Imagine Bruce (on bad days) struggling to contain the other guy during little things (like a petty argument) and feeling discouraged.
"Natasha, have you seen my purple button down?" Bruce wanders into the common living area to see Natasha spread over the couch, the shirt in question wrapped around a shivering Russian assassin. Bruce sighs and grabs the blanket on the armchair to drape over her. "Youāve got to stop stealing my clothes, Romanoff."
"Only when theyāre not comfortable anymore, Banner."
Natasha walks into breakfast one morning, her eyes bloodshot and her nose the same color as her hair. Sheās wrapped in a clearly-too-large blue hoodie and the sleeves dangle off the table as she puts her head down.
"Well, thereās the jacket Iāve been looking for. Come on, Nat, I need that." Bruce sighs good-naturedly until Nat looks up at him, mouth slightly open from congestion. "Shit. You feeling okay?" Nat glares at him miserably, then lies back down on the table. He sneaks a hand into the fabric to check her temperature, and then decides heāll bother her about his jacket later.
"Nat. Nat. Natasha. Romanoff!" He bangs loudly on her door; he has a presentation with Tony in less than an hour and he canāt find his dress shirt.
As he expected, Natasha answered her door in the exact shirt he wanted, sans pants. Her eyes are lined with red, and she sighs when she sees him.Ā
"Here you go." She mumbles, unbuttoning the shirt and handing it to him, leaving Bruce in front of her door, dumbstruck, as she crawls back into her bed in only her bra and underwear.
"Nat? Whatās going on, Romanoff?" He sits on the corner of her bed, unsure of where, exactly, their boundaries were.
"Clint." She mumbles into the pillow. "Three gunshots, they donāt know if heās gonna make it, and Iām not allowed in." He places a hand on her head, hoping its comforting.
"Iām sorry, Nat." He leaves quietly, but places the blue shirt next to her.
"Natasha, Iām serious, let me in." The redhead answers the door in his green button down, her hair a mess, arms wrapped around her stomach. He immediately feels bad for waking her, but he has a paper talk in half an hour.
"I need that shirt, Nat." She sulks at him. "I mean it. Iāve got a paper talk in thirty minutes. You can have it when I come back." He can feel himself growing angry and tries to push it down.
"Cāmon Bruce." She says, leaning against the doorframe for support, and the fact that she feels comfortable asking should make him happy- sheās opening up- but today, he just has to go.
"No, Nat. I really have to go." God, why is he angry?Ā Heās pushing her away and he knows it, but heās anxious and he needs to go.
"Plea-" The rest of her request is cut off as she coughs, leaning heavily against the door.
"Nat, you have to stop taking my clothes. I have to go, okay!" His voice reaches a shout and she cringes, stepping back.
"Theyāre not yours! Just- please, just give me my damn shirt." His breathing is labored and she looks scared, and oh god, he hates that he did this.
She slowly takes off the shirt and hands it to him.
He takes a deep breath, tries to calm himself, but that look is still in her eyes.
He walks out of the doorway, hating himself.
A few months later, while having one of their communal dinners, Natasha turns a very peculiar shade of green and excuses herself. Clint and Bruce both get up to follow, but at Clintās glare, Bruce sits back down.
About ten minutes later, Clint returns, a troubled look on his face.
"Natās got food poisoning. Some weird dish she had to eat on a mission." He mumbles.
"Iām going to go check on her." Bruce says softly. He ignores Clintās look of anger and knocks gently on the bathroom door.
"Go away, Bruce." He can hear the heaving between her words.
"Nat, I need to make sure youāre okay. Can I come in?"
She is pale, her forehead resting against the toilet seat. Sheās sweating, her t-shirt and jeans in a corner of the bathtub.
"Whatās going on, Nat?" He kneels next to her and presses a hand to her forehead. No fever, even though she was sweating more than normal.
"Nothing. ām fine." She mumbles, turning away from him. He is about to protest when she turns her head downwards again and empties her stomach.
Without a word, Bruce unbuttons his shirt- maroon, this time- and wraps it around her, pressing a kiss to the top of her head.