The harsh breeze of winter was barley noticeable due to the warmth of the toasty fire. Not a peep, but the fire’s excited cackles, could be heard. Everybody was perfectly relaxed, each person doing their own activity. Natasha was watching some news footage with her wired earphones plugged into her phone while Clint was messaging Laura about presents for the children that he had seen. On her other side, Bruce listened to calm classical music with his headphones.
On the opposing sofa, Tony skimmed over some essential paperwork on his StarkPad with Steve reading a newspaper on his right, and Wanda sat beside Vision on his left. Pepper, who had left to brew some coffee, returned and squished herself between Tony and Vision. Thor, Bucky, and Sam all sat cross legged on the floor as they all sat on their phones. All of them were doing different things on their phones- though Bucky was slightly struggling to use it and Thor was practically incapable of using any of the device’s features whatsoever. It was perfect, peaceful.
At around half past three in the afternoon, the lift doors swung open and six familiar figures stepped through. Nat lifted her head, glancing back to see who had entered. Kamala Khan, Peter Parker, Yelena Belova, Maria Hill, Carol Danvers, and Kate Bishop walked into the room. Tony set aside the tablet, waving Peter over as Natasha and Pepper stood up to greet the girls.
Once everyone had reseated in the crowded sitting room, everyone started to chat. “It’s almost Christmas, do you guys want to do anything?” Peter asked, seated comfortably on the ceiling. The group thought for a couple of moments, their minds running through different ideas. “How about ice skating this evening?” Kate offered, googling on her phone different things to do. A couple of people nodded, others objecting due to being busy.
Those who had declined the offer, not being able to attend, walked out to go and do whatever tasks they had to do. The people remaining were: Peter, Kamala, Clint, and Kate. Natasha already had formed plans with Yelena, Maria, Carol, and Pepper- they were all going to go and check out the Christmas markets. The women had also invited Wanda, who had politely declined their offer, claiming to have something else planned.
So, the group of ice skaters all dispersed to their temporary rooms in the tower to go and change into warm clothes. Kate wore a beautiful purple coat that was large enough to confuse her with a painted version of Bay-Max from the film Big Hero Six alongside some ski pants -and an extreme amount of gloves, hats, and scarfs. Peter wore literally every single warm piece of clothing that he could find with his mask on top- not only wanting to hide his face incase he was spotted ice skating with a bunch of heroes but to also keep himself warm as Mr. Stark and provided him with a built-in heater from within his suit. Everybody dressed up in similar attire, none of them wanting to be the one that was whinging about how cold it was the whole time.
The Markets
To escape from the hazardous snow that had began storm down upon them, the women retreated into the nearest pub. “Oh god, it’s freezing!” Pepper sighed as they all approached the largest table in the bar. Everyone took their seats around the table while Carol fetched the first round of drinks. Maria glanced down at her phone, reading a message. “I’ve got some S.H.I.E.L.D agents around, mind if I invite them? Good women, I swear.” She asked, nodding at Carol as thanks when the blonde returned with a tray of beers. “I don’t see why not.” Nat replied, gesturing to the four spare chairs that sat around the table.
The pub had that classically cozy feeling to it. The walls had a floral wallpaper with a maroon-red background and darkly painted wooden trims. The booth seats were coated in a similarly designed fabric to the wallpaper with red leather on the sides, only difference being that the colours were slightly different and the flower designs were larger than the ones on the wall. Most of the floor was made up of that eerie hotel-like carpet that most pubs had with wooden flooring around the bar- which had the same colour scheme as everything else in the building. The windows were glazed, a few having stained glass artwork for the front windows. Most of the lights were flickering or placed in irreverent places.
But, it was better than being in the absolute snowstorm that was the outdoors.
The women drank, sprinkling in gossip and the latest news about Stark Industries and current threats that S.H.I.E.L.D was facing- likely wasn’t wise to do in public but nobody was listening. A couple minutes later, Maria waved over a few people. Two do which were women around their age and one seeming to be quite young, even younger than Yelena it appeared. The other two both looked to be about thirty to forty years old; one of them being blonde, the other with dark black hair.
”Hey, it’s nice to see you again.” Maria said, shaking hands with each of the women before stepping aside to enable them to introduce themselves. “I’m Agent May.” Said the black haired one, taking the seat next to Pepper with a polite smile. “Agent Morse- but just call me Bobbi.” The blonde one said with a grin, shaking hands with the women as she took a sit next to Carol. The third, the young brunette, was slightly in awe of the people sat ahead of her but managed to suppress it. “I’m Daisy, nice to meet you guys.”
