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[ Finding out that Pepper's stocks in Stark Industries have been transferred to him - and because she'd been running it, he can only assume that it's the lion's share - and that that means she's presumably gone is not the way he wants to start the day. But it is what it is and there's nothing he can do about it.

He's wearing the suit, though the helmet's off, and the expression on his face is as professionally detached as the matter-of-fact tone of his voice when he speaks. ]

It's come to my attention that Pepper Potts may no longer be in residence in the city.

[ That covers that and he's not lingering on it. If he does, he'll wonder what that means, if some piece of her has gone back to the world she remembers or if she's dead and her body is being recycled or whatever it is they do with clones when they're gone. It isn't something he needs to worry about right now. Not in front of an audience. So he moves right along to business. ]

I've been informed that per her request, her interests in Stark Industries have been transferred to me. For those of you don't know, I'm Tony Stark, and if you work for SI, it means you're working for me.

[ May whatever aliens people consider gods help them all. ]

If you do, I want to know who you are and what you do for the company. If you don't, and you want to, talk to me.

And be prepared for change. It's coming.

[ What that change is, he doesn't know yet. But once he finds out what the company's been doing, he'll figure out the right path for it to take under his leadership. And this time, it's going to be a damn sight better than the last time he was at the helm. ]

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[It's a little flustered. Mostly exasperated, but Bruce isn't entirely composed when he gets hit on, however joking and not serious it is. He has so much difficulty thinking of himself in a sexual context that whenever it comes up, he either has to ignore it, or he starts stumbling over himself. Like here.

Schematics. Much better.]

No, don't take it out, [he refuses immediately, sounding somewhat like he thinks Tony is crazy for suggesting it.] This is just-- academic curiosity. There's no need to take risks. A replacement is fine.

And JARVIS can come. I keep thinking you should upload him to the servers at SI... or however that works. [Since the old one had vanished with the previous Tony, let's say that for simplicity's sake. Bruce really had been thinking that, but with Tony balking at even stepping food inside, hadn't bothered to suggest it.]

[ That sounds like a good idea. It had been out of the question before, when he’d been avoiding the place, but if he’s going to be spending time there for real now, if he’s going to be working there, he needs better access to JARVIS than just simply the suit. ]

That’s a good idea. I could do that. Maybe overhaul the system, set him up in my area, wherever that is, and your lab. If you want him.

[ It occurs to him that he really ought to ask first. Then it occurs to him that he’s treating JARVIS like one of Bruce’s friends. And that fills him with the kind of happy thrill he hasn’t felt at all After. ]

You can say no. He’s a nag. I understand he’s a handful.

[Bruce has a hard time with this whole friendship thing, but he could reasonably consider JARVIS a friend. An ally, definitely, which is maybe even rarer for him.

He returns dryly,] He only nags you because you need it. I'm not worried. You can put JARVIS in my lab.

[He can see the convenience, and really sees no reason not to.]

[ The request itself is unprecedented. Even at home, JARVIS has been safely ensconced in his house and his suit. He was never at Stark Industries. Never anywhere that anyone else could have a sort of unlimited access to him. It's the best protection Tony could offer him, and to grant Bruce this is a demonstration of trust more than even explaining the inner workings of the arc reactor. That's just his life. This is JARVIS', and he guards that far more obsessively than he guards his own.

It's also a subtle hint that Tony intends to spend too much time loitering around Bruce's lab. ]

All right, I'll talk it over with him. Make sure he doesn't have any objections. And then I need to code a firewall to keep prying eyes out of his code... This may take some time. I'll let you know when I'm done so he doesn't scare the hell out of you. He'll do it. He's a jerk like that.

[Unaware of the change that this would be, Bruce is ignorant of any underlying message here. He merely accepts the decision, as he would a decision to the contrary. He'd never infringe on someone else's ability to choose for themselves, especially not someone he actually respected.

He also doesn't question that Tony would talk it over with JARVIS instead of imposing a unilateral direction.]

He wouldn't scare me, [he says mildly.] A firewall's a good idea. I've been keeping anything sensitive on the... laptop you upgraded from home. It can't connect to the network so it's-- as long as I know where it is, it's safe.

But if you're coming back to the company then we'll need a firewall. [So they can share files, obviously, since they'll be working on projects together.]

Do you just want your own dedicated server?

[ Keeping sensitive information on a laptop's great and all, but the hard drive's only so big. And unless he's misremembering details, that thing looks like it's about 10 years old. He can keep fixing it if it breaks, but for the sake of everyone's sanity, he'd really rather just get the guy his own server. ]

I can encrypt it. Put JARVIS on information-minding duty. Nobody'd get into it you didn't want in it. In addition to the firewall, I mean. That's a prerequisite for anything.

[Bruce would never say no to more privacy. Theoretically, he should trust Tony enough to share servers with him unilaterally. In practice, his paranoid habits are too ingrained, and though he has no illusions that Tony won't be able to access whatever he wants to on something he's set up himself, the pretense is nice.]

That's... probably the best option. Thanks, Tony. [It's honest gratitude, for a lot more than just a server.]

[ Nosy though he admittedly is, he won't just casually peruse the server he sets aside for Bruce. Unless he's asked to check it, or something happens and Bruce is in trouble, he'll steer clear of it and give him the privacy he deserves to have. ]

No problem.

[ The only thing he thinks warrants a thanks is the offer of the personal server, so that's how he takes it. ]

I'll work on it tomorrow. Have it up and running in no time.

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