Chapter Text
It was one of those off days the Avengers never had. The day was not clear of clouds, but certainly clear of responsibility as Bruce Banner had found himself staring listlessly at the television. He had been channel surfing for a couple hours now, not finding a single thing to watch. He thought this would have provided an excellent break from the lab but he just couldn’t focus. Ever since Loki’s invasion on New York, he couldn’t seem to stop thinking of Loki’s brother, Thor.
Eventually he stopped on the science channel, allowing a Smithsonian episode on Norway play as his mind wandered. The last time Bruce had actually talked to Thor was around the time they had Shawarma. The two had almost clicked after they had left and began their trek back to business. Thor was actually quite knowledgeable on many things regarding the research and work Bruce had done but not so much to where Bruce couldn’t at least try to impress Thor.
Bruce remembered the way Thor’s hand had laid nicely on his shoulders as they walked. Not only that, but his strength and ability was that of something to be admired as well. He actually stood a great chance against the Hulk, Bruce had heard from the others. It felt nice knowing that there was someone he couldn’t easily hurt and could actually handle both sides of him.
Bruce groaned aloud at the thoughts that continuously assaulted his mind as he tried to shove them back further and further. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to try, he thought he shouldn’t. Not only did he think he would only end up making a fool of himself, was it ever worth it in the end? Nobody ever really liked him; Hulk and all.
He turned over and faced the couch cushions. He tried distracting himself by following the individual pieces of fabric woven into the cushion shape. This continued until there seemed to be quite a bit of commotion directly outside the Avengers common area in Stark Tower (now commonly called Avengers Tower). Bruce hardly wanted to be bothered in his sulking, but he was becoming increasingly curious about what all this ruckus was.
He sighed and rolled back over and sat up. He turned the TV off, got up, and walked over to the doorway. He peeked out just enough that if he didn’t want to be involved, he could easily sneak away. His gaze followed just past Tony and Clint but he couldn’t get a good view of the figure until they had looked around Tony and Bruce’s eyes met with Thor’s.
“Ah! Banner! It is quite good seeing your face again.” Thor greeted. Bruce walked hesitantly out of the doorway and towards the group.
He gave a small wave, “Hey, It’s good seeing you too. But uh, what brings you around?” Bruce asked. Thor’s smile seemed to drop slightly but was picked right back up.
“Well, just as I had explained here to Stark and Barton, I am spending some time away from the throne. Think of it as, I guess you would call it, ‘breathing room’.” Thor nodded, sure of himself.
“If you’re expecting some action here, we haven’t seen any unfortunately.” Bruce added to try and keep up the conversation. His stomach was really starting to bunch up and he couldn’t tell if it was something he ate or it was being around Thor. Regardless, he wanted to keep things short and to the point.
Thor smiled though, “I will not be so quick to judge the calm of Midgard. It might prove to be useful.” Bruce nodded.
“Yeah, maybe. If you need anything then, you know where to find me.” Bruce said. He gave a curt wave to the group and shuffled back into the commons and back towards the TV. He didn’t turn it on though, electing to pick up and read a magazine.
While he wanted to continue mindlessly channel-surfing, he didn’t want to do something like that in front of Thor. But Bruce began to think, ‘oh god, am I really that worried about my image now?’ He looked towards the window that took up the entirety of the wall but he didn’t quite look out of it. His gaze fell on his form that the window reflected. He looked the same as always, scruffy, curled mess of hair, the usual button up and slacks, and his reading glasses. Same old Banner.
Maybe that’s what he was disturbed by? Did he need a change of pace? Or was this all about his image for Thor? Bruce brought his hand up to pinch the bridge of his nose. This thing was going to get quite frustrating very quickly.
Suddenly a hand came down on Bruce’s shoulder, making him jump. He turned and spotted Thor with his hands now up.
“Sorry, didn’t mean to frighten you.” Thor apologized and Bruce shook his head.
“No, it's okay. I was just spaced out.” Thor nodded and made his way around the couch and sat at the other end.
He looked to Bruce with a soft smile, “Any plans for this day, Banner?” He asked.
“Not really. I’ve just been… unwinding in here. Watching TV and reading.” Thor nodded and twiddled his thumbs.
“Do you mind me, as they say here, ‘hanging around’ you today?” Bruce chuckled.
“Nah. You can ‘hang around’.” Thor clapped his hands together and fell back into the couch.
Bruce watched as Thor nodded while looking around. Bruce attempted to get back to his magazine but kept looking up at Thor every minute or so. Thor seemed to squirm from the lack of activity. Bruce silently enjoyed the sight before him. It was rare that one would see Thor so perturbed. But, he suddenly felt a small pang of guilt. Thor chose to hang around him but this is what Bruce did during his down time. He liked things to remain calm, avoid stress. Although that didn’t hold true a few months back, it was nice to be able to just sit. Yet, Thor still sat there attempting to sit by Bruce but to no avail’ he still squirmed.
