Pendulum

by Zphal

Two highschoolers with brilliant minds and troubled lives find they have a lot in common. While Bruce struggles to cope in an abusive family, Tony longs for an intimacy he's never known. As the boys grow closer, can Bruce overcome his hang-ups about being in a relationship? And what role will Tony's heart condition play? (Collabed with ResidentChevy)

14. Chapter 14

'Only fourteen shopping days til Christmas!' Tony texted as soon as he'd sat down in homeroom. He dropped his backpack on the floor and slouched into his chair in the forty seconds it took for Bruce to respond, his phone's screen flashing bright,

'Thanks for the update. But are you really planning on doing this everyday until Christmas morning?'

Tony grinned; he'd started sending them yesterday. His fingers were already working on his response at lightning speed, 'Of course not. I'm stopping on Christmas Eve.'

He typed out one more and hit send, '...next year.'

'Between you and Thor, I'll have you know I'm not getting *any* last-minute studying done for my Calculus final.' Tony grinned again, he could almost see Bruce adjust his glasses between the texts. The big guy could pretend, but at this point Tony could discern the subtle difference between actually annoyed Bruce and pretending-to-be-annoyed Bruce. A longer text followed. 'I'd been attempting to teach him how to pass notes last week, but he didn't seem to be able to get it through his skull that the note's recipient didn't need to be told "Hark, I bear a message of great importance for you! Take caution that those around you do not gaze upon it.". Got detention for that one. Did you know, he's still "regaling" us about the final pass that won the Bilge Snipes the big game?'

Tony typed his response after he had suppressed his chuckling, 'Kind of hard *not* to win after nearly all their power players got busted for the shit they pulled. Who knew using a pressure washer at ten yards was considered assault? You know, *besides* dad's lawyer.'

He continued, thumbs striking the touchpad. 'Still, I heard Thor wiped the floor with them anyways. Guess even an "honorable warrior" can hold a grudge.'

'He's definitely better at passing a football than notes.'

Tony rolled his eyes at the pun, 'Well, better pass than fumble. Speaking of fumbles, did Pepper tell you why she and Happy broke up yet?' All he knew was it had happened very shortly after the game ended and that Happy hadn't been very happy lately.

There was a long stretch of radio silence, long enough to make Tony wonder if he was going to get anything back or if Bruce had put him on silent to study for the Calculus final he was already guaranteed to get a 100 on. He gave a pout. When his screen lit up, he jumped in his seat and hurried to check it. 'I'm fairly certain it was because she desperately wants you to take her back.'

Another followed. 'That was sarcasm, by the way.'

'Ha.'

'Ha.'

'Ha.'

Tony sent in three separate texts. 'You're adorable, you know that?' He felt a little self conscious about that one, but sent it anyway. Hastily he followed it up, as if to cover-up.

'So, your new fanclub still fawning over you?' Tony chuckled as he sent it. Bruce had gotten a standing ovation upon walking into homeroom the Monday after the bonfire. Apparently word had gotten around fast, thanks to students with camera phones and itchy texting and/or tweeting fingers, and Bruce and himself (along with a few of the other key players in the bonfire brawl) were being hailed as vigilante heroes.

Tony was used to getting lots of attention, and it hadn't phased him much. Poor Bruce, however, had been mortified at the sudden onset of positive attention. It was pretty hilarious (and cute, Tony had to admit) to see Bruce dodging and running from random students for the first few days as if they intended to skin him alive when all they really wanted was to ask where he'd learned his moves.

He'd like to teach Bruce a few moves from his personal arsenal. 'Not now,' he told himself.

'I think they've mostly found other things to obsess over. It was only a matter of time. Which should make you happy. It will no longer be detracting from yours.'

Tony was entering in a response when another text came in from his friend. 'If you're not busy after school, did you want to go to the mall?'

His eyebrows raised, and he backspaced what he had previously written, typing out his new response, 'Sure. We just bumming around or are we buying stuff?'

