Ohhhhhh my gosh I struggled SO much on this chapter I just wanted them to have the PERFECT date and nothing I wrote seemed good enough and Bruce deserves the best and he's stuck with my writing! XD In the end I just went 'screw it' and threw in some good old angst I hope y'all enjoy ^^'
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The next morning Bruce stood dumbfounded as he stared at Solerah. She had plaited one side of her inverted bob cut and tucked the other side behind her ear but what really drew his attention was her choice in attire. She was wearing a flowing pastel rainbow ombre dress. The light pinks, blues, yellows and greens all splattered and meshed together. It was nothing like the short tight black cocktail dress she wore and as much as Bruce knew he would never be able to get that image out of his brain he decidedly liked this dress better. It was just... So her. There wasn't any other way to describe it. It was bright and beautiful and a little bit over the top for his taste just like she was.
"You look..."
Stunning, beautiful, perfect, I think I love you...
"... Nice."
"Really?" She looked down at herself and spun around, causing the shimmery opaque dress to flutter. "Thanks!" She smiled at him, she wanted to look nice since it's not often she got to go out into the city just to have fun that and she may or may not have wanted to look a little extra nice to impress him. She looked at Bruce's clothing, a sleek dark button up tucked into black slacks secured with a belt as she tilted her head to the left and gave him a lopsided grin. "Well you look pretty snazzy yourself!" More then just snazzy, goodness gracious you clean up nice! She hoped her staring wasn't too obvious.
Bruce turned his head and forced a cough so he could bring his hand to his face to hide his blush. He's not about to admit he tried to coordinate his clothing just a little more, okay maybe a lot more then usual or the fact that he shaved and tried to fix his hair for this, this definitely not date, this casual outing between two friends, this activity he was doing with another person as apposed to individually.
"Thanks."
"Let's go!" She giggled excitedly and took his arm, dragging him towards the elevator to reach above ground. He felt the cool touch of the bangles she wore against his skin and that grounded him just a little. She bounced on her heels in the elevator, humming as she watched the digital display of the floors going up.
"Sooooo my sunshine, any ideas for what we should do today?!"
Bruce pulled out a folded piece of paper from his pocket and started reading off it, before Solerah quickly interrupted him, peering at the creased paper. "Wait hold on! You wrote a list for this?"
"Uh-yes?" Bruce held the paper in his grip a little bit tighter, scanning over her face for any negative response. He kicked himself internally. He knew it was a stupid idea to write an itinerary the night before! But he couldn't seem to calm his frayed nerves any other way. Solerah only grinned wider and Bruce was starting to worry her cheeks would split at the rate her smile was going.
"That's pretty neat!"
"... It is?"
"Yeah! I never plan anything like that! It's nice to have a little organisation once in a while! My plan was to just walk around until something interesting happened." The way she smiled at him made Bruce feel more relaxed. Last night he had wracked his brain for ideas and researched everything they could of done.
"There's a museum in the city."
Bruce stopped going to museums a long time ago, afraid he would break all the priceless treasures. But if he had to go somewhere that felt like the safest bet. It could be a good test to see how controlled he was now too.
"A museuem huh?" She gave him a sly grin causing him to raise his brows in confusion.
"What?"
"That is such a YOU thing to suggest!"
"Well l was actually going to suggest skydiving but then l decided against it." Sarcasm was laced in every word as he returned her grin.
They stepped out of the elevator and into the visible warehouse that disguised C.O.D.E.X. and Solerah took the lead, chatting to the agent and filling out the necessary forms that were required when someone went off base.
Time Of Check Out: 10:07am
People Leaving: Bruce Banner and Solerah The Super Awesome Mega Power Babe
Reason For Check Out: Fun!
Signing Out Vehicle: (√)
Extra Details: Alfred Redgrave smells.
She strolled back to Bruce casually as she twirled a set of keys around her index finger. "Can you drive?" Bruce nodded so Solerah threw the keys at him. He fumbled a little at the sudden action but caught them.
"Great! You can drive then!"
"You can't?"
"Well I mean I CAN but Alfie says I shouldn't. Something about fearing for his life whenever he's in a car with me." She waved it off as she headed towards their assigned car for the day. It wasn't anything fancy, just a plain white car that wouldn't be noticed or picked out. They hopped in and Solerah immediately called control of the radio after she rolled down her window. Bruce mumbled out a "Sure" as he started the engine and began driving. She flicked through the channels before she landed on the latest hits station.
"I LOVE THIS SONG!"
"This song is terrible." Bruce responded as he frowned at the annoying pop song blaring on the radio.
"I know! It's so stupid! That's why I love it!" She burst out into song and Bruce ended up smiling, her logic made no sense to him but who was he to judge.
He glanced at her every now and then as she belted out each note and waved her hands to the beat as her hair whipped around in the wind. He tapped his finger against the steering wheel as she sang. He always heard her hum or harmonise her words but he had never actually heard her singing properly. She was good. She was better then good. Bruce also liked the fact that her singing meant he didn't have to talk and that completely eliminated any awkward small talk that could arise from a car trip.
