Housewarming party

[aa_natasha]

=NYC= Great Room - Ground Floor - Avengers Mansion The Great Room at Avengers Mansion earns its place namely by its size: the facilities are updated and rather expansive, and consolidate several different purposes in one area. It's one of the few rooms on the ground floor that has been completely stripped of ornate walling and flooring. The walls are a comfortable sage green and the floor has been covered with plush carpet and expensive tile, as appopriate. The sizable kitchen takes up the far end, stock full of buffed metal and shiny appliances, while an entertainment room fills the near end. An oversized island that also serves as a breakfast bar separates the two spaces. The living space is set off by a pair of arm chairs and a small table set against the back of a large sectional couch. Several arm chairs flank the couch and coffee table to complete the 'U' that faces a television that is almost /too/ big, and just about every entertainment and video game console known to man. As the last rays of the sun fade from the sky, the darkening night coaxes to life all the earth-bound stars of the city: buildings and street lights cast their scattered gleam across the black. Far above, the true stars go unseen. Some special property of these bullet-resistant, shatter-proof, sound-blocking, all-around-magical windows also reduces the glare from the brightly lit interior to allow for a much more clear view of the night. Jarvis is the music master, and television is all set for Mario Party -- or whatver. Look. Stark doesn't play video games. He lives them. The last of the alcohol arrived hours earlier, and has been in place for at least half that time. It didn't go untouched very long. There's a bottle of Scotch already open, already sampled and the color matches the hue of the liquid in the glass that Stark holds in hand. He is dressed in suit and tie, which either means he is making an effort to dress nice, or Pepper made him behave and play CEO today. (No prize for a right answer.) The bruise on his jaw left as Valkyrie's courting gift has been largely obscured by some gentle touch. That is maybe a hint as to why he is in a suit, too. He lingers by the alcohol, looking like he might need it for tonight. How about another drink? He pours. Thor thunders into the room wearing his armor, sans sleeves, breastplate, leggings, cape--- well, perhaps he is not wearing his armor. He wears a t-shirt that fits because it stretches as well as a pair of old blue jeans. He does wear his normal boots, however. They clatter along nicely. Mjolnir is nowhere in sight. Seeing Stark, Thor frowns a little, but his expression lingers around neutral. He also heads for the bar. Janet perches on a couch arm, having arrived a bit ago to inquire about the card and short note left for her at her own apartment. She didn't realize that she was supposed to be moving /or/ partying tonight, but never let it be said she's not adaptable. About the partying. The moving might require a little more adapting. A jacket has been discarded behind her, and the demure little black dress underneath is made less demure by its absence. And the way she lounges on the couch arm and watches the proceedings around her with a smug smile tucked into the corner of her mouth and a colorful drink in her hand. What is a housewarming without guests? Pepper falls firmly into that guest category, having no room of her own in the Avengers Mansion (even if she has access to it). Of course, she brings gifts with her, eleven large baskets filled with high-end bath and body products and labeled neatly with last names -- Mr. Odinson, Mr. Rogers, Mr. Barton, Dr. Banner, Ms. Romanoff, Ms. Maximoff, Mr. Maximoff, Mr. Astrovik, Mr. Parker, Ms. Van Dyne, Ms. Valkyrie (her research skills have apparently failed her at finding a last name for the woman). If she brought each basket in herself, it doesn't look like it. Her hair is still smoothed into place, skirt unwrinkled and her high heels not showing any wear on them. She stands near Janet, saying at the moment, "You don't have to move in, really. You have a nice place already." Clint is not here to claim his basket. He is likely at SHIELD, submitting to their battery of tests to clear him after the run-in with Loki. Valkyrie has another courting gift for Stark this night. The tall blondes muscular arm's are wrapped around what is literally cask (an Asgardian keg?) of something. "If you do not wish to be stepped on, it is advisable you move," she warns as she trundles into the party towards the bar. "Stark!" Stark peels away from the bar after pouring himself a drink so that he can trail after Pepper. If this