Peg to Differ
Bruce Banner/Valkyrie for Round 2 of @marvelrarepairbingo
N5: Embracing Imperfection
Rating: EXPLICIT
Summary: After weeks aboard the Statesman, Valkyrie learns a few things about Bruce: he drinks coffee in the mornings, he enjoys walking through the corridors at night... and he seems to enjoy being pushed against walls. Perhaps they can find some common ground here.
You learn a lot about people when you’re trapped on a spaceship together – provided you don’t kill each other, of course.
Valkyrie has learned that Thor will eat anything provided it’s sufficiently doused in sauce (the flavour of said sauce is irrelevant). She also knows that Loki has a seven-step daily haircare ritual that makes him late for morning meetings. Last week, she was thrilled to discover that Heimdall secretly loves musicals.
Bruce however, remains a mystery. Not long after leaving Asgard, Hulk told her he was leaving for a while. He’d ruffled Valkyrie’s hair and promised, ‘Back soon,’ but it’s been nearly three weeks and her friend hasn’t returned. Instead, she watches this quiet little professor scurry around the ship and wonders how that booming laugh and joyous personality can be squashed down inside him.
Thor tells her not to talk about Hulk in front of Bruce as it’ll upset him. She tells him that’s bullshit, but she keeps her gob shut and spars with Korg instead. It’s not the same. Nothing is the same anymore.
*
At “night-time”, the automated lights dim and the corridors become meandering grey paths. Valkyrie has never enjoyed the night, but here it offers some reprieve from being cooped up with a thousand strangers (and a handful of friends).
She walks barefoot, the ship’s engines thrumming through her like a great metal heartbeat. Asgard is gone, and it hasn’t been her home in a long time, but now she’ll never set foot there again. She’s not sure how to feel about that. Her body itches for battle and booze. Neither are forthcoming. (Her attempts at making wine from ship-grown turnips have been… less than palatable.) The days are busy but the nights are hers, and she appreciates the peace.
Unfortunately, so does Bruce. They avoid each other where possible, but when their nightly paths cross he greets her with a soft word, to which she merely nods and continues on her way. Bruce hasn’t had his own thoughts in two years. She can only imagine the shit going through his head when the lights are out.
Read the rest on AO3!