Santa Claus is coming to town

[afallenstar]

Who: Secret Santa participants, but also EVERYONE!
Where: Town Hall
When: Evening of day 24
What: Present giving! The Secret Santa reveal, and anyone who wants to have a christmas party is welcome to join too!
Notess: Party style thread guys, so go nuts. No order, everything is chaos, tag to your hearts content, feel free to break off into separate threads, and no spiking the punch! Also I think she's sort of mentioned it to a bunch of people but want to do me some lovely favours and handwave the actual name drawing? I will backtag if people want but it seems a little pointless to thread that out.


There's another message on the network that morning from Anna, just audio again. It's about as garbled as her first one regarding the Secret Santa idea, but for anyone who is listening closely enough they'll make out a few details. Namely this evening, town hall, and bring your presents before she shuts it off.

She's spent the rest of the day trying to do what she can to make the place look nicer. She's hardly got Christmas decorations on tap, but she's done what she can with what she has all the same. There's paper snow flakes up around the place, some of the food from her house placed in bowls to make it more party-appropriate, and it's no fir but she has relocated a small tree from the edge of the woods and placed it in the hall. Barely decorated, not even the right kind of tree, it's the best she can do with the resources she's been given.

Now all there is to do is wait for people to come.

Comments

[pursuitofcappiness]

He rolls his eyes and mouths "sorry" before he remembers that's not going to work. He takes one of Tony's hands, the one not holding the package, and curls all his fingers in but the pointer. Starting at a lower corner, he brings Tony's finger to his chest and draws a pentagram. That's team almost-Helen-Keller for "Steve."

[manofiron]

He hates not being able to see for so many reasons, but this is an example of one of them. Whoever it is is going something to his hand and he has no idea what it is. It's disturbing and alarming and he—Oh. Oh.

"Steve?" His other hand, still holding the soft thing, comes up to pat his chest, and the muscle beneath his hand certainly feels like Steve. "Jesus, we're a mess, aren't we?"

Even though he can't see Steve's expression, he knows that Steve can see his, so gives him a crooked smile. "Are you okay? Tap my hand once for yes and twice for no."

[pursuitofcappiness]

He taps three times.

There's no "I'm okay, but..." And it's hard to convey this to a blind man when you can't speak. But at the very least, Tony can tell that Steve can hear him, so that's always a plus.

He takes Tony's hand and points it to his own chest, and then to Tony's lips to mimic a shh. He can't talk, but otherwise, he's fine. And then he takes the hand holding the gift, lightly presses it to Tony's chest. Open it.

[manofiron]

"Three taps wasn't an option." There's nothing in his tone to suggest that he's starting to get worried, but it comes out of his mouth faster than it would have if he wasn't feeling the nauseating twist of anxiety knotting his stomach.

He wants to shake him when he starts doing the finger thing again, but he can't shake him into talking again, which is what he wants most of all. So he takes a deep breath, tells himself to chill the hell out, and waits until the miming is over and he thinks he has it sorted out.

"Okay, okay. Opening the present. Don't go anywhere." It isn't Tony's fault that Steve can't talk, he does that, but he can't help feeling like he should be able to do something to fix it anyway. He can't, not right now, so he unwraps the present and feels around at it for a minute, until the shape and the texture paint a picture to his sightless eyes.

"It's a really skinny blanket?" he says, trying to joke, before giving him a wry smile. "Or a scarf. Yes?"

[pursuitofcappiness]

He taps twice for skinny blanket, once for scarf.

Then he takes it from Tony and wraps it around his neck so that the Iron Man heads dangle on either side. It would probably look better on him if he wasn't wearing shades. But Steve isn't going to take them off, if Tony feels self-conscious about the whole sight thing.

He thinks, "did you want a blanket?"

Because there are some left.

[manofiron]

He has no idea what it looks like, but it's warm and comfortable and even if he looks stupid wearing it, even if it's bright orange and covered in purple sequins, he's not going to take it off. At least not until he gets back to the house. It's cold outside, for one thing. And it's thoughtful.

