6178/No Day Like a Snow Day

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No Day Like a Snow Day
Date of Scene: 14 January 2019
Location: Unknown
Synopsis: Might as well throw snow if it's around, right?
Cast of Characters: Wasp (van Dyne), Captain America




Wasp (van Dyne) has posed:
Janet has never been one to think things through. She's a flitful and impulsive thing. When her instincts serve her well, it leads to creative breakthroughs. The sort that's made her a name in the fashion world for her innovation and creativity.

Then again, it's never worked out well for her in the realm of dating. Which has no bearing on the snowball flying at the back of Steve's head. It's thrown well enough, with a good arm behind it. The instant Janet looses the snowball she *pfts* into a fraction of her size and zips off to another little piece of cover, unable to keep herself from giggling madly.

Captain America has posed:
Tony's resident robots have pinged about something being wrong with the fountain. Maybe the cold finally got to the pipes or lines feeding water to it? Or someone forgot to clear out the lines before the first good freeze. Either way, Steve bundles up and in his beloved combat boots, tromps out towards the fountain. The sight of its sculptures always makes him roll his eyes. It's an honor to be commemorated as such, but honestly...seeing himself in that cheesy heroic stance is vaguely embarrassing, even after all those years of posters and show-tunes on stage.

No hat and no idea that the snowball was coming. *PUFT* It explodes in cold and he clears the garden path vertically before instinctively crouching behind the nearest hedge. With how the garden's laid out, the city sounds are muffled to a good extent. That little tittering? Super-soldier can hear that. He pokes his head up over the snow-laden hedge and glowers in its general direction.

"Warn a man, Janet!" Out of sight, however, you can bet he's packing up a nicely-sized lump of a snowball to return fire once he's pin-pointed the petite fashionista.

Wasp (van Dyne) has posed:
There's another *whuft* of snow being lobbed. Janet's not exactly a pitcher, but she's stronger than she looks and somewhat athletic. So it's a bit better than a girlish lob, though hardly a softball fastpitch, either. She takes her shot from behind Steve's rear quarter, having zipped into the gardens behind him. Again, almost instantly, she flickers into near-invisibility, no larger than a garden insect, and flies swiftly towards her next point of attack!

Captain America has posed:
The silencing of the giggling accounts as the silence before the storm. It bodes well for Steve -- in the sense of being an easy target. The next snowball breaks on his lower back and would have been a kidney shot otherwise. "Shiii-eez!!!" Good job, Captain, not cursing.

He turns and returns fire as fast as he can and then winces. At that speed, his lob will have some pepper. At least he aimed in the relative direction and not precisely at Janet!

Wasp (van Dyne) has posed:
Janet spots the snowball coming in larger-than-life slow motion, dipping midflight. She's safely well out of the path of fire, and flitters to a low hedge of rose bushes. The thorns prove little obstacle at that scale and she *pops* to full size opposite them, already gathering snow in her thin leather gloves and crimping it into a sphere. It's rolled in a quick motion to smooth it out (someone must have grown up with older brothers) and she rises and flings the next snowball at Steve.

"Language!" she scolds Cap-- and then giggles again, blows him a kiss, and *flits* into invisibility again.

Captain America has posed:
The next sign of motion has Steve disappearing behind his own trimmed hedge faster than a spooked marmot. As such, the snowball flies over it to plop into a nearby drift.

"I'm gonna have something to say to you, Janet, unless you cease fire!" he shouts back, voice stern -- but his face sporting a wrinkle-nosed grin. There haven't been many opportunities to indulge in snowy fun, never once as a young child, not with his health problems. "Don't make me hunt you down and stuff you in a jam jar!" Of course he has another handful of snow ready to go, in case she does fall for the commanding voice of Captain America.

Wasp (van Dyne) has posed:
"You wouldn't DARE," Janet gasps, outraged. "I am not an-- ee!" she ducks at the snowball being whipped at her, baited into vulnerability by Steve's taunting. "You jerk! I'll stuff YOU in a jar!" she says, the words going into high-pitched miniature as she flits towards her next stop. Her wings buzz, startled into extra speed by Cap's stunning reflexes.

Captain America has posed:
Ah-hah! With target flushed and in sight, difficult as she might be to spot, Steve bursts out from his own defenses and tears after the wee Wasp. She might be small, but he's fast and confident in the traction of his combat boots despite the tricksy snow on the lawn. He stoops to grab snow on the run and shouts at her,

"Been told I broke the mold, m'am! No jar can fit me," and he laughs as he wings his handful on the run. It's no proper snowball, more a mashing of powder together.

