Dr. Bruce Banner (ahugedork) wrote in chances_rpg, @ 2023-04-13 11:44:00 |
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Entry tags: | mcu: bruce banner, mcu: peter parker |
Who: Bruce Banner and Peter Parker (yes, I know)
What: A semi-serious talk and an important question
When: A couple of days ago because this took longer than I thought
Where: Peter's room
Warnings: Literally none except kinda cute fluff??
It seemed like the easiest decision in the world. Bruce knew how he felt for May and he was pretty certain how she felt for him. And this little family they'd built together? If someone had told him even a couple of years ago that this would be his life, he'd have called them a liar. But here he was, a woman who loved him completely, three incredible kids, and his extended family, those people he loved dearly and considered as much a part of him as he would Jen or any of their cousins from home.
Still, this wasn't the first time Bruce had sat around his lab contemplating an engagement ring. The first time had gone so badly, he was honestly a little scared thinking about this one. But it felt like the right thing to do. And he'd talk it over with the girls, of course, and even Ned, but they were a bit different. Ned, while family in every way that mattered, wouldn't exactly be affected by this. Lyra mostly just needed to know that no one would replace her mom from home and Dee had been rooting for the two of them since day one. She also wasn't the person May was closest to.
Peter was.
He knocked gently on the young man's door, assuming he was either studying or hanging around the network. Frankly, it could go either way.
Peter was, in fact, studying, but not anything for classes. Look, he knew he was a nerd. Sometimes nerds read really dorky things for fun. And, well, climate change and ways to stop it were important topics. When he heard the light knocking, he glanced up, wondering if he should bother with a bookmark. It could just be May telling him when dinner would be ready, and then he'd have to go find his spot all over again.
But he'd lived with May for most of his life and he knew her knock. And Dee had a much more boisterous knock and he was lucky if Lyra knocked at all, to be honest, so it had to be Dr. B and that could be any number of reasons. So he slid the notes he was writing into the book to mark his place and called out, "come in!"
Bruce stepped into a room that would have probably been very similar to his if he'd been allowed to actually express himself with his room as a teenager. Peter's LEGO collection was nothing short of impressive, and it only competed with the amount of comic and 'geek culture' memorabilia. His desk held some project he was working on, which Bruce would definitely ask about later and the stack of books by his bed was kind of incredible for a kid who did most of his reading online.
Smiling, almost shyly - as if he wasn't a grown man talking to his teenaged not-quite-stepson - Bruce took a further step into the room. "Hey. Are you busy?"
The book was good, but he wouldn't say reading it made him busy. Besides, it was Bruce Banner. The only thing more cool was basically being taken in by Tony Stark himself. Even from a non-Avengers standpoint, these were the scientists Peter had looked up to and learned about and read about his entire life. And now he literally called both of them family and Bruce was dating his aunt and they were all living together and it was probably the coolest thing ever. So Peter pushed the book aside lightly and sat up straighter. "Nope, not busy at all, what's up?"
Bruce shut the door (couldn't be too careful) and sat in Peter's desk chair. This was a pretty serious talk but, he hoped, it would be a good one. "I was hoping to run something by you. Not get your permission, exactly, your aunt is a pretty determined woman and wouldn't exactly be thrilled by needing someone else's permission no matter whose. But you're the most important person to her and I think it would be a good idea to run it by you."
For a moment, Peter was genuinely surprised. And then it all started to click. Something told him this wasn't about going on a couples' weekend or encouraging her to get a new job or...whatever else wild scenarios that might cross his mind. "Oh my god, you're proposing?" he blurted, before considering he might be ruining some whole-hearted 'man-to-man' talk Bruce had prepared.
"Well, that's the plan," Bruce replied, chuckling a bit and shaking his head. Honestly, he sort of appreciated the moment there. It definitely took some of the weird tension he felt out of him. "But I do want your blessing. I know you're an adult now but I also know how important your aunt is to you. The two of you have let me, and my girls for that matter, infiltrate so to speak, but that's still a little different than asking her to be my wife."
Internally, Peter was bouncing around wildly. On the outside, though, he knew he should be an adult about this. It was a pretty important moment Bruce was proposing (heh, proposing) and Peter should treat it with the respect it deserved.
But also...May! Getting married! To one of Peter's favorite scientists! Who was also just a genuinely good guy who loved her! How could he not be excited? And yeah, it might be a little weird at first. But Ben had died years ago, and May had been alone for so long. A few dates here and there, maybe, but never anything long term or serious. He knew she worried about him, and she'd spent so much of her life worrying about him that Peter knew she deserved better. It had only gotten worse since she'd found out about Spider-Man.
And Peter knew what her future held - or lack of a future, so to speak. All he wanted was for this second chance to be good for her. Great, even. And he knew she loved Dr. B and he did treat her well, and was there anything more he could ask?
But obviously, he had to at least put on 'the talk'. "You'd better treat her well. I'm talking like, ten years on still acting like honeymooners or whatever. Romantic weekends without the kids, Dee and I can handle Lyra if we have to. Do the cooking and cleaning sometimes and share chores so she doesn't have to do it all."
The words were pointless, obviously. They already did all of those things. But if Bruce was going to bring a serious discussion his way, Peter was going to at least make it seem worthwhile.
"Yes, absolutely," Bruce replied with a serious tone but a smiling face. It was obvious Peter was giving him the pretend 3rd Degree, which probably meant he was good to go. But he still felt better for having talked to the teen first. "You know she's one of the most important things in my life. And I'll do everything I can not to mess this up."
For his efforts, Peter finally cracked a grin. "I know. And you know we won't let you." 'We' probably included a lot of people, honestly. But he mostly meant himself and Dee, Tony and Pepper, maybe even Lyra and Morgan in their own ways. And May. His aunt was fierce and independent and she'd absolutely fight for herself.
Bruce had an idea of where the young man's head was. He'd tried to be strong for May, but he hadn't handled the news Peter had come back with much better than she had. He'd sworn then that he'd make sure this life they had here was as good for her as he could make it, and he'd meant it. "I assume you realize you'll have to be in the wedding." It seemed like an additional step in smoothing things over, even though they didn't seem to need to be smoothed.
"I mean, yeah, I'd better be." But Peter was still smiling brightly. "So when are you going to do it because you know I'm not great at secrets."
Fixing his hopefully future step-nephew with a 'look', Bruce gave a teasing glare. "How long did you hide the Spider-Man thing?" Still, he shook his head with a small laugh. "Hopefully you won't have to hold it in too long. I did want to talk to the girls first, and of course there's the whole finding a ring thing. But I won't make you wait forever."
Peter put on his best innocent face and hopped off the bed. "No idea what you mean! But good, I would possibly literally explode and no one wants that. But I'm going to go swing around for a while to get some of this out of me because otherwise I can't be responsible for whatever I blurt at the dinner table."
Bruce's eyebrows lifted but he got to his feet and made his way to the door. "Don't be too long, dinner should be soon. Besides, I know you better than that. You wouldn't want to ruin May's surprise."
Damn. He was right.