insurgents | OPEN POST.

[ He pulls a face at her, though mostly amused. ] Ew. That's kind of gross.

[ Bruce sits on the couch as urged for a little while, glancing at the TV briefly, then the space around him. He stands up eventually, looking at the plants she has and smiling fondly, then making his way to the kitchen where she is. His eyes land on the fridge, the drawing tacked on it with a magnet, and he steps closer to it, his answer a little absentminded. ]

Water's fine. [ He points at the drawing of her, the one he'd sent her last Christmas. ] You kept it.

[ Not that it's much of a surprise, but. It's still nice to see it there. ]

Yeah, it is. Nevermind.

[She takes a little longer than she means to in the kitchen, but since he's here now, he can help her.]

Hm? [She barely needs to glance over to know what he's referring to, busy loading him down with plates and utensils to carry and balancing cups and heated dish.] Yeah, of course. It was from you. You should draw me another one of you so I can put it up there.

[So small objects tend to cycle into storage or get thrown out, but she's kept every single item she still has of Bruce's since that time he came back ~~from the dead~~ to campus, including what remained from before. Her precious orchid may be long gone but the things he's sent her since have been a lot easier to preserve.

But gross and creepy hair collection comments aside, she's not obsessive, just sentimental. At least it wasn't a wall of crazy with his emails printed out or a giant map tracing his progress around the world or something. Some things are Leonard's too, but you could argue that's less to do with hanging on, and more an inevitability of cohabiting for years.

For example, if he looks, Bruce would find a bunch of his old books in boxes or shelved.]

[ He doesn't need to be told twice to help her, reaching out and taking the plates and utensils, balancing them in his arms with relative ease. ]

Of me? God no, I'd just ruin your fridge decoration.

[ Jokes aside, though, of course she'd save it. Once he feels more comfortable looking around he also probably won't be all that surprised to find out just how much of his stuff she still has around (possibly more than he owns at the moment, even), but it still gives him something of a pleasant feeling to see it.

Not that his drawing's a work of art or anything, he knows that. It's mostly the sentimental value.

He steps back out to the living room, putting the plates down on the table and setting it up for the two of them. ]

Come on, Banner. I'll trade you for it.

[Bruce sets the table and she lays out their food, and the rhythm between them has changed but it's still easy. Even after the night they've had, the lives they've had, it's still easy and she bullies him into taking a seat first and serving the cheesy goo while she tries to figure out how to navigate selection menus to the movie section.]

Here. [Bruce gets the remote and both of her feet in his lap. Before he can even start scrolling,] Anything except Bladerunner. Oo, do Kate & Leopold. No wait, what was that one you just passed? [Backseat driving.]

[ Luckily for her Bruce is very easy to bully right now, and he's just hungry enough that he gladly serves himself first, sitting back and accepting the remote. He flips through the list of titles slowly, nodding at her first remark, eventually just stopping when she keeps interrupting and telling him to move back and forth.

Eyes rolling as he lets out a slightly exasperated huff, ] Here. You pick. [ And handing her the remote. ] I really don't care what we watch, I'm fine with anything.

[ Once he gets her to take the remote, he starts digging into his food, staying silent while she goes through the titles and picks whatever she wants to watch. ]

[She's used to him putting up a bit more of a fight than that- no, that was Len, who would make snap decisions if she pushed enough. Bruce used to let her have her way until it was important, and then nothing she said or did could move him. But it doesn't matter, she doesn't really feel bad for stealing the steering wheel.

When she takes the remote, she falls silent too, wordlessly examining and rejecting options for a lot longer than necessary, eventually settling on Wall-E because it's cute and nothing bad really happens in it. It had come out a while ago, but while Bruce was on the run and she has no idea if he's seen it. She has, though, so as the opening credits play, she only gives it half her attention.]

[ Well good, because she shouldn't feel bad, not when it's obvious that Bruce doesn't care nor mind that she takes the lead in this. He's always liked that anyway, that she's more decisive than he is, that she holds the wheel more often than not, and maybe it's just his passive nature or he just likes assertive women, but he's all too happy to be more submissive when it comes to Betty— in a lot more ways than just this one. ]

Disney? [ He sounds pleasantly surprised, as he takes a bite from his food. ] I haven't watched this one yet. Heard it's nice.

