kore_logs | Santa Claus is coming to town

Entry tags:

Santa Claus is coming to town

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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

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.

"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."

Edited 2013-01-04 02:08 (UTC)

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).

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?”

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.

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."

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.

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.

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.

"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."

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.

He doesn't know where they're going, but the smell of tree soon answers that question for him. It's not a traditional Christmas tree, if the smell's any indication, but since it's a tree and it's inside, he assumes that it's there because of the holiday. When his fingers touch things that are most definitely not leaves, he thinks his theory has proven true.

"Christmas tree, yeah?" He turns his head in Steve's direction. "Did you help decorate it? Are some of these ornaments Steve Rogers originals?"

He guides Tony over to touch some paper lanterns he made really fast with various designed papers, string and tape. Some of them are round, like baubles, and some of them are just curved, like a design in the shape of a Christmas light. He'll keep them around until after they're healed so Tony can see them with his eyes later.

There aren't any real lights on this tree. The closest thing they have is Tony's chest, and Steve smiles a little at the image of trying to get Tony to sit on top and be the star.

"You made..." He runs his fingers over the little things, trying to figure out what they are. Paper. Something too smooth that feels like tape. Slightly fuzzy something that he dimly recognizes as string. His knowledge of Christmas decorations is rudimentary at best, something he's seen from a distance without actually being involved in. But he takes a shot in the dark with it anyway.

"Light? Are these little paper lights? When did you do that? I didn't notice." It's like he was blind before he was blind, and the thought shuts him up, leaves him standing there, lightly rubbing a finger over the surface of one of the decorations.

Earlier, Steve thinks. And he has no idea how to convey that he's been working on them off and on for the last few days while he was searching for things with which to wrap gifts. And then he worked on them in between lines of knitting, to keep everything from getting too mundane.

But he was trying to keep to himself the whole time, so of course Tony didn't notice. He was going to hang them up around the house, and he might still, later, when they go home.

Instead, he takes off an ornament that he made for the tree by layering a thin circle of cellophane and then stacking cut-out shapes on top from some old silver wrapping paper scraps. He thinks Tony should recognize the grooves and dips the wrapping paper makes, since it's an arc reactor.

At this point, Tony would recognize an arc reactor made out of toothpicks. He’s had his hands on his own so many times, modifying it, reworking it, making it more efficient, less likely to have problems, that he knows the shape of it as intimately as he knows the shape of his hands. One that’s made out of paper is easy to recognize.

He can’t see the tree. He can only know that he faces it, can only touch its leaves and the homemade ornaments that grace its branches. For a moment, that’s what he does. Stands there in front of the tree, beside a man that he still doesn’t know quite how to act around.

Finally, he reaches out to touch his arm. Unlike Steve, he can talk, but right now, he opts not to. He doesn’t say anything at all, just squeezes his arm once. Mostly in thanks, but also for a hundred other reasons he can’t even begin to decipher.

He has no way of knowing what Tony's thinking, but he mouths a you're welcome that Tony will never see. He doesn't know how else to let Tony enjoy the party, aside from taking him around to see people. He does kind of feel like he's been hogging Tony's time. But he doesn't know how to ask who he wants to speak with or what Tony actually wants to do.

He starts by picking up the sack and handing it to Tony, as if to ask, who else are you supposed to get gifts to?

Oh, right. The party.

Tony takes the bag with a blink, old habits being too hard to break. Of course he needs to go. Steve's busy. There are probably people here he wants to talk to and spend time with, not babysitting Tony's sorry ass all night.

"Thanks. Uh, for the—Enjoy the party. It's not Christmas in Rockefeller Square, but it's better than nothing, right?" He lifts the bag in a little salute and turns away from the tree. "I'd say don't drink too much eggnog, but you can probably handle it."

Is Tony crazy? Steve is not letting him stumble around trying to find people blind. He lightly tugs at the bag, and follows in step, carefully trying to ensure that Tony doesn't run into anything on the way.

He's trying to make his displeased Captain America face, but that's one benefit to being blind. Can't see Steve crossing arms over his chest being a lecturing dad.

Steve's following him. He can feel the weight of his presence at his side and that's as unexpected as it is... acceptable. He would have thought he'd be bothered by it, but he's not. It's actually kind of nice, knowing that he's not alone. That someone's there guarding his back. He never thought it would be Steve. He's glad that it is.

"Think you can help me get to a corner? I'd—It's better if I'm not standing out in the open, in the way and tripping people."

Steve takes Tony by the arm and he's relieved, actually, that Tony wants to accept his help. And he guides him over to a corner, writes a sign that says "If you're my friend and haven't gotten a gift from me, then ask me for it," and tapes it onto Tony's back with a pat.

Tony, oblivious, assumes that that's a friendly, reassuring pat on the back. Not that Steve's taping the social equivalent of a Kick Me sign to him.

"Thanks, Steve. I appreciate it." Here in the corner, at least, he can be out of the way without being too awkward about it. And he can still talk to people. Once he realizes that there are people standing around wanting to talk, that is. "Enjoy the rest of the party, huh?"

Oh, it's definitely reassuring. He takes Tony's hand and makes a call-me gesture, holding it up to his ear, before he takes leave.

He'll drop by every once in awhile to see if he's still alright, though.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Santa Claus is coming to town

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject