New Year's Eve
AN: Yeah, I can't write short one-shots. Sorry.
"Tony, I really don't think that's necessary," Natasha commented as she watched him direct a delivery of fireworks to the roof. The way it stood now, Stark Tower now had more festive explosives set to go off at midnight than any city in the nation.
"Trust me, it's gonna be awesome. Awesome, I tell you!" Tony all but laughed manically as yet another huge box was carried past him. The rest of the Avengers had either already arrived or were on their way. Natasha wondered if Thor had received Tony's "note."
The idiot had flown to the top of Stark Tower and shouted at the sky for a minute before hurling an invitation (that he had folded into a paper airplane) up towards the clouds. Both Natasha and Clint had rolled their eyes, but neither of them was about to say a word about it.
"That should be the last of it," Tony commented, clapping his hands together as he walked toward her.
She shook her head at him and asked, "Should we head up and get pizza? Steve showed up while you were distracted with a couple boxes."
"Did he get what I wanted? I hope he got one with stuffed crust. Ooh! Or chicken bacon ranch! Or better yet, he could've gotten one with olives and bacon and everything!"
Natasha raised an eyebrow at him and wondered, not for the first time, if the man had never grown out of the childhood phase.
"Oh, but wait... This is Cap we're talking about. He probably doesn't know what ranch is. Or stuffed crust," Tony looked so dejected now that Natasha almost felt like giving him a hug. Or shooting him – she wasn't picky.
The two turned toward the elevators just as the doors to the lobby of the tower slid open. A booming voice echoed in their direction and both Avengers turned with grins on their faces.
"My friends!" Thor greeted, stepping toward them. "I received your invitation and left as soon as we were able. I hope that we have not arrived too late."
"You're just in time for pizza, actually," Tony responded, knowing how much the god loved that particular food group.
Natasha, however, looked at Thor questioningly. "What do you mean by 'we,' Thor?"
Thor grinned at her and held up a fist, in which was a rather burnt looking piece of paper that oddly resembled Tony's invitation. Natasha didn't even want to come close to understanding how he'd actually gotten it.
"Friend Stark noted on his invitation that I was welcome to bring a guest, and so I have!" Thor answered. He then turned around and it was then that both Tony and Natasha noticed the silent figure that had almost been hiding behind Thor's massive shape. Thor pushed the sulking Loki in front of him and stood to the side, still smiling.
"Ah, so that's your guest... I have to say I'm surprised..." Tony commented, taken aback for a moment. "But what the hell, right? Welcome to Stark Tower, again. If we could avoid sending me flying through any more windows, then that'd be even better."
"I am certain that Loki will refrain from doing such things during his stay," Thor said more calmly. "And we both appreciate your welcome very much."
Loki certainly looked very appreciative. He currently had the expression of someone that would rather be thrown down a well than spend New Year's Eve with his brother.
Tony nodded anyways and said, "No problem buddy. Let's head up and get some pizza!" With that he turned and pushed the button for the elevator. Thor lightly pushed Loki to walk with him, earning him a glare from his little brother. Natasha wasn't about to keep Loki out of her sight and hung toward the back of the little group.
The trip up the elevator was quiet. Loki hadn't said a word yet, and Tony and Natasha weren't really sure if they wanted him to say or do anything. As it was, the two were currently trying to anticipate the reactions of everyone else.
The doors opened and they were immediately greeted by the smell of pizza. Unfortunately, they didn't make it three feet out of the elevator before Loki was stopped by an arrow that was held about a foot from his face by a murderous-looking Clint.
Tony's eyes widened and he stepped toward Clint cautiously. "Dude, Clint, it's okay. He was invited."
Clint didn't take his eyes off Loki but his expression became incredulous. "You have got to be kidding me."
"He speaks the truth, Friend Barton," Thor said, attempting to step in front of Loki, but Clint wasn't having any of it.
"Well, Loki? What do you say?" Clint asked, his glare intensifying.
Loki eyed the tip of the arrow for a moment before lifting his gaze to look Clint in the eye. "I assure you that I wish to be here just as much as you wish me to be here. Unfortunately for us both, Thor is an idiot," Loki explained calmly.
"So you were invited, and I'm just supposed to assume that you aren't up to anything?"
"I would be incredibly disappointed in you if you assumed that," Loki responded, almost rolling his eyes.
"Tempt me to let go of the arrow. Please," Clint spoke. Loki arched an eyebrow in response before Tony intervened.
"Okay, how about this: Loki stays out of trouble during his stay and if he does, he can have pizza and celebrate with us. If not, then Clint, you're welcome to put as many arrows as you want through his face," Tony offered. Both Clint and Loki shrugged at the terms and Clint lowered his bow but kept his eye on Loki.
"Well then," Bruce commented from the couch. "Can we all enjoy the pizza now, or what?"
Thor seemed to completely forget that his little brother could be killed at any moment by one of his teammates when he heard the word "pizza." Within seconds he had claimed one of the five-meat pizzas as his own and was devouring it. Everyone else looked on with expressions ranging from amazement to disgust before they too caved in to the temptation of delicious food.
Clint, who had finally relaxed enough to sit down and grab a few bites of the pepperoni pizza, said happily, "Every night before bed I say a prayer to the person who invented pizza."
"Dominos?" Tony asked.
"Sure."
"I'm pretty sure Dominos didn't invent pizza, Tony," Bruce said.
"Well it sure as hell wasn't Pizza Hut."
The group as a whole shivered at the memory of their first group-outing to a pizza place. That poor Pizza Hut hadn't known what hit it... But then again, they probably shouldn't have brought Thor to a public place to try new delicious food.
Tony glanced over his chicken bacon ranch pizza to see Loki hovering near the couch that Thor was sitting on, eyeing the food with a sort of disturbed intrigue. It was obvious that he considered anything that Thor enjoyed to be something ridiculous. "Hey Reindeer Games, try some pizza."
Loki glared at him and looked away. Everyone else was either ignoring him or too intent on eating pizza to care about what he was up to. The God of Mischief wandered over to the window and looked out at the city of New York, now mostly repaired since his last visit. They were nearly on the top floor, so Tony knew that Loki had a pretty good vantage point.
Suddenly, a group of wires and cords swung in front of the window. Obviously, the pyrotechnicians were setting up all of the fireworks for later that night. Loki jumped slightly at the movement and pressed against the glass to try and look upwards in an attempt to see where the wires had come from. Tony watched with amusement as Loki walked along the windows in order to try to look up at whatever was going on up on the roof.
Tony grabbed a paper plate and a piece of chicken bacon ranch pizza and walked over to where Loki was standing. He held out the plate to the skeptical god and held up an eyebrow. "I'm not even kidding when I say that it's a sin to turn down this pizza."
Loki rolled his eyes and took the plate from him, cautiously picking up the pizza as he'd seen the others do.
"Those wires are for the fireworks later tonight. You know it's New Year's Eve, right?" Tony asked.
Loki didn't respond, which Tony took as a sign that he didn't know what it was. "At the end of every year, we celebrate and have a big party with fireworks and lots of alcohol. It's pretty awesome. The city of New York has their own celebration where they drop this ball... but my parties are so much better than that. I'm trying to see if I can get more people to gather around Stark Tower this year than the great dropping ball of lame."
"What are fireworks?"
Tony turned with an incredulous look at Loki. "You... basically, they're big explosions with lots of color and they're really loud... you've never seen fireworks before?"
"You're attaching these 'fireworks' to the roof of this tower?"
"Yeah."
"They will explode up there?" Loki asked.
"Sort of, I think."
"You're not sure?"
"Well, it's kind of hard to explain..."
"And where will all of us be when this is going on?"
"In here!" Tony answered, throwing his hands up in excitement.
Loki gave him a deadpanned look and said, "And you were worried that I would destroy your hideous little tower."
"Hey..."
"Hey Tony, we need entertainment until midnight," Clint called from the couch.
"Movies!" Tony exclaimed, to which everyone else groaned.
"We could play a New Year's game," Steve suggested.
