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Stark, Steve.
Pepper's Task List
* Get a manual for Captain America's phone. Who would think I'd ever be writing that sentence.
* Look into tech classes for the Captain? Maybe messenger a course catalog over. He might appreciate it.
=NYC= Stark Tower - Midtown - NYC
Stark Tower is not one to be lost amidst the sea: it rises tall with gently spiralling curves sweeping around the building. The curves punctuate in a broad arc marked with a brightly-lit STARK that serves as helicopter pad secondarily to serving as Iron Man pad. The upper floors are undergoing heavy construction and renovation. Below, Stark Industries fills the building with a rush of life and high-powered tech. R&D and business can be found within the same building, although not the same floor. Everything is there -- including some pretty hot cars.
A lot of high-powered meetings go on within Stark Tower, but this is not one of them. Pepper Potts sits on a covered chair amidst the renovations of Tony's office, her ankles tucked together and under herself to keep the lines of her skirt straight. A falafel wrap still has the paper around it as she eats it, lunch obviously ordered in from a deli around the corner from their building. She has no tablet, no folder, no notes, and she is--chatting? At least talking as she tells Tony, "You have something. Right there." She touches the tip of her pinky to the upper corner of her own lip.
"I meant to," Stark says, because he is nothing if not dignified and that is ... totally a dignified excuse, right? The renovations slow repair of Loki's damaged echoed by the last lingering yellow of fading bruises, it's easy to see that things are on their way back to normal, for whatever value he assigns to normal. He flicks his something with his thumb and the scrape of a paper napkin. That's right, /paper/, not /linen/, he isn't /spoiled/, see he can be /street/. PS: Steve, Avengers all totally get a 'pass go, collect $200' wave through at SI security, so I hope you aren't slow in confusion. "Are you changing the subject? Because I'm just saying, we have a lot of room here."
"Yes. I'm afraid of what you are going to suggest," Pepper answers with a flicker of a smile, taking a careful bite of her wrap as her eyes remain on the man across from her.
In trousers and a plaid button-down, Steve is looking adequately Steve-ish -- and a little sheepish -- as he makes his way with occasional direction to Tony's office. Sheepish Steve(-ish) is a bit more well-off as far as bruising goes, having the benefit of certain serums within his body. He -- knocks? Politely.
"Hm. Well, now I'm afraid of what you might be afraid of." There are distractions, though, before this can get any more meta. Stark glances at the door and then back at Pepper. "Jarvis?"
"It's Mr. Rogers, sir."
"Oh," says Stark, and thinks about it, apparently content to leave Steve standing there. Manners? No.
"Tony," is clearly a reprimand for the manners, and Pepper is apparently content to correct them where she folds the foil around her wrap carefully and moves to stand. The food is placed carefully in her chair before she crosses the room to open the door for the Avenger. Personally. Jarvis probably could have done it. "Mr. Rogers, please, come in."
Oblivious to Tony's manners (in this case), Steve is looking quite patient when Pepper crosses to open the door. "Oh, Miss Potts," he says, as if surprised to see her here. "Thank you." He ducks his head a bit as he enters, his smile flickering a bit shyly. And then he looks across at Tony. "Hi," he says. "Sorry to bother you. I didn't mean to interrupt your lunch."
Stark glances from Pepper to Steve and then back again. He takes another bite of his wrap. "You aren't," he says, by which he clearly means he is going to keep eating.
Pepper's smile twitches at reply, her chin tipped lightly towards Steve at his thanks. She closes the door silently behind the man before crossing the room again to rejoin her boss. She does pick up the food before taking her chair again.
"Okay." Steve eyes the wrap very briefly, almost tempted to say something, then draws up nearer his desk. "I was just -- having trouble. With my..." He looks a little pained and baffled to identify it as such. "...phone."
Eyes lighting with a smile that does not finds its way to his lips, Stark looks at Pepper and then back at Steve. "Did you try turning it off and turning it back on again?"
"What is it doing?" Pepper questions helpfully at almost the same time, her fingers wrapping around her falafel again as she looks to Steve. She does glance over for a moment at Tony as well, but since the Captain is the one with the problem, her attention focuses mainly there.
"It's -- Well, I can't make it do it to show you, or else I could probably stop it." Steve glances between Tony and Pepper, and then finally pulls the phone from his pocket. Is it a SI phone? Idk, it's fancy. SHIELD or SI. "It's -- when someone calls me. I think."
"Have you tried answering it?" Stark speaks with eyes half-narrowed, as if bored already and contemplating a nap.
"Tony," Pepper chides again, though it is a quiet attempt at a professional rebuke in front of Steve. If such an attempt is possible. She adds to Steve, helpfully suggesting, "Would you like me to try to call it?"
"It plays this song," Steve says, a bit more frustrated in the face of Stark's boredom. "I know how to answer it."
