Granola and Peach Coffee Cake
Tony paused at the kitchen door when he found Bruce in the kitchen instead of Thor, his smile surprised but not in the least bit disappointed. “Bruce! Hey! I thought Thor was cooking with me this morning!”
“Hey Tony.” Bruce wasn’t given to overt displays of any emotion--beyond Hulking out of course-- but his eyes softened towards adoration when he saw Tony in the apron and the brilliant scientist offered up the closest thing to a grin he ever managed. “I hope you weren’t too set on cooking with Thor first, apparently he needed an Asgardian ingredient for your recipe and blasted off late last night.”
“An Asgardian ingredient?” Tony muffled a groan. “We’re supposed to be going for me-proof recipes here! Not creating food that I’ll literally never be able to replicate!”
And then after a moment of quiet grumbling, “Oh and no way, I’m super glad you’re here this morning.”
“Oh yeah?” Bruce leaned only slightly into the hand at his shoulder as Tony came up to the counter before stepping away to give himself that always preferred bit of space. “Why’s that?”
“I couldn’t sleep last night because I had at least four cinnamon rolls and good god do they have a bunch of sugar.” Tony eyed the container of oats curiously. “And I got to thinking about that article you read me the other day, the one about Twisting Elusive Quantum Particles With a Quantum Computer?”
“I thought you were asleep when I read you that article.” Bruce frowned, hesitating. “I uh-- I didn’t realize you stayed awake.”
“Bruce.” Tony’s nose scrunched and Bruce fought not to smile over it. “I woke up one day like six months ago to hear you reading to me and ever since then I’ve just faked my way through naps. I like listening to you read and it gives my brain a chance to think things through without additional input. It’s great.”
“You fake naps so I’ll read you science articles?!”
“Yeah.” Tony answered, nonplussed. “And it’s great. Anyway, I couldn’t sleep last night so I went back to the article you read me and I was thinking, you and I could build one of those and recreate the experiments and I guarantee we’d prove the theories before anyone else could.”
“Tony--”
“You deserve a Nobel Peace Prize.” Tony interrupted quickly. “And I would really love to show up to one of those award ceremonies and make a spectacle of myself. Plus it would give me and you an excuse to hide away in the lab for a solid month? Honestly, I’m not seeing a downside to this idea.”
“Tony.” Bruce held up his hand to stop Tony before he launched into another rapid fire list of reasons why they should absolutely build a quantum processor in the downstairs lab. “I’m not disagreeing with any of those things.”
“Really?”
“I do deserve a Nobel Peace Prize.” Bruce stated blandly and Tony lit up with agreeable laughter. “And you would absolutely make a spectacle of yourself at the ceremony and I do love the idea of the two of us hiding away for weeks at a time to build a super computer however--”
“Bruce! No!” Tony groaned out loud. “Not ‘however!’ This is such a great idea!”
“However.” Bruce repeated louder. “How about we get you through your date on Saturday and then talk about it?”
Tony grumbled under his breath, and Bruce added almost slyly, “Unless the Saturday date night is canceled…?”
“No, it’s not canceled.” Tony huffed and puffed and aggressively retied his apron, frustrated at having his super computer plans foiled for the time being. “Fine. What are we making this morning.”
“Granola.”
“Granola?!” Tony threw his hands up as if he’d been personally victimized by the choice of recipe. “Bruce! I wanted to build super villain status machines and you want to make granola?!”
“Even super villains get the munchies, Tony.” Bruce wore a very plain, very serviceable apron and he smoothed it down at his waist patiently. “Do you want to learn or not?”
“I want to learn because I want to spend time with you.” Tony poked his finger into the pile of oats. “But let’s be real here, nobody’s gotten laid cos they made a mean bowl of granola.”
“You’ve obviously never spent time hiking through New England during the seventies.” Bruce disagreed mildly and Tony gasped faux shocked, “Dr. Banner! Were you and your granola quite the sexy duo during that particularly morally ambiguous decade?”
“I was beating the hippies off with my walking stick.” Bruce loved the way Tony shrieked with laughter whenever he was surprised, and this time was no exception. Tony’s nose crinkled, his eyes disappeared in a wreath of laugh lines and he always clutched at the nearest surface as if he’d collapse without support and even though Bruce honestly didn’t have much interest in kissing…
…well he could certainly understand why Tony was just so damn kissable during moments like this one.
“Alright bring it in and focus now, come on.” Bruce grinned and reeled Tony in by way of apron strings. “You ready to make some granola with me?”
“Brucie-bear if it was anyone else dropping a line like that, I’d swear that was an innuendo.” Tony situated himself close but not oppressively too close to Bruce, both respecting and entirely comfortable with the boundaries Bruce had previously established. “Let’s have the recipe but also? You should definitely tell me at some point why you started making granola.”
“Three and a half cups of oats.” Bruce pointed to the already pre-portioned bowl. “And in this other mixing bowl we’ve got egg whites, brown sugar, honey, and oil.”
“Oats, egg whites, brown sugar, honey…” Tony repeated the list as he scanned down the recipe card Bruce had written for him. “Oil. Any specific oil? Vegetable oil? Pure Olive Oil?”
“Vegetable or Canola is fine. Safflower, Grapeseed, Peanut.” Bruce handed Tony a spoon. “Whichever you’ve got on hand. Barring any sort of oil, I’ve used cannabutter with a little experimenting as far as the amounts and that worked out pretty well too.”
“Canna--” Tony’s eyes slowly widened as those particular words sank in. “Bruce, are you making pot granola? Pot-nola? THC snackies? Exactly how fun was that hike through New England in the eighties?”
“Extremely fun.” Bruce chuckled quietly when Tony’s eyes bugged out even further. “Oh calm down, Tony. I’ve dabbled with this stuff since highschool. How do you think I stay so steady all the time?”
“I thought you were angry all the time!”
“Well I am when I’m out of Cannabutter!”
“Bruce!” Tony shrieked with laughter all over again and Bruce finally laughed for real with him. “Oh my god!”
“Calm down, Tony!”
The granola recipe was relatively simple-- minimal ingredients and minimal work, a single mixing bowl, a single baking pan and no more than an hour from start to bake to cooled and finished. The easy recipe left plenty of time for Tony to grill Bruce about the newly discovered habit, plenty of time for Bruce to ask questions about the proposed quantum processor and to bring up additional articles on his tablet that they could read together.
Advanced theoretical physics and granola recipes made for convoluted conversations but Bruce and Tony switched between the topics with ease, with all the smoothness and certainty of old friends and kindred spirits. Both men had an IQ that topped the charts and both had a penchant for bullshit and teasing that presented loud with Tony and quite a bit drier but equally as scathing in Bruce, so the sound of laughter and good natured arguing ran through the kitchen the entire time.
“We’d have to put a huge cooling system in the lab to handle the super computer.” Bruce said thoughtfully, “Grab the cashews and pecans, Tony. Granola is already calorie rich and high in protein, but the nuts will add more.”
“Also craisins and chocolate chips?” Tony asked hopefully. “And I have the blue prints for a cooling system already, the arc reactor back at the old Stark Industries building required a hell of a set up, all we’ll have to do is replicate it. Maybe dig down into the subfloor to make room but we can handle it.”
“No on the chocolate but yes on the craisins.” Bruce dumped the cooled granola clusters into a bowl and set to work breaking up the large pieces and crumbling them between his fingers. “I toasted some coconut earlier and we can add that too. I wasn’t sure how you felt about coconut.”
“I drink it over fruity drinks while lounging beneath palm trees on exotic islands, but I’ve never considered it for granola before.” Tony emptied the bag of craisins into the bowl. “Also, I’ve never considered granola before now, so there’s that. How loud do you think Pepper will scream when she gets the bill for all the supplies we’ll need for the computer?”
“I plan to be on the other side of the country before she gets the bill, so I dunno.” Bruce cracked a smile. “It’ll be every bit as expensive as your suits. More so. Ten times more so. Get those bags over there? They’re the perfect size to portion the granola out. This mix is super sweet with the honey and coconut and dried fruit, and smaller portions help avoid any weird sugar rushes.”
“Probably true, if I didn’t have most of the basics already established in my lab.” Tony shrugged it off. “Can’t build arc reactors and nanotech without very expensive gear so we’ll be fine. You eat granola because Hulking out takes so much energy from you right? Probably nauseous after changing, definitely need to eat but don’t want to eat and granola is high in fat, calories and carbs and can at least give you the energy to function a little until you have a chance to rest?”
“Exactly that.” Bruce got one of the handy cookie scoops Bucky and Steve had made sure to purchase for the Tower and began to fill the bags, handing them off to Tony to twist tie shut. “I pretty much always have some on me too if you ever get hungry. I’d be glad to share with you, Tony.”
“It’s more fun to steal snacks from everybody.” Tony smiled to himself as he secured another bag. “Though the offer to share is both duly noted and appreciated, and it would also be appreciated if you made your snacks easier to steal than Tasha. You know I found her Girl Scout Cookies in those tiny cupboards above the stove?”
“How did you ever reach the tiny cupboards above the stove?” Bruce wanted to know, and Tony clarified, “Oh, Thor lifted me.”
“Of course he did.” Bruce shook his head in amusement. “I will make my snacks easier to steal than that, but you could just show up and ask for some and I’d give you whatever you want, Tony.”
“Whatever I…” Tony stopped, fingers pausing on the bag as he thought about just how many times this week he’d been told something similar by the various members of the team and then inevitably, his thoughts turned towards Sam and that wholly unexpected kiss.
“Um.” he cleared his throat once, twice. “Bruce? Can I ask you something?”
“Yes, you have to use egg whites for the recipe, if you use whole eggs you’ll get oaty scrambled eggs.” Bruce answered without looking up. “And yes, I think we should take a trip to CERN and take a peek at the Large Hadron Collider and then ask about their own quantum processors. I’ve always wanted to go and shockingly enough, they’re touchy about the Hulk showing up to inspect their multi billion dollar set up. I doubt they’d say no if Tony Stark asked about it though so--”
“No, that’s not it.” Tony denied. “I mean, good about the egg whites cos I absolutely would have tried whole eggs at some point and damn, if you want a field trip to Geneva so we can geek out together over the tech, I can make that happen tomorrow. But that’s--that’s not what I wanted to ask you.”
“Alright then.” Bruce made a generally vague motion for Tony to continue, and after another moment of hesitation Tony asked quietly, “Would uh--would you ever kiss me?”
“...why do you ask?”
“The team gossips like old women, Bruce.” Tony pointed out. “I know you know why I’m asking that.”
“Right.” Bruce popped the last handful of loose granola into his mouth and chewed slowly, thinking through his answer. “Well… well kissing isn’t really my area but if it was? Yes. Yes I’d kiss you.”
“Really.”
“Absolutely.” Bruce watched Tony carefully. “You look surprised by that. Conflicted, maybe. Is it because it’s me talking about kissing you?”
“Brucie, if I thought you leaned even slightly my way, I would have tried to get in your pants the first night you moved in.” Tony laughed in a quiet, self conscious sort of way that had Bruce narrowing his eyes and watching him closer. “It’s not about you. Not-- not in that way I mean.”
“What’s going on, Tony?” Bruce’s eyes flicked to where Tony’s phone sat dark, turned off, to avoid any phone calls or texts. “You okay?”
“Gee Bruce I--” Tony rubbed at his chin, his stomach a riot of the same butterflies that been haunting him all week, ever since everyone had agreed to help him cook and ever since he’d spent every day being called beautiful and promised anything he wanted. “I don’t really know.”
********
“Anthony!”
Thor returned to the Tower with a flash of the BiFrost and an echoing quake, strode through the common area in all his godly glory, cape flowing behind him, hair still wafting in the shuddering air, Mjolnir held in one hand and three golden peaches cradled carefully in his other palm.
“Anthony, my love! Come! It is our time to cook together!”
“Thor?” Tony emptied what was left of a bag of granola into his mouth, eyebrows raised. “What’s up, big guy? I thought you were in Asgard. Usually when you head off into the stars you’re gone for days but you’re back in--” he checked his watch. “Twelve hours?”
“Of course I returned.” Thor gentled his tone as soon as he saw Tony, lowering his voice from the overwhelming boom to something closer to a rumble. “I would not miss our culinary appointment.”
“Culinary appointment.” Tony blushed beneath the open affection in Thor’s lightning struck eyes. “Cooking could have waited, you didn’t have to rush for me.”
