Re: Tony & Pepper
Tony ordered the fish, let Pepper order, stopped the waiter, canceled the fish, ordered something else, let the waiter walk away, called him back, and then ordered the fish. None of it was especially intentional until suddenly it was, and then he enjoyed himself a little bit with a smile playing at the corner of his eyes. At no point did he feel especially compelled to give the Avengers credit for helping him with the date idea.
Tony typically ordered a drink by this time; in fact usually they had it on the table before the actual talking started, if he hadn't brought it with him. He fumbled around a little bit without something to have in his hand, and ended up playing with one of the knives, almost compulsively flipping it over and over until he nearly knocked it into the bread plate. "I feel like you should... deserve to be impressed," he said seriously, looking at her steadily in an attempt to make it clear. He didn't say anything about Gotham, or the other occupants of the Tower, either. Everyone in New York had done this before, and they would take it to hell before they gave up on disaster.
The food came. The waiter drifted around them both, offering condiments and refills. One of the chefs slid around the corner to take a bad cellphone picture through the swinging kitchen doors, but no one noticed. They were waiting on the dessert when Tony nearly upended his water glass with the fidgeting. He reached across the table and gripped her hand on the white tablecoth. "Let's go," he said. They had already ordered the dessert, but abruptly, he didn't want to wait for it. He stood up, pulling her up against his chest, ignoring her inevitable sensible protests and dropping his forehead toward hers. "We can have sweet things later," he murmured.