sixthiterationlogs | [MINGLE] Scout's Honor

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[MINGLE] Scout's Honor

WHERE: Hot Springs
WHEN: 21 Sept, after sunset
OPEN TO: ALL - MINGLE
WARNINGS: Please warn in your subject line as needed
NOTES: Details found here

It's been a strange, rough couple of months for our intrepid villagers — Bunkers, superpowers and clones, oh my! Perhaps the Observers are sympathetic to their plight, or maybe they just have a peculiar sense of humor. At any rate, they've set up a gathering space chalk full of summer camp goodness, no strings attached. Not that anyone knows that part.

Just before sunset, a cheery message pops up on wrist devices all across the settlement and beyond. The instructions seem simple enough, although one does have to wonder at what dubious gift awaits them all after everything is said and done.

Marshmallows are on the house, so grab yourself a stick, strap on a sash and get to roasting, villagers. Skinny dipping, sing-alongs and friendship bracelets optional.

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It was really strange, looking back at it. Bruce trusted no one. Betty, yes, but he walked out of her life and let her be happy, and he was alone after that. To be willing to trust someone so quickly was unusual, and yet his gut told him without question that he was safe with Tony Stark. Like recognized like. He still trusted Tony, despite his hang ups about Ross, and he still was the only one. He smiled for real at his friend, feeling that warmth too, that camaraderie.

Truth. Hm. They might as well stay on the subject since they were there. "Why did you invite me? Why risk so much?" It had been a risk. Everything surrounding the Hulk was a risk. Everything about letting Bruce live in the tower when he was wanted by the government and who knows what else, was a risk. It wasn't a smart bet. Having the Hulk on the team was an asset, but only while he was controlled, and none of them knew if he could be.

"Because you didn't have anyone." He answered without missing a beat. "And the...what you said when everyone was arguing, that scepter in your hand? I know how that feels. It's worse if you're alone."

A black tar pit of despair that dragged and sucked and drowned anyone and everyone; there wasn't an easy way out and sometimes even climbing up to the lip only meant holding yourself there until something kicked you back down again. "You're brilliant, I've been a fan of your work since your first published paper on anti-electron collisions, so it was kind of great to meet someone that...saw the world I did. How it is, how it works, and then a few steps beyond to 'well alright, how do we make it work better'. That's kind of rare, Honeybear."

Tony tipped his head to rest his cheek against Bruce's shoulder, comfortable as anything. "Ross didn't scare me, I'd tangled with him more than once over specs for SI equipment- he wanted me to design shit to contain you, did you know that? Never did because unlike everyone else in the world I recognized the pattern. Hulk didn't start shit till people with guns showed up. So why i the fuck would I give him more guns to cause more problems? So maybe it was to spite him a little, it definitely was to spite Fury but...mostly? You deserved somewhere safe. Someone that didn't want anything from you."

It was difficult for Bruce to accept anyone saying nice things about him. It didn't feel like it could be right, even if they were sincere. He believed Tony, because Tony showed that he meant what he said by following up wth actions proving it. He remembered the confession with the scepter. Here was a group of strangers, and it'd been a long time since people looked at him. He was on the spot and raw and vulnerable. No one understood then the lengths he had gone to, to remove the threat of the Hulk, and how far low he went. How far low he was then. He had nothing but pain left in him.

The Avengers gave him the chance to try and save people again. That was what his drive was, once upon a time. Make discoveries for human kind, help make the world better through science. His mistake was working for the government. He knew their reasons probably didn't sync up with his, but Betty asked him. "I miss it, the passion for making the world better, when I was young and thought it was possible." The world chewed up gentle people like Bruce Banner and spit them out worse.

Bruce leaned his head down to rest his cheek on Tony's had, feeling so secure. "I'm not surprised. He will try to get me until the day he dies. He believes I belong to him, that I'm not a person, I'm property." That kind of thinking, dehumanizing others, let him justify whatever he wanted to do. Torture, murder, mad science, cruelty. "Property wasn't supposed to marry his daughter, mingle with the humans." He used to dream of being accepted by Ross, his son-in-law, that if he was good enough, he would deserve it. It was a very sad thing, overall.

"You're the best friend I could ever ask for." He slid his hand into Tony's and squeezed it. Then changed gears back to the game." Umm, just to get ahead of it, truth again. I dread to think of dares you could come up with."

"We're not young anymore, but we've got a whole planet we can make better." Tech's backslid an obscene amount, sure, but he thought it was possible. If he had Bruce? He could figure out how to make a workable version of damn near anything. It wasn't the same as fixing anything back home. Wasn't the same as breaking ground but- there were new compounds to find, here. New mysteries to solve. There was the whole 'clone' thing to consider on top of it and that shook some people up. Tony wasn't sure how to feel about it and shoved the idea in a box for the time being. There were other things to worry about. Like.

Getting everyone set up to survive the winter. Stocking up on food, on fresh water, on firewood. That took some priority. "Technically you're SI property. I have dibs. He doesn't know I have dibs but if he tries anything I'll buy his second favorite bar and bulldoze it."

Because no one did petty quite like Starks when they were motivated. He squeezed Bruce's hand because some shit? He couldn't fix. He couldn't keep Bruce from thinking of himself as other, as monstrous. No more than Bruce could keep him from thinking himself a worthless murderer. "Why'd you help me with Ultron?"

"Yeah?" Bruce smiled at him. "Look at that, you're sounding like the Tony Stark who convinced me to be crazy enough to join a super team." It was meant to be a joke, or at the least something warm and complimentary. Tony sounded almost like he had a little hope again there, looking at the world around them in terms of things to make better and not just what was survivable. They'd both been through the wringer, but they did have that in common, the drive to do better. "We'll do that, if we can." That was the plan at least. There were worse plans.

