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Asgard Corporation is the most prominent business in New York City.
All of the top celebrities come from this company, dominating TV, film, modeling, sports and so on. No matter where you walked in The Big Apple, you would see a billboard or a bus advertisement or even a poster urging those who had talent to walk through the doors and let the pros see for themselves.
Long story short, Asgard Co. is the place to be if you want to be a star.
And the man in charge of it all?
Thor Odinson.
The most ruthless businessman with the face of a Norse God.
Standing at six foot, five inches, he towered over just about everyone in his building (especially Bruce’s 5’9). Long, blond tresses often pulled back into a professional low ponytail, cerulean blue eyes sharp and focused at all times. The man’s impressive and drool worthy muscles are always covered with the finest suits the world had to offer.
The rumor around the office is that just one of his suits cost nearly $40,000, unproven, but not hard to believe.
The man was all business, usually only offering polite nods to his employees as he stalked to his office and firmly shut the door behind him.
If you think the competition to be represented by Asgard Co. is cutthroat and taxing, then you’d be correct.
And the chance to intern for the company was even worse. The best of the best is the standard, whether you’re the talent or potential talent management.
Which is why Bruce Banner considered himself eternally lucky to have gotten one of the two open spots.
Legend is, if you complete the three month (scantily paid, Bruce adds bitterly) internship you can get a job anywhere you want - continent of your choice, even.
This is a huge opportunity and if Bruce cried when he got the call, well… you can’t prove it.
“Knees to chest, Banner!”
Bruce rolled his eyes, picking up the pace to eliminate the distance between himself and the elevator, then stepped into the metal box as his co-intern held the doors open for him.
Tony Stark, son of Howard Stark, billionaire, playboy, party animal. The boy has yet to meet a word he didn’t like, often having one-sided conversations due to his inability to allow others to speak.
Bruce had been extremely annoyed when he was first introduced to the sploit young man, automatically assuming this internship had been handed to him on a diamond platter while Bruce had to work his ass off to even be considered .
Maybe Bruce is shit at controlling his facial expressions or maybe Tony is used to people assuming he hadn’t earned everything he got. Either way, once the introductions had been made Tony set the record straight, informing Bruce that he didn’t care what he thought of him but he worked just as hard to get this internship and would not tolerate being looked at as if he didn’t belong.
Even if Tony had work to do on not interrupting others while they spoke, Bruce did grow a little respect for the other boy and they soon became close friends as they were dragged through the proverbial mud by their superiors and bonded over their love of science.
Science Bros, Tony often called them.
“Good morning to you too, Tony,” Bruce snipped as he pressed the button for their floor and the doors slid closed, shooting them up to their destination.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Tony waved off the greeting, aviators still shielding his eyes and coffee clutched in his hand. “Did you hear the latest on your guy?”
The man in question was hardly Bruce’s guy , sure Bruce had an extremely unhealthy crush on the man but… let’s be realistic here. An established and charming billionaire wouldn’t look twice at a scrawny, nerdy, twenty-year-old intern.
“He’s not my guy, Anthony,” Bruce said firmly, glad that they were the only ones in the elevator. “He’s our boss.”
Tony gave him a patronizing look over the top of his aviators and then smirked. “Whatever you say, Brucie.”
They stood in silence for a few moments, Bruce not willing to engage in office gossip and Tony waiting for the perfect second to drop his bomb.
“So you wouldn’t care that he got engaged?” He asked, tone dripping with forced innocence as he brought the coffee up to his lips, taking a nonchalant sip of that caffeinated crack.
“Engaged to who ?” Bruce snarled in sudden rage and twisted to face Tony before his brain could catch up with his mouth.
Tony cackled, glad he got the desired reaction and took another sip of his coffee. He pulled his aviators off and tucked them into his jacket pocket. “Some doctor, apparently she’s hot shit.”
Bruce tried very hard not to let his heartbreak show on his face. God, it wasn’t like he actually thought he and Thor Odinson were going to magically fall in love and ride off into the sunset together, but he had hoped .
With slumped shoulders and a heavy heart, Bruce let his eyes drop to the floor as the doors slid open.
