The pack of hounds barging into the room announced Tournn’s arrival before she could say anything, stealing her dramatic entrance. That didn’t stop her from flopping (gently, so not to break it) down on a chair with a massive sigh, flinging one arm over her head and making herself comfortable. The lasted all of three seconds before she turned her face towards Pepper.
She probably should have at least double checked to be sure she wasn’t barging in on anything important. Whoops.
The hounds situated themselves around the room in various lounging positions, other than Thori, who every now and then looked to the door and muttered about murder and forrest.
Torunn was having feelings, and not the kind that were easy to identify, express, or deal with. An au version of her grandmother had arrived in Vallo, and from what she knew of Freya from Atreus’ world, the woman had zero reason to trust any of them, especially some random unknown au granddaughter who wasn’t a granddaughter. Realities were weird.
But instead of addressing that specifically she stared at Pepper for a moment before asking something completely irrelevant to why she was here. “What are you up to?” Yeah, that was totally inconspicuous.
There was no universe in which Pepper wouldn't welcome an unannounced visit from the kids (who weren't kids), and especially so when it came to her daughter, so Pepper dismissed her display with a flick of a finger right after the pack loped in to announce themselves and Torunn. The pack was all past the age where they would immediately go for shoes as toys (species dependent, of course) but she still kicked her shoes farther under her desk as she swiveled to face Torunn. An experienced gaze saw enough, but that didn't put a dent in Pepper's smile of welcome.
It was true, Torunn wasn't effortlessly pulling off inconspicuous as she projected the air of casual slouch but Pepper wasn't about to call her out for it. What was going on would come out eventually and in the meantime, Pepper had a pretty good idea what was going on here.
"Financial statements, so I'd love an indefinitely-timed interruption," she said, propping an elbow on the arm of her chair before settling her temple against her fist. "What have you been up to?"
The very mention of financial statements made her wince. Not because she didn’t understand them, because opening a business had made her very familiar, but she hated them. Hated them. The amount of time she had to sit to deal with them was a bane. Someday she’d hire someone to do it for her.
“Research on potential vineyards. Thori nearly started a fight with a werewolf during moon day.” Torunn cast a look of annoyance at the Helhound, who ignored her in favor of harassing his sister who was attempting to stretch out on the floor. Torunn watched him a few seconds more before bringing her gaze back to Pepper. “Have you noticed any of the new arrivals lately?” she asked, attempting to be casual about it, even if she knew that wasn’t at all possible. Especially for her. “Freya from Atreus’ world arrived, she’s staying in her grove that arrived before her. I think.”
The mention of the vineyard would have been plenty of conversation fodder to allow Torunn to lead up slowly, but it wouldn't be Torunn if the pace were measured and roundabout. But bringing up a new arrival wasn't the same as broaching the subject of how Torunn felt about said arrival and that, well, had an equal chance of being voiced soon or being played out over time.
"I pay attention," she confirmed, which wasn't any less true for being casually delivered. Even if they weren't seeking jobs and thus not entering her office at the DOA or seeking her out at her agency or Stark Industries, Pepper liked to know who was arriving. Building Stark Industries anew here had naturally taken up a significant amount of her time but that was what she had J.A.R.V.I.S. for - count on him to make note of not just causes of interest or concern, but causes of interpersonal conflict as well. He had definitely come through on that, but Pepper hadn't acted on the information yet. Time had taught her that Torunn and James would always be "fine" at the start - it was Torunn's most common response especially - and the best course of action was simply to be there, but the words would come with time.
"How are Atreus and Kratos doing?" Pepper absolutely did care about the answer to that, but it would be disingenuous to pretend that the question didn't also serve to lead the conversation along.
Pepper paid attention to everything. Or that was what she assumed, because that was what it always seemed like. With or without the help of J.A.R.V.IS., it didn’t matter.
Her first response to Pepper’s question was to shrug. She was silent for a beat, half wondering that herself. “Atreus seemed okay. The whole cursed sound was probably pretty distracting, but he said Freya wasn’t going to try to kill either of them, so that’s a plus?” As for how Kratos was, Torunn wasn’t sure. She probably wouldn’t get a straight answer from him even if she asked.
Torunn had once come close to meeting Frigg from a world closer to her own than the one Freyja was from, but it had never actually happened, missing each other by a number of days. She knew logically that Freya was not her grandmother, the other woman had zero reason to have any emotional attachment to Torunn…and that thought was just strange. She hated having eagerness to meet people that didn’t have any reason to feel the same. It felt a little…pathetic.
“When Thor asked if she needed anything, she said he had to eat everything first because she didn’t trust him not to poison her. Which…I guess is fair, based on what I’ve heard of that worlds Thor. But it’s weird, right?”
