maskormenacelogs

Entry tags:

(OPEN)

WHO: Tony + Anyone
WHERE: Everywhere
WHEN: January!
WHAT: Catch-all; 80's shenanigans, power shenans, so on
WARNINGS: uhh stupid nekomimi tropes, nsfw for male junk

[Insert lyrics by Tom Jones]

"I had stuff to do today," Tony grouses as he makes the final hike from the bus stop, waving back at the security guard manning the gate and offering up a terse: "Yes, please, stare a little more" for the man's blatant Look, just not having any of it today. If he's going to be yanked from a dead sleep to replay his first arrival, no one ought to expect pleasantries, that's just how it is.

What's his problem? He shrugs, stretching out a knot in his shoulder. At least he slept in pants and a shirt, things might have been really awkward otherwise.

Any hopes that he'd make it back from the Porter before Pepper awoke are dashed when he gets inside, seeing lights on, smelling the familiar aroma of coffee even before he's in the door. Little more pungent than usual, as is the scent of... everything, really, rich loam and wet grass and the mineral scent of water here among the plants in the entryway, crowded with all the usual aromas of a clean house: bleach and windex, citrusy cleaners and wood polish under the smells of impending breakfast, and even the scents of last night's takeout. It's a little disorienting.

Tony pokes his head into the kitchen, his nose wrinkling, unaware as yet of the ears atop his head, pricked toward Pepper at the sink. "Hey, the Porter did another pull this morning, I'm fine, I just need to shower the public bus off me. Save me a plate?"

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Pepper wakes up alone this morning, but that's nothing new. She's used to waking up early, but Tony has even her beat, often up and at it before sunrise. It's why she thinks nothing of going about her own morning routine in solitude, eventually shrugging on a robe over her pjs and putting her hair up in a sloppy bun before padding barefooted into the kitchen to start breakfast. The sound of the front door opening and closing isn't quite drowned out by the hissing and gurgling of the coffee machine nor the running water as Pepper gives a quick wash to the cooking utensils by the sink.

"...What?" Frowning as what Tony's saying registers fully, Pepper dries off her hands and turns around. "Just like-- oh!"

Pepper's fingers flutter briefly over her mouth following that startled little exclamation, struck silent as she stares wide-eyed at what look to be actual ears on top of Tony's head. She shakes off her stupefaction after a beat to eke out, "Tony, what happened?"

Humor curls the corner of his mouth up in a wry smile, the peek of a pointed canine against his lower lip. "Did I scare you?"

Plowing on ahead, Tony continues seriously, "I woke up in the Porter at Cape Canaveral maybe an hour ago. Staff said it's a frequent occurrence for imPorts."

Those ears swivel out and flatten slightly, uneasily, registering as a faint itch he lifts a hand to scratch at, rubbing just behind his temple.

Pepper clasps her hands, fingers lacing, one thumb pressing into the opposite palm to unconsciously rub a pressure point in a self-soothing gesture as she tries to wrap her head around what's happening, that peek of tooth tightening something inside her chest in mild distress. Tony's unbothered manner suggests he's either taking this extremely well (which is unlikely) or he hasn't yet registered that anything is wrong.

"Do you..." She wets her dry lips, tries again. "Tony, haven't you noticed anything, um. Different about yourself this morning?"

The odd looks he's received the whole morning come back to haunt him, and Tony finally looks worried, the expression mirrored in how those ears drop flat to his head. The base of his spine itches.

"No-o? Oh no," he laments, and both hands fly to his face, pressing from jaw to cheeks to forehead and farther, aggrieved, "They didn't give me some stupid face tattoo or--"

His fingers hit those ears. Cup around them, his thumbs tracing their shape, as the look on his face shifts from worried to confused to concerned in rapid succession. He spins sharply, nimbly darting for the mirror in the hallway. His yelp of outrage could probably go heard from the street:

"Oh what the fuck?!"

Pepper remains quiet as Tony grumbles and paws his face, until his fingers find the source of her -- and soon, his -- dismay. Clutching her hands still, she watches as his expression cycles through several emotions as the truth begins dawning on him. She remains where she is when Tony turns on his heel and bolts into the hallway, predictably in search of a mirror, closing her eyes on a wince at his screech.

"Honey..." Biting her lip, she follows him into the hallway more sedately, expression torn between sympathy and consternation at the development.

She'll find Tony pulling his lips open, examining those pointed canines in the mirror with no small amount of bewildered frustration in his face. Inspection over, he ducks his head, pulling at those ears until it hurts– an odd, alien sensation that nonetheless feels as though they've always been there.

"Great. This is just." A peculiar look crawls across his features. Tony twists at the waist, strangely having little difficulty for as far as he turns, and gives the back of his soft joggers a tug. The tail that immediately lashes free, puffed and of the same dark fur as his new ears, serves to make his heart drop.

"I hate this place." It's so, so plaintive.

