fell asleep on

[chatona]

SWEET DREAMS.

Someone, whether it be a friend or a total stranger, has fallen asleep on you wherever you happen to be; you are a rather comfortable pillow to them. What do you do?

Comments

[wrathfulkhan]

Oh, come on, he's not going to be any good for upgrades unless he eats, [Gene says, trying to save the situation.] Believe it or not, even he needs fuel for his brain to work properly.

[HELPING.]

[anormalironlife]

Oh. Well...

[ Her phone chimes and she looks up at them, her eyebrows rising. ]

I thought you came out for food?

We did!

[ Smooth Tony. Of course she has your hashtag tracked on Twitter. ]

We came out to eat and -

[ He trails off, looking at the picture she shows them of the pair of them kissing. ]

That was after we ate?

[wrathfulkhan]

[Well. Now they've really come out, as it were. Kind of.

Um.] That wasn't exactly planned... [he begins. Not like he'd had a problem with it at the time, though...]

[anormalironlife]

[ There's that Look from her. Like she's both disappointed and happy and wants to both hug them and noogie them into submission... possibly while wearing her suit. Tony, however, is prepared. ]

C'mon, Pepper. We'll go get your phone worked on and you can grill Gene about everything.

Why didn't you tell me?

[ Tony sighs. She has a right to ask that. ]

We haven't really told anyone? Just... everyone. All at once. Oops?

[wrathfulkhan]

Surprise, [Gene says weakly.] We really were trying to keep it on the down-low, and then, uh...that just kind of...happened.

[He shrugs.] Too late to do anything about it now, I guess...

[anormalironlife]

Not that we didn't want to tell you, Pepper. It's just that Dad still gets this twitch every time Gene's name is mentioned.

[ Well, that makes her stop and think. At least for a second. ]

You still could have told me. I can keep a secret.

[ Which is a small miracle, considering how much she babbles. Tony, smartly, says nothing. ]

[wrathfulkhan]

[Gene winces just a little. He is not unaware of how deeply Howard still disapproves of him. And he really can't blame the guy.]

We wanted to, just...like I said, it was kind of unexpected.

[Not unwelcome, though.]

[anormalironlife]

Gene's right. And, he didn't know that I put it out all over Twitter.

[ Well, not him but they know what he means.

Pepper punches him in the shoulder. ]

Ow! What was that for?

Because Gene should know before you do things like that! Now, c'mon, let's go fix my phone.

[ Tony can't even argue with her logic. ]

[wrathfulkhan]

Yeah, dummy, [Gene says with a grin, and punches Tony in the shoulder. Then he follows Pepper, laughing.]

[anormalironlife]

HEY!

[ That totally wasn't fair. Now they're ganging up on him! And Gene's his boyfriend. Or something. No, definitely boyfriend. Tony knows that. He jogs and catches up with them, threading his fingers through Gene's again. ]

- But now you have to come out to like, everyone. Think of all the good it will do kids to know about Iron Man and his boyfriend! And think of the laws you two could get pushed through! Are you going to get married?

[ MARRIED?! Gulp. ]

[wrathfulkhan]

[Gene smiles when Tony takes his hand. It's nice, to have this kind of affection. He'd rather thought he'd never get it.]

Um...that's a little too far into the future to think about, [Gene says, trying to laugh it off, but the idea makes him uneasy.] Let's just...deal with right now, okay?

[anormalironlife]

Can we finish high school first?

Well of course you can! I wasn't expecting you to get married next week, but it's something to think about, now you can.

[ Married to Gene? Could he do it? Probably not. They fight too much sometimes. Sure, right now, they aren't, but what happens the next time Tony disappears into working, and Gene gets locked out. It's happened. And while Tony doesn't like doing it, sometimes, he needs the space to do what he needs to do. ]

Let's just keep it calm for now, Pepper. Calm and easy, okay?

[wrathfulkhan]

[Calm and easy? Tony, have you met Pepper?]

I'm going to exercise my right not to think about that. [Beat.] No offense.

[Because that's scary - commitment is scary - and Tony is scary, too. What's scarier is that Tony might decide he's too much one day, and want him to leave.]