IC contact (TuShanshu)

[angermanaging]

[ text / audio / video / action ]

Comments

[everylittlegirl]

[Hayley's choice to seek company is more a logical decision of necessity than it is an emotional one. Some part of her is scared and doesn't want to face their potential demise alone. As distant as she tends to be, keeping most relationships shallow, she's still used to being around people and engaging with them. Living alone has made her time in the dark before sleep more intimidating somehow.

Yet, the practicality cinched any potential desire not to be alone. Hayley, for all her fight, is still a very small teenage girl who knows very little about magic and even less about combating literal super powers.]

I didn't choose you for your company. [She replies, mirroring his lightness while intentionally hinting that her being here is a very conscious choice, that it was meticulous as anything else she does. Hayley trusts Bruce more than most, truly, but she also trusts the Hulk to protect her -- not by actually protecting her, but by fighting off anything larger while she slinks away.]

[After another bite, she adds with an unusual level of normalcy:] Thanks for dinner.

assume from here? unless there's anything else you wanted to cover

[angermanaging]

[The Hulk would protect her, more than Bruce gives him credit for. He has a special weakness for children-- and for women-- and Hayley is young enough that she counts for both. That Bruce himself sees her as someone to protect, despite all evidence to the contrary at her needing it, solidifies that fact. She's undeniably safe with him around.

Bruce would still argue it if he knew that's what she was referring to. He has a blast radius with a high likelihood of collateral damage, and he has not nearly enough faith in the Hulk's moral choices to count on him. As it is, he assumes she means he was convenient, for a variety of reasons. It makes sense to him. Everyone has to do things they aren't thrilled about for practical purposes, him more than most.

He simply acknowledges her with a brief,] Don't mention it.