The Avengers Collaborative Drabble Thread

[Sunshower]

I've been a longtime lurker on this thread, but that last one...

GARNET. Oh my God.

I knew you could write - you proved that with the Pepperony inducing drabble on here that made me explode into a million pieces. But this... THIS. Hnnnnnggg perfect!

Perhaps I might have to contribute something now. I love everything on this thread so much!

[Naraya]

Just.... DAMN!!! Loving you so much right now GARNET!!

That man is SO easy on the eye!!!!

Guess I'll just sit here patiently...

[Parksborn]

Garnet.

Dear god, woman.

You just--you--this should be illegal.

But I'm glad it's not. ;D

In other words:

ASDFGHJKLASDFFFFFILOVEYOUOKAY

[Garnet]

Hahah, you guys are nuts <3 Thank you so much for the responses, I am overwhelmed with LURVE. For this, I give you another snippet of allergic!Tony. Enjoy!

84 – City

Dinner was went off with comparatively few interruptions, though that could have been because Pepper had booked out all the reservations in the room they were seated in, ensuring some privacy. Tony sniffled intermittently, but sneezed only a few times into his napkin, and otherwise seemed content to brush ankles with her affectionately under the table even while he tamely flirted the waitress into a tizzy. Pepper just shook her head and settled for kicking him when he got too fresh.

"You know," she said over her second glass of wine, feeling pleasantly flushed and a little floaty, "A normal woman might have stalked off in a huff by now."

"That makes you abnormal?" Tony mused, pushing pasta around his plate. He sniffed, slivered his eyes shut, and put his head down politely into the napkin. "...-hshh!"

"God bless. Pushing it, boss," she reminded him lightly. She was satisfied when he pointedly offered her a bite from his fork as the waitress returned, then reached to swipe a tiny dab of sauce from the corner of her mouth with his thumb. It was a wordless announcement that they were, in fact, a couple and not simply business partners or friends.

A little drunk after they'd signed off the check, Pepper let him lead her down to the South Street Seaport to peoplewatch. As quickly as they could be mobbed by the media in public at an expected appearance, they could get away with a reasonable degree of discretion if they dressed down and frequented the places they weren't normally expected. A tourist trap would hardly be Tony's first choice, but it made them pleasantly invisible to the evening crowds as they found an empty rail to survey the harbor.

They looked out over the water together in a rare moment of companionable peace. After a few minutes of watching the reflection of harbor and ship lights off the shattered blackness of the East River, Pepper let him slip an arm around her waist. She leaned into the sidelong embrace, a hand going automatically to his opposite hip. She might have happily stayed like that for the rest of the night, so long as he continued on this streak of good behavior, but after a few moments, Tony began to sniffle and blink with increasing frequency.

"Again?" She sighed, not quite exasperated but not quite sure what to make of the situation, either. "Tony, there's something wrong with you."

"Just one thing?" He laughed dismissively, even as he wrinkled his nose up into tight creases of irritation. A free hand itched his knuckles just beneath it, crushing the septum side to side in an aggravated quest for relief.

"There are many, many things wrong with you," Pepper corrected dryly, squeezing the hand around him to assure that none of them were dealbreakers. "But I was thinking of the more immediate issue. You're obviously allergic to something."

Tony started to protest, even as his eyelashes fluttered and brows twitched together. "I'm not--....hh!" He turned from her abruptly, though his arm stayed locked around her waist, letting her feel the sudden shiver of release that coursed through him.

"--ISH!"

"Bless you."

He started to nod in thanks, but kept his head turned as his expression slowly weakened, obviously unfinished. "Tha--...hh--- ISH!" Inhale. "--IZSSH! ...-IZSSCH!"

"Bless you. Tony..."

He recovered with a sigh and a bleary blink, but found her stubbornly through the blur of tears. "I'b dot allergic to adythig--- ugh, seriously?" He seemed dismayed at his own congestion, and sniffed hard to clear it. Pepper bit her lip and resisted the immediate desire to poke the tip of his nose. It had this particular twitchy sort of habit when he sniffled that made the temptation difficult to deny.

"Yeah, you make a convincing argument," Pepper sighed, and withdrew her arm to fish in her purse for more tissues. Reluctantly, Tony released his hold on her, using both hands now to scrub at his eyes. "Here."

