sixthiterationlogs | I see your true colors shining through

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I see your true colors shining through

WHO: Bruce Banner
WHERE: Everywhere
WHEN: February 7th-20th
OPEN TO: OTA, one locked to Nat and one to Peggy in comments
WARNINGS: Probably will be fine!

February 8-12th

Bruce may have been thrown off by the ordeal, but in general it was the trip back that really made him struggle. It reminds him of when he was on the run and even slightly younger, it was easier then, but now he's grown soft. It means that he can actually be seen attempting to jog although he's not very good at it. There's more stretching than running. Don't laugh at him (you can laugh at him). There's more silver in his hair for sure, but that's how these things go.

He seems to be very focused in the schoolhouse on making notes, specifically if the papers are seen it has speculation about blood and powers. He has a list of names of people he thinks wouldn't mind him asking for samples, and a list of supplies that will make it easier for him to run the tests in question. This is a project he and Sam have been thinking about for awhile, and he's pretty close to launching it officially.

Outside the dojo he will be attempting to purposely set off his powers, and it's his own hesitance keeping him from it.

February 13th-20th, color change!

Bruce did know that unexpectedly some wristbands were changing and people were reporting some other changes because of it. So it was always a possibility. It isn't until his own beeps and morphs into a shiny yellow band that he blinks and waits for the lasting effect. It comes pretty much immediately because he feels energetic and the opposite of his normal wary and hesitant behavior.

Instead he wanders the village with a smile and warmer greetings, and he voluntarily sits down to eat with people he doesn't ordinarily. Bruce walks farther than usual past the village boundary just to see what's out there. He also might grab someone to test out the yellow power.

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Bruce had been thinking about this for awhile now, ever since Pepper arrived and he moved to the house next door. The walk back gave him time to think about several things, and one from the list was at the fore front of his mind once things settled down. His belongings are still unpacked or mostly all placed together, and he stares at them for a time before nodding and making his mind up. There's two steps for this plan, and he thinks through all angles first. He feels confident by the time he crosses the village to head to the inn.

He has no real way of knowing if Peggy is in or not, but he didn't see her in the inn itself, so he plans on knocking and then hanging out for a bit until she comes back. It's been a long week or two for them all, and she always does manage to have a soothing presence, even if they are relatively new to each other. He hasn't discussed this with anyone else yet, since it seems wiser to take it to the jury (so to speak) first before continuing. He knocks on her door and waits, checking his wrist band to see what time it is. Not an ungodly hour, early afternoon in fact.

Bruce really wasn't sure what to make of this supposed color shift when people first mentioned it. He believed them, but it didn't sink in until it happened to him what that really meant. It wasn't until he felt himself brightening up noticeably that he went oh this is what it's like to not be weighed down all the time. It wasn't that he wanted to be this way all the time, as his natural state was much more mellow, but a little bit of this wouldn't kill him. He felt less anxious, and that alone was a little relief for him.

Of course in his best moods he wanted to be around Natasha, since she usually was the cause of them anyway. He had a good reason, not that he needed one, because he actually borrowed one of her books just for fun and had some thoughts. It was nice to try something different from the how-tos, even if this was officially his first time reading a romance. It was very easy to consume and he could see why people enjoyed them. He has a spring in his step as he walks up to her house and knocks on the front door before opening it and stepping inside. They've reached a level of comfort now that he doesn't feel intrusive coming in without an expressed invitation, although he hovers by the door anyway. "Anyone in?"

Nida had been heading out for the afternoon with the main intention of getting some food. Most of his day tended to be caught up with the dojo at this point, and sure he was going to have to leave that off tomorrow, but for right now, he needed food. There were a few more things he wanted to get arranged, a brief conversation he wanted to have with the guy that had moved in upstairs, and mostly, and all of that could wait until he ate.

And that, he decided as he stood on the porch, could wait as he watched a man standing outside doing... what? He doesn't even know.

"You okay, mister?"

It wasn't that the table was one that North wasn't willing to share. Or that he minded the company. No, it was just that he'd been so deep in conversation with Theta that he actually flinched when Bruce sat down. It's almost an overblown reaction, the way he jerks away when he looks up and sees Bruce, like someone trying to act like they were caught off guard.

I may have gotten a bit too used to you looking out for me, Theta, he told the AI in his head.

Should I remind you to set your motion trackers?

Your humor needs some work.

"Hi. Sorry, you caught me by surprise."

She's freshly back from her own night expedition back out into the wilderness.

Once she'd arrived back, she'd used her power to see if she could find who had sent them to the shrine, following it all night and trying to see if consequences could be given, but unfortunately it appears she has no luck. She'd returned at dawn and had been sleeping up to the knock, but she was always a light sleeper, so it was easy for her to rouse herself and head to the door.

