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Bruce blinks awake and squints at unfamiliar surroundings. Metallic walls and ceiling, a large, dark window displaying the stars, and a huge bed that’s practically swallowing him up- okay, he rolls off the bed as quickly as he can. Dragging a hand through his hair, he crosses the room to look out of the window. He gasps at the endless expanse of space he ends up staring at. What happened to Asgard? he thinks. And then flashes of memories – Hulk’s memories – come to him, slightly darkened around the edges as if the whole thing was some amateur horror flick filmed on a kid’s old iPod. A huge dog, a woman dressed in all black with a helmet straight out of Party City, flames devouring Asgard, and a huge fiery monster, the size of a skyscraper, whom Hulk tried to beat up? Somehow, Bruce isn’t surprised about that. But Asgard… God. He should find Thor.
Actually, he should find a shirt first. Then Thor.
Two minutes later, Bruce walks into the corridor wearing clothes that he very conveniently found by his bed. They’re a bit large, since they probably belonged to an Asgardian, but they’ll do. He wanders the spaceship for a while, bumping into a few Asgardians and aliens as he goes. Eventually, he realises that not only is this ship much bigger than he thought, but he is hopelessly lost in it. Finally, a familiar alien called Korg kindly points him in the direction of Thor’s room, but suggests that Thor might not want visitors at the moment. Bruce replies that he’s Thor’s friend and heads towards the room anyway.
Bruce expects “Thor’s room” to be big and grand, perhaps with a throne, or a massive window looking out towards the stars, or a bed larger than the one Bruce woke up on. A room fit for royalty, albeit on cargo-turned-refugee ship. What he’s not expecting is a room slightly bigger than a storage cupboard, with a couple of blankets in one corner and a quietly sobbing god in another.
Although he’s already opened the door, Bruce knocks on it quietly. “Thor?”
Thor’s head shoots up and he stares at Bruce in panic and disbelief. “…Bruce?”
“Are you okay?” Stupid question, Banner. He’s in a storage cupboard crying after just losing his home. Of course he’s not okay.
“Yes, I’m fine,” Thor lies, getting to his feet and moving within arm’s reach of Bruce. “You… you’re back!”
Bruce shrugs. “The Other Guy wanted a break, I guess.”
Without warning, Thor envelops him in a tight hug. “I thought I was never going to see you again.”
Bruce awkwardly wraps his arms around Thor’s middle. “You can’t get rid of me that easily,” he says into the god’s chest. “Thor, were you crying?”
“No…” Thor sniffles.
Bruce pulls back to give him a look.
“…Yes.”
Bruce nods down towards the floor. “Talk to me.”
“Oh, no, I shan’t bother you with my problems…” Thor starts, but Bruce is already sat against the wall, patting the spot next to him. With a sigh, he relents.
The room is so small that they end up pressed together, and Bruce ignores the way his skin feels electric with the contact. Must just be a God of Thunder thing. “Is this your room?”
“Yes,” Thor says.
“Why? I thought you’d want a big one, you know, being king and all.”
Thor tenses at that, and Bruce internally kicks himself. “Well, I wanted my people to have as much space as possible. Plus Hulk and Loki bagsied the two best rooms.”
“Well, you can have Hulk’s now.”
“No, keep it. I like it in here, anyway.”
“…You feel like this is what you deserve,” Bruce infers. He’s familiar with the spiral of self-hatred. Thor grunts, curling in on himself more. It’s hard for Bruce to see a usually lively man with such a big personality appearing so small, and he puts a gentle hand on Thor’s thigh. “Tell me.”
Thor shakes his head. “Worry not. I’m working through it.”
“Let me help you, then. Thor, seriously, you don’t have to carry the universe on your shoulders all the time. Let me take some of the weight.” He gives Thor a small smile. “I’m the strongest Avenger, I can handle it.”
Thor huffs a laugh that could very easily also be a sob, and Bruce gently pulls him towards him. Thor ends up crying into Bruce’s shoulder for a little while, Bruce silently rubbing his back the whole time. When the tears stop, Thor draws back a little bit so that they’re still close. He speaks unusually quietly. “This is all my fault.”
“It’s not,” Bruce says immediately.
“How could it not be? I gave up the throne for adventure and glory, leaving the Nine Realms neglected, and I tried finding the Infinity Stones, but I failed miserably at that. Because I wasn’t on Asgard, my father died and Hela escaped. No matter how much I tried to stop Ragnarok, it happened anyway. I caused it. And now I have to lead my people anyway, which was the very thing I gave up four years ago.” Thor sighs. “I lost my father. I lost my hammer. I lost my friends, and I lost my home. And I’m right back where I was.”
Bruce looks into Thor’s eyes, making sure that the god listens to him. “None of this is your fault, okay? Ragnarok was a prophecy, right? I’ve read enough about mythology to know that you can’t stop a prophecy. You couldn’t have done anything different, and your people know that. They don’t blame you.”
Thor stays quiet.
“And you know one good thing you did?”
“What?”
“You saved me. If you hadn’t landed on Sakaar, I’d still be there, inside the Hulk.” Bruce puts a hand on Thor’s cheek to wipe away a stray tear with his thumb, and he leans into the contact. “You’re a good person, Thor. And you’re going to be a great king.” Thor shakes his head. “You are! I just… I wish you could see yourself the way I see you.”
Thor blinks. “And… how do you see me?” he asks.
“Like how the Earth sees the Sun.” And isn’t that a hopelessly romantic, scientifically inaccurate comparison. “Thor, I Hulked out to save your people, believing that I’d never come back. If that doesn’t tell you how much you mean to me, how good I think you are, I don’t know what does.”
Thor’s staring at him, wide-eyed. Bruce is beginning to think that he made it weird when Thor’s gaze flits lightning-fast (ha) down towards Bruce’s lips. “Bruce,” he breathes.
“Mm?”
“May I…?”
Bruce’s heart skips a beat and he wills himself to calm down. No way the Hulk is going to cockblock him this time. “Absolutely.” Thor inches closer, and Bruce meets him halfway. The kiss is soft, tentative, and kind of wet from Thor’s tears. And also electric – literally. “Ow,” Bruce says, jumping away.
“Sorry,” Thor says sheepishly. “A God of Thunder thing. I can accidentally shock people when my heart rate rises.”
“Your heart rate’s high right now?”
“Yes,” Thor replies as if the answer is obvious. “I’ve been thinking about this since Sakaar.”
“Wh- really? Why?”
“Why?” Thor echoes incredulously. “Because you’re you.”
“And you’re you!” Bruce stares as Thor begins to laugh quietly before he starts chuckling too. “Why are we like this?”
Thor kisses him again sweetly. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”