ʙʀᴜᴄᴇ ʙᴀɴɴᴇʀ ☣ ʜᴜʟᴋ (jadegiant) wrote in thedoorway, @ 2014-01-15 19:48:00 |
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Well Cora could not say that this war had not been eventful. Even if she had not been in this world long if was nice to stretch her magical legs so to speak. There was a certain joy to not being behind the actual planning, having to keep track of the armies and simply fight. Though there had been times when she missed it, missed her wardens and the power that she commanded simply by giving an order. But there were new battles in this world, new allies to find her way around. Including Bruce’s “Other Guy” whom Cora was beginning to grow rather fond of battling alongside. He was far stronger than any warrior she had encountered and with far more skill to him than an orge. Her fondness was why she found herself trudging across the terrain of this alien world to find where the Other Guy had landed. “I do hope you appreciate this.” she sighed. The sounds of battle were long gone, enemy forces having been depleted already. It was just another leisurely stroll away from a battlefield. There was no great worry, she had yet to see the Other Guy actually become injured in any way. And it seemed he had his own aversion to Banner being harmed in any fashion. Likely he was fine wherever he had landed. If perhaps knocked out, but Cora could easily remedy that. Eventually she came upon what looked to be a crater in the landscape. Walking to the edge she looked down and could not help the smirk that formed. It was a lovely side effect of the whole process Cora had learned. “It is a bit cold to lie about half naked, Bruce. Do you need help warming up?” she teased. Bruce laid in the crater, doozing a bit. He wasn’t sure where he was. Living with the Hulk was strange. He blacked out and when he awoke, it was like a dream. He remembered bits of it. When he fought on the Culver campus-- that was the worst. Bad dreams, flashbacks in the shower. Terrible shit. After the attack on Earth from the Chitauri, it was a little easier. Which isn’t to say there were no nightmares. But yes. The crater was surprisingly comfy. And Cora’s voice carried beautifully. And then it came to him. Half naked. Yes. He wore the pants that Jan helped him get. Unstable molecules so at least they weren’t hanging off of him-- or worse, not on him at all. “Do you have a blanket?” He began to sit up and rub his eyes. “But I quite like the view.” Cora laughed, continuing to freely watch. There was always that bit of a high after a successful battle and now was no different. But he might actually be cold, which was a shame in and of itself. And she was not a cruel woman. Well, she was not a cruel woman unless she needed to be and right now the situation did not entirely warrant it. Still she unhooked the cloak around her shoulders and tossed it down to him. If he froze to death that would be one less person she would have to tease. Or the Other Guy would save him and she would end up on his bad side. And it would likely put a strain on their relationship if she had to use blood magic to keep him from attacking her. “Feel free to not wrap up quite yet.” Bruce frowned at the cloak. It was nice of her, sure, but he wasn’t going to wear a cloak. His ears were a little red from her saying she liked the view. He was hairy and gross and green only a few moments ago. He slung it over him like a blanket (or perhaps, a Snuggie™) “What exploded, Cora? Is everyone all right?” It took a lot to shake the Hulk out of Bruce. This made him feel quite a bit of anxiety and he wasn’t sure if that was good. Should he keep himself on edge so that he could Hulk out again? It was cute how he got embarrassed from the compliment. It reminded her a bit of Alistair or Nathaniel. Though given the situation it was probably far closer to poor Alistair back in the day. She leaned on the staff she carried with her as she waited for him to gather himself up. It was not one of magic like she was used to but at the very least if gave her something in her hands outside of her own power. And it was satisfactory to smack against people’s heads. “No injuries that needed my immediate attention before I came to find you.” Cora brushed the question aside. The concern was certainly noble, he had a far better heart than she did at times. She might not be the most caring of healers but she took care of the members of her party in battle. “As for what blew up, no idea. I swear it wasn’t me.” Bruce finally got to his feet and brushed himself off. He still had a pained look on his face and his shoulders hunched like a worried dog. “So uh, what did you think? Did he hurt anyone … you know, outside of the guys we’re trying to hurt?” The phrase felt bad in his mouth. He shouldn’t be using the Hulk like this. “He’s a fearsome warrior indeed.” Cora mused as she reached out, offering her hand up to him. “I kept my promise, you brought no harm outside of those intended.” It was so strange that he worried so much about such things. Certainly she cared about winning these battles, yes, but there were casualties in any war such as this. And he was the one to offer himself up. Bruce Banner proved to be quite the puzzle. “Honestly I like him.” Cora admitted freely. Bruce looked at Cora like she shouted HAIL SATAN and did a jig. “O...kay.” Once up and near Cora, he returned her cloak. Forget his own temperature-- she needed it and looked better in it. “I don’t-- He’s--” He sighed deeply and wasn’t sure where to start. The Hulk was created as an accident? It was a magnification of his most disgustingly pure anger? That he felt like he was no better than his father sometimes, after waking up from a Hulk-mare? “He’s helping, at least.” Cora tutted as he handed her cloak back. A quick shake of her head and she swung it around his shoulders, fastening it over his shoulders before he could make any fuss over it. “I am far more used to the cold than you are, Bruce.” she chided gently with a smile and a wink. “And I’m not the one parading around half nude.” Reaching up she patted one cheek gently and pressed a light kiss to the other. It was a friendly gesture, nothing outside of fondness meant by it. “That is what you wanted, to help?” Corra asked as she pulled away from him. “You don’t seem too pleased with it though.” He felt strange to be touched by someone. Not like women have cooties or that he hadn’t been touched by a woman in awhile-- just in general. Closeness to another person. Tony would wrap his arm around Bruce now and then… he would sit on the couch next to Pepper. But warm lips on a cheek made