Doing It Right
Title: Doing It Right
Author: ladygray99
Fandom: Avengers
Rating: PG
Characters/Pairings: Bruce Banner/Everyone, Steve Rogers/Thor, Pepper Potts/Tony Stark
Word count: 832
Spoilers: none
Contains: Dinner, fluff
Summary: The Avengers have dinner while Bruce muses on all of them.
Notes: The seventh and final (for now) installment in the The Edge ‘verse. Hope you’ve enjoyed them.
Beta: t_vo0810
Doing It Right
Bruce took a sip of the absurdly good Riesling that Pepper had ordered up from the impressive Stark wine cellar. It was actually quite rare for all the Avengers and Pepper to be in the tower at the same time and in the mood to have a proper, cooked, sit-down family dinner. It was something that Bruce had never really experienced until he was on the run, and the occasional, grateful, shockingly poor family would invite him in and share what scraps they had. Bruce cherished those memories of kindness and always made it a point to prize the nights the Avengers managed it as well.
He watched as Tony tucked into the eggplant parmesan after insisting for an hour that he didn’t like eggplant. Pepper had set him and Tony at far ends of the table from each other so they wouldn’t ignore everyone else and talk science through dinner. This arrangement left Tony flanked by the tower’s redheads while Bruce was flanked by the blonds with Clint in between Thor and Natasha.
He did a quick check of Clint’s plate and wineglass making sure he was eating enough and not drinking too much. They spent the morning dealing with a teenaged psychic and his mind-altering science fair project. He hadn’t gotten within five blocks of Clint but that was still five blocks too many. Bruce knew he and Clint would be having a long, deep session tonight before Clint could get too far into a bad headspace.
Natasha laughed at something Bruce had missed in his musing. He really needed to talk to Clint about bringing her into some of their time together. It would be good for him to have someone else he could trust with certain things. And he certainly trusted her with everything else.
Pepper was telling Natasha a story that he had already heard about walking into Tony’s office for the first time, finding a drunk, crazy, grease-stained bum, and calling security because this vagrant had somehow broken in to the office and done something with Mr. Stark whom she had never actually met.
Natasha laughed again, and Bruce let his mind briefly wallow in dirty fantasies of the two women together. He knew it wasn’t likely to happen soon. Natasha was just starting to accept the fact that allowing someone to take care of her isn’t a sign of weakness, and that sex didn’t have to be a tool. A four way with the two of them plus Tony and Pepper was probably more than she’d be able to handle. Still, a nice thought.
Thor hardily complimented Pepper’s cooking, and Tony gave her a peck on the cheek. Bruce was particularly glad Pepper had been able to make it home. The kid they fought reminded Tony a little too much of himself, and he would be needed a bit of extra support for the next couple days. Still, Tony had a few extra layers of calluses when it came to fucked-up genius teenagers. Conversely, Clint continued to be pretty raw about psychics.
Thor sneaked his hand across the table to try to nab an unguarded zucchini fritter, but Steve spotted the incoming attack and fended off Thor’s fork with a dinner roll. Bruce smiled. The two had become quite comfortable and often spent the night together since Bruce first set up a joint session with them. They always asked permission before doing more than cuddling even though Bruce had told them it wasn’t needed. Pepper and Tony certainly didn’t, but then they had been an item long before he’d arrived on the scene in any way.
Bruce scraped the last of the tomato off his plate. Natasha would be the only one left without a bed partner for the night, but it was a very rare evening and a very particular mood that ever led her to desire having someone sleep beside her. A cuddler she was not. Unlike Thor and Steve who clung or Tony and Pepper who both sprawled out but liked to know someone was there.
Pepper pushed her empty plate away. “Okay, anyone up for dessert?”
“Indeed.” Thor proclaimed for all of them. With no particular discussion the table was cleared, the dishwasher loaded, the tiramisu was retrieved the fridge, and everyone retreated to the couches to eat it. As this happened, people bumped against each other, they touched openly, moved causally, smiled freely. Thor got some cream on his nose, and everyone laughed with Thor laughing the loudest.
Tony gave him a bit of a nudge. “What’s with the funny smile, Big Guy?”
Everyone looked to Bruce. “I was trying to really lock this moment into my memory. Me, here, with all of you, just doing this, just feeling like this because… We are seven dark, broken, misfit toys not understood by anyone outside this room, but we don’t need anyone outside this room to understand us. Look around, I think whatever it is we’re doing, we’re doing it right.”