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Penny had always loved the idea of tattoos and piercings. She loved the idea of someone being able to turn something so meaningful into a beautiful piece of art that you would wear forever.
Of course, when she started getting more into the idea of tattoos and piercings, she was one year away from high school, so the idea of getting a tattoo did not fly too well with her mom and dad. She was, however, allowed to get her ears pierced when she and Pepper went out for a girl's day, and that was good enough; for that moment.
But Penny never lost the love for it all.
Her first tattoo was when she was in high school. If you even really want to call it a tattoo.
She and M.J were having a sleepover together when the idea of doing stick and pokes came up. It was just a silly suggestion that passed, a “what if we got crazy tonight” kind of idea. But, after a while, the idea turned more into a reality, and before the two girls knew it, they were getting all the supplies ready.
It wasn’t anything crazy, just a tiny little star on her ankle. Penny knew she had to be careful with getting tattoos if she wanted to be able to get a professional job - and her parents would probably have a heart attack if they found out - so it stayed hidden underneath her sock. Although, none of that matters; the makeshift tattoo faded away before her junior year anyway.
But, despite wanting them, between wanting to look professional while she was applying for her dream school, and her overprotective father, Penny wasn’t able to get more than her ears pierced twice.
Until she went off to college.
Penny started considering getting another piercing - just to be able to test the limits of her newfound freedom - a few months after getting settled into her new life at college.
When she began asking her roommate who the best piercer in town was, though, her roommate really ran with the idea and the next thing Penny knew, they both were going with a group of friends to get tattoos.
It kind of just snowballed from there.
One tattoo quickly turned into two, and then three, and then four. And then the next thing Penny knew, she was moving onto piercings; getting a stud in her nose, her belly button pierced, even an industrial in her ear.
She didn't really think much of it at the time. Her tattoos were placed so she could show them off, but also hide them at the same time, and she figured that she could enjoy her piercings now and just take them out later when need be.
It was so normal for other students to have piercings and tattoos, though, that Penny felt comfortable enough herself to not even bother hiding hers.
Until it was time for her to go home for the holidays, that is.
Her Dad had told her a couple of weeks ago over the phone that they planned on spending Christmas together at the house in Malibu - something about Morgan begging to make sand mermaids, whatever that meant - so Penny was to meet them at the airport there.
Because MIT was in Massachusetts, Penny arrived at the airport in sweatpants and one of her Dad's old hoodies, so her recent modifications were all basically hidden under clothes and hair; except for the stud in her nose.
In the future, whenever Penny thinks back to this moment, she likes to partially blame all that for what happens later. But, right now, in this current moment of time, all Penny could focus on was not running and throwing herself at her parents; her piercings and tattoos were - and the thought of hiding them - was the last thing on her mind. Especially when she heard a familiar little voice calling for her.
"Penny! Penny, Penny, Penny!" Morgan calls out as she runs down the hall. Penny couldn't help but laugh when she saw her younger sister, instantly getting down on one knee and opening her arms up.
"Hello, M. Oh, I missed you!" Penny coos as Morgan slams into her, quickly wrapping her younger sister up in a tight hug.
"Hey, don't hog all of her attention. Her parents would also like to see her." Tony teases as he and Pepper finally made their way over to the two girls.
"Oh, don't worry old man, there's plenty of me to go around." Penny jokes back, lifting Morgan up in her arms as she stood up. As soon as Penny was upright, Tony pulled her into a hug, both of them breathing each other in. Three months was definitely too long.
"I missed you, Dad," Penny whispers, Tony giving his daughter one last squeeze in return before releasing her. And of course, that was the first time Tony had gotten a really good look at Penny since she went off to college.
"Woah, I know it's been a few months since we've seen each other, but I'm pretty sure you didn't have," Tony pokes the stud sitting in Penny's nose, "this when you left. What, are you joining a biker gang?" Tony questions, making both Penny and Pepper roll their eyes.
"Oh, Tony, leave her alone. It's just a tiny little stud." Pepper tries to placate while pulling Penny in for her own hug.
"I don't care if it's tiny, there's still a hole in our daughter's face where there wasn't a hole before." Tony continues to voice his displeasure.
"I think it's cool! Can I get one?" Morgan chimes in, causing Penny to burst into laughter at her father's reaction; he looked like he was about to have a heart attack at just the mere idea of Morgan also getting her nose pierced.