Wasp (van Dyne) has posed:
Janet's doing pretty well but it's hard to keep up with a Super-Soldier for reflexes and accuracy on the fly. She turns to look over her shoulder just a little too late, and with a startled Tinkerbelle "Eek!" she's swallowed by the snowball. It hits the ground in a tumbling roll that gathers more snow. Janet abruptly explodes out of it, still rolling too fast, and tumbles along until she fetches up against a snowbank. Well, *in* a snowbank, her boots wriggling as she tries to climb back up. "Help!" she yelps, alarmed.

Captain America has posed:
There is a small portion of Steve that does feel badly for the sight of the fashionista half-buried in the snowpile. It shows on his face in the concerned frown as he jogs over and then stoops to offer her a hand to grab, should she manage to cease flailing long enough to realize it.

Then there's the part of him that's rather unrepentant...and this *is* funny. "I'd say revenge is a dish best served cold, isn't it, Miss van Dyne?" he asks, dimpling.

Wasp (van Dyne) has posed:
Janet scowls (pouts) fetchingly at Steve when he saunters up, but it turns into a wry sort of smile when he offers a hand. "So gentlemanly," she tells Steve, and takes his hand with hers. She pops to her feet with a smooth athleticism, throws her arms around Steve's neck, and kisses him full on the lips!

Which might, under other circumstances, prove interesting enough-- but in this case, Janet uses the motion as cover to dump a giant handful of snow down Steve's collar.

"Heehee!" Janet *titters* and vanishes into the air, a buzzing noise zipping under Steve's arm as she hightails it! She dips towards the snow, gathering up a tiny handful and packing it into a snowball smaller than a matchhead.

Captain America has posed:
She's all light weight as he aids her from the snow drift. The first warning comes in the continued forwards motion rather than the counter-weight of regaining balance. Steve's eyes widen as he ends up briefly sporting a wreathing of arms and feminine charm. His hands are spread at his waist in sheer surprise. All the fine hairs on his neck rise at the smacker laid right on his mouth.

Total momentary mental flat-line. Poor Steve. A flawless manner to introduce the cold snow down the fleece-lined backing of his coat. It gains Janet an interesting yodeling yelp that echoes off the trimmed hedges and wallings of the garden.

"JANET!" Steve dances around in place, redder than a beet to his ears, and plucks at the back of his coat to help the snow fall out.

Wasp (van Dyne) has posed:
Janet flickers back into view sitting atop a tree limb. She's dressed quite fashionably-- black tights, calf-high fur lined boots, and a ruddy orange-red leather jacket that hangs to midthigh and sports a high fan collar turned up behind her neck. "Aww, that looks cold," she tells Steve, and sticks out her lower lip at him with feigned sympathy. "Serves you right for throwing a snowball at me. When I'm that small it's like an avalanche!" she scolds him. "And you're supposed to let a lady win a snowball fight anyway."

Captain America has posed:
"I'm pretty sure you won!" Steve retorts when he's finally done prancing about and leaving esoteric evidence of his efforts in prints all over the lawn. "And it was cold," he confirms with a frown up at her. Rubbing gloves down his face takes the worst of the feeling of a sunburn, but man, his ears are even still pink. "You won the battle, but the war isn't over." He grins as he promises this, even if it's a little toothy.

"Why are you out here anyways? I've got to check the fountain." He thumbs towards it over his shoulder. "One of the robots reported a break in the lines and the gardeners don't come until tomorrow morning."

Wasp (van Dyne) has posed:
"Who're you, my supervisor?" Janet retorts, somewhat retorically. Her feet sway and kick, boots looped at the ankles. "I felt like coming out here and throwing snowballs at you. That's what you get for walking around without me," she says. Janet nods to herself. "Simple solution, of course, would be to never go outside. Or, you could have popped down to my room and said, 'Janet, lovely darling that you are, would you like to walk with me in the snow?' And I would have been sitting around in my cutest of bathrobes and pajamas, and I would have said:" She shifts, facing an imaginary Steve in conversation, " 'Steve, why, I'd love to go. I assume you came to me because of my charming disposition and lovely smile!"
"Then, you:" Shift, again, "'No, of course not. I've come because of your sharp wit and wonderful candor,'" she quips.

"Why, Steve, you shouldn't have!"
Shift. "But Janet, how could I not? And then, afterwards, I'll treat you to hot chocolate and fresh brownies."
"Why, Steve! You can bake?"
"I *love* to bake, and to prove it, here's an entire tray of brownies *just* for you."

She seems prepared to go on with her spiel for a while, if allowed.

Captain America has posed:
Steve lets the story weave itself with a growing smile. There's still a dubious squint about his expression, but he listens and then, after hearing of brownies, he does shake his head. A wee puft of visible breath is a silent laugh stoppered up to save Janet's pride.

"How'd you know I can make brownies?" he asks, looking up from tucking his chin briefly. "Someone told you that I can read the side of a box? That's simple. The trick is keeping the eggshells from falling in the batter." A pause and then a shrug. "What a great idea. Too bad I'm going to have to go fix that fountain line first. I dunno about the amount of time it'll take. Patience isn't your strong suit." He smirks up at her.

Wasp (van Dyne) has posed:
Janet presses her lips into a thin line and shakes her head at Steve. "Ugh. You are just... UGH," she concludes, and falls off the branch. She flickers between sizes and hits the ground with a smooth step. "That's the whole POINT, *Steven*," she remarks with exasperation tinging her voice. As if it's a patently obvious issue she's clarifying for him.

"You're not supposed to need someone to TELL you. You just show up with cocoa and brownies, because New York is miserable and cold in the winter, and tell me I should be in Milan or ... even Los Angeles, to get away from the awful weather! Instead, you clobber me with snowballs!"

She storms up towards Steve, eyes narrowed to mere slits, and upholds a quivering index finger. "You... URGH." She storms off in a huff for reasons that likely make sense only to Janet.

Captain America has posed:
Another puff of a sigh. "Janet." Steve doesn't speak too loudly as he stands there, watching her walk away. A set of his jaw. "Janet!" His increase in volume should carry well enough. There he stands, under the branching shadow of the tree that draws inky lines on the snow, with hands in his pockets. His keen blue eyes watch her. "Do you want brownies or not?"

Wasp (van Dyne) has posed:
Janet turns on her heel with an easy grace, the perfect mimic of a catwalk turn. Hip turned back, shoulders twisted, and she gives Steve a haughty look that she surely learned from some spoiled princess of a distant land at some point.

He's given a flickering head to toe. Shoulders wiggle and she settles her head, eyes flickering back and forth in thought. "I *suppose* if you were to bring me some brownies, I wouldn't say no," she says, finally. She looks away, feigning disinterest with a flip of her head that'd look hammy and dramatic if anyone else did it. "I mean. If I have the time. With all the *things* I have going on," she adds, examining her nails. She's wearing gloves.

Captain America has posed:
"Mmm, nope." The Captain shifts in place in the snow. Small sounds of the motion can be heard, little creaks and settlings. "They'll be downstairs in the kitchen. If you want one, you can come get one while they're still hot. I'm not your butler." He lifts his eyebrows in quiet accent to his point. "Gimme about half an hour and I'll probably be done fixing the lines."

Wasp (van Dyne) has posed:
Janet flits through the air and lands on Steve's shoulder, wings buzzing in a low hum. "Oh, but you'd make such a *cute* butler," she says, and Steve can hear more than see her attempt to pout at him. "I mean, not the suit. You'd look dreadful in a butler's suit," she tells him. "You're too much shoulder and chest. Like putting a linebacker in a tutu." She titters, then moves sideways. With that expert, almost instinctual use of her sizeshifting she materilizes at just the right height to kiss Steve's cheekbone. It's more affectionate than playful, this time. "Thanks, Steven, you're a *darling*. I can't wait!"

Captain America has posed:
The cheek beneath the petite smooch goes pink again as memory of the more recent (and more aggressive) move on her part catches up to him. Steve clears his throat and gets to walking towards the fountain with the wee Janet sitting daintily on the line of his shoulder.

"Happy to know what Halloween costumes are bad choices for this year's upcoming parties," he quips as he makes it back to the garden path. "How about I'll make the brownies and you figure out coffee? I don't think there's any ice cream left. Someoen else finished off the pint of it." Sad news, that - no a-la-mode for anyone.

Wasp (van Dyne) has posed:
Janet treats Steve's shoulder like a divan, leaning back on her palms like the Queen of Egypt being ported around the Nile. "Coffee's easy, Steve," Janet says, primly. "My butler makes it every day."

She waits a beat, then bursts out laughing. "Oh, I'm kidding. Kidding!" she reassures him, gleefully. "I know how to make *coffee*, silly man," she says fondly. "Of course we'll have coffee. But none of this nonsense about no ice cream. I've a delivery service. It'll be here in ten minutes," she says. Already, she's whipping out her cell phone and sending text commands to someone-- or some THING.

DUN DUN DUN.

Captain America has posed:
Steve glances over at the petite woman and her cellphone. He can just barely catch the sounds of touch-keys going off.

"Suit yourself," he replies. "I gotta figure out the piping. If you're cold, you can wait inside." On approach, the fountain is silent. What little water remains in the large catch-basin is frozen over, possibly to the bottom. He pauses at the edge and looks down in it. A squint and he sighs. "I can see it. They didn't unhook the line before it froze over. Nothing to do about it right now. I guess I'll have to see if the gardeners can break through it tomorrow." Another look over at Janet. "Brownies sooner than later, I guess."

Wasp (van Dyne) has posed:
Janet waits patiently. When Steve makes his conclusion, an excited clap of her hands sounds from his shoulder. "Yay! Brownies!" she cheers. "You're a doll, Steve, I don't care what anