seekevolution | The Amulet

There is no sleep that's going to come. Instead, with his own arm coming up and securing Tony's against him, Bruce lies very much awake, taking in every little feeling of Tony's body against his, the speed of Tony's breathing, what just happened. There is a strange electric feeling where they touched, where they touch right now, and that last kiss replays over and over.

Tucked up in bed with Tony, the real world feels very far away indeed, and for a time, Bruce is glad for it to be so. He doesn't even notice the little motions of his hand, stroking over Tony's wrist and the back of his palm while he thinks.

He'd never have pegged Bruce for being so affection, but having his skin stroked like that as he drifts off is utterly amazing. Tony wakes up in just as good a mood, leg having inched between Bruce's and body half covering his back like a blanket. He's never fallen asleep holding someone and woken up that way too.

It's sort of mythical.

He grins against Bruce's ear as he pulls himself away (and awake) and hovers for a moment, tabled over him. "JARVIS will have those scans. I'm going to shower."

Bruce turns his head to look up at Tony, brows coming together. Hadn't Tony showered before they went to sleep? Maybe he is mis-remembering, or more like not fully realizing just how bad Tony's tendencies can be at times. He gives a small nod, and then after a moment, he's alone.

It's an odd feeling when he realizes he wishes Tony hadn't left. Like a cat, he ends up turning over and for a minute or two, curls up in the warmth left behind. Ironically, it lets him drift off, not a full sleep, but a cat-nap that Tony, when he's done in the shower, will find Bruce still in, nosed down deep into Tony's pillow.

That's...insane cute. For a few moments, Tony just watches Bruce, fresh and steamy from the shower, before he sucks in a breath and wanders past him, nude and not caring. There's clothing to be put on and Bruce can watch him. Tony has to distance himself a little bit from this.

An affectionate Bruce Banner is really the last thing he needs to fall for right now when he's already lost so much. He can't give up Pepper. He's not physically able to.

He might be able to get away with that blow job but... He doesn't want to push it. "C'mon, I'll order a pizza. How long will you need with Suresh?"

"Mmm?" A groggy sound as Bruce pulls out of his cat-nap, yawning wide before he shifts on the bed, following the voice and focusing on Tony. Must have only napped for a few minutes, right? Pizza. Suresh- oh! Bruce sits up, rubbing a hand over his face to help wake himself up.

"Dunno," he mutters into his hand. "I need to see how bad the damage is." Not to mention he's more than capable of getting just as lost in his work as Tony can, from time to time.

Tony doesn't mind and Bruce can take however long he needs with Mohinder so long as he keeps the monitor on at all times and doesn't go too close. They don't need a repeat of the roof incident. Or with what happened with the agents. Bruce can't die, but there's a lot of others that might as the result and Tony really doesn't need that.

Bruce and his guilt-- it's more of a show stopped than the Hulk.

"I'm sure he's fine. We've all played around with recreational drugs here and there." He pulls on a shirt and pads out of the room. He'll let Bruce follow when he will.

Bruce actually gives a full pause at the 'recreational drugs' as he tries to make it fit into normal understanding, then groans a little to himself. He pulls himself completely out of the warm bed, giving a full body stretch, then scratches at a stubbly jaw. It'll take a full walk to his own rooms, getting properly dressed and a shave, before Bruce finally joins Tony.

It had given him some time to think, and right now, those few minutes are what he needs to get himself focused on Mohinder's problem. Every part of him wants to go check on his friend, but he knows better. Instead, he only goes down to the lab. "JARVIS, if you could bring up all of the information on the scans you have been able to gather."

"Certainly, Doctor." Bruce wonders if Tony managed to get SHIELD to release the amulet to them, or at least to put them into contact with whoever is or could be running scans on the item in the SHIELD labs.

What sort of person do you think Tony is? Of course he has the amulet, sitting upstairs in a safe container. Lead, weirdly enough, seems to work well as an insulator. It's given him some ideas on the Chitauri tech they've been poking at and it's radioactive components. When Bruce gets himself to the lab, with all of Mohinder's scans, he'll find a three-camera feed of the Indian plastered on the large white wall to the left of the door.

