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Who: J, Tony and Pepper
When: Week 3, Midway hub.
Where: Tony's tent
What: J comes back after being absent and meets Tony's lady friend.
Warnings: Mention of drugs but that's about.

The return of a prodigal son. That's one way to describe this situation.

It's been over a week since J had left Tony's tent without leaving him a message or anything. She realizes that it's rather selfish way to express her gratitude after all that he's done for her. But then again, she's also pretty sure that he doesn't care for such things, which is the main reason why coming back to his tent was so easy. He hadn't let her freeze and starve earlier and she's sure that hasn't changed.

But there was something different in there, J could tell as much even though she couldn't put her finger on it. Things seemed strangely organized. Either Tony found a maid or Adrien moved back with him.

She's changed out of her own dirty clothes and is now wearing t-shirt and jacket, both little too big for her seeing that they both happened to belong to tent's owner. A cigarette is dangling from between her lips as she sits on the mattress counting and weighting different sized bags with her hands. There's a good amount of them and each bag contains white powder that would at first glance seem to be sugar. Too bad that's far from the truth. Then there's pill jars and other cases sprawled on the mattress before her. Really, it's looking like she has just raided a drug cave, which isn't completely far fetched.

She's just packing the stuff away when she hears talk and footsteps outside of the tent. Tony is back and he's not alone. And as the tent's front is flipped to the side she looks up and gives both of them a measuring look, her eyes focusing on the woman for longer.

"Really Tony. A redhead?"

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It's not the fact that this woman is probably wearing Tony's clothes (though Pepper had hoped the days of running into strange women borrowing his shirts were done and dusted) that makes Pepper stop in her tracks at the entryway of the tent. She knows she doesn't have to worry about Tony being unfaithful.

It's the pill bottles and powder bags that she has to squint at for a beat to make out -- and when she does and puts two and two together, she draws in a calming breath through her nose even though her ire sparks somewhere behind the neutral facade at the thought of this woman so casually bringing a boatload of drugs into the tent of someone with an addictive personality. It's the principle of it. It's the fact that she's talking about Pepper like she isn't even present, the rudeness of it rubbing the redhead in question the wrong way. And by the way, what exactly is wrong with redheads?

"Is there a problem?" She finally recovers enough to ask J with an entirely insincere smile -- the kind she uses on bothersome reporters and other ignoramuses. Pepper doesn't wait for J to answer before turning her head to look at Tony, her smile less savage but entirely of the what the hell is going on here variety.

"Friend of yours? Won't you introduce us?"

This is not what Tony signed up for today.

He opens his mouth like he's halfway to chewing J out himself, for his own reasons, when he recognizes Pepper's tone for exactly what it is and changes tracks. One eyebrow is already climbing as he glances between the two women a few times.

Yeah, so, in an ordinary situation, having your girlfriend walk in on some woman wearing your clothing and sprawled in your sleeping space would probably be deeply incriminating. Fortunately, no situation involving Tony Stark has ever been ordinary, and Pepper knows better than to suspect the worst. He doesn't deserve her, truly.

"Yeah, about that." He shoots J a warning look that he knows will be utterly wasted on her and gestures between them. "Pep, J. J, the esteemed Pepper Potts. I didn't realize we'd be having company."

The pointed look he gives J packs as much incrimination as he possibly can, a whole slew of unspoken where the hell have you been and what the hell are you smoking and what the hell is wrong with redheads?!

Pressing her lips as together as she can with a cigarette in her mouth, she turns to look at Pepper once more. But only this time more critically from up to down. J doesn't think she's ever heard of this woman but there's something very casual in their body languages that tells her this woman is someone close to him. Well, it's not like Tony's aware of her relationships back in her home.

Pepper is a beautiful woman, for a redhead. She might be bit old but definitely aged graciously. When J does take her eyes off from her she picks the cigarette between her fingers and blows out a smoke cloud, still ignoring addressing her. She turns her focus back on the drugs and continues packing them away. There's this nasty sting in Tony's words and that we didn't include her anymore.

"I would have taken your pants as well but you know. You're too big." Says the scrawny kid who's already lost plenty of weight during their camping trip.

"Charmed, I'm sure," Pepper puts in dryly and somewhat pointedly when J continues to ignore her. There's an edge in her voice that suggests her actual feelings might be quite the opposite, but she isn't going to put more effort into this woman right now in either direction. It's been a long, taxing handful of days, so she might be a little more sensitive than she usually would be, but in Pepper's mind there are no excuses for bad manners -- especially when J has appeared here apparently uninvited. J's deliberate rudeness is getting under Pepper's skin, though she's loathe to give the woman that much power.

Settling for neutral indifference for the time being, Pepper lifts her chin and glances at Tony indicatively, the dismissive wave of her hand speaking volumes. You deal with this.