Hulk drabble.
Again, for cygny the talented.
Bruce sits down at the table, laptop and papers spread around him. He wants this to work. He tweaks at the formulas and numbers, nudging them in the direction he wants them to go. He is good at his work and he genuinely likes to work at it. The formulas and extrapolations are straight-forward and he can manipulate and translate them with ease.
He wishes that relationships worked like that. He pauses to look across the kitchen to where Betty has left her mug on the sideboard. The house is quieter without her and he feels guilty. Not sad, not particularly hurt...just obscurely guilty that he had hurt her feelings. They had been edging towards a relationship for months and he had made the expected move after the whispers and nudges from co-workers started.
The argument had followed the usual formula (ironic that while relationships don't have equations or mathematical expressions, the forces that destroy them have) Betty had started with a comment-posing-a-question regarding his 'coldness' towards her and hinted that she wanted him to open up.
Bruce - ever the scientist - had asked her what she meant.
"See, there you go again!" she answered. "Everytime I ask you a question, you avoid it like I never asked it!"
"Betty, you know that's not what I mean." Bruce had groped for words, but he was a scientist and words were not his forte.
Things deteriorated and now Bruce is left to wonder what went wrong...and if he should try to fix it.
Bruce sits down at the table, laptop and papers spread around him. He wants this to work. He tweaks at the formulas and numbers, nudging them in the direction he wants them to go. He is good at his work and he genuinely likes to work at it. The formulas and extrapolations are straight-forward and he can manipulate and translate them with ease.
He wishes that relationships worked like that. He pauses to look across the kitchen to where Betty has left her mug on the sideboard. The house is quieter without her and he feels guilty. Not sad, not particularly hurt...just obscurely guilty that he had hurt her feelings. They had been edging towards a relationship for months and he had made the expected move after the whispers and nudges from co-workers started.
The argument had followed the usual formula (ironic that while relationships don't have equations or mathematical expressions, the forces that destroy them have) Betty had started with a comment-posing-a-question regarding his 'coldness' towards her and hinted that she wanted him to open up.
Bruce - ever the scientist - had asked her what she meant.
"See, there you go again!" she answered. "Everytime I ask you a question, you avoid it like I never asked it!"
"Betty, you know that's not what I mean." Bruce had groped for words, but he was a scientist and words were not his forte.
Things deteriorated and now Bruce is left to wonder what went wrong...and if he should try to fix it.