( 001 | video. )

[petitehands]

[ The video feed clicks on to show a now relatively calm Pepper, even if her mouth is set in a fairly thin line of mild discontent. Her hair is scraped back and tied in a neat bun, with her fringe still plastered a little wetly to her forehead, but at least she's clean now. She's been making regular use of the showers since arriving, just to make sure that every last bit of blue hideousness is washed away from her. For now, at least. ]

Now that everyone's had at least a bit of time to recover- [ herself very much included, even if "recover" is something of an overstatement ] -I might as well introduce myself, though from what I've been told, it appears some of you may already know who I am.

I'm Pepper Potts, an associate and coworker- [ this is still new, Tony, don't complain] -of Tony Stark's. [ The next words are a little practised, ones she's gone over in her mind and made sure that they're absolutely clear before speaking them. ] Not the same one from before, though. I have absolutely no memory of having been on this ship before, even though apparently I was, and I'm sorry to anyone that I might have met previously.

[ She pauses, briefly, before going on. ]

I just wanted to clear that up before any confusion took place. I think some of us have more than enough of that already, what with being on a spaceship and everything. [ The thought still makes her want to shudder a little. ] Thank you for your time, and I hope everyone's successfully washed off all of that awful blue stuff.

[ With a good natured, mild smile, Pepper shuts off the feed. She realises it's a rather mundane sort of addition to the network, but she'll leave revelations and interesting matters to Tony. She still isn't sure if she has the entire picture here - Tony has a curious understanding of what he should and shouldn't tell her, she knows this from experience - but god knows she will have it, one way or another. ]

Comments

[starked]

[ f u c k. ]

They do. We call it dating. I- I never said you were my wife. And technically, you used partner first.

[petitehands]

You must have said something. [ That is the most pathetic excuse, Tony. Partners indeed. ] Why would I use "partner" as a substitution for "wife", anyway? I meant in business if- if I wanted to say I was your wife, I'd just say it-

[ She stops herself, abruptly. Repeats. ]

There must have been something.

[starked]

I said you were my girlfriend, I think? I know I never said wife, because you're not my wife. [ So mortified, god Robb why did you do this. ] Because marriages can sometimes be business arrangments. Not that- if we did- If we contemplated it- It wouldn't strictly be business.

[ Stop. Tony. Just stop. ]

Partner can mean like, partner in life. You know, like you introduce someone as your life partner and that's the person you have a romantic attachment to. I really didn't say it. Come on, Pepper, you know me.

[ You know he wouldn't have. ]

[petitehands]

I- a business arrangement? If it ever comes to that then I hope it's not even remotely to do with business. Seriously, that is the last thing I'd ever want in a marriage.

[ This conversation is terrible because it is an inadvertent way of talking about the future and marriage, and Pepper's getting herself accidentally sucked into it. ]

Anyway, that doesn't matter- for clarity's sake, don't ever let me call you my partner again without also referring to you as my boyfriend. [ Oh there we go, now Pepper's admitted that, at least she's got that out of the way. ] So that we just don't do this again. Ever. Unless- [ NO STOP RIGHT NOW ] -no, ignore that. Let's not do this again.

[ You know, confusing your adoptive space family about your relationship with her isn't how she wanted to kick things off here. ]

[starked]

I meant- What I meant is that it wouldn't be business at all, minus the company and- Okay restarting this, not business arrangement but there's been some marriages that are and again, you know me. We're just going to stop talking about this. Hypothetically, it'd be the last thing you'd get in a hypothetical marriage to me.

[ What might actually make it worse is that it's public. Dear Tony's Stalkers: Yes, he's this stupid about this relationship forever and ever. ]

I won't even begin to let you do it. Though, it's really only a problem when talking to people who automatically think partner equals wife or significant others. But, noted, and I'll even occasionally pop up and say it.

[ ...Pepper, are you tumbling down the hole too? ] We're- You and I- let's just not even contemplate that on the ship. It's- Let's just not.

[petitehands]

[ Is this a good time to ask if it's possible to get a martini with at least three olives on board? She wouldn't mind one of those at the moment, even if she doesn't necessarily trust Tony not to suddenly disappear if she was to ask him for one. Anyway.

If it's any consolation, Tony, at least Pepper's rather silly about this relationship too. ]

I think we can do without the popping up and saying it part. Only if I'm likely to introduce you to anyone, which, given that you've been here for much longer than I have, seems unlikely for the near future. Maybe I'll just write it down somewhere. [ She almost follows it up with a confirmation of "partner and boyfriend", but just about stops herself. For the record, Tony, she's only tumbling into the hole because you seem to exude a magnetic field that is very specific to Pepper and drags you after her every you go. Including the holes you dig for yourself. ] I'm totally okay with not contemplating that on the ship. Absolutely.

[ ... wait does that mean this is being contemplated off ship?? ]