"Do I have anything to do today?"
"You could clean up the mess from your drunken rampage last Tuesday."
"Nah, that's what you're for. I'm gonna get the boys together. And Natasha."
Tony Stark is lying out on his enormous couch in his Malibu mansion. Pepper is picking up tiny shards of glass from the floor, eying him disapprovingly. Of course, she's used to doing most of the work around here. Well, that's what she's paid to do, but it would be nice to see a little more compassion from Tony.
"They're all over the place, Tony," Pepper reminds him, collecting a bottle cap from a pool of glass. "You'll have a hell of a time trying to round them all up."
"Well, counting me, that's two down. It's a good thing Bruce is visiting."
"What?"
Bruce emerges from the basement, where he was admiring some of Tony's sports cars. He's wearing a gray hoodie with the hood pulled over his crazy curls; a break from his usual button-ups. The hoodie was his casual wear to try and make him comfortable on his plane trip here. He's still high-strung from the claustrophobic cabin and trying to remain calm so high in the air. He hasn't relaxed since he arrived yesterday.
"Look at this, Peps," Tony says, pushing himself off the couch and crossing over to his friend. "Look at this. He needs a break. Whaddya say about the beach, Bruce? Do you want to go to the beach for a day?"
Bruce tries to mumble a reply, but he ends up tripping over his words and stuttering helplessly. He blushes beneath his hood and shoves his hands in his pockets. Tony laughs and slings an arm around his lab buddy, who stiffens at the contact.
"Well, I guess if you want to take the time to get everyone together," Pepper sighs.
"Awesome," Tony cheers, flying over to his assistant and planting a kiss on her cheek. She tries to keep her professional poise.
"Who should we get first, Bruce? Is Thor in town?"
By 'in town', Tony of course meant 'on Earth'. And heck knows where Natasha and the Hawk are. Steve has been meaning to introduce himself to more modern technology, so he's probably in some big city somewhere around the country.
"Here, I know. I'll call Tasha," Tony suggests, "You get Steve. We'll find Point Break somehow."
So it's a surprise when they finally gather the whole group and find they have a plus one.
"What's he doing here?"
"Apologies, my friends," Thor thunders. "He will behave. Won't you, Brother?"
Loki Laufeyson glances at the sand. He's wearing long black sleeves and a green vest, and is visibly sweating. He doesn't say a word.
"Do not fear," Thor promises the group, "I will watch him without fail."
"I do not need a babysitter, Brother," Loki mumbles.
"Don't pull anything," Tony warns, "I can tell Bruce already feels threatened. You feel threatened, right, Bruce?"
Bruce shrugs. His arms are crossed uncomfortably over his chest, and he pulls his curls down to cover his face where his sunglasses don't shade it.
"What are you hiding from, Big Guy?" Tony teases. "This is my private beach. No one is gonna try and rile you up."
"Besides you," the scientist mumbles, wringing his hands.
"Can we just lay back and relax now?" Natasha sighs.
"All right, break," Tony calls. "Have fun, you guys! Drinks are in a cooler over there!"
Natasha heads straight to the water. The obvious stare from Clint as she removes her cover-up extracts a laugh from everyone (except Loki, of course, who has refused to look up). Her bikini is sophisticated and black, except for a red patch on the top, fittingly in the shape of an hourglass. She wades into the sea, and Clint follows far behind, like a trained puppy.
Tony lies out on a chair, where a drink is waiting for him. He spreads a towel near him on the sand.
"Relax, Bruce," he says. "Here, that's your spot. And take off those shades or you'll get a ridiculous sunburn."
Cautiously, Bruce lowers himself onto the towel. It's warm, and he begins to loosen up a bit, pushing his shades onto his head.
"Atta boy," his billionaire friend teases, tousling his curls roughly. "Want a drink?"
"No, I'm fine, thank you."
Tony watches as Bruce pulls a book from the bag he brought along. He smiles. Leave it to Bruce to enjoy a book over a nice margarita. Reaching out, Tony snatches the book.
"Hey!" Bruce twists around in protest, reaching for his book like a child for his bottle.
"What's this?" Tony flips the book shut and studies the cover. "Is this just a book on quantum physics?"
"No, sorry, that was my book cover for another one," Bruce says.
Tony peels back the green cover to reveal To Kill a Mockingbird.
"Ah! Classic! Harper Lee really could write."
Bruce quirks an eyebrow. "I didn't peg you as the reading type, Stark," he says. "I thought you might have servants or robots to do that for you."
"Oh, you wound me with your accusations, Doctor Banner. How do you think I became a genius?"
Tony hands the book back to his friend, who tries to remain calm as he searches for his page number.
Just off the beach, Thor Odinson sits at a small café table, shaded with an umbrella. Loki Laufeyson is seated across from him.
"Allow me to buy you a drink, Brother," the elder offers.
"I didn't even want to come here," his adoptive brother grumbles.
"Please, just enjoy it. These are my friends. They could be yours, too."
"That's just a fantasy of yours, Brother. Do not bring me to a Midgardian place of recreation and expect me to play with your friends."
A personal waiter comes over, one of Stark's hired. "May I get you something this afternoon, gentlemen?"
"Yes, please," Thor replies, used to getting a drink after all his time in Midgard. "Do you perhaps have coffee?"
Loki snorts.
"Do not mock me, Brother."
"It's hot out, though."
"I like that drink. Now you order."
Loki looks up at the waiter with a wide-eyed gape. He's never ordered anything before, besides from his servants during his short-lived reign as king. He doesn't know what to do, or what to order. He glances at his brother for help, but Thor merely stares back. Loki swallows a lump in his throat. Is being a Midgardian always this unnerving?
"He'll have a margarita on the rocks, kind sir," Thor finally says.
"Yes, of course. I'll be back with your drinks."
Loki glances down, his long black hair shrouding his face. Suddenly he feels something touching his head, and his hair is being pulled away from his eyes.
"It's called a hairtie," Thor laughs sarcastically. Loki sticks his bottom lip out disapprovingly, but allows his brother to tie his hair into a short ponytail.
"How can I be above the Midgardians if I can't even order a drink?" Loki says quietly. His remark is met with thunderous laughter.
"Ordering a drink is not equivalent to ruling a realm, Brother," he grins. "But, don't you think this is fun? Why not enjoy Midgard, instead of rule it?"
Loki looks at the table again, wishing his hair could hide his face.
"Hey, Barton! Catch!"
Steve tosses a red Frisbee to his friend, who is currently knee-deep in the sea. Clint jumps up and snatches the plastic disc effortlessly, stumbling a bit on landing, but maintaining a single fluid motion as he sends the toy sailing back to Steve. The man laughs and returns the throw. Clint tosses it again, but a quick silhouette intercepts the throw as fast as lightning.
"Tasha," Clint whines. "We were having fun."
"What, am I not allowed to play, too?" She directs her teasing glare at Steve. "Is it because I'm a girl?"
"Let her play, Cap," Clint says, "Or she'll never give the Frisbee back."
Steve agrees, and, with a grin, Natasha tosses the Frisbee to him with perfect accuracy. He sends it to Clint, who flies it over to Natasha. Natasha flicks it toward Steve, but, again, a figure steals it in mid-air.
Who could that be?
"Sorry to crash your little party," Agent Phil Coulson jokes. "Someone had to supervise you kids."
"Ah, hello, Agent!" Steve greets him.
Phil clears his throat and begins to fidget. "Hello, Steve. Pleasure to see you as always! But, like, not in a weird way…"
It's strange to see Phil out of uniform; he is wearing bright swim trunks and a casual tee shirt. He fiddles with the Frisbee and stares at Steve's feet.
"So… Can I join in?"
"Of course, Phil," Natasha says sweetly, holding out her hands to receive the toy. Catching it swiftly, she sidesteps toward Steve to make room for Phil in their little circle. He jumps in, in between her and Clint. Clint looks disappointed.
By now, Tony is on his third drink. He rests his arm shamelessly on Bruce's head, who has learned to deal with it as he reads rapidly. He pushes his glasses up the bridge of his nose and flips the page. A drop of cold condensation from Tony's cup lands on his cheek. He flinches slightly.