him feel a little nervous and yet a little braver. “I wanted to help, yes. I just don’t know if this is really helping. I’m-- I’m neurotic, I’m sorry. The other guy makes me question my sanity, I guess.” “You don’t seem to trust yourself.” Cora commented, tilting her head as she studied him for a moment. The cowered stace, the questions, it reminded her painfully of life back at the circle. Mages who felt the power was nothing but a curse, those who feared not being able to control or master it, and the constant watchful eyes that fed into those fears. She had spent years being told she was a monster and had seen so many actually believe that they were. It was painful to see in someone away from the templar’s grasp. “You’re very powerful, Bruce. I wouldn’t say it’s unwise to question it, but I’ve seen doubt do just as much damage as overconfidence.” When it had come to the mages doubt was more deadly than confidence it seemed. Though for people outside the circle it seemed nearly equal. Bruce shook his head. “He’s powerful, Cora. I can’t control it. I’ve only just been able to figure out how to trigger it myself. I can’t stop him-- as you can see, I either get knocked out or fall asleep. The only other time I was able to stop it…” he trailed off. It wasn’t him that stopped the Hulk. It was Betty. She was so far gone. “You’re very young with your power, are you not?” she asked. Her curiosity over Banner’s spirit or whatever he seemed to call it was unabated. She had watched the beast in battle. While it was a sight to behold, rage in all its glory, it was directed. There was violence yes but it did not seem the malicious sort. And she had yet to observe him attacking anyone who was not also attacking them. “You cannot be expected to control it all so soon. It takes years.” The first time she had displayed magic, well, there was a reason that there were many mages that never made it to the Circle to begin with. “I’ve had it for awhile now, Cora.” But she was right. He had the curse-- or mutation, or whatever they were going to call it, for some time. He spent more than half that time trying to hide it, trying to suppress it. “Are you suggesting practice makes perfect?” Cora paused and looked up at him, eyebrow raised in mild contention. “Bruce unless you are speaking of over a decade your ‘awhile’ has little to do with my point.” she contended. As much as the Circle filled her with bitterness to think of, the corruption, fear, and isolation was dehumanizing. But it had given her invaluable instruction in magic, control that she would have had trouble reaching on her own without an instructor. “I’m suggesting that the difference between control and chaos is understanding. Which takes time.” Even simply in her time as a warden she had learned so much. There was always more to learn and control was never complete. “Months, years, even decades. But it’s possible.” Ever so slightly did Bruce’s shoulders slumped as he walked. “Right. One day.” He nodded, wanting suddenly to be very far away or talking about anything else. It was like being in the middle of a nice dream and realizing you were not only in your Chemistry class but naked. “I know it’s possible. I just would rather reverse the whole thing.” Cora’s back stiffened slightly. Granted their positions were very different. The Hulk was nothing like her own magic. But how many mages had she heard say those exact words? How many had given up completely when they could not go through with the complete severing of their mind that it would entail. The point was a sore one. In many ways her magic had been a curse, it had stolen her birthright from her and forced her into years of fear. And yet Cora would never give up her power if given the choice. She forced herself to relax. Control was practiced and letting the emotion in her shoulders go was simple enough. “Well you won’t change my opinion on him. He’s charmed me.” Bruce stopped walking and looked at her. “He’s not charmed me. When he first appeared, he put the woman I love in a coma. He has caused me to be on the run for years. And now I’m a weapon. I know it was my choice to come here, but I’m regretting it.” Bruce realized he was getting overly emotional. His heart was beating too fast, he was getting warm and feeling buds of sweat on his forehead. “I’m-- I’m sorry.” Cora stopped and turned to face him slowly. The smile was gone, her face stern as she looked at closely. “I nearly killed my brother the night my magic manifested.” she said simply. She took a step closer to him, no more scared of the heart beat under his chest then she was of the darkspawn monsters that haunted her dreams. They simply existed now, things to be dealt with. “Most mages don’t show magic till the age of twelve. I was far younger. He nearly froze to death because of a power I didn’t know about and couldn’t control.” Another step closer and she was face to face with him, her head tilted back to catch his eyes and force him to look. “I destroyed my family. Magic is unforgivable, they lost their status and I lost them. I have only the faintest blurs of what they look like because they put me in the hands of templars to watch my every move as soon as they could be summoned.” Cora’s voice was even, calm, but firm as she continued. “You are Bruce Banner and you are the green man who emerges. No person is a weapon, no matter how powerful they are.” Quietly, defeated, “I guess my sob stories are no good here.” It also became clear to him that he would no longer be able to talk about the Hulk as if he were a imaginary friend. That should have become clear during the battle of New York. Volunteering for Asgard kind of cemented it. He didn’t know how to respond to people treating him like-- well, like another person. Between Betty and Tony, and a handful of friends he met via the Tesseract… everyone treated him like a timebomb. A weapon. Something to watch out for. In a burst of confidence, Bruce put his arm around Cora’s waist and gave her an awkward half hug. “Sometimes I need to hear that.” The hug was unexpected, though certainly not unwanted. Since meeting him Cora had been the one to initiate all physical contact. Which she had been fine with, testing the boundaries of what was appropriate for the skittish man and what was not. This was new, sudden, and wholly lovely. Gently she wrapped her arms around him and pulled him into a proper hug. “So did I.” she answered softly, pressing her cheek against his momentarily. Pulling back, her hands trailed down his arms to take his hands and squeeze them firmly. “And I’m always willing to remind you.” |