'Only fourteen days left, as you so astutely observed.'

'Tsk, tsk. You don't want my gift to be a surprise?'

'I didn't presume we'd be buying for each other. You're not the only person on my list to buy for, and I already wrapped yours.'

Tony rolled his eyes, 'Bull. Shit. You're saying that now so I give up on guessing early.'

'That would be a losing proposition. You never give up. Catch you later; good luck on your finals.'

'Damn straight. Only thing I've ever given up on is drinking, and that's only because you wouldn't stop whining. :P' Scrunching his brows, he typed up one more and hit send, 'And FYI, I don't need luck. But thanks for offering.'

Tony drummed his pencil on his desk, satisfied with his last text.

For all of about thirty seconds.

'Oh, and good luck to you too. Not that you need it.'

The parking lot of the local mall was packed with holiday shoppers. Bruce considered himself lucky to be coming in on his moped- motorcycle parking was in abundance (even with the entitled douchebag who had illegally parked his 4x4 there). He removed his helmet but kept his gloves and scarf on as he headed for the northern entrance. There was a bellringer for the Salvation Army stationed beside the door; they exchanged greetings.

'At the entrance to Penny's.' Bruce informed his friend of his location via text, though the gloves made it slightly more awkward.

'Still on the road. Might be a little late.'

'Using JARVIS?'

'Voice to text, yeah. Stop worrying. One half-ass dad is enough. Colon capitol pea.'

'Okay, fuck voice to text. See you in fifteen.'

Bruce smiled in subtle amusement and then gave a silent hum. He removed his glove with his teeth to speed the process up a bit. 'Don't bother coming up the rows, just save yourself some time and park in the back.'

'Got it. See you soon.'

Well, there was no point in standing out here freezing for the next fifteen minutes. He turned to pull open the door, holding it open for an exiting couple before entering himself. He pulled off his other glove and shoved them both under his armpit to rub his hands together before cupping them over his face and breathing into them, willing his chilled nose to warm. The rest of him might have been bundled up on the drive over, but his face had not. Thankfully it was well heated inside the department store and already he could feel the pin-pricky sensation beginning to wane.

He spent the next several minutes aimlessly browsing around, not straying too far from the entrance, affording a glance in its direction every once and a while for his friend. Pausing in the shoe department, he wondered just how trolled Tony would be to receive a pair of penny loafers for Christmas.

He was interrupted from his musings by the sound of the automatic doors of the front entrance sliding open from a short distance away.

"Oh Hell no. You are not buying a second pair."

Bruce grinned at the voice he heard over his shoulder. He picked up the shoe, turning around to display it. "But it comes in cocoa and navy. My current pair is black." He looked down at his feet and wiggled his toes in the footwear.

"Oh God, it's worse than I thought. Bruce, put the shoes down and back away slowly."

He struck the top of his friend's head with the heel lightly much like one would a misbehaving puppy. "I'm not actually buying them."

Tony swatted the shoe away, rubbing his forehead with his other hand. He wasn't buying Bruce's line, "Okay. Emergency intervention. Now. We're putting Christmas shopping on hold until we get you some help."

Bruce shook his head and returned the sample shoe to its display. "You dolt. Come on." He hooked his arm into Tony's, pulling him along towards the greater mall.

"Oh my God..." Tony's eyes widened in realization as he was dragged along, at least for a few steps until he managed to dig his heels in the ground, "You're afraid." An amused grin crept across his face, "You're scared I'm gonna get you something glow in the dark with spinning rims." He held a hand to his chest as of wounded, "It's like you don't know me at all."

"Did you mix prescriptions again? You're acting crazier than usual."

Tony stuck out his tongue, blowing a raspberry. "Prove it, then. That you're not afraid," Tony challenged.

Bruce rolled his eyes. "If you want to buy me something, you can. I'm not going to stop you." This trip wasn't about him, despite Tony's efforts to make it about him.

