AN: So, this little piece was born thanks to a wonderful little blog on tumbler called askbruceandnatasha (if you're not following, you really should, the fan art is ah-mazing). The art which inspired this piece consisted of Natasha wearing Bruce's glasses.
It is also a piece I'm very fond of, since I've technically re-written it like a thousand times (fine, three). I do warn that this is FLUFF, in fact, it's pretty much fluff without plot. But who doesn't love a little otp fluff?
Again, not mine. Mistakes are my own.
"Hey Nat, have you seen my -" Bruce called from outside his room, knowing she would still be sitting on his bed, with her laptop in place, a frown on her face and small curses, both in Russian and English, being uttered as she tried to finish up the work which shouldn't have taken her more than a couple of hours to do. It was nearing the end of the second day and she was still going at it, trying to decode a message sent by one of the Hydra soldiers to what they all assumed would be the person now in control of the organization. But the message had been both encrypted and written in a code which was not registered in any known database.
"Glasses?" He finished, a small smile creeping unto his lips as he took notice of her, exactly as he had pictured her, curses and all. He leaned against the door frame to his bedroom, appreciating the seconds it was taking her to quietly finish insulting Stark tech to marvel in the view she was offering him.
She was dressed in one of his shirts –unbuttoned-, her feet tucked in beneath her, her lower lip being chewed by her teeth; her red, curly hair uncombed and all over her face. But he stopped and concentrated his eyes on her own orbs, framed by his glasses, slowly dripping down her nose as she squinted at the laptop.
"I have been staring at this all day." She grumbled. "I think I feel my brain pounding, yelling at me to crack this so it can get some rest."
"You'll get the hang of it, I'm sure. You're the smartest person I know." He told her, sincerity in his words.
She turned to him then, her eyes staring at him from over the rim of his own glasses, clearly choosing to ignore the fact he had been looking for them.
"I don't know whether to be flattered or worried about you Banner. I'm smart, the person who designed this is obviously one of the few who are smarter than me. I'm saddened to admit it, but they do exist." She offered him, a wry smile on her face before diverting her gaze back to the screen and the complicated string of numbers it was constantly throwing at her.
"If they are, than they are only slightly smarter." He gave her, his body still not moving from where it rested against the door frame.
Natasha chuckled at his words -an echo of her own wording-, remembering she had said something similar to Steve once.
She quickly eyed him again, doing a quick assessment of his body. He looked casual and even somewhat relaxed, wearing only his dress pants, his hair wet from a shower and his face shaven and ready for Stark's annual New Year's -extravaganza.
She knew him to not be a great fan of parties, getting tense and anxious whenever he found himself in the midst of even a small gathering of people. But Tony had begged him and Bruce had a soft spot for the billionaire, one which Natasha could not fathom how it had come to exist.
She had been invited too -along with everyone who was currently staying at the Tower- and she had accepted the invite, mostly because of Bruce, because she knew the whole experience would be better if they were to attend together.
She hadn't expected to get so caught up in work, not in something which should have been an easy task.
Maria Hill had already been informed of the complications Natasha had encountered, the call having been far more embarrassing than the former spy would have liked it to be. Bruce had chuckled as she had admitted to him the feeling, kissing her head and calling her a dork. She had thrown a pillow at him for that.
"Slightly, yes, but enough to have already made me miss this whole day and now probably make me miss the night." She grumbled out in a way which Bruce thought adoring, but knew best to keep the comment to himself.
"I thought you hadn't been so keen an attending, had called it a 'Stark extravaganza' or something." He threw at her as he moved inside his room, going over to his closet, his mind diving itself between observing the half-naked woman on his bed and trying to choose a proper shirt for the party.
"I wasn't." She answered firmly, biting her lower lip and scrunching towards the computer. "But I haven't seen you all day, I have been -damn it! It changed again. Poshyol ty'"
Bruce turned with raised eyebrows, but knew better than to give any type of comment. Just as when he miscalculated something inside his lab and got frustrated and liked to be left alone to repair whatever damage he had done, he knew Natasha was the same. She normally never blinked when a mistake was made, she would assess the situation and make the mistakes work in her favor without anyone taking notice of them. He would sometimes be able to catch her discomfort, in the quirk of an eye or a slight purse of her lips, but she had never voiced out her distress before.
