Now maybe it's because of my other fanfic I'm writing or I've been watching too much TV, but I'm going back to fluff for a sec, no less the tooth-rotting kind with pairs NO ONE can think of. Btw, no zombies and minimum Avenger drama. And let me add I'm making some characters….out of character hehe. Here goes.

Dr. Bruce Banner stood in line as he waited for his morning coffee. God, he hated treading through the first few hours with little sleep. He supposed in the end he had no one to blame but himself. He needed to learn to stop putting science as a priority, or at least as much as he did anyway.

He finally made it to the front of the line, order at the ready. "Uh, yes, order for Green Bean." He replied politely. He would see that he got his order quick so he could make haste before Tony had the audacity to throw a hissy fit along the lines of "What took you so long?" and "You didn't have a hit-and-miss with a Karen or a Heather, did you?" he shook his head at the thought. Tony was so melodramatic sometimes.

Now, the next step, in retrospect, was on him. He might have been more lost in his head than he thought. All he could recall was turning a bit too sharp, only to collide with another person, thus spilling both their coffees. Almost immediately, he apologized nonstop. "I'm so sorry sir!" the doctor reacted frantically. "Let me cle-"

"Eh, no need. No one's hurt. And hey. I'm a bit more awake than I was gonna be. No harm." The other man joked. "Here, lemme give you a hand."

Upon collecting himself, Bruce got a good look at the man. Really handsome, sorta fluffy mustache, grey hair (Heck almost as much as he had,) leather jacket, leather gloves, and brown eyes that though they matched his chocolate brown ones, looked so much cuter.

Man this man was so handsome.

"Uuhh,,," the doctor got lost in thought again. "Here, let me at least pay you back. It's the least I can-"

"Heh, no need. Like I said," the other man replied. "no harm." He gently patted the Avenger's shoulder with a napkin. "You have a very nice day, sir." He added with a short wave of a hand as he exited the coffee shop.

Huh. What a man.

Bruce just stood there dumbfounded.

"Now look, I'm a polite guy, but don't you think you should've at least considered taking the free coffee?"

Bruce could only rub his temple. "Look Tony, it's been over four hours. Are you ever gonna get over the fact you don't have a coffee you can easily go up two floors of your own building for?"

The billionaire shrugged. "Hey, why go up two floors when I could've had one in hand, eh?" He wiggled his brow, emitting a moan from the doctor. After a second, Stark shrugged, gliding to the other end of the lab, dismissing the absence of coffee for now as he resumed focusing on their current experiment.

Bruce was all for the experiment as well, but for some odd reason, he just couldn't get that man from the shop out of his head. Goodness, he was so handsome, and it had been so long. He wasn't sophisticated, or at least by looks, anyway, but that didn't stop imagination. And maybe it was his tone, almost rather southern, but again, it was a change of pace.

Bruce personally was surprisingly tired of the fancy lifestyle. Maybe because before joining the Avengers, he had been on the run for so long, he hadn't been used to setting roots anywhere. Even now, he mentally reminded himself if he ever needed to, he'd have a duffel at the disposal. But deep down, at some point, he wanted to settle just a bit further. Or maybe further than this. No science, no action, just quiet scenery with something and someone to call his own.

In the end, as he poured from one beaker to another, he would just assume this would be his life. That this would be all life would offer. And he'd just have to accept it as it was.

Bruce was drawn from his inner thoughts as JARVIS interrupted him. "Pardon me, Doctor Banner, but you have someone here who wishes to speak with you. Their tone is rather crude, no less. Shall I dismiss them?"

The doctor could only sigh. Probably Ross. Then again, he preferred surprise visits. "No need, JARVIS, I'll just get this over with before he throws a damn tantrum." He sighed, placing said beakers down "I'll be back, Tony." He called out.

"With coffee, I hope!" the other man joked.

When would he ever catch a break?

Upon reaching the door, he began to rub his temple again. Ross was the definition of a migraine. Amazing he didn't define comas or heart-

"Well, finally! Thought I'd be searching the Big Apple all damn day."

Bruce rose his head.

It was the handsome fellow from the coffee shop.

"Oh….h-h-h-hi there…" the doc was honestly at a loss of words as the slightly older man stood there against the frame with a slight lean, arms crossed with what looked like a rather smug smirk.

"Been lookin' for you for four hours, and all you gotta say is hi?" the man replied casually. Bruce was about to immediately apologize when the man barked a laugh, holding a leather gloved hand up. "No need. I'm joshing you. I'm probably a bit more of a handful then necessary anyway."

Bruce looked up with a slight blush. "If anything, my friend is the same way, so I should be used to it."

"Welp, name's Negan. Negan Smith." He held out his gloved hand, which though not reluctant, Bruce still took shyly.

"B-b-b-Bruce,,,,Bruce B-Banner…." He didn't even know why he was so shy as he shook the man's hand.

"Well, Brucie, nice to meet ya." The man, Negan, smiled surprising Bruce with a gentle pat on his shoulder. With that, he held his elbow out in a loop. "Welp, shall we?"

The doc was dumbfounded. "Wait…what?" he took a step back.

"Well, we made good acquaintances today." Negan started. "and I don't know about you, but I already like bein' around you. Maybe we can spend the day together. Not often I get to hang out with pals, and you look like someone who needs at least a few hours out if ya ask me." He raised a brow in general curiosity. "So what'da say, pal?"

Bruce, as smart as the man was, almost kindly denied the request. But deep down there was just….something about this man that, dare he say, he couldn't shake. He could be the epitome of a cross of the kind of guy most parents didn't want their kids to be dating, or even hanging out with, yet someone who made you feel comfortable in your own skin.

He was just so sweet.

With a small smile, Bruce slowly held out a hand. Maybe this was the kind of change he needed. "You know what? I'd….I'd like that….Negan."

The older man took his hand surprisingly gracefully. "Shucks, glad you said yes. Now I ain't gonna lie, didn't have any major plans, figured I'd throw caution to the wind. But…y'know, I believe we're still gonna have fun as hell."

Bruce found himself smiling as he finished shooting Tony a quick text so his science pal didn't send out potential amber alerts.

Out for a while. Don't wait up.

Maybe he didn't know what today would bring.

But it was worth a shot to try.