insurgents | OPEN POST.

She wraps her arms around him and hugs him hard, overwhelmed by what they just did.

"I want to marry you."

That... Was not meant to come out in her outside voice.

Yeah, that very much came out in her outside voice. Though it does take a while for Bruce to fully process the words, and then a couple more seconds to try and figure out if he's heard that right.

Tensing up a little, he pulls away just so, enough that he can look at her, surprise clear on his face.

"What?"

Well, she made her bed and now she is going to lie in it. Awkwardly.

"I'm not saying that we should like, elope to Vegas tomorrow or anything but at some point... I'd like you to be my husband."

She's always thought of herself that she isn't the marrying kind, and her reservations about the whole thing remains but... Somehow in spite of it, she still wants to do it with Bruce.

There are too many conflicting feelings battling inside of him right now, and they all come as one huge tidal wave that he can't stop. Fear and worry clash with a strange kind of joy, panic crushing against an almost eager excitement. His stomach twists and turns, his heart leaps in his chest, and in the midst of it all, he's still too spent to control any of it.

His head nearly pounds, so overwhelming everything is. And here he thought the Hulk would be the most difficult thing he'd have to learn to deal with in his life.

"Trish, I... we need to talk."

Wait, that sounds bad, doesn't it? Quickly, he adds.

"I mean, talk about this. About things. There are... things you need to know, before you even start thinking about that."

Lovely, that is exactly what a woman wants to hear when she proposes to the man she loves.

She has to wonder what it is he's been keeping from her that was apoarently okay to hide when she was basically handing him her heart for life, but now that she wants to make it official it's a problem.

She takes a deep breath to keep herself from saying something rash, and gets out of the tub, kissing his forehead.

"I'll make coffe. Come to the kitchen when you're ready."

She grabs a towel and wraps it around herself, needing a moment alone to prepare for possible disaster.

She quickly throws some clothes on, and then gets busy with making some coffee.

He didn't deliver that in the best way possible, granted. He realizes it the moment her posture changes, and she's pulling away from him, her kiss feeling almost distant.

The warmth of her vanishes entirely in a matter of seconds, but he can't even bring himself to say anything about it, not even playfully. He does look a little surprised as she gets out of the tub and disappears through the door. He didn't think he made it sound that bad, did he?

Well, good thing is that at least he gets a moment to clear his head, even if he now feels like he's just completely ruined the moment. But he did say he has something to tell her, and he does, so he gets out of the tub, unplugging the drain and shrugging on a robe before he steps out of the bathroom and walks closer to the kitchenette.

Leaning against a counter some feet away from her, he rests a hand on the edge, eyes fixed on his own fingers.

"I can't have children."

So yes, it is something that wasn't important before, but is now.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you before. I just... didn't think it mattered then."

"Do you want children?"

Trish is, in all honesty, not sure that she does. She doesn't have many good associations with parenting, and she would live in constant fear of making her own children feel the way her mother made her feel.

She offers him a mug of coffee, and leans in to kiss his cheek, just to let him know that nothing has changed.

"That's a very complicated question."

He takes the mug, though he won't drink more than a couple of sips from it. He's already giving his heart more than enough exercise for a day as it is.

"I mean... yes. I always wanted kids-- before. But it's not exactly easy now, with my condition."

And it's not like he has that many great memories either, when it comes to parental figures. Which, he realizes just then, he hasn't told her about yet either.

"But I always thought I could be a good father. Better than mine was, anyway."

To most people, it would scare them to think they could turn out the same way, but in Bruce's case, it never did. Not once. Funny, in a bitter kind of way, considering what he's eventually turned into.

She pours a mug for herself and leans against the counter next to him, shifting so that some of her weight is resting against his side too.

"I don't know if I want children. I don't think I've ever pictured myself as becoming a mother. If that changes things for you it's..."

She is about to say fine but that's not exactly true. She would be devastated.

"I'll deal. And if we do decide together that we want to have a child it's not as if there aren't other ways."

She leans her head against his shoulder.

"You'd be an amazing dad."

"It doesn't change anything."

How could it, honestly? It's not as if he was expecting to have kids now, anyway, or even a girlfriend or a wife. And besides, he loves her. The simple fact that he can be with her is already so much more than he could have ever hoped for.

