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Tony doesn't often remember dates. Not only the current date, but others. The ones that are deemed important by many people's standards.
Pepper remembers her birthday for him, so he doesn't have to worry about that. And fortunately, or maybe unfortunately if he stopped to think about it, he didn't have anyone else in his life presently who would be offended if he forgot one of those meaningful days on the calendar.
But there was one date that somehow stuck in his brain when Tony learned it.
***
Tony didn't have one of his normal birthday celebrations this year. The Chitauri invasion was still fresh in people's minds, and cleanup had only recently begun. So instead, he took the team, Pepper and Happy out for dinner. Afterwards, it was back to the tower for an enormous cake. (he had to have at least one thing that was big, after all)
While scarfing down a rather large piece of said cake, he wandered over to Bruce, who he spied trying to fade into a corner. Tony shook his head. At least the man seemed to be enjoying the cake.
"So Big Guy, when's your big day?"
Bruce eyed him quizzically. "What?"
"Your birthday." Tony answered.
"Oh, December."
A fountain of information about himself Bruce was not. Tony had to work for every scrap of data he could pry out of him.
"Ahh...are you a Christmas baby?"
"Not really. A week early."
Tony sighed internally, and did the math. "The 18th?"
His mouth full of cake, Bruce nodded.
***
Later that year...
December 18th was approaching fast.
"I dunno Pep. What do you get for the man who wants nothing?"
"Well, how about a nice shirt or sweater? I see he's been wearing the things you bought for him when he arrived." Pepper offered.
"I just paid for those things. You were the one who picked out everything. If I pick out something, he'll probably hate it."
"He's your friend. I'm sure he'll appreciate anything you get for him."
Tony scowled. She tried again. "Is there some piece of equipment he needs for his lab?"
"I already get him anything he mentions. He never asks for anything, of course. I have to wait until he talks about something, or I spot him eyeing a shiny gadget online." Tony's frustration was growing. "No...it has to be something..."
Pepper had never seen him react this way about anyone. In the past, if a gift was needed, Tony had always pawned the task off on her, let her use her best judgement, and never gave it another thought. Now here he stood, not only remembering a birthday - ahead of time - but also stressing out about what gift he, himself, should acquire. If she didn't know any better...
"Special?" She guessed this might be the word he was looking for.
"Yeah."
And maybe the result of someone recognizing that Bruce seemed to have become quite important to him allowed Tony to acknowledge it himself.
Pepper smiled. "I'm sure you'll think of something. If it comes from your heart, I know Bruce will like it."
***
The conversation between Tony and Bruce regarding the latter's imminent birthday was short and to the point.
"So, what do you want to do for your birthday?"
"Nothing."
"Oh come on, we have to do something."
"No, we really don't."
Cue disappointed look, which roughly translates to: I want to do something, so I'm going to do something, so you'd better say something, or you may not like the something.
"Fine. We can have cake."
***
Bruce's day had arrived, and after a very casual dinner consisting of take-out, eaten while lounging about living room, Tony brought in Bruce's cake. He placed the large rectangular box on the coffee table, and removed the lid.
"Holy Crap! Did someone sit on it?" Clint exclaimed.
At first glance, it did appear as though the cake had been damaged, possible during transportation. But Tony's laughter hinted that something else was going on. "Take a step back, and look at the whole thing." he said.
Upon further inspection, it was revealed that the flaw in the cake was deliberate. The fondant was formed into a replica of Tony's marble floor...complete with the hole left in it by Loki's encounter with Hulk.
"It's a Loki Crater Cake!" Tony was quite proud.
Everyone thought it was comical. Bruce huffed, and feigned exasperation, but inside, he might have been laughing the hardest.
When the non-party broke up, Bruce started to clean up.
"Hey, hey, you're the birthday boy. I'll take care of that." Tony shooed Bruce away from the sink.
"You?" Bruce was skeptical.
"I'm perfectly capable of putting a few plates and some silverware into the dishwasher."
"Well, if you insist." Bruce smiled. "Thanks Tony. This was nice."
"There's one more little thing." Tony reached up to open one of the cabinets, and took out a small package. "Happy Birthday Bruce." He handed it to him.
"Tony, I said no gifts."
"Yeah, but I'm not good at following orders."
Bruce felt more embarrassed at the attention, than mad that Tony did as he pleased. He opened the box. Inside was a replica of Tony's arc reactor, maybe half the size of the one that rested in Tony's chest. Bruce inspected it closely, marveling at the craftsmanship.
"It lights up and everything." Tony beamed. "You could use it as an emergency flashlight, if you ever need one." Tony had very purposely made it small enough, but useful enough, so that if Bruce ever decided that he needed to leave, hopefully he would be able to take it with him. He didn't like to dwell on the thought of Bruce leaving, though.
A genuine smile formed on Bruce's face. He was at a loss for words. "Tony, it's really...cool. Thank you. Very much." He was honestly touched at the gesture.
Bruce lay in bed, reflecting on the evening's events. He was glad he let Tony talk him into the little gathering. This feeling of being cared about had become believable somewhere along the way, and no one worked harder at making that happen than Tony.
As he absentmindedly played with the light on his miniature arc reactor, he thought about the fact that the real one was keeping Tony alive.
Something occurred to him.
Tony was about to take a forkful of cake from the box when Bruce appeared in the doorway of the kitchen. He expected to be reprimanded for not cutting a proper piece if he wanted a snack.
"You gave me your heart." Bruce said quietly.
Tony ceased his movement. After exhaling a deep breath, he set the fork down on the counter, and turned the rest of the way to face Bruce.
"Nah. It seems you took that a long time ago."