"How about we discuss getting your ears pierced in a couple of years instead." Pepper offers instead, everyone glad when that was enough to get Morgan off the subject for a while.
The key term there: for a while.
It didn't take too long for them to get the rest of Penny's luggage and to begin heading out to the beach house, but it definitely was long enough for the heat to reach it's high - causing Penny to sweat in her winter clothes - and for dinnertime to begin; causing everyone's stomachs to growl.
"Hey, Penny, do you want to go swimming in the pool with me while Daddy grills dinner?" Morgan excitedly asks, the small girl clearly over the moon to finally have her big sister back home.
"Yes, please. I'm roasting in these clothes." Penny whines, glaring at Tony when he began to laugh at her.
"That's what you get for wearing a hoodie and sweats when you know how hot it gets here." Tony light-heartedly says.
"Yeah, well, it's freezing in Massachusets right now, you should know that." Penny snarks making Tony fondly chuckle. No doubt memories of when he went to MIT were flooding through his mind.
Almost as soon as they pulled up to the house, Penny was grabbing her luggage and dashing inside so she could change with Morgan right on her heels, both of them leaving their parents behind to get dinner started.
Penny took a bit longer than she usually would have getting dressed, taking her time afterward to put her stuff away and breathe in the familiar sight of her room.
Once she was dressed in a tank-top and shorts with her swimsuit underneath, Penny began making her way out to the patio where the pool was and where her Dad was, inevitably, grilling burgers. And that's where Penny messes up.
"Penny, what is all over your arms and legs?" Morgan calls from where she was sitting on the pool steps, making Penny cringe when she realized all her tattoos were on display.
"Penelope Virginia-" Penny heard her Father begin to grit through his teeth, making her whip around and put her hands up to try and placate him.
"-Dad, don't freak out-"
"-Stark! What the hell is all over your body?" Tony seethes as he walks around the grill and over towards Penny.
"They're just little tattoos; nothing too serious," Penny mumbles, knowing that any argument she gave in that moment wouldn't even be remotely good enough for her Dad.
"'Nothing too serious?'" Tony repeats in shock before spitting in his hand and rubbing it over the one tattoo Penny had over her shoulder.
"Eww, Dad, stop it, that's disgusting," Penny whines, pulling away and shoving Tony's hand off of her.
"Tony, leave her alone for-" Pepper begins to gripe as she walked out with more stuff for dinner, only stopping and gasping when she saw all the ink on Penny's skin. "Penelope, what did you do to yourself?"
"Can we please not make a big deal out of this. They're just tattoos and I promise that they're all in spots where they can easily be hidden and they all have meanings. Like the flowers on my thigh are all our birth flowers; they're not just meaningless little things." Penny tries to defend herself, knowing that it would be better for her if she could at least get her mom on her side.
One pissed-off parent is always better than two pissed-off parents.
"Well, I mean, Tony she is eighteen." Pepper gently slowly concedes.
"No. No, Pep, don't give in. This is bad. Our daughter permanently put ink all over her body." Tony says, already knowing he was going to lose this argument without Pepper on his side.
"And they can be hidden for when she gets a professional job, and they are meaningful. She's living on her own now and can make her own decisions so we can't stop or get mad at this." Pepper continues to soothe.
For a while all Pepper and Tony did was stare at each other, having one of the silent conversations that they've managed to master after so many years of being together.
Eventually Tony huffed before turning back towards Penny.
"I'm not happy about this, you know," Tony informs before pulling Penny into his side for a hug.
"Yeah, I'm aware." Penny chuckles a bit, relaxing into the hug.
"No more, though, young Miss. You're going to run out of skin at this rate." Tony says, trying - and slightly failing - to sound stern as he walked back to the grill.
"No promises," Penny says just to see the look on her Dad's face when she did so. She didn't really have any plans currently for more.
Figuring the excitement for the day was over, Penny was fully ready to just relax in the pool with her younger sister.
Penny jumped into the pool almost as soon as she could, smiling when she heard Morgan laughing at the water splashing her.
Morgan swam over to where Penny was, practically wedging herself in Penny's arms so her older sister had no choice but to hold her.
Once she was settled in Penny's arms, Morgan began to lightly trace one of the tattoos on her shoulder, making Penny smile at how precious the small girl was.
"They're really pretty." Morgan comments. Penny couldn't help but laugh a bit, finding Morgan's intrigue amusing. Although, it wasn't so amusing when Morgan shouted out her next question at their parents.
"Can I get a tattoo next?"