(no subject)

[starkingenuity]

When a guy had been missing for as long as Banner had been, Tony didn’t bother to ask any questions when mild mannered physicist with anger issues waltzed back into his life. Things with Pepper had gone down hill again pretty quickly. Peter Parker decided he wanted to just be a kid with super powers and a part time, after school crime fighting job. Rogers was in exile with half of the Avengers. Rhodey’s walking support system kept him active in the military. Romanoff was having fun being a spy or breaking the hearts of other scientists the world over and driving them away from their best friends. Thor-- Who knew. Vision was still around but mopey and so un-JARVIS sometimes that it hurt to be around him.

Which left DUM-E and DUM-E-er (affectionately known to most as Happy Hogan). And sure. They were great. And FRIDAY was great too now that Tony made sure she could never take over the world like Ultron had or get a physical body like the artist formerly known as JARVIS had. But as great as they were, they weren’t Banner.

Since his move into HQ, Tony had done some design work with Maria Hill. His workshop was bad-ass, all chrome and glass, and the sound system was killer. He’d been listening to some hardcore metal as he worked on repairing a shield he half-hoped and half-dreaded Rogers would decide to pick back up again when the shadow beyond the glass door made him look up over the safety glasses FRIDAY made him wear before she allowed the torch in his hand to light.

“Music off,” he said, tongue dry in his mouth. He clicked the torch off too. “Wow. Are you ever late,” he called.

Comments

[aggravated]

Life... Life had been a hell of a thing.

Something in him had broken after everything that had happened in Sokovia, snapped like a support beam already fragile from too many years of stress and not enough repair. Everything he had done, regardless if it had been his own choice of actions or not, replayed again and again and again in his head until he had known he needed to go. To run. It was what he did best, and even that tended to be terrible.

But it got him freedom again. Freedom from certain things, even if not freedom from himself or his past. It had been enough to let him think and decide on what he wanted to do in his future. Given him time to realize how badly he missed being there with Tony. It had been the first time in a long time, maybe forever if he was honest with himself, that it felt like he had a life. A real friend. Tony, Natasha.. Home.

So he went home, when it felt like his mind was put together. He could only hope that home still wanted him there.

"...yeah, sorry I missed curfew," Bruce half-joked, but he was never great on his delivery. The corner of his mouth lifted as he looked to Tony who looked... better. Sort of. Place looked good.

[starkingenuity]

Of course the place looked good. The Tower was non-existent now, a symbol of something that hadn’t really worked, and he felt more at home in a compound, somehow, than he ever had living high above a city. Three floors and blue sky and grass-- It wasn’t Malibu but it was close enough and reminded him a little bit like being on Long Island. He nudged the glasses off of his face. His hair was different, Bruce’s. It was more close cropped, the curls tamed. He didn’t look much older though, and that was likely the Hulk’s doing. Tony felt a lot older himself, though. He was graying at the temples, though a little bit of color did the trick there to cover it, and as if to show off that he was indeed as Italian as they came (more or less), he kept the thickest part his hair as high on his head as possible, parted on the side and feathered up.

The 80s were back, after all, and Tony was nothing if not a man that embraced everything his teenage years had been.

The leather motorcycle jacket tossed carelessly over the seat by the door and some of his t-shirts lately proved just how in touch with the times he was. A futurist couldn’t be afraid of mucking around on the back end sometimes.

But for all of the attempt to hold onto his youth, the wrinkles around his eyes couldn’t be quite hidden as he smiled appreciatively at Bruce.

“Hungry? You’re looking scrawny. I’m ordering a pizza. FRIDAY?”

“The usual, Boss?”

“See, she knows me. Are you coming in or are you just going to loom in doorways? Is that your new shtick?”

[aggravated]

There was pretty much no point in hiding that he was rapidly going gray, as far as Bruce was concerned. His life was a pile of stress and confusion and running from his problems; it was going to give him gray. Tony looked young, regardless of the wrinkles around his eyes. In Bruce's opinion, he always thought it looked handsome. Wrinkles showed someone's life in their face, so smile lines were a sign of a man who smiled easily. Tony did, but Bruce knew they weren't always real.

The female voice took him briefly by surprise even though he damn well knew JARVIS had been forever changed by what they had done. (Their foolishness, their ego, their pride, their love of discovering and learning the unknown...) Even after all the time he lived with Tony, as he came further into the room, it was with the air of someone who wasn't sure he was welcomed. "...sure. Haven't had a pizza in a while." Tony's diet always felt like it left something to be desired, but in truth, Bruce probably could have used a few pounds.

He slowly looked around, seeing what Tony was up to. In some ways, honestly, it looked like Tony was doing... better. Maybe it all had done some kind of good for the man, but Bruce doubt that because Tony Stark was a man who excelled at covering up his own emotions and pain. "Looks like you've been busy."

[starkingenuity]

“Well you know how it goes. Sold the tower, found a Boy Wonder, helped implement a law, tried to kill Cap, been looking for you, got briefly engaged and here we are.” Tony shrugged as if it wasn’t much of a story, despite everything he had laid out. “Moved your lab to the southwest sector of the compound, by the way. And all your stuff that I gave you, that’s there too. Figured you’d be back someday.”