seems to coincide with Thor's heading to the bar -- well, coincide, coincident. Unrelated, I'm sure. He lifts his hand (and glass!) to Valkyrie in passing and gives her a quick slap on the shoulder. "Nice. You're invited to the next one." When he reaches Pepper, he looks at Janet. "I was going to disagree with her, say you have to move in, but other than me and Pepper, you're probably the only person who can afford a livable space." Vance is, predictably, near the bar. He did promise, after all. Dressed in jeans and a thin polo shirt, he paws through the available options, picking and choosing a couple bottles and concocting himself a drink. It doesn't take long, and then he's stepping away to greet Pepper and Janet, nearest by, unintentionally trailing Stark. "Hey," he says, stepping up just in time to laugh, "Hey, my apartment's not so bad. Most of the time." Natasha appears from somewhere, silent and sneaky as she does. She's near the bar tipping herself a generous portion of Stark's scotch before anyone has much time to notice, an then she settles into what is certainly friendly silence against one wall with drink in hand and eyes on the crowd. Vision arrives in undistinguished formal suite, his head raised, his high-planed pale face remote and lack-expressioned, if his eyes are rather active. He too gravitates near the bar, but remains observationally distant rather than quite approach. Steve has dressed up a touch from his usual uniform to dark slacks, a particularly pressed button-down, a vest, and a tie. He looks terribly young in a particularly old-fashioned kind of way, and the shield he tries to discreetly lean up against the wall in a convenient spot really doesn't go with his outfit. But considering yesterday, it seems a fairly safe precaution. His gaze finds Stark first, as if to reassure himself of his continued existence. Then it finds Thor. OH GOOD NO MURDER HAS HAPPENED. YET. "But what if I miss all the fun? Like one-sock dorm meetings and truth or dare buck-buck runs?" Janet asks of Pepper with a laugh, arching a brow over the rim of her glass at Stark's appearance, then trailing it around the room. Come on, that's got to be one of the mansions listed amenities. It's hard to tell whether Bruce is meant to be dressed up. He does not seem to spend much time concerned about his wardrobe, anyway. The sleeves of his button-down shirt, a deep burgundy, have been rolled up, and the collar is unbuttoned, loose; the pants are beige, as many of his pants seem to be. He is wearing shoes, which he had taken to forgotten to wander around the lab in his socks, and they aren't sneakers. So that's classy. He is currently investigating his gift basket with a baffled kind of energy, hiding the kind of buried, boyish excitement that lives deep within a man who has not, in his life, gotten a lot of presents. He seems especially puzzled-amused by the fact that he has been provided with fancy soaps. "Are you comparing this to college?" Pepper questions wryly, her brows drawing upwards more for Stark's appearance in the conversation than for Janet. Then she is smiling at Vance, shaking her head in a gesture. "I've seen the outside of your apartment, and that was enough for me." Stark turns with a tip of his head that angles to draw Vance into the conversation. His manner is easy and outgoing. It isn't 100% his public face, but it is certainly quite close to it. He laughs. "For what it is, I'm sure your apartment is quite -- ah. Charming." He looks at Pepper. That's the word, right? Charming? "Vintage? Quaint?" he tries out instead, getting worse and worse. Thor frowns at Stark as he departs, but his gaze doesn't linger. He finds the bar with ease and spies Natasha and Vision. He focuses on Vision. "Last I saw you, you were green," he notes with a chuckle. Even his chuckles are loud, and Vision's appearance loosens his mood a little. Thor continues to look the android over, as though he were an interesting automobile. While everyone else is hanging out on the floor of the Great Room below, there is but one more invitee to this party present, and not under SHIELD examination. And, predictably, Peter is pretty much the only person here in costume. He may have come in through one of the windows above (after getting Jarvis to disable the security on it), or he may have simply climbed all the way from the room he's sort-of taken over for himself on the second floor. He seems comfortable to just hang out upside down for a while on the ceiling as he watches the people enter one by one, bug eyes of his mask moving to keep track of everyone. Finally, he seems comfortable enough to drop down silently next to Natasha, who is hanging