Mohinder looks restless, wandering around in soft black pants and a t-shirt, more alert than he'd been the last time they'd spoke. He scratches at an arm and lays his forehead against a wall before wandered into the hallway and down towards the small kitchen where he puts on a pot of water.

Bruce only watches Mohinder for a good minute or so, before sitting back in his chair with a sickened look on his face. "I'm a hypocrite," he whispers to himself. Here he is, locking someone away and treating them like a lab rat - the very thing he has terrible fears about. It leaves him uneasy, even if the prison is a fine one.

So he gets to work, burying himself into it. It might be a while before he resurfaces at all, Tony. Try to make sure your pet doctor eats.

Oh, he will. There's pizza and coffee brought in a little while later and though he ignores one doctor on the screen as he pokes around with his stuff, he can't ignore Bruce and that look of concentration on his face.

"Eat this. Don't argue. A turkey sandwich isn't going to cut it. I got vegetarian pizza for our friend down there too. DUM-E is bringing it in." That will likely result in a fire. At least it'll be fun to watch?

"Hmm?" Bruce lifts his head and looks at the food, blinking. It hadn't been that long- with a glance over at the nearest clock, he corrects himself. It has been hours. "No arguing here," he agrees, grabbing a piece of pizza and taking a large bite. What he doesn't notice is that it's coffee, not tea, and even decaf gives his heart a little whirl.

"...decaf at least, right? Not that industrial strength sludge you drink? And are you determined to kill Mohinder by sending DUM-E?" The robot does have a knack for fire, somehow.

"Yep, decaf," Tony replies with a grin. He's not an idiot. He likes to push Bruce's buttons but he does it in big ways. A little caffeine here and there has been played with before after all. Boring. He even slipped caffeinated soap into his shower once.

Now that had been fun!

"And no. DUM-E won't kill Mohinder. We need him for our mad scientist experimentation and--" On screen, DUM-E has actually managed to back poor Mohinder into a corner. He's never been privy to Stark's lifestyle -- save for one small fundraiser he attended a year ago. He's never met the man's mechanical puppies! "Whoops. JARVIS, intercom. DUM-E! Down boy!"

FUN!? That had been anything but fun! Bruce had spent most of the day jittery and on edge and way too much energy because of it! Very different definitions of the word fun, here.

"Mohinder!" Bruce calls out through the intercom. "It's okay. It's one of Tony's robots, he won't hurt you. You're not Tony. He's just bringing you a pizza, that's all." With a little look at Tony for scaring the other. Warn him next time!

Hands flat against the wall he's pressed against, it dawns on Mohinder that he's being watched and he scans the ceiling for signs of a camera. When he finds one, the light blinking red, he can't help but think of what it'd been like to work for the Company, constantly and forever being watched.

It makes his skin crawl but he smiles just the same, especially when DUM-E backs down and leaves the pizza on the table. It looks almost like the poor thing has been reprimanded! He almost feels badly for it. Almost.

"Bruce?" There's hope in his voice, and relief. And the next words flow out in Hindi. "Are you all right?" Because yes. Mohinder is concerned for Bruce.

Bruce responds in kind, his Hindi much smoother than it had been before meeting Mohinder. "I am fine, I promise. Are you feeling well? I am safely enough distance away." However, still more formal than any native speaker.

He leans forward, as if Mohinder could see him back, watching his friend with concern. The idea of not being able to go down and properly check on him, even to speak to him, feels wrong.

Skirting the path the robot had taken in retreat, Mohinder smiles shakily at the camera even as Tony, behind Bruce, complains about the language.

He speaks German, Italian, Japanese, French, Mandarin, Spanish and Portuguese...but Hindi? He's going to have to learn.

"I believe I've felt better. But thank you. This is a lovely space. I'm not sure I know how to work most of it, however."

"Tony, please, really?" Bruce casts another look before sighing, turning back to focus on Mohinder. "It is like dealing with a child, at times! Tony's Tower is like nothing else, so do not feel bad. It took me almost a week to understand all of the settings on the shower." Trying to cheer his friend up, even if it is a losing battle.