Once they were parked and out of the car Bruce awkwardly offered his arm, allowing Solerah to loop hers around his extended arm.
"Why thank you good sir." She spoke in a playful tone as they began to walk to their first destination. Solerah had forbidden the subject of work and science leaving Bruce to have to pull himself out of his comfort zone which he could honestly say he didn't mind doing so as much as he thought he would. Solerah had a strange talent for making him feel like everything was new again, like everything was fresh and exciting and she even made him want to go out and explore these new things. He felt like he could do almost anything with her linked to his arm.
They entered the museum and Solerah looked around in awe. As they wandered through the various exhibits and displays Bruce's natural instincts for knowledge kicked in and he integrated himself seamlessly into the surroundings. This was where Bruce was most at ease, all around facts and information so clear and precise. He took charge as he lead Solerah around, explaining whatever peaked her interest and made her point at.
"You're so smart BB."
"You know I'm just reading the labels for most of these right?"
"Well yeah but I like hearing you explain it."
She hugged the arm she was holding and rested her head against his shoulder. With a small burst of confidence Bruce grinned proudly at himself as Solerah tugged his arm moving to the next section. She broke away from him when they reached the dinosaur exhibit and ran to the life sized displays.
"Bruce they're me size!" She squealed excitedly raising her arms up and standing on her toes. He shook his head at her before walking up to her. "They're so cute! Ohhh I want one~" She squeaked looking up lovingly into the Tyrannosaurus Rex's eyes.
"A dinosaur wouldn't exactly make a good pet Sol."
"Yeah but imagine the look of fear in your foes face as you ride one into battle!" She clenched her fists excited at the idea. Bruce wrapped an arm around her waist and lead her away from the display so that some children behind them could see it and over to different fossils and bones.
As the day progressed Bruce found it harder and harder to ignore the nagging thoughts at the back of his mind. He watched from the parents bench with the other adults as Solerah sat cross legged on the floor with children huddled around her as they watched an interactive demonstration video, playing with them and helping them with reading bigger words. Bruce honestly didn't know who was more excited between her and the kids.
Left to his own thoughts his mind wondered to Solerah. Solerah was nice. TOO nice even. It wasn't so much that she was naive but she put herself in dangerous or unpleasant situations for the benefit of the doubt of someone. She was too trusting for Bruce's liking and it gave him more of a reason to want to protect her. Protect her from harm and protect her from men with impure intentions, he'd seen the way people looked at her all while she remained innocently oblivious and he felt his rage build up when it happened unless he quickly whisked her away from that situation. Rage... Flashes of the Hulk sprung to mind. What he really needed was to protect her from himself...
Bruce was use to being alone. After everything that happened he was ready to live life alone, he almost welcomed it with how awkward he was anyway. He would be fine alone, but Solerah? He watched as she interacted so easily with the children and anyone around her. Would it even be fair to take her away from that? Surely it would happen if she stayed with him since they'd be no way he'd ever be able to settle somewhere.
They soon left the museum and Bruce silenced his thoughts in favour of taking her to their next destination. They entered a bookstore giving the clerk a smile and wave of acknowledgement. Bruce was worried about this stop, he wasn't sure how interested she would be in books but those worries quickly vanished when she let go of him to run into the store and look around.
"I'm going to look at fantasy!" Solerah ran off and they started browsing the shelves individually. This was so much fun! She was having a blast! She traced the book spines along the shelf before picking out a second hand book and holding it up to her nose, closing her eyes and inhaling deeply. When she opened them she saw a man staring at her oddly.
"Uhhh, old books smell nice you know?" She let out a weak laugh and grinned awkwardly as she returned the book to its place and quickly shuffled away from the man. There was something precious about books she had to admit. She did find a certain strange comfort in being surrounded by books. Alfred had really taught her to appreciate the value of them.
She peered over the shelf and saw Bruce browsing. She smiled at him, he now had his glasses perched on his nose and was flipping through a book. She sighed dreamily as she gazed at him before quickly snapping out of it, deciding she didn't want to get any more strange glances.
After she had her fun and pick of books she went to the register to buy them and turned when Bruce walked up beside her.
"What did you get?"
"Oh just some neat looking fairytales." He looked at the spines of the masterworks she had found as they were being scanned.
"I really like fairytales! Good morals I think." She nodded to herself before she looked at the bag he was holding.
"What'd you buy!?"
"Just some science books."
"Boring." She made a sour face as she moved backwards away from the bag.
Bruce wasn't about to admit the stack of books he bought were various self help books on controlling anger, calming techniques and other similar things.
Now more then ever he had to get rid of the other guy. He wanted to be with Solerah. He wanted to be able to hold her, kiss her and touch her without having to worry about hurting her but he couldn't. He frowned as they left the bookstore. He couldn't even have sex, how could he possibly expect her to even want a relationship with him if she knew that.
Solerah's eyes lit up with excitement when they arrived at a small gelato shop. "We're getting iced cream?!" She squeaked as she looked at him smiling.