"I just... want to be with you. Kids, no kids, that makes no difference. If you don't want children, that's fine by me. But I wanted you to know, in case it was something you wanted out of... you know. A marriage."

"All I want out of a marriage is you. You're a part of my family, I'd like the legal paperwork to reflect that. Like it does with Jess."

She clears her throat a little and takes a sip from her cup.

"And, in the interest of full disclosure, it's also kind of an embarrassing cavewoman thing. I like it, so I want to put a ring on it to show everyone else that they can't have it. Which is backwards, possessive, old-fashioned and petty. I know."

Bruce scrunches up his nose a little, though he smiles in amusement as he speaks.

"Wow. So, I don't get a candlelit dinner or violins, you didn't do some romantic declaration of love, give me a ring, or even get on one knee, and now you're quoting Beyoncé. And talking about legal paperwork."

He shakes his head, eyebrows raising, clearly joking.

"I'm not feeling particularly swept off my feet right now."

"Did I not get any points for the two orgasms I gave you?"

She grins, happy and relieved that what he wanted to talk about was nothing worse than a 'you should know this' type of thing, and not even one that affects or changes things for her in any way. She wouldn't say that it doesn't matter, mostly because it obviously matters to Bruce, but it certainly isn't something that makes her change her mind about wanting him to be her husband.

"I was going to do it properly but my mouth betrayed me."

She puts her mug away, and then takes Bruce's from him so she can put that aside too before she takes one of his hands in both of hers and gets down on one knee in front of her.

"Robert Bruce Banner, would you please do me the immeasurable honor of becoming my lawfully wedded hubby?"

Edited 2016-02-14 10:26 (UTC)

It is important to him, yes, but not as important as having her in his life. He just thinks it's the kind of thing one should know when they talk about this kind of commitment - and honestly, he thinks he should have mentioned it already, he just didn't want to make things sound any more serious than they were.

But he's glad he's told her now. Just like he's glad to know exactly how serious she wants it to be. Even if it scares him, admittedly.

He should have expected her to get on one knee after that, but it still surprises him, and he grins bashfully as he looks down at her. Part of him can't help find the situation a little funny, her wrapped up in that towel and him in his robe, but mostly? It's sweet, and it's wonderful.

"I would. Yes."

Part of her finds the situation kind of hilarious actually, but the other part is irrationally terrified that he is going to say no so it's all kind of an emotional jumble.

"Oh thank god, I think I was about to give myself a heart attack down here."

She gets back on her feet so that she can wrap her arms around his neck and kiss him.

"Thank you."

His joking alone should have made it clear he wasn't going to say no, and his initial reaction clearly had nothing to do with him not wanting to marry her. Fair enough, this is all still new and scary, and certainly not something Bruce thought he'd ever get to have in his life anymore, but it's definitely something he wants, very much so.

He wraps his arms around her, still smiling as he presses his lips to hers.

"You know, I wouldn't get you on your knees just to say no."

"I know, but for some reason that was still terrifying."

She knows Bruce would never, ever do something like that to her but there was still a weird element of feeling like she had just placed her heart under his foot and he juuuust might step on it.

"You try it and see if you don't feel a weird flutter of nerves."

Well, he can't argue with that. Some things can be pretty terrifying, even when one's sure that the end result won't be a bad one.

"You want me to go down on one knee too?"

"Only if you want the experience of proposing to someone because let me tell you, you won't get another shot."

She's keeping him.

He purses his lips and shrugs.

"No, I'm good. I liked how you did it. Towel look, using my full name and all. Even the word 'hubby'."

Which really sounded very silly, for the record.

She knows it did, that was kind of the point. She'll save the serious for her wedding vows.

"I was planning on responding by dropping the towel so, your loss."

"I'm sure I can still talk you out of that towel anyway."

Or even just tug it off. Seriously it's right there, all he needs to do is reach for it.

"Maybe. And when I say maybe I mean absolutely."

There is absolutely no reason to deny that whatsoever.

He tips his head down to kiss her again, slowly, his hands cupping her face, then sliding down her neck and front, reaching her towel.

"I mean, it's pretty warm in here now. You could just... walk around naked. I wouldn't mind."

She pictures it, wandering around naked and available for whenever the mood might strike him to touch her, kiss her, make her come. It is some very compelling mental imagery.

"What if I did?"

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