"Pepper." Stark rounds his eyes at Pepper in an expression of innocence. He taps a tablet near at hand -- because he always has /something/ -- and in short order, Steve gets a phone call.
There is a hint of satisfaction to Pepper's smile as Tony places the call, but her attention turns back to Steve.
Steve sets the phone down on Tony's desk as if reluctant to keep hold of it. Soon enough, it lights up and sounds off a poppy strain of music. "Hey, I just met you," a young, female voice sings, "and this is crazy, but here's my number, so call me maybe!" Certainly Steve is not familiar with the song, but he can recognize a ringtone embarrassing for a grown man when he hears it. "I can't figure out how to fix it," he mumbles. "Can't it just sound like a phone?"
Stark lets the call play just long enough to be good and embarrassing before cutting the connection so that a peaceful silence falls. "It's good for you get acquainted with pop culture, though! I'm glad to know you are taking steps to catch up."
Pepper's features wince sympathetically at the song that plays, though also in a slight pain at the music. Her brow smoothes out with relief at the silence, and she says to Steve, "It sounds as if someone has changed your ringtone." She does not look at Tony, pointedly so.
"I'm not," Steve says, a bit defensively. "I mean -- I am. I didn't do /this/, though. It used to sound like a phone."
"Well, you can change it back," Stark tells Steve without explaining or showing or -- you know. Anything helpful.
"It is easy," Pepper offers smoothly in addendum to Tony's words. "Would you like me to show you, Mr. Rogers?"
"Well, I figured," Steve says to Tony with an irritable crease between his brows. He looks to Pepper more hopefully. "That would be terribly helpful, Miss Potts," he tells her sincerely. "Thank you."
Stark makes a bored face again and rolls his eyes indulgently, like he is giving Pepper /permission/ to be /nice/. He leaves her to it as his fingers wander back over to the tablet at his side. Idly, he programs a few annoyances: sure, okay, Pepper can change the ringtone back, but every so often, randomly, the phone is going to take whatever is topping the charts that week and play it as a ringtone instead. I'm sorry. This is why he needs his workshop in NYC already. More productive that way.
Pepper smiles extra sweetly into the face of boredom as she sets aside her food to rise again from her chair to join Steve. Her fingers smooth her skirt back down to her knees in a brisk gesture, reaching out for the phone. "Here," she starts, drawing close enough to allow the Captain to watch while she explains how to change the ringtone.
Steve frowns over at Stark in a ~disappointed~ sort of way before he settles at Pepper's shoulder once he hands the phone over, watching the screen intently as she works technology magic. There is a certain determined edge to his gaze that suggests he is not going to have the same question again.
The slide and tap of Stark's fingers at times slows as he glances up and takes measure of the space between Pepper and Steve -- he's watching you! -- but he is mostly pretty focused on being as annoying as possible.
"... And then you can just press the home button to return to your main screen," Pepper finishes of her explanation, though the space only remains the closeness necessary to show Steve clearly what she does. No flirtatious leaning in this scene, at least. "And if you have any questions, the door of Stark Industries is always open, Mr. Rogers."
Steve is certainly doing no flirtatious leaning. He can't help it if he takes up so much manly space, Tony. That cinch lingers between his brows even when Pepper finishes, but he smiles warm and boyish in gratitude. "Thank you, ma'am. That's really kind of you to say." He glances a little more dubiously at Tony, like he hasn't seemed equally welcoming or something. Who knows. Then back to Pepper. "Maybe I'll just ask for you next time," he says with wry humor.
Stark opens his mouth and then closes it with a look at Pepper. He thinks twice about whatever it was he was going to say, which probably is not a very common thing for him. He pauses a moment after, considering this strange feeling. Then he says, "Shouldn't be an issue now that you know how to fix it, anyway. Think of it as incentive to get caught up on tech."
Pepper does catch that look, curiosity flickering across her own expression as she holds Steve's phone back out to him. "If there were really something broken, you did ask for the right person. Mr. Stark knows more about the phones than I do," she replies.
"Of course," Steve says with an acknowledging tip of his head at Pepper's words. "It didn't seem broken, I just -- well, you know." His smile flickers again, and then tightens a touch as he looks back at Tony. "Yeah, I'm going as fast as I can."
"We should sign you up for night classes with the rest of your generation. Captain America goes to Community College. I bet there's a sitcom in that," says Stark with a brief glint of a smile that doesn't quite touch his lips. He answers Pepper's look only with blandness. He was behaving! Is! Relatively!
"Classes aren't a bad idea," Pepper says, her gaze lingering on Tony for a moment before she glances back to Steve. "But, in the meantime, let me see if I cannot find a manual for you for that phone before you go." And with that, she is turning to leave the office to do that. And likely other tasks.
