"I miss the old 'do," Tony says, rubbing his palm woefully over Bruce's short hair.
Bruce swats Tony's hand away and pushes him to lie back on the bed, leaning over him to nip at his collarbone.
"I like it," Pepper says, running her blunt nails through his hair, smiling when Bruce leans into the touch.
"Change is stupid," Tony pouts, "I don't have anything left to grip when you go down on me. What am I supposed to do with my hands now?"
"I'm sure we can figure something out," Pepper responds, smirking.
She exchanges a glance with Bruce and they nod in agreement before moving into position. Bruce shuffles down the expansive bed and pushes Tony's legs apart to settle between them.
"See, no good," Tony says, even as his breath hitches when Bruce swallows his cock down in one move. "I've got nothing here," he whines, hands slipping from Bruce's hair.
"Here," Pepper says, grabbing his hands and placing them on her hips as she settles her knees on either side of his head and grabs the headboard. "Put that mouth to good use."
"Hey, I always…" Tony starts to defend, but then Bruce does that thing with this mouth that he can't describe but feels incredible, and Tony shuts up. Pepper keens when he curls his tongue around her clit, and the rest of the night passes by without conversation.
.
Bruce stays with Tony and Pepper for a few weeks after that, since the night of he and Tony's failed therapy session, slipping back into their lives, and their bed, as if he never left.
It's so good with them, simple in a way that he never expected, and warmer than he usually lets himself get. But with them, it's safe, and the ever-present weight on his shoulders disappears for a few hours at a time.
.
Pepper brings him coffee one morning, when she finds him on the balcony of the penthouse they're staying in, blinking against the sunrise.
"It's early," she says, in that same fond tone she uses to chastise Tony when it's too late.
Bruce accepts the mug with a smile and turns to face her, leaning his back against the rail.
"I woke up," he says, "didn't mean to wake you up, too."
"You didn't," Pepper says, moving to stand beside him and lean into his arm, just enough to share her warmth.
She's still in her cotton sleep shorts, with a t-shirt of Tony's that Bruce knows costs more than his entire wardrobe thrown above them. He chuckles to himself, knowing nobody will ever break Tony of his expensive taste.
"This is nice," he says, after a long pause of comfortable silence.
Pepper turns her head to grin at him, before taking the coffee cup from his hand and placing it on the table across from them.
"It is," she says, coming back and resting her hands lightly on his chest, smoothing the thin cotton beneath her fingers.
"It's always nice when you're here," she adds. "And it would be nice if you stayed."
Bruce laughs and shakes his head, running his hand across his head where it used to tangle in his longer hair. But old habits die hard, he's learned, and he can no more control the familiar motion than he can the lingering insecurity in the pit of his stomach.
"It's up to you," Pepper says, looking at him with such serious eyes that he finds himself looking away.
"But," Pepper continues, her mouth quirking up into a smile once Bruce is looking at her again, "I think you should stay."
"Just you?" Bruce asks, placing a hand above hers so that she knows he's not brushing her off.
"Tony, too," she says, laughing. "It was his idea. Frankly, he's insulted that you ever left. I actually had to reassure him that his bedroom skills haven't diminished."
Bruce laughs at that, loud against the quiet of the morning, and it lights up his face more than the new sun.
"He's crazy," Bruce says, still smiling.
"There was never any question of that," Pepper points out, leaning up to give him a soft kiss, her hands sliding down his chest to rest at his hipbones.
"Good crazy, though," Bruce decides, "not like… straight jacket crazy."
"Definitely good crazy," Pepper agrees, rolling her eyes, "most days."
"We all have bad days," Bruce says, raising his eyebrows as if daring Pepper to argue.
"Don't give me those eyebrows," Pepper says, pinching the sliver of skin that's exposed between his shirt and pajama bottoms. "The Other Guy hasn't made an unexpected appearance in a long time. Don't pretend that we aren't at least a little part of that."
"A big part," Bruce says, honestly.
Pepper grins.
"Just think about it," she says, pulling away and leaving his skin cool where her hands had been. "Even if you leave," she adds, pausing by the doorway, "You can always come home. Remember that."
And then she's gone, leaving Bruce to his thoughts as the sun beats across his neck.
.
He slips back into the bed quietly, wrapping a warm arm across Tony's bare chest. The smooth skin where the reactor used to be is still startling, but it's good. Change isn't always bad, he reminds himself, feeling like just maybe it's ok to want this. That maybe he deserves it.
Pepper is in the shower, but the pillow still smells like her, tangerines and honey, and he breathes it in deeply.
"Morning," Tony mumbles, turning his head blindly to reach for a kiss, not ready to open his eyes yet.
Bruce kisses his cheek, dragging his lips across Tony's morning stubble before settling back onto the pillow.
"Morning," he replies, "a good one, even."
"Mmhm," Tony agrees, yawning and leaning into Bruce, still half-asleep.
The yawn is contagious, and Bruce finds his eyelids fluttering shut despite his best effort to keep them open.
"Maybe just a little nap," he says, pulling the blanket back up over them.
"Good idea," Tony replies, smiling sleepily. "Stay."
Bruce isn't sure if Tony means for the nap, or the foreseeable future, but either way his decision is the same.
He presses his palm lightly against Tony's heart and whispers the declaration that falls on sleeping ears.
"I'm not going anywhere," he promises.
But then, he's probably the last one to know. He shakes his head at his own foolish doubts, and lets Tony's heartbeat lull him back to sleep.
.
THE END