Hey all, sorry for crazy-long absence. BUT LOOK! Ten fousand words AND SEX. If you want to skip that, then zoom over Bruce's POV.
These boys are not mine. It's a crying shame.
Chapter Sixteen
Tony
"Et voila," Tony said grandly, opening the door to the bathroom. "Ablutionary shrine of sensuous carnality, all yours to use and feel slightly guilty about, knock yourself out."
"Too kind," Bruce said dryly. He unselfconsciously dropped the red cape as he walked past and glanced around the room. "This is... something. I've lived in places smaller than this."
"JARVIS? Shower, nice n' warm, no music, no graphs," Tony said, crossing to where a drawer was sliding open and two towels on a warmed holder were emerging from their compartment. A series of sluices on the brushed stone walls opened, and a gentle waterfall began to pour into the huge recessed marble hollow that doubled as the bath. The plants ringing the small pool began to droop under the steam and condensation. "You want a robe or something? Not that I'm complaining about the view, you understand."
Bruce smiled faintly. "Ah, no, that's okay. Just a towel is good, I've got my own stuff downstairs. I won't be long, don't want to use up too much water."
"Frugality." Tony affected a shudder. "How unnatural."
"To you, maybe." Bruce held a hand underneath the waterfall. "Jesus, that's good," he murmured, and stepped under it. He tipped his head back with a quiet sigh and the curls covering his head and chest began to cling and darken, turning from brown to glossy black.
Tony realised that his hand was hovering over the towels as he watched the guy shower whilst practically salivating. He turned away and picked them up after a fumble.
"Is there soap?"
"Huh?" Tony looked back to where Bruce stood. His skin was tanned all over, and this was becoming incredibly unfair. Bruce was apparently a torturer of extreme skill and finesse.
"Soap," Bruce said, and there was a smile lurking in the corners of his mouth that told him that yep, Banner had figured out exactly what Tony was thinking, and it amused the hell out of him.
Well, if Brucey-babes thought Tony Stark was going to stammer and stutter like a fool, he had another think coming.
"Sure is," he said breezily, and yanked off his shirt. "Let me just get that for you."
Bruce's eyebrows rose. "You can just tell me..."
"I would be remiss in my duties as... a something... if I didn't." Tony shucked his pants and pulled off his underwear and stood as straight as he could, letting Bruce take in the awe-inspiring phenomenon that were his abs. "Anyway, you're always naked, you're like the naked guy from naked land. I'm just respecting the traditions of your people."
"I'm from Ohio."
Tony rolled his eyes. "Move over then, Buckeye Boy."
Bruce took a step to the side and Tony ducked his head as the spray hit his shoulders. He palmed a panel on the wall, and a hidden drawer popped open from behind a stone tile, containing a wire basket filled with bottles and bars and shit.
"There we go," he said, waving a hand. "Pick whatever."
Bruce gave him an exasperated look. "Tony, this is half a store. Which one is soap?"
"They all are. Hard soap at the back for boring types, but I like liquid. It's more fun."
"You're kidding." Bruce looked down at the rack full of bottles. "Do I dare ask about the rest of those tiles?"
Tony gave him a smug smile, and began to point at them one by one. "Shampoo is behind the next tile. Conditioner past that. Then there's foot stuff, sexy stuff, stuff I bought on the internet because it looked cool, face stuff, scrubs and stuff, bubble stuff, wine cooler, minibar, cigars and cigarettes, fridge, a selection of materials for those cough-intimate-cough bathing experiences, that's cool stuff, that's stuff in case I get bored, and then there's a drawer just for stuff stuff."
"Stuff stuff."
"Yep."
"You are so rich it is actually sort of frightening."
Tony shrugged.
Bruce's hand lingered over the bottle with the least left inside it, and then drew it out and popped the cap. He took a sniff, and his eyes flashed green. Goddamn that was hot.
"This one is your favourite," he said thoughtfully.
"Eyes, oh my god," Tony said, and couldn't stop himself from taking a step closer to him.
Bruce's gaze flickered up to meet his, and a slow smile began to grow on those lips and fuck, now Tony wanted to kiss him again. "Hulk said it smells like Tony. That's how I could tell."
"How do you even work," he said breathlessly, and grabbed the guy by those compact, solid hips and dragged him close to kiss him hard.
"Ngggh," Bruce said indistinctly against his mouth, before giving up and returning the kiss for a couple of seconds. Then he pushed the bottle into Tony's stomach, the cap clacking against the arc reactor. "I'm filthy and about to claw my skin off," he said, eyes glinting. "Make yourself useful, you idle rich boy."
"Sir, yes sir," Tony said, using the bottle to salute. Bruce turned and presented his back, and yeah okay, the guy was sort of crusty and bloody still.
That was such a fine ass.
Washing Bruce's back first, he told his libido firmly. Then we feed the guy. Then we screw each other's brains out. Then maybe sleep, and then wash, rinse, repeat. For a week.
Bruce rumbled low in his throat as Tony began to wash his shoulders (very nice shoulders, all broad and brown and rounded with lean muscle and stop it) and his head fell forward onto his chest. "Okay, you need to stop making sounds like that," Tony muttered into his ear.
"Sorry," Bruce said, his voice thick and indistinct. "Just glad to be home. Hell of a day at the office."
That made Tony's breath hitch a bit. "Home?"
"Hmm." Bruce didn't even seem anxious about saying something so... so huge. "Yeah. Tried to deny it, but Hulk's smarter than I am when it comes to this stuff. He clued me in."
"Lift your arms," Tony said, his mind reeling a little. "Does this mean you're sticking around for a while?"
"Yeah." Bruce raised his arms – fuck, the guy was furry. "I might leave for a few weeks here and there, but that won't be for a while. And I'll always come back."
"You'd better." This was a bit much. He smoothed the soap along Bruce's ribs, still a little gaunt from years of subsistence living, and over that compact little butt. Even the very fine ass was no distraction from the absolute bomb that was that statement, and Tony tried to concentrate on washing the guy and not to think too much about that word spilling from the mouth of Bruce 'Vanishing Act' Banner.
Tony was a greedy person. Everyone knew that. He was famous for his insatiability; for sensation, for glory, for affection, for approval. Bruce, though – Bruce wasn't greedy in normal ways. He desperately wanted love and companionship and closeness but avoided them like the plague with steely determination, just in case they broke. He didn't have a home, because he was always ready to run. He didn't belong, and he didn't have belongings.
And here the poster boy for self deprivation was basically declaring that Tony's big shiny monument to his ego was his home. Whilst naked. In Tony's private shit-hot decadent bathroom. While Tony slathered him in his own favourite smell. Damn, this was getting sorta primal and hello, erection that I have been trying to ignore, I know you're there, no need to throb like that.
"If you think you're going anywhere, after almost dying and Hulk and what you just said and how good you look right now," he murmured into Bruce's ear, "I have a bridge I'd like to sell you. Turn around."
Bruce made an inarticulate sound of pleasure and turned to lean against the wall. His eyes were closed and the muck and blood on his forehead had run down his temple. Tony washed it away. Thick, white-peppered stubble rasped under his hands. Bruce's eyes opened as soap was rubbed over his chest and stomach to give him an amused look. "I'm not a dog that needs a wash, there's no need to scrub so hard."
"I've known dogs with less fur," Tony retorted. "Seriously, you could braid this mess."
Bruce smiled. "I might let you try. If it hurts too much, you can be the one to explain to Hulk."
"Cheater."
And, well, because he was Tony Stark and Bruce Banner was standing right there and he was wet and clean and naked and he'd just declared Tony's home to be his, he kissed him. Bruce's mouth twitched, and then he opened to the kiss easily, comfortably. His hands rose to palm Tony's hips, and mmm, big broad hands, nice firm grip, no pussyfooting about. Tony cheered internally.
Bruce ended the kiss by pulling back and scrubbing one hand through his mess of curls. "Sorry to cut this short again," he said (because he was a complete asshole) as the water ran down his chest in rivulets. "I promise it's not intentional, just bad timing. Only if I don't eat now things are going to get a lot greener around here."
Oh.
"Right, yeah," Tony said, moving stiffly (hah) out of the shower to the towels, away from all that goddamned skin and soft raspy hair and warm dark eyes and pretty ass and shut up, brain, you are not helpful. "JARVIS, turn it off, and we want food, lots of food. The others will be here any second, so let's make it..." he looked back to Bruce, his eyebrows raised, "six Thors?"
"Is that how we're measuring meals now?" Bruce took a towel and rubbed it over his face. "In Thors?"
"The guy can eat, is all I'm saying." Tony dragged his eyes away from the guy, only to be greeted by the same sight in the vast mirrored wall opposite the shower.
Oh, now, this was just getting cruel.
"Me, Thor and Steve... yeah, six should do it, I hope," Bruce said, and stripped the water off his legs with his hands because he was weird and had lived in places without benefit of towels and damn, damn, damn his butt was so fucking fine.
You are Tony Stark, he told himself sternly. You have fucked your way through entire netball teams. You got bored with threesomes before you were twenty-five. You have honest-to-god, hand-on-your-arc-reactor, screwed your way through a pinup calendar up to and including the Naughty December Elf Twins. You are not going to lose your poise in front of a middle-aged physicist who needs glasses, no matter how fascinating he is or how much you L-word him or how nice his butt.
Fuck it all sideways, now you're thinking about the stupid sexy glasses...
"Sooo," he said, mostly to distract himself from his thoughts. "Would a continuation of our previous activities be on the table after you've eaten?"
Not a great distraction, come to think about it.
"I don't know if the others will appreciate that sort of after-dinner entertainment."
"You are such a smartass." Tony grinned. "You know what I mean."
Bruce looked up and pursed his lips a little. "I'm not against the idea," he said, "but I might have to clear that with my better half before we do anything too, ah, strenuous."
Tony thought for a moment and then shuddered. "Yeah. That could be... bad."
Wrapping the towel around his hips, Bruce shook out his hair, spattering the mirror with droplets and sending his curls into a mad snarl atop his head. "Right," he said, and then groaned. "All right, I'm going, I'm going, we're going to eat now, okay?"
Green eyes again, holy shit. "Pants," Tony said and steered the guy by his shoulders back towards his rooms. "Closet to the left, pants are on the second rack. Get pants, whichever you want, there's tons of pants, I have all the pants. I know this is a sin against nature and blasphemy against the god of fine asses, but you should go and get some pants. I will be thinking of you, dearest, and the minutes will seem like hours until you return. With pants."
"Maybe I should just..." Bruce fidgeted with his hands, and Tony just knew he was about to suggest going downstairs to get his own clothes just in case Hulk decided to crash this party.
"Eh," he waved it away. "My pants are your pants. We practice pants-socialism in this Tower. We are a pants commune."
"Stop saying pants, it's beginning to sound less and less like a word."
"Pants."
Bruce only raised an eyebrow.
"He can rip as many of them as he likes," Tony added, more seriously. "I mean it."
Brown eyes dropped, and then Bruce looked up again with a bright green gaze and honest-to-god rumbled, "Tony. Thank you."
Swallowing hard, Tony tried to answer without croaking. "You're welcome, big guy."
Bruce's hand rose and lingered over his throat for a minute, and sorrow touched those green eyes. "Hulk sorry. Rule Tree."
"It's okay," he managed. "Forgiven. You weren't all there, Hulkster. You didn't have Bruce. I get it."
Bruce's hand stained green for a moment, the colour racing up his arm like fabric dipped in ink. Even his fingers felt rougher as they gently touched the rising bruises over his Adam's apple. "Hurt," Bruce said, and then he blinked back to brown.
"What the hell," Tony said to him.
"Ah," Bruce said, and looked a bit embarrassed. "So, I think we might be seeing a bit more of that in future."
"Okay," Tony said dumbly. As Bruce disappeared into the closet, Tony let a shiver take him. Ohhhh, that was awesome.
"Any of these?" Bruce called, his voice slightly overwhelmed.
"Yeah, go crazy. Grab yourself a shirt too – eighth rack. Not a band shirt, or Hulk will get all my sugar from now on."
Bruce's laugh drifted out to him, and Tony bit down on another grin before stepping back into the bathroom and tugging on his own discarded clothes. Then he regarded himself in the mirror. Beard a bit shabby, needed a trim. Not due for a shaping yet, though. Hair a crazy mess, but whatever, he was going to be next to Bruce, anyone's hair looked as neat as Steve's next to the Amazing Human Spaniel. He smoothed it back with his hands anyway, on the grounds of Always Maximise Sexiness, a rule that hadn't yet steered him wrong. Then he tilted his head and met his own eyes.
This was going to be weird for a while. Bruce was... effectively like a single parent who couldn't ever put their kid to bed. Was that it? Could they encourage Hulk to have a snooze while adults did adult things? But then, it was technically Hulk's body too, and Hulk was also as old as Bruce in a way. He wasn't really a child, no matter how childish his mind. And this line of enquiry had gotten creepy and disturbing very fast and he should wait and see what Bruce had to say before he came to any conclusions.
"Tony?"
It wasn't Bruce's voice that said his name, and his head whipped around to see Hulk in the doorway. He was wearing a pair of Tony's sweats that had ripped severely at the knees, but his dignity had been preserved, if only barely. The elastic around the waist had stretched to a thin cord, and as Hulk ducked his head into the bathroom it gave up the ghost and snapped after what had no doubt been a valiant effort.
"Oh, hey big guy," he said, and tried not to stare a bit because he hadn't heard a damned thing. How fast could Bruce change now? Was it instantaneous?
"So hungry," Hulk boomed apologetically, and oh goddamn it, the Hulk was giving him puppy eyes, this was his life.
Hulk (Bruce)
There is food, and it is good. Tony shows him where it is. Hulk has nearly finished when Team arrives.
You've eaten most of their share, says Bruce, but he feels like he is laughing inside their head. He is not angry; he thinks it is funny. Hulk finishes the food-thing he is eating and beams at Team.
"Hey Hulk," says Star Man (Steve, says Bruce). "Wasn't expecting to see you again today."
"They're shifting back and forth and all sorts of in-between," says Tony, and he looks up at Hulk and pats his hand.
"Doesn't it hurt?" asks Shooty Bird (Clint).
Hulk snorts. "No. No hurt so much any more. Only lots and lots of hurt when Bruce and Hulk fight each other, try to stop it. No stopping now."
"All the old rules are out the window," says Tony. He sounds like rocks feels, all hard and harsh. Hulk did that. Hulk hurt Tony's neck and now he speaks like rocks. "You should see Bruce's eyes go green. And keep watching Hulk's; they'll flash brown when Banner's talking. Oh! And Hulk talked to me with Bruce's mouth, and he sort of... possessed? Yeah, he took over one arm, kinda. It didn't get bigger, but it went green. I can't wait to see what's next, this is gonna be a complete trip."
Tony looks like his thoughts are like Bruce-thoughts, all zip and glitter and snap. He looks excited. Hulk is too hungry for excited. He wants to eat some more.
You've managed to nearly demolish everyone else's meal already. I think we've had enough.
No! Hulk is still hungry. Bruce was hurt, and Hulk was... very busy. It is no wonder they are hungry.
He lifts his plate – it is a big plate. Big for Hulk. "More?"
Please.
Hulk grumbles, and then mutters, "please?"
Well done.
Hulk preens. Tony is doing the proud-smile again. It is good.
"Brown eyes," Star Steve says, his mouth round and shocked. "I saw that."
Tony looks smug. "Toldja. Got more on the way for you, Mean Green. They'll be delivering it any second now."
"Pizza?" says Shooty Clint, looking eager. Tony nods.
Tasha says something and rolls her eyes before moving over to the place where Bruce does the water and plates, makes the hot drink and the hot food from the hot places (the kitchen – and I think you mean tea and curry. Huh, I didn't know you liked it).
"Drinks?" she asks over her shoulder, and Shouty Long Hair nods enthusiastically. He has already begun to eat the food things that are left, and Hulk frowns.
Shouty Long Hair looks up at Hulk and grins with his mouth full. He swallows and says, "I am glad to see you, Hulk. It is good to have you back with us, yourself, whole and hale." Hulk doesn't know some of those words. Thor is happy we're better, says Bruce and Hulk takes one of the last food things.
"Thank you," Hulk says without being told. Bruce smiles at him, and it is warm inside their stomach.
He eats the food thing.
If Hulk is better now, he will not hurt Team again. Hulk is so-so-so sorry he hurt Team. Hulk says so. "Sorry," he says aloud, and Bruce is shocked.
Tony wriggles his fingers, waving. "Nah, we're getting more food, you eat as much as you need to, buddy."
"No," Hulk says, and he frowns. He is not hungry for a moment. "Hulk hurt Team. Hulk hurt Team again."
Hulk keeps hurting Team. It is the most not-good ever.
"Hey," says Star-Steve, and his voice is warm like Mummy's. "You weren't yourself."
Hulk scrunches his face. "Then who was Hulk?"
"Ah..." says Tasha, returning with lots of little glasses and a big one for Hulk. "No, we can't tell him that. We shouldn't lie to him."
Clinty Bird glances at her, and then takes a drink from her as his eyes turn away and he smells like shame shame shame and old fear. "Sort of true, though," he says.
"Not the same situation at all, Clint," she says, sitting down. Shouty Thor Hair grabs a drink and gulps it.
Tasha turns to Hulk, and takes a breath. "Hulk," she says, and she is being very serious. "I know what it's like to have that happen to you. To have yourself ripped away, and yet still be the one in charge of your actions. It was you who did those things. You have to remember, though, that there were reasons for it, and it wasn't your fault."
Hulk growls. "Hulk hurt. Hulk smashed."
"Yes," she agrees calmly. "But you also found Bruce and saved him. You disgraced General Ross. You absorbed all the radiation that would have killed millions of people. I think all that more than balances your ledger."
It's like a... an account, Bruce explains. The good things and the bad things, and how they measure up to each other.
"Eyes again," murmurs Clinty Bird. Tony nods.
Hulk takes a breath and then lets it out on a big, big sigh. He is tired, and he does not feel very good about smashing Team (again, oh, Hulk is very not-good at all!) but Bruce says that Tasha is right and Hulk is good. Hulk did good. Bruce is very-very-very proud of Hulk. Bruce loves Hulk.
"Still sorry," he says.
"I already forgave you," says Tony.
"We do too," says Tasha, and nudges Shouty Thor. Shouty Thor winces.
"Ah," he says, and touches his side carefully. "There is no permanent harm done, my friend. You are truly forgiven."
Hulk shifts his weight. Shouty Thor is still hurt. Is Star Steve still hurt? He looks over to him.
"It's all right," says Star Steve, and smiles. "Rule Two."
Hulk raises his eyebrow. "Not a Rule Two," he says, and sniffs. He needs another Rule for this. Rule Two is not big enough.
Hulk looks down at his hands and begins to move them. Bruce takes one of them and they move them together, old old movements from before the bright green light brought Hulk out of the small places. Movements that a puny, puny Bruce made in the dark, fingers wrapping over and over, to make them stop their shivering at night. Bruce's hand is pink and Hulk's is green, but they move together just like before, even though they are different now.
"Holy..." says Clint.
"Told you," says Tony very quietly.
The no-body ghost voice (JARVIS, says Bruce) talks then, and Hulk grunts in surprise, taking his hand back from Bruce. More food is here. Clinty Bird gets it and brings it to the table and Hulk eats some more.
I'm not going to be able to move, says Bruce, and he is smiling in their head. Hulk rolls his eyes. Stupid. Bruce should know that Hulk will need all the food, as he always does.
Tony laughs and laughs at something Star Steve says, and Thor is grinning. Thor eats lots – almost as much as Hulk. Tasha and Clinty Bird are sitting close together, and talking very quietly.
Hulk thinks of something then. "Hulk goes to shiny room," he says suddenly, and Star Steve is looking up at him. He smells of the worry-smell, and his face is open and soft.
"Do you want me to come with you?"
Hulk shakes his head and stands. "Team keep eating. Hulk back soon." Then he asks Bruce, which way?
That way.
The rattly moving room is better with Bruce in their head. Hulk sits on the floor. It wheezes and moans and Hulk still doesn't like it, but it is better than before. He tries not to leave fingerprints in the shiny metal and wishes for a moment that he hadn't eaten so much as the rattly moving room slips down and down and down. Hulk's stomach has been left behind.
Wow, says Bruce as they get to Hulk's shiny metal room. It is very smashed, and the outside looks bubbly and wrong. Hulk is ashamed. No, it's okay. I knew you were upset, but... wow. Adamantium is supposed to be unbreakable, you know.
Hulk didn't know. Hulk touches the wall where his fist can be seen pushed into metal and sighs again. The floor is smashed, Hulk's bed, Hulk's experiment. There is smash everywhere.
Then he shambles over to the kitty. "For Bruce," he says. "Present."
Hulk's hands are puny and pink when he reaches out for the kitty, and Bruce picks it up. It is too heavy for Bruce, so Hulk helps lift it. They waver and flicker between Hulk and Bruce, and Bruce is happy and sad and full of big, big words that he cannot say.
Thank you.
Hulk grunts, and puts the kitty in his lap. "Welcome."
He looks down at their hands. Then he thinks of something. "What is Hulk and Bruce now? How does Hulk and Bruce work?"
Bruce touches the kitty, and Hulk can feel the soft hot feeling in their chest and throat and mouth. Then Bruce sighs too, and it is dusty and old inside their head. Right. We need to find out how we work now.
"Experiment?" asks Hulk. He can feel Bruce's laugh.
