After The Suits

[starkingenuity]

"And so then I told General Ross that I was a virgin, but he took my hand and told me he'd be gentle." And...nothing. Tony thinks about throwing his shoe at Banner's head, but that probably wouldn't go over well and then he'd be missing a shoe. He liked this pair too. Pepper got it for him after he threw the last at the Vice President's head. "Banner." Nothing. "Banner, I'm going to come over there and give you the wettest, most amazing kiss--"

"Sir, might I remind you of Ms. Pott's condition?" JARVIS chimes in.

Tony has to concur. You don't cheat on your power powered girlfriend.

Comments

[aggravated]

A faint wince and Bruce lets out a breath. The idea of sleeping beside someone is not a welcomed one except Betty, he could remember that well but if it would get some decent sleep for Tony, he could... deal with it. He might not sleep, but worth it if Tony could.

"I won't even comment, because you know what I'm thinking. ...Fine. Bedroom."

[starkingenuity]

"Oh!" Tony says with a shrug of the shoulders, wrists and elbows bent. "Doctor Banner! You're so cheeky!" He laughs at the look he's given and follows Bruce to his room.

Don't worry, Bruce. Tony cuddles pillows, not people. He intends on commandeering one and curling up at the edge of the bed. Only his shoes end up coming off.

[aggravated]

Bruce takes in the sight of Tony Stark in such a position, feeling a certain sadness at the sight. He knows his sleep hasn't been the best either thanks to the nightmares that crop up from the Other Guy's psyche, but clearly Tony's has been even worse. What is keeping you up at night, Stark? Bruce wonders to himself.

He's somewhat grateful for some of the extra clothing as he strips out of his button down shirt and pulls on a soft cotton tee shirt, shoes and socks gone. He'd normally shuck his pants for sweat pants as well, but that can wait. So for now he crawls into bed and burrows into the clean scent of a freshly washed pillow, sighing. "Just don't touch me if you need to wake me up. It... startles me."

Didn't need to explain why that would be a problem.

[starkingenuity]

"Touching you to wake you up startles you," Tony mutters into the pillow, back curving away from Bruce. "But zapping you with a electrical spanner... Yeah okay," he laughs.

Trying to sleep is difficult, though, not because there's a weight behind him that he can feel or because Bruce is so extremely warm -- and very comfortably so actually -- but because his mind won't shut off.

And because there'd been a fucking worm hole open over his head a few months ago, okay?

[aggravated]

"I'm conscious for the latter," Bruce mutters right back, staring up at the ceiling. "He's a lot closer to the surface when I sleep."

He's tried to wrap his mind over what happened in New York. It's the same as after Harlem, trying to understand everything that happened there. He can vividly remember the night he woke up and stared across the room - but instead of feeling fear and night terror, he felt... victorious, proud, and smug. He had dreamed of smashing Loki repeatedly into the ground.

[starkingenuity]

And of saving Tony?

"Fine," the man in question mutters. "No touching. That's one way to keep people from molesting you though if you end up in prison." And he'll shut up now, he promises.

Tony rubs at his eyes and presses his lips together. No more talking. Lots more sleeping. And then, fix Pepper.

Two geniuses on the case give her like a 100% greater chance of becoming less Dragon Woman and more Pepper. Right? He can only hope.

He ought to also hope, though, that his sleeping form's encroachment on Bruce's space, where it is warm, doesn't end up with him turning into pate.

[aggravated]

...Not a comforting thought, Stark. Bruce makes such a face in response to that.

Bruce doesn't immediately sleep. Tony might be used to sleep beside another person, but Bruce isn't by any means. He listens to Tony's breathing slowly even out into sleep, listens to the house settle around him.

He remembers that, Tony. It's something that's kept him up very late at night, haunted his thoughts. Why did the Hulk save Tony Stark?

His other half had acted faster than him. The control... the control had changed on that day, a willing change he allowed fully. He watched. He could see, little bits and pieces. Information came to him instead of total darkness.

And the Hulk had saved Tony's life. It was one of the only times Bruce had ever seen the Hulk actually think about someone other than himself, or someone he wanted to maim. The other had been Betty...

So, why?

The question haunts him as he falls asleep beside Tony.

[starkingenuity]

Two hours into it, ass pressing to Bruce's hip and body curled up around the pillow, the nightmares start. Everything from being thrown out the window to taking the nuke into space to Bruce leaving the Tower to Pepper in pain has him sweating and yelling.

It's hard to wake up when something like this has you, no matter how much, or how badly, you want to wake up.

[aggravated]

It's definitely enough to wake Bruce. His eyes snap open, staring up at the ceiling, and his heart gives a sickening thump before he remembers where he is. Tony's Tower in New York. ...Tony.

Stark.

Bruce sits up and looks over, eyes widening at the sight. A sheen of sweat on Tony's brow, crying out. Damn. He had guessed the nightmares must have been bad to keep Tony from sleeping but this?

"Stark!" He hesitates, then puts a hand on the other's shoulder, trying to shake him awake. "Stark-- Tony! Wake up!"

[starkingenuity]

There are no suits to come to his aid this time and Bruce will not be half ripped from bed because of Tony's panic attacks. He's about to get a chest full of teary eyed Tony Stark who is having entirely too much trouble catching his breath and whose vision keeps going blurry. He tends to hide this from Pepper. She might panic too and no one needs that.