Agent Morse- Bobbi- went to go get a round of margaritas while Daisy and May- whose name had been revealed as Melinda a few minutes into their tale- told the group of ladies about themselves. “We are apart of a team formed by Coulson.” Daisy explained as she took a sip of the oddly fruity drink that Bobbi had bought her. “He assembled it before his death in The Battle of New York, we just formed it as a final wish type of thing. After the Avengers, of course.” May corrected, glaring at Daisy in annoyance at her slip up when nobody was looking.
“Sounds interesting, you were friends with Coulson?” Natasha asked, folding her arms in curiosity. May nodded her head, not wanting to say anything that could give away the truth behind the man’s state. He wasn’t dead, but that was something that didn’t seem like the right thing to say to people he had never met. After all, the man always bragged about how sly Romanoff was.
“So, you’re a superhero, but got no super powers. What weapons do you use?” Daisy asked, her head slightly tilting to the side as she did. “I use a variety, but mostly two sweet batons- or sticks, whatever you want to call them- and a gun.” Nat replied, slightly confused as Agent Morse’s face lit up in excitement and the other two agents smiled at the blonde. “No way, me too!” She explained with a chuckle at the coincidence. The two of them spent a couple minutes discussing their batons before ending the conversation, much to everybody else’s relief, by clinking their glasses together.
The Iceskating
Meanwhile, the people that had agreed on ice skating were ready. “Hey, Kate, how come you aren’t with the other girls? Surely they invited you, right?” Peter asked as the group rolled up to the rink. The woman shrugged. “I’d be the youngest there, plus I wouldn’t want to miss you guys all falling over a million times- especially you.” She said, pointed to Clint at the last part as he returned from paying for the ice skates. Everybody got their skates on, which had been more of a struggle for others (Kamala) than most (literally everybody else there).
Due to it being early in the afternoon, and most kids still being in school, the rink was basically deserted. Perfect. Everybody was- initially- awkwardly holding onto the wall for dear life as they waddled onto the slippery ice. At first, everybody fell right onto their asses. But, after roughly twenty minutes, Kate and Kamala were starting to get the hang of it. “Team K!” The girls boasted, high-fiving as the boy and man struggled behind.
The girls glided over the ice, the winter air feeling to be merely an obstacle for them to set aside as they swerved around with ease. Well, until Kamala went flying into the wall with a thud. Kate burst into laughter as tears pricked at her eyes, Peter doing the same by the time they caught up with them. Clint, being the only proper adult there, helped Kamala to her feet- struggling to contain his own laughter. “You okay?” He asked, his smile ruining his attempt of appearing sincere.
Kamala, who had been far to busy sticking her tongue out at the other two heroes- like the mature hero she was- to process the fact that one of her all time heroes had just helped her to her feet. “I don’t think I have ever seen you be responsible.” Peter announced in surprise, starting to actually try and think of the last time Barton had been the most mature of the group. Kamala had to her feet, brushing off the ice that had skidded onto her.
Peter looped his arm around hers, the two of them balancing one another as they skated around the rink, falling at least a dozen times as they did. But, despite the the amount of times they fell on their arse’s, their laughter only increased each time. “You want to race?” Kate asked once Clint had gotten the hang of it. “It would be unfair, I’d beat you far too easily. Avenger, remember?” He taunted, a cocky smile on his face as he did. Kate laughed, gesturing towards the other side of the rink. “It’s so on.” She teased, getting ready to skate.
Clint cracked his knuckles, titling his head to the side. “I’ll try to not and embarrass you too much.” He offered her, before counting down from three for them to start. “Three…Two…One…Go! Go! Go!” He commanded, the two of them instantly starting to skate to the opposite end of the ice-rink. At first, Kate seemed to be just slightly ahead of the archer. But, as he previously warned, it wasn’t too long before he was soaring past her, making some rather rude gestures with his hands that he probably would not have done had his- or other’s- children been present.
To really rub salt into the wound, Clint swerved around and skidded to a halt, spraying Kate in snow as he did. “Eek!” She squealing, slipping onto her back with a groan- ignoring the hysterical laughter that had erupted from the man. “Wow, Clint, that was low. I see how it is.” She mockingly cried, mimicking wiping away some tears as she grabbed onto the side wall to pull herself back up to her feet.
The wind began to grow fierce, practically blowing some of them away. “Why have you got so many layers on?” Kamala asked Peter, watching as the boy wrapped yet another scarf around his thickly-layered neck.
”Well, since I have spider DNA, it’s possible for me to go into hibernation if I get too cold.” He explained, shoving the fellow hero as she started to laugh at the statement. “I’m sorry!” She pleaded, slipping onto her arse. “It’s super awesome, it really is. But-” she trailed off, laughing at the idea of one of her closest friends- that she had seen stop a speeding bus- go into hibernation.
