I claim that this is in the same universe as 'Can't Help myself', because both were prompts from turtleteapot, and I try to keep prompts from certain people in the same universe.

Turtle, I took the prompt and tried to run with it, but I fear I tripped over an invisible rock and fell flat on my face. Nonetheless, I hope you all enjoy.

I own Bonnie, Jack, Anne, Susie, Gideon, and Preston. They are based on very real people. Everyone else belongs to Marvel.

Tony Stark was known to be a showoff; Someone to take his most prized possessions and showcase them for the world to see and marvel at.

Which, somehow, made perfect sense as to why he and Bruce were at this gala together.

Tony smiled at him as they walked into the dance hall, both dressed to the nines, and perfectly content with how the evening had gone thus far. Cocktail hour, dinner, the auction.

The night was actually going quite perfectly.
Bruce smiled back as he looked around, noticing many young women, and men, shooting him jealous looks. He was on the arm of Tony Stark, and loving every second of it.

Tony noticed the same looks being aimed at him, and he grinned, his arm wrapping around Bruce's waist. There were tables off to the sides of the room, some with small snacks and drinks, others with clipboards for donations.

There was a band playing some kind of new-age classical music as they strode over to a few of Tony's friends that happened to be there, and hadn't met Bruce yet, and he greeted them happily.

The first was Susanne, or Susie, with a friend named Bonnie. They were both pretty, and relatively young, and both appearing bright and diligent.

The next was a man named Jack, with his wife, Anne. They had been mentioned before, But Bruce never really listened since, usually, it was about Anne telling him that he was a young, handsome thing, and he should get married before something happens to him.

Finally there were two men; Gideon and Preston- Twins. They were seemingly quite nice, and the sons of a Scottish couple that Bruce had met earlier.

"Tony!" Bonnie greeted happily, smiling brightly at him. "How've you been?" He smiled at her;

"I've been all right; how've all have you been?" Everyone collectively agreed that they'd been well, and were happy to see him.

"And who is this handsome young man?" Anne asked, smiling kindly at Bruce, who smiled back.

"Thought you'd never ask," Tony replied, beaming. "This is Bruce Banner; brilliant man, my partner, and the love of my life."

He shook everyone's hand, happily.

"THE Bruce Banner?" Susie asked, smiling. "As in, Chemist Bruce Banner, Bruce Banner?"

"Very same." Tony said happily, and she smiled even wider.

"Bonnie and I are huge fans of your work!" She said excitedly.

"Thank you," Bruce said kindly back, smiling. Tony was practically glowing with pride.

"So, you finally settled with someone?" Preston asked, his accent light enough to understand, but heavy enough to be noticeable.

"I'm with someone, yes, but I don't think our lives will ever have us… settling down." Bruce and Tony shared a little smile. "But that works for us."

"Well, I'm just happy you've got someone." Anne said happily, Jack nodding. "He seems entirely frivolous, dear, but get him at the right time, and he's the sweetest peach you'll ever meet." She murmured to Bruce, who chuckled softly.

"I'll keep that in mind." He said, smiling.

"What ever happened to Pepper?" Gideon asked simply, taking a sip of his wine and glancing around.

"Yeah, whatever happened to her?" Bonnie agreed.

"She said that being with me was too much stress, and left me." Tony replied, shrugging. "As long as she's happy, I'm happy for her."

"That's a shame," Jack mused. "I liked her. But, you seem to be in good hands, anyhow." He nodded a Bruce, smiling.

"I am, Jack; no doubt. Now, ladies, gentlemen," He nodded to them, and tugged on Bruce's arm a bit. "We're going to go dancing- make this an official date." The two men smiled at each other, and Bruce let himself be lead to the dance floor where many couples of all types were dancing.

They slipped into the crowd almost unnoticed.

"So, this is why you taught me to dance," Bruce accused, moving on the dance floor to the music, Tony's hand on his hip. He was smiling softly, though, and Tony chuckled.

"Aw, you caught me." He replied, leading them amongst a menagerie of couples. He let Bruce lean his head on his shoulder, and they moved slowly to the music.

"Apparently, I did," He replied, gently nuzzling up under Tony's chin. "Not that I mind, though."

"I'll be honest; I thought you'd be mad."

"Oh, please. Tony, you've done a lot of things to make me mad, and you'll probably do so many more. But dancing at a gala we were invited to?" He kissed the other man's cheek. "Hardly material to make me mad."

Tony chuckled, smiling brightly.

"Is that so?" He asked, glimpsing down at his partner.

"Yes."

Several glances were directed at them, and a few whispers were bounced among some moving to idle couples.

Bruce didn't care; this was actually the best time he'd had in a while. Because he was with Tony; they were together, and to him, nobody else was in the room. Tony was all that mattered.

The other man was only vaguely aware of the other gala-goers anymore. He had Bruce against him; let them admire all they wanted, only Tony knew Bruce's true value, and he'd work to keep it that way.

Bruce pulled back to look at Tony, who smiled before pecking his lips softly.

"Thank you for coming with me tonight," He murmured. Bruce chuckled softly.

"You hardly left me a choice." He reminded.

"Well, I couldn't just let you sit at Stark Tower all the time!" Tony said, still smiling and moving to the music. "Hardly healthy."

"Says he who sometimes won't leave the lab for days at a time." Bruce accused, giving him a look that screamed 'You-are-such-a-hypocrite'. "And even when you do, you bring work with you." Tony shrugged.

"Can't help it, when you're on a roll, you're on a roll." Bruce shook his head, smiling still.

"You can take the boy out of the lab, but you can't take the lab out of the boy." He muttered, and Tony chuckled.

"True, True." He agreed softly. He glanced around, then back at Bruce as he rested his head back against shoulder. "So, what do you think about a dance floor at Stark Tower?" He asked softly.

"I think that all you'd have to do is move some things out of the living area and turn on some music." Bruce replied simply. "Certainly save some time." Tony laughed softly.

"Certainly would." He replied.

There was a flash off to the side of them, and they looked in that direction to see a photographer, covering the gala for the newspapers. He smiled and waved.

"Don't mind me, gents," He said happily, flashing his badge. "Just snapping a few pictures."

"Oh, no," Tony smiled at Bruce, "Carry on." Bruce smiled back, and there was another flash.

"You're just showing off at this point," He muttered, leaning up to kiss him. Tony laughed a bit when it ended, and hummed, grinning.

"Yeah… but can you blame me?"

LEFT HAND WHY WON'T YOU FEEL.