Flawed Minds

An Unseen Chapter: Happy Holidays

Avengers P.O.V:

Bruce Banner sighed contentedly as he leaned back in his chair and stretched, enjoying the low humming and occasional beeping and whirring of machines in the otherwise quiet lab while he continued his work. If there was one thing he enjoyed about the holidays, it was the peace and quiet he got for a good few evenings while Tony Stark took it upon himself to instruct everyone else on how to decorate at least five floors at the top of Avengers Tower for Christmas. He would instruct Bruce to continue working on important projects in the lab while he gave orders to Nat, Clint, Steve- and even Bucky, when he made an appearance; although Bucky had in more recent years started to avoid decoration duty, as his grumbling about being told to get in the Christmas spirit by the others prompted Tony to decorate his room door with images of the Grinch. Bruce mused to himself that Tony was surprisingly very particular about decoration placement for someone who consistently stated that he 'wasn't really a Christmas person.' He also wondered to himself how different this year would be, considering that it was Nova's first Christmas in God knows how long. Nova hadn't really discussed her past with the team, and they had respected her silence, feeling that if she ever wanted to talk about these things, she would in her own time.

Upon noting that it had gotten late, and that all the work he could do that day had been done, Bruce realized he would have to leave the quiet sanctuary of the lab to see what chaos Tony had caused this time. Reluctant to leave, he took his time shutting off what needed to be off and cleaning what needed to be cleaned, before he turned off the lights and closed the lab door behind him. On his short journey up to the main community room where no doubt everyone had congregated by now, Bruce saw pretty garlands, lights, sparkling hanging ornaments, and no less than six eight foot Christmas trees decorated tastefully with expensive glass ornaments and beautiful lights, and he smiled to himself knowing that Natasha Romanoff was the one to decorate those; Tony leaves most tree-decorating jobs to Nat, as watching Clint try it nearly gave him an aneurysm and Steve kept insisting on using decorations that looked like they came straight from the 40's. Knowing him, they probably were. Faint laughter reached Bruce's ears before he had even reached the door, and he sighed and braced himself for the predictable sight of the team messing around with decorations to irritate Tony, and Tony pacing the floor with strong coffee in one hand while the other rubbed his temple, like usual.

But that was not what met his eyes when he finally opened the door and saw what the giggling was all about.

"What the-?" He began, frozen in the doorway and interrupted by a surprisingly happy Tony.

"Banner!" He announced, suppressing the end of a laugh. "I know this looks weird but honestly we can explain," Bruce slowly stepped into the room, not taking his confused eyes off the group as he did so. Nova and Clint couldn't hold their laughter for much longer and Steve's smile also slowly got bigger; Nat simply froze in the middle of what she was doing, her expression neutral as though it were the most natural thing in the world.

"Please, by all means, explain?" Bruce requested as he watched them all; Natasha was sat on a chair nearby, holding tinsel that she had just produced from a very large box labelled 'Xmas' that sat opened by her feet, and Tony stood next to her holding up a camera, aiming it in the direction of Clint, who was attempting, and failing, to balance a sparkly silver star on top of Nova's head. Nova, standing in the middle of the room, had been decorated. Literally. Decorated. Much like a Christmas tree, she was wrapped with string lights, tinsel, and even had some of the 1940s baubles that Steve insisted on getting out every year hanging off of her. Her radiant smile in this ridiculous situation was so infectious that Bruce had no control of his own, smiling confusedly at the whole scene before him, almost completely lost for words.

"Wait wait, we'll show you, turn off the lights!" She instructed with a giggle, so Bruce obliged and reached back to switch the lights off. It took a few seconds of darkness as Nova focused her energy, but every light that was wrapped around her body began shining brightly as she radiated electricity over her body, causing the small group to start cheering and laughing once again, this only increasing when Nova started to waddle around the room like a living Christmas tree; Tony laughed so hard at the sight that he had to sit down. Bruce himself couldn't suppress his laughter either.