"Come on. Just put it on," Steve shoved a piece of festive red leather into Nick's hands and stared at him expectantly.
This was ridiculous. He thought putting Steve in charge of the annual Avengers Christmas party would be the safest bet. He thought that Steve would just have everyone bring their favorite dish, they'd eat, maybe play a few board games and then go home. Sadly, he was wrong.
Steve adored Christmas more than any other holiday, and when it came time to celebrate he went all out. He decorated S.H.I.E.L.D's small celebration room with red and green balloons, a row of stockings with each Avenger's name on them, and covered the two dining tables with red and green tablecloths. In the right hand corner of the room was a real Christmas tree, adorned with an overabundance of green, red, and gold glass ornaments, and there were beautifully wrapped presents underneath. Steve even took the time to make all of the sweets for the party and didn't ask for anyone's help.
Fury was indifferent about all of that, but there was one thing that bothered him: Steve had a dress code for the party. Each of them were required to wear a Christmas sweater and a Santa hat, and they had to come with a smile on their face. While the thought of dressing up in something other than black annoyed Nick, it was the extra addition to his wardrobe that really pushed the line.
"God dammit Rogers! I will not wear a stupid ass eye patch with a mistletoe design on it!" Fury threw the leather eye patch onto the ground and glared at Steve, though the super-soldier didn't even flinch.
"You put me in charge of this party, director, so it's not your call," Steve responded flatly before walking back into the party room from the hallway, leaving Nick to pick up the eye patch and switch it out with his old one.
When Nick stepped in, he noticed everyone, with the exception of Steve, were eating. Tony, Bruce, and Thor were at one table while Maria, Coulson, Clint, and Natasha were at the other. No one heard him enter the room, as cheesy, hokey Christmas music filled the air. Nick grabbed a plate and began to fill it with ham and mashed potatoes, and he noticed Steve over in the corner of his good eye.
"What, Rogers? I'm wearing the damn thing, so you're welcome," Fury snapped as he grabbed a cupcake and walked away to sit with his other S.H.I.E.L.D agents, not bothering to give Steve a chance to speak.
While he was eating, Fury couldn't help but think that Steve was staring at him. Every time he took a bite, it felt like someone's eyes were on him, but when he'd look up he met no one's gaze. The vibe he felt came from the Captain's direction, however, and out of all the men at the other table he was the only one who ever gave Nick the time of day. Nick tried to brush off the feeling, however, as he believed that he was simply imagining that the object of his affection was paying attention to him. In his mind there was no logic in hoping that Steve had any interest in him, and for the rest of the meal he let himself run on autopilot, shoveling the blonde's wonderful cooking into his mouth without even tasting it.
After dinner was finished, the team all sat around the Christmas tree to open their gifts. Fury was the last person to sit down, and the only space available was between Steve and a visibly intoxicated Tony. He slowly took his place on the carpet, and as he settled in he could feel Tony's hot, scotch laced breath on the side of his face.
"Come on, Fury, get in here! You're really into the holiday spirit this year, aren't you!" Tony grabbed Nick by the head and kissed his festive eye patch, covering the leather with wet saliva.
"Get the fuck off of me Stark!" Fury hissed as his mind went into defense mode and he punched Tony square in the gut, knocking the wind out of him.
The sight of Tony writhing around on the ground gasping for breath infuriated his husband Bruce, and within minutes the Hulk made an appearance. Clint scooped up Tony and the Avengers rushed out of the room, slammed the door and Coulson pressed a button next to the door handle, Hulk-proofing the exterior. The archer took Tony to the medical wing of S.H.I.E.L.D headquarters as the rest watched the other guy destroy the Christmas tree, shatter ornaments, break the tables, and shred apart the presents.
After Bruce returned to normal, they let themselves back into the celebration room and took him to medical to meet up with his drunken, slightly battered up husband, leaving Steve and Fury alone. They both set to assessing the damage that the Hulk's rampage had caused, and as Nick looked down at the battered presents he found a tattered box with his name on it.
He got down on his knee, brushed off the little pieces of glass from the packaging and opened the gift, revealing movie passes for any film he wanted to see. Nick dropped the wrapping and stood up with the passes, looking at them in surprise. It had been so long since he'd seen a movie, and he couldn't even recall a time he'd went with anyone. There hadn't been anyone in his life since he was a youth, and Nick didn't understand why Steve would get him a present that he had no use for. As Fury stared at the gift, however, the vibe of being watched crept into his mind again, and he realized exactly what Steve had intended.
"Sorry about the party, Rogers," Fury muttered as he looked over at Steve, would was standing right beside him.
"If I didn't make you wear that eye patch this probably never would have happened… But if you want to make it up to me let's see a movie tonight," Steve smirked as he moved in front of Nick, took the mistletoe eye patch off and dangled it over the director's head.
Steve wrapped his right arm around Nick's waist and brought him in for a long, deep kiss, both shocking and arousing Fury. As angry as he was about that had happened that day, this special Christmas surprise from Steve more than made up for the silly little eye patch.