[ CLOSED ] a very avengers family dinner.

[falcony]

Who: avengers (and co.)
When: beginning of august
Where: sam's horizon
What: family dinner!
Warnings: will update if/when necessary

THE HOUSE

For those who have attended one of Sam's Get Togethers before, they'll notice a couple of things. First - there are no decorations, no extra work done for it to Be a Party. Instead, the house looks just as it usually would, welcoming and warm, sure, but no extra effort put in. It's late afternoon (no matter what time you've arrived) and it is hot and humid (late summers in the bayou, baby) with a gentle cool breeze to keep it from being insufferable. The only real indication anything is going on would be the fact the front door is wide open, a distant sound of music, and the incredible smell.

A phenomenal smell, thank you very much. Like someone has been cooking for hours. And truth is, it's taken some work to really get it going, but Sam has kind of (irrationally) held onto this belief that half the enjoyment of something is in the act of doing it. Never mind that he could have easily just created a fully finished and beautiful meal with his brain (since this is in the Horizon and all), he is here for the cooking. And the process. And the tiny reminder of home. And that feeling seeps out of the house as you enter it.

The house is clean, all the windows and doors are open (with screens, thank you). Music can be heard from a speaker in the kitchen, and it probably reaches a whole lot further than the tiny little speaker Sam's using should have any right to. But hey- he'll let some magic seep in. The entire domain is open to be explored, from the practice arena out front to the tv and various gaming consoles in the living room, to the porch and dock out back. If you head upstairs, you'll find two locked doors (one is Wanda's room, which will only open up for whoever she wants it to open up for and the other is Sam's). There's a third bedroom that is open and looks a bit empty, and there's a vague feeling that it used to also be someone's (or, really, a couple of someone's) and it is now just a guest room.

In the dining room is a large table that's not yet set (if someone wants to jump in). There's beer in the fridge if you're into that sort of thing, water out of the sink if you're not, and every now and then two birds may slip through either the front or back door as it opens - one a red-shouldered hawk, the other a small black raven. They seem to be playing, and may even interact with you a bit if you want them to. Otherwise, they'll either settle in their own perches in the corners of the living room, or head back outside.

Dinner will be in an hour or so - a wide variety of seafood and cajun dishes. And if you can't find Sam, he's probably in the kitchen. But also, this is a family dinner - go meet the family. Chat. Get to know each other.

OOC INFO

- this is a totally open post! I've got a TL below for various scenarios you can find Sam, but otherwise have fun, integrate with the cast because we all know they need it, etc.

- Sam's only Rule is there will be no fighting. You want to duke it out? Take it somewhere else. There will not be warnings or second chances. Don't be an ass. This is his home, respect it, or he'll have your ass thrown out. He's not afraid of squaring up, but you will not be invited back if you cause too many issues. :)

- how you get invited / how you end up here is up to you and whoever else you wanna talk it out with. it's possible you overheard and stumbled in, it's possible someone messaged you directly, whatever works best to Get You There.

- any questions? message me at disarmingly

Comments

[carmesi]

Thanks for that.

[wanda says dryly, before ultimately shaking her hand—keys disappearing into thin air, along with the mucus and saliva they had been spit with. it’s impressive how quickly rocket’s taken to the horizon, to the point where he choked out imaginary keys, just because it seemed to be the thing that would happen in the real world.

she huffs, still feeling an icky feeling about her hand.]

He doesn’t know what a raccoon is, does he?

[assembles]

[ Steve watches as Wanda shakes out her hand and for a moment imagines what it might have been like if she'd been able to raise Billy and Tommy the old-fashioned way. There would have been any number of instances where she might have had to fish things out of their mouths, especially when they were young.

She would probably give anything, even for moments like that.

Jarred out of that train of thought by Wanda's question, Steve's mouth pulls into a grimace before he shakes his head. ]

I don't think so. Or at this point he doesn't want to know, after all the comments. He could have figured it out when he was on Earth, but...

