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"I'm not getting in it, Cap, and there is nothing you can do to make me," Tony said firmly, glaring at the so-called ball pit. It was really just a big inflatable pool set on the terrace that Steve and Nat filled with multicolored plastic balls. Dumb.
Steve, who was already up to his neck in the ball pit, rolled his eyes. "Nat's not having a problem and she's just as short as you, you shouldn't be worried," Steve said.
"Okay, first off, I'm not short. I'm just not superhumanly tall like some people on this team. And second, you aren't making Bruce do it!" Tony whined.
"Bruce already played us all in ping pong, so we're counting it as his bonding. He's got work to do anyway," Nat chimed in, tossing a few balls at Clint's head. Clint made a wounded noise and dove under the balls to avoid her assault.
"Join us, Friend Tony!" Thor boomed, lifting his arms and raining plastic balls down into the pool.
"Just go in, Tones, it's not too bad," Bruce said from his spot in a chair nearby.
"Then why aren't you in it?" Tony retorted.
Bruce shrugged. "Big guy isn't a fan of tight spaces," he explained. Tony scowled, but finally let himself be talked into going in the ball pit. For like, ten minutes, and yes, Steve had to count it because Tony had no idea where his watch was.
It wasn't too bad. The balls were a little weird underfoot, and Tony kept feeling like he was gonna get sucked under by a certain spy and/or archer, but after a few minutes, he got drawn into a fierce battle against Steve and Thor, with Nat and Clint backing him up and pitching the little plastic balls at each other, laughing when Steve slipped and went under for a few seconds, his arms pinwheeling like crazy as he fell.
In fact, he was just about to tell Steve to stop counting when a weird green mist spread over the terrace. Naturally, Big Horned and Bitter himself popped up, all armor and doom, to ruin their fun.
"Avengers!" Loki began, "I have- wait. What... Thor. What are you doing?"
"Brother!" Thor grinned. "It is a most marvelous Midgardian game, come, join us!"
Everyone else in the pool frowned. Loki in a ball pit, as amusing as the concept might be, didn't seem like the safest choice. "I'm not going to play with you, Thor, I came to battle the Avengers!"
Clint popped up near the edge of the pool. "Okay, but can we have like an extra hour in the ball pit? It's my birthday."
Loki rolled his eyes. "Fine. I'll be back in an hour." And, just as suddenly as he appeared, he vanished, with a puff of green smoke.
Natasha looked at Clint accusingly. "It's not your birthday," she said.
"Got us an extra hour, didn't it?" Clint grinned.
Bruce sighed, and flipped to the next chapter of his book.