Work Text:
“Is that what you’re wearing?” Rhodey asked, arching a brow and suppressing a grin at Tony when he finally emerged from his room. Tony looked down at himself, feeling irked, confused, and defensive all at once.
“What’s wrong with what I’m wearing? Do you know how much this jacket cost?” He straightened the lapels of his navy sport coat that was adorned with clusters of pink flowers, and tugged at the hem of his cowboy cat t-shirt. He jutted his jaw with a huff and donned a pair of pink-tinted sunglasses that matched the flowers on his jacket. Rhodey nodded, gesturing vaguely at Tony.
“The jeans are good. Shows off your ass,” he said, and Tony rolled his eyes.
“Do you think I should change?” he asked, exasperated, and Rhodey shook his head firmly, obviously trying very hard to be serious.
“Nope. Looks good. Very you. If this doesn’t scare him off, then he’s The One. Besides, I don’t have to like it. The more I hate it, the more you’ll wear it out of spite, and then where will we be?”
“Yeah, yeah. Now where are you sending us again?”
Rhodey stood and handed Tony two tickets and a grin.
“You’re going to be tourists for the for the evening. Harbor cruise around the Statue of Liberty with dinner and dancing on board the S.S. Starlite. Got it all set up. Even got you a table by the bathrooms,” he added with a smirk, and Tony snatched the tickets from him and put them in his wallet with an equally sarcastic smirk.
“Statue of Liberty. Sounds delightfully romantic.”
“It was number fourteen on a list of twenty-nine awesome first date ideas that don’t involve sitting at a bar. And I went to a lot of trouble to plan this for you, so say thank you.”
“Thank you, Sugar Bear,” Tony said, patting Rhodey on the cheek and sailing out the door.
When Tony pulled up to the docking area for the harbor yachts, He stood around near the Starlite, starting to get nervous. What did he know about this guy Bruce? Rhodey said he was a physicist who was on a research team that ended up getting a contract with Rhodey’s division, and that he was damn vocal about his displeasure at being affiliated with the military in any way. Tony could appreciate that quite a bit. Rhodey said all he told this guy was that Tony worked in clean energy. They didn’t even know each other’s last names; Rhodey just said to trust him. And of all the people in his life, Tony trusted Rhodey the most.
At about 6:30, people began to board the Starlite, and Tony still didn’t see anyone matching Bruce’s description, until a crowd moved to the gangplank and he saw a man shuffling about the dock, looking around with a slightly worried expression. Tony grinned. Oh, he was cute, with his curls and Duran Duran t-shirt under a plain blazer (Tony could swear he had the same shirt). He trotted over to the man, startling him by accident.
“Hey, it’s okay. I’m Tony. Are you Bruce?” he said, smiling, and the man seemed to slump in relief, and held out his hand.
“Yeah, I’m Bruce. Nice, uh… nice jacket,” he said, smiling, and Tony preened.
“One of a kind. So Rhodey tells me you’re a physicist who gets feisty around military personnel?” Tony said, and Bruce cringed slightly.
“Did he use those words? I mean- I just have a thing. About the military,” he said. Tony arched a brow.
“What kind of thing?”
“The kind of thing where I don’t like working for them,” Bruce said with a slightly challenging tone. Tony laughed.
“You seem to like Rhodey all right.”
“James is different. Smart. Doesn’t shoot first and ask questions later. If he was a little smarter, he might’ve not joined the military at all.”
Tony laughed, his eyes going a little wide. This one had brass balls and wasn’t afraid to show them.
“You are feisty,” he said, “that’s my best friend you’re talking about.” Bruce ducked his head, flushing a bit.
“Jesus, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to-“ he waved his hands vaguely. “Sometimes I get-“
“Nah, don’t worry about it. Well, I’m Tony, and I happen to have a thing with the military too, so look. We already have something in common,” he said.
“What kind of thing?”
“The kind of thing where I designed weapons to protect people, and the military let them get into the hands of enemies, who used them against our own people. That’s why I pulled out and am in-“
“Clean energy,” Bruce said, his eyes going wide. “You’re Tony Stark! You were the Merchant of-“ Bruce cut himself off, and Tony definitely narrowed his eyes. “I’ve heard of you,” Bruce said, shuffling a little nervously. “I didn’t think that when James said he wanted to set me up with his friend Tony in clean energy, he meant the Tony Stark. Your particle accelerator designs have been pivotal in my research, you practically invented a new element,” Bruce looked at him again with a bit of awe, then huffed. “And only Tony Stark would wear a jacket like that.”
Tony went from defensive to laughing in a matter of seconds, and somehow found this prickly man with verbal diarrhea to be endearing.
“I wear it because everyone hates it,” he said, paraphrasing Rhodey. “But if you say the words ‘Merchant of Death’ one more time, this date is off and I’ll dump you overboard, got it?”
Bruce nodded, returning Tony’s smirk, and Tony rather liked it.
“Fair enough. Bruce Banner, by the way,” Bruce said, and this time Tony was surprised.
“Wait, the Bruce Banner? The one who wrote the book on gamma radiation? The one who spearheaded CERN’s research team on anti-electron collisions? That Bruce Banner?” Tony asked incredulously, making a mental note to buy Rhodey an expensive watch or something, because this was a damn treat. Bruce immediately demurred, waving his hands again and shaking his head.
“No, no, no, I’m just- all I do is research, I don’t claim any labels-“ he started, but Tony interrupted.
“Your research helps power the arc reactor sitting under my building,” Tony said, and put an arm around Bruce’s shoulders and headed for the gangplank. “I think we’re going to have a lot to talk about, Bruce,” Tony said.
