The first time Tony suggests throwing a Halloween party he gets blank faces from everyone in the room and it takes him longer than it probably should to realize that... well, look at who he’s trying to pitch this to. Halloween was different in the 30s and 40s, and one of Steve’s (admittedly few) hang-ups about the 21st century is still the commercialization of (admittedly) everything. And Natasha certainly never celebrated the holiday as a kid. (Tony tried to imagine a Red Room Halloween once and- yeah, that wasn’t a pretty thought.) He would have expected Clint to be on his side but the archer just shrugged and said, “Abusive father and then I literally ran away to join the circus. Doesn’t exactly make for happy holiday memories.”Which, point. But Bruce, certainly Bruce, of all people-“I, ah- it’s not a good idea,” he had said, somewhat awkwardly. “The Other Guy and scary surprises don’t exactly mix.”Fair enough but seriously? Seriously? “I can’t believe,” Tony says. “That no one here is willing to celebrate Halloween with me.”“Sam would do it,” Steve suggests. “If you can convince him to leave D.C.”“Two people does not a Halloween party make, Rogers,” Tony snaps.“What about Rhodey?” Clint throws out. “Three people also does not a Halloween party make.”“Thor-?”“Oh my god, no, can you even imagine?”It’s fine, though. Really. So there won’t be a Halloween party in Stark- no, crap, Avengers- Tower this year. That’s fine. Tony’s sure he has invitations to someone’s celebration, and it’s not like the Tower won’t be festive. There’s still the harvest festival he throws for the kids (and he can probably convince some of the team to show up for that) and the Maria Stark Foundation always throws a masquerade ball.But, well... It’s not that Tony absolutely loves Halloween, because he doesn’t, not really. It’s just that it’s a fun holiday, completely independent of familial gatherings and romantic expectations. He likes the excuse to get wasted, sure, but he likes just letting loose and unwinding for an evening. And he can’t really do that if he’s putting in a semi-public appearance at someone else’s party.So if he doesn’t RSVP for anything he gets an invitations to, and if he has plans to watch his favorite horror movies with a bowl of candy corn (screw you, Nat, it’s delicious) alone in his penthouse... Well, that’s fine. It is. Really.He’s a little caught off-guard, though, when he makes his way up from his workshop on October 31st to find the communal floor dark and decorated with, what arguably might be, the most pitiful display of Halloween decorations he’s ever seen.“Uh, guys?” he asks cautiously, looking around at the room. There’s actual streamers hanging from the ceiling, jesus christ, what is this mess?“None of us have anything better to do, and Clint wanted an excuse to dress up as Captain America,” Natasha says, completely deadpan. Tony hadn’t even realized that the patriotic figure pouring fun-sized pieces of candy into a large plastic pumpkin bowl wasn’t Steve. He’s also pretty sure that he’s never going to get that image out of his head now that he knows it’s Clint in the spangly suit.“So... what, we’re gonna gorge ourselves on candy and watch Rocky Horror until we pass out?” Tony asks. He sounds skeptical but actually, that doesn’t sound like a half-bad plan. “No Rocky Horror,” Nat says, at the same time that Steve asks, “What’s Rocky Horror?” which, honestly, settles the matter immediately. “JARVIS, queue up Rocky Horror Picture Show,” Tony says, flopping down onto the couch. Rhodey couldn’t make it but Sam is there, wearing what is actually a surprisingly good scarecrow costume. It seems to be part of a set, assuming that the funnel on Steve’s head makes him the Tinman and the red high heels on Nat’s feet are supposed to be Dorothy’s ruby slippers. “Who’s the Cowardly Lion then?” Tony asks with a smirk. “Thor, because he already has the mane for it,” Bruce says as he wanders into the room. “And you are...?” Tony asks, looking at the pair of cardboard wings on Bruce’s back and the tiny hat sitting crookedly on his head. “The flying monkey,” Bruce says, with the resignation of someone who has no choice in the matter. “It was supposed to be Clint, but he refused to be anything other than Cap.”Something lands on Tony’s head and he reaches up, feeling the fake fur of the dog ears that he’s now wearing. “Am I Toto?” he asks, horrified. “Yes,” Natasha says, in a tone that dares him to try to argue with her. Tony, wisely, does not. (In the end, it doesn’t matter. He loses the ears under the couch about halfway through dancing The Time Warp anyway.)
