"—GO FISH, MOTHERFUCKER."

"Remy Oswald Walsh, what did you just say?"

Remy clasped a hand over his mouth as he realized what he had just done, freezing as he felt the eyes of all the adults in the room trained on him, the grip on his cards loosening as he stared at Ethan and Marc with wide eyes, the two boys unsure whether to be shocked or laugh.

They were in Jayne's house for the Super Bowl, getting ready before the other guests arrived, and the boys decided to play cards and stay out of the way, Tony also exiled to the couch after taking one step foot into the kitchen. Sitting next to the man was BUDDY who was knitting and trying not to take up too much room, though that didn't stop him from squishing Tony all the way to the edge, Remy leaned against one of his large legs.

"Watch the cursing, kid," Tony reprimanded, holding a placating hand over towards Birdie who was gaping at her son from where she stood in the kitchen, too shocked to find any way to scold him.

"Sorry," the boy said, his face red as Ethan and Marc snickered, sharing a look at Remy's expense.

Marc had been invited to the party after he had explained that his parents weren't going to be watching and were, instead, going out of town. The plan was to take him with them, but Remy had insisted that he stay and watch the game, begging his mom to let Marc stay over for the weekend. While Birdie was confused as to why Remy suddenly felt the great need to have his friend watch a game that he himself had no interest in, she agreed so long Marc's parents were okay with it.

That was how the boy wound up also sent into exile in the guest room during the Super Bowl preparations, the boys all bored as they lounged around, Ethan sprawled out on the bed, Marc flat on the floor, and Remy with his head dangling along the bed, close to falling over.

"I'm bored," the youngest boy proclaimed, and Ethan simply rolled his eyes, continuing to play whatever game he had on his phone.

Looking over to Marc, the boy tried to smile, but his mouth just opened since his head was tilted so far back. The older boy grinned at him, his head turned to the side, before going back to look up at the ceiling. That was something about Marc that never changed, he was never really one for excessive talking, unlike Remy who always tried to fill silence.

Before he could fill the silence by running his mouth off, and possibly admitting something he wasn't ready to, the door opened, catching all the boys off guard. They turned and saw Tony peering in, giving them a small smile.

"So...don't tell your moms, but BUDDY's got some snacks tucked away, you want them?" the man asked, giving them a wide grin, and the boys all nodded eagerly, watching as the man slid inside, motioning for the robot to follow him, sighing when the robot waddled inside.

Marc grinned brightly as BUDDY sat down next to him, trying to take up as little space as possible, and Tony sighed as he was forced to climb over the robot and the boy, playfully using the boy's head to balance himself.

"Tony," Remy scolded softly, giving the man a look, glancing over to Marc who just smiled, fixing his hair.

The man glanced over at the older boy and shrugged, looking to Ethan who also shrugged. "I don't see the problem, kid."

Remy mumbled softly to himself, risking a glance over to Marc who just looked back at him; always the quiet type. He moved his attention to BUDDY who was reaching into his hidden pockets, pulling out snacks and sodas, as well his knitting.

Tony pursed his lips as he watched the robot go back to his knitting, glancing over to Remy. "Did you teach him how to do that?"

BUDDY raised his head to look over at Tony. "I taught myself."

Tony sighed and turned so he was facing the wall, bracing himself against the wall and shaking his head, rubbing his face. "Not again...please..."

Ethan reached down and grabbed a bag of chips, opening them and shoving one into his mouth, talking around it. "What's got you all freaked out, man, it's just a robot," he smiled, nudging BUDDY's squishy body with his socked foot, "And he's pretty great."

BUDDY turned towards him, and it sounded like he was smiling. "Thank you, Ethan. You're pretty great as well."

Marc laughed, clearing his throat when the others all turned towards him. "Sorry. His accent is..." he looked towards Remy, searching for the right word, and the boy shrugged.

"Funny?" he supplied, and, after a moment, Marc agreed.

"It's not my favorite, reminds me of a guy I know," Tony interjected, adding, "Not that I don't like him, though he hasn't been around the past two years and I'm feeling kinda neglected."

Remy rolled his eyes, before pausing. "Are you talking about Thor?"

The man coughed. "Maybe."

The boys all laughed, grabbing the sodas on the floor, falling back into silence. They were all used to Tony's presence by that point—except for, maybe, Ethan, who was still getting used to the billionaire being in his cousin's life—no longer phased by his references to his teammates, though he rarely ever did.

After a few moments of silence, Remy spoke, "Did mom kick you out for trying to eat the frosting on the cake?"

"It wasn't even the one on the cake, it was the one in the bowl, it wasn't like she was using it!" he cried, nearly throwing his phone in the process.

The boys all laughed, though Ethan and Marc found the man much more entertaining than Remy, who just huffed a laugh, closing his eyes and leaning against BUDDY who continued to knit. It was a pitying laugh more than anything, a way so he didn't ruin the mood of the room, but it was clear that he wasn't in the mood for anything.

Tony raised an eyebrow at him, but the boy didn't open his eyes, continuing to just lean against BUDDY who began to warm, the boy sighing contentedly, relaxing further and slipping farther down along the side of the bed.

"I used to watch the commercials, but I don't really care anymore," Ethan said, catching Tony's attention, "For the game? My moms and I usually watch the Puppy Bowl."

"What's the Puppy Bowl?" Marc asked, and Tony was equally confused; he had only ever watched the Super Bowl.

Ethan went into a long winded explanation of the game which took place at the same time as its namesake, finding it much more entertaining than football—he was more a basketball fan, really, much to Marc's delight—though Remy wasn't listening, and Tony often glanced towards him, wondering if he should tell Birdie or figure out what was wrong himself.

When Ethan finally finished his explanation, the boys were all called to get lunch, people already in the living room already glued to the TV screen. Marc and Ethan rushed out, though the former paused to cast Remy a quizzical look, the youngest boy ignoring the call.

"He'll follow," Tony said, moving to sit on the bed next to the boy, motioning for Marc to go on ahead.

With a sigh, Tony relaxed down onto the bed, raising an eyebrow down at the boy whose eyes were still closed, head leaned against a still knitting BUDDY. After he stared for a few more moments with no response, he finally spoke.

"What'd I do, kid?" he sighed, staring at the wall across from them, "Did I do something?"

After a few moments, Remy mumbled, "No, wasn't you."

"Okay," he sighed, glad to finally get a response, "Was it Ethan? Marc? Your mom?"

He shook his head, crossing his arms. "It's nothing."

Tony leaned back onto his arms, nudging BUDDY with his shoe and the robot made a small humming noise, before speaking, "I'm sorry, Mr. Stark, I can't tell you. That would be a breach of privacy."

Tony sighed, shaking his head. "What have I done..."

Remy made a sound of frustration, his heels digging into the sheets as he shifted around, scratching at his arms, his eyes screwed shut. "Look, it doesn't matter, so just leave me alone, okay, I just wanna be alone."

After a few moments of waiting, Tony relents, standing and walking out of the room, closing the door behind him, catching the soft sound of Remy sighing just before he left.

Walking to the kitchen, he found Birdie leaning against the kitchen, looking just as happy as Remy was, though she was clearly trying to put on a brave face, though it was paper thin and see through.

"Did I miss something, because I was just with the kid and he's not all too happy about today either," he said, moving to lean against the counter as well, turned towards her.

She sighed and shook her head. "I'm fine, and...this day just doesn't have very good memories for us. Well, that's not true, it wasn't awful, it was just...Mark always loved this day more than anything, he'd invite his friends, and Remy's just not one for sports or loud yelling."

Tony nodded knowingly. "Mark wasn't too happy with his son trying to stay in his room instead of bonding with him. Didn't look that good in front of his friends?"

Birdie opened her mouth, ready to defend the man, but caught herself, instead just choosing to nod. "I guess so. That's why he wanted Marc with him, he thought it would probably help him get through the day, but it didn't work, he woke up not even wanting to get out of his sleeping bag. Marc understands, though, he always does."

"He's not dealing with this well, is he?" Tony asked.

Birdie shrugged. "I mean..." Tony raised an eyebrow and her shoulders slumped, "No. He's not. I don't know what to do, Tony, can we talk about this later? Please, I don't-I don't want to ruin the mood."

The man glanced over towards all the people who were chatting happily and watching the TV, their voices filling the room, some already starting to shout. He glanced towards the closed door, then over to Birdie.

"Fine by me," he replied, because he didn't know what to say. He didn't.

A big fan of repressing most of his feelings, he was the last person to pressure someone into acknowledging problems, at least to a certain extent. But he was getting better. Hopefully, the Walsh's would too.

AUTHOR'S NOTE

This was a filler chapter of the most bland kind, but I tried to make it interesting, but things'll pick back up next chapter, I promise.

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed!