handing: (looking through the chains)
Pepper Potts ([personal profile] handing) wrote in [community profile] entrancelogs2014-12-01 05:07 pm

So tired now of paying my dues

Who: Pepper Potts + OPEN
Where: Her room, the gallery, the gym, wherever
When: Nov 26 - Dec 1
Rating: PG-13/R; talk of death/murder and the aftermath
Summary: She died. Turns out that sort of thing makes people worry.
The Story:

The days following her death have been a strange mix of keeping to her routine and avoiding those she knows would care most about it. She just doesn't have it in her at first, to be asked over and over how she's doing, how she's coping with it all. The simple truth is that Pepper has no idea how to break apart what's happened to her, turn into manageable chunks of truth that she can absorb and accept. Not when she still remembers every moment of pain and fear, the certainty of what would happen, and waking up to discover that it indeed had. Even Wonderland's way of twisting mortality has done little to ease the process, and in her heart Pepper doesn't know what to do.

Of course some things are unavoidable; people try to reach out, but she's quick to turn them away, even if she tries to be polite while she does so--until the day after Thanksgiving. A transmission from her killer inspires a brand of anger she's rarely known, and after she leaves her message to him she sends out others. She doesn't know if the circumstances of the event are what drove him to murder, and frankly, she doesn't care. Pepper wants those people who are so concerned about her to know the man's face and the man's voice, to see the way he smirks and talks about how people have reason to be thankful for their continued breathing. Yet her message isn't simply one of warning, although for certain people it will end there. In her rage, Pepper desires something so much darker than to merely protect her friends. Among their number or combined, certainly there is someone stronger than the stranger who had ended her life, the former boss who warped her humanity, the world that brought them hell and stole away the few scraps of good they might find within it.

After that, she truly does return to her routine, no longer limiting herself to solitary activities. Of particular interest is her physical training, which Pepper approaches with a far greater fervor than she's ever shown. She doesn't neglect her other self-appointed tasks, but neither does she approach them with the same passion she once showed. Her patience remains limited, especially in those first few days after, her mind too often returning to the smug broadcast, and the inhuman sharpness of wings slicing into her flesh.
heirtotheshield: (defend)

[personal profile] heirtotheshield 2014-12-14 05:25 pm (UTC)(link)
Gabriel. The man who destroyed Pepper. He isn't even sure why he feels so protective of her, except she's part of Tony. He wishes he could do something to help her get through whatever she's going through. But the best he can do is this: "I'll stay away from him." He can promise that much.

He hadn't even promised that much when it came to Bucky and his issues, but then, no one had died then.

"Is he still threatening you?" Because if so, she's about to get herself a little mini!Cap bulldog guardian.
heirtotheshield: (angry)

[personal profile] heirtotheshield 2014-12-30 12:47 am (UTC)(link)
He doesn't like the way she phrases that. The events can change a lot, but he doubts they can change a person's core. While it might be buried, it's still there. He's sure the other Avengers know, but he's not so sure that they might watch Pepper as closely as he would.

He still wants to prove himself to them.

James finally shakes his head. "I said I'd stay away from him. That's the most I can offer, Pepper." He won't promise anything more, because it might be a lie, and he tries not to do that. "I won't go seeking him out. I'm more worried about you." Let the Avengers handle Gabriel.