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[starkingenuity]

[Tony volunteers for the worst sort of body take over ever: here.]

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[starkingenuity]

“Both. What will you give me if I can disarm this thing in ten minutes?” He can’t help but flirt with and tease the other man. Nothing can ever come of it. Maybe that’s what makes him safe. Tony can have his closeness without it ever going too far. There’s not going to be extended contact and he has spent the better part of two days easing into a romantic sort of friendship with his absentee friend.

Most of him knows that’s because he craves that sort of connection and Banner is the only one giving him that attention right now. The rest of him doesn’t give a flying fuck what his reasoning behind this one sided, forced platonic love affair is.

He has already cracked open the box. This is all alien to him but the guy’s taught himself languages in the span of a few hours to conduct complicated business transactions. He can do this.

[hulkbusted]

"I already gave you a wormhole, what more can you ask for?" Bruce has the emotional intelligence of Hulk sometimes. It doesn't even think about crossing his mind that Tony's flirtations are anything but the ingrained habit of years of being the billionaire playboy philanthropist. He'd written Natasha off when she'd been flirting with him, too.

Who could possibly want someone with the enormous issues he has? Oh, and Hulk on top of those issues. It would always be the worst kind of menage a trois.

While Tony amuses himself hacking his first alien system that isn't of Chitauri origin, Bruce wanders the room a little more, touching bottles, smoothing the blanket on the bed, nudging the enormous hammer on the floor with his toe, trying to picture Hulk living like a person here.

By the time Tony's got the system cracked, Bruce has grabbed one of the huge bottles off of the shelves and after a whiff to ensure it isn't too foul, brings it with him to Tony's side. "My offering for your skills."

[starkingenuity]

Ninety nine percent of that playboy doesn’t really want Bruce to figure out how he feels. He likes this game. It’s dangerous, but he’s only going to break himself at the end of it when he just can’t stop pushing. Everyone else will come out unscathed for once and so he doesn’t mind it st all. The more drawn out it is, the better. Tony is an adrenaline junky. Who better to get his proverbial rocks off with that s guy that can keep up with him intellectually, who will follow along with his crazy and who can stand up to that crazy and reign him in?

Oh. And who also turns into the coolest rage beast ever?

That’s right. Only Bruce Banner.

Tony has actually forgotten about the bet when the force field short circuits. He’s just happy to have had the mental challenge and so when Bruce offers him the liquor he’d forgotten about too, the engineer grins.

“We need to play more games like these. I like winning.”

This isn’t alcohol that’s really made for humans though. And the moment Tony tries some, right out of the bottle (so much for his germaphobia, right?) he’s already on his ass.

[hulkbusted]

On the bright side, whatever's in that bottle has probably killed anything that might give Tony an alien flu.

Bruce ignores the bottle in favor of catching Tony to ease him down to the floor instead of letting him topple like a felled tree. "You don't know the meaning of the word sip, do you?"

How can a man as brilliant as Tony be so self-destructively stupid? How can a man as brilliant as Bruce keep enabling him when he knows better? Questions for the ages.

"FRIDAY? I might need a hand with him."

[starkingenuity]

How can a mouthful of Hulk strength alcohol make him instantly drunk?! Oh. Oh right. Because it’s Hulk strength.

“I am— I am fine! I’m so fine! The internet says so,” Tony grins. He tends to drink just enough to slow down his brain so he can think and to numb all of the feelings he has inside of him. When he gets to be a little over that mark, Fun Tony melds with Self Destructive Tony. And no one likes that. Ask Rhodey.

He slings an arm around Bruce’s shoulder to try and haul himself up but his knees really aren’t working right and the Iron Man armor needs to come to the rescue. It will carry Tony bride-style wherever Bruce wants it to.

“Question—. Hey. Banner. Question— why is your mouth shaped like that? How do you survive having a mouth like that? That’s unfair. Ooh, hey, walking snack pack, get me a bag of chips!”

[hulkbusted]

Bruce rubs a hand over his forehead and shakes his head ruefully at Tony before asking FRIDAY to have his suit follow, too. It's a little disconcerting to watch it reach a hand down its open neck to pull out a bag of chips, but that's the least of his worries.

"Survival, and because I need it to tell my smartass friend to shut up and eat his chips while we find a room that isn't inhabited by the shadows of my greener half."

He can hear both suits behind him, the quiet whine of servos and the heavy weight of their feet on the floor. It's comforting when he has no idea what to expect around any corner. He can count on the suits even if Tony's drunk off his ass.

