#otavengers

Steve hung back a little, moving some of the bags out of the way so they didn’t get trodden on. They had, after all, just spend what felt like an unfeasibly large amount on Christmas decorations and it wouldn’t do to have them crushed in the mad rush of bodies that seemed to accompany anything around here. After a few seconds Bruce came back for him, putting a hand on his elbow and steering him over to the others under the tree.

“Does it really NEED to be this large?” Steve asked, frowning. It was almost obscene, really. The living room was massive, it had to be to accommodate them all, but even in this massive space the thing looked big.

“Yes,” Tony said emphatically. “We’ve got to fit fix people’s worth of decorations on it, after all.”

“I don’t see why you couldn’t just decorate it,” Natasha commented from one of the couches where she was watching them.

“That would defeat the point,” Tony replied with a shrug. “Christmas is about family, right. And we, be we team or polyamarous sex party or whatever the hell we are, are a family. They means everyone gets to help decorate the tree.”

Steve glanced around. Natasha had seemed entirely un-enamoured with the entire effort though she’d picked out nice, tasteful things from what Steve had seen. Clint had been like a hyperactive child for the better part of the day, harassing his way around the Christmas store, and had apparently bought something in every colour including some fluorescent baubles. He was currently knelt by the tree as though he was assessing if he could climb it. Bruce seemed amused by the entire thing. He was still stood with a hand on Steve’s arm smiling indulgently as Tony. Steve had to push down a small flare of jealousy at that. He was still getting the hang of this entire group relationship thing. He was kind of waiting for them to start breaking of in pairs but it hadn’t happened yet.

“We should decorate,” Thor boomed from behind them in his usual manner and Steve turned to see him plucking bags out of the mess.

“Maybe we should have a plan first,” Steve said, stepping forward. They’d all bought very different things, Tony had insisted, so he didn’t know how they were going to keep the place from looking like an explosion in a Christmas store but he knew he needed to take control now or there was no hope.

“No,” Tony said, stepping up behind Steve and putting a hand on his back. “Everyone do what you want. Go mad!”

“Can do,” Clint declared, standing and turning in one smooth motion and making his way over to Thor, stopping on the way to tangle his fingers with Natasha and pull her along.

“It’s going to look a mess,” Steve said softly. Tony ran a hand over his back and Bruce stepped a little closer. He knew he was being kind of ridiculous but...when he was a kid Christmas was always cobbled together. They had bits donated from here and from there and nothing new ever. There would be broken streamers and mismatched baubles and he’d tried to not mind but somehow he did. This seemed ridiculous to him. They’d bought everything new but it was still going to look like a bunch of hand me downs.

“It’s going to look like chaos,” Tony corrected with a grin, stepping close and laying his chin on Steve’s shoulder.

“It’s going to look like us,” Bruce corrected with a shy smile. “That was what you were trying for here, right?”

“Yep,” Tony agreed, reaching around to lay a hand on Steve’s stomach. Steve relaxed in to the touch a little. This was still new, but he loved it. He loved the casual touching, sharing. He loved that whoever he found when he needed someone they would hold him and kiss him. “When I was a kid we used to have these amazing Christmases, big decorations and everything beautiful. Mom used to hire people and they’d come a few weeks before Christmas and decorate the house and it was gorgeous but nothing about it was ever personal. Anyone could have lived in those houses, Steve. I didn’t want that here. Not for us. I want everyone to have a say and it’s going to look ridiculous but at least it’s going to be ours.”

Steve felt his chest tighten as Tony talked. He’d never thought about that, about what Christmas might have been like for Tony as a kid. He tried not to think too much about Tony’s childhood, it was weird to think that his friend had raised this strange, wonderful man who had somehow brought all these people together like this. It also hurt to think about the rift between the two of them.

“I get it,” he replied, curling his hand around Tony’s. “I guess we just had different ideas about how we were going to work this, though I like yours now you’ve explained it.”

“Good,” Tony said, stepping away. “Now, come on, this is going to take some work!” He pulled Steve down in to a quick kiss before walking over to the others, plastering himself along Clint’s back when he arrived there and joining what appeared to be a discussion about whether or not Thor should lift Natasha to decorate the top branches.

“Are you really alright?” Bruce asked, tugging Steve to face him. Steve nodded and leant in, kissing Steve softly.

“Yeah. Mismatched ornaments don’t really appeal to me but I do see what Tony’s trying to do here.”

“I agree,” Bruce mumbled, kissing Steve again quickly. “But this will be good. A place for all of use, I think some of us could use the reminder that we have a place here, that we’re needed.”

“Maybe,” Steve agreed, stepping back. “Come on, let’s go join in before they trash the place. Please tell me you haven’t just brought bright orange things or something?”

“Green, actually,” Bruce said with a quirk of his lips. “And some purple.”