It is. It's really cute, I think you'll like it.

[Betty picks up her plate and also settles in to watch, sitting at an off angle with her legs still thrown across Bruce's lap. It's a way to keep in constant contact, and also maybe one of familiar positions for them on some other couch once upon a time.

On screen, Wall-E completes a trash cube and adds it to a stack of trash cubes and harvests parts to repair himself. She mentally congratulates herself on her choice.]

[ Bruce settles in for a quiet watch, knowing both of them aren't the kind to interject halfway through a movie unless it's something really shocking or the movie's just too boring, and with a Disney movie, he doesn't expect either to be the case.

The metaphor goes by unnoticed, at least seemingly so. If Bruce realizes it for what it is he doesn't really react to it at all, electing to divide his attention between eating his meal and watching the movie.

Eventually he clears his plate, long before they're well into the movie. He sets the plate down on the coffeetable and slinks back on the couch, sighing softly and placing his hands on top of her legs. ]

[It takes her longer to finish eating, and when she does, she leaves her plate on the ground beside the couch instead of getting up, comfortable where she is. Whatever, she'll get to it later.

Pretty much as planned, she finds herself looking him about as much as she looks at the screen, studying the minute features of his face like they're a part of the movie. There's really no way he won't notice, but that's okay. The movie is an hour and a half long and she has time.]

[ He does notice, and at first he says nothing to it, just curves his lips a little in bland amusement. Eventually he tears his eyes away from the screen, during some scene that's not particularly engaging or interesting, so he can look back at her. ]

Is there something on my face?

[ He knows there isn't. He's just kidding, really. He doesn't even mind her looking at him, if that comforts her somehow. ]

[The corner of her mouth dips inward.]

Shh, leave me alone. Watch the movie.

[Smartass. Even if she assumes, rightly, that he doesn't actually mind, she shifts after a moment, changing position until she can tuck herself into girlfriend-space under his arm and against his side with her legs sprawled out on the couch in the other direction.

On screen, things are getting heated up. Wall-E and EVE stage a mini robot coup and the autopilot slips into something more sinister. She closes her eyes and loses track of the action.]

Edited (added a period and deleted a comma) 2016-09-02 07:41 (UTC)

You're very bossy, you know? It's a problem.

[ No it's not. Bruce loves it like he loves everything about her, and it may or may not be that he likes being told what to do. (What, like his kinks are anything new to her.)

But of course, he does as she says and goes back to watching the movie in silence. It gets a little sad, and a little serious, and there's probably some parallel to be drawn there but Bruce has spent the last long months pushing Ultron deep into a hole in his mind and he's not particularly eager to dig it up.

He's shared enough tonight as it is. As he watches he'll just focus on it being a kids' movie, the knowledge that everything will be alright in the end, and refuse to see what little similarities there might be. It's fine. Ultron's long gone anyway. ]

Say that to my face, [grumbled mostly to herself since he is actually right there. Everything is fine in the end. The world is restored. Everyone comes home. Love saves itself. It's just a movie but that's what they're for. The ending credits roll and Betty nudges Bruce's neck with her nose, rubs her cheek against his scratchy jaw, twists enough to kiss his chin.]

Sleepy yet? [She wants him to say yes, and she wants him to say no. They could stay up until dawn watching movies or listening to the radio, or she could take him to bed and maybe one or both of them will sleep.]

[ Bruce breathes deep but quietly when the credits roll. Movies like this are nice, safe. No margin for doubts and what if's, possible bad consequences with an ending that feels like a happy full stop. He's comfortable with that right now.

Tipping his head towards her, he leans in and presses a soft peck to her forehead, smiling against the skin. ]

Wouldn't mind trying to get some sleep.

Yeah? [Betty delays, burrowing down against Bruce's body for another moment before rolling her onto her feet and tugging Bruce up with her.]

Go brush your teeth and wait for me on the bed. [A brief hug and nudge.] I'll be there soon. Try not to fall asleep without me?

[Since he was so amenable to her bossiness before.

The apartment is mostly open space, but the bedroom is petitioned off. She does some midnight dishes, checks the door again, brushes her own teeth, and sure, she could have just gone with him, helped him settle, but she wants the effect of walking into her bedroom and having Bruce waiting there for her. Because she asked him to. There's satisfaction marrow-deep that she wants just for her.]

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