Yes, we should make an experiment. You're obviously much better at them than I am. Your last one was a rousing success.
Hulk grins. Bruce knows about the best secret good experiment now, and it worked even though Hulk smashed Team.
Okay, here's what we have so far. We can hear each other much more clearly, Bruce begins. His thoughts sparkle and crackle. We can watch what the other is doing. We can even share our body, to some extent. We should test that further.
"Share," Hulk says, and looks down at his hands. One is lighter than the other still, and Hulk pats it absently. "Share is good."
Sharing all the time won't always be good for us, Bruce says. His thoughts are quick and dart like little fish through Hulk's mind. We'll get overwhelmed. Everyone needs privacy sometimes.
Hulk doesn't know what privacy is like. "Hulk always with Bruce, Bruce always with Hulk. Now closer. Close enough to share. Share is good."
But maybe there will be things we don't want to share?
Hulk shrugs. "Share is good. Hulk doesn't mind. Bruce not want to share?"
Yes, I do want to. I'm just afraid of... Bruce stops. There is Tony in his mind, and Bruce wants to touch him. Hulk laughs low, and it echoes around his smashed and shiny room.
"Bruce wants to touch Tony."
What?
"Like Betty. Like Monica. Bruce wants to touch Tony."
Now Bruce is spluttering. It is like bubbles – bubbles made of red white embarrassment. Hulk is satisfied. Bruce is embarrassed. Bruce should remember that Hulk is Bruce too.
All right, I asked for that, he says eventually.
"Bruce stupid," Hulk agrees. "Not want to share?"
Ah. Bruce squirms, wriggling uncomfortably behind Hulk's eyes. Hulk knows. Tony is special, and maybe Bruce wants Tony for Bruce alone. Maybe Hulk is not special enough. Maybe Tony is only for Bruce.
No, Hulk, it's not that. Tony thinks you're amazing. It's that maybe Tony won't want us both. I mean, we're not exactly normal. And well... you're very young, Hulk.
"Hulk not!" Bruce is being annoying. Hulk thinks back to his numbers, and then looks over at the ruins of the experiment. The rock that was ten is broken in half, but the rock that was Team is still whole. He squints at them, and thinks furiously. So much easier with Banner. "Hulk is... four of the tens."
You mean forty?
But. What? That makes no sense, I'm forty-three.
Oh. Ohhhhh, I see. When I was three, that was when you... But Hulk, you've been three years old for forty years; it's a different thing entirely.
Hulk is angry. "Bruce wants Hulk to go? Not share? Not fair!"
Bruce takes his hand and rubs his knuckles. Never. Never again. I'm just concerned, that's all. What Tony... what we want to do, it's an adult thing. I worry for you. His hand looks grey in the dim light, and Hulk snorts, taking it back. It floods green again, and Hulk flexes his fist.
"Adult."
Right.
"Hulk not baby!"
I know that, says Bruce patiently. But you're not strictly an adult either. You're a child who has been a child for a very long time. You have my understanding and memories, so you're not totally ignorant of sex. But I have a responsibility towards you, and I feel like I'd be doing something unforgiveable if I subjected you to it.
"But..."
Maybe there can be things for Hulk alone. Things we don't share. Would that be fair?
Hulk is still angry, but Bruce is making far too much sense. Figures. Bruce is smart smart smart, even when he is annoying.
"Like?"
Maybe... smashing time? We'll find a place that we can go, and you can demolish it. I'll take a nap and leave you entirely alone. Tony could go with you, so you have time together as well.
Hulk shifts. That is a good idea.
I don't want to hurt you. I want this to be fair. Not like before. We're more than that, now.
Bruce's worry is a pink fog in their head, and there is love threading through it like metal wires. Bruce is telling truth.
Hulk puts the kitty down. "Fair. Hulk will not share Bruce's Tony-time. Hulk gets Tony-time too," he offers, and then he clears his throat. "Hulk will sleep."
We need to talk to him first.
"Hulk talk? Or Bruce talk?"
It is strange. Hulk and Bruce. They are so twisted together it is hard to know where they begin and end. Uncertain. Hulk does not like uncertain. He growls a little under his breath, and Bruce lifts his hand to bury it in Hulk's hair. Not the same, but still good. I'll talk to him, if you don't want to.
"Both."
Both. All right.
Steve
Fury looks supremely unimpressed – but then, the man always looks supremely unimpressed. Steve was forcibly reminded of Phillips, and wondered if they ever met.
"Captain," he said evenly, his face filling the screen. "You tell me why I shouldn't pull the plug on you pack of yahoos right now after that stunt."
"Director," Steve said just as evenly, "we retrieved Sterns, removed a rogue element from the armed forces, and saved the world all without a single life lost."
Fury harrumphed. It said that, fine, yes, that had happened, but there was a Council of angry old people glaring down Fury's neck, a city clamouring for an explanation, and a mayor tearing out his hair about even more Hulk-related property damage. It was a harrumph with a lot of subtext.
"Before you get all huffy, Director Depth-Perception," drawled Tony, "remember, Hill had a chat to me while we were out saving the day. It was you who decided to leave us with the field. You trusted us to mop up the mess. Y'know, like always. You muppets came in at the last second to wipe Ross up, but we got Sterns without any SHIELD assistance whatsoever. And in both cases? Hulk and Bruce were the ones who dealt with it."
Fury looked rather sour. Steve was starting to feel a little pity for him. Tony could be pretty overwhelming when he got riled up. "So I've heard."
"Then you know that it was fucking beautiful. I'm making that sucker-punch into a video and releasing it on Tumblr. It'll be around the world in fucking milliseconds."
Behind Fury, Hill's mouth twitched.
"Stark-"
"He's right," said Natasha.
Fury scowled at her. "Agent Romanov, you have some explanations to make for your actions. You were the one who released the Hulk instead of following protocol and doping him."
"And a good thing I did," she said calmly, and Fury made an inarticulate noise of annoyance.
"I am not takin' the fall for this fiasco."
"Hold a press conference," said Clint, shrugging.
"Can we do that?" Steve asked, looking back at them.
"Fuck yes, we can do that," Tony said, and his fingers began to fly over his phone. "I'll get that happening right now. As to the rest, I'm gonna donate stuff to the fix-New-York-again effort; shit, I'll even lift heavy things, I've had experience, Pepper can be my reference. Hey, we could get Hulk involved in that, whatcha think? It'd generate some good will towards him."
"You can't be serious," Fury said. Thor gave him a stern look.
"And why should he not make his restitutions? Is that not his choice to make?"
"He's the Hulk! He doesn't build things, he smashes them."
"Actually, he does build things," said Natasha. She smiled. "He made a kitty."
"And paintings," added Clint.
"And experiments," said Thor.
"The guy's a regular renaissance man," said Tony triumphantly.
"Sir, if you've read my report, you'll see that..." Hill murmured. Fury waved her away irritably.
"We'll leave that for the minute. What about the Council? They're asking for the immediate removal of the Hulk from the initiative."
"That will not happen," Thor said, his deep voice hard as iron.
"Yeah, well, they'll find it a bit difficult once Hulk's got the keys to the city," said Clint, picking up a piece of pizza and tearing off a bite. With his mouth full, he continued, "cosh, y'know, shaving the worl' an' all."
"Good," Thor said, his lips tight. "We will not see our comrade treated with such disrespect."
