[ She leans in, kisses him again. It's still gentle, but there's more of a note of playfulness this time as she peers up at him and smiles, warm and open and content. ]
We can experiment. I hear you science types like doing that, right?
[ Her hand still cupping against his cheek, she steals another kiss before continuing. ] Bruce, I'm not afraid of the Big Guy anymore. I haven't been for a long time. This isn't a deal breaker, it's part of who you are. Trust me when I say I'm okay with that. We can find out what you can do and maybe we can find out what his deal is at the same time.
[One of the struggles Bruce went through when this first came up between them was the reality that he wasn't sure he could even be a full partner for her. Not in the way he felt she deserved. He understands rationally that sex isn't everything, and she knew his limitations, but it still was a pain point of his. Another thing the Hulk took from him and made complicated so he couldn't have what he wanted.
He didn't realize part of that insecurity was still there until she reassured him. He takes both kisses and lets the surety she means them wash over him, pushing down his anxieties.] I really don't deserve you. [He brushes his fingers through her hair and looks into her eyes. He is ready to stop letting anything hold him back. She can make her own decisions and she chose this.]
I don't mean to be presumptuous about sex, we're only kissing, but I don't want miscommunication to get in the middle of us again. [He kisses her softly, nuzzling her nose after.] Also, I'm not sure you know this, but you are incredibly attractive. [Teasing now; of course she knows that.] I love everything about you, but wanting you is very easy.
[ She gives a soft laugh at that, just a whispered breath of one, and ducks her head a little, almost as if she hadn't been expecting that from him. Of course she knows what she looks like - she's honed every aspect of herself into a weapon for far too long, after all.
But there's still something in hearing those words from him that makes her stomach flutter in a way it never has before. A nervous sort of pleasure, giddy and flattered. It's ridiculous, but she's feeling it anyway. Maybe he's not the only one who can still be flustered by this... whatever this is.
Instead of voicing that, however, she just leans up to steal one more kiss, nuzzling in against him in return. ]
It's not presumptuous. It's... [ She pauses, humming softly as she playfully searches for the right words. ] ...keeping our options open? Maybe wide open in this case, since it may be that we can do whatever we want in this place. It certainly seems designed for it, after all.
[Bruce knows how attractive people are, especially the people around him, but that doesn't mean he's attracted to them. He was aware that Natasha was pretty, but he was already in a paranoid state of being, assuming they sent her thinking he would bend easier to a pretty woman, which wasn't the case. His feelings for her came later and by the time he realized that he longed for more reasons to talk to her, she went from aesthetically appealing to stunningly beautiful in his eyes.
They are too old and too weathered to find so much giddy warmth inside of them for something new and precious, and yet here they are. Thrilled and keyed into one another as the start of something is in front of them. Bruce nods and loves how close they are, how he can feel her warmth all along the side of his body and from their stolen kisses.]
Things have changed with the Hulk. He used to overreact to a faster pulse, thinking it was always danger. I had plenty of fast pulse moments later on and he didn't react. [When Ultron first attacked them, for example, or all their other heated moments. Bruce was in more control than ever before, and it helped that the Hulk rationally understood certain people were not a danger to them.] He also likes and trusts you. It makes a difference.
[Bruce sighs.] I just ... want to believe it's possible for us. [He wants to make love to her. He wants all those intimacies that he's purposely forgotten from his time with Betty. He wants to wake up with Nat beside him and to share that shower she joked about at Clint's house.]
[ She cups his face with both her hands this time before leaning in to kiss him again - deeper this time. Long and lingering and full of her own longing. When she pulls back, it's just because she needed air, and it's only as far to rest her forehead against his. Meeting his gaze again, she rests there, panting softly. ]
We'll figure it out, Bruce. Don't rule it out yet. We'll find our own way. Yeah?
[That kiss definitely purges his mind of most concerns. Bruce can only return it with a soft sound that might be the verge of a moan and he is a little out of breath when she stops.]
Yeah. [He laughs.] This is good. Let's do more of this. [It's been a long time since he kissed someone with no real goal other than enjoying it, and that's something they both deserve. Bruce draws her in and puts his energy from overthinking into distracting them both for awhile.]
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We can experiment. I hear you science types like doing that, right?
[ Her hand still cupping against his cheek, she steals another kiss before continuing. ] Bruce, I'm not afraid of the Big Guy anymore. I haven't been for a long time. This isn't a deal breaker, it's part of who you are. Trust me when I say I'm okay with that. We can find out what you can do and maybe we can find out what his deal is at the same time.
no subject
He didn't realize part of that insecurity was still there until she reassured him. He takes both kisses and lets the surety she means them wash over him, pushing down his anxieties.] I really don't deserve you. [He brushes his fingers through her hair and looks into her eyes. He is ready to stop letting anything hold him back. She can make her own decisions and she chose this.]
I don't mean to be presumptuous about sex, we're only kissing, but I don't want miscommunication to get in the middle of us again. [He kisses her softly, nuzzling her nose after.] Also, I'm not sure you know this, but you are incredibly attractive. [Teasing now; of course she knows that.] I love everything about you, but wanting you is very easy.
no subject
But there's still something in hearing those words from him that makes her stomach flutter in a way it never has before. A nervous sort of pleasure, giddy and flattered. It's ridiculous, but she's feeling it anyway. Maybe he's not the only one who can still be flustered by this... whatever this is.
Instead of voicing that, however, she just leans up to steal one more kiss, nuzzling in against him in return. ]
It's not presumptuous. It's... [ She pauses, humming softly as she playfully searches for the right words. ] ...keeping our options open? Maybe wide open in this case, since it may be that we can do whatever we want in this place. It certainly seems designed for it, after all.
no subject
They are too old and too weathered to find so much giddy warmth inside of them for something new and precious, and yet here they are. Thrilled and keyed into one another as the start of something is in front of them. Bruce nods and loves how close they are, how he can feel her warmth all along the side of his body and from their stolen kisses.]
Things have changed with the Hulk. He used to overreact to a faster pulse, thinking it was always danger. I had plenty of fast pulse moments later on and he didn't react. [When Ultron first attacked them, for example, or all their other heated moments. Bruce was in more control than ever before, and it helped that the Hulk rationally understood certain people were not a danger to them.] He also likes and trusts you. It makes a difference.
[Bruce sighs.] I just ... want to believe it's possible for us. [He wants to make love to her. He wants all those intimacies that he's purposely forgotten from his time with Betty. He wants to wake up with Nat beside him and to share that shower she joked about at Clint's house.]
no subject
We'll figure it out, Bruce. Don't rule it out yet. We'll find our own way. Yeah?
no subject
Yeah. [He laughs.] This is good. Let's do more of this. [It's been a long time since he kissed someone with no real goal other than enjoying it, and that's something they both deserve. Bruce draws her in and puts his energy from overthinking into distracting them both for awhile.]