He cracked his eyes open long enough to accept the flare of white tissue she offered, and bent his head towards the pier to clear his nose into them with a thin, liquid sound. "Ghh... alright, maybe...something. Sorry, Pep."

She furrowed her brows as he folded the wad over twice and tucked it into his pocket. "For what?"

He threw her an impatient glance and gestured towards his nose. "For being so sneezy. Kinda ruins the mood, don't you think?"

Pepper smiled wryly and reached up to brush her thumb down the line of his jaw. "You know, strange as it may sound, it's nice to be reminded that you're human." Tony turned his cheek willfully into her touch, so she leaned aside for a quick kiss to the other.

Almost immediately, his nose scrunched up again, revealing the wetted interior of his dramatically upswept nostrils. Only for a splitsecond, however, before he was jerking out of her grip and turning hastily towards the water.

"--IZSH!" Inhale. "...--IHZSSCH!"

The harbor lights illuminated the quick flash of spray released to the open air, twice in succession before he got a sleeve up to muffle the rest. Three more came on him, then two, but finally he sighed in shaky relief, a mess of sniffling nose and teary eyes. "Pleadse tell be I'b dot allergic to you, Pep," he muttered, groping aside for the resupply of tissues she passed across.

"Looks like it," she suppressed her grin. "I'll just have to resign, expect my letter on your desk tomorrow morning."

"Ugh, don't even joke about that," Tony sniffed tenderly, looking wounded. "I'll nosedive the company into the ground within three days."

"Really, you think it will take that long?" Her hold on the grin faltered and failed at the displeased look her gave her, red-eyed and plainly itchy. "Alright, alright, rest easy, I think it's probably just the perfume. I haven't changed anything else."

Tony actually looked surprised, as if this hadn't occurred to him. Sometimes she swore he was only a genius when he wanted to be.

"What, really? I've never been allergic to perfume," he frowned, itching a knuckle beneath the tip of his nose again, increasing its pinkened flush.

Pepper shrugged and bared her neck towards him. Obediently, and probably for the sake of science, Tony bent close and drew the clearest breath through his nose that he could manage. Almost immediately, the inhale caught high in his throat, and before he could turn away, his head rocked with an immediate, irritated release.

"--h'IHZZSCH'ue!!"

Pepper blinked in alarm to feel the sudden hot spray against her throat, and then blinked again to suppress the shiver of delight that rolled through her. Wow. For a minute, she moved as if in a daze, reaching for one of the unused tissues in Tony's hand and raising it to brush away the evidence. Only distantly did she become aware that he was attempting to apologize.

"Uggh, I'b so --IZSH! -- so sor--IZSH'u! -IZSSHH'u! ...so sorry, Pep. Snlff!"

"Don't be," she soothed, and consciously touched his elbow to turn him towards her a bit, catching a curious look from a nearby couple who was strolling past. They seemed more bemused by the sight of a man fitfully sneezing rather than actually recognizing Tony Stark in person, but too much of this was bound to attract some attention. "I guess that answers that question. Come on, boss, let's get you home before the paparazzi show up and catch you in the middle of an allergy attack."

Tony managed a nod in between the frantic dip of his head for each sneeze, and sheltered close to her as Pepper one-handedly texted Happy to come retrieve them. The other spread across her boyfriend's back, rubbing in small, soothing circles. "I should be apologizing, I might have put two and two together a lot earlier if I'd been paying attention," she lied with a teasing smile. "I'll wash it off as soon as we get back."

"Hghh, s'okay," Tony snuffled, finally winding down from the fit as he scrubbed miserably at his eyes and nose, trying to scratch an itch he couldn't actually reach. "H-heh...!" Rub rub rub. "...heh-IZSH--u! ... uh." He looked up at her finally, eyes dark and streaming. "'Scuse be. You dod't have to wash it off."

Pepper blinked. "I don't?"

He sniffed hard and salvaged what he could of the tissues to clean himself up, keeping his back to the rest of the pier. It must have been killing him to lose it like that in public, but fortunately no one else was paying them too much attention just yet. She was throwing cautious glances over his shoulder every so often, just to make sure.