No one trying to maim or kill each other was a definite plus when it came to mixing timelines and universes, but to be fair, that was a plus in general. Pepper was more interested in the finer details of the initial interactions and beyond, even if they were of things she had already seen from an outside perspective. For once, the arrival of someone connected-but-separate to Torunn didn't elicit any predetermined responses from Pepper herself because very few Asgardians had factored into choices made for Torunn before her arrival on Earth and the parents of Thor hadn't been among that few. Even had this been Torunn's actual grandmother, Pepper would have had no reason to make a snap judgment of her, especially not with the same ferocity she judged the Thor of their timeline.
"It's blunt," she conceded, swiveling her chair slightly back and forth with the foot not tucked under her. "But I think Thor can appreciate bluntness. As strange as it seems, the fact she was willing to take anything at all with any conditions sounds like an opportunity."
Her phone hummed quietly against the desk surface and Pepper reached out to quickly dismiss the notification, then returned her attention to Torunn.
"Have you offered to bring anything to her yet?"
“He can.” she agreed with a nod. There were a lot of things he could take, and Torunn wasn’t even sure he was always aware when someone was trying to actually be mean anyway. That, or Thor just didn’t care.
Shaking her head, Torunn rolled over on the couch so she was on her stomach, resting on her elbows. “Not yet. She extended an invitation to go to her grove with Thor.” So that was something, at least. “But I don’t want to overwhelm her either.”
Plus it wasn’t like she actually had any connection with any Frigg or Freya out there. She’d never met any version of them, as much as she was hoping to. Torunn wasn’t even biologically related to the one from her world. Just because Torunn was hoping for some sort of connection, didn’t mean Freya would feel the same way, and it would be hard to blame her if she didn’t.
“Thor’s an asshole in her world, it’s probably going to be weird enough adjusting to one that just wants to hang out with her when he can.”
Pepper repressed the fledgling urge to say Thor was an asshole in many worlds, primarily because she did still try not to let Torunn at least openly see the truth depth of her dark feelings where Torunn's birth father was concerned, and secondarily because Thor also wasn't one in many other worlds. For starters, the Thor here in Vallo, and versions of him from that specific timeline that she had known, was a class above the rest. Pepper felt confident that Freya would see that in time.
"You don't have Henry's energy," she said, smiling wistfully at her own mention of Pym, "so I have a hard time believing that you'll overwhelm her on your own or just with Thor."
Pepper shifting, switching out the leg tucked beneath her. "Her not knowing a version of you, or an equivalent to you, in her world works in both your favors, from where I sit. She won't have any preconceived ideas about you that she's fighting."
She leaned forward, smile soft and tone confident.
"She can know you for you."
A small smile briefly flashed across her face at the mention of Pym. She missed that tiny ball of chaos. It wasn’t the same without her little brother who tried to steal her sword. He was an even bigger smartass than James. “No one has Pym’s energy.” Either of them, Senior or Junior, even if she hadn’t met Senior. “I’m pretty sure he has one of those energizer bunny batteries built into his suit that just keeps him going.”
Torunn sighed, lowering her head down to the couch, hands tucked under her chin. “Can and want are two different things. I wouldn’t blame her if she wanted to be done with the Æsir or anyone tied to Odin.” He had treated her terribly, staying away from his family might be a way to protect herself. “I could always invite her to the meadery though and see how it goes.”
Torunn's journey with her meadery was something Pepper was (perhaps inordinately) proud of Torunn for (but that was part of her job as a mother!) but even more than that, it was something Torunn should rightfully be so proud of accomplishing. It wasn't just a business success, it was a symbol of claiming some of the identity that was rightfully Torunn's, in a way Pepper and Tony could never have provided (at least not so well as things claimed by doing them oneself).
"The meadery should impress anyone, no matter what world they come from-"
Besides, in addition to being a successful business, it had birthed a well-loved outlet for those who frequented it and Pepper felt it was a reasonable assumption that it might go over as well, or nearly as well, with the goddess in question as it did with the others.
"-and the axe-throwing is always a hit," she continued wryly, memories of some of the riskier competitions between her weapon-loving children and the others as celebratory nights wore on. "I suspect Freya too might appreciate that kind of outlet alongside her mead. But even if she doesn't, the meadery itself is the kind of location that doesn't overwhelm or imply demands the way other places in Vallo might."
“Unless you’re against drinking.” she responded, though she couldn’t imagine any type of Asgardian having that kind of view. “Or fun.” But if Freya was a Valkyire, she probably wasn’t against that either. “Or, you know, Æsir.” Despite not growing up where she was born, Torunn still was one.
She did have a lot of pride in the Meadery. It wouldn’t exist without Torunn having met others who had grown up on Asgard, but she had still taken the information she had been given and run pretty damn far with it. Thanks to the support of the community she found herself in now, it was a success. But it would probably still sting if some version of her Grandmother had no interest in it at all.
