THE LITTLEST AVENGER ▹ Avengers Fanfiction

Christmas

Swiftly picking up the conversation, Natasha broke the momentary silence, ready to get their day on track.
"So are we gonna start on the Christmas decorations today?" She asked, clapping her hands together as she looked at everyone for confirmation.

Clint and Tony shrugged as though they didn't care (although it was common news that they most definitely did), Loki wrinkled part of his nose.
"Must we?" He asked unenthusiastically, giving Natasha a sideways glance.

Before she could make any objections, Steve jumped in the conversation, his brows lowering in defence.
"Yes, we have to!" He exclaimed, his protectiveness over Christmas taking control. "And were all gonna pitch in with the meal, decorations and presents." He demanded, staring intently at Loki, who shrugged in surrender.

Having won his battle, Steve relaxed his shoulders, the scowl having abandoned his face in a matter of seconds.

With that, Tony spoke.
"So I guess we better start today then, make sure presents are ready, get the tree up." He encouraged as smiles began to grow on everyone's faces — no matter how 'immature' it may be, they couldn't help but love being in the Christmas spirit.

All through the conversation, Alex sat, her head leaning on Steve's shoulders, listening to whatever it was they were talking about, her mind whirring in confusion.
Christmas: she had heard of Christmas, it was a holiday, she knew that much, but when it was and what it was about, she had no clue about that.

Finally taking advantage of the sudden silence, she opened her mouth to question what on Earth they were talking about.
"Um, what..." she paused, unsure of quite how to phrase such a question. "What do we actually... do on Chriss-mas?" She asked, elongating the 's' in Christmas as she contemplated what she was saying.

Everyone's heads turned to face the little girl, their eyes wide as they stared at her, dumbfounded; she was always so bright and happy, and she had fit in so well in their little family, that they occasionally forgot of Alex's dark past, of her lack of childhood.

They thought they had taught her must of the basics (waffles, games, pancakes, birthdays), however, they were clearly mistaken.

"Oh god."
Tony sighed, placing his head in his hands, as Steve took a deep breath, preparing himself to explain everything, from beginning to end.
Although Steve didn't say it out loud, he seriously loved Christmas, and now was the perfect time to share his enthusiasm.
"So..."

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Alex

By the time Steve had filled Alex in on almost everything there was to know about Christmas, everyone else was bored it of their minds, itching to beginning their annual decorating; so once the sound of voices came to an end, the all pounced on the opportunity.

"I think we should start decorating now, then!" Natasha exclaimed, whilst at the same time Tony and Loki said similar words, all of them jumping to their feet.

"Oh, okay sure." Steve replied, shrugging, clearly oblivious to his friends' boredom.

Whilst everyone began filing out the room to get the festive decorations, Alex stayed seated for a moment longer, trying to wrap her brain around the concept of 'Christmas'. So was she going to be given presents this year? Were they really going to have a proper traditional meal?

Her rapidly beating heart gave a little skip of excitement as a smile spread across her face. Happily, she leapt up from where she sat, skipping out the room to assist with the decorations.

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

It took a total of fifteen minutes for all the decorations to be brought to the living room; boxes upon boxes filled with red and green baubles and tinsel were stacked in the centre of the room, a thick layer of dust coating the top of each of them.