“Well I’ll send him a fucking fruit basket or something,” he mumbled before stepping out of the elevator and making a beeline for his cubical, fully intending on wallowing in his misery until it was time to clock out.
***
“You cannot still be heartbroken,” Tony sighed over lunch the next day, Friday.
Bruce scowled and stabbed his salad with a little more force than necessary, but said nothing. Of course he was still heartbroken. The second that he laid eyes on the blond Adonis almost three months ago he had been intensely infatuated.
Before you go claiming it’s only skin deep, let’s elaborate.
Thor Odinson donated millions to various outreach programs a year, ranging from inner city youth centers to Feeding America food kitchens. Having grown up with very little money, Bruce was awed.
The man also graduated top of his class at Stanford University, leaving the West coast with an MBA in hand, which impressed the shit out of Bruce.
And if that wasn’t enough, Bruce had once been instructed to deliver some documents to the man during a meeting with some big wigs and he walked in right as the man was demanding that before any of the higher ups pocketed a bonus he wanted to ensure their staff all received sizable bonuses themselves.
The man was so genuine it hurt .
It’s safe to say Bruce was in love.
“I’m over it, Tony,” he said tightly, silently praying the boy just let it go .
He was so not over it.
Tony snorted as he pulled up a chair and straddled it, reaching over to pick a cherry tomato from Bruce’s salad and popping it in his mouth. “Right and I’m not New York’s youngest billionaire.”
Bruce glared at the boy, but said nothing.
“If you want him that bad - take him from her,” Tony said, sounding as if he was suggesting he take up knitting as opposed to breaking up an engagement.
If possible, Bruce glared harder. “And how do you suppose I do that, Anthony? Wrap my naked body in a bow and lay across his desk in hopes he’ll leave a world renowned astronomer for some intern he’s never even spoken to?”
Tony shrugged, unbothered by Bruce’s sharp and sarcastic tone. “A little more drastic than I was thinking, but if that’s what you want to do - you have my support.”
Bruce groaned and pushed his food away to bury his head in his arms. “Just forget it.”
The billionaire allowed his friend to wallow in his misery for a few minutes as he polished off Bruce’s salad with gusto, figuring he’d hold off on sharing that Pepper told Natasha, who told Tony that the engagement was only a business deal until he got his friend to agree to his plan. Once he managed to scrape every piece of spinach and chicken from the bowl, he offered his idea.
“We could crash a company gathering they’re having at Fury’s tonight.”
Bruce slowly sat up, resting his head on his hand and gazed at Tony with a condescending expression. “And how do you expect us, two twenty year olds, to get into a bar? Hmm?”
“Oh, my ignorant friend,” Tony said, not unkindly and continued on as Bruce opened his mouth to argue. “There’s nothing you can’t do when you’re with Tony Stark.”
***
“Tony, this is a bad idea,” Bruce whispered in panic as they stood behind a pair of girls that were getting their IDs checked at the door.
The Science Bros had changed at Tony’s loft and high-tailed it to the bar after they got out of work. Tony had a little too much fun playing dress up with his usually frumpy (Tony’s word) friend.
Bruce donned a pair of skin-tight black skinny jeans with rips running down the legs, a prussian blue form-fitting V neck and black suede chelsea boots. Tony even pulled out some makeup, dusting the high points of Bruce’s face with highlighter and moisturizing his lips with a shiny lip gloss
And as nervous as he was, Bruce knew he looked good.
“Shut your face,” Tony mumbled as they moved up to the ID checker.
“IDs,” the man growled, clearly loathing his job.
Tony smiled flirtatiously, handing over their IDs and on top of it, two folded hundred dollar bills.
The man glanced down at the money, then back up to Tony, and then to a visibly panicked Bruce. He raised an eyebrow and at that moment Bruce was one hundred percent sure they were about to be tossed into the back of a police cruiser and taken downtown.
Before he could start sobbing and begging for forgiveness the man handed the IDs back and waved them in, slipping the money into his shirt pocket.
“Tony. Stark.” The boy said in a smug tone, gesturing to himself and then grabbed Bruce’s hand and led him to the bar.
