Disclaimer: I don't own Marvel. Stella and the plot are mine.
"I need your help."
"Well this is new. What do you need help with? Being humble?"
"Oh ha-ha. Let me ask you a question. Of the two people in the room who is a billionaire and who is a socially awkward scientist?"
"Harsh."
"I'll get you a band-aid. But I need your help first."
"Go on."
"Distract Stella for a few hours for me."
"Why?"
"Look at this date in her master file."
"That's today."
"Yep."
"So...oh. I get it."
"Careful, don't hurt yourself. But yeah, take her out. Woo her. You know, be me."
"Oh, no one can be you, Tony."
"I know. But just try."
Bruce really hated Tony sometimes. He wouldn't be in this situation if it hadn't been for him. Stupid Tony and his stupid ideas. Although, the caring side of Tony was refreshing so at least that was something, even if the caring was directed towards Stella and Pepper and basically no one else. Oh well.
Bruce stared across the table at Stella and couldn't help but smile despite his feeling of complete idiocy. She was staring intently down at her plate of pasta and trying (and failing) to twirl some onto her fork. After watching Bruce successfully spin the noodles onto his own fork, Stella thought it would be 'a piece of cake,' as Tony usually said. She had been wrong and there wasn't even cake.
Her face, screwed in concentration, was adorable in Bruce's eyes. It slightly made up for the fact that he was the most awkward date ever. He wasn't trying to be. It just always happened that way. When Tony suggested that Bruce take her out to Little Italy and show her italian food, he had mentally cringed. Bruce and sauce covered pasta never went well together. He was thankful he had chosen a black button down shirt.
Stella failed again. The pasta would just not stay on her fork. She 'humphed!' and set her fork down onto her pasta bowl. The loud clatter startled her and made her jump in her seat slightly. Bruce chuckled as she sighed. She was way too endearing to him.
"I do not know how you eat this food. It is impossible."
"It's not really once you get the hang of it. Here," Bruce reached his hand forward and held it out. "I'll show you."
Stella took his hand and he showed her how to hold the fork in preparation for pasta spinning. Slowly, he used his thumb and pointer finger to maneuver her own against her fork. She watched, amazed, as the pasta began to scoop up and not slip off. The feeling of his skin against hers was calming.
"Some people use a spoon to twirl it against," Bruce said softly to her without taking his eyes off the pasta. He was focused intently on helping her learn. "But I don't."
"Then I will do it as you do," she gave him a gentle smile, no longer looking at what he was doing with her hands but rather at his handsome, focused face.
He smiled up at her and removed his hand from hers. There was an immediate absence of heat and Bruce had a feeling that he would never get over that instant feeling of emptiness whenever he let go of her. Stella marveled at the perfectly spun pasta before eating the forkful. She moaned in delight.
"This is most delicious, Bruce," she covered her mouth while she spoke. "Thank you for showing me this small Italy."
"Little Italy," Bruce corrected her with a smile.
"Is there a big Italy?" She wondered.
Bruce laughed and shook his head, "It's just called Italy. It's in Europe."
"What is Europe?"
"It's a continent, like North America."
"And that is where we are right now?"
"North America, yeah."
Stella's eyes widened, "The world is quite large. Is there a Little Earth?"
Bruce laughed out loud, "No, no. Just one."
Stella went to say something but then noticed a lot of the patrons in the restaurant staring at her. She became uncomfortable and squirmed in her seat. Why were they staring?
"Bruce," she said lowly. "People are staring. I do not understand."
Bruce looked around and noticed the stares as well. He shrank in his seat. Attention was not something he or the Other Guy liked at all.
"They're staring at us."
"Why?" She continued in her low whisper.
"Because they know, uh-"
"What we are?" Stella asked with sad eyes.
Bruce winced, "Yeah. They know what we are."
Stella drew in a deep breath and looked around, "We are no different from them, Bruce."
"Yes we are," he said sadly, thinking of all the normalcy that he could never have - like eating a peaceful dinner in Little Italy.
Stella roughly stood up, her seat making a loud scraping noise as it shot out from behind her, "Then we do not belong here with their ridicule."
All eyes continued to stare at her in the little hole in the wall restaurant and she frowned at every single one of them.
"I do not know why you choose to stare at us, but I would never stare at you. It is unfair and quite rude. I am not from here and even I was taught manners."
A few people looked back down to their dinners, slightly ashamed.
