An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Written for @bruceweek Day 7, prompts “Gentle” and “Gift”. Thanks to @bruceweek for organizing this event and @godlessondheimite for beta reading! This is gen & teen. Part 2 is set after Endgame but is based solely on wishful guesswork, not any actual spoilers.
Bruce heard a knock at the door of the suite he'd been occupying at Stark Tower. This was confusing; the only person who ever came to see Bruce was Tony, and he never knocked. But if it were someone who wished him harm, they probably wouldn't have knocked at all, so he opened the door. On the other side stood Pepper Potts, wearing jeans and an elegant blouse. Her hands were filled with shopping bags.
She smiled. "Hi Bruce! I hope I'm not bothering you."
"No, not at all. I was just, uh, doing some reading. Did...did you need help carrying those?"
Pepper looked down at her bags. "No, I think I can manage, I don't have to carry them far." She held them out to Bruce. "I got you a little gift."
"Oh, for me? You didn't have to…"
"Well, if I had to, then it wouldn't be a gift, it would be the fulfillment of a contract. May I come in?"
"Oh, yeah, of course, sorry…" Bruce stepped back into the room. "I, uh...sorry, you'll have to forgive my rusty manners. I'm not really used to...visitors."
"Nothing to forgive," Pepper assured him, with another flash of her perfect smile.
Bruce looked down at the bags, recognizing the department stores they'd come from. "Can, uh, should I open these?"
"Of course. They're for you. Just a few things I thought you might need, since I know you had to leave some things behind, and your bank account hasn't been set up yet." Pepper settled on the couch.
Bruce really hadn't had much to leave behind, but it was true that he'd arrived at Stark Tower with nothing, not even the proverbial clothes on his back. He'd meant to leave, but Tony had asked him to help with a few designs in the workshop, and then somehow Pepper had insisted that his employment needed to be formalized, and now it seemed like Bruce would be at Stark Tower for a while, despite his reservations.
He opened the bags and realized Pepper had bought him a whole new wardrobe. "Oh, Pepper, this is too much," he said, as he added items to an ever-growing mound on his bed.
"Pff, it's nothing. Do you like them? You'll really need more, but I didn't want you to have to return too many things if they weren't your style."
Bruce looked down at the borrowed AC/DC shirt on his torso, then at the pile of button-down shirts and khakis that Pepper had gotten him. "Oh, yeah, Tony probably wants his clothes back, huh?"
She laughed. "No, Tony could not care less about that. He's probably already forgotten that he ever even owned that shirt. I just thought you'd be more comfortable if you had some of your own things. Tony said you liked purple?"
