Avenger Drabbles

Bruce always uses rain sounds to fall asleep, no matter where he is. It reminds him of a simpler time, when things weren’t so complicated. It helps him so much in fact, that he eventually found himself unable to go to sleep without the sounds playing on his phone. So when one night, he found his phone broken, he started to panic. For as long as he had been doing it, he had never mentioned it to any of the other Avengers. It was something a child would use so they didn’t have nightmares. Not something a grown man should need. Bruce sighed, deciding not to ask for any help. He could last one night without it. But after an hour of tossing and turning, it was obvious that wasn’t going to happen. At some point, Bruce realized he wasn’t going to get any sleep tonight. Rolling out of bed, he made his way downstairs, planing to grab some water and a snack. When he walked into the living room, Thor was wide awake, sitting on the couch, watching TV quietly. “Thor?” Thor turned, obviously taken by surprise, and Bruce continued talking, “What are you still doing up?” Thor gestured vaguely to his head, “Nightmares,” Bruce just nodded respectfully. All the Avengers had them, and no one was in a place to judge.

Thor shook it off, turning back to Bruce, “What about you, dear friend?” Bruce fiddled with his thumbs, eyes on the ground. He was embarrassed, but something about Thor made him want to open up, “I—um—I can’t fall asleep without rain sounds. My phone’s messed up and isn’t working. It’s stupid,” Thor just shook his head, “I disagree.” Bruce smiled gently, and they made small talk for a minute, mostly about the previous day’s mission. After a bit, Bruce figured he should leave Thor alone, and said goodnight, grabbing a glass of water, and an apple, before heading to his room. Thor smiled at him as he left. When Bruce got to his room, he sighed deeply, grabbing a novel from his shelf, planning to get head start on his mountain of unread books. As he opened the first couple pages, a familiar pattering caused him to look up at his window. Bruce dog-eared the book, and walked towards the window incredulously. Although the weather had predicted clear skies for weeks, it was pouring rain outside. As Bruce located the reason, he started to smile. A real, genuine smile. Thor was standing in the front of the tower, arms outstretched as he grinned broadly at Bruce. Bruce just raised his eyebrows in surprise.

Thor responded, yelling in order to be heard through the window, “I cannot sleep anyway, and I quite enjoy summoning rain. You are free to rest now Banner!” opening his mouth, Bruce tried to speak, but nothing came out. So instead, he put out a finger, letting Thor know to wait right there and mouthing “Hold on.” Thor nodded confusedly, and Bruce yanked the curtains shut. Changing quickly into an oversized sweatshirt, and jeans, Bruce grabbed his book and couple blankets. He knew it was stupid, but he just really wanted to be outside in the rain. So he ran downstairs and outside, keeping his book dry under his sweatshirt, and making sure the blankets din’t touch the ground. Bruce waved to get Thor’s attention, who was still starting at Bruce’s window. Thor turned to see him struggling in the rain, and within a second, a dry path appeared between the two of them. Bruce walked forward, and the path disappeared behind him, “Thanks,” As the path disappeared, Bruce was forced to get closer and closer to Thor, to avoid being caught in the rain. Thor didn’t seem to notice until Bruce was only a couple inches away, looking up at him, face still wet from the couple seconds he spent in the rain. Thor seemed to realize what was happening, and stepped back, enlarging the dry circle until it was large enough for ten people.

Bruce blushed profusely, stepping back and busying himself by spreading out one of the blankets on the ground, like a picnic blanket. Thor seemed to get where he was going with it, and joined in. They seemed to have formed an unspoken agreement not to mention what had just happened. Once the blanket was all laid out, they both sat down. Bruce wrapped himself up in a blanket, and offered one to Thor, who took it gratefully. For a minute they were silent, fidgeting with the corners of their respective blankets, and listening to the rain. Out of nowhere, Thor laughed lightly. Bruce joined him, and within a minute, they were both giggling ridiculously. There was just something inherently funny about a genius and a god sitting outside in the rain, on a polka dot blanket, at night. And just like that, the tension was broken. Bruce ran back inside to grab some sandwiches, and two sodas. Thor continued to make it rain, insisting it was fun for him. They stayed like that until midnight, eating snacks, trying to stay warm, laughing, and talking endlessly.

Now Tony was, as usual, up at midnight, working in his lab on some new technology. But when he originally heard the rain, he thought nothing of it, continuing to work. But after a while, when it didn’t even falter, Tony walked to the window, curious. He glanced outside quickly, and made to turn back around, but paused. He turned back, watching as Thor and Bruce talked to each other in an 8 foot dry circle. Tony snapped a quick picture, before pulling the blinds down, granting them their privacy. Secretly, he hoped it was more than a friendly hang out. They could both use some companionship. But he would never say that out loud.

Around 1 in the morning, Bruce started to get really tired, having been up pretty much all night. Thor kept trying to convince him to go inside, and get some sleep. He insisted he would continue making it rain, so Bruce could fall asleep easily. Bruce stubbornly refused, claiming he wasn’t tired, and would rather stay out here. The truth was, Bruce had a bad feeling that once he went inside, the moment would be over. And that was the last thing he wanted to happen. So instead, he just continued to talk with Thor about anything and everything. After another hour, Bruce changed to reading his book, knowing he wouldn’t be able to keep up a conversation for much longer. He read it out loud, hoping it would help him stay alert. Thor didn’t seem to mind listening, so Bruce continued to read. After a while, Bruce began to fade off, closing his eyes slowly.

When Bruce opened his eyes, he had to take a moment to get his bearings. He sat up, pushing a blanket off of him as he took in the scene. He was inside, on his bed. His shoes were off, but thankfully nothing else was. His memories from last night came flooding back to him, and Bruce’s head started to hurt. The only other person outside with him was Thor, and honestly, the only person who would be able to pick him up and get him inside. Bruce got off his bed, locked the door, and sat back down, “Jarvis, what exactly happened last night?” Jarvis just pulled up the footage from the previous night on Bruce’s tv. Watching carefully, Bruce saw as he read out loud, and feel asleep mid sentence. Thor had stayed sitting for a minute, unsure of how to handle the situation. As Bruce had continued to sleep, Thor had an obvious debate in his head, before he stood and walked over to Bruce. Thor carefully leaned down and picked Bruce up, bridal style, making sure not to wake him.

Even though it had already happened a couple hours ago, it made Bruce blush from in his room. Back in the video, Thor walked inside and made his way to Bruce’s room, setting him gently on his bed, and taking off his shoes. Placing a blanket over Bruce, Thor left the room, closing the door behind him. Bruce groaned, turning off the tv and starting to pace around his room anxiously. Why did he have to fall asleep? Why couldn’t he manage to keep it together for a couple hours longer? A thought crossed his mind, “Jarvis. What is Thor doing now?” Jarvis responded quickly, “Currently, he seems to be reading a book titled, ‘The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.’ Would you like to hear a plot summary?” Bruce shook his head, he didn’t need a summary of that book. Because he had been reading it last night with Thor. Bruce checked his room quickly, and found the novel missing. Thor must’ve taken it to read. Smiling incredulously, Bruce sat back down on his bed. Maybe last night was more than just pity.