"Thor, chill. Eat the pizza and cool off, it's clouding over again."
"Ah. My apologies."
"Press conference is a go," Tony announced, putting his phone away.
"What press conference?" asked Bruce from behind them. Everyone except Natasha and Clint jumped.
"Fuck me drunk, you need a bell or something, how can a guy with a mountain inside him be so fucking quiet," gasped Tony, hand to his arc reactor as he babbled.
Bruce gave him a small smile, holding a pair of ruined sweats at his waist with one hand. Steve had to take another look at him. He wasn't exactly standing taller than before, or straighter, but there was something different about him, something peaceful and strong. His face was the most relaxed Steve had ever seen it. "Sorry, that was mean," he said, and flicked Natasha a sly look.
She actually chuckled.
"Banner," Fury grated. "I am dealing with an avalanche of bullshit here thanks to you, so..."
"I think you'll find that it was thanks to Sterns." Bruce sat down and picked up another piece of pizza. Steve was dumbfounded.
"How can you eat more?" he asked in horror.
Bruce glanced up and swallowed. "Hulk was hungry, he used it all. Don't worry, I won't need more than two pieces."
Tony looked absolutely fascinated, leaning forward and staring at the man.
"So, what's this press conference all about?" Bruce asked, leaning back. It was strange to see him healthy again for the first time in weeks, without his sling or cast or bruises peppering his body.
"You." Tony nudged him. "Gotta do the dog and pony show. We've got to reassure the weeping populace that Hulk's not out of control and that rebuilding is a thing that can happen. Plus, the World Overreaction Council is yammering to remove you from the team."
"Which isn't going to happen," added Steve as Bruce began to frown.
"All right," he said, "I'll do a conference." He rubbed his forehead. "Hang on a minute..." His eyes flashed green, and Fury bit down on a curse. "Hulk wants to talk to the people too," he finished. "He's very sorry."
"Sorry he hurt us, you mean," said Steve. Bruce looked down.
"Yes, he is. I think he'll be guilty for a while."
"Would fixing up the city help?"
"Hmm." Bruce's eyes flickered once more, and jeez that was unnerving. "Actually, he likes that idea."
"Oh that is just perfect," Fury said with heavy sarcasm.
"Oh come on," said Tony easily, and he slung an arm around Bruce's bare shoulders. "Quit your fussing, Long John. We'll sort it all out, you watch."
"I'm sure I'll find it fascinating," Fury said, dry as a desert. Behind him, Hill covered a smile.
"What's going to happen to Ross and Sterns?" Bruce asked.
"That is a strictly internal matter..."
"Which means it will take JARVIS twenty minutes longer to find it out," Bruce interrupted. "You might as well tell us."
Fury sighed, closing his eye and apparently asking the heavens for patience. "Sterns is going back to the Cube. He'll be under a new detail with a new cell that'll prove a challenge for even him to find a way out of."
"Sorry, how long did you guys end up holding Magneto? One year? One month? A couple of hours?" Tony asked, raising an eyebrow. "The guy will get out again."
"And when he does, I'll deal with him again," said Bruce calmly. "What about Ross?"
Fury hesitated. "Hate to admit this, but my hands are tied. The Council brought him in to deal with a rogue Avenger, and that rogue ended up saving the motherfucking world. He's not under our jurisdiction; the higher-ups brought him in over us."
"Military tribunal?" Bruce asked, tilting his head.
"Possibly," Fury said. "Of course, if any video footage leaks and contaminates the trial, I know where to point my finger."
"Yeah, have fun with proving anything," Tony said, smirking. Steve shook his head.
"Tony, let me take care of this."
Five heads swivelled to him. Steve gave an awkward, one-sided shrug, feeling the weight of their gazes. "Well, I'm probably the best one to make our case. They'll never trust Clint or Natasha, Bruce is a known fugitive, Tony is... well, he's made some powerful enemies in the armed forces, and half of them think Thor should be exorcised."
"Fools," Thor grumbled.
Steve drew himself up. "I've already faced down this guy once," he said, meeting Fury's piercing eye. "I'll do it again. As many times as I have to."
"Steve," said Bruce, almost under his breath.
"You'd do it for me," Steve said, not looking away from Fury's stare. "Sir, I am going to do this without your permission or not."
Fury huffed. "Always forget that you don't exactly have a problem with disobeying orders if you think they're bullshit. Your rep is wrong, Captain. You're no perfect soldier."
Steve allowed a faint smile to touch his lips. "No, Sir," he agreed.
"I'll arrange it," Fury said, and there was a hint of approval in his face.
"I'm guessing you weren't a perfect soldier either, Colonel," Steve said.
"Cap, you never said a truer word," Fury said. "Stark, send me the details of your newshound feeding frenzy. I'm gonna want to see this."
Tony gave him a sloppy salute.
"Stark?" Hill called.
"Hill."
"Good job."
Tony grinned.
"Call me!" Clint yelled as the screen flickered and snapped out of existence.
Steve sagged a little, and then gulped down half the cola in his glass. "Okay. Guess I'm going to Washington soon. Anyone up for a road-trip?"
"You don't have to do this," Bruce said, and looked around at them. "Any of you."
Steve reached over to grip the man's bare shoulder. "You're my team," he said simply.
"Looking after us again, Team Dad?" said Tony slyly. Thor snorted.
"This is more than a comradely gesture. We are more than a mere team. Can you not feel it? We are a family."
"Um," said Clint. "Thor, your family..."
Thor scowled. "You know what I mean."
"Yeah, I do," Clint said, and grinned fiercely. "I like press conferences."
"You like trolling reporters," said Natasha dryly.
"Better than not answering anything at all."
"You told them you had arrows tipped with holy water and silver."
"Vampires and werewolves, man. It could happen!"
"You told them your spirit animal was a wide-mouthed frog."
"Have you ever seen a frog miss a fly?"
"Clint, the question was 'how does it feel to be one of two unenhanced humans on the team?'"
"Well, at least I answered and didn't just glare at them."
"Well? They asked me what underwear I wear."
"I would have dropped my pants and shown them."
"See, things like that are why you can't go to Singapore anymore."
Bruce's mouth was hanging open a little, and his eyes were tinted hazel. He appeared to be hovering between stoic denial and speechlessness.
"We're in this together, Bruce," Steve told him, and Bruce's hands twitched before uncurling on the table.
"Gonna take some getting used to," he said, and one of his hands drifted upwards and rubbed at his wild hair.
"You," Tony told him, shaking his shoulders gently, "have been alone far too long. You're not anymore. So fuck yes, get used to it, smart guy." And kissed him.
Steve blinked. It had been a fast, soft kiss, almost a peck, and not a bit lascivious as he would have expected from a man like Tony. Clint wolf-whistled, only to be kicked soundly by Natasha under the table. Thor clapped his hands exuberantly. "We must toast to our success and to your new understanding!" he exclaimed, pushing back and striding for the kitchen.
Bruce looked up at Tony, his eyes flickering. "Right," he said, and his voice was slightly lower than normal. Then he smiled. "At home with the family, huh?"
Bruce (Hulk)
Tony pulled him through the corridors, holding onto his wrist. "Tony, what..." he managed, trying to hold up the pants that kept threatening to slip off his hips.
"No time to talk, gotta show you something," Tony said, palming the door to his workshop and barrelling to one of his favourite work areas.
"Sorry, this couldn't wait until I'd found some more pants?"
"That's a moot point," Tony said, frustratingly oblique. "Ta-dah!"
Without his glasses, Bruce could only squint at the graph that began to hover through the air. "Sorry, what am I looking at?"
Tony glanced at him with some surprise, before realisation crossed his face and he said, "JARVIS, blow it up, thirty percent or so. Your eyesight is really terrible, isn't it?"
"It's not great," Bruce admitted. The formula expanded, glowing in the darkness of the workshop, and he took a step back to take it in. "Wait, is this...?"
"Yep."
"You spoke to Richards? When?"
"Ages ago," Tony said, and then shuddered. "I hope you know what a sacrifice I made on your behalf."
Tony couldn't stand Reed Richards. "Oh, I do," he said, marvelling at the elegant simplicity of the formula. "Up to one hundred and forty times?"
"Apparently," Tony said, a sour tilt to his mouth. Of course, he would be pissed that he hadn't thought of the stuff first.
The elasticity would be incomparable, and extremely useful, but... "How unstable is unstable?"
"Not liking the idea of having something that goes boom near your junk?"
"Would you?"
"Depends on the boom."
"It appears that the instability is..."
"...endemic, yeah, but each molecule isn't a closed system, you know."
Bruce rolled his eyes. He wasn't some wet-behind-the-ears grad student. "No, I didn't, thank you so much for enlightening me, Professor Stark."
"Snarky," Tony said and grinned. "So, pants for Hulk."
Hulk gets present?
"I thought you appreciated the ways of my people."
"Oh I do," Tony practically purred. "I just don't appreciate everyone else getting a peep at your native folkways, if you know what I mean."
"Possessive," Bruce said lightly, and turned to him.
Tony looked a little exasperated. "Well, yeah. You've met me, haven't you? I'm a greedy guy."
Bruce laughed under his breath, and took the man into his arms. "No, you're not," he said, and bumped his forehead softly against Tony's and held it there. "You're one of the least selfish people I know. You just have to do your good deeds with a self-centred excuse."
Tony's face was a picture. "That's not..."
Bruce kissed him, and it was strange how quickly he'd become comfortable with this; the scratch of beard over his own stubble, the scent of a man rather than a woman, Tony's corded muscles against his own lean stomach. "Thank you," he said.
"Ah," Tony said, and cleared his throat. "You're welcome."
"Talk to Tony now?" Hulk said, and hang on a minute, he'd said it aloud.
"Hi there again, Green Bean," Tony said on a sharp intake of breath, stepping even closer to Bruce and putting his thumbs against his cheekbones, swiping down along the planes of his face. "Jesus. Your eyes are hazel right now."
"Are they?" said Bruce distantly, and Tony was so close he could see each individual eyelash.
"You two got something to tell me?"
"Mmm," Bruce said, and kissed him again, deepening it. "Got to talk to you about..."
Tony seemed to be drifting a little, his voice thick and slow between soft, lazy kisses. "'Bout... what?"
No, for god's sake, Banner. Where has all your fabled self-control gone?
Hulk was rather pleased, it seemed. Tony good. Makes Bruce happy.
Even so, as nice as this was, it wasn't solving their dilemma.
With a final kiss, Bruce pulled away from those thin and goddamned talented lips. Tony had certainly refined his technique over the years. Bruce cleared his throat. "About Hulk."
"He wants to model them? I gotta make 'em first. Richards only gave me the formula for unstable molecules, not the fabric itself."
Bruce surprised himself with a short laugh. "God, can you imagine the size of the catwalk?"
Tony snickered.
"No, it's about," Bruce paused, and then licked his lips. They felt smooth and polished after all that kissing. "About us. About what this is."
Tony tipped his head and then took a step back, disentangling himself from Bruce's loose hold. "Right," he said, his face shuttered. "You're having second thoughts?"
Oh for fuck's sake. "No," he said firmly. "Fuck no, that was me kissing you, in case you hadn't noticed. Tony, I'm not going anywhere. This is home now, I told you that." He stopped for a half-second, and then the why trickled into his mind. "Tony," he said, far more quietly, "I'm not going to leave you as well."
Tony actually flinched.
"Come here," Bruce ordered him, and to his mild astonishment the engineer actually did, stepping back into Bruce's arms and wrapping his own around Bruce's waist so tightly it felt like he was trying to snap him.
"See? Greedy. Not letting you go," Tony mumbled.
For answer, Bruce smoothed a hand over the planes of Tony's shoulderblades. "Happy to be caught, for once."
"L-word you," Tony muttered.
"What?"
"You heard. I'm not saying it again."
Bruce blinked, and a slow, stupid smile began to spread over his face. "You... L-word me?"
"Shut up, I also hate you, remember? I hate you with the power of a thousand burning suns."
"Tony," Bruce said gently, and put a hand against his jaw to turn his head. "I won't lie to you. I haven't got the slightest idea of what I'm doing. But it's important. You're important, the most important person in the world to us, and-"
Tony surged upwards, cutting him off and smashing his nose slightly in a bruising kiss, teeth clacking. His hands splayed out over Bruce's bare back, tracing the smooth skin where scars should stand but didn't.
What? Is all purple and hot in here. Bruce? Bruce?
"Can I..." Tony breathed, and then buried his hands in Bruce's hair as he kissed him again. "Oh my god, I have wanted to do that for fucking ages, your hair is ridiculous and fluffy and spaniely and so soft... Can we please...?"
"That's what I needed to talk to you about, and then you went and had a crisis of confidence," Bruce groaned, and his hips pressed forward without his permission. "It's Hulk... he wants to... share."
Hulk sniggered. Finally!
"Share?" Tony pulled back, hands still tangled in Bruce's curls. "Share what?"
"Share you," Bruce admitted.
"Oh," Tony said, and then shrugged. "Um, yes?"
Bruce let out an exasperated breath. "I told him so, but then there are some things... like this, for instance. I'm not okay with him being around for... ah."
"Sex," Tony said, and smirked. "Fucking. Nookie. Beast with two backs. Horizontal mambo. Screwing. Making the bald man cry, icing the cake, hiding the sausage. I have all the euphemisms, should I keep going?"
It should be illegal to watch Tony's lips shape around those words, Bruce thought dizzily.
"Yeah," he said hoarsely. "I mean, no to the euphemisms, yes to... uh."
Tony grinned at him. "You are so red right now."
Bruce cleared his throat and tried to look forbidding. "Watch it, or it'll be green."
Tony's grin only broadened. "Fine. Just means that Hulk gets all the hugs and not you."
So there!
"Ah," Bruce said, and shook his head. "I'm being ganged up on by my other personality and my... what are we?"
Tony squinted. "Boyfriends?"
Bruce chuckled. "I'm a little old for that word, and so are you."
"Oh fuck that, I'm never getting old. I'm replacing every bit of me before that happens."
"Don't," Bruce said, and knocked their foreheads together again. "I like you like this, only part-cyborg."
A thought flashed over Tony's face, but it was gone as soon as it had registered. "Okay, but you're the one I blame when our new robotic overlords lump me in with the squishy people. How about partners?"
"Better, but not by much. We're not a legal firm."
Tony laughed.