"Hey, Brucey, relax," Tony says, slightly slurring from drowsiness and alcohol. "Is all that plane-ride-tension gone yet?"
"I'm trying to forget about that, thank you."
"Ooh, what did you do? Chin a passenger? Rip out a seat? Hit on a flight attendant?"
"No, I just really don't like the bathrooms."
Tony chuckles and sets his glass down in the warm sand. Swinging his legs over, he sits on the edge of the chair and begins to knead away at his friend's shoulders.
"Today is all about relaxing."
"So why are you really giving me a massage?"
"Better you wreck shit here than in my house,"
"Are you done with your drink, Loki?"
"Yes, I'm done."
"You liked it."
"I won't say that-"
"So you liked it."
"…Yes."
Thor stands and crosses to Loki's side of the table, heaving him onto his feet. "See, how could you destroy the only realm that possesses decent margaritas?"
Loki blows at a strand of black hair that has freed itself from his ponytail. "I never said 'destroy', Brother. I said 'rule'."
"I am not here to stop you today, but I trust you are not here to try." Thor grips his brother's shoulders and meets his eyes. "Shall we have fun today, Loki? As equals?"
Hesitantly, the younger nods. Thor grins, and a small part of Loki resists the urge to lurch forward and embrace his brother. Thor releases him and he sighs in relief.
"Look down on the beach, Loki. They're playing a game. Would you like to go learn their Midgardian game with me?"
Loki swallows and looks down at the group on the sand. Natasha, Clint, Steve, and is that… Phil Coulson? They're all tossing something back and forth, and smiling, laughing. Loki nods slowly.
"Hello, my friends."
Clint catches the Frisbee. "Hey, Thor. And Loki."
"What's up, you two?" Natasha asks. "Staying out of trouble?"
Loki clenches his jaw and Thor pats his shoulder reassuringly.
"Do you want to play?" Steve asks the siblings.
"We do not know how to play this game," Thor admits.
Clint tosses the disc to Natasha, who reaches up and catches it without even looking. She approaches Thor and Loki.
"I can teach you, see?"
Natasha pulls up Loki's hand and turns it palm-up. He stares at her in
disbelief as she places the Frisbee in his hand and closes his fingers around it. She pushes his arm back behind him, and then stands next to him, posing with a mock Frisbee.
"Yeah, like that. Point your foot where you want to aim. Make sure your arm is like this or the thing will take a nose-dive. All right, now swing forward like this- Are you watching, too, Thor?"
Phil and Steve watch in amazement, but Clint is especially mesmerized. The woman is positively fearless. And beautiful. He makes a mental note to say something about it to her, anything. Though he's made this note many times before, never once initiating it.
"Okay, ready to try throwing it?"
Loki nods and Natasha points to Phil.
"Throw it to him."
The young god positions his feet carefully and leans just as he was taught. Then, with a swing, the Frisbee is airborne. Phil catches it without having to move an inch.
"See, Brother?" Thor laughs, slapping Loki's back. "Is this not fun?"
Loki meets his brother's eyes, the corners of his own crinkling, only slightly. Thor smiles back softly, understanding.
Suddenly, something smacks into Loki's temple. He turns, enraged.
"Who dares provoke me?"
"I'm sorry," Agent Coulson says coolly. "It was supposed to go to Thor."
Loki decides not to hurt Coulson, for now. Thor would not be very happy if he ruined this nice evening. But Loki will get payback on this Coulson. Oh, yes. Payback will be sweet. But for now he catches and throws a Frisbee like a Midgardian, and very secretly enjoys it.
"Look, Bruce! They're playing Frisbee! …Bruce?"
Tony slides off of his chair to see his friend has fallen asleep, book open on his chest. He snores slightly. Tony laughs quietly, taking the book and placing Bruce's fittingly green bookmark in it. Slipping it into his bag, he attempts to wake his friend.
"Bruce. Bruce, wake up. Everyone is playing Frisbee!"
Bruce mumbles and stirs slightly, placing his forearm tiredly over his eyes.
"Come on, Banner. It looks like fun! Wow, Steve is really good at it…"
"Huh?"
"Hey! The monster has awoken!"
