Multifandom Imagines

ANOTHER YEAR OLDER (Platonic!Bruce Banner/ Hulk x reader)

"No, Y/N. You've asked me so many times and the answer is the same each time."

"But why?! Please Bruce I promise I won't annoy him, I'm sure he'd love it, just look..."

You had been sitting in the lab on the Stark tower for around 40 minutes now, having made your way straight there to see Bruce when you had arrived with Peter. You tilted your phone to let Bruce see the screen and the video currently playing. The ghost photoshoot trend was all over your timeline and you honestly couldn't get the thought of the hulk posing with a massive sheet over him out of your head. You thought I'd be cool. Bruce on the other hand was firmly against it.

"Y/N I don't know how he'd react. I can't put you in that situation, I'm sorry."

You slouched over placing your head on your arms which were crossed on the table.

"We could always do it here so he'd be comfortable, we don't have to go outside to do it. I just thought I'd be fun to do before the c..." you stopped talking as Bruce stared at you through questioning eyes.

"Before the what?"

"before the cake," you whispered into the sleeve of your shirt.

"Y/N I can't quite hear you, before what?"

"Before the cake Bruce, I thought it would be fun to do before we ate his cake."

"What cake?" he asks completely confused.

"Birthday cake..." you smiled.

"It's not my birthday until December. I thought you knew my birthday Y/L/N."

"I do. That's why it's not a cake for you, but for him..." you said timidly.

Bruce looked at you strangely, the skin on his neck seemed to turn green. He clutched the edge of the desk and questioned you.

"Why would- why would you get him a birthday cake?"

"Have you ever bought him a birthday cake? Has anybody on the team?"

"Well no, but..."

"Exactly, the poor thing has helped save this planet from freaking aliens and not once has his birthday been celebrated. So, tomorrow there is a chocolate cake with extra sprinkles on top being delivered just for him. I'm hoping he likes chocolate, but then again who doesn't."

Bruce can't do anything but stand there, mouth open, eyes blinking, shocked at the fact someone other than him cared about the big guy. He always got along with you; your inquisitive nature was similar to Peter's, but you seemed to gravitate more to him instead of Tony. Maybe it was because of his shy demeanour, or maybe it was because you had this weird need to be liked by everyone. He didn't mind though; it was nice having someone actually want to learn about what he does. He also knew that Hulk liked you, he could always feel him trying to push his way out. Truth be told he just didn't want you to get hurt, he would never forgive himself. So, as he stood there frozen, he thought about what could happen if he let the big guy out, which seemed to be more than likely to happen considering he had made it clear he was very excited to eat his own birthday cake earlier.

"Bruce? Are you alright?" You asked, he had been still for around a minute staring at the blank space between you. He snapped out of the trance he was in.

"Um, yeah, yeah. I'm fine."

"Good, well I'm gonna go get food because I am starving, I don't know how Peter can eat the school's lunches. Everything tastes like cardboard," you explain as you move to leave.

"Y/N?" you turn.

"Come back tomorrow okay? We can try if you want..." he said. Your heart jumped and you pulled Bruce into the tightest hug you could muster.

"Thank you. Thank you. Thank you."

He just laughs and pats your back a few times. You let him go and rush off to tell Peter the good news, ecstatic about tomorrow.

...

As you made your way to the lab, the next day, you had a visible spring in your step. The excitement you felt yesterday hadn't worn off if anything it grew. You carried a box in your hands, being careful to not drop it. You knocked on the glass door, silently asking Bruce to open it. He made his way over and let you in. You could tell he was nervous as he stared at the box.

"We don't have to do this if you aren't comfortable, I know I went on a bit yesterday but it's okay if you don't want to." You comfort him.

"No it's alright, he's been hard to control this morning. I think he's excited, "he chuckles.

"I am too."

You look around and notice that all the equipment had been oved around, and the worktops had been moved to create more space. You sat the cake down and opened it up. You popped the LED candles in (you didn't want to scare him with real fire or anything) and motioned for Bruce to come and see. He grins at you and places a gentle kiss on your temple.

"You're a good kid, Y/N. He's gonna love it."

...

"Greenie stop stressing you're fine, see."

You pulled the sheet over your head and placed the glasses over the top. You grabbed his hand, more like his finger and pulled him down to sit next to you as you stood. You had been setting up the camera when you had realised he was too big to fit in the frame standing up. That didn't matter though, you'd make it work.

"Flower, can't see," he grunted.

He had taken to calling you flower because of the pin you were wearing on your collar, a sunflower. You quickly reached into your bag and pulled out a pair of small nail scissors and hoped that they would be able to cut the fabric well enough. You removed the party glasses from his face (they were the only ones big enough) and carefully pinched the fabric blocking his vision.

"I need you to stay still okay?" He let out a huff and you started cutting two holes to make sure he could see through. When you were done you popped his glasses back on, and placed yourself in between his crossed legs, he gently grabbed you and moved you so your head was tucked under his chin. You let out a quiet laugh and felt the vibrations of his chuckle on your back.

"The camera is gonna take a whole bunch of photos at once okay? So just do any pose you want," you told him calmly.

Moments later the camera flashed continuously and you both modelled for the camera. As the flashing ceased, you rushed to get to the camera impatient to see the results. There was picture upon picture of you both, your favourite had to be the one where you were both holding up the peace sign. It was simple but funny too. You felt him peer over your shoulder as you found your way back in front of him.

"Look cool," he laughs.

"We do look pretty cool, don't we?"

You took the sheet from his and your head and popped them into the bag you brought them in, grabbing the paper plates you had brought.

"Do you want some cake greenie?" You awed at him as his eyes seemingly lit up at your words.

He hummed in response and waited patiently for you to come back with the cake slices.

"Here you go," you hand him the plate with the bigger piece.

"Happy Birthday to you!" you cheer.

As you tucked into your cake, he couldn't help but smile. Nobody had ever been so nice to him apart from Bruce and sometimes Nat. He knew he was big and sometimes he got angry, but he didn't mean to scare anybody. When he had heard you talking to Bruce about celebrating his birthday with him, he felt his heart swell, and the happiness he felt on his own rather than through Banner was a tad overwhelming. But as he sat with you he understood why Bruce liked you so much, you were a good friend and he was glad you wanted to be his too.