Dr Bruce Banner (docbrucebanner) wrote in thedisplaced, @ 2018-09-04 17:25:00 |
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Entry tags: | !log/thread, bruce banner / hulk (mcu), tony stark / iron man (mcu) |
Who: Tony Stark (MCU), Bruce Banner
When: Wednesday, August 15, the day after Bruce Hulked out in Toon Town
Where: Malibu Manor's guest house.
What: Tony talks to Bruce about making peace with the Hulk
Warnings: Low
Status: Complete in Gdocs
Tony was perhaps happier than he ever would be to wake up in his own forty-something body. A week as a younger, slightly disproportioned animation had gotten old relatively quickly. Not to mention the numerous cartoon mishaps he'd had to suffer through, the latest of which was camped out in his guest house.
After the Hulk’s Lego-filled rampage in Toontown, Tony was a little hesitant to let him crash inside his very glass-filled home. So he’d set him up in the guest house, one room of which Bruce had already commandeered for one of his projects. Having returned to his human form, Tony wondered whether or not his friend had as well, or if he still had a big green houseguest.
Tony threw on some clothes and headed to the guest house. The main door was locked via a security code that Tony had been forced to give up to the Hulk as proof that he was not under house arrest. Entering the code, he opened the door as a part of him wondered what condition he’d find the place in. “Hey, buddy,” he called out from the entry way. “You decent?” Tony knew Bruce slept in the buff, and he’d made certain assumptions about the Other Guy.
After yesterday’s incident in Toon Town, where Loki’s magic worked to distract Lego-Hulk from his tantrum, the Hulk’s mood changed from a destructive rage to a low simmer… just enough to keep him green, but not enough to transform back into Bruce. The guest room was ill equipped to house the Hulk, with inadequate furniture, and ceilings that required him to stoop when he stood. The security code made the Hulk laugh, since he was confident that he could just smash through the structure’s walls. But he trusted Tony, his friend, even though a few minutes ago he’d been swinging punches at him.
In the morning, it was Bruce who opened his eyes and looked around in a confused state, not unlike a hangover. As always after turning into the Hulk, his muscles were sore, and his body felt sort of like a deflated balloon. The last thing he remembered was being in Toon Town, flying his hovercar… what happened after that was blurry, but he could make some assumptions.
Oh yeah, and he was flesh and blood again, not made of Legos. That hadn’t occurred to Bruce until after several minutes, during which he wandered around the room half-naked, disorientated and trying to piece together yesterday’s chain of events. He was also very, very hungry.
The knock came, followed by Tony’s voice. “Come in,” he responded, and waited for Tony to enter before asking the question he often did after a Hulk episode, “Did I hurt anybody?”
Tony was relieved to see his friend in his human form. And clothed, even partially. He shook his head, and a small, crooked grin formed on his face as he answered, “Well, me, if you must know. Fortunately, the basic laws of cartoon physics means it doesn't hurt for long. The Big Guy had a field day with that.”
“Shit.” Bruce’s contorted into a guilty expression that aged his face by at least ten years. He wrapped his arms around his torso, which he usually did when he felt insecure and needed to be small. “I’m so sorry, Tony. I didn’t… I underestimated how much I could handle Toon Town. I should’ve listened to Nat’s warning.” Since his recollection was foggy, he floundered for a moment, then asked, “Was Loki around, too?”
“Hey,” Tony shrugged, crooked grin still on his face. He reached out to put a friendly hand on Bruce's shoulder. “No biggie.” And he meant it too. “Yup, tiny and flickable. Lucky for all of us, his Lego magic actually worked on the Hulk. Stuff seemed to turn to Lego creations whenever he approached them, and he was having way too much fun with the whole Lego Smash! thing.”
“Lucky for us,” Bruce repeated, directing his gaze to the floor. Tony’s reassurance didn’t give Bruce much comfort, though the flickable comment caused him to temporarily smile. “Was there a panic? What happened afterward?” he asked, nervously. “Are there going to be repercussions? Is the Bureau coming after me?” There had been transformations before, but Bruce had always been in control of them, which meant Hulk was easier to control. This was the first time in a long while since Hulk went full rage monster, and his knee-jerk reaction was that the government was going to come after him, or even worse, his friends with whom he was associated.
“Don't blow it out of proportion.” Tony gave Bruce's shoulder a squeeze before letting his hand fall. “The whole thing lasted five, maybe ten minutes. And they're used to that sort of thing. A couple days earlier, they were scraping me off the pavement. One time when I was there, someone accidentally overturned a cart of hot peppers. Some snooty lady’s dog ate them and started shooting fire out of every orifice. Set several buildings ablaze.” He shrugged. “It's Toontown.”