It hadn’t taken long to spot their coworkers, all the familiar faces were situated at one of the largest tables near the stage.
The billionaire got two shots and a mixed drink into Bruce before laying out the plan.
“Now, you’re going to walk to the other end of the bar and start up a conversation.” Tony instructed firmly, keeping his eye on Thor as he left the lively table full of their superiors and headed to the bar.
Bruce moved to turn around so he could gaze at Thor but Tony gripped his cheeks in between his fingers and kept his focus. “You need to be flirty but not forward, provocative but not slutty.”
The younger man’s panic, that had been momentarily stomped out thanks to his friends Jack and Daniels, began creeping back into his consciousness. He drew in a ragged breath and signaled for another round of shots. “I don’t think I can do this Tony.”
The shots were quickly placed in front of them, and Bruce commandeered both, tossing them back in quick succession. He leaned heavily on the bar, head resting on folded arms, and took more deep breaths.
Tony glared at his friend and pulled him into a standing position before smacking him soundly across the face, gaining gaps from those immediately around them.
Bruce stared at him, wide-eyed, one hand covering his abused cheek.
“Fuck you, yes you can!” Tony hissed, eyes on fire with determination. “You’re hot, you’re a catch and that man is a damn idiot for not seeing it.”
“Now, like I said , flirty and provocative. You get him interested and talking and then we go on to part two.” He finished, and then began pushing Bruce towards the blond man who was already attracting the vultures’ gaze at the other end of the bar.
“Wait, what’s part two?” Bruce inquired, panic evident in his shaky voice as he got closer and closer to the man of his dreams.
“You let your Fairy Science Bro worry about that,” Tony said in an ominous tone, giggling slightly at his own joke. “You’ll know when I send the signal.”
And with that he shoved Bruce the rest of the way, right into the bar beside Thor, then turned quickly to retreat back to their now vacated seats on the opposite side of the bar.
The blond Adonis paused, his drink inches from his mouth, and looked down at Bruce with a curious expression.
Oh, God. Bruce was going to be sick. What in the fuck was he thinking trying to come over here and flirt with this man.
I am not worthy, Brice internally sobbed, never having been this close to the gorgeous man before.
Thor gazed at the shorter man for a moment and ended up sitting his drink down, turning to give Bruce his full attention.
“I know you,” he said, obviously unable to recognize where he knew Bruce from.
The shorter male cleared his throat, forcing himself to stand up straight and at least appear that he wasn’t on the cusp of a panic attack, as he turned to face Thor.
“I-“
“Same thing, sugar?” The bartender asked Bruce, interrupting whatever he was about to say to Thor.
Bruce nodded stiffly and the man quickly snatched up a shot glass and filled it with that addicting brown liquor he loved so much. The bartender plopped down another shot of whiskey and moved onto the other patrons of the bar.
“Jack?” The blond said lightly, as it seemed Bruce was not going to say anything without prompting.
The younger male looked up, brown eyes wide, and nodded enthusiastically. “Yeah, um- I. I like whiskey.”
The corner of Thor’s lips lifted slightly, eyes smiling more than his mouth. “I figured that.”
They lapsed into an uncomfortable silence, Thor plucking his drink from the bar and sipping it casually, still facing Bruce. And Bruce fiddled with his shot briefly before deciding to just toss it back and attempt to not be weird .
“I- I’m an intern at.. at your company.” Bruce said nervously, remembering that he hadn’t shared where Thor knew him from.
The man raised an eyebrow at that, taking another casual sip of his drink. “Is that right?”
Bruce nodded again and looked right into rich blue eyes, deep enough to swim in. He was so in love he couldn’t even focus on anything other than this man.
“I saw your speech for the Mentoring USA charity, it was really inspiring.” Bruce confessed, immediately cursing himself for sounding like such a damn fan .
Thor’s eyebrow raised again, this time in interest. He leaned against the bar and gave Bruce a thorough once over that caused heat to travel up the younger man’s face. “And what did you find inspiring about it, beautiful?”