"I am working on the--" He has to pause, realizing he isn't certain of the word. "Scans?" Asking for the word.

"Skaina. Your Hindi is very much improved," he praises because it's always important to give praise to students. Once a professor, always a professor. "Would you like help with them? I've resources down here to run simulations as well... I'm just not quite sure what to look for. If you're speaking about my medical scans--"

He hears Tony groan and cuts himself off. "All right Banner. I'm out of here. I'll be upstairs tinkering around with the amulet itself if you need me." Biology. Hardly an interesting science!

The door clicks and Mohinder arches an eyebrow at the camera. "That man is maddening," he contends, no idea at all that Bruce and 'that man' have become fairly intimate.

"Because of my excellent teacher," Bruce replies to the praise, eyes flickering away. Always humble to a certain extent. However, he does smile, feeling a little pride.

Tony storming out leaves him to sigh, just a little. "At times, yes." Like earlier. They had been pressed together as tightly as could be, warm and comfortable. Tony had wanted... more, Bruce is completely certain, yet he stopped.

Doesn't Tony get what Tony wants?

Pay attention, Bruce. "We are looking for anything out of the ordinary. Abnormal brain patterns, changes in the physical body, anything that seems strange. It's vague, I hate to say, but I'm sure it is going to be focused on the mind considering what you've proven to be able to do."

"It makes sense," Mohinder says, moving to take the pizza before he heads towards the lab that's been set up for him. There are pictures of Pepper in lingerie for screen savers and Mohinder dashes his hand across the surface to clear them. "Matt Parkman, my former roommate, was a telepath. I have a copy of his brainwaves. He'd learned to use his ability to act as persuasion. Useful but always intentional. Perhaps his discipline was just better than mine."

Matt left. Mohinder's gotten use to people leaving, especially those he cares for. His fault, of course, for insinuating himself into the affections of an obviously straight man.

He'd sort of done that with Bruce as well. Mohinder has poor taste. Or perhaps he's always more the friend type. Now who's getting distracted?

"Any way, I'll need some equipment to map my own brain functions."

"We have them done," Bruce offers. "JARVIS has been taking care of that over the last few hours. ...I don't know why Tony has all of this built into his AI but I don't question his genius. Just his sanity at times." He has a feeling Mohinder might not be happy about being scanned without his knowledge because only now does he realize Tony probably never told the Indian.

"I didn't know Matt was a telepath." He knows the name, Mohinder has mentioned him, but this is new!

"Quite the powerful one," Mohinder says with a fond smile. "He and his wife live in Los Angeles with their son. We've fallen a bit out of touch." Mostly because Molly hadn't really understood how Matt could have priorities outside of her. Children are self-centred, and understandably so. Speaking of-- "My daughter-- Mister Stark offered to bring her out. Is that offer still on the table? I've spoken with her on the telephone a bit but I promised years ago that I wouldn't leave her side and--"

He's dangerous, he knows that. But she ought to be safe with Bruce.

"You don't need to look after her. She's bright and will stay out of the way."

Bruce decides to make a bit of a decision himself, regardless of what Tony might want right now. "She's welcome here. Don't worry, Mohinder. I'll take care of her." He enjoys children a great deal and he and Molly have become friends to a degree since he and Mohinder started working together.

"Tony will just have to deal with a little one in the Tower." Giving a warm smile. "We just need to just make sure she doesn't touch you."

"She's twelve. You'll have a harder time getting her not to sneak out and try to see the city," Mohinder says with a half smile. "We lived in Brooklyn until a few years ago. I'm sure she misses it here. The zoo especially."

He's still said nothing about being scanned. He understands why. And he understands why he's alone. He still feels horribly guilty for the things that have happened because of him, however. His hands curl around one of the tools on the desk and JARVIS informs Bruce of a heart rate spike.

"Twelve is a little old to go out on her own," a pause, thinking, "unless perhaps if we sent JARVIS with her." Bruce shakes his head. "This is up to you as her father."

"Either way, can you get those scans of Matt up to me so I can take a look at them?"

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

J: Ms. Potts already has guessed, sir.

/fistshake

<3

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject