as long as i’m a guest in your home

[clobberin]

WHO: Bruce "It's Not Easy Being Green" Banner and Ben "Nerd Whisperer" Grimm.
WHERE: Bruce's place.
WHEN: Friday evening.
WARNINGS: Derps.
SUMMARY: Bros being bros.
FORMAT: Quickie.


[ Benjamin Grimm had not called ahead. Or asked permission. Nope. Not this time. This time, he figured he knew well enough that Bruce's answer would probably start with an "um", come around to a "I'm fine" and end up reliably on a "no." Obviously the man needed a crash course in how to accept friendship. Being Bros 101.

So, Ben grabbed some Chinese take-out and a six pack, headed over to Bruce's place, knocked and waited. ]

Comments

[hulk]

[ Hey, now - maybe he should have called ahead because you know what. It's Friday night, and Bruce is the kind of guy who probably has plans for the evening through to Monday.






........................AHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHA no.

He's totally home to hear the knocking, and so pushes himself off the couch to go to the door and check the peephole. Frowning at the sight, he unlocks the door and takes the chain off the door. ]

Uh, hi, Ben. [ scratching his neck ] Wh- Er. What are you doing here?

[clobberin]

[ He totally won't even take that frowning expression personally, because he figures that's basically default expression for at least 90% of people who do science for a living. Ben, however, is going to smile.

He holds up both hands, showing off the bounty he's brought. ]

We're hangin' out. [ Maybe a touch wry: ] I did warn ya that I'd stop askin' if I could come over, Bruce.

[hulk]

[ It's his default expression when he's unsure of what's going on. So it eases off a bit into a small smile when he sees the food.

And then comes back at the beer, but. Ben was nice enough to show up at all, that's something, and who knows. Maybe he won't drink it... Or he won't drink it here. Maybe. here's hoping. ]

Yeah, you did, didn't you? [ Shuffling aside to let him on in. ] Uh, grab some couch.

[ Actual shock of shocks there's SPORTS on the television. ...Of course it's soccer, though, so. ]

[clobberin]

[ Good. Yes. That small smile is encouraging. It makes Ben's smile widen enough that his eyes crinkle at the corners. He's oblivious, of course, to the issue of the alcohol. Sorry, Bruce. You're talking to a twenty-something former jock slash college football player. Beer is basically the most universal sign of good will, okay! ]

Thanks. [ Ben heads on in, setting the food down on the coffee table before plopping himself down on one side of the couch. The movement on the TV catches his attention. ] Oh, hey. Are ya watchin' that? Didn't figure you for a sports enthusiast.

[hulk]

[ C-crying gently... On the inside...

But oh, that's a nice smile and Bruce can't really help smiling the wider in response to it as he shuts the door behind them and follows Ben to the couch. ]

Y-yeah, it's. Kind of a throwback to when I was on the move. Spent a whole lot of time in Central, South America, and of course football's all big down there, you just kind of go and pick up on it. [ He jerks his chin at the television. ] Plus Brazil managed to get to the Olympics this go in both men's and women's so it's a good year, even if it's not exactly the team I'm used to.

[clobberin]

[ Ben unpacks his take-out Chinese-- all the good stuff, fried rice, greasy noodles and stir fried vegetables, eggrolls, sesame chicken, the works. All in those cute little white boxes. It smells delicious and would probably give a man in his fifties a full on heart-attack. ]

Yeah? I used to travel a lot. Backpackin' and stuff. Played sports too. Mostly football. The American stuff, I mean. [ He pauses to tear open a packet of disposable chopsticks. The kind that give you splinters if you're not careful. ] Y'know-- before the whole Thing thing.

[ With a self-depreciating sort of wryness: ] Kinda hard to keep that stuff up when you're a giant orange boulder.

[hulk]

[ Ohhhhhhhhhhh, that sounds and smells delicious and now I want this food in me you suck majorly I mean. ]

Oh, I never played, I mean. [ He shrugs because. Well. Look at him, Ben. He's a nerd. Nerds don't do sports. ] And... Well, a lot of the traveling was walking. But hitching too, and a boat here and there.

[ He wants some of those containers but. He will wait for Ben to eat first. Because he's a derp like that. ]

...Uh, y- How did that. I mean, what do you mean when you talk about your thing thing. Like. What happened?

[clobberin]

[ Nope. You're not gettin' away with that, Bruce. Ben doesn't even miss a beat, just putting a pair of chopsticks in one of Bruce's hands and pushing about three of the boxes towards his half of the table. ]

Well.

[ He takes a little breath. ]

My best buddy, Reed Richards? He was doin' some kinda science stuff with this alternate dimension-- the N-Zone-- and he was supposed to be doin' this big experiment, so I came down to support him. It was me and him, plus his uh-- [ A half-beat. ] Suzie. Suzie Storm, and her brother, Johnny.

Anyway. Long story short, everythin' went to shit, and we all got teleported all over the planet. And we got changed. When they found me, I was big, orange, and stuck in friggin' Mexico.

[hulk]

[ ...Oh. Well then. He looks between his hand, the food, and Ben a few times, then slowly takes a couple of pieces of sesame chicken. Or he was going to until-- ]

...You're. Richards is your best buddy? [ (unsure)........ ] Th- Oh.

[ a w k w a r d because Ben is actually a nice person? As opposed to Reed. TELL ME I'M WRONG ]

But. Yeah, everything going to, you know. Sounds familiar.

[clobberin]

[ Yeeeah, Ben senses your unsure there, Bruce. He can always tell when somebody from the City has met Reed, 'cause the response is basically always the same. A nice way of putting it would be to say that Reed's a bit unpopular with the crowd here. And it isn't that Ben doesn't see why-- it's just that he's sure (he hopes) that the Reed he knows and loves is still in there somewhere.

He exhales. Settles deeper into the couch cushions. ]

He's really not all that bad. Reed, I mean.

[hulk]

[ dasfawieklf urk ]

No, n- I'm sure that. He's... An okay guy. Really.

[ Maybe.

Shoving food in his mouth to avoid talking ohgod. ]

[clobberin]

[ There's an affectionate sort of wryness to Ben's voice. ]

You don't gotta pretend, y'know. It ain't gonna hurt my feelings if you don't like him. I get it-- Reed's sorta an acquired taste.

[hulk]

Oh. [ Chokes down his dumplings then. ] ...Then no offense, but he's really kind of creepy. Or has been with me. Which usually I'd just write off as it being me, but. Apparently it's-- Not.

[ Awkward. Oh, hey - paying attention to the game. ]