So You Think You're A Freak ( Hulk romance )

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Bruce hums over the food he was securing from the cafeteria, taking deep and relaxed breaths despite how his morning had begun. All of them for the past few days had started rather early, with him usually arriving to his patient's room and waking her with the sound of the door. She was prone to being groggy he'd found, at least after she started sleeping on a regular schedule again following her post mini-coma scare. But it was interesting to him that she alternated between being both hyperactive and restless like a puppy, and rather stubborn and sluggish like an old hound. Either way, it meant his days were never boring.

He found that she appreciated having a routine. After he woke her, he would spend the morning reorganizing for whatever they had planned while she shook off the drowsiness. And by the time it was around 11am, she would start expressing hunger, either willingly or unwillingly, for lunch. Then again, for dinner around 6pm. He could tell she was much hungrier than they could supply with simply two major meals a day, but she never complained. He figured she was happy enough to be getting regular meals at all after how she had been starved for the first stretch of her capture. The roughest part of each day, coincidentally, was when he needed to leave her for the night. She always seemed reluctant to end conversations, dragging them on as much as she could and trying to probe him to start a new experiment. He guessed she may have been socially starved, and the idea of being left alone must've made her dwell on her imprisonment and past treatment. With this in mind, he had been trying his best to make her days as enriching as possible...

"So, it's my turn to dog sit today, is it not?"

Bruce's lip curls up as he acknowledges Tony in his peripheral, nodding for him to lower his voice. "What did we say about the dog comments?"

"That it's bad for the baby and the baby is the hot werewolf," he recites playfully, nudging him with a plastic fork as he starts filling his own lunch tray.

"Close enough, I suppose."

"So," the billionaire continues, "I hear I get to take part in some epic lore drops and put my wallet to good use."

"And where would you have heard this?" Bruce shovels a helping of roast turkey into a box along with several finger foods of cheese and fruit.

"Guilty," the soft tone sneaks up on the billionaire, but Bruce remains still and focused as the redhead joins them in line.

"I thought spies were supposed to keep secrets?" The doctor scolds softly, nodding for her to hand him some bottles of milk and juice.

"I only mentioned that my last social appointment ended with a comment about requesting a gift," Natasha soothes, making herself a sandwich.

"Besides, Brucey, how else would I prepare for my play date? You don't like to share outside the scheduled circles anymore."

As they all manage to secure their dinners, the redhead gives them a silent farewell and good luck as Tony follows Bruce into the abandoned medical wing. Thankfully, it was relatively known now to agents that the Hulk himself had laid claim to the entire area in order to properly study his patient. Only those with his express permission could enter. And since he had moved rooms and was just down the hall from Zafrina, he could also enforce the decision himself. Even if they managed to pass him to get to her, he could trap them in before they had the chance to get her out of her room. She was very... vocal, so it wouldn't be hard to know if something was wrong. Not to mention, her heightened hearing gave her more of a chance to warn him.

Speaking of which, a haunting resonance floats to their ears from the end of the hall, prompting them both to slow and listen.

Bruce felt himself shivering unintentionally at the words that became clearer as the door neared. The muffled sound was lovely, but the clear words and the raw auditory caress was near heartbreaking...