It Only Takes a Second

- XLVII -

"Oh boy. Tony has another surprise, lord help us all," Natasha chuckled, entering the kitchen. She surveyed the growing group of people, eyes landed coldly on Loki.

Ever since Loki had met Harry, Natasha and Clint had tried desperately to be accepting and mild-mannered towards the god of mischief. However, sometimes it was a bit difficult to separate the good from the bad, especially when they both remembered how vividly Clint was affected by the mind-controlling incident.

"What's that supposed to mean? I'll have you know, that my surprises are overwhelmingly good... most of the time," Tony countered, pointing his finger at the smirking female agent. Rolling his eyes, he lowered his hand and dramatically leaned against the counter in mock-exasperation.

"In my experience, most of his surprises have been good," Harry chuckled. "But I've heard stories of the ones that... well, at least he had good intentions."

This made everyone, including Tony, laugh. Everyone gave Tony a hard time about his extravagance, but nobody meant anything bad by it.

"Believe it or not, Tony has actually become a bit more... tame, when it comes to his surprises," Pepper declared as she entered the kitchen and walked over to give Tony a kiss. Unlike her fiancé, she had been up for hours, and had already completed one board meeting for the day.

"This is true. At least I'm not buying giant stuffed bears anymore," Tony laughed.

"Um, it was a bunny. Much less charming," Pepper teased, giving Tony's nose a small, loving touch. (I couldn't justify saying 'a small loving boop' but that's what it was supposed to be)

Tony nodded, remembering now.

"That was a long time ago," he stated wistfully. He looked lovingly into Pepper's eyes with a warm smile, and kissed her forehead.

"You Midgardians are so open with your displays of affection," Thor declared, loud voice echoing through the room.

"It is disgusting," Loki wrinkled his nose.

"I disagree, brother, I find it quite adorable," Thor said with a broad grin, before turning to Harry. "In Asgard, such public displays of affection are frowned upon. It is quite sad."

"It is not. It makes people uncomfortable, which is why we strongly frown upon it," Loki rolled his eyes.

"I think we can all agree to disagree on this one," Steve commented, attempting to mediate. He knew everyone that lived in the Tower teased one another about showing physical affection in front of one another, but nobody really cared. As long as you kept the large displays of affection private, small ones were accepted everywhere else.

"So when is said surprise arriving?" Natasha asked, clearing her throat.

"It should be arriving at any time," Tony replied, looking at his watch.

"I can confirm that the 'surprise' has arrived and is currently being delivered downstairs," Friday chimed in.

Tony's face lit up, and he stood up straight. "I believe that is my cue. I will be right back with it."

He gave everyone a mischievous grin before bolting towards the elevator.

"What on earth does he have planned?" Bucky shook his head with a small chuckle.

"Believe me when I say, it's good, and very Tony," Pepper replied with a laugh.

"I am excited to see what the man of iron deems as a good surprise," Thor declared heartily.

Harry shifted his weight from foot to foot. In all of this excitement, he couldn't help but be a bit sad. He wished Peter were here to share the surprise, but he wasn't due to get back from the Mathlete's competition until later this afternoon.