Stella looked down at Bruce with a large, expectant smile, "Shall we go?"
Bruce grinned back at her, stood from his seat, placed some money down on the table, and held his hand out for her to take. He laced her fingers through his and felt a small blush creep up onto his cheeks but yet couldn't help but also feel completely content.
"Yeah, let's go. I want to show you something."
"Thor, why would you eat that?"
"It is made to look like real food, Lady Pepper. I was under the assumption that it was! This is most off-putting."
"That's because it's made of wax."
"I was not warned of this."
"We'll make a sign next time."
"That would be greatly appreciated."
Tony walked up to Pepper as Thor walked away. The billionaire and his girlfriend both had straight, unamused faces.
"He just eat the fake fruit?"
"Yep."
Stella had once overheard Tony and Steve arguing over whether losing one's sight or one's hearing was worse. Steve had argued hearing was worse because although things change their shape, noises tend to stay the same. Stella thought that maybe Steve preferred hearing over sight because he did not particularly like the time period he had been thrown into. Tony, on the other hand as usual, argued that sight was more important. How else would he see all the 'awesome' that he created?
Stella believed that she would have to agree with Tony. Being blind was not very fun and it had taken her until now to realize this.
Bruce laughed at her pout as he covered her eyes with his warm hands. She had complained about not knowing where to go the entire time even though Bruce had assured her that he would not let her fall, that she would be safe with him.
"You're safe, you know," he told her again as he led her onto an elevator. "I'm not going to let you fall."
"It is not me I am worried about," she said. He could feel her eyebrows shift underneath his hands. "It is you."
He chuckled a little, "Why are you worried about me?"
"Because I care about what happens to you," she said simply.
Bruce's heart fluttered, "Yeah? So do you think something is going to happen to me right now?"
She shrugged, "I can not be sure. But if something does then I will not be able to see it."
"You know that I didn't take your vision permanently, right?" He leaned in close to her ear as he maneuvered her off the elevator. She shivered as his warm breath danced on her skin. It was a stark contrast to the cool air of wherever they had just entered.
Her eyes widened underneath his hands, "You did not?"
He laughed and shook his head even though she couldn't see, "No, I didn't." He removed his hands, "See?"
"Yes, now I can- oh, my!" She stopped midway through and gasped at the sight before her.
"This doesn't even make sense. Why would the ice sculpture go there?"
"Clint, I didn't know you were interested in these sorts of things. We need to hang this banner."
"I'm not, Tasha. But look! That's completely in the wrong spot."
"I don't see a problem with it."
"You don't- what? There's too much going on on this side of the room! It's off balance!"
Natasha blinked, "What is wrong with you?"
"Who put that ice sculpture there?" Pepper yelled from across the room.
"Thank you!" Clint shouted to no one in particular.
Natasha let the banner fall from her hands and walked away, already wanting to kill everybody in the room.
The buildings of New York City were brilliantly lit down below. The lights twinkled and shined against the deep purples and dark blues of the sky. The cool air gently whipped against her face as the sounds on the streets below faded to nothing but dim background noise. They were so high up, so high above everybody else. Stella turned to Bruce and gave him a huge smile.
"What is this place?"
Bruce looked self conscious, like he didn't think he was that impressive of a guy, "It's the Empire State Building. Thought you might like the view."
"Bruce," Stella said softly as she walked over to him, "this is wonderful. Nobody has showed me so much beauty before. Have you ever seen so much?" She asked the last question with wide arms as she returned her gaze to the breathtaking view.
Bruce put his hands in his pockets and shrugged to himself, looking at Stella.
"Every day," he whispered as he watched her marvel at the cityscape.
Her pink hair was blowing in the wind and he could smell the scent of rain. He had checked the forecast before they had left Stark Tower (a ticking time bomb of a guy needed to know these things in case something terrible happened) and there was no chance of rain. Taking a deep breath in, he sighed in contentment.
Stella turned from the view and looked at Bruce. He was standing quite a ways behind her, hands in his pockets, looking down at his shoes. She felt her insides constrict as the wind tousled his messy hair, his slightly too big shirt rippling in the breeze. Bruce amazed her in every way possible. She used to not know what all of these feelings inside of her meant - the quickening pace of her heart, the sweat collecting on her palms, the flutter that pinged around in her chest - but now she knew. She'd seen it in the movies dozens of times.
