Chapter Text
The noise from the tools was just barely matched by the riff of Motorhead’s “Ace of Spades” blaring through the workshop’s sound system. Tony had been working on the Hulkbuster’s weapons system for hours. As he finished up, he noticed the music had stopped. He turned around and Bruce stood just inside, with Pepper Potts in the doorway behind him.
“Shouldn’t you be getting ready?” Pepper asked in that way that wasn’t really asking.
“Nice to see you too. I am ready. Everything’s packed upstairs. I wanted to finish this before we go.”
“I saw you packed for me too.” Bruce moved towards him. “You know I’m not going.”
Tony pretended he did not know this. “Why not? You don’t have to go to meetings; you can go to the Smithsonian. We can go to the Ontological Intersubjectivity Summit. It’ll be like vacation. Except without a beach. Or nice weather. Or cocktails. Okay, so not vacation, but we’ll have a nice suite. And, when I’m done with work stuff, we can do whatever you want.” Tony glanced at Pepper, who waited, arms crossed, in the doorway. She was the only person who knew the nature of their relationship. Tony hadn’t told her, he wouldn’t want to rub salt in the way that they had broken up, but Tony had once forgotten that she was coming over, so she had caught them in a compromising situation. Thankfully, they still had most of their clothes on at the time. She hadn’t exactly been surprised, but that didn’t make lunch any less awkward after that. Now, she just seemed impatient, not upset or jealous, just waiting for them, so they could catch their flight to DC.
Bruce stopped only a foot away and put his hands in his pockets. “Tony, I have my own work to do here. I’ve got that presentation I’m working on; I was about to start on that neutralizing serum; and someone’s got to make sure Jarvis stays on track with the Legion.”
“Ok, now you’re just making up excuses. Jarvis can handle himself and can call us if he needs us, and you’ve been ‘about to start’ that serum for weeks. Please Bruce,” He lowered his voice, “Don’t make me go to this thing alone.” He felt bad saying it. The vulnerability was real, and he knew he’d be miserable without Bruce there, but using it to persuade him to come was more manipulative than pitiful. Still, he watched Bruce’s face soften and knew it was for the best, for both of them.
Bruce sighed. “I guess I could use a break.”
“Yes!” Tony cheered. “Hey, can you set that sleep protocol to shut everything down? That’s so convenient, how did I not think of that?” He chattered to Bruce as they left.
When Bruce had gone to get his bag, Pepper suddenly turned on Tony. “Did he say something about the Legion? Are rebuilding your Iron Man army?”
“Uh, well, not exactly. It’s the same type of thing, but totally different principles. We’re working on intelligent systems that can run a complex body without a person inside or giving direct orders. It’s really not like the original Legion at all because those were suits and these are—”
“Robots. You’re making AI robots? That’s insane! It’s incredible, but it’s insane! What are they for?”
“Well, it’s funny you should ask that really because—”
“All set.” Bruce said, coming down the stairs. Tony could kiss him for his timing. He had no idea what he was going to say to Pepper. They were still in the early stages of planning. Sure, the prototypes were built and their programming was under way, but Bruce and Tony were still discussing the practical applications of them. Tony wanted them for protection, similar to the original Legion but not just for himself, for the Avengers, for New York, for the world, but there was no way he was going to tell Pepper that.
“Great!” Tony said, obstructing Pepper from pulling him back on topic. “Let’s go.”
Unfortunately, Tony had a “boring monkey-suit meeting” right after they landed, so Bruce went right to Steve’s. There was a new Captain America hall in the Smithsonian, so Bruce suggested they check that out. Steve admitted that he had already been, but didn’t mind taking Bruce anyway.
“It must be kind of weird, seeing yourself in a museum.” Bruce commented as they walked through the exhibit. Bruce hadn’t been to the Smithsonian museums since he was a kid, and the nerd in him was actually excited to see everything.
“No weirder than waking up in the 21st century as an idolized war hero.” Steve shrugged. “My whole life has been weird. Having it displayed in a museum actually puts it into perspective.”
They were just entering another exhibit when Bruce’s phone buzzed. “Tony?” He answered it.
“Hey, I’ve got a weird question, and it’s gonna seem like the wrong time to ask, but we have to talk about it because I’m trying to make a stock deal with this woman, and she’s flirting with me to get me to agree with her. It’s never been a problem before, half of SI’s deals came from me charming my way through—”
“Tony what’s the question?” Bruce interrupted.
“Are we in a relationship? An actual romantic dating thing?”