Tony grinned, relishing in his victory, "Alright then, sit down. I'll go pick out some shit and bring it back." He stalked off along the aisles of shoes, before turning around to call back to Bruce, "Wait, what size are you?"

"Ten and a half," he called back. He gave a small sigh, looking around briefly before finding a place to sit beside some women chattering as they tried on heels. He folded an ankle over a knee as he watched Tony dash between the various selections- it was sort of endearing in a way that he was so obsessed about this.

Tony finally returned, dumping an armful of shoeboxes at Bruce's feet, but keeping one neatly nestled under his arm, "Get to it."

"Really narrowed it down, I see." He flipped open the lid of the top box and made a face when he pulled the thin paper aside. "I'm good without." He cleared his throat and set the negative off to the side before opening the one underneath it.

"Saved my favorite for last," Tony said with a sincere smile, patting the box under his arm.

"If it's your favorite, shouldn't I look at it now?" Bruce reasoned, admittedly somewhat more curious about it than the rest. He set a third box aside without trying the contents on.

Tony's eyes shot to the ground, unsure how to explain his thought process, "Well I figured, if you look at a few others and hate them, you might like this one more by comparison, but..." Realizing how ridiculous he must sound, he relinquished the box.

"That's not the worst logic I've heard from you," Bruce said. He turned the box around, giving it a little more consideration than the others thus far. Sperry was the company. He popped the lid off. Inside was a sneaker-style shoe in a muted greyish brown; it was laceless, meant to be slipped on, but had eyelets for show. He was actually pleasantly surprised. Bruce set the box to his other side and bent in the middle to pull off the loafers currently on his feet.

"You can pick out a pair for me to buy for myself then," Tony said, his voice so low Bruce had almost missed it, "I mean, like, I could use a second pair anyways, and we're already here. And I guess it's only fair to you."

"You sure about that?" he asked as he pulled the paper wadding out of the toes of the proposed pair and slipped them on his feet. "What if I pick something so heinously dorky that your whole fan club disbands overnight?" He stood up and began to pace back and forth, noticing the insole had a nice cushy springy-ness to it. "I think I could live with these," he smiled at his friend.

"My fanclub may be of questionable intelligence and ethics, but they're also miserably dedicated." Tony rolled his eyes, "I doubt I could lose them even if I went on a killing spree." He tilted his head to the side, eyeing the new pair on Bruce's feet, "Glad you like them. You're at least twenty-five percent more bang-able with those on." Tony said, trying to sound casual, "Not that you care, I'm sure."

"...Bang-able?" Bruce lifted an eyebrow as he sat back down to take them back off and return them to their box. "I'm pretty sure that one is not in the dictionary."

"Bang-able. Adjective. 1. Used to describe someone who is worthy of having sex with. 2. The state of being fuckable." Smirking, Tony held up his hands, doing finger quotes, "Example: Would you have sex with Bruce if he asked? Yeah, he's totally bang-able."

Earlier in their relationship he might have had to fight the compulsion to blush (it was obvious Tony was trying to embarrass him, especially where they currently were, out in public), but instead he cleared his throat and placed the shoebox into his friend's hands. "I'm just going to say 'thank you' to that and move on."

"Well, I suppose I could up the estimate to thirty... maybe thirty-five percent, but that would be being awfully generous..." Tony tapped his lip.

"I hesitate to think how much your evaluation would go up if I let you pick out my entire new wardrobe." He wet his lips. "You'd be unable to resist me..." The last part came out in a lower pitch than he'd meant.

Tony's response died of embarrassment in his throat. Stammering, he finally managed to choke out, "I'm quoting a statistic, smartass, not an opinion," Tony dismissed. 'Toootally doing both.' a voice inside him chirped.

"Okay, then excuse me while I find something to make you twenty-five percent more respectable. Adjective. Used to describe someone who is worthy of being given respect," he rattled off quickly, putting both his hands on Tony's shoulders. With a shove, he roughly pushed him down into the chair. He conveyed a 'Stay.' and then turned to go.

