Characters: Tony Stark, Bruce Banner, Clint Barton, Natasha Romanoff, Thor, Valkyrie, Peter Parker, Wanda Maximoff, Vision, Ned Leeds, Michelle Jones, Wanda Maximoff/Vision, Tony Stark/Bruce Banner, Peter Parker/Michelle Jones
Tags: Fluff, Fluffy February, Carnival, Circus, Avengers, Everyone lives, Happy stuff, First Kiss, Non-Canon Compliant,
Tony passed out a giant handful of game tokens. “Right, so that should be enough to get everyone started. If you run out, come tell me and I’ll get you some more.”
Peter let out a mild squeal, then tried to cover it up. “Um, thanks, Mr. Stark.”
“Kid, you’re killing me. It’s Tony, remember? Go tear it up, Spider-Guy.”
The Avengers had been training hard for weeks, but the workload had finally let up. It was time for a night out.
The carnival idea was all Clint’s fault. He and Bucky Barnes had been competing at the range again and after shredding several dozen targets without a clear winner, Clint complained that you couldn’t compare a bow and a rifle anyway. What they needed was an even playing field.
Like what? Asked Bucky.
LIke darts, maybe.
The next day an advertisement for a traveling carnival appeared on the breakfast table. Natasha sat nearby, silently eating strawberry yogurt.
“A traveling carnival?” said Peter Parker. “Can we go? Please?”
Tony glanced at the ad. “You know all those games are rigged, right?”
“You don’t know that!”
“Actually, Stark is right on this one,” said Clint. “I grew up at the carnival. Well, the circus anyway. The games are all there to make as much money off the punters as possible.”
“What’s a punter?” Peter asked.
“You are, kid,” said Tony, reaching to tousle Peter’s hair.
Natasha took her last bite of yogurt and threw the carton away. “Seems to me that if the games are all impossible, only someone who was really good could win.” She turned to leave, but added, “Some kind of expert.”
Bucky and Clint looked at each other. Bucky raised an eyebrow, and Clint just nodded.
Tony sighed. “Guess I’ll have FRIDAY reserve us some time tonight. I’m going to go tell Bruce.”
Which brings the whole team back to the midway. Peter, Ned Leeds, and MJ ran straight for the water guns. After they were all soaked and laughing, they started looking for a roller coaster or Tilt-a-Whirl.
“Want to bet which one throws up first?” Bruce murmured to Tony.
“FIve bucks says it’s Peter.”
“No way. He hangs upside down for fun,”
“Come on, the way that kid eats? He’s probably on his third funnel cake right now.” Just then Tony’s hand brushed against Bruce’s. Both froze.
“Hey, boys,” Natasha called from a booth nearby. “You want in on this action? We’re placing bets on which of these two numbskulls wins the contest.”
With relief Tony turned to where a large group of Avengers were watching Clint and Bucky choose their weapons.
“Wait, a ring toss?” Bruce asked. “I thought you’d go for BB guns or something.”
Clint held a couple of rings in each hand, weighing them up. “No way. Too much room for variables.”
“You should appreciate that, Dr. Banner. A good experiment has to be fair,” agreed Steve. Bucky was walking back and forth in front of the carnival booth, checking all the angles.
Tony walked over to Natasha. “So how’s the pool going?”
“Clint has a slight edge, but then the odds are in his favor a bit.” Nat showed him her phone where she had a program open to manage all the bets.
He craned his neck. “How about they both miss the first shot, end up in a tie?”
The corner of Nat’s mouth twitched. “Tony Stark, playing it safe? You must be getting soft.” Her eyes flicked over to where Bruce stood talking to Steve. “Wouldn’t have something to do with a certain good influence in your life?”
“Perish the thought.” Tony watched Bruce too. When he smiled at something Steve said, Tony felt his heartbeat jump.
Natasha noticed. Of course, she noticed. She patted Tony’s hand. “You keep telling yourself that.”
Right off the bat Tony lost his bet. Both Clint and Bucky made their first throws. And the one after that, and the one after that, and the one after that. . . .
“Well, this is about as exciting as watching paint dry,” Tony said as he walked up to Bruce. “What say we go get some ridiculously overpriced cotton candy and a hot dog?”
Bruce smiled and Tony’s heart did that flutter thing again. Maybe today would be the day he would do it – he would tell Bruce how he really felt.
Then Wanda said, “Sounds like fun. I’ve never tried cotton candy.” Great, thought Tony. Now we’re stuck with the two lovebirds. But Bruce kept smiling, so Tony figured, what the hell?
The four Avengers wandered over to the food court and got a little bit of everything – cotton candy, German sausage (Tony had lots to say about that), funnel cake, kettle corn, and some mediocre beer to wash it all down. Natasha sent a text to say that the contest was still going strong. She and Steve were the only original spectators still watching at this point – everyone else had gotten bored and wandered off. The carnies, however, were all gathered around the booth watching every throw.
“You know that could go on for hours, right?” Bruce said to Tony. “I don’t think either one will ever give up.”
“And if Bucky does win, Clint will say it’s the arm,” said Wanda.
“Nah, they’re both ambidextrous. They’re switching off,” Tony told her.
“Geez! It really could go on for hours!” Bruce finished the last of the kettle corn. “I think I ate too much.”
Just then Peter and his friends came running up. “Clintsaysheranoutofmoneyandyou’resupposedtogivehimmore.”
“Slow down there, Spider-boy, I didn’t get that.”
Peter heaved a deep breath and started over. “Sorry, Mr. Stark. Clint says he ran out of money and they still don’t have a winner. So they want to know if they can get more cash to try the balloon thing.”
Bruce and Wanda both looked confused. “The game where you throw darts at balloons and see how many you can pop,” Vision said. “I noticed it across from the imitation fishing pond.”
Tony opened his wallet and pulled out a couple of hundred dollar bills. “Fine, but tell those knuckleheads this is it. If they want more, they’re going to have to pay their own way..”
Peter nodded and ran off again. “Dude, we missed the kettle corn,” complained Ned, but he and MJ followed anyway.
“What do you think, big guy? Want to go watch Round Two?” Tony asked Bruce.
“Nah, I’m good to just sit for a minute. You go if you want.” Tony definitely did not want to leave Bruce, but he was inwardly thrilled when Wanda and Vision decided to go watch the fun.
“So, when’s the last time you went to a carnival like this?” Tony asked.
Bruce looked around a bit. “Like this? Never.”
“Really, never?” Tony looked around. “Come to think of it, me neither. I mean we’ve had work related games and parties, but nothing exactly authentic.”
“I’m surprised. I would have thought you would have been to the carnival as a kid.”
“I went to Carnival in Rio. Does that count?” Tony smirked.
“Definitely not.” Bruce laughed.
“Well, what do you think? Has your tummy calmed down enough to wander around and check it all out?” Tony stood up.
Bruce stood too. “Might as well. This might be my only chance.”
That’s my line, thought Tony.
They walked around the carnival, passing the strongman game. Valkyrie had just finished ringing the bell and passed the mallet over to Thor. They stopped to watch as the god threw the mallet up in the air a couple of times. “The balance on this is terrible!” He complained. Then he pulled Mjolnir from his back and swung it instead. The puck shot up, ringing the bell, then flying off the machine and sailing into the air.
“Guess I’ll have to pay for that one. Shoulda seen it coming,” Tony said to the crowd’s laughter.
They passed a booth where Peter and his friends were throwing tokens into cups to win a goldfish. “Ready to buy a fish tank?” Bruce asked.
“No way. If he does manage to win one, he’ll give it to his girl.” Just then Peter bounced a token into a cup and sure enough, gave his prize to MJ. In return, she kissed him on the cheek. Peter blushed.
“Young love,” said Bruce. Then he noticed Tony was watching him, not Peter. “What?”
“You know what? Nothing. Hey, they have a ferris wheel. Want to try it out?” Tony basically ran for it. By the time Bruce caught up to him, he was talking to the ride operator. There was only one other couple on the ride.
Tony asked “What do you say? Want to take a spin?”
Bruce squinted up at the top. “I don’t know. I’m not a fan of heights.”
“Come on you big baby. I’ve seen you jump down off taller buildings than this.”
“That was the Other Guy.”
Tony bumped him with his shoulder. “Just give it a try. I’ll hold your hand if you get scared.”
Bruce said nothing for just long enough to make Tony nervous, then agreed.
The pair got into their little swing and the operator buckled them in. “Have fun and no climbing out once we start moving.”
“No chance of that,” Bruce said nervously. Then the operator stepped away and started the ride moving.
After the wheel started, Bruce and Tony both relaxed a bit. It really was fun to look out and watch everyone down below. There was Peter and MJ, kissing behind a food stall. Wanda and Vision were holding hands. Wanda carried a big pink teddy bear. They could see Clint and Bucky still throwing darts.
The ride stopped for the couple below them to get off, then cycled around again. Bruce turned to Tony and said, “You know what? You were right. This is fun.” Just then they reached the top and the ride stopped. “Hold on, what happened?”
The ride operator called up, “Just a second. Looks like we lost power. Just take me a minute to get it going again.”
Bruce grabbed Tony’s hand and peered down at the ground. “Are we safe up here? It’s not going to catch on fire or anything, right?”
Tony took a deep breath. It was now or never. “It may be my fault” Bruce quickly turned his head to look at him. “I, uh, paid him to stop the ride at the top.”
“Why would you do that?” Bruce asked.
“Because I wanted to get you alone.” Bruce looked confused, so Tony continued, “Every time I try to talk to you, someone interrupts with a job for me, or a question for you, or some little boo-boo they need you to put a bandage on.”
“But Tony, we talk all the time,” Bruce protested.
“About science stuff and the team, yeah.”
“But . . .”
Tony leaned over and put his hand on Bruce’s head. He slowly pulled Bruce closer, giving him time to move if he wanted to. But Bruce closed the distance and their lips met.
After a minute Tony pulled back. “That’s why.” Tony’s brown eyes searched Bruce’s face. “I can’t stop thinking about you. Every time you walk in my lab, my heart jumps.”
Bruce looked serious. “You should get that checked out.” But to Tony’s surprise, Bruce continued, “Fortunately for you, I am a doctor.”
“I thought you weren’t that kind of doctor.”
“For you,” Bruce said, running a finger across Tony’s lips, “I could be.”
By the time the ferris wheel was “fixed” and they were back on ground, they found Clint and Bucky still arguing. Apparently every contest had been a draw. “Looks like there’s no clear winner after all,” Steve said.
I wouldn’t say that, Tony thought. I’m pretty sure I’m the winner tonight.
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