Avengers: Strawberries + Shawarma - 2

Strawberries & Shawarma
—Chapter Two:

". . .Call your mom, can you bunk over?"
—Tony Stark

---

It had taken only five minutes or so to introduce Pepper to the motley band spread before her—while skimping on some of the finer details, mind you—and a solid ten for Tony to calm Bruce down and avoid the Hulk making a surprise guest appearance when he jokingly stated that it had been the gamma specialist that had wrecked the most havoc on their 'humble' abode and nearly killed their baby.

It took a great deal of work to convince him that their 'baby' was their failed metaphor for Stark Tower as he was initially led to believe that in his hulking green state he'd unintentionally killed a child.

"I was kidding," Tony said later that night as he sprawled across his bed, for the most part trying to disregard the fact that they had five more house guests than he'd planned on. In his mind it was just supposed to be him for the night and having Pepper over was just an added bonus, seeing as she was meant to be in D.C. right about now but had backtracked the moment Iron Man had chosen to zip off into space. At least they were left to whatever remained of the couches and guest rooms.

"You have a terrible sense of humor, Tony." Said woman replied, working on dislodging an earring from her earlobe. "Stop staring at my ass."

The man blinked as if in shock at having been caught and struggled to adopt an easy going 'I have no idea what you're talking about' demeanor that she clearly didn't buy. He hardly let this faze him, choosing instead to stretch out across the comforter and expose a few inches of his stomach and chanced a smug grin at the way she paused at the sight.

Tony considered making some quip about having her join him on the bed only for his inquiry to be interrupted by a rather obnoxious yawn that resulted in a few audible pops from miscellaneous joints in his body. Slumping back against the pillows he kept his eyes closed and found that as much as he wanted to open them and take in the sight of the woman he held a deep fondness for, his body and mind were simply too exhausted to let him do so.

The shift of weight on the mattress beside him and the hands suddenly brushing against his face, however, were more than enough to have his eyes snapping open.

Pepper murmured something about his intelligence that he didn't quite catch, too focused on their close proximity.

"I leave for a day and you manage to destroy our entire living room."

Funny, it had only been a day, hadn't it? So much had happened in a day and it was all just starting to catch up with him now.

Then again, a lot can happen when you go twenty four plus hours without sleep.

"I didn't act alone," Tony mumbled back as the comfortable bedding around him encouraged sleep. "I had help."

Pepper hummed in response, fingertips brushing against his hairline and nearly leaving the man purring. "Ah yes, the man you convinced that he was a baby killer?"

"I said it was a joke,"

"It wasn't really a funny one,"

"Everyone else's sense of humor sucks," he said, watching as a grin tugged at the corners of the woman's mouth. "And you seemed to find the comment about 'only twelve percent of your baby left standing' pretty amusing."

She rolled her eyes at the jest and made to pull away, only for his hands to shoot out and grasp her wrists.

"Where are you going?" Her brow furrowed as he sat up, large, rough hands moving to envelope her much smaller ones. Pepper quirked a thin eyebrow at Tony as he gave her a light tug toward his chest and re-situated himself.

"I'm going to bed. As for you—"

"Huh," he breathed thoughtfully against her cheek and smirked in satisfaction and relief at the light red hue that spread across her nose in response to the slowly diminishing distance between them. "What a coincidence. So am I."

Pepper barely got out an indignant huff when Tony's arms gave a sudden jerk and sent her off-balance, twisting the both of them until he had her back against the bed and her body pinned beneath his. She made to push him off of her and sit back up and he moved to tuck her arm into her side, busying himself with trailing the tip of his nose along her collarbone and enjoying the increased heartbeat and flush of her skin.

"This isn't 'going to bed,' Tony."

Said man hummed against the skin at the dip in her clavicle and successfully disrupted any other train of thought she'd been having. His hand trailed down from the shoulder of the arm he attempted to tuck beneath her to find her hand, interlacing his fingers with hers and giving a light squeeze. She rose her free arm and there was a momentary pause in which he was sure she was about to push him away until it snaked around his neck to hold him where he was.

