and everything's alight (thorbruce)

ii

When Bruce wakes, he's lying in an exceptionally comfortable bed. He's alone in the bedroom, a surprisingly well-furnished place. He would feel like he were staying in a high-end hotel if it weren't for the large set of windows across from the bed, giving a view of the stars.

Bruce sets about exploring the room, cautiously. The dressers are filled with clothes, some foreign and some Bruce might pick out for himself. The bedside drawer contains an large bottle of, from what Bruce can tell, some sort of Sakaarian lube.

The Grandmaster sure got around.

The rest of the ship is similar, roomier than one would expect from the outside, with Asgardians milling around in most areas. They seem calm, talking in small groups or taking in various forms of entertainment they must have found on the ship somewhere. It makes Bruce wonder uncomfortably just how long he's been out.

He finds an unoccupied couch facing the front window. Looking out makes his stomach lurch slightly, but the scientist in him pushes it down, taking in the planets and stars they pass with hungry curiosity.

"The Grandmaster's ships are rather nice, aren't they?" Bruce can't help the way he jumps at the unexpected voice and turns to see Loki, sprawled on the couch next to him as if he's been there for hours. Bruce has always found Loki unsettling, and somehow it's even stranger to see him decked out in a plain t-shirt and sweatpants. "Granted," Loki continues, nodding solemnly, "lots of sex stuff, but I guess we have to take what we can get." Bruce snorts awkwardly, turning his attention back to the window.

Loki leans toward him slightly. "You're probably wondering how long you were out," he says, questioning, but like he knows the answer already. Bruce shivers. Incredibly unsettling. "A few days."

A few days? Back in Sakaar, with that sinking feeling in his stomach and noise assaulting his senses, he was almost certain he'd never make it out if he changed again. If not forever, he'd be stuck for a long time. Years. Not days.

"How did I--"

"How did you get out?" Loki smirks. Oh, Bruce does not like this conversation. "Thor."

"Thor?"

"Yes, Thor." Loki lowers his voice slightly. "He would just sit with you. Talk for hours. I think the Hulk knows most of Asgard's secrets now." Bruce blinks at him.

That's—a lot to take in, and Loki seems to know it as he returns to his side of the couch smugly. Bruce's stomach twists, not so much in pain as in...something else, apparently related to Thor, that he would very much not like to address right now. A thought suddenly occurs to him.

"Loki, how long until we get to Earth?" When Bruce looks back to the man, he's managed to fling his legs over the couch's armrest. Loki purses his lips.

"Not sure. The ship's fast, but it was never made for world-hopping without a wormhole. It'll be weeks, at least," Loki says. Bruce isn't sure what he was expecting. "Thor put me in charge of navigation. You know, in the Grandmaster's favor, so I know how to drive all the ships..." Bruce hadn't asked, but Loki looks proud of himself.

"Thanks," says Bruce softly. He's not sure he wants to talk anymore, and he's glad Loki curls away from him now, stretching like a cat—and then he suddenly is a cat, all jet black fur and unblinking green eyes. Bruce presses the heels of his hands into his eyes and groans. Sometimes he feels like he's caught in a strangely realistic and drawn out dream.

"Ah, Banner!" comes Thor's booming voice from behind him. "You're awake." He claps Bruce's shoulder in greeting, and Bruce sinks into the couch slightly. Now well-rested, Bruce can see the extent of the battle's damage to Thor—his face is covered in small cuts, just barely healed, and there are dark circles under his eyes. Bruce didn't even know gods could get dark circles. Worst of all, though, is the eyepatch. it seems to dull Thor's good eye into something unrecognizable. He still smiles, though, and even if it seems slightly fixed at the edges, it's a smile all the same.

Thor notices the cat next to Bruce. "And hello to you, too, brother!" He reaches out to scratch the cat's head, but it hisses at him before he can get too close.

Thor flashes Bruce a grin as he walks away, and the the twist in his stomach returns for a moment. Oh, shit.