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“What is this ‘bowling’ you speak of?”
“You don’t know what bowling is? I mean, I guess that makes sense, but…” Bruce trailed off, looking at his crush friend. “I could take you, if you want?”
“Great! How does one dress to attend a bowl?”
Bruce laughed. “You can just dress casually. Bowling isn’t very fancy. Make sure you wear socks, though.”
Thor left the room to get ready, promising that he would be back shortly and they could then leave. He seemed completely unaware of Bruce’s mental struggle. Was it a date? Would it even go well? How the hell do you explain bowling to someone? Would he be able to talk to Thor without stammering? What would-?
His thoughts were cut off as someone entered the room. Bruce stood up, ready to go.
“Where ya off to, doc?”
“Oh hey Tony. Thor and I are going bowling. Did you know he’d never even heard of bowling before?” Clint entered room, too.
“We’re going bowling? Fun.” Bruce felt his happiness drop down approximately 753 levels. He did his best not to show it on his face.
Tony smirked. “Clint, you should probably sit this one out. Banner over here looks like he wants some alone time with Point Break.” He waggled his eyebrows and made kissy faces. Bruce tried once again to keep his feelings from showing but he knew his face was bright red. Thor arrived at just that moment.
“Ready to go, Banner?” He nodded and together they walked out the door. Bruce turned around only to shoot a glare at Tony.
At the bowling alley, Bruce brought Thor up to the counter to exchange their shoes.
“Why do we need to change our shoes? What is wrong with them?”
“We wear their shoes because the bottoms are slidey. It’s important, you’ll see when we play,” Bruce explained. They walked to their lane and Bruce showed Thor how to set it up with their names. He showed Thor what ball to use and told him to roll it down the lane.
“Okay. I think I can do this. It can’t be too hard,” Thor said as he walked up to the lane. He took a deep breath...got into position...and chucked the ball through the ceiling. Rubble rained down on them as ceiling tiles fell. After a few seconds, the ball fell back to the ground with a deafening boom. Bruce winced as everyone in the bowling alley turned to look at them. The manager rushed up to them looking livid.
“How did this happen! You will pay for this damage! I could call the police on you!” she stopped and took a breath, finally looking at who she was speaking to. She herself was a portly, middle aged woman with curly dark hair. Her eyes widened as she recognized them. “Oh Mr. Thor, Mr. Banner.”
Thor still looked stricken at having caused so much mayhem, but he attempted a kind smile. “I am sorry. I’m afraid I did not fully understand the game. I will certainly pay for the damage I’ve caused.”
She nodded, looking mollified. “I’m sad to see your date get cut short though. How ‘bout you two lovebirds have a milkshake at our cafeteria? If you like it, give us a shoutout and we’ll call this whole thing forgiven.”
Bruce felt his cheeks heating up. Thor looked a few shades brighter than normal, too. He opened his mouth to correct her but Thor beat him to it.
“That sounds great, ma’am. Thank you so much,” he said as he steered Bruce toward the meal counter.
“Thor!” Bruce exclaimed.
“What?” he asked, smiling softly.
“Why didn’t you correct her? We aren’t a couple!”
Thor’s smile dropped faster than Bruce’s grades in P.E. when the basketball unit started. “Well maybe I want us to be,” he said softly.
“What?” He had spoken too softly for Bruce to hear.
“I SAID I HAVE TO GO PEE,” Thor all but screamed, running for the bathroom. Bruce sighed and ordered himself a milkshake. Had he done something to offend Thor?
A few minutes later, Thor wandered back over to where Bruce was sitting with his new best friend, Milton the Strawberry Milkshake. He looked just as he always did, which probably meant he planned on ignoring what had happened.
Sitting down next to Bruce, Thor confirmed his suspicions by asking what kind of milkshake he had. Bruce sighed in relief and didn’t bring it up. He didn’t want to mess the day up any more.
“Can I have a sip?” Nodding, Bruce slid Milton over to Thor.
“It’s really good. I can get you can get your own, if you want.” Thor insisted that he just wanted to share and proceeded to drink the majority of poor Milton. When the milkshake was gone and nothing dramatic happened, Thor began to look sad again.
“Hey,” Bruce said gently, “what’s wrong?”
“I can’t tell you. You’ll probably laugh at me.”
“God no, Thor. I won’t laugh at you no matter what. Promise.”
Thor sighed -there was a lot of sighing going on- and resigned himself. “I don’t know how courting works here on Midgard. I know that you’re supposed to ask the person you want to court to do something fun with you so I was going to ask you but then you asked me . And so I thought this was one of those “dates” but then you said it wasn’t. I’ve watched lot’s of movies with dates in them and they often include the sharing of a milkshake but then that didn’t work either. I don’t know anymore.”
Thor finished and looked thoroughly embarrassed. Bruce just didn’t know what to think. Was he serious? Thor had no reason to trick him but. Damn. That definitely wasn’t the answer Bruce had expected. He’d thought Thor was bummed about damaging the lane.
“Um. Wow. Well I like you too? So don’t worry.” Christ, Bruce was an awkward person. Thor didn’t seem to mind, though. He was beaming.
“Fantastic! Would you perhaps like to go on a date with me on a different occasion? I would love the opportunity to try bowling again.”
Bruce smiled. “Sure.”