starkingenuity | (no subject)

"Yep, actually, I did hear you, Doc. I'm just ignoring you." Don't be a buzz kill. Stark is riding high from that last fight. "It's just a cut. I've gotten a lot of cuts. Some bactine and some bandages and a little kiss over it from Jarvis here and I'll be just fine." The tall, leggy blond at his side doesn't even bother to roll his pale blue eyes. He's worked with Stark for years, too long really. He knows how the man acts.

"Sir."

That always makes Stark laugh and he lightly pats Jarvis on the back of his drivesuit. "Not your boss anymore, Jarv," he reminds him gentle. Or maybe he's just trying to drown out the mousy little guy following him. And that's when it hits him, halfway down the corridor, through the cheering crowds and the crews trying to get his Jaeger back into one piece. He knows that mousey little man follow him. "Shit. You're Doctor Banner! Well hey, nice to meet you finally! Man, we studied your tactics against Onibaba for months after that attack in Tokyo!"

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From:

starkingenuity

"It's a good theory but if that was connected to live power, you'd have just stopped your heart." Stark moves around the work bench to sit next to Banner, food forgotten for now. Food forgotten for the next hour at least. Heads together, they still don't make much headway but Banner's ideas are fresh and even if Stark can build off of them, there's a blockage somewhere with the current.

The blockage, of course, is desperation. Tony don't need this enough. Not yet. And so his genius is somewhat wasted even in his attempt to impress and collaborate with the fellow physicist.

"So how does that work," he asks when his stomach's complaints actually get them to stop working so he'll have his chicken. Cold, sure, but still good. "I mean, you go from being the world's expert on gamma radiation to a physician? What am I missing here?"

From:

aggravated

"Proof, undoubtedly, that I am not an engineer," Bruce says with a little wince at the comment about stopping the heart, but there's a good-natured smile on his lips. However, he actually enjoys the work, the change from his current focus on radiation levels in the Jaegers and their pilots.

There is something terribly sad in this genius going to waste. There's so much more that could be done.

The sudden question, while Stark eats, does surprise him. Enough that Bruce doesn't quite know how to answer, mostly because the explanation is so very convoluted and personal. "After the accident, I decided I wanted to help people instead of devising ways the military could hurt more." His lips twist into an unhappy frown as memories try to crop up, but he pushes them aside. "At least here, I'm combining both to help."

From:

starkingenuity

"Well good. You should start by figuring out a better way to work the metharocin. If it wasn't for Jarv, I'd forget to take it all the time." But he's not worried about it. Radiation poisoning between the Mark-I and the Mark-IIs are suppose to be pretty much settled, even if Bruce's presence here is a little bit disturbing. "Put it in the showers or something. No way I'd forget to dose myself then."

Stark grins and starts in on the donut. His sweet tooth is, again, winning out as usual. He has it hanging from his mouth as he shoves the not quite right reactor back into it's box and closes the lid. He'll shove it into the compartment later. Or one of the other engineers will. Stark's not worried that his tech night get usupred. No one here's good enough to do it.

Even if they were, they're all working towards the same cause.

"Thanks for dinner," he says around the pastry.

From:

aggravated

"You're welcome," Bruce says, assuming that means Stark is asking him to leave. He looks up at the nearest clock and frowns, just slightly. He stands up, dusting off his pants a little. "If I manage to get some sleep, I'll miss my time in the combat room." Far more a comment to himself than to Stark.

The only time to get in the combat room is very early, even before any trainee sets foot in there, but it's the only proper space for him to work on his kata. It loosens him up, relaxes him before a long day.

"I'll think about alternate ways to provide all of you with metharocin. Perhaps work it right into your food-" Already thinking it through, if it would be safe to give to all in the Shatterdome or even worth it...

From:

starkingenuity

"Not a dog, Banner," Stark says without even turning around. "Not even close. Do not hide meds in my food." It's all good natured though and while Tony is self absorbed in his donut, he focuses only on what's about him. That Bruce wants to use the Combat Room is neither here nor there. It's their gym. Staying fit is important. He doesn't even worry about the Big Guy. Even if he'd like to meet him one day.