Bruce paused and leaned against a wall. He wasn’t sure how to answer. Whatever acknowledgement he gave here would have a good deal of finality. He lowered his voice; Steve was standing a little way away, but Bruce didn’t want him to overhear. “Well, we’re not-not in a relationship. . . We’ve been doing this since, what, January? February? I haven’t seen anyone else; have you?” Then he realized what it would mean if Tony had, and he wondered how they’d made it through nine months of flirting and sleeping together without actually talking about monogamy.
“No. I mean, I have that reputation but it’s not real. I think this is real, Bruce.” Tony sounded almost scared.
“I think so too. . .” He tried not to let his relief show in his tone. They would have to talk about this more later.
“So, can I tell her that I’m actually seeing somebody, so we can get through this stupid thing? Obviously, I won’t say who I’m with.”
“Yeah, whatever you need to do.” Bruce said lightly, now amused that that was all Tony had called for.
“Thanks. Okay, I’ll have to get the deal with actual negotiation, but it’ll probably be done in an hour or so.”
“Okay.” They hung up and Bruce went to tell Steve that Tony was nearly finished with the meeting.
They ended up meeting Tony at a beautiful and certainly expensive restaurant, which accommodated them almost immediately despite their lack of a reservation. Bruce didn’t know if it was because of Tony or because they were Avengers.
While they waited for their food, Tony drifted into boredom, shifting in his seat and fiddling with things on the table. For lack of anything better to do, it seemed, he started toying with Bruce. First, it was just a wink in conversation, then Tony appeared to be competing with himself for dirtiest discrete innuendo. It didn’t take long for Bruce to catch on that Tony was testing the limits of Steve’s ignorance of their relationship. It was something they did on occasion to their friends, seeing how close they could come to revealing themselves without actually saying anything about it. Bruce thought about playing along, but when he saw Steve’s confused face at Tony’s strange (sexual) way of wording mundane occurrences, he decided against it. It wasn’t that he didn’t want Steve to find out; he really didn’t mind either way, but Steve looked more puzzled at the innuendo rather than grasping Tony’s real meaning. Bruce knew Steve was a pretty smart guy, but he got the impression that Steve was lacking in sexual knowledge, and Bruce wasn’t going to tease him for it.
When their food arrived though, Tony’s flirtations became more obvious. He moved slowly and emphasized curve of his lips around his fork, practically moaned at the taste, and maintained eye contact with Bruce as his tongue edged around his lips. Bruce forced the corners of his lips not to raise, and ended up snorting quiet laughter into his soup. He found himself unable to resist returning the gestures, exaggerating every movement of his lips and tongue, and he enjoyed Tony’s clear attention on him despite the ordinary conversation topics.. The longer it went on, the more Bruce actually hoped that Steve would catch on and say something, if only to relieve Bruce from the burden of having to watch Tony’s pseudo-orgasmic expressions over his steak and potatoes. He kept his arousal in check and sincerely hoped Tony was doing the same, otherwise leaving the restaurant might be an awkward sight.
Steve said nothing. His part of the conversation was as pleasant and oblivious as ever. He gave some insightful opinions on the Smithsonian exhibit, asked Tony what he had previously seen and wanted to see of the city, and asked about the tower construction.
“I saw pictures on the news. It looks like it’s close to finished.” Steve said.
Tony nodded. “It’s taken some extra elbow grease, but we’re making it bigger than before, pumping it full of new tech, getting ready to take in all the Avengers and some of Shield, too.” He stared at Bruce and gave Steve a mere glance. His innuendos were running thin at that point, but he made up for it with a hand motion of wrapping his hand around something and pulling it up to indicate the new size proportions of the tower. He winked subtly, and went into his usual explanation of housing for everyone, with an added lustful glance at Bruce when he mentioned the labs connecting to their shared floors. Steve didn’t even bother to ask why they were sharing their apartment when everyone else would get their own. He probably just thought it was because they worked so closely together.
“I don’t know how often I’ll be up there.” Steve admitted. “New York doesn’t really feel like home anymore, you know? And, I like DC. I asked if Shield would take me in here, rather than up there.”
“Too many memories?” Bruce asked before Tony had the chance to say something insensitive.
“Yeah. A lot of it’s the same, but everything seems so much bigger. After working the relief effort through July, I just needed to be somewhere else. Natasha thought it was funny, that Captain America was drawn to the nation’s capital.” Steve chuckled.
“Fitting.” Tony said simply. He tapped his foot against the side of Bruce’s shoe.
Bruce raised an eyebrow but decided to cut him off before they ended up doing something stupid. “I’m gonna use the restroom. I’ll meet you outside.” He said since Tony had already paid the check.
A slow grin spread across Tony’s face as Bruce turned to walk away. He thought that Bruce had given up their game, that he’d won. Bruce decided he would have to prove him wrong when they got back to the hotel.