𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗕𝗔𝗕𝗬 𝗔𝗩𝗘𝗡𝗚𝗘𝗥𝗦

chapter xv.

"You reckon they believe in Santa?" Tony asked curiously as he stirred his coffee.

"How should I know? I suggest we play along anyway just in case," Loki replied. Tony nodded his agreement with a sad kind of shrug, his gaze drifting to the windows. He'd really hoped that he would have his friends back for Christmas and it was even more frustrating that he was on the very edge of a breakthrough with the cure. Loki gave him a pitying look which broke him further - sympathy was the last thing he needed. The God pulled him close and Tony fought to prevent his eyes from tearing up. Christmas with the Avengers would have been something brilliant. Tony had spent all night dreaming of Clint denying how excited he was and Thor pulling crackers with Steve to prove who was stronger; of Natasha forcing them to watch the Doctor Who special and Bruce watching quietly with that anxious smile he always had until Tony forced him to join in the celebrations. He dreamt of Loki standing under the doorway with a grin and gesturing to some mistletoe which he had enchanted to trap people under until they kissed or hugged as a prank. He hadn't wanted to wake up at all.

But he had. Of course he had. He had annoying five year old children to look after. Tony checked his watch to discover that it was only 5:00am, immediately feeling guilty for waking Loki so early by accident. Not that the ex-villain had minded much, he was entranced by the thick flurries of snow fluttering past the window. Tony thought that the God himself was a much better view than the snowflakes but quickly averted his gaze when Loki caught him staring. That made Loki laugh which made it worth it. He opened his mouth to say something but was interrupted by a loud shout echoing through the tower.

"Snow! It's snowing!" The yell was promptly followed by others, the noise reaching them through the thick walls and causing Tony to wince and take a long drink of coffee. "Wake up!"

"It's snowing!"

"Look out of the window!"

"Come on get dressed!"

Cries of excitement rippled throughout the floor until Tony laughed loudly and grinned at Loki. "We better get dressed. Looks like we're heading to the park before someone comes along and ruins the fresh snow." Loki nodded, trying not to look excited. Snow was his favourite weather. Tony had only just gotten out of bed and stepped out of his room to be met by Clint sprinting past him. "Clint!" Tony admonished, "Put a warmer jacket on. That one doesn't even have any sleeves!" Clint stuck his tongue out but pulled a warmer one on, crossing his arms defiantly even so. Thor let Loki wrap a scarf around him, Tony helped Natasha into a stylish red and black beanie, and Steve was particularly pleased when Tony helped him into a pair of mittens. "Okay," Loki said satisfied at last," Is everyone warm enough?" But his question was addressed to an empty room, as Steve and Clint had already challenged Thor to a race out of the door.

Seven unique patterns of footprints were left in the snow, leading to the empty park, the view obscured by a swirling storm of snowflakes. After a short time, they had tired of running, and were still enjoying throwing snowballs at each other, a chorus of joyous laughter always following whenever it hit someone in the face. They all seemed unaffected by the snow, especially Loki, who stood unbothered and made snowballs with bare hands without even flinching. The gate to the playground was swung open excitedly, and four of the children and Loki rushed in. Bruce, who Tony stayed with, had stopped a few feet away to decide what kind of animal had left interesting paw prints in the snow.

They joined the others soon enough, where Clint had already scooped the snow that had rested on the swing seat and shoved it down Steve's back with a laugh. Steve retorted by kicking more snow over the target Clint had been busily drawing with a stick. "What's that you're drawing, Natasha?" Tony asked, gently kneeling down and watching her roll some snow into a ball, "A snowman? A snowwoman?"