morethaniron (morethaniron) wrote in thespotrpg, @ 2021-01-16 02:09:00 |
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Current mood: | discontent |
Entry tags: | !gamewideplot, pepper potts, tony stark |
Thread
WHO: Tony Stark & Pepper Potts
WHAT: Age Plot - finding out Pepper is 16!
WHEN: Early Saturday morning
WHERE: Their bungalow
STATUS: Completed via GDOC
Tony slept better on the island than he did at home, but he still sometimes had restless nights. Friday had been one of those nights. He didn’t want to wake Pepper so he gave up on sleep around two in the morning and moved to the living room where he and Dum-E tinkered with some mechanical stuff on his suit. He was so engrossed in his work that he didn’t even realize the sun had begun to shine through the windows.
---
Pepper woke up to the light streaming into the window and yawned, rolling over to climb out of her bed. However, when she opened her eyes, she wasn’t in her room. Nothing about it looked familiar at all and her forehead crinkled. She took a deep breath, there was no time to panic. Pulling herself from the bed, she found herself unsatisfactorily dressed, but none of the clothes there were hers. They didn’t even fit her, really. She put on a tshirt and a big sweater, and jeans that she fastened with a belt the best she could. It was at least a few sizes too big for her.
She didn’t know what to do. She had to hope that her parents, or her brothers, or someone was there to explain what was going on. She glanced out the window… a beach? This wasn’t the City. This wasn’t where she should be.
“Mom? Dad? Joey? Patrick?” She called out, as she opened the door. Instead, she came into a room with a strange older man and a robot. She glared at him, and pressed her back against the door frame. She could run back into the room and lock the door, or she could try and run across the room to get to what she assumed was the exit. Her hand found the door knob and clutched it tightly, “Who are you?
---
Tony’s head snapped up at the familiar names coming from an adolescent female voice. He took in the glaring girl and deducted that the island was going crazy again. The young girl was obviously Pepper, albeit much younger. Fuck. He held his hands up. “I live here,” he told her. “I’m Tony. You are Pepper, yeah?”
---
Pepper crossed her arms over herself. How did this man know who she was? Why was she in his house. She had to keep her calm though, and did her best to keep her uncomfortable emotions off of her face. “You--- Tony--- need to tell me how I got here and how you know my name before I call the police.” Oh, she was 100% going to call the police regardless, but the more information she had, the better it would be for them. “Where are we? Where is my family?”
---
Tony suppressed a smirk. That was Pepper alright. He just hoped this wasn’t permanent. “Long story, but what do you know about teleportation and time travel? Look outside. We are on an island.” He wasn’t going to immediately tell her they were married, but what was he supposed to do? Become his wife’s guardian? His head was starting to throb. “I promise I won’t hurt you,” he added. “Take a look at the photographs around the place. Does that blond woman look familiar?”
---
Pepper just raised her eyebrows at the man. Time Travel? Teleportation? Great, the man was insane… which probably explained why he was kidnapping teenagers. Next he would be talking about eating people’s kidneys with beans and wine, she had seen this movie.
But still, she did as he asked. It was better that way. Do small things to keep the assailant from being enraged. She had only meant to humor him, but her eyes fell on the blonde woman-- the woman who seemed so happy and excited to be standing next to the man. She looked… almost like her mother. Almost… as in it could have been her sister, or a cousin, but the words of the man washed over her. Time travel. And she blinked… could that be her? There was a familiarity to her features, to her smile. “Who is this woman?” She asked blankly, but she already knew what his answer would be. The question was could she believe him.
---
“I know it is a lot to take in,” he said softly. He already missed his wife, the woman who understood what he meant even when he didn’t say it. God, let this be temporary! “But that is you...I am your husband. Well in your future. This here is Dum-E.” Dum-E tilted his “head” and rolled over to Pepper.
“He’s saying hello. I think he recognizes you too,” Tony said. “Something must have happened,” he continued. “Everything was normal last night. Or at least as normal as this island gets.” He gestured to his laptop. “I can show you some things on here. You know, from before. More photos, texts, things like that.”
---
Pepper’s hand came to rub the bridge of her nose, a mannerism that would stay with her well into her adult life, when she was confused. She took a deep breath, and as the little robot wheeled over to her, she gingerly extended her hand to pat it on the head like a dog. “Hello, Dum-E.”
Her eyes flicked back up at Tony. “So. We’re married. And we live on an Island?” That wasn’t exactly part of her five year plan, she was going to work her way up to a big office, and never leave the city. She had been working towards this goal for a while. “What do I do?” She asked curiously, and carefully, she stepped over towards him, still hesitantly keeping her distance.
---
“Well, we lived in a city and then in upstate, New York for a while at home,” he explained. “This island is sort of...well, a pocket dimension to put it simply. It pulls people from different times and places. Until now, you were an adult. You were my CEO for my company at home. Stark Industries. Damn good at what you do. You’ve been that more or less for my coffee company here. Starkbucks.” It was a lot of information; he didn’t want to overwhelm her, but better she get the information than find it in bits and pieces. “We have a daughter,” he added. “She’s ten here.” How could he explain about May and Peter? “Uh, we have a family friend and her nephew here too. Peter is like a son to us.” He pushed the laptop toward so that the network was on display. You can read through it. I know you like to get your facts straight and do your research.”
---
Pepper let herself relax, just slightly, and sit down on the couch. It was a lot to take in. She smirked a bit though, knowing that she would one day be the CEO of a company, looking at the robot in front of her… well, it was likely a tech company, and hopefully a successful one. “So, you went from… technology to Coffee?” She asked curiously, using a hand to gesture at Dum-E “What is this, just your fanciest french press?” She smirked at him.
The family thing though. That was strange. A daughter? She envisioned herself with children, and that was fine, but how could she mother a ten year old when she was only six years older. She frowned. Was she the type of parent her parents were? Distant, but successful, loving but materialistic. She shifted a bit nervously. She took the laptop from Tony, and took some time to pour over everything. Comments and photos. It was strange to see her own name without any recollection of writing anything, to see the words her older self would say.
She kept glancing back up at Tony. She didn’t know what to say. This was a lot of information, and she still wasn’t quite sure how to deal with it. “Our kids… seem to have quite the imagination, at least.” She chuckled.
---
Dum-E whined at the comment about being a French Press, but Tony chuckled. “Dum-E here is an old friend,” he admitted. He gave the bot a hard time, but he loved the stupid thing.
He waited quietly while she looked over the network. “They are handfuls,” he admitted, “But in the best possible way.” He wasn’t sure how to relate to her either, but he was doing his best not to spook her too much. “You probably need some clothes,” he continued. “I can get May - she lives with us- to pick up some things. Or you could go shopping together?”
---
“Poor Dum-E” Pepper said gently, when it seemed discontent at being called a French press. It was weird to her, that a machine would even… have emotions. It was a curious little thing, and if this was an example of his work, she could see why she worked for him.
“That’s good,” Pepper nodded, a bit awkwardly. Morgan was 10. Peter was… 17 by her best guess. She couldn’t parent them. Not in any way that mattered. “That would be good. I’d like to get to know my way around the island as well. So I would like to go shopping with her.”
---
Tony was glad for the distraction. “I’m sure she’ll enjoy that.” Or at least he assumed so. He knew it would be weird for May that her friend was suddenly a teen too. “So...how old are you exactly, Pepper?”
---
Pepper sat up a little straighter, an attempt to make herself seem older and more responsible. “I’m 16 years old. Is there a school here? I will need to start attending so my grades don’t drop.”
---
His wife needed to go to high school. God help him. He needed a drink, morning be damned. “There is a school,” he assured her. “Maybe Peter can show you around.”