The description of the dog shooting fire sounded so hilariously revolting that Bruce was taken aback with an expression of disgust that changed into a guilty sort of laughter. “Ew. I’m glad I wasn’t around for that. “ He then scratched the top of his head, ruffling his hair in the process. “Still. I can’t help but think how it could’ve been worse. I need to check with Shuri whether or not she’s made any headway in that machine Betty and I designed, to suppress the Other Guy once and for all.”
“You sure that’s a good idea?” Tony’s brow furrowed slightly. “You ever think that this happens because you don’t let the Green Guy out to play?” He took a few steps away from Bruce, his eyes wandering around the room a bit. He’d had reservations about the machine when Bruce first mentioned the idea, but he had offered his support if it was what the other man really wanted to do. But now, the opportunity to voice his concerns presented itself, though these personal, heart-to-heart kind of chats did not come easy to him. “You’re two sides of the same coin, and I can’t help but think that until you come to grips with that, you’re gonna keep being miserable.”
“Come out to play?” Bruce repeated in a sarcastic whine, conveying how much he thought it was a bad idea. His mouth was open to say more, but when he locked eyes with Tony he saw the sincerity being projected, and that stopped him in his tracks. Tony was characteristically glib, so whenever he got this way, it was significant, and Bruce paid attention.
Bruce floundered, turned away in frustration, then shook his head. Even though he’d used the line that Hulk and him were separate entities in the same body, Bruce wasn’t a dummy, nor was he under so much delusion that he hadn’t given this a lot of thought. It was something he said to make it easier to cope with, to separate the actions of the Hulk from his own, especially the guilt. But deep down he knew what Tony said was the truth - that the Other Guy was part of his own repressed psyche.
“He’s everything I hate,” Bruce began, trying to explain while struggling to maintain distance, though the key words that were left unspoken in his first statement, but was still highly suggested were, about myself. “He’s violent, and destructive, not to mention dumb as rocks! And sure, he’s useful when you need something smashed… but…” He left his train of thought dangling, because he didn’t want to admit something that had been bothering him since he got to Tumbleweed.
“He’s no fan of yours either,” Tony teased, hoping to lighten the mood a little. It was easy for him, he knew, to toss out his two cents when he wasn’t the one with the Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde thing going on. But he had never thought of the Hulk as some big scary monster, despite the whole Rage Monster joke. Instead, Tony had seen him as Bruce’s armor, used to protect him, and to defend others.
“Listen,” Tony began, his eyes returning to look at Bruce. “I can’t pretend to know what it’s like. But I can tell you how it is on this side of things, as the friend of both of you. He’s not exactly the dumb brute you think he is. Whatever happened on that Hunger Games planet, he’s different. More self-aware. Lonely, even. You’re right. We bring him out when we need something smashed, but what if he’s capable of more?”
Bruce remained irritated, waiting for Tony to finish just so he could counter with all arguments: how would Tony feel if he blacked out every time he put on his Iron Man armor? If he wasn’t aware of what he was doing when he was wearing it? What about all the damage and bodily harm Hulk did? Was he supposed to forgive and forget all that?
The one word that brought Bruce to a pause was lonely. It never crossed his mind that the Hulk would feel that way; his facial expression softened with sudden sympathy, and was able to actually consider the possibility of what Tony was suggesting.
“Body timeshare?” Bruce frowned while reluctantly thinking it over. “Sounds like it would be a rough negotiation.”
Tony raised his eyebrows as he considered Bruce’s timeshare phrasing. “Maybe. Eventually. But how about a truce between the two of you first?” He reached up to rub the back of his neck while he spoke. “You always have a vague sort of recollection of your time as the Hulk. I’ve gotta think it’s the same for him. He must know you’re constantly trying to work out a way to destroy him. Is it any wonder that he acts out when it’s his turn to drive?”
“As much as I hate to admit it, you may be making sense. I’ve spent years trying to fight the Other Guy,” Bruce muttered, now folding his arms across his chest, hugging himself in an insecure way. “Maybe it’s time to try another angle.” The idea made him wary, but frankly, he was tired of fighting.
“Not to change the subject, but you wouldn’t happen to have anything to eat?” he suddenly asked. After a transformation, he usually got very hungry.
“As much as you hate admit it?” Tony parroted back to Bruce with mock affront. “That hurts,” he continued, theatrically putting his hand over his heart with his hand as if he’d been wounded there.
Tony smiled then. “Not on me.” He nodded his head toward the door. “But I have a box of waffle mix with our name on it back in the house. I’ll let you make them for me.”