Which goes a long way to explain why he likes you. [After all, the friendship runs both ways; Tony had been impressed with Bruce from the start, both as a man who could match him in genius, and as a superpowered potential hero. Bruce might not yet realize it, but Pepper's had the opportunity to see just how much Tony already trusts Bruce, which is a rare thing. For all the personal space he invades with such relish, Tony's careful to keep those around him at arm's length. The man in the spotlight is the public image, the playboy who acts without a care in the world, to guard the fact that Tony cares so deeply and so much.

Maybe more than anyone else Pepper has ever known.]

Well, the worst that happens is that I get ridiculed for attempting to take my job seriously. I'm not unfamiliar with that. [She knows it's an uphill battle, and that in the most traditional sense Pepper can't succeed. But she can try to make the office her own, to turn the joke of a job into something of value and merit.

She's got sympathy when he mentions being a weapons tech; considering the history of Stark Industries, Pepper's naturally inclined not to be a fan either, even as she can understand the need.] Cryo--as in cryogenics? Is that a real thing here?