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Tony’s party had been a success, he had planned it to kickstart a number of charity events Stark Industries had been asked to sponsor. The Avengers were invited, obviously, as guests and sort of as ads for people to come out and visit the party.
Steve and Natasha were willing to start taking bets from people from the audience who wanted to place bets on kissing them, it was a lot sweeter than it sounds.
And Tony urged the group to dress as nicely as they possibly could, meaning Bruce had to go out and actually purchase a new tuxedo to wear as an attempt to clean up.
He and Thor actually went out together to go buy suits for the event, as Thor needed help anyways picking out tuxedos and Bruce was the only one who was free to take him out.
He tried his hardest not to get flustered the whole time, he really did, but it was so hard when the taller blonde seemed to look elegant in every suit that he tried on.
The two of them did eventually pick out some nice suits but not before they messed around the store a little bit like children in a candy store.
So yeah, Bruce assumed they were on a good note. Definitely not where he wished he would be with Thor, but he would understand that the idea of him and the tall blonde would never happen.
And then the actual party happened.
He could feel everyone’s eyes on him, it gave him a different feeling than the way they usually did it. Other times it was for pity, or disgust, sometimes even hatred-
But this was an odd look, and every time someone would give it to him he didn’t know what to do. It felt even worse when he saw how Thor was glaring at those same people.
It wasn’t until a drunken Clint walked up to him that he understood it better.
“Hey man! How are you enjoying the party?” The archer asked him while adjusting his hearing aids. “Uh, fine I guess?” Bruce responded as he scooted his chair a little to the left as Clint slouched onto the chair next to him.
“Have you picked up any girls? Or do you need some help from this guy?” He pointed to himself as he swirled his drink in his hand.
Bruce smiled as he responded “No, I don’t think anyone here would be interested.” He held back a laugh as Clint’s eyes widened and he looked around.
“Dude. Are you joking me or are you being serious? I can’t tell.” Bruce chuckled as he played with one of the buttons on him tux “Yeah I’m being serious! I mean, who would want me when you have people like Steve or Thor?”
Clint set his drink down and sighed “Man, I know you’re the smartest person in the room right now, but you’re kind of dense. Have you seen how everyone is looking at you tonight?”
Bruce frowned and looked around at everyone “People always look at me weird, I don’t get what you’re saying?”
Clint giggled drunkenly and explained “Bruce, my man. I hate to be the one to tell you this, but you’re hot.”
The doctors eyes widened as his teammate took a sip of his drink and continued “And don’t start being all self-deprecating, I don’t like to see any of you do that. People aren’t staring at you weirdly, they’re staring at you like that because they want to...”
Clint thought for a moment before giggling “They probably want to smash you. Believe me when I say you look really good tonight man.” He patted Bruce on the back and left the table, probably to go get another drink.
That doesn’t explain Thor though, Bruce thought as the archer stumbled away.
Whatever, maybe Thor was confused too, he was probably used to those types of looks anyways.
Bruce sighed and checked the time, people were beginning to leave anyways and he didn’t feel like waiting around or dragging a wasted coworker back to the tower. He left the party and began walking home.
As he entered the elevator, his phone made a ‘ding’ sound of a message. He opened it to discover Tony had sent him a photo of Steve asleep at the bar with Natasha, who was going strong with many, many, drinks surrounding her.
He let out a chuckle and put his phone away as he prepared to get ready for bed.
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As Bruce left the door to his bathroom he thoroughly dried his hair, he was about to jump onto his bed when he discovered a Norse God already sitting on the edge of it.
Thor stopped playing with his hands and looked up at Bruce, rubbing his weepy eyes from crying any more tears, and let out a little hiccup from the amount of Asgardian liquor he had drunken.
A very drunk and sad Norse God indeed.
Bruce’s eyes widened as he sat down on his bed next his friend, “Thor? What’s wrong, did something happen at the party?” He placed his damp towel aside and got up to retrieve the tissue box from his bedside desk to help Thor.
Just as he got up however, he was pulled back down by Thor and placed sideways into the gods lap as he turned his head to the side and silently sobbed into the crook of Bruce’s neck.
