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There had been planning, heated negotiations and strategic discussions. Tony had come up with the grading system, while Bruce dedicated himself to figuring out a way that the Hulk could participate as well. Finally, Thor had been in charge of making sure that every cloud or storm would steer clear of this particular lake today.
Clint had jumped in with some suggestions about using the breeze on the water to their advantage. Natasha had made fun of them the entire time, but still stayed to listen and keep the planning on track. Bucky had suggested they steal some parachute fabric to make their own inflated cushion launcher, that might even be able to withstand the Hulk’s weight. That had been the point where Steve had finally stepped in.
“Enough talk.” Steve pushed himself to his feet with a start. "If we don't get going now, I don’t think we’ll make it to the lake at all.”
Everyone turned to Steve when he spoke even though the Avengers had been officially disbanded for a year by now. They were still looking up to Steve. He had a commanding presence in his own right, but it’s only improved since he added the beer gut to his figure. Taking up the room physically as well.
Half of the Avengers nodded, while the others mumbled “Captain” under their breath. With one command from Steve everyone was ready to go down to the lake within the next five minutes.
Of course, the peace and quiet didn’t last for long.
“We need a way to figure out who should launch who. The heaviest person would probably be best.” Tony contemplated.
“Cannonball contest?” Clint asked and everyone agreed enthusiastically.
“But the launcher—for lack of a better term—might want to get some airtime as well.”
“We could use two people to launch them.” Thor suggested, but Bruce interrupted again with his idea.
“Hulk could—” Everyone else groaned and shouted “No!”
Steve could see that Bruce just wanted to feel useful beyond his brain and ideas as Banner. When he needed to get anything physical done, he’d mostly let the Hulk take over.
“Using the Hulk is cheating!” Tony said, exasperated.
“Isn’t the point of all of this to find out who’s the heaviest and can therefore launch us the highest?” Bruce tried to assert himself again. Steve was about to interject, but Bruce’s stubborn expression made Steve let this play out a bit longer.
“Hulk weighs what? Half a ton? No way that flimsy thing can withstand him. No Hulk.” Bruce geared up to argue with Tony. He crossed his arms over his soft chest, but when he noticed how huge his moobs looked pushed up like this, he was distracted by the wave of embarrassment that swept over him.
He let himself fall behind a bit, clearly stunned by how unfamiliar his body suddenly was to him. Tony spearheaded the walk to the lake. Steve also let himself fall behind to finally talk to Bruce one-on-one.
“Hey.” He smiled at Bruce, who was still distracted by his spiralling thoughts. Steve leaned over and whispered loudly.
“Who do you think will win? I bet it’ll be Thor. Though he’s had a leg up on the other because he was already fifty pounds heavier before we even retired. Though Bucky sure is giving him a good run for his money.” That snapped Bruce out of his own head.
“Wait, you noticed—” Steve couldn’t help, but chuckle at Bruce’s surprise.
“Hard not to. I think collectively we’ve gained a quarter ton over the last year.” Bruce blushed and sputtered.
“It’s not that much.” Steve didn’t acknowledge Bruce trying to downplay their weight gain, puffing out his chest and straightening up.
“The world can finally see that I take good care of my team, no?” Bruce ducked his head, flustered by how proud Steve sounded. Insecurity long forgotten.
“Yeah.”
“And I think you’ll have a good chance of winning, even without Hulk’s help.” Steve winked and gave Bruce’s soft belly a pat.
The sun was still high in the sky when they arrived at the lake. Most people were hiding in the shade to get out of the oppressive heat, which left the diving board platform and inflatable cushion in the middle of the lake empty. Bucky and Thor were bouncing off each other like boys and ran into the lake before anyone else. They made it a competition to see who got to the platform the fastest.
Natasha broke up Tony and Bruce’s conversation and needled them into racing her as well. Most people would assume that her pronounced pear-shape would make her a slow swimmer, but her impeccable form and technique made more than up for it.
Clint hung back and waited for Steve to catch up. He asked what had been going on with Bruce, while they swam out to the platform. Bucky and Thor had long forgotten about the cannonball contest and just jumped straight to launching each other of the inflated cushion. Tony tried to reign them back in, but they just ignored him. Bruce pushed him towards the second diving tower on the floating platform to keep him from working himself up and got the cannonball contest on the way without the other two.
Clint jerked his head over to Tony and the others. “You coming?” Steve had initially meant to hang back and just let the Avengers have their fun, but he was swept up by their infectious energy.
While walking over to them Steve couldn’t help letting his eyes wander over Clint’s wider form. He looked surprisingly similar to Natasha, even his moobs rivalled her breasts in size. His wide hips swayed with every step and his thick love handles jiggled with every step.
A short shout by Steve for Bucky and Thor had them scrambling out of the water. Well, as fast as you could expect two obese guys to scramble anywhere.