2017.01.24 - Budding Bromance
The warm confines of Ma's Diner are a welcome respite from the cold, damp weather outside. The place smells strongly of coffee with a pervading undertone of grease. At this time of night, the place is practically deserted.
Seated at the counter as far as possible from the door is none other than Bruce Wayne. Edna doesn't seem particularly impressed that he's there sipping her coffee that is probably just a bit scorched from sitting in the pot too long. And Bruce doesn't complain about the quality of the coffee either. A TV mounted high in one corner of the diner plays a rerun of Jerry Springer, the outlandish antics of the guests drawing an occasional chuckle from Edna as she stands behind the counter waiting for a signal for service. Bruce just quietly turns a page of his newspaper and continues to read as though he has all the time in the world to be there.
The door jingles to admit one Tony Stark. He cheerfully waves to Edna and looks around, zeroing in immediately on Bruce and walking over to the counter. With a single, concerted movement, he seats himself right next to the solitary man and starts to remove his jacket and other weather-related clothing. "Fancy meeting you here!" Of course, they planned this, so he's just being a little fatuous.
"Good to see you," Bruce greets Tony with a winning smile. "Keeping warm, I hope?" He's sitting on his own parka, the quilted brown garment draped over his seat.
Edna shuffles forward. "Coffee?" she asks Tony as she hands him a single, laminated sheet of paper that serves as the diner's menu.
"Always! But I'm pretty...is it warm-natured when you're warm all the time, or cold-natured because you're used to the cold?" Tony always gets those two mixed up.
Before he can decide which one it is, Edna's there and Tony's offering her his practiced smile. He means it, but it's definitely the kind of thing she'll have seen on the cover of magazines. Even kind of tawdry ones, on the chance she reads those. But then, Bruce knows all about that. Charity and all. He'll do anything for charity. Especially if you catch him in a bet or something. "Thanks!" He nods to the offer of coffee and lets his eyes drift over the menu.
"I... never really thought about it," Bruce admits hesitantly. "I suppose you can define it however you want," he decides. "Missed you at the Gotham City Zoo fund raiser ball. Was quite the exciting time." Sure. Exciting. Is that what they're calling attempted robbery these days?
Edna returns after a moment with a cup of coffee that she sets down in front of Tony before withdrawing again to give the two men a modicum of privacy. Joe, the chef and Edna's husband peeks out the narrow service window that opens into the kitchen.
"Sorry about that, I had something I had to...deal with." Tony seems to indicate with this, and Bruce will likely pick up on it, that it was something he had to attend to *personally*. As in, Iron Man personally. Which he will probably already know is Tony. He keeps it a loose secret, but the World's Greatest Detective surely has a clue.
"Thank you, sweetheart." Tony turns on the charm with Edna again once she brings his cup. He picks it up and lifts it to her, then to Bruce, before taking a sip. "Mm. Nobody can make coffee like a diner."
Bruce nods in understanding. "Well, the local... colorful characters... were on hand to help smooth things out. Only people who got hurt were those trying to rob the attendees," he explains before taking a sip of his own coffee. "If you haven't been here before, the pancakes are to die for," he offers a tip to Tony. "But if you don't want breakfast food, I'd say go with the roast beef sandwich."
The diner's coffee probably would have been fantastic when it was fresh. By now, it's definitely sat in the pot a bit too long and has an acrid, acidic bite to it. Still, it was something warm on a cold night.
There's always something special about diner coffee. Tony seems to genuinely like his, though he does respectfully listen to Bruce's suggestions. "Mm. I'm gonna get something I can get hash browns with. Those are definitely to die for." He laughs, setting his coffee cup down and flipping the menu over, then setting it to the side. "I'm thinking pancakes. Maybe an egg or two. Hash browns. I'm a growing boy, after all."
Bruce chuckles, giving Tony an amused smile. "I'm sure you'll figure it out," he offers. "So doing anything else while you're in town besides late night snacks with me?"
