Tony nodded as he listened. Outside of Happy and Rhodey, who had the misfortune of being men in this situation, there was no one else to whom he would confess his intentions. And Janet perhaps even more than them, knew the sort of man he used to be, and in some ways still was. She knew things about him that he had done that Pepper was not even aware of-partially because she had been with him for a lot of his even wilder younger years-and if there was anyone who could answer the question he really wanted answered, it was Janet. Because he already knew that Pepper was perfect for him. In every way.
Pepper was not the problem.
"I'm worried I'll hurt her, Janet."
Tony took a sip of his drink and when he finished, he slid the glass off to one side.
"You know me. Even on my best days I can be a wreak. And I know Pepper, like you, has seen me in some of my worst times and stuck around, but..."
He regretted moving his drink away, but made no attempt to reclaim it.
"I guess what I really want to know is if I am good for her. Putting on a suit of armor and whipping the tail of the latest hot head to crawl out from under a rock is one thing, but a ring? Me? It's almost unthinkable. And while I know I can do it physically, and I want to take her as my own, I just wonder how..."
As he trailed off he shook his head, and on a second thought did grab his drink back.