"We can work that out later," Bruce said, and took the opportunity to thread his fingers through Tony's hair. It was remarkably thick and there was some sort of product in it that made it tacky to the touch, though it smelled very appealing. "Back to the point?"
"Not my fault this time," Tony defended himself.
Bruce ignored that as Hulk prodded him impatiently. "Well, I want things to be fair this time around. We're going to share practically everything. He's awake when I am, and vice versa. But..."
"If you know you're being observed 24-7, you'd go a bit gaga," Tony said, his eyebrows lowering.
Hulk grunted. Oh. So Bruce told truth there too.
"Exactly," Bruce said to both of them, and reached out to Hulk in his mind. "So we'll negotiate private time. And one of the conditions for us both is time spent with you... if you agree."
"If I agree?" Tony squinted at him. "Did you miss the whole L-word conversation thing? Did you hit your head?"
"Well, I couldn't answer for you, could I?"
Tony's hands took a firm hold of Bruce's head and he glared into his eyes. "Hulkster? Kick this guy's hindbrain, would you?"
Hulk was chuckling, and Bruce grabbed Tony's wrists and glared back. "Stop that."
"I want both of you," Tony said forcefully. "Both of you. He's you and you're him, yeah, and I'll take you any way I can get you. If that means super science slumber party or finger-painting or smashing or fucking tea, I will do it. You gorgeous idiot."
Uh-oh. Very-very-very purple and hot now. Hulk should probably sleep?
Bruce surged forward and seized Tony's lips again, and he made a muffled noise of enthusiastic surprise before settling in to return the kiss. "Bed," Bruce growled against his mouth. "Right now."
Tony sucked in a breath, eyes glittering. "Oh goddamn fuck yes."
Hulk should definitely sleep now.
I'll wake you in the morning, Bruce promised absently, and then Tony was yanking him by the wrist back through the corridors, back to his rooms. He was thwarted in this goal a couple of times by Bruce grabbing his hips or his shoulders and attempting to colonise his mouth with his tongue.
"Brown eyes again," Tony said, and Bruce grunted before seizing his mouth again. Tony's hands pulled against his ass, and squeezed hard, and Bruce couldn't help but press against that hard, masculine hip.
"Shit, shit, shit," Tony breathed, and his breath on Bruce's face was like a benediction. "Holy shit, you are an earthquake."
Bruce could only push him against the wall and nip at his neck, his hand tracing the rim of the arc reactor and from there over Tony's abdomen with its oddly high navel and defined ridges.
"Hey," Tony managed, and swallowed hard as Bruce found a spot high on his shoulder that got a delightful full-body shudder. "Hey, hey now, slow down Big B, we've got time."
"Time," Bruce huffed, and licked up the column of that neck, feeling the ends of stubble scraping against his tongue. New feeling, but he could grow to like it. "If you were me..."
"Christ, how long has it been?"
"As long as it's always been." Bruce grinned at him.
Tony gave him an approving nod, dishevelled and kiss-bruised and gorgeous as he lounged against the wall in Bruce's arms. "I have taught you well, grasshopper. Now answer the question."
"You do not," Bruce grated, rolling his hips against Tony's with one long, slow thrust, "want to know."
"Ohmygod bed now," Tony gasped, and pulled his arms until they could move again.
From there it was a rather awkward stumble to the bedroom, and Bruce was pushed backwards onto Tony's preposterously huge bed. Tony put his hands on his hips and gave him a look of utter satisfaction.
"Now that is what I call a perfect setting," he said, and yanked off his shirt before clambering over Bruce's legs to kiss him again, his hands fisting in his hair.
Bruce leaned up, chasing the mouth that kept trying to kiss down his neck and capturing it with his own, over and over. He wasn't done kissing Tony yet – in fact, he sort of thought he might never be done with that.
"Now who's greedy?" he whispered against Tony's cheek, before taking Tony's head in his hands and licking around the curve of his ear with one hard swipe.
"Me, always," gasped Tony, and he ground down onto Bruce, his breath coming in short, hard gusts against his shoulder. So different to feel hardness against his pelvis, and not softness.
It was good, though. Good, and Bruce for once wasn't running away from his own pleasure. He sucked the flesh of Tony's shoulder into his mouth, and flicked a dark pebbled nipple, and it was different to feel hardness there too – the firm muscle of a pectoral rather than the giving softness of a breast.
He liked it, though. Never thought he would. Yet it was in its own way comforting. Tony was hard, and part of him was cold and metal, and he was as determined and unyielding in his own way as Bruce. He wouldn't break easily.
"You are thinking entirely too much, go back to being an earthquake," Tony said on a rushed breath, and he slid back along his legs to tongue Bruce's nipples and pull on them with his teeth. Bruce's eyes rolled back into his head.
"Better," Tony said, grinning up at him. There was stubble-rash around the sharp edges of his goatee, and a red mark high on his neck. He looked obscene and his hair was crazed, the arc reactor spilling light all around him and he was fucking beautiful. Those large, dark eyes with their improbable eyelashes turned wicked, and Bruce groaned.
"Now, what have we got down..." Tony said mischievously as he thumbed the waist of the ruined sweats.
"You've seen it before," Bruce grated.
"Not when it's standing at attention," Tony said, eyes glinting.
"Never say that again."
"You'd better shut me up then, hadn't you?" Tony slipped his hands into the pants, and one of them curved around his ass and began a deliberate massage. The other went directly to his cock and began a long, slow stroke. Bruce muffled a curse with the back of his hand, flopping back onto the bed.
"Not bad, Doctor Banner," Tony murmured, and tugged the pants down to his knees. "Love a grower."
Bruce moaned around his hand, covering it with his own damp breath. "God, oh god," he said, and Tony's chuckle was wet against his hip.
"Okay, so maybe we're both greedy." Tony swiped underneath the head and pushed his thumb against the tip and Bruce made an incomprehensible sound, grinding the palms of his hands against his eyes. He was so sensitised – it had been so, so long...
"Stop, stop," he gasped, and then sat up to pull Tony close again. "Let me... just catch my breath."
Tony looked ridiculously pleased with himself. "If you're going to fall to bits just from a handjob I can't wait to see what you look like when I fuck you."
"Let's..." Bruce shook his head, trying to clear it. "Let's come back to that idea another day, okay? I'm still getting used to the whole 'man' thing, let alone the sex."
"Sure," Tony said, and kissed him with slow, syrupy strokes of his tongue. "Like I said, there's no rush."
Bruce kissed him back for a few moments, before fumbling at Tony's jeans. "Off, off now, off, goddamn it, off," he growled, and Tony grinned against his mouth, his teeth hard against his lips.
"Y'know, for a guy who hasn't ever considered guys before, you're doing a fucking stellar job."
"I'm a genius, I think fast on my feet," Bruce said, and scooted back onto the bed, his legs crossing so that he could attack the jeans more directly. "These need to come off, damn you..."
"So aggressive. I like it," Tony said, and stood to help him pull them off. His underwear came off with the jeans, and Bruce was confronted with a cock. Well, someone else's cock. Not too different from his own, really. Uncut, engorged, balls, hair, all present and correct. Nowhere near as threatening or weird as he would have imagined. It was just a cock.
Well, he'd owned one of those his whole life. He knew how they worked. He pulled Tony forward by his hips, and licked a long stripe up those bumpy stomach muscles, which quivered underneath his tongue. Then he took the taut skin at the join of hip and stomach between his teeth, and rolled it, leaving a dark reddening mark, before moving down.
