redheadpepper: (walking with tony)
Pepper Potts ([personal profile] redheadpepper) wrote2009-01-18 10:21 pm

mad_muses December: Ann Landers quote

“Love is friendship that has caught fire. It is quiet understanding, mutual confidence, sharing and forgiving. It is loyalty through good and bad times. It settles for less than perfection and makes allowances for human weaknesses.” --Ann Landers

“Here, hold this. Steady, now…”

Pepper held one end of a strange-looking metal contraption while Tony twisted some wires together. She glanced around, still keeping her hands as steady as possible.

“Butterfingers would probably have a steadier grip,” she pointed out logically.

He spared her a brief glance, then went back to the wires. “At the end of the day, nothing can compare to good old-fashioned human assistance,” he said lightly. “Butterfingers couldn’t replace the arc reactor.”

“I put you into cardiac arrest.”

“Only for a little while.”

“Why do I put up with you?”

Now he flashed her a grin. “Because I’m charming and handsome and pay you a lot?”

She gave him a long-suffering look. “I think it’s mostly the salary.”

The silence they fell into was comfortable, and Pepper focused on keeping her hands steady, lulled by the mechanical noises and the sound of Tony’s breathing near her as he worked. Her mind was starting to drift away pleasantly when Tony’s voice broke the silence, letting her know he was done. He took the piece of metal out of her hands and inspected it carefully.

“Thanks. Couldn’t do it without you.”

“Is there anything else you need, Mr. Stark?” She asked, unable to conceal a little smile.

“That’ll be all, Miss Potts,” he responded, with a smile he only ever gave her.

It wasn’t just the salary.

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