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A sharp kick to the back of the knee woke Thor from his slumber, prompting him to roll over and check on his boyfriend. Bruce was ghostly pale in the moonlight that was pouring in from the window, his skin covered in a thin sheen of sweat as he thrashed about and mumbled under his breath. It struck a certain kind of fear into Thor’s chest, fear that pierced his heart and constricted his lungs. He sat quickly, watching in careful unease as Bruce’s eyes snapped open.
“Thor,” he gasped, one hand weakly grasping for Thor’s wrist. “Watch out, I- I can’t- Hulk-” He was breathing hard, and Thor could see the green flickering in his eyes and crawling through his veins. It wasn’t something that scared him, despite his worry for Bruce, who was always wary of Hulk and his intentions.
Thor moved to straddle Bruce, loosely clutching both of his hands as he shushed him quietly. “It’s okay,” he whispered, “he won’t hurt me.” He repeated both of those phrases over and over, leaning in to kiss Bruce’s cheek as he fought to stay Banner.
But the other guy won the fight, and Thor felt himself lifted as Bruce’s body expanded into that of the Hulk.
“Hello, dear,” Thor greeted after a second, propping himself onto his elbows on Hulk’s chest. “Are you okay?”
Hulk grunted and turned onto his side, knocking Thor onto the mattress next to him. “Nightmare,” he said bluntly as Thor righted himself to look back at his boyfriend.
“I’m sorry,” he said earnestly. Hulk rarely decided that nightmares were worth coming out for anymore, so this must’ve been some dream. “Do you want to talk about it?” Hulk grunted again, rolling over to face away from Thor. “I’ll take that as a no,” he mumbled as he stood shakily on the mattress. He scrambled onto Hulk’s side and lay there for a few moments, just sprawled over his broad ribcage with his head resting on Hulk’s arm. He could see the pout on Hulk’s face, and after all of the time he had spent getting to know Hulk and Bruce respectively, he was able to pick up on their expressions with ease, even when they differed between the two separate beings. Tonight, he saw fear. It was thinly masked with faux anger, but it was there, and Thor was sure about it. After a few minutes of laying like that, Thor being moved up and down slightly with every one of Hulk’s breaths, he slid up the arm that he had been settled on until he was right next to Hulk’s face. “It’s okay if you don’t want to talk about it, darling,” he murmured, pressing a kiss to Hulk’s jaw. That earned him a sidelong glance and a sigh, but he didn’t turn any farther away, so Thor took it as a win. He smiled and rolled the rest of the way over his boyfriend, intending to land on the mattress next to him but vastly misjudging just how much bed was left on Hulk’s side. He drew in a sharp breath as he tumbled over the edge, part of his brain vaguely accepting that this might as well happen, until a large, strong arm was wrapping around his middle just a handful of inches from the wood floor. Hulk pulled him back up quickly, but not before his knee slammed into the floor. He couldn’t complain, though. Better his knee than his entire body, face-first. Hulk didn’t let go of his waist even after he was back onto the bed, opting just to hold him close, and Thor had even less of a problem with that. It had taken a long time for him to be able to get as touchy with Hulk as he was with Bruce, and it still made his heart thud in his chest when Hulk pulled him in for a hug after a battle, or when he picked Thor up while they were taking a break from sparring.
He had spoken about it once with Bruce, because when Hulk was asked, he had shrugged away and pouted for a good hour. Bruce had said, with a pained expression on his face, that Hulk wasn’t very familiar with friendly touches, especially not from adult men. That had earned Bruce a quizzical look until Thor realized that Bruce was referencing the very core of Hulk’s being: the trauma that had created him. Thor was careful after that, asking permission to give Hulk high fives or even just to come near. But it was worth it, because he loved Hulk just as much as he loved Bruce, and even if he had to find a new way of doing so, he was going to show it.
It had probably only been a couple seconds before Hulk spoke, but it felt like an eternity after being wrapped snugly under his arm. “Stupid god,” he said, the words rumbling up from his chest. Thor couldn’t help but laugh to himself, pulling Hulk’s hand up to place a soft kiss against his palm.
“I love you too, you big baby.” He let his eyes close comfortably and was about to get ready to move closer to Hulk, when he was being shoved from the bed. He landed on the wood that he had just narrowly avoided with a dull thunk and groaned as he rolled onto his back. “I deserved that,” he admitted, staring up at the ceiling and catching his breath.
But only a beat passed before Hulk was speaking again, his voice sounding mildly regretful. “Blondie, get up.” Thor smiled despite himself and stood, watching as Hulk lifted the blanket for him.
“I’m sorry I called you a baby.” He didn’t have to look to know that Hulk was rolling his eyes as he pulled Thor flush against himself. He could feel a subtle tremor in Hulk’s hand, which was pressed protectively against his chest, and that reminded him of the reason why he was lying down with Hulk in the first place. He knew that Hulk was scared, but he still needed to think of a way to bring it up without making his boyfriend’s mask of anger legitimate.
Fortunately, Hulk was the one to mention it. “Ross came back,” he said, holding Thor against him like he was scared to ever let him out of his sight again.
Somehow, though, Thor was able to roll over to face him. “In the nightmare?”
Hulk sighed. “Felt real.”
“I’m sorry,” Thor whispered, leaning his head against Hulk’s chest. He could hear the strong heartbeat, one that he knew the patterns of well, and it was much faster than he had ever heard it. If he had had any doubts about whether Hulk was truly scared, they were cast out instantly. His own heart rate sped up in anger, starting to pound in his ears as he remembered every detail that Bruce had told him of what that monster did.
“Back for Thor,” Hulk continued, ripping Thor out of his thoughts.
“Oh,” he whispered, “ oh .” It felt like that was all he could say, like his mouth could only form that stunned circle, like nothing else would have any meaning even if he was able to speak. His mind whirled as he tried to think of something to say. He wanted to reassure Hulk that everything was okay, that if Thor were to ever get his hands on Ross-
Hulk stopped his internal rant by reaching with his free hand to cradle the back of Thor’s head. They both let out a sigh, and Thor gave one of Hulk’s arms a reassuring squeeze. “But Thor safe,” Hulk said after a long time, his voice low.
Thor nodded in agreement. “I’m right here,” he said, “we’re both safe.”
Hulk grunted as if in annoyance. “Banner scared.”
“Are you scared?” Thor looked up to see that Hulk had closed his eyes, his nostrils flaring with every labored breath. He was. “It’s okay if you are,” he assured, pressing another kiss to Hulk’s chest.
“Hulk angry.” He was lying, but Thor wasn’t going to call him out on it.
“That’s okay too,” he said instead, “but I want you to know that he can never get to you again, alright? I swear that to you. Not through Banner, not through me, and not through yourself.” His words were quiet against Hulk’s muscular chest, but he knew that Hulk could hear every word. His only response was moving Thor closer to his face, where large lips placed a kiss to the crown of Thor’s head. He smiled and let his eyes close, content as he listened to the sound of Hulk’s heart rate slowing back to a normal pace. “Get some sleep now, love,” he breathed. “Everything’s okay.”