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

[exweapon]

"Yup," I say, and take a large bite out of whatever kind of bird it is I've got on my plate right now. I could elaborate, but I'd rather just let that one sit.

[manwithoutfear]

That's illuminating. I can't fault the man for answering my question, but I would've hoped for more detail. If I choose to assume this is all really happening, getting more detail of what happened on Halloween to others might give me some peace of mind.

"Did he piss you off?"

[exweapon]

"If I stabbed everyone on the island who pissed me off, the docs would be a lot busier," I say, giving him a look that says he's got a fair chance of being among them before I remember he can't tell I'm doing that anymore.

He can probably guess.

"Island got into my head on Halloween."

[manwithoutfear]

That, however, piques my interest. I stop my search for a dinner roll, hand stilling over something that's radiating enough heat that it must've just come from the kitchen.

"How?" I ask, sharper than I intend, more urgent. If there's even one more person who had their head messed with, maybe I can piece together some sense of my own situation. "You didn't just see monsters?"

[exweapon]

"I saw dead X-Men," I say. "Went berserk. Wasn't like usual. Artificial. Why? Weren't yourself that day?"

Guy has some interest in the situation, perked up at that. It's my best guess.

[manwithoutfear]

I debate saying anything at all, but unlike someone like Steve, I doubt Wolverine will pry any deeper if I let a few details slip.

"No, I was myself, just..." I start, finding a dinner roll and dropping it into my plate. "I was lead to believe I'd been drugged by an old enemy. That none of this was real."

I fail to mention that the argument was very convincing.