Variation - W.M.

Chapter 32 - November 27, 2016

My 'explore the world' trip had somehow turned into a 'explore food places' trip, which is how I ended up with a bag of goodies.

"What do you have?"

I perked up, turning around to see Tony wander into the kitchen. "I explored the world! Look!" I pulled a bag of coffee beans out of the bag, holding them out to the man. "Straight from Colombia! Morning coffee will be fifty times better now."

Tony raised his brow, slightly impressed. "What else you have in that bag of yours?"

"Tacos, candy, cocktails-"

"I'm sorry, did you say cocktails?"

I hummed, holding up my glass. "Greece. Apparently they have the best in the world right now."

"Wish I had that power. You said something about Tacos?"

I nodded, grabbing a plate and loading a couple of the tacos onto it before giving it to Tony. "Straight from Mexico."

"Did you only go to places with food?" He asked, sitting down at the table.

"That I did." I sat down on the other end of the table and took out a bag of candy I had also procured.

"You did what?"

I grinned at the voice, turning in my seat to see Nat enter the kitchen.

"You're back!"

"I am" she confirmed, raising a brow at Tony, who was less than gracefully shoveling tacos into his mouth. I rolled my eyes at the man and turned my attention back to the candy, pulling one of the suckers out of the wrapper and flattening it on the table as I stuck the candy in my mouth.

Nat eyed me. "Aren't those for children?"

I gasped dramatically and put a hand to my heart. "Dum dums are a national treasure and are for any age."

She hummed in disbelief and I rolled my eyes at her, catching sight of Clint as he passed by the room.

"Hey Barton, come here."

He popped his head back in the door after a few seconds. "Yeah?"

"Tell Nat these aren't just for kids" I demanded, voice altered around the sucker.

"Oh they definitely are" he confirmed, grabbing the bag and digging around before grabbing a blue raspberry one. "My kids love them."

"Would have been helpful to know before they tied me to a chair" I grumbled, catching Clint's attention.

"They did what?"

"That's my fault" Nat said, smiling sheepishly from her spot against the wall.

"What did you teach my kids? What did they do?" Clint asked again, eyeing the two of us, the sucker in his hand forgotten.

I didn't answer, only turned toTony, silently pleading for defense in my argument. He shook his head.

"They definitely are for kids." Despite this, he walked over grabbing one from the bag before popping it in his mouth. "We just aren't very mature adults."

"I resent that" I hummed, sucking the candy a couple more seconds before catching the butterscotch flavored ball with my teeth and tugging on the stick until it came free. When I looked back up both Clint and Tony were staring at me in what looked to be horror.

"What?" I asked, cocking a head to the side.

"What the hell did you just do?" Tony gaped and Clint nodded, his hand frozen in place, the sucker forgotten once again. I grinned, sticking my tongue out to display the brown candy on my tongue.

I had gotten used, and immune, to the comments and looks I received from friends over the years based on how I ate Dum Dums.

And Kitkats, Reese's, Nerds. Most candy really. Not to mention ice cream, popsicles, pasta, popcorn.

I now chose to eat most snack foods in the safety of my own bedroom.

"It's a sucker, you're supposed to suck on them" Clint said pointedly and I perked up.

"You call it a sucker too? Everyone in New York made fun of me for that."

"Because it's called a lollipop" Tony sang. I narrowed my eyes at him.

"Sucker."

"Why would it be called a sucker?"

"Because you suck on it" Clint said, looking at me pointedly.

Tony scoffed. "So then would gum be chewers?"

"Why is it called a lollipop" Nat asked and I smiled triumphantly at the redhead being on our side.

"Because that's what they are called."

"But if-"

Clint was cut off when a flash of blue sped in the room, grabbing the forgotten candy from the archer before coming to a stop at the counter, revealing a smug looking Pietro.

"You didn't see that coming?" He asked cheekily as he leaned against the counter and put the sucker in his mouth. He lit up at the taste and I laughed.

"Anyway, to answer your question," I began, watching as Clint huffed and began searching for another. "When I was little we used to go on road trips. My mom soon got annoyed with my incessant questions and whines so she set up a portable dvd player and gave me a bag of these. The only problem was that I finished ten of them in the span of six minutes because I kept biting them, and it didn't really help the situation. So she taught me the trick so I would suck on them longer."

"What about the other question about what exactly my kids did while I was on vacation?"

I pursed my lips, pretending to lock them and throw away the key. He sighed, giving up and moving on.

"Did it work? Your mom's trick?"

"It did" I hummed, showing him the shrinking candy in my mouth like a child would. I suppose that did solidify the fact that they were for children.

"Can I take one for Wanda?" Pietro asked and I nodded. Maybe it would make her less mad at me.

"Do you want to play Smash?"

He nodded, taking the bag from the table and grabbing a butterscotch one I assumed was for his sister. I frowned a little, sad to see one of my favorite flavors go.

Somehow, word seemed to float around the tower that I was sharing my precious candy with people, because Avengers seemed to appear out of nowhere.

Even Natasha grabbed a couple when she thought I wasn't looking.

It truly was interesting to see what everybody's preference was, and I kept a close eye on each.

Steve's choice was by far my favorite, though. As was the reasoning behind it.

"You've had them before?" I asked in surprise, pausing the game to turn to the blond man.

"Back when I was young, yes." He grabbed a butterscotch one and turned it over in his hand. "Me and Buck were maybe 12 or 13 when they started selling in New York; a box of twenty for ten cents. Bucky loved the orange ones and butterscotch was always my favorite. The wrapper looked different, but..." he trailed off, unwrapping it slowly and sticking it in his mouth.

"Well?" I asked, anticipation building inside me.

He smiled and looked down at the wrapper before looking back up at me. "Still tastes the same."

I stared at the man before dumping the bag onto the couch and gathering the dwindling number of butterscotch ones left before shoving all but one into his hands. He blinked in surprise at my actions before a small smile graced his features.

"Thank you, Ollie. I'll have to remember to buy some of these when I find Bucky."

I watched him walk out of the room before I turned back to the TV, tears pricking the corner of my eyes.

"Are you crying?" Pietro questioned, leaning over to look at me.

"That shit was moving, okay?" I snapped, sticking a tongue out at him. "Now shut the fuck up and play."