"Dah -snnf! You ged off od this."

Pepper was actually rendered speechless for a moment, too surprised to deny it. Damn him, even when she thought he was being dense, he was more intuitive than he let on. She drew a careful breath, and let it out slowly as her phone buzzed with the announcement that their ride was nearby and ready.

"Maybe I do." She swallowed. "How long did it take you to figure that one out, chief?" She drawled, to disguise her genuine curiosity.

Tony fish-hooked a smile at her. "Just dow. I was kiddig, actually, but... really? You're serious?" His brows lifted, amused in spite of his misery.

Goddamnit, she'd walked right into that. Pepper sighed and locked her hand around his wrist, tugging him away from the pier and towards their waiting car. "You know what, let's get out of here, and I'll let you draw your own conclusions."

Edited October 8, 2012 by Garnet

[Dye]

wow

wowowowowowowowoKDJHVDKJFHEFK OH MY GOD GARNET

THIS IS JUST PERFECT OKAY

PER

FECT.

[VividBubbles!]

Hehe. Bad sneaky Tony! Mmm, but it's okay. I forgive you. You're too sneezy and hot not to be forgiven.

Garnet, you deserve a million cookies. Your writing is amazing.

bye.

Edited October 9, 2012 by VividBubbles!

[matilda3948]

Oh goodness woman! You just nail these characters every time. I LOVE Tony/Pepper!! Thank you so much!

[Naraya]

When I grow up I want to write as well as you do!! This is SO good it is unreal. Do you do Kindle editions of this stuff?

Garnet I DEMAND you continue, I am developing a dependency on this story!!! ;-)

So yeah... He knows now... As if he'd let that one drop - the possibilities for him to get his Pep fix would seem endless...

[Ciuty80]

GUUUHHH this was was incredible HOT! please don't ever stop writing allergic!tony! THIS is so wonderful!! please more!

Edited October 9, 2012 by Ciuty80

[Renny]

Garnet~ you made my week.

Allergic!Tony is prettyful and makes me go all gooey.

(Also sorry about that. His flight got cancelled D:< so I had to go anyway)

[Prongs]

I'm dead I died I'm dead. What is a coherent comment while Garnet exists.

<33333 omg that was great. I love tony so much, and those sneezes... Hemirjalslshdhdh

[Garnet]

Aw you guys <3 Also, loolooloo don't mind me just bumping this thread forever. I got devoured by Bruce feels out of nowhere the other day so I felt compelled to... try this? I dunno. It's something. Enjoy!

---------------

The other Avengers wisely held back, as soon as they made the Tower's ground floor. The meeting had been long, unprompted, and half of them were still recovering from a mystery cold virus that had been making the rounds earlier that week. No one was in the mood for a post-debriefing summary, but it was an excuse to give Dr. Banner a very wide berth as he bolted alone for the elevators.

Well. Not entirely alone. Tony -- being Tony and having as little sense of self-preservation as any proper Stark -- dogged after him.

"Bruce, wait. We can talk about it."

"No, we really ca--" The doctor hesitated, focused instead on a sudden, ill-timed catch of breath just as he got the crook of an arm to his face. "--hh'mphssh! ....we really can't." He stepped into the elevator

"Wh-- bless you. None of us knew General Ross was going to be there, you have to know that."

Tony ducked into the elevator at the last minute, the only man with enough bravado or stupidity or both to want to share a small, enclosed space with a very real Hulk threat at his fingertips. For his part, Bruce simply grit his teeth and tipped his head down, very obviously focused on holding himself in check.

"I'm not angry at you, Tony, I just..." He trailed off, swallowing hard, and breathed in small, shallow breaths. For a moment, Tony squinted at him and thought he might be about to sneeze again. It hadn't been an uncommon sound, these past few days. No matter how his friend's nostrils were flared, however, and how deeply his brow was knit, this didn't appear to be a symptom of his cold.

Shit. Yeah, this was happening.

In retrospect, encouraging the doctor to vent out his frustrations in an already wrung out, sick and irritable state was simply asking for trouble. However, Tony was at least intuitive enough to soften his voice to a somber, even tone. Genuine. "What do you need?"

"Space. Physical space."

