbing knife again." Pepper deadpans, like she would with a petulant child, even if he knows that just-hint of teasing behind her voice. Once it's totally clean, she gets a butterfly bandage, carefully drawing the edges of the wound together in hopes it won't scar. Better than stitches. "Alright... Up and off with the pants. Let me see how bad it is." Pepper insists flatly, offering her arm to help stand him up off the seat just in case he needs it.

Iron Man has posed:
    Tony sits through the cleaning without much more complaint: she's quick, and bending over him, so he was looking at her front quite a bit during it. The view could have been much worse. "Not buying me dinner first?" Tony teases her, but does stand and removes the plants. They are snug, almost athletic tech wear that he puts on under a suit when he has enough time to do so. He twists some, clearly orienting to the outside of the thigh. No blood, but there's a long impact bruise, as if he'd fallen on it hard. "Yay, no stab targets there," Tony teases her. He checks his wrist and also pulls up his shirt to check over his lower abdomen: no visible harm there.

Pepper Potts has posed:
    "Mm... It... could be worse. I suppose we can get you dinner now." Pepper murmurs gently, a still worried smile crossing her lips as her fingertips reach out to his side, daring to brush along skin he's now exposed with raising his shirt. She does like the sight of him, even if she doesn't like the bruises. "We can sit and just... take it easy tonight. I'll even let you watch the news, even if I've seen the reports four times over already." But she hasn't moved from the bathroom yet, just holding onto his side, her frame pressed close and warm in her worry.

Iron Man has posed:
    Tony still has blood on his face, which generates a sort of intensity even on top of his normal look. The adrenaline is clearly still going: or his elation over the whole thing. He smiles when she touches his upper side, and draws her in easily. He smells like himself, with the bloody hint and sweat from the activity of the afternoon.
    Tony is chatty about the evening, shockingly: "Cap wasn't even there Pep; I ran the mission. Including SHIELD personnel. And none of our crew took bad injury. Sure, we had a few mutants go berserk but we calmed them down, and saved the hospital full of innocent people. Sometimes the missions go really badly, but here's this real example tonight, this real /case/, of what we can really do. We needed this. I'd trade a few bruises and cuts every time."

Pepper Potts has posed:
    "I'm... so proud of you. And as long as you keep coming home to me in one piece... I'll never complain." Worry? Yes, very much. Fret deeply. Panic. But never complain after. She leans in a bit closer to him, something suggestive in her stance, before tilting her head up and stealing a kiss that probably cuts off some rambling words, but she's relieved he's alive, he's still got that excited, slightly aggressive, ever so handsome look about him, and so she steals her kiss.