betterthaneinstein

[betterthaneinstein]

starkfacts:

Tilting his head to one side, considering his – friend? Where they friends? This was a very friend thing to do, wasn’t it? Hang in their dorm room? - well, considering his professor technically, he sucked his bottom lip into his mouth to worry upon. “I mean, yeah, sure?” 

That wasn’t meant to sound like a question. 

“I mean sure. Yeah, totally. Do you want me to come with? Or stay here? Wait, what kind of drink? I have drinks,” he nodded his head towards the mini fridge, “there’s soda and alcohol and water, ignore the petri dishes, they’ve been there for months, wet sciences, I get too bored too quickly.” Stop. Talking. “Aaaah… simple answer. Yes. Yes you can get something to drink and if you want, I can come with, or I can stay here, but yeah. Yes. To, er, clear that up.”

And this was why he had a grand total of one friend: Rhodey. Who wasn’t even here (but fuck, surely he qualified?) And why did the ground never open up and swallow him whole when he wanted it to?

Bruce listened quietly to the answer. All the extra words and the additional information he didn’t need. The words were heard but the information wasn’t registered. After the ‘yes’ Bruce had all he needed. 

When it seemed like Tony was finished, Bruce nodded his head. Afraid that if he opened his mouth he’d say something stupid, offer up too much information, or worse, his voice would do that awful cracking thing it did when he was nervous.  With that, he left. No idea where he was going or where he’d find something to drink, Bruce headed out for fresh air and time to think.

Seventeen minutes later, he returned to the room he’d left. Without a beverage but with a clear head. Everything had been stuffed down, he was back to the emotionless joy of a human he’d always been known to be. Knocking on the door, making sure it was really okay he came back before entering. If he was Tony, he wouldn’t let him back in 

being myself suits me the best || tony & bruce

[betterthaneinstein]

collegegingerpotts:

“Right, sorry,” Virginia quickly apologized. “I love chess, but I haven’t played it since high school. Boy, wouldn’t the team captain be pissed at me?” she chuckled before realizing she was rambling. This person looked like he wanted to get wherever his destination was, was probably already irritated with her, and could care less about her extracurricular activities during her adolescent.

She awkwardly cleared her throat. “Um, sorry. Anyway, I’ll stop blocking your way. You go first.”

It was starting to be that this job was biting his tongue as much as the last one. Something Bruce wasn’t good at but recognized as a skill he needed in talking to people. How this woman could claim to “love chess” and not know the terminology was mind-blowing to Bruce but he faked a smile. Nodding like he somehow understands forgetting what stalemate meant. It wasn’t a convincing gesture but he was trying. 

Until, of course, he couldn’t hold it in anymore. “I assume ‘pissed’ would be the least of the emotional worries. Disappointed is a far better fit. Should you actually be on the team, I imagine - at a collegiate level - you’d be expected to know the basics. They don’t bring on football players who don’t know goals from touchdowns.” 

No peppermint mochas, please!

[betterthaneinstein]

little-widow:

“Oh,” Natasha blinked. “I’m sorry, I didn’t realise.” She’d seen him around campus at some point she was sure, but he looked too young to be a professor, and evidently she didn’t take any classes he taught. “I think mingling is okay though, as long as it doesn’t cross any lines.”

His next words had her nodding slightly in agreement. “There’s a lot going on. All the music, the excitement…” she broke off with a small shrug. “It looks fun, I’m just not really sure where to start with getting involved with it all.”

“I assure you, no lines will be crossed,” Bruce muttered. Though there was a voice in the back of his head reminding him he’d already spent so much time in one of the frat houses. He’d laid down in a student’s bed. It was innocent and needed but that didn’t mean his mind hadn’t twisted that into the worst of things. 

After pondering her response a moment, Bruce looked at the stranger with all the authority on the subject he could pull. “I do believe you’re just supposed to jump right in, as they say.” There was a small shrug of his shoulders. Bruce had never been one for jumping right it, he was much more a (very) slowly easing in kind of guy. For him, being here was a start and as far as he’d planned on going for tonight. 