Several hours later, after an indulgent dinner and sublime dessert, the two of them stood on the upper deck, watching as the Starlite passed close to the Statue of Liberty, aglow with the last wisps of lavender twilight. Tony sighed, enjoying this moment of quiet between them, after several fantastic hours of nonstop talking. It seemed there was nothing they couldn’t talk about, even if it was controversial or they disagreed. They both just seemed to share a curiosity that led to wonderful conversation.
“You know, I’ve never actually been to the Statue of Liberty,” Tony mused. “Or the Empire State Building, come to think of it.” Bruce turned to look at him fully.
“Really,” he said, incredulous. You’ve lived here your entire life and you’ve never done the two most basic tourist traps?” He turned back to face the water. “I haven’t either, but at least I have an excuse. I’m from Dayton.”
“I don’t know. I guess being here all the time, you just forget to notice the little things.”
“I’m not sure I’d classify the Statue of Liberty as a ‘little thing.’”
Tony laughed softly.
“You know what I mean,” he said, and Bruce leaned both arms on the rail, chin in hand as Lady Liberty’s flame flickered golden with the evening lights.
“Yeah, I think I do.”
They were comfortably quiet awhile longer, listening to the jazz combo inside as the other cruise-goers enjoyed the dance. Tony found himself continually interested, surprised, amused, and even occasionally defensive talking to Bruce, and he loved it. Bruce was self-consciously awkward, charmingly enthusiastic, and scathingly opinionated. Not to mention, Tony was gone over his curly hair and wide smile and wicked smirk, and he was completely here for the intangible sort of warmth that Bruce emanated in small, unguarded moments, when his hazel eyes grew soft and distant and his smile came easy.
“Hey. Let’s dance,” Tony said, turning to Bruce with a little smile. Bruce looked vaguely alarmed, looking at his shoes and shaking his head.
“Ah, I don’t dance.”
“C’mon. I’ll even lead. All you have to do is cling to me.”
Bruce flushed and Tony grinned, then Bruce looked at him warmly.
“Well, that part sounds easy enough,” he said, hesitantly stepping closer. Tony felt all fluttery, relishing the feeling that he rarely got to experience. He brushed Bruce’s hand, and brought it up in his own hand, and wrapped his other arm around Bruce’s waist. Bruce fumbled his other hand, before Tony guided it to his shoulder with a small laugh. Tony took a chance and held him close, and Bruce seemed to melt against him, just a little bit, and Tony screeched internally.
“Just follow my lead,” he murmured, and Bruce laughed, shuffling along a little clumsily.
“You make it look so effortless,” Bruce said softly, but they fell into an easy rhythm there on the upper deck, the lilting jazz filtering up from the deck below. Tony adjusted his arm, gently pulling Bruce closer; Bruce gasped almost inaudibly, and Tony’s stomach flip-flopped.
“Is this okay?” he asked softly, looking at Bruce’s lovely eyes, dark under the stars that were rarely visible inside the city. Bruce was quiet, his expression soft and dreamy, and Tony was absolutely smitten.
“Yeah,” Bruce whispered, moving so that he was cheek to cheek with Tony as they danced. “This is great.”
It was almost two in the morning before the Starlite docked, tipsy couples pouring out onto the docks. Tony and Bruce watched them from the upper deck, and Tony suspected neither of them wanted to leave. Tony in particular rested his hand on Bruce’s lower back under his jacket, and Bruce leaned into him as they stood at the railing.
“Hey, I was thinking-
“What would you say to-“ they both said at the same time, then laughed.
“You first,” they both said again, and Bruce ducked his head with a smile, gesturing to Tony.
“There’s a great 24-hour diner that has amazing pie, do you want to go?” Tony asked, and Bruce laughed.
“I was just going to ask if you wanted to go get a slice of pizza,” he said, turning in Tony’s arms and sliding his hands under Tony’s jacket. “Pie sounds wonderful.”
Tony didn’t even have a quip, just gazed happily at Bruce until one of the crew cleared his throat nearby and asked them to leave. It was comfortable and easy, walking hand-in-hand with Bruce, and Tony laughed when they got to the dock.
“You know, it’s a good thing this whole thing worked, or Rhodey would have been in trouble,” Tony mused, and Bruce smiled at him curiously.
“Why’s that?”
“Just imagine if we hated each other from the get-go, and were stuck on a seven-hour-long romantic cruise together. Apparently Mr. Matchmaker had a good feeling about trapping us together on a ship,” Tony said, as they walked slowly towards the parking. Bruce squeezed his hand.
“I should send James a thank you note,” Bruce said with a soft laugh. Tony gestured at the lot, pulling out his keys.
“Did you drive? Do you want to follow?” he asked, and Bruce shrugged.
“I took an Uber.”
“Of course you did.”
Bruce frowned without heat, lightly elbowing Tony in the ribs.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
Tony just grinned, turning to Bruce and pulling him close, nearly nose-to-nose.
“It means that now we have a convenient excuse to get in my car and neck like teenagers and show up at the diner with matching hickeys,” he murmured, his eyes dropping to Bruce’s full lips. Bruce pressed himself close against Tony, sliding his hands up under Tony’s t-shirt, and Tony took a lightheaded, shuddery breath. “Unless you want to cut to the chase and get started now,” Tony suggested. Bruce bit his lip and leaned forward, and Tony knew that little lip bite was on purpose.
“Why don’t you get me in that car first, and we’ll see what happens,” Bruce whispered against Tony’s ear, and goosebumps skittered down Tony’s spine. He was more than happy to dispense with the small talk and hold the door for Bruce, and they nearly pounced each other as soon as Tony was in the car. His car was the last one in the lot by several hours, and Tony might have been wearing Bruce’s Duran Duran shirt when they finally showed up at the diner at dawn, breathless and giddy and not even a little tired.