They reach a nexus where an elevator comes up in the middle of corridors that branch off in eight directions, including their hall. The first clockwise hall leads to a room prepared for something that apparently likes rocks. Lots of rocks. There are no beds and no hot tubs. The next clockwise hall leads to a force field that is holding back a room full of water. Again, no. The hall after that leads to an unoccupied room complete with a bed easily as large as the one in Hulk's room, a tub of equal size, and furniture that is scaled to accommodate something on a more human scale. This is the room Bruce picks, telling FRIDAY to put Tony on the bed and post the suits to keep guard for them.

[starkingenuity]

After declaring that the bed smells like marshmallows (and in reality, it actually does), Tony laughs uproariously and finishes his chips. He’s propped up on pillows, talking about how gross it is to eat in bed, and then tosses the bag away, empty.

Banner is just a swimmy sort of image in front of him, flitting from shelf to shelf like a cardigan wearing hummingbird and Tony is too amused to do anything at all but watch him for several moments.

If the other scientist thinks his friend is going to happily stay in bed, however, he has another thing coming.

“FRIDAY! Music! We need to party!” And be sloppy drunk off of alien alcohol meant for the Hulk. The AI obliges her Boss. At least Tony is an impressive figure. He has some decent rhythm. Even as he stumbles back into the wall.

[hulkbusted]

Bruce'll have to wait until later to find out if the bed smells like marshmallows or not. It seems that he has some intensive Tony wrangling to do until then.

The music is too loud and Bruce has to shout to be heard over it, yelling at FRIDAY to turn it off, which she doesn't because the Boss wants music. His next best option is yell at her to turn it down - no more down, no more - until there isn't so much noise coming from the former gladiators' quarters that someone might want to come investigate.

Music turned down to tolerable decibel levels, he can give his friend more attention, catching him before he careens into the wall again and pleading, "Tony, come on. We're squatters here. Don't get people with guns to come bust up the party."

[starkingenuity]

Catching Tony while he’s dancing means that Tony is turning those move on Bruce now. Even if Bruce decides just to stand still, there’s still a man in his late forties trying to groove with him in delightfully awkward ways. He wraps one arm around Bruce’s shoulder and makes a motion like he’s driving, snapping thumb and finger together with the beat.

“Don’t be such a wallflower. You’re better than that, Bruce. You can open up and have a little fun sometimes! You’re not going to break anything!”

Even the Hulk knew how to let lose! Especially with alcohol that goes right into your blood and brain!

[hulkbusted]

The Hulk does all of Bruce's letting loose for him.

And this is weird. He's seen Tony after a few drinks, and he knows the reputation of the old Tony Stark, but the Tony he's known has never been just straight up shitfaced. The only good thing he can say about it so far is that at least shitfaced Tony is congenial instead of angry, but angry or weepy could be just around the corner. It isn't a thought that's conducive to relaxing and enjoying himself.

"I'm fine. I'm good." He puts a good face on it. "I'm on an alien planet with my friend." And no one's trying to kill them yet. Such fun.

[starkingenuity]

Tony rolls his eyes. He has about as much attention span drunk as sober (or honestly, mostly tipsy... the guy operates best when he’s a little sloshed).

“Okay, you stay good here. I’m going to find someone who wants to let loose a little.” And if Bruce tries to stop him? Oh no. They’re here on vacation. Vacation means partying. He would love to have some fun with Banner but if that isn’t in the cards, he can find his fun with anyone. Tony is picky, but there’s a world full of beautiful people he’s never seen and who don’t know him from Adam.

He could get lucky and find someone that isn’t after his money or his position or his brain. And won’t thst be nice for a change?

He just had to focus on walking straight. And holding onto the wall totally helps.

[hulkbusted]

He's on a planet full of people who have spent years with combat to the death as their primary source of entertainment. Bruce is not sending Tony out there in the condition he's in.

He scurries to get in front of Tony, which is pretty easy given Tony's need to have a wall to hold him up and puts out both hands to ward him back. "Hey, I'll support your getting to know the locals a little better once you can walk a straight line without help from FRIDAY. Come on, you drank the Hulk juice and can barely stay on your feet."

Looking around desperately for some distraction, he thrusts an arm out toward the hot tub. "I thought we were going to hot tub. You're not leaving me without that are you?"

[starkingenuity]

This is not helpful. This is very bad, Bruce. It would be better to let Tony go and hit on an alien version of the average ancient Roman citizen than to suggest that they go and hot tub together when he clearly isn’t thinking at all.

Let alone straight. Pub fully intended.

Amber colored eyes lift ever so slightly from the mouth he’s become drunkenly obsessed with just before he pulls his shirt over his head. The ordeal causes him to step quickly backward two paces before he catches himself with a laugh.

“Hang on. Hang on.. Let me figure my belt out.” Never mind that he’s not wearing one. This could take awhile.