"This thing has been keeping me locked up, and doing nothing but stare at the screen. I swear my eyes are seeing blurry now." She added, her voice tight and -Bruce could tell- tired. She had been working on that thing for two days, barely even remembering to eat. The only time he had managed to distract her had been -
The reason she was now dressed in only his dress shirt, the yellow one she loved stealing from him when he wasn't looking. Well that, and his glasses.
"I say your attire doesn't really back up your wording, Miss Romanoff." He commented, a smirk playing on his lips, clearly amused with his own wit.
Natasha blinked and smirked back, her eyes suddenly gaining a twinkle of mirth and playfulness Bruce swore he would never get used to seeing.
"Aren't we feeling bold tonight, Dr. Banner? She teased, looking at him ransacking through his drawers trying to find a tie, his torso now being blocked from view by one of his white dress shirts hanging loosely over him, not fully buttoned.
"Well I don't know what exactly it is you're feeling, though I have a pretty good inkling as to what it might be." He turned, a red tie in his hand, the one she had given him for his birthday.
His eyes were both mischievous and shy at the same time, a combination which Natasha had figured, Bruce had long ago mastered perfectly. It was a look that made Natasha's insides skip and her mind cloud for a second before remembering that she had to finish the job -she had already let Bruce distract her once.
But he took a step towards her, his pace slow but steady as he walked towards the bed, his hands trying to accommodate his tie, even if he still hadn't properly buttoned up his shirt -dork.
His eyes were on her, and suddenly Natasha found herself unable to clearly read him; something which didn't happen often. And so his lingering stare made it difficult for Natasha to fully resume her work. Her peripheral vision continued to scan over the data, but her main concentration was on the man before her.
"Oh yeah? Hit me with it Banner." She challenged, her voice becoming slightly airy, not at all in control of the situation and finding that she did not mind, not when it was Bruce Banner and it was New Year's Eve and she desperately found herself wanting nothing more than to spend the Eve as she had originally planned: in bed, with Bruce -Tony and his party be damned.
He got closer, scrunching down so that his face could be leveled with hers, inches away from her, enjoying the feeling of being the one in control of their little banter for once. It was -amusing and nerve wracking at the same time.
He took a deep breath before answering, "Probably very dizzy. Nat, you don't need glasses."
Her look was priceless: her eyebrows shot up, her mouth hanging a little open as she realized what he had just done. Her initial reaction was then followed by a glare, one which Bruce might have been afraid of once, but now, now he knew it to be one her gentler stares, one which clearly said she was far more amused than truly annoyed.
"My eyes were starting to hurt, figured you wouldn't mind lending me a pair, since you know -you keep like five of these lying around your floor." She threw back at him, her eyes teasing and her body suddenly gravitating away from his, not missing the slight hunch of his body as she returned to her work station, the computer still running her last scan.
"I don't leave them-"
"I bet you ten bucks you have an extra pair lying around right in this room." She interrupted, a smirk on her face, enjoying how the dynamic had suddenly shifted, with her being the one who now made Bruce stutter and not the other way around.
"Nat, this is ridiculous. I have to get ready if I want to arrive early to-"
"Twenty bucks?" She suggested, her smirk still in place, her eyes playful and somewhat adoring.
Bruce gulped as he buttoned his last button up.
Natasha turned the sudden impulse of relieving him from his clothes, down.
"Done." He agreed, his voice neutral, his eyes quickly wondering around his room, over his drawer and bed, content in the memory that he hadn't left any of his extra pairs in them.
Natasha didn't pout, but she did think of doing it as she saw Bruce turning away from the bed, his mind changing its focus from her to the task she had given him. The man was a genius, but he could be dense.
She moved her laptop out of the way, not before checking the program's decoding progress, and slowly made her way towards the edge of the bed. Her look was almost predatory, her movements airy and sensual, trying to get Bruce's attention back to her.
She didn't have to keep her act up for long, as soon as she had moved, Bruce had stopped his search and turned back to her, his eyes raised in question, quickly changing into a darker tone, one which had Natasha biting her lip over.
"Nat, I call foul play. I have to get ready, Tony-" He stammered out, but nevertheless slowly moved towards her once again, his tie loose around his neck, his feet still bare, his hair humid from his earlier shower.
