Chapter 4:Preparation
After a late breakfast with his teammates, Steve returned to his room and fell face-first onto the bed. He was very tired. He hadn't been able to get a wink of sleep last night because Wanda and Pietro were next door. Arguing about who had to sleep in the bathtub (Steve was very confused, as their room had two king beds).
"Hey! Capsickle!" Tony barked.
"Whuuuuut?" Steve pulled a pillow over the back of his ear, only to have it violently ripped off.
"We're goin' skiing!"
Poor Steve met up with the rest of the team on the deck. As he looked around, he laughed when he saw that everybody's skiing outfits were pretty much puffier translations of their normal color themes. Clint was wrapped in a dark purple suit, Thor in metallic gray. Spying the twins, Seve frowned. Wanda and Pietro had matching red and blue gear, but they each had only one ski. Steve turned to Tony for an explanation.
Tony grimaced, saying, "Yeah, I had to purchase too much gear so they ran out of matching skis. All they had left was one Olympic stunt ski and one adult sized "Tiny Tykes Extra Tread Safety First No-Slip What-A-Balanced-Baby!" ski.. So, yeah. You can tell which one got which." Steve turned back to the twins. Pietro was zipping around at high speed, catching air at every turn. Wanda was schlupping slowly forward in a straight line, bludgeoning the ground with her ski pole in a vain attempt to gain speed. She was quite the sight, kicking her foot, writhing, and jerking her body like a porpoise to get any movement whatsoever on her solitary ski, all while grinning like a madwoman and singing Sokovian ballads about mythical bovine humanoids.
Natasha was clothed in a strangely pointy looking black suit, with a little red hour-glass belt buckle. Steve gulped, and walked over to her. "Do you... have weapons under there?' Steve quivered..
"Of course not, Steven," Natasha grinned evilly. "You just never know if you might have to sabotage someone who is showing you up on the slopes!" Steve just stared. As Natasha had so loudly proclaimed on the bus ride, she had been skiing many times before, and was very serious about it.
"Ok," Steve gulped again. "Just... don't ski near me, alright? I've never done this before, and I don't need you with your collapsible bazookas and foldable maces anywhere near me."
"Fine," Natasha said airily. "I'll just focus on Tony. He's the only one might have a chance of competing with me." She flounced away in a whirl of pointy snow gear.
"Speak of the devil," Steve mumbled under his breath as Tony banged out onto the deck from the lodge.
"Okguyslet'sgoourskigearisoverbythedoorcomeon!" Back inside the lodge he danced.
"Alright,, let's go..." Pepper commanded. "We need to hurry. If we take any longer, Tony might have an accident," she added wryly.
Eventually, the group got their ski gear on. The Vision stayed at the lodge, as he had only come along on the trip to appease the others.
Thor, Steve, Jane, Bruce, and the twins boarded the 45 second lift ride to the Bunny Slope for toddlers. Then Clint, Laura, and Pepper hopped onto the lift for the slightly longer ride to the intermediate trail. Lastly, Tony, who decided his reputation meant more to him than survival, joined Natasha on the lift for their 50 minute long trip to the Double Black Diamond trail (where the mountain goats wear safety gear!).
