bakerstreet | (no subject)

Oh.

[ For exactly one second, the disappointment is audible in his voice. Then it's gone, with only flippancy in its place. ]

You want me to have the plane drop you off there instead? I mean, why wait, right?

[ With nothing else to focus on but the voice in his ear, his expression eases at a thorny bush. ]

I'd rather go back with you. [ To put a ~~poorly~~ joking edge on that — ] Where the air conditioning lives.

[ Tony's voice remains light and flippant. He knows Bruce is leaving now; he won't let himself get over-invested. ]

Maybe you don't realize this, what with spending all of your time in the middle of nowhere, but I'm not the only one with air conditioning. There's a whole wide world of temperature control out there, Bruce. You just have to come in out of the bushes to find it.

Yeah, I ... Sorry. Bad joke.

[ Ah, shit. That went down the wrong way, time to be An Adult. ]

I wouldn't have remembered your phone number if I didn't want to see you again. You're not a means to an end, Tony.

The nice thing about living in the modern age is that everyone's just a video call away.

[ There's a shift in the inflection of his tone, the audible version of a shrug. He has issues. He knows it. He also knows how to avoid them. ]

Provided that you have reception and a smartphone. With a video calling app. You should probably make sure you get one of those before you head back out into the wild blue yonder. Just, you know, FYI.

Don't you ever just want to hear someones voice?

[ Video-calling seems like it might be a bit invasive if it happened on a constant basis. Tony's lucky Bruce is even using a cell phone right now, his usual arsenal amounts to a land-line on the road-side to avoid being tracked by the military, but being an Avenger has bumped him up a few perks since those days. For now. He's a little suspicious all of this is going to come crashing back down around his head again. ]

You can pick me out a smartphone if you think I need one, I honestly wouldn't know which was worth paying for.

Sometimes.

[ More than sometimes, but that's approaching Issues territory, and he's not going there. Ever, if he can help it. Better to just focus on Bruce's issues, large and small. At least those can be helped. Maybe. Or so Tony thinks. ]

Why pay for it? You can have one of mine. Top of the line Stark tech that no one else on the planet has. They're video capable if you want to use the feature, but you can stick to what you're comfortable with too.

You sound like you want me to video-call. Miss the sight of me?

[ He gets to poke things too, albeit minus anything pointier than his attention to detail. ]

You mentioned seeing me again. I'm just trying to make wishes into reality. It's my thing. Like a genie without the lamp.

[ Although the suit is metal. So maybe kind of like a lamp. ]

You're technically the genie inside the lamp but I'm going to stave off stroking anything other than your ego for now, if that's acceptable.

[ Never mind he's stuck in the rear end of Nowheresville, it's easier to smile when back-chatting his friend. ]

I don't know where you've been.

In the lab working on my suit. Not collecting rare and colorful diseases, or whatever it is you do out in the jungle, Doctor Tarzan.

[ He won't have to wait long. Relatively speaking, of course. The second Tony got high enough, he went supersonic. And since he's coming from Malibu, it's going to be a pretty short trip. ]

You know, I think you should come along to Calcutta next time. You'd like the people. The kids always want to play, even when they're too sick.

[ It might be a good change of pace for both of them; Bruce having company he actively enjoys and Tony getting out of his private hi-tech bubble. ]

If you can handle the food, that is.

Unless it's like roaches and meal worms, I can handle it.

[ It's not the food he's worried about. He lived in a cave for three months. And when does he ever really eat anyway? It's the k-word that's alarming. Kids. He doesn't know how to interact with them. Not a single damn clue. ]

Give me dates and I'll have JARVIS block out my calendar.

Try Googling cholar dal, it's delicious.

[ As for dates ... ]

Let's not plan too far ahead using specifics. I'm looking forward to seeing you soon, for what it's worth. The last engineer I spoke to worked at a seven-eleven.

[ It takes JARVIS all of two seconds to bring up the recipe. ]

Looks good. I like lentils. Who doesn't?

