On a foggy December morning Bruce Banner walked out of the lab he and Tony were currently working in. After the Avengers, apparently that was what they called themselves now, had saved New York he accompanied Tony back to his house in Malibu, where the two geniuses went to work. Bruce had to admit that he was happy here.
He enjoyed working in the basement garage where Tony had set up a laboratory just for him so the scientist could continue his research regarding his condition. Pepper spent a lot of time trying to get the brunet out of his shell and they discovered a mutual love for cooking and art. Sometimes they would abandon Tony to his work and drive to a museum, much to the dislike of Peppers boyfriend who mockingly called them husband and wife and wouldn't stop complaining about being abandoned by the love of his life. Bruce and Pepper never managed to find out who exactly Tony was talking about.
“Merry Christmas, Bruce!” Tony's voice greeted him cheerily as the scientist climbed the stairs leading to the living room. “Christmas? What?” he asked and stifled a yawn. “You've been working late again or did you get an early start, Buddy?” Bruce rubbed his eyes and stretched, trying to loosen his stiff muscles. “Late.” he grumbled.
Tony got up from his place on the couch and poured a cup of coffee for his housemate while gesturing for the scientist to sit down. Bruce complied, eager to get of off his feet. He had been standing in an awkward position for a long time while he worked and it was nice to not stand for a while.
Now that he had the chance to catch his breath he looked around and nearly fell off the couch in shock. The house looked like Santa Clause himself had come by, tossed decoration around for an hour and then left without cleaning up.
A humongous tree was set up in the middle of the living room and took up nearly all of the living space, christmas baubles with little Ironman heads printed on them hung from every branch and gold and crimson lametta covered the treetop in it's entirety.
“Don't you think this is a bit much, Tony? Even for you.” Bruce raised an eyebrow as Tony looked at him with an expression of hurt on his face. “Where is your christmas spirit? I even have a few hulk baubles on there... somewhere.” The mechanic gestured to the giant tree and started looking for the different decorations he had put up for Bruce, but they had been swallowed up by the Iron man designs.
Bruce put his head in his hands and groaned. “That isn't helping. I hadn't even realized that it's Christmas already.” He took the cup of coffee and drank a sip before he continued. “I'm going to bed. Christmas can wait.”
“Woah, I didn't know you were such a Grinch. Come on, Gummibear. Pepper won't be home until dinner. It's just you and I and there are gifts!” Tony walked over and plopped down next to the tree. He held up a couple of wrapped packages while grinning like a ten year old.
“For me?” Bruce asked carefully. He hadn't received any holiday gifts in quite some time so the thought of these differently wrapped packages were a bit surreal to him. He walked over to Tony and sat down.
Tony rolled his eyes at Bruce and tossed him a package. “Here, this one is from Natasha. Maybe you want to start with that one before I give you mine, which is the best of them all, of course.”
The mechanic waved another package through the air. That one was wrapped in red paper with golden Iron man heads printed on it. The same design as the baubles.
Bruce was a little overwhelmed when he caught the gift Natasha had apparently gotten for him.
He opened the package gingerly and revealed a black fountain pen with silvered edges. It was a beautiful writing utensil and he had to smile. Bruce didn't document his findings online. He wrote everything down by hand first and the fact that the redhead had remembered that silly fact let a warmth spread through his chest area.
“Now open mine!” Tony looked like a ten year old on a sugar rush. He was bouncing up and down as Bruce reached over and took the gift. Bruce shook his head.
“Tony stop staring at me.” A reasonable request as the mechanic had been watching Bruce like a hawk while he peeled back the paper. The Scientist was really hoping that Tony hadn't wrapped anything that would blow up in his face.
When he finished unwrapping he held a soft fabric in his hand and Bruce made a face. “It's great isn't it?” Tony was grinning like a maniac by now and Bruce looked taken back.
“Well, yes... I guess. Tony, what is this?” The Scientist held up the fabric. It was crimson and gold with Iron man silhouette printed all over. When he held it up the fabric unfurled and formed a pair of pants. Bruce was thoroughly confused.
“They're pants!” Tony answered, excitement plastered on his face. “Yes, I can see that Tony, but why do they have an Iron man design on them... like everything else around here.” Tony shook his head. “No you don't get it. They are special pants. I call them hulk-pants. You always tear your clothes when you hulk out. So I thought a pair of pants that stretch with you when you turn would be appreciated. Just so people don't have to see a naked hulk running around anymore.”
Bruce stood there dumbfounded. “You want the hulk to wear Iron man pants when he gets loose...” he summarized what Tony had just told him. “Well we could change the colour, but that's the plan. This is going to be awesome, buddy!”
As Tony started explaining the benefits of having hulk-pants while standing in front of a tree that was a love declaration to his ego, Bruce started laughing. He was glad he wasn't alone anymore, even though his best friend got him egocentric pants for Christmas.