[ Banner? Banner. Bruce Banner. It's got a nice ring to it and aside from waving hello? Tony sticks to the background, fielding questions, accusations of playing at god, and round fifteen thousand of 'oh my god the ego on you can you think about anything but if you can do a thing just once' which- as used to it as he's hearing? Always stings a little more when it's coming from Pepper and Rhodey. So keeping his sunglasses on and his mouth shut really isn't all that difficult.
Betty takes care of Bruce and, as he thought? They get along perfectly well. She needs more company in her life that isn't her asshole of a father or old men in labcoats that don't appreciate her brain first and foremost- and that seems to be all Bruce appreciates about her in the moment so. Everyone's happy!
Or they're happy and Tony's working down a mental list of reasons why he can't sit in for the rest of the day and drink himself into a stupor but the important thing is- Bruce is having a good First Day Out and might be Making A Friend. Wins across the board, here.
Now and then he peeks up from the textual evisceration he's getting to make sure things are proceeding as planned (aka, nothing's on fire and no one's bleeding or having a panic attack), and keeps a few steps just behind. Conversation flows over him like water and it's- genius white noise. A subject he doesn't know near enough about and doesn't have enough reason to devote to learning right this minute but if he ever did? Everything ever of Betty's is what he'd read up on first. But Bruce gets it, is interested, and their back and forth is as soothing as the frustration in his phone is gutting. It balances out to a reasonably neutral 'maybe one scotch tonight' rather than 'three bottles of vodka and a stripper'.
no subject
Betty takes care of Bruce and, as he thought? They get along perfectly well. She needs more company in her life that isn't her asshole of a father or old men in labcoats that don't appreciate her brain first and foremost- and that seems to be all Bruce appreciates about her in the moment so. Everyone's happy!
Or they're happy and Tony's working down a mental list of reasons why he can't sit in for the rest of the day and drink himself into a stupor but the important thing is- Bruce is having a good First Day Out and might be Making A Friend. Wins across the board, here.
Now and then he peeks up from the textual evisceration he's getting to make sure things are proceeding as planned (aka, nothing's on fire and no one's bleeding or having a panic attack), and keeps a few steps just behind. Conversation flows over him like water and it's- genius white noise. A subject he doesn't know near enough about and doesn't have enough reason to devote to learning right this minute but if he ever did? Everything ever of Betty's is what he'd read up on first. But Bruce gets it, is interested, and their back and forth is as soothing as the frustration in his phone is gutting. It balances out to a reasonably neutral 'maybe one scotch tonight' rather than 'three bottles of vodka and a stripper'.
He's maturing. Excellent. ]