And that was a lie. The moment Bruce had put that quinjet into stealth mode, not even Tony had been able to track it. He’d done that by design, mostly because Ultron had sort of ruined the fun of Tony being the best (and worst) spy in the world. He’d never expected Bruce to take off. And he had no idea why either.

But for now, he wasn’t going to ask.

“Like the cut,” he was saying, talking as always just to hear his own voice and fill the silence. “Very Army. Going back to your roots?”

[aggravated]

All of that earned Tony a slow blink of surprise. Some things he knew about - the news provided information even at a distance - but not all of it. There was a comment on the tip of his tongue that Bruce actually worked to keep from saying aloud, something about fatherhood being good for Tony. There was a warmth that bloomed in his chest, something low and unfamiliar, at Tony informing him that all of his stuff had been saved in everything that moved.

"So, very busy," Bruce added to his previous statement, coming in closer. The mention of the Army, maybe mostly a surprise to himself, didn't sting like it once did. All it brought was a faint, usually false but this time less so, laugh to his lips as he brought up a hand and slid it over the top of his head. "Well, it looked better than being a crazy mop that would have gotten me stopped at every place to here. Not exactly a hairstylist."

But by that point, he was there, right in front of Tony. It had been so long; it wasn't as easy as it once had been. Yet, at the same time, just being in the room with him felt both calming and energizing at once.

Tony had been looking for him. It twisted his heart, for good and bad. "Needed to find myself, too."

[starkingenuity]

As Bruce came into the room properly, Tony did what all bachelors do when having guests…they try to clean up as the guest not only arrives, but is already in their home. He picked up glasses, cradling them in his arms, and lined them up again in the deep stainless-steel sink that was more for industrial use than cleaning up the scotch remnants.

“I liked the mop, but this works for you too. You actually look like a doctor now, and now some crazy, mousy Indiana Jones with hidden biceps under the professor coat,” Tony said as he wiped his hands off on an only slightly oil-stained cloth and crossed back over to Bruce.

He wasn’t sure why he felt compelled to hug the man, it had been two years after all and Tony had no idea where he might have been and what he might have touched, but he could not stop himself from the embrace.

“If you’ve found yourself, do you think you can come back?” he asked against the other man’s collar.

[aggravated]

[ooc: *runs around like a crazy person* @_@ Life needs to stop being so busy. ...oh ahahahaha the holidays are coming up. This is what I get for getting obsessed with this scrapbook and trying to complete it before Thanksgiving.]

It was funny how Bruce didn't even think twice on Tony's actions, in one sense, but in another, he realized that Tony hadn't done that since he'd gone to live in the Tower. He'd just sort of got used to the mess, to Tony's ways and habits, and in turn, Tony had done the same for him. How there had been a cup of green tea waiting for him every morning in the lab along with Tony's black sludge of coffee. (He could still distinctly how absolutely wired Tony had gotten when he'd given the other a bag of 'Death Wish Coffee' for his birthday. Wouldn't admit how entertaining it had been.)

Guess it really shouldn't have surprised him that what had become natural had reverted back. It got pushed to the back of his emotions like everything else.

"It'd grown out enough that it was more than Indiana Jones-" but his words were cut off as Tony stepped into the space between them and hugged him. Bruce's eyes went wide at the unexpected gesture and for a few seconds, he didn't even react, unable to overcome the shock of the gesture. That time away hadn't exactly provided a ton of intimate contact, never mind anything further than this, so it felt like an electric current all over again.

But it was Tony, with Tony's familiar cologne, and after those seconds passed, the shock receded and he gave a quiet laugh before his arms came up and returned the hug. "...Yes, otherwise I wouldn't have." All at once he realized just how much he had actually missed this. Bruce's eyes slid shut and he soaked it up for however long Tony was willing to give it, knowing it would end soon enough, before it became too awkward.

[starkingenuity]

[I know how it is. It’s house stuff here all the time. And then a little bit of board games at Pax. But only after a full morning of house stuff. I’d love to see tour scrap book when it’s done!]


Awkward would take a long time and more than a lingering embrace. Tony didn’t have a lot of shame, but he did have a lot of lonely, touch-craving nights. This had been unexpected. Bruce being back after so long had given him something to reflect on.

Tony was used to people leaving him. But they almost never returned.

Maybe he was spending too much time with Happy. Since he’d moved into HQ away from the Tower, though, he hadn’t traveled nearly as much and his security chief had a whole compound to run.... and not just case after Tony like a toddler who wanted to constantly put up and mouth sharp objects.

Tony clasped the back of Bruce’s collar for several long moments, holding him too tightly, before he finally let go. There was something odd there in his dark eyes, heavily lined from a long and full life of mostly pleasure, something that seemed whole again.

“All right, enough mush. What can I get you to drink? DUM-E is off drink duty after last week, right you moron? I’m going to scrap you. Yes you. Hide, that’s right. You deserve it,” he told one of his AI. He might abuse DUM-E but he loved him too. “I don’t hear a drink order. I’m going to default to scotch.”