off to the side herself. Unfortunately for him, he doesn't "blend". "I'd ask if you came here often, but I already used that line on you, didn't I?" Valkryie grins wryly at Stark's quip, calling back over her shoulder, "You did say you wanted to try mead." Proper mead. Not this Earth shit. She finishes her task of carting it over to the bar and begins setting it up. "Buck-buck?" Vance asks Janet, taking a sip of his drink and laughing at Pepper and Stark. "It's about as good as you get for seven hundred a month in Manhattan," he says, "So... yeah. Charming." He grins, and then says, "Hey, Pepper, thanks for the basket! Nice stuff. We're all going to smell the same, now, huh? Enemies will catch a whiff and run in fear," he jokes. He drinks some more, and then somewhat abruptly sticks a hand out to Janet, "Janet, right? I'm Vance. I don't think we've actually met." Natasha turns her gaze slowly toward Peter, giving him a slight twist of her lips before she sips at what turns out to be, unsurprisingly, very good Scotch. "It's not a particularly good line anyway," she shares. Helpfully. Steve makes his way over to the row of soap presents as well, looking similarly baffled as Bruce in a manner that seems unused to receiving presents as well, if for very different reasons. "Soap," he observes. Vision enacts a small pivot to face Thor fully. He inclines his head low-respectful, expressionless mien replaced by good-natured interest. "Yes," he says. "Green is a very inconvenient color to be." His new presentation, beyond looking more human and less Pinnochio-esque, is drawn in leaner lines. Either way, it's still hiding framework and wires. "I was sorry to startle you the first time we met." "Would I be wrong to?" Janet murmurs to Pepper, giving her a Look before she turns her smile on Vance and widens it. She leans toward him and takes his hand, but doesn't release it. "Buck buck," she confirms, eyes widening sweetly. "As in buck naked." She tugs him a little closer and adds, "And we have not met. So glad to rectify that." When Pietro enters the room, it is with a measured pace to match his sister's, who he has tipped his head towards as he runs his fingers through silver hair that he appears to have attempted to manage today, as opposed to the usual windswept wildness. "--Nice, yes, as long as the power stays on," he quips in return to something said before entrance to the great room, accent rolling along the words. In a deep green button down and some plain black pants that both fit well, he looks at least as if he's made the effort to dress up, even if everything looks very /new/. His shoes are a little more athletic looking than proper dress shoes, but at least they aren't sneakers. "I really want to know the chemical difference between organic and inorganic soap," Bruce says. He picks up one of the fancy wrapped bars from his basket, draws a long inhalation through its wrapper of whatever its sedately manly scent, and puts it back down in the basket again. "Do you think they're trying to tell us we don't shower enough?" Peter drinks nothing. First, he's way underage for that type of thing. Second, he's a goody two-shoes. And third-- it's hard to drink with the mask on. His head turns slightly towards Natasha, and he grins slightly to banter with the spyssassin, "How about 'What's a nice girl like you doin' hanging out on a wall like this?'. Or even, 'Is it hot in here, or just you?'." "Watch out. She bites," Stark warns Vance before detaching from the others to go investigate this mead thing. He approaches Valkyrie with a little skip to his stop at her side. He drains his glass of the Scotch and then sets it down. "So. Mead. How far did that travel, give or take?" Humor lights in Pepper's gaze as it drops at that captured hand and Janet's expression. She asides, innocently, "Vance is still in college himself." Natasha turns her head to fix a dry look on Peter, her brows quirked just so. If she has a sense of humor buried in there, he's yet to find it. She tips her head slightly, gaze clearly taking in the mask and judging its presence, before she says, "Have a drink," and shoves her scotch into the underage spider's hands. "Maybe they'll get better." Wanda laughs at Pietro's quip, smile bid and red as ever as she leans over to swat her brother's arm. "Yes, well it can't all be candlelight," she teases in return, accent ever the same, fiddling with a red bangle on her wrist. Her skirts whisper with her movement, draped in a figure flattering ombre dress that begins dark around the bust, turns red at the hip, and ends in explosions of pinks towards her feet. The black toes of her shoes just peek out from under her skirts. Vance