Quiet Conversations

On the nights that they do make it to a bed before passing out, Bruce and Tony always talk until they fall asleep. Simple questions, little confessions. Straight forward things. Things to stop their minds from racing after work, things to keep the nightmares at bay.

Tony lies his head on Bruce's chest, wrapping an arm around him.

"What size shoe do you wear?" Tony asks suddenly. But its routine, the Q and A session so Bruce answers immediately.

"Eleven in American sizes. What's your favorite food?"

"Does Scotch count as a food? 'Cause definitely Scotch then."

Bruce laughs faintly and Tony moves softly with Bruce's chest.

"Alcohol isn't a food group, Tony." He mumbles back. Tony just smiles.

"And yours?" He asks.

"I've always loved curry."

Now its Tony's turn to laugh.

"Oh, come on, you're just saying that because that's what everyone thinks." He laughs.

"No, really! Always been my favorite. One of the few things I could cook as a kid."

Tony nods a bit bur smiles. "Fine. Is your favorite color really purple?"

Bruce smiles back coyly. "No, actually its yellow. The other guy has always had a thing for purple though. Kind of a side effect. I'm not even gonna bother asking yours. I think the whole world knows its red."

Tony smiles against Bruce's chest

It was just part of their ritual. Simple, mundane, quiet. But an odd for two men who learned to bury everything, to hide every last detail, anything that could give them away, anything that was revealing.

"The only dog I ever had was named Bear. I don't know why."

"My parents hated dogs."

"I taught myself how to drive when I was eight."

"I went joy riding in my dad's Porche when I was eight."

"I've only ever owned one car. It was a 1970 Jeep Wagoneer I got for a few hundred dollars when Betty and I got together."

"My favorite Christmas present that I ever got as a kid was a pair of lab goggles from my nanny when I was six."

"I never got Christmas presents after my mom died."

"I had all the toys I could ever want as a kid but I only ever liked my chemistry sets and legos."

"When I was ten, I thought I wanted to be a architect and work at computers all day. Then I remembered I love people."

"When I was seven, I went to biology camp because I thought I wanted to be a vet. Then I remembered I don't like animals."

"I don't actually have an MD."

"I lost my virginity at fourteen."

"I didn't lose mine til I was almost twenty."

"I made Jarvis because I was lonely."

"Sometimes I forget what life was like before the Hulk."

"Sometimes I forget what life was like before you."

"I've never been with a man before."

"I've never been with anyone who meant this much before."

"I've always had to leave people."

"I was always the one being left."

"I don't ever want to leave you."

"I never thought I could love before you."

"I never thought I could be loved before you."

Back and forth, new things every night, because there is never a shortage to learn about each other as long as they are willing to share.

Bruce looks up at Tony drowsily from where his head is resting near the arc reactor. His eyes are half-lidded and Tony loves him so, so much when he's like this. Sleepy and warm and affectionate, too tired to be capable of anything else. The way Bruce looks at Tony tugs on something at his very core, the part of him that has always wanted to be... wanted.

"I trust you." Bruce whispers late one night. Both of them are breathing heavy, most of the way asleep as their words dry up for the night. But Bruce talks, looking up at him with those mostly closed brown eyes that are so very human and nothing like the Hulk at all and ready to give up everything, everything in the world, just to know Tony trusts him back.

Tony feels something inside him shift. He winds his hand into Bruce's hair, smiling as the other man hums in contentment, eyes closing all the way.

For Tony, everything feels heavy. There's cotton padding the room, the corners of tables, the sharp edges of sweet emotions, blurring everything. They're protected, holding each other, half covered by blankets.

They're safe.

Tony pulls himself closer to Bruce and whispers back.

"I trust you too."