the_other_eight | Voicemail

[ knock knock knock it's your favorite pie man. ]

Pepper? It's me... Ned. The pie maker.

[Pepper opens the door, her hair is pulled up and she's wearing her black yoga pants and a button down red dress shirt.]

Is everything alright?

[ he nods, a little wide-eyed, pulling an apple cinnamon pie from behind his back and shoving it towards her. ]

I'm... fine. I brought you this. Fresh from my oven.

[She offers him a smile, though never as bright as when Tony was here, and takes the pie.]

I'm sorry I haven't visited. I've just ... been busy.

[It shows that she's buried herself in her work. There's her Stark tablet and her phone as well as some loose paper covering her desk with spreadsheets on them.]

I know, that's why... [ he's here, and hadn't actually expected her to show up at the pie hole. ] Can I come in?

Of course.

[She ushers him inside and sets the pie with her papers.]

I have two years worth of backlogging that I've bee neglecting.

[ he nods and ducks inside, glancing around awkwardly. ]

Backlogging? Of... of what?

The engineering department.

[It's not really a backlog, it's not really something she has to do, but it keeps her hands and mind occupied. Keeps her mind off the fact that everything she cares about is gone; probably thrown into a mirror reality of this one. More then once she's wondered if she crashed through the mirror if he'd be there; but then logic catches up to her. Tony's gone. God willing he's back home - except she knows what home has waiting for him and it's not much good. PTSD and more fighting. For them, being here is the safer bet.]

Oh. [ he feels dumb, but nods his head like that's enough information. ]

How are y-- I mean. How is-- You look, uh. Well.

[She offers him a sympathetic smile that doesn't reach to her eyes.]

I know what you mean, and I'm surviving.

[It's really all she can do here.]

This isn't the first time I've ... [She presses her lips tight together.] lost Tony.

[ he holds his breath, but manages a nod. ] I know... what you mean.

But that doesn't make it any easier. It's okay to-- be upset.

[She lets her eyes close lightly and nods.]

I know. And I am. Just, in my own way.

O-oh, of course! I didn't mean to imply-- I mean.

[ he frowns, wanting to be clearer than he usually is. ]

Everyone has their own way of coping. I bake. You... do paperwork. Coping is good and necessary, but it's only a temporary fix.

A band-aid.

[ ned knew this all too well from a lifetime of repression. ]

[She nods.]

I know.

[Her eyes close and she can't help looking away, eyes opening again only to focus on the bed. It's fitting.]

Every day that I wake up and he's not there is a reminder that he's gone. I know he's gone Ned; there's no pretending he isn't. But I can't keep grieving for him ...

[She presses her lips together, unable to verbally admit that doing that would kill her. That not pushing herself would find her curled up in bed and never coming out again.]

[ he nods, hands sliding into his pockets. ]

Grieving isn't something that ends. You just have to keep moving the best you can... but it's okay to need someone too. [ ned's eyes flick up to hers, remembering how hard it had been to lean on chuck when he'd first arrived, despite loving her more than anything. he knows all too closely what pepper is going through. ]

Have i told you about the City?

[She offers him a small smile, but as has been since Tony's disappearance it doesn't reach her eyes.]

No, you haven't.

I'd like to, if that's okay. [ his eyes slide over to her bed, like, can we sit? but he doesn't want to assume it's okay. he might usually but under the circumstances he's even more uptight and worried about taking liberties. ] It was where I was before I was here. And after I was home.

[She follows his eyes and understands. This is a story you have to sit down for.]

Of course, have a seat.

[ he perches gingerly on the edge of her bed and waits for her to sit by him, nodding shallowly. ]

It was a city not unlike but not actually New York City. [ his hands dropped to his lap, fingers twitching slightly. ]

[She nods, crossing over to sit beside him on the bed.]

And everyone, who didn't already have one... was given, a superpower.

...And we were given dogtags. To, um. [ he draws his out of his pocket to show her rather than explain. one side of the little tag said 'ned' and the other side 'the piemaker' ]

[The sight of the dog tags makes her look down at her number. It's the same thing, only without a name attached.]

[ he follows her gaze and nods, putting the tags away with a swallow. ]

Yeah, it's... basically the same thing. Except there we had a whole City; a whole world to roam. I went to Yellowstone National Park once.

[ getting off message, he smiles sheepishly before looking back down at his hands in his lap. ] Tony was... there. I only knew him as Iron Man until this place, but. There's been a decent amount of overlap.

[Her brows draw together with a frown.]

What do you mean?

There are different... universes. Like the City, like the Tranquility - where people come in from all over. Except usually when one leaves a place like this - it's.

To go home. [ or die. ] But not always.

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