One of the girls beside Tony gave a giggle, putting a hand to the side of her face to whisper to one of her gal-pals. "He's right, he totally isbang-able."

Tony's eyebrows drew together, feeling slightly bothered by that statement.

"The way they're acting," muttered a third, more cynical sounding girl who had been trying on a pair of boots near the girls, "I have a feeling neither of them are 'bang-able' without the other's permission."

Tony blanched, and would have probably complained about or denied her assumption, if it weren't so disarming of a thing to hear. He lowered his gaze as he slipped off his shoes, making sure he didn't leave Bruce waiting for him.

Bruce came back with a single box in his hands. "Here," he extended it.

Tony chuckled, taking the box, "Just one, huh?"

"I didn't see a reason to have you try on half the store," he folded his arms amusedly.

He popped the top off of the box, revealing a glossy looking pair of square toed dress shoes. He let out a low whistle in appreciation. Bruce had actually picked much better than decent. He shot Bruce a smile, "Not bad. Though that's coming from the guy who usually wears sneakers with his tux." He frowned slightly looking back down from the box to his white cotton socked feet, "But I think I'm wearing the wrong socks for these."

After contemplating what he should do about this, he shrugged it off and pulled the pair on. He wasn't supposed to be looking at what clashed anyways. He was surprised to see that they fit him almost perfectly. They may have been a little on the snug side, but they were meant to be worn with dress socks anyways. This brought up an obvious question.

"How the Hell did you know I was a ten and a half?"

Bruce shrugged. "Spatial observance. Our feet looked about the same size."

Tony shook his head in amusement, "You notice everything, don't you?" He said, hoping he didn't notice everything.

"Well, I notice you're not complaining. Like them?"

Tony stood up, feeling them out. Even if he'd hated them, he probably would have bought and worn them if Bruce had asked. Luckily for him this wouldn't be a sacrifice, because he actually liked the pair.

"Well, it looks like Mr. Substance actually has a sense of style. I approve."

Bruce smiled. "Good. So," he picked up his new shoes, "are we done here?"

"Not so fast!" Tony interrupted, "First off, gimme those." He gestured to the shoebox Bruce was holding, "I'm paying. And second, I need to see if they have these in red or orange. I can't wear these babies to school," he held up the shoes Bruce picked out, "Too special."

Formal. He'd meant to say formal.

"I feel so underprivileged," Bruce said sarcastically, relinquishing the box to his friend.

"Cut that out..." Tony hissed, taking the box and stacking so he could carry the two at once when he picked them up again, "I'm doing this for my sake; those loafers were an eyesore. It's not like I'm some kind of sugar daddy." Tony chuckled lightly, as he scanned the shelf he found Bruce's pair in, locating the color and size he wanted, "That being said, if I was, you'd have put out already."

Bruce supplied him with a hard shove. "In your dreams."

"Every night. Right next to Pepper," Tony teased, wondering what he'd have to do to shut off the internal polygraph that kept calling his honesty into question. He shook the thought away once again, "Let's get in line."

After they'd checked out- or rather, Tony had checked out- they made their way to the atrium of the indoor mall. A quick check of the directory revealed the location of the bookstore, where Bruce intended to do the majority of his Christmas shopping. He began to lead them towards it, passing the area that had been set up to 'take a photo with Santa'. There were lots of children in line, either hanging off their parents' arms and whining impatiently, or running amok and ducking under the rope barriers, or squabbling at one another as they each tried to cut in line.

"So who am I helping you shop for again?" Tony cut in.

Bruce rubbed the back of his neck; it obviously hadn't been lost on the other teen that he wouldn't have been invited along if his input wasn't desired. "I was hoping you might have some thoughts about what I could get Betty," he said as they walked.

Tony stumbled slightly in his stride, but saved it before he'd expected Bruce to notice, "Sure. I can help."

"I'm sure you've bought Pepper things in the past," Bruce went on, as if to explain his reasoning.

"Well of course I have," Tony shrugged back. "But girls all have different tastes. Any idea what she likes?"