Bruce was going to pass the fuck out; Thor Odinson just called him beautiful. Oh, God.
“I-It’s admirable for you to work so hard at keeping donations and volunteers flowing into such a worthy charity. Teaching kids life skills they wouldn’t get from school and just spending time with them when they have no one else; building their self-esteem it’s just… really selfless of you.” Bruce trailed off, hoping he didn’t sound like he thought Thor hung each star in the sky, single handedly.
Because he did .
The man gazed at him, neutral expression not giving away anything he might be thinking at the moment. Thor seemed to be looking into his soul, maybe trying to see if Bruce was being genuine with his praise or if he had ulterior motives.
“What’s your name?” He asked eventually, tossing back the rest of his drink as Bruce scrambled to remember what his name was.
“B-bruce,” he stuttered out and then cleared his throat to try again. “Bruce Banner, sir.”
Thor’s intense blue eyes continued to pierce him, causing Bruce’s heart rate to pick up and face to burn a darker red.
The man opened his mouth to speak, only to be cut off by an equally large blond man stepping up to Bruce’s left. “Excuse me,” he interrupted softly, tapping the younger male on the shoulder. “You’re Bruce right?”
The pair turned to look at the new addition, one in confusion and the other - irritation?
Bruce frowned at the man, looking from the shot in the stranger’s hand and then up to his kind face. “Do I know you?”
The man smiled a shy smile, free hand going up to rub his neck. “Ah, no. Your hot friend said I’m supposed to give you this shot and escort you up to the stage, then he’d let me take him on a date.”
Bruce gapped at the man, suddenly understanding that this was part two of Tony’s plan. Intense embarrassment ran through the boy. He glanced at Thor who looked intrigued, but stayed silent.
“You can tell Tony I’m not going on stage.” He hissed, crossing his arms to further display his unwillingness to cooperate.
The man chuckled shortly and wrapped an arm around Bruce’s waist, effortlessly lifting the smaller male off his feet, getting a surprised squeak from Bruce for his troubles. The man took two steps before stopping to turn back to Thor.
“I’m also supposed to mention that this song is dedicated to you, sir.”
Bruce wanted to die.
He wasn’t going to make an ass out of himself by causing a scene and demanding this stranger put him down right this instance, so he resigned to being carried to the stage like an unwilling sack of potatoes.
They got a few side glances as Steve walked the short distance from the bar to the stage and sat Bruce back on his feet as the first chords of the song rang through the bar.
Fierce mortification assaulted Bruce as he recognized the song he sang with Tony on a karaoke outting a few weeks ago and he suddenly desperately needed the additional courage. He snatched up the shot the weirdo was holding out to him with a knowing smile and tossed it back. The man spared him a polite nod before turning and making his way from the stage.
Bruce awkwardly and reluctantly shuffled to the center of the small stage and stood in front of the mic as the drums aided the chords.
Unbeknownst to anyone but Tony, Bruce had an incredibly nice singing voice. He just didn’t sing often because he doesn’t like the attention that comes with performing. Much like tonight, any singing Bruce did only took place after consuming large amounts of alcohol.
Damn you, Anthony Stark.
Since his friend had his weird servant man inform Thor that the song was for him , Bruce had no choice but to do his best.
He’d just make sure to smother Tony in his sleep after this.
He cleared his throat, a little too close to the mic, according to the echo that sounded through the bar and got a few snickers in return.
Brice grimaced, looking up and immediately locking eyes with Thor who was giving him his full attention, looking thoroughly amused at the turn of events.
He glanced to the right of Thor, catching Tony giving him enthusiastic thumbs up, his servant man sitting beside him looking smitten.
Here goes nothing, I guess , Bruce thought before opening his mouth to sing.
“I will love you anyway, even if you cannot stay.
I think you are the one for me, here is where you oughta be-e-e.”
Bruce nervously scanned the crowd, taking comfort in the genuinely interested faces of the patrons and the look of shock his superiors adopted.
“I just want to satisfy you, but you’re not mine and I can’t deny it.
Don’t you hear me talking baby? Love me now or I’ll go crazy.”
