how i met stephen strange

2x3: Ripple Effect

"Kids, in the May of 2000, you uncle Thor had a bad break-up with my friend Bruce after their relationship ended in flames the day after my birthday. So it's not surprise that when Bruce invited us to his place for Christmas the year, Thor decided not to go."

DECEMBER, 2000

"You have to come!" Tony tries. "Come on, Bruce said it was fine."

Thor shakes his head, sitting next to Val in the booth while Tony slides into Jessica's side of it. By September, Thor's café had already been set up, so Thor hired Tony and Loki at Asgard. Thor kept gushing about how great the name Tony's friend picked out was and how glad he is that he was suggested it. Thor, Tony and Loki came to MacLaren's straight from work, where Jessica and Val had already ordered the first round of shots.

"No. See, he says it's fine, but if I go I'm going to ruin Christmas for everyone," Thor declines. "Just go, you guys."

"We don't want to go without you," Val frowns. "Either you go or none of us are going."

Thor sighs, putting an arm around Val, "I love you guys, which is why I'm saying just go for the party. I'm fine with it. Just because he and I aren't friends doesn't mean you can't be."

"Not that I'm getting soft or anything, but we just don't want you to be alone on Christmas," Jessica says.

Loki offers, "If him being alone is the problem, Thor can spend Christmas with me and our mother."

Thor nods, "Exactly. I'd like some quality time with my brother. It's a win-win for everyone. You get a good party, I get to hang out with my family, and nobody ruins anybody's Christmas."

"Fine, we'll go," Tony says. "But we have to have our own Christmas, whether it be after the party or on the 26th."

"Deal," they all agree.

"Of course, Tony," Thor says. "Christmas isn't Christmas without you guys."

"Aw, Thor!" Val grins, hugging Thor who returns it happily. "Don't get soft on us now."

Thor kisses her forehead fondly and says, "Anyway, just go for the party. Who knows? Maybe you'll meet someone. Well, not Tony. He's got Matt. Is he going for the party?"

Tony nods, "Yeah, he's got no classes so he can come along, but he said he might leave early, noisy parties aren't his scene."

"Oh, that sucks," Thor says. "Well, we can invite him to our quieter after-Christmas party."

"Of course," Tony replies, downing his drink. "Okay, so Jess, Val, Matt and I will be at Bruce's and Thor will be at Loki's, and we will all meet back at me and Thor's place the day after at... 7PM?"

They all agree and the conversation goes back to their daily nonsense. A customer with a strange coffee order at Asgard, Jessica's peculiar client who thinks his dolls are stalking home and Val's client drama revolving around two artists she wouldn't name who refuse to work together. Loki even joins in by offering up a story of his own: a boy who wore a dress to school just so he could prove to a bigoted teacher that he wore it better.

"Eventually the party rolled around and we went to it."

"Welcome," Bruce says, opening the door. There's a surprising amount of people there. When Bruce said it was going to be a big party, they didn't think this many people would attend. "Leave your coats at the hanger and if you're worried about losing your belongings, I can keep them locked up in my room until you leave."

"We're good. Thanks, Bruce," Val says sincerely, hanging her coat on the rack.

Bruce asks, "So Thor decided not to come?"

"Not a personal thing. He didn't want to take a chance on ruining Christmas for anyone," Jessica explains.

Bruce nods, "Good choice. I don't have the energy for another argument, especially not today. But he's not alone?"

"With his family," Tony answers.

"Okay," Bruce says. "Well, have fun. Drinks are in the fridge, take them as you like. Leave whenever you like, the door is unlocked. No pressure to stay if you need to go."

Jessica and Val instantly split off to get drinks and Tony guides Matt to the couch. Matt decided against bringing his cane due to not wanting to inconvenience anyone in such a crowded setting. Even though Bruce assured him earlier on that nobody at the party would mind if he had a cane with him, Matt insisted, so Tony had taken on the responsibility of watching out for him since it was a little noisy for Matt to just hear people coming his way.

"Scotch for the lawyer," Jessica says, putting a glass in Matt's hand. "And beer for the soon-to-be CEO of Stark Industries."

"Thanks," Tony says, taking the bottle from her.

"Val went off to dance with someone she saw," Jessica explains her absence. "I'm gonna hook up with Erik Gelden or something."

"I will never get over how blunt she is," Matt laughs, drinking from his glass.

Tony chuckles, shaking his head, "Right? But we love her for that."

"We do," Matt agrees. "Don't mind me, go dance or something. You've been working hard at Thor's café, you deserve some time to let loose."

"If I'm dancing, you're coming with me. For one song, at least," Tony bargains. Matt smiles and takes Tony's hand, letting him pull him up off the couch.

"Fine," Matt says. The playlist Bruce had played for the party starts playing a romantic song, coincidentally, and the two of them hold each other closely, rocking slowly to the words.

"Merry Christmas, Matt," Tony says quietly.

Matt kisses Tony before pulling away, smiling, "Merry Christmas."

"The party's pretty uneventful for most of it. I met some people there, but none of them were interesting enough to talk about. When it hit 9, Matt went home early like he said he would. By 11, I decided to go home."

Tony takes a step out of the door before going back inside. Bruce raises an eyebrow, "Are you leaving?"

"Yeah, didn't realise it got so much colder. I knew I should have listened when Thor told me to bring a coat," Tony mutters. He looks around and spots a green jacket on the couch, a 'S' on the left breast of it. He picks it up, asking, "Is this anyone's?"

"Not mine, that's for sure," Bruce says. "I don't remember who wore that. Hold on." He takes the jacket and shouts above the noise, "Is this anyone's?" When nobody comes forward to claim it, Bruce gives it to Tony, "Just wear it home. I'm sure it'll be fine."

"Okay, if you say so," Tony says, pulling the jacket on. It's only the slightest bit bigger, the sleeves covering half his palm. "I'm leaving. Thanks for the awesome party, Bruce. If Jess or Val ask for him, tell them I went home."

Bruce nods, "Merry Christmas, Tony."

"Merry Christmas, buddy," Tony replies, walking out the door.

"As I walked home in the green jacket that didn't belong to me, I thought about how life was going. It was good, surprisingly enough. I thought about how I might not be walking home if I never spoke to Matt at MacLaren's last year. The littlest things that happen can have the biggest ripple effects on your life. You see, if I hadn't been rejected by Peter last year, built the robot, met Bruce, let him date Thor, let them break up and Thor came to this party, I wouldn't have walked home. And if I never walked home, I might have never met your father. And that story is just beginning."