"Stakes?" Steve asks as he shuffles the cards expertly.
"Winner gets to choose which pet we're getting." Tony challenges. Natasha had been asking for the last two years for a pet, and they finally decided that now, at 9 years old, she was… mostly responsible enough for one.
The only problem had been deciding on which pet to get. The argument over it had been going on for 4 months now, mostly between Tony and Steve, since Natasha insisted she just wanted any pet, not a specific pet.
"You're on," Steve responds, and the two men prepare for the game of the century.
…
20 minutes and 3 tied games later, Tony and Steve are glaring accusingly at each other.
"You're cheating!" Steve charges.
"No, you are!"
"Stop counting cards, Tony!" Steve warns.
"One, that hurts, Rogers. I'm a genius. I don't have to count- it just happens! Two, I'm not gonna gain victory by cheating. I'm planning on winning my designer Savannah kitten, bred to perfection just for me- fair and square."
"No, you're going to cheat me out of my mature shelter dog with your inescapable desire to win at all costs!"
"Be careful, Rogers. Of the two of us, I have never cheated," Tony growls lowly, before a realisation comes over both of them.
They simultaneously stare first at each other, then turn in sync to look at the third person in the room, whose mouth lifts up in a slow, sly smile.
"Natasha Abigail Stark-" Tony begins.
"So, you were just going to watch us argue and sit there quietly?" Steve demands with his (now abbreviated) "Captain Scoldy" face. Natasha smirks outright, please with herself.
"What I want to know is who taught you to cheat at Go Fish?!" Tony sputters indignantly, upset he hadn't taught her himself years ago.
She shrugs, and casually mentions Bruce and Rhodey may have shown her a thing or two. Then, she places her final matching pair on the table and clasps her hands together.
"I believe we agreed the winner of this game gets to choose the pet? Or, should I say, since I won, the pets?"
Steve and Tony stare at each other in fear of what they've created.
There's a commotion downstairs as Steve is cooking dinner. He calls Tony up from his lab to tell him "they're fighting again."
Thor, Steve's German Shepherd rescue dog and Loki, Tony's designer Savannah cat, haven't seemed to get along since they brought each of them home- except when they're trying to get cuddles from Natasha, or when Loki is watching Thor chase his ball around in circles from his elaborate cat palace.
Today, Loki is yowling, and Thor is trying to catch him while Steve holds him back with his huge arms, until Tony bends and offers Loki his own arms as shelter. Loki looks haughtily down at Thor, lazily taunting him with his tail as Thor licks his lips and whines at the loss of his best playmate/worst enemy.
Both pets and owners seem to be at a bit of a stalemate, until Steve's phone rings. He met his new friend Sam at the animal shelter, and Sam decided to adopt both Steve and Natasha nearly immediately. Tony… was another story. Though not unfriendly toward Tony, Sam's ever-present smile seems to shrink slightly in his presence. Whenever Sam comes over for dinner, Tony seems to have a project in the lab he has to work on. And since Sam first met Wanda, he's been coming over a lot more often.
Today, however, he provides a much-needed distraction for the energetic hound in Steve's arms. Steve grabs Thor's leash and calls Nat to see if she wants to meet Sam and his three-legged dog Buchanan at the dog park. She races out, excited, and pulls Steve along behind her.
"Bye, Daddy!" she calls out with a wave back to Tony.
Tony sighs, looking around the empty penthouse.
"Well, it looks like it's just you and me, Lokes," he declares, then carries Loki down to his lab with him.