He chanced a glance at Thor, confidence rising at the surprised look on the man’s face. Surprise is better than anger or disgust - he’ll take it.
Bruce’s eyebrows went up slightly in surprise when background vocals accompanied his performance.
“Whoa, whoa, sweet thing.
Boy, you know you’re my everything.
Whoa-o-oh, sweet thing.
Don’t you know you’re my everything?”
The liquor in his system was definitely giving him a boost of courage. His hips began swaying to the beat, shoulders dropping from their tense position.
“I wish you were my lover,
But you act so undercover.
To love you, child, my whole life long -
Be it right or be it wrong.”
Bruce smiled softly as the bar began clapping on beat with the song, some even standing to sway in time with him. He looked back to Thor, the man now shooting him a smile that caused Bruce’s insides to melt. He removed the mic from its stand, gripping it tightly as he moved the stand off-center.
“I’m only what you make me, baby.
Don’t walk away, don’t be so shady.
Don’t want your mind, don’t want your money.
These words I say, they may sound funny but -“
Bruce cut off, allowing the background vocals to take over the chorus this time as he shimmied and grinded sensually, eyes locking with Thor’s in a rare show of confidence.
“Whoa-o-o, sweet thing.
Boy, you know you’re my everything.
Whoa-o-oh, sweet thing.
Don’t you know you’re my everything?”
A pleasant blush appeared on his cheeks as quite a few of the bar patrons wolf-whistled at his dancing, fueling Bruce to show them a little more. He ran his free hand up his sides and into his hair, readying himself for the impressive display of his vocal abilities that came at the start of the next verse.
“Oh-ah-ah-ah-oh.
You are my heat, you are my fire.
You make me weak with strong desire.
To love you, child, my whole life long -
Be it right or be it wrong.”
Bruce grinned widely as the bar erupted in cheers, shouts of encouragement, and more wolf-whistles; he took a deep breath to prepare for the last verse, adding in more impressive notes the crowd went crazy for.
“I just want to satisfy you.
Though you’re not mine, I can’t deny it.
Don’t you hear me talking, baby?
Love me now or I’ll go cra-a-a-azy!”
He let the background vocals repeat the chorus and slowly fade out as he danced for the crowd. Hips swinging and swaying, hands caressing his body in time with the music.
When the music and the background vocals faded to silence the crowd exploded in applause, some banging on the tables and others stomping wildly as Bruce took in deep breaths and grinned at the sea of faces, carefully sliding the mic onto the stand.
He hopped off stage, smiling widely at the congratulatory pats on the back and handshakes he got on his way back to the bar.
He laughed outright as he noticed Tony standing on a table cheering like mad, his servant’s steadying hand the only thing keeping the billionaire from tumbling to the ground.
“You sing.” Thor stated, smiling as Bruce finally made it back to the bar.
“A-ah, yeah,” Bruce responded, confidence not as prevalent now that he’s offstage. He signaled to the bartender from another shot and turned to fully face Thor.
“So-“
“Would-“
They both stopped and chuckled, Bruce motioned for him to continue as the bartender sat the shot in front of him.
“Nice pipes; drinks on the house,” he winked and turned to the other patrons lining his bar without waiting for a response.
Bruce blinked, thoroughly surprised by the generosity. He grabbed his shot and tossed it back, maybe Tony’s ideas didn’t always suck.
“You want to get out of here?” Bruce turned to face Thor, pleasant shock clear on his face; the taller man was leering at him in earnest.
“Yeah, I’d like that,” he grinned up at Thor, eyes sparkling with excitement.
Thor tossed down a few bills and grabbed Bruce’s hand, pulling him along as they exited the bar and hailed a cab. He opened the door for the younger man and Bruce climbed in with a pleased smile. Thor followed suit and then smoothly recited his address before turning to Bruce with a smirk on his handsome face.
“Here is where I ought to be, huh?” Thor teased as he placed a large hand on the younger man’s thigh.
Bruce laughed out right, fisting Thor’s dress shirt and pulling him in to connect their lips in an erotic kiss, tongues curling around each other.
Yeah, this is definitely where Thor ought to be.
***