Yay! Chapter 5! Prepare for casual banter...I promise that action will occur soon. Enjoy and please review!

As it turned out, Tony had no trouble getting rid of the charred pierogies. He merely placed a mountain of them in front of Thor, (who had not witnessed their engulfment in flames) and the god of thunder polished them off in a few moments, promptly smashing his plate and calling out "Another!" when he was finished. Jane happily nibbled at an unburnt sandwich beside Thor, smiling when he smashed the plate in Asgardian fashion.

Tony tried to keep his eyes from Jane, but his weakness for attractive, brainy women crumbled his resolve. She was an astrophysicist, after all...but Tony reminded himself of his own brainy, eye-pleasing girlfriend and let the internal conflict disappear.

When Pepper finally arrived, returning from a half-day trip to Chicago for a Stark Industries meeting, Tony provided her with a theatrical greeting, involving the recital of a few lines of Shakespeare. Once Pepper had gotten over the confusion of Tony's most unusual reaction to her presence, she quickly revealed that she was, indeed, enamoured by the idea of having another female non-assassin around. She whisked Jane away to the Iron Man suite to show her the contents of her automated walk-in closet, and Tony, Steve, and Thor were left alone.

As soon as the women were out of earshot, Thor shot Tony a harsh glare.

"Keep your preying eyes away from Jane." He spat coldly.

Tony groaned and face-palmed. "I have not been admiring your scientist. We literally just met twenty minutes ago. If I glanced at her, it's not like I broke any laws. Besides...I already have Pepper Potts, the smartest businesswoman alive."

"Jane is nominated for a Nobel-"

Tony cut Thor off briskly. "Pepper is CEO of Stark Industries, the BIGGEST-"

"Ahem." Steve waved his hand between the feuding Avengers, whose faces had been growing steadily closer and redder.

"Let's not start this again. You both have amazing girlfriends and I can't even get a date. Let's leave it at that." Steve mused irritably.

Tony felt the tension dissipate and sat back down on his bar stool by the island. Thor took a seat as well, still scowling.

"That can't seriously be true, Captain! You're an Avenger!" Tony muttered, eager for a change of topic.

Thor cocked his head. "Are the Midgard women of this decade not to your liking? Perhaps I should escort you to Asgard, where legions of glorious women would await a chance to meet you, being a Midgard foreigner and all."

Steve shook his head and chuckled. "No, Thor...there are lots of great girls to be found here...I just haven't talked up the right one yet."

Meanwhile, Tony sent Thor a strange look. "If you have so many great women in Asgard, why did you end up with one from Earth?" he asked seriously, arching an eyebrow.

Thor regarded Tony carefully, the last of his anger draining from his face. "Jane is unlike any girl I have ever known; she is clever, spirited, brave, intelligent..."

Tony nodded and got up to walk over to the coffee maker. He pressed a couple buttons, and the machine roared to life, instantly brewing three steaming beverages.

"Pepper can whip anybody at Sudoku." Tony added as he passed around the drinks.

Steve sipped his coffee in silence, and Thor downed the liquid in one chug, refraining from smashing his empty cup after seeing the look Tony gave him.

Suddenly the hard-earned peace and quiet was hastily broken as the distant door to the new wing slid open. A moment later, Natasha Romanoff's curses and shouts reverberated off the walls.

"GET THIS FREAKING THING OFF ME!" Natasha shouted, which immediately roused Tony, Steve, and Thor from their coffee break. Tony poked his head around the corner, and observed Black Widow, ripping Otis from her back and fuming as she held the little spider-bot at an arm's length away, its spindly legs churning in circles as it bleeped "Back rub?" madly.

Beside Tony, Steve was laughing. Thor smiled on his other side. "I see you've met Tony's Biggest Failure." Thor stated through thick laughter.

"It's called Otis, thank you very much." Tony muttered between curses. He stalked over to Natasha and took the robot from her stony grip. She glared back at him. "Why would you create something like that." She growled irritably as she observed all the spots where Otis had ripped her uniform.

"Like all my creations, I had good intentions at the beginning." Tony added defensively. Dangling from his left hand, Otis hummed The Star Wars theme mechanically.

Natasha rolled her eyes and stalked off to the kitchen. The rest of the Avengers followed. Unsure what to do with Otis, Tony handed him to Armisha, an arm-bot standing at attention in the lab.

When Tony arrived in the kitchen, Natasha was searching the fridge for some form of dinner, and Steve and Thor were down in the media pit, picking apart a stack of movies.

Triumphantly, Thor held up a battered copy of Gladiator. "Tony, if you would please input this film onto the screen, we wish to grace our eyes with its story and check another item from Steve's list of missed experiences."

Steve laughed. "Thor just wants to see some fighting."

"I'll do it...if Natasha will watch too." Tony proclaimed, hopping down into the media pit and turning to face the kitchen. All animosity between he and Thor appeared to have subsided.

Natasha walked over, eating a steaming plate of microwave Thai food. "What are you watching? I'll sit through it as long as it isn't Twilight." She groaned.

"It's much more violent than the sappy sparkle-fest. You'll love it." Tony flashed her a charming, if sarcastic, smile. As Tony inserted the disc, Jane and Pepper reappeared from the depths of Tony and Pepper's suite, both fully transformed in casual but spiffy outfits.

"Don't you two look much comfier." Tony said quickly.

"This is Natasha Romanoff, Jane."Thor added, gesturing to Tasha eating her Thai food on the couch. The assassin looked much less intimidating curled up on a sofa with a mouth full of noodles.

"Nice to meet you." Jane remarked pleasantly, taking a seat on a monstrous armchair with Thor.

Natasha's eyebrows rose silently. "Are you the one that hit Thor with your car?"

"Twice." Jane announced proudly.

"We shall get along well, Jane." Natasha said, flashing a rare smile.

As Tony dimmed the lights, Jane flashed a fleeting smile back.

Steve took a spot in another giant armchair, and Pepper sat on the other end of the long couch. Tony settled in beside Pepper as the music started to play.