"Bruce," she greets him. "This is a lovely surprise. Is everything all right? Is Tony fine?"

Bruce feels bad once he realizes she might have been sleeping. "Sorry if I bothered you. I guess I have no excuse now that we can technically message ahead." Not an exact phone call, but a message he is capable of sending first. He's not surprised that her question goes to Tony quickly, because he is tied to the hip to him most of the time, but he nods his head with a small smile.

"Everything's fine, Tony's fine. But with Pepper here now, I moved to a new spot." He's not at all sorry about this. In fact, he's delighted. He loves Pepper. She's wonderful. "I have a two level question for you, and I apologize in advance if it's presumptuous." Bruce is not great at socializing but he's been doing slightly better thanks to a lot of practice in the village. He feels confident that Peggy can say no without it being awkward.

"The first is, I don't actually like living alone." He did it a very long time and he's gotten used to having other people around. "I was wondering if you'd be interested in becoming my housemate. If you aren't completely content with this room, although obviously it's fine if you are." Spit it out Banner, you're doing great so far. "The other part is that Liv's completely alone at the moment in her house, and I hate thinking she's isolated over there, so I was going to see if she'd want to take in a few strays. And if not, we can just stay in the house I've been in so far."

Bruce also didn't know what he was doing. His powers were always involuntary, or intentionally set off by extreme emotions. He didn't have the easy ability to turn something on and off again, so no matter what Kamala explained it, it didn't come naturally to him. He also couldn't make himself feel angry or upset enough to have any emotional weight to set it off, so really, he ended up trying to breathe through it.

Nothing was working.

He glanced up at the voice and felt a little sheepish being caught out failing spectacularly. Well it could be worse. There was that time he tripped and fell on his face in Veronica. And in heels running from Nat. So really just standing there and not accomplishing something wasn't a big deal. "Yeah, I'm, uh, trying to set my powers off." Bruce tapped his green wristband.

Bruce Banner on an average day would have never approached a stranger like this. He was still getting used to being direct with his own friends. Or mostly avoiding social interaction at all. But he just felt this enormously positive energy flowing through him, and he really had to wonder how the yellows did this all the time. It was great at the moment, but all the time? if that was their natural state of being, it must be easy, but still. He smiled thinking about how much colors clearly mattered based on personality now, and they had more clear proof of it, for his studies later.

His shoulders were not hunched and his posture was good and he was making casual eye contract without any nerves to be seen. "Sorry, I'm either really quiet or I clumsily knock everything off a shelf, there's no in between." Bruce felt chatty! It was a nice day. "Hi, I'm Bruce Banner. I'm not normally this friendly but they've gotten really creative with their testing procedures. It happened so easily too!"

A green wristband. Well that gets Nida to smile. In a way he misses it, his own power. Green had suited him well, and now... well, he looks to the white of his own band and then smiles. Because he's got an idea.

"You're in the right place if you want help. I know all about activating green powers. Granted, something changed, but even what changed might help you. Come over here would you?"

Nida's busy stripping off one of his gloves to hold a hand out toward Bruce. First step? Get the guy a little less self-conscious. Confidence would help with the process.

"It really wasn't that. I just wasn't paying attention," North assures him. Not everyone likes to be that sort of sneaky. Or perhaps it was really that North was trying to make himself feel better about being caught off guard. Which is reasonable, because damn if he and Theta did it to themselves.

"North Dakota," he offers his code name with his hand. "I normally am this friendly. What do you mean, testing procedures?"

"It's all right, I needed to be awake before I frittered away the whole of the day," she assures, yawning as she checks the time and tries to hide her weariness. It's her own fault for being out at all hours, but it had seemed the smartest thing to do, when no one else could ask questions or try and stop her.

Not that her search had yielded any results, unfortunately. She lets out a relieved sigh to hear that Tony is fine, seeing as she knew all too well the trouble that the man could get into. She listens patiently for Bruce's question, but by the end, she's smiling.

"Honestly, I never liked living on my own either," she admits. "I've made sure to keep a roommate the whole time I've been here. At first, it was Barnes, but then Stella and I were roommates for a long while," she says. "The inn was always meant to be a temporary measure."

In other words, "Yes, I'd love to. I don't mind staying with Liv, so long as she's all right with us there. I don't know her that well, but if she's fine with us being there, there's no reason we shouldn't be."

Thor has checked in with all of his friends following the fiasco that had taken everyone by surprise. Still haunted by the memories he and Loki had been show, he's been doing his best to throw himself entirely into his work at the Forge, lifting differently sized rocks like weights, and exerting himself in more physical ways. It doesn't allow for any spare time for his thoughts to bubble and fester like a boil, and he can keep pretending like everything is fine (even if it's not).

