mischief and sarcasm

bruce?

stiles sat under a bridge humming softly. he slowly crafted a blue orb in his hand and admired the lights as they danced. the area had a foul smell of piss and blood but that that point stiles couldn't have cared less. after a while he set the orb down and took out a canister of spray paint he had stolen earlier.

using the blue hue as guidance he carefully traced the outline of his hero name: mouse with his mask next to it. stiles grinned and stood back to admire his work. he couldn't idly stare at it forever as soon he heard a noise that made him groan.

sounds of tony's jet engines came from above. stiles slipped into the shadows and listened. not wanting to get caught for vandalism. he didn't need another thing on his folder of criminal activities.

tony stood on top of the bridge with a deadpan face. hulk, captain america and peter were around him.

"look bruce, i know you like to see the best in people but we need to catch him"

hulk huffed and looked away. a couple civilians passed them and tony sighed.

"let's go beneath the bridge, more privacy"

stiles wanted to punch the gods, how come they met at the only bridge stiles was under? that seemed cruel. the four descended down and stood in a close circle. except one.

hulk

stiles felt eyes boring holes in his head and turned to look at him.
stiles furrowed his eyebrows, if this was hulk then how come he hadn't grabbed him and crushed his skull like a sparrow egg.

i don't like this predicament

yeah funnily enough neither do i.

stiles held his breath, waiting for hulk to give him away. but it never happened. the four of them left soon after leaving stiles dumbfounded.

he had always admired bruce and had secretly hoped bruce didn't believe peter. maybe he did but either way he seemed to be on stiles' side. a win he really needed.

after an hour stiles carefully made his way to the stark tower undetected, knowing he couldn't move through the walls due to whatever was in them he opted for invisibility. it was the most discreet plan he had.

stiles carefully went transparent and walked through the doors, he slipped onto an elevator behind hawkeye and didn't let himself breath for fear of him noticing.

half way up hawkeye snapped his head round after stiles took another gulp of air. he squinted skeptically at the seeming empty space behind him and shrugged. he got off in the sleeping quarters and stiles stepped out aswell, going in the opposite direction.

he scoured the labs and took a quick peek into the lounge but bruce was nowhere to be found. he even went to his room and yet, no sign of him.

stiles sighed defeatedly, what a waste of his time and dangerous. he didn't feel like taking the stress of sneaking back out so headed up to the roof, content with just jumping off regardless of who saw.

when he opened the door he stopped short, there sat bruce. admiring the lights of the city around him. stiles smiled softly and carefully walked forward.

without a word he sat next to bruce and joined him in looking out on the vast city.

"it's good to see you"

bruce stated. breaking the tranquility of before.

"yeah... you too"

bruce fished for something in his pocket making stiles tense, did he have a weapon? was he about to call tony? but no, he just pulled out an elegant looking lighter and a half smoked pack of cigarettes.

"want one?"

bruce offered shaking the pack in stiles' direction.

"can't say no to marlboro fresh"

he joked, taking one out. bruce smiled at him and sparked his lighter up, the small flame enveloping the tobacco sending little sparks as it sizzled. stiles mimicked his actions and took a long drag.

that's a bad habit

"shut up"
he muttered aloud. bruce gave him a look of understanding.

"so you really do have another voice in your head, normally that's the first stage of madness but i think your case is special"

stiles gave a bitter laugh, special is one way to describe void, more colourful words came to mind such as asshole, murderer, psychopath, insane.

"i know what it feels like... sharing your body with another"

bruce had returned his gaze to the city lights, occasionally taking a drag of his cigarette and sending the smoke tumbling into the air in front of him, the smoke danced with the lights in simple patters, swaying rhythmically and hypnotised the two. stiles hadn't said a word. content on listening and smoking.  they allowed their silence to speak for them, acknowledging stiles was no threat and a mutual agreement to keep this private.

"it sucks, a lot. but you learn to adapt, to deal with it. in time you become one"

stiles chuckled
"we skipped to being one with each other. i didn't agree to it but here we are"

bruce lit another cigarette, handing a new one to stiles. they took a moment to pull on their cigarettes. the bitter taste staining their tongues.

"the day will come when you are revered for your abilities, although it seems bad now. the future will bring better, brighter days."

stiles tapped off his ash, a grimace on his face.

"dr. banner, what do i do? what should i do in this situation?"

there was a long beat of silence before he took a deep breath.

"stiles, you are a talented, smart, compassionate individual who is capable of making his own decisions over something, however you shouldn't have to do this alone, this is a part in your life where it's make or break, you can keep running however you may never be able to stop: or, you can hand yourself in, willingly allow them to analyse you. as sad as it is you are deemed as a high threat. maybe if the last option doesn't sound appealing then try to get people to understand how you work without the surveillance and constant scrutiny. stiles i can't help you aside from snippets of information that may or may not be useful. but i want you to know, i am always here for you, i don't see a monster in you, maybe you believe there is or you yourself are one but i am sure you are not. soon will come the time when everyone sees you as a hero. for future reference i will be here most nights, gives me time to myself which i will happily spend talking to you."

bruce breathed out, they sat in silence for what felt like eternity to stiles. his throat had closed up and tears threatened to spill at bruce's words.

"thank you"

was all he could utter, he blinked rapidly, trying to remove the water from his eyes. bruce patted him on the back and began to head in.
he stopped at the door.

"oh and stiles, someone you should go talk to is eddie. i feel you two have quite a lot in common. i'll send you his number"

stiles nodded back with a smile and once bruce was gone he stepped off the edge, used to the feeling of catching himself with the blue light. then stiles ran, far away from the tower, anywhere where he could be safe.