Reunion with brokeharlem

[labcoatgirl]

[follows this]

It was a long trip, almost six hours before she was in New York. Betty hadn't driven much in big city like this so she was grateful for the turn by turn directions of her GPS. Stark tower loomed in the center of town, the glowing sign lighting up the dark. It was still a wreck here, she had to avoid multiple construction sites, passing huge holes in the road and businesses smashed to pieces.

She parked in a lot a short distance away from the tower, who's sign was reduced to just a single A glowing overhead. Betty got out of the car and started walking, thumbing her phone as she posted on twitter, to make sure Bruce knew she was there.

@drbanner I'm here, walking towards the tower.

Comments

[brokeharlem.livejournal.com]

Humming, he lets it go at that, hesitates for a moment, and shifts closer to her in turn once he's gotten over himself. "We could probably find something, if you really wanted ... "

Tony has a formal living room with a TV somewhere -- he knows because he wandered by it while the billionaire was trying to catch Steve up on modern pop culture -- or, perhaps closer, there's likely a TV on his floor, somewhere. He doubts Stark would leave him entirely without one, especially after telling him he should try watching the cable news once in awhile if he wanted a laugh, and it might even be functional, despite the construction.

wrong spot, sorry :S

[labcoatgirl.livejournal.com]

"I'm not toting a television up here," Betty says with a laugh. The couch was enough moving for one night, especially after the long car trip.

Jarvis, however, is a life saver, making a large screen hologram appear in front of the couch with a selection of movies on the side. Betty sits up quickly, gaping at it. "...is that real?" She reaches to poke at it and the hologram gives slightly.

No worries. :)

[brokeharlem.livejournal.com]

"Hardlight hologram," Bruce supplies, one corner of his mouth tipping upwards. "Stark uses them mostly for his displays, but we've ... kind of been working on something bigger with them."

They both have their own, separate projects, but both of them are also used to multitasking. They're working on making a sort of training room using hardlight holograms, where he and Thor can get into pissing contests without destroying a forest somewhere. Or where he can let the Hulk out without worrying about racking up a hefty repair bill for the city of New York.

If Stark borrowed the idea from some friends up in Westchester, Bruce isn't going to call him on it.

/approves of xmen reference

[labcoatgirl.livejournal.com]

"That's amazing..." She might have a hard time leaving this place with all these new toys around. Betty picks out a movie at random, something half comedy, half drama, and lets it run.

Her second slice ends up left on the floor, forgotten as she watches the movie with him. Exhaustion of the ride here finally sneaking up on her as her head starts to drift to the side, falling asleep on his shoulder without meaning to.

/grins and bows?

[brokeharlem.livejournal.com]

"It really is."

He's only really half-paying attention to the movie himself, his mind wandering, so when she starts drifting in his direction, he notices near-immediately, and tenses slowly. He doesn't try to immediately dislodge her from his shoulder, however, nor does he try to wake her up. Instead, he watches her from the corners of her eyes for a long moment, as she slips farther and father into sleep. When he starts to worry this might get uncomfortable for both of them -- really, physically uncomfortable as neither of them are as young as they used to be -- he pulls away slowly, one arm going around her waist to keep her from simply falling over.

If he has to, he'll carry her to the bed. He wasn't kidding about letting her have it.

[labcoatgirl.livejournal.com]

If she was more awake, she would have still argued that she was perfectly fine staying on the couch. It was comfy enough, perhaps too much so if she was this much asleep already.

When he shifts, she mumbles something in her sleep, readjusting unconsciously to fit under his arm before she can slide off his shoulder. It's been a very long day.

[brokeharlem.livejournal.com]

He shushes her softly, gently, and ghosts a hand over her hair as he gathers her into his arms. He pauses for a moment afterwards, making sure he hasn't inadvertently woken her, then, once he's sure, he stands up, Betty in his arms, and carries her over to the bed. He sets her down carefully, peeling up one corner of the comforter to drape over her, and takes a step back.

"Sweet dreams," he mumbles, retreating back to the couch to clean up.

[labcoatgirl.livejournal.com]

He's the one person she actually feels safe with doing this, even subconsciously. Betty doesn't wake as he picks her up and puts her in the bed, shifting slightly as he puts the comforter over her to hold to the pillow as she gives in to sleep for the night.

Jarvis accommodates by dimming the lights on that side of the room.

[brokeharlem.livejournal.com]

Bruce pauses, mumbling a thank you to Tony's AI, then turns to silently start cleaning up the mess he and Betty made. It doesn't take long and for once, he's grateful that he's managed to learn to be so sneaky over the course of the last few years. He figures he would have woken Betty, otherwise.

When he's finished, he settles down on the couch with a tablet in his lap. He plans on working until he's too exhausted to keep his eyes open -- there's a fine line between too tired to have nightmares and too tired to keep every little thing from irritating him while he's awake -- but it doesn't take him too long to think better of it and set the tablet aside. He contents himself to watching Betty quietly, instead, listening to the sound of her breathing and the sounds of the house, his mind wandering idly.

He falls asleep sooner than he would have liked, perhaps, but his dreams are thankfully empty.