Aaaaaaand it's a two shot now~! So much fun. This one is a little more humorous than the last one. I also listened to The Egg and I from Cowboy Bebop on repeat for this.

Dogzrule333, do you feel better, yet? ILU. SO MUCH.

I also love the reviewers. To you guys, ALL THE FEELS. I also love the followers, the favers, my dog, my cat, my car, the rain, fdljsak;dsjafdl;jafd...

I do not own, I merely drool.


Bruce walked into the the living area of Stark Towers around dinner time, sighing as he went towards his rooms. The experiment...hadn't gone very well, to say the very, very least. One shut down tower and five hulk-outs later, Bruce had gone home wearing borrowed scrubs. It was likely that if he had any intention of letting Tony see him in these particular scrubs (hot pink with Hello Kitty), Tony would collapse from laughing so hard. If he listened hard enough, Bruce could swear he heard Hulk snickering at him from the back of his head.

"Steve?" Bruce called after he was finished changing, walking through the living area again. Hearing no answer, he assumed Steve must have left at some point.

Bruce didn't know why, but it seemed as though Steve had a hard time interacting with Tony. Maybe the thought of being mute frightened the good Captain, he honestly couldn't say. Bruce tried not to let it bother him too much, but he could tell that Hulk didn't like it at all. Hulk may not have been able to understand sign language very well, but that didn't stop him from understanding Tony-speak. Occasionally, Bruce found he would have to refer to the beast in the back of his head to understand Tony sometimes.

Needless to say, Hulk thought he was an idiot for not understanding Tony's facial expression for 'I want ice cream with chocolate chips and strawberry sauce. That sounds really good-hey is that about to explode?', and Bruce thought it was a tad creepy that Hulk could understand that.

Bruce shook his head and rubbed his eyes, dredging himself up from his thoughts. It had been a long day. A very long day, and he needed some math and possibly a conversation that was likely to make absolutely no sense with Tony.

Bruce walked into the elevator and leaned against the wall as it started down towards the workshop.

"Jarvis?" he asked, thinking back on all of the security cameras.

"Yes, Master Bruce?" JARVIS asked, his voice betraying nothing.

"Did Tony already see the scrubs?" Bruce sighed, squeezing his eyes shut. This was guaranteed to be humiliating.

"No, Master Bruce. Sir is currently attempting to explain the basics of the Arc Reactor to Master Steve in Workshop 2B, and I thought it best not to have that sort of distraction." JARVIS supplied, sounding, if at all possible, vaguely amused.

"Oh. Well. Thanks, Jarvis. Any chance you could delete...?"

"I fear not, Master Bruce."

"Damn."

The elevator dinged as they arrived at the designated floor. Bruce heaved himself up from the wall and walked towards 2B, curious as to why Tony would be trying to teach Arc Reactor 101 to Steve.

"Tony, I don't understand what you're trying to tell me." Steve's slightly flustered and extremely confused voice stopped Bruce just outside the door.

"That doesn't explain anything! You're just waving around your hand now, that's not even signing!"

"..."

"No-don't-stop giving me that look! I am not an idiot! I just have absolutely no idea what you are trying to do."

"..."

"...Tony..."

"..."

"...Tony, I have difficulty using the remote for the TV, what makes you think I'm going to know what those numbers mean?"

"...Tch."

"Did you just make a noise at me?"

"..."

"Tony, please stop looking at me like that. Look, if you would just put down the tablet and-why are you getting on the table? Tony what-oh God, your Reactor! Why would you take that out? Put that back this instant!"

"..."

"No! Don't give it to me, I have no idea how to put it back!"

"..."

"What do you mean push and twist? What-Tony? Shit. Fine."

There was a hissing and clicking noise as Steve attempted to follow the minimal directions, and a sharp intake of air as Tony's heart went back to a regular pace.

"There were less extreme ways to show me how to do that, and you know it."

"..."

"Fun? I'm sorry, did you just say fun? That was not fun, that was...that was just sadistic of you."

Bruce chose that particular moment to interfere.

"Tony, stop scaring Steve." he ordered as he walked into the Workshop.

'I wasn't trying to scare him, Green, I was trying to show him how to reconnect the Battery!' Tony signed from his sitting position on a table, looking agitated and amused at the same time. 'He wasn't getting it, so I figured a more hands-on approach would work better for him.'

