Author's Note: So here you have it, another chapter. You will now learn the most epic pick up line ever...well at least the most epic pick up I suppose. Oh, prepare yourself for some major Tony whin-age. He's not very fond of museums. You also finally get to meet the OC, she isn't very well developed yet, but we will get there. I promise! XP Anywhoooo, enjoy this chapter and please review.
Tony loves parties. Hell, he lives for them! His company had hosted parties at various museums at least a billion times…or least it seemed like it. But if there was one thing Tony knew, it was that he'd much rather be running around, downing shots at an open bar, than actually visiting a museum.
He had little patience for history; that was then, this is now. He enjoyed living in the present and partying like there was no tomorrow. The sheer idea of walking around the American Museum of Natural History and just reading metal plaques, in front of dusty artifacts, bored him to death.
"Bruuuuuuuucccceeee, can we please just go! We've been here for hoooooours," Tony whined childishly as he dragged his feet behind Bruce and the rest of the team. Bruce glanced over at Tony, rolling his eyes, and sighed exasperatedly, "Tony…we've been here for five minutes."
Tony's jaw dropped open and he released a groan of boredom, "Ugggggggggggh, you're kidding me right! I'll never make it past the dinosaur exhibit," he pointed a finger gun at his head and moaned dramatically, "just skip the torture and kill me now."
Tony looked up from his ranting and watched as his team members strode away from him, after the over-excited Thor… and Loki. The two had lived here for quite some time now, but every now and then, they showed a massive interest in the "strange ways and history of Midgard." Thor thought that everything was just amazing because…he thought it was amazing. Loki, on the other hand, was only interested in gaining some sort of information to use against earth…at least that's what Clint suspected. So he ran off after the green t-shirt glad god, and watched him like a hawk. He of all people didn't want Loki pulling off any funny business; that, and he loved trying to out prank Loki just about everywhere.
Silently in his mind, Bruce feared for the museum's well-being; those two could dish out quite some damage when their prank wars got out of hand. Bruce shuddered as he recalled the last time one of their pranks took out an entire floor of the Avengers tower. It had all started when the team had sat down to watch How I Met Your Mother; the episode where Barney created the exploding meatball sub. The next day the team arrived in the kitchen for dinner to find a raging, sauce covered Loki and a hysterical Clint rolling around on the ground. After using that prank on Loki, the battle of the explosive foods started. No one could have ever guessed that pie would have enough fire power to destroy an entire floor…but Clint and Loki had found out the hard way.
Bruce smirked at the thought, and then continued walking along with Steve. They were waiting for Tony to catch up with their little duo, since the other three had taken off to the ocean exhibit…..Loki really liked dolphins I guess.
Tony tapped his foot impatiently when he caught up two the two, and he huffed loudly behind his friends to display his obvious boredom. Tony leaned against the wall next to the exhibit Bruce was examining with a keen eye, and he decided to take off the edge of his boredom by people watching. Tony's eyes lit up when he spotted a small trio of woman striding past them.
There was a rather loud, long haired blonde who was rambling on, about how much she would rather be shopping, to the fair skinned ginger with tight corkscrew curls. The third was a tall, olive skinned girl with medium length copper-brown waves. She rolled her honey brown eyes at the two girls and pushed her small silver glasses up on her nose, flicking through the museum brochure, mumbling soft spoken, "You were the ones who offered to take me anywhere I wanted since I moved here in the first place, so stop you're complaining." The curvy blonde pouted her cherry red lips and noticed Tony watch them walk by. She grinned seductively, flipping her hair and shooting him a quick wink, following her small group further into the exhibit.
Tony playfully returned the wink and eagerly interrupted Steve as he asked Bruce a question, "Just to let you guys know, three total cuties just passed us, and it seems to me that we have three very capable hotties just standing around, so how about we ditch this place and go have ourselves some fun?"
Bruce rolled his eyes and snipped at Tony unhappily, "You were the one who promised to let me pick the next place, and I did, so just knock it off, Tony."
Tony crossed his arms smugly and quipped, "Dibs on the blonde, you can have the brunette, Bruce, you two sticks in the mud seem like you'll get along just swimmingly."
Bruce reached up to pinch the bridge of his nose, growing quite tired of Tony's annoying interjections and complaints. He really felt like giving him a piece of his mind.
There was a rumble of approval in the back of his mind. He quashed it, but he could still feel anger creeping at the edge of his mind. "I say we just go now," Tony continued, "the others guys will never notice we're gone, and we can go have some fun and get Bruce a girl while we're at it."
