It was his birthday and he was going to do what he wanted. Except he always did just about whatever he wanted anyways, and the promise of a party on the weekend made the day less special. He didn't really mind; he was working on the armor, music blaring away, the bots were playful but behaving, and was about all he could ask out of any day.
In the back of his mind, he was aware that his tastes had simplified, but that was supposed to be a good thing, right? it was easier to be happy these days. It might even have much to do with having everything stripped away in an Afghanistan cave...but he wasn't going to think about that. Not today. He was going to enjoy the engineering problems in front of him and not think about the reasons for the armor.
When JARVIS summoned him for Pepper, he actually set down what he was working on and even remembered to grab a rag to get some of the grease off his hands as he headed up to see what she wanted.
He actually had to pause at the top of the steps, blinking as he very quickly processed Pepper in a dress, a pile of presents, and a cake on the counter. But mostly Pepper in a dress with - wow those were heels. And he'd always known she had great legs, but she had great legs.
"Huh, you'd think it was my birthday or something," he said, proving that he did not need to be finished processing data to talk. Detouring to the counter, he tossed the rag onto his shoulder and stole a bit of the icing. Cake, he could deal with. "I'm just going to assume that this is for me," he added as he picked up the cake and started rummaging in the drawers - when did he get kitchen supplies, and how had they ended up cluttered in the drawer? - until he found a pie-cutter. "Cake?" he asked as he turned and headed back to Pepper.