"Has Pepper to keep him company. I have you." She almost pranced on him, but always observant, Bruce caught her midair and helped her ease down as she kissed him. Bruce reacted almost instantly, giving just as much as she was, matching her sudden desire all too well.
His shirt slid off her quite easily, and had her wickedly grinning against their kiss. Bruce struggled with his buttons and Natasha took his tie off before they both collapsed back unto his bed, making it wobble and rock.
Both let out small laughs as Natasha's back hit the bed and Bruce's hand reached out to steady the laptop she had left on top of the messed up sheets.
"See, a hero in every sense of the word." She got out between laughs, a glint in her eyes which made Bruce smile back.
"I think I should be the one who gets worried. You're getting sappy Romanoff." He teased, rolling off of her, his hands encountering an extra pair of glasses tangled within the sheets and quickly hiding them.
"Yeah well, that's what I get from hanging out around you so much." She threw back right before a ding was heard from her laptop.
"What-"
Natasha cut him off, reaching for his shirt and swiftly throwing it back on, taking the laptop away from an aroused Bruce.
It was done, she was in.
Bruce sighed, understanding the importance of what had just occurred. Besides, he thought, he truly had to get ready if he planned on arriving early to Tony's party, so that he wouldn't be frowned upon as he announced he would be leaving it early.
Natasha heard his sigh and understood his thought of defeat, knowing him to be too respectful and modest to interfere with her work. Oh, but he didn't get to rile her up as he had done and just leave her to take care of herself, not when he still didn't have a shirt on and half his fly was undone.
So she saved the files she had finally gotten and made sure to make copies so she wouldn't lose them before loudly shutting off the device.
Bruce startled and turned his head towards where he had heard the sound. He gulped as his eyes landed on Natasha, his shirt fisted in her hands, her hair framing her face in an almost ethereal way and her eyes staring straight at him, teasing and inviting -aroused.
"Wasn't that-" He tried to get out, but his brain shut down half way down his question as Natasha reached him, her arms circling behind his neck, her face so close to his it was taking Bruce all of his control to not simply dive in and kiss her.
"You think you can come here and distract me without anything to show for it?"
She was playing with him, her voice as strict as she could make it, her eyes serious, but her body almost melting into his.
"But work- and Tony's-" He tried again, this time gulping as she brushed her lips lightly over his.
"Seriously Bruce, if you don't finish what you started when you came in here I swear there's gonna be blood." She breathed out, her eyes piercing through his and then lowering down to his lips, her own mouth slightly parting as he slowly dove in.
"The party-" He got out as he broke for air.
Natasha's hands grabbed his face, made him remain in place as she uttered her next words.
"Bruce, it's New Year's Eve, and I want to spend it with you, in bed; not worrying about Tony and Clint, and Maria and Hydra. Tonight is my night off, and I want to spend it with you."
Bruce could only gulp at her fierceness, her determination and her desperation.
"I adore you, you know?" He answered, kissing her lightly, chasing her lips as she laid back once more.
"You're a dork, Dr. Banner." She responded as she breathed, her hands running through his hair, her eyes glued to his swollen lips. "But I adore you anyway."
He dove in and kissed her again, harder than before, without a trace of doubt or worry.
His shirt fell from her grasp and his pants somehow joined it soon enough. It was only after both were bare, chests heaving and bodies aching when she whispered to him, a teasing tone in her voice.
"You owe me twenty bucks Banner."
Bruce groaned loudly and almost childlike before his lips landed on her neck, his kisses making her shiver and give out little moans.
Bruce smiled against her skin, having decided that a New Year's Eve in bed with Natasha definitely had no price.
And so they remained in his bed, enjoying each other, teasing, talking, simply resting as the night ticked by.
"Happy New Year, Nat." He murmured, kissing her crown, tucking her closer to his side, enjoying the warmth of her body.
Natasha smiled against his torso. "Happy New Year, Bruce."
They both could hear everyone down at the party, cheering and laughing and not minding the absence of two of their friends.
"You still owe me the money." She commented once the cheering had died down.
Bruce chuckled against her, Natasha enjoyed how she could feel the vibrations of it.
"Only if you get your own pair of glasses."
She didn't even hesitate, just snuggled closer, surprising him with her action. "Deal."
AN: Hope you enjoyed my little Fluff Fest!