[betterthaneinstein]

[betterthaneinstein]

starkfacts:

Frowning at the ‘he’s not’, he thought back to their earlier conversation – he was positive Bruce had said he was, right? And then he started to question himself, maybe he hadn’t? He’d had a lot to drink after all, so who knew. At the ‘he is’, Tony frowned even more – clearly he needed to stay the fuck away from this, because this was obviously a bag of do not fucking touch. 

He knew all about carrying baggage. His was designer after all. 

He wasn’t sure what Bruce’s would count as. 

Sitting up at the flurry of movement, his stomach sank to his toes. Oh well fucking done, Stark. Without his contacts in, and with his glasses hiding wherever he’d discarded them last, Bruce’s outline was soft around the edges, his facial expression muted. “Hey–hey, no, you don’t have to. I’m sorry. My mouth,” he tried to go for a smile, “it doesn’t listen to my brain all that often. I’m sorry, look–hey, we can talk about something else, right? DUM-E?” He ignored how his ‘bot perked up at the sound of his name. “You were interested in him before. I can tell you how he works. Show you some of his code.”

Bruce’s wasn’t just baggage, he was that room at the airport where they kept all the unclaimed bags. Dusty, forgotten, and locked away so no one could access it. But also filled to the point of barely being able to move. Tony was breezing through the room, picking locks, and rifling through belongs to see there was anything worth selling and Bruce had given him the keys. A choice he was no regretting as he stood frozen, wishing to be anywhere but here. 

Even after Tony’s offer to look at DUM-E, Bruce stood there saying nothing more than the occasional mumble. Finally putting his hands over his face, a very childlike I-can’t-see-you-so-you-can’t-see-me moment. (in many ways Bruce was still a child but trauma did that to you) 

A few more sniffles, lots of heavy breathing, and Bruce pulled his hands down. Held together by sheer willpower, he avoided looking at anything even remotely in Tony’s direction. “Can I go get something to drink?” 

being myself suits me the best || tony & bruce

[betterthaneinstein]

collegegingerpotts:

It seemed like the situation was just about hopeless. Surely if Jen and/or James actually came here, they were lost in the massive crowd and Virginia was never going to find them, or they already came and left. So, there was no point in staying out there, waiting around with a cup of hot cocoa that was either going to get too cool before she finished drinking it or get spilled on someone (probably herself).

She sighed and took a sip of the sweet drink before shoving her phone back into her purse. Well, she supposed it was still worth a try anyway. She was fixing to head back towards her dorm when she came face-to-face with a man with dark hair.

He seemed to be about her age, so she guessed he would be about twenty, maybe nineteen or a little older. However, he didn’t seem to carry himself like the typical college student. His face was almost a bit harsher as if he had seen much more or was forced to grow up quicker.

She tried to move out of his way, but it seemed each movement she planned, he did as well, since they both kept moving in the same directions. She stopped when he did, fixing to apologize when he spoke up. “Heh, yeah, it’s almost looking like a rook checking a king,” Virginia shyly joked, then cleared her throat. “I’m, um, I’m sorry,” she apologized both for unintentionally blocking him and for the bad joke.

Bruce hadn’t been in the mood for socialization today, but there were few days he was. It was an unfortunate side effect of the planet they were on. Rather than snap or say something mean or worse, walk away without answering, Bruce took in a big breath and held it for a few seconds. 

“The analogy is flawed, at best. Good effort though.” Nodding his head, Bruce held back the comment about assuming all nerds played chess because he was a nerd who played chess. “I believe ‘stalemate’ is the word you’re looking for.” 

No peppermint mochas, please!

[betterthaneinstein]

[betterthaneinstein]

starkfacts:

The question had upset him and he’d know it would, but he still felt like shit for it – but not enough to tell Bruce that he didn’t have to answer if he didn’t want to, because he wanted to hear it. He ignored the sounds of Bruce pulling himself together and when he spoke, he ignored the slight tremor in his voice, eyes half-lidded as he traced patten on his sheet and followed the movement of the fabric. 

