p • r • e • s • s • u • r • e

Yellowpetal

Tony tilts his head back and rinses his hair with water, deciding to spare himself the torture of shampoo running down his back.

Bruce doesn't need to know.

But he'll find out...

he always does.

The man steps heavy-footed out of his shower and reaches for a charcoal-coloured towel. He turns around in the mirror and looks over his shoulder to survey the damage.

Jesus...

Nasty lacerations run across his back, but mostly there are smaller, deeper wounds. They're jagged and dark. He feels them in his bones.

That's probably not a good thing...

Tony sways into his closet and pulls on a pair of sweats and a a grey shirt, smiling satisfactorily at the lack of blood on his new towel.

The knock at his door startles the shit out of him, and runs to the bathroom as fast as he can, covering up the towel in the trash can with countless paper towels and a near-empty box of tissues on top of the toilet. The knocks become more urgent.

"Tony, I can hear you. Can I come in?"

Shitshitshit

He hurries to his bed and practically rips the duvet off his comforter, seeing a couple of drops of blood.

No evidence no evidence

"Please?" The door asks.

Yeah, yeah

The engineer shoves his bedsheets into the cupboard under the sink and all but throws his laptop on the bed, nearly breaking it as he rips it open and unlocks it.

"Are you okay?"

Tony ruffles his hair with the towel and tosses it at the foot of the bed before unlocking the door and opening it, no more than two inches.

Bruce peers through crack looking morose. The billionaire eyes something bright yellow in his hands.

"Are those-?"

The scientist gently pushes the door open all the way.

"Yeah, I brought you flowers."

All the anger Tony was prepared to throw at him fizzles away .

"That's...very thoughtful of you."

Bruce hands him the bouquet and clasps his hands together as if he's an eight-year old preparing to present his project to the class.

"I have come to apologise for my words. I was...really mean. And I'm sorry. You aren't narcissistic. Sure, you can be self-absorbed, but it's not as simple as hurling an insult at you and hoping it'll stick. You're also the most brilliant, kind-hearted, stunning man I know, and-"

His speech is cut off by Tony's lips on his, earnest and warm. He holds the scientist tight and rests his head on his chest. Bruce reciprocates, tenderly grasping his back. Tony winces and tries his best to betray nothing. He breaks away when he's worried Bruce might tear something open again.

How would I explain that?

He stares at the decorative vase in the corner.

Well, I can't exactly leave him alone here to poke around...

Tony takes the priceless artefact off its pedestal and takes it to the bathroom to fill it up with water, rinsing the dust out first.

This thing probably hasn't been used for hundreds of years...

"Wait a minute-Tony are you fucking serious? That's worth-I don't actually know, but I've seen ones from the same collection at the Smithsonian with like, bodyguards."

The engineer rolls his eyes.

"There are teapots that are thousands of years old, but if they aren't used like they were made to, they'll dry out and crack. Besides, this thing isn't doing much good in the corner."

Bruce blinks in disbelief.

"Only you Tony, only you."

"And to be fair, when I'm gone, if my suits are later on put on display in some museum and never used, never learned from I just might come back and die all over again."

The flowers are place delicately in the ancient vessel and Tony carefully puts them on his nightstand. The two men crawl into bed and talk some more, Bruce apologising incessantly, only to be countered by Tony's self-deprecating ramblings-eventually settling on the silent realisation that while Tony hates himself and Bruce lacks confidence in pretty much every goddamn situation, they'll always have one another to offer that moment of blinding truth when one thinks "hey, I was actually right after all" or in one case, "maybe I deserve a little more than I give myself credit for."

~

His secret lasts a grand total of three days.

It's a Monday, and Tony's in and out of meetings for four hours straight, until he meets up with Bruce for lunch.

(A/N Just realised this fic is like, 30% Tony and Bruce eating, 40% Tony falling apart and 30% Tony falling apart during/after he and Bruce are eating/have eaten.)

He finds the scientist sipping iced tea in the secluded left corner of a little bistro on 32nd when Tony gets the call.

"What's wrong?"

The engineer looks anxious.

"Uh...just got a call from the boys at Langley. One of their people just got caught in some shit, and-anyway somehow there's a hostage situation, and you know how those work out for the authorities, so they want me to head there."

"That's...way below your pay grade."

Tony shrugs as Bruce leaves a few bucks for his drink and follows him out the door.

"Yeah, well, I don't really mind."

"Yes you do."

"Okay fine, I do, but-"

He holds the door open for Bruce, and the two men find a nearby alley.

"But there are lives at stake. And the government is absolutely hopeless when it comes to these things. Ross says it'll be good publicity."

"Since when do you give a fuck what Ross thinks?"

"I don't. But occasionally, he's right."

Tony flips a few switches on his reactor and the suit encases him. Bruce starts unbuttoning his shirt so he doesn't rip it when he hulks out, but a metal hand stops him.

"It's fine, I got this."

"Tony I can help-"

"Seriously. It's just one well-aimed missile."

Bruce nods.

"Okay. Do you think we'll have time to-?"

The engineer considers things for a moment, then shakes his head.

"Yeah, I don't think so. Sorry."

"It's cool. I'll see you back at the tower?"

"Uhhh yeah. Bye."

He turns away, but Bruce pulls him back and promptly places a kiss on his metal cheek.

"Don't die," he tells him.

Tony beams.

"I'll try my best."

With that, he takes off, thrusters leaving the air around Bruce twelve degrees hotter. The man buttons his shirt back up and walks the sidewalk, hailing a taxi.

Rule number one of being Tony Stark: Don't just try, finish the job. Effort means nothing if nothing is all you've got to show for it.