ic Merry HAXMas (IC)

[Avenger Assembled]

December 21, 2012

An ancient civilization on an isthmus much to the south of Freedom City had called this day the end of the world, but for one visitor to Freedom City, their culture had provided the theme for an interesting Christmas party. As Feliz Navidad played over the speakers, the roughly-scarred second in command of HAX security was dishing out cups of Mayan hot chocolate with festive peppermint canes in them. "The bitter goes well with the sweet," he said to one of the programmers, the obviously memorized speech not doing much to impress the weedy-looking fellow. With a sigh, the man working the hot chocolate machine moved onto his boss. "A festive crowd," he offered to the chief as she approached, handing her cup and cane to go with the festive holiday theme. In a puffy red sweater with a white reindeer on it, the drone looked downright Christmasy himself.

"I did not think so many would show, but I suppose those with family parties will make them on the day in question." Gina had put him off plans to spend the holiday together, but he had his own ideas about how he and his girlfriend would share each other's company over the holidays. "Is your young man coming?" he asked curiously, not wanting to pry when he already could guess the answer. "I know Mara is bringing her young woman."

[Electra]

"You don't miss the office Christmas party, not if you can help it." Erin White, HAX's head of security, was looking more festive than usual today, having added a jaunty red and green elf hat and silver tinsel necklace to her drab blue uniform. "Free food and alcohol, plus the entertainment value." She herself was avoiding the eggnog and spiced rum punch, since it would set a bad example for the security chief to be breaking the law. There was still plenty of food and drink on offer, including hot cocoa, a personal favorite of hers.

She accepted the cup that was passed to her, stirring it with the candy cane for a moment before taking a sip. The gag reflex was instantaneous, making her spit the cocoa back into the cup in an undignified way. "Ugh, Steve, what the hell is this?" she demanded. "There's no sugar! And is that..." She smacked her lips together. "Is that cayenne pepper?" Glowering at her subordinate for his treachery, she sucked on the candy cane to try and banish the taste.

[Fox]

"Please do not poison my head of security," Mara deadpanned, having wandered over just in time to see Erin spit her drink back into its cup. "She'd be hard to replace if she died. You'd be hard to replace if she killed you before she died."

The grand poobah of HAX had, rather unusually, dressed up for the occasion - or, at least, at some point she'd been properly dressed up. A bit of her hair had expressed its desire to be free of the rest and was hanging loose by her ear (despite her repeated, unconscious attempts to pull it back behind said ear), she'd lost her tie at some point, and the pocket of her dark blue blazer had a screwdriver just barely poking out - both a betrayal of the reason behind her minor dishevelment and an explanation for where she'd been for the last while.

Still, she was markedly more fancy than most of her employees had ever seen her. "On the other hand, should probably switch drinks," she dryly mused, gesturing with her glass of wine. "Poison myself, and might not have to deal with crowds anymore. Kind of forgot how many employees I have until they all got into one place."

[Avenger Assembled]

"It is cocoa prepared in the fashion of the Mayans," said Steve, remaining stoic even in the face of Erin's dislike for his concoction. "With cayenne pepper in place of the sugar, as they had not yet gained access to that product. I agree, the taste is much more bitter than what most people here are used to." He glanced around at the programmers and scientists on the floor, some of whom were still drinking, but most of whom were concentrating on their candy canes. "Yet some drank it anyway. It was interesting." He sipped his own cup and added, "I think it has a certain pleasant flavor." He offered a cup curiously to Mara. "If you two prefer something more sweet, the pineapple chunks and mango smoothies may be more what you like."

[Gizmo]

"Oh hey, I'll try that," a familiar voice called as Ellie excused herself from chatting with a few of the company's more sociable employees and walked over to join her girlfriend and the security staff. The young woman had actually found a long, heavy skirt in an earthy green to go with fitted brown vest over a deep red dress shirt, creating a look that was appropriately festive without being over the top and similarly dressy to Mara's outfit-- or rather, Mara's outfit before she'd been sidetracked by one project or another. "Did you seriously leave your own party to go work?" she chided with a sigh, accepting a mug from Steve and sipping first experimentally and then appreciatively.

[Fox]

"Not...my party," Mara cagily defended, pushing the screwdriver deeper into her pocket where it wouldn't give her away. "Company party. Difference! Besides, wasn't gone that long. Had a good idea for redesigning the circuit board layout on a project. Had to try it. Mostly worked. ...promise I'll stay here, now."

She waited for an opportune moment to steal a quick kiss from her girlfriend - nothing to interest most of the people at the party, but enough to apologize for abandoning the area for a bit. She came back looking thoughtful. "....not bad, actually," she observed, pulling her hair back behind her ear and taking a sip of her wine. "Might have to try it after all. If I finish the drink I have."

[Electra]

"As an individual charged with securing your well-being, I would advise against that," Erin told Mara with a straight face. "I'm not sure what's in that, but I don't think it's chocolate and it may well be poisonous." She looked around, taking note of the large number of abandoned mugs. "Though at least there's plenty to go around." With her own mug appropriated, she poured a cup of hot cider from the carafe next to Steve's. "We were just saying there's a good turnout tonight. What time is the band scheduled to play?"