“Certainly I did.” Mjolnir was deposited on a nearby table and when Thor bent to pull Tony into a gentle but consuming hug, his cape swirled round them entirely, blocking their embrace from the nosy eyes of Clint and Bucky who were sat playing Battleship at the table. “You are worth rushing for, Anthony.”
“Wow.” Being flustered around Thor was nothing new, the guy was an actual god with actual magic, but after the week Tony had had and with Thor suddenly holding him in a moment of privacy, staring down at him from his over tall height and very blatantly looking Tony over-- well, Tony was very flustered all the sudden and he pushed at Thor’s chest weakly, trying for a laugh that didn’t sound like a breathless giggle. “Thor, tone it down a notch. I know you don’t carry a hammer cos you’re subtle but sheesh! Easy on the charm!”
“Apologies.” Thor winked, about as unapologetic as he could be in the moment. “Shall we cook? I went to Asgard for peaches from the Queen Mother Frigga’s own orchard.”
“Okay and in theory I love that?” Tony looked down at their hands in confusion when Thor twined their fingers together and dragged him towards the kitchen. “But um--how am I supposed to replicate the recipe if it involves Asgardian peaches? How will I get those when I need them?”
“You will tell me when you need peaches and I will simply retrieve them for you.” Thor’s massive shoulders rolled in a shrug, as if a trip through the cosmos for fruit wasn’t any particular inconvenience. “Or better yet, I’ll take you with me to Asgard and you shall pick the peaches yourself.”
“You would take me to Asgard?” Tony’s fingers faltered tying the bow on his apron. “Seriously?”
“At any moment you wish.” Thor set the golden peaches down on the counter and rummaged for the additional ingredients. “Tomorrow night, if you’d like.”
“Tomorrow is Saturday.” Tony picked up one of the peaches, his skin tingling against the brush of magic on the ripe fruit. “I uh-- I have a date Saturday night, remember?”
“I am well aware.” Thor did another one of those hugely nonchalant shrugs. “But plans change at a moments notice, do they not?”
“I…” Tony’s heart flip flopped all over the place. “I guess so?”
“You do not want to go to Asgard?” Thor offered and Tony countered with a tired smile, “Thor to be real honest, I have no idea what I want anymore. Maybe let’s just cook and I’ll figure it out by the time the breads ready?”
“As you wish.”
The peach coffee cake was harder than most of the recipes Tony had tried this week, though certainly simpler than Sam’s bossy cinnamon rolls. The peaches needed to be blanched and then peeled before they could be diced and Thor waved off Tony’s concerns about whatever the hell blanching was to tell him, “Tis simply dunking the peaches into boiled water, then into ice for the skin to come apart. We will do that first, and collect the other ingredients while waiting.”
Softened butter, sugar and eggs, all the best spices-- cinnamon, nutmeg, a pinch of cloves-- and Tony measured exact amounts into tiny bowls scattered around the counter while Thor hovered close by and murmured instructions into his ear. The physical proximity had Tony’s hands shaking and his breath catching and when Thor wound a thick arm around his waist and covered Tony’s fingers with his own to guide a measurement of flour, Tony really thought his knees would give out.
“Th-Thor?” he gulped. “Feel like there’s no reason for you to be quite so close to me right now.”
“You seemed unsteady, my love.” Thor’s lips touched Tony’s ear when he spoke. “I was only making sure you didn’t spill.”
“Did-- did you just call me my love?” Tony squeaked and Thor’s quiet laugh brushed at his skin like a caress, “I do not carry a hammer because I am subtle, Anthony.”
“Christ.” Tony gave up on the ingredients and turned instead to face Thor, staring up and up at the demigod. “What are you doing? What are you doing right now?”
“What was the last time you were kissed, beauty?” Thor cupped Tony’s chin gently. “When was the last time you were held and cherished?”
“You-- You--You--” the fact that all the attention had effectively eliminated Tony’s ability to put a rational sentence together was both frustrating and exhilarating all at the same time. “You know damn well the last time I was kissed.”
“Aye.” Thor didn’t bother trying to hide it. “With our Samuel. But when was the last time you were properly kissed?”
“Sam’s kiss was a proper kiss.” Tony countered before he could help himself, then grimaced and backtracked, “But that’s--that’s neither here nor there. What are you doing flirting with me so hard right now? Why are you--”
He gestured to the non existent space between them. “Why are you doing this? I have a date tomorrow night.”