Stark plays silly pranks on Steve.
* Get a manual for Captain America's phone. Who would think I'd ever be writing that sentence.
* Look into tech classes for the Captain? Maybe messenger a course catalog over. He might appreciate it.
=NYC= Stark Tower - Midtown - NYC
Stark Tower is not one to be lost amidst the sea: it rises tall with gently spiralling curves sweeping around the building. The curves punctuate in a broad arc marked with a brightly-lit STARK that serves as helicopter pad secondarily to serving as Iron Man pad. The upper floors are undergoing heavy construction and renovation. Below, Stark Industries fills the building with a rush of life and high-powered tech. R&D and business can be found within the same building, although not the same floor. Everything is there -- including some pretty hot cars.
A lot of high-powered meetings go on within Stark Tower, but this is not one of them. Pepper Potts sits on a covered chair amidst the renovations of Tony's office, her ankles tucked together and under herself to keep the lines of her skirt straight. A falafel wrap still has the paper around it as she eats it, lunch obviously ordered in from a deli around the corner from their building. She has no tablet, no folder, no notes, and she is--chatting? At least talking as she tells Tony, "You have something. Right there." She touches the tip of her pinky to the upper corner of her own lip.
"I meant to," Stark says, because he is nothing if not dignified and that is ... totally a dignified excuse, right? The renovations slow repair of Loki's damaged echoed by the last lingering yellow of fading bruises, it's easy to see that things are on their way back to normal, for whatever value he assigns to normal. He flicks his something with his thumb and the scrape of a paper napkin. That's right, /paper/, not /linen/, he isn't /spoiled/, see he can be /street/. PS: Steve, Avengers all totally get a 'pass go, collect $200' wave through at SI security, so I hope you aren't slow in confusion. "Are you changing the subject? Because I'm just saying, we have a lot of room here."
"Yes. I'm afraid of what you are going to suggest," Pepper answers with a flicker of a smile, taking a careful bite of her wrap as her eyes remain on the man across from her.
In trousers and a plaid button-down, Steve is looking adequately Steve-ish -- and a little sheepish -- as he makes his way with occasional direction to Tony's office. Sheepish Steve(-ish) is a bit more well-off as far as bruising goes, having the benefit of certain serums within his body. He -- knocks? Politely.
"Hm. Well, now I'm afraid of what you might be afraid of." There are distractions, though, before this can get any more meta. Stark glances at the door and then back at Pepper. "Jarvis?"
"It's Mr. Rogers, sir."
"Oh," says Stark, and thinks about it, apparently content to leave Steve standing there. Manners? No.
"Tony," is clearly a reprimand for the manners, and Pepper is apparently content to correct them where she folds the foil around her wrap carefully and moves to stand. The food is placed carefully in her chair before she crosses the room to open the door for the Avenger. Personally. Jarvis probably could have done it. "Mr. Rogers, please, come in."
Oblivious to Tony's manners (in this case), Steve is looking quite patient when Pepper crosses to open the door. "Oh, Miss Potts," he says, as if surprised to see her here. "Thank you." He ducks his head a bit as he enters, his smile flickering a bit shyly. And then he looks across at Tony. "Hi," he says. "Sorry to bother you. I didn't mean to interrupt your lunch."
Stark glances from Pepper to Steve and then back again. He takes another bite of his wrap. "You aren't," he says, by which he clearly means he is going to keep eating.
Pepper's smile twitches at reply, her chin tipped lightly towards Steve at his thanks. She closes the door silently behind the man before crossing the room again to rejoin her boss. She does pick up the food before taking her chair again.
"Okay." Steve eyes the wrap very briefly, almost tempted to say something, then draws up nearer his desk. "I was just -- having trouble. With my..." He looks a little pained and baffled to identify it as such. "...phone."
Eyes lighting with a smile that does not finds its way to his lips, Stark looks at Pepper and then back at Steve. "Did you try turning it off and turning it back on again?"
"What is it doing?" Pepper questions helpfully at almost the same time, her fingers wrapping around her falafel again as she looks to Steve. She does glance over for a moment at Tony as well, but since the Captain is the one with the problem, her attention focuses mainly there.
"It's -- Well, I can't make it do it to show you, or else I could probably stop it." Steve glances between Tony and Pepper, and then finally pulls the phone from his pocket. Is it a SI phone? Idk, it's fancy. SHIELD or SI. "It's -- when someone calls me. I think."
"Have you tried answering it?" Stark speaks with eyes half-narrowed, as if bored already and contemplating a nap.
"Tony," Pepper chides again, though it is a quiet attempt at a professional rebuke in front of Steve. If such an attempt is possible. She adds to Steve, helpfully suggesting, "Would you like me to try to call it?"
"It plays this song," Steve says, a bit more frustrated in the face of Stark's boredom. "I know how to answer it."
