Today was like all other days for the scientist: spend countless hours in the lab, lose track of the time only to find out it’s 3:43 in the morning and that you’ve been working for almost 12 hours nonstop, and sigh when you realise you’re not even close to finishing the project you’re working on. Typical.
Bruce Banner was pacing from his computer, to his desk, to his scraps of paper covered with information that hung on the wall. His brain was driving itself into overload, and he mentally noted that he needed to refill his cup of coffee again.
His eyes squinted through his glasses, he glanced at the equation he was basing the entirety of his research on, and realised it was completely wrong, and that inevitably meant everything he had been doing for the past day was irrelevant and incorrect information. The breaking of his heart was clear to hear from the other side of the world. He fell into his swivel chair, whirling around from the force of him falling onto it. He put his head in his hands, wanting to scream for eternity. He wallowed in self pity, how could he be this stupid? So careless and dumb? He groaned and felt like crawling into a ball of nothingness.
A light knock came from the door, which was creaking as it opened.
“I don’t want to talk — leave me alone,” Bruce sulked, not looking up to observe who walked through the door. The footsteps drew closer, obviously not listening to a word he just said, which only made him angry. He hated when Tony walked in and ignored him.
“I brought you some coffee, I felt as if you were in dire need of it,” a voice that was certainly not Tony’s came from above, and he slowly looked up, noticing it was his ever-so-handsome friend, Thor. He looked at Thor’s hands, noticing he had a coffee cup in his right. Bruce continued to stare at the coffee then back up at Thor, then back at the coffee. He took it hesitantly, thanking Thor with his eyes.
Thor looked around; the place was an atrocity. Papers everywhere, lab equipment in places it shouldn’t’ve been, disposable coffee cups in every corner of the room. Thor felt a tinge of sadness, knowing that his friend was doing this to himself. Bruce looked so tired, his eye bags so obvious, creating the illusion of him being older than he really was. Thor hated that, that his youthfulness and innocence was gone because he was caught up in some stupid work Thor didn’t understand.
“Is something the matter, Banner?” Thor queried, staring at the seemingly upset Bruce. The other man only sighed and skulled the coffee Thor brought.
“I’ve just wasted a day doing absolutely nothing of substance or importance,” Bruce cried, “it’s all wrong!” Thor’s eyes softened looking at the distraught Bruce. He questioned if Bruce had any breaks and whether he had any sleep between the time spent working. When the other didn’t respond, Thor knew the answer immediately.
"You really ought to better care for yourself Banner," he stated, leaning on Bruce's desk. Bruce looked up at him expectantly. Staring back into the blue and brown eyes in front of him encouraged a sensation of sadness, before another feeling swept over him.
"Why do you care so much? What are you, my boyfriend?" He snapped, leaning back in his chair. Thor giggled, fully knowing that Bruce didn’t mean it aggressively.
“One day maybe, but for now,” Thor leaned down and placed a small, soft kiss on the scientist’s lips. His left Bruce’s lips before he could react. “Take a break, okay?” With that, Thor left the lab. Bruce sat there dumbfounded, finding himself touching his lips, feeling all fuzzy inside. Maybe he would take a break.