kore_logs | i must live with my quiet rage

Who: The Hulk and Tony // Bruce and Tony
Where: Out by the woods. // Their house
When: Day 46
What: Tony wants to talk to the Hulk and then also ask his help to catch a saber-tooth cat thanks to an ill-advised bet with Party. // After successfully catching the cat, Bruce and Tony regroup at their house.

Note: You're welcome to have your character hear/notice the Hulk from a distance, but he won't be bothering anyone but Tony (and the log is closed).

Bruce needs to stay calm, but trying to stay calm when he's about to let the Hulk out for something as mundane as a chat isn't easy. He can barely wrap his mind around the concept of letting him out just to... let him out. The cat thing after the talk is weirdly comforting even though it shouldn't be, but it seems like if he's letting the Hulk out, it should be for something... well, Hulk-worthy. That seems like the responsible thing to do, to keep a monster like that concealed as often as possible -- that's been Bruce's life since it happened, his number one goal. Right behind that was keeping out of the hands of the military.

He can accept throwing that away for the sake of saving people, but this... This is so different. He keeps sliding back in his conviction and willingness to do this, but maybe... maybe Tony's right. Maybe the Hulk is... more than a monster. Or not a monster at all.

By the time they get to the woods, he's almost relieved he doesn't have to think about this anymore. He takes a breath and then tugs his shirt off, toes out of his shoes. He's actually wearing the pants Sharon got him for Fake Christmas because they are, indeed, extra-estrechi. He starts to reach to take his watch off, but stops once his fingers slide too much and he realizes there's no fastening because it isn't a watch. Ha. Good. He hopes these bracelets are expensive. Screw you, scientists.

There's a thought to end on. He needs some anger to tug him out, but not too much, so he teases that thought out and then he's changing slowly, his skin turning green and his body reshaping itself, bones growing and muscles expanding. It's still not pleasant, but it's a far cry from acid being poured on his brain, and far more fluid than when he's fighting it off the whole time.

And then Bruce stops having conscious thoughts, and the Hulk raises his head, taking in a lungful of air. Oh, this place still. The woods have metal Hulks in them that aren't better than him no matter what they might've been made out of, so there. He turns and spots Metal-less Man, and no one else. There's no sense of urgency, no smell of a fight in the air, no tension.

"What's going on?"

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Tony blinks, not expecting such easy agreement. But he’s not about to argue over it, so he hurries after him and, once caught up, falls in at his side.

“Now, admittedly, I’ve never caught wild animals before, but I’m thinking if we get far enough into the woods, they’ll find us. I mean, they find us whenever we don’t want to be found. Once they do, we’ll just…”

This is where the plan goes a little soft. He has no idea how one catches a wild animal without considerable equipment.

“We’ll catch it and take it back to the house. How’s that?”

The Hulk doesn't want anyone laughing at Iron Man, especially when Iron Man's been so upset the last two times the Hulk saw him. He doesn't like being called puny, and he gets sad when he's not with... Banner. Tony needs people on his side and not calling him puny or other names, and so he'll help him get a dangerous cat even if it might eat him.

"Catch it," he agrees with a nod. Like, literally catch it. In his arms. "Knock it out."

Then it's less likely to eat Iron Man. He tilts his head, then glances down at Tony.

"Stuff it?" He could prove he caught one, and then he could prove he dominated it by... killing and stuffing it.

“What? No,” he shakes his head, quick to clear up that misunderstanding. Worse comes to worse, they can always get another one if the first one gets killed accidentally, but he’d rather make the venture as short and sweet as possible. Thus far, nothing good has come from venturing into the woods. “Not stuff it. We need to keep it alive.”

And not get killed by it. That’s a priority. The biggest priority. But Tony will deal with it when they actually catch one of the damn things and see what it does.

“Feed it. Care for it. Teach it not to bite us and to bite things that attack us. That’s—That’s really the plan in a nutshell.”

The Hulk lifts an eyebrow skeptically at Tony as they slip past the tree line, which means he also needs to start paying attention to their surroundings.

"Good luck." You'll need it. Now he starts watching out for them, and he grabs Tony's arm and pulls him closer without watching to make sure he won't actually fall over from that. He just wants Iron Man to stay close!

"Don't go far," he says warningly. "Might be metal things out here."