"Bruce, wait, hang on, Bruce, you don't have to arghgodfuck," Tony said, his knees locking as Bruce carefully wrapped his lips around that cock, and he braced Tony's back with his splayed palms as he sucked experimentally. "Okay, yes, definitely a genius," Tony babbled, and the man kept babbling as Bruce licked and sucked, cataloguing the sounds Tony made and the new sensations as he tried and tested new approaches and angles.
"Are you... are you experimenting?" Tony blurted, and then his head fell back as Bruce traced the vein on the underside with his tongue. Very odd taste, but Bruce had lived practically everywhere and eaten nearly everything, and he hadn't had the luxury of being picky. There were definitely worse things to put in your mouth.
Texture wasn't so very different to the soft, thin skin of a woman's vulva, but the way the hood moved beneath his lips would take some getting used to. He ran his tongue around the underside, and tentatively moved one hand to test the weight of the balls in his palm. Very tight, though nowhere near as furred as his own. Also, Tony was growing harder, the head shrugging away from the foreskin. Odd sensation, to have that happen in your mouth. He tried to take in a little more, and ended up coughing as tears rose in his eyes.
Tony practically deflated as his mouth left him. He slumped like a puppet whose strings had been cut, and then he began to laugh. "I'm beginning to see why they called your experimental procedure reckless and daring," he said.
Bruce wiped at his eyes and mouth, and then leaned back to glare up at him.
"Can I return the favour?" Tony asked, climbing back onto the bed and lying beside him. He took Bruce in hand and gave him a couple of gentle pumps, and he felt his back arch a little.
"Better... not," he said, and wow, he sounded as raspy as Tony did. "Gamma radiation and all."
"Oh yeah," Tony said, and bent to nibble at his chest, threading his free hand through the matting of hair there. "So what's on the table?"
"No more table jokes."
"Spoilsport."
"Mmm," Bruce said, and his hips jerked into Tony's loose grip. "Ah, well... semen's not too bad actually... saliva's no problem, only background levels of radiation. Blood is really, really not good."
"No knifeplay, got it." Tony licked up his sternum, sending his hair into dark little tufts. "So a condom is a must?"
"Right." Bruce made a face. "Not that I've had any chance to test that..."
"So not since..." Tony gaped at him from where his chin rested on his chest, and then shook his head. "Fuck. I am so blowing you. Since the accident, that's fucking criminal."
Bruce raised an eyebrow. "You know, human beings are perfectly capable of surviving without sex."
"Not that," Tony said, and reached over to a drawer to snag a packet from what looked like an entire drawer-full of condoms. "No-one's touched this goddamned work of furry art for six years. That's... I am blowing you right now, this has to be fixed and I know just the guy to do it."
Bruce laughed, low and hoarse. "My hero."
"Fucking shit yes I am." Tony rolled the condom onto him, and then followed it immediately with his mouth and the whole world blurred and narrowed and became entirely focused on that warm, sucking pressure and holy, holy god, Tony was phenomenal at this.
He couldn't stop the strangled shout from escaping any more than he could stop the sun rising, and his whole body tried to push forwards into that heat, and dear, sweet, merciful crap, was Tony drawing equations on the head with his tongue?
"Coefficient of friction," he gasped, and Tony laughed around him, sending echoes and tremors deep into his body.
A long, clever finger, scarred and solder-burned, rose to pinch at his nipple and then tug lightly on his chest hair. Bruce made another sound that would have embarrassed the living daylights out of him had Tony not at that second swallowed him down to the root.
The clamping pressure of Tony's gullet convulsed around him, and before he knew it he was gone, thrown over the brink with his hands fisting in Tony's hair and his eyes full of tears, his hips rising off the bed as he fucked up into Tony's poor, abused throat.
He flopped back down, his mind for once blissfully blank. Then he pushed himself up. "Shit," he said softly. "Sorry, that was..."
Tony knelt back and licked his lips. "Bleargh, latex," he said, wrinkling his nose as he removed the condom and tied it off. Then he registered the look in Bruce's eyes, his face softening and he crawled forward to take Bruce's lips in a plasticky kiss. "Hey, no apologies for fantastic sex. That was awesome, and you should do it again sometime soon. Maybe more than once. Hell, lots. I like it when you forget to be in control."
Bruce shook his head. "But, your throat."
"You didn't hurt me, if that's what you're worried about. I've been able to do that since I was nineteen." Tony grinned. "You have so much to learn, my friend."
"I'm a quick study," he said, boneless in relief and lazy and catlike in the afterglow.
"Always up for a study session," Tony said, and pressed his cock insistently against Bruce's side. "Wanna collect some data, Doctor?"
"You are appalling," Bruce said and turned to him. He pinched the small nipple again and slid his torso against Tony's, and Tony moaned at the rasp and scratch of hair over his own comparatively smooth, sweat-beaded chest. Tony rutted against him, shameless in his pursuit of his pleasure, even as Bruce lifted his head and kissed him. Then Bruce let his fingers drift downwards, wrapping his hand around that cock and pumping a couple of times. It didn't take long for Tony to stiffen and spill, a long, gravelly groan escaping into Bruce's mouth.
"Okay, that was fast and ever so slightly embarrassing," he said, before nuzzling a little at Bruce's hair. "In my defence, you are ridiculously gorgeous and you smell spectacular."
"I smell like you, you mean."
"Like I said. Spectacular."
"Here I thought I was the one with the mainline to the limbic brain."
"Hell no. I build tall things and slap my name on them. If that's not pissing on lampposts, I don't know what is."
"Mmm." Bruce gathered Tony closer and kissed him again, his hands wandering over the arc reactor that washed the room in cool shades of blue and white. "Better clean you up."
"Screw that. You're warm, I'm not moving."
"Hah. I run a couple of degrees hotter thanks to Hulk."
"That's handy, my feet get cold."
"Circulatory problems?"
"Yeah, arc reactor and all."
"Oh." Bruce looked down at his hand, tracing the raised circumference of the steady blue light. "Well, I'm completely fine with being a hot water bottle with a mechanical advantage."
"And what a mechanical advantage."
Bruce smiled against the wild black hair. "Flattery will get you everywhere."
"That's encouraging." Tony's hand slipped over Bruce's chest, his fingers splaying over his calming heart. "Holy... I saw you eat eight goddamned pizzas, where did they... I can even feel your ribs. You're amazing, you know that?"
Bruce turned his head to meet his eyes, and grabbed that hand tightly, holding it against his chest. "You too," he said, and there was so much more he could say.
He could say, you make me human. You gave me myself back. You believed in me, in all of me, when even I couldn't see it. You make me stop running and start building. You push me to stand up and be better to myself and to the world. You force me not to fade into the background or slink into the shadows. You remind me that I'm not just a monster; that I can be a scientist, that I'm a man, that I'm a person. You make me feel good about being smart. You poke and prod until I'm not frightened of my own irritation. You can see how Hulk and I fit together, and you're not intimidated by it. You make me stay, and you make me laugh. You're infuriating and brilliant and wonderful. I need you. I love you.
Instead, he brought Tony's hand up to his mouth for a kiss, and then held it against his chest again until they both fell asleep.
Erk blerk sex sceeeeeene bleeerk
