Ask me anything

[feldman]

 kernezelda asked: "*waves* you may have explored this in fic, but how does Bruce feel about the three varied invitations he's received to live with and work in/hide out in/rescue Tony's/Clint's/Thor's homes? Very different circumstances each time."

Oh man, Bruce Banner and homes.

Bruce is a quiet and thoughtful guest who can seamlessly fake "making himself at home" to put his host at ease. The true test of this is Clint's, so vulnerable it's hidden for safety, so warm and comfortable it makes his skin crawl. He does not belong, cannot belong. The way Laura Barton reads him with those eyes, like he's a familiar bittersweet book with a happy ending he doesn't know about yet...well it's sweet of her, Clint's a lucky man, but it only makes it worse.

Bruce only means to visit the research labs, to be polite in the face of the man's enthusiasm, but he ends up staying because he underestimates how observant Tony is about people he cares about. Tony doesn't hide how much he studies Bruce, out of some reckless fascination or curiosity Bruce assumes. From the moment the elevator doors open, Tony tweaks and adjusts and revamps and refines. The environment conforms to Bruce like custom-fit armor. From mission to mission, the team coalesces around them as well. One day on the way back to his suite, after a long contentious shift with Tony in the lab and a companionable dinner with the rest of the team after, he stops cold, struck with the cozy feeling that he was heading home.

Bruce had coffee with Jane once, after she broke up with Thor, and ended up buying her a meal too as she kept talking and talking about Asgard. Poor Thor, how could he possibly compete with the wonders of the universe wielded by his people? It seemed to never occur to her that it was a package deal; or maybe it did, and she'd rather be a lay scientist than a queen resenting her political duties. Jane couldn't help Thor help his people. but Bruce can. The fact that, of any of the homes he's been invited into, this is the first he cannot break, that's just icing. It breaks anyway, but that still doesn't stop Bruce from fighting for it.

Comments

[lunabee34]

Awww.

Love these.

[feldman]

Thank you! This started out as meta but those always turn into narrative for me.