Bruce couldn’t see it but at the first uttered response, his lips twitched up in a half-smile, soft around the edges, because yeah. He got that. 

He lay his hand flat against the sheet when Bruce went quiet and only moved to slowly press his leg against his a little firmer and left it there when Bruce didn’t haul ass out of bed; it wasn’t quite a hug, but Tony hadn’t ever known what to do around upset people - he didn’t know how to offer comfort, not really. 

“I’m sorry he was such a shit. I’m glad he’s dead.” A beat. “What was her name?”

“He’s not,” Bruce’s mouth moved before his brain had a chance to stop it. For years Bruce had been telling everyone Brian was dead, living like he was but in the back of his mind knowing the man was still roaming the earth. And not in prison. Instantly he tried to cover up but there wasn’t a clever way to undo that truth. “I mean, he is. He’s, um.....yeah.” 

Skipping a step in movement, Bruce was on his feet. He was shaking his head and muttering a few things quietly before he turned around to Tony. “I have to go, I got to, I need to go. I need to go home, I have to go.” Bruce shrugged his shoulders, dragging his arm under his nose. All at once this hit too much for him. He took no steps towards the door, his legs weren’t working with him. His body wasn’t working with him at all. Bruce would feel betrayed if it wasn’t so commonplace. 

being myself suits me the best || tony & bruce

[betterthaneinstein]

little-widow:

Turning her head slightly to see who had joined her, she offered a small smile, the wordless greeting coming more naturally than it had when she first arrived at the university. “Just taking it all in,” she shrugged. “It’s kind of new for me to be at this sort of thing.” A half truth, rather than an outright lie; Natalia Romanova, the Black Widow, was used to all of this; Natasha Romanoff wasn’t. “What about you? Don’t fancy being out there with all of them?”

There were a million reasons Bruce could give as an answer. He didn’t like crowds, he didn’t know anyone, hadn’t attended a party like this before but he opted for the what he felt was the easiest path. “I’m not sure professors are supposed to be out mingling with the kids.” 

It was his favorite fall back to exclude himself. There was an official title that kept him away from everyone. Students were all his age but he allowed his job to keep him separate. He allowed his job to keep him “safe”. 

“It is all a bit overwhelming though, isn’t it? I mean, if you’re not used to it.” 

[betterthaneinstein]

collegegingerpotts:

[Closed with @betterthaneinstein]

Finals were OVER!

Oh, Virginia was so happy. Granted, she studied well and believed she did well on her exams, but it was a gleeful feeling to just be done. And the hot chocolate bar could not have come at a better time for the redhead.

In fact, she was hoping to find James or Jenn there. Maybe Tony. She wanted to ask how they did, see if maybe either of them were staying during the break, too. Perhaps it was selfish, but it’d go a long way to making her Christmas stuck on the island not suck.

And wow, there were a lot of people here, she thought, surveying the crowd. Honestly, Jenn and James could be standing like ten feet away from her, and Virginia wasn’t sure if she’d still be able to spot them in the crowd. It was almost overwhelming. After retrieving her hot chocolate (and telling the sorority girl three times, “No really, I don’t want any peppermint”), she was wandering the crowd slightly, trying to see if she could spot her friends.

Bruce felt like an old man as he traversed the sidewalks in an attempt to get back to his office. Grumbling to himself about kids and how when he was in college people didn’t just congregate on the sidewalk. Mad because he was inconvenienced and faced with the possibility of social interactions, Bruce pushed his way through. 

He’d made his way out to the frat houses to drop stuff off for Tony. Most of his hang-ups about being a professor spending any amount of time with students had dwindled. He didn’t want to kill Tony, which was high praise, so Bruce went with it. After dropping off his research, he was heading back to the office (no concern for whether Tony was there or not) and found himself faced with this crowd. 

