A/N: Even though I wanted to come back with a Loki fic, I finally managed to watch thunderbolts (twice in the past week) and the brain worms made me write this. Sorry, I'm obsessed with him (with all of them). I hope I've managed to do him justice and that this isn't awful as it's midnight where I am and I'm dead tired lolll. I'm very hopeful that I'll write more about these losers (affectionate). please enjoy <333
tw: one mention of vomit, one mention of meth (sign twirling chicken), two idiots in love (deserves a warning), ava's takeout box (it's gnarly ;) ), like one sentence mention of the void, talk of loneliness
words: 2017
ps: thanks for the divider!!! @cafekitsune
Youâd never really thought youâd get to do this. Well, youâd already done it once or twice, but still. You were going up the elevator of the newly repurposed Avengers Tower. A novel, unexpected perk of having randomly met Yelena in a drugstore about a year ago. Sheâd been in New York for some odd job at the time, and had been in the drugstore by your apartment, buying gauze and painkillers. Youâd gone in on a whim on your way home from work, needing some vitamin supplements, which happened to be in the same aisle sheâd been in. You remember complimenting her on her hair, and how it had started up a conversation, which had led to an exchange of numbers and lots of subsequent texting. Her job didnât allow for much time to see one another in person, but it allowed for texts and facetimes paired with nightly drinks and debriefs.
You were happier now that Yelenaâs permanent home seemed to have become New York, because it meant way more chances to actually hang out. But she loved to leech off of your apartmentâs proximity to a really nice bakery with high quality bakes. Even worse, sheâd brought a box of brownies back to the Tower once and the one leech had turned into six.
The âNew Avengersâ, as they were now known, had even added you to some new group chat with a primary function to beg you for more desserts from the bakery. At this point, you felt like you should be getting paid at least a little something for delivery of goods to a bunch of superhumans.
The group chat had lit up with messages at around noon today with Alexei, Yelena and John asking for yet another box of chocolate chip cookies. Ava had followed by sending a prayer emoji, and Bucky had sent a thumbs up, which was his way of signalling that he agreed with the request. Youâd decided to take pity on them, because theyâd been on a rough mission a mere few days ago and you hadnât seen them since their return.Â
When the elevator finally opened on the right floor, you were surprised by the serene silence that greeted you. Maybe theyâd all finally managed to broker some sort of âsilent timeâ deal, which you were sure Bucky in particular would enjoy. You looked around as you walked further into the open room.
â⊠Hello?â
A head popped out from behind a wall.
âHey!â Bob replies, shooting you a sort of hesitant and confused smile.
âOh, Bob! Hi⊠are the others.. hereâŠ? I got the cookies they begged for.â
He frowns slightly.
âDid you not check your phoneâŠ? I texted in the group chat a while ago. They sort of left on an urgent mission two hours ago.â
Your face falls.
âOh. I didnât check⊠I just went right after work.â You groan slightly, throwing your head back to look up at the ceiling in annoyance.
âHey, hey⊠itâs fine, you know. They should be back tomorrow, anyways. The cookies will still be fresh.â He reassures you with a bashful smile, standing up from the armchair heâd grown fond of reading in.
You nod in response, moving over to the kitchen to set the box of cookies on the marble counter right as Bob approaches.
âYou could stay.â He offers furtively.
You chance a glance at him.
âNo. I mean, I wouldnât want to impose. Iâm sure itâs peaceful here without them-â
âItâs actually pretty lonely⊠Quiet has always made me antsy. I donât know how you live alone and stuff.â He admits.
âYeah⊠I get you. Sometimes I freak out by how quiet my place is, too. Makes it real easy for thoughts to spiral.â
Your gazes meet and you share a small smile.
â⊠How are you feeling? NotâŠÂ joining them yet?â You ask cautiously.
He shakes his head.
âIâve been doing better latelyâŠâ He spares a glance to you. âBut⊠yeah, some days are harder. Just⊠donât wanna riskâŠâ He clears his throat as he trails off.
You nod and move to gently pat his shoulder, but stop short, catching yourself. You knew Bob could be a bit hesitant with physical touch with people he didnât really know. You didnât want to assume the amount of space you took up in his life, and so you retracted your hand slowly, acting as if youâd gone to pick some lint off his clothing.
He smiles as he sees what you were wanting to do, his cheeks warming just slightly.
He clears his throat.
âReally. Please stay for dinner. Or a movie, or something. I was dreading having another dinner alone anyway. I can cook for us.â
You smile at his generous offer.
Out of all of them, you found that besides Yelena, Bob had been the easiest for you to befriend. He didnât open up very easily. Well, none of them did, really, but he was more particular about how he went about it. And obviously, heâd have bad days where no one could really get as much of a word out of him, so the friendship between the two of you took patience more than anything else. However, it was evident that you both wanted it to work, and when it worked, it was great.
âYeah? Youâre becoming the Towerâs very own housewife, huh?â You tease, looking over to the empty sink and the loaded drying rack.
âHey, superheroes never talk about their house cleaner, but their asses would be toast without one.â He boasts, opening the fridge to look at the ingredients.
He tilts his head, his shaggy brown hair bouncing slightly with the motion.
âUhhâŠâ He pauses, assessing his options. âDo you feel like chicken?â
You snort.
âIs that all you guys have in that massive fridge?â
He shuffles some things around in the fridge, checking for more dinner possibilities.
