To All Those Brave and Lovely

The Stark Foundation

Nora had never gotten to go to any of the school dances.

Not that their school really had the money to make it something exciting.  Eden had gone to one every chance she got, so Nora got the basic idea of it.  She'd gone with Eden and her mother to the outlet mall three hours away to spend all day trying on dresses, and then spent another afternoon with Eden picking out the make up and nail polish from wal-mart that could coordinate.  And then the day of the dance Nora would be over at her house to help her get ready and watch her pose with whatever date or group she went with, where they'd then be off to eat at the local diner and then to the school.

"You really don't miss anything,"  Eden had told her dutifully the next day, her hair still held in place by all the hair spray.  "They just put lights up in the gym and pretend its a dance floor, even though it all smells like sweat.  And none of the moms who volunteer to make cookies actually makes cookies, they just buy packs of stale oreos and set them out on a table."

Still, Nora had wanted to, to feel what it was like to get all dressed up and pretend that their nothing special was actually something very special.  But she never had been able to, because dresses cost money and her father had considered dances to be something rediculous anyways, so she never really got the nerve to ask him after he told her no freshman year.  (Now, she could probably just tell Tony she wanted to go to the dance and not only would he buy her a dress, he'd let her rent a limo and offer to have the after party at his house.)  

This, she thought, sitting in a chair as Evangeline works at doing both Nora and Wanda's hair, was better.  They were getting ready to go to some Stark event, this time something that Tony is throwing to raise money for his relief foundation.  According to him, all she had to do was show up and smile and talk about how much she loved her new life.  Lie through your teeth, if you have to, he had said when he first brought it up, but Nora was more into it than he had expected, already thinking about dresses and make up and picking out how to do her hair.  The rest of the Avengers were invited, too, but only Wanda was young enough to really get as excited as Nora.

(Peter was coming, too.  At the moment, he was trying to remember how to tie a tie.)

"Thank you for doing this,"  Wanda tells Evangeline, twisting to look at herself in the mirror.  "I would never have gotten this on my own."

"I would have no idea what to do. Or wear,"  Nora added honestly, trying to let Evangeline know how genuinely grateful she was.  She had called Eden the minute she got the news, but her old friend had to admit that her fashion advice doesn't extend that far.  Evangeline's, fortunately, does.  "You're a life saver."

MJ was here, too, but had gotten bored and wandered off somewhere.  "Don't mention it."  Evangeline bent down, her face briefly coming into view in the mirror. "Just remember to get me Clint's autograph, okay?"

Wanda leaves with Clint and Natasha (she'd sort of imprinted on Clint, like a lost duckling, but Nora supposes she isn't one to talk) and was replaced by Peter, who seemed unable to stop figdeting with his tie.  They were both heading to the gala with Tony when he got here, and for now they were just wandering around the living room, him yanking at his suit to make it fit right and her adjusting and readjusting her dress, in it had somehow been messed in the ten seconds since she last fixed it.

"You look fine,"  She said, when she catches him walking into the kitchen just to check his reflection in the microwave.  "More than fine."

Peter turns to her, and between the two of them anxiety was going full throttle.  Nora wasn't meant to go to things like this.  She was meant to be in a tiny town, where her and her friends idea of luxury was going to go to the movies instead of finding it on youtube.  "I got this from a thrift store."  He's whining, and Nora is rapidly approaching a mental break down herself.  She really wishes Evangeline hadn't left, or that MJ would reappear from wherever she went.  "They'll be able to tell."