It was Christmas morning. Icy white snowflakes floated softly to the ground outside of the Avengers' Facility. A fire roared in the living room fireplace and the cold was the furthest thing from everyone's minds.
The team sat around a beautiful and brightly lit Christmas tree and exchanged presents of all shapes and sizes. Some were silly, some were serious, but all were given with heart.
A muted red and blue sweater from Natasha to Steve.
Far, far too many large bottles of Asgardian Mead from Thor and Loki. To everyone. Far too many.
A most certainly not appreciated antique oil can to Bucky from Sam. "I. Am not. The Tin Man!"
An embossed black leather briefcase to Tony from Rhodey. It wasn't until Tony looked closer that he noticed the embossment read "Tony Stank" on the bag.
Presents continued to be tossed in the air around the room to everyone and raucous laughter created a massive wall of jovial sound. It was such a nice change from all of the upsetting noises the team was so used to hearing.
Amidst the jolly chaos, Vision walked over to where Wanda sat on a loveseat and handed her a gift. It was a little smaller than a shoebox and was pristinely wrapped in scarlet paper. Wanda smiled at his color choice. "Thank you, Vision."
He took the empty cushion beside her and she turned toward him as she pulled off the ribbon. She tore the wrapping paper to reveal a plain brown box.
She lifted the lid and found five smaller identical boxes inside. She tilted her head, perplexed, but picked one up anyway. It was light. She lifted the box's lid to reveal a red velvet jewelry box. She opened it and a small gasp escaped her lips.
Inside was a beautiful gold ring encrusted with rubies. It wasn't gaudy, but it would definitely turn heads. Her free hand flew to her mouth. "Vision, it's beautiful. Thank you."
"You're welcome, Wanda… open the others," Vision urged with a gentle tone.
Wanda nodded her head and continued to open each box, one by one an identical red velvet jewelry box was revealed. A stunning gold ring inside each one. All were ruby encrusted like the first, two had diamond accents in-between to offset the red, but the last one she opened was her favorite: It had the rubies like the others, but in the middle was a large solitaire yellow topaz stone. It reminded her of Vision's mind stone.
Wanda struggled to find words. "Vizh, I- I don't- I don't know what to say. They're all absolutely beautiful, and I couldn't even begin to thank you enough, but, why five, Vizh? One would have been generous enough."
"Well, I was having great difficulty choosing a gift for you Wanda," Vision admitted. "I had contemplated ideas for weeks. It wasn't until I heard a few of our teammates listening to a festive song on the radio, 'The Twelve Days of Christmas', I believe it is called. Most of the gifts given in the song are impractical and would be inconvenient to wrap: many species of fowl, shrubbery, entertainers. The five golden rings seemed like an ideal gift for myself to give you. They were easily manageable to have designed and gift wrap and jewelry is commonly given, and it is mentioned in the carol. It was the perfect choice."
"Well, yes, Vision, but five-" Wanda's eyes widened and then blinked in surprise. "On the fifth day of Christmas my true love gave to me…"
Vision averted his eyes from hers as she spoke.
Wanda's lips curled into a smile at her synthezoid's shyness. She carefully pulled all five rings out of their boxes. The gemstones sparkled in the glow of the Christmas lights. She placed four of them on her right hand. The one with the yellow topaz, the one that reminded her of Vision the most, she placed on her left ring finger.
She held her hands out in front of her to admire the pieces. They really were astonishing, especially when together. She put her hands back down in her lap.
Vision met her eyes again. "You really do like them?" He asked.
Wanda scooted closer to him on the loveseat. She placed her left hand on the side of his face and he took her right hand in his in response.
"Yes, I really do like them, Vision." She reassured. "And I love you, too."
His mouth opened in surprise. Wanda clarified, "on the fifth day of Christmas my true love gave to me five golden rings. It was an adorable idea Vision, and I love you, too. I just wish I had twelve drummers drumming to give to you."
Vision broke out in an enormous smile and Wanda giggled as she leaned forward to close the gap between them and their lips met. The kiss lasted a few blissful moments before an "aww" from Natasha brought them back to the living room.
They broke apart and smiled at their teammates before they decided to completely ignore them and kissed again. They were happy, healthy, at peace, and in love. It was a very Merry Christmas.
"Hey, wait. Is that why you borrowed one of my credit cards?"
But Tony's attempted interruption just fell on deaf, lovey-dovey ears.
I was listening to the song and this idea just struck me. So have some festive fluff everybody, I hope you enjoy it! Merry Christmas!