soulthatwanders | [for Bruce]

[for Bruce]

It's only weird if you make it weird. Don't make it weird.

With that thought firmly in mind, Wanda took a deep breath and knocked on Bruce's door, jacket slung carefully over one arm. She'd put the task of returning it off for as long as she could because she'd secretly been hoping that it might disappear with the rest of Manhattan and she'd be off the hook, but it was apparently native. No such luck there.

Not that she wanted to avoid him forever, of course, but she really had no idea how it might go, and as far as she was concerned, New Year's had proved that her judgment was apparently weirdly impaired where he was concerned. Still, as long as she didn't make a big deal out of anything that had gone down (which was pretty much nothing, anyway), she was fairly sure it would be fine. Why wouldn't it?

"Anyone home?"

Not weird.

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"Well, I can't think of anything," Bruce answers, pretending to consider that possibility.

"Look, I - I appreciate you telling me. It definitely filled in a couple blanks," he admits, grinning sheepishly.. "And the rest of it made me a hell of a lot more intimidated."

"Intimidated?" Wanda asked, grinning a little now, however incredulously. "Of what? Like I said, none of this is exactly secret, it's just my life."

"I don't know how to explain it," Bruce says, fumbling slightly.

"You're - him, her, a colleague, a friend, a - somehow all more than those, and somehow I knew there was more to you deep down and couldn't figure it out, but it makes sense now. In some strange way. I have an explanation for why you're so extraordinary."

"I'm extraordinary because I used to be a guy," Wanda said flatly, raising an eyebrow at him skeptically. "I guess that's one way of putting it."

"Well - yes, but - that didn't exactly come out the way that I intended," he admits, looking embarrassed and clearing his throat the moment he catches a glimpse of her expression.

"I've just never heard of what happened to you ever being accomplished before. It's incredible."

"I wouldn't call a series of disasters and dumb luck an accomplishment, but that's just me," Wanda scoffed. "Our team leader blew himself up, teleported to one of Jupiter's moons, and got rebuilt as a cyborg by aliens. These things just... happen to us for some reason."

"And here I thought the Helicarrier with built-in camo switch was impressive," Bruce mutters, mostly to himself, as he starts moving around the perimeter of the room, studying the shelving job, his shoulders squared.

"Makes me wonder what might have happened if the island had pulled me from later."

"That's right, things were just starting to heat up in your world," Wanda chuckled, hands in her pockets once more as she trailed vaguely after him. "A few years and your whole gang might have been just as screwed up as ours. Did I mention he teleported back in time, too? So it was Ganymede, but hundreds of thousands of years ago."

"From what I can tell, the original team is from all over the place," Bruce admits, softly thinking out loud as he stops, staring off at some lone point as he momentarily loses himself in a reverie.

"Cap's from the future, apparently, but another world entirely, and as for Thor and Tony - well, they hadn't even heard of the Avengers Initiative until I showed up to tell them about it. Kind of ironic when you think about how long they campaigned for me to join, even after I told them I'm not exactly a team player."

"Yeah, Cap's one of ours, he's probably got stories," Wanda said distractedly before stepping around to face him. "Good to know you came around eventually, though."

"It took a little persuading - and several of SHIELD's most heavily armed," Bruce quips, redirecting his gaze to her face.

"No one can say I'm not an accommodating guy."

"I certainly never would," Wanda agreed with mock earnestness. To be fair, she kind of did have a hard time imagining the Hulk on a team for any extended period of time, but it wasn't as if Alpha Flight was known for its overly functional team dynamics, either. Anything was possible. "And those goons can be pretty persuasive."

"It feels like a lifetime ago now," he admits, raking fingertips against the back of his neck and scrunching up his expression slightly along with it.

"Had a lot of people show up since then. Lost more, I think. I don't know enough people to know when every disappearance happens, but there are some I'd definitely notice." He slowly lets his hand fall, and his eyes find hers again.

Her heart picked up in pace a little at that, and Wanda would honestly have to roll her eyes at the reaction if he wasn't watching her.

"I'm pretty sure that's true for everyone here," she lightly pointed out.

"True, but how many almost shut-ins do you know around here?" he jokes, gently leaning into one of the shelves, his hip notched against the sturdy frame.

"This is probably the longest time I've been away from my own place aside from New Year's. What kind of influence are you having on me?"

"A good one, hopefully," Wanda laughed, and while she was joking with him, it came from a place of truth. "You should put yourself out there more."

"Case in point," Bruce responds, with an idle gesture between the both of them.

"Do you think any good could come from a repeat offense?"

Wanda bit her lip, her heart continuing to hitch annoyingly in her chest. "Probably not," she said slowly. Of course, when that had ever stopped from doing something stupid?

It took a fair amount of self-control to not let his gaze drop to her mouth when she hooked her lip with her teeth, a place he had done a fair amount of thinking about in recent days.

"Probably not," he echoes, stepping in. "But didn't we just get done talking about how we're both lacking in good these days?"

"I... might not be done talking yet," Wanda said lamely, her body practically humming with nervous energy. And then he was close, too close, and all those thoughts that had been spinning in her head about how strange and wrong the whole thing was got really inconvenient, really fast.

"Oh, fuck it," she finally murmured, suddenly surging forward to kiss him, rough and just a little desperate. Unlike the guy in the next room, she wasn't made of stone.

The anticipation is that it'll be a mirror of last time, potentially - soft and slow and seeking, but the way she approaches it immediately ratchets up the level to ten and beyond, breathing something out loud seconds before she kisses him, her lips strong against his own.

The Hulk might be dormant now but there's still those instincts there, the ones that call for him to claim, to possess, to mark, and he has to will himself to take her into a warm embrace instead of a rougher one even as a groan rises deep in the back of his throat and he pulls her tight to him, fingers tangling in her hair.

She made a small noise, almost a whimper as she fully gave in to the impulse, pressing herself against him, hands clutching at his back, mouth opening under his. She couldn't do this slowly, couldn't take the time to process her feelings lest she get spooked and back down again. At that moment, all she wanted was him, and thinking too much would only get in the way of that. She could run later.

That sound, from her lips to his ears, is intoxicating; the taste of her lips similarly draws him in. His other arm winds low across her back, palm pressed flat between her shoulderblades, and he gently flexes his grip in her hair, enough for her to feel it without pulling. It's the exact opposite of their conversation earlier, stiff and distancing. He sways with her now, kissing her long enough that it feels hard to breathe.

Wanda had really never expected anything like this to ever happen, but she had thought about it a lot over the years. When she did, there was always something a little off, a little wrong about it, but she felt absolutely nothing like that now. It was different, yes, but also good, his hands on her back and in her hair, surrounding her, overwhelming her. That mouth, dominating her, and maybe she should have been able to guess that he had this in him, but she had no idea. Finally, she had to draw back for a few gasping breaths, and she honestly could not remember the last time a kiss had left her heart pounding so hard against her chest.

His first instinct upon her drawing back is that it must be too hard, too forceful and that's the reason she's pulling away. Yet he doesn't want to completely relinquish his hold on her, even as he slowly relaxes his grip in her hair and eases his arms to a looser embrace around her.

"I'm sorry, was that - are you okay? Did I hurt you?"

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