Pepper swallowed. "I'm sorry. I don't know what possessed me to say that." Honestly, she was sorry.
She sat on the edge of the bed. 'Smile'. He never gave easy tasks, did he. Oh, right, the easy tasks were for the ordinary people... She sought in her mind something to smile at, right now.
And then she recalled the look on Daryl's face when Tony had pointed and entirely different bathtub for purchase, earlier. The... confusion. And it made her think of how Tony tended to do and say things sometimes just to get people berserk and then stay entertained by their reactions. Her lips quirked up on their own and her eyes crinkled.
Her gaze slipped from the glint of his half-closed eyes down to the glow of the chestpiece. Her mind brought up his unconscious habit of drumming his fingers over it. The smile widened. She never, ever knew another person with his gift to create the impossible - and to coax the people around him into accepting into their daily lives.
Yes, the smile was there for him. Not the bright-sunlight-before-the-cameras smile, no. This one was gentler, if tinged with a bit more irony. And a lot more honest.
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branchandroot
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Date: 2008-07-06 07:20 am (UTC)She sat on the edge of the bed. 'Smile'. He never gave easy tasks, did he. Oh, right, the easy tasks were for the ordinary people... She sought in her mind something to smile at, right now.
And then she recalled the look on Daryl's face when Tony had pointed and entirely different bathtub for purchase, earlier. The... confusion. And it made her think of how Tony tended to do and say things sometimes just to get people berserk and then stay entertained by their reactions. Her lips quirked up on their own and her eyes crinkled.
Her gaze slipped from the glint of his half-closed eyes down to the glow of the chestpiece. Her mind brought up his unconscious habit of drumming his fingers over it. The smile widened. She never, ever knew another person with his gift to create the impossible - and to coax the people around him into accepting into their daily lives.
Yes, the smile was there for him. Not the bright-sunlight-before-the-cameras smile, no. This one was gentler, if tinged with a bit more irony. And a lot more honest.