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The Cultural Diversity of Mistletoe… Or is it Mistlefoe?

Summary:

Pansy and Thor join their friends for a quiet weekend at the Barton residence. A difference between their two worlds comes to light due to a little piece of holiday decoration.

Notes:

Written for Hermione's Nook: A Very Potter Advent Calendar Day 14. The idea for this story came from a post found on Tumblr, which I've put at the end.

Many thanks to Articcat621 for her help in making sure this made sense and also to MrsMast for her help when I got stuck. Also, thank you to the mods for hosting this fun event!

Disclaimer: I do not own anything or anyone recognizable from either the HP or Marvel worlds. I am not making any money off of this.

(See the end of the work for more notes.)

Work Text:

Pansy looked down from the doorway above her to see Thor still glancing upwards.

"You know what this means, right?" She said with a cheeky grin.

Thor's brilliant blue eyes shifted down to meet hers as he raised his right arm and took a step backwards. His trusty hammer flew down the stairs from where he'd left it in their room for the weekend and into his hand. Once he had Mjölnir, Thor crouched into a fighting stance that Pansy had seen him in many times before.

She crossed her arms over her chest. With a raised eyebrow, Pansy questioned, "What are you doing?"

"It is mistlefoe," Thor replied. "We fight."

"No, it's mistlet…" Pansy trailed off to stare at her boyfriend in shock, her arms slowly falling to her sides. Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, she found her voice again, "Wait, you call it mistlefoe in Asgard?"

Thor slowly stood up to his full height to tower over Pansy's smaller stature. Mjölnir lowered to waist height. "Is that not what you call it here on Midgard?"

Biting the inside of her cheek, Pansy could only shake her head no. Laughter was threatening to overtake her now that she realised what had happened between them. This was their first Christmas together, and apparently, Asgardians and Midgardians have very different traditions regarding a particular piece of holiday parasitic plant. Now, she was curious to find out any other differences between their cultures.

"So you do not fight each other?"

Another shake of her head was the only response he received.

Thor lowered his hammer to hang by his side as he looked at Pansy confusion. "What do you call it? And what do you do?"

"It's mistletoe," Laura replied as she stepped up behind Pansy. "And you kiss when you get caught under it with someone."

He contemplated Laura's words as Pansy struggled to contain her laughter. After a few moments, he nodded his head and set his hammer on the chair next to the doorway that he and Pansy were still standing in.

The Bartons' living room was behind Pansy, and she could hear the others laughing and talking in the background.

"I think I prefer the Midgardian custom," Thor said as he stepped in front of Pansy again. "At least with you," he added as he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer.

Pansy slid her arms up his chest to tangle in his blond hair. "You'll fight everyone else? Even if I'm caught with someone else?" Pansy asked with a wink.

Thor's eyes glinted with mirth as he leaned closer to her. "Always."

"Would you two just kiss already?" Sam pipped up from where he was sitting on the sofa, ruining the moment and reminding Pansy and Thor that they were not alone.

Hermione rolled her eyes as she smacked his chest with the back of her hand. Bucky snickered from the other side of her. "Don't even start, mister."

Bucky smiled innocently at his wife. "I didn't say anything."

She raised an eyebrow. "You didn't have to, because you're just as bad as he is," she jabbed her thumb over her shoulder at Sam.

He leaned forward to look at Sam. "She knows us too well."

"She does, but at least she didn't smack you in the chest," Sam countered, still rubbing his chest looking for sympathy.

Hermione snorted. "I didn't hit you that hard, and you know it."

"It's still spousal abuse," Bucky told her.

Hermione tilted her head back and groaned, missing the wink Bucky sent Sam.

"Merlin only knows why I put up with the two of you," Hermione said as she shook her head at her husbands.

"Because you love us," Sam reminded her.

"That's debatable," she muttered before turning her attention to Pansy who was still standing near the entrance to the living room as she spoke with Laura and Thor. "Hey, Pansy! Please come rescue me from my husbands."

The other witch turned at the sound of her voice. A dark eyebrow reached for Pansy's hairline as she said, "Are you sure? You see pretty cosy there between your husbands."

"Yes, please. They're being—" Anything else Hermione was going to say was cut off as a new voice joined the group.

"Thor, can you please move out of the doorway so we can join you all?"

Everyone already in the room turned to look at each other, waiting to see what the Asgardian God would do.

He sent a grin Pansy's way before turning to face Steve Rogers. Thor noticed that Clint and Tony were standing behind him, waiting to enter the room also.

"I would, but," Thor told him before pointing up.

Steve followed Thor's gesture to see a sprig of mistletoe above them. Pale pink rose up Steve's neck as he lowered his eyes back to Thor's.

"Are you ready?" Thor asked as he tried to hide the smile that was threatening to overtake him.

"Uh..." Steve said, at a loss for words.

"Someone's halls are getting decked!" Bucky called out, startling his friend.

Looking over Thor's shoulder, Steve stared at Bucky in confusion. "What?"

Pansy took it upon herself to explain what had been discovered while the three men had been outside as she was able to finally move Thor out of the doorway.

As expected Tony found great enjoyment from this new piece of information, but it was the thoughtful look on Clint's face that had his wife shaking her head at him.

"Do not teach our sons about this," Laura warned her husband.

He didn't even try to deny what he'd been contemplating.

"How did you all not know about this before now?" Pansy asked as she sat in the chair between Thor and the couch were Hermione sat with Bucky and Sam.

"This is my first year spending Christmas with the rest of the team," Thor replied. "I was on Asgard."

"Makes sense," Pansy said as she nodded her head.

"As Nat and Wanda will be joining us later once they're done with their shift, shall we open presents?" After receiving nods from the others, Laura turned to Hermione and Pansy. "Ladies, would you like to do the honours?"

"Of course," Hermione replied as she pulled out her wand.

Pansy joined her, and the two witches got the annual Avengers getaway Christmas weekend underway.

Notes:

Prompt:
edens-blog
Fun Christmas idea:
Hang mistletoe but instead of kissing you have to FIGHT whoever else is under it

edens-blog
Mistlefoe™
razzle-dazzle-pineazzle
SOMEONE'S HALLS ARE GETTING DECKED