handing: (all i have left)
Pepper Potts ([personal profile] handing) wrote in [community profile] entranceway2014-10-16 03:56 pm

video (action is fine if you'd like that too!)

[She isn't unused to waking up alone; Tony had always kept odd hours, even before Wonderland, or the winter season back home. So when she rises on her own Thursday morning, there's no real reason for alarm. Things still aren't perfect, but they're better than they have been. She's two days past an emergecy infusion to stabilize Extremis with none of the lingering anxiety or panic--at least nothing like what she had been feeling. She's possibly found something to work on that she truly enjoys, and for Pepper, it seems like she might actually be getting a handle on her life again--but later, part of her almost thinks she should've known better.

She doesn't realize anything's wrong until she goes down to the lab, coffee in hand for both herself and Tony. They need to talk through some things--when don't they--but she's in a better mood than she has been for days, weeks. At least until she realizes that the clutter she's so used to, that once bit at her nerves but she's learned to tolerate along with so many eccentrisities, is no longer there. Parts and pieces that should be scattered on Tony's workbench aren't, nor are the tools he's claimed as his own. There's no whir of Dummy's mechanical arm, or insistent chirpping when Pepper walks in. No suits, no scraps, no future bits of Mark Fifteen or whatever it was come to haunt her.

It's just all gone.

She doesn't make the announcement at first. Not before she checks with JARVIS (that, at least, she still has, the program on her phone and in the lab itself), confirms that Tony isn't anywhere to be found. Or at least his phone isn't. But neither is anything else she looks for, the bits and pieces that existed outside the lab just as absent as the ones within. The last attempt is a message, a single word sent to nowhere, but she still has to try. So she speaks his name into the phone, only to be met with silence.

Later, when she's given herself time to gather her thoughts (and it's hardly the first occasion which she's had to do so), Pepper sends a message out over the network.]


For those who know him, Tony Stark has gone back home.

[She says it calmly, as she would any other announcement; as she has, when she's pushed through bad news in the past. And though she's tired, always feels tired these days, Pepper still continues with her original intention. She doesn't want to drift back down into that same darkness she's fought so hard to struggle out of. So she glances down for a moment, then looks back to the phone, quietly determined to get out the rest before the inevitable replies from their friends.]

I was wondering if someone was taking care of the art gallery these days. I know Lord Buckingham had originally run it, but I haven't seen him in quite some time. If no one minds, I'd like to take up the mantle. I have experience curating art collections from back home, and I think it'd be worthwhile to maintain the one here.

[To give herself purpose, and focus. Something from her old sense of normality to fold into the new. She needs that, and more importantly, now she's ready to take it on.]

Thank you for your time.

[The feed ends there, though of course she's listening for replies. Pepper's planning on spending a fair amount of time in the gallery that afternoon, to get a feeling for how things were set up and what she might want to change in the future.]
widows_kiss: serious, surprised, curious, upset (CA2 021)

[Action]

[personal profile] widows_kiss 2014-10-19 04:09 pm (UTC)(link)
[ She doesn't bother with trying to reply over the phone. Not when she knows how deeply this cuts. Instead, she's up and moving the moment she sees it, hunting down the location of the art gallery and her friend.

When she finds her, she steps inside with an understanding look, knowing exactly what Pepper is trying to do here. ]


Pepper.
widows_kiss: serious, curious (A1 002)

Re: [Action]

[personal profile] widows_kiss 2014-10-24 02:08 am (UTC)(link)
[ Natasha gives her a careful look as she wanders deeper into the room, studying Pepper intently for a moment. ]

No, I'm fine being upright, I think.

[ She casts a curious glance around the gallery, taking a moment in visible observation to ponder what she'd seen of the other woman. ]

Huh. I had no idea this was here.
widows_kiss: serious, curious (IM2 002)

Re: [Action]

[personal profile] widows_kiss 2014-10-29 07:49 pm (UTC)(link)
And now you have something to throw yourself into for a bit?

[ Natasha's perhaps a bit too observant for her own good, but she says the words gently while casting Pepper a sideways glance, understanding that need all too well. ]
widows_kiss: serious, curious (A1 019)

[Action]

[personal profile] widows_kiss 2014-11-04 02:14 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Natasha shifts to lean against one of the empty walls, arms crossed over her chest as she regards the other woman with a curious look. ]

Doing nothing can get aggravating quickly, especially to those of us who are used to being proactive about things. [ Something she understands all too well. ] So you're trying something different.
widows_kiss: serious, curious (CA2 001)

Re: [Action]

[personal profile] widows_kiss 2014-11-12 03:38 pm (UTC)(link)
I remember. [ She confesses this gently, with a quirk of her lips. She lets her gaze divert, sensing it's making Pepper uncomfortable, and that hadn't been her intent. ] Can I help with anything?