Inside Voices ▷ Bruce Banner | ✓

21 - LOVE ADJACENT

SHE AND BRUCE WERE WATCHING MOVIES IN HIS ROOM. She hadn't been in his room in quite some time, and had insisted that she keep him company as he tried to work through a slight cold that he had acquired due to his lack of any care or concern to his body, as well as the immediate decrease of stress levels after she was no longer close to imminent demise. It was a cold he was most acquainted with in his years of earning doctorate after doctorate, but it was still something he had yet to control.

"Drinking the soup faster isn't going to heal me faster," he pointed out as she shoved another bowl of chicken noodle soup into his hands, "But thank you."

She smiled, settling right up to his side, the two turning their attention to the screen in front of them, displaying yet another one of the long list of movies they had decided on. Their choices were eclectic, ranging from action movies—neither of them were too partial to them, but options were there—to horror thrillers—Bruce was always wary of how worked up they made him—to romantic comedies.

These were the ones she found the most interesting.

She shifted in her seat leaning more against Bruce, watching as the main character and the love interest ran into each other in the park, him walking a series of incredibly cute dogs and her on her way to her new job, the two giggling and her apologizing while tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, their eyes shining when they finally looked the other in the eye.

"Is there a telepathic connection occurring between them?" she asked, reaching out towards the popcorn bowl sitting in his lap, popping a few into her mouth.

Bruce laughed, shaking his head as he turned to look at her. "No, they're not telepaths. They just clicked when they first met, there was a spark between them."

"So like us," she said, watching as the two characters began to talk, him offering to escort her to her job, saying that it was on his usual route when, in fact, it was out of the way.

Bruce flushed, shaking his head and choking on his popcorn, coughing. "Uh, no. No, no, not like us, it's not the same."

"But you said there was an instant connection, a click," she said, frowning as she tried to understand why it wasn't the same, "When we met, we connected, you chose to save me, what's the difference."

"It's a...some could argue it was a deeper, universe based connection those two had," Bruce began, motioning towards the screen, "But, really, it's just a physical attraction, you know? They find the other attractive and the human, emotional connection will follow later, and that is what will solidify them."

She hummed, grabbing some more popcorn. "So it's us, but reversed. We have our emotional connection and later our physical attraction."

Bruce sighed, licking his lips as he leaned his head back. "You know, I don't...I don't think that's it, Marn. You know, our relationship isn't like theirs, it's not in the same vein."

She frowned, mulling over his words. First and foremost, she found herself gravitating towards the nickname. She was used to a variety of nicknames, but it was shocking to hear a nickname for her new name. Her name. The only name she had and the name she would stick with. So to hear a nickname for it was nice, especially when it was given by Bruce.

She rested her head against his shoulder, pressing herself closer towards him as the two watched the main character and the love interest part ways without any means of connecting each other, her going off up to her job, and him watching her go with a fond smile before going along his way back to his usual dog walking route.

She didn't understand how it wasn't their relationship. While only having known each other for a short amount of time, they were clearly connected, the two fitting together easily and caring for each other, him wanting to help her and her enjoying his company, it was exactly the same as their own relationship.