"Now that was a good one!" Clint said loudly to general murmurs of agreement.
Patty and Big Bird had faded from the screen, still standing in front of the gigantic neighborhood Christmas tree on Sesame Street as the final bars of "Keep Christmas with You" reached a crescendo in the background, and the Avengers (plus Loki for whatever reason) all looked happy. They also looked crammed with food more food than was physically possible, as usual.
"I enjoyed this very much," Thor said, setting down his fifth bottle of Yoo-Hoo and picking up a strawberry cupcake that was the size of his fist. "Are these beings related to those from the story of Ebeneezer Scrooge we watched last year?"
"Yes," Pepper said, looking up from resting her head on Tony's shoulder. "They're Muppets. There were even a few of the Sesame Street ones in that movie, including Kermit, the frog who's the interviewer in this."
"I rather thought so," Thor said, nodding. "It would be too much of a coincidence to have two sentient lime-green fabric frogs on your planet."
"They're not actually real people," Peter said, swallowing his last bite of chocolate covered pretzel.
"They aren't?" Thor said, raising his eyebrows. "Are you certain?"
"They're puppets," Clint said. "There's people underneath them manipulating them so they move and talk and stuff."
"If you say so," Thor said, but he still looked skeptical.
"This was classic Sesame," Tony said, raising his cup of hot chocolate in a toast. "It's B.E."
"B.E.?" Peter asked.
"Before Elmo," Tony said. "It was grittier back in the day. This is when the show did stuff like have a passing subway blot out Oscar cursing or make everyone think Snuffy was imaginary and Big Bird was nuts for years on end."
"Yes, I quite liked this Oscar fellow," Loki said.
"Because he's green?" Steve suggested with a smile.
"No. Well, yes," Loki admitted, putting down the plate that held the remaining core of his candy apple. "Plus he's a trickster, and he raised some absolutely glorious mischief in this. Also, his little anthem about his dislike for the holiday was very relatable."
"You don't like Christmas?" Peter asked, looking surprised.
"Oh, it's all well enough, I suppose," Loki said, "but when taken to extremes, it becomes a bit cloying."
"There are some good songs in this," Clint agreed. "'I Hate Christmas' is definitely one of them. I like Christmas a lot, but it's starting to show up the day after Halloween now and sticks around about two months. By the of it, I'm ready to smack Santa upside the head."
"Okay, can someone explain the whole ice skating opening thing to me, though?" Bucky asked.
"It's fun?" Pepper said.
"Well, yeah," he admitted, "there's that."
"The ice dance with the bird and the child was actually pretty well done," Natasha said. "That and throwing Oscar's can through about twenty obstacles that should have broken every bone in his body and having him get up and want to do it again is worth it."
"Does Oscar actually have any bones?" Peter asked?
"Sure," Bruce said. "Ulna, radius, phalanges, plus a few more."
"Did you ever see any of this before, Nat?" Pepper asked.
"We did watch a little bit of Sesame Street as part of our training in the Red Room, but not this," Natasha said.
"Let me guess," Clint said. "'Ladybug Picnic'?"
Natasha laughed and said, "Yes, that one, and the animated pinball machine that counted to twelve with the Pointer Sisters singing. For about a year, when they tested us on our English by asking us to count, I kept saying the numbers in that rhythm."
"Did you ever watch the one with a loaf of bread, a container of milk, and—," Bruce started.
"A stick of butter," Natasha finished along with half the other people in the room while Steve, Bucky, Loki, and Thor all just looked confused. "That one was cleared for viewing, too. The trainers made a point of not showing us any of the parts that happened with the characters on the street, though."
"What was the problem?" Steve asked. "They all seem like really nice people."
"Yes, and that's exactly what was wrong. It showed too positive of an image of America," Natasha said. "After seeing this, I can understand why. It's kind of impossible not to like Bob, and Mr. Hooper is everybody's dream grandpa. Gordon and Susan, too."
"I used to watch the show with my brother," Clint said, his voice a little rough. "It was something nice. We both wanted to live on Sesame Street."
"Who would not?" Thor said as Natasha squeezed Clint's hand. "They appear friendly and hospitable to all. Not to mention colorful!"
"They do seem remarkably accepting," Loki agreed. "Also, the Deaf woman was very pretty."
"Hey, speaking of, does that Allspeak thing include sign language?" Tony asked.
"Yes, as it turns out," Loki said. "I could indeed understand everything both she and her consort Bob were saying to one another."
"As could I," Thor said. "I believe I would also be able to form the words myself if I concentrated hard enough."
"So, no," Loki said, and Thor gave him a withering look but shoved another cupcake, this one cinnamon swirl, into this mouth.
"What were they saying while the kids were signing 'Keep Christmas with You'?" Pepper asked.
"Basically that this was her Christmas gift to him," Loki said.
"Everyone always wondered if those two would ever get married, but they never did," Tony said wistfully. "Maria and Luis's wedding was nice, though."
"Luis?" Loki said, looking surprised. "What of David?"
"They broke up," Tony said.
He frowned, but took another bite of a sugar cookie shaped like a wreath.
"Luis was great though, too," Pepper assured him. "All of them were. Or are."
"I was rather intrigued by the tribute to O. Henry's 'Gift of the Magi' in this, replacing the wife's hair and the husband's watch with a rubber duck and paper clips," Loki said.
"Even I got that reference," Steve said as he took a big bite of a chocolate filled croissant.
"Yeah," Peter said. "When we read that in school, I couldn't keep from imagining them as Bert and Ernie."
"I do not know this story," Thor said.
"Basically, a poor couple wants to get each other Christmas presents," Steve said. "The wife sells her hair to have enough money to buy a chain for her husband's pocket watch."
"Yes, but the twist is the husband has sold the watch to buy her a set of decorative combs for her hair," Loki said. "So they've sold their two greatest treasures to buy items that are now completely useless. Yet, they're happy."
"So, Mr. Hooper or some equivalent didn't intervene," Thor said, looking a little sad.
"I suppose they could sell the combs and watch chain and buy the pocket watch back," Loki said with a shrug. "The wife is stuck, though."
"I'm glad Ernie got his rubber ducky back," Peter said. "Ernie isn't Ernie without his rubber ducky."
"And I'm glad Bert got his paper clips," Bucky said. "Everybody needs a hobby, and when you think about it, that's really a lot less weird than collecting stamps other people have licked."
"And I am glad the gigantic canary did not freeze while waiting for Santa to arrive," Thor said. "That icicle on his beak was alarming."
"And I'm glad somebody got poor Snuffy out of that decorative steel barrel in Big Bird's weirdly outdoor apartment," Pepper said. "Granted, I have no idea how since none of the adults believed he existed, so it must have been Big Bird, the little girl, and Kermit who pulled him out."
"Yeah, Kermit and Grover's interview sessions with the progressively stranger explanations for how Santa got in the house were hilarious, especially the ones you could tell the little kids were coming up with themselves," Tony said, chuckling. "Santa Claus keys and tying the reindeer's antlers together with tape!"
"Adorable," Natasha admitted, her smile a little bittersweet.
"Plus, good music," Tony said. "Anybody feel like riding around on the subway while singing 'True Blue Miracle'?"
"No," Pepper said immediately, giving him a look.
"Okay, then, it's probably time to kick all of you out," Tony said. "Get home before Santa puts you on the naughty list."
"Oh, no worries there. I've been on that since birth," Loki said with a long-suffering sigh as they began to pick up various bottles, napkins, plates, and wrappers.
As the Asgardians went to their customary spot on the helipad to take the Bifrost home and everyone else headed to the elevator, Tony and Pepper were left alone in the now mostly tidy penthouse.
"So," Tony asked, "have you decided what color soap dish you want for Christmas?"
"Pink, obviously," Pepper said. "And did you have a preference for the brand of your empty cigar box?"
"Maybe a nice Romeo y Julieta," Tony said, winking at her as they turned off the Christmas tree lights and headed off to bed.
"Just don't sing that 'Dance Myself to Sleep' song, okay?" Pepper said.
"I make no promises."