Bruce coughed into his hand. "Well, not so much... I mean, six years ago I did. But they might not be the same... I've only talked to her a few times since the bonfire."

'Five.' Tony's thoughts cut in. 'Five times since the bonfire. Three of them in person, on weekends where I'd been planning to ask you over.'

Yes, he had kept track. He cleared his throat absently. It always seemed to get slightly hoarse when Bruce brought up Betty in conversation. He was sure his friend had noticed the effect already. Why else would he have waited until after Tony had shown up at the mall to tell him it was herthey were shopping for?

He felt a bitterness well up inside of him, but pushed it down. Betty was a sweet girl. She had been Bruce's friend first. She wasn't stealing Bruce from Tony, and he wasn't going to abandon Tony either. Bruce was a great friend, and Tony was going to help him pick out a gift for another good friend. He was allowed to have more than one. Still, Tony couldn't help but feel different than how he thought, in spite of how rational said line of thought was.

"Well, we can take a look around," Tony shrugged hesitantly, "Maybe something'll speak to you?"

He'd been kind of expecting his friend would be more help than this. Even if he was right about girls all having different tastes, Tony had to know more about getting gifts for female friends than he did. "Yeah, I hope so," he said a little dejectedly. "I just don't want to get her something she's going to hate." He lifted a hand to pinch the bridge of his nose. "Maybe I'm over-thinking it. I just really, really want her to like it, you know?"

Tony felt like he was sabotaging their own friendship by helping Bruce get closer to Betty, but he'd be damned if he wasn't helping anyway, "Well, what kind of message are you trying to give her with this gift, where are you coming from with it?"

Bruce thought about this. "'I'm really glad you're back in my life' and 'I want you to stay'?" he ventured a bit uncertainly. He sighed. How could he get something like that across with a gift?

Tony winced internally, the response hitting him like a knife to the chest, and he was twisting it himself with every word he said. He hid behind a confident smile and an even more confident attitude, "If it doesn't scream perfect for her in some personal way, then it should at least say something about the guy it's coming from. Something honest." He paused for a moment, bracing himself for the answer before even asking the question. "Do you like her?"

Tony swallowed. It made him nervous to even put the question out there. If Bruce was in a relationship, then he'd be around even less. Tony wasn't sure if he could take that.

Bruce's eyebrows drew down. "Of course I like her." Obviously he'd been a bit uncertain at first how well they'd mesh after so long (and he'd had to smoke two cigarettes to muster the courage to call her the very first time), but he had found their friendship still had roots and it was slowly blossoming anew.

Tony nodded with a grunt. There it was. He tried to respond naturally, going over his suggestions in his head in order to avoid the painful bit of truth he'd been dealt, "Okay first off, unless asked specifically or if she has some sort of obvious obsession with the stuff, never do Bath and Body Works. That shit's more impersonal than a gift card. And a gift card from Bath and Body Works? Yeah, no. That's like saying 'I don't know you, but you could probably smell nicer.' and I'm sure that's not the kind of impact you're going for."

Bruce chuckled softly, mentally logging his friend's advice.

"She play video games, or have any obvious hobbies or interests?" Tony asked absently as they passed the GameStop. It was wishful thinking, but it was worth a shot at least.

"Hm..." Bruce put thought to it. "Well, I know she does Sudoku. And she quilts. Oh, she was telling me about this show she was watching on the Discovery Channel. Recommended I check it out actually; she thought I'd like it," he laughed a little bit self-consciously.

"Great, we have a lead. You remember the name of the show, by any chance?"

"I think it was When We Left Earth, or something like that."

Tony nodded, "One of those series about NASA and the space shuttles, right? Hard to keep track with all the documentaries they run, but I bet we could find something."

Bruce nodded. He wasn't sure a DVD box set would get across his deeper sentiments, but he did at least know she would be guaranteed to like it. And then they could watch the episodes together. Include Tony too, if he was interested in joining them.

