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:

aggravated

Bruce chuckles a little and shakes his head, but more out of Stark's ridiculousness than anything else. "Nothing radioactive in it, or all that special." He took Stark's hand in his, steadying the offered arm while he spread just a little of the clear gel on the tanned skin. Stark would find his hand to be surprisingly calloused and very warm, but the grip was very gentle. "I'll be checking every five minutes, and if we hit thirty without issue, we'll put plastic and tape over it for the overnight test."

His head lifts, eyes meeting briefly, before he looks away again.

From:

starkingenuity

"Are you going to be checking it every five minutes over night too?" Stark's eyes are bright even though the areas around ten are crinkled. He's not a young man. His youth has passed but his vigor is still there in droves. He tries to live like a man half his age and until K-Day, he probably succeeded.

Why he is insisting on flirting with Banner, though, is more emotional than it is anything else. He's so careful usually with that. He does know he can't connect with people usually.

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From:

aggravated

"Mmm, I think not." Stark's youth may have passed by, but that hasn't changed his spirit. That spirit all but pours out of him, and it infects people around him, for good or for worse. Bruce can feel it every time he's around Stark, like an aura, but he keeps it at a distance. Stark flirts with everyone, as far as he can tell, so Bruce lets it off as meaningless.

"If you have any reaction, I need you to notify me immediately, no matter what time it is. Understood?"

From:

starkingenuity

"Or, and hear me out here, or we just bunk up together." He's just putting it out there. "I should have someone with me at all times and Jarvis needs his rest." He doesn't usually go for Bruce's type. Male, occasionally, sure, everyone likes a little caramel in their otherwise strictly chocolate laden dessert schedule from time to time but otherwise? Bruce isn't anything he's ever interested in. And, for the moment, he is pretty sure the attraction is really just intellectual. The trouble is that Tony doesn't know how to be friendly. He just flirts.

Bruce Banner is getting hit with the flirt, therefore, full force.

"It'll be like school." If you went to boarding school. "We'll tell ghost stories or something."

From:

aggravated

Bruce gives Stark such a look for that, flirt safely deflected, bluntly stating, "I don't see how that's like school," but he still looks thoughtful about the suggestion. Finally, after some hesitation, he does relent, however. "I'll offer Jarvis my room. He might enjoy the peace and quiet." Not that Bruce would be sleeping, his mind already is telling him, but he could live with that for a little while.

Bruce is not caramel, Stark, and right now, you've been macking more on white chocolate than chocolate.

From:

starkingenuity

Maybe. Bruce is beyond his comfort zone and know what? Tony likes it. He arches an eyebrow at the offer and tilts his head distinctly to the left. "Or we just take your room." Private bunks have bigger beds and it's not like they take up much space to begin with. Jarvis shouldn't be worried. Or told. He's got this really bad habit of smirking lately when it comes to anything involving Banner.

Tomorrow, once he's got the all clear, they can move on to the next phase and, by rough estimate, be finished with at least the smaller, prototype reactor by the end of the week.

He's got extremely high hopes for himself, obviously.

"Bag me up, Banner."

From:

aggravated

Stark might like taking Bruce beyond his comfort zone, but Bruce will equally firmly barricade himself inside that zone and not step beyond unless necessary. So right now, Stark's suggestion is being weighed and dismissed as being unnecessary. "There's only one bed in my room." Not even realizing what Stark might be trying to push.

"Give it a few more minutes. I want to make sure there's no skin reaction before I go about bagging you fully." Which sounded strange, spoken aloud.

Bruce honestly believes that Stark's time range is accurate. He's seen the speed at which Stark can work, and how quickly the whole creation of the arc reactor has been going. It's been incredible to watch. It reminds him, though, that often war is the vice proven to increase technology by leaps and bounds compared to peace.

From:

starkingenuity

War doesn't matter as much to Tony -- who knows that wars happen to be part and parcel of daily life somewhere in the world and thus, he gets to stay in business -- as his own livelihood does. The arc reactor had been a maybe later project until it had become obvious that he needs it. Now the time tables are pushed straight up. And rightly so. He can't have this car battery forever.

He just can't.

Leaning back in the wheel chair and flexing his arm as he waits for the gel, Tony shrugs. "I'm not going to molest you. I promise. But if you want to climb up into a bunk that's fine too."

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From:

aggravated

Bruce isn't beyond the idea that people can learn, they can change, and Stark seems to be following that. Maybe not for the best reasons, but it's happening. So, he will help bolster it as much as he can.

