Thor Odinson never had to think much, about anything really. He grew up with a powerful father, a wonderful mother, and a weird brother. He was great at sports, so he played for any team he could while he was growing up and in high school. His father would coach teams, and even in high school when he wasn't a coach, he would yell at Thor from the sidelines, guiding him. Thor wasn't bad at school, either, but he found his classes to be dull, except for those that let his creativity shine. His goal in life was to make his father proud. And there was one thing about Thor that he knew would disappoint his father. It was a fact that Thor hid most desperately.
He was gay.
His father was disgusted when Thor's younger brother said that he was gender fluid, and would have disowned him or worse if their mother hadn't stepped in to save Loki. And so Thor knew to hide his true self from his father. His mother and brother were aware of his sexuality, but he made them vow to never speak of it to his father.
He never acted on his sexuality, agreeing to take girls on dates and to go to prom in high school. He always tried to avoid looking at guys the way he knew he should be looking at girls. Girls were nice and all, but there was just something about the way that guys moved through life that intrigued him.
His favorite guys were the nerdy ones. The ones who got so caught up in their thoughts and their experiments that they'd forget to eat or sleep or study for a midterm. He loved to see passion in people, because he never could find anything that he was truly passionate about. He had no idea what he wanted to do with his life, but he knew he wanted to be around people.
When he was a senior in high school, he was scouted by the university to play for their numerous teams. A full-ride scholarship. His father pushed him to choose a major - so he chose Communications. Maybe, if he looked hard, he could find a passion in life.
And when he moved into the dorms, his big concern was that his roommate would be another burly jock who hated gay people. He hated hiding who he was at home.
It never occurred to him that his dorm mate would be an adorable nerd.
Bruce Banner was a giant nerd. There was no denying that. He had to work hard for what he had, and spent almost all of his waking hours, and some of the hours when he should have been sleeping working on his science experiments, studying for school, and hoping that someday, he'd make a difference. He wasn't raised in a rich family, his father worked two jobs and his mom had three, and they were never home. Bruce was a sickly child and they were still paying off his medical bills, thanks to the insurance industry in America.
His parents were very supportive, always telling him that they were proud, and that they loved him. They accepted him when he came out as bisexual, and he was thankful for that, because he knew many teens did not have that kind of family life.
He had never seen such relief on his parents' faces when he got a full-ride to university. They encouraged him to shoot for his dreams, but he knew they were concerned about how expensive college was. Bruce had told himself that if he wasn't going to be able to get scholarships to school, he would go to a local community college and work as a lab assistant until he could afford university.
But he was glad when he got the scholarships. He'd have to work harder now, to make sure that he was able to keep his scholarship. He'd planned on working in the university library to help pay for his other expenses, and he hoped to get some internships with professors.
He was hoping that his roommate would be someone also interested in science, with a similar background and family history. Rich kids annoyed Bruce to no end, and jocks were even worse.
So he was rather disappointed when his dorm mate was Thor Odinson.
"Alright baby, we're leaving now. Make sure that you take your medicine, and wear shower shoes, and eat three meals a day, with a fruit or vegetable at each meal." Bruce's mother was overprotective, but he didn't mind. He had nearly died as a child, so it was expected that she would be concerned about him living away from home for the first time. His mother kissed him on the cheek, and his father gave him a warm hug, and then he was alone in his dorm room, his roommate not there yet.
He glanced at his half of the room - the desk was nice, and bed with drawers underneath was all he needed, it wasn't like he had a lot of stuff. He started to unpack his suitcase, folding and placing the clothes in the drawers underneath, placing his two pairs of shoes next to the bed carefully, before he went to unpack his things at his desk. His old clunky laptop sat sadly beside the well-used science equipment his high school science teacher gave him. He hung up a photo of him with his parents at his graduation, as well as some science posters. He put his sheets on the bed, and sat up on the bed against the wall, reading his very worn copy of "A Brief History of Time" by Stephen Hawking.
When the door to the dorm room opened, he was still reading. He glanced up to see a burly blond walk in, carrying his things, and a woman with curly brown hair follow him in. The woman noticed Bruce first and offered him a small smile.
"Oh! You must be Thor's roommate. I'm his mother, Frigga." She introduced herself, and he nodded politely. She glanced around the room and sighed. "I know it'll be an adjustment, Thor, but dorm living is the best way to experience the true college lifestyle."
"It's fine, Mother. I'm looking forward to this," The son responded, and Bruce tried to ignore how strong his arms looked. "I'll be fine to unpack on my own, thank you for driving me."
"I'm so proud of you, Thor, and I know your father is, too." She kissed him on the cheek and exited the room, closing the door behind her. Thor heaved the suitcase onto the bed, and glanced over at Bruce, who was watching closely.
"I'm Thor. You must be Bruce Banner, right?" He held out a hand, and Bruce reluctantly leaned forward to shake it, before returning to his spot on the bed, book held tightly in hand. Thor glanced down and then turned to his suitcase, unpacking and haphazardly putting his clothes in the drawers. He put a shiny new laptop on top of the desk, and hung up some sports awards that Bruce couldn't identify.
Thor stretched his arms when he was done, and smiled at Bruce. "I'm going to go for a run to burn off some energy, want to join me?" He asked, and Bruce almost laughed in response, but he just shook his head.
"I'm not much of an athlete." He mumbled. Thor just nodded and began to take off his shirt. Bruce blushed and hid his face behind the book to avoid looking at Thor as he changed into his running gear. He was very fit. When Thor left, Bruce buried his face in his pillow. He was not going to survive with a roommate that looked like that.
As Thor was running, he thought about his new roommate. He was adorable, with that stringy black hair and the glasses. He loved nerds. And he was excited that his new roommate was an adorable nerd. But Bruce didn't seem to be impressed by Thor. Maybe he wasn't interested in athletes. Or maybe Bruce didn't like guys. But he had a feeling that this was going to be an interesting experience.
{A/N: thanks for reading the first installment of this fic! The next part will be about IronStrange - they are professors at the university.}