One arm wrapped around her own middle, Pepper lifts the other hand back to her mouth to muffle a small sound when that tail comes out, blue eyes widening a little. This is absurd and a part of her wants to burst into helpless (and maybe slightly hysteric) laughter, but she knows that's a completely inappropriate reaction considering how unhappy Tony is-- for good reason, certainly.

"T-this is... temporary, right?" Because if she can't quite figure out how to feel about suddenly having a half-cat husband, she can only imagine what's going through Tony's head now.

Tony makes a noise like a strangled laugh, and rubs both hands over his face.

"I don't know. Jesus, I hope so." Pressing the heels of his palms against that pressure point on the ridge of his brow bone, he sighs a breath out and straightens. Alright. Alright. He won't get anything done by freaking out about it, and this isn't the first wholly invasive body mod he's been through.

"Well, none of it actively hurts, it's just. Weird as shit," he admits, really working for that silver lining as his fingers sink back into his hair and disengage the moment they brush those ears, sliding back down the front of his shirt. "Uhm, first things first-- I still need a shower, then we can deal with whatever the hell this is."

God, Pepper hopes so too, but she puts all that aside for now in favor of reassuring Tony, the fierce welling of sympathy washing over her driving her forward to gently grasp his upper arms, stroking up to his shoulders. For better or for worse includes surprise cat parts, as far as she's concerned.

"It's gonna be okay, Tony," she says softly with a small, warm smile, wasting no time drawing him in a hug. "We'll figure this out, whatever it is."

Pepper's touch is welcome, and he all but folds himself into her embrace, planting a kiss on her cheek.

"Yeah we will," he says with a little more conviction, if not for himself, then for her. God, he's so thankful she's here, what would I do without you? just a long-running, daily mantra at this rate.

"Besides, you said yes. Or at least you say you said yes," he tells her slyly when he pulls away, his customary smirk looking all the more smug with that eyetooth peeking against his lip, "Can't get rid of me over this."

Pepper rubs his back soothingly, giving a tiny chuckle as she draws back from the hug. The look in her eyes is deeply affectionate even though her lips quirk into that familiar, wry half-smile that heralds snark.

"No, but I do have the right to make all the cat jokes I want, how's that?" she volleys back sweetly even as her hands smooth from his shoulders down to his elbows in an easy caress. And speaking of: "Oh, I should hide the cucumbers while you shower-- wouldn't want you to get spooked."

Too soon?

About to level a smarmy retort, Tony pauses, the lightbulb going off over his head, ears up and attentive. "Not a bad idea," he begins slowly, "What if it isn't just physiological changes?"

A second thought follows on the heels of that one, so he wets his lips– no sandpaper tongue –and releases Pepper's waist to unashamedly pull at the front of his pants for a hurried inspection of his junk, relieved. Whew.

"Oh, thank god, nothing's changed." Get that eyeful of your husband's dick, Pepper, because he's male and obnoxious and whatevs, she's seen it before.

Pepper sighs, not really even fazed when Tony pulls at his pants and flashes her his dick in the process. Men and their preoccupation with their junk, seriously.

"That we can see," she adds dryly, mostly joking ~~and definitely not making any cracks about knotting because wow, nope nope nope.~~

"I guess we'll find out if you have any irresistible urges to push things off tables and sleep in sunspots soon enough." Beat. "Well, I guess you should go check if you can even get through a shower, then."

Don't cats hate water, for the most part? For all that she jokes, she is actually sympathetic to his plight. This cannot be particularly amusing to him, and that warm empathy from before returns, reflected in her expression as her gaze tracks his features fondly-- getting stuck on those ears. Before she really realizes what she's doing, she's lifted a hand to rub a few fingers with gentle curiosity against the back of one, short fur sliding softly over her fingerpads.

No one will be laughing if a certain sensitive body part gets barbs, okay. Tony tucks himself back into his joggers with a slight huff.

"Please, Pep, I'm still mostly human, water isn't gonna... gonna phase..." Oh that. That feels immediately wonderful, warmth rolling across his scalp and down his spine for just those few fingers, his expression sliding from wry affection into gentle serenity. His lashes flutter closed, and he tips his head right into her hand, easily, unconsciously, before it registers what he's doing.

"Stop th-hat," he mumbles.

Pepper smiles at the way he pushes into the contact like a, well, a cat. It's... strangely cute and endearing. Breathing a soft chuckle, she rubs the ear oh-so-gently between thumb and forefinger for a brief moment before unhanding it, stroking a light hand over his hair in farewell.

"Sorry." She doesn't sound terribly sorry, though. "They're actually kind of cute."

It could have probably been worse, is what she means.

He shivers under her hand, shaking his head afterward as if to clear his senses, ears twitching. Whatever that was, he enjoyed it, and he's not so sure he wouldn't enjoy it if she went full bore with her attentions either. Clearly, all jokes aside, there may be some behavioral changes to contend with too.

"'Cute'?" Tony looks amused. "You think they're cute."