Bruce, who really didn’t know what to do at this point, just rubbed Thor’s back and let him take it all out before asking him about it. The god sobbed silently for a couple minutes before Bruce could feel the tears stop pouring into his shirt.
“Do you feel better now?” Bruce whispered to Thor, his heart shattered a little as Thor shook his head and continued to pull Bruce in as close as possible. He mumbled something in his shoulder after a while.
“What was that?” Bruce asked him, Thor mumbled again. “Thor I have no idea what you’re saying.” He continued to stroke the gods shoulders for a while.
“Why were they looking at you like that?” He was finally able to say, lifting his head slightly so Bruce wouldn’t have to hear his muffled voice anymore.
“What? Who was looking at me Thor?” Bruce replied, he fought back the urge to kiss his cheeks and decided to adjust Thor’s lovely hair.
“Those- those mortals! Everyone was! I want to know why they thought it was okay to stare and ogle at you like that! Like you were just some pretty object for them to share.” He started to sway as he held Bruce in his lap, confirming the scientists suspicions that he was in fact not sober.
Bruce hesitated and thought about what Clint said before brushing that away “Thor. They always look at me, you should know that by now.” The asgardian sighed and lifted his head up.
“No they don’t, not like I do.” He began to rub Bruce’s right arm as the scientist blushed, “I’m not sure what you mean?”
“These mortals have never looked at you like that, and I see that the way they stare at you. It bothers you and yet you say nothing! But this was the moment they finally realized just how lucky they are to even be in your presence.” Thor sighed again for a moment and continued.
“And that’s how I look at you, and you’ve never seemed to catch on. So why is it that when all these strangers start to do it that you finally give them your attention?”
Bruce took in a sharp breath. No, it couldn’t be, maybe he fell asleep in the shower. There was no way Thor was saying what he thought he was.
He thought about his next couple of words “I… I didn’t know. I honestly thought you wouldn’t feel the same way.” His heart skipped a beat as Thor played with his hair.
They were too close now, he could smell the alcohol on Thor’s breath and he didn’t even care. And that’s when another depressing idea hit him.
Maybe the god was too drunk to think right now. Perhaps he had drunk enough to find an excuse for this. Bruce couldn’t take advantage of him being so vulnerable like this more than he already had.
Just as Thor was beginning to close his eyes, Bruce gently pushed himself away from Thor. “Thor, this isn’t right.” He whispered to the blonde. Thor opened his eyes and looked hurt for a moment before speaking “What? But why? We both have the same type of feelings for each other.”
Bruce felt like crying, here he finally had something he really wanted and he couldn’t even have it. He’d bet anyone that this was just a drunk moment between them and Thor would just laugh it off in the morning.
“Because, you’re drunk right now. You’re not in the right state of mind to really decide that you like me.” Bruce hesitated for a moment, trying to find the right words.
“I think… I really believe we should talk about this tomorrow.” He got up from Thor’s lap and grabbed his wet towel to put in the laundry basket.
Thor sat at the edge of his bed for a second before speaking again “Then, if it’s alright with you. Do you think I could stay here? I don’t have the strength to reach my room.”
Bruce turned and saw Thor rubbing his eyes. He hesitated, wondering if that might also be another step over the line.
But the bed was big enough for the two of them. They should be fine as long as Bruce scoots as far away from Thor as possible. He would even consider moving to the floor.
He gave a tiny nod as he took out his folded blankets from the closet and started placing them on the bed. Bruce turned and saw Thor had the decency to at least remove his tie and coat. Steve had apparently tried to wake him up once and found an uncomfortable surprise.
Bruce laid down next to Thor and turned away. Feeling too awkward and shameful to face him properly in the large bed. Once he finally heard the god next to him fall asleep, he turned around to see him. He wanted to savor this moment for as long as he could before reality settled in the morning.
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Bruce awoke in his bed and thought for a moment “Shit, what happened?” He tried to lift his body before struggling and being pulled back down into the bed and getting snuggled by Thor.
He let out a tiny gasp as the events from last night hit him. Bruce had no idea what to do. He could’ve just gotten up and hid in his bathroom until this whole situation was over, but the bed was really comfortable and Thor was very warm.