Bruce sighed heavily and stood, “Come on. We’re going to get some coffee or something. Get some casual clothes on.” Bruce said holding a hand out to Thor to help him up.
Thor happily obliged and took Bruce’s hand to get up. Bruce could hardly keep his balance but he wasn’t about to let Thor know.
Thor had changed his clothes with a quick shine of light, “Bit more of a disguise but I’m sure this works!” Thor had chosen a jean jacket over a sweat jacket and some plain jeans. His hair was loosely tied back as opposed to his normal braids and loose hair. Bruce stared for a bit longer than necessary and shook himself out of it.
“Yeah- um, yeah it works. It looks nice.” Bruce offered to which Thor smiled brightly and heavily pat Bruce on the back again.
“Excellent! Now, let us go.” To which Thor led the way out of the room and Bruce stayed in the same spot watching Thor leave. Thor quickly reentered and frowned. “You should probably lead the way.” Bruce smiled and nodded.
He led them out of the building with light small talk, “So, escaping the throne? What’s that supposed to mean?” Bruce asked as they walked.
“Well, I only just redeemed myself. On top of that, Loki is… Well, there’s a lot happening there and those responsibilities fall on me but… I do not feel ready to shoulder them.” Thor said, shaking his head. Bruce looked at him and nodded.
“That does sound like something to avoid.” He added.
“Quite right. So, until I can face Asgard with a sound mind, I shall offer my assistance to a world that may need me and I can easily assist.” Thor added.
The two walked into a coffee shop with that, ordered their drinks and walked back out. Bruce nudged Thor and gestured vaguely in front of them and asked, “So, you really miss action that much or can you just not sit still?” Thor chuckled at the question.
“Well, I suppose I do.” Bruce nodded but continued to look puzzled.
“Then why are you avoiding the throne? There’s bound to be a lot you’d need to oversee.” Thor shook his head and sighed. Bruce looked at him and watched as he responded and his face slowly fell.
“While you are correct, I do see much more action at home, it's just… I don’t want to have to face the throne yet. I just spent much of my time fighting for my own worthiness and I’m… ah. Unimportant.” Thor tried.
Bruce shook his head, “No. No, that sounded quite important.” Bruce looked into Thor’s eyes and they reflected his own worry. “If it’s something that’s getting to you this badly you should talk about it. And I’m here to listen… Unless it's Tony, don’t make me do that again.” Thor laughed at Bruce’s antics and took a deep breath.
“I’m concerned that maybe my path lie elsewhere. While I recognize my duty to lead, I wish to try the life I was offered as an unworthy ruler.”
Bruce nodded as they walked on and slowly found themselves walking back into the tower and towards the commons where they began. They sat at the couch in a comfortable silence as Bruce thought up his reply.
“Well, I hope we can help you with that here. Even with all the craziness, fighting and otherwise.” Thor smiled at Bruce’s comfort, making Bruce’s stomach do a flip. They spent a good chunk of the afternoon into the evening watching various shows, playing video games, and snacking, all while talking loudly and generally having a good time.
The evening also brought dinner time and with Tony being the only other Avenger in the tower, the three thought it a good idea to order something and have some food together. This was mostly because JARVIS had not stopped reminding Tony. And maybe Bruce and Thor forgot what time it was.
They sat around the table, mostly joking around with each other until the night calmed and they packed away dinner without too much hassle and everyone went their separate ways for the evening. Bruce almost begrudgingly made his way to his apartment in the tower and the moment he had gotten in and he had finished locking his door, he leaned his back against it and slid down.
His entire body seemed to sigh and fully envelope itself into exhaustion. He hadn’t realized the amount of tension he had been holding just trying to act cool or collected around the thunder god. He let his face fall into his hands and a blush crossed his cheeks. He really liked Thor. He wasn’t expecting it to get this bad.
“Gosh… I thought it would be easier to hide but… but this?” He spoke quietly to himself. As he sat, he could feel the Hulk stir in the back of his mind. The stress wasn’t enough to have him take over but it was enough to wake the Hulk up from wherever he spent his time while Bruce held control.
He’d been hoping that it would be a long while before he needed to confront his feelings but it seemed they held much more control than he could have ever realized. He slowly got back up and had barely gotten his shoes off before flopping himself face-down onto his bed. He rolled and faced the ceiling.
This wouldn’t do at all. Not only did he just recently come to terms with some of his past but finally gained some trust from Natasha; now all of it was falling apart. Bruce turned and hugged a pillow close to himself. Maybe he would get lucky and Thor would want to hang around Tony tomorrow. Maybe Bruce wouldn’t have to face his feelings and he could just suppress them until they disappeared. Maybe. But for now, as his eyes slowly fluttered close, the remaining thought he had on his mind was the way Thor’s hand felt in his for even just a brief moment.