(no subject)

[starkingenuity]

"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!"

Comments

[aggravated]

Other than their genius and addiction to their work, Bruce and Stark could not be further apart in many senses. Bruce could fake-smile, but it was often at his own expense, a dark sort of humor. Still, there are times when Stark's sense of humor nudges against his own, enough to produce a smile and a joke in return, like right now.

"Gentlemen, we can rebuild him. We have the technology. We have the capability to make the world's first bionic man?" Trying for a bit of a joke. "Though since it doesn't necessarily make you better, faster, or stronger, maybe not quite up to 'robo-stark' yet."

[starkingenuity]

"That's because you haven't seen the souped up version of the reactor yet. I'll even be able to shoot lasers out of my chest and breathe fire." Banner sweeps him away. Each little half glance, each smile, every single moment that they spend together is amazing.

Where were people like this when he was growing up? He'd have to thank the Kaiju for introducing them sometime.

"I was thinking of installing a change machine too."

Go on. Laugh. You know you want to.

[aggravated]

"I didn't know they were installing fire-protective lining down your throat," Bruce says completely dryly, covering up the smile that wants to come with a bite of ice cream. However, the bit about the change machine gets a laugh that's more of a snort of air that turns into something silent in his chest, a smile crossing his lips.

"I don't even want to know where the quarters come from, but they'll be coming to you when they want to do laundry." He tries to remember the last time he laughed, an honest laugh and not something to be polite, and realizes he can't remember. Stark... it's such silly stuff, but somehow, it gets to him.

[starkingenuity]

Tony's got a small problem with actually acting his age. He'd been aloof and cold during school until he discovered how to downplay some of his arrogance and use it to channel charm instead. He really did a lot better with people when he pushed the 'better than you puny normal IQs' to the back of his mind. However, Bruce is right on up there with him in the smarts department and charm gives way to a foolish desire to play class clown in an endeavor to make friends.

Banner's slow to bite, though, and Tony is trying all of the bait he knows. The trouble is, he's bad at making friends. As bad as he is good at changing the world with a little tinkering.

"Upgrades are important for evolution, Banner. I need to keep up with you."

He finishes off his ice cream and goes for another cup. Butter pecan. Well, he's had worse.

[aggravated]

Stark isn't the only one who's bad at making friends in the room. While Bruce's learned from his past to be nearly the total opposite of ego and pride, it's turned into a hermit-nature and a social shyness - unless he's speaking to a patient about medical things, then Stark's seem him be more forward, eyes meet. When they're discussing their work as well, a remnent of his past before the accident.

Stark might think of himself as being bad at this, even just in his subconscious, but he's gotten Bruce to smile and even laugh where people usually don't. And somehow he's talked his way into Bruce's room.

However, the comment about 'keep up with you' makes Bruce flinch, nearly dropping his spoon. His fingers are curled somewhat protectively around his caramel-ladened treat, but his expression's changed. So has his voice, when he whispers, "there's nothing upgraded about me."

Sore point, Stark. Danger Will Robinson Danger

[starkingenuity]

"That's because you really don't give yourself any credit," Tony says around his spoon, knowing already that he's touched a nerve. It's always exposed, and that makes it dangerous. But he loves danger. He craves it. He taps the spoon against his teeth as he looks up at Bruce.

What he sees in Banner is nothing like Banner sees in the mirror. And that's a shame. Sure. Green rage monsters are scary but they're also amazing. Remarkable. And Bruce can't see it. It's a terrible shame.

"And because you think you've been cursed. And you haven't. I mean if you think about it, you being you is how we met." It's like that's how he plans on telling their kids the story one day. It's utterly ridiculous and once again makes it difficult for Stark to come off as simply flirting.

[aggravated]

Tony Stark and Bruce Banner are as far apart in what they see in Bruce than their personalities. Bruce's expression right now is guarded. Uncertain. Maybe even wary. He listens to Stark, then lets out a breath all at once. The sound is just about angry, and the faint smile, the laugh? Neither are happy sounds.

"You have no idea, Stark. You have no idea what it is. It's a curse. It's a body that science would say couldn't exist, forcing me to guess and learn and suffer and triumph and finally just figure out how to exist without harming everyone else. I'm pure poison. I wouldn't even share my spoon with you just to be safe."

[starkingenuity]

Anger? Actually he likes that. He really likes the way that Banner is looking at him now which is probably going to be a huge slew of issues in the near future.

"Maybe I don't understand exactly but what I do know is that you're not toxic. Not you. Your blood might be but that's why they make condoms." Yes. He just equated the Hulk to AIDS.

He's probably not suppose to stand but Stark stands anyway, just so he can stop looking up.

"And I wouldn't share a spoon with you anyway. No offense. I just like my cutlery to be my own." He offers the other scientist a sardonic smile. "I want you to stop having a problem with who you are. I think you're amazing. And I don't say that lightly. I'm not easy to amaze."

[aggravated]

Stark do you have a death wish?? Bruce's eyes are darker than they were before, the more Stark keeps talking, until that very last part. For a moment, it strikes him, giving a moment of a much younger, surprised, uncertain Bruce before it turns back to something darker. "I am toxic. Every inch of me, the second it breaks the skin." He paused, oddly, then in the nature of a scientist, had to correct himself. "My saliva is very mild, actually. Not certain why, yet?"

He shakes his head with a little sigh. "I'm dangerous, not amazing." The anger doesn't last, but only through a lot of practice. It could come back up in a heartbeat, it's hovering there, but just below the line right now.

[starkingenuity]

"Hm, probably the same reason why some viruses don't do well being transmitted in saliva," he points out because let's face it, they're both scientists here. And he can't help himself any more than Bruce can when it comes to pushing logic into what might as well be an emotional conversation.

He sees the anger but Stark let's it go. Banner doesn't trust himself but Stark trusts him.

He plops himself on the other's bed and lays the battery in the corner by his head. "You're really not that dangerous. Actually, from what I hear of it, you happen to be somewhat of a savior. Thanks for that."

[aggravated]

"He's never done that before, you realized." No, that isn't true. The Hulk had known his desire to save Betty. Had listened to her. Then the Hulk had gone out and save both of these men he barely knew.

"Fury gave me a disc to watch what the Other Guy did, but... I still haven't. I don't want to know." There is venom in his words, a sickness, a sourness. All proof of how much he hates the creature that lies inside of him. No one should trust him, but yet they do. Those who don't know him trust him because they don't know better. Even Fury wants him to stay here, never to go out, keeps him apart.

But Stark doesn't do any of that. Comes right up to him, challenges him, even the little details like running into him with his chair. No one else did that.

[starkingenuity]

That gets a raised eyebrow and Stark pushes himself up on an elbow to look back over at Banner. "You want Mr. Large and Ugly to be a bad guy," he observes, smirking at Bruce. "That's why you don't want to know. You don't want to see that there might be something good there. Or something of you. Pop it in. Lets see this daring rescue. I hope the footage shows my good side."

He pushes up Banner's pillows to prop himself up more comfortably and laughs.

"Then again, every side is my good side."

[aggravated]

Like a sore tooth, Stark couldn't help but probe, could he? Bruce's fingers clench hard at his side and when he looks up, Stark can see the change. He meets Stark's eyes without issue, and somewhere in their depths, there is a hint of green. "He's a mindless beast with a severe rage issue and endless strength. He's not me."

He looks away, eyeing over the disc still sitting by his computer. He doesn't want to watch it. "I can't." It's very quiet, but there is still a dark tone to it. "Have you ever gotten very drunk, and witnessed yourself being so somehow the next day?"

[starkingenuity]

Stark's eyebrows make a dramatic shoot upwards. "Uh...yeah?" C'mon Bruce, you're talking to Tony Stark here. The man use to have whiskey for blood. "But fine. I won't thank you for saving me then. I'll thank him. But you're on eggshells. You're top-toeing here. I can see it in your eyes. You need to let out some steam. In a good way." He's prodding. Of course he's prodding. The man use to tinker for a living. "But if you don't want to watch it, mind if I pop it in? You eat the ice cream. I want to see what happened to my poor Jaeger."

His own fault, really. He'd let it all just get away from him.

[aggravated]

Bruce gives a little snort at the 'who to thank' comment, shaking his head. He picks up his laptop and the disc, actually bringing both over to Stark on the bed. "Knock yourself out," he says quietly, but he sits on the edge of the bed with his back to the screen, the ice cream forgotten for the moment.

Bruce still considers the whole thing his own fault. If he hadn't had the stroke of conscience that made him tell Jarvis about his condition... which he doesn't feel guilty about doing, only the outcome of what happened with the Jaeger.

Stark will see the whole thing from several cuts of the cameras around the Shatterdome. The wild blotches and streaks of blue across the Hulk's skin, forever stained by his fight against Trespasser. His brutal entrance through the head of the Jaeger, the fall, coming out with each one of them under his arms, cables ripped right out and dangling behind when he didn't know how to remove them otherwise.

[starkingenuity]

Too bad he doesn't have popcorn. The butter pecan is good enough for now and he crosses his legs as he props himself up on Banner's pillows and watches the DVD player with interest. He makes little noises of surprise -- because of the erratic way that the Apostle is moving, and then because of how it's face is sort of literally pulled open -- and then shakes his head at all of the ruined cabling.

It's not the money that makes him sad, but the beauty of the technology being defiled.

