we're a time bomb.

radiatix balancingtheledger

                        ” aren’t you one of those                            heroes i’ve been reading                            about —- ? ” 

     it’s almost a loaded question.           considering how he feels about           costumed vigilantes.                    then again, as far as                    the public knows, he’s                   all for them. with zero                   baggage attached.  

           Bruce frowned, surprised to be recognized and even more surprised at the pointed tone the kid was using. Granted, there were plenty of people who weren't exactly fans of mutants ---- or "super heroes," as a lot of media outlets had been calling them lately, as uncomfortable as that made Bruce feel. But it was usually older, more conservative people who voiced those kinds of opinions, not youths like the young man before him.

          He pushed that thought aside and shrugged.

                     "Yeah ---- something like that."

Clint holds up his hands. It’s not mock innocence, for once - it’s real. 

"Learned it as a kid. Necessary." 

It’s as much as he’ll let slip out without getting maudlin about the whole thing. 

"Sorry, man. I’ll try’n, like … wear bells or somethin’ around you." 

     Bruce knew next to nothing about Clint's past, and he wasn't especially interested in learning it ---- he wasn't the type to pry into people's personal lives, especially when that person's personal life was classified information. Still, Bruce couldn't help but wonder what Clint meant by his comment.

    "No, it's okay. If I couldn't handle being startled I wouldn't be here. You just surprised me." 

    ❝——nineteen.❞  everyone called him kid. everyone.  and yeah, okay he;s nineteen but  he’s also saving people every day  and every night so he doesn’t feel  like a kid. he hasn’t in a long time. 

          "Nineteen?" That's still practically a baby as far as Bruce was concerned, but he looked younger than that to him. Christ, maybe Bruce really was getting old. Pushing that aside, he peered at the kid a little more closely.

          After a moment, he said, "You're not one of Xavier's kids, are you?" It seemed likely, at least to Bruce ---- there was always an over-abundance of wayward mutant kids under Charles's wing. Not that this kid was necessarily a mutant, but Bruce had gotten to a point in his life where he was suspicious of most people ---- especially people who managed to sneak into high-security SHIELD buildings. 

     ” yeah… i am. it’s really not much of a surprise though, is it? “

      "I guess not. We all have a few screws loose.

      "You always seemed to have it more together than the rest of us, though. Granted, that isn't saying much."

  except he totally is interested. instantly.   peter moves a little bit closer and looks   at the equations he had written down   before chewing on his bottom lip.                        he’s thinking.   ❝ have you tried mixing a sedative      & something that causes paralysis.      it’d be pretty bad for anyone else      but i’m guessing he’s pretty immune      to most everything, huh? so maybe      it’d be a little bit effective.❞

       "That was my thinking, too, actually ---- but I've tried some of the strongest known paralytics, sedatives, and poisons in the world and so far all they've done is make the Other Guy even angrier."

        He did not add that he wasn't worried about hurting or killing the Other Guy, or himself. It would be a shock of a poison did what a bullet to the brain couldn't manage, but if it did, Bruce wouldn't exactly consider it a great loss. But that wasn't the kind of thing you mentioned to anyone, much less a kid.

        Bruce paused, glancing up from his notes to the kid again. "How old are you, anyway, kid?"

  ❝ i’m really light on my feet.❞  and he can climb walls & ceilings  but, whatever, just details. a grin  catches his face and he rocks onto  the soles of his feet before taking  a step closer.  ❝ so uh—- what cha’ working on? ❞

        There was something about the way the kid said that that made Bruce raise an eyebrow ---- it almost sounded true ---- but he decided to drop it, at least for the moment.

        "Nothing you'd be too interested in, probably. I've been trying to develop a tranquilizer for myself ---- or, you know. The Other Guy. I know nothing will work on him when he's already fully on the surface, but I thought maybe if I used it right before... Well, it hasn't been working too well, to put it simply, but I didn't really expect anything different.

         "----Like I said, not that exciting." 

                he gets excited, then, and restraining himself from                 bouncing on the balls of his feet takes much more                 self control than it reasonably should. raven always                 says he gets a bit mad when pleased, bursting with                 frenetic energy. usually she’s talking about a scientific                 breakthrough or development on his thesis, as it’s rare                 for him to get so worked up about other people.

             but, well, bruce banner. neurophyscist and genius and              brilliant scientific mind. charles grins, checks himself, and              smiles at the other in an appropriate display for the situation              at hand. right hand fingers tap restlessly on his upper thigh              as the left gets stuffed into his trouser pockets.

              ❝ You’ll forgive me if I don’t know of any place nearby? ❞

        Bruce's was more than a little surprised at the excitement from Charles. He was no mind-reader, but there was no missing that gleam in the other man's eyes, not to mention that grin, even if it was quickly toned down. Maybe Charles really wasn't exaggerating about his admiration of Bruce's work, or maybe Charles was just that type of person. Either way, Bruce was endeared, and more than a little flattered.

        Doing his best to keep his own smile at a reasonable level, he crossed his arms over his chest to keep from fidgeting. "No problem," he said, perhaps too brightly. "There's a coffee shop a few blocks from here; it's a little snug, but their tea is fantastic." 

  ❝ uh— i was just curious?      i like science. a lot.❞   second in his class, top science   scores. like is putting it mildly.   and it’s not a total lie, either.

         Bruce's eyebrows inched upwards, surprised to find that he actually believed him. After a moment's contemplation, Bruce shrugged.

         "Well ---- so long as you don't break anything or fiddle with anything too top-secret, it's not my problem." He paused, then added, "Still curious how you got in here, though." 

        “———— Oh.”

        "Oh----"

            "----Uh, sorry. Wrong room." 

  actually, yes, that’s exactly how.   but peter is well aware he can’t say that.   well, he could. this is bruce banner, right?            the hulk.   he could totally go ’ i’m spider-man’ and   either be laughed at or probably have his   secret identity safe.         but he wasn’t going to tell people who was.         not anymore and not after gwen. it was too dangerous.         especially when a certain ex-best friend wanted to         ruin his life in every way possible.

 ❝ they were on lunch break.❞         he needs to get better at lying.

        Bruce knew he probably shouldn't laugh, but he couldn't help it.

                     "Lunch break?"

        This kid was an odd one, that was for sure ---- but he didn't seem especially dangerous. Maybe he was an Agent's kid? Then again, if he was, wouldn't he have just said that?

         Finally, Bruce just shook his head, putting his work aside and peering at the kid more closely. "Okay, let's say I believe you about that ---- and I definitely don't. What are you doing here? Surely you didn't sneak into a SHIELD building just for sport." 

      ” i’m a mess. “

       "You are?"

   for a guy with spider powers    peter can be the worst at sneaking.    he clears his throat, rubbing the back    of his neck, stepping out.          ❝ no? sorry. i was just—-             looking for the bathroom? ❞   smooth.  

          Bruce wasn't buying it ---- who would? But he also wasn't overly eager to sound the alarm on the kid, either. After all, how much trouble could one kid cause?

           . . . Okay, probably a lot. Bruce pushed that thought aside.

          "This is a high security SHIELD building. The first three floors are crawling with Agents. How did you get in here, the window?" It was a joke, mostly ---- they were on the eighth floor, after all, but Bruce couldn't imagine this kid managed to sneak past the Agents if he couldn't even sneak past Bruce, either.

             doing things, staying active, never letting his mind wander too far into dangerous territory         these are all things Tony excels at. that’s the trick to insomnia, as far as his experience has been. pretend a problem doesn’t exist for long enough and eventually you can fool even yourself into believing it, right? he won’t pretend to know what’s supposed to be The Right Thing To Do when it comes to the multitude of problems between them but hey, he’s glad neither of them have to stick it out alone anymore.

             Tony’s gaze lifts, catches Bruces at an angle that makes his eyes seem wider and more honest than he usually allows them to be as he gives a small shake of the head.

                                           ❝You don’t have to thank me, Bruce. ‘S what friends do, right?❞

              and even though he viciously hates the brief flicker of genuine uncertainty, he’s guessing it must be, judging by the smile on Bruce’s face. people don’t tend to have a lot of reasons to smile around Tony; smirk and chuckle and laugh, sure, but smiles? those are… rare things to be found in his general vicinity, rarer even for them to be real. so he lets it sink slowly in, stored away in the near perfect veracity of his memory. a smile of his own is twitching at his lips, half obscured by the fist he has his chin perched upon. he sniffs, nose scrunching as he shifts back in his seat, straightening his spine with a groan.

                       ❝Something about elevators in Sweden. Nothing you couldn’t have afforded to miss.❞

                                     he pauses, head cocking at an angle.

              ❝…I am actually sleeping a little better these days —— I don’t know why. Time, I guess. Maybe it’s having the suits gone. Kind of liberating in a way, even though it feels like all of my kids have gone off to college and left the nest. Only in this case college is being blown up in the sky as Christmas fireworks.❞

              Bruce came close to arguing. Friends or not, Bruce was grateful. He had not had someone he could talk to so openly since Betty, and even with her Bruce had held some reservations. He had never been a people person, never excelled at making friends before the Other Guy, least of all after. What friends he did make, he kept at a safe distance. There was simply too much lurking under the surface for Bruce to let anyone come close enough to peer inside.

             Bruce wasn't sure what made Tony the exception to that rule, but he had long gotten past questioning it. He was simply grateful.

             In the end, he voiced no argument. After all, it was a nice sentiment, to think that Tony made such offers for nothing but the simple reason of their friendship. Instead, he smiled. "Yeah. I guess it is."

             Still, Bruce couldn't help but think that he would have to find a way to repay Tony for his kindness, friendship or not. After all, friendship was a two-way street, and if Tony was going to invite Bruce into his life in such a way, Bruce would have to find a way to do the same, even if Bruce's life didn't exactly have many openings that Tony wasn't already casually occupying. Assuming he managed to keep Tony a part of his life long enough, Bruce figured he'd eventually get his chance, one way or another.

           "...Elevators in Sweden?" Bruce echoed, a little belatedly. There were about a thousand questions he could ask about that ---- and, damn it, he couldn't help but feel guilty about falling asleep in the middle of Tony's spiel. After all, what was he here for if he couldn't listen? Still, Tony seemed content to move on to other topics, so Bruce followed his lead.

          "That's good to hear." And it was ---- Bruce had been confused about Tony's decision to get rid of the suits at first, and he still couldn't claim to fully understand it, but if it took some of the weight off Tony's shoulders then it was no doubt for the best. God knew Tony was carrying enough weight as it was. Chuckling under his breath at Tony's (really incredibly flawed) metaphor, Bruce added, "Whatever the reason is, I hope it keeps up. You don't get enough sleep as it is; God knows you don't need insomnia on top of that."