Bruce slammed his hands down on the cold metal railing in front of him and snapped forcefully, "Will you just shut up! I don't want your help!" Flecks of green showed in his eyes for a moment and then he hung his head. He inhaled and exhaled deeply, then turned abruptly, walking away from the two.
Tony opened his mouth to apologize and took a step forward to go after his friend, but Steve had placed his hand on Tony's shoulder and fixed him with a hard stare, he ordered quietly, "Leave him…I think he needs some time to be alone."
Bruce's pace picked up steadily once he rounded the corner, now walking briskly, his thoughts raging around in his mind. He always ran from everything his whole life, and he didn't plan on leaving his friends anytime soon, but sometimes, getting away from them made things a little bit better….right now he just wanted to be alone.
"Come on, Char, can we just go already!" the blonde groaned for what seemed like the billionth time into her ears, and frankly, Charlotte was fed up with it. The brunette gave an exasperated sigh and she looked over at her two friends, Kandi and Trish; Kandi was short for Kandice and Trish was short for Trisha, it was just a friend thing to call each other by their nicknames.
The redheaded Trisha scrunched up her eyebrows and smirked knowingly, "You're gonna tell us to just go to the mall without you aren't you?" Charlotte's smiled shyly and pushed her hair behind her right hair, one of her habits that she had picked up as a kid, "Um…yeah, I was kinda hoping I could just stick around for a little longer."
Kandi was examining her make up in the little handheld mirror she carried in her purse, and flipped her hair in her usual flirty fashion, chiming in sassily, "I bet she just wants to stay behind and get her hands on those fine fellows back there, ay?" Charlotte felt her cheeks flush bright pink and she shook her head insistently, "I…I. No…I couldn't, Jackson wouldn't be very happy about that…."
Trisha frowned at her friend worriedly and asked sternly, "I thought you were going to dump him weeks ago, Char." Charlotte's mouth fell open, but no words came out and she sighed sadly, "…It's not that easy Trisha, he's got a temper."
Kandi's silver eyes lit up with anger and her nostrils flared as she slammed her mirror into her purse forcefully, and she snatched up her friend's hands, clasping them tightly, "Charlotte Jay Bourne! That boy is no good, and I swear to God, if he's laid another hand on you, then I will take one of my nine inch Stilettos and drive it up his a.."
Trisha shot a serious look at her overacting friend and continued on a softer note,"Charlotte, if that boy is hurting you, then you have to dump him okay? If you want one of us…"
Kandi snapped, "Or both of us." Trisha nodded, "yeah, or both of us to be there when you kick him out, then by all means, we will be there, okay?"
Charlotte looked up at her friends with her soft brown gaze and smiled, shaking her head, "Honestly guys, its fine I swear, Jackson will go as soon as get home tonight, I promise."
The two girls looked unsatisfied, but they gestured to their friend once more, begging her to go shopping with them, "…because seriously, you're fashion sense isn't nearly good enough for the Big Apple."
Charlotte examined her simple outfit; a pale blue blouse and her favorite, worn out classic blue jeans. She shrugged and readjusted her glasses, they had slipped to the tip of her nose when she looked down to look at her choice of clothes.
From there, she and her friends parted, and she went on her way. She wove her way backwards, wanting to backtrack a little bit to return to the exhibit on genetics that was visiting for a while. She was walking briskly, she had promised to meet her friends within two hours for dinner and she had a lot to see. She pulled a brown elastic from her wrist and reached up to pull her hair into a quick ponytail; she hated hair in her face.
Charlotte rounded the corner sharply, not watching where she was going as she pulled her hair up.
The two ran into each other almost instantly at a breakneck speed.
Let's just say when two people are walking quickly at the same time, running into each other in a head on collision is not a fun experience.
Charlotte gave a yelp of surprise and he gave a cry of pain as her elbow hit his head. The man almost lost his balance, and his hand shot up to his head, clutching it in pain. He glared at you and spat rather angrily, "Hey, Watch it!"
Charlotte jumped slightly; she was startled by his harsh reaction, and she stepped forward quickly to apologize, but tripped over her own feet, falling forward. She fell into the man's arms and she looked up worriedly, preparing herself for another outburst, and he looked about to as well, but their eyes met and she saw they were electric green.
He looked away for a moment and closed his eyes. He breathed deeply for a minute, shook his head, and looked back at her with a slight smile on his lips. "I'm sorry...I shouldn't have yelled at you like that," he said softly as he adjusted his glasses. "My name's Bruce...uh…Bruce Banner," he stuttered nervously, a slight blush now coloring his cheeks.