It's all the same the next day. No Drifting again, but a regular rotation of training is broken up by meals and light banter and maybe a little more fiddling with his reactor. Jarvis, however, can't help but comment when he catches Stark looking around the mess at dinner.

"Who're you trying to find, sir."

"What? No one."

From:

aggravated

"Mm mm," Jarvis says calmly, knowingly, as he moves to sit himself down. Bruce is not there at the time, and in fact, hasn't been out of the lab since he returned yesterday. No, he has something more important he's rechecking very carefully.

"You were more focused today," Jarvis actually chooses to comment, watching Stark's expression from the corner of his eye.

From:

starkingenuity

Stark's expression? Sort of unamused, sort of distracted. "I'm always focused," he says, though he finally turns to sit down too across from his co-pilot. The other crews are sitting scattered around the mess too. None of them really talk. Not like he and Jarvis do. Sometimes. Now is one of those sometimes. "Are you implying that I do give it my all, every day? Because I'd like to point out--"

Oh, he catches that glance.

"I don't have to go out and drink every night, Jarv. I'm not in college any more. I just felt like playing with some metal is all. That doesn't make me more focused. Okay, okay, yes, not being hung over might-- Shut up."

From:

aggravated

Jarvis' smile is so faint that others would never catch it, but Stark most certainly does. They don't need to be Drifting, or even haunted by ghost drifts, for them to understand each other without words. Not that Stark ever fails to provide those words. "Perhaps it was because you had a chance to unwind, sir," is all he says in connection to that, since Stark knows everything else he had to say on the subject. Not being hung over, and perhaps just being able to spend some time with someone who could match him on an intellectual level is good for him.

From:

starkingenuity

"Scotch is unwinding." Just putting it out there. He doesn't expect Jarvis to answer back but that ghost-like smile-- Oh, sometimes he could just reach across the table and throttle him! He'll make sure that's in the forefront of his mind when he has another Drift scheduled. After dinner, Stark does a little stalking up and down the residential bunks where the pilots and most of the staff live. He honestly has no idea where the K-Scientists are housed but it's gotta be somewhere in this quad so he tries marching around with little to no success.

If Jarvis knew what he'd doing, he'd never hear the end of it. Ever. So what's an efficient stalker to do? Why, give himself a reason to visit the labs.

And yes, he needs a reason. Stark's got personality and charm coming out of his ears. That doesn't mean he's not socially awkward with people he likes. Sort of. In another life, he might have just collected Banner like he'd collected Jarvis. Or Rhodey. That life is over. It's better not to have attachments and just cut yourself on something and visit medical for a bandage.

From:

aggravated

No, he's not with the rest of the population, Stark. No matter his control now, no matter what services he's done or provides now, he's still an assest and a threat. He's off in his own place, somewhere that's quite and he won't be disturbed during the night.

A blessing and a curse, really. Bruce prefers the quiet anyway.

However, when Stark ends up in medical, he will find Bruce's lab if he skirts off to the side. There are several large kaiju organs in containers around the outer edges, and more ominous, a large tank of blue goo that anyone familiar with the kaiju would recognize as a surprisingly large amount of Kaiju Blue. Bruce himself is tucked up at a desk, bent over a microscope and staring down at something with all of his attention. After all, he's no one's prime physician and usually no one comes to bother him.

From:

starkingenuity

Well, get ready to have your vision blur, Banner. Stark sticks his finger between the doctor's nose and the papers he's been reading. "I'm bleeding," he announces with all of the concern of a shit eating little brat trying to show a prim and proper girl in curls and ribbons a frog fished from his pocket.

No hello. Just a pay attention to me! scheme. Stark has no idea how to handle people he likes.

From:

aggravated

What the...

Bruce looks up from what he's reading with a blink, getting his focus back. This is the first time Stark will see him with his reading glasses on, silver framed perched on his nose.

