Work Text:
Day 3: Santas Hat
“How is this a christmas movie? Don’t get me wrong, I like Lord of the Rings, but it’s not very… festive?”
“It may not be a classic, but it is a christmas movie. Fight me.”
“I’m afraid I have eaten too many cookies for that.”
“Dude, that’s not my problem.”
“So… Why, pray tell, is Lord of the Rings a christmas movie?”
“It just is! At least it’s long enough to get over a food coma, if that helps you.”
“Okay, but-”
The sound of several bottles hitting the coffee table interrupts the good natured bickering between Steve and Clint. They look up to find Natasha placing different kinds of booze there with a grin.
“No can do, Steve. We’re going with it.” She keeps the last bottle for herself and flops down onto the couch, legs stretched out and upper body leaned against Clint. He wraps
an arm around her and grins.
“We can make it festive - there.” Tony takes off the santa hat he’d been wearing for days now, and puts it on the corner of the large TV screen.
“Take a shot everytime someone on screen wears it. Boom. Festive movie and drinking game in one.” He grins, way too happy about this.
“You guys are ridiculous.” Steve’s laughter betrays his words - he really doesn’t mind. On the contrary, this holiday season is the best he’s had in a long time.
Way, way back, he used to spend those days with Bucky.
They didn’t have much, but on Christmas, they always managed to get something nicer than usual to eat. More often than not, it meant that they had to skip meals before and after the holidays, but it was worth it. To the two of them it was special, even in the army days when they had even less and worked even harder.
But then, Bucky fell from a train into an icy abyss and Steve’s world had stopped. He didn’t see much cause for celebrations after that, and even less so after waking up from the ice 70 years later.
Now, things look different. Lighter. He’s not alone anymore, and Steve very much enjoys the time spent with his team. Especially since they’ve started spending more time off-duty, getting to know each other better.
His train of thought is interrupted by Thor, who pats him on the shoulder with his large hand, and then pushes a richly decorated ceramic bottle at him. Asgardian mead, he knows.
From his last encounter with it, Steve also knows that it is very much capable of getting him drunk. This something that usual drinks failed to do after he got the serum. Even the eggnog that Tony and Nat concocted the other night couldn’t get him a buzz, although that one probably counts as toxic waste for most people. Steve has had enough from the one sip he tried in foolish bravery - it doesn’t do anything to get him drunk, but it causes his insides to shrivel up and die, so he’ll gladly pass on any other encounter with that stuff.
Thor’s mead, on the other hand, does the job of getting him tipsy, and it tastes much, much better than the hellish potion of his teammates. This particular batch of eggnog caused Bruce of all people to sing dirty versions of popular Christmas songs, much to Clint’s amusement, who quickly joined in, and Tony’s, who filmed the whole thing. All throughout the entire video, they can hear him try and fail to suppress snorting giggle fits.
It’s a mess, and said video is under strict lockdown, but Steve pretends he doesn’t know that Nat snatched a copy of it while most of everyone else was busy passing out drunk.
A fair bit of shuffling and scooting takes place on the couch, so that everyone fits comfortably. In the end, they end up in a puppy pile, sharing limbs and laps as pillows, all while eating snacks and pouring drinks.
It’s a bit of a mess, but it’s how they longe these days. On one side of the couch, Thor is in the far corner, legs stretched out and with Bruce sitting in the space in between, his own legs stretched out under Tony, who is using his thigh as a pillow and his own legs tangled with Nat. She has chosen Clint as her own pillow, who is cuddled up with Steve while they keep bickering whether or not Lord of the Rings counts as a christmas movie. They only stop when the intro starts playing.
As it turns out, Hobbits, Dwarves and Gandalf wearing a Santa hat is pretty hilarious and it makes them all shut up about their ridiculous argument for a while. Many shots are taken that night, and by the time the second movie starts, half of them have either fallen asleep or are having drunken giggle fits whenever a character ends up “wearing” the Santa hat.
Sometimes, they’re a fairly easily entertained bunch.