Tony grinned into the base of her throat. "Close enough."

"Your definition of going to bed and the rest of the world's are two completely different things." Her words were strained as she then struggled to worm her way out from beneath him, the man beginning to peck up the expanse of her exposed neck, thankful that the shirt she'd chosen to sleep in for the night gave him more than enough to work with. Pepper unlocked her fingers from his and rose her arm to join the other, him pressing his hand to the duvet to brace himself as he hovered above her, his thumb toying with the hem of the T-shirt she was wearing and generally enjoying the 'v' of its collar.

"My definition's better," he purred against her skin, feeling goose bumps rise in response to his warm breath against cool skin and ignored the scoffed Oh please. "And you don't seem to mind too much." Tony grinned with smug satisfaction as she declined a verbal response and instead trailed her fingers through the hairs at the base of his skull. "You miss me?"

"Your ego could do without some stroking for one night," she replied, making it obvious that she had in fact, missed him somewhat in the past day. Just not in so many words.

Iron Man's alter-ego scoffed at the corner of her jaw just below her ear.

"My ego is like a delicate plant, Pep. It needs a lot of tender love and care. As for the stroking—"

She cut him off when she abruptly pulled away, something darkening in her flushed features and he almost considered berating himself for what he had been about to say. His smirk faltered under her glare, though her eyes pretty much betrayed her.

"Oh don't you even."

Tony chuckled all the same and ducked his head to tear his gaze away, shifting from where he was straddling her as her arms tightened around his neck. He frowned at the sudden act of near-desperation and was about to question it when she gently pressed her face to the side of his neck and nuzzled against it. One of the arms that was suspending him snaked beneath the small of her back and held her flush against his body and he simply waited.

"Don't do that," Pepper murmured, nose pressed to the point where she could feel his pulse rapidly thump.

He lost all sense of mockery and leaned down until her back was pressed to the pillows once more and just held her to him.

The arc reactor in his chest whirred idly.

"I tried to call you," he spoke softly into her hair, burying his nose in it and temporarily enjoying the scent of her shampoo and conditioner. It, along with the rest of her, smelt like vanilla. If he'd been meaning to placate her with his words, however, then he was sorely failing judging from the way her body tensed up beneath his.

"And I didn't answer," she responded hotly, her anger more directed at herself than at him in that moment. "You tried to call me while you were off risking your life and I didn't answer because I'm an idiot I wasn't even paying attention." Pepper ripped one arm away from his neck to press her hand to her eyes. "God, Tony."

"Hey," the man cut in to her verbal self beating and scowled. "Pepper. Hey." With his free hand he gently pried her palm away from her face in order to get to look him in the eye and avoid another bout of 'I hate yous' from the woman he was so desperately attached to. She was frowning and he then decided that it wasn't a look he particularly liked on her. "Why are you beating yourself up over this?"

Tony could see her gnawing at the inside of her lip as she contemplated her answer. There was a pause before she spoke. "What would you have said?"

Obviously, this wasn't the response he'd been expecting and he regarded her carefully for a moment.

"What do you mean?"

"If I'd answered the phone," she supplied. "What would you have said?"

By means of an answer his gaze flitted away from her for a brief second to study her hair before he ducked down to kiss her.

There were a lot of things he would have wanted to say but he didn't have enough words to use at the time, too focused on the fact that there had been a nuclear missile in his hands and the fate of the world had been on his shoulders as he plummeted off into space. He would have wanted to tell her how much she meant to him, how she could have the other eighty-eight percent and that trip to Venice that he'd offered her back at the Expo—he wanted to tell her everything but didn't know how to.

He would have apologized for anything he could think of—Hey Pepper, sorry I'm about to go blast through a black hole; Hey Pepper, I'm sorry I'm about to get myself killed—but he wanted them to be sincere, not interlaced with static as he vanished from the Earth with only a metallic suit and the broken sound of her voice to keep him company.

Would he have told her that he loved her?

