Chapter Text
Tony's known Bruce Wayne for most of his life. Their parents had ended up in much of the same circles, even though the Starks were never quite the socialites the Waynes were. Tony and Bruce were generally thrown together as a matter of convenience. Let the kids go off and amuse themselves while their parents could talk business.
Bruce wasn't a bad sidekick, in those days. For a seven-year-old, he'd been pretty damn bright. But then his parents died, leaving him no reason to attend stuffy parties, and anyway, Tony had been going off to college himself.
After that, he didn't really pay much attention to what Bruce Wayne was up to. There were so many other more interesting things to be doing at any given point in time. Like getting drunk in Cancun with Rhodey and building really badass robots in his garage and occasionally getting ridiculously rich off designing weapons for the U.S. military.
He did have a moment to go, "Huh," when Bruce came back from the dead, but he was in Vegas at the time, and he was winning pretty big at craps, and there was a girl with very nice tits who was hanging on to his every word, so it wasn't like he was really paying attention.
It's not until after Afghanistan, after the suit, after Obidiah, that he actually sees Bruce face-to-face again. There's a charity dinner thing set up by Pepper that is in Tony's name, so he can't get out of it, and Bruce ends up on the guest list, mostly because he has the cash to burn.
They met for the first time when the Waynes were throwing a similar sort of gala, so it's a bit surreal to see Bruce in the middle of one of these, now that Bruce is all tall and grown up and pretty. Bruce's date is a stunning European supermodel who seems to enjoy being eyecandy, seems to enjoy being seen with Bruce. Tony almost misses the days when he could do that sort of thing, just because it was fun, just because he wanted to.
"Stop stealing my schtick, Wayne," Tony says, shaking his hand in greeting. Bruce's hands are surprisingly calloused, though Tony thinks he did hear someone mention that Bruce was pretty good at polo.
"I wasn't aware you had a patent on it, Stark," Bruce replies smoothly before breaking out into a bright grin. "Tony! It's been a while, hasn't it? Seems like just yesterday we were playing hide-and-seek in the coat closet. Thanks for inviting me tonight. It looks like a wonderful party."
Tony's tempted to say, No. No, it doesn't. It looks about as fun as watching all of Gettysburg in one sitting without the benefit of alcohol or marajuana, but Pepper had already given him the talk about how his public image was more important now than ever, since everyone knew he spent his free time fighting bad guys in a walking weapon of mass destruction.
So he just smiles and nods before Pepper can threaten to castrate him.
It's later, when he finds an empty balcony where he can nurse his whiskey in peace, that Bruce comes out to find him. He isn't with his date.
"So," Bruce says, leaning overly casually against the balcony, and Tony takes a moment to enjoy the dark eyes, the sharp cheekbones, "Iron Man, huh?"
Tony sighs. Everyone wants to know about Iron Man. "I don't know. Iron Man sounds a lot less interesting than that bat guy you've got over in Gotham. What is up with that, anyway?"
Bruce shrugs, turning to look out over the city. "Batman's probably just some nutjob. I mean, He dresses up like a giant bat to fight criminals. That is not a sign of stable mental health."
Up close, Tony can tell that there's something sharper to Bruce than Bruce wants anyone to see, and Tony can respect that as a valid business strategy, but Tony's never liked toning down how brilliant he is. His father always told him it was something he should never hide. "I gotta say," Tony says, "I kinda dig the animal theme. Wish I thought of it first."
That seems to startle a laugh out of Bruce, the first genuine one of the night. "What sort of animal do you want to be?"
Tony grins, remebering the stupid games they would invent as very bored kids. But this Bruce isn't the one with the runny nose and the freakish obsession with Zorro; this one drives fancy sports cars, dates supermodels, and knows how to party in style. Still, it's surprisingly easy to talk to him, like maybe things haven't changed that much between them. "'Snake Dude' has a certain ring to it," Tony says, then shifts back to the original topic, "You do have to admit that Gotham's not quite as crappy a place with the guy in it."
Bruce snorts, an undignified sound, and his eyes are fixed on an insignificant point on the horizon. "On some levels, he's made things worse. The more he fights, the more crazies make their way out of the woodwork." He sounds genuinely upset about that, like he actually cares, and it's enough for Tony to make up his mind about Bruce.
"So us superhero types," Tony says, leaning in closer, an subtle invitation that he hopes Bruce will pick up on, "not a fan, huh?"
"I wouldn't say that," Bruce says, looking Tony straight on, his voice dropping slightly, a slow smile crossing his face.
"Good," Tony says, leaning in even closer so he can whisper in Bruce's ear, close enough to feel the heat of Bruce's body, "because I was really looking forward to fucking you tonight."