[aggravated]

[ooc: I would LOVE to get to see your new place and YOU TWO and scrapbook and JINX and everything! We'll have to figure out some kind of hang out with all four of us once you guys are settled in. Agnes and I have been talking about getting a place together, a single, but we need to save up that kind of downpayment first because I'm not about to go through the total insanity of trying to sell this place AND find a new place AND have them kind of line up... but I also said I wouldn't go in on a house with someone until we're married. XD]

Even if Bruce wouldn't be the kind to admit it, Tony wasn't the only one who was touch-starved. Bruce lived in that perpetual state, always afraid of anyone getting close enough to touch him but needing it, badly, really ever since the death of his mother. He enjoyed the hug, even if he grunted slightly at the sudden tightened hold before Tony pulled back.

Then his brows shot right up at that. So Tony was back to drinking that much? "I'm good." He didn't say 'but' or 'Tony you shouldn't', at least not aloud, though his gaze hung on Tony with a look that spoke it for him. He worried about the other, even if he knew well enough that he wasn't Tony's mother to judge him for it. Tony's drinking had severely lightened up when they had been together in the Tower.

"What exactly did he do now?" changing the conversation ever-so-slightly, though he did give a quiet look of amusement in DUM-E's direction. He knew Tony loved all of his creations like they were his children (which, in many ways, they were) even if he berated poor DUM-E on the regular... but the machine was aptly named.

Wait a second.

"What 'boy wonder' are you talking about?" Remembering that, suddenly, from the opening speech Tony had made about what had been going on around here. Tony didn't get involved with children very often unless he was wearing an Iron Man suit and usually even then only from a distance or by throwing money and resources at a problem.

[starkingenuity]

[Is it getting super serious with Agnes then????? Holy crap! What area are you guys thinking of looking? And you’ll have a decent security egg when you sell since you’ve been in there a few years. So that’s really good!]

Tony ignored the talk about DUM-E. The correct response was what didn’t he do now? The AI was infantile but he couldn’t bring himself to reprogram him. DUM-E didn’t need to be changed. Not really. He was his first friend. And for awhile, he was his only friend.

So back to the boy wonder.

“Heard of Spider-Man? Of course you haven’t. No one had. He’s this two bit teenage super hero from Queens. Recruited him to help out when Cap went off the deep end and I’ve been watching him ever since. Watching out for him. He has a hot aunt.”

Which wasn’t a lie but not the whole truth. Aunt May was a little too skinny and short for him. Tony liked something to hold onto.

“You’d like him. You’re both radioactive. I still don’t understand how a spider was radioactive to begin with but... whatever. Origin stories are boring. The kid’s a genius though.”

[aggravated]

[ooc: I guess that's kind of up to her? XD I think it's getting a bit on the serious side, but I can never quite tell what she's thinking on that front, though. :( But either way, everything from the sale of the old place will go into the new place - partially to pay it off, partially for any fixing-up that needs to get done. ]

"Hold-" Now there was a teenager super hero?? How did another super hero just 'show up'? A teenager- did Tony just say a radioactive spider?? By the end of all that, Bruce looked just a little flabbergasted. "I- heard a little about something going on with Rogers but..." Bruce swallowed, his throat working, before adding, "seems like I've missed more than I thought."

Damn.

There was a bit of sinking guilt at the idea that Tony had to handle all of that on his own.

"Genius? What areas does he focus on?" Of course the kid's a genius. Tony wouldn't deal with a stupid teenager. ...Or even a normal teenager. Or even a relatively smart teenager, now that Bruce mused it over.

[starkingenuity]

(Would you stay up in Norristown?)

“He’s the kid we should have had,” Tony said with a strange mixture of sincerity and tongue-in-cheek mocking that was more typical for him. “Or we should have kept trying for after Ultron turned out to be more deranged then friendly. You’d like him. He’d probably fall head over feet – or off of a building – to get the change to say hello to you. He’s got a typical sob story. Parents are dead, he lives with his aunt in this tiny apartment in Queens, he fights crime after school. He gets into a lot of trouble but he’s a good kid on the whole.” And that was probably nicer than Tony tended to talk about anyone. Ever. “Thought he’d join us, but probably he should wait until he’s at least legal. That’s all I need on my record.”

His glass was empty before he finished talking, somehow. He probably just figured out a way to absorb it through the glass without drinking it. That was the kind of person Tony Stark was.

“How’re those pizzas coming along, FRIDAY?”

“The driver is ten minutes away and attempting to beat the last record. I have already informed her to slow down, tip does not depend on speed.” The AI’s voice and accent were pleasant, just as pleasant as JARVIS’ had been, maybe more so. She took about as much guff from Tony as he did.

“You’re no fun. Want to come with me to pick it up? It’s a walk to the main gate,” Tony asked Bruce, hands in his pockets. He wasn’t stalling, he was just making sure heh ad as much time as he could with him before he was off again.

[aggravated]

[Around this area. If I had my choice, I'd cooch into one of the immediately surrounding areas just because the taxes are so much less anywhere but Norristown, but I love this town. Specially being close to the train station. I'm 25-35 mins from work and no matter where we would go Agnes still has to go into center city every day so that always takes forever.]

Off a building? Brows right back up again. "If you're going to talk him up that much, I want to meet him." More so, he was definitely curious what sort of young man would have Tony's interest so keenly. However, it felt like it couldn't be good for a teenager to be fighting crime after school.. when did homework happen? Still, hearing Tony sound that positive about someone told Bruce miles more about this young man. The fact that Tony actually thought through the idea that the kid should wait to join them (who was even 'us' anymore, Bruce wondered) said, to his quiet surprise, that Tony had grown.