He still stops by the Inn during the day, sometimes to drop off the spoils of his hunting attempts for the communal lunches, other times grabbing bites to eat when he can allow himself the time. It's during one of these meals that he hears the unmistakable voice of his friend, Bruce, coming from nearby. He glances around, trying to find him in a solitary section of the main common area, but instead finds him sitting with a group of people Thor doesn't recognize. It's perplexing, but also a good thing!

Thor debates whether he wants to interrupt his moment, but the decision is made for him when the others excuse themselves to go about the rest of their days and leave Bruce sitting by his lonesome. Thor takes this as his moment to gather his bowl and scurry over to where his friend is sitting, grinning brightly — both because of the scene he's just witnessed, but also because he loves his friend dearly, and he's always so delighted to see him.

"Banner!" he exclaims as he nears the table. He gestures with one hand to an empty seat. "Is it all right to sit with you?"

"In the kitchen," calls back a familiar voice, though there's an undercurrent of faint tension in the words that might be a little unfamiliar. It shouldn't be this hard to make hard-boiled eggs. It really shouldn't. But Natasha is currently down four eggs and so far none of them--not a single one--has ended up anywhere remotely in the realm of edible.

When Bruce makes his way back, he'll find Natasha standing in front of the stove, frowning at the pot of boiling water like it's personally wronged her. It isn't until she hears those footsteps finally stop that she looks up, glare decreasing fractionally as she offers him the smallest smile.

"Hey, you."

Bruce takes his hand and shakes with a warm smile, all that felt so natural to him that he is wondering if this is what it's like to be Thor. It has to be. This is Thor. Wow. No wonder he rolls with punches so easily. He'll have to find his friend later so they can be really enthusiastic at each other.

"North Dakota like the state?" Interesting name. "Oh sometimes they do things to poke at us, not visibly of course, like what happened at the shrine last month, or the New Year's party." Bruce chatters as if he assumes this is something more people know. "But I've never seen them alter personality like this. It's actually a big clue, because we speculated the colors corresponded to powers and personality, but had no proof of the latter until now." He taps his wrist band. "I'm usually a green." And now it's a bright shiny yellow.

It's funny how anxious he is up until the moment that she clarifies the yes. Or not funny, it's simply Bruce's natural state of anxiety, but not because everything rides on her saying yes. He always worries about things being uncomfortable or off. It almost never happens that way. He smiles as the relief floods through him once that confirmation is given, nodding his head. "Liv is great. I've been helping her work on a cure for her zombie disease, so it would be easier to be in closer quarters with her, and she's lost all of her friends." She's a nice person. He hates the idea of her being alone in that big house.

"I got the feeling you preferred people around too." She's a social person, and she is very grounded, reasonable. They had good level headed conversations so far, and he also felt like if he and Tony ever got out of line, having someone nearby to yank them back would be helpful. Pepper couldn't be expected to do it all the time. Plus, he just generally likes and respects Peggy. She was a legend before and turned out to be exactly what he thought.

"Have you met Pepper yet? She's great."

Bruce told Kamala she could train him, and he had every intention of doing that, but he'd like to at least be able to set it off to start with. She has a tendency to explain it like someone who is used to having powers, and while the Hulk exists, it's never been something easy for him to turn on and off like a power.

"Because it used to be about emotions and now it's not, right?" He takes the offered hand, although confidence is a very tough sell for him. He doesn't remember the last time he felt confident, or if he ever did, maybe after his fifth PhD, for about a month. "Kamala and I have put together a bunch of notes about the powers, we've figured out almost all of them now." There's only one that's giving them trouble.

Bruce has never felt this comfortable around others in his life. Eventually he relaxed with the Avengers, enough he felt like he belonged sitting at a table with them, but at the moment he looks at everyone like they're a long term friend. He knows he should be more self-conscious, but he can't bring himself to feel that way. He feels light instead, like all those difficult things still exist within him of course, but they're tolerable. He can distract himself with light.

He is aware, of course, that this is all related to the color change. There's no mistaking the correlation. This is exciting because it's an explanation for why the sorting of the colors happened in the first place. He keeps trying to write everything down, but then he gets distracted and wanders the village. So that's one downside of feeling this energized.

"Thor!" he exclaims right back, smiling ear to ear with little of his reserve. "Please sit down. I'm so glad to see you, we didn't get to talk on the walk back or anything." Bruce didn't do much talking outside of them making certain everyone was fed, walking alright, and not freezing to death. He has an easier time with one goal in mind, and that was all about survival. It meant he didn't have to think about Thanos. Which was fine, because he's positive they'll just go back and find a way to beat Thanos eventually.

"Oh, look!" He holds up his hand so Thor can see the yellow wristband.

Bruce walks back and at first his eyes are only for her. He usually feels a mixture of joy and many other low key anxieties when he looks at Natasha, but at the moment he's only keying in to the first aspect. She really is breathtaking, and it's whatever is currently bothering her that brings that level of fondness up from only admiration. "Uh oh, what did the water do to you?"

He smiles and just boldly walks over to her, stepping up behind her to comfortably put his hands on her hips and look over her shoulder. He is getting much better at physical touch with her, since she's allowed him to do it, but he doesn't seem hesitant at all currently. "Is this one of those things where you want advice or you might be tempted to throw an egg at me for an unwanted suggestion?" Bruce smiles and kisses her cheek gently, since he's there.

Zombie disease is something Peggy knows exists, but doesn't like to think about too much. After all, it's the sort of thing that strains her disbelief, even though she's seen much stranger science in her life. Yet, she can tuck it away into the back of her mind.

Besides, with great minds working on it, she knows it's only a matter of time before they solve it.

"I haven't, but I have heard of her," she admits, because Tony hadn't been quiet about speaking about her. It made her happy to know that there was someone he had like that, even if she didn't have that herself. "I suppose we could always arrange a sort of housewarming, when all the dust is settled?"

Oh, so he knew Kamala. That got Nida's smile to brighten further. Not a bad person to teach that, but he had to wonder about how they were going about it. For now, though, cover the awkwardly long hand shake, because he knows he needs a full fifteen seconds for his own power to set in.

"But you'd be wrong to say that it's not about emotion now. Just because it isn't required doesn't mean it won't help to have. The first time I got my green power to come into play I didn't even know I was doing it. I was, though, a bit worried about how badly I was going to cut my hand open when my attempts at peeling a potato went sideways, with a knife heading for my thumb. It was there because I needed it, because I was freaked out. Maybe emotion isn't required, but that doesn't mean that the heart doesn't figure into some of it. I keep telling Billy that, but he puts his heart into everything so..."

Well, that was easier. Still, that should help cover the time he needs, so he finally pulls his hand back, hoping the confidence has settled into the other man.

"Green is protection, not just for yourself, but for others. It's... When I had it and pulled on it, it was like being strong. Like being wrapped up in something more durable than myself, a barrier against the world. But not a wall. It was me, but stronger. It's also a desire to protect. Emotion counts almost as much as intent for finding it."

"You're from or aware of Earth then," North observes, smirking. Yeah. People reacted to that, didn't they? Oh well, not like North put any real value on the former territorial division. He wasn't even an inner-colony brat. "Shrine? New Year? Sorry, I'm a bit new to all of this. So these," he raised a wrist to offer up his device, a nice soft gray, "correspond to personality, and changes to them change personality? That's... strange."

I mean, it's not completely impossible, Theta suggests. Chemical manipulation of certain parts of brains has been a thing for a long time. Even at the turn of the millennium I think. And I affect your emotions sometimes. So perhaps they have some chemical flowing through it?

While the AI talks North goes a bit less focused on Bruce, because really, he's got a conversation going on here too.

So what does gray say about us?

Probably worth asking.

He nodded to confirm to Theta, but that was obvious to Bruce as well. "Powers you said?"

She's about to answer with a scathing, witty retort--murdered my parents, maybe, or insulted my taste in hairstyles--when Bruce walks up, his hands sliding over her hips and head over her shoulder. It's more difficult to be mad when instead, she'd much rather enjoy this moment. He seems so much less hesitant than usual, and she doesn't want to discourage that. So instead, she sighs, leaning back against his chest, lifting a hand up behind her to brush the back of his neck.

"You might as well. I'm not doing anything here but wasting food. This was supposed to be easy," she says, and that might be the closest thing to complaining anyone's ever gotten from her. Although she can't be truly upset. Not with him here like this, and there's the traces of a smile growing in the corners of her mouth as she glances sidelong at him. "Brave man, being willing to risk it, though."

She seems to be fine with the display of affection, and Bruce smiles, using that encouragement to move an arm around her waist and just hold her close for a moment. Every time he tries a little more and she gives positive enforcement, he learns and gets bolder the next time. He could always get used to staying close to Natasha, her touch on the back of his neck leading him to briefly nuzzle at her ear. He might be thinking of more than eggs at the moment, but an egg was what she wanted, and what she shall have!

"Not so brave that I didn't ask first," he chuckled softly. "The key to a hard boiled egg is temperature. You put the egg in first and then pour cold water over it, and you stop it right when it's boiling. If you leave it too long it gets ruined. Then you let it sit for something like 15 minutes and put the egg in cold water again." Bruce drops his head down to casually and innocently press a few soft kisses on her neck. What? He might be testing what he's allowed.

Thor does as requested and eagerly sits down, setting his bowl down in front of him. He gives it a gentle stir before nodding to his friend.