Hot Chocolate
”And, if we were to hypothetically use the ‘perfect’ amount of hot chocolate powder, we could make the best hot chocolate ever!” Fitz exclaimed, drumming his fingers against the countertop. Jemma sighed, shaking her head with a smile. “There is no such thing as a perfect hot chocolate, Fitz.” She broke to him, folding her arms. The boy shook his head in refusal, waving off the comment. “That is such none sense! A few years ago, I said that there was no way that aliens exist. Now, I drink my coffee with someone who can cause earthquakes!” Leo defended, making a fair point.
”True, but still, everybody has different taste buds. Therefore, it’s impossible to make hot chocolate that is appealing to everyone!” She claimed, grabbing one of the counter’s stools and sitting on it. “You’re right-” (something he never said) “-not everyone deserves good hot chocolate, only people with decent taste buds.” He agreed, smiling as she chuckled at his comment.
“Why not we both make a ‘perfect’ hot chocolate and compare them? We’ll get Hunter to make the deciding vote on whose is the best hot chocolate!” Simmons proposed, which Fitz gladly agreed to- confident that he would easily win the contest. So, the duo got straight to work. But, of course, they went in with a classic ‘Fitz-Simmons: go big or go home’ attitude. Both were determined to prove their opponent- not to mention also their loving partner- wrong, and they were not prepared to lose, no matter what the cost.
So, after twenty minutes of research on the so-called ‘best’ hot chocolates in history, the scientists dispersed to make their normally-simple drinks. And, after another twenty-ish minutes, the two called Hunter into the kitchen with their drinks prepared. They caught him up before he was even through the door, wanting him to drink their drink before it went cold.
He downed Fitz’s first, shocked at just how tasty it was, claiming that it was: “Even better than my great aunt, Linda’s!”. Next, down the hatch went Simmon’s drink as he gulped it down in one. Hunter took a few deep breaths, equally impressed with both of theirs. But, that wasn’t the answer they wanted. “One or the other.” Stated Fitz, both of them staring at the man in desperate anticipation. Hunter hesitated, waiting for a couple of moments before finally deciding on whose had been better. “Simmons’ was only slighter better- it was more milky than yours.” He declared, rolling his eyes as Simmons cockily danced in victory.
”You have disgusting taste buds.” Fitz mumbled, smiling. He wrapped his arms around Simmons, kissing his teeth with a groan as she smiled up at him. “I beat youuuu!” She bragged in a sing-songy tone. He shook his head, not daring to admit his loss. “I suppose I could take the defeat if it meant you winning.” He shrugged, kissing her.
”Kind of third-wheeling here…” Hunter whispered, awkwardly.
The Christmas Cookies
”Oh, hey, America.” Wanda said, walking into the kitchen. The girl span around, looking up from the large book on the counter. “Hi, Wanda!” She greeted, before continuing to flick through what it was that she was reading. The woman walked over to the counter, glancing down at what the teen was reading. “You baking something?” She asked, amused. America nodded, finally locating the page with the recipe to cookies.
“I’m going to bake Christmas cookies as a treat for everyone. Want to help?” America offered, deep down praying that the woman would accept after having heard stories of just how delicious Wanda’s cookies supposedly were. Meanwhile, her baking skills were…not great. “Sure.” The witch agreed, skimming over the ingredients.
Wanda waved her hand, getting all of the ingredients out of the fridge via her magic. America smiled, letting out a quiet sigh in relief as she began to get out the bowls and trays that they would need. “Do you know where the cookie cutters are kept?” She asked, glancing up at the woman. Wanda hesitated, trying to think. “Uhm, I think they are in that drawer.” She responded, pointing at one of the drawers.
America knelt down, opening the drawer. It was mainly just tools. Still, she scooped around a little bit. At one point, she could have sworn to have felt the wooden base of the board lift up slightly. But, after doing a full evaluation, she determined that it wasn’t in there. “I don’t think there are any cookie cutters.” She concluded, standing up. Wanda, who had since gotten all of the ingredients out, grabbed two knives. “Really? I guess we will have to do it ourselves.” She sighed, setting the knives aside for the time being.
And, with that, Wanda began to intricately carve the treats into Christmas trees, Santa hats, elves, and presents. Meanwhile, America began to cut the treats into star shapes- similar to ones that she had drawn a dozen times whenever she had been bored while travelling across the multiverse. “Can’t you do something christmassy?” Wanda laughed, shaking her head. America sighed, agreeing to make some christmas ornament-shaped cookies.