If anyone could absorb alcohol via osmosis through glass, it would be Tony Stark.

"...last record? Are you timing pizza boys?" Bruce joked dryly. The fact that the new AI was female didn't come as much of a shock; the fact that Tony had gone so far as to create a new one was.

He gestured towards the door, saying silently that he would go with Tony. "Came all the way back here," to be with Tony, mostly. "Didn't plan on not catching up once I did." The smile was tight, but it was there. It had taken a long time to get that smile back.

[starkingenuity]

[I hear you. Our taxes are insane but I can get to 30th and market in 20 minutes on Patco. Round trip. Door to office. It’s really nice. And since it runs constantly night and day every 10-15 minutes I never have to rush in the morning or to get out of work to hit a train. At least your house right now isn’t too bad!]

“It’s not my fault if it gets around that I tip very well if my pizza is still hot when it gets here,” Tony shrugged, grabbing his jacket as he and Bruce left the building. The compound was sprawling, beautifully manicured lawns and trees interspersed between large, white and metal buildings. Tony had an eye for detail, even if he wasn’t wholly responsible for the design of the place. His father’s old warehouse complex was hardly recognizable now.

Tony strolled the well lit, winding path with Bruce, a saunter really. No one was all that interested in speeding their time together up too much.

“Maybe we should throw a party for you. Get the old gang back. I’d probably actually have to start picking up when Rogers calls though…and most of the new people are fugitives of the law-- Things well to hell, Bruce.” Tony’s voice was soft, but not wistful and not full of longing either. He’d changed. His mania was subdued. “I don’t know if they’re fixable.”

[aggravated]

[It's 40mins or so into center city for me but I'm okay with that. Being able to jump on the train quickly and not have to drive if I don't want to is a big bonus and anywhere in Norristown I could either do the Elm Street or NTC. I wiiiiish I could use the train more like you - I'd drive so little. XD I have some requirements I have for a new house but if I can find what I want where I want in the price range I want... will take some luck. I won't sacrifice this time, though.

Single house, hardwood floors, finished basement (doesn't have to be entirely I don't care if like it's half unfinished), decent sized kitchen, enough space to actually entertain friends (living room or basement whichever), not oil heat, and Agnes requires central air. XD ]

"Ahhh." As if that explained everything, mostly because it did. He knew just how well Tony tipped people who pleased him and it was, Bruce could well imagine, quite a fight down at whatever pizza shop this was coming from to be the lucky soul to deliver it. If they could be fast enough, it seemed. Including breaking the law.

He wasn't one much for the manicured look, but he knew that modern sense was Tony's thing. He liked that it had actual grass and sunlight, unlike the Tower, and he tilted his head back towards the sky as they walked. The idea of a party made one part of Bruce want to roll his eyes - he never was a party person - but at the same time... he did miss everyone.

Then there was that. Bruce licked his lips, but now that the topic was brought up... "What happened? Everyone's heard bits and pieces but I know how much the media must have been changing things, covering things up-- talk to me." Quiet, but from the faint tone of something almost like desperation in his voice, Bruce had been longing for some proper information.

He worried about them. About Tony. About Natasha.

[starkingenuity]

]Gotta admit that I’m glad I didn’t settle. It took us almost a year to find a place. Isn’t that crazy? I think the last time you and I hung out it was this time last year for tea. I’m such a bad friend. >< We do have a small kitchen but it’s manageable. At least you’ll have a combined income so that automatically means more house!]


It was dark out and so the shadows on his face were deep and his whole faces looked tired all of a sudden. “I don’t know if I want to talk about it,” Tony said softly. “I over reacted. And I made some mistakes. But I’m not ready to claim any of them yet.”

And he was not going to tell Banner how he drunk dialed the burner phone that Steve sent him every once in awhile to listen to Steve answer and breathe. They would just be silent for ten minutes or so, sometimes longer, before Steve said his name and Tony hung up.

It was a game of chicken. A miserable game of chicken.

“Let’s talk about anything else. Like... I don’t know. Seen any good movies lately?” Tony wasn’t good at small talk.

[aggravated]

[Not so crazy - it took me 9 1/2 months to find my current place. I love cooking too much to have a small kitchen - I need that counter space! My current kitchen is a good size, nothing smaller than that. We don't need too much more house in terms of sheer size, just a little more and a single. /nod And we'll get together. Life's been busy! ^_^]

That bad, then. Tony and Roger's friendship, relationship, Bruce wasn't even sure what to call it, was a strange thing, something he never felt quite comfortable in commenting on because so much laid between the pair. Hearing Tony admit to over reacting or making a mistake spoke absolute volumes about just how terrible it had all gone down, possibly how broken that friendship was. Maybe just how badly Tony had in fact messed up. It didn't surprise Bruce that he wasn't ready to claim what he had done, but even just admitting those things was a step in the right direction.

"I'll be here when you're ready," he offered, quietly, and let the rest lapse into silence until Tony mentioned movies. That brought up a brief, wry laugh. "Right, you know me, always going to the movies." He had his own things he didn't want to talk about. Just how long it took him to become Bruce again instead of letting the Hulk exist as he would. For a long time, it didn't matter. Nothing mattered. Everything he had done had proven to be a lie or completely worthless to keep the Other Guy from hurting anyone anymore.