Weaving and pushing his way through worked out until he found himself faced with a red-head and her cup of what Bruce assumed was cocoa. Stepping to his left to get out of her way, she moved the same direction. Naturally, Bruce moved the opposite way but she followed. Stopping, he signed. “Apparently this move needs some coordination.” 

No peppermint mochas, please!

[betterthaneinstein]

             63% intellectual           21% Caregiver           16% Spiritual                Archetypes Quiz Reluts for Bruce Banner (take it here)

[betterthaneinstein]

little-widow:

Natasha had been to parties before, that wasn’t new to her. What was new, was that she had no objective, no target to track or take out. For the first time ever, she was there simply to enjoy herself. It was strange, but in a good way. Mostly. There was still part of her, and a rather large part at that, that was somewhat hesitant as she stood to the side, watching on as more accustomed party-goers drank and danced with each other. 

Bruce hated parties, not that he’d been to many. Or any really. He was far from the top of anyone’s invite list. Something he’d blame on being a tween working towards doctorates rather than stressing about middle school dances. This was far beyond his comfort zone. So rather than go find his friends (or rather friend, singular), he found a spot next to someone all alone. It took him a while to work up the want to participate in small talk. 

“How come you’re standing back here?” 

[betterthaneinstein]

Bruce donated two erector sets to Superior Super Foods. 

It took him a while to track them down, turns out they don’t really make erector sets anymore. It’s a new company that’s trying to push edgy, hip things and, in Bruce’s opinion, limiting creativity. You only get just enough pieces to make a motorcycle, nothing else. 

For better and for worse, it was this very gift that changed Bruce’s life. He’s hoping it’ll do the same for some other kids. 

Superior Super Foods was the easy choice. Bruce doesn’t care about the prizes or anything, he just didn’t want to fuss with the whole thing to get into the bar.

and because i’m the kind of trash that has this just laying around

[betterthaneinstein]

starkfacts:

Running over his bottom lip with his tongue, he did have one question he wanted to ask - something that had been there since he’d sloppily confessed that he missed his mom, but he didn’t know if that would be crossing some arbitrary line he’d never been good at seeing when it came to people. 

“One,” he admitted after a while, picking at a loose thread on his bed, “but you don’t have to answer it. You can tell me t’go t’hell.” He’d never met someone else who’d lost their mom, or if he had, they hadn’t ever told him. He’d met Rhodey’s mom before - and god, he adored that woman - so it wasn’t like he had any need to ask Rhodey this. But he wanted to know. Data. How did other families compare to his. Rhodey’s, well, Rhodey’s just didn’t, but was he an anomaly? 

“What was she like? Your mom. You said you missed her.”

Bruce tensed when Tony said he had one. He wasn’t sure what it could be but his mind raced with the worst. Landing on the fact that Tony was going to ask if it was okay if they never spoke to each other again. 

Instead, the question made his heart race in a completely different way, he could feel the way the pieces of it had shattered on that day as he sat there too numb to even comprehend death. His eyes lined with tears and his chin trembled as he allowed himself, for the first time in too long, to think about his mother. 

The way she smelled, the fact that she didn’t move but floated, and that blasted calm voice she seemed to always have. No matter what Brian was doing. Squeezing his eyes together to stop himself from any other emotions, sniffing his nose, Bruce collected himself enough to tremble out “Amazing.” 

A few more controlled breaths and he was able to find a few more words. “I didn’t get to see much of her, he made sure of it. But she was a light in a very, very dark place. The world is duller now because of him.” 

Trying to subtly move to wipe his eye on his arm, Bruce starting running equations in his head. He could not give in to this right now. He needed anything else to think about other than his mommy. 

being myself suits me the best || tony & bruce

[betterthaneinstein]

stevenxgrantr:

“Yeah, Erskine lost the formula, right?” Steve said, frowning a little as he tried to remember. Everything had been so hectic at that time, it was hard to remember specific instances sometimes. When he thought back, to the war and the serum and the Howling Commandos, sometimes it was like it was all overshadowed by Bucky’s death and he couldn’t see past the grief. “I think SHIELD had a vial of my blood at some point–” He made another slight face. What a weird concept. “–but something happened to it.” He looked at the kid’s face. “…you want one, don’t you? A blood sample?”