"Not tonight!" Tony folds his hands before him on the counter. "This is it. I don't really go for midnight walks much anymore. Don't make a habit of it." Because inevitably someone thinks he's an easy mark and has to be taught a decisive lesson by a certain armor-clad superhero. Even though tonight he's dressed pretty plain: an Iron Man t-shirt with a goofy sort of cartoonish appearance to it and a funny tagline, some sort of black trousers that look like jogging or workout pants, and canvas sneakers that appear to have been drawn on by hand.
"Aww, you know just what to say to make a guy feel special," Bruce teases Tony, chucking him on the shoulder. The two men could not be any further apart in the fashion department than what they already were. Compared to Tony, Bruce looked like he had stepped out of the pages of a fashion magazine. Well, except for the fact that Bruce probably carries about thirty pounds more muscle than any typical male fashion model. But his clothes are designer pieces and he wears them well.
"You boys ready to order?" Edna asks, drawing near again. She has a very motherly approach.
Tony would have stepped out of a very different fashion model shoot, if he were going to step out of one. Though judging by his history in magazines, he'd probably be in something age-restricted or scandalous. But before he can horse around too much with Bruce, they're joined again by Edna. He's like a sort of Eddie Haskell type, really: full of mischief and mouth at most times, but always ready to charm an older motherly figure. It's automatic, by this point in life.
"We sure are, darlin'. Bruce, you wanna go first?" Grabbing his menu, he holds it out to Edna to collect. To make it easier for her.
Bruce also offers his menu to Edna. "I'll take the short stack, extra butter and a side of sausage," he orders, smiling at the woman.
Edna collects the menus and turns her attention to Tony, waiting for his order.
"Stack of pancakes, two eggs over medium, and a super-huge order of hash browns that I'm definitely gonna share with Bruce here," Tony answers, flashing Bruce a grin and propping his cheek on his hand. "Thank you, sweetheart." Again with the affectionate names! It comes out so naturally in a place like this, with someone like Edna. Even if Mrs. Arbogast would either clobber him or be utterly flustered, even money either way.
"You got it, honey," Edna replies without missing a beat. She steps over to the window into the kitchen and calls out the order to her husband.
"So, anything interesting on the drawing boards at Stark Industries?" Bruce inquires, a speculative gleam in his eyes.
Tony seems to snap out of his ladykiller mode to turn in place, leaning on that arm instead of propping his head on it as he addresses Bruce. "Oh, all *kinds* of fun things. Everything from improved vent fans to microfiber cloth that'll last longer, keep designs longer and better, than anything on the market! How about Wayne? Everything going good there?"
"Oh, a few things here and there," Bruce answers in a singsong voice. "We're going to be putting out both a smartphone and tablet this coming year, compatible with both Apple and Google platforms. We're also investing in the virtual reality market. I think there's going to be some good stuff coming from that department."
"I think so. We've got a headset out now on limited market. Testing, y'know. Dipping our toes in. I was pretty active in developing that one." Tony nods, straightening up slightly to reach out and pick up his coffee cup again. "If you haven't added it though, I recommend making it movie-ready. People *love* to watch movies on those things. For some reason."
"I'll keep that in mind," Bruce says, nodding with a thoughtful expression. "Sure gives a whole new meaning to Netflix and Chill, though," he concludes with a chuckle, the sound as soft and warm as flannel.
Tony takes another sip of that overbrewed coffee and then another. Maybe he just has coffee that's too perfect, the rest of the time. The imperfection of diner coffee, the sheer, unadulterated diner-ness of it appealing as opposed to the kind that someone's always careful to refresh throughout the day, even if there's a whole pot basically left. This is more like what Tony himself would make, forget about, and sip while he's lost himself in the development of some new invention in his lab. Except it's much better, in Tony's mind. At the very least, this was made by someone else, and that makes a huge difference.
Maybe that was the same appeal the coffee held for Bruce who also raises his cup for another mouthful. He had been born with the proverbial silver spoon in his mouth. All his life he'd been catered to. But being here, right now, was his choice and he's well aware that the coffee isn't going to be the fresh perfection that comes from Alfred's ever attentive service. Still, he drinks it and doesn't complain about it.
"Dick is about to start submitting college applications. Still doesn't have any idea where he really wants to go yet, though," Bruce remarks.