Tony paused, pulling out his smartphone and typing in a keyword web search for JARVIS. There was too much going on in the mall to ask out loud, at least not until he managed to update the background noise filtering settings of its voice recognition software.

"According to search, it's called 'When We Left Earth, The NASA Missions' and it's in stock on their website. I could order it now and have you pay me back, and have it here before Christmas."

"Yeah, that sounds good," Bruce agreed with a smile. "Thanks."

Tony sighed with a little relief. At least he'd made Bruce smile, though it probably wasn't for him. "You getting her a card, or is that overkill?"

"Well, what do you think?" he asked, leaving it to his best friend's judgment.

Tony pondered for a moment before responding, "Well the greeting card store is a horrible place for people who second guess their decisions a lot. Though if you can find a Christmas card in there that's blank or only has like, one generic line and lots of blank space, go for it. You'll have a better time writing in your own message than finding one that you agree with and that suits the person you're giving it to. At least not before the mall closes today."

Bruce laughed again, finding his spirits lifting. "Then we'll hit Hallmark and Barnes and Noble," he planned out, lifting his hand to check the time on his wrist- they had plenty. Definitely one good thing about finals week, early dismissal. It almost made up for all the stress involved. "What about you? Anywhere you want to go?" he asked his friend.

Tony smiled back, glad Bruce's attention was back on him, however selfish it sounded, "Well how's about we crash at Barnes and Noble for a bit, pre-read some books and get something at the cafe? My treat?"

That sounded like the best proposition Bruce had heard in weeks. Well aside from Thanksgiving when they'd had both Tony and his father over for turkey dinner. It showed in the big smile that overtook his face, even if his response understated it. "I'd like that."

Tony smirked back. "And once our food's settled, we're off to the arcade to break these shoes in," he grinned holding the bag of shoes up with one hand.

"You're going to DDR in dress shoes?" he inquired skeptically.

"Hell no. I really liked that pair I picked out for you, so I got one for myself in a different color," Tony said, adding three rapid snaps of his fingers, "Pay attention, big guy."

Both boys entered the cafe/wi-fi area with bags on their arms. Bruce was quite pleased to have found both a new cookbook for his mother (out of which he was certain she and he would be trying out several of the recipes over the next year), as well as a book by Friedrich Nietzsche for his father (of the few things the man enjoyed, philosophy was a more prominent one).

Tony was currently nose-deep in a graphic novel. He wasn't sure which one really, because he'd just grabbed the first one that had an interesting cover. There wasn't much action involved, and it seemed to be revolving mainly around the search for the origin of a sentient female android capable of feeling real emotions (and apparently flipping shit on an epic scale anytime someone tries to get fresh with her), and an awkward budding romance between her and a porn hoarder with a heart of gold. Or at least that's what Tony gathered.

'Leave it to Japan.' Tony thought with a chuckle, checking the title, and deciding to pick up the box set before he left, 'Chobits, hm? Well fine, you sold me.'

Tony appeared to have no interest in shopping, and in fact seemed happy to just relax and go with the flow for the entire afternoon. This was far from the case, however. He hadn't told Bruce, but he'd actually snuck a few purchases in during his last 'bathroom break' and had them tucked away neatly in one of his shoe boxes. This year he was breaking his own self-imposed no gift card rule on Brian and Rebecca Banner. The former getting a fifty dollar Exxon gas card, the latter a fifty dollar Sephora gift card. It seemed like a lot for only meeting the two a few months ago, but Tony liked to make a big impression, and frankly he was trying his best to hold back. As far as his father went, he'd probably just ask him point blank. Knowing him, he probably wanted spoilers worse than Tony did. And there's no easier spoiler than to be asked what you want for Christmas when you're only a few weeks away.

Bruce eyed the menu over the counter as the two of them stepped up to the end of the line. The staff were working quickly and efficiently to serve the holiday traffic, so it moved pretty quickly. Bruce gave his friend a little nudge on the arm with his elbow to bring him temporarily back to reality- it must have been a good read. "We're about to be next."

Tony shook a little, startled out of his read, "Oh, yeah sure, cool." He waited until the people in front had moved away from the register, before placing his order, "Strawberry smoothie. Large. Or Grande, or whatever the bigger one is. And one of those brownies," Tony pointed. "Thanks." He motioned for Bruce to place his order, and flashed his cash to indicate that he was paying for both of them.

"Peppermint Mocha with a little extra cinnamon sprinkled on top?" Bruce smiled at the barista.

"Peppermint mocha and extra cinnamon? I don't know why, but I pegged you as a no frills type of guy."

"Shut up," he hit him a little harder with his elbow this time. "It's Christmastime," he justified; he could pamper himself a little.

"Whatever," Tony rolled his eyes, sliding a twenty dollar bill across the counter and walking away without asking for change, "Strawberry smoothies don't need a holiday to seem like a good idea."

Once they had their drinks in hand, they searched for a place to sit. There was an area with a coffee table, two easy chairs and a loveseat, but both the easy chairs were occupied. "How's this?" Bruce asked his friend as he set down his purchases and styrofoam cup on the table.

Tony shrugged, sipping his smoothie absently, "This works." He flopped down in the loveseat, making sure to leave some space for Bruce. The other teen removed his heavy coat and settled in comfortably beside him, cracking open John Scalzi's 'Redshirts'. He flipped past the index and dedication to find chapter one.

Before he could get started, curiosity got the best of him. "So what did you find?" Bruce asked, noticing the boy was flipping the pages... backwards. He knew Tony was a little odd at times, but that seemed odder than usual. The manga section was an area of the bookstore he knewof but had never indulged in personally, though he knew the foreign graphic novels were popular among his peers.

"It's called Chobits," Tony sounded out, knowing he'd more than likely fumbled the pronunciation, "Looks like it's about this sad sack of a guy living in a semi-futuristic world where pretty much everyone has their own personal android-esque servant called a persocom. He's dirt poor, so he can't afford one..."

"You don't have to give away the whole plot," Bruce chuckled, pushing up his glasses before taking a careful sip of his warm beverage.

"Dude, this is just what I've read so far in this book. I haven't even figured out where the girl on the cover comes into this whole mess." He'd actually skipped to the middle of the book and then skipped back to the beginning when he'd gotten interested. It was a bad habit of his, but he figured if nothing was happening by the middle of the book, he'd be saving himself a bad read.

Tony sounded really excited. "You're adorable," Bruce said truthfully but with a little roll of his eyes. He took another sip and immersed himself in his own selection, leaving his friend to his.

"Uh, thanks?" Tony answered self consciously, burying himself deeper into the pages of his manga. Sure, he'd said as much to Bruce earlier through text, but somehow that seemed different than saying so in person, right here to his face. He nibbled his brownie absently, trying not to drop too many crumbs on the front of his hoodie.

They read silently together for the next hour, continuing well after they'd both finished and set aside their empty drink cups. Tony was very nearly to the end of the second in the series, and he'd snuggled himself comfortably into Bruce's exposed side when his friend had set his arm across the back of the loveseat. Outwardly, it probably looked more intimate than it was, but Tony couldn't be assed to care; if possible, he probably would've opted to stay there until closing.

With a small sigh he shut his completed manga. He glanced at Bruce. Every once and a while the big guy would chuckle softly and turn a page- currently he looked pretty absorbed by the satirical sci-fi. Tony didn't want to disturb or interrupt him in the middle of a chapter, so he just sat quietly, listening to the Christmas music playing in the bookstore. Winter Wonderland had always been a favorite of Tony's, ever since the first Christmas in his conscious memory. As well-off as his family had been by the time he'd come along, their Christmases had always been relatively normal up until his mom had passed. He closed his eyes and he could feel it; the air in the living room resonating with the sounds of Christmas carols on repeat, as he and his parents strung lights and ornaments on the tree. Without even realizing it, he began to hum along, lips slowly parting to quietly sing along under his breath.