[hulkbusted]

He's not letting Tony out of here until he is thinking again. He honestly wouldn't know how to live with himself if something happened to Tony that he could have prevented. If that means hot tubbing will keep him in the relative safety of their misappropriated room, then so be it.

He is still blissfully unaware of the situation he's putting himself into when it comes to how straight Tony's thinking. Poor dumb genius.

Putting Tony through the physical challenge of getting undressed gives Bruce time to do the same. For a man who's often pretty uncomfortable in his skin, he has at least become very accustomed to showing it. There are only so many times you can wake up wearing the tatters of clothes (if you're lucky) before that becomes the very least of your worries. He leaves Tony to struggle with his clothes and starts undressing, draping his cardigan and shirt over the back of a chair before toeing off his shoes and hopping on first one foot and then the other to get his socks off.

The pants are staying on until he can get Tony safely into the tub.

Once he's mostly ready, he moves in to give Tony some assistance, even if it's just a stable arm to hang onto for balance.

[starkingenuity]

Tony has absolutely no reason to keep up his body. He’s rich and he’s brilliant. He’s put together armor that gives him all of the athleticism he could ever need, but the truth is that wearing that armor and using it effectively requires that he be in shape.

Happy used to train him to box. Tony’s kept up with it more or less on his own. His muscle definition for a man his age is relatively good and given that he rarely remembers to eat three meals a day, his body fat is lean.

No amount of fine form however can stop him from stumbling and then splashing his way into the tub, completely nude, but Banner certainly can help keep him from slipping and drowning.

The water is restorative. Exquisitely so. Tony immediately relaxes, some of the buzz wearing mercifully off as he reclines against the smooth stone basin.

[hulkbusted]

He's certainly not going to try to protect Tony from Sakaar's population only to lose him to drowning in a hot tub.

Once Tony's situated, he can shuck off his own pants and underwear, toss them in the general direction of the rest of his clothes, and slide into the water. He doesn't need to use armor effectively, his physical training was aikido, not boxing, and he hasn't been running in a while, even though he used to run often as a way of learning how to redline his heart rate without going into green. He's a little squishy, a lot hairy, and very okay with that because he appreciates his body whenever it's his.

Still, he can appreciate a well-sculpted ass when he sees one.

He can even allow himself a contented groan as the heat starts to sink into his muscles.

"Your first alien hot tub. How's it measuring up?"

[starkingenuity]

“Yours too?” There’s a cat that got the cream expression on his face. It’s not quite sweet, just a mellow sort of look that leaves him with his eyes hooded and water dripping from his elbows to his fingertips as he gets himself comfortable. “There’s something as weird about this water as there is about the Hulk juice. Which we are bringing back with us by the way. For science.”

The proof of that alcohol is insane and the potential applications are great. Tony’s mind is still fuzzy but he’s already imagining new molecules and new formulas that can come out of just a drop of that liquid.

“I wonder how cleanly it burns. Do you think we can synthesize it? You’re more of a chemist than I am.”

[hulkbusted]

"Mine too," he admits. He should be a little prickly about that admission, linked as it is to thoughts of Hulk hot tubbing. He isn't and that's a little strange to him, but not troubling.

"FRIDAY gave the water the all clear." He lets his legs stretch out and float in front of him, warm and weightless and lets his mind wander to other methods to induce this level of relaxation without adulterating the water. "Vibrations maybe? Find the right frequency to work synergistically with the rest of the experience?"

He huffs through his nose, amused. "We didn't ask her to analyze the air over here. Maybe we're sitting in a Sakaaran Xanax hotbox."

His distracted from his daydreaming about how to replicate this back on Earth by Tony's question. "Huh? Yeah, probably. Let's see how you feel when you sober up. You might not ever want to go near it again."

[starkingenuity]

“Or I think I should have some more. Maybe with a little ice to water it down.” The thought has him laughing as whatever it is about the properties of this particular spot keeps him chill and pliant. Whatever knots he has are gone. Whatever worry he’d had? Gone too. Maybe that’s partially due to the alcohol but he’s in no shape to puzzle the procedure out.

For a few long moments, there’s nothing but silence between them. It’s not the uncomfortable sort that Tony is always afraid of, that he always fills with inane chatter or loud music, even when he’s just working by himself. There’s a general comfort to the situation and that doesn’t have to do entirely with the hot tub.

“Can we just erase the stuff I said back at the mansion? Is that possible? I don’t want you thinking I’m a time bomb.” Those are no fun. People don’t stick too close to those.

[hulkbusted]

"Too bad. I left it back in Hulk's room." If they're lucky, Tony won't think to ask one of the suits to go retrieve it.

This right now is worth coming to Sakaar for. It's worth letting Tony stick him in an Iron Man suit. It's worth seeing Hulk's bachelor pad/prison.