"Pepper." Stark rounds his eyes at Pepper in an expression of innocence. He taps a tablet near at hand -- because he always has /something/ -- and in short order, Steve gets a phone call.
There is a hint of satisfaction to Pepper's smile as Tony places the call, but her attention turns back to Steve.
Steve sets the phone down on Tony's desk as if reluctant to keep hold of it. Soon enough, it lights up and sounds off a poppy strain of music. "Hey, I just met you," a young, female voice sings, "and this is crazy, but here's my number, so call me maybe!" Certainly Steve is not familiar with the song, but he can recognize a ringtone embarrassing for a grown man when he hears it. "I can't figure out how to fix it," he mumbles. "Can't it just sound like a phone?"
Stark lets the call play just long enough to be good and embarrassing before cutting the connection so that a peaceful silence falls. "It's good for you get acquainted with pop culture, though! I'm glad to know you are taking steps to catch up."
Pepper's features wince sympathetically at the song that plays, though also in a slight pain at the music. Her brow smoothes out with relief at the silence, and she says to Steve, "It sounds as if someone has changed your ringtone." She does not look at Tony, pointedly so.
"I'm not," Steve says, a bit defensively. "I mean -- I am. I didn't do /this/, though. It used to sound like a phone."
"Well, you can change it back," Stark tells Steve without explaining or showing or -- you know. Anything helpful.
"It is easy," Pepper offers smoothly in addendum to Tony's words. "Would you like me to show you, Mr. Rogers?"
"Well, I figured," Steve says to Tony with an irritable crease between his brows. He looks to Pepper more hopefully. "That would be terribly helpful, Miss Potts," he tells her sincerely. "Thank you."
Stark makes a bored face again and rolls his eyes indulgently, like he is giving Pepper /permission/ to be /nice/. He leaves her to it as his fingers wander back over to the tablet at his side. Idly, he programs a few annoyances: sure, okay, Pepper can change the ringtone back, but every so often, randomly, the phone is going to take whatever is topping the charts that week and play it as a ringtone instead. I'm sorry. This is why he needs his workshop in NYC already. More productive that way.
Pepper smiles extra sweetly into the face of boredom as she sets aside her food to rise again from her chair to join Steve. Her fingers smooth her skirt back down to her knees in a brisk gesture, reaching out for the phone. "Here," she starts, drawing close enough to allow the Captain to watch while she explains how to change the ringtone.
Steve frowns over at Stark in a ~disappointed~ sort of way before he settles at Pepper's shoulder once he hands the phone over, watching the screen intently as she works technology magic. There is a certain determined edge to his gaze that suggests he is not going to have the same question again.
The slide and tap of Stark's fingers at times slows as he glances up and takes measure of the space between Pepper and Steve -- he's watching you! -- but he is mostly pretty focused on being as annoying as possible.
"... And then you can just press the home button to return to your main screen," Pepper finishes of her explanation, though the space only remains the closeness necessary to show Steve clearly what she does. No flirtatious leaning in this scene, at least. "And if you have any questions, the door of Stark Industries is always open, Mr. Rogers."
Steve is certainly doing no flirtatious leaning. He can't help it if he takes up so much manly space, Tony. That cinch lingers between his brows even when Pepper finishes, but he smiles warm and boyish in gratitude. "Thank you, ma'am. That's really kind of you to say." He glances a little more dubiously at Tony, like he hasn't seemed equally welcoming or something. Who knows. Then back to Pepper. "Maybe I'll just ask for you next time," he says with wry humor.
Stark opens his mouth and then closes it with a look at Pepper. He thinks twice about whatever it was he was going to say, which probably is not a very common thing for him. He pauses a moment after, considering this strange feeling. Then he says, "Shouldn't be an issue now that you know how to fix it, anyway. Think of it as incentive to get caught up on tech."
Pepper does catch that look, curiosity flickering across her own expression as she holds Steve's phone back out to him. "If there were really something broken, you did ask for the right person. Mr. Stark knows more about the phones than I do," she replies.
"Of course," Steve says with an acknowledging tip of his head at Pepper's words. "It didn't seem broken, I just -- well, you know." His smile flickers again, and then tightens a touch as he looks back at Tony. "Yeah, I'm going as fast as I can."
"We should sign you up for night classes with the rest of your generation. Captain America goes to Community College. I bet there's a sitcom in that," says Stark with a brief glint of a smile that doesn't quite touch his lips. He answers Pepper's look only with blandness. He was behaving! Is! Relatively!
"Classes aren't a bad idea," Pepper says, her gaze lingering on Tony for a moment before she glances back to Steve. "But, in the meantime, let me see if I cannot find a manual for you for that phone before you go." And with that, she is turning to leave the office to do that. And likely other tasks.
Stark plays silly pranks on Steve.