December 10, 2016:
Darcy goes to speak with Pepper about matters involving her liaison work with the X-Men, and brings along an under-the-weather Pietro.
Characters
![class="image1"](http://cmbeta.wdfiles.com/local--resized-images//class="image1"/medium.jpg)
NPCs: FRIDAY
Mentions:
Plot:
Mood Music: None.
Fade In…
It's a chilly December day, and Pepper has invited a certain Miss Lewis to join her for lunch. Presumably, it was to discuss something involving Lewis's recent assignment as the SHIELD liaison to the X-Men. Of course, that had been based on the assumption that Lewis was going to arrive alone. Which, she didn't.
After the couple had arrived and Pietro's obvious ailment was revealed to Pepper, she went full mother hen mode for a bit there, setting the young man up on the sofa in her office with no less than three blankets and several cushions so he can recline and still drink the tea she's put into his hands in a wool-cozied mug so he doesn't scald his hands.
Now, Pepper is seated in one of the chairs alongside the sofa, the tea service having been moved to the coffee table there and the work information given to Darcy on a tablet to peruse quietly.
Lunch is supposed to be here shortly, and a last minute order of soup was added.
Darcy tried to offer to help Pepper, but she was far too good at Mother Hen, and Darcy gave up. Once Pietro was settled and warm and drinking tea, Lewis sat in the other chair, eyes on her tablet.
"Thanks again for looking into this for us, Ms. Potts."
From beneath the blankets, and showing a very glad and thankful smile, Pietro Maximoff observes both women in relative silence. One of them, of course, receives loving and stares, and when it happens, his smile intensifies vividly.
"SHIELD blankets. A benefit of being an Avenger." He grins, leaving the comment and still proud of himself, though a bit nervous for what it means.
He has not been feeling well lately, but after all that happened, it's still normal.
"Yes, thank you very, very much, Ms. Potts." Quicksilver echoes Darcy. "The tea is wonderful, of course. I love it." A sip occurs to give more validity to his statement. It's genuinely wonderful.
Pepper chuckles amusedly, feigning affront. "SHIELD blankets? I beg your pardon. Those are /my/ blankets, thank you very much." She doesn't mention that at least one of them is pure qiviut, because the kid would likely balk at having hot tea so close to it.
She then gestures with her own tea cup toward the tablet given to Darcy. "I've put the PR department's preliminary proposal on how to announce the school and its student base and focus, as well as MSF Legal's documents on getting the place established as an official private education facility."
"Can't be completely private, can it? That's how it was running so it could hide, but the word's out. It's a mutant school. And the moment we say Private is the moment it gets lumped in with all the other bullshit private upper crust rich and privileged schools, which some of these kids are - granted - but the ones that need this place the most? The ones who lost everything because society told their parents that being that different was I don't know worse than being gay and going to hell means that some of these kids have nothing and no one to help them. This place is literally their last life line," Darcy argues, even as she's flipping through. She's not going to deny any of what's offered, but she'd like to be able to tell Storm and Remy more than just… yeah.
"So, not even being an Avenger can I get SHIELD blankets? Well, I must admit these are very fine blankets, so I won't complain." Pietro says in full Transian accent as he gets even more covered by them. And then, as they talk about the Institute, he remains silent but paying close attention. He might be an X-Men, and may even have a dorm room and access to pizza days, even special access to the kitchens (which might be something he made up, but tries to convince everyone, every time, to be true), but he doesn't have the knowledge nor the hierarchy to speak of the subject in this meeting. On the other hand, Darcy does, and she gains more proud looks from the mutant. The tea is still wonderful.
Pepper Potts hms. "Okay, good point. FRIDAY, you're taking notes, right?" Pepper glances at the ceiling.
"I am, Miss Potts," A sightly Irish sounding voice replies. "Should I note a change of phrasing from Private to Magnet school? There are legal repercussions that accompany the term, however. Curriculum requirements that have to be met. The term Private denotes that the school will maintain sole control over what courses they are able to offer their students."
Pepper looks at Darcy again, clearly expecting the younger woman to make the decision here.
After taking a moment to look over at Pietro, smiling and patting his shoulder, Darcy rolls her eyes at him. "I can totally get you SHIELD blankets. Relax."
"Can I get a break down of both options legal repercussions and what the PR campaign sounds like both ways?" Darcy asks, likewise glancing at the ceiling. At the acknowledgement she looks over at Pepper.
"I've got a reporter contact at the Daily Planet. Dude ran RIGHT into me. It's chill though. I got his card. When's good timing to go that route? Before or after PR blitz?"
About two seconds after Darcy asks for the break down, the tablet pings softly, and there are two new documents to view, one for each option. FRIDAY is nothing if not efficient.
Pepper answers the question about the PR blitz. "Definitely after. Though if you want to give this reporter an exclusive, contact him just beforehand so you and he can schedule an interview for as close after the blitz as possible. People are very likely going to be clamoring for information, and you have to give him first crack at it for it to be a valid exclusive."
Pietro nods proudly. "See? That's why I sort of like you. SHIELD blankets. Win." He says it softly and trying not to interfere with the ongoing conversation.
Darcy nods to this, not being a media guru herself. Politics and govern policy she can do; when to contact the press? Not so much. "Awesome. I need to run this by the school's staff first. I'll take their temperature on rebranding from the staff with… less than savory backgrounds that are perfect for what they do now," Darcy says, smiling over at Pietro. She leans over to give him a soft kiss on the forehead. "You're a brat. I sort of like you too. Now, drink your tea."
There's a soft knock at the door and Pepper stands to answer it, accepting the rolling cart with the requested foods on it. Work's done for now, time to eat.