[ That's actually true. He does like them. ]

Yeah, sure. Spontaneity it is. The poor guy was probably starved for intelligent conversation. I hope you gave him some.

[ Lentil party time, it's imminent on the horizon. Cooking a meal for Tony can't make up for him zooming all the way out to Mexico in the suit and taking Bruce back in a plane, but it's a start. ]

Mm. I don't really talk to these people that much. Not if I can help it.

[ Sucks to get attached. He's allowing himself Tony as a concession because it's more than a little freeing to have someone around who isn't prone to tiptoeing around his irritability. ]

How's your flight going? Hit any birds yet?

[ Tony can relate. He doesn't really talk to the people he comes into contact with on a daily basis if he can help it either. ]

No birds yet. Dodged a seven-forty-seven a few miles back, but that's because JARVIS got distracted.

[ He's joking. JARVIS never gets distracted, unlike him, and there was no plane. ]

I left California about a minute ago. I should be at your location in fifteen, maybe twenty minutes.

[ Trusting that he'd have heard a plane that big thundering by, he nods agreeably to the ETA. Reminds himself to speak. It's going to be more than nice to see Tony again, to have back the camaraderie and ease he feels around another human being. ]

It's good of you to come out here. You're only flying, what, a thousand or so miles?

[ That's a lot of trouble to go to, his tone insists. So really, thanks. ]

Edited 2012-11-21 15:09 (UTC)

What else was I doing? Really, it's fine. I like to fly. Any excuse to get myself out of the house.

[ That is such a lie. Tony's a homebody. He would happily spend forever in his workshop, tinkering with his toys. But it's Bruce, and where Bruce is concerned, Tony's self-centeredness tends to take a backseat. ]

I probably should have asked earlier, but I can still make a detour. Should I be bringing some spare clothes?

[ Since Bruce is in the middle of a desert after a Hulk out. ]

[ He believes it readily, although there's no reason to doubt when Tony's reputation precedes himself and Bruce isn't exactly high-priority unless he's big and green. ]

If that would be okay, I'd appreciate it. Could I get changed on your plane, when it arrives?

[ As much as too-big boots, shredded pants and a sleeveless shirt are in vogue, he's not going to pass up the chance for a decent wardrobe change. ]

The couple who gave me their phone did the best they could with a strange naked man coming to on their property, to be fair.

Yep, no problem.

[ Quietly, though still audible since he's got the line open, Tony can be heard saying "JARVIS, get me the nearest--Yeah, that's--No, come on, we can do a little better than--Excellent." ]

Add another ten minutes or so onto my ETA. Pit stop shouldn't take long. [ A beat, and he adds; ] Think I ought to send them a fruit basket or something? A 'thanks for giving my buddy some pants' kind of thing? I could do that.

Uh, to be honest? They looked relieved to see the back of me. [ But! Not to dwell on that too much; ] I should be the one getting you a fruit basket. 'Thanks for dropping everything to mooch around the desert with your weirdo friend.'

That's because the view's nice.

[ He can't help it. He's reached the limit of his ability to behave himself. ]

We can skip the fruit basket and you can buy me a margarita. How's that? Uh, after we get you reunited with your wallet.

[ Rolling his eyes and forcing down an amused smile. ]

The screams really add to that theory. And that's fine, I guess I should contact SHIELD and ask for another credit card.

[ They obviously gave it him to keep tabs on Bruce, but when they apparently tailed him for a whole year anyway and kept Ross's dogs off his tail, he has no problem opting for the lesser evil's approach. ]

You mentioned you were working on the suit. Anything I can help with?

[ Tony does have a problem with the lesser evil. He doesn't like SHIELD. He doesn't trust Fury and he never will. And he definitely doesn't believe that they'll ever put Bruce's best interests above their own. ]

I got a better idea. Why don't I get you a card? It'll be unconnected to SHIELD and it will stay that way.

[ Because no one can hack a system like Tony. ]

That depends. How's your handle on nanotubes?