strings of destiny → age of ultron

[3]

The party was in full swing a few hours later. While Victoria and Daniel were asleep in their rooms, Zoza and David were hanging around in a quieter area of the room. Meanwhile, Marie was sitting with Thor and a few army veterans, listening to him tell stories of wars on Asgard. Blossom was over by her husband, who was playing pool with Sam and a few more veterans, with a drink in her hand.

"Blossom, be careful tonight, please?" Steve asked, noticing the liquor in her glass. She pressed a kiss to his cheek and smiled reassuringly at him.

"I will be. I promise," she whispered, then set her glass on the edge of the pool table. Steve handed her a stick, and Sam stood back, allowing her to step away and aim. She slid the stick in between her fingers and knocked three balls into the cups in the table, then took her drink back.

"Oh, so she's a pool master now, too?" Sam asked, and she laughed. Steve wrapped his arm around her waist and kissed her temple.

"Why do you think I love her so much?" Steve smiled, and she rolled her eyes playfully.

Over in the corner, Zoza and David stood, holding glasses of soda as they talked about school.

"Yeah, that project is gonna be tough. Luckily, I've got you," Zoza said, smiling over at him. David chuckled and set his arm around her shoulders, sipping his soda slowly.

"You're the real genius, Z. You've really got a thing for biology." He looked at her, and she blushed lightly. David looked around for a brief moment before kissing Zoza gently, which she happily returned. But, it didn't last long.

"Hey! Hands off," Tony called, spotting them from across the room. They pulled back from each other, blushing furiously.

"Uncle Tony!" she groaned, grabbing her drink and storming off, David following her quickly as the crowd around Tony laughed softly.

Cynthia stood by Bruce at the bar, holding a martini glass between her fingers. She sipped the drink slowly, and Bruce turned to look at her.

"I love you, you know that?" he whispered, and she nodded, pulling her glass away.

"Mhm. But it's getting a bit harder to tell you that. You're spending all your time in the lab, Marie's beginning to worry. And so am I." She set her now empty glass down as she watched Steve and Blossom spin around to the music. And here she thought he didn't know how to dance. She saw Zoza with David, once again kissing, away from Tony's line of vision. Marie was sitting with Thor and Rhodey, listening to their stories once again with bright eyes.

"You make it sound like I want to worry you both. I don't. Tony just needed my help," he said softly, taking her hand gently.

"I know he needed your help. But sometimes, you need to be assertive, and put your foot down, honey. You spend so much time away, and Marie, Daniel, they need their father," she said.

"Marie isn't even our biological daughter. How much can she actually look up to me?" Bruce looked to her, watching her clap after Thor smiled at her.

"You'd be surprised. Or maybe you wouldn't be, if you spend more time with her." Cynthia gave him one last look before walking off into the thinning crowd, going to find Maria.

After the party had died down, only the Avengers, their families, Rhodey, Maria, and Helen were left. They were seated around a table, with Blossom beside her husband, Cynthia sitting near Thor, and Zoza on the arm of the couch beside Tony. Thor passed Steve a bit more of his Asgardian liquor, and Clint looked over the the hammer sitting on the table.

"But it's a trick."

"No, no. It's much more than that," Thor chuckled.

"'Ah, whosoever be he worthy shall haveth the power.' Whatever, man! It's a trick," Clint argued back, making everyone laugh a bit.