A/N: Yes, yes. I know it's late. Sorry. Taking down the Christmas decorations wasn't fun. :(
Thanks to Destiel for the idea. :D
Disclaimer: I do not, in any way, own any recognizable characters in this story.
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Thor walks along the busy streets of Asgard. He's ginning, obviously in a good mood. His stride is long and proud, his arms swinging slightly at his sides. He nods at the people he passes, saying hello to some. His hammer hangs at his hip, unneeded. He's on his way to get some drinks for his friends. It's what they call 'New Year's Eve' down on Midgard. Apparently the start of a new year is very special down there.
The thunderer opens up the door to his favorite liquor shop. The familiar voice of Jorn, the owner of the shop, calls, "Ah! Prince Thor! What can I get for you today?"
Thor beams and moves over to him. He says, "I need something for my Midgardian friends. They are celebrating the start of a new year tonight."
Jorn laughs. "Humans. They celebrate everything."
Thor can't help but laugh as well. He answers with a smile, "They say the same things about us."
Jorn rolls his eyes and turns. He produces a few large bottles of mead. "This ought to be good enough. They can't hold in their drinks as well as we can, so this is probably going to be a little too much for them."
Thor just smiles again and drops a few Asgardian coins into Jorn's hand. He turns and walks out of the shop, carrying the bottles. The usual chatter of the place resumes when he walks out. Everyone had been staring at him while he was in there, even if they had seen him thousands of times.
Thor makes his way to the Bifrost, a continuous smile on his lips. He waves at a few small children playing on the side of the road. He remembers when he and his friends would do the same thing. Loki would often join them, as well, but he never seemed to have as much fun with their games.
When Thor finally reaches the rainbow bridge, he walks up to Heimdall. He doesn't even have to speak. Heimdall opens up the Bifrost and says, "Enjoy your stay, Thor. And give my regards to your brother."
Thor nods, grinning, and steps into the light.
(PAGE BREAK)
When they hear the huge boom on the top of the tower, everyone knows that Thor has arrived. Tony had a landing pad installed to keep from having to repair the tower every time Thor came down from Asgard. He may live in Avengers Tower, but he often makes trips up to his home world to see his family and other friends.
Loki is the most excited to see Thor. He bounds up the flight of stairs to meet him. He fixed them after forgetting that they were like that and sliding down them.
"Thor! We've been waiting for you."
Thor beams at his brother. He pulls him into a hug that Loki readily returns. Thor pulls back first and holds out one of the bottles. It's different from the others.
"I got your favorite."
Loki snatches the bottle and reads the label before grinning at Thor. He holds it and he and the other man walk back down the stairs. When they reach the main room again, they are laughing.
Clint smirks and nudges Natasha. "I think they've already had some. It's barely even dark!"
Natasha laughs softly, nodding. She watches as Thor and Loki go into the adjoining kitchen. They come back a moment later, no longer carrying the bottles, and sit down with the rest of Loki's family. Sigyn smiles at Thor briefly before turning back to Dagna. The baby is staring at Thor with her giant blue eyes. He waves at her and she turns her face into Sigyn's chest. Thor looks a bit upset, but Loki only laughs softly.
Thor turns to Tony and asks, "So, why do you celebrate new years here? What makes it so important?"
Tony smiles and says, "Well, we don't exactly live thousands of years, like you do. Each year means more for us. Besides, it gives us another excuse to drink and have fun."
Thor grins. "Sounds good to me!"
(PAGE BREAK)
About an hour after, when it's nice and dark outside, the Avengers go out onto that area sort of like a deck on the tower. Loki uses his magic to make a giant force field so that no one falls off of the edge. Then Steve and Clint haul out a bunch of camping chairs and set them up. Loki, Thor, and Tony bring out some plastic tables and set them around the deck-ish place. Then Bruce, Pepper, and Natasha bring out the food.
There's lots of food, too. There are hot dogs and hamburgers with all the 'fixins' on one table. On another are other things for making every type of sandwich imaginable. There's even a salad table for those like Sigyn who aren't into heavy foods. There are also a couple tables with sweet foods like cookies and cupcakes.
Tony's favorite table is the drink table. There are two drink tables, actually. One has all the drinks that the kids can have, and the other has the 'grown-up drinks' on it. The latter is Tony's favorite. And the best part is, everyone old enough can drink. No one has to drive, because they all live in the same awesome tower.
After the tables are set up, the men disappear inside and come back moments later with bundles of fireworks in their arms. Most of the fireworks are big, and Pepper's pretty sure that they aren't even legal. But then there are smaller ones, which are definitely legal. Some of them are even so simple as sparklers.
They pile all of the fireworks into one corner. Tony says, "Before we start these epic fireworks, we should get something to eat."
At that, everyone gets something to eat. Thor and Steve both get three burgers, where Loki gets four hot dogs. They have long learned that it's perfectly okay to eat as much as they want. Nobody thinks them rude for it. Everybody else gets normal portions and they all sit down to eat.
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After they eat, Tony pulls out one of the larger fireworks and sets it up. He lights it and runs back to his seat. He gets there just in time to watch it rocket up into the sky and explode into red and gold. He breaks into a grin and looks at Bruce.
"Did you buy them to be like all of our team?"
Bruce nods. He smiles and says, "Yep. I didn't think you'd pick yours, though."
Tony snorts and says, "It was red and yellow! Those are my colors, man! Of course I'd pick that one."
Bruce rolls his eyes. "Of course."
The rest of the Avengers take turns lighting the fireworks. Each has the colors of one of the team members, but not everyone gets their own firework. Thor ends up lighting Natasha's, and Natasha lights Steve's. They are enjoyable all the same.
By the time all of the Avengers have had their fireworks, there are two big ones left. Clint points to it and asks, "Whose are those?"
Bruce smiles. "The black and green one is Loki's, and the other is for midnight."
Clint nods, grinning. He shouts, "Hey, Loki! There's one left."
Loki gives him a slightly annoyed look. He had been trying to calm Dagna, who isn't at all pleased by the loud booming. "What do you want me to do about it? You know how to light it."
Clint puts his hands in his pockets and says, "Well, I thought you'd want to light your own firework."
Loki looks a bit surprised. He walks over to Clint and the archer points to Loki's firework. He then hurries back to his own seat. He looks over at Natasha before looking back at Loki. The god is setting up the firework with Tony's guidance. When the billionaire offers the clicky light, Loki refuses, saying that he can light it with his magic. Tony shrugs and walks back to his own seat.
Loki snaps his fingers and a small green flame appears on his index finger. He bends down and lights the firework. It explodes immediately, right in his face. His face is blackened slightly and his hair sticks up in spikes. He watches as the firework shoots up into the sky and erupts into green and gold sparks. When it's done, Loki turns around, smiling at the others. They immediately burst into laughter.
Natasha says between laughs, "You look like Seamus!"
Loki realizes who she means after a moment and he starts laughing, as well. Everyone else seems a bit confused except for Clint. He actually read the Harry Potter books and he is a huge fan of the movies.
Steve clears his throat and asks, "Seamus? Who's Seamus?"
Natasha laughs again and says, "Seamus Finnigan. From Harry Potter. Surely you've seen it."
Steve shakes his head. "No. It's not my type of thing. If I thought I'd like it, I would read it. But it's just…just not my thing."
Natasha shrugs. "Well, there's a boy names Seamus Finnigan. In the movies, his potion pretty much does what Loki's firework just did. And he ended up looking quite a bit like this."
Loki nods, agreeing with her. He wipes a hand over his face and the black disappears. While everyone is still gaping, he dusts off his clothes, which are magically replaced with identical ones. Then he runs his hands over his hair and it falls down back to its silky black curls.
"Ah. Magic. 'Tis a wonderful thing."
(PAGE BREAK)
Steve looks down at his watch. It's only 10:43 and Tony's already trashed. At least he's happy.
"Who wanna hug?"
Pepper dodges her boyfriend and waggles a finger at him. "No, no, no, Tony. No huggies!"
Tony grins and moves toward Bruce, instead, his arms outstretched. "Brucey, Brucey, Brucey, Bruce!"
Bruce laughs and hugs the scientist in return, nearly dropping his own drink. Bruce hasn't had as much as the others, but he has had enough to make him loosen up a bit. He's loose enough to be hugging Tony, at least.
