A Twist Of Marvel || Infinity War

41. She Said

Sat alone in the training room, Naomi quickly grew bored of counting the cracks and playing with the bottle in her hand, and several times she had caught herself reaching for her phone in her bag. It was practically useless now- the Sakaarian atmosphere messed with it somehow, or at least thats what Naomi hoped. Either the planet was causing the screen to glitch out of control overtime she tried to access the internet- or her phone was broken from her fall a week ago. Seeing that her phone was one of the few ways she could prove her claims of knowing the future, it was kind of important that it started working again once she got off of Sakaar.

Gathering her things and heading back to the med bay- where she still slept- seemed like the best route to go, until Naomi heard large footsteps thumping down the hallway outside. An amused smile on her face, she shoved her water bottle back into her bag and stood up. Just as she predicted, the green giant himself walked through the doors, looking very restless indeed. Hulk hardly noticed her as he stalked to a busted punching bag in the corner, intent on breaking it even further. It might have been intimidating, but after day two of meeting Hulk, she figured out that he got antsy after being still for long periods of time. Even after waking up, the champion could be seen- and heard- thundering down to the training room to break something.

"Hey Hulk. Did you want to keep training?" Naomi asked, hovering around the edge of the room. Hulk whisked around at the sound of her voice, started somewhat, but calmed down once he saw it was her. Frowning, Hulk considered her offer, sending a quick glance around the room to see that he hadn't left much unbroken equipment for himself after his first bout that morning. He grunted, showing off his teeth in an animalistic show of frustration, before turning back to Naomi.

"Hulk sit for hours." He complained, throwing his hands up for emphasis. If Naomi hadn't known  not to annoy him, she might have laughed. He truly was a giant, green, muscular toddler. Instead, she kept her face passive, and a little sympathetic. It was a skill she picked up from working in an office. Crazy to think that dealing with her eccentric boss helped her deal with the Incredible Hulk later in life. 

"Hulk want to fight!" He clenched his fists, a new fire in his eyes. "Hulk fight now!"

Naomi hesitated for a moment, unsure what to do next. A riled up Hulk was right in front of her, itching to punch something that could fight back. It also made sense that the contest of champions had been set for tomorrow, so it had been nearly a week since Hulk last fought someone in real combat. Searching for something to say, Naomi managed, "Uh, who do you want to fight?"

This took Hulk aback slightly, as he probably hadn't figured out who yet. He thought for a moment, and looked at Naomi. "War Girl need fight. Good training." He decided. Starting to get a bit nervous, as the Hulk still seemed quite serious about this fight, Naomi resorted to her last line of defense. Comedy.

"Are you sure you wanna fight me?" She nervously laughed. "I mean, I have been getting pretty strong lately." Naomi stretched her arms out in front of her over-exaggeratedly, keeping a cocky smile on her face. It was a bit of a last-ditch effort, but hopefully Hulk would find the implication that she could beat him funny enough to distract him from actually fighting her.

For a few, painstaking seconds, the Hulk didn't say anything. His face was frozen in its previous expression-a frown- and he didn't move. Naomi felt her heart slow down, keeping the sarcastic grin on her face despite her increasing apprehension. Gradually, his face began to clear, and then all at once the Hulk began to laugh- great big roars that followed in quick succession. Naomi's sense of relief was so immense, that she could of sworn she had never felt so grateful to hear someone laugh. Even if the Hulk was hurting her eardrums a bit. Needless to say, the champion found it hilarious, and had even begun to bend over slightly, clutching his stomach with one arm as he wheezed for breath.