"I would have said," Tony murmured as he pulled away before moving to kiss her again. "A lot of things."

Like how he'd been completely terrified of what he'd been about to do, honestly considering turning tail and running because he'd had no idea what was on the other side of the portal and didn't want to last time he'd seen Pepper to be the last time he'd ever see her.

But he couldn't say that. Not outright.

"Such as how the company would be in your hands. . ." He brushed his cheek against hers, letting his stubble scrap against her skin. "That you'd be stuck with the damages. . ." She shivered and he gave a last, harsh whisper against her ear lobe. "That I love you. . ."

Pepper stilled beneath him. Tony found himself questioning why he'd even said it, honestly afraid of her reaction. He'd always assumed that she'd say it first.

It wasn't that he didn't, he just—

"What?" The singly syllable was a breathy sigh against his cheekbone to accompany the sound of her breath hitching in her throat. He found himself grinning—she hadn't denied nor verbally reciprocated his affections to such an extent, but in that moment he knew exactly how she felt.

"You heard me, Miss Potts." The Avenger tilted his head just to enough to accentuate every word by pressing his lips to a separate part of her face with each one. "I," Her cheek. "Love." Her nose. "You."

He silenced any protests she had by pressing a firm kiss to her mouth, shifting to cup her face with his hands, one of her own now planted firmly against the arc reactor in his chest casting both of them in a light blue glow.

When Tony pulled away Pepper didn't say anything at first, too busy kissing him back. The man quirked a 'brow at her as her eyes narrowed at him.

"You're not trying to worm your way out of this one, are you?"

He blinked uncomprehendingly. "What?"

"No tricks?" Her eyes narrowed just a bit more.

"No tricks."

"No jokes?"

"Pepper," he groaned, hanging his head and nearly bopping her in the nose with his crown. "You're seriously wounding my delicate flower of an ego."

It wasn't that he regretted saying it, but rather this wasn't exactly how he'd planned for the exchange to go. Maybe he could have been more romantic. . .waited until they were dressed rather than rolling around in sweats. . .or maybe once the rest of the Super Secret Boy Band and One Chick had finally left his house. They'd already put him in hot water with the current state of his living room and this whole why-were-you-flying-into-a-black-hole thing, so them being in his house while he finally worked up the nerve to confess his feelings didn't really help the matter.

Funny how he could only admit it after nearly dying. It seemed to happen a bit too frequently for their liking.

Her laughter broke through the unsettling haze of self-doubt and worry, and the skin between his eyebrows wrinkled as he took in her mirth. Why was she laughing at him?

"Tony," she giggled, reaching up a hand to cup his face.

His lips pulled into a pout and had her in another fit.

"For the record, I love you too."

Her breath was slammed out of her chest when he just about near tackled her, both laughing to themselves as he wrapped his arms tightly around her, peppering her neck with kisses and stubble as he rolled them around on the comforter.

"Tony!" she cried out and at the last instant realized she'd been a bit loud and her cry threatened to garner the attention of one of the others. Or Steve's, at least, what with his fantastic hearing and all. (Tony could take a few lessons from him.)

He nuzzled the side of her neck affectionately and drowsily, taking a deep breath in that was his Pepper and grinning hugely to himself. She simply held him and kissed him.

"You're not quite off the hook yet, though," she said, placing a kiss to his jugular. "You still have a floor to replace."

"Huh," he whispered against her skin. "I thought you'd forget about that."

She scoffed jokingly.

"Yes, of course."

Tony rolled them over and she gasped at the feeling of his bare hand on her hip.

"That's funny, because you know something I didn't forget?"

Pepper took the opportunity to roll her eyes, completely disregarding the fact that they had company as her own hand trailed up his stomach and up to his chest in order to place her palm flat against the RT.

"Oh really," she replied before he kissed her again. She was admittedly miffed when he turned away and she bit her lip at the look on his face. "And what's that?"

Tony tilted his head down just slightly to regard her with a lidded look and she failed to resist the urge to shudder as his voice lowered into a rather husky tone.

"I, for one, did my homework."