It's interesting to see the way you portray Bruce as an adult and Bruce as a four-year-old. As an adult, the major symptom of his crappy childhood- the 'is-everybody-else-calm-and-safe-to-be-around' fawning behavior and the tight, 'disappearing' body language could have come more from his problems with Ross and the Hulk, It could have come from being treated like a lab specimen by the vast majority of authority figures he's run into since the accident, and it is most likely certainly a combination of the things I've listed.
But Bruce's four-year-old body language is very different. Game nights let us see into /what Bruce thought of himself/ at age four, and in a lot of ways there's a MOUNTAIN of more damage there. Clearly, Betty has already had a positive effect on him, in ways he doesn't yet recognize.
The canon from the Hulk movie is that Bruce went into foster care sometime WHEN he was four. Why did Bruce choose that age? Why not three, or five? Not merely to match Tony, though that was his spoken reason. Maybe, because it gave him a chance to explore how the situation with his foster family /could/ have developed.
Phil is working out some of the details /everyone/ else in his life has overlooked, for decades.
Bruce is finally putting a direct but tentative weight on the bond forming between himself and Uncle Phil, testing to see what happens. By breaking the chapter where you did, there's only a slight feeling of suspense; Phil has already done the hardest work to identify Bruce's needs, and the only question is in the details of how things will play out in private.
I fully expect Bruce to have a sudden bout of bewildered tears, and his usual response of trying to stuff everything down-- Phil's going to have to tread gently in acknowledging the emotions as genuine and valid but NOT push Bruce into talking about it.
Because that-- a truly safe adult who didn't heap expectations on Bruce due to /x/-- is one of the things he didn't get, even after escaping his family life into foster care. (If he had, he would be much closer in mannerisms to the mainstream of 'shy geek'.)
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dancing_serpent
Phil is Awesome Again!
Date: 2014-04-25 10:43 am (UTC)But Bruce's four-year-old body language is very different. Game nights let us see into /what Bruce thought of himself/ at age four, and in a lot of ways there's a MOUNTAIN of more damage there. Clearly, Betty has already had a positive effect on him, in ways he doesn't yet recognize.
The canon from the Hulk movie is that Bruce went into foster care sometime WHEN he was four. Why did Bruce choose that age? Why not three, or five? Not merely to match Tony, though that was his spoken reason. Maybe, because it gave him a chance to explore how the situation with his foster family /could/ have developed.
Phil is working out some of the details /everyone/ else in his life has overlooked, for decades.
Bruce is finally putting a direct but tentative weight on the bond forming between himself and Uncle Phil, testing to see what happens. By breaking the chapter where you did, there's only a slight feeling of suspense; Phil has already done the hardest work to identify Bruce's needs, and the only question is in the details of how things will play out in private.
I fully expect Bruce to have a sudden bout of bewildered tears, and his usual response of trying to stuff everything down-- Phil's going to have to tread gently in acknowledging the emotions as genuine and valid but NOT push Bruce into talking about it.
Because that-- a truly safe adult who didn't heap expectations on Bruce due to /x/-- is one of the things he didn't get, even after escaping his family life into foster care. (If he had, he would be much closer in mannerisms to the mainstream of 'shy geek'.)