The Rules of Living with the Avengers

4. Dont play Scrabble with the Avengers

"I'm bored." I announce and Tony looks up at me from his Ironman helmet.

"You're always bored."

"You're always boring," I retort.

Natasha smirks. "Why don't we play a game?" She suggests and everyone looks at her. "Monopoly?"

"No!" Steve yells and Tony gives out an evil laugh. I don't even want to know what happened there.

"Twister?" I ask.

"Not with Thor. Or Banner. Or Natasha. Or Tony. I'll play it with Steve." Clint scowls. I grin, imagining the various scenarios with Clint and the others playing Twister.

"Anything that doesn't get me mad," Bruce says unhappily. "Please."

"Scrabble." Tony says.

"That's a good idea," Natasha says. "But no science words."

"Aw. No Russian then," Tony says. "Or Asgardian words, Thor. And no...um...."

"New slang words," Steve says and looks at me. "I don't know many of them."

"No wartime slang words then. Like spiffing or whatever," I reply. "Yay! This will be fun!"

***
"As youngest, Ellie can start," Bruce says. I cheer and quickly arrange my letters. Bruce frowns. "Rapper?" He says slowly. "Is that an official word in the dictionary?"

"I have to get rid of my two p's," I say. "Please, Brucie." Cue puppy eyes. He softens and hands me the bag of letters. I grin.

Natasha goes next. "Ah, murder," she grins wickedly. "Who's keeping score?"

"I am," Steve flaps the paper at her. "I've wrote it down already."

Clint goes next with nest. "You've got birds on the brain," I say. "And nests. And eggs. And-"

"My go. Gamma," Bruce says proudly. We all look at him. He blushes and mumbles some excuse.

Tony takes ages to look at all his letters and the board and at all of us. "Hurry up!" Natasha growls. "Do you want to help you?"

"No! You're not allowed to look at my letters!"

"This isn't poker, Stark," she says.

"I wish it was." Clint says grumpily. I instantly start planning a poker night. Tony could bet his suit and Bruce could bet the invisibility cloak prototype he's been working on (he won't let us test it out because he said we'd use it for evil) and Steve could bet his spangly costume and Clint could bet his Katniss-style bow and Natasha could bet her Widow Bites and Thor could bet his hammer thingy...

"Stark?" Clint reads the board disbelievingly. "It took you that long to come up with your own last name?"

"Nah. I was daydreaming for most of it." He says. "Capsicle, your go."

He did it so quickly that he had probably planned it ever since I went. Winter. I roll my eyes but don't say anything. I wish Steve and the assassin dude would just go out already. Honestly.

Thor beams at us all before placing his word. It was Asgardian.

"Sch...nordi...fur keel...Wendy?" I ask with a frown. "Schnoryfurkeelwendy?"

"Thor, how many letters have you got!" Tony exclaims. Thor looks guilty but he's still smiling away. Eventually he laughs and scrabble pieces fall out of his mouth.

"Gross!" I squeal as he spits a whole load out.

"Ten!"

"There's nine there..." Natasha says.

"Oh. Then I may have swallowed one..."

***
An hour later it was over.

Thor had been disqualified for, again, hiding letters, Clint had had a tantrum when we wouldn't let him put Katniss (because names rule) and is still sulking in the ceiling somewhere. Occasionally he bangs on it to let us know he's still alive.

Bruce got increasingly angrier and angrier at Tony's comments and annoyed with Thor's singing of Asgardian nursery rhymes and Natasha's threats so went to the lab.

Natasha keeps disassembling and assembling a gun in the corner, her eyes fixed on Tony. It's kind of creepy. Tony is back to his helmet. Steve keeps staring at me, mouth wide and shaking his head.

I won. Obviously.