Secret Santa: Tis the Season - part 1/2

[cap_ironman_fe]

Season's Greetings: del-rion
Title: Tis the Season
Rating: Teen Audiences and Up
Universe: MCU
Warnings: None (mostly fluff and a little bit of angst)
From: kellebelle / badassgenius
Summary: This is Steve’s first Christmas since waking up from the ice and he wants to make it a good one. His biggest challenge is getting Tony into the Christmas spirit too.
or
Four times Steve had to get Tony into the Christmas spirit and one time Tony had to do it for Steve.





-4-

Steve lifted his arms just barely and turned a complete circle in front of everyone before stopping with an expectant smile on his face. “Well?”

He wasn’t expecting the confused stares.

“So is the sweater a fashion statement or…” Tony tilted his head. Where Steve had found this monstrosity he had no idea, but the smiling face of Rudolph and his actual blinking shiny nose looked back at everyone else.

“No! It’s a thing I found on the Internet. When did people start having tacky sweater parties? I think we should do this. I’ve already gotten sweaters for all of you!”

There was a semi-collective groan making its way around the room and Steve’s smile faltered a bit. Crap.

Clint was the first to lift a hand. “I volunteer as sweater tribute.”

“Uh...okay? What does that mean?”

“Toss me a sweater, Cap. I’m in.”

Steve’s face returned to its previous smile as he threw one towards Clint. Thor eagerly raised his hand next.

“I’ve always been interested in learning the traditions of Midgardians. I, too, shall volunteer as sweater tribute.”

Now Steve was beaming and he gave Thor a sweater.

Bruce shrugged. “Why not? If I hulk out at any point it’s not like it’ll be a total loss.” Natasha pursed her lips and nodded in agreement and Steve now stood with only one sweater remaining. He smiled at Tony and waited for Tony to accept it with open arms.

The genius did not look overly thrilled. “Are we actually having a party or are you just trying to punish us for the way that last battle went?”

Steve lifted the sweater and watched it unfold, showing off the face of Iron Man with a reindeer nose and antlers and Tony wasn’t sure if laughter was an appropriate response but he took a chance and went with it.

“Tony….” Steve still had a hopeful look on his face.

Tony fidgeted. “It’s silly. Christmas traditions are silly. All of it is silly.” He held out his hand for the sweater anyway.

“It’s a time for family,” Steve offered.

Tony hummed as he examined the sweater. “Well that’s not the way Starks celebrated. Besides, everyone in my family died when I was 17.”

Maybe that was the wrong thing to say. People were looking at him with a mixture of anger and annoyance. Except Steve. Steve just looked upset and okay, Tony was an idiot for saying that because everyone Steve had ever known was dead and that wasn’t fair at all.

“Okay okay!” He slipped the sweater on over his shirt. “There! Tis the season for tacky sweaters! But I am not going out in public like this!”

The smile on the soldiers face brightened monumentally and maybe Tony would be able to follow that light all the way through the holiday season.

-3-

The Avengers all peered up at the tree that Thor and Steve had insisted on bringing up by themselves, despite the fact that Tony’s penthouse was almost at the top of the tower.

“Where the hell did you even find this tree?” Clint mused.

“At one of the tree lots a little ways away from the city,” Steve answered.

“You mean a tree lot a little ways away from the city as in a Christmas tree outlet in Asgard?”

Thor laughed at the archer. “Do not be silly, brother Barton. It is not custom for us to celebrate a holiday such as this in Asgard.”

Natasha was sifting through the decorations littering the floor. “Someone else is in charge of hanging the lights. I’ll end up strangling someone with them if they become too knotted up in the process.”

“Fair enough!”

Natasha elbowed Clint.

Bruce raised his hand. “I’ll start putting hooks on ornaments.”

“Tony, do you want to help me put on the lights?”

The genius looked up from the box of hooks and to Steve. “Uh...I think we just used to have people do that for us. Can’t I just watch?”

“Well, Tony, it is customary for families to do this together. It’s a bonding experience and all about togetherness and seeing how ridiculous you make the tree look in the end.”

Tony scowled at Clint, but stood up and walked to Steve, holding out a hand for the lights.

“Thanks, Tony. It means a lot that you’re helping.”

He looked up at Steve, surprised to see how genuine his smile was. “Yeah. Of course.” He smiled. “Anytime, Cap.”

It took them no time to finish and all that was left was the star to go on top.

Tony grabbed the star before anyone else could get it. “I call dibs.”

“Aww, c’mon, Stark! Why?”

Tony grinned at Clint. “Because this is my tower, my rules.”

“Well that’s hardly fair,” Clint grumbled.

“So says the man who doesn’t have to pay rent to live in a place like this,” Tony responded with a smile, mostly to show that he wasn’t holding it against any of them.

“Damn. Okay point.”

Tony climbed the footstool because he knew he wasn’t very tall so everyone could just shut up and keep their comments to themselves. He reached up to place the star on top but was disappointed to discover he was still not quite able to reach it. This was going to take some creativity.

“Need help?” Clint offered.

“You are not that much taller than me, Clint, so pipe down.”

He reached, stretching his arms as far as he could go, standing on one foot and balancing on his toes at this point. So close. So very fucking close. Curse this abnormally tall tree.

He will adamantly deny the fact that he squealed when the next thing he knew involved Steve putting an arm around his waist and lifting him slightly just to give him those extra inches he needed to complete his task. Star on top, he sighed when his feet were back on the ground.

