"Yeah, no, except for the fact that none of us condone violence," Ted reminds her, giving her a look and then pointedly looking at the back of Henry's head, inclining his head a little. "Besides, I think it has less to do with that, and more to do with stuff like the theater's insurance, and the ushers working there trying to interpret the rules as best they can, y'know."

It's not that he disagrees with her. She has a valid point. But that doesn't mean they would allow it. Nor that they should discuss it in this way in front of a pre-teen boy.

Ted gives an amused huff. Smooth, she is not. But honestly, it's nothing worse than Beard's said in front of Henry on occasion. And Henry's old enough to think for himself, and has lived thus far in a very anti-weapon (and particularly anti-gun) household. There is a chance he might find bows very cool, but he's not gonna start attacking people with it.

He looks over at Michelle when she looks at her phone. "Right, yeah. Uh, I assume except for the early visit, the schedule's the same. You'll come pick Henry up on Sunday?" he asks, getting to his feet. He's gonna walk Michelle to the door, just in case she has something else to say, or in case he himself thinks of something to say.

"Hey, it's alright," Ted says, once they're away from the other two and he can hear Henry asking Kate more stuff about her bow and whether she can do stunts like Hawkeye can.

"You were a bit bamboozled, I get it," he says softly, standing at the door while they talk quietly. "Look, I know it looks weird. People give us guff all the time, it's not like I'm blind. And I know there's some extra challenges her and I have to face." He pauses and sighs. "But she's something real special, Michelle. And I promise, whatever else happens, I'm always gonna put Henry first. So just... have some faith in me, alright?"

One difference between them is that Ted has spent an awful lot of time learning not to care what most people think of him. Their assumptions, their underestimation of him, it's not a reflection of him or his relationship, it's a reflection of them. And that doesn't mean it won't bother him - especially if it might have consequences for Henry, or for himself, or for Kate. It just means that other people's perceptions alone isn't a legitimate reason to avoid something that makes his life, on the whole, so much better.

"I will," he promises. And he is. He's really trying to maneuver this as best he can, and trying to help Kate do the same.

He smiles as she holds her arms out, and he leans in to give her a brief but firm hug. He doesn't linger, but it's a good reminder that they're both on the same side in this.

"Have a good time, alright? Be safe," he says, opening the door for her.

"Alright, I know I'll probably become unpopular if I say this, but I think that's enough Avengers talk," Ted says as he walks in on this particular conversation, clapping his hands together.

If Kate has reached the Battle of New York, there is a very real chance Henry's follow-up questions might lead to discussions Ted really doesn't want to have today. He was just a toddler at the time, and most of the consequences of that didn't reach Kansas as much as it did other place, but it was a pretty scary time to be a fresh parent, and it definitely changed some things in general. Henry's grown up where all this is commonplace, while Ted still considers it kind of insane.

"So, Henry," Ted says, focusing on him as he drops down on the couch next to him. "I don't really have anything planned for us tonight, but do you have any requests?"

"That sounds absolutely perfect," Ted agrees. A chill day in, maybe order some pizza. Time to catch up without too many activities and stuff happening to distract them.

"And don't worry, we're gonna hang out some more with Kate soon, and you two can nerd out about superheroes. Maybe she'll even let you try one of her bows, huh?" he says, gently elbowing Henry and giving Kate a smile. "Just remember, only with training and only at the shooting range, right?"

That's actually a real comfort, knowing Beard will be there too. He doesn't think Kate will do anything risky, but she probably underestimates how much trouble a 12-year-old can get into. Even a good kid like Henry, who gets into less shenanigans than Ted did at his age. Beard, for all his unpredictability in a social setting, is very clear on rules and safety, and knows both how to communicate and enforce it.

"Riiight," he answers, reminded of the hoop. Maybe he can get Henry's help in setting it up.

"Alright, big guy, how about you take your suitcase upstairs and unpack, huh? And I don't mean all over the floor, I mean in actual drawers," he says, getting to his feet and shooing Henry off. The kid grabs it and starts hurrying, already heading up the stairs before he remembers to yell "Bye, Kate!"

Ted chuckles to himself and goes to follow Kate to the door to see her off. "That wasn't so bad, huh?" he says with a warm smile.

And as much as his heart is warmed by seeing them interact, and he was looking forward to hanging out with her this evening... He really can't wait to get some quality time alone with Henry. That, and he does need to have a talk with him about Kate, before Ted can feel comfortable even holding hands with her around him.

"...Not sure he caught that second part," Ted comments, mostly to himself, looking in the direction of the stairs. At least if you try too hard, sometimes the kid will just fail to notice anyway?

"My face?" he answers with a soft laugh. "Yours was pretty impressive too, by the way."

He looks towards the stairs again, just to check, before he chances giving Kate a brief but extremely happy kiss.

Ted shrugs and smiles at her insistence, more or less admitting as much. They both were, for a minute there.

When she apologizes for the Avengers talk, he reaches out and squeezes her arm reassuringly. "You don't have to impress him. Just talk to him like a person. Ask him about his hobbies and his interests," Ted tells her. "As long as you don't talk about stuff that's inappropriate, kids like being treated like human beings."

Ted smiles warmly when she thanks him. Another good experience from coaching and generally being a support person right there, being able to talk someone down from freaking out even when you yourself are kind of freaking out.

"You did fine, don't worry about it. I think Henry thinks you're pretty awesome," he reassures her with a warm smile. Michelle is a bit harder to convince, obviously, but her opinion doesn't matter as much as Henry's.

"How 'bout I facetime you after he's gone to bed?" Ted suggests instead. "We can talk properly. And then I still get to see you before I go to sleep," he adds sweetly.

"Of course," he answers when she tells him to apologize to the army man. Obviously he's gonna do that.

"Well, maybe not a super long conversation. And not. Well, you know," he adds, raising his eyebrows at her. (It's not like their late-night facetime conversations always turn dirty, but it's definitely been known to happen.)

He snorts gently at her gesture - he's both Captain America and Hawkeye, isn't he special? And then when she calls him a DILF, he jokingly puts a finger to his lips, even though he hasn't heard Henry come downstairs yet.

"I will. Thank you," he answers, warmed by how happy she is for him, and how she wants to make sure he knows that so he doesn't feel guilty for their plans changing. "I'll talk to you later. Have a good night," he says, and gives a goodbye kiss.

Ted waves her goodbye before he heads upstairs to check on Henry's unpacking. He definitely started doing it properly, but then halfway seems to have gotten distracted by a magazine, so Ted helps him out with the rest of it. Then they head downstairs and play video games for quite a few hours, just chatting about all sorts of stuff. Ted texts Kate a photo at one point of Henry doing some sort of victory celebration dance, with Ted in the foreground playfully rolling his eyes, clearly having been bested at whatever game they were playing, along with the comment: "Still needs to learn something about being a gracious winner. 😜"

Then when they're winding down with pizza later on, Ted takes the opportunity to talk to Henry about Kate. It goes way smoother than he could've imagined. Of course, he's already gone through the same thing with Dr Jacob, so it's not like any of it's groundbreaking. And Ted still reassures him that this doesn't change anything, and how Henry is still the most important person to him.

After that they watch a movie, and while Ted is in the kitchen fetching drinks, he takes the opportunity to text Kate again.

Talked to Henry. He says he's glad I'm happy and not lonely. Also he says you're "pretty cool", which is high praise from a 12-year-old. 😘