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"Let's say you had a favorite teacup." Bruce said, his eyes still closed as he leaned over the balcony's fence. The wind blew his hair around his face but he didn't seem to mind. Tony raised an eyebrow, turning his head more so that Bruce took up all of his line of vision.
"Why a teacup?" He questioned lightly. A small smile appeared on Bruce's face as he laughed.
"I like tea."
Tony hummed. "So my teacup?" Bruce tipped his head up towards the sky and sighed. Tony watched him silently, as he took a sip from his drink, appreciating the burn it left behind. The ice clinked in the glass noisily as he lowered it and waited for Bruce to reply.
"So, your favorite teacup. What happens if it gets broken. It's just in little pieces on the floor." The doctor turned his head, looking at Tony with red eyes. Tony knew that they weren't from drinking. "What would you do?"
"I'd fix it." He said firmly, voice lacking everything but certainty. Bruce blinked at him, slightly taken back by the quickness of the answer, before he seemed to deflate a little.
"Nothing looks the same after it's been broken, Tony."
"Doesn't mean it can't do what I had it for in the first place."
"It won't be pretty."
"Nothing in real life is."
"Even if you want to take the time to fix it, which you wouldn't, it'd have bits of glue all around it. It's never be as reliable - it have more leaks. Hell, it wasn't reliable to begin with, you just thought it was."
Tony bit his lip, worrying it between his teeth for a moment. He watched the other man, looking for any sign of something that could be there. He sighed after a minute, shaking his glass. "Kintsugi. I'd turn it into a kintsugi, so I wouldn't worry about glue. And besides, who says I wouldn't try to fix it?"
"It wouldn't make a very good kintsugi."
"Yes, it would."
"It'd be easier to just... replace it." Bruce choked out, spitting the last words like a curse. Tony's eyes softened.
"I'd keep it."
"Why?" Bruce turned to him again, taking in a sharp breath. He looked like if Tony said the wrong thing he'd fall apart. It was like Tony was a tight rope walker, and either way he went he'd fall.
"I'd still be my favorite." He breathed and moved forwards, glass left on the railing where he'd been standing. He went right into Bruce's personal space, his head resting against the others. Bruce took in a shuddering breath and looked with pleading eyes at Tony. Like he was trying to get something from him.
"How could it be your favorite if it was useless?"
"Sentimental value." Tony said before placing a gentle kiss to the others lips. Bruce seemed to melt against him, sagging like a doll. Tony held him, though. He pulled away from the kiss and placed other ones, feather light, across his face. To his cheeks, his nose, his eyes, and finally his forehead. They stayed like that for, Tony doesn't know how long. He can't check his watch like this, and he doesn't really feel like trying.
Finally Bruce pulls away a little and Tony lets him go. Let's him have his space. "Bruce." He starts, a gentle hand going under the others chin to pull him up - making eye contact. "This wasn't about teacups, was it?" Bruce laughs again, this time it's more real when the corners of him mouth twist into a smile. Tony lets his own faint one spread across his face.
"I've never actually used a teacup in my life. I just use a coffee mug."
"Well, they do say coffee is America's favorite morning drink. The mugs gotta be well made."
"I bet they are."
Tony hums and kisses Bruce's forehead again, one last time, before taking his hand and tugging on it gently. "Come, let's go to bed."
Bruce gives him an incredulous look, but follows when Tony starts walking. "I thought you had to get back to the party."
"Eh, they can survive without me." Tony shrugs nonchalantly, leading Bruce towards his bedroom. He hears Bruce laugh, the first one of the night and Tony takes it as a personal victory.