So there was that.

He looked at the soldier and the soldier winked back.

Huh. “Uh...thanks.”

Steve smiled. “Sorry. Didn’t want you to pull a muscle or anything. Looked like you were putting all your energy into it there after all.”

Tony picked up a handful of tinsel and tossed it at Steve’s face in retaliation. He wasn’t angry or even that embarrassed, and maybe part of it had to do with the fact that he was getting that smile from Steve. Maybe next time he’d wear his suit for a moment like that, just in case.

Steve laughed and put an arm over Tony’s shoulders. “Tis the season.”

Tony nodded, laughing a little. “Or something.” He might be persuaded to get used to this. You know, one day.

-2-

Steve found Tony working in the car garage covered in grease and dirt.

“Hey, Tony?”

A muffled “Yeah?” could be heard from under the car and Steve crouched down to tug on Tony’s leg. The genius slid out from under the car and sat up slowly, eyebrows raised.

“Something wrong, Cap?”

Steve shook his head. “No. Of course not. You’re the only one we weren’t able to round up.”

“For what?”

“We’re decorating cookies!”

If Steve’s smile wasn’t so genuinely excited Tony would have laughed and said he needed to get back to work. “What for?”

Steve would not be deterred. “We’re leaving Christmas cookies out for Santa.”

Tony gave him a blank stare. “Oh...kay? I mean are we talking ab--but you do realize that--” Wow he was struggling.

Steve began laughing. “I was kidding. Anyway, come join us.”

Tony gave his garage a once over and a helpless look to Steve. “If I protest you’re going to find a way to convince me won’t you?”

“You better believe it. So get up.”

Tony stood up, cracking his back and then yawning. “Steve, not that I’m trying to be the downer here, but why exactly are we doing this?”

“Getting into the Christmas spirit. That’s all. I want to make sure it’s memorable for all of us.”

“Oh. Well uh…” he lifted his hand, scratching the back of his head and then pointed a finger at the soldier. “I’ll go take a shower and we’ll get started.”

Steve beamed. “Thanks, Tony!”

Two hours later the kitchen counters were covered in frosting and Steve was pretty sure more of Clint’s frosting ended up in his mouth rather than on his cookies.

The tip of Tony’s tongue was poking from the side of his mouth and he was concentrating hard, trying not to get too angry about the fact that he was not a cookie artist. Once he less-than-skillfully completed one, he held it up with a smile on his face. “This one is for Clint because he’s a dick.”

“That’s supposed to be a dick?”

The genius stuck his tongue out at Clint. “Hey, bite me, Katniss. This is not my area of expertise. I’d like to see one person actually create a frosting picture that puts all other cookie artists to shame.”

Steve laughed quietly at that before passing a cookie to each Avenger. “Not perfect, but I drew your faces. Sorry, Bruce. I ran out of green before I could finish Hulk’s face. So he’s using a little bit of Clint’s purple too.”

Bruce grinned. “I’m sure the Big Guy wouldn’t care.”

Tony resorted to drawing smiley face dabs on his because everyone else was finished and it took him all that time just to draw a penis on a cookie. He at least put a barely decent looking star in the middle of Steve’s because Steve deserved the best Tony had to offer and apparently that was it. So when Steve handed Tony his cookie, the genius suddenly found himself a little embarrassed by his tacky creations. Steve had somehow managed to draw Tony’s helmet. Not only did he draw it, he drew it perfectly. There was even some shading in there.

When he looked up at Steve, the soldier was blushing a little and Tony had to smile. “Wow. Uh...you’re going to be really disappointed when you see mine.”

“Let me see it, Stark!”

Tony held it up for all others to see, smirking at Clint.

“Well damn, Cap. How much time did you devote to his cookie? I’m a little jealous.”

The soldier blushed a little more. “I just really like drawing Tony’s suit.”

“It’s rude to pick favorites.”

Steve tossed a balled up paper towel at Clint’s head before turning his attention back to Tony with a smile, leaning forward in his chair. “So are you going to eat it?”

Tony simply scoffed. “Are you kidding me? This is getting shellacked and framed. One day it’s going to be in an art museum. I can’t eat this. I’d feel guilty after ruining it.”

“I’m going to accept that as a compliment.”

“Well it definitely wasn’t an insult, that’s for sure.” Tony looked up from the cookie again to see Steve giving him another one of those fond smiles. “Thanks, Cap.”

“Of course, Tony. Merry Christmas.”

“Oh! A Christmas Story is on television right now!” Clint all but dragged Natasha and Bruce from the room, the miracle being that neither of them protested or even harmed him.

“Well sorry that mine wasn’t so fancy. I think it’s still edible though.”

Steve was silent for a moment. “You actually are my favorite, Tony.”

“Oh.” He wasn’t exactly prepared for that admission. Tony was never anyone’s favorite. “You’re not so bad yourself, Cap.” He picked up the cookie he’d made and held it in front of Steve’s mouth. “Eat up. Before the frosting gets nasty.”

The soldier bit off an end and smiled as he chewed. “Movie time.”

“Aww, Cap, come on. Were you planning on dragging me to watch this movie all along?”

Steve smiled innocently. “Tis the season, Tony.”

The genius pointed a finger at Steve. “You say that a lot.”

Link to part 2