Here's a sequel to my very first story, "Living With the Avengers". I hope you enjoy it as much as you enjoy my other stories. Please review and give me prompt ideas, because I can't write without 'em! Thanks again and please check out my plethora of other works, all about our favorite team of superheroes...
"AHHHHHHHHHH!" I hear coming from the kitchen. This can't be good. I run over and skid to a stop in the doorway. Quite an interesting sight lay before me.
Bruce is standing on the table. Steve is crouched on the counter and I can tell Thor is hiding in the pantry because of his big feet poking out from under the door.
"Um, guys? What's going on?" I ask, looking around.
"Th-There's a spider. Huge. We're talking a spider on steroids." Bruce replies, looking scared out of his wits.
I raise an eyebrow. "Really? The Hulk, a god, and a super-soldier are ALL scared of a spider?" I laugh.
"Beth, it was GIANT." Steve says.
"The war hero is right." Thor agrees, his voice muffled from his hiding spot.
I sigh. "Okay. Where is it now?" I inquire.
"From the looks of it, right by your feet." Bruce points out.
I look down. A spider that looks to be the size of a dinner plate is about to crawl upon my bare toes.
"OH MY GOODNESS! AHHHHHHH!" I scream. I jump away from where I was standing. I see Thor's hammer on the island. Instinctively, I grab it and start running around the kitchen, trying to smash the arachnid and creating craters along the way. Bruce, Steve, and Thor cheer me on. About a minute later, I squish the bug and am brandishing Thor's weapon triumphantly, the spider flat on the ground. Thor comes out of the pantry and congratulates me on my "battle skills".
The rest of the team runs in, curious as to what the commotion was about.
Clint and Natasha are just staring at the numerous craters. Tony, however, looks like his head is about to blow off.
"You destroy my kitchen once by having a flour fight. Now you smash the floor all up with Thor's hammer? WHY IS IT WHENEVER YOU FOUR ARE IN THE KITCHEN BAD THINGS HAPPEN?" he yells, red in the face.
"There was a large spider. Beth slayed it. Impressively, I might add." Thor answered.
I point to the dead creature. Tony and the assassins gasp.
"That's gross..." Clint comments. "Why is it so big?"
"My guess is that it came into contact with some chemicals in the lab or something." Bruce supplies.
"Just don't let any get on Tony. His head is already bigger than it needs to be." Natasha teases, and we all laugh, except for Tony of course.
I'm sitting on a stool, eating some cereal and talking with Natasha. The rest of the team is eating breakfast, except for Steve and Thor who are out jogging. A thundering of footsteps heading this way tells me they are home. They come into the kitchen, shirtless and breathing heavily. Bruce tosses each of them a water bottle from the fridge.
I thought just occurred to me. "Quick question. Is it possible for either of you to get fat, or is it an automatic abs kind of thing?" I ask from the table. Tony and Bruce burst out laughing.
"I'm being serious. Being a super soldier and a god, is it possible for either of y'all to get fat?" I ask again.
"Why do you care?" Bruce asks, wiping tears from his eyes.
"Shut it. We had to buy you stretchy pants." I taunt while I point at the doctor. That silences him quick. I turn back to the boys. "I'm just curious."
I look at Thor. "I'm not for certain." he answers. "I have never tried."
"I'm going to take that as a no. Steve?" I ask and turn to the veteran.
"I don't think so. The serum causes me to be self-healing. Not to mention the ridiculously high metabolism." he answers.
"You lucky ducks. You eat a whole pizza, nothing happens. I eat a chocolate bar; I can't fit into my skinny jeans." I complain. "Why can't I be a superhero?" I whine.
"Trust me, Beth. It's annoying to have to eat all the time." Steve says. "I have to eat, like, three or four sandwiches to feel full sometimes."
"Hmmm...I guess it would be annoying to have to eat all the time." I say. "But it would be nice to be able to eat bacon more than twice a week."
"Twice a week?" Thor asks, amazed.
"What? I love me some pig parts..." I defend, and go back to my cereal.