"Bruce, I like you," she blurted out. Her eyes went slightly wide as she looked at him expectantly, her palms at her sides but her fingers spread out in anticipation. She was almost standing on her tip toes as her entire body tensed up at the revelation of her feelings.
Bruce's head snapped up at her words. He saw her standing there, a look of complete suspense on her face as she waited for him to reply. The sparkling lights of the city framed her face and he couldn't help but smile. She looked heaven-sent. She was heaven-sent.
"Mine doesn't look like that."
"That's because I don't suck."
"Tony."
"Steve."
"Boys," Pepper came up behind them with an exasperated look on her face. She looked at what Steve was holding, "Oh my god, who did that?"
Steve's face leveled and his shoulders slumped, "I did."
Pepper gently took the item away from the super soldier, "You know what? I'll do this, sweetie."
Tony childishly stuck out his tongue at the Captain. Pepper rounded on her boyfriend.
"Don't look so coy. I know you didn't do that," she pointed at Tony's lap. Tony frowned. How did she...?
"Lady Pepper!" Thor bellowed from across the room. "There seems to be a problem with this adhesive hanging device! I cannot free myself and require assistance."
Pepper groaned and quickly walked over to Thor.
"She called me sweetie," Steve whined as he sat on the floor like a three year old.
"Could be worse," Tony mumbled, bringing his palm to his forehead. "You could be covered in double sided tape like Thor."
They both watched as Pepper tried to untangled Thor from the tape. Clint was in the background arguing with Natasha over the banner and she kicked the ladder out from underneath him. The archer toppled to the ground. Thor paid no attention to them as he ripped himself out of his tape bonds.
"I am free!"
Steve and Tony shared a look.
"You're right. It could be worse."
"You are smiling," she whispered, her pose never relaxing, eyes still wide and expectant like a child's.
"I am," he grinned, nervous as hell but advancing towards her anyway.
She felt a smile pull at her lips and couldn't stop it from erupting over. "Why?" Her voice was still a whisper but Bruce could hear it.
"Because I like you too," he said shyly. It was a mumble, he realized, and he suddenly felt like he was back in middle school. Or high school. Or college...or actually any other time in his life ever.
Stella blinked and let out a sound of relief mixed with a small squeal, "You do?"
Bruce nodded, his hands still in his pockets, a blush already present on his cheeks as he said shyly, "It's pretty obvious, actually."
Stella's form relaxed a little. She was no longer on her toes and her fingers were no longer spread out. Instead, she wrung them out nervously in front of her, just as Bruce always did.
"I am not very good at noticing things," she said sheepishly. "That is obvious."
"You noticed me," Bruce looked down at her, running his hand through his hair in a nervous tic.
Stella looked up, "You are hard to not notice."
His lips twitched sadly, "Not many people say that."
Stella frowned, "Many people are foolish then."
"Why?" He whispered. Stella was unaware of how close their faces were but Bruce was very much aware.
Stella let out a small noise of surprise as her nose bumped his. Her eyes went slightly cross-eyed to look down the length of their noses. Now she was aware.
She answered at the same volume, "They are missing out on someone amazing."
"Stella..." Bruce couldn't even find words. His heart was beating so fast he thought he would either Hulk out (which really wouldn't do anybody any good) or pass out (which would be embarassing and still not good). Stella was so beautiful and somehow unaware of the effect she had on him. He couldn't think of anything except for her silvery grey eyes locked onto his and the scent of rain that drifted through his senses.
Stella gave him an apologetic smile, "I am sorry."
Bruce felt her small fingers slide between the spaces of his larger ones. He managed to formulate a response. "Sorry for what?"
"This is the moment when two people are supposed to kiss but I do not know how," she said bashfully, biting her lip in embarrassment.
It took everything in him for Bruce not to pass out on the spot.
His bottom lip trembled as did his words when he spoke, "I'll...I'll show you how."
He slowly pulled her in close and Stella realized that Tony really had been right. She would never want to lose her ability to see. She wouldn't be able to see Bruce's face, inches from hers, and his big, brown eyes filled with adoration and warmth. No, she would never want to miss out on this view.
Bruce took a deep breath and dipped his head down.
Tony slung an arm around Pepper's shoulders, feeling extremely accomplished.
"I'm a genius. This is great. I think I've found my true calling. How 'bout it, babe?"
"You didn't do anything," she shot back at him.
He shrugged, "I thought of it."
Pepper rolled her eyes and squirmed out of his grip, "Just call Bruce. I'm going to go help your boyfriend."