“Yes, a date.” Thor nodded slowly. “So you want me to cease, then.”
Silence in the kitchen, one minute and two, and then Tony, “...no.” and Thor only smiled and turned Tony gently back round to the counter.
“Butter and sugar into your mixer there.” he directed softly, and the huge blond’s smile grew wider when Tony moved visibly weak kneed towards the mixer. “Then eggs--” two eggs cracked in his palm and plopped into the mixer. “--milk. Vanilla.”
“Um-- peaches are uh-- they bruise easily.” Tony cleared and cleared and cleared his throat. “That’s the saying, right? Someone bruises like a peach? So we can’t just throw them in the mixer?”
“That is correct.” Thor pulled a wide wooden spoon from the drawer and took over mixing, folding the peaches carefully into the wet ingredients so they wouldn’t bruise and fall apart. “Tell me Anthony. You are very nervous about tomorrow night. Why would you be nervous about staying an overnight with a partner?”
“This is our um-- our first time.” Tony set the bowl of sifted dry ingredients next to Thor, eyes on the batter so he wouldn’t see the pity or surprise on Thor’s handsome face. “Our first time doing all that sort of thing. Staying the night, less clothing, morning after. We haven’t done that yet. We’ve barely even kissed more than a handful of times so we definitely haven’t done that yet. Tomorrow is supposed to be our first time.”
“At all.” Thor didn’t sound faux surprised like the team sometimes did when they’d already super spy gossiped the new information away and were only pretending, he didn’t even sound mildly surprised by the news. Thor sounded full on shocked by the revelation, utterly flabbergasted to the point of stopping the process all together so he could stare down at Tony. “You have yet to be intimate with your partner?”
“Yes. And before you get weird about it.” Embarrassment bloomed dark red at the back of Tony’s neck and rushed up his face. “Before you get weird about it, you should know that it’s me that kept saying no. He uh-- He probably would have been good to go at the end of the first night but I-- I said no. Decided to wait. It’s not that he doesn’t want me, it’s just um--”
“Anthony, I never would assume someone would not want you.” Thor shook his head and stepped back so Tony could take over the mixing, adding the dry ingredients a portion at a time until the batter thickened. “Of course your partner desires you, that was never a question.”
“..oh.” Tony’s free hand went to the scars at his chest. “I didn’t expect you to say that.”
“You are flawless.” Thor said it as casually as if he were talking about the weather, a statement of fact instead of words Tony had never heard before in his life. “I am simply surprised that you would stay so long with a person you do not desire. Three months it’s been now, yes?”
“Y-Yes.” Tony answered slowly. “And it’s not that I don’t uh desire him, it’s just that--”
He stopped again when Thor pulled out a bread pan to pour the mix into, and Thor prompted, “It’s just what, Anthony?”
“It’s just never felt right.” Tony hadn’t ever said those words out loud to anyone, not even himself, and they hung in the air damning once they were uttered. “Three months and it hasn’t felt right yet. It’s taking me a really long time to trust him, to feel comfortable with him…”
Tony laughed, but it wasn’t a nice sound. “I felt more comfortable the first night you all moved in then I have ever felt with him. And he’s fine! There’s nothing wrong with him, it’s not that he’s not safe or kind or funny or smart, it’s me. I just-- it just doesn’t--”
Frustrated, the words spilling out self conscious and self loathing as a week of affection and care finally tore the bandaid off of everything Tony had been avoiding thinking about. “I wanted to make it work, alright? I’m tired of being lonely and I wanted to make it work so I gave it time and now it’s been three months and now our first time in bed has become this huge thing that I can’t seem to prepare myself for and I’ve been trying to force myself to be emotionally available and now--now physically available because hey maybe it’s just this mental block that I’ve created myself and just need to get over and it’s--it’s--”
Tony threw his hands up. “Why am I telling you this? Why am I ruining our peach bread and cooking by showing you my crazy. This is nuts. I need to just stop. I need to just stop, this is crazy.”
“Anthony.” Thor asked softly, clasped one of Tony’s hands between both his palms and held Tony still. “Anthony, intimacy shouldn’t require force. Not mental or emotional or otherwise. You should not have to force yourself to be with this person in any aspect, but especially not by sharing your body before you are ready.”