Charlotte couldn't help but notice that his eyes were now a soft brown color, and was confused. She didn't want to appear rude, but her thoughts flooded from her lips and she stuttered quietly, "I could have sworn your eyes were green..." She watched his eyes grow wide, and her hand shot up to her mouth,silently cursing herself and her big mouth.
Bruce looked worried for a moment and then shook his head, "I…I believe you're mistaken," he began to wring his hands together and he muttered quickly, "I have an explantation to explain why you're mistaken, but…uh…you probably wouldn't want to hear."
Charlotte examined the man before her with a keen eye; he was wearing a long sleeved, white shirt and a pair of jeans, his curly brown hair was graying in some spots, and his skin was well tanned. He smiled awkwardly at her, and it suddenly dawned upon Charlotte that she had been staring at him for a while now.
Bruce bit the inside of his cheek nervously; she was obviously staring at him and it was making him even more nervous. What if she recognizes me? What if she runs screaming and starts making a scene! Bruce decided to play it cool and tried smiling at her. She returned the smile, mush to his relief and then she squinted down at the ground with a searching look.
He saw a pair of glasses laying in front of him and he knelt down to pick them up, just as she did as well. They both reached for the silver glasses, and instead their hands brushed.
The girl withdrew her hand quickly, a noticeable pink blush coloring her olive cheeks. Bruce picked up the glasses and handed them to her, "Uh, these are your right?"
Charlotte nodded silently and accepted them, slipping them onto her face and blinked a few times, she smiled thankfully and tucked her bangs behind her ear, "Yeah, thanks, um?"
She couldn't remember his name! He just told her a few seconds ago and now she couldn't remember! Typical. She fumbled through her thoughts, trying to recall his name: did it start with a C? No. A P, definitely a P…
Suddenly, he chimed in himself and said, "Uh, Bruce Banner…"
Damn it….I knew it started with a B…
Bruce pointed his thumb over his shoulder and started to back away slowly, "Um, I'm sorry for running into you, but I should probably get going…"
Seemingly out of nowhere, Tony was next to Bruce, grinning from ear to ear and he asked coyly, wiggling his eyebrows, "So, Bruce, who's this lovely lady?"
Bruce narrowed his eyes at Tony, and opened his mouth to tell Tony to scram, but instead he whispered quietly into his ear, "Not going anywhere big guy, not until you ask her out for coffee or something, because you were clearly about to make a run for it."
Bruce bit his lip, he had run into the girl and told her his name, but she had never once told him her own name. Bruce knew Tony was right, he was going to run, but this girl was really, quite pretty, and probably way out of his league. He sighed to himself; she probably wouldn't want to go out with a guy like him anyways, especially once she knew about the other guy…if she hadn't already guessed.
She stuck out her hand to Tony, the corners of her lips turned upwards, "Hi, my name's Charlotte Bourne; and If I'm not mistaken you are Tony Stark, right?"
Tony smirked smugly, already showing signs of his usual bragging and he accepted her hand, "The one and only."
Charlotte's grin grew into a starry eyed smile and she exclaimed, "Wow, it's a real pleasure to meet you, Mr. Stark! I'm a huge fan of your new work on clean energy…plus Ironman is pretty kickass.
Bruce frowned slightly; he felt completely out of the picture again, and he silently cursed Tony for being such a playboy. Tony said nonchalantly, "Well, you know, I guess it is pretty awesome being a super hero and all…." There was a low rumble of anger in the back of Bruce's head again, and this time he shoved it aside for good. Now was not the time to be angry…even if Stark was being a total jerk and flirting with Charlotte.
"Well, Mr. Banner?" Bruce looked up from his feet and noticed Charlotte standing in front of him, "What do you do for a living?" Bruce saw Tony open his mouth, ready to answer for him but he blurted out quickly, "I'm a partner with Stark, we work together."
Tony looked annoyed for a moment, but then gave Bruce a silent thumbs up, nodding eagerly, urging him to invite her to coffee. Bruce ran a hand through his salt and pepper curls and said quietly, "You know, I could tell you more about it over coffee sometime tonight…that is, if you want to."
Bruce watched Charlotte pull out her phone and eye it nervously; she was biting her lower lip and furrowing her eyebrows in thought. She turned the phone on mute and then slipped it into her back pocket again, looking up once more, giving him a soft smile. "I think I would like that a lot…" she shifted her weight to her side and added curiously, "Well, Mr. Banner, now that we have plenty of time... I'm very interested to hear this explanation of yours."
Bruce nodded and smiled awkwardly again, "Please, Call me Bruce."
Next chapter: Conversational skills...One thing Tony will hopefully not intervene on...but perhaps another certain green character might feel the need to. tehe! til next time! pleaase review so i can feel the love. 3 Starseer7296
