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draconicseraphim) wrote2012-07-06 01:17 am
draconicseraphim) wrote2012-07-06 01:17 am
Entry tags:
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Title: Strange Comforts
Canon: Avengers- movieverse
Characters: Stark Spangled Banner
Word Count: 2014
Summary: Part 2! In which Bruce panics, Steve realizes some things, and Tony realizes shit needs fixing. (Part 1 is here)
The first thing Steve was aware of was the fact that he was comfortable. Which was perhaps a strange thing to be aware of because his wrist ached, there was a kink in his neck, an odd weight against his leg, and most of all he was far too warm to be comfortable. There were plenty of imperfections with the way he was sleeping but despite them, or because of them, he found a pervading sense of comfort lulling him out of moving at all.
It was bright too, even with his eyes closed he could tell that. Too bright and warm and comfortably uncomfortable to slide back into sleep though. He huffed a deep breath, barely shifting, turning his head away from the light and into the darkness offered by....
Oh.
Oh right. He blinked slowly into the faint shadows offered by Tony's hip, which he had almost pressed his face into. There was an odd moment, now that he was awake, a strange little surge of embarrassment. What on earth had possessed him to sleep like this? And why was it so comfortable?
His hand shifted on his chest, any embarrassment chased away by the realization that their hands were still tangled together and he didn't exactly remember doing it but it felt right and good and kind of scary but his lips curled up in a small smile regardless. The blanket over him was surprising though. He tipped his head, looking down at it, unwilling to part their hands to move it. Where...?
He shifted his other hand slightly but that weight against his leg kept his hand pinned to his side. Or it had until that tiny shift of his fingers had the weight falling away and Steve found himself turning his head, wincing at the brightness spilling in from the wide bank of windows lining the balcony. He blinked against the light. surprised all over again as he watched Bruce uncurl himself from the floor beside them, the motion jerky and clumsy, the older man's body obviously protesting his chosen sleeping position.
The blanket... his gaze flicked to the table, his soda from the night before and his book both neatly set aside, his page marked even. Bruce had come in late and had taken care of them. Of course he had.
When he looked back to Bruce, that small, shy, affectionate smile that was still tugging at his lips began to fade. Not because Bruce had been, in any way, unwelcome. Quite the opposite. That comfortable, contented feeling that came along with this terribly awkward sleeping arrangement was only strengthened by the other man's presence. They were both so much a part of his life now. But the look on Bruce's face was... enough to make his stomach drop.
"Hey..." His voice was rough from sleep, soft and suddenly it was awkward and strained because he didn't know what to say but he knew whatever he needed to say it shouldn't be said from Tony's lap. And he vaguely noted that Tony's determination to sleep was admirable... or a potential hazard.
He didn't have any time to contemplate what he was going to say to Bruce though because the physicist was shaking his head a little, messy curls falling into his face in the most endearing way but the smile he flashed at Steve was heartbreaking.
"Sorry..." Bruce's voice was closer to his own than Steve's had been. And that worried Steve too, especially because the moment the word left his lips Bruce was turning on his heel, rushing out of the room, the apartment, fleeing, just shy of running.
"Bruce." He called after him, finally jolted into movement, pushing himself up to look over the back of the couch as the other man vanished into the elevator, one hand lifted to his face.
That look Bruce had given him. Some strange mix of longing and resignation, something that hurt just to look at, that tugged at his heart as much as the way the man could pour so much into a single word. Why had he apologized? And why had that one word sounded so derisive? The way he'd tipped his head away from Steve, those deep brown eyes flicking to the side in a way that Steve had long ago realized that whatever he was saying, whatever was coloring his tone, it was directed at himself and not whomever he was speaking to. A habit he'd thought they'd finally begun to break him of, Tony always demanding eye contact, forcing Bruce to look up and pull himself out of the darker places in his mind.
He should go after Bruce. He should, part of him felt sure of that. But there were times he didn't understand the doctor, not the way Tony did. Tony could look at the man and somehow know exactly what he was thinking in his darker moods. Sometimes he wondered if their thought processes were really that different. Steve just couldn't wrap his mind around the depths of Bruce's self-loathing most of the time.
But that had always been okay because Tony saw it, saw it and understood it even though the billionaire could never grasp the idea of simple pleasures. Things like this morning that had left him feeling so content and pleased... at least until Bruce had needed to remove himself from that. And somehow that hurt too, irrational though he knew it was, it felt a little too much like rejection.
All together a list of good reasons why he should talk to Tony, make a plan, get himself some idea of what he was going to say to Bruce before just charging after him. A strategy, just like every other situation.
So when he felt a weight settle awkwardly against his back he welcomed it, even if it earned a little sigh of fond exasperation. Finally.
"No complaints." Tony spoke before Steve could even figure out what to say. Of course he was perfectly coherent already. Heaven forbid Tony Stark be awake for more than 10 seconds without speaking. "You were using me for a pillow all night. My turn." And the older man pressed himself more firmly against Steve's back, intentionally throwing his weight forward to make it as awkward as possible.
"Tony..." The blond just rolled his eyes, squirming away as best he could, pushing back against Tony a little to force the other man to sit up again. "Did you know Bruce came up last night?"
"So he does leave the lab without my prompting!" Steve didn't have to look to know Tony was grinning, even if his next words were interrupted by a yawn as he shoved to his feet and stretched. The blond winced a little when he heard Tony's back pop in a couple places, a twinge of guilt sweeping over him at that. "I knew he couldn't resist us forever."
Steve fell back onto the couch, watching as Tony rounded the couch. "What time did he finally come up?" Another hint of guilt.
"I was already asleep... I don't know." He'd asked Tony if they should text him, he'd even offered to go downstairs and drag the other man upstairs. They both knew how much Bruce tended to isolate himself when left to his own devices. But Tony had insisted that they didn't need to anymore, that Bruce would come to them eventually of his own accord. As if he'd needed to prove to himself that Bruce really did want to be there with them.
"Then how d'you know he came up?"
Steve sat back up, rolling his shoulders and shifting to plant his feet on the floor, sitting up properly this time. He shook his head slightly when he realized Tony was walking backwards towards the kitchen to be able to watch his reactions.
"Tony you're going to trip over something." Only slightly chiding, but mostly amused.
"My house~" As if that explained everything. Whether it meant Tony just knew where everything was or if he seemed to feel that any possible walking hazards would be responsible and move themselves out of his way Steve wasn't entirely sure.
"He fell asleep on the floor next to uh.... " Next to us. He looked away from Tony abruptly, hiding the flush that crossed his cheeks at that. "Next to the couch."
Why was it he was perfectly content earlier but as soon as Tony was awake suddnly it was something different, something embarrassing. He paused for a moment, listening to Tony pour a cup of coffee, already made at the same time every morning courtesy of JARVIS. "He seemed kind of upset..."
"Well with you taking up the whole couch..." Tony shot back but Steve could hear the faint hint of concern under the teasing, a tiny shift in his speech that meant the snark was habit and his mind was somewhere else.
"He took off as soon as he woke... up..." Steve trailed of, canting his head to the side curiously. He leaned down, brow furrowing as he lifted the phone from the floor at his feet, half under the couch. He tapped it lightly, still a little uncertain with the phones Tony had given them all months ago. He knew it wasn't his but had Tony dropped his when he got up? Or was it Bruce's?
What came up on the screen made him feel sick suddenly. His mouth dropped open, a half whispered "what?" escaping him.
John F. Kennedy International Airport
The list of departure times were scattered, most of them domestic but there were a few international ones scattered throughout the morning. Sao Paulo, Liberia, Hong Kong, San Salvador, Dubai.
Bruce.
It was Bruce's phone. Of course it was.
Why was he looking up flight schedules... and for today.
What had happened last night while they slept? What had they missed? Why hadn't he run after him this morning?
Tony was still talking, something about toast, coffee, utterly pointless things.
"JARVIS." His voice was strained, something like fear clawing at his chest. Bruce wouldn't leave, would he? He wouldn't... "Where is he?"
Suddenly Tony was dropping onto the couch next to him, sliding a mug of strong black coffee across the table towards him.
"Gonna have to be more specific. Where's... who....?" Tony trailed off though, expressive dark eyes widening as he read the screen of the phone in Steve's hand, leaning heavily against the other man to get a decent look at it.
"I let him go this morning..." Steve said softly, still confused. Things had been going so well, they'd all been having fun hadn't they? Been enjoying each other's company, this place, learning from each other, becoming a team... so why would Bruce be looking at flight schedules?
"Fuck." Tony cursed abruptly, shoving to his feet again, dropping his coffee cup carelessly on the table so that he had a hand free to grab Steve's arm, yanking him off the couch and towards the elevator, already dialing his phone with his other hand.
"He's not going anywhere." From his determination alone Steve knew Tony understood something he didn't, knew something more about the way Bruce's mind worked. It made that odd, uncertain fear from earlier become something more real, more solid in his chest. This was bad, this wasn’t idle curiosity from the good doctor, this was something more.
In a way he’d known that the moment he met Bruce’s eyes earlier.
He was still confused but there was a strange kind of comfort to be had in Tony's determination. When Tony Stark wanted something he got it. And this time that narcissistic entitlement was something Steve welcomed.
Canon: Avengers- movieverse
Characters: Stark Spangled Banner
Word Count: 2014
Summary: Part 2! In which Bruce panics, Steve realizes some things, and Tony realizes shit needs fixing. (Part 1 is here)
The first thing Steve was aware of was the fact that he was comfortable. Which was perhaps a strange thing to be aware of because his wrist ached, there was a kink in his neck, an odd weight against his leg, and most of all he was far too warm to be comfortable. There were plenty of imperfections with the way he was sleeping but despite them, or because of them, he found a pervading sense of comfort lulling him out of moving at all.
It was bright too, even with his eyes closed he could tell that. Too bright and warm and comfortably uncomfortable to slide back into sleep though. He huffed a deep breath, barely shifting, turning his head away from the light and into the darkness offered by....
Oh.
Oh right. He blinked slowly into the faint shadows offered by Tony's hip, which he had almost pressed his face into. There was an odd moment, now that he was awake, a strange little surge of embarrassment. What on earth had possessed him to sleep like this? And why was it so comfortable?
His hand shifted on his chest, any embarrassment chased away by the realization that their hands were still tangled together and he didn't exactly remember doing it but it felt right and good and kind of scary but his lips curled up in a small smile regardless. The blanket over him was surprising though. He tipped his head, looking down at it, unwilling to part their hands to move it. Where...?
He shifted his other hand slightly but that weight against his leg kept his hand pinned to his side. Or it had until that tiny shift of his fingers had the weight falling away and Steve found himself turning his head, wincing at the brightness spilling in from the wide bank of windows lining the balcony. He blinked against the light. surprised all over again as he watched Bruce uncurl himself from the floor beside them, the motion jerky and clumsy, the older man's body obviously protesting his chosen sleeping position.
The blanket... his gaze flicked to the table, his soda from the night before and his book both neatly set aside, his page marked even. Bruce had come in late and had taken care of them. Of course he had.
When he looked back to Bruce, that small, shy, affectionate smile that was still tugging at his lips began to fade. Not because Bruce had been, in any way, unwelcome. Quite the opposite. That comfortable, contented feeling that came along with this terribly awkward sleeping arrangement was only strengthened by the other man's presence. They were both so much a part of his life now. But the look on Bruce's face was... enough to make his stomach drop.
"Hey..." His voice was rough from sleep, soft and suddenly it was awkward and strained because he didn't know what to say but he knew whatever he needed to say it shouldn't be said from Tony's lap. And he vaguely noted that Tony's determination to sleep was admirable... or a potential hazard.
He didn't have any time to contemplate what he was going to say to Bruce though because the physicist was shaking his head a little, messy curls falling into his face in the most endearing way but the smile he flashed at Steve was heartbreaking.
"Sorry..." Bruce's voice was closer to his own than Steve's had been. And that worried Steve too, especially because the moment the word left his lips Bruce was turning on his heel, rushing out of the room, the apartment, fleeing, just shy of running.
"Bruce." He called after him, finally jolted into movement, pushing himself up to look over the back of the couch as the other man vanished into the elevator, one hand lifted to his face.
That look Bruce had given him. Some strange mix of longing and resignation, something that hurt just to look at, that tugged at his heart as much as the way the man could pour so much into a single word. Why had he apologized? And why had that one word sounded so derisive? The way he'd tipped his head away from Steve, those deep brown eyes flicking to the side in a way that Steve had long ago realized that whatever he was saying, whatever was coloring his tone, it was directed at himself and not whomever he was speaking to. A habit he'd thought they'd finally begun to break him of, Tony always demanding eye contact, forcing Bruce to look up and pull himself out of the darker places in his mind.
He should go after Bruce. He should, part of him felt sure of that. But there were times he didn't understand the doctor, not the way Tony did. Tony could look at the man and somehow know exactly what he was thinking in his darker moods. Sometimes he wondered if their thought processes were really that different. Steve just couldn't wrap his mind around the depths of Bruce's self-loathing most of the time.
But that had always been okay because Tony saw it, saw it and understood it even though the billionaire could never grasp the idea of simple pleasures. Things like this morning that had left him feeling so content and pleased... at least until Bruce had needed to remove himself from that. And somehow that hurt too, irrational though he knew it was, it felt a little too much like rejection.
All together a list of good reasons why he should talk to Tony, make a plan, get himself some idea of what he was going to say to Bruce before just charging after him. A strategy, just like every other situation.
So when he felt a weight settle awkwardly against his back he welcomed it, even if it earned a little sigh of fond exasperation. Finally.
"No complaints." Tony spoke before Steve could even figure out what to say. Of course he was perfectly coherent already. Heaven forbid Tony Stark be awake for more than 10 seconds without speaking. "You were using me for a pillow all night. My turn." And the older man pressed himself more firmly against Steve's back, intentionally throwing his weight forward to make it as awkward as possible.
"Tony..." The blond just rolled his eyes, squirming away as best he could, pushing back against Tony a little to force the other man to sit up again. "Did you know Bruce came up last night?"
"So he does leave the lab without my prompting!" Steve didn't have to look to know Tony was grinning, even if his next words were interrupted by a yawn as he shoved to his feet and stretched. The blond winced a little when he heard Tony's back pop in a couple places, a twinge of guilt sweeping over him at that. "I knew he couldn't resist us forever."
Steve fell back onto the couch, watching as Tony rounded the couch. "What time did he finally come up?" Another hint of guilt.
"I was already asleep... I don't know." He'd asked Tony if they should text him, he'd even offered to go downstairs and drag the other man upstairs. They both knew how much Bruce tended to isolate himself when left to his own devices. But Tony had insisted that they didn't need to anymore, that Bruce would come to them eventually of his own accord. As if he'd needed to prove to himself that Bruce really did want to be there with them.
"Then how d'you know he came up?"
Steve sat back up, rolling his shoulders and shifting to plant his feet on the floor, sitting up properly this time. He shook his head slightly when he realized Tony was walking backwards towards the kitchen to be able to watch his reactions.
"Tony you're going to trip over something." Only slightly chiding, but mostly amused.
"My house~" As if that explained everything. Whether it meant Tony just knew where everything was or if he seemed to feel that any possible walking hazards would be responsible and move themselves out of his way Steve wasn't entirely sure.
"He fell asleep on the floor next to uh.... " Next to us. He looked away from Tony abruptly, hiding the flush that crossed his cheeks at that. "Next to the couch."
Why was it he was perfectly content earlier but as soon as Tony was awake suddnly it was something different, something embarrassing. He paused for a moment, listening to Tony pour a cup of coffee, already made at the same time every morning courtesy of JARVIS. "He seemed kind of upset..."
"Well with you taking up the whole couch..." Tony shot back but Steve could hear the faint hint of concern under the teasing, a tiny shift in his speech that meant the snark was habit and his mind was somewhere else.
"He took off as soon as he woke... up..." Steve trailed of, canting his head to the side curiously. He leaned down, brow furrowing as he lifted the phone from the floor at his feet, half under the couch. He tapped it lightly, still a little uncertain with the phones Tony had given them all months ago. He knew it wasn't his but had Tony dropped his when he got up? Or was it Bruce's?
What came up on the screen made him feel sick suddenly. His mouth dropped open, a half whispered "what?" escaping him.
John F. Kennedy International Airport
The list of departure times were scattered, most of them domestic but there were a few international ones scattered throughout the morning. Sao Paulo, Liberia, Hong Kong, San Salvador, Dubai.
Bruce.
It was Bruce's phone. Of course it was.
Why was he looking up flight schedules... and for today.
What had happened last night while they slept? What had they missed? Why hadn't he run after him this morning?
Tony was still talking, something about toast, coffee, utterly pointless things.
"JARVIS." His voice was strained, something like fear clawing at his chest. Bruce wouldn't leave, would he? He wouldn't... "Where is he?"
Suddenly Tony was dropping onto the couch next to him, sliding a mug of strong black coffee across the table towards him.
"Gonna have to be more specific. Where's... who....?" Tony trailed off though, expressive dark eyes widening as he read the screen of the phone in Steve's hand, leaning heavily against the other man to get a decent look at it.
"I let him go this morning..." Steve said softly, still confused. Things had been going so well, they'd all been having fun hadn't they? Been enjoying each other's company, this place, learning from each other, becoming a team... so why would Bruce be looking at flight schedules?
"Fuck." Tony cursed abruptly, shoving to his feet again, dropping his coffee cup carelessly on the table so that he had a hand free to grab Steve's arm, yanking him off the couch and towards the elevator, already dialing his phone with his other hand.
"He's not going anywhere." From his determination alone Steve knew Tony understood something he didn't, knew something more about the way Bruce's mind worked. It made that odd, uncertain fear from earlier become something more real, more solid in his chest. This was bad, this wasn’t idle curiosity from the good doctor, this was something more.
In a way he’d known that the moment he met Bruce’s eyes earlier.
He was still confused but there was a strange kind of comfort to be had in Tony's determination. When Tony Stark wanted something he got it. And this time that narcissistic entitlement was something Steve welcomed.
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glad you approve though... now somehow I have to channel Tony for part 3 >>;
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Tony is always fun to try to channel. But you did a good job with Bruce, so I have confidence that you can do Tony just fine.
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Bruce is the only one of the three I'm confident with, really. >>;;
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I do agree. Your Bruce is flipping amazing. I'm sure you'll do fine with Tony.
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