p • r • e • s • s • u • r • e

a blue coat and a pep talk

"And then I realised that reinsertion isn't very fun-or quiet, because Ican'tkeepmyfuckingmouthshut-so I ran upstairs and locked the door and put it back in-thinking that you were still on the phone. But you weren't. And I should have checked. But I didn't. So I'm sorry."

Bruce's eyes were wide and glistening in the morning sun.

"Tony don't-don't apologise! Why...oh my god..." he breathes.

The engineer's brow creases in concern.

"Are you okay?"

"Am I okay?? Tony-I thought that-but you were screaming-"

"I know, it's annoying. I'll work on that." Tony chuckles.

"Tony that's not the fucking problem. You could have come to me!"

"I didn't want to bother you."

"What does that-you could never bother me. I want to help you. I really do."

"Oh. Ok. Well, thank you. I'll try to talk to you next time. I just didn't want you to see me like that."

Bruce sighs sadly.

"I'll always want to see you."

Tony smiles.

"I love you, Bruce."

"I love you too."

The scientist pulls him down from his perch and kisses him, both of them bathed in golden sunlight.

Tony hears people cheering from the windows of the next room over, so he flips them off.

Laughter.

~time skip~

"Let's go watch a movie." Bruce says, dropping a DVD next to him on the table.

"Um...okay. What-oh. ET?"

" I'm making popcorn."

"Alright. Thanks?"

Tony crosses the room and puts the DVD on a tray.

"Uh...JARVIS? Do your thing."

"You don't have a DVD player?" Bruce shrieks, incredulously.

"No I don't have a-I don't keep useless stuff. I got rid of that thing years ago."

Bruce looks horrified.

"But-it had sentimental value."

Tony rolls his eyes.

A few minutes later, they're sitting on Tony's couch in the garage watching ET on his new TV.

"Wow, this really didn't age well," the engineer comments.

"Just shut up," Bruce chides.

"Fine."

They cuddle up together, Tony eyeing the place where his hydraulic press used to be. Bruce got rid of it after...after last time.

The man remembers the feeling of the steel on his chest, of it crushing him. He presses on the reactor gently, relishing the familiar ache that follows. It's somehow worse now. Like getting a blister from your shoes, sitting down, and then walking again. He coughs.

Throughout the course of the movie, Tony eats most of the popcorn and Bruce falls asleep. The engineer feels disgusting-the fat from the snack settling in his stomach.

The more sleepy he gets, the more pressure the scientist puts on Tony's chest.

The man smiles.