"The roof?"

A tight nod affirmed Tony's suggestion, so he punched in the appropriate level, and mentally willed JARVIS to get the lead out. The lift coasted to a stop at record speeds, but still not a second too late as Bruce poured out the door and staggered onto the roof with a groan that sounded a fraction too low, too savage for his own voice.

And Tony... well. Later he might claim that it was in the interest of making sure the Hulk didn't do any damage to the tower or the surrounding district. In truth, he stepped out after his companion without a second thought. Maybe it was that blood-deep sense of camaraderie, of the billionaire's well-concealed reserves of empathy. He went to dark places in his own head when he was upset, and no matter how he spat and snarled to be left alone, sometimes it only took a patient look and word from Pepper to diffuse it.

He had nowhere near her social finesse, of course, but the thought had to count for something.

Aware that he was being trailed, Bruce listed to one side, a hand sliding back to twist cruelly at his dark curls. "Jesus, Tony, you should go. Now. I'm going to lose it."

Stubborn to a fault, Tony furled his arms, and felt the reassuring pressure of the Mark VII band digging into his wrist. Even so, there was an appreciable difference to knowing what was going to happen, and having the normally-placid doctor actually grit out a dire warning. But he stayed, even when Bruce went to one knee with a sound that bordered on a growl.

The transformation was at once sickening and beautiful to behold, no matter how many times he'd seen it.

When the last bone had socketed into place and the wash of green had chased away every trace of pink, Tony waited. Strictly speaking, he tried not to do things like dread or panic, those were emotions useful to no one. Still, there was a still a definite hangtime where he gauged whether this was going to be the Hulk letting off some steam, or a multi-million property damage bill.

Cautiously, Tony took a step towards the beast, making obvious the scuff of his shoes. The Hulk's head came up immediately, eyes bright and angry and confused.

"Easy, Big Guy," Tony offered, holding his hands up slowly to show that he was unarmed. "You know me, remember?"

Hulk squinted at him for a few moments, tense, wary, then ground out a cautious, "... metal man."

"That's right, metal man. We're friends."

The monster's gaze drifted away, focused on some distant point, but still obviously upset. "Friends," he repeated, in that beastly growl that sounded nothing like the man Tony worked with day in and day out. Hulk was silent for a moment, save for the quick huff of his breaths, then all at once he stirred into motion. The huge green hands that had been furled across his thighs raised to jaw level, hovering in uncertainty.

And then, with a curious sense of gentility, the Hulk selected the pads of a few fingers and rubbed gingerly at his own sinuses.

"Hurt," the beast complained, sounding like a wounded lion.

Tony blinked. "You hurt?"

Hulk pressed harder to either side of his nose and just below his eyes, wrinkling bestial features with another low, rumbling noise of dismay. "Hurt. Here," he confirmed.

This part, he hadn't expected. For a moment, Tony could only stare helplessly at the enormous green creature, when all at once it slid into place. "Oh! Yeah, you have a cold. Well, Banner did. Does." Slowly, hands still visible, he took another step towards the crouched Hulk. "I thought you were impervious to that sort of thing. Sickness, disease, massive amounts of deadly radiation..."

"Not sick," the beast grumbled, voice a rasping kettledrum roll. From beneath the rubbing cover of his hands, he gave a single, great sniff to the contrary.

Maybe some short-term holdover, then, a lingering sensitivity. Tony wasn't about to try and engage the Hulk into debate on the matter. The guy wasn't much of a conversationalist. Instead, he edged closer, within arm's length. The Hulk watched his approach warily in between snuffling passes at his nose and eyes, but seemed uninspired to move from the tight coil of his crouch.

"Can I see?"

Hulk growled faintly in the back of his throat, but lowered his hands. So much the better, if Tony could distract him from why he'd been pissed in the first place. He was not, under any circumstances, going to mention the name Ross.

From this uncommon degree of closeness, Tony could more clearly make out the framework of Bruce's features past the angrily furrowed brow and gamma-green hide. The Hulk had the same eyes, glittering and hunted, the same faint shadow of stubble, the same salt and peppered hair, and that familiar scar near his lower lip. Even the way he crinkled his nose at the bridge wasn't much different.

