Chapter 10
Clint looked at Steve like he grew two heads. The man was smiling at him like he'd done nothing wrong, really he hadn't but he'd just made the most terrifying suggestion he'd ever heard. "...You want to make a play date with Leo, Simmons and Jemma?" He says in shock. Steve nodded his head with a small smile playing on his lips. "And you want just me and you to run the whole thing whilst Bucky....Bucky goes on a mission?" He asks in surprise. Steve gives a sheepish smile.
"Kinda?" He says awkwardly, Clint takes a deep relaxing breath. And then whacks the soldier on the head with the stack of papers he was going over. "Hey that's not nice." He scolds Clint who glares at him.
"That's six to two Steve. We can't keep an eye on six children with just two of us. If we have to I want one of my husbands there as well." Clint demands and Steve snorts a bit. "Snort again and I'll tell Bucky your dumb plan" He threats and the other raises his hands in surrender.
"I'll give Phil a call. See what we can figure out, but it'll be good for them to have a play date." He says calmly, pausing. "Besides, it'll be at a play centre. What could go wrong?"
Clint gave him a look that read 'You innocent little shit you have no idea'
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Steve really didn't have a clue how bad a play centre was, not until he got there and took one look at the sea of screaming children and bored looking parents. Steve was suddenly thankful he brought a book with him. Phil gave the man a sheepish smile as he carried Daisy towards the front desk to pay for his kids to go play and then Clint followed suit holding Tony. The two youngest where constantly sharing awkward unsure looks. "Let's go Steve." Clint calls, making the man awkwardly shuffle with the four younger kids by his sides. Leo and Jemma both looked around with a mix of fear and excitement, Natasha looked bored already and Bruce looked confused.
"What's that?" His tiny voice asked and Steve looked to where he was pointing. It was large mesh cage filled with spinning items, climbing platforms, slides and swinging ropes.
"I think it's where you play?" He says cautiously, looking at the sign that said 3+. He smiles as he see's a light of excitement flash in the boys eyes, he lets out a squeak when Leo grabbed his arm and pulled him towards it.
"Come on!" He says excitedly. Steve chuckles, sitting down next to the other two adults.
"Come back when we call" Phil says loudly causing the boys to nod as they enter the mesh area. Steve snorts a little at the excitement on their faces and glances at the two girls who have stuck close to the adults with uncertainty, with a glance around he spots the 5+ area that was a bigger version than the one the boys had run off to except it had more things to play with. Steve decides to take lead.
"If you two don't get into that play area by the count of three I'm gonna chase you in." He whispers to them and watches the challenging look in Natasha's eyes, it vanishes almost instantly when Steve smirks. "one." He says and almost laughs at the speed the two take off into the play area. He hadn't even gotten to two by the time they'd gotten to the top of it and where both glaring down at him.
"Ohh daddy Steve has upset the munchkins" Clint murmurs, grunting when he felt Tony wiggling in his grasp to see the 'science area' in the back of the room. He points excitedly at it and Clint sighs. "Come on Phil, Steve's got the older ones. Lets go be educational with the babies" He heard complaints from the two in his arms as he walked with Phil and the kids to look at the area that had Tony so excited. Steve stayed and watched the four others from his spot.
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Bruce and Leo hid in the back of the mesh cage and looked around in excitement and wonder of what to do first. Leo pointed at the climbing platforms in excitement whilst Bruce was busily trying to figure out the fastest way to get on the slides without pushing past the other kids. "We climb for a bit an' the line'll get shorter." Leo reasoned. "Kids get bored easily so we just play until they get bored." He shrugs and Bruce nods in understanding.
"Ok..yeah...Lets climb" Bruce agreed. The two boys started to climb together up the platforms, avoiding the other kids who thought it was hilarious to just roll down them instead of climbing down. Leo gave a small grunt at the effort he had to put in to get up the final platform and helped pull Bruce up. They both looked around from the top of the cage and spotted Steve reading a book quietly.
"So what's with Tony and Steve?" Leo asks suddenly making Bruce jump a bit, Leo was staring at him intently and Bruce squirmed. "I heard Phil and Nick talking about how scared he was of Steve and Bucky but he keeps giving Steve longing looks so like....is it something bad or?" Bruce shook his head a bit and looked around, they where alone up here so he whispered.
"Steve and Bucky had a fight with Tony when he was big. Tony almost died so he's a bit scared of them....I think his baby brain wants to be with Steve because his dad used to talk about him all the time but his big brain is telling him to hide from Steve." He mutters and Leo blinks.
"Well shit" He says in shock. "Didn't expect that" He mutters and stands. "Come on, the slides empty." He drags the boy towards the platforms again to climb down and Bruce followed.
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Natasha and Jemma stayed at the top of the platform, both of them had a wicked look in their eyes as they glanced at the other children climbing up. "It's at a 50 degree angle to allow people to climb it but a small nudge and they'll go tumbling down." Jemma mutters, Natasha grins wickedly and stands up.
"I'll be back in a sec." She says running off and down the platform, taking a few kids with her at the speed she went. Jemma watched silently as she made her way into the ball pit and started collecting the balls in her shirt. "Smart girl." Jemma mumbles as Natasha expertly climbs up again. "Projectiles?" She asks with a grin and Natasha nods. The two girls grinned as they started to pelt any child who's head so much as popped up from the platforms.
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Tony and Daisy had finished with the science area and where sat with Steve, Phil and Clint as the adults chatted. They where both watching in joined amusement as they watched Jemma and Natasha throw balls at the other kids. Glad the adults hadn't noticed. A sudden loud cry made both of them look over along with the adults to see Leo and Bruce running over. They had large welts on their heads and attached them selves to Clint with a sniffle. "Hey you two what happened?" Clint asks bending down to the kids. Leo pointed to the 5+ area and Clint glanced up. He groaned at the sight. "Phil. We have some naughty girls to deal with." He says calmly.
It was safe to say they were told off from the play centre about rough play and that the girls had some very sore butts at the end of the day.