The little voice was breathless, he'd been talking so fast. "And then Iron Man flies by, fast, woosh! and then there's the big green one! He's strong and smashes bad guys and jumps So! High!"

"Really high?" said the older male voice gravely.

"Really really high!"

"As high as Iron Man?"

"Daddy! Nobody goes as high as Iron Man!"

Bruce sighed quietly. Tony was going to hurt himself smothering his giggles. The little boy and his father had been wandering behind them through Central Park for ten minutes now. The little boy had spotted the tail end of a thankfully mild Avengers outing the other day and was explaining every tiny detail to his patient father. Dad seemed as well-versed in superhero trivia as his son, and it was clear where the little boy had come by his enthusiasm.

With a small oof, Dad picked up the little boy. "You're getting big, munchkin."

"But not green!"

"No, not green."

"Unless Mommy makes eggplant."

"Eggplant is good for you."

"Icky slimy!"

Tony nodded firmly. Bruce reached over and poked him.

The little boy made a thoughtful noise. "Maybe it wouldn't be so icky if it weren't the color of the green guy's underwear."

A snort got away from Tony before he could get a hand up to cover his mouth. Bruce hung his head.

"You know," Dad said, stifling his own chuckles, "the green guy has a name."

"Uh huh, I know!"

"You do? What is it?"

"The Incredible Honk!"

Bruce yanked Tony off the path towards an ice cream cart and got fifty yards before Tony overcame his sputters and burst out in a guffaw. The little boy and his father disappeared around a curve in the path, unaware of the hysterical superhero and his patient chaperone. Bruce crossed his arms and idly calculated the conical volume of ice cream cones as he waited for Tony to get hold of himself.

Tony finally subsided into gasping snickers and straightened up. Bruce stared at him. Grinning, Tony reached out and poked Bruce's nose. "Honk!"

Bruce sighed.

Two days later, the Avengers had a more exciting afternoon involving the ever-popular rogue robots and a budding megalomaniac looking to make a name for herself. Natasha was pleased to see equal opportunities for villains.

One of the robots had been slamdunked into a parked BMW, triggering the horn into a plaintive, continuous protest.

The action was finally winding down, and Hulk dropped to the street near the BMW. He stared at the car.

Iron Man cruised up. "Somewhere a German engineer is weeping. Not even sturdy enough to withstand a paltry eight hundred pounds of metal landing on it. Hey, Big Green, you want to smash that and shut it up? Put it out of its misery?"

Hulk tilted his head, then started to shake.

"Uh, Hulk? Buddy? You OK?"

The bellow of laughter broke a couple of nearby windows that had, up until then, survived the chaos.

"Good lord," Captain America said over the comms. "That's a little disturbing."

Hulk looked up at Iron Man and pointed at the car. "Honk!"

Iron Man fell on his metal ass on the street, laughing.

"I don't even want to know," Captain America said.