"Yes, I know. It was .. quite an experience, that's for certain. But I knew that you would and could rise to the occasion of ensuring everyone's safety and survival. I'm glad that those seven PhDs have finally managed to come in handy somewhere," Thor teases with a smile before shoveling in a spoonful of stew. He still doesn't quite understand what PhDs are or why they're a measure of intelligence according to Bruce, but it's been brought up enough for Thor to know that they're supposed to be impressive and lend to his credibility. Thor doesn't need anything like that to believe in his friend. he knows his capabilities first-hand.

When Bruce holds up his hand, he doesn't quite get what he's showing him at first.

"It's your wrist," he states, eyes scanning both it and his friend's face. But then, after a few seconds, he notices the color, and he flings his spoon somewhere unknown in his excitement. "Your color! It's changed! You're yellow now!" He holds up his own wrist and points to it. "Like me! We're both yellow now!" If Thor knew how to do a jig, he'd do one right about now. He looks to his hands, suddenly realizing they're empty. "Oh, I .. lost my spoon somewhere."

She's going to keep being encouraging, at least when it's only the two of them. She's a fairly private person, Natasha, but when they're alone? She doesn't want him being afraid to touch her, worried she's going to push him away. So his forays into further affection, those brave steps forward, are definitely not going amiss. Natasha tilts her head slightly to one side, leaning it back towards his shoulder with a faint hum of approval.

"Really? Start with cold water? Seems kind of counter-productive, but I'm obviously not getting anywhere," she muses. "Is this another hidden Bruce Banner talent you've been holding out on me?"

Bruce also is very hesitant in public for his own reasons, not just because he's nervous of his welcome. He's private and their relationship is new enough he doesn't intend to bring people into it too deeply. Holding hands and a kiss at New Year's is reasonable, but intimately nice moments like this are for them. It's the stolen kind of moments that don't need to be stolen, because they get to happen every day when they want them. The yellow isn't making him want things, just giving him the bump up to do them.

"If you bring the egg and water to boil at the same time it brings down the risk of broken shells and cooks it all the way through. And I learned a few basic cooking skills, living on my own without a lot of options." Bruce tried to stay out of restaurants and crowded areas whenever possible, so getting supplies and hiding off on his own was the best option. Hiding in plain sight did help, occasionally, but only when he saw stability in it.

He smiles and reaches out to turn off the stove for the moment. "We'll start again when it's back to still." Putting an egg into it would be a bad idea right then. He drops his head down to press a kiss on the top of her shoulder. "Is it bad to say I missed you even if we saw each other yesterday?"

"That's a great idea. I'm pretty sure Liv won't mind. I know being on her own is very difficult, she's always had people with her here." Bruce sympathizes with that. He is a very solitary person most of the time, but he craves human contact, and now he has it, he clearly can't go back to the same solitude. If pressed, he'd say it's a change he really likes. There also is some small concern that if the Hulk returns they'll be in danger, but that's a problem for another situation.

"I'll check in with Liv, and if it's okay with her, that would be great, but otherwise you could move in to my current house regardless? I should do a whole proposal for this, shouldn't I?" Bruce is awkward so of course he's going to try and make a little humor out of it. "I'll give you a box with a house key and a friendship bracelet."

"Yes, it's absolutely terrible, never say it again," she answers in that deadpan tone she so often uses in these circumstances, belied by the affection in her eyes as she turns her head, pressing a soft kiss to his temple. Of course she doesn't mind. It isn't the kind of thing she'd ever expected to be able to have, or to want, and she's not naive enough to think she can have it forever, but these moments are nice to have while they last.

Natasha finally turns in Bruce's arms, wrapping her arms around his neck and looking up at him, a smile hiding in the corners of her mouth. "If we're just waiting for the water to cool down again, we might be waiting a while. Any ideas how we're going to pass the time? Betty's out with Pepper, so I've got the place to myself."

Bruce waits for her to turn before wrapping an arm around her back, his heart beating a little faster. They flirt extensively, but every step between them has been careful. He isn't feeling careful. "Hmm, I don't know." He pretends to think about it, brushing her hair behind her ears. "We could play that card game everyone's been learning." He kisses her cheek. "Or talk about the project Kamala and I have been working on about powers." He kisses her other cheek.

He feels light and playful, the weight of crushing doubt off him entirely, looking down into her eyes. They are such a vivid shade, he's fallen in them more than once. "Or ...." Bruce smiles and finally gives in to his impulse, leaning in to catch her lips with a kiss that starts light but doesn't stay there. Every kiss he gets with her feels like the first, like a treasure he's shocked he gets to keep, but they've kept it sweet and tender so far, which he loves. He kisses her with the type of passion he usually keeps bridled up but doesn't have to now. They're alone. They might as well take advantage.

