Marvel One Shots

A Silent Bond

Bruce Banner x Mute!Reader (fem assigned, but not always fem presenting)Warnings ⚠️: domestic life, flirting, established relationship, long-term relationship, drama, angst, hurt/comfort, drinking and weed use. (Sentences inside 'single quotes' are what reader is saying in American Sign LanguageSummary: The day reader has been working towards for years has finally arrived.... almost. But, a bit of bad news threatens to ruin it completely.A/N: Can be read as a stand alone OR as part two of A Quiet Love

Today was the first day Bruce would have to teach a class without me since I became his T.A. over two years ago now. And, it was in no way my fault. Not that it was his fault either. It was honestly that damned Applied Physics professor over in the early college building. He decided to run out during the last half of the semester, and taking multiple other science professors and adjuncts with him in a botched protect attempt that was really just an excuse for them to get some time off without having to fear getting fired, leading to each professor in the science division having to pick up the slack.

I would have still been able to join Bruce if not for my final evaluation for my major happened at midnight the night before. And the required pre-graduation meeting was going on at the exact same time as the start of the class. By the time I was done the meeting and the rehearsal that followed, Bruce would likely be in his third or fourth lecture of the day.

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About two and a half months ago, I started to fear the potential consequences of continuing mine and Bruce's relationship without letting the university's ethics committee. I started to feel like I was sneaking and cheating to get my way.

After a very serious sit-down with Bruce, and a few minutes of reassuring an anxious Hulk that I wasn't leaving either of them, the decision was made to have a sit down with the dean of the college, who was also the head of the ethics committee.

The fact that Bruce and I hadn't had a physical or sexual relationship ended up working in our favor. Thanks to Bruce's steadfast fear of hurting me 'in the heat of the moment', we never bridged the gap between middle-school make outs and actual sexual contact. The ethics committee voted to overlook the relationship due to the lack of physical intimacy. they believed that, since it wasn't a 'grades of sex' or 'favors for intimacy' exchange, that there was nothing wrong with it.

This decision kept me from having to redo my last two semesters as well as allowing Bruce to avoid reprimand or being straight-up fired. It also allowed us to stop having to hide the relationship around whoever we were comfortable with. The only members of the administration that knew of the relationship between us were the twelve members of the ethics committee, and they were a cone of silence unless an issue required the attention of others.

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If the stress of an upcoming event wasn't enough to deal with, with the invite deadline, final fees and due, and the constant dilemma of what to wear under my navy green cap and gown, the fact that I had to risk seeing my ex roommate's seat at graduation empty was enough to kill whatever excitement I still had for the graduation ceremony.

You see, Zoè Bernard had been caught with enough weed to knock an elephant on his ass hidden in her car. As our university is a dry campus, no drinking or drug use is tolerated. And, since Z and I were both going for a masters in Education, there is no three strikes policy. One time was all it took to have her forfeiting her spot in the most prestigious teaching programs in the States, and possibly one of the most in the world.

So, for the last three months of my degree, more than half of my last semester which had been chalked full of enough electives to give me two additional certificates on top of my Masters in Education, I have been stuck being without a partner for any of my projects or 'planning days'. Despite it being an odd thing for a supervising teacher to do, Bruce had been helping me with the days I had to travel to local elementary schools and daycares by reading off a script I gave him so I could record him. This way the kids wouldn't have to learn how to pay attention to me while also looking to my interpreter to actually understand my 'weird hand movements; for the days, or weeks, I was there.