A Very Merry Marvel Thanksgiving

[wasafreak]

Thanksgiving hadn't been something Teddy anticipated celebrating, and even now that he's here, it feels odd. Not just the fact that his jaw is wired shut and he's got a brace on his leg, but the fact that he was invited to Captain America's house and arrived to find the original Cap and Bucky and alternate universe Peggy Carter setting up a pretty impressive Thanksgiving buffet is just so surreal. Steve greets them at the door with a genuine smile and pats Billy on the shoulder and ushers them in to get drinks, and Teddy tells himself he's paranoid and Bucky isn't shooting him and Billy a sideways look warning them off of getting caught making out in any more closets, and then reminds himself that this is real life.

Kind of.

Instead of agonizing over what an appropriate tropical island equivalent of 'nice Holiday sweater' was, he let Billy dress him (also literally, see again: brace) and thinks they made the right call- the house is all warm wood craftsman, and the three heroes already there are dressed casually but nicely, and there are old photos and some pretty incredible drawings hanging up, which distract Teddy and Billy to the point of rudeness, except Steve seems all too glad to tell them stories and answer questions. Bucky chimes in to remind him of details and it's... it's maybe the coolest thing that has ever happened, other than discovering his connection to the Avengers.

It relaxes him, and Teddy types up short phrases and sentences on his iPad when he feels really compelled to contribute, keeps "Happy Thanksgiving" on his clipboard to copy and paste it when new people arrive. It doesn't take more than an hour for a pretty respectable number of people to show up, the chatter growing in volume, and even though it's been a pretty crappy couple of months, and a pretty rough couple of years, Teddy finds himself feeling pretty good.

Comments

[howmanylives]

The relief Jamie felt for having the ceremony done was palpable, and his face broke into a wide grin.

"I can now kiss the bride," he murmured, sliding his hands up Layla's arms to wrap her in close. He ducked his head to catch her mouth in a slow, steady press, but mindful of their audience, he kept things chaste. Still, he didn't want it to end.

[butterflyfactor]

She felt warm. She felt happy. It was sublime and calming, a balm that sunk in deep and soothed a million little anxieties and insecurities she kept pushed down and knotted up to the best of her ability, every day. That lasted about three seconds before everything in her bubbled up as a kind of giddy joy, and she surged up against Jamie to throw her arms around his neck and hang on him, smiling into a somewhat more exuberant kiss.

There was a swell of applause and laughter and people were saying nice things. Someone whistled. It was totally white noise for Layla, appreciated but merely consequential compared to Jamie's arms around her back and his mouth against hers, and the promise he'd just made. She broke the kiss grinning and hugged him more tightly, chin on his shoulder.

"I'm gonna screw your brains out when we get home," she said into his ear under the blanket of congratulatory sound, before pulling back and smiling prettily at their friends and acquaintances.