Loki and Sigyn have been drinking as well. Dagna was put to bed a little while ago, so Sigyn is free to do as she likes. JARVIS is on the alert, ready to let them know if the baby wakes up. Sigyn leans on Loki, laughing softly. She has a drink in one hand and Loki's in her other. She's trying to get his drink up to his mouth without tipping it too far. His shirt is a bit wet already, and he can't stop smiling and laughing enough to even drink when she gets it up to him. Apparently it doesn't take too long to get Loki drunk, as he has only had a few glasses and he's already as bad as Thor, who has had at least twelve. Both gods are pretty tipsy.
Thor shouts, "This is a fine day! I like New Year's!"
Loki explodes into laughter just as he gets some of his drink into his mouth. This makes him spew it out of his mouth and it shoots out of his nose. He chokes, still laughing. He finally stops and says in a slurred voice, "I do, too."
Natasha, who usually doesn't drink, has beaten Clint in a drinking competition. It's not that she's had more, but she has kept her sobriety longer than Clint has. She still seems quite collected, even though she has had a couple glasses of the Asgardian stuff. This drink is much more potent than the stuff on Midgard. Think about the strongest drink you can, and multiply it by seven. That's how strong the stuff Thor brought is.
Clint is nearly passed out on the couch. He is awake, though. He has an empty glass on the table beside him. Said glass has been filled quite a few times. He is singing softly under his breath. Nobody knows what it is he's singing, though. No one has ever heard the tune before. It sounds a bit like the circus music. It could just be messed up because he isn't the least intoxicated in the room.
All three of the kids are huddled close to Steve, watching their parents. Hela looks up at Steve, her eye slightly scared. Steve pulls her up against his side, smiling.
"What's wrong with them?" Hela doesn't only look scared. She sounds scared, too.
Steve laughs softly and says, "They're fine. But you know those grown up drinks? Those make them act a little differently. They'll have headaches in the morning, but they'll be okay after that. Don't worry."
Hela nods. She asks, "What time is it?"
Steve looks down at his watch again. "It's 11: 58. Almost midnight." He raises his voice and calls, "Okay, guys! It's almost midnight!"
This gets everyone's attention immediately. Steve smiles and moves away from the kids. He goes over and sets up the last firework. He notes quietly that it's way bigger than the others. He wonders what Bruce was up to when he got this one. He's privately very eager to see what it's like.
They watch the ball drop from where they are. Tony brings up a giant clock on a screen so that they can count down. As soon as the ball drops, Steve lights the firework and steps back. He stands with the kids and watches as the firework shoots up into the sky. When it explodes, it forms the words 'Happy New Year' in sparkling, multicolored letters.
They can hear a man yell, "Showoff!"
(PAGE BREAK)
After they celebrate the coming of the new year, they settle the kids into bed. Hela's already practically asleep anyway. Once the children are in bed, the adults resume their festivities.
Natasha eventually gets drunk enough to start laughing about everything. Clint keeps telling stupid jokes just to see her laugh. Sigyn gets to the point where she falls asleep sitting in Loki's lap. Loki doesn't mind, though. He keeps his arms wrapped around her waist, holding her up against himself. Thor smiles at his brother. He's glad that he finally warmed up to the Avengers enough to relax and be merry with them. Tony and Pepper are snuggled up on the couch together. Tony is still drinking, but Pepper has been done for a while. Steve is perfectly fine. He is the only one of the Avengers who isn't drunk, and that's only because he can't. He's been drinking plenty, but not even the Asgardian mead can get him juiced up.
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About an hour after the ball drops, Loki looks up at the others and says, "Well, seeing as we're all completely ine…bri..inebri…inebriabriated, I think I'm going to go to bed."
He stands a little unsteadily and carries Sigyn out of the room, saying a slurred goodnight as he goes.
After that, everyone starts to file out, murmuring their own goodnights. Steve is the last to go to bed. He leaves out all the chairs and tables, but takes the food inside. He doesn't want it to go bad sitting out all night. There isn't much left, but he still goes by the good old 'Waste not want not' saying.
He snuggles into his bed after changing and falls asleep with a smile on his face.
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A/N: I hope you all liked it!
Don't forget to review! ;)