From across the room, Pepper had spotted Steve surrounded by a gang of giggling women. The Captain looked completely helpless and, to be honest, extremely scared. The look of relief that passed over his face when Pepper came over to break the group up was priceless.
Tony rolled his eyes. "As if he would be so lucky," he mumbled in reference to the boyfriend comment. He slid out his phone and dialed Bruce's number.
"It better be PG over there, Gamma-ray."
The blasting sound of Black Sabbath's "Iron Man" made Bruce and Stella jump back from each other. Bruce closed his eyes in annoyance. Damnit, Tony.
"Who is singing that?" Stella whipped her head around, trying to find the source of the noise. She looked to Bruce's pants, "Bruce! Your pants are singing!"
"It's just my phone," Bruce heaved out a large sigh and tried not to think about Stella looking at his pants. "It's Tony."
"Tony is your pho- oh. I see," she smiled at herself for understanding what Bruce meant. Tony was not the phone. He was simply calling.
"What do you want, Tony?" Bruce asked.
"Are you keeping your hands to yourself, Brucie-boy? Because if not I'll have to cut them off, you know."
"You have impeccable timing is all I'm going to say," Bruce said back flatly.
"Bruce was about to teach me to kiss and then you called! Hello, Tony!" Stella smiled into the phone.
Bruce, his hand against his forehead, could hear Tony laughing out loud, "Oh man, she is priceless. I love that tiny alien woman, I swear. Sorry to interrupt your schmoozing session but we need her back here now."
"A text wouldn't have worked?"
"Where's the fun in that? Did you like the ring tone I set for myself? Of course you did. Who am I kidding? That's classic."
"Adorable."
"I know I am. Now get her back here and no pit stops! Oh, gotta go. Natasha is about to kick some girl's ass. I can't miss this. Bye, lover-boy."
Tony hung up before Bruce could respond. He sighed and put his phone back in his pocket. As he turned to look at Stella, he felt a warm, delicate pressure spread across his lips, slightly off center. Two tiny hands gently pressed against his chest and he felt like he was standing in the middle of a summer's rain. Bliss seeped into his entire body and his lips curved upwards into a small smile. He pushed his lips back onto hers in response, moving them over and showing her where they were supposed to go.
Stella had never imagined that kissing would be so amazing. She had seen them many times in the movies but to feel one was much different. It was the greatest feeling she had yet to experience. The soft skin of Bruce's lips fit against hers in such a way that every fiber in her felt alive. She was pulsing with happiness and harmonic energy.
Bruce felt tingles dance up and down his spine as he pulled away from her. With his face still a breath away from hers, he looked down at her. She could feel his heart beating underneath her hands and she smiled back, a worried look in her shining eyes.
"Did I do it correctly?"
Bruce brought his hand up to cup her cheek and all he could manage was a throaty reply of, "Y-yeah."
She beamed up at him and giggled quietly. Bruce's heart burst with happiness and he dropped his head down to capture her lips in his again. Tony had said no pit stops but he never said no lingering in the same place, now did he? A few more minutes couldn't hurt...
Unbeknownst to the happy couple and the rest of New York City, Owen Reece was finalizing his master plan. He ran his hand along a pillar of the Bayonne Bridge, getting a feel for the construction of it, before quickly speeding off, undetected by those pesky S.H.I.E.L.D agents.
"Soon," he whispered to himself as the city zoomed by in his peripherals. "Soon."
So, I sincerely apologize for the wait. This class has consumed my entire life, I swear. I do nothing but study and occasionally eat. It's THAT bad. Anyway, I was finally able to get this one out! Yay!
I hope you all liked this :] I know I did. I debated whether I wanted them to kiss or not and that is part of the reason why this wasn't out yesterday like I had hoped. I have a problem where I make relationships develop painstakingly slow. I changed it up a little with this! I think it was time for them to advance, though. We're nearing the end of this story so I wanted to establish some sort of relationship before the sequel.
Also, I hope you all could follow along. I didn't want to give away the location of the other Avengers and what they were doing. Ya'll can probably take a good guess though! Comic Thor is always fun to write because in the comics he's always up to shenanigans. A little comic relief before the shit-storm arrives in a few chapters! I mean...what?
As usual, thank you all so much for the reviews and for sticking with me! I love you all to itty bitty pieces and I'd give you all hugs if I could! Have some internet hugs for now and stay tuned! :D