Steve huffed, still looking shaken, and sat down on one of the benches.

Bruce nodded, looking completely unconvinced.

"And I suppose you exhausted all other means of letting Steve know how to go about it?" he asked, crossing his arms and raising an eyebrow.

'Of course. I showed him the math, I tried explaining, I drew pictures-'

"Did you show him the security footage of someone actually switching out your Reactor?" Bruce interrupted, cocking his head to the side.

Tony's eyes looked at the floor and his cheeks puffed slightly out, his expression supplying the answer as his foot scuffed the ground lightly.

'Notreally,no.'

"Then no, you did not exhaust all other options." Bruce admonished, shaking his head. Then another thought occurred to him. "Why were you trying to show him how to replace your reactor, anyways?"

"That was my fault, actually." Steve admitted, looking flustered. Bruce turned to him, raising an eyebrow.

'Yeah. He started it!' Tony added, throwing a mock glare at the Captain for good measure.

"Steve?" Bruce asked, trying so hard not to laugh. Honestly! It was like catching two children doing something they weren't supposed to be doing.

"I asked him how the Arc Reactor was replaced, since it would be a good idea to know in case of an emergency." Steve explained, looking guilty. "I just wasn't expecting him to rip it out of his chest." he added, glaring at Tony disapprovingly.

'Don't go pointing at me, Ice.' Tony's grinning expression said as he shrugged, 'I am totally not to blame here.'

Bruce opened his mouth to translate, seeing as Tony hadn't actually signed any of that, but was surprised by Steve.

"Don't give me that! You could have shown me security footage, like Bruce said! Don't you dare try to shirk this off on me, Tony!" Steve objected, looking offended and, oddly enough, amused.

Bruce stared at Steve as he continued to bicker with Tony, even though half of Tony's conversation wasn't signed at all. In the back of his mind, he felt the Hulk approve. Steve was no longer avoiding Tony; if anything, the two had become friends in the span of one day.

"So Steve got over whatever it was that was bothering him, then?" Bruce asked Tony as he went to pick up the notes for the Reactor upgrades.

'Oh, he thought I was mad at him.' Tony answered, turning from a sulking Steve.

"...Why?" Bruce asked, looking a sheepish Steve. Then watched in complete confusion as Tony grinned sadistically at Steve and Steve turned a deeper shade of red.

'Guess who didn't read my file all the way through?'

"...Oh, Steve. You had no idea, did you?"

"I just...I'd read so much and I was getting tired so I thought; hey, skimming over his medical information shouldn't be that bad, so long as I read the warning signs." Steve mumbled, burying his face into his hands. "I'm so sorry, I was being incredibly rude and-"

"Steve, it's fine. You know now, so-Tony. Stop playing with those chemicals." Bruce stopped, focusing on Tony playing with possibly explosive substances.

Tony glanced up and hurriedly placed them back in their original positions.

"Don't think I didn't see you." Bruce sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose.

'But I know not to let them touch, I just wanted to see if they were hot or cold-' Tony started, giving his best smile to disarm Bruce. It didn't work.

"No, that is not an excuse. Pay attention to the conversation."

Tony sat down, shoulders hunched in a perpetual sulk. 'Always ruining my fun. Why are you such a spoilsport? I was just looking...' was written across his face.

"Now that that's over, Steve, would you mind helping us with this one bit of machinery we can't get to work? There's this bolt that won't loosen up, and Thor and Hulk are too strong, they'll break it." Bruce asked Steve, deciding to give him a reprieve from the embarrassment he must have been feeling. The rest of the team would give him a hard time as it was. Bruce figured he had teased Steve enough.

In the back of his head, Hulk certainly didn't feel that way. But Bruce ignored that for now. Hulk wasn't angry with Steve, he just thought Steve was stupid, and wanted to shove that in his face, which was a major improvement.

"Sure." Steve sighed, sounding incredibly relieved that the minor interrogation was over. "I'll try my best."

Tony placed a hand on Steve's shoulder to get his attention, Tony's face wearing a concerned mask.

'Do we need to get you your reading glasses, Grandfather Ice, or can you actually read the instructions this time?'

"Shut up, Tony!"