[Avenger Assembled]

"The musicians will play soon," offered Steve as he continued to stoically sip his cayenne chocolate. "I believe they are setting up their instruments now." They'd found a science-oriented band to play, which struck Steve as a suitably aesthetic choice given the scientific surroundings all around them. "I brought up the resonant transformers from the electrical storage room, but they preferred to use their own equipment." Given the small, but real, risk of explosion, that struck him as a sensible precaution. "This is quite bitter compared to what people normally consume at the holidays," he finally confessed, "but it does have some charm." He studied the others and asked, "So, do you have holiday plans this year? There are a great many to celebrate."

[Gizmo]

"I dunno, spice gives the sweetness something to work against," Ellie offered in consideration, looking pleased with the peck but leaving it as understated as Mara had intended it. "My brother always eyeballs the seasoning when he cooks instead of actually measuring, with about the results you'd expect, so maybe I'm just used to it." At Steve's question, she tilted her head slightly to one side curiously. "Y'know, I've never thought to ask; do you celebrate anything in particular?" The large man was from an entirely different world, after all, and not one as nearly identical to Earth-Prime as Erin's home reality had once been.

[Avenger Assembled]

"People are in the street with joy in their hearts, singing songs and embracing their families as they never have. That is something to celebrate," said Steve seriously. "As for the rest, I do not worship any of the gods celebrated in this season. I would only insult worshippers if I pretended to believe what they believe, and that would be unwise." He took a candy cane and began slowly unwrapping it, the plastic crinkling in his scarred hands. "As for my own holidays, I generally spend those alone, even now. My girlfriend prefers to take her holiday season alone as well, so I imagine I will spend it working with impoverished people at one of the feeding kitchens in town, and then rendezvous with her for the new year."

[Fox]

"That...is terrible," Mara said, though she almost immediately winced, blinked, and shook her head. "Sorry, no. Not what I meant. Not terrible to help people, or spend time alone if you really want to. Just...have had maybe two, three Christmases where I wasn't...mmh. Where I could enjoy it. Seems best to spend it with people important to you. Warmer, maybe? Not exactly social, myself, but seems a shame to not...it...rambling, sort of. ....sorry. Tired."

She'd been gesturing, to go with the thoughts she couldn't quite express, and she held the pose for a moment to focus her thoughts on making sense. "...just...mean that it might be worth trying to spend holidays with her. If she can be convinced to be social. ....that's kind of saying something, coming from me, too."

[Avenger Assembled]

"I do not notice the lack," said Steve truthfully as he considered Jill's words. "My parents maintained much about their old lives with me as a child, but we did not celebrate holidays for which there was no longer any purpose." His face grew clouded for a moment as a deep rumble entered his voice. "My girlfriend's life has been difficult. Problems with her parents," he said, sharing more than he ever had about the still-unnamed woman with whom he occasionally shared his life. "But you two, will you be with family this year?" he asked, knowing full well that Jill had access to the kind of extended family shared by no one else in a position at HAX: i.e., alive, sane, numerous, and not corrupted entirely by the forces of evil.

[Electra]

Erin's face went blank for a moment when Mara spoke of Christmas loneliness, but she quickly bounced back to casually pleasant. "Everyone has different traditions for Christmas," she pointed out. "I'll be here for most of Christmas, did my gift-giving early so I can let the guys with families take off for the holiday. Then afterwards I'll take time off and relax." She smiled wryly. "Who knows, maybe all the bad guys will take off for the holiday and everything will be quiet for once."

[Gizmo]

"I'll bet lots of people would rather just take a day for themselves and avoid all the drama," Ellie supposed airily, giving Steve an understanding nod without picking at the brief lapse in his carefully private nature. "We're looking at a pretty sizable family dinner sort of thing. It's Yolanda's first Christmas on Prime since... well. So we wanted to make a bit of a production, lots of friendly faces." She looked between the security guards significantly. "And if I were talking to anyone with the emotional health of a kumquat I'd assume that the open invitation for both of you went without saying."

[Fox]

Mara only mostly succeeded in suppressing a snort of laughter, rather unsuccessfully hiding her mouth behind her glass. Not that it was very nice to laugh at her employees, but Ellie had as much talent as ever at calling it like it was, and the fact that three of the four people present had what could charitably be considered 'emotional health issues' was at least a little amusing.

"Mmh! Yes. No family of my own to celebrate with - mmh, sort of, need to talk to you about that later Ellie - but want to be there for Yolanda's first. Not big on large...social...things, but worth it. And suppose I can endure Ellie's family," she added with a dry air of feigned regret, "for good food and Yolanda's sake. If I have to."

[Avenger Assembled]

"Spending time with your family around the holiday would be good, Jill," said Steve seriously, who evidently found nothing to argue with in Jill's assessment of his emotional health. "This is an important season for all of us, and we should find ways to work together as friends. It has been too long since I was together with your family. As for Yolanda..." He hmmed. "Do you have someone to dress as Santa Claus for that evening?" he asked her. "I know I cannot pass, but that would make it less bizarre for her. And be more honest. I have not seen her enough lately."

The CD on the room stereo started skipping at that point, and Steve headed promptly over there to skip from Burl Ives to Alvin and the Chimpmunks singing "Jingle Bells." Steve didn't really follow how those worked, but it seemed popular so he'd had them go on the mix CD for the party.