Hey consider since Bruce is a good cook and fights using Hulk, he is the squishiest member of the team. Gets lots of cuddles.-teahusbands anon.
ummmm yes??? bruce is the softest??? he wears his nerd sweaters and cardigans and sometimes sings along to his soft rock of the seventies and oh my gosh l i s t e n i have feelings about SOFT BRUCE BANNER THE LIGHT OF MY GODDAMN LIFE
Bruce knows cooking. That’s something he did on the run; learn about other styles of cooking, help the people out, and try to blend into the background so that Ross could pass over. Somehow, the latter part never quite seemed to work. But it was fine now. Ross was taken care of, and he had a…team. It was nice.
So he starts cooking. They keep eating by themselves, which is fine, but Bruce knows that sometimes Steve will forget about his own health and skip a snack or two. So Bruce gets him to try some new meals. They start having dinner together. Steve will ask him about science or pop culture, and Bruce will try to answer to the best of his abilities. (He’s not exactly caught up on pop culture either; the last thing he watched for fun on television was a documentary about alleles in DNA.)
Steve brings in Clint, who is bleary with sleep and nightmares alike. Bruce nods. Asks him how spicy he wants his chili.
“Enough so I want to die,” Clint says with a straight face.
“So, not spicy,” Bruce says. “Got it.” Clint snorts. They didn’t expect the good doctor to have a whip smart sense of humor.
The team eventually starts eating together. After Natasha isn’t seen for a day, Bruce tentatively knocks at her door.
“I made spaghetti,” Bruce says. “And garlic bread. Would you like some?” Natasha’s head pokes out from under the mound of blankets.
“Garlic bread?” Bruce smiles. She follows him downstairs and takes two pieces.
Thor comes down a couple months later. He enjoys eating with the team, and the last to join is Tony. It wasn’t because of anything. Sometimes, that’s just the natural way of things. He wanders into the kitchen, Bruce gently guides him to the table, and Tony brightens as he sees spaghetti.
They eat together and talk.
They all notice Bruce. He starts wearing soft sweaters and nerdy t-shirts that have chemistry puns on them or vintage Sci-Fi posters. He’s very…soft. Squishy. Unlike Hulk, who is all muscle, yells, and occasional bad jokes. (”What goes smash smash, Red?” “What, Hulk?” “CHICKEN.” (They never said that Hulk was good at making jokes, but a lot of the teenagers think that his bizarre jokes are like, the funniest things ever.))
This eventually evolves to cuddling. Bruce hasn’t been cuddled since maybe 2007? He can’t remember the last time, exactly. Natasha decides “Fuck that,” and sits next to him when they’re watching Steve Irwin. Bruce freezes at first. She gauges his reaction, but he seems to like it.
“This okay?” Natasha says.
“Yes,” Bruce responds softly. “I just…wasn’t expecting it. It’s nice.” Natasha smiles as they see Steve Irwin talk about crocs.
Thor is the next. Thor is basically an invincible hot machine, because Bruce has the sniffles and is insisting that it’s contagious. (Only Tony can get it, but Tony is the type of person to not give a shit and go anyway. But the fact is, he can’t take care of himself for shit when he’s sick. He doesn’t believe he gets sick? It’s weird.) So Thor comes in.
“You’re sick and need comfort,” Thor says. “I come bearing that gift.”
“’m gonna get you sick,” Bruce says with a sneeze. Thor looks at him for a moment.
“You sneeze exactly like a small cat. That was adorable.” Bruce laughs before hacking up a hairball by coughing, practically. “Nevermind, you’re gross again. I’m still going to cuddle you.” Bruce decides it’s nice. Thor is like a furnace. His arms also make nice pillows.
Tony will fall on anyone in the team after a couple months. He will come to breakfast with bags under his eyes and just drape his body across Clint. Clint yells that “there is an animal on top of me! Help!” To which Tony rolls off him, glares, and says
“My life is worth more than your heart, shut up Hawkass.”
“Quit fighting,” Bruce reminds them. “I’m making Natasha her tea. I decided to try elderberry syrup into it.” This shuts both of them up; Natasha does not like to have a lot of noise when she’s having tea.
But anyway. Tony decides to fall on Bruce when Bruce is reading a very interesting novel. (Okay, so he’s reading Much Ado About Nothing for about the twentieth time, but that’s about the only Shakespeare that he actually likes.)
“Hello,” Tony mumbles. “I just…did something.”
“Was it something bad?” Bruce asks. Tony shrugs.
“Depends on your personal definition of bad.”
“What did you order off Amazon.”
“BABY HANDS!” Tony yells. “I saw it in a video and it looked hilarious, I’m attaching them to Mjolnir.”
“Do you think she’ll let you?”
“Mjolnir and I are tight. She’ll find it funny.” Bruce shrugs. He curls an arm around Tony and continues to read.
