Gets The Rough Part Over With Early, At Least

Something I don't really get in fiction is romantic pairings of two characters that fight and squabble constantly. I don't mean like in romantic comedies where one or both of them make a bad first impression on the other. More like they just bicker all the time. That's "their thing". I feel like I mostly see it with fans proposing it, but I know there have been TV shows and novels like that. All the arguing is just a smokescreen for smouldering sexual tension or whatever.

(Steve Rogers and Tony Stark seem to be a popular one on the fan side. The movie versions I assume, although I can't see that one any more than I can see the comic versions.)

I get the basic theory, I guess. That schoolyard thing where the boy pulls the hair of the girl he likes because he can't just tell her. I just don't get fighting all the time with someone you actually like. And they actually enjoy being challenged by the other person, but it seems like such a hostile starting point.

Granted, my response to being around someone I seem to fight with a lot is. . . to not be around that person any more than necessary. That's how I handle other friends of my friends if I don't like them. I just wander off by myself for awhile when they start getting on my nerves.

(I also do this when the crush of people and noise gets to be too much, whether any specific person is irritating me or not, which makes for a good cover. It's been over a decade since Alex was surprised when I vanish for an hour during a party.)

Obviously avoiding a coworker or teammate can be more difficult, and I guess the idea is work forces the two characters together and they. Actually, I'm not sure. They decide they like each other I guess. I've had coworkers that hooked up before, even a few that got married. I don't recall them bickering a lot before then, though.