lifts a brow at Stark and glances after him as he heads away before turning back to chuckle and say, "Right, got it. Never heard it called that." He doesn't attempt to reclaim his hand just yet, taking another sip of his drink and agreeing, "Yeah, nice to see another new face. How're you finding stuff?" Pepper gets a laugh and a look. "Thanks! Yeah, just finishing up." "Let me put it this way, Stark. This stuff is out of your world," Valkyrie offers with a dry little grin. Look, she can humor too. "An apology of sorts for your -- what are they called, facials? the other day." Thor laughs, but only a little, at Vision. He focuses on Spider-Man and Natasha for a moment, frowning at the teenager's antics, but eventually the quips make him chuckle, too. His gaze doesn't linger for long, though - that would be eavesdropping. "You are not truly sorry," Thor explains to Vision. "'tis more like your creator... what is the word. Programmed? Yes, programmed you to not cause havok." Thor moves to pat Vision reassuringly on the shoulder. "Don't mind him. He wouldn't know," Janet assures Vance and finally releases his hand to lean back in her seat and grin over at Pepper. "That's when they're the cutest." Yes, Vance, she's totally calling you adorable. Apparently she's a cougar in training. Pepper laughs lightly at Janet's words, a look flitting for a moment over Vance but she only smiles politely. She catches Valkyrie's words (or at least the term 'facials'), and she seems distracted for a moment trying to subtly glance over to Tony and Valkyrie briefly. Humor sparks bright and wicked in Stark's dark eyes as he pushes his glass forward. "Facials, huh? Forgiven. Just let me know if you want me to return the favor." It does not bother him when others don't get his jokes. "This isn't going to poison me or turn me green, right?" He nudge-nudges his glass. Mead me. Fortunately for Peter, he looks like he is completely unworried that he has not managed to make Natasha laugh once. Maybe she's the laughing on the inside kind of girl anyway. The glass is placed into his hand, and the spider looks at it idly, lifting the brown liquid up and swirling it briefly before sniffing it. "You know, someone once told me that this'd put hair on my chest-- but I think that'd just make it a little itchy for me. Got anything a little-- lighter?" "Cute? Really?" Vance inhales through his teeth, head turning and then shaking a little bit before he exhales a laugh, starts to say, "I don't--" and then gets distracted by Stark and Valkyrie. He looks at Pepper, and asks, "Did I just hear that?" Another laugh, another, longer drink, and then he says, "So what do you do, Janet? Besides this?" Vision is not about to deny the god of thunder a shoulder pat, if his expression acquires at least a convincing interpretation of strain. "I don't intend to cause havok, Thor Odinson. Perhaps I can phrase it differently. Walking about as an obvious non-human incurred me difficulty and made my programming difficult to execute." He pauses a moment. "In your case, it nearly caused me disassembly. Therefore, this is preferable." "I already told you once, Stark. We should spar," Valkyrie answers with a wicked grin, eyes dancing at the thought of CONTEST. He'll just have to suit up and wear protection. If...not that kind. The joke goes well over her head as she shrugs, tapping the booze with her fist. Do not try that home kids. "No, nothing of the sort. Although, I make no guarantees for where you find your head in the morning -- it has been known to have an altogether /stronger/ effect on mere mortals." Smiling crookedly, she vents the mead and carefully pours it into his glass. "Try it," Natasha orders, giving Peter a steady look that not many men would deny. "Sip slowly, if you're unaccustomed. Stark pays for high quality liquor. It's smoother than you think." She gives him a nod, then turns without waiting for comfirmation before she's slipping back toward the bar to pour another for herself. "Doesn't organic just mean -- from nature or something?" Steve asks Bruce, brow furrowing lightly. "Or -- I don't know. I see the word around a lot. I don't really understand." He frowns, a little concerned at the latter idea. "Do I smell?" "You did," Janet says airily, not having heard whatever it was herself, but she's run in Tony's circles for long enough to not be surprised by much he says. She taps the side of her glass with her finger nail and looks at Vance. "I manage a research facility. Well, I did before it got moved. Now its more like a lab or two. You?" Pepper's brows lift again, her gaze tearing away from the blonde, leggy Asgardian and her employer to answer Vance with