hyperkinesia | ( Savrou ) IC Contact

Deliberately cryptic answer.

[ HMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM ]

... Kinky.

[ Oh my god Tony just. Just stop. He's going to die of embarrassment. ]

You're an idiot. [ Said almost lovingly. ]

One of my defining features.

[ He sounds so self-satisfied. ]

So when do I get to meet her?

[ Of course he does. It's Tony, Bruce should've expected no less.

He shrugs. pursing his lips a little. ]

Soon? She's always around the department. And we share a room. [ Which is to say that technically they live together. Bruce hesitates for a moment before adding. ] Actually you might know of her already. Ever heard of Trish Walker?

Heard of her? Banner, I live in New York. Of course I've heard of her.

—You're dating Trish Walker?

[ Just going to nod a little at that. ]

That's the one, yes. I'm dating her.

Shut the hell up.

[ HOLDING OUT HIS FIST. ]

Pound it.

[ Staring at Tony like he just grew a second head. He looks like he's about to tell him he's not going to do that, but then...

He knows Tony's just not going to let it go. Ever. He'll sit there with his fist up in the air and probably lift it up again the next time they see each other. So with a purposefully audible groan, he lifts his hand, lazily curled into a fist, and lets his knuckles bump against Tony's with a distinct lack of conviction. That's it, that's all he'll get. ]

Sounds great. Maybe even a maraschino cherry if we're feeling fancy.

Can we find a place with too many tiki torches & someone playing live guitar badly?

It's a beach resort. If there isn't a place like that somewhere around here I'll be sorely disappointed.

I'm already around so whenever you decide to don your flip flops and sunglasses and join me, let me know. We can meet up then.

Copy that. I'll ping you when I'm dressed to code.

Sending you a location pin now. There will be no disappointment this evening!

[ He smirks, accepting this as the shallow victory that it is, and indulges in one last innuendo before moving on. ]

I said 'pound it', not 'gently massage it', but don't let my expertise override yours, here.

[ Then, somewhat more seriously, ] I'll be on my best behavior, I swear.

Got it. Will be there shortly. :)

Trust me, the latter can do wonders.

[ And that's about all Bruce will say on the matter ever, so take that as you will. ]

I'm not sure that's worth much, considering... [ vague gesturing at Tony ] But thanks. I appreciate that.

[ You just gestured to all of him.

He scoffs in mock offense and pulls himself to his feet, eyes flitting to the observation glass again before falling away. ]

Your faith in me is as heartwarming as ever.

[ He says, tone light, but the nervous fidgeting of his hands gives him away again; he wants to bring up what Steve had told him, now, when they're alone and aren't likely to be interrupted. Wants to find out what Bruce knows. Maybe wants one more confirmation of the truth from a trusted source; not that he doesn't trust Steve, but there would be something else to it, to hear it come from Bruce.

But talk about a moodkiller. ]

I know. You're welcome.

[ Bruce's own voice carries a hint of amusement, but it dies soon after Tony stands up. A year has been more than enough for him to get to know Tony, to learn the little nuances, what certain silences mean. At first it almost passes as avoidance until something clicks and he realizes that there's something else— something more on Tony's mind that he hasn't brought up yet. ]

What's wrong?

[ Said matter-of-factly, because there is something wrong and Bruce couldn't care less that it's a mood killer. He's not letting Tony go on this one. ]

[ Tony pockets his hands and gives him a sideways look. He has to suppress a smile, though the impulse is short-lived; it's nice having somebody so quick on the uptake. It's the kind of intuition he'd expect from Pepper or Rhodey or even JARVIS, but not really anyone else. Saves him a lot of time and energy.

When he does speak up, his words are carefully chosen and measured in a way they usually aren't. ]

Rogers told me about Ultron.

[ He leaves it at that, watching, trying to determine what reaction that earns, if any. ]

[ Concern and curiosity give way to clarity and... well, more concern. It's obvious by Bruce's expression that he knows what Tony's talking about, in fact his very stance partly reflects his thoughts on the subject, his figure tensing and his shoulders drawing together just so. ]

Ah.

[ Bruce's not from that point in time, or else he'd likely feel a lot more intensely about the whole thing. But he does know all about it (or he thinks he does anyway), and it's enough to make him feel very uncomfortable about his involvement with it. Part of him almost can't believe he'll actually do something like that in his future. ]

He told you about the twins too?

[ The shift in posture tells him enough. He won't have to do any explaining of his own, probably — not yet, anyway. But he has no way of knowing this is information Bruce has gathered secondhand, rather than lived.

He crosses his arms and lets out a short breath, not exactly amused. Wry, more like. ]

Yeeeeah, no. I ran into them myself, my first day here.

They're pretty pissed. [ More understatement. ]

[ Bruce's the one not to look at Tony this time around, the answer drawing a sound from him that's somewhere between a snort and a curt chuckle, devoid of any real amusement and dripping with copious amounts of sarcasm and bitterness. ]

Takes a special kind of hypocrisy for that.

[ And oh yes, he sounds pretty pissed himself. ]

[ And that is new and different. Tony looks taken aback for a moment, having never heard Bruce direct that kind of bitterness at anyone but himself. All he knows is that the twins are from Sokovia, and thus have plenty of reason to resent the Avengers. ]

Wanna fill me in on what I'm missing here?

[ There's a pause, a silence almost as tense as Bruce's shoulders, his lips pressed into a thin line. One would think he's trying to come up with a way to put his thoughts to words, but no, he's just trying to do it with an even and detached voice.

He manages, to some degree. ]

During their little... vendetta, against you or the Avengers or whatever, they joined Ultron's cause. Misled, so I've been told, which I'm not disinclined to believe. But the point is, they first came at us while we were trying to stop Ultron and undo the mess we did. The girl... [ The last syllable dissolves into a heaved sigh, slipping beyond the grasp of his control. He reins it back in and swallows it down, grits his teeth, goes on. ]

She got into my head. She wanted the other guy, and she managed to drag him out. Maybe in her delusional mind she thought her powers would be enough to control him, or maybe she just wanted to pitch us against each other so we'd be too busy fighting amongst ourselves to stop Ultron, but the point is he went on a rampage through Johannesburg. Because of her.

[ And yes, he blames himself, will blame himself, would have blamed himself nonetheless, but that doesn't erase her blame in all of it. Nor does it that she thought she was doing something good by trying to stop the Avengers, because the innocent lives who were in Johannesburg, the people who ran and screamed and died crushed beneath the debris of the Hulk's destruction, they had nothing to do with that. There's no excuse for what happened to them. ]

I haven't— haven't lived through it, just for the record. She told me all of this. Steve too. They told me all about what she did to me, in what I assume was some attempt at an apology or repentance on her part. [ He smiles bitterly, glancing at Tony too briefly to even make eye contact. ] Because that makes it all okay, right?

Well, it IS the next level of advancement on the Yulias Scale.

[He means Kardashev scale, but like a lot of things in a universe culturally dominated by Asari, it tends to be named after blue space women.

At the gesture, Nihlus seems to suddenly remember he's carrying the box.].

Ah, yes!

[He hands it over, explaining,] I got samples of both the refined and unrefined whale minerals.

[And sure enough, inside are four vials, labelled with as such.]

( Savrou ) IC Contact

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1/2 AGAIN IM SORRY

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LMAO IT'S OKAY I love this

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