"Actually looking forward to this pizza. It's been a while."

[starkingenuity]

“Awhile since pizza? Wow. I should have gotten the crappy stuff. You never would have known.” Even bad pizza was good pizza, he decided, and just as they entered the back entry of the main building, FRIDAY let them know that the delivery boy was speeding up the driveway. “Just open the gates so he doesn’t have to stop,” Tony said casually. There were lots of people that worked at HQ, but they had gotten used to the way that Tony just took over and did whatever he wanted since he moved in.

He was still a selfish child but no one bothered to put their foot down to him yet. Save for Steve. But it hadn’t been all about Tony when he shut him down about the Accords and Tony wasn’t processing it correctly yet.

At this rate, he’d never change. And that was good and bad.

Tony ended up tipping the delivery guy two hundred bucks, passed the pizza onto Bruce, and led him upstairs to the big glass conference room so that they could ‘make people jealous’ before they ate.

“There’s a lot I want to ask,” Tony said after he was stuffed.

[aggravated]

Funny, those words, Bruce mused to himself. Tony had a lot he wanted to ask, but didn't want to answer any questions himself. It was somehow a very Tony thing, to want and take and not give any in return. Some things never change, but it was just who Tony was and something Bruce had gotten used to. When Tony decided to give, it was often very generous indeed, but it wasn't often. They had come to a certain understanding when it came to both of them because Bruce wasn't always willing to give in certain areas, either.

Like what he imagined Tony wanted to ask about.

So he looked up, wiping pizza grease away with cheap white napkins, and made a bit of a face before shrugging. "Such as?" He had notions, and based on those notions, just how much he was willing to tell in return.

Then, after a pause, a thought. "If I answer, you answer." Complete with a raised brow, suggesting that if Tony wasn't inclined, neither would he.

[starkingenuity]

Tony dropped a crust onto a paper plate soaked with grease and folded his hands under his chin. He was not exceptionally pleased by Bruce’s trade off idea but he couldn’t press without being pressed back and that made all the difference. He huffed, a slow smile on his face and gave the smallest of shrugs.

“All right. The questions and answers have to have a similar weight, though. Fair?” There was no pinkie swear, though he was certainly feeling particularly childish.

The pause that followed was weighty in its own right.

“Why did you pick now to come back?” He needed Bruce so many times before now. He’d actually just settled back into routine not too long ago.

[aggravated]

It was a gamble, really, because he knew Tony wouldn't like it, but with as many questions as he had burning on the back of his tongue, and the equal fact he wasn't keen on sharing any of this any more than Tony was, it felt like a gamble worth taking. It meant, most likely, there were certain boundaries that would remain off limits for both of them unless they wanted this to escalate, but then again, Bruce wasn't sure how far Tony was willing to go anymore.

"Fair." Bruce sat back, looking to Tony on a safe guess Tony would want the first 'strike', and it was a little nice to be proven right in that sense.

Damn if that strike didn't hurt, though. A hard first question, making Bruce's gaze slide off to the side as he struggled with just how much he wanted to say in response. Giving the one word answer that came to his lips would get him similar responds in kind, but it also felt like some strange side-effect of living like Him for too long.

"I couldn't change back." That told volumes in just four words, even as Bruce's fingers clenched ever so slightly. "Then... I had to live with myself long enough to understand why." He knew why, now, but even just saying that aloud felt like bitter ashes on his tongue.

This 'game' would be worse than he thought.

"What caused you and Rogers to fall out?" Because that was who Tony had mentioned, Bruce guessed the biggest blow up was between the two of them... not to mention the obvious of the cat-and-dog fights they had sometimes before, but this was so much worse.

[starkingenuity]

Banner wasn’t pulling any punches. Not only had he managed to throw Tony for a loop with that little gem of knowledge but he had also asked a follow up question that somehow managed to raise the stakes. Tony thought about picking up another slice of pizza, but his hand was frozen over the box as his eyes widened at Bruce. He had a thousand more questions himself, but he had made a bargain here.

Tony sat back in his chair.

“His bestie strangled my mom to death. We saw the video. I wanted to kill him, even if he was brainwashed to do it. Wanted... ha. I tried to kill him, to fend off Rogers, maybe to kill him too since he picked some—“. He wasn’t going to admit that. “Barnes is dangerous. Not his fault but he should have been bright in. Cap disagreed. It’s not really any more complicated than that...”. He was almost embarrassed to admit that, too.

He needed more to drink. Badly.

“How long were you stuck?”

[aggravated]

It hadn't intended to raise the stakes; it had honestly been meant to match the 'difficulty' of Tony's question. Or maybe none of these were easy and they were fooling themselves. Bruce knew he had decidedly stepped over into a higher boundary at Tony's change in expression, but when he heard the truth? His lips parted as he stared at Tony in his own wide-eyed shock. That... most certainly wasn't what he was expecting to hear.

"Tony..." Quiet, trying to even find the right words to say but he was sure there wasn't anything he could. Bruce sat back, letting out a breath. Rogers had picked Barnes over Tony, but... that was a rocky choice of a place to be, as far as Bruce could see. A brainwashed best friend - that was a whole load of something all together, wasn't it? - who really did murder the mother of another friend. Then again, Rogers was a man of loyalty to the end. "I'm not sure how you can say 'not really any more complicated'," he muttered because in his eyes, it was very complicated.

At least the next question wasn't as hard. Sort of. Bruce's brows pinched as he thought it over, then admitted honestly, "until about three months ago, give or take." Enough time to ache, to think, to realize how badly he missed Tony.

Which made him realize - "...you aren't... mad? About- well, everything?" A gesture between himself and Tony, indicating all of it. About the fight, even if he hadn't been the one behind it so much, about needing to run.

[starkingenuity]

“Why would I be mad?” Tony had been worried at times, annoyed, and on and off again obsessed about finding Banner, but he hadn’t been annoyed. The gravity sent him back to fishing for a slice in the pizza box, a reason not to look up at his friend. “You never promised that you wouldn’t leave.”

Pepper promised a few times. And still left. Twice.

“And you’re back now. After three months of being yourself— Okay that does sting. You know you were safe here. I’d have— You could have been taken care of. And I wouldn’t have bothered you.” A lie. Tony wouldn’t have left Bruce alone for more than a few hours at a time and they both knew it.

[aggravated]

Those were words of someone who had been promised to and it had been broken. Maybe it was why Bruce didn't make promises anymore; he would break them if he did. There was no point in being promised to, either. He tended to break whoever made them.

They both knew it was a lie, but it was a comfort for Tony, so Bruce let it slide. So, instead, he just shrugged his shoulders. "It wasn't that simple." Quiet, staring down at the pizza box and debating another piece. "I might have changed back, but I wasn't really me, yet." His lips thin at the end of those words, deciding to go for it but mostly, the sickly memory of changing back and laying there, broken inside and out.

Three months, in his opinion, wasn't so bad in coming back from the dead, even if it wasn't a physical one.

Then he had come back. First to NYC, then, eventually... here.

[starkingenuity]

“If it happens again, you know you can always come here. Or one of my other houses. I don’t know if I can help you find yourself again, but I know you, Bruce Banner. Maybe I can do something. And if not... well I like the Other Guy. We understand each other.” Maybe that was another lie. The Hulk only showed affinity towards Tony once. But once was all it took for Tony to latch on.

Another few bites and Tony tossed the pizza crust on top of the last. He picked some basil from his teeth before he crossed his arms and leaned on the table. There was nothing between them but scraps and Tony’s entirely too intense eyes.

“I’m not the sort of guy to beg.... But right now, I’m going to make an exception. Stay. Here.”

Where else did Banner have to go?

“With me.”

[aggravated]

Tony was right; he wasn't the sort of guy to beg, but here he was, doing just that. Not just asking Bruce to stay here, but nearly a command. It pulled at his heart as much as those eyes did, staring into them briefly before looking away first as he always would. For once, though, there wasn't so much as a stir from the Other Guy.

He wished Tony's words were so simple, that finding himself could be done with another person. Not that he had ever tried, not when he feared it all so much, himself included. There was a terror when you looked into the mirror and the face you saw wasn't your own, yet it was. A terror that kept him up at night and sometimes sent him screaming out of nightmares. Tony, all people though, might understand that.

"...yeah." Acceptance but at the same time, an understanding. A risked glance up turned into a longer gaze, seeing that Tony was still staring at him, then dropped back down to his hands. "Yeah, I'll stay. With you." Not a promise, he couldn't, wouldn't, manage that, but for right now, he'd stay.

[starkingenuity]

Tony had expected a lot of hemming and hawing. He expected Bruce to give him a non-committal answer, one that very likely would just made Tony smile and shrug and say he hadn’t meant it anyway. But none of that happened. Bruce was going to stay. Here. They could hang out together and talk about everything and… Tony was aware that his excitement stemmed from loneliness, but there was something to be said about his relationship with Bruce.

It had never been fully one sided. Bruce had never been an employee. And he was the only one on Earth that could keep up with him intellectually.

The smile on Tony’s face brightened. He crossed his legs at the ankles under his chair and leaned forward on one elbow. “Maybe I should beg more often,” he mused, chin and cheek resting on the side of his bent forearm, eyes watching the way Bruce wrung his hands. “It’s really working out for me.” As if he didn’t usually get what he wanted. The man had the money to make anything happen…

Except, perhaps, to have a genuine human connection.

And Bruce gave him that in spades.

“FRIDAY, get some of the Legion to dust Banner’s lab off. There’s got to be a foot of skin cells in there.”

[aggravated]

Tony was part of the greater bit of him that felt human instead of a monster, even if he knew himself to be the latter. Nothing he'd done made him feel any less of a monster, not since he stopped being around Tony. He'd forgotten for a while; he'd paid for it. No, innocent people had paid for it. Everything dragged him deeper and deeper, always the vague idea that he would always be trapped in this prison, unable to free himself even through the most basic ways that everyone had available to him.

But Tony had been the thing that had made the prison bearable, for all that he felt selfish for taking it.

"...lovely mental image," Bruce said dryly, though that does bring about a small bit of surprise. "I didn't expect you'd keep them," he admitted, glancing off to the side again. The Legion. Maybe it wasn't a fair thought; they were the closest thing to children Tony probably would ever get.

