Family dinners were apparently a nightly thing at the Stark household. All eight occupants gathered together at precisely six thirty to eat and get interrogated. At least that's how Dean saw it. Why did anyone even want to know how his day was? He woke up, didn't pay attention in class, and now he's here. Not much to tell.
"Clint how did archery practice go?" Steve asked as he cut into his chicken.
Clint shrugged and shoved as much of the food into his mouth as possible before answering. "All bulls eyes all the time." Or, at least that's what everyone assumed he said around the food.
"Mmmhmm. Then where did that bandaid come from?" His sister teased. Clint had a new bright pink bandaid on his forehead, although this wasn't out of the norm for the clumsy twelve year old.
"Fell. Air tripped me and I hit a desk." Was his response before chugging his milk.
"Can you even try to eat like a human being?" Natasha looked at him in disgust, daintily holding her plate further away from him. Clint's reply was to simply lean towards her and, with a mouthful of food, say 'Ahhhhhh' to let her see all of the partly chewed food.
"Ew! Gross! Papa make him stop!"
"Clint eat your food, stop bothering Nat." Steve called out, though he was smiling as he said it.
"And Thor, how was football practice?" Tony asked the buff blond.
"We have much work to do if the team is to reach regionals, however I am confident we shall do our best!" The man puffed out his chest with pride. "Although," he paused. "Something odd happened today that I feel I need to seek council for."
"Oh? Do you want us to call Dr Sif?" Tony asked, already reaching for his phone.
"No, dad, I did not mean council in that regard. My teammates and I were talking after practice, and they were speaking of a woman in such vulgar terms. I do not understand why they did this? Women are such beautiful and wonderful beings, why would they talk of her this way? Is it an American custom I have yet to be introduced to?" Thor looked to his family in confusion, completely unaware of the situation he just described.
Dean snorted into his food in a half laugh half embarrassed choke, remembering his and Tony's conversation just the other day.
Tony gave Dean a 'check yourself' look before answering his son. "A lot of men don't have the respect of women that you do Thor. Unfortunately they see women as an object that they can use instead of the people that they are. That's where that kind of talk comes from, from that place of thinking that they're better than someone else."
Thor looked at his plate, brow furled as he thought. "Would this not make them the lesser beings? For believing that that woman is beneath them, when they act in such a way?" He asked his parents.
Steve smiled at his eldest. "You're completely right. The next time you hear anyone talking like that about anyone you tell them why they shouldn't, okay? Stick up for people especially if they aren't there to defend themselves."
"Lord knows your Papa has done that enough times for me over the years." Tony chuckled.
"I only do it because you're so easy to defend." Steve kissed Tony's cheek playfully.
Tony threw his head back and laughed. "That's the biggest load of BS I've ever heard!"
"What does BS mean?" Sam asked. Steve gave Tony a pointed 'look what you did now' look as Tony sputtered.
"It's short for bull shit Sammy." Dean explained before digging into his potatoes.
The entire table went quiet as they whipped their heads to look at Dean. Apparently they were all in consensus that a ten year old didn't need to know how to swear.
"Oh. Okay. I've never heard it shortened before. I guess it makes it easier to say, but it's the same number of syllables, why not just-"
"So Sam how was your day?" Steve interrupted.
The boy perked up as he explained about what he learnt today in school. They were learning about the different bones and muscles of the body right now and he loved how you had a cheat sheet with you at all the tests because you could just look at the muscles on your body!
"If you want I can help you study." Bruce offered. "I can even teach you more if you're interested. I'm taking a human anatomy course in uni right now so it would actually help it I could explain some of the information to someone else."
Well. The rest of world could've pissed off right then and there as far as Sam was concerned.
"Really? You would teach me things you're learning in university?!" He gaped at the older boy. Bruce chuckled at Sam's enthusiasm.
"Of course. Just make sure you let me know if I go too fast okay, I don't want to lose you part way through. How about we go to the library after dinner?"
Sam, with his mouth still agape, nodded.
"Okay, we went through Nats ballet rehearsal, so that leaves you Dean! How was your day?" Steve inquired.
Dean rolled his eyes before answering. "Awesome. Saved a kitten, walked an old lady across the street and got nominated for a nobel prize." He snarked.
"Dean." Steve was using his 'are you sure you want to do this' voice. Dean sneaked a look at the two men and saw them watching him with concern. He sighed.
"Fine. It was a normal day. School sucked. Food is good. Anything else you want to know?" He responded.
"What are you learning about in your classes?" Tony asked, trying to get more information from the boy.
"I don't know. Math? Science? History? At least I hope that's what they're teaching us or else you better reconsider send us there."
Tony sighed and apparently gave up. "Alright. I hope so too."
Steve, however, noticed something. "We should get the two of you into some extra curriculars now that you've had a chance to see what they are." He threw the idea out there and waited to see Dean's reaction. "Sam I'm sure you would love the science club, or the decathlon team or something like that. I hear there's even a book club if you're interested."
"Yeah I'll take a look at what they have. I wouldn't mind reading more books!" Sam looked excited at the prospect.
"And Dean. Are you interested in anything? Any sports or hobbies?" Steve pushed.
"Nope." The answer came quick and deadpan.
"Really? You're not interested in a single sport?" Tony asked.
"Never stuck around in one place long enough to last a season, so let's not push our luck." The boy spat in return.
The subject was quickly dropped.
After dinner, Steve pulled Dean aside.
"Go put on some workout clothes and meet me in the gym." He told the teen.
Not one to disobey a direct order, that's exactly what Dean did. He had no idea what he was expecting, but seeing Steve stretching in an army shirt and loose shorts was not it.
"Oh good, you're here! Start stretching with me." Steve beckoned for the boy to come closer to him on the mats.
Wordlessly, Steve lead them through stretches while telling Dean how important it was to stretch before ever doing something strenuous as to avoid hurting yourself. Dean rolled his eyes everytime Steve wasn't looking.
Finally, Steve stood up and asked Dean "how much combat do you know?"
The question threw Dean. "Um, what?"
"Combat. Self defence, boxing, sparring, whatever you want to call it. How much do you know?"
"I know what my dad taught me." Dean responded. "Where is this going?"
Steve crouched into a fighters stance. "Come at me."
"What!" Dean reeled back so suddenly he fell ass first on the mats and shuffled back a few feet.
Steve stood back up immediately. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have sprung that on you! I promise I'm not trying to punish you and I'll do my very best to not hurt you in any way. Would it be okay if the two of us sparred?" He asked and held out a hand to Dean to help him up.
Dean eyed the man, then the offered hand. Instead of taking the hand, Dean swept out his legs and caused Steve to fall to the mats.
"Oof. I'm taking that as a yes." Steve muttered as he pushed himself up again. "Okay." He got back down into fighting position. "Come at me."
Dean smiled. He knew how to do this. He could fight in his sleep, this is what he trained for!
"You sure you're ready for this old man?" He asked, already feeling more secure than he had since he got here.
"Bring it."