[for Bruce]

[soulthatwanders]

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.

Comments

[bannered]

Afterwards, he can't do anything else but breathe, focus on breathing and lingering close to her, laying with her. The sensations he'd felt when she'd come on him, around him - he's not sure even the best poet could put it into words. She's even more beautiful in the aftermath, and he lifts his head weakly, brushing a few pieces of hair back from her face before he kisses her, soft and desperate and surprising even himself with how full of feeling it is. He doesn't even feel the inclination to move, although he does shift his weight so that he isn't crushing her directly, letting his kisses gently trail to her neck.

[soulthatwanders]

Wanda sighed, almost thrown by how easy it was to get lost in him, even something as simple as a kiss, but she was still too sated and content for deeper thoughts just yet. For now, she just closed her eyes, mouth curling up into a smile at the feel of his lips on her skin once more, one hand resting gently at the back of his neck while she stretched her other limbs out, sore from the unexpected exertion.

"Oh, Bruce," she murmured, still a little on the breathless side. "What am I gonna do with you?"

[bannered]

"Hopefully nothing sudden and right away," he mumbles, speaking the words half-muffled against her skin as they both shift in turn, her to stretch and him to slowly ease to a more comfortable lounging position.

"Or anything that requires moving."

[soulthatwanders]

"Duly noted," Wanda said with just the barest hint of humour in her voice. She wasn't particularly keen on the idea of moving just then, either, but her mind was starting to clear out some of the fog that good sex tended to bring with it and with that clarity came consequences. It hadn't been just sex, not for her, she was in whole new frontiers now, ones she was pretty sure she hadn't ever wanted to be in. It was just too much.

[bannered]

He stretches again, idly, reaching down for a corner of one of the blankets on the bed to pull it up. He feels the odd need to cover her afterward, rolling over to her side as he keeps one arm gently resting across her.

"That was - " Rather than finish a sentence, he exhales in a long sigh, tipping his chin down to kiss her bare shoulder.

[soulthatwanders]

"Yeah," Wanda replied softly, because even if it wasn't a proper statement, she still agreed with the sentiment. "Yeah, it was."

What it also was was kind of freaking her out a bit now, actually, and that bit of casual intimacy, something she'd normally be so welcoming of, only served to drive that point home. It wasn't only about being in bed with a man, the memories of what they'd done hanging in the air, lingering in the sweat cooling on their skin. That was a big part of it, but hardly all. It was that it was him. Bruce Banner: lifelong inspiration, occasional irradiated rage monster, current rocker of her world? Who the hell was she anymore? It was way too strange, and as she felt the familiar hand of panic close around her heart and start to squeeze, she forced herself to sit up.

"I, uh, actually, I have class in a bit. I- I should go."

[bannered]

"Oh." He isn't sure why she's moving to get up at first, and then the reason behind it soon follows and his eyes widen with understanding. Suddenly he's feeling a little less relaxed, but still reluctant to move too quickly, and he slowly pushes himself up to sit, leaning back on one hand.

"I didn't make you late, did I?" It's the one current worry that enters his brain as he smooths his other hand along the curve of her back, wanting to preserve the memory of how soft her skin feels - like it'll disappear the second she does.

[soulthatwanders]

"Hmm? Oh, no," Wanda said quickly, distracted by his touch. It was only with extreme reluctance that she managed to pull away, to stand up and start hunting down her clothes to get dressed in a hurry, but she really couldn't do this. "I just have to grab a shower at the Compound, change, that sort of thing, so. You know."

[bannered]

"Got it." He scrubs a hand over his face and looks around, trying to gauge the distance to his clothes from here. They hadn't been tossed very far, and he slides to the edge of the bed to start shucking on his pants, standing up to adjust them at his waist.

"Well, you want to make sure you have time to - to do that," he says, glancing around for his shirt.

[soulthatwanders]

"Yeah," Wanda agreed awkwardly, trying not to watch him out of the corner of her eye and failing miserably. "You, uh, you don't have to rush on my account," she said over her shoulder from the doorway as she pulled her blouse back on. "You can stick around for a little while if you want. You know, unwind a bit."

The worst part was that she honestly didn't know whether the offer came from a place of altruism or the desire to make a cleaner getaway. Maybe it didn't matter in the long run.

[bannered]

"It's alright," he says, shrugging his shirt on over his head but leaving it open by a few buttons, hardly caring about the current state of his clothes. At this point, there's a swim in the ocean with his name on it, and since he lives so far removed from everyone else it's almost as if he's got his own private beach, so he doesn't exactly need to worry about putting on a pair of swim trunks.

"Got to rinse off on my end, and there's some more thatches that need to be secured before the sun goes down," he adds, crossing the room to stand by the doorway. "I'm trying to make sure this lab gets at least finished before next Christmas." He gently guides a hand against the small of her back and leans in to kiss her cheek, near the edge of her lips. "You go ahead."

[soulthatwanders]

To her credit, Wanda managed not to flinch even with how on edge she suddenly found herself around him, even leaning slightly into the contact before she moved away to slip her sandals on. "I'll see you around, big guy."