2014.03.26 - Reunited

Tony has been with it a couple of days now. The first day he lounged around the Penthouse, kept a low profile. Now it's day 2 and he's back to work. He's currently catching up on everything that happened while he was dead, beginning with Superman utterly kicking the shit out of Darkseid. He smiles with satisfaction at that, "Well, at least you got one thing right, Stark." he says to himself. He hasn't even gone near the armory yet. That's next, and it's something he's not looking forward too. He's got lots of work to do, and that's something he's not looking forward too.
And then there's the love note DeSaad sent him, in the futuristic metal vase that's full of dying and dead flowers.
Drinking coffee, and reading two to three articles at once, Tony is pouring over data.
A knock comes at the door, and Bruce peeks around the corner. He sighs with relief. "Oh hell, I'm glad I missed Nats and Pepper," he breathes, glancing over his shoulder. "I was half afraid one or both of them would be nursing you. Which, y'know, there are worse convalesences," Bruce says, pushing his glasses up onto his nose with a grin. He takes a few steps into Tony's office, looking at the man curiously. "How you feeling, buddy?" he asks, in the tones people use around sick people and angry dogs. He glances once over his shoulder to make sure neither of Tony's 'nurses' sneak up behind him. "You, uh... well, no offense to the Man upstairs, but that's probably my favorite resurrection story."
He looks at Tony, then makes small jazz hands. "Hallelujah!" he declares, in a fitful, awkward tone, his grin a bit lopsided.
Tony Stark looks up and sees Bruce there. "Bruce.." he says softly and gets up. He makes his way to the man and gives him a hug. Nothing lingering, but definitely an appreciative embrace. "Nat and Pepper are taking some time. They've been nursing me for the better part of three weeks. They deserve some time away from me." he gives the fellow sceientist a look, "How the hell are you, man?" - deftly deflecting the resurrection topic.
Bruce grins and gives Tony a quick hug back, the lean scientist just as glad to see his friend. He adjusts his glasses as they break and punches Tony's shoulder lightly. "I, uh, I'm pretty good," he says with a fitful grin. "It's been... well, yeah, a bit rough the last few weeks, what with, uh... everything," he says, cautiously, "but I can't complain." He finds a chair and flops bonelessly into it, kicking his skater-loafer feet out in front of him and crossing them at the ankle. "How's it feel to be back in the saddle?" he inquires, folding his hands acros his stomach.
Tony Stark exhales, "Would you believe it's weird?" he says, walking over and grabbing a bottle of water for Bruce and offering it to him as he sits down, "It still kinda feels like I'm in one of Darkseid's hell-visions and I'm just gonna wake back up after being killed again." he says, shrugging as he sits. It's the first he's said of anything remotely happening to him while he was "gone".
"I can completely assure you, as a doctor and your friend, that this is real," Bruce says, taking the water and drinking a few long gulps of it. "I mean, I'm not /that/ kind of doctor," he says, a grin working across his face again. "But you know, if you'll take the opinion of someone who got one of his doctorates from Cal-Tech. Go Beavers!" he says, toasting their mutual alma-mater of MIT with his water bottle.
Tony Stark clinks with his coffee mug, "Indeed!" he says, with a smile. "Thanks." he says looking to his friend once more. "What you did there..I know it's not easy for you..well..I mean..yeah. I appreciate it, Bruce. I really do."
"As much fun as it is to wake up naked in a burned out building in Harlem, you're welcome," Bruce says with another laugh. "I'm just glad I was helpful this time. Last time I cut loose in the middle of downtown I... broke it," he says with a snort. "But you sound better," he says, switching topics. "I mean- you sound like you," he clarifies. "And I'm glad- well, everyone's glad you're back. I'm just really glad I was in Pepper's office when I was," he says. "Ten minutes either way- hell, if I'd decided to stay home instead of coming to quit, I would have missed the party entirely."
Tony Stark chuckles, "And we couldn't have you missing the party - you've missed too many already." he says, sittting back. "I just know how you hate your incident rate being low, so maybe we can get it back up to double and triple digits again." he says, sounding optimistic. "But yeah, I wasn't entirely myself for a while, there..and then I just checked out for a while. I was here, but I was just watching the show."
Bruce nods and sits up in the chair, moving a bit fitfully even while seated. As if realizing he's fidgeting, he reaches into his pocket and- with a nervous glance over his shoulder, as if expecting the impending Doom Stare from Pepper, produces his vaporator and takes a few quick puffs from it. He sighs heavily and relaxes visibly after a few seconds. "You know, I'm just glad it's done, man," Bruce says, his voice a little more laconic. "I wasn't sure how I was gonna keep the lights on here. I talked to some of your senior staff and /none/ of them had a clue what they were going to do if the Arc reactor had a serious breakdown. You're a little indispensable here, y'know?" he tells Tony.
Tony Stark waves dismissively at Bruce, "Go ahead, you're cool here. The fun police is out for the afternoon and I don't have the same issues with you doing that that Pepper does. I understand." he says gently, before taking a deep breath, "So I'm learning. I've never seen so many people actually happy to see me before. Hell I figured people were gonna be disappointed I was back, man."
"Well, I'm sure there are a couple angry husbands and boyfriends out there flipping sofas over," Bruce smirks, "but yeah, for the most part people are really glad you're home safe." He makes an effort to sit upright. "But seriously, you do know you've got two couplings out of alignment on your reactor, right?" Bruce asks, taking a chug from his water bottle. "They're only off by a few microns, but if you were wondering why you had that five percent efficiency drop last month, that's why. I tried to fix them but Pepper thinks I can't work while stoned. I told her all I need is a Journey album and some nachos. She didn't go for it."
Tony Stark eh, he says waving a hand. "I doubt that. I haven't lived up to my reputation in a really long, long time." he shakes his head, not trying to think about the reality of that situation. "Yeah I knew. I thought I would have time to work on it.." he trails off, "Well, actually I knew I wouldn't have time. But I figured you'd get to it." he says, drinking his coffee. He looks around, "If Pepper knew how often I worked on stuff around her hammered, she'd probably take it a little easier on you. Or she should've anyway."
"Ooh." Bruce winces. "Yeah, no," he says, whistling through his teeth. "No booze around Pepper. Or, apparently, Carol," he adds. "Pepper almost got me to pull my party trick. That woman can /scream/," he says, with a shudder. "Almost scared me green."
He sips his water a bit more deliberately. "But if you want some help working on it, I'll give you a hand. Y'know, I mean- I know you're a bit rusty when it comes to the working end of a screwdriver these days, what with being a playboy billionaire and then being temporarily dead, then back, and so on," he says, his tone idle and bored- and clearly baiting Tony playfully. "Y'know. You might have lost your touch. It happens to the best of us, y'know?"
Tony Stark laughs, "Did you SEE what I did in orbit over Apokolips? Hell, it'd be actually nice to do something as quaint as re-align couplers. Sure as hell beats the engineering in making a fifty foot Iron Man out of a handful of suits." he says, "If you can handle hanging around someone who's been dead and back again a few times and living the utter lie of a Playboy existence." he pauses, "Still a billionaire though - so I guess I could spring for dinner."
"Good, 'cause Hulking out and saving your entitled ass always works up an appetite," Bruce says with a broad smile. "The THC doesn't hurt, either. Man, this stuff gives me the munchies." He dives into one of his pockets and produces a crumpled bag of Doritos, and starts crunching down on them. "Sounds like some pretty inspired engineering, though. So maybe you haven't lost /all/ of your touch," he says, tilting the chair back on two legs for a second. "So if we can get your little toy reactor up and stable again, you can treat me to some Panucci's. I've been dying for pizza lately and the ARGUS won't let the delivery kid use the shuttle to deliver. Can you believe that? Agent Hill is all 'official business only' and I'm going 'It's 2 AM, I'm working on keeping your ship afloat, and I want pizza, how is that not official business?' " He rolls his eyes expressively.
Tony Stark cocks an eyebrow, "You think you'll be able to handle dinner after a bag of Doritos, Shaggy?" he asks, giving as good as he gets, walking briefly into his Armory and grabbing a couple of appropriate toolkits. Then he leaves one behind, "Tell you what. I'll realign, you can critique, and I'll show you why I'm every good as I'm paid to be. Then we'll grab some Panucci's. I just had a Cheeseburger earlier, so I crushed that particular jones. And damn if a good pizza doesn't sound fantastic right now."
"Ok, let's do it to it," Bruce says, getting to his feet. "And if I'm shaggy, that makes you Freddie," he observes, taking a toolkit in hand. "So the first step is figuring out how to remove that stick from your butt.." he says cheerfully as he follows Tony out of the room and off to go play. Boys and their toys.
Tony Stark blinks, "Wait, how did I end up with the stick up my butt? I'm the party boy remember?" he says, heading to the elevator. "So Pepper really flipped a table on you and made you a little green?" he shakes his head, "I'm not surprised.. We were at the White House once for a private dinner and the President said something a little off color. Pepper gave him such a talking to to that he turned white for a few minutes...he looked like Alfafa from Our Gang with a buzzcut."
"Yep. I just wanted to pour one out for my homie and Pepper practically slapped the glass out of my hand," Bruce confirms. "I didn't know Carol was on the wagon, though, so I do feel a bit bad about that." He shakes his head as the elevator doors open and steps in, turning to face them. "I tell you, man, there's no one happier than Pepper that you're alive. You're lucky to have her."
Tony Stark nods, "Well, I'm not surprised. It's always been touchy with her. She's seen me hammered more often than not, and knew I pretty much gave it up. With Carol in AA and probably tempted, given what SHE went through on Apokolips, I'm not surprised Pepper lost it a little given the circumstances." he presses the call button on the elevator, "I'm lucky as hell to have her. She's the angel on my shoulder, believe it or not. The worst thing I can imagine these days is disappointing her or letting her down. Her respect is worth quite a bit to me."
"Man." Bruce shakes his head. "Listen to you, all responsible," he says, his tone wry. "It's a good thing," he hastens to add. "Pepper's good people. If you try and do things that make her happy with you, you can't steer wrong," he assures Tony. "I mean- I wouldn't want her pissed at me, so good luck with the minefield. But she'll keep you on the straight and narrow," he assures Tony in a friendly tone.
Tony Stark hmmms, "Well, it's not as hard as it sounds. I mean, the Tony Stark that everyone thinks they know now effectively lives as fiction." he sighs a little, "I put the bottle down except on occasion, only been on three dates in the past year and a half and two of those were with Dazzler and one THOSE was as my date to the Expo opening. I mean, the only thing that's true about being a playboy anymore is that I actually play at it. I haven't done it in a long time. I don't even really go to the hellfire club anymore." he laughs a little, "Jesus, I'm boring now."
"Boring's not bad," Bruce observes, as the elevator doors open and he follows Tony along, toolkit in hand. "Stability's nice. I like stable. Now, dating again, that's kind of weird, but I think you and I have similar issues, if not different problems," Bruce observes sagaciously. "We're both at a point where maybe it's time to settle down a bit. Start thinking forward more. That's why I initially agreed to help Pepper out. SHIELD's been good to me, but I don't want to work for them forever. I want to go back to just being Bruce- inventing stuff, tinkering, fixing things. Not being a man on the run. And now that's starting to pay dividends."
Tony Stark shrugs, "I think you're right." he says, and the briefest flash of loneliness crosses his face. Once again, for the man who has everything, what does he really have? He punches the sequence to get down to the reactor and then pops a piece of gum into his mouth, offering some to Bruce, "Somehow, I think you have a far easier time getting a date than I do." he laughs softly, "I was just telling a friend I went to lunch with earlier that my rep is really kinda like the bastard love child of Charlie Sheen and Howard Hughes."
"Only to people who don't know you," Bruce points out in a gentle, friendly tone. He accepts the gum with a nod and starts chewing on it. "And that's part of the celebrity. The people who know you- really know you- get who you really are. There's someone out there for you," he assures Tony. "If that's what you really want in life. She'll present herself."
A beat. "Or he will. You know, whatever. I don't judge," Bruce says, looking innocently skywards.
Tony Stark shrugs, "Well either that, or I'll have screwed myself because first no one wants a Tony Stark with the reputation I have, and once that's lived down, no one wants to risk anything on an Iron Man." and then he pauses and looks at Bruce, "Dick. Don't hate me because I'm beautiful." he glances over, "ARE you seeing anyone lately? I've been kinda dead and stuff, so I've not read the SHIELD gossip board."
Bruce clears his throat and shifts his glance around, deliberately examining the elevator panel. "...this is the slowest elevator ever," he groans.
"Yeah," he confesses, after the elevator gods fail to liberate him. "It's still pretty new- we've only been seeing each other for a few weeks. But she's brilliant and for some reason, not scared of me." He shakes his head, dumbfounded. "Kind of... fell on me out of the blue, to be honest," he says. "Women are nuts, man. I don't know what she sees in me, but I gotta admit, there's something to be said for dating in the workplace. We see each other every day, which is... really kinda nice," he says, sounding a bit surprised.
Tony Stark looks over at Bruce, "You're fishing off the company pier? Get the hell outta here - I'd never guess you for that. I certainly couldn't. Get slapped with a harassment suit so fast it'd turn Pepper into a blonde." he shrugs, before commenting, "You forget, we're going all the way down to the lobby and another ten stories to the reactor sublevel. We'll be there in a minute though."
Actually..right about then. *DING*
and the doors open leading down a hallway and into the area with the actual reactor itself. Which looks like a version of what Tony used to wear, only on steroids. The reactor he wears...doesn't look like that, anymore.
"Yeah. She's sweet. You'd like her," Bruce says. "She's clever, too. Can dance, she's light on her feet, she's witty... oh and she's got, like... that Pepper death-glare thing, but she verbally puts you down. Hit me so hard all I could do was just stared slack jawed at her. It's awesome, but... damn," Bruce says with a laugh. "Anyway. Let's get it it, eh? And let's get some pizza in here, I'm already hungry." He goes over to the control panel and starts reading off some numbers, mentally limbering up for the task ahead, as the two men settle into a boringly familiar, yet oddly comforting routine of labor.
Category:Log