"Well!" she flounders a bit, being questioned like that, the corner of her mouth tugging up helplessly at the way said ears twitch. "Kind of, yeah. All things considered. I'm sure this place could have stuck you with something far worse than this, so..."

She trails off and shrugs one shoulder. Let's keep holding onto that silver lining, yes?

"Fair," he agrees, rubbing the nape of his neck, that tail swishing behind him. "Don't tempt our nanobot overlords any further."

There's so much work to be done, to catalogue this emergent power, or powers, if there is something more than the obvious. "If you buy cat toys while I'm in the shower, I'm marking all your stuff."

Pepper makes a zipping gesture over her lips, smiling. That smile turns into a light laugh at his threat, and she leans back in to peck his lips fondly.

"Maybe just some catnip. No?" she teases, chuckling and patting his side. "I'll try to contain myself. Go on-- I'll fix you a plate while you wash up."

She might even ease up on her usual no fried breakfast rule and throw in some bacon for him just to cheer him up a little.

The suggestion of catnip earns her a halfhearted eye roll, prior to a kiss. "Thanks, Honey."

Showering takes minimal time, most of it spent on examination, and finding just the right way to wash his hair without tipping water into those ears. Now that he's aware of the new parts, he's aware of the new muscles behind them, the flex and flick while he towel-dries them and wonders when the dysphoria will kick in. Not that the lack of intense, skin-crawling anxiety isn't welcome.

After some internal debate he opts for a clean pair of joggers again, ones with a seam vertically dividing the seat. A few well-placed clips through the thread give him room to pull the tail through, the satisfaction marred by dismay: everything will need this treatment from now on. For how long?

Lost in thought, feeling much less grody, Tony follows his nose to breakfast, unintentionally sneaking up soundlessly behind Pepper to slide his arms around her.

Humming a random tune under her breath as she slides some eggs and, yes indeed, bacon onto a plate sitting on the counter, Pepper sets aside the hot frying pan just in time not to drop it on the floor -- or anyone's toes -- when Tony suddenly seems to materialize out of thin air behind her, wrapping his arms around her. Jumping at the unexpected contact she never heard coming, Pepper lets out a startled yelp and presses a hand to her heart.

"Ah! God," she huffs, throwing him a look over her shoulder. "Forget catnip, you need a bell."

"That's speciesist," he declares, muffling his chuckle against her shoulder. It's not like he's the loudest person in the world, but had she really not heard him? Tony presses his lips to the nape of her neck and disengages to snag a slice of bacon from his- he's presuming that's his, anyway -plate, cronching away.

"Thank you for breakfast. You mind suiting up after this," because let's think five steps ahead, it's only how his mind works, "You've got the better equipment and I need a body scan."

"Don't even," she shoots back wryly, largely without heat, lips curving a little at the kiss. Turning once Tony pulls back, she hands him the plate. Which is absolutely his, Pepper doesn't touch bacon herself.

"You're welcome-- please use a fork." She smiles sweetly. Once relieved of said plate, she moves to pour them both a cup of coffee, nodding as she does. "Yeah, sure. We can do that."

"For bacon?" It's a rhetorical question, while he pops the last of that slice in his mouth and takes his plate to the table.

After an abortive attempt to sit that sees him unintentionally squishing his tail against the seat with a soft 'Ow', Tony manages to make himself somewhat comfortable. Her suit should tell him everything he needs to know, or at least enough to soothe several of the the unsettled questions he has.

Pepper detours to the fridge to add a splash of creamer into her mug before bringing them over, sliding Tony's black coffee next to his plate and rubbing his shoulder with a small, sympathetic smile.

"You okay?" Her smile hitches a little. "Or... as okay as you can with surprise cat parts?"

His free hand has slid from the nape of his neck to one of those ears again, cupping the shape of it, feeling along the shell with his thumb and forefinger. Tony looks up at Pepper, leaving off the fidgeting he's also doing with his fork.

"Yeah, I mean." He sighs, and that wry expression of his is back once more. "It isn't ideal, but the rest of me's still here and in working order, right?"

To anyone else the question might sound rhetorical, his customary confidence; of course everything is still Fine, he's got this, but Pepper knows all his tells, and the deep uncertainty his blasé facade hides.

"Right." Pepper smiles sympathetically, a warm look in her eyes. It's easy after all these years to see underneath the mask Tony wears, and to know he's seeking to reassure mostly himself in the face of such unknown with what he knows best; self-confident bravado. She can't blame him for that in the least.

"It'll be okay. We'll have more answers in a minute after the scan, and we'll go from there." She leans in to drop a quick kiss to his forehead and squeezing his shoulder gently, giving him an encouraging look when she pulls back. "So, let's fuel up first and then get to work, Mr. Stark."

A smile glides across his mouth as he meets her gaze. The warm press of her lips might be brief, but they fortify him, grounded in the squeeze of her fingers.

Tony slips his hand over hers, pressing his fingertips lightly against her knuckles. "Right, Miss Potts."

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nsfwish lol

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