Somewhere Only We Know

New Years

Everyone returned to the house for dinner. Coulson was seated at the head of the table, with May on his left and Daisy on his right. To May's right was Yo-Yo, and Mack sat opposite Coulson. That left Sousa next to Daisy.

The conversation was light as they ate.

"So, what did you two do while we were gone?" Coulson asked.

"Sousa cooked," Daisy said, not bothering to look up from her meal. "I taste-tested."

Yo-Yo grinned. "What did you get to taste-test, Daisy?"

The cadet shrugged. "Just what he gave me. A little bit of the turkey, the stuffing, the-" she waved her fork over to the other end of the table- "that. It was all good. He's a very good cook."

"Thanks, Daisy," Sousa said, smiling.

She grinned back at him as she swallowed her spoonful of mashed potatoes.

After dinner and washing, it was around nine o'clock. They played a few board games as the time went on, having that first bottle of champagne.

At eleven, Fitzsimmons burst into the house. "We got out!" Simmons called happily. "They let us leave, finally!"

"We bring forth drinks!" Fitz continued, hauling in three bottles of something. "For our dear Mama May, Haig!"

He thrust out the bottle to the agent, who took it amusedly. "Are you drunk, Fitz?" May asked.

"Just a tiny bit," the engineer replied, shaking his head. "Anyways! For our father- and yes, Daisy, we've taken him too- single-malt whiskey!!"

Coulson accepted it curiously. "How did they let you leave the building with these?"

Simmons waved him off. "Doesn't matter," she said, grinning.

"For the lovely Quake!" Fitz produced a juice pouch. "Who is not of legal age! We went on a detour, and this is specially produced just for her! We present..."

"Kool-Aid!" Simmons cheered, finishing the sentence.

Daisy plucked the pouch out of Fitz's hand. "Thank you. What's the third bottle?" she asked as she stuck the straw inside.

"Champagne!" Fitzsimmons said in unison.

"Ooh!" Daisy drained the juice pouch and reached for the bottle, but Simmons held it out of reach.

"What's the magic word?" the older girl asked teasingly.

"Please?" Daisy took the bottle. "Yay!"

"Pace yourself, Daze," Sousa reminded her gently. "We have a while to go before midnight."

Daisy beamed at him and gave him the bottle. "You should hold onto this, then, Danny," she said earnestly.

Coulson put his hand on Daisy's back and guided her to the kitchen. "How drunk are you right now?" he asked her gently.

"Not enough." Daisy laughed. "I'm gonna need a little more to be brave."

"Well, do you think you can be safe enough to help me with the sparklers?"

Daisy perked up. "Yes."

Coulson chuckled. "Let's go, then. We'll have them outside." He watched her go and sighed, turning to May. "You think she can make good choices?"

"She's not actually that drunk," May reminded him. "I gave her adequate alcohol training. And she knows to be careful. She's acting 500% more drunk than she actually is, per training." She brushed her thumb over her partner's knuckles. "She'll be fine, Phil."