VII's 12 Days of Winter Writing

Day 4: Very Alcoholic Eggnog

"Have yourself a merry little Christmas, let your heart be light... from now on, our troubles will be out of sight..."

Natasha walked over and sat by Bruce, watching Tony try and chat up Pepper, who was attending tonight out of pure spite.

"Hey."

Nat looked over to the scientist, a smile blossoming on her face. "Hi, Bruce." She grinned at Tony and Pepper and looked back to Bruce. "What do you think?"

"Of their argument?" Bruce chuckled. "Pepper is definitely going to win, especially if we put it o a vote like last time."

Natasha laughed, grabbing a mug. "Eggnog, doc?" she offered.

Bruce nodded. "Hopefully it doesn't have Tony's latest concoction in it."

Nat poured them their mugs. "What concoction?" she asked curiously.

"Gets-me-drunk kind of concoction," Bruce said. "Tony wanted to experiment."

Natasha rolled her eyes. "You can't get drunk?"

"Ah, no." Bruce chuckled. "Perks of having the Hulk: I'm always the designated driver for Tony when we go out."

Nat nodded. "Neither can I, technically."

"Why?"

She shrugged. "Procedure from my childhood. Got some of the stuff they gave to Steve. I can drink rubbing alcohol." Natasha sipped her mug.

Bruce wrinkled his nose. "You're kidding."

"Nope." Nat looked at him over the rim of her mug. "Clint can prove it."

"I'm not in a legal position to say anything!" Clint called from the other side of the room.

Natasha sighed. "There goes my witness."

Bruce laughed. "Don't worry. I believe you." He looked at his mug, and then at Nat. "Should I risk it?"

Nat raised her mug at him. "If you get drunk, I get drunk, so why not?"

Bruce clinked his mug with hers and took a sip. "This is surprisingly not bad," he commented.

Natasha nodded. "It's better than rubbing alcohol."

Bruce chuckled.

Nat grinned at him. "What?" she asked.

He just smiled at her softly.

"What?" Natasha tried to stifle a wider smile. She nudged Bruce. "What?"

Bruce laughed at her antics. "Nothing!"

"Liar!"

Suddenly, Natasha realized that everyone had left.

"Hey, where'd everyone go?" she asked Bruce. "I thought we were having a party."

Bruce looked at his watch. "It's 1 in the morning."

Natasha wrinkled her nose. "But it was only 10:30 the last time I checked." She looked at the eggnog in her mug. "It's cold."

"It's been a while."

They sat in a silence for who knows how long.

"I think Tony did the concoction," Bruce said.

"You think?"

"I like you."

Natasha blinked. "What."

Bruce looked flushed. "I like you. Like like." He laughed. "Oh my god, this brings me back to sixth grade."

"I like you too," Natasha found herself saying. Wait, what? You're not supposed to tell him that! "I mean. I kinda– never mind."

Bruce studied her. "You like me back?"

"Maybe."

"Oh." He sounded disappointed, and Natasha couldn't have that.

She leaned over and lightly pressed her mouth to Bruce's. When Nat pulled away, she found Bruce smirking. "Oh, shut up," she muttered.

"What are you two doing?"

Natasha and Bruce looked over to Tony, who was standing in the doorway.

"Having a nice smooch?" the billionaire teased.

"Go away, Tony," Bruce requested. "Please."

Natasha agreed and threw a small unknown object at him.

"I'm leaving!"

"Thank you!" Bruce called.