Bruce's eyes flicker down to where the gel sits, and finally, he wipes it away. His fingertips probe gently, feeling out the flesh, before giving a nod. "No sign of a reaction visually. Do you feel any pain? Itching?" Lifting his eyes to briefly meet Stark's eyes. "I don't plan to sleep, so I'm not concerned about the bed situation. ...If you think it'll upset Jarvis to change rooms, I suppose you could come to mine."

From:

starkingenuity

"Dose of a blast of radiation powerful enough to kill you doesn't just give you a healthy glow but also makes you an insomniac?" Believe it or not, Tony is attempting to be charming and personable.

Even if he tends to fail. Epically. Constantly. Bruce might be sensitive about his situation but Tony takes it all in stride. It's part of who Banner is and Tony finds it as easy to comment about as the way his hair curls and the greying at his temples.

From:

aggravated

Oh Tony.

Bruce frowns, pulling back from Stark at the words, then actually shakes his head just a little. "Quite the opposite, actually." His tone has gone clinical instead of what he would consider friendly. "A heavily increased metabolism, increased heart rate and body temperature, and however my body has survived leaves me needing more sleep than the average person by an hour or two."

He takes out a bit more of the gel, very uncertain about the whole topic of conversation. He's never really spoken to anyone outside of Betty and of course, "Mr. Blue" about his... condition.

From:

starkingenuity

Oh, Stark knows this song and dance. This is the 'pull away,' and it's something he's already ready for when it comes to the battlefield that is business. He's a people person. He's arrogant, but charming. People fall for him, people get into bed with Stark Industries, and they sign massive contracts with his company all based on a single shared connection.

So he turns it up and immediately grabs for Bruce's hand. His eyes become darker as he tilts his head down, chin to his chest, and gazes up through the canopy of his eyelashes at the scientist. Bruce is not allowed to disengage him.

"Then I guess we'll be bunking together after all. We both are in need of our beauty sleep. And my arm feels fine. But it could do with a little ice cream."

From:

aggravated

There is a whole range of emotions that crosses Bruce's face with this little change in Stark's game. It ranges from shock to just shy of disgust to absolutely confusion before settling on a mild form of 'oh hell no'. He lightly pulls his hand away from Stark's, the contact alien to him and leaving him vastly more on edge.

"You're more than welcome to get ice cream from the mess hall once I get the plastic on you, Stark. I just need to observe you over night. Do you know where my quarters are? Just down the hall here, last door on the left. I'll be awake, making sure that you stay breathing through the night in case of a reaction."

Stark is confusing him more and more until he isn't sure what to do with him. The mild flirting could be easily disregarded, but this was more forward. Why is Stark even doing it? It makes no sense at all to his mind.

From:

starkingenuity

Friendship being such an alien concept to him, something he wants so badly, that Stark is just pulling out all of the stops. He looks as surprised as Banner had for a moment and blinks after the hand is pulled very firmly away. He covers it up with a nod.

"I could bring you something back if you wanted. Or not. I don't know, you might have some moral objection to ice cream. Not judging you." He does want to leave for a few minutes though. He wants to leave because he isn't sure how to tip to scales away from awkward.

This is where, in a business transaction, he usually leaves the sweet deal on the table and goes outside to flirt with the receptionist for a few minutes while share holders and top defense contractors argue over him.

From:

aggravated

His little comment actually starts to tip the scales back as in all of the confusion, it ends up leaving a tiny smile on Bruce's face. Of all the things to say, Stark... "Actually, I like a little bit of ice cream. I don't have much of a sweet tooth," never allowed to have it as a child, "but ice cream, that I'll have a little bit of, sometimes."

This time, he reaches down and takes Stark's hand, turning it so he can apply a bit of the gel onto the strong forearm on the top of it instead of the inside. The reasoning might not be obvious until he puts the plastic on, the tape ending up on the much less hairy underarm so it'll be less painful later.

From:

starkingenuity

Stark watches Bruce's hands for a long time, the one in his, the one doing the wrapping, and only when he can risk it, looks back up. Oh, that smirk is back. That 'I've won' smirk that he gives as he offers someone his gold plated pen to sign the dotted line. It's just a little bit different this time because it's got a deeper meaning. He's gotten something a little better than just a new contract.

"I'll see what they have in the mess, then," he responds as smoothly as ever. "And I'll meet you back in your room so you can mother me, read me stories, and make sure I keep breathing with this goop on me."

From:

aggravated

Bruce's hands are stronger than most people might expect of a scientist, broader, more calloused. Yet they move with a quick, quiet precision, soothing.

"Don't berate the goop too much as you might be wearing it for a long time," Bruce points out, concentrating on his work until it's done right. Only then does he look up and meet Stark's eyes, seeing them focused on him. They were such a bright amber in this light, enough to make him pause. With a quick lick of his lips, Bruce let go of Stark's arm and stepped back.

"I'll see you down in my room, then, when you're ready to sleep. Go have dinner and get what you need for the night."

From:

starkingenuity

Stark shows up just past eleven. His arm is still wrapped and he's breathing just fine, nothing wrong with him. There's really very little threat of a reaction at this point, but he's playing along with Banner. Wheeling in with a cooler in his lap and his battery riding along on top, he purposefully bangs into the doctor's calves and grins up at him.

"Miss me? I would have. I often do if I've been distant with myself. Anyhow, I called in some favors. They're in my lap. You're a very lucky man, Banner. And I'm not just saying that. I know it for a fact."

Tony talks loud and fast and there's nothing about him that isn't flashy.

From:

aggravated

Hey, don't mess with the guy who's trying to make sure you don't keel over and die from a reaction in the long term. So much for being thorough.

Bruce's brows lift at Stark's words, and dryly, he offers, "maybe you have multiple personality disorder, if you are distant with yourself." But the irony of it doesn't escape him, even as it was meant to be a joke, and the corner of his mouth lifts. Stark certainly does bring a certain speed into his life that hadn't been there before.

The room is small, a bit bigger than the pilots' rooms, however, and only for Bruce. There are notes taped to the wall above a laptop settled in the corner, the bed is neatly made, and along side of the bed-- is that a yoga mat? The only other real personalizing effect in the room is a small picture of a woman that sits beside the laptop, not even framed, actually a bit ragged at the edges.

"What did you manage to bring?" A touch curious.

From:

starkingenuity

Stark can work with small. He's a picky man but for those with certain other attributes, he can overlook other situations. And yes. He has to make absolutely everything sexual. It's been awhile for him. Saving the planet and constantly training to do it again sort of puts a damper on things in that area. Who has the time?

Lifting the battery aside, Stark holds up the cooler for Banner.

"You said you only like a little ice cream but not what kind so I had a groupie get me every flavor from a gelato place in the center of the city." He works wonders with his contacts.

From:

aggravated

Stark would probably have an aneurysm if he found out just how long it'd been since Bruce had done... anything, even with just himself. Even if it is a bit judgmental, Bruce would have been highly surprised to know Stark isn't getting any lately, considering that Stark could have his choice of women whenever he wanted between his fame, good looks, and charisma.

Bruce's lips part at just what Stark has in the cooler, unable to find words. It's... such a ridiculous but kind gesture that he honestly doesn't know what to say at first, other than, "thank you? You... You never had to go through that much trouble." Or send someone else to go through that much trouble.

He reaches over and takes the cooler, putting it on his desk and opening it. Indeed, there's a dozen nestled containers with all sorts of ice cream. Incredible.

From:

starkingenuity

Probably not, no. He did not need to go to the trouble. But he wanted to. The artisan ice creams aren't the point, but the variety is. It's a way to get to know Banner, actually. Watching his taste preference could be the key to getting to know the man.

Stark wheels himself over to the scientist and offers him a small wooden spoon with a grin. Giving gifts always makes him feel good when someone is so obviously pleased by them.

From:

aggravated

Bruce takes the offered spoon with a small chuckle. "You never do anything simply, do you, Stark?" With no labels on the containers, Bruce has to take a bit of a guess on what to try first. He spots a few that look like they contain some form of chocolate, one that possibly has caramel in it-- and that is the one he chooses to go for first.

But then he hesitates, and looks back to Stark. Not wanting to be rude, he offers instead, "what would you like? There's a lot of variety."

From:

starkingenuity

There had better be a lot of variety. He'd given express instructions to get something of each. The war might be raging but there is still plenty of reason to have fun and specialty food shops have not suffered for business. In fact, they've boomed. All of these flavored are named after Kaiju. Tony is just going to keep that to himself.

"Yeah pass over anything that looks like rum raisin," he requests and watches Banner make a fuss over the flavors.

He ought to have labeled them.

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From:

aggravated

Finally, Bruce picks one at random, popping open the lid. "Well, it isn't purple, so I'll safely guess it isn't rum raisin." Even he sounds a little bit of disgusted at the flavour. It's certainly not one he would be interested in. He eyes the ice cream over and cautiously suggests, "maybe chocolate marshmellow?"

He offers it over to Stark, grabbing another one (the caramel) and sitting on the edge of his bed. With a quick movement of the spoon, he scoops a bit and tastes.

For just a moment, Stark will see a little moment of happiness on Bruce's face. His eyes close, a smile on his lips, and he looks years younger when his expression relaxes.