Thor stomped out onto the porch. "Loki! What have you been up to!?!" Loki folded his arms over his chest, snow falling softly around him. "May we discuss this indoors?" Thor didn't move for a moment, and then turned and went in to the house. Loki stood in the snow a second longer before following his brother indoors. Bucky was sitting in the living room next to the back window, cleaning his hand in the dim light from the dining room. Steve was finding the cups. "Where did they put those things?" He opened the cabinet next to the oven. Inside next to the pots and pans were ten glasses. "Found them." Steve placed the cups on the counter, then went into the living room too. "Brother, please. No more illusions." Thor was sitting on the couch in the living room, Loki across from him in the recliner. "And what if it saves your life? Still no?" Thor sighed. "I don't plan on doing anything life endangering. Just, no more." Loki leaned back in his chair and waited a moment before nodding. Steve looked over at the clock. "Its late. I'm going to head upstairs. Night Thor. Good night Loki." Bucky stood up too. "Yeah, I should go too." He went up the stairs. Steve was digging through his suitcase for pajamas, when Bucky came in. "Hey Buck, you going to bed?" Bucky nodded, "Yeah. Good night Steve." He turned and left the room. "I need to try and get some rest." he mumbled. "Good night Buck. Come in get me if you need anything." Bucky leaned back in and gave Steve a wry smile. "Ok." Meanwhile, across the hall, Thor was also heading to his room. He poked his head in his brother's open doorway. "You are not going to bed, brother?" Loki was sitting on the window seat at the snow covered landscape outside. He turned at the sound of Thor's voice. "I will eventually." Thor regarded him a moment before shrugging. "Sleep well." Thor ducked back out into the hallway and shut his bedroom door behind him. The next morning Steve had woken up with early morning sun in his eyes. He yawned and went to the window. But when he opened it, a snowball hit him smack in the face. Bucky stood on the lawn, tossing another snowball in his hand. "Morning Sleepy head!" Steve laughed. "Bucky! its six am!" Bucky grinned. "I know! Now get down here!" Steve pulled on his winter gear and went out into the yard. And immediately was hit by another snowball. "Oh, its on!" he yelled, rubbing snow out of his eyes. And the battle had begun. Thor stepped outside a moment later. "What is going on?" Snowballs were flying back and forth and one smashed into Thor's face. He wiped the snow off his face and flung it to the ground. "Try that again!" Another snowball smacked him, this time in the chest. "You asked for it!" Thor called his hammer over and started to spin it around. Snow flew up and sprayed out everywhere, covering Bucky and Steve, but piling up on Thor as well. Bucky dug himself out. And hit Thor with another snowball. Steve brushed the snow off, just in time to see the snowball hit Thor. Bucky was already making another snowball. Thor had dropped his hammer by now and was making his own snowball, which he immediately threw at Bucky. More snowballs flew through the air, smashing into the ground the house, and anyone outside. The front door opened, and Loki stepped out onto the porch. He blinked in confusion at the scene in the yard for a moment, before he was smacked with a snowball in the face. "Sorry!" Bucky called. "That was me!" Then he threw a snowball at Steve, who in turn blocked it with the shield. "Cheater!" Bucky pelted Steve with more snowballs and the two ran around the side of the cabin. Thor raced around the other side and shouts of surprise could be heard around back. Loki was still on the porch, wiping the snow off. He glanced at the half melted slush on his hand for a minute. He swiped it off to the ground and disappeared. Around the back of the cabin, Thor, Bucky, and Steve were still going strong. Thor pulled his hand back, ready to let another one fly, when he was smacked in the back of the head by a snowball. Confused, Thor looked around. Footprints were in the snow behind him but no one was there. Realization hit and Thor spun around. "Brother!" Loki appeared in front of his brother, snowball in hand. "You missed me?" Loki grinned and threw his snowball at Thor. Once he had wiped it out of his eyes, Loki had disappeared again.
Bucky and Steve had made it to the tree line. Steve threw another snowball at Bucky. "Ahh! you got me!" Bucky pretended to die in the snow. Steve stood over him. "I win." "Yeah, because I let you." "No you didn't." Steve laid in the snow too. "That was fun." Bucky smiled. "Yeah." They watched the Asgardians chase each other. "LOKI!" Thor was chasing after his brother, now visible, who had just hit him with another snowball. Loki grinned at Thor and disappeared again. Thor stopped and spun around, trying to figure out where he had gone. Three more snowballs flew from the empty air behind Thor and smacked the back of his head. Loki reappeared again, in front of his brother this time. Thor leapt forward and tackled Loki and they both rolled a couple of times before flopping over in the snow, a few feet from Bucky and Steve. Steve stood and dusted himself off. "Well, lets go get breakfast." Bucky continued laying in the snow. "Sausage?" Steve gave him a look. "Yeah - if you make it." Bucky laughed. "Fine. Now help me up." The house seemed warm and inviting after the snowball fight, and they headed for the house. "You coming?" Bucky called to the Asgardians. "I'm making sausage apparently!" Loki stood up and brushed the snow off. After a moment he followed Bucky and Steve indoors, leaving Thor still in the yard behind him. Thor lay in the snow a minute longer before standing and heading to the cabin. He glanced back at the mess of snow, and chuckled softly as he went inside. Inside Steve was frying eggs and trying to convince Bucky that a chef's hat was, in fact, not required to cook sausages. Bucky was cooking sausages and trying to convince Steve that a chef's hat was, in fact, required to cook sausages. One of them had gotten a waffle iron out and mixed batter but hadn't put the batter in the waffle iron. "This is quite possibly the most interesting debate I've ever heard." Loki was in the kitchen doorway, watching as Bucky tried to convince Steve he needed a hat, and Steve vice versa. Thor went into the living room after coming inside and sat on the couch. Steve concluded, "And that is why you don't need a hat." Bucky adjusted the chef's hat and shook his head at Steve. "No." Steve looked over at him. "No? Why? And where did you find that anyway?" Bucky pointed upstairs. "You had said I was in charge of the turkey. So I brought this." Steve kept giving him a look. Bucky shrugged. "Its fun." Loki shook his head from the doorway and joined his brother in the living room. "I have heard more about chef's hats than have ever wanted." He went over and sat down on the recliner. Thor looked over at him. "You seem...happy today." Loki glanced across the room at him. "Really." He looked back over at the tree. "I still don't understand the point of that tree." Bucky called back at him, "It's for presents!" he continued talking to Steve. "Maybe you are just jealous. Maybe you want a chef's hat too." Steve laughed. "No thanks." Next: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/963598028 Previous: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/963593756
