Pepper was clearly delighted. Stark took a ring from a set of jewelry and personally slipped it onto Pepper's finger. When the lights came back on, the gemstone, which had seemed somewhat dull before, radiated an exceptionally dazzling glow, like the moon borrowing the sun's brilliance—soft and cool.
Stark kissed Pepper's fingers and said, "I like to compare myself to the sun, and my lover to the moon. Thank you for shining for me every night."
"I was really afraid he was going to say some nonsense like, 'It's an honor for you to borrow my light.'" Schiller, being interviewed backstage, visibly breathed a sigh of relief. "I know how good he is at improvising, so he must have written that line in advance."
"That's incredible, man." Steve could not contain his excitement. "He finally said the right thing at an occasion like this! Pepper really is different to him. I'll never forget what he told me at my birthday party—that no matter which birthday I was celebrating, I should put a +70 on the cake."
Pepper hugged Stark, and Stark raised an arm in a victor's pose. The banquet came to a successful end.
Well, not entirely successfully. As everyone was heading out, there was a small incident. Stark had intended to walk forward with his arm around Pepper. The path around the screen was rather narrow, so they went one behind the other. Then Strange insisted on overtaking them and bumped Stark aside.
The high-spirited Stark naturally did not let it slide and rammed right back into him. Strange stumbled backward to the side and felt himself hit a wall. Turning around, he saw Steve.
"Hey, watch it," Steve reminded him. If he had not stepped forward just then, Carter would have been the one hit.
"You should