They have been careful. They've been careful for so long she wonders a little if there's any other way for them to be. After all, the last time she'd tried not being careful, really, things had gone so horribly wrong she hadn't even known just how they got there. It's enough of a pattern to make her cautious, to make her nervous. Even if the Hulk isn't here with them, some habits are harder to break than others. She's been trying to make sure he knows she's open to more, though; demonstrative affection is not her strong suit, but she's tried to be clear, to encourage his efforts at showing her affection, to tolerate PDA even when it's not something she prefers.

And honestly, given that kiss? That approach seems to be doing something. It starts light, soft and playful, but it doesn't stay that way for long, her lips parting as the kiss deepens and she rises up onto her toes, pressing forward into his embrace. It's a long moment before they finally stop to breathe, and there's a faint flush on her face when they do, a vibrant smile on her face. "I think I like 'or,'" she answers, voice low as she leans in to kiss him again, one hand threading up through the short hair on the back of his head, pulling him down to her. Maybe some of this has to do with the color change in his band, and maybe that's something to consider, but maybe this is just very overdue.

The color change hasn't done much other than let him shuck off some of his insecurities and anxieties. This is what he wants and he's going for it, and he's grateful for that. Bruce is tired of getting stuck in his head. He loves - adores - the woman in his arms and he's waited a long time to be here with her. It took him some time to adjust to not being afraid of the Hulk at every corner, but he knows now it's safe. He's reassured by how she pushes up into him, returning the kiss with equal passion.

Somehow in his life he went down a good enough path to give Natasha reasons to want him, and he's not second guessing it now. He wraps an arm around her to keep her as close as she clearly wants, moaning softly into this newest kiss because it's been so damn long since he was allowed to feel this. Bruce might not be as strong as Cap, but it's not that difficult to put his hands down to her thighs and lift her into the air. She doesn't weigh much, and it's bold, but there's no thinking in the moment past being with her. He encourages her legs around his waist to make it easier and starts walking them toward her room, he knows which one it is of course.

Despite all his confidence at the moment, he still is Bruce Banner. He still cares so much about her he needs her to be sure. He breaks the kiss and stops before they actually make it to her room, looking down at her, searching her gaze. "Is this okay?"

Bruce scrunches his face up at Thor and laughs. "I would love to say any of my PhDs helped in that situation. Outside of being a top organizer, which is a skill in itself." His research skills are top notch! His perfect memory and rational unraveling of facts is also helpful. It's just not ... physically helpful. At all. They did make it back which is the important part, and Bruce did help keep everyone together and focused. "The best part of all of that was I think Kamala and I have finally figured out all of the colors and their powers. Except for one, which even the people who have it can't seem to figure out." Magenta. It was their white whale at the moment.

Bruce watches the spoon go away and just cracks up, standing and moving into the kitchen to get Thor another one. He's not going to pick it up from the floor, his friend deserves better. He feels so light at the moment, like anything could roll right off his back. "We're both yellow, yes, and I think I'm getting a sense for what it's like being as cheerful as you." This is what he's like all of the time. Bruce can't imagine that, but it's really great. He admires it. It's been nice.

"So not only do the colors have separate super powers, but they connect with personalities." He's smiling happily as he talks, because even if he is on yellow juice at the moment, he also loves when things start to make sense. When they come together and click. "People have changed personality once this wristband changes color, and that's a piece of the puzzle solved too."

Bruce listens attentively to Nida; he's a champion listener, he often prefers letting other people talk except when he's giving his own kind of rambling report on the things that he knows. He's fascinated by people and instinctively introverted, so he nods quietly as Nida explains how it was set off. He understands what he means, more than he can say. "That probably explains why I haven't set it off."

He crosses his arms against his chest. "I had powers before that had to be kept very close to the chest, and extreme emotions set them off. I learned to always moderate my emotions and never instinctively react to something going on around me, unless it was a fatal attack." Bruce can even control his instincts, yes. It kept him from changing when Ultron first attacked, even with his life in peril in that moment, and regardless of the Hulk being gone, he still is that tightly wound now. He feels like if he drops his guard for a minute, the Hulk will somehow come back and it'll be uncontrollable again because he relaxed for once.

He also thinks these observers have a real sense of humor for giving him these particular powers on top of that color. Ha ha. "I guess I'm going to have to blow past that if I'm going to use them intentionally."

"Yes, I'm from Earth, the year is 2018." Bruce jumps right to the detail about the year because he's well aware that not everyone is from the same time, planet, or reality. His brain feels like it's going faster than usual, so he whirls it back to try and focus on the spots he missed in between their conversation. "Sorry, I jumped forward. On New Year's Eve they put us in this simulation Great Gatsby like party. A short time ago we were all physically moved from here to a location about a week's walk away where people were forced to relive their memories and witness the memories of other people. Those are the types of things that occasionally happen here." Once he gets his mind back on straight, he can be a very straight forward speaker.

He nods and taps on the wristband again. "I only thought it was how they coded us with powers, but it's deeper than that. Really, it should have been an earlier guess of mine, enough traits were in common for each color to make you think, but we were focused on the powers." He and Kamala finally put almost all of them together. One was still left. He was not going to rest until they figured it out.

If he noticed North getting distracted, he didn't show it. It's fine. That's a lot of information to give everyone all at once. "Powers. Yellow here has energy beams. My normal green makes you extremely durable and create a protection of that same durability for anyone within your area." Bruce still isn't great at using it yet. He points at North's gray. "Yours is the ability to take emotional or physical pain away from someone, but unfortunately it will take that into yourself."

Oh.

"Not long after I got here, I reached out and touched a man that was clearly on the edge of a panic. Almost immediately he started calming down, but I could feel my own nerves fraying in ways that I'm not used to," North admits. That probably explains a lot actually. Maybe he should be a bit more careful about touching people. At the same time, it only makes him more thoughtful about how he can help out at the dojo. His pain tolerance is pretty high. He could probably help if someone sprains something or the like while working out, long enough to get them to settle down for proper first aid, seeing as he's taking that responsibility over from the kid.

"Has anyone considered the possibility that these things have a supply of chemicals in them, like traditional medication? Small injections of things like dopamine or serotonin or other mood-related chemicals could absolutely have an affect on personalities."

Thank you Theta, for that suggestion.

"I'm from the 2550s, actually, so that's a bit in the past."

"Perhaps," Nida agrees. "But once you get it the first time? It's easier. I promise."

Of course he doubts anyone green in town makes use of them as liberally as he has. Not even his Boss. So he's happy to serve as an exemplar.

"I'd offer to settle the green over you so that you could feel what it was like to have it there, maybe that would help call it. But I can't right now. You'll have to look to yourself. Or Kamala if she's still green. She's doing pretty good with it."

"Kamala's an expert by now. She and Frank figured theirs out awhile back. She also had powers before." So she had expertise at using them. Bruce has no problem taking advice or even being shown how by Kamala, but if he's going to encourage everyone to start training more actively, he really should be able to at least set them off by himself.

"I'll ... figure it out." It really is a study in not being himself, which is not an easy adjustment. Even with his big brain, Bruce gets caught in his own thoughts too much on purpose. He also is mild mannered most of the time so forcing emotions is a chore. He takes a step away and tries not to do his calming breathing exercises.

It actually doesn't take that long because what he just tries to imagine is that Nat's in danger. Nat's in danger and no one else is going to get to her in time, and the Big Guy is the only option, except he's not there. So it has to be Bruce. In the end though, it's his frustration with himself that it's not working is when it actually works. Classic. He's startled after it goes off, feeling the change on an instinctive level even if he's seeming uncertain when his eyes open. "Um. Do you want to hit me with something?"

"Yeah, that sounds about right with the powers. It's also recommended to be careful, because if you start caring about specific people, it may be harder to control yourself from unconsciously taking pain or sadness from them." Bruce has a suspicion that would be hard for him. He cares a lot about his friends, he would love to be able to take their sadness away, but it isn't ultimately the best choice a lot of the time. He understands not being able to control things, especially if your powers are involuntary and come from the heart.

Bruce nods. "Yes, it's definitely possible, there are a lot of possibilities. There's no way to take these off to find out, that we've found." He's tried too. Multiple times, with different types of ways. "As far as I know only one person has lost their watch and he doesn't seem to know how or where it happened." Which brings up all kinds of questions too. There are always so many questions here. "However they're doing it, it's vivid." He feels good. It's strange.

Nida doesn't say a word as he sees Bruce settle in to try. Distraction would not help, and he's not ready to go with Frank levels of training this. Which, from what the man had implied before, would basically involve sneaking up on someone and scaring the hell out of them. So he waits instead and when he feels strength settle over his body in the familiar way, he breathes out a pleased sigh.

"No," he answers, and with a flick of his wrist a wooden stick is in one hand. "I think I'd rather not feel guilty for doing this to you."

He spins the stick quickly in his hand and then slams it down against his leg. Only a healthy sting and he smiles.

"Yeah, that's it alright. Sort of missed the sensation."

His friends likely wouldn't appreciate that at all. And he doesn't know if he even could shoulder such a burden, as much as he'd want to. Still, he nods his appreciation at the suggestion. Better to be safe than sorry.

Still, he's a tactile person, so this was going to be unpleasant, being not able to touch as easily for fear of what power he has gained.