"I'm not anyone's property." It was said mildly, but also very firmly. "Technically or otherwise. Don't worry, you already own most of me by choice." In the sense he willingly handed over his brain and loyalty and love without question. Those were the better parts than his body anyway.

It led into the question itself, and he hummed thoughtfully. "It was important to you, and you said you needed me." Simple and true. Bruce didn't have the vision that Tony saw so clearly, he couldn't say he believed in the project either. But Tony was his friend and gave him a home, a purpose, friends. "You couldn't have done it alone. I think it's pretty obvious I'd do a lot if you asked me too. If we were kids my mother would ask if I'd jump off a bridge if you did." Which he'd respond, yeah, maybe. "At least we got Vision right."

"It's find work here or go mad thinking about what happened back home." And he would. He'd tear himself to pieces over every moment, obsess over every detail in the past decade to think of what he could've done differently if he'd known. If they'd had more time. If there was anything he might've been able to change or build or forgive to change the inevitable weight of Thanos' madness. So. Projects. Work. Protect the people here to make up for being unable to do so in their own world, their own time. "I'd rather rebuild here than drown myself in moonshine."

Which he still might if he had too much time to think. Bruce being here helped as much as it hurt; more to worry about here, less to worry about at home. Especially with the earlier confession lingering in his mind. IT wasn't something most people said- fewer still actually meant it. Choosing to give himself up to Tony, to care for him enough to say that one four letter word?

Itched. But he held fast to Bruce's hand, determined not to let his neuroses interrupt his offer of affection and solidarity. Especially when they covered a difficult topic.

"...That's why I don't ask you to for much of anything." He never even asked Bruce to stay. He'd wanted it, implied that he was welcome to remain as long as he liked but- He'd known Bruce would need or find a reason to leave eventually. The nature of his condition, his fears- it made it inevitable. "Vision had a better base code. Ultron was incomplete and even then the framework wasn't compatible with the mindstone. We weren't close." And yet-

And yet.

"Your turn to ask."

"You know I'm always in for letting work drown out the rest. And outside of Ultron, I think we managed some pretty good work together." That was the thing, focusing on their very worst moment as a team meant forgetting they'd worked together regularly before that. Tony promised him a candy land at Stark Tower, and he delivered. They worked on projects for the team, for their own interests, for the outside world. Bruce for the first time in years felt like he was going back to his original purpose. Occasionally turning into the Hulk for missions was worth it. "This place is a mystery, and we like mysteries."

"No drowning yourself in moonshine, I'm not sure I could carry you to bed easily." He'd never been drunk himself, but he was around a drunk father a lot, so he knew the general idea. In college he was That Guy who brought his roommate water and Tylenol. It didn't make people like him, but it helped them dislike him less. Bruce knew putting himself out there, his emotions out there, was a tough choice. He didn't regret it. They'd lived through the end of the universe as they knew it. Tony disappeared into the sky. He was tired of having regrets about the things he did or didn't say.

Bruce waved a hand, brushing it off. "I'm glad that I'm your go-to guy. It's nice to be needed for something that isn't big and green."

He considered what he wanted to know, but questions that wouldn't open up too many wounds at the same time. "What was it like, the first time you were in the suit? No one had seen anything like that before." He figured there were a lot of mistakes at first, but it was all in the name of discovery.

"The first time? Not great. The thrusters worked but the mark 1 was a desperate hot mess of a thing and-" And Yinsen had just died. He'd killed quite a few people on his way out and wasn't sure how to cope with that.

"The Mark 2, now...that was...Amazing. I'd been working on hovering and flight stabilizers for awhile- but the first time I suited up? Better than sex." When it had been all about the discovery, about making the most out of his new set up, building something that'd be worthwhile. Flying in jets had been alright but this? Closest he could get to those swooping, powered dreams everyone had as a kid. "Rough landing, I miscalculated the weight and what I'd designed my roof to handle. Dropped right through the ceiling on top of one of my cars." And then Dum-E drenched him with a fire extinguisher.

"Figured out the icing problem, which helped maximize the altitude I could handle in the suit." Which helped him work out spaceworthiness. Not that he ever needed to test that, exactly, but.

"I was in Veronica for about an hour, and that was pretty exhilarating." Just long enough to fight, win, and then lose big time. But since Bruce helped design Veronica, it felt only right to use her at least once. He wouldn't make a habit of it. "I learned a few things on the inside we'll probably need to correct or test drive for next time." For when the Hulk came back and inevitably caused some kind of trouble. It was slightly satisfying to know Veronica was used on something else. "He ripped one arm off, which turned out to be a bad idea since I sent it and him with it into the sky." And right into Wakanda's shield, which meant that was officially the first person Bruce Banner specifically killed.

That was a bad thought he didn't feel like dwelling on around a camp fire with his only friend.

"I can almost picture it, honestly, the various ways you had to test it out before getting on usable. And I'm guessing, more than a few bruises and minor concussions on the road." That's what they did. Poke and test and fail and try again. The Hulk incident wasn't the first time Bruce caused an explosion in the lab, they were only minor ones before that. Maybe a few in Tony's lab too. He smiled and rested his head on Tony's shoulder, not really caring that they were in public.

"I remember watching your press conference, I was in South America at the time. I thought to myself no way is he going to pretend it wasn't him, what are we, stupid?" He'd been on the run for years at that time, still believing he could make himself a cure. It wasn't long after that he followed his hope to stop the Hulk and ended up destroying Harlem. "I still laughed when you said it though. I am Iron Man, just like that. And the world was changed."

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[MINGLE] Scout's Honor

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