"Anywhere," Tony casually remarks, setting his cup down. "I mean, he should go where he really wants to. Party school or whatever." His experience has definitely been on the more "party school" end of the spectrum, but it's not like he didn't have to do work at the same time. He slaved over his classes to get the grades he did, and it wasn't like he had no pressure on him to perform. But he doesn't like to think about that, really; he just tries to remember the best of the times. Or the better ones. The best times are the ones he can't remember.
"What do you think? Where do you think he'll enjoy? I hear Metro U has some great programs. It's pretty high-profile too, especially with all that 'City of Tomorrow' jazz. StarkTech's got some stuff in there, I know." He has to grin a little again. He's proud of his company, especially his inventions that have made it big.
"I'm not really attached to any particular school," Bruce admits. "So it's really his choice. But I want him to be happy with his decision. I think he's leaning toward going into criminal justice or law."
"Order up!" Joe shouts from the kitchen and Edna hops to it with picking up the plates (managing them all with skill and finesse) and dropping them off. "You boys need anything? Ketchup? Hot sauce?" she asks, looking between Tony and Bruce. "I'll getcha some more coffee, too."
"Coffee's great, thanks." Tony smiles to Edna and scrambles for his silverware. He's hungry. Maybe he's been saving up space all day for this. Knowing him, he just occupied himself in his lab for the past few hours and promptly forgot to eat or anything else. He hyperfocuses like that. It's salt and pepper for most of his stuff, syrup for the pancakes. "Yeah, it's important he's happy there. He's gonna be spending a few years there, so he should pick something he likes."
"Definitely. I don't want him starting then realizing he's miserable," Bruce comments, fixing his own food. He slathers on the extra butter for his pancakes but seems to go light on the syrup.
Edna departs momentarily to retrieve the coffee pot then is back refilling their cups. "You boys enjoy," she says with a cheery smile.
Tony smiles back. "We will. Thank you." Then once they're alone again, he digs in, showing that he really has what one might call a healthy appetite. "Mm. Well, he could just transfer, but...that's a pain in the ass once you've started. Best to just do a lot of tours and see what they're willing to do to let you see what day-to-day is like. I'm sure he's gonna be a popular kid, wherever he goes." Acrobat. That alone should lead to a line of people wanting to introduce themselves.
"There will definitely be some campus visits scheduled," Bruce agrees between bites of pancakes and sausages. "Though I am a bit worried that the press will bother him or he'll attract the wrong crowd who just want to get close to him as a stepping stone to me." It is a very real concern and undoubtedly one Tony could understand.
"That's reasonable. But that's gonna happen anyway. I mean, if you're really bugged?" Tony chews a bite of egg, then washes it down with a gulp of coffee. "I could always make a total spectacle of myself whenever they look like they're breathing up Dick's ass. That sounds weird when you say it out loud." Making a kind of mild frowny face, Tony shrugs it off and just pushes forward. "Anyway, those socialite gossipmongers have one-track minds. They're not gonna focus on your youthful ward when they've got you or me to muckrake over."
Another chuckle rumbles in Bruce's chest. "You'd really put yourself out there to protect us like that?" he asks with a note of disbelief. "Well, you always have handled the press better than me. They just seem to love you." It is definitely flattery. Bruce is no slouch when it comes to dealing with both the press and the paparazzi himself. A few blithe smiles, a wave and some vacuous words were usually enough to appease the hounds.
Tony smiles his dazzling smile in return. "What can I say? I like the spotlight and there's no end of stupid stuff for them to jump on. I mean, it goes just fine for *me*. People underestimate me, and they let their guard down, and then I get to blow their ever-loving minds when I get all sexy science talk." With a wiggle of his eyebrows, he takes another bite of his pancakes, chewing them carefully and swallowing. But he's so eager and so hungry, he's putting a serious chunk in his food even now.
"Love me or hate me, depends on the day and which way the wind's blowing. Speaking of...you gonna be okay getting home?" Because there's a winter storm coming tonight. The clouds are like a blue-grey blanket outside, though the night doesn't show much of them. It feels like it's coming. There's a pressure in the air.
But for now, the diner is a warm, bright beacon in the cold, cold night. And two friends can take the time to catch up.