Author's Note: Wrote this for an assignment, and crammed extra stuff in to meet the word minimum. So yeah.
It was Thanksgiving, which, for Pepper, was a pain in the neck. She had to cook, and set up decorations. Tony was planning to have a party with the Avengers. Now, Pepper would have thought that since the other Avengers lived in the tower, they would help. Sadly, she was wrong. The only Avengers currently in the tower(besides Tony) were Steve, Bucky, Sam and Bruce. Bucky and Sam weren't technically Avengers, but they lived in the tower. Steve and Bruce were helping cook, and Sam and Bucky were putting up decorations. Tony would walk through the tower, vetoing all the decorations Sam and Bucky put up. Steve was having problems using the toaster oven, and Bruce was trying to help. So, even though the Avengers were technically helping, they weren't getting anything done.
Bucky and Sam just finished hanging orange lights up in the living room.
"How does this look?" asked Sam.
"Good," said Pepper, "it looks really pretty!" Tony walked in, and shook his head.
"It need to look like we put some effort into it," he said, then left the room. Bucky and Sam groaned. It had taken them half an hour to put up those lights, and they were tired and sweaty from climbing on chairs to reach where they wanted to hang them. Why isn't Tony helping? wondered Sam, but then he remembered that Tony was a lazy, egocentric asshole.
"Bruce? Should I start making pies?" asked Steve. He was working in the kitchen with Bruce, they were in charge of a lot of the food. Pepper had already made the sides, and she was spicing the turkey at that moment, but they were in charge of cooking everything, and making the pies.
"Um, yeah, I guess so," said Bruce. He was covered in flour, having just finished making the pie crusts.
"How many were you thinking?"
"Pumpkin, apple… Maybe cherry… Hmm… Oh, we have to do a chocolate cream one, too… And a banana cream one… I think that should be it…"
Steve grabbed an energy bar. He knew he would need it.
Four hours later, everything finally met Tony's standards.
"We should probably get dressed," Pepper said. Everyone went to their rooms to change into some flourless, non-sweat stained clothing. Pepper walked out of her room. She was wearing a orange dress, and her makeup was on point, if she could say so herself. The others weren't nearly as nice, though. Tony, like usual was dressed to impress in a suit. Bruce and Steve were wearing slacks and button-downs, Sam was wearing a plaid button-down with jeans, but Bucky was wearing jeans and a t-shirt.
"This is a classy party," said Tony. "Dress classy." The guys looked down at their clothes.
"You mean like suits?" asked Bruce.
"And ties?" asked Sam. Tony nodded.
"Classy, not assy."
Finally everyone was wearing acceptable attire. Everything that needed to be cooked was in the oven. Everything was perfect. Then, Pepper heard footsteps, and in walked Clint and Natasha. They looked happy and joyful, and they were bleeding all over the orange rug.
"Guys!" yelled Pepper. "You're ruining the rug! Go clean up." Natasha rolled her eyes and Clint groaned, but they headed towards the bathroom. A while later, they were dressed and not bleeding, although they weren't perfect. Neither of them were dressed to the occasion.
"Guys, you need to dress up," said Pepper, "Clint you should wear a suit, and Natasha should wear a dress. Sweatpants don't cut it."
"But I like my sweatpants," Clint complained.
"Does I have to wear a nice dress?" asked Natasha. Pepper frowned.
"Well, yes… What else did you have in mind?"
"Oh, nothing," muttered Natasha, and walked into her room to change.
"What was she talking about?" Pepper asked Clint.
"Well, she has quite a few dresses with bloodstains or tears… Speaking of which, I don't think I have any nice ties."
"Oh, you can just wear a suit. A tie isn't necessary."
"Um, no," said Tony, "This is my party. He needs a tie."
Pepper sighed. "Well, you must have something."
"If bloodstained ties count as something. Or ones with bullet holes. Or ones with mud stains. I even have one with Nat's blood when I had to wrap her arm with a tie once," said Clint.
"Um…" said Pepper. "The muddy one sounds the least horrible. Wear that one."