[aggravated]

Probably for the better as any suit that came after Bruce would end up a pile of shattered parts - along with the bedroom. There's an unconscious reaction to put his arms around Tony before he really thinks about it, but then he's got a Tony pressed against his chest.

"Stark. Stark, you're safe." What do people normally say when something like this happens? "You're safe." His voice goes softer, even though his own heart rate's up, body stiff.

[starkingenuity]

"I'm going crazy, Banner," Tony says, hardly able to breathe. He wants to get away, to push back, to get the hell out of the room. Or to burrow more tightly into Bruce's chest. "I'm going completely-- We saved the day. Everything's all right, but it's not ending. It's never ending and--"

He can't stop shaking either, that's the worst part. He's so light headed too that he's sure he's having a heart attack, even when he knows he isn't.

"JARVIS, scan--"

"I already have, sir. This is yet another panic attack.."

[aggravated]

"JARVIS, how many has he had? How frequently?" Bruce has never dealt this closely with someone else having a panic attack, but nuture wins over his broken nature. He bends his head down and murmurs quietly, "you're waiting for the next time, because you know it'll come. And your brain keeps.. replaying the same things that happened over and over."

[starkingenuity]

JARVIS' answer of every other day as an average gets a grunting, low moan from Tony as he grips Bruce's shirt. At the very least, his brain is calming down. And his heart is slowing. He's not dying.

No. But he might die of embarrassment. Tony pulls himself away and stands. He can't sleep. Sleep is for the weak.

He can sleep when he's dead.

[aggravated]

That's not happening. Bruce forces himself up and pointedly stands between Tony and the door. "Tony Stark. You can't do this to yourself. You need help... You'll kill yourself by the inches by not sleeping."

[starkingenuity]

"Use my full name if you want to be my mother, Bruce," Tony says gently and wipes at his eyes. "Anthony Edward Stark! Do not turn your father's vintage cars into RC racers!"

That might have happened twice. Or three times. He chances a smile.

[aggravated]

"You might actually listen to me if I was your mother," Bruce mutters, running a hand back through his hair to force the curls from his face. He sees that smile and doesn't even know what to do with it. Tony's as much of a liar as he is, just with different emotions.

"Sit." A point to the bed. "Please."

[starkingenuity]

Sit. He's not a dog. Banner is definitely not the boss of him. And yet-- he's too tired too stand. Too distraught. So he sighs into his hands as he does as he's told and then turns his eyes up towards the other man.

"What do you think I can do about this?"

[aggravated]

No, but he's concerned, and turning right into Stark's doctor. He's far from a therapist, as he said to Tony, but he's trying.

He rubs his nose, trying to think quickly about this. Finally, he grabs a chair from across the room and brings it over, plopping it in front of Tony. "We start small and work up from there. I doubt you're the type to be keen on drugs, and honestly, I wouldn't prescribe them for someone like you anyway. ...Tell me about the nightmares."

[starkingenuity]

Wait. "Wait. Someone like me?" Excuse you Banner. Actually, he does understand what Bruce means. Drugs mess with your head. Tony needs his brain as intact as possible and anything that might calm him could hurt him too.

So. Talking. He's good at that. And for whatever reason, he does feel as if he has this connection with Bruce. So why not?

"I... The worm hole. Almost always. And this place. The deck."

[aggravated]

Exactly that kind of 'someone like me'. Something that would take away some of Tony's control, what little Bruce believes Tony thinks he has left. Bruce licks his lips as he listens, thinking about what to say in response. This, all in all, is about the worst thing for him to be trying as he's terrible at talking about emotional things.

"You survived the wormhole." Your heart stopped, I think. "But you remember it all up until the fall?"

[starkingenuity]

"Obviously," Tony mutters, though it isn't Bruce's fault that he's snappy. Some things just don't ever get better and this sort of feels like it's one of those things. "I remember the armor losing power. The pressure making me pass out. And then I remember you--" Right. "Your big green cousin roaring in my face."

[aggravated]

"You saved millions of people," Bruce whispers, then looks up at Tony. "You saved all of us." But he knows Tony knows that. So he looks away for a heart beat or three, then says more quietly, just able to be heard, "Do you know what happened between those two points, Stark?"

He doesn't even wait. The words come from a place he isn't even sure he wants exposed, but they come. "The Other Guy made his first selfless choice, and acted on it. He saw you falling, and he caught you, and took the blow when you both hit the ground. And even more than that..."

He trails off, fingers flexing hard in his lap, feeling his stomach churn. He's never said this to anyone, at all. "I think you scared him."

[starkingenuity]

Tony's eyes stare at the spot on the carpet between Bruce's feet before he looks up at him slowly, startled but not so sure on what he's suppose to do with that information. His throat feels dry though.

"Caught me." No one's mentioned that and it's been a whole fucking year? C'mon, that would have made his day. And his Christmas. And made it worth every single gray hair he's allowed to grow in since.

"The Hulk caught me."

[aggravated]

Maybe, Bruce decides, it will help with the nightmares to connect the dots between beginning and end. "Caught you, in mid-air, ricocheted off a building, and body slammed the ground, protecting you in his arms." It happens to be one of the few clear memories he has of that fight.