Work Text:
For the Love of Pancakes
“It’s okay, you know,” Bruce said.
Thor looked up from the pancakes he was cooking, staring at him blankly. He looked back down at the pancakes, then back at Bruce. “I don’t know. I was really disappointed that Tony ate all the blueberries.”
“Huh?” Bruce said, bewildered, and turned toward him. He looked down at the pancakes before looking back up at Thor. “I wasn’t talking about the pancakes. I was talking about you breaking up with me.”
“Oh,” Thor said, returning to his pancakes. He thought about it, then turned back around quickly, offended. “What are you talking about?! I never said anything about wanting to break up with you!”
Bruce fidgeted. “Well, I mean. Maybe you haven’t. But you must have been thinking it.”
“NO,” Thor told him loudly, scowling at him. “Why would I do that?!”
“Because I won’t have sex with you,” Bruce blurted out. “And you’re the god of fertility so you must want—don’t you? And I can’t give that to you.”
Thor stared at him, still scowling. What had he done to make Bruce believe that? Was it something he’d done? Sure, he’d given people a second glance, but who didn’t? People were pretty. He liked looking at pretty things. It was why he looked at Bruce so often.
“Have I done something to make you think I was unhappy? That I don’t love and appreciate you?” Thor finally asked, anger giving way to hurt. “I’m sorry. I’ll do better.”
“It’s not—it’s not something you’ve done,” Bruce tried to assure him, reaching out to him, hand hovering over his arm. “I’m not saying that you want to, like, that you’re thinking about it or anything, but maybe you’ve felt it? Sometimes,” he added placatingly, finally placing his hand on his arm.
Thor continued to frown at him. “I’ve never even thought about it. I was thinking about taking you to that show at the planetarium, or what we’ll get at the farmers’ market this weekend, or how I want to take you to the beach so you’d get more freckles on your nose, because I love the freckles on your nose. Breaking up with you has never, ever entered my mind.”
Bruce looked like he’d been slapped. “Never?”
Thor got the sinking feeling that he was perhaps the first person to ever tell him that. “Never,” he repeated, a reassurance and a promise all at once. He lifted his other hand to take Bruce’s, cradling it delicately between his own. “Your company is worth more to me than your body, Bruce. You warned me in the beginning that you found intercourse of any type disgusting. I came into this with my eyes open. To be sexually frustrated every once in a while is a small price to pay to be able to see you snort yourself awake in the morning, or watch you curl around a cup of tea, or listen to you talk about science. I love you.”
Bruce looked away, eyes hot and wet. “Thor…”
“And one day, I swear you’ll believe it,” Thor declared. “Until then, I will be patient. And I will refuse to break up with you for any other reason than that you don’t want to be with me anymore.” He reached out to cup Bruce’s cheek and draw his face back to look at him. “My love for you is more important than my libido for you, Bruce.”
“Thor,” Bruce whispered again, glasses fogging up with tears. He sniffled. “Your pancakes are going to burn.”
“Your feelings are more important to me than pancakes,” Thor told him seriously, fighting very hard not to smile.
Bruce laughed wetly. “Thor!”
“I will not return to my pancakes until you promise that you won’t break up with me for foolish reasons like this,” Thor said.
Bruce reached for the spatula, laughing again when Thor batted it away from him. “Thor, no-!”
“Promise, or I will let all my pancakes burn forevermore,” Thor said.
Bruce laughed and reached up to grab his wrists. “Okay! Okay, please, just–Thor, they’re burning, come on—”
Thor leaned in to smack a quick kiss to his lips before he finally reached for the spatula and started flipping his pancakes. They were a little dark, but still edible, probably. “Remember this moment whenever you start to have doubts again. I love you more than I love your body.”
“I’ll remember that you love me more than pancakes,” Bruce giggled, taking his glasses off to wipe at his eyes.
Thor smiled. It was a concession he was willing to make just this once, because Bruce was laughing. He’d probably have to reassure him again, but he’d be ready for it next time, now that he knew a little bit about how Bruce thought. He’d be prepared.
And maybe someday Bruce would really understand that his being asexual didn’t bother Thor at all.