[ Maybe by that point, it was too much of a sore spot. ]

— Anyway, looks like you two are already getting along like a house on fire. Actually, he mentioned he moved in with you.

[ It wouldn't be all that hard to make room for someone Rocket's size. ]

[carmesi]

He sure hates when Nero calls him a trash panda. [but, who wouldn’t? wanda halfway rolls her eyes, shrugging, and taking a seat on the arm of a chair. she still looks unsure on what to do with her hand, even if it’s all clean now.] But I guess anyone would hate being called that.

[even if rocket does tend to be quite the scavenger.

wanda looks up at the comment of getting along, at how rocket’s mentioned her to steve before. there’s a bit of a smile on her face.]

Mhm. He has a small space at the very top where he does all his building and things. With his size, I was actually worried they’d confuse him for food out in the settlements.

[a concern…]

He’s building us a stereo system for the treehouse.

[assembles]

Yeah, I'd say that's pretty fair. [ People seem to forget that Rocket is as smart as them, if not more so, and just see a humanoid raccoon and feel the need to assign him some sort of rude nickname. It's really no wonder that it's a sore spot for him. Steve can't say he's surprised that Nero would immediately jump to "trash panda." Yikes.

Wanda's genuine concern about how Rocket might be received in Solvunn does inspire a twitch of Steve's mouth, as if he's barely holding back a smile. ]

Pretty sure Rocket could talk — or shoot — his way out of anyone trying to eat him. But it sounds like you had plenty of space for him.

[ Giving him a crow's nest where he could work and tinker and do his projects sounds perfect, actually. Steve raises an eyebrow at the mention of a stereo system. ]

That's pretty advanced for Solvunn. But hey, if anyone could pull it off...

[ Rocket has Tony Stark levels of scrounging together some brilliant invention out of scraps.

With that, he sends another glance around the living room. He doesn't see the other new face at the moment, but maybe Wanda will have some more info. ]

I saw another new face here, earlier. Didn't catch her, but... are you familiar?

[carmesi]

We do have a giant sharkman, Steve.

[but that's a fair assessment, that rocket could talk (or shoot) his way out of being food. there's a bit of a shrug from her part, and wanda figures that while solvunn is archaic as far as the technology they are used to is concerned, now that they have their own treehouse—well, they cheat the system a little.

wanda with her mirror that doubles as a tv when she uses her magic; the toilets and showers with ~magical~ pipelines, and—soon—rocket's stereo system for the home.]

Jessica? Yeah.

[for some reason, wanda always knows people. but the reason why is a little more obvious when she says,]

She's from New York. A friend of Matt's — well, she was his client once. She's in the Cities, too.

[assembles]

[ Steve has heard tell of the giant sharkman and he'd been difficult to miss at the fey masquerade, but even so, he might still put his money on Rocket. Small as he might be, Rocket is also as crafty as they come and has wriggled his way out of a lot of sticky situations — to say nothing of all the jailbreaks he'd bragged about when he was in rare good mood.

Wanda does seem to know just about everyone, though in this case it does make sense, if this Jessica is a friend of Matt's. Steve's interest notably increases as soon as New York is mentioned, but since Matt is a resident of Hell's Kitchen, this all checks out. ]

His client. [ He frowns, head canting to one side. ] She was wrongly accused of something, then?

[ If she's also in Cadens, then they must have just missed one another until now. Jessica doesn't strike him as the most social type of person, based on the little he's seen, so that makes sense too.

Evolving from client to friend sounds like an intriguing story, either way. ]

[carmesi]

You’ll have to ask her that.

[she makes a bit of a face at that, because there’s so much that wanda feels comfortable in sharing considering the circumstances—the whole client-attorney privilege, the fact that wanda’s aware that jessica is more than she appears.

then, finally, a shrug.]

Or him, since I hear from Matt that you go out for beers pretty often.

[at the very least, wanda is quite appreciative of this friendship that has formed between the two.]

[assembles]

Seems only fair to ask her.