"Yes!" Natasha shouted and ran into an adjoining room. Everyone looked equally worried at her departure and Tony couldn't help but offer up the idea of watching movies again. This time, the group seemed much more open to another movie night than to whatever had Natasha so excited.
Before they could head off to the movie room though, Natasha returned with a pile of newspapers and a small box of colorful duct tape. "The suit game!"
Clint laughed at that one and said, "I vote Thor to go first."
Thor looked confused and glanced back and forth between Natasha and Clint. Tony and Bruce caught on as well and grabbed their favorite color of duct tape. "What do you think, Brucy-boy? The funnies?"
"I think there's another candidate in here that would look even better in the funnies." Clint said.
"You're right... Weather pages it is!" Tony shouted, grabbing for all the pages of weather information he could find. With that, the four suddenly surrounded Thor and began taping newspaper pages to him, creating a suit of sorts. It looked ridiculous. Steve finally caught on and began making a make-shift cape that he then duct taped to Thor's shoulders.
When they finally finished, Thor stood proudly in the center of the room, covered in newspaper pages and grinning like an idiot. Loki observed the entire event with a smirk on his face and watched as Steve pulled out a camera, fumbling with the buttons before it took a picture.
What happened next was the origami equivalent of a war. Natasha suddenly attacked Clint, who was trying to cover her with paper as well. Tony was circling Bruce with a few pages and green duct tape while Bruce stood shaking his head and pointing a finger at Tony. "You do not want to do this."
Loki only had to dodge the antics of the group twice before they settled down, thoroughly covered with newspaper and colorful duct tape.
"I so won that game," Tony stated from his position on the floor. Bruce laughed and looked down at the billionaire who was covered in red and yellow tape. He'd even managed to wrap a piece around Tony's head, though it looked more like a distorted eye patch than anything else.
"Next?" Steve asked, trying to disentangle some blue tape from his hair.
"Next," Clint said, grabbing the green and black tape and making a dodge in Loki's direction. Loki's eyes widened and he quickly put the couch between him and the other Avengers as Tony and Natasha stood with handfuls of newspaper.
"I think he needs his helmet back, guys," Clint commented.
Loki didn't stand a chance, especially when he knew that if he did anything, both Thor and the Avengers themselves would either kill him or humiliate him for the rest of his life. His attempts to cover his head were in vain and he growled in frustration as they jumped the couch and pinned him down, sticking tape and paper all over him. He almost couldn't refrain from melting them when tape started to circle his head and he all but tossed them off when they all started laughing.
Thor was chuckling happily and pulled Loki up from the floor, saying, "Brother, was that not a fun game?"
The glare that Loki sent him... should have killed him. Really, it should have. Instead, Thor's smile only grew.
"Okay guys, one more game, and then I think it'll be time for the real fun to start," Tony said, looking at the clock. Somehow, they had spent over an hour taping each other up.
Natasha smiled hesitantly and said, "Don't worry, this next game isn't quite so hands-on." She walked to one of Tony's cabinets and pulled out a pile of paper and a handful of pens.
"How do you know where everything I own is?" Tony asked, but Natasha ignored him.
"What we'll do is write down New Year's Resolutions on slips of paper. When we're done, we'll put them in that bowl," she said, pointing to an overturned bowl on the floor, "and draw a few each. Then we have to do our best to live according to our Resolutions!"
"What happens if we break a resolution?" Clint asked.
"We take a shot," Tony said, pouring himself a drink already.
Natasha shrugged and said, "Sure, shots are great. But I want the good stuff, Tony!"
With that, they gathered around the living room table and started writing resolutions down on the slips, folding them, and putting them in the bowl. Thor held his pen in confusion and asked, "What sort of resolution does one make for this holiday?"
Steve explained calmly while Clint and Natasha giggled over one that Clint had written. "Anything, really. You can write something serious, such as to quit drinking so much..." Tony snorted. "Or you can be silly and resolve to speak only questions for as long as you can."
"Hmm..." Thor nodded and wrote something down on his slip of paper.
Next to him, Loki observed the others with curiosity. Tony set down a few slips of paper in front of him and a pen and said, "Go for it, Mischief Maker."
Loki smirked and started writing.
Twenty minutes later, all of the slips of paper had been filled up and deposited in the bowl. Natasha picked it up and swirled the contents around while Tony retrieved several shot glasses and a fairly large bottle of whiskey.
Each of the group, including Loki, pulled out one slip of paper at a time until all were handed out as she walked around them. "Okay, so read your resolution out loud. Remember, if you break it, you have to take a shot."
Tony looked at his set of resolutions and laughed silently, already pouring a shot to drink. "First resolution to break is obvious: stop drinking," he snickered.
Steve looked at his and said, "These are all good... I don't think I'll break... oh wait."
"What is it?"
"This one... no, I'm not reading it," Steve said as he reached for a drink.
Natasha pulled the offending resolution from his hand and read it out loud, "I resolve to kiss Tony?" Tony snickered again and Natasha looked at her own resolutions. "Seriously, how many of those did you write?"
Around her, Bruce, and Thor also reached for shot glasses. "Sorry, Tony, but no," Bruce said, downing his shot.
"Well, Loki, did you get one?" Tony asked with an amused smirk.
Loki stared at his pile of resolutions and threw a hooded expression as Tony.
"What's it gonna be, Lokes? You either win the game by smooching the most awesome person ever or you lose and get some of my fantastic liquor. Really, it's a win-win situation all around."
"No one will think less of you Loki..." Bruce commented, balling up the resolution and tossing it at Tony.
Loki appeared to think it over before saying, "If I don't do this, I lose?"
"Yep. That's the rules," Natasha answered, also considering the situation, since she had the same resolution.
"I refuse to lose at this foolish mortal game," Loki said, crushing the resolution in his fist and standing abruptly. Everyone assumed that he would just walk away, so when he strode over to Tony and lifted the smaller man by the shoulders and kissed him, the entire group was floored.
The kiss was brief, and Tony looked just as stunned that Loki had done it as everyone else. A moment later, Loki let Tony fall back to the floor and walked calmly back to his seat on the couch. "I will win this game."
Natasha narrowed her eyes at the God of Mischief and said, "Not if I can help it." With that, she leaned down and planted a kiss on Tony's lips as well, though Tony looked more terrified than anything else at that moment.
When she let him go, Tony sat breathing carefully. "Okay, that was way more terrifying than I thought it would be."
"Okay..." Clint said, "Next resolution. I resolve to give Loki a hug. What the hell?" Clint exclaimed, already reaching for the shot glass.
Thor laughed and pulled a resolution from his hand, grinning when he read it. "Give Loki a hug!" He turned and reached for his brother, who was backing away and shaking his head. "Come, Brother! I shall hug you!"
"No, Thor! I take it back! You don't have to do-" Loki was silenced as Thor engulfed him in a massive hug. Clint grinned as the God of Mischief started to turn blue from lack of oxygen. After a long moment, they heard Loki gasp, "Thor... can't... breath..."
Thor looked worried suddenly and dropped his brother. Loki lay on the floor gasping for breath and clutching his chest. "You idiot..."
"Come on, Loki. What's a resolution you got?" Bruce asked.
Loki looked at the slips of paper that had fallen to the floor when Thor tried to crush him. He picked up one and grinned evilly. "I resolve to be very nice."
The group as a whole waited for a moment to see if Loki would take a shot or not. Tony poured one and handed it to him. Loki looked at him with mock confusion and asked, "Why would you assume me to need that? I have already told you. I refuse to lose this game."
Natasha smiled cautiously and said, "What about you, Bruce? Any good ones?"
"But I already lost..."
"So it's between me, Thor, and Loki," Natasha said, looking at another resolution. "I resolve... oh hell no, Clint"
Clint grinned and asked innocently, "What is it?"
"I am so not wearing that tonight. I give up," she said, taking a shot.
"Hey, I wrote that one!" Bruce commented, but he paused when he saw Natasha's expression. "But I... uh, I didn't write that for you... No..."
She eyed him dubiously and said, "Thor, it's your turn."
Thor grinned and read, "I resolve to not say 'friend' for the rest of the day!" He frowned suddenly and turned the paper around. "But I enjoy that word. Why would I not want to say it?"
Loki laughed at him and asked Thor, "Oh Brother, where art thou?"
"At Friend Stark's tower!" Thor responded happily before looking crestfallen. "Oh."
Loki grinned and leaned against the couch, his arms behind his head.
Natasha smirked and said, "Congratulations, Loki, you won. The grand prize is yours."
Perhaps it was her tone, or maybe the just general feel of imminent danger, but Loki suddenly realized that winning the game was not something he should have wanted. With a small smile, Natasha poured a pint of the whiskey and set it down in front of him. "Go on, it's just for you."
Loki eyed her with hesitation and asked, "What happens if I don't do it?"
"Let's just say that our resolutions will start getting more and more creative," she replied.
The God of Mischief gulped and picked up the large glass of alcohol and with a final glare at all of the Avengers, he downed it in one go. The rest cheered as he did so and laughed when he put a hand to his mouth as if he might be sick. Somehow, he was able to keep it all down and he thanked his alien physiology for once that this might not actually kill him.
It was another twenty minutes before midnight, and the Avengers gathered around the windows to watch the gathering crowds. Loki staggered toward them and leaned heavily against Thor.
"Brother, you seem to be a bit intoxicated."
"No... I'm nah... shut up."
"Remember, Reindeer Games, you resolved to be nice," Tony said with a smirk, watching some of the people down on the streets lighting off tiny little fireworks already.
"Oh... well then... I hope that … how... where am I?" Loki mumbled. The others chuckled and watched the events outside for a few minutes.
Thor grinned and held his brother upright before turning to Tony and asking, "Would you please assist my brother for a moment?"
Tony grinned and looped an arm around Loki as Thor walked away. "Hurry up! You don't want to miss this!"
Loki looked up and said, "You're Tony..."
"Yep. Pretty awesome, eh?"
"I have ta be... nice... I like yer face."
Clint snickered and said quietly, "That was the best New Year's Eve game ever." The others nodded their agreement and went back to waiting impatiently for the new year.
"Hey..." Loki spoke up again. Clint and Natasha leaned forward to hear him. "Wha's gonna happen?"
"Fireworks. Remember?"
"Yea... Then what?" Loki asked, looking half asleep.
"Umm," Tony hesitated. "After the fireworks?"
"Yea..."
"Then you kiss beautiful girls," Clint said with a smirk, though Natasha elbowed him at his words.
"Huh... Why?" Loki asked.
"Why not?" Tony responded. The two shared a humored look, even though Loki couldn't quite focus on Tony's face.
The countdown began and they could hear the cheering from the streets. Thor stepped next to Tony and asked, "How fares my brother?"
Tony looked at the God of Mischief and shook him slightly. Loki jolted awake and stared out the window just as the countdown ended. Almost immediately, thunderous sounds echoed around them and the sky lit up with blasts and streams of fireworks. Loki's eyes widened and he stepped forward to touch the glass and peer outside dizzily. The group watched the show and didn't notice when Loki sat down in front of the glass to watch.
After the fireworks, everyone cheered and shared smiles. Tony clapped his hands together and said, "Well, that was successful. Now to go join the after party! Come on, guys!"
He leaned forward and tapped Loki on the shoulder. The God of Mischief stirred and turned to look at him blearily and said, "I didn' getta kiss a bea... beauti.. pretty girl..."
Tony considered that fact and then replied, "True... but hey, there's still your New Year's resolutions!"
Loki grinned at him before slumping over onto the floor.
Tony raised his eyebrows at Loki's passed-out form. "Has he died?" Thor asked with a great deal of worry as he approached cautiously.
"Even better," Clint said, grabbing the pens from the table. "He's out cold."
The smirk that the Avengers shared was indeed an evil one.
Guess who got sugar for Christmas and unleashed it on this fic? Happy New Years!
Review with a resolution that you think Loki should make!