With his arms stretched out along the sides of the tub for leverage and his head tipped back against the edge, he just rolls his head toward Tony and shrugs, adding a few ripples to the water. "Why not? I could use some company in that category."

Tony has to know the words are out in the world between them and can't be unsaid. He dismisses the thought with a flick of his fingers, sending drops of water off their tips in Tony's direction. "It's just between us. Promise."

[starkingenuity]

Why does he have to smile like that? Bruce is a ball of confusing to Tony Stark and generally he can cover up for himself so easily. Bruce is gone more than he’s close. Bruce is untouchable by his own unfortunate design. There’s usually far more interesting things between them to tinker with than each other.

Even poor addled, still half drunk and thoroughly relaxed Tony recognizes how problematic the first half an hour of their vacation has become. There’s no good distraction right now and Tony isn’t fully capable of making one up.

And that’s why he doesn’t stop himself from shifting through waist deep water to sit next to Bruce on the wide, warm seat.

“I want to trust you. No. I do trust you. But I want you to trust me.”

[hulkbusted]

No amount of relaxation is going to make that request any less difficult to respond to. The truth is that Bruce doesn't trust Tony, not completely. Some of their trust was broken when they created Ultron, some of his lack of trust is just an understanding of Tony's character.

Finding an answer that's honest but not hurtful feels like an impossibility, and he doesn't want to hurt Tony while he's this vulnerable.

His answer might be the right one, or it might send Tony spiraling, but he thinks that at least he's found an honest one worth looking Tony in the eye to say. "I trust that you'd do anything, up to and including sacrificing yourself, if one of your friends or someone you love is in trouble. I trust that without any hesitation."

He might have to rethink it if he gets a complete picture of what's going on between Tony and Steve, but even with that shitstorm going on, he believes what he's saying.

[starkingenuity]

Bruce is trying and Tony just keeps lobbing on more and more weight. What should be fun and without consequence keeps turning into something else entirely. He almost wishes he was still the alien suit. She was willing to enjoy herself and hedonistically cast out everything else.

“That diplomatic. Wrong, but diplomatic. I did try to beat the shit out of Steve for something he didn’t really deserve. Just pointing that out. But thank you. I don’t trust me either. I’m probably the person in the world I trust the least. Unless that’s to make bad decisions.”

That makes him laugh and he shifts to lay his arms out along the tub. His thumb grazes Bruce’s far shoulder.

“I’m probably going to make another really bad decision in about ten seconds, Doctor Banner. And I think you’re going to change your mind about me. Or you really should.”

All Bruce needs to do is turn his head to look at him. Or worse, open his mouth. Because that’s all it’s going to take for Tony to lean over and wonder if Bruce can dodge a kiss.

[hulkbusted]

Bruce is trying really damn hard, and this hot tub is going a long way toward keeping him from throwing up a white flag and packing it in.

"Okay, so only you can beat the shit out of your friends. Tell me you wouldn't put on that armor and go butt in if someone else was doing it without you." Sorry, but he doesn't believe it.

If this is going to be a light vacation that actually feels like a vacation and not an extended therapy session that Bruce is entirely unqualified to conduct, he's going to have to get Tony sobered up and take him out among the extremely varied population of the city.

Just the thought of going back out into the city is enough to make Bruce want to sink entirely under the water, and his thoughts are on how they can navigate the masses without getting their asses handed to them when Tony's words draw his attention over to him.

So yes, he ends up too surprised to dodge a kiss and caught in a momentary overload of are there hallucinogens in this hot tub? or maybe how drunk is Tony? with a cherry on top of so he wasn't kidding?

It doesn't make for an enthusiastic response to the sudden press of lips against his. That's got to be for the best, but damn does this remind Bruce of how lonely he is.

[starkingenuity]

Tony is constantly reminded of his own loneliness. And that’s part of the reason that he does really dumb things despite how smart he is. He pushes the envelope to be noticed, to keep people to close, to make people hate him (because it’s better than apathy!) or any of the other things he does. He wants to be with people because he’s nothing like them but the world tells him constantly (and it’s right) that money can’t buy happiness. Only connection with other people can.

He’s just run out of those connections. The best and easiest way to gain something of them is through intimacy. Even with someone that can barely stand it without physically erupting into something else.

The hand that had brushed Bruce’s shoulder now cups the back of his neck. The other crosses his chest to gently rub a thumb across his cheek.

Once the analyzing is over, Bruce can get right down to brass tacks here. Tony is a fantastic kisser. He’s present and he’s real and he’s there. He knows about the Hulk, too, and about the heart rate trigger.

And that’s why his hands are where they are. He’s not just kissing his absenteeism friend, he’s also monitoring him to make sure it doesn’t go too far.

If it hasn’t already.