Prompt: Ugly Sweater (part 2)
Pairing: Tony Stark x OFC (Alice) / Fandom: Marvel
Tony had been dreading that day since Alice had come up with the idea. Don't get him wrong, he loved the woman to death, but sometimes she could put the fear of God in him. He knew that the ugly sweater idea was a bad one, simply because it would make all of them easy targets for each other. Who knew what kind of sweaters they would show up with.
He had already bought Alice's sweater. It wasn't that ugly, it had a cat's head, with a Santa's hat, that said "Meowy Christmas". It was more cute than ugly, even he knew that, but he wasn't going to get his girlfriend an ugly sweater. If only he could say the same for her. He knew Alice would go out of her way to find the ugliest sweater possible, but he definitely wasn't counting on her enlisting Natasha's help.
It was after dinner when they decided to trade sweaters. Alice told everyone to go first, that they would go last. That just increased his anxiety. He knew his girlfriend's sense of humor, so he knew she would have gone to extreme lengths to find the perfect ugly sweater. Add Natasha to the mix and you had the perfect recipe to give him a heart attack.
Alice had only one rule: they all had to wear the sweaters and accessories that came with it for at least two hours. Those would end up to be the longest two hours of his life. Seeing everyone laughing and teasing each other's about their respective sweaters, made Tony thought that maybe, just maybe, the girls had gone easy on him. Oh, how wrong he was.
It was finally their turn. Tony went first. He gave Alice the sweater, neatly wrapped in Christmas wrapping paper. She tore through the paper and smiled when she saw the design he went with. He had added a feathered cat toy to the sweater, just to mess with her a little. She pulled it over her head and showed it to everyone. Pictures were taken and compliments were given, and before he knew it, it was his turn.
Alice grabbed two nicely wrapped presents, one smaller than the other. She told him that it was from her and Nat, since she had helped Alice choose exactly what to give him. She also told him to start with the bigger one, leaving the smaller one for last. "It will make sense in the end, I promise.", she had said to him, a glim of mischief in her eyes.
When he opened the first one, he gasped at the sight before him and quickly tried to hide it from the others. "No, nope. I'm not wearing this atrocity.", he said, shaking his head, trying to get away from wearing it. But the look on Alice's face said it all. Either he would wear it voluntarily or she would force him. He had no other choice. Pulling the sweater over his shirt for everyone to see, it was only a matter of seconds before the room erupted into laughter.
The sweater had the texture of a fake Christmas tree, it looked like a fake Christmas tree and it was decorated as such. The only thing missing was the star on top. That's when Tony looked back at Alice and saw the small package that he had completely forgotten about. "She wouldn't.", he thought, hoping and praying that she hadn't gone that far.
Unfortunately for him, she had. In that small package was a headband that had a Christmas star on top and he was going to have to wear it. Alice helped him put the headband on and gave him a short, sweet kiss, whispering a "thank you" before moving away. And as soon as she moved away, all he saw were flashes of light. Everyone was taking pictures and there was nothing he could do about it.
After a while, he warmed up to the sweater. It was the ugliest thing he had ever seen but he decided to own it. Seeing Alice happy was all that he cared about and if seeing him in the ridiculous sweater and headband made her happy, then why not have fun with it.
"Next time, I'll get them.", he thought, already planning his revenge on both Alice and Natasha.