"So, you don't think so?" Coulson confirmed as they entered the theater room. "JARVIS, full lights, please."
"It's hard to know for sure," Steve responded, tugging the long sofa into a more central position in front of the enormous screen,"but I don't recall going to school with a Kaye."
"If I may, sirs," JARVIS interjected, "at school in Brooklyn, Mr. Kaye would still have been using his birth name, Daniel Kaminsky."
"Oh, now that sounds familiar," Steve offered. He bent, grasped the frame of the loveseat with one hand below the seat and one on its back, and carried it to the left corner of the couch, forming the left curve of the movie night semi-circle. "I think there were Kaminskys in the neighborhood, but..."
"And Mr. Kaye was five years your senior, Captain Rogers," JARVIS continued.
"And then there's that," Coulson added wryly. He was rocking an overstuffed armchair into position to the right of the sofa, a hand on each back corner, walking each leg forward six inches at a time. "Five years is a big gap between grade school students."
"And that's if we even started at the same school," Steve agreed. He lifted the second armchair and carried it across the room to its position next to the first, forming the last bit of the semicircle. "After my mother died, and I went to the orphanage, I changed schools, too."
Banner and Barton emerged from the elevator, pushing a bow wave of popcorn aroma before them, just in time to hear the end of Rogers' statement.
"Aw, school changing, no," Barton commiserated. "If I had a nickel for every different school I went to when I was in the system..." He placed his buckets of popcorn on the central coffee table. "Thai in an hour, Coulson," he reported, seating himself near the end of the sofa.
Coulson acknowledged the completed mission with a slight nod.
"I know what you mean," Banner agreed, setting down his popcorn. "Just when you get your feet under you," he made abvtt sound, "there you go again."
Thor and Natasha appeared from the kitchen. Natasha carried a cup of tea. Thor held several 6-packs of beer balanced atop a case of Coke. At Barton's incredulous look she defended simply, "He insisted." She handed the tea to Banner with a small smile. "Doctor."
Banner took the mug and returned the smile. "Thank you," he said, settling himself in the armchair closer to the screen, cup cradled in his broad palms.
Thor selected his beverage and, commandeering a bucket of popcorn, ensconced himself in the armchair next to the couch. "I look forward to watching one of your traditional winter entertainments," he pronounced.
Natasha brushed her fingers over his forearm as she sat between Barton and the couch's armrest. "Let me know if you have any questions, Thor," she said, folding her legs on the couch and tucking her toes partway under Barton's thigh.
"Tasha!" Barton jumped slightly. "Geez, your toes are cold!"
"Baby," she retorted, elbowing him genially in the ribs. Steve smiled, remembering how strangely good it had felt to be called a "punk" once upon a time.
Thor gifted her with a brilliant smile. "I thank you, Lady Natasha," he answered. "If I am troubled overmuch during the presentation, I shall avail myself of your wisdom."
Stark and Pepper emerged from the elevator, bickering in low tones with Pepper propelling Tony in before her. Tony grabbed a popcorn bucket as they crossed to the loveseat. Tony sat with his hips pressed half to the armrest, and pulled Pepper to sit flush against his thigh, half leaning on his chest, leaving room for another half-person on the remainder of the loveseat closer to the screen.
JARVIS dimmed the lights slightly, and Coulson sat next to Barton on the couch, pressing him further onto Natasha's feet. The three SHIELD agents made a Clint sandwich on the couch, hemming the archer in closely, leaving plenty of room for Steve to take the remaining spot near Tony. Steve would feel claustrophobic in Barton's place, but Hawkeye always seemed to enjoy being pressed thigh-to-thigh with his teammates.
"Bring it, JARVIS," Stark ordered. The lights lowered the rest of the way as JARVIS began the movie. Tony muttered into Pepper's ear, so close to his mouth, until she backhanded his chest, expertly avoiding barking her knuckles on the arc reactor.
Steve chuckled lowly as the idyllic backdrop of a snowy church was revealed to be a screen for a bombed out village. "That seems about right," he commented sotto voce to Coulson. "Sometimes it felt like there weren't two bricks left on top of each other in all of Europe."
Tony whispered again to Pepper who responded with a tight, "Tony, hush!" and a disgruntled wiggle of her shoulder against his ribs. When Crosby began crooning "White Christmas", however, even Tony's running commentary stopped. For a few minutes, the singer's mellow baritone was the only sound in the room.
When he finished the song, Bing stayed on the stage in front of the painted backdrop, thumbs tucked behind his belt and fingers curling below, scraggly Christmas tree at his side, and addressed the troops directly, unaware that their commanding officer had joined the audience.
Steve nodded along as Crosby recounted the soldiers' affection for their general. He saw agreement, or at least approval, amongst the SHIELD agents, too. As the General struggled for words to express his appreciation for his soldiers, Steve huffed a small laugh. "That sounds familiar," he said. "Never could tell the Commandos... well, what I needed to."
Coulson's sidelong glance was as comforting as a hand on arm. "They knew, Captain. They definitely knew."
The division on-screen began their "slam-bang finish", singing of their loyalty to their commanding officer. By the repeat, Barton was singing along, directing his words to Coulson. "I'll follow you, Old Man, wherever you want to go," he sang, bumping his shoulder against Coulson's.
"That was the only time you are allowed to use 'Old Man' in reference to me, Barton," Coulson riposted.
"But I can't call Steve 'Old Man'," Barton complained. "For one, he doesn't look it. And for another, that's Tony's line."
The shelling of the division on-screen interrupted their byplay, and the Avengers fell silent again as they watched the men run for cover from the bombs. Bing directed his men to safety, heedless of his own, and Kaye pulled him out of the way of a falling wall.
"Heaven save us from Captains with no sense of self preservation," Tony muttered under his breath.
"Amen," said Barton.
"So say we all," added Banner.
They settled into quiet for a bit, watching the byplay between the two main actors. Steve frowned as Kaye manipulated Crosby into forming a partnership, hummed along with several of the songs, and laughed at the banter between the two men. Thor and all four occupants of the couch smiled approvingly as Kaye and Crosby re-iterated that they were acting to benefit "a pal in the army."
As Danny Kaye spun Vera-Ellen off the cabaret floor into an extended dance number, Coulson leaned over to check in with Steve. "OK so far, Captain?" he asked.
Rogers nodded, gaze fixed on the screen, a bemused smile on his face. "I always loved musicals." He flicked a brief glance at Coulson. "Just about everybody danced when I was growing up. Everyone wanted to be Fred Astaire or Ginger Rogers."
Coulson hmm'd thoughtfully and turned back to the screen where Kaye was attempting to hustle Crosby back into the sisters' dressing room.
"I've got a feeling I'm not going to like it," Crosby resisted.
"I've got a feeling you're gonna hate it," Kaye responded, and Steve laughed out loud as the scene dissolved into Crosby and Kaye beginning a musical routine... in part of the showgirls' outfits. The Avengers chuckled through the remaining scenes until the protagonists arrived at a near-deserted inn in Vermont, only to find it owned by their former commanding officer.
"General Waverly! A janitor!" Kaye gasped at the sight of his superior carrying wood.
"It's worse than that, I'm afraid," the general replied. "I own this inn."
Steve was the first to start laughing when General Waverly said, "If there's one thing the army taught me, it was to be positive, especially when you have no idea what you're talking about." Everyone had some experience with the military, though, and soon the laughter spread. Tony asked JARVIS to stop the movie until they quieted down.
Before they had a chance to restart the movie, JARVIS drew Stark's attention. "Sir, dinner has arrived."