Soon, they were wearing mostly suitable clothes, although Clint's tie had a streak of blood, and Natasha's dress had a bullet-hole near the bottom of the dress. They had marks from their mission too. Natasha had a huge bruise on the side of her face, Clint was limping, and they were both covered in cuts
"How was the mission?" asked Steve.
"Horrible," said Natasha. At the same time, Clint said: "Hilarious." Steve looked confused, but nodded anyway.
The doorbell rang, and in walked Thor, Jane and their son, Eirran.
"I hope you shall not mind that I have brought my family," said Thor.
"No problem," Tony said. Eirran was adorable, and all the Avengers loved him. "How was your visit to Asgard?"
"Oh, it was okay. Loki is still as messed up as ever, but we had a joyous time." Thor smiled. Clint picked up Eirran and started cooing to him. Natasha just rolled her eyes.
"Nat, look at his little face!" squealed Clint. Natasha tried to act indifferent, but Pepper could see her small smile.
"Okay, let's eat!" said Pepper. She went with Bruce and Steve to the kitchen to take the food.
"Oh, no," muttered Steve.
"What?" asked Pepper.
"The turkey is still in the toaster oven!" Bruce ran to the toaster oven, and yanked it open. Smoke wafted out of the toaster oven. Bruce frowned, and pulled out a half burnt turkey.
"…oops," said Steve.
"Well, Tony likes burnt food, so I'm sure it'll be fine," said Pepper. They walked out of the kitchen, and they all sat down.
"Why don't we all say what we're thankful for?" suggested Steve, always the positive one, "Tony, you start." Tony smirked, then stood up on his chair. Typical, Pepper thought.
"I am thankful for a really nice person in my life. This person is so giving."
Is he talking about me? wondered Pepper, That's sweet.
"This person is loved by everyone, they have an amazing physical appearance, and they are the smartest person I know."
Well, I wouldn't go that far, Pepper thought.
"This person is… me."
I should have seen that one coming, sighed Pepper.
"I am spectacular. Pep isn't that bad, either," said Tony, kissing Pepper's hand.
"Okay, well… Maybe we should just eat," said Steve.
Good idea, thought Pepper. The others wouldn't be serious about what they were thankful for, either.
They were eating, everything was fine. The turkey was delicious, albeit partly burnt. Well, Steve had been cooking it in the toaster oven, so that explained it. Eirran was eating mashed potato and mashed pumpkin. They were all chatting about different things. Sam was telling Clint that he could teach him how to fly with a suit, Thor and Jane were telling Tony and Pepper about their trip to Asgard, Natasha was explaining hair care to Bucky, and Bruce and Steve were talking about the atrocity of toaster ovens. Just then, a portal opened in the middle of the room. Everyone gasped, and pulled out their weapons. Loki stepped out of the portal, smirking evilly like always.
"Loki? You're supposed to locked up!" said Thor.
"I don't always do what I'm supposed to," snarked Loki. "Is this the child?" He walked over to Eirran. Eirran babbled happily. "Hello, child," said Loki, stroking Eirran's head.
"Step away from Eirran," said Jane. She glared at Loki.
"Goodbye, little demon." Loki patted Eirran's head.
"Lol-ki?" babbled Eirran.
"Yes, I am Loki."
"Loki, leave now, or we will open fire," warned Natasha, loading her gun.
"Oh, why can't I join you for Thanksgiving?" Loki smiled mockingly. "Why can't I join the happy little Avengers family?" At that, Thor lunged at Loki, and they started wrestling on the floor. Just as Thor was about to smash Loki's skull with Mjolnir, Loki shape-shifted into a mouse, dodging the attack. Thor continued trying to hit Loki with Mjolnir, and Loki kept shapeshifting. Bruce yelled at Thor, trying to prevent further damage. The tower's floor had dents and scratches, and Bruce wanted it to stop. He kept yelling, but neither Thor nor Loki responded, or changed what they were doing. Finally, Bruce got so mad that he Hulked out. The other Avengers all started attacking Loki, and finally Loki gave up, and walked through the portal. The Avengers patched themselves up, but the tower was still pretty busted up. They went back to the table, and continued eating. The tower was busted up, the rug was bloody, and the food was cold, but it was okay. That's what happened when you were an Avenger. And they wouldn't want it any other way.