I was in the living room, doing a yoga video. I had been really stressed out lately, and I didn't want to have a mental breakdown and/or a screaming fit. Bruce walks in, pacing and breathing heavily.
"You okay?" I ask as I shift into the tree position.
"Hehe. Nope. Tony and I have been working for 48 hours straight and he is being unusually annoying." he explains, still rubbing his hands together. "I didn't want to transform, so I came up here to chill out."
"I hate it when y'all work like that. No sleep isn't good. Wanna join me?" I ask as I fold into a pretzel.
"Uh, no. I'm not very flexible." Bruce declines, gesturing to my intricately folded legs.
"Oh, well the meditation part is starting. C'mon, there's a spare mat over there. No harm in meditation." I persuade.
Bruce thinks for a moment. "Eh, what the heck." he says at grabs the mat and rolls it out next to me.
The video starts playing a "relaxation mix", or so the instructor on the screen said. Bruce and I sit cross-legged with our eyes closed and breathe quietly. It's very peaceful. I feel as if nothing is going on around me.
Steve and Thor walk in, but begin to tiptoe when they see Beth and Bruce sitting on the ground.
"What are they doing?" Thor asks Steve, barely making a sound.
"I'm pretty sure it's called yoga. It's a combination of stretches and meditation, I think. It's supposed to be relaxing." Steve answers just as quietly.
"Oh." Thor says. "Interesting. We do not have this 'yoga' on Asgard. It looks fun." Thor says.
Steve chuckles. "I wouldn't know. But yeah, it does look kind of fun." he says as Thor grabs some Pop tarts and splits them with him.
The music stops, and I'm pulled out of my meditative state. I look over at Bruce, and before I can tell him that the video is over, he lets out a snore. I chuckle at the doctor, who is sleeping sitting up in the meditative position. I turn off the TV and leave my uncle to get the sleep he desperately needs. I see Thor and Steve in the kitchen and we sit down and eat Poptarts together. For some reason, they asked me about yoga. I explained it to them and almost burst out laughing when I thought of Steve and Thor doing the scorpion.
"Hey you guys!" I shout as I run into the kitchen and drop my plastic bag on the island. Everyone turns around and gives me a quizzical look. "Look what I found at the store today!" I say and grab action figures of my friends out of the bag.
"What did you find?" Clint asks, amused by my excitement as the group walks over.
"Aren't they adorable? They have ones for each of you." I say as I begin to open their packages. I set a tiny Thor, Steve, Bruce, Tony, Clint, and Natasha on the table.
"Awwwwww! How cute!" Tony mocks as he examines his likeness. "They didn't get my face right. Not handsome enough..." Natasha smacks him on the back of the head and grabs the Black Widow action figure.
"These are pretty cool." Steve says as he and Clint engage in an action figure fight, which basically meant they bashed the two toys together and made punching sounds.
"Beth? Why are these play-things so fragile?" Thor whines as he shows me his toy with its 'hammer arm' popped off.
"Oh, Thor." I sigh. "Remember that you, being a god, are quite stronger than a human little boy. They don't make toys tough enough for Asgardians here." I remind him as I pop the arm back into place.
"Thank you Beth!" he exclaims and runs over to the rest of the team, who by now are engaged in an all-out war with the action figures. It was a rather comical sight, to see a group of crime-fighting adults sprawled on the living room rug and playing like little children.
"Pew!Pew!" Tony yelled as he pretended to shoot the repulsors on his toy's hands. "Hey! I killed you Bruce! You have to die!" he complained like a five-year-old.
"Nu-uh! The Hulk can't die from repulsors. Duh! Gosh Tony, don't be ridiculous." Bruce replied as he pretended to smash the Tiny Tony into the ground.
"Hey! Thor, give me back my shield!" Steve shouted as Thor proceeded to take the tiny shield and put it in his toy's hands, then flying around the room with it. Steve chased him until he took his shield back with a huff.
Pepper walked in the door, typing on her ever-present Blackberry. She paused only to take in the scene before her. "What's going on?" she asked.
"Oh, hi Pepper. I bought some Avengers action figures I saw at the store." I explained.
