Normalcy has become, in and of itself, kind of weird.
Which is fine. It's fine because there's not a lot left in Pepper's life that can be described using the word 'normalcy' without sarcastic airquotes; it's fine because she's in a relationship with Tony Stark and nothing is ever going to be okay again, something she's pretty sure she should have already made her peace with. Already has made her peace with. It's just (kicking off the blankets, pressing her palm flat to her skin, staring up at the ceiling and not touching Tony at all) taking some getting used to, this-- new way that normalcy has absented itself from her life.
For starters, it's usually Tony who can't sleep. In fact, it's still Tony who can't sleep, and there's actually something comforting about sliding her hand over the empty space he left behind to estimate how long he's been gone (except it's harder to tell, now, everything feels- cooler than it did before) and getting up, knowing where she'll find him, that he'll take the scolding she's mentally preparing exactly as seriously as he always does, that they could spend an hour deflecting back and forth on a single subject, so it's not that she's not talking about dreaming she's fireworks, it's just that they're talking about something else, at the moment.
no subject
Which is fine. It's fine because there's not a lot left in Pepper's life that can be described using the word 'normalcy' without sarcastic airquotes; it's fine because she's in a relationship with Tony Stark and nothing is ever going to be okay again, something she's pretty sure she should have already made her peace with. Already has made her peace with. It's just (kicking off the blankets, pressing her palm flat to her skin, staring up at the ceiling and not touching Tony at all) taking some getting used to, this-- new way that normalcy has absented itself from her life.
For starters, it's usually Tony who can't sleep. In fact, it's still Tony who can't sleep, and there's actually something comforting about sliding her hand over the empty space he left behind to estimate how long he's been gone (except it's harder to tell, now, everything feels- cooler than it did before) and getting up, knowing where she'll find him, that he'll take the scolding she's mentally preparing exactly as seriously as he always does, that they could spend an hour deflecting back and forth on a single subject, so it's not that she's not talking about dreaming she's fireworks, it's just that they're talking about something else, at the moment.
Normalcy: caffeine, late nights, mixed blessings.
“Really?”