“Anyway.” she said, sitting up on the couch now, “How’s the empire building going?” At this rate STARK Enterprises was going to be catching up to Enki any day now, if they hadn’t already.
Recognizing the subject paused for now - Pepper would revisit it, because it was clearly not an insignificant weight on Torunn's mind, but for now what had been said could percolate - Pepper raised her hands, palms forward, with a rueful shake of her head.
"Empire is the last thing I want, and I still feel confident Tony feels the same. We've been there, done that with business empires, and it rarely came without one serious sacrifice or another." Sacrifices they weren't willing to make anymore after a lifetime of them, and even though Torunn and James were adults, Pepper didn't want to build something so big that it required an entirely new business plan to construct a family-centric life, just as it had when Torunn had been brought to Earth.
"The projects are all coming along, however." She paused, the twist of her smile rueful. "For various values of coming along. I'm convinced James adds in minor explosions to his rejected prototypes just for Tony's entertainment." As if perfectly cued, a short rumble of a sound came from down the hall in the direction of the largest of the labs. Pepper rolled her eyes at Torunn, voicing a soft snort.
"As for things that aren't blowing up, the apartment building is going to be the best thing that's ever not had the name Stark on it in five stories tall lights." Now this project was something to be proud of in the Stark legacy, something that only gave back to the community and world that had given so much. It meant a great deal to her, but its meaning to Tony ran far deeper through pits of guilt and the past.
"Would you like to see it?" she asked, head canted in question as she smiled at Torunn. "The current model program would be technically livable with some Star Trek holodecks lying around."
Torunn held her tongue, but she had a hard time imagining Tony and Pepper not building some kind of empire, even if they didn’t know it. Maybe it would be less…flashy, than what she had heard about in the past, but there was no way the two of them would be here for any length of time and not leave their mark.
The explosion caused Torunn to glance casually over her shoulder, the newest hellhound lifting his head up in concern, though the rest barely twitched their ears. Only Thori gave real interest, muttering something about bloodshed and death before lowering his head again, annoyed he wasn’t running around killing anything at the moment. Torunn would have to take him to the forest later.
“Was that Tony or James? Or both.” She had no idea if James was scheduled to be here today or just chose to show up anyway. Her own days were fairly scheduled, between the defense teams and the alcohol business. She mostly counted on James letting her know if something unusual was coming his way in his schedule that she had to know about. Once she entered the meadery, her focus tended to stay only on that.
Of course she wanted to see the plans for the building. “Technically livable? But not the right livable that you guys want it to be?” She had no idea what was going to be perfect enough for them, but without a doubt the building would be breathtaking when it was done. “Of course I want to see it.”
"Both of them," Pepper said, amused, and pushed herself out of her chair. She padded barefoot across the carpet, stopping to lovingly fuss with a hound in her path for a moment, and then reached the table.
"The physical building isn't the right level of livable just yet, no," she said, tapping the table to bring up displays in multiple directions, "but I was being facetious about the model. You can't interact with it here in a state of tangible matter without some serious power that I don't have running to this office."
It might make for an interesting feature for common areas, come to think of it, the Stark version of holodecks. Making a mental note, Pepper swiped through several open files before grabbing the main model of the building and a few of the inner layouts, then dismissing the rest of the displays. The building hovered in the middle of her office now, sending bluish lights out across the room and over the pack, and rotated slowly to show off every minute detail in model form.
"This is what it's going to look like before winter, Vallo willing. If you tap on the green sections, those layouts will expand out to cover my office. Apartments, common areas, the roof - and I can pull up anything else you'd like to see." She smiled at Torunn. "If you're free for a while, we can go to the site itself if you'd like."
The holograms that grew, expanded, and allowed for swiping and interaction was something Torunn was all too familiar with. She knew exactly how it worked, and it was more her idea of a standard display. Sometimes she found herself feeling annoyed when other places didn’t have this technology, even if that was unfair.
The building was, of course, impressive. Or at least she thought it was. There was no level of expertise on apartment construction floating around in her head, but there was no way this building wasn’t going to be every bit as impressive as the hologram looked.
Curiosity of course won out, and she started to explore, mostly focused on the apartment layouts and grateful to have something else to focus on at all. Torunn smiled over her shoulder at Pepper, pulling her eyes away from the layout. “I have time.” she confirmed, or she’d make time if she didn’t. But she did. “I’d love to see the progress you guys have made in person.”
Pepper watched Torunn quietly with a warm feeling heavy and welcome in her chest. Being able to share life with Torunn was all she had ever wished for once, years ago for Pepper now, but many, many more years still for Torunn. She had missed so much of Torunn's life before Blackpoint, but they had it here, now, and that was gift enough for her. Pepper just had a feeling, or simply hoped, that Torunn would be able to connect with Freya and draw her into that life too.
But for now-
"All right, let's head to the site." She surveyed the hounds and chuckled. "No time like the present to give the building a pack test."