The twins only liked to walk around New York with Steve or Sam, and preferably them both. None of the other team members made excursions into the city all that enjoyable, or particularly useful as far as becoming acclimatised to the United States and the big city.
Tony never went out unless it was as Tony Stark, in which case he went with the car and suit everything else. Even as an Avenger, Tony kept to a certain amount of high society and it made the twins uncomfortable. Too many of the suited businessmen were interested in Wanda; they called her accent exotic and got too close and did things like touch her hair without asking. They didn't call Pietro's accent exotic when he cussed them out in his thick Sokovian dialect, and one man who knew enough Russian to guess the word pig turned purple before Tony had Happy usher the twins away.
Clint rarely spent free time wandering the city, if he had enough for a day off he took off back home to the farm. If he did go out, it was generally with Natasha and the two former spies often treated it as a training opportunity. The twins were constantly being told to check their surroundings, disappear if they had to, and how to discreetly avoid hostiles in a crowded area. It was far better if the two older Avengers were taking the twins shopping, but walking around with them to get a feel for the city was futile.
Bruce rarely left for anything but supplies he had to acquire himself, Rhodes was never available, and Vision and Thor were still too new to Earth in general to be much good. So that left Steve and Sam.
Sam would take them out before dawn and show them New York during sunrise, and then show them how to get back to the Tower while moving through the morning rush of people going to work. He'd show them the best hotdog stands, and laugh at Pietro's disgusted response to yellow mustard.
Steve would take them out in the afternoon, telling them how things once were and buying them overpriced coffee drinks to sip while they walked. He showed them the areas they didn't want to be alone in, and taught them how to find the Tower from every corner of the city.
It was best when both men took Wanda and Pietro out though. Sam would explain anything and everything he thought his friends ought to know, and would watch to see if they ever looked confused by something that he thought was ordinary. It was impossible for Pietro to feel stupid or offended by such treatment when Steve listened just as closely, and was confused by just as much. The twins also followed the rule to not use their abilities when in public if they were with the two former soldiers. Pietro didn't need to take off to go check something interesting, as he could simply point it out so they could go together, and Wanda didn't have to force people to leave them alone since no one ever tangled with Steve.
On the first free summer day they all had, Steve and Sam elected to take the twins to Central Park. They hadn't been there yet and the youngest Avengers were looking forward to it greatly. They walked as a group, with the twins behind the other two and taking advantage of Steve's innate crowd-parting skill.
Their first impression of the park on their arrival was that it was huge. Steve smiled at their surprised expressions, and Sam laughingly told them that it was a total of eight hundred and forty three acres. As there was so much to potentially see in the park, the four of them opted to just wander rather than looking at all the landmarks and they walked through the park aimlessly. If either twin saw something that interested them, they all went over to check it out and Sam would tell them about it better than any tour guide.
They stopped for a break in the shade after a couple hours, commandeering a bench that Sam and the twins sat on while Steve leaned against the back.
"This is a nice view." Pietro said, looking around at the man made lakes and the trees as he handed his water bottle to Wanda.
"One of my favourites." Steve replied, nodding absently as he looked around. "I sit here to sketch sometimes."
"What?" Both twins looked up at Steve, who seemed surprised by their reaction.
"I thought you were always writing plans in your little books." Pietro said, twisting on the bench to get a better look at the blond. "You were drawing?"
"Yeah." Steve reached into his jacket and pulled out the slim leather bound book the twins had seen him with several times before. He flipped through the pages until he found the one he wanted, and showed them a small sketch of the view they were currently admiring.
The drawing was actually nice, much more fluid than Pietro had expected from the somewhat stiff captain. Wanda smiled when she looked at it too, and she fingered the edge of the page curiously.
"Are these all drawings?" She asked, lifting the page the tiniest bit to peek at the one behind it. "May we look at them?"
"There aren't many finished, but you're welcome to."
Pietro laid the small sketchbook open on his lap so the others could see, and both Wanda and Sam leaned in to get a better look. Most of the pages were filled with small doodles, and half finished sketches of random objects that included Thor's hammer and Tony's favourite chipped mug. Most were done on pencil, although a few had been done in pen and one looked like charcoal.
A third of the way through they came to a full page sketch of Sam from the shoulders up.
"Whoa." Sam took the book from Pietro, so he could inspect the drawing of his own face done in regular blue ink. It was loosely drawn but it was clearly Sam, his Falcon goggles pushed up on his forehead and one hand gesturing with a thumb back over his shoulder.
Underneath it was a doodle of a tiny Sam flat on his face with his Wings out and a speech bubble that said 'I'm ok'. Pietro laughed and took the sketchbook back for a better look.
"It is very you." He told Sam, pointing to the doodle, and both the older men laughed.
The next few pages were filled with the Avengers, Sam and Natasha appearing the most often. Most of them were just from the shoulders up, with some being just the face and a few more doodles. One page was most definitely a plan of attack, and Pietro pointed it out accusingly to Steve.
And then the twins turned the page to find themselves. Pietro was on the left in profile, Wanda on the right from the front.
It was Wanda's turn to take the sketchbook from Pietro, and she held it out to Steve as she tapped the page with her brother's face.
"When did you do this?"
"I'm not sure." Steve said, taking the book from her and flipping through a couple pages after the ones with the twins. "Maybe a month ago, whenever Pietro was standing still last."
"Can you make a copy?" Wanda took the book back from him, looking closely at the sketch.
"Sure." Steve smiled, though he looked slightly puzzled. "I can ask Hill to make a copy of both even, if you want."
"Yes." Pietro cut in, looking over Wanda's shoulder at the drawing of her. "I would like that."
"They're really not that good." Steve said, starting to look more than a little embarrassed by their focus on the portraits. "They don't come close to a photo."
"We don't have photos of each other." Wanda was holding the sketchbook almost protectively, and Pietro saw understanding dawn on Steve.
"Wait, hold up." Sam leaned forward to look at both the twins, his eyebrows getting dangerously close to his hairline. "You mean you have zero pictures of yourselves?"
Pietro shrugged, glancing at his sister. "No. Just a…an old family photo."
"Well, we're in a great place to fix that."
Sam pulled his phone out of his pocket and took the sketchbook from Wanda, handing it back to Steve. The former para-rescue soldier shepherded the bemused twins over to a big tree by the path., and told them to smile. They did, but it was a startled sort of smile and Sam groaned when he checked the picture afterward.
"I think you'll have better luck with candids, Sam." Steve said, thumbs hooked in the pockets of his jeans. "Let's finish showing the kids the park."
So they started walking again, the twins continuously glancing at Sam who still had his phone out. But then Steve pointed out the zoo, and soon the twins forgot all about phone.
Both Pietro and Wanda were fond of the big snow leopard and red pandas, and Wanda was fascinated by the grizzly bears. They had lunch at the café that was there, and Sam patiently answered all their questions about how well the animals were treated.
Steve brought them to the Central Park Carousel after they finished with the zoo, and remarked offhandedly that it didn't look all that different from what he remembered. The brightly painted horses were ridiculous, but Pietro was insistent that Wanda ride it with him. Sam stood with the other people who were taking photos of friends and family on the ride, and Steve went to join him. The twins dragged him onto the Carousel with them though, much to Steve's chagrin and Sam's amusement.
Once it got dark they headed back to the Tower, Sam promising to take the twins out again to show them more of the park on another day. The other Avengers were all occupied with their own projects when they got back, except for Clint who was asleep on the living room couch. Since the living room was taken, they sat in the kitchen after they had washed up.
Sam passed his phone to Steve with a grin before he started pulling things from the fridge to cook up something for dinner, after checking to see if everyone was hungry. Steve used his foot to push Wanda's chair to the side so he could pull a chair over and sit between the twins, putting Sam's phone on the table.
"I'll still copy those sketches if you want." He said as he opened the photo gallery on Sam's phone, "But here are a few more options for you at least."
And Pietro and Wanda watched, captivated, as Steve scrolled through picture after picture of the twins together. There were ones of Wanda pulling on Pietro's sleeve to look at the leopard, of them both smiling at the sea lions, even one of them with Pietro protectively keeping Wanda away from a guy who had been flirting with her. Steve was in a few of the pictures as well, and Pietro frowned.
"There's no pictures with you." He said to Sam, who was just putting the spaghetti into the water to cook.
"That's because I was the one with the camera."
"Yes, but it is… too bad."
Sam wiped the water from his hands slowly, and then grinned. He took his phone back from Steve, and came around so he was standing behind the three of them at the table.
"Well, let's fix that, okay? Everyone squeeze in close to Cap!"
Using the arm not holding the phone, he pulled Wanda in closer to the blond and got Steve to pull Pietro in. Sam bent down, held the phone at arm's length and pressed the screen.
"Smile!"
He brought the picture up and put his phone down for them to see, and ran to stir the pasta when the pot started spitting and boiling over. The four of them were crammed into the photo frame, Steve looking cheerful if slightly squished, Sam grinning, Pietro mid-laugh and Wanda smiling shyly.
Steve got up to help Sam with the pasta and setting the table, and Wanda moved to Steve's vacant seat so that she and Pietro could look through all the photos again. They went through them slowly, looking at them full sized sometimes, and then ended with the group picture. Steve's shirt was wrinkled and Sam had flour on his forehead, and the twins were both dishevelled from their long day and quick wash.
It was a very different picture than the one Pietro still had on his bedside table, but the twins thought they might like it almost as much.