#ppctts

manhattan summers mean that sunglasses can go unnoticed. hangovers are one thing, but they always seem so much worse after a night out with pepper. cocktails, unspeakably delicious gourmet food, top-tier gins and vodkas... it's her own fault for mixing her drinks, of course. but as is often the case, people were determined to buy them drinks from the moment they got out of the cab.

now, she sits quietly outside an italian cafe, an absurd amount of coffee in front of her, glasses barely shielding her from the brutal weight of her choices and the sun. she's can't even meet pepper's gaze just yet, although she still tries, with the help of ibuprofen and a gulp of fizzy water.

" so, i've reached the same conclusion as every other night we've gone out on the town... i'm not a sambuca girlie. you think we can pencil that in somewhere before our next night out? i think we should; we clearly aren't able to remember it on our own! how's your head, pep? "

Ally stood at the other end of Pepper's small office at the cabin, body in a completely neutral position with her hands at her sides, feet not even shoulder width apart. A weight settles in her chest as she watches her step-mother lose her cool--something she rarely does--but Ally gets it.

Everything Pepper says is true. Tony's death was unexpected, unplanned. He had time to make that little message for them before the Avengers went back in time, and that was it. Yeah, he had a will, but that didn't think of everything. That didn't account for time moving forward, for the half of the world's population they lost to all suddenly come back at once, causing economic fluctuations and stock market swings and corporate migraines that Ally could barely wrap her head around.

"Pepper...You are doing everything you can. I get that. But you have to take care of yourself too. Running yourself into the ground is not the answer. Not for you, not for Morgan. Your husband died. Forget about him being Iron Man or whatever else. He was your husband. And you're allowed to take time to grieve him. I can help- I can step up. I want to. I have to learn, but I know I can. You don't have to do this alone. That's all I'm trying to say."

@ppctts asked: [ GUIDE ]: sender notices that the injured receiver isn't able to get undressed without help and offers to do so. ( for Tony <3 )

prompts about getting undressed. | accepting