The melody permeated Bruce's brain gradually, realizing it wasn't coming just from the speakers overhead but also the boy beside him. Without lowering his book, he joined along to see if Tony would notice, "To face unafraid, the plans that we've made, walking in a winter wonderland..."

Tony smirked to himself, but didn't stop, continuing to sing along at a low enough level to keep them from getting kicked out, though he considered phasing into the harmony just to fuck with Bruce. Though when the second chorus came up, he couldn't help but change a few things.

"In the meadow we can build two snowmen,
And pretend that you are Parson Brown,
I'll ask 'Can you marry?', they'll say 'No, man;
That Jesus freak would run us out of town'..."

Bruce snorted at the modification. "Mrs. Weller teach you and your classmates that one too?"

Tony chuckled. "Poor Mrs. Weller. I think it was worse back then. Sure the jokes were less offensive, but there were so many of us little bastards," he commented, then shuddered the way one would after staring too long at an anthill, "Remind me to never, ever become a teacher."

"I'll do that. But more for the kids' sake than yours," Bruce backhanded with a smirk. Tony would teach them how to fold paper airplanes and make spit balls or vandalize desks and hack school computers. Extracurricular Entropy. Utter-Chaos Theory. He could probably think of a few more course names but he stopped, propping his head on an amused elbow as he continued to scan the page.

"Mrs. Weller said it was rewarding." Tony scoffed, "Rewarding my ass; do you see how many times those people go on strike?" He snorted, "Yeah, no thanks."

"Satisfaction can come from a lot more than spending cash," Bruce said, though he knew his friend was well-aware of it. He got to the end of the page and flipped it. "I think it's the 'opportunity to influence and make a positive impact on the lives of', in our case, 'young adults' that's the draw." He shrugged. He couldn't say it was an occupation that much interested him either.

"Hmmm..." Tony seemed to ponder the point for a little while, before holding up his finger to point at Bruce, "No. And a no for you too. You'd end up wiping the blackboard with a freshman's face and getting seventy-five million hits on YouTube. I know because I'll have run in to film it from the classroom across the hall."

"If he acted anything like you during class, I'd hypothesize he deserved it," Bruce returned, finding the scenario amusing if distracting.

"Hear! Hear! There can only be one!" Tony pounded his chest, "The child must be taught a lesson."

Bruce lifted an eyebrow at his friend's phrasing. "You have been hanging around Theodore too much."

"You're telling me he hasn't grown on you?" Tony raised an eyebrow, "Either way, that little bastard freshman should just be glad he isn't in my classroom, because I wouldn't have stood for his shit from the get-go. He would've been sitting out on all the good stuff. Especially the Potassium Chloride Gummy Bear experiment."

"Harsh," Bruce commented.

"Don't judge me," Tony waggled a scolding finger in response, "Because if I ever get into teaching it'll be your fault. I won't be able to work anywhere else. I'll need to be there to lie to the police and plant the drugs on the witnesses when you finally snap. You know I'd be a chemistry teacher. Haven't you ever seen Breaking Bad?"

Bruce just shook his head and gave up, closing his book. Tony was an unstoppable chatterbox at times and he wasn't getting any more read at this rate. He glanced at the quarter of a brownie sitting on its paper napkin on the coffee table and got an idea, reaching forward for it.

"That's my brownie," Tony noted with a raise of his eyebrow, "I don't recall granting you access."

Bruce gave him a look and proceeded to follow through, lifting the morsel to head-level.

Tony leaned away slightly, "What are y-" he didn't quite get through with that sentence before his friend had shoved the entire rest of the square into his mouth, effectively muffling him.

"That is so much better," Bruce said, rubbing his fingers against his thumb to rid them of the crumbs, "I bet the entire bookstore is thanking me."

In his peripheral vision he could see Tony signing "Fuck you too." while simultaneously trying to chew his way through and swallow a too-large-mouthful of brownie, but it only made his grin wider.