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Bruce had been a lot of things in his life: beaten, bullied, chased, hunted, tormented, and the list went on. He had slept in caves on stormy cliff sides and rundown, dilapidated huts in abandoned towns.
He’d gone long stretches without proper clothing or a filling meal, without speaking to a single soul apart from the other person sharing his mind—and back then communication wasn’t always the best between the two of them.
He’d been shot, electrocuted, stabbed, and run over many, many times all as Bruce, hanging on for dear life until Hulk came out to save them both. Life had never been easy for him, it had never been soft or warm or comfortable. Or fun.
He had gotten so used to life’s rough edges and sharp greetings, that he almost didn’t know how to respond to anything else. Being who he was, it was not often that he had to learn something everyone else already knew but that’s what was happening now.
As he looked over at the, frankly, insane number of blankets and pillows, he smiled. He was happy to learn how to be comfortable, to figure out how to relax and do nothing without any fear of punishment or capture. Unlike the other lessons he’d learned later in life, this one came with no consequences for getting it wrong.
Only forehead kisses and extra tight hugs.
“What’s this?” Bruce asked, cleaning his glasses off on his shirt as he waited for a head to appear from under the mountain of comforters.
Blond hair and then the head it was attached to appeared and Thor shot him a bright grin.
“Tis a fort. Of sorts. Barton said Midgardian children love these and although we are far from being children, it sounded quite nice to be bundled up so profusely.”
When Bruce first met Thor aboard the Helicarrier, he had thought he was this extremely serious, intense warrior prince from space and honestly, that had been enough nonsense words strung together for him to opt out of further getting to know him.
Then later on in their time working together, his impression of the demigod had jumped to the far other end of the spectrum—an overgrown child.
When he’d finally taken the time to get to know Thor—they had both been benched during a mission and were awaiting instruction aboard the quinjet—he’d realized how wrong he had been.
Thor had many different facets of his personality all inspired by those whom he loved the most. When Thor was overly serious, that was his father. When he acted out, that was him missing his brother. The times when he could be quite the sage? Well, that was wisdom passed on by the late Frigga.
And when Thor was smiling and laughing and carrying on in the way Bruce had formerly labeled immature, that was Thor. The Thor who never got to behave that way because he was always being watched by the nation, his actions carrying weight and meaning from the moment he could walk. That was the Thor who had had to fight his baby brother and later see him imprisoned, who had to watch both of his parents die and be helpless to save them. It was the Thor that had been buried so deep down under all that duty and grief that when he made an appearance nowadays, it made Bruce smile.
Like now.
“Oh? And what’s your verdict?”
“Quite nice, quite nice indeed. Might require a second opinion however. Are you busy?”
“I am not.”
Bruce had just woken up to find the bed they now shared was empty and had wandered half-dressed into their living area in search of his cuddly partner who had deprived him of the morning snuggles he’d come to love so much.
“Perhaps I could persuade you to join me then.”
Thor held out one arm and with it a blanket, inviting Bruce into his nest with a soft smile.
“Come. Think of this as an experiment to be tested, my love. Answers must be sought out.”
Bruce rolled his eyes, smiling fondly as he walked over and crawled into the space Thor had made for him, the blanket being draped around his shoulder along with Thor’s arm. It was such a comforting weight on him.
Bruce settled in, sitting cross-legged with one knee resting on Thor’s thigh and Thor turned to press a kiss into his hair the moment he’d come close enough.
“And?” Thor asked, grinning again as he peppered Bruce’s cheek with kisses that made the scientist laugh and turned his head for a proper one.
He pulled away and said, “I like it.”
“You do?”
“I do. It’s cozy.”