"I'm going to go deaf by the end of this day." Bruce teased her as they entered. A small bell rang when the door opened. Solerah wasted no time pressing her hands against the glass and peered at all the tubs containing the colourful ice cream.
"I want every flavour!"
"You can have one."
"Three!"
Two."
"Deal!"
The girl at the counter smiled at them as she took their orders and soon enough they were sitting outside the shop, at a table with a shade umbrella. Solerah tore right into her chocolate and cookies and cream cone as Bruce slowly ate his caramel with walnuts cone. They sat in a comfortable silence and while he was enjoying it, it sadly meant his mind was free to wonder again.
He kicked himself mentally for letting Solerah come blazing her way into his life. With that sweet face and smile and love for everything around her. The simplest things brought her joy and she found the good in anything. How could a person always be so eager to help someone? She actually cared about him and he wanted that. He wanted so desperately for someone to care for him and he wanted to be able to care for someone just as much.
Since his time at C.O.D.E.X Solerah quickly became the most important thing in his life and that scared him. He became use to their routine and the idea of her not being in his life now was unimaginable and that was dangerous. She didn't just see the good in him, she saw all the bad and for whatever reason she still wanted him.
"This was the best day I've had in a long time." Bruce admitted as he people watched.
"Me too." Solerah spoke in a much quieter voice then she usually did that Bruce almost didn't hear her. "I haven't had this much fun in ages and I think it wouldn't of mattered what we did, I just... I really just love being with you Bruce." She reached out and held his hand, giving him a small contented smile as Bruce linked their fingers.
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Eventually they made their way back to the base and towards the lab. Bruce needed to check on some time sensitive experiments and Solerah decided she wanted to go with him. Bruce was getting more and more conflicted. He checked everything he needed to on his computer as Solerah had seated herself in her swivel chair, twirling around. When she stopped after getting too dizzy she smiled at him and the way she looked at him just made everything all the more harder.
"We can't do this anymore."
"Do what?" Solerah looked confused, tilting her head to the side.
"This, us, everything!" Bruce gestured between the two of them. "Solerah..." He made a conscious effort to use her full name. "I don't want to see you anymore."
This made her stand, the chair pushed and fell back violently. "What are you talking about?!" Bruce ran a hand through his hair and stared at the ground as he tried to pull together the right words.
"I think we need to stop seeing each other..."
That statement tore a hole right through Solerah's heart. What was happening?
"Why...?" She barely managed to breathe out. "I thought we had fun today? Did I do something wrong?"
"No! No you didn't. It's me Solerah."
She deadpanned at him. "You're really going to expect me to be happy with that answer? I'm an alien but I'm not stupid."
"I'm not normal Solerah. I-" Bruce didn't know how to finish that sentence but it didn't matter as Solerah had crossed her arms and spoke anyway.
"Not normal? So? What? You want normality in your life? You're forcing the idea onto yourself. Who cares!? If you want it so much then let me be your piece of normality Bruce."
"How can you even say that when you're not normal either!"
Solerah froze.
She felt like there was a deep cut in her chest that she couldn't explain and Bruce's eyes widened at what he had just said, immediately regretting it. It was just he felt so boxed in at that moment so he lashed out! He didn't mean it! He felt his stomach clench painfully as he saw tears well up in her eyes.
"Solerah I-I'm sorry. I-I didn't mean that! It's just that I'm a radiated freak, you-" Bruce quickly tried to explain but Solerah cut him off, raising her hand to silence him. Her tears were gone and she was glaring at him.
"You're a freak... YOU'RE a freak?! You say you're a freak but your not! Look at you Bruce! A man who sometimes turns into a 'monster' you're a human! Look at me! LOOK AT ME!"
Solerah growled, she grabbed the corners of her dress and lifted it over her head, throwing it to the ground as she grew back into her true self. Not bothering with her shoes, they burst off and the fabric of her stretchy bra and the shorts she was wearing under her dress were pushed to the limit. She had made sure to wear something that could stretch out in case of an emergency to cover her modesty.
"Look at me Bruce..." She spoke in a much softer tone, pushing her now long white hair out of her face. "A monster who sometimes turns into a human. I'm the freak here Bruce... But when I'm with you I feel normal. You MAKE me feel normal Bruce! You make me feel safe and happy and you make me forget the horrible thing I really am! I was hoping, I was hoping I could do the same for you..."
Bruce felt his heart ache at how highly she regarded him and he wanted to say the same thing, to hold her and make this whole argument disappear. What came out of his mouth instead was much different. "You're out of your mind Solerah! You're crazy! Out of everyone there is you had to pick me to hang around with? Don't you understand I'm trying to protect you!"
"Well... You're doing a terrible job!"
With that Solerah stomped her foot and marched towards the door. It slid open and she stepped outside, ducking over sideways so she could face him one more time. "You just pretend that I am slamming this door!" She pouted at him, making a motion with her hands before running away as the automatic door slid closed.