InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "It's a Daktari stool!"

i_hench (i_hench) wrote in we_coexist,
@ 2008-07-29 13:38:00

Entry tags:

21, 24, pepper potts, zz:status complete

Drowning sorrows in Sbarros [open, Sbarro]
"Aren't you gonna eat your bread sticks?" inquired Gary.

"Not hungry," answered Roy. He lifted one of his elbows off of the Formica table from where it perched. "Aw, dammit! I got sauce on this shirt. This was the only one in Arkham that fit me. Everything was sized for that little creep." He attempted to wipe the red sauce off his elbow with a paper napkin. "Which begs the question, where did you find a size lardass in there?"

"Oh, dude, there's a whole wardrobe in the west wing. Musta been personal effects for all the crazies that were locked up in there. They had every size and color and style you could imagine." Gary took another healthy bite of pepperoni pizza. "I swear, it was like the dressing room for a high school drama department," he said amid a muffled mouthful.

"Is that why you're dressed like Uncle Pennybags?"

"Totally." Gary modeled his fancy suit. "This belonged to some guy named Oswald Chesterfield Cobblepot. Can you believe that name? It's like his parents were trying to raise a supervillain."

"Or the douchiest kid in school." Smiling now, Roy took a bite of bread stick.

"What do you think Jack's story was? I never found out."

"Who knows? Maybe his mind got fried by a joybuzzer or something. He seemed pretty b-list."

"I don't know. I think he was pretty intense. We coulda had a good thing there."

"Maybe. What do we do now that he's gone?" Roy put down his bread stick.

"I dunno. I guess we'll have to work for a living again."

(Post a new comment)

i_onlyhaveyou
2008-08-01 04:06 pm UTC (link)

Food. Greasy, unhealthy, fattening comfort food. That was exactly what the doctor ordered!

...or, at least, what Pepper's growling stomach had ordered.

Some people seemed to lose their appetites whenever they found themselves overly stressed, anxious or upset about something.

Not Pepper, though. When Pepper got stressed, she ate! And not just an apple here or a few carrots or potato chips there. No, no. She went all out. The higher the fat, the chocolatier the drizzle, the deeper it was fried - the better! When she was at her peak of anxiety, Pepper could put it away with the best of them.

Which was exactly what she was in the middle of doing right now.

Sitting at her lonely table, books spread out in front of her in a rather haphazard manner, the strawberry blond munched on her sixth slice of pepperoni pizza thoughtfully. Or was it her seventh...? She'd lost count! All she knew was, she was pacing herself right now. She still had a whole nother half of her large pizza to get through. She could take it!

And for desert, the promise of Black Forest Cake.

Yes, she'd regret it later on that night. But for right now, it helped provide her with a much needed distraction.

It'd been nearly twenty-four hours since she'd left Tony Stark's estate and went out to try and make it on her own. Every now and again, her thoughts began to drift back towards the man that quite possibly might have been the only one to ever actually break her heart...but as soon as they did, she'd forcefully shut that train of thought off and take another bite of her pizza. She couldn't let herself think about him now. She had work to do...and clinging to those thoughts would not do her any good at all.

Licking a bit of sauce off of one of her fingers, Pepper reached out and turned the page of the book she was currently engrossed in.

She'd managed to find a library early that morning and selected a few different volumes on the phenomenon best known as "alternate dimensions". The more and more she learned about this City, the more she had started to convince herself that that was exactly what was taking place.

But...how did she get here? And why...? And how was she ever to get back?

Looking up from her text, Pepper glanced about...and her eyes fell on a duo that sat at the table nearest hers. She pursed her lips, eyeing them thoughtfully for a moment. Had they been brought to this City in the same manner that she had? Were they all victims or circumstances? Or did some of the inhabitants choose to come here? Were they perhaps natives of the City?

It was a long shot...but she figured that it might actually help her find a clue as to what the hell was really going on.

"Excuse me," she broke into their conversation politely and gave them a little smile when they turned to acknowledge her. "Um. Hi. Sorry to interrupt. My name is Pepper. I know this might sound like a silly question but...would the two of you...happen to be from around here?"

(Reply to this) (Thread)

i_hench
2008-08-04 01:18 pm UTC (link)

The two men turned and beheld a gorgeous, fashionably businesslike woman. For the first time in quite a while, Gary was rendered speechless. His eyes popped out and he opened and closed his mouth like a fish, hoping words would come out.

"Not originally," Roy replied. "We got here a few weeks ago and we're still trying to figure out what this insane place is all about." Then his confidence ran out as he realized his strangled voice sounded awkward even to his own ears. "Do ... do you wanna sit with us? We can tell you what we do know."

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

i_onlyhaveyou
2008-08-04 01:56 pm UTC (link)

Pepper could feel something within her heavy heart lift, and for the first time in the last twenty-four hours she gave a real, genuine smile. A smile that reached all the way to her green eyes that brightend with the promise of a potential lead on all of her research.

"I...yes, yes, that would be wonderful! Thank you."

She closed the book she'd had opened in front of her and quickly gathered all of her materials together, placing them in an orderly stack on the table. Well, if nothing else, she would always be an assistant - and with that came certain habits that she couldn't seem to manage to break.

Snagging one more piece of her pizza on a plate and her yellow legal pad, she slipped her way out of the booth she'd been sitting at and moved to join the two men at their table.

"Thank you," she breathed again gratefully, both in thankfulness at the information they might provide...but also at a well-needed distraction. "Um...my name is Pepper, by the way - oh, I guess I already said that. Pepper Potts. I just arrived here a few days ago." She reached out her hand with a shy yet sincere sort of smile on her features that were dusted with a light trace of freckles across the bridge of her nose.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

i_hench
2008-08-06 01:09 pm UTC (link)

Gary still appeared to be paralyzed with fear. His eyes darted around as he tried to put his thoughts together.

Roy gingerly shook Pepper's hand. "Hi. I'm Roy. The spaz over here is Gary."

"You truly belong with us, among the clouds," Gary suddenly quoted. He then turned away and slumped, mortified. The reference would've made more sense if he'd been wearing the butterfly outfit.

"Right." Roy suppressed a derisive snicker and addressed Pepper again. "So anyway, we're in this alternate dimension that's only as big as this city. There's some regular folks, and some folks with powers, and I guess sometimes they wear costumes, and sometimes they don't. I guess everyone is from different worlds, 'cause mister pop culture almanac doesn't recognize anyone."

"Wait, no!" protested Gary, suddenly in his element. "That's a lie! I told you I recognized the name on that big tower. Stark Industries. That's Iron Man! Marvel comics!" The realization suddenly dawned on him. "Wait a second ... Pepper Potts? No freakin' way! You're Tony Stark's love interest!"

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

i_onlyhaveyou
2008-08-06 01:28 pm UTC (link)

Green eyes snapped sharply upward in the direction of the larger of the two that had spoken, clearly startled by his words. An uncertain frown caused her brow to give a little wrinkle as she darted a questioning glance over towards the man that had introduced himself as Roy...then her eyes flickered back towards Gary.

"No," she murmured softly, cautiously. "No...I'm not Mr. Stark's love interest. That was all just a momentary phase in the tabloids. I'm...just his personal assistant. Nothing more."

And she said it so firmly that she almost believed it herself.

"So we are in an alternate dimension!" Her eyes narrowed now as the rest of his words sank in, though with a look of interest and curiosity now instead of the flickering intensity that had been there before. "Wait...you said...'Marvel comics'? What do you mean by...and how did you know about the Iron Man suit? Was that conference broadcast all the way out here too?" Her eyes shifted quickly over towards Roy, including him in the interrogation as well. Something did not settle right about any of this at all.

Yellow legal pad was set down into her lap as she quickly began to scribble out a few notes onto those faded blue lines.

"You said there were others. Like us. Has everyone just randomly found themselves here or are there any...well...natives?" She was beginning to get more excitable now, pleased that she'd actually managed to reach some kind of break-through in this hopeless puzzle of a world. "Had anyone managed to leave? Is there a way back home?"

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

i_hench
2008-08-07 02:00 pm UTC (link)

"Uhh ... we don't really know. We're just trying to make a living here," Roy admitted. "I think everyone else here has done the same. And I don't know about going home, but I'm pretty sure you can't do it by dying."

"Yeah," Gary agreed. "There's been a bunch of murders recently, and we think our old boss was one of them. We just started working for him, and then - boom - gone. He could have found a way home, but wouldn't he have told us about it?"

"What are you, new? When have you ever known a guy like that to do anything other than save his own ass, first chance he gets?"

Gary remembered Pepper's comment about comics and changed the subject. "Oh, so Marvel," began Gary, shifting his weight in his seat. "Check this out. This is going to totally blow your mind. Your boss, Tony Stark, is the star of a comic book in our home world. He's called 'The Invincible Iron Man,' and yeah, he's got a totally sweet armored super-suit he flies around in. And you're in it, too, as his assistant and occasional paramour. Oh my god, I had this one issue as a kid, where he fights Fin-Fang-Foom..."

"All right, cool it, fanboy..." Roy attempted to reign in his friend's enthusiasm, which had overrun his sense of tact. "You might get some of that, now and again," he advised Pepper. "I guess you'll have to just roll with it."

"Ooh! Ooh! Have you seen the Quinjet? Can I ride in it?" demanded Gary.

(Reply to this) (Parent)