[starkingenuity]

“It’s not their fault,” Tony mused. “Most of them are used for relief now. Whenever we do something bad because we have to do something good, they get sent in. New coat of paint. I changed their shape a little but... they’re my kids, Banner. I can’t just scrap them. The ones that survived, at least.” Tony lightly tapped the side of his thumb nail on the table and let his smile return slowly. “How about we go and help? They’re better than DUM-E but... They’re not really good for anything but the heavy lifting.”

He pushed himself up, taking a piece of pizza for the road.

Outside, Vision flew overhead but didn’t stop to say hello. And Tony didn’t even look at him. Not for a second. Tony was so different now. So subdued. Banner might have brought the smiles back but that didn’t change a whole lot of how he currently was.

“Took me awhile to get used to HQ but I like it better than the Tower. I don’t have so far to fall here.”

[aggravated]

There was a certain touch of pride at having correctly guessed the reasoning behind why the Legion was still around in Tony's life. Bruce found himself nodding because a little part of himself was in the Legion, even if Tony was definitely, by far, their mother. ...He always wanted a real child of his own, but, well. Yeah.

"Sure." He was more than done and maybe a touch restless, trying to learn all of this. It seemed their 'game' of questions was over and maybe for the better, though he was fairly certain Tony, as usual, came out the winner in that. Whatever had happened, he was going to have to start looking into on his own. Hopefully his old passwords worked.

His eyes track Vision's golden aura across the sky, but given that Tony didn't look up, Vision didn't come down, he assumed that there was something there as well. Maybe for the best. In so many ways, Vision had scared the hell out of him. It felt like every bad sci-fi movie come to life, that the machines came to life and were far superior to their creators. With the mind gem and the knowledge JARVIS had possessed, it had given birth to something uniquely better than them. Someone who could judge them. Bruce shook his head hard to clear away those thoughts.

'HQ'. As good as any other name, though Bruce thought he'd miss the views. He was less of a risk out here, far away from people. "Probably for the best." Tony did have a particularly bad streak of falling out of his own Tower. "Quiet out here, comparatively," Bruce commented, looking around in a pointed sweep.

[starkingenuity]

“You’re back to small talk. But yeah. It is quiet out here. It’s weird.” Tony slipped his hands casually into his pockets as they neared the glass front building that held all of the stuff he managed to glean from Banner’s old apartment and all of the big out bags he found along the way while searching him.

The guy was a genius, and so he had behaved like one. There were contingencies everywhere. But never a Bruce to go with those contingencies.

He had Bruce use his fingerprints to open the door, even if he could have done it himself, and then led the way inside. The Legion, a cuter and squatter version than the bots Bruce remembered, were hard at work cleaning. “The whole building is all yours. Most of the have rooms in the main building. I’m back there at the north warehouse by the pool and gym,” he said to give Banner a clue as to where they were relative to where he’d initially been. “You’ll have to go to the main house to pick up supplies but I gave you a kitchen here in case you get busy.”

[aggravated]

Bruce gave Tony a bit of a look. "It can't all be revelations." He had always been one to avoid small talk, but it had been easier to do around Tony. Besides, his words were true, about the HQ. It was honestly preferred.

He was going to be damned surprised about how much of his past things Tony had managed to find, though.

It didn't exactly shock Bruce that Tony still had his fingerprints on file, but- "did you say the whole building?" That, on the other hand, did. What did Tony expect him to do with an entire building? Even having a room and lab of his own in the Tower had been more than he had ever personally had in his life, and now Tony had had a whole building waiting for him?

It made his heart thump hard in his chest in a way he wasn't sure he was prepared to deal with... or sure he was capable of dealing with.

He turned his gaze away to study the new forms of the Legion bots, then to the actual area that was, supposedly, his. He hadn't worked on anything, obviously, since he'd left the Tower and he vaguely assumed that, since the leak, most of his research had been cannibalized by someone. Maybe not, given how quickly Tony had tried to lock some things down, but he wasn't sure.

"...Tony..." A question there, asking without asking why.

[starkingenuity]

“I knew you’d be back. And I knew you might not want to have to deal with everyone. So... do with it as you will. FRIDAY has access to my Amazon account. Packages are left at the main gate.”

He was blowing off how huge this was. He knew Banner was going to feel the weight of it but now he was pretty sure he’d gone overboard and instead of making Bruce feel welcome, he was doing too much, coming on too strong.

He hated back peddling.

“Listen. It’s nothing. Everyone had their own spaces. Even the people that don’t live here anymore. I didn’t dismantle Cap’s gym either. It’s just. Here. If you want it. Or you can do whatever you want. Move into the main building or... build an underwater habitat in the pool. Whatever you want.”

[aggravated]

He could hear that back peddling. Bruce turned and faced towards Tony, brows coming together. In a way, it was a bit of a panic, for so much money and space to be devoted to just him with no idea what to even do with it, and he'd be quite a bit further from Tony than they had been in the Tower. It really was supposed to be 'his space'. "Thank you." Firm, trying to show even if he was overwhelmed, he was thankful for it.

For Tony.

The corner of his mouth lifts, trying to be open and failing to some degree. "You know, if you didn't want me in your lab anymore, you could have just told me." An attempt at humor, knowing it was far from the case. They did some of their best work when they worked together. ...Even if it had been not to the best of ends, in one case.