"Well that was my fault," he mutters to himself, rewinding the video to watch the Hulk smash it's way into his Jaeger's head. "But how did he know where to get us from and why did he do it? Smash and grabs usually involve shiny things and jewelery stores."

[aggravated]

Bruce licks his lips, his mouth suddenly very dry. He's never... really spoken about the Other Guy to someone. Not just little things, but what he and he alone knows about him, about how he works inside. He works his mouth a few times before he finally gets up the courage to speak, listening to it all play out behind him.

"Despite what most people think, he's not stupid. Some things will confuse him, but never for long. He learns incredibly fast and for what he hasn't yet he's incredibly stubborn. He... listens. Learns."

From Bruce himself.

"He's the ID, without any morals or boundaries. Pure emotional with unlimited power and nearly unlimited ability."

[starkingenuity]

"He might be the id but no one'd assume he's stupid. He just doesn't talk a lot and I can get that. I've seen you fight, Banner, I've seen you take down threats from the greatest to the least. That's a tactical mind responsible for that. I mean it." Stark rewinds the whole thing from the beginning again and watches it over. There's more than just grunting there but this piece of crap won't let him enhance the data being delivered.

Is the Hulk speaking or is that background noise from the yelling going on inside the launch room or the control center? Stark's eyes narrow and he leans forward.

"And if people do assume he's stupid, that's their own problem. You're not an animal, doctor." Yes, he's using the pronouns intermingledly.

[aggravated]

"You'd be surprised who would assume he is stupid," Bruce says, but then he has to take a quick breath to calm his nerves. "Him, Stark. Him. Not me. We are not the same. I'm not a killer. He is." How many he's killed, how much destruction he'd caused...

A hand comes up and holds his head, feeling a throb at the back of his eye. "No, he's worse than an animal and at the same time, more intelligent. That's half the trouble."

It's difficult to tell, because it's so mixed, but really, there's no actual words coming from his mouth.

[starkingenuity]

"He's not a killer, he's a survivor," Stark says immediately, not even thinking. He probably should do that from time to time. "And he passed a little bit of that luck onto me." Plus, Tony's been sort of watching the Hulk for awhile. At least, getting highlights. It had been hard to keep up with it when he was drinking, partying, building weapons, or Jaegers.

Tony focuses all of his attention right now on Bruce. He might as well be starting.

"Stop blaming yourself. It's not the same."

[aggravated]

"A survivor?!" Bruce finally turns, looking hard at Stark. "He's a killer, Stark! He's hurt and killed more people, so many people, but he won't care. He doesn't feel for people. There's no sense of empathy, there's no-" Bruce let out a low, quiet sound that sounds almost like a growl. He doesn't see the flash in his own eyes.

"All because of me."

[starkingenuity]

"How do you know? You black out, right? You have no idea his motivations. You won't even look at this footage of him being something other than a monster and you haven't bothered taking it into consideration that he's saved people!" Okay, do not yell at people prone to hurting people. Do not get angry at a man that can barely keep his anger in check.

This is not a Bruce Banner that has learned to force his anger into check, Stark. This is a Bruce Banner barely holding it together.

Tony grabs at the doctor's sleeve and tugs it upward. "He saved millions of people, Banner. You can say it's just because he liked punching a Kaiju more but give you both just a little more fucking credit! You're a good man."

[aggravated]

"I KNOW WHAT HE'S DONE!" Bruce all but snarled, glaring hard at Stark. His eyes have gone completely radioactive green, and even his fingertips match. "He fought against trespasser because this monster came into his domain and tried to take over! He's saved people as a side-result of his aggression and anger, nothing more!"

His hand actually reaches out and grabs Stark's wrist, not even realizing how hard the grip is. Stark is pushing him, right to the edge.

[starkingenuity]

He's not afraid. Tony Stark is a danger whore. People have been blogging that for years now. So even though Bruce is going green on him, he doesn't back down. What does he have to lose? The Hulk saved him once and Tony is stupidly, perhaps wrongly, sure that he'll not hurt him again. "If you two aren't the same person, Banner, if he's not even a little bit of what you are, and if you hate that you cause all of this, why are you letting me push all of your buttons?"

He's watched the Hulk's take down of the Kaiju. He's watched the Harlem incident. And he's not afraid.

Even if Banner might break his wrist now.

"You are the one hurting me now."

[aggravated]

That is all it takes. Everything falls from Bruce's face all at once, all of that anger and frustration and rage, and instead, it's replaced with fear. With fear and pain and surprise. He immediately releases Stark's wrist and stumbles back from the bed, almost enough to fall over the wheelchair.

His father. He's turning into his father. He's grabbed someone who's weaker than him and started to hurt him what has he done!?

"I'm sorry," he barely manages to whisper, everything all too much. It's not even a guess that he's bolting, as he turns for the door.