Let it Snow (B. Banner)

Prologue

Neva loves Christmas, it's a given. She loves the lights, the smells, the joy and wonder, and of course, the gifts. She loves the festive flowers and the music. She really loves the music. And the weather. That flurry of snow and the snap of frost. It is in her bones to love this holiday. And her diner slash store shows that. From the frosted windows to the fairy lights and the snow globes. It's her...all over. She hums along to last Christmas as it plays through the speakers, her hands working on cleaning down the counter. Her red hoodie seems to even sparkle a little in the light as she moves. The bell goes above the door as it opens, announcing the arrival of a customer. She hums a little before turning to face them. None other than Tony Stark, infamous ladies man, philanthropist, and...genius, is standing in her store, in one of his crisp three-piece suits, sunglasses and all, she's a little star-struck, because he is one of the biggest names in homes around the world right now, between his companies and the Avengers, he might even be a bigger name than her father. She takes a deep breath to greet him.

"Welcome to the North Pole" she greets with a warm smile. "Booth or table?"

"I was actually hoping to talk with the owner" He answers as he glances around, because this is way more Christmas than he expected.

"You're looking at her" Neva points out, he looks back at her. "Neva St. North" she introduces herself.

"Of course that is your name" he teases. "Tony Stark" he offers pointing to himself.

"Yes, yes, I know just who you are" she assures him with a smirk. "Pretty sure everyone in New York, if not the entire world, does" she turns from him to the coffee machine behind her. "Coffee?" she asks him picking up the pot from the machine.

"Love some" Tony answers as he sits at the counter. She grabs a mug from under the counter and pours the liquid into the mug before handing it over to him. He takes a sip and then pulls back from it, cringing a little. "What is that?" he asks smacking his lips.

"It's coffee" she answers, he shoots her a look and raises an eyebrow. "It's infused with dried fruits and dark chocolate" She adds. He sets the mug down and shakes his head a little.

"I'm a straight-up gasoline man," he tells her. "Black as my soul" he adds teasingly and leans on the counter. "You know...I saw this place during the Battle of New York" he tells her. "And....I'm not usually a huge fan of the whole Christmas thing, but something made me want to come in, to take a look, so I assumed that meant that this place was something special" he lets his eyes drift around the store. "It really looks like an elf threw up in here"

"No, no, I can assure you that..." she pauses thoughtfully. "No, no elf vomited in here, but they did help decorate..." He gives her a weird look, she just smirks back at him and he can't tell if she is being serious or not...she is.

"Okay" he states skeptically.

"So you came here just to have a look?" she asks, he smirks a little and shakes his head.

"No...I came here with an opportunity" he tells her, she raises an eyebrow. "A business opportunity"

"My store is not for sale" she is quick to point out.

"No" he stops her. "I don't want to buy it" he assures her. "I want to throw a party here"

"A party?" she asks, he nods.

"A Christmas party, obviously" he adds.

"Obviously" she agrees with a smirk.

"And well...Seen as you appear to be cuckoo for this stuff" Tony mumbles picking up a snow globe from the counter, it's actually pretty epic, beautifully made, the snow seems real and full of sparkle, he smirks before shaking it.

"And that is the way to go about getting my help" Neva comments. "By insulting me and my love of all things Christmas" he sets the snow globe down and looks back at her.

"Look, you'll get press coverage for your store, and I'm willing to pay you," Tony tells her.

"I'll do it" she offers with a shrug. "But I'll do it for free, the money you would have paid me can go to the orphanage down the street instead...and I'll plan it, you don't need to splash the cash on some fancy party planner"

"Are you sure?" Tony asks her. "They could help..."

"Like you said" she starts. "I'm cuckoo for this stuff" Tony smirks a little. "And it would turn out better if someone who actually loved this holiday planned it, rather than someone just being paid to do it" Tony shrugs a little.

"You're decision" he kind of agrees with her. He sees her point. If it was something he loved, he wouldn't want someone else working on it, especially if that person only liked that thing. "So are you open all year round?" he asks her, she shakes her head.

"No, I open up the Friday after Thanksgiving and then close January 5th"

"And between that?"

"I go home, spend time with my family, help out with the....family business" He raises an eyebrow.

"Family business?" he asks her.

"Urm...My father is a toymaker"

"Of course he is" Tony teases, they share a look and she shrugs a little before turning away from him, she moves to a shelf just away from the counter.

"Here" she grabs a candy hamper from its shelf and sets it down. "Take this with you..." she places her hand on the top of it. "Consider it a thank you" he frowns at her. "For you and your...comrades....for saving New York" he touches the hamper and smiles before picking it up.

"They'll love this," he tells her. "Especially Clint, we've gone through a shocking amount of candy, well between him and Thor..." he shrugs. "So I'll come back at the weekend" He offers. "And we'll go over ideas" he raises an eyebrow in question, she takes a breath and then nods.

"Sure, I can come up with something by the weekend" She assures him, she honestly already has a bunch of ideas swimming around in her head. And not just for Tony and his spandex heroes, but for something bigger, something that will help them all.