“They,” Bruce held a finger in the air, primed to say more but digesting the information given to him a few moments too late. Sucking in a deep breath, with a clearer head now. “They have, I mean had a vial of your blood, possibly the best and only way to replicate...you and they lost it? Like it was their car keys.” 

Dumbfounded hearing it all out loud, Bruce shook his head and stared up at Steve like he’d have the explanation. “Never mind what sort of agency that makes them, you know the odds of it being ‘lost’ are slim, right? It’s likely the wrong person has it in their hands. And yeah, Yeah I was going to ask but I assumed there was some sort of amount of time to wait. Not like we got off on the right foot here. However, lackluster work on an organization meant to protect’s behalf is far more concerning” 

[betterthaneinstein]

stevenxgrantr:

Steve’s eyes narrowed as the kid actually had the gall to grin at him. This boy was clearly used to feeling superior to others, and in Steve’s mind, that made him a bully. Bullies used their strength to intimidate others and to put them down. Just because this kid’s strength was his intelligence didn’t make him any better.

He paused in his stride, a little surprised that the boy already knew what the serum was about. He figured there were a few history buffs who may know who Captain America was, but his actual name was maybe less familiar – and the serum itself even more so. “That’s right,” he said, and then gave a little shrug. “I was frozen, but I didn’t die. I guess between the serum and being under the ice, I was…” He made a slight face. “Preserved?” There had to be a less gross way to put that, but he couldn’t think of it. “I guess so.”

“Perfectly. It’s unheard of!” Bruce wasn’t bothered by the word preserved in the slightest. It was the word he was about to offer to help Steve through his sentence. “When I was in the third grade I did a report on the serum and where all the attempts to replicate it had gone wrong. I mean, obviously my teacher didn’t ask that of me and she wouldn’t accept it for grading, what I mean is ignore that part, okay? I just, this is kind of exciting?” 

Bruce rambled his way through the memories, one hand tightly holding the strap of his bag, the other waving about as he spoke. Wondering how long was an acceptable time to wait before asking for a blood sample. 

[betterthaneinstein]

stevenxgrantr:

Steve rolled his eyes. His retort was ready on the tip of his tongue: “Does everyone just accept the way you treat them? Are you not aware that they way you speak to people is unnecessary, condescending, and rude? Listen, I have no reason to lie to you, and I also have no reason to sit here and let you talk to me like this. I’m aware of how I look, thank you. Maybe I’m not quite as smart as you are, but I do know how a mirror works.”

Instead, he took a deep breath and pushed his anger down. Just because this child was acting like a snotty bully didn’t mean that Steve had to rise to the bait. “Yes, I am aware of that,” he said, his voice carefully flat and controlled. “I’m sorry for getting irritated.” Excuse him for not enjoying being condescending to by someone whose father had probably been a fetus while Steve was in the ice.

With that, he stood up, more than enjoying the fact that he towered over the pedantic little shrimp. “My name is Steve Rogers,” he said. “I wanted to join the army, so I underwent an experiment by Dr. Abraham Erskine, also known as Professor Joseph Reinstein. He called it the super soldier serum. Look it up. Maybe you’ll learn something new.” He shouldered his bag and turned to walk away, still struggling with his temper.

Bruce couldn’t help but grin, people were so predictable. He didn’t take any the blame for pushing the stranger's buttons, in his mind, he was protecting himself. Plus it made that growl in the back of his mind quiet when he talked back. 

It was when the man said who exactly he was that Bruce’s eyes went wide and his jaw hung. “The super soldier serum is inside you,” he moved quickly to put himself back in Steve’s path. “You were lost, reportedly froze to death. You’re a-a...scientific marvel.” Bruce was approaching giddy a little too quickly, his small frame shook with excitement as he stood there thinking about everything this man represented.