ADORE ↠ b. barnes [III]

twenty two

       ALLURA'S EYES WENT FROM RIGHT TO LEFT, right to left, and then right to left once more. Now she wasn't judging, not at all. Everyone had the right to eat whatever they wanted and she had absolutely no problem with it.

But it still surprised her how small her cup of coffee looked compared to the huge plates of food that Bruce Banner, or Hulk Banner or whoever he now was, had in front of him.

       They were sitting in a small booth: Steve, Pietro and Natasha on the right and Allura, Nadenka and Scott on the left, with Bruce on the edge of the table.

       Since Tony was no longer on board with their plan, they required another person who had any idea about the field they needed to complete their mission. And yes, Allura knew plenty, but she knew that she'd eventually need help for some parts; human ones, specifically.

       The strawberry blonde couldn't get Shuri off her mind, and she knew that if the brilliant young woman was there, their plan would already be getting somewhere rather than at a small restaurant.

       "Come on, I feel like I'm the only one eating here." Bruce said, making Allura look at him. "Try some of that. Have some eggs."

       "I'm so confused." Scott said, staring at Bruce.

       "Yeah, I second that." Nadenka spoke, remembering the man she had briefly met five years ago.

       "Me too." Pietro agreed.

       "These are confusing times." Bruce chuckled.

      "Right, no, no. That's not what I meant-"

       "Nah, I get it. I'm kidding! I know, its crazy!" He pointed to himself, Allura only now truly noticing that he was wearing a sweater and a t shirt, as well as his glasses. "I'm wearing shirts now."

       "Yeah. What? How? Why?" Scott continued to ask.

       "Five years ago, we got our asses beat." Bruce began to explain, while eating.

       "Yeah, no need for the reminder." Nadenka mumbled under breath, Pietro sending her a small smile that she tried to return; but it looked more like pursed lips.

       "Except it was worse for me because I lost twice. First Hulk lost, then Banner lost and then we all lost."

       "No one blamed you, Bruce." Natasha spoke, Nadenka only mentally saying that then it was three times, that he lost, not two. But she decided to not actually say it.

       "I did." There was a moment of silence, when Allura sighed.

       "Nobody else did. We all lost." She told him, her meeting his eyes.

       "For years I've been treating the Hulk like he's some kind of disease, something to get rid of. But then, I started looking at him as the cure. Eighteen months in the gamma lab. I put the brains and the brawn together, and now look at me." He extended his arms proudly, Nadenka nodded.

         "Yeah. It suits you. But it's not any less confusing." Pietro told him with a smile, Bruce laughing at his comment.

       "It's the best of both worlds!" Three children then approached the table, looking specifically at Hulk.

       "Excuse me, Mr. Hulk?" The girl spoke shyly.

       "Yes?"

       "Can we get a photo?"

       "100% little person." Allura leaned back against her seat, closing her eyes for a second as she tapped her foot against the ground.

       She loved to see that that these past five years had been good for him, and he had learned how to live with himself. She really did. Seeing a small piece of peace in this chaos.