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There had been a time, well over a decade ago now, in which one of Bruce’s greatest desires had been to settle down in a house in the suburbs with a backyard big enough for a playset and patio. He wanted to throw circus themed first birthday parties, go on the Scouts camping trips, film the ballet recitals. There had been a time that is seemed like maybe he would get just that. His career had taken off, he had Betty. But then... The Incident. And running. Running. Running.
For years after that, he considered himself so, so lucky that none of that had happened before the Hulk had joined the picture. It would have been too much, too painful to leave that all behind. To have to run not only from the army but away from a family as well, he wouldn’t have been able to take it. And as surprised as he was to admit, maybe all that was a good thing. The Incident and everything that had happened since. The running. Joining the Avengers. The Hulk crash-landing them on Saakar. Because now he was running again: Running, legs burning, chest heaving, smiling.
“Loki! You can’t just run around without clothes on!” Bruce shouted. “It’s time for bed!” Ahead of him, Loki rounded the corner that separated the hallway from the living room, disappearing momentarily from Bruce’s line of sight until Bruce too, was rounding around the same corner, space-themed pajamas size 5t in hand. Bruce skidded to a stop in the living room andddd... he was gone. Again. Bruce groaned and leaned up against the wall. “We talked about this,” Bruce began. “You can’t just disappear every night when it’s time for bed!” Bruce waited a moment before he dramatically threw his hands up in the air. He pushed off the wall and draped the back of the hand not holding the pajamas against his forehead and sighed as loud as he could muster. “Well, I suppose if Loki’s gone, I can just eat all the rest of the ice cream myself then. It’s really such a shame,” he said walking back toward the hallway. “I’ll have to eat all the ice cream AND decide on what TV show to watch before bed all by myself.” He grinned as he entered the hallway, no doubt out of Loki’s sight now, and waited. Three... two... one...
“Wait!” a little voice called from behind him. “I want some ice cream!”
Bruce turned on his heels to see Loki running again, this time right toward him. He smiled as Loki barrelled into his legs, snatching the space pajamas from him with one hand and tugging on one of Bruce’s hands with the other. Loki held his hand tight and pulled him back into the living room.
“Come on!” Loki shouted. “I want to watch Adventure Time,” Loki said before stopping suddenly and turning back to Bruce. “We are NOT watching another docu..docu..docu-mem-tary!” Loki shouted.
Bruce feigned shock. “Oh, I wouldn’t dream of it!”
An hour later, with Loki tucked into his right side fast asleep and Thor on the other catching him up about his day working with Valkyrie and the Asgardian refugees, Bruce knew this time for sure, it was absolutely a good thing. Maybe there weren't any circus themed birthday parties, camping trips, or ballet recitals to speak of, but he wouldn't trade what he had for anything.