Bruce glares at his friend disapprovingly, who simply helps him sit up and brushes the sand off of his shoulders.
"Look at them. Doesn't that look fun?" Tony grins wildly at the scientist. "Let's go play."
Bruce sighs. "Look, I wanna focus on my reading- Hey!"
Tony pulls his friend onto his feet and drags him over to the group.
"Hey guys, we're in! Toss it here!"
Thor throws it with a strong arm to Tony, who passes it to Steve.
"Capsicle, toss that to Bruce! You can do it, Bruce!"
With a defeated shake of his head, Bruce prepares to catch the Frisbee. Steve and Tony share a mischievous look, and then Steve sends the Frisbee above the scientist's head. They expect him to let it go and get upset, but jaws drop when the quiet man leaps several feet into the air, catching it, and turning slightly mid-air.
"Whoa, Big Guy!" Tony laughs, surprised. "You didn't tell me you could do that. How long have you been able to move more than two feet in a given amount of time-"
"Anyone can play Frisbee," Bruce grins. "Even Loki can."
Loki smirks at Bruce as he tosses the Frisbee to the god.
The group goes on throwing and catching and laughing, not even noticing the sun beginning to set, sinking beautifully into the water. Finally it becomes difficult to focus on their target, and the group calls it quits. Everyone thanks Steve for bringing the Frisbee as he packs away his toy.
They begin to wrap up their fun little day trip, saying their good-byes one by one.
"Um… Steve?"
Steve turns around to see Agent Phil Coulson, holding some sort of device that Steve recognizes as a modern 'smartphone'.
"Can I help you, Agent?"
"Um, yeah… I was wondering… If I could get, uh, a picture with you?"
Steve laughs. "Of course! So those little things can do that, too?"
Phil sidles up to his hero giddily, holding his phone out in front of them. Hesitantly, he slings an arm around the captain, who pats the agent's back in response. Phil snaps the picture and the two check it together. It turned out perfectly. Steve has never seen Phil smile so much.
"So you did enjoy yourself today, Brother. Did you not?"
"I did," admits Loki as he lets his hair down. "That is not to say my plan to rule has been terminated or postponed."
"I expected nothing different," Thor says, defeated.
"But I did have fun. It was fun not to worry…"
Thor pats his brother lovingly. It almost feels like before they drifted apart, before Loki knew the truth about himself. They both savor the moment.
"Not a word shall be spoken of this day, in any realm. Do you understand?" Loki demands.
"You have my word."
"Good," says Loki, before pulling his big brother into a hug.
"Natasha!"
Natasha turns from where she is admiring the last sliver of sun over the waves. Clint is approaching her.
"Hey, Barton. What is it?"
Clint joins her in the ankle-deep seawater. The last fraction of sunlight illuminates her face perfectly. He swallows.
"I was just going to tell you how brave you were today."
"Brave? Please," She snorts. "We kill people for a living. That's not brave, and you know it."
"It was bold. A lot of the others didn't give Loki a second glance."
"Well, he's a person deep down too, right?"
Clint smirks. "Not really."
"You know what I mean," she laughs softly. "And anyway, no one else will ever know what went on during this trip anyway, so why not have a little fun, right?"
Clint bites his lip. "Really, um… Well, in that case…" Stretching his neck out, he kisses her cheek softly. He had told himself he was going to go for her lips, but he wondered if she'd kill him. He decided to play it safe.
The sun is gone now. Clint can't make out her face, and he waits patiently for her to say something.
"I've had a lot of fun with you today, Clint." She says softly. "And I didn't know you could throw a Frisbee like that."
"Huh, well, I didn't know you could even cut loose so much," Clint admits. "It was really great seeing you have so much fun."
"Yeah, let's do this again sometime!" She smiles. "I'll see you later, Clint."
"Good night," he says, almost inaudibly.
"Good night, Hawk."
And so everyone heads home. Tony and Bruce return to the mansion, and the rest of the team heads in all separate directions. A little piece of everyone was filled today. Everyone had the most fun they'd had in a while, work and war ceased for just a moment, one to rejoice for either army. Though there were some spoken agreements not to bring up the events of the day, not a single person forgot the day there was world peace.