"Ah," Tony cautioned, "You're not gonna sneeze, are you? Because, seriously, I could use some warning..."

He wasn't even sure he wanted to know what a Hulk sneeze sounded like. On the other hand, he was a scientist and he had to know. Fortunately, his irradiated companion seemed prepared to demonstrate one way or another, expression gathering for another deep, wrinkling sniff. Tony edged a few leery steps to the side, just as the monster uttered a short, griping sound of dismay and shuddered in a huge breath.

All at once, the Hulk lurched forward in a wrenching shudder, catching himself on the knuckles of one hand and making a tight fist with the other as he sneezed at the ground.

"--hh'RRSSCH!"

Without quite meaning to, Tony flinched an arm up. He was almost certain he could feel the rooftop trembling beneath him with the harsh force of it. The sound was brief and explosive, like an animal vigorously clearing its nose of some irritant. The similarity that only solidified as the Hulk drew another snorting breath and repeated the action.

"--HH'RSSH!"

The second seemed to be more efficient, as he exhaled a ragged growl and crushed his knuckles against the tip of his nose, flushed a faintly darker shade of green with the convergence of radioactive blood.

Slowly, Tony lowered his arm and squinted over at the Hulk, who looked peevish and disturbed but not yet spoiling to vent his frustrations on the nearest soft body. Good.

"Holy hell. Gesundheit."

In bewildered annoyance, the creature lifted his head to eye Tony, as if searching for an explanation to this sudden dent in his otherwise infallible defenses. Tony could only hold his hands open and shrug.

"Hey, you've got me."

"...sick," Hulk admitted more quietly, a sandpaper exhale of sound.

"Oh, are we calling a spade a spade now?" Tony prompted with a cocked eyebrow.

Hulk's only response was another forceful sniff, and a hand pawing roughly at the end of his nose. That couldn't possibly end well. "Not like."

It was a little amusing hearing an otherwise startlingly brilliant man reduced to such a limited vocabulary, but in some fashion it made the Hulk a little easier to interface with. Tony bit the inside of his lip, holding up his hand again in plain view as he slowly reached out to touch the beast's arm. Though he couldn't say why, it was a little surprisin to feel the skin reassuringly hot and leathery beneath his palm. Not quite hard and unyielding, just... impenetrable, it seemed. He hadn't had the occasion to do this without the barrier of the gauntlet between them, until now. You didn't exactly just walk up to the Hulk and give him a friendly hug or clap on the back.

Unless you were Tony Stark, anyway.

"I know, buddy, being sick's no fun."

The Hulk stared at him with a confused furrow to his brows, but either he'd calmed down from the first spike of rage or simply wasn't sure what to do with a fragile human hand touching him in a friendly fashion. He blinked at the tiny engineer once, twice, and then suddenly creased his nose up again with a snarl of irritation, grinding the opposite hand against his features in a cruel rub.

Wincing, Tony flagrantly disobeyed the second rule of interaction with the Hulk: don't tell him "no."

"Hey, cut that out," he insisted, reaching up to push the abusing hand down again, and ignoring the bass tiger growl he received in turn, all sharp teeth and hunched shoulders. "You're gonna make it worse. Listen, Green, I--..."

He paused as that dazed, heady expression came back over the Hulk's features, smoldering annoyance turning to weak dismay in the span of a few seconds. A sudden, snatching intake of air was close and potent enough to ruffle the smaller man's hair. Shit. Tony ducked aside at the last second, just as the Hulk curled back a step and redirected another verging sneeze at the rooftop.

"--HRSSH!" A pause, head bent. Inhale. "--hh-RSSSHH!"

This time he reeled upright in the aftermath, towering over Tony as he rumbled from deep in his chest and pressed both hands to his face.

Gauging that he had a few spare seconds before the Hulk opted to take out his frustrations on something besides himself, Tony put a hand to his side. "Bless you."

That seemed to get his attention immediately, though it was at the risk of a backhand off the roof. A huge green fist cocked in preparation, but there was no follow-through.

"Make stop," the Hulk commanded instead with thunderous disapproval.

Tony was not going to be the one to explain that there was no cure for the common cold. Or an uncommon one, if it had actually managed to affect Banner's impervious counterpart, who probably would have been the only one to actually survive the nuke on Manhattan. Indestructible bastard.

"How about this," he said instead, taking his hand away and stepping back. "You let the doc back out, and I'll take care of him, okay? My bedside manner leaves something to be desired, I'm told, but I'll give it a shot. Soup, tea, the works."

He wasn't sure how much of this the Hulk was actually processing, especially as the monster's eyes darted aside over the skyline, as if searching for an escape. The phthalo green throat pulsed in a swallow and slowly, warily the Hulk nodded, easing back down into the knuckled crouch that was his default. Presumably he was less swayed by the promise and moreso by the perception that there was no immediate threat that needed to be destroyed. The Hulk seemed on the verge of saying something more, for a moment, but instead he gave his head a quick shake. Just like that, he began to fold back in on himself.

It was equally horrible seeing the creature emerge and watching it crushed and broken back into a too-small container. This time, however, Tony didn't give him any space, and was there to catch a coughing scientist by the arm as he staggered forward.

"Well that was interesting," he managed, as Bruce slowly regained his bearings, holding his pants up with one hand. Warily, the smaller man's gaze cast around to take stock of any destruction, but seemed startled when there was none to be had.

"...what...are you? Did I...?"

Jogging his friend closer, Tony flashed a Cheshire smile. "Nah, everything's fine. Me and the Other Guy are besties, remember?"

Bruce groaned in vague annoyance, passing a hand from brow to chin in a queerly familiar gesture, this time in reverse. "Okay, I take it you had a nice chat over tea, then. Fantastic. Thank you." His words were dry, but he softened on the last part, and let an exhausted, sick weight slump sideways into Tony. His arm tightened reflexively.

"Any time. C'mon... first? Pants. Then? Bed, and maybe I'll have a nice chat with you over tea."

[Dusty15]

D'awww BRUCE! I never thought I'd find the actual green Hulk's sneezes endearing, but I loved those too! Too cute and sweet, Garnet!!!

[iety]

Gosh, this is such a good thread. I never expected Hulksneezes to be so adorable.

[BelieveInRollins]

My banner/stark feels are on FIRE right now holy crap.

You write sooooo good!

I hope there is more soon

[Naraya]

Wow!! That was great. Never saw that one coming!!

Mucho love anything you write, Garnet!

[Ciuty80]

awesome is awesome!!!

this was just so BRILLIANT!!!!

what a wonderful idea, Garnet! :drool:

please MUCH more!!!

[SweaterWeather]

*Flails* This was amazing! Just the interaction between Hulk and Tony was enough, but you added in Hulk sneezes? REALLY!?!?! I mean, as if Stanner wasn't enough to drive me insane, now it's Tulk. Or Huny. Either way, I love this to pieces. Especially tired Bruce at the end. I mean, im just on total gush mode right now. Please keep bumpng this thread for, like, eternity. <3

[Prongs]

*Flails* This was amazing! Just the interaction between Hulk and Tony was enough, but you added in Hulk sneezes? REALLY!?!?! I mean, as if Stanner wasn't enough to drive me insane, now it's Tulk. Or Huny. Either way, I love this to pieces. Especially tired Bruce at the end. I mean, im just on total gush mode right now. Please keep bumpng this thread for, like, eternity. <3

ALL OF THIS. I am going to go read this three more times. <3

[Naraya]

Just read again.... Just because :-)

[ID2006]

There should be a sequel of Stark Banner fluff... hint hint

[SterlingSilver]

WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAa <3

GARNET! You've done it again~ *melts into puddle*

=w= I'll be like this for a few hours, on account of adorable Hulk/Tony action x3

Oh god, that was fantastic~! You're so GOOD <3

[fufufufu]

SWEET JESUS PLEASE ALWAYS HAVE BRUCE!FEELS

That was pretty much... the most unexpectedly great and wonderful thing to read, you just killed me dead in the best possible way. THE BEST. POSSIBLE. WAY.

[blackrose]

YAY! i have been waiting for some sick hulk for so long! that was wonderful!

Edited October 15, 2012 by blackrose

[blackrose]

i keep coming back and rereading this! i cant get over that hulk story! what i would give for more similar stories!