Vivid? Interesting term for it. But he nods in understanding at the idea of it. Sometimes he got that with Theta.

"Seems like that's a bit of complicated issue here. This place is full of that, though. Mystery."

Honestly, Nat might disagree about a good enough path, but then he'd know that. They're both just people. They've both made choices, good and bad, they've hurt themselves and each other, and yet here they are. She doesn't need to weigh what she's done, how she's gotten here. All she needs to know is that she's gotten a second chance at something she'd thought was gone forever, that she wants to be here and so does he. It's enough. It doesn't have to be more complicated than that.

It's been a while since she's done this particular dance, and they've never done it together, but it's not one you forget the steps to. Her head tilts slightly as that kiss deepens, the sound he makes sending a thrill down her spine, and if her mouth weren't otherwise occupied, she'd be smiling. She is, a little, just through the sheer joy of this, adrenaline flooding her veins as his hands slide down over her thighs, lifting her, and she easily wraps her legs around his waist, both hands buried in his hair.

The break in the kiss is the last thing she wants, a faint distracted haze in her eyes as she searches his face, but the question clears some of that. Now she does smile, carding fingers through the hair over his temple. "If it wasn't, we both know I wouldn't be here," she says, voice amused and affectionate. "The only thing wrong is the fact that we're still standing here, and you aren't kissing me." Leaning in, she catches his mouth with her own again, and there's definitely no room left in that for questions or doubts.

Yes he knows that Natasha could break him with a pinkie if she didn't want this, but it's still an instinct in him, to make certain. It also helps reassure him that they're on the same page, especially crossing over a boundary like this. Or really, stumbling eagerly over it. Bruce wants her, has wanted her for a long time now, and he's flat out thankful the stronger parts of his personality were in charge at the moment. Because he doesn't want to doubt right now, he doesn't want to second guess his actions, he just wants to be with her.

He chuckles into the new kiss and finishes the walk to her room, fumbling with the door to lock it and ending up putting his back to it, still holding her on top of him. She's surrounding him with her scent and touch and he manages to finally get the lock in place. It's not a perfect maneuvering but it's very them at the moment, setting her down on the bed and gracelessly falling on top. It's not unintentional. He doesn't want to stop pressing himself against her, like he's afraid any hesitation will ruin what's building between them.

He has to take that risk though because they are wearing far too much clothing. He sits up, still between her legs since she has them wrapped around his hips, scrambling with her shirt with hands that slightly shake. The last time he was in a position like this, the Other Guy nearly came roaring to life, but he's gone. It's just the two of them. With her shirt off he goes right back to kissing her like he can't bear to stop.

Bruce smiles because it's a nice idea, to not do it to someone else but display the ability anyway. He might have to get something to hit himself with instead. "Thanks. This might ... take some time to get used to." He's not so sure he'll be comfortable with powers, but at least he'll know how to use them.

[Wrapping this and the North one if that's okay, need a fresh plate.]

"Mystery, yes, frustrating lack of details, yes, a mix of quiet and then trouble." He wants to say it's escalating, but he still needs data for that. "At least we have a lot of competent people here who can react to whatever happens."

[And wrapping here too!]

It doesn't matter if the door is locked or not; Betty won't be home for a while yet, and she'd never just barge in anyway. And the front door should be locked, too. But still, she understand the need for privacy. This has been a long time coming between them, after all, and she still wouldn't be entirely surprised if the multiverse reared its head once more to interrupt this yet again. Although if it tried, it had better be ready to deal with the consequences.

She's smiling as she kisses him, smiling as her lips part and her tongue dances along the edge of his mouth, her fingers combing upwards to tangle in his hair as she holds herself aloft with her legs around his waist. The fumbling with the lock she tolerates, and more than tolerates, and when he finally drops her on the bed and falls on top of her her breath leaves her in a gasp more from pleasure and surprise than the weight of him. She loves the weight of him, the pressure, the feeling of need in his kisses as much as desire.

His hands fumble with her shirt, and she arches her back to help him remove it, raising her arms over her head and shrugging it off, arms reaching to lace back around his neck and tug him into another breathless kiss afterward. It's just the two of them. Just Nat and Bruce, and to hell with other names. Her mouth occupied, her own hands wander down over his chest to the hem of his shirt, working it upwards. Still too many clothes between them, but they can definitely fix that.

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

I see your true colors shining through

For Peggy - February 8th

For Nat - During color change

Outside the Dojo

Lunch Time

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Color Change - Yellow Buds

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i lost this we can just assume things or continue it is up to you <333

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sorry it took until now, it's been an off month for his voice blarg

hi struggled with his voice but getting it back, feel free to ignore these just wanted to do them

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NSFW content incoming in this thread now ig

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