33 Apocalypse Avenue, Sunday Morning

[gotacondition]

Bruce felt weird about this moving arrangement for a lot of reasons. One of the smallest factors was the fact that, as he walked the last few steps to his new house with just a medium-sized backpack on his shoulders and a coffee thermos in one hand, he realized that this probably wasn't how most forty-two-year-olds did things, and he was pretty

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[not_a_whiner]

Same time that morning, there was Kaidan, coming down the stairs with a datapad full of information his therapist sent him in hand.

He paused in the doorway coming from the stairs. "...Hey."

[gotacondition]

"...Hi." Oh, and he'd forgotten an issue that was arguably more of a thing than any of the other ones: he would have to talk to the roommates.

But really, Banner, he told himself, that was a pretty silly thing to worry about.

"Uh, I'm Bruce," he said, sticking out a hand. "We've met before, at the radio station."

[not_a_whiner]

Don't worry, Bruce. Kaidan was only barely more socially apt than you were.

"Yeah, we did," Kaidan said, tossing his datapad onto the table. "Hey, Bruce," he repeated. "Thought I'd heard something about someone else joining us out here..."

[gotacondition]

"Yeah, Jack offered," he said, scratching the back of his neck. "I hope it's not too much trouble. I don't even know how much longer I'm going to be in town, but the hotel was getting a little overwhelming."

[not_a_whiner]

"I get that," Kaidan said. "Stayed there myself for a while. It's... something."

He offered Bruce a small smile. "So welcome to the house," he said. "It's nice to balance the amount of teenagers in here out a bit."

[gotacondition]

"Thanks," Bruce said, returning the smile but with a little nervousness mixed in. As usual, he attempted wry humor to cover it up. "Yeah, I haven't lived with teenagers in... a while. You don't think I'll be voted out because I don't have any kegs or beer bongs to leave lying around, do you?"

[not_a_whiner]

Kaidan chuckled. "Nah, me and Josh will have your back," he said. "And I guess Emma and Jack aren't really teenagers anymore. They're just-- young."

Beat.

"So watch out you don't trip over one of those beer bongs."

[gotacondition]

"I don't know Emma yet," Bruce admitted, "but Jack at least seems... old for his age, if that makes any sense. Which is a good sign, I guess."

[not_a_whiner]

"He's smart," Kaidan said, leaning against the kitchen counter. "Pretty grown-up in a lot of ways. Sometimes I wish he wouldn't have to be-- but then in some ways he's not."

He paused. "Uh... you want a drink?"

[gotacondition]

"No, thanks, I'm okay," Bruce said, patting his thermos. He made a mental note to back off on the Jack stuff; whatever Kaidan meant, it wasn't his business. "I think I'll just unpack my things and then maybe go pick up some communal groceries, if you guys need anything."

Deliberately making himself as little a burden as possible while simultaneously avoiding prolonged social interaction? Bruce? Nooooo.

[not_a_whiner]

"I think we're good for now," Kaidan said, glancing towards the fridge. "...Though actually, if you could pick up some steak..."

He was gonna need protein if he was going to teach this class.

[gotacondition]

"You got it," Bruce promised. "Not a vegetarian, huh? That'll be good to know for cooking purposes."