a dry, simple, "Yes." A pause, and then she says with more humor, "I could use a drink." "You are no farther from destruction than you were the day we met," Thor explains with a laugh. His hand lowers. "But you are a good robot. And amusing, to boot. Tell me, do you enjoy the drink called scotch?" Thor's eyebrow raises and his grin broadens. Stark takes the glass from Valkyrie with a grin all full of gratitude. "You are the best person in this room right now. No one has ever given me alcohol from another planet before. Do you know how hard it is to be the first anything for me?" He flirts ... shamelessly. Underline shameless. "I /like/ that. Sparring sounds like a much more painful way to work up a sweat tangling with a blonde than I'm used to. How do you feel about alternative workouts?" (Just checking.) "I'll explain it to you-- some other time," Bruce says to Steve, rubbing the pad of his thumb across the curve of one eyebrow. "I'm not the most fun guy at parties but I feel like there are limits to how boring my party talk should get." He clears his throat, a hint of a pinch at his brow as his eyebrows draw together and he lets his hand drop, turning to set down his gift basket rather than hoarding it to his person all evening. "I don't smell anything," he assures Steve, if a bit vaguely. It's probably really reassuring. His gaze wanders on to circuit the general cluster of the room. Vision examines Thor's lowered hand, before lifting his eyes back to Thor's face. Strained-wary. "Thank you," he says at last, smoothing his expression mild-pleasant again. "I'd be glad to have a drink with you." Good thing that Peter is just barely a man, then. It gives him superpowers over the might of Natasha's look! That, and he doesn't actually have to meet her gaze directly given the bug eyes in the mask. As she abandons him all along to go fetch herself another drink, Peter sniffs the glass tentatively again, but doesn't lift his mask to take a drink. Mostly, he stands there with the glass in his hand, looking back out at the room of people. Vance laughs again briefly, and then nods at Janet, "Labs, cool. Are you a scientist? Or more in management? I'm studying politics at Fordham," he says, "And I bartend some. But I'm spending most of my time here lately." He spots Peter standing awkwardly, and waves. "You a man of new experiences, Stark. I believe...you almost have a room full of them at the moment," Valkyrie notes with a rough laugh, inclining her head towards the room full of AVENGERS (+Pepper who is an honorary one). She pours her own glass of mead, smiling broadly at his comments and likely missing half their subtly. Then, lifting the glass to her lips, she pauses. "You mean like the Pilates?" She scoffs and drinks. "That would be no challenge." Pietro's lips just curve in a small smirk as he's swatted in the arm. "I think candlelight would make this an altogether different affair." Of course, there is talk of facials over there, so who knows what kid of party this is. The drinking kind, apparently, at least. "The bug is here," he notes (super politely and not at all condescendingly), with a lift of a brow for Peter's...attire. "Oh," Steve says, looking down at the soap. "Okay." Organic things is a boring topic of conversation: check. "There's so many -- things," he comments to Bruce, his tone thoughtful. "You know?" Thor grins at Vision and wanders to the bar, beckoning the android to follow. He waits until Natasha is finished before taking the bottle. "Agent," he greets her briefly. One cup for Vision, and then one cup for Thor. Vision's is extended with a strong, large hand for the android to take. Natasha doesn't take long in pouring herself another glass of scotch, neat, and then finding another unpopulated section of the wall to prop herself against. Her eyes remain brightly alert over the rim of her glass, but she, unlike Peter, does not hesitate to sip her way through it. Stark looks a little fascinated by Valkyrie's obtuseness. "You know most women just assume I'm going to hit on them before I open my mouth, but you just let two easy lines go right past you. This is fascinating." He is almost distracted as he lifts his glass to take a sip, but the taste of the liquor on his tongue recalls his attention. He pays it greater heed as he draws a sip in his mouth and then swallows. He doesn't cough or sputter, but he doesn't quite seem to know if he likes it yet. He gives it a moment to settle into his blood. "No, no. Something much more entertaining." "Excuse me," Pepper says politely to both Vance and Janet, smiling to them both as she steps away to fetch a drink. "Is everyone having just scotch?" she questions of those at the bar as she crosses to it. "Progress," Bruce answers cheerfully. His pat at Steve's shoulder is too light to be properly called a clap, or slap. "Don't worry, Rogers -- you don't have to be asleep for decades to miss things." He is a little wry in this sharing. He glances across toward the bar, himself, and wonders of Steve as with idle curiosity, "Do you think Stark remembered to stock any drinks that aren't liquor?" He didn't. There might be some limes around? But there are probably ... mixer ... things. Peter is not standing awkwardly! He is... lounging... awkwardly. But doesn't really seem to be bothered that he is set apart from the rest. When he sees Vance toss a wave his way, he salutes with the glass of scotch, though he has yet to take a drink with it. Maybe it's because there are GIRL COOTIES in it-- Natasha took a drink out of the glass before giving it to him, didn't she? He feels eyes on him, and the mask turns to look at Pietro-- and admire Wanda. Or so one might think. There's a grin underneath his mask as he lifts his free hand and gives a little finger-wiggle-wave to Pietro and his smoking hot date-- errr, sister. "Encouraging," Steve says with a thin sort of smile to Bruce's comment. He glances over at the bar, gaze lingering curiously on the new-brought mead, and says, "He always had beer at Stark Tower when I visited." So optimistic. Steve's tears are delicious. Try those. "/Pietro,/" Wanda chides with a smile, before she lifts her eyes to follow his gaze. The bug is there, just as he says. "It seems so. Shall we -- say hello?" She lifts a hand, waving at Peter with short gesture. "Well, I mean, Stark Tower is a big building, it's got vending machines and stuff," Bruce says. "I could usually find a Sprite." He gestures open-handed toward the bar, eyebrows up as he glances at Steve, distinctly wry in the quirk of his mouth. "Shall we?" He's probably not hitting on you. Janet follows the wave, then does a double take at the costumed figure lounging awkwardly. Red and blue? Really? "Management and administration. I make sure the scientists have what they need." Usually. She who controls the supply lines controls attention. Usually. "Oh. Sure." Steve shoots Bruce a mildly unsteady smile, and then makes his way slowly over to the bar. Who all is even over here now? AT LEAST STARK AND VALKYRIE. "Hello," he greets them politely. Like a nice guy. He gives Tony a closer once-over now that he's nearer to take stock of how well he appears. Vision trails and takes the cup without comment. He examines the liquor inside, then examines Thor over the rim. "Is it traditional to knock them both back at once?" "That assumes you have something which I want, Stark." The large blonde shakes her head, knocking back a long drink of Asgardian Mead with a sigh. They just don't make it like this on earth. "Mead," Valkyrie answers, lifting her glass towards Pepper with an inclination of her chin. It's 'would you like some' sort of look. "More entertaining?" She directs back at Stark. Natasha's attention lingers, for the moment, between the not-drinking Peter and Vance. She tips her good shoulder into the wall, settling her weight into it, and lifts her glass to inhale the scent of very good scotch. Vance nods at Janet's explanation, saying, "Cool. I was considering business school for a while. Management track sort of stuff like that. It can be interesting, all the logistics. But maybe not interesting enough that I should be talking about it to a girl at a party at a superhero mansion," he grins. He lifts his near-empty glass and says, "I'm going to get another drink, can I get you anything?" "Ms. Potts," Thor says when the woman arrives nearby. "I am not certain," is his reply. His expression saddens for a moment while he watches her, but his eyes do not linger. Thor turns to Vision. "Hm. Perhaps. It is done with ale, and mead. And wine." He shrugs his shoulders and pushes his glass forward, towards Vision's. "Nope. I'm good," Janet assures Vance, lifting her glass and swirling the last bit of liquid around inside it. With the chide of his name, Pietro's smirk grows briefly into a smile. "I suppose it would be impolite to not say hello," he says to Wanda. Because he is the expert on all thing polite and nice. Uhm. Anyway, he wanders over Peter's way. (Watch that gaze, Peter). "You seem to have survived any further disasters that may have happened," he says, which is like saying 'hello', right? "I do." Stark is 100% confident in /that/. He grins at Valkyrie and, given Pepper's proximity, reins it in to wave off her second question. Neeever mind. "Good stuff, I think. I haven't decided yet. Might need a little more." So he tops off his mead and looks over the room. Steve's scrutiny reveals a slow darkness under his eyes, like maybe he didn't get much sleep, but otherwise he looks remarkably well. It could be that Pepper is just that good with man makeup. She does pretty good, after all, and Valkyrie's bruise has all but been erased. "Try the mead," he suggests to Steve, and eyes Bruce. "You too. Doctor's orders." Doctor of Alcohol. "You are the model of decency, brother," Wanda lauds with a whisper of a laughter, moving towards Peter in Pietro's wake. She offers the bug a friendly smile, fiddling with the bracelet that hangs on her wrist. That is just like hello. "That's good, considering there was some business at sea -- was there not?" "Mr. Odinson," Pepper returns the greeting with warmth, moving behind the bar to look over the bottles there and consider what she can make herself. Vodka is taken out, as well as olives. "Did you see the baskets that I brought? There is one for you." Vision glances over at Pepper with a "Ms. Potts," in turn. Then he pushes his glass forward in turn until there's the slightest clink of collision. "On three, then, if you like." He counts down, each numeral carefully spaced, and then knocks the scotch back. Glass empties. Successful. "You are the model of decency, brother," Wanda lauds with a whisper of a laughter, moving towards Peter in Pietro's wake. She offers the bug a friendly smile, fiddling with the bracelet that hangs on her wrist. That is just like hello. "That's good, considering there was some business at sea -- was there not?" "Um," Steve says, eyeing the mead a little dubiously. "Alcohol doesn't really -- do much for me," he tells Stark carefully. He looks even /more/ dubious when he glances at Bruce. Vance smiles at Janet and says, "Cool," turning to head up to the bar in search of his own drink, then. "Finding anything good?" he asks Pepper as she roots around, offering, "Want me to make you something?" So that he can show off? Maybe? No? He glances over his shoulder at the Asgardian keg and asks, "Any idea what that is? I bet it's deadly." "I'm sorry," Bruce tells Tony with eyebrows climbing towards the dark rumple of his hair. "Are you prescribing things now? Is that a thing?" He does not make any moves to try the mead. Even without knowing that it is alien alcohol. He does look faintly amused, though. And doesn't pull out his multiple doctorates to dickwave about. "It is /Asgardian /mead//." Stark builds up to double emphasis and then ends by just passing his glass off to Steve like there, take it, and share with Bruce. He goes back for two more, so I sure hope they don't make him drink them all. "Why not? Let's face it, as much practical experience as I have, it ought to count." Thor waits to reply to Pepper. He follows Vision's example after the countdown and knocks the glass back. He swirls the liquid in his mouth a moment, nodding, and eventually swallows. "A good beverage," he deems. And then there are baskets. "Baskets?" Thor asks Pepper. "Ms. Potts, I do not use baskets. They seem a strange notion--" he pauses while he glances over that the aforementioned things. "-- Aha!" he roars. "There are objects inside of them. Presents, I would wager!" he concludes happily. Thirty minutes later... "Hello, Captain. My apologies for the other day," Valkyrie greets, stepping aside so that Stark can gather his fill of the mead. He has a PHD in booze. Phenomenally Hardcore Drunk. "Yes," Vision agrees to agree, setting down the glass. He watches Thor and his basket obliquely. "Oh," Steve says, a bit discomforted at Valkyrie's apology. Or maybe just -- what her apology is referring to. "No need, of course. Wasn't your fault." He takes the mead Stark shoves into his hand and sips, at least. His brows twitch upwards after he swallows. "I don't think it works that way," Bruce remarks understatedly, but his interest does appear to sharpen on the glass as Stark provides its particular provenance. "Really? Can I, like--" He pauses, glances around, and frowns faintly, coming to some internal conclusion or other. "--Just, make sure you don't drink /all/ of it," he says finally. "Soaps, shampooes, conditioners," Pepper explains, wincing lightly at the roar but her smile growing all the wider all the same at Thor's obvious joy. "It is customary to give gifts to people when they move in to new places." She pauses, looking towards Vision. "I am sorry. I didn't think to--get you any." "Soaps, shampooes, conditioners," Pepper explains, wincing lightly at the roar but her smile growing all the wider all the same at Thor's obvious joy. "It is customary to give gifts to people when they move in to new places." She pauses, looking towards Vision. "I am sorry. I didn't think to--get you any." Janet slips away from the room to go in search of her reserved space in the Avengers Hostel. What is with the twitching? It is full of mead-y goodness. It'll put hair on your chest. Valkyrie nods in silent agreement to Steve, pouring herself another of the drink. A second glass, filled with just a taste, is poured for Banner. "For science," she suggests dryly. "Better help me, then," says Stark when he turns back around to pass a glass off to Bruce. He smiles at Steve in benign approval. Good Captain. "That was much easier than I expected. Drink up." He lifts his glass to toast -- "To us." -- and then turns to address that more widely. "The Avengers!" Surely he can't be drunk. He's just happy. He's a happy guy. Natasha arches her brows from her lean against the wall, but she's Russian and she can't resist a toast. She lifts her glass with a murmured echo in Russian before tipping it back for a long swallow of scotch. Vance heads over towards that keg curiously, even though he's already got a drink in his hand. "Is this really alien mead?" he asks, looking at Stark and Valkyrie, and then at Steve and Bruce. Hi. "Can I try?" "Yeah," Peter says lightly to both Pietro and Wanda as they approach him and greet him properly. "Dodging lightning, saving women and children and crooked CEOs from becoming shark food. Just another day on the job for up and coming heroes, don't you know?" The bug looks between Wanda and Pietro curiously for a minute, his entire drink forgotten in his hand. All of that good scotch just going to waste. "You know-- first glance on seeing your names, I thought maybe you guys were married. But that's not it, is it? I'm getting... something else." "I'm not even a chemist or anything but there's interplanetary intoxicants and I'm really more interested in the analysis than the buzz," Bruce apologizes, lifting his hand in a warding gesture. He looks faintly relieved when Vance asks this question because it means he has an excuse to promptly hand off the glass he's been given. "Here you go," he says. "I just called a toast, Bruce," Stark says, pressing his own glass on the poor guy. "Drink or it is bad luck." "Hah-HA!" Thor says happily to Pepper. He gives the woman a one-armed embrace and ruffles her a little. Afterward he lets go. "You may share mine, Vision," he says happily. He pours Vision another drink for the toast, and one for himself as well. He drinks to it, avoiding eye-contact with Stark, and grins happily with a sigh. "Apparently," Steve says with a faint smile to Vance. He lifts his glass readily enough for the toast, as is polite. "The Avengers," he repeats a bit less -- big. Poor Bruce. "Of course, child," Valkyrie begins to say...only for Bruce to pass his own glass on to Vance. Well then. "Avengers," she cheers, lifting her own glass for the toast. "I don't even drink /normal booze/," Bruce points out, holding the new glass and giving Stark a look of distinct exasperation. "Do you know what happens to experiments without a control?" "It's all right, I would have little use for--" Vision begins, but then Thor's off and offering him a share of his shampoos, so he just ducks his head with another thank you. He takes the drink. He raises the glass. "The Avengers." And down goes another drink for storage. "Drink," Stark bullies. He pushes it at Bruce. "Tony," Steve anti-bullies. "Steve," Stark mimics. Vance takes the glass from Bruce with a grin. Awesoooome. He takes a sip, and then follows the bullying/anti-bullying/counter-anti-bullying-mimicking with his eyes. And drinks more. "That's pretty good," he pronounces it. Pepper immediately lifts a hand to smooth back the stray strands that fly out of place at that ruffle, but she smiles up at Thor, stepping back to finish making herself a martini as she catches that avoidance. "Did something happen?" she asks in an easy, friendly tone. "Banner, you need not drink if you wish it not," Valkyrie interjects with a shrug. Shh. /Boys./ She leans into the argument to push Stark's glass back towards himself. "He doesn't drink," Steve tells Stark next, as if maybe he just didn't hear Bruce. "You know why." Stark points at Vance and Steve with the jab of his thumb. "Look, if Cap and Cap Junior both just tried it, it can't possibly be bad. That's like kitten level of threat right there." He leans against Valkyrie as she tries to push the glass back into his hand, trying to give it to Bruce. He ignores Steve. Lalala. At some point during this conversation, Natasha sidles toward the bar to top off her glass and then slips silently from the Great Room into the mansion at large.