Tomorrow's gonna be a better day.

[fatherofinnovention]

[It's right at 10 till 8 when Howard shows up at pepper's home with a bouquet of orchids and a bottle of Sassicaia. He's not a man overly concerned with punctuality, but he figures it'll be a nice change of pace for Pepper, who's probably used to dragging Tony into meetings by the scruff of his neck.]

Miss Potts? Hope I'm not too early.

Comments

[yes_mr_stark]

Well, you had passed away not to long before I started. Directly after that Stane was in command. [She frowned deeply.]

Tony didn't get control until he turned twenty-one, and he was doing as best a job as he could. But he was in so many ways still a child, still learning. He wanted so much to make sure he did everything right. There were so many people expecting far to much from him. Expecting him to be you. [She shook her head.] I was glad when I came in, he needed me, someone who understood his situation, who was expecting nothing from him.

You have to understand, and this might not be easy to hear, but Tony grew up in your shadow. He grew up wanting nothing but to make you proud. For you to show up now, and tell him everything he's doing wrong and that's he's ruining what you built. It's everything he's feared. He'll never admitt it ever, but you can see it in his eyes.

I know Tony better than I know myself. This isn't easy for him.

[fatherofinnovention]

[It's obvious that Howard's listening just from the way his brow furrows as she carries on. He hasn't ignored the paperwork on how things played out in his later years, but it's not a subject he favors for all the obvious reasons, and he pulls the car to a halt in front of the restaurant before he bothers even attempting to respond.]

Well I'm glad he has someone like you in his life, Pepper. [Because I sure as hell don't know how to handle it.]