He’d just pretend to go to sleep. Yeah, that sounded like a good idea.
He closed his eyes again and tried to go back to sleep, he could hear Thor’s heartbeat as he tried to relax and close his eyes. He had managed to mostly fall asleep before he heard Thor moving around in the bed and gasping quietly, letting go of the tight grip around Bruce quickly and shuffling away.
He could feel Thor’s eyes on him, expecting to be woken up and laughed at by the now sober god.
But that dreaded moment never happened.
Instead, Thor began moving in to Bruce and began stroking his cheek with his thumb. Bruce tried his hardest to keep his composure and breathing as calm as possible, but that was starting to get really difficult as he could feel Thor slowly getting closer.
He could feel his own face getting warmer, at this point the god had moved his thumb to rubbing against Bruce’s lips. His breath was getting closer.
He could feel the finger pull away as Thor shifted closer.
Bruce panicked however, and ‘woke up’ before anything else could happen. He managed to startle himself and Thor so hard that he actually rolled off the bed as an attempt to move away.
He heard Thor let out a shout as his back hit the floor, he felt so embarrassed at this point.
Bruce got up quickly and stood at the side of the bed, they both stared at each other for a moment before Thor cleared his throat. “So, you said we could talk in the morning. Can we talk right now?”
Bruce hesitated before nodding, and sat at the very edge of the bed. Neither of them said anything until Bruce spoke “How’s your head? You looked pretty drunk last night.”
Thor grew red in embarrassment, “Oh, yes… I’m really sorry about all of that.” Bruce tilted his head away; of course Thor was apologizing. He really was just an embarrassing moment, there really was no point in-
“I would like to discuss last night with you. If you don’t mind of course..” Thor was playing with his hair now, and trying to get a specific knot out.
Bruce made an awkward face “Um, yeah sure. Which part- because I feel like there’s a lot to unwrap here?”
Thor furrowed his brows slightly and turned to Bruce “About what? My intentions were very clear, and you reciprocated them. Regardless of whether I was in the proper mindset to say it.”
Bruce stared at him, shocked. Thor saw this and quickly replied again, “Believe me. This was not how I imagined telling you about my feelings.”
Bruce’s mouth stood agape, how was he even supposed to respond to that? “I… I thought you were just kidding? Are you serious?”
Thor nodded “About everything. I wanted to confess to you a little after this, but my anger got the best of me. I just couldn’t understand why, after all this time- that you finally started to notice the way people look at you.”
The scientist let out a small smile, “Thor, why would people choose to look at me like that when they could have someone like you-“
“-Because!” Thor cut him off and told him a quick apology before continuing “You are wonderful! Inside and out! I wish you could see what I look at when I see you, I’d rather give my life away then never be able to look at your face again!”
Bruce felt like crying again, in a good way though. Thor continued his ballad while stroking Bruce’s hands now, “Although I do find you very dashing, I’d like to take the time to court you properly. I want to sweep you off your feet and give you every single joy and pleasure in this world.”
Thor grabbed Bruce’s hands gently, waiting for his reply “You really mean that? Like, I’m not going to leave this room with you and find out this was all just for another gambling bet.” Bruce asked, Thor smiled at him in return and pulled away a loose curl.
“I would never. The Hulk would have his way with me, not that I would mind, before that money ever entered my hands.”
They were leaning in now, just like last night. Only Thor and Bruce had a very clear mind at this point, and the first thing that they both wanted to do was close the distance.
Thor’s lips were warm and soft. This was something Bruce wanted to remember for a while, for once he was finally getting the one thing he wanted.
Still, he could also learn to have fun in a while. He pulled away right when things were starting to get warm and adjusted the loose strands of Thor’s hair, “We should really get ready, the others are going to start getting suspicious.”
Thor smiled back, enjoying this type of foreplay, “Is it too early for me to join you in the shower?” Bruce let out a genuine smile this time, “No, not at all. It’s a little small though, so we might be a little cramped.”
Thor took the blankets off, and scooped Bruce into his arms “Good, I can finally sweep you off your feet properly then.”
The other Avengers did get suspicious, but at that point it was pointless because when Thor and Bruce finally arrived, they looked the most relaxed than they had in a long time.