But, with what was left, she decided to make a personalised cookie for as many of the heroes as she could. For Kate and Clint, an arrow. For Peter, Wanda helped her to cut it into the shape of a spider web. For Cap, it was his shield- which had been weirdly difficult for something so simple. She made Sam a pair of wings and attempted to make an arm for Bucky (which Wanda had to do most of as Kamala wasn’t sure how to cut it correctly). Thor, obviously, got one shaped like his dearest hammer, Mjölnir. For Tony, they went with a gauntlet. Wanda and Vision both got ones shaped like the mind stone- which had been the woman’s idea. America made Kamala one similar to the one that she had made for Captain Marvel as they were pretty similar. Unsure of what to make for Maria or Pepper, they created two heart-shaped ones. For the two widows (Yelena and Natasha), the two of them tried to replicate the symbol on Natasha’s belt. And, finally, they made a huge fist for Bruce.
Once the cookies had been baked, it was time for the hard part. Decorating! Wanda got out the icing bags, guiding America through the entire process as they carefully applied each sliver of frosting with such care that their hands started to ache at just how slowly they were moving their hands. An hour later, they were finally finished. Feeling a fresh sense of accomplishment, the two of them high-fived one another and retreated to bed for an overdue nap.
The Tree Selection
“Tony, we don’t need to get the biggest tree they have!” Steve exclaimed, pinching the bridge of his nose in exhaustion. “It’s me who is paying for it, and it is going to be sat in my house. I think that I will pick whatever tree I like.” He argued, leading them towards the spit with the biggest of the trees. The captain sighed, lazily following behind him.
“I know but it will be me who has to help decorate. The bigger, the more work.” Steve groaned, shuddering bat the amount of decorating he would have to do on such an insanely large (not to mention expensive) tree. “Don’t be stupid, I would never let you pick out the decorations. I mean, look at what you wear! No colour coordination whatsoever.” Tony assured him, giving him a smug smirk at the glare that Cap sent his way. “You know, I thought that this was a pretty nice outfit…” Steve whispered, chuckling in sync with the billionaire.
The twigs from beneath their shoes crunched with a satisfying crack as they ventured throughout the show-around of trees. “This place isn’t good enough, let’s go.” Tony decided, starting to walk off. Steve, confused, followed after the man. “What do you mean? Where are we going?!” Rogers demanded, too tired after having browsed trees for over two hours. “To the woods, duh, we can get our own tree.” He explained, shrugging his shoulders as he did.
The woods smelt, for a place where animals pooped, surprisingly nice. A light coat of snow and was beginning to form as dozens of snowflakes began to elegantly fall from the sky. The fresh air whacked the two heroes like an unexpected rock, New York air was never as fresh as it was in the countryside or the woods. The birds sang as if even they were feeling the festive magic that flooded the atmosphere. Squirrels scattered up the trees as Steve and Tony walked in the woods, dragging their axes alongside them.
“I just need you to chip down the tree, do the tough stuff! Me and others, those on the team with real taste, will decorate it.” Tony explained, passing the axe over to the super soldier. “Is this okay?” Steve asked, stopping where he was stood. Stark turned around, folding his arms. “I mean, ethically…no. But- but!- legally… also no, or I don’t think so.” He responded, before continuing to walk.
“We are Avengers, it will be grand. We are allowed to cut down one wee tree!” Tony justified, raising his hands in surrender. Steve let out an exasperated sigh, whispering some less than PG expressions which Tony opted to ignore. “Fine. So long as we get this over with.” Steve mumbled, catching up with Tony.
About half an hour later, though it felt much more like a couple dozen hours from just how agonisingly slowly the minutes had ticked by, Stark eventually came across a tree that- if possible- reached his painfully high standards. “I didn’t realise just how difficult selecting a Christmas tree was until now…” Cap huffed, lifting the axe up.
The Sun, or the parts of it that hadn’t been blocked by the clouds, glistened through the trees. The snow, which had initially been nothing but a slight pester, had since completely covered the two men. Steve lifted the axe above his head before swinging it into the trunk of the tree with a loud thunk! After a couple of more swings, the tree fell to the floor- almost landing on the two avengers.
So, to avoid being crushed, the two dived out of the way. “Move!” Tony yelled, tackling Cap to the ground as they tumbled into the snowy grass, starting to roll down the hill at top speed. Cursing, the two men tumbled all the way to the bottom of the hill…which just so happened to be a late at the edge of the forest. Splash! Luckily for them, the water was shallow.
Steve spat out some water and grass, glaring angrily at Tony as he wiped himself down. But, as the fellow hero did nothing but grin in response, the two burst into a laughing fit. It was a pretty rare sight, anybody could agree to it. After all, it wasn’t everyday that you would see the two most famous people in the world inside of a lake, laughing and covered in snow!
“Merry Christmas, Cap.”
“Merry Christmas, Tony.”