Also thinking in a less-smutty way abt bruce/phil awaww bbs yes
I think of them like:
bc they both have that u know, innocuous and forgettable mask and I just want them to want to be emotionally intimate but be so in the habit of perceiving things that might break through as dangerous, and enjoying in a certain way the fact that neither one really expects the other to open up.
being relieved at each others discomfort w/that kind of intimacy while at the same time both still hope to somehow obtain it
they recognize it in each other on a gut level, even if they can’t quite see through it. it keeps them both afraid to try. if one tries, the other may or may not reciprocate, and either way might just break it. so they leave it be.
in other ways, they are straightforward with each other in a way that they arent with others. they get each other
also just get a kick out of each other being simultaneously over and under estimated, in their own ways, and they share looks and deadpan remarks that the others don’t even register as humor for a long time. in private they laugh about it, loudly
and of course… having a kind of shared cynicism that forces them to keep believing in hope and goodness despite everything
it’s not exactly ideal, but it’s good enough and that’s… good enough
stupid fangirl problems. i've devoured every bit of banner rare-pair on the internet. how can this be? somebody gammafrost something, or coulsmash something, or team sad something, or alliterative bfs something.
so did I ever tell you about the time Coulson and Banner decided to get into a self-control contest and it ended with both of them in chastity cages and neither willing to be the first to take his off, it actually wasn't very sexy and everyone just kind of wished they'd bang already (in other words, one porn anon safe and accounted for, and also a jerk)
Probably Bruce/Phil. Partly because I think their relationship would always be a work in progress, partly because most things I write about them become a perpetual WIP.
Bruce begins to lose control of his Hulk abilities and transforms without warning, even though Phil is injured he still refuses to let Fury know where Banner might have gone