development tea room holiday & winter prompts
Day 9: at a work holiday party when an alert starts to sound
@xstrange gets a little surprise
EVEN THOUGH HE IS RETIRED, Steve got an invitation to the spectacular Avengers Christmas party at the newly built compound north of New York City. The construction companies did wonders here: the debris and destruction left by the battle against Thanos are gone, the main complex and the training facilities have been finished just the month prior, and the park-like garden doesn't look like a muddy desert anymore. Surrounded by young and — due to the season naked — cherry trees, there is a small memorial made of white marble that glistens in the moonlight, still visible from where Steve looks out of the window of the compound's dining hall that was turned into some sort of ballroom for the Christmas party. Steve feels a pang of sadness when he looks at the memorial; those whose names are engraved there should be here now and celebrate with them. Instead, they lie in the cold earth, hopefully finding some peace.
He looks up when someone steps next to him, offering him a glass of eggnog. "Doctor," Steve says, taking the alcohol with a grateful nod before he turns around, swapping the sad view for a more joyful one. The lamps and window frames are adorned with evergreens, huge red ribbons hug every table and chair, a 16 ft Christmas tree blocks almost the entire southern wall, and there are about a dozen mistletoes hanging from the ceiling. Steve had a hard time skipping them when he walked through the room. "Scott Lang kinda outdid himself, hu," Steve says with a chuckle. Of course, it was Scott Lang that decided to throw the 'spectacular Avengers Christmas party'. About 60 % of those who fought against Thanos are here tonight. Steve wonders how the guy managed to invite the talking tree.
"Though he went a bit over—" Steve's words are droned out by the blaring sounds of an alarm. His fingers twitch to reach for a shield that isn't there, his eyes scanning for the threat that caused the alert while he involuntarily steps a bit in front of Strange as if wanting to protect him. "Everything's fine, everything's fine, just a little fire, everybody party on!" Scott Lang's voice shouts over the alarm all of a sudden. "Uh, just nobody try to roast more marshmallows, okay!"