His stomach sinks a little for two reasons - he's forgotten to eat, and he has an appointment, again, with Stark's partner in just a few hours. And a meeting with Fury about that appointment.

"You what?" He looks at the finger, then raises a brow as he sees a trail of bright crimson down Stark's finger and palm. Oh. He stands up, going to get his case to be able to help. "Combat training?"

From:

starkingenuity

"With a rusting valve. Ooh, rust, I need a shot too I guess." Stark is happy about that. "Means I'll need a follow up too. I don't want to get tetanus right? That's pretty bad. Lockjaw's one of the symptoms right? That sounds terrible." All Stark really needs to do is chirp and waddle and he'd be the perfect little duckling right now. It's cute. But not really all that cute and perhaps just a little troubling. "We should probably set up an appointment for that, right? Maybe two?"

He wriggles the finger he sustained damage too and frowns at it. Maybe he shouldn't go purposefully hurting his hands in the future. He could probably punch a hole through his shoulder though with limited damage--

"I'll bow to your expertise."

From:

aggravated

Bruce just looks up at Tony for all of that, his brows slowly going up. "I think that's a bit much, Stark." He uses a clean pad to clean away the blood, his hands gentle as they work to bandage up the little cut. "You're the first patient I've ever had that sounds excited about appointments and shots."

He suddenly stops as a beeping goes off, and he holds up a finger. "Hold on a second." He goes over to the large container of Blue and the device beneath it, studying the readings from it carefully. When he gets to the end, he lets out an unhappy sigh. "Damn." Very soft.

From:

starkingenuity

"You don't see a lot of patients, do you?" Stark counters immediately. "Because if this is the only wound we get in a week, that's sort of cause for celebration." He sits himself down on an old leather chair and watches Banner head over to the specimen tank with interest. He's got no idea what a physicist and radiation expert is doing with the stuff but he'll let it go for now. Curiosity leads to solving mysteries and he doesn't want to do that too quickly. He tends to lose interest. "If you're busy I can come back," he promises. "The bandage will hold for now I guess."

From:

aggravated

"No, not anymore." Bruce actually sounds a little unhappy about that. He misses being able to help people more directly, even though he knows his work with the Blue and the radiation shielding for the Jaegers will help many.

"It's fine, it's fine." He stands up and drops his results onto the table, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "Just not having the result I was hoping for this experiment." He sits down and looks over at the tub, eyes narrowed as if angry, before he looks back to Tony calm again.

From:

starkingenuity

"Uh... Huh. Well hey. That just means you get to do more experiments. Win-win. Unless you need those results for something but hey the next projected attack is months away. Don't sweat it."

He smiles at Banner and stands up again, heading back to the little desk in the corner.

"Sounds like you forgot the eat. Here." A stack of cookies wrapped carefully in a napkin is retrieved from Stark's breast pocket. They're a little warm from body heat. "Eat those. And join us for lunch tomorrow. Might be weird. We've a neural handshake optimizer test tomorrow. If we stop talking just shove me."

Have another wink, Banner. And all of Stark's friendship.

From:

aggravated

"The sooner I manage to find a way to neutralize Kaiju Blue safely, the better," Bruce points out, watching him move across the room. Stark tends to talk so rapidly that Bruce has to keep up a little, but he gives a small smile at the offered of food. He doesn't quite know what to say to the kindness, but the invitation to eat lunch with them he bows his head a little. "I... I'll try to make it there."

But after tonight, he's not so sure about that he'll be welcomed. It'll be Jarvis' decision, really.

From:

starkingenuity

While Stark is oblivious, Jarvis is not. If Doctor Banner is calling him down to his lab, there has to be a problem. Not that Jarvis looks afraid. Or tired. Or like anything at all. He's a serene sort of fellow with a serene sort of attitude and he knocks and waits for the doctor to invite him in before he takes a seat opposite the other man.

"You wished to see me?" There's a folder on the desk. His name is on it. Something is wrong and he finally feels a stab of fear. Not for himself. But for Stark. "I'm going to guess that it's not particularly happy news."

He'll smile just the same, just a ghost of one at least. It's not Bruce's fault.

From:

aggravated

Bruce lets out a slow breath as Jarvis sits, his hands one over the other in his lap. "It depends, honestly," Bruce says after a moment of thought. He'd been thinking about how to talk about this since the moment he knew the truth, but nothing he can think of helps to ease all of this. Still, he looks calmer than most would give him credit for, considering his... condition.

He meets Jarvis' eyes, and states quite calmly, "it depends on what you want me to tell you, considering the circumstances. I can tell you nothing, good or bad, or how severe or not, and it can be taken care of with as little knowledge in your mind as possible. Or I can tell you out right, and the consequences will be dealt with."

He'd fought to be even able to tell Jarvis this much, and he knows it's on his head if everything goes to hell because he believes in the Human right to know if you're sick or not.

From:

starkingenuity

The blond blinks and sits back. "Let's take the worst case scenario," he says, pondering out loud. "Let's say that the Mark-II shielding hasn't done it's job and I've contracted a lethal dose of radiation. Let's say that I do not wish to know and you treat me without my knowledge. How many times would I be able to co-pilot the Mammouth Apostle before it either became apparent that I do have radiation sickness, or that I succumb?"

He appreciates Banner going about this in this way. However, he knows he's gotten dangerous levels of radiation without even being told. Extra doses of metharocin will slow it down. But each time the conn-pod connects with the Jaeger, he'll be killing himself.

From:

aggravated

But lethal and dangerous amounts are still very different from each other. Bruce's lips thin, thinking it through. "If that is the case, in less than six months it will become apparent, whether you know or not. In three years, if you stopped at that point, you could be gone. That is the absolute worst case scenario, however."

He takes a slow breath. "In an easier case, with proper medication, less training near the Mammoth Apostle, and proper care, I would extend those out to a year and five."

Now, the bigger chance. "I... May have something to help the situation. I have been working on this problem for some time, and believe I've come quite far in a possible way to start halting the process until the shielding is fully developed."

From:

starkingenuity

"Then... I assume it's something you'll be giving to all pilots?" Jarvis asks, still quite calm despite the growing put in his stomach. "Just to be on the safe side? If you'd like to test it on me first, however, I would not object. In fact, it's a rather wise move as I may be your best candidate. The others do well under pressure when facing enemies they can see. Facing ones they can not are a different matter entirely."

He gives Bruce another smile and stands, reaching across the desk for a shake.

"One other small question. Mr. Stark... You don't have a file, one way or the other, on him, do you?" It's a round about way of asking if Tony is sick too.

From:

aggravated

Bruce stands and takes Jarvis' hand, but doesn't immediately let go. "No matter the case, I'll be making sure the outcome is the best possible." His voice is a promise; this is the epitome of his work, as a doctor, as a scientist, mixed together.

He releases Jarvis' hand with that. Normally, he would not tell someone another's medical results, but in his gut, he knows that in this case, there is an overriding reason. "Luckily," he says after a moment, "I won't need to see Stark back here unless he actually does come down with tetanus."

From:

starkingenuity

Jarvis looks relieved. The way he cares for Stark is astounding, no matter their age difference or their former statuses. Stark's always taken care of him too. Just not so openly. "Thank you very much, doctor but-- What do you mean by tetanus--" As soon as Bruce fills him in, Jarvis looks a little knowing and a little amused too. "I see," he replies upon hearing that Stark came down earlier with a cut on his hand. He's use to his co-pilot fighting getting even a headwound looked at. "It seems you've quite the calming effect on him. Try not to work too hard, doctor. I'm sure we'll see each other soon enough."

He leaves the lab walking tall. And will continue to do the same all the way up until their ten hundred hours training mission during a conn-pod handshake recalibrator. They're not even completely linked when Stark catches the whiff of what's happened. Even if Bruce hadn't told Jarvis exactly what was wrong, he told him in not so many words that something was wrong and--

Well Stark doesn't like giving up his stuff.

A panic sits in and off Stark goes, for the first time in their career, chasing the R.A.B.I.T.