Bruce Banner and Snow White - A Moment in the Warehouse - An AIM Log Rating: PG
Snow found Bruce in his lab at the warehouse and hugged him with a large amount of warm affection that all her friends received.
Bruce possibly blushed a lot and hugged her back.
Snow pulled back squeezing his arms. "Hello, Bruce."
"Hello, Snow." Bruce was still blushing slightly. "Ah, how are you?"
"Honestly? Feeling a lot better about being here." Snow kissed his cheek.
Bruce stared, mouth open, and then grinned a little shyly. "Would you like some tea, and to talk about it?"
"I would love to have some tea with you."
Bruce escorted her to his private quarters and set tea up. "Are you adapting to this crazy world? How are things going with the rest from your world?"
"It's definitely hit or miss. There's...a considerable amount of tension. We'll adjust. I have faith."
"Good. If you ever need my help, let me know. I'm not good with people, but I'm good at solving things."
"Are you good at forgiveness?" Snow gave a wry smile.
"How could I not be? Otherwise, I'd be insane." He gently touched on her hand, then rose to make tea as the pot went off.
"You're a rare person." She showed some tension, as she said it.
"No, I'm a man who had to face hsi demons or let them overwhelm him. Most people have the option of lying to themselves. I don't get to do that." Bruce brang her tea, and gently placed it next to her, settling. "It's not easy to be exposed. Most people don't like it."
"And yet here we all are, our dark secrets available to anyone." She cradled the cup and smiled at him. "Even those we'd rather didn't get to see them. I'm worried." She shrugged and took a sip. "I met James and Natasha. They're...closely guarded aren't they?"
"An explosive situation, yes. He sipped his tea and nodded. "Extremely so. Not only from others, but I imagine still trying to learn what they can be to each other." He sighed worriedly. "They are going to have an interesting time of it."
"If they both want it, it will come to them." She would know better than most. "I lived with Emma for almost a year before even knowing who she was. I don't know if that's a blessing or a curse in itself." She looked at Bruce. "Have you ever had any family come here?"
Bruce smiled at her and nodded. "I don't know either." At the mention of family, his hands tightened on the cup. "No. And if they did... it would not be a good thing." Anger, real anger, lurked there and his eyes flared green for a moment before that faded.
Snow, with an empathetic feeling, reached out and touched his arm. "But you do have family, as strange as it is. You have friends here who care about you."
Bruce nodded, smiling once more, tension easing away. "I do. Natasha, Clint, Maria. they are family. And slowly I am getting to know Thor, and James, and Helena, and a few others." He grinned. "Do you read H.G. Wells' books?"
"I know I did once but not recently."
Bruce grinned "Would you like to meet her? She's a rather nice woman."
"You say that as if I wouldn't want to meet new people."
Bruce smiled. "Well, one never knows. But you are a very intriguing woman."
"I'm not that interesting. Or mysterious. In fact, I would say I'm pretty straight forward." Her tone was amused. "It's gotten me into plenty of trouble."
Bruce snorted. "Snow, stop. You are very straightforward, but you are also very interesting." He reached out to touch her nose, fondly.
Snow beamed and leaned against him for a moment. "I'm glad I got to meet you."
"I'm glad to meet you, too." He hugged her, then grinned wider. "You are rather friendly."
Snow just leaned in more. "You haven't seen me angry. Not quite as impressive as you, but the last time someone upset me they got kicked out a window."
Bruce hugged her gently. "Hmm. I like you. I think I'll keep you." Bruce grinned at her and kissed her hair. "You impress me."
"At the time I had impressed myself." She was just going to bask in this cuddlefest.
Bruce just smiled softly and snuggles her close. "Good. So, do you like cheesecake?"
"What kind? "
" love New York style, plain, and wirh strawberries in it, sometimes. Never tried cooking any other. You?"
"Can't say I've tried cooking any, but I haven't met a slice I didn't enjoy."
Bruce smiled. "Would you care to keep me company while I make us some, then? I'll share my recipe?"
"You can cook and make tea." Her lips twitched and she nodded. "How are you single?"
"I'm bad at dealing with people on a regular basis. And choose badly a lot. And... I have this whole giant rage monster inside me thing going on."
"Yes, I can see how bad with people you are. She rubbed his arm. "So, are we going to do this?"
"You are easy to talk to." Bruce grinned softly. "And yes. Come on, my friend." He led her into the kitchen and started gathering the things. "Do you cook?"
"Better than my daughter." She grinned. "I won't catch anything on fire and I can measure, I promise not to poison us."
"Sounds good. Now let's get cracking. He stopped to hug her, then began explaining his recipe.
Snow was more amused than she should be at the easy affection before leaning against the counter to pay attention
Bruce set her to measuring things as he started the oven and shredded cheese and mixed it. "You're easy to talk to."
Snow smiled and shook her head. "It's because I listen."
"Not just that, I think. There is more to it, and you."
For all she loved doling out encouragement and compliments, she ducked her head and shrugged. "Well I'm just glad to be here for you."
"Thank you, Snow. It's not every day a man finds a friend from a stranger, or an ally from a mysterious beautiful woman." He nodded.
"Now I know you're teasing me." But she was pleased by it nevertheless. "How long does this take to cook?"
Bruce waggled a finger at her. "I am not." He smiled as he worked, chopping and mixing. "About an hour once the 15 minutes of prep is done." He grinned. "Think you can last?"
"That is an awfully long wait." She put on a ponderous expression.
"Once it's cooking, we could go back to talking, and wander some?" He grinned.
"Is that like asking me to take a stroll around the room to show off our figures?" She looked and sounded deeply, deeply entertained.
"Might be, might be. Or a walk in the garden to smell the roses together..." His grin was wide now.
Snow rolled her eyes and laughed. "All right."
Bruce winced a little at that, and coughed, then eyed her carefully. "Or we could just talk?" His voice was softer then.
"You know I'm married, Bruce. Even when he's not here..." She frowned a little and then sighed at him. "I like your company, and fresh air wouldn't hurt."
Bruce nodded, looking down. "I'm sorry. Sometimes..." He nodded. "Fresh air it is." He finished mixing the cheesecake in quiet. then he smiled a little. "Strawberries or none?"
"Strawberries. Definitely strawberries." She paused. "You ever meet my friend Ruby?"
"No, I don't think so. She's the red one, who wears red I mean, and is a werewolf?K Bruce added strawberries and then slid the cheesecake into the oven. "There."
Snow nodded. "She does wear an awful lot of red, doesn't she? Yes. Her. You'd like her. She's...a lot like me with better tracking skills."
Bruce quirked an eyebrow. "Are you attempting to matchmake me, Snow?" He is amused.
"Who says I'm not trying to matchmake her?" Which...was a lot closer to the truth. The whole peter thing was just...Ruby deserved some happiness and if anyone could handle a girl turning into a scary monster once a month, it'd be Bruce.
Bruce paused, then nodded. "I'm sure she's nice. I don't tend to reach out... socially. This happened because you impressed me." He swallowed, looking down, nervous, as he led the way out, setting his timer on his watch.
Snow "I wouldn't force you to. Come on. There are plenty of things to explore before that timer goes off and you've been here longer than me."
Bruce smiled softly over at her and nodded. "Well, there's the visrutal reality center, the garden where I grew those strawberries, the slowly growing complex of buildings, some being bought and some built..." He smiled and led the way out, nodding. "And later, I'll show you the best little ice cream shoppe in town."
Snow linked their arms. "Well we have an hour so we best get started."
And they did.
And it wasn't happily ever after, but it was a happy afternoon