(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]

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.