“Okay but here’s the thing.” Tony stared at where his hand disappeared between Thor’s fingers. “Here’s the thing. People are not lining up to date me. Relationships do not work out for me. Finding a partner that isn’t in it for the money, for the fame or for the paparazzi is not easy for me. So when I found him and we hit it off, I wanted to keep going. Wanted to try. When nothing happened easy, I thought I should just wait and work on it but now it’s date night tomorrow and I am nowhere more comfortable about it than I was last week.”
“Regardless, Anthony--”
“Here’s the thing.” Tony repeated, and this time it was sad, miserable, everything he’d hinted at with everyone else spilling out truthful with Thor, “I’ve realized when it comes to love, I just have to take what I can get and if that means a relationship where I have to really work to be comfortable and lower my standards for what I think is easy then-- then I guess that’s just what I’ll do.”
“This is why you were so upset when you told us about the cooking date.” Thor said after a heavy, quiet moment. “Why you were nervous. Not because you cannot cook but because you are unsure about moving forward.”
“Well I absolutely can’t cook.” Tony deflected. “But yes. Also the--the other thing. I made this big deal about needing to cook so I can get laid because it has been a long time for that but the truth of the matter is--”
The image of Natasha laughing with him, of Steve and Bucky flirting, of Clint on the counter teasing and gossiping, of Sam kissing him and Bruce promising Tony anything flitted through his mind, and Tony’s brow wrinkled in a sudden, unexpected thought.
“The truth of the matter is, I’ve felt more accepted and seen and-- and cherished and beautiful in the last few days than I have in the last three months and maybe in the last thirty years.” he said slowly. “Being with my boyfriend can be exhausting but being with you and everyone else, being here at home with everyone has been so easy and so fun and I’ve been so happy that I don’t even want to leave anymore. I don’t want to go on the date cos I’d much rather be here with people who--people who--”
He looked wide eyed up at Thor, who was only smiling knowing down at him. “Oh holy shit. Thor--?”
“This bread will need almost an hour to cook.” Thor traced his thumb over Tony’s bottom lip. “And we need to make a glaze still. Come and help me, my love.”
“Okay.” Tony nodded, then nodded again breathless. “...okay.”
********
Chapter Notes:
I adore Bruce and Tony together. I don’t write very much ScienceHusbands but I should because they are top tier. Tony faking naps so Bruce will read science articles to him? ADORABLE!
Thor being as unsubtle as possible? We love to see it. And I love Tony sort of talking himself into a revelation? Starts out trying to skirt the subject and then full on admits it all and then basically steps right into the italicized oh moment and Thor (and everyone else!) will be waiting there to hold him!
*******
Granola
Preheat Oven to 325 F
2 Egg Whites
1/2 Cup Packed Brown Sugar
1/4 Cup Honey
1/4 Cup Oil (vegetable, canola, or the like)
1 Tbs Vanilla or Almond Extract
3 1/2 Cups Old-fashioned Rolled Oats
Whisk wet ingredients together, then pour oats into bowl and combine until well mixed.
Spread granola on Parchment paper covered pan and bake for 20 minutes, rotating pan at 10 minute mark.
Allow to cool, then mix in desired additions-- craisins, nuts, etc
Enjoy!
Peach Coffee Cake
1/3 Cup Softened Butter
2 Cups ripe, diced peaches (approximately 3-4 peaches)
1/2 Sugar, plus extra for topping
2 Eggs
1 tsp Vanilla or Almond Extract
1/3 Cup Milk
1 1/2 Cup Flour
1/2 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1 Tbsp Cinnamon
1 Tsbp Nutmeg
1/4 tsp Salt
Directions:
Preheat Oven 350 F
In Mixer, Cream Butter and Sugar
Add Eggs, Milk, and Vanilla (or Almond) Extract
With Wooden Spoon, Gently Fold in Peaches
With Wooden Spoon, Slowly Add Dry Ingredients
Fill 9x5 Bread Pan
Sprinkle Additional Sugar on Top Before Baking
Bake 50-60 minutes
Glaze
Whisk 1/2 Cup Powdered Sugar with Milk as Needed to Thin to Glaze Consistency.
Pour Over Slightly Warm Bread and Allow to Cool