Steve didn't have to give him anything, but he did.

"Thanks. Really, I—Oh! Hey, wait, really don't go anywhere. Are you still there? I have something for you too."

He reaches down to the bag at his feet and pulls out a long box wrapped in red paper. Inside is a pair of fairly modern looking jeans and a slinky black sweater that would be more commonly seen on someone like Tony than Steve. When he'd still had his sight, he'd spent half a day combing the empty houses looking for clothes that not only would fit Steve, but also looked like they'd made it into the 21st century. This is what he found.

[pursuitofcappiness]

Steve is all smiles when he takes the box even if Tony can't see him. If his excitement and happiness were tangible, then Tony would feel it. The clothes aren't really his style, but he doesn't care. They're his size, and they look durable. Denim is super durable. And it's not like he's opposed to wearing tight clothes or anything. He definitely won't be used to the cut of the denim.

He doesn't know how to express thank you without words or writing, so with the items in his hands, he pulls Tony into a brief hug. Merry Christmas, he thinks.

[manofiron]

He's not expecting the hug at all, but his surprised stiffness fades quickly and he returns it. "I'm assuming this means that you like it." Once upon a time, he would have followed that up with a joking comment along the lines of or you're just looking for an excuse to grab my ass. There's none of that now. Instead, he adds, "Or that you don't hate it, anyway."

When Steve lets go, Tony does too and steps back with a smile that reaches his sightless eyes. "Merry Christmas, Steve."

[pursuitofcappiness]

He's almost forgotten how much Tony talks, doesn't even give anyone time to respond. So he takes Tony's hand and fashions it into a thumbs up. Yes, he likes it. It's a good gift, and very thoughtful. It's nice to see people's reactions to gift-giving and Tony's been robbed of it. Steve tries to help this along by drawing a smiley-face on Tony's wrist.

[manofiron]

"And that I'm taking as a like."

He doesn't know about the commonly held sensibilities of the people in the 40s. Sure, there's Steve and his preference for old fashioned things that would look better on a grandfather. But there's nothing saying that everyone is like that. Maybe his girlfriend will appreciate the new clothes. If she does, it'll be like two gifts in one.

"Also that you're having fun at this thing, since you're drawing smiley faces instead of frowning ones."

[pursuitofcappiness]

He takes his jacket off and slips the sweater on over his plaid. It fits-- it's clingy, but it fits and it really makes his features pop, since they're so lightly-colored. The neck would look even better without a collar peeking out from under, but he's not undressing at the party.

Smiling brightly, he reaches out to touch part of his now warm and slightly fuzzy arm to Tony's hand, to show that he's wearing the clothes.

Yes, it's very much a like.

[manofiron]

He can't quite follow the rustle that follows. There's movement, he can feel the displaced air shifting around him as Steve does... something, but he has no idea what it is. Not until there's an arm rubbing against his hand and he puts two and two together.

Steve's wearing the sweater. The slinky, form-fitting sweater that Tony's been dying to see him in and can't. It figures. It so figures.

"For the record," he tells him, smirking slightly. "If I ever get my sight back, you're putting that on again. I don't care if it's eighty degrees out, you have to put it on for a minute so that I can see what it looks like on you."

[pursuitofcappiness]

He silently agrees to this, because it's not like Tony can see him nod anyway. It's warm and pleasant and he wouldn't have picked to wear black, black is a color of mourning and formality and Steve prefers brighter colors, but it's soft and it clings nicely and it is way less ridiculous than the stars and stripes.

Instead, he tugs a little at the scarf, as if to say that if he's putting on the sweater in 80-degree weather, Tony better put this on too.

[manofiron]

The fabric of the scarf twists against his neck, and for a second, Tony doesn't know what it means. Blindness is still new to him. He's still learning the nuances of all these other forms of communication. But he's a quick study and it doesn't really take a genius to figure it out.

"You got it," he says with a smile, nodding more agreeably that he usually responds to suggestions. "I'll wear the scarf too."

[pursuitofcappiness]

He pats it back down on Tony's neck and then lightly pokes at his stomach, silently asking if he'd like anything to eat or drink.

[manofiron]

"I would do the Pillsbury Doughboy giggle, but I think he was after your time." And no one needs to hear Tony's impression of the hoo-hoo!

"Can you..." Brow wrinkling, he bites his lip and fidgets for a second, needing a moment to talk himself into asking for help. "If you could help me get to where the drinks are, I'd appreciate it."

[pursuitofcappiness]

Steve takes Tony by the arm and grabs his bag, leading him over to the drink table. Since Tony doesn't like to be handed things, as Steve has learned recently, he takes Tony's wrist and leads his hand to a wine bottle, then to a pitcher of water, whereupon he writes out "H₂O" on the back of Tony's hand, to orange juice (OJ), milk (MILK), and punch (PUNCH).

[manofiron]

He would be lying to himself if he denies that he wants alcohol. However, he knows that being drunk and blind is a terrible combination and doesn’t want to do that to anyone who might have to be associated with him later.

“Um, water, I think,” he decides, reaching tentatively back toward the pitcher. The last thing he wants to do is knock it over. “Can—Sorry. Would you pour me a cup?”

[pursuitofcappiness]

Steve does so, getting Tony a plastic bottle to pour water in because he can carry it around in his sack and wouldn't need assistance getting it to his mouth and spilling it. He knows it's not socially acceptable to walk around with a bottle of water at a party, but he thinks the independence is important.

He puts the bottle on the table and leads Tony's hand to it.

[manofiron]

As far as Tony's concerned, social acceptability went out the window at about the same time as his sight vanished. He figures out what Steve's doing as he guides his hand to the bottle, debates with himself for a second, and makes a decision.

"Steve, seriously, it's okay. If I can't trust Captain America not to give me something that's going to slice my hands off, I can't trust anyone. I appreciate the gesture, but it's fine. You have something to give me, just hand it to me."

[pursuitofcappiness]

Steve looks at him like, really?

But then he takes the bottle and presses it into Tony's hands, curling his fingers over to make sure he's got a good grip before letting go. He pours himself a small plate of popcorn and pretzels and waits for if Tony decides he wants something else.

And will probably have to leave some plates of food in the house in his direct line of movement.

[manofiron]

It's not just a random oddity, Tony's dislike of people handing him things. There's some deep-seated childhood trauma that goes along with it, he just doesn't talk about it.

He taps his fingers against the bottle, getting a sense of its dimensions. Once he has, and he's confident he's not going to pour it all over himself, he takes a drink, not realizing until then just how thirsty he's been.

"Thanks, Steve. I owe you one."

The ones he owes are slowly beginning to pile up. He hopes that soon he can start paying some of them back.

[pursuitofcappiness]

Steve shakes his head, not for Tony's sake or anything. When he's done, Steve takes the bottle and fills it up the rest of the way, capping it for Tony so he can drink from it later.

As far as Steve is concerned, in this kind of environment and in their line of work, it's not about dues. If they take care of each other and keep an eye on each other, that will be the only way they can manage through.

He taps Tony on the wrist, because he's got somewhere to take him.

[manofiron]

"I really want to make a comment here about Lassie and Timmy being down a well, but I'm afraid you won't get the reference." It's out of his mouth before he can stop it, and when he thinks about it, he wonders if maybe that's a little mean. Steve's helping him, he doesn't have to do it but he is, and Tony knows he doesn't have to be a dick about it.

"Sorry. The whole blind thing, I'm not. Adjusting." Sighing, he shakes his head. "What is it? Show - and I use that word as loosely as possible - me."

[pursuitofcappiness]

Tony's right, he has no idea what he's talking about, but that doesn't stop him from dragging him over to the tree. Tony can't see it, but he should be able to smell it. It's not the right kind and it doesn't smell like pine, but he takes Tony's hand so he can touch the leaves, feel some of the ornaments. He know Tony has a vast imagination and can picture it in his head, if he wants. This would be much more difficult if he were Thor.