Already trying to keep a watchful eye out for both their quarry and anything that might attack them, Tony isn’t paying much attention to the Hulk. He’s a tough, reliable presence at his side; one that makes him feel invincible and fearless, not one that requires constant monitoring. So he isn’t expecting the tug, nor is he braces for the strength behind it, and he finds himself yanked off-balance. There’s a wild, disoriented moment as he flails his arms, trying to regain it again before he topples over in the dirt like an idiot.

He doesn’t manage to do that. But instead of falling facedown onto the ground, he staggers and trips his way into the Hulk’s side, fetching up against him with a muted oof.

So much for grace, he thinks. And total silence, as he dissolves into a kind of quiet laughter that edges far too close to giggling for his masculinity’s comfort. Still laughing, he pats a hand against the Hulk’s side.

“Sorry, buddy. I have two left feet sometimes. I think it’s these shoes. My bad.”

Whoops. The Hulk pauses and checks that Tony's on his feet again before he nods and keeps going. He's not bothered by Iron Man falling over. Puny people are so puny, it's a wonder they don't fall over more.

"Make more noise. They'll find us easier." That's his commentary on Iron Man's weird laughing, and then he stops when he notices the brush ahead of them moving.

"Look." It's a whisper for someone his size, and he leans forward, trying to spot the animal in its hiding place. "Where is it? I'll grab it."

“Shh or make more noise?” Tony asks with mock querulousness, voice pitched low as he focuses on the bush. “I can’t do both. It’s one or the other.”

But there’s movement in that bush and it’s too small to be a giant metal Hulk. That leaves saber-toothed cat or metal bear, and Tony’s betting it’s the former, not the latter. Tapping his fingers against the Hulk’s arm, he nods toward the bush, plan already forming in his mind. “I’ll flush it out. Second you see it, grab it. Okay?”

A firm believer in asking for forgiveness instead of permission, Tony doesn’t wait for an affirmative. He just charges forward into the bush, withdrawing one of the syringes full of tranquilizer from his coat pocket as he goes. If it fights back, he’ll nail it. Otherwise, it’s up to the Hulk.

He doesn't have time to explain that while Tony was being too noisy, it was working to their advantage before Iron Man's moving off into the bush. He also doesn't have time to tell Iron Man that he should just let the Hulk do it because he can pick this cat up from the ground without much effort, or any at all, whereas Tony can't do much when the tiger leaps out at him from the bush, its mouth open and teeth bared.

The Hulk surges forward and catches it in midair, clutching it hard -- but not too hard -- and holding it against his chest. With one hand, he keeps its mouth and front paws from attack range, and with the other he holds down the cat's back feet, so its stomach is exposed.

On the upside, the plan to flush the cat from the bushes works. On the downside, it means that it comes leaping right for him. But on the second upside, it makes it easier for the Hulk to grab it. A bit of quick math that any idiot could do, and Tony thinks that, all told, it was a good plan. Even if it leaves his heart pounding a little too fast in his chest.

Whipping around, he waits until the Hulk gets its back legs under control before darting in, searching for the most prominent vein he can find in among the fur and struggling wild cat, and plunges the needle in. For all that the animal’s right there, all teeth and claws so close to his face, Tony’s not particularly scared. Not with the Hulk there. He’s practically invincible, so it isn’t like Tony has to worry about him getting hurt.

“Okay, that should do it.” He eyes the cat critically, waiting for the tranquilizer to take effect. “I guess. You okay, buddy? No bites or scratches?”

His hands are getting chewed and his wrists are being clawed, but he's pretty okay. Irritated and ready for this wriggling beast to knock it off, but okay. He's almost ready to drop the thing or hit it against a tree -- that'll knock it out, right? -- when it starts to go slack in his hands, and he peers down at it, using his thumb to lift its chin. The animal's still awake, but groggy.

"I'm fine," he says brusquely, and he doesn't add that the cat will be fine too now that it isn't gnawing on him anymore. He rearranges it in his arms and winds up holding it like a baby.

"We done?"

Tony eyes both him and the cat doubtfully for a moment, then nods. They’re both breathing. They managed to get the cat on the first attempt. No one’s missing body parts. It’s a win. It’s got to be a win. Otherwise, Tony doesn’t know what he’s going to do with himself.

“Yep, that’s it. Thanks, buddy. I definitely couldn’t have done it without you.”

Giving him a smile and a grateful pat on the arm, he turns and starts back to the house. “I don’t know if you’ll need it or not, but if you’re still bleeding by the time we get back, I’ll take care of it for you.” And if he’s not still bleeding, so much the better.

i must live with my quiet rage

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