[ Steve nods, understanding that Wanda doesn't want to speak out of turn, and that's fair. Even between friends who trust each other like they do, Jessica is a stranger to him, and it wouldn't be right to share her business.

At the comment about Matt, he quirks a smile. ]

Well, you did ask me to keep an eye on him. Just doing as I was told.

[ It's more than that, though. Matt's a pretty easy guy to hang out with, as it turns out. He takes a look around to make sure Matt's nowhere in earshot, even for him, before asking: ]

Things been good between you two?

[carmesi]

[when steve offers her a smile, wanda can’t help but match it, feeling a little—well, at ease? things were always so formal back home, even with the kinship and familiarity that had been born between them all, especially when forging their own path on the quinjet. there had always been a sense that steve was, well, untouchable—a figure of authority who, despite his warmth towards wanda, was hard to reach.

if nothing else, abraxas has offered her an opportunity to grow closer with those she had already been close with, to feel more at ease; to jest with and to be teased on occasion.

a gap that’s been breached, so to speak, so there aren’t huge chasms to jump over.]

Must be nice to have another New Yorker around. [even if home was never really ‘home’ after everything that happened, new york was the place that steve would invite wanda to go walk around with him, back when they lived in the compound. it was as close as home gets to be.] Matt’s awfully secretive about your meetings.

[they’re meaningful to matt, too. her smile widens when she realizes what steve is doing, checking around for the man. she shrugs, leaning back against the doorframe.]

Yeah.

[it’s… a little embarrassing, to talk about it, but despite the warmth on her face, she knows that however much she shares, steve won’t ask for more than what she’s willing to put out there.]

He’s been really good to me. I’m just lucky to have that.

[and that, more than anything else, is what wanda’s wanted more than anything else—to be treated kindly, to not be feared, nor judged, over mistakes that she tries hard to avoid but aren’t in her nature to quite stop.]

[assembles]

[ Steve can't deny the New Yorker comment. It's the sort of common ground that will always draw him to someone, even if the New York in his memories sometimes feels like a faraway dream. He's still drawn to his hometown, and while Matt may spend most of his time in Hell's Kitchen rather than Brooklyn, it doesn't make that much of a difference.

Although, truth be told, they haven't chatted that much about the city.

It's been about deeper topics than that, and if Matt's wanted to stay hush hush about their chats, even to Wanda, then Steve feels like he has to respect that. He quirks a crooked smile. ]

Seems to me like Matt's secretive about most things. I'm impressed that you were able to break through all that.

[ Clearly the two of them had been drawn to each other on a deep personal level, maybe seeing some of themselves in each other. Steve doesn't know exactly how it all played out, but they've been close for a while now and it's a relief to see that it's still going well. Wanda can't afford to lose anyone else, as she's already admitted to him. ]

And I'm glad. If that ever changes, just let me know. I know where he lives.

[ His mouth widens into a small grin. He's teasing, of course. Wanda can handle herself, but with the older sibling role he's taken with her, it's only right to assert where he stands in her relationships. ]

[carmesi]

[at that comment, about matt being secretive, she taps her temple a few times.]

Kind of hard to hide your secret vigilante identity with someone who's a telepath. [and it really had been a wonder that matt had allowed her in, at all, truth be told.] I did ask first, though.

[she's still keeping to the avengers rule of her not just reading people's minds unprompted, okay!

with that, though, she crosses her arms. if she thought his comment about it being 'impressive' felt like a funny jab at her, the latter makes her eyebrows raise high. oh, the indirect shovel talk? she didn't think steve would.

since her arms are crossed, wanda pushes forward from the door frame and lightly kicks at his shoe with her own.]

Wow, you were really waiting to get that one out, huh. [wanda is fighting so hard to not let herself smile, but it's a little obvious.] When do I get to return the favor, Steve? I know quite a few terrifying hexes to scare any fans you may have gotten in the Cities from being too fresh with you.

[okay, give it a few seconds and she might actually laugh after saying this, depending on his reaction...]

I bet people line up to see you working out shirtless in the barracks or whatever you guys have over there in military-land.