ââŠUm, okay, yeah. Thereâs also a box of takeout from Ava that is slowly going bad. Mightâve grown legs by now.â He says, popping his head out from behind the fridge door to shoot you a playful grin.
You make a face.
âChicken, please.â
He gives you that sort of endearing side smirk he tends to do as he pulls the chicken out of the fridge. You, on the other hand, move to dispose of Avaâs takeout. From the smell of it, it really could have grown legs. And ran a marathon with them, too.
You chat amicably as he cooks, making amicable small talk.
âDid you learn to make this dish from your time as a sign slinging chicken?â You ask as you set the table for the two of you.
He groans and throws his head back while stirring the chicken as it cooks in a pan.
âWhy did I ever let Yelena spread that part of my CV around?â
âSpread it around? Itâs only me, Bob.â You laugh.
He raises a brow. âDangerous enough, if you ask me.â
âIâm not a secret agent or something. So donât worry, I wonât spread that sensitive information around.â
He huffs.
âNot why it worries me that you know about that.â
âWhy then?â You tilt your head. âOh, is it because youâre scared Iâll want to see pictures? Wait. Do you still have the costume? Because if thatâs the case-â
âOh, nah. The original one had to be burned because I threw up while wearing it. Meth. And stuff.â
You burst into laughter, and he turns his head to look at you as you do, a smile making it onto his face, too.
âOkay, just the pics, then.â
âUh huh. Iâll try to scrounge some footage up for you. But only if you swear a blood oath not to spread it around to the fellow sign slingers here. They canât learn my technique, yâknow.â
Just as youâve started to dig in, you ask something thatâs come to mind while sitting at the dinner table.
âHow does your dynamic even work? All of you, I mean. Is it more⊠family like now? Awkward family dinner? What are we talking?â
He snorts, his fork halfway to his mouth.
âAwkward family dinnerâŠâ He mulls it over. âYeah, I guess. I mean⊠we try. Thereâs usually at least someone missing from the table, but I think⊠yeah, I think we all try in our own way to make something of this place, to make it more ours. Not just like⊠for each individual, yâknow? Think weâve all been alone for too long to keep that up.â
You donât even know why you asked him that, but it relieves you to hear that they all try for each other. That they, that Bob, isnât alone anymore. You nod your head, smiling softly.
â⊠Is it ever lonely for you to live alone? I mean⊠I dunno if you have friends coming over often or somethingâŠâ He says, taking a bite of food right as he finishes speaking, as if to keep himself busy.
âI mean, I have some friends coming over, sure. âLena when sheâs feeling particularly annoyed by you guys. No offense. Or other friends, yeah. But itâs not constant or too often. So yeah, I guess it gets lonely sometimes. Winter is worst, I find. The shadows feel longer somehow. Creepy.â
He nods, seeming perturbed by something.
âSo⊠like no⊠noâŠÂ permanent visitors to your apartment lately?â He asks casually, though he doesnât seem quite as nonchalant as he might be trying to be.
You purse your lips.
âWell, nah⊠Iâve been busy with work, so I havenât really had time for any sort of hangouts or anything. Is that what you meant?â
He nods quickly, quickly eating another forkful. His shoulders seemed lighter all of a sudden.
âCool. Cool, yeah. Not the work adding up, I mean. But just theâŠÂ yeah.â He shuts up after that.
You smirk down at your plate in confused amusement, and you two finish off your dinner in pleasant, if not somewhat awkward, silence.
You settle in on the couch after washing up post-dinner. You sit in the middle of the couch, with lots of space to spare on either side, but Bob seems content to sit pretty close to you. You find that you donât mind. You let Bob pick the movie, and he ends up settling on some sort of slasher film from the 90s.
As the movie starts building up the scares, you feel him shuffle closer to you just slightly.
â⊠Sâokay if youâre scared.â He says softly, moving his hand over the back of the couch in a slightly laggy move, as if pushing through resistance.
You look over at him.
âIâm okay for now.â You reassure him with a small smile. âIs this you saying youâre scared?â
âWha- No. Nah.â He says with a little huff. âI mean⊠Iâve seen this before, so itâs fine.â He admits sheepishly, the bravado dropping slightly.
Your laughter makes the back of your head hit his arm softly. You pause, and look over at him, only to find him watching you with a small smile on his face, making his smile lines show.
You feel warm all over again and move to pull away.
âNo⊠stay. Please.â He whispers, not moving at all.
âAre you sure?â
He nods.
âYeah. Yeah, I want you to. I want- yeah.â
You nod and sit up slightly, just so you can sit more comfortably, letting his forearm cushion the back of your neck. You make a point of putting all your effort into going back to watching the movie afterwards. Bob returns his focus to it, too, but when he adds commentary to it now, you can sort of feel more of a confidence, maybe even some smugness, coming from him. You think it suits him.
Some rough ideas for Bobbert's carnival costume. It's supposed to be based on the costume Pierrot usually wears but with some cutesy flair added. I don't think that comes through, but it is cute. Once their friends get their costumes designed, I'll probably settle on what sort of headwear and accessories they have.
Our wizard Bobbert is a ball of pure destruction and chaos and it is Thelus's duty of constant vigilance to keep the lil' murder-robot pointed in the right direction.
Doesn't always work, though.
Inspired by a recent game where our cleric, Vaen came _way_ too close to dying for Thelus's comfort.