"Ah." she replied, and continued typing like it was completely normal.
"It's my turn to lead the grocery store expedition this week. I need three people to come with me. Any volunteers?" I announce as I swing my keys around in the kitchen. Everybody just shrugs me off.
"If nobody comes I won't make bacon more a month..." I threaten.
Everybody immediately rushes into a line in front of me.
"Hmmmmm. I'll take Steve, Thor, and Tony." I pick. "Let's go. We have a lot to shop for."
"Okay. Let's split up. I will handle the dairy products. Thor, you take vegetables and fruit. Steve, bread products. Tony, you get household item. Ready, BREAK!" I instruct and start wheeling my cart to the dairy section.
Five minutes pass and I see Thor running up to me with his arms full of avocados. Unfortunately, quite a few fell onto the ground before he stood in front of me.
"Beth! Look what I found. Can we purchase these, these...It seems I have forgotten this food's name." He confesses.
"Those are avocados. I suppose I could make some guacamole with them. Get a bag from the roll over there and put them in the cart. "I say and point to the roll of plastic baggies next to the pineapple. Thor runs over, dropping more avocados, and struggles to tear one off until a random lady tears it for him.
"Thank you, fair maiden!" he bellows before running back over to me, leaving the woman dazed and confused.
"Thor, remember your inside voice please. People aren't used to being yelled at." I say with a gentle tone.
"Yes Beth. I apologize. I had forgotten about that." he says and begins to put his avocados in the bag, then into the cart.
While Thor is busying himself with that task, I grab some milk, half and half, butter, and cheese. The Avengers really like their dairy.
"Hey Thor. Go get some apples and bananas. I'm gonna find Steve." I say.
"Yes! Apples and bananas, apples and bananas, apples and bananas..." he trails off as he heads back to the produce section.
I push my cart over to the bread aisle, and find Steve with his eyebrows furrowed and scratching his chin, staring intently at the loaves.
"White or Wheat? Enriched or Unenriched? Honey Wheat or Cinnamon? Or even Plain?" he shakes his head.
"Having trouble deciding?" I ask.
He chuckles. "Yeah. There are definitely a lot more choices than way back when."
"How bout we get two white, two wheat, and one cinnamon? That way everybody is happy." I suggest as I grab a loaf of cinnamon bread.
"Sounds good." he replies and grabs two loaves in each of his huge hands.
We each walk over to the cereal, and Steve's eyes go wide. "How much cereal is out there?" he asks, amazed.
I giggle. "Too much for anyone's own good. Lucky Charms and Frosted Flakes look okay?" I ask him.
"Sure." he says and grabs a box at the same time as another girl, who was rather pretty I might add.
He quickly pulls his hand away. "Sorry, ma'am." Steve says and dips his head. She just blushes, mumbles 'Thank you', and scurries away.
I laugh. "Look at you Steve! Picking up chicks in the cereal section!" I tease and punch him in the arm as he reaches for a different box. Steve shoots me a look and smacks me on the shoulder with the Lucky Charms. We start to head over to check out, and are met up with Thor, who somehow managed to fit ten apples and thirteen bananas in one baggie. He sets it in the cart, looking very pleased with himself.
"Well done, Thor. Have you seen Tony anywhere? It shouldn't take this long to grab some t.p., deodorant and toothpaste..." I ask. Thor shakes his head, and the three of us see Tony strolling over with a bottle in his hand.
I sigh. "Tony, that's not any of the things I said we needed." I point out.
"I know." he replies. "But look! This is quality scotch. I couldn't let some random person waste it." he explains in his billionaire voice and points to the bottle's label.
"Fine. You can get your dumb bottle of booze." I allow and Tony gasps like I just said I hated bacon. "We will all have to go over and grab what you didn't." I say.
We head over and get our items and then checkout without any major issues. The only truly embarrassing thing was when Thor knocked three whole rows of carts over when putting things back.
"Next time, I'm taking Clint, Natasha, and Bruce. It's too hard to shop with you guys." I laugh as we are driving home.