[starkingenuity]

“You would have thought I was joking,” Tony shot right back. “I know you like to tell people that you’re a genius but you’re terrible at taking a hint.” And Tony wasn’t a fool. The Hulk was dangerous and this particular building had s constantly upgraded, if untested, way to make sure that the Hulk was as contained as possible until one of them could get there with the lullaby.

It was far away because it needed to be. And because Tony knew that Bruce would appreciate being able to go into lockdown whenever he needed to.

They did work well together. Their brilliance only ever increased when they collaborated. But Tony was an annoying guy. He had that in writing.

At least Bruce wasn’t reading into what he had been saying before.

That really scared him. To get him back and just lose him again? Not an option.

[aggravated]

...He was terrible at taking a hint.

It was less that Bruce wasn't reading into it, or at least he would when he went back over this conversation in his head later, but more that he couldn't handle that sort of thing right now. This was already a major step that he didn't know what to do with, as much as he didn't back then when Tony had given him a lab, but the amount of care that went into such an offer... He certainly wasn't used to.

"Care to give me the tour, or should I go explore on my own?" In turn, cautiously, offering for Tony to stay. Maybe offering for both of them, after so long without someone who even so much as knew his real name. Even if he couldn't be completely open with anyone, Tony was undoubtedly one of only a tiny handful of people he had let any of himself open up to. (Tony, Natasha, Betty.)

[starkingenuity]

“Better let me. I don’t want you getting lost again for another two years.” Poor Bruce wasn’t getting rid of Tony so easily. Not after all of this time. The tour, as Bruce has called it, took the better part of two hours and Tony, as if showing off, wandered into meeting rooms in use and through cube farms where people were trying to get things done, all tied to the Accords and to the UN oversight committee.

In a way, he wanted these people to know where they stood... as nothing. The bill was to make sure that everyone was safe but not to regulate Tony himself.

Yeah yeah. He knew it was a shit move. He just didn’t care.

It was close to ten when they made it back to Tony’s place. He invited Bruce in, of course. “I know you probably miss your stuff, but there’s a guest room here. If you don’t want to be alone.”

[aggravated]

Oh, Tony. Bruce finds himself muttering a few apologies as they disturb people at work, though he does find himself trying to gather what information he can on these new 'accords'. He knows a bit, what the media has spoken about, but it's so much more than that. It involves himself, however indirectly or directly. About control on something that Bruce knows they can't. There is no control. There is let sleeping dogs lie and hope they don't wake up.

He would learn exactly what Tony is doing here, eventually.

When they finally make it back, Bruce accepts the invitation... for tonight. Maybe a part of him doesn't want to be alone tonight when he has that chance not to be alone. Even if 'not alone' meant 'in the same building with someone who wanted him to be there'. It meant more than he could really say for even that small comfort in his life. "Lived without 'stuff' for a long time," he pointed out, giving a slight faint smirk showing it was a joke. Well, it was true but... dry humor.

[starkingenuity]

“My stuff is your stuff.” It sounded like a marriage license. It sounded like a contract. In reality, Tony was just doing his best to sweeten the deal about keeping Bruce around.

That wasn’t a bad thing, right?

He was carelessly less than careful about making some grand gesture to the rooms that Bruce could choose from and, of course, followed him up there over the pretense of speaking about fractals and god particles and why was it that the crazier a movie was, Tony always the need of trying to top it in real life?

He toppled into the wingback chair by the chosen bed and put his feet up. If Bruce was hoping to get away with sleep tonight, he was sorely mistaken.

It was almost as if Tony was afraid he’d just leave again.

[aggravated]

For the moment, Bruce was okay with that. He had nothing really, so there was nothing to get into or anything except for him to brush his teeth. Easier to travel when you had only a small backpack as his... everything. So he dropped it onto the massive bed in one of the rooms, not particularly caring which room because he knew they would all be fine and comfortable and similar.

He listened to the chatter, contributing a little from time to time, as he slowly sat on the edge of the bed. Impossibly comfortable to a degree he wasn't even sure he would be able to sleep on it. He would probably end up on the floor on the soft carpet because it would be something he was more used to.

"Tony." Quiet. A firm look to his friend. "I'm not going anywhere."

[starkingenuity]

“Is this your way of telling me to leave? I was just about to get some cookies.” He wasn’t kidding either and wriggled his toes in his socks as if he was planning on springing up. “I like having a bed to eat cookies in. I hate crumbs in the sheets.”

Also not joking there either, though his smile faded a little.

“One moment you were there and then you werent. So you are going to have to forgive me if I don’t exsctly belief that you won’t disappear again.” He did remove his feet from the bed through and pushed lightly on the armrests of the chair. He wanted Bruce to tell him to stay, but he’d leave if he had to.

[aggravated]

"You're not eating cookies in my bed to spare your bed crumbs." Bruce managed a small but real smile because it was just such a very Tony Stark thing to do. He watched Tony get up, slowly, and knew what the other was trying to do when spoken with those words, and so he debated within him. Did he want Tony to stay? Did Tony want to stay that badly?

After a moment or two, Bruce let out a breath and patted the bed. "Go get into some pajamas and come back." He went to make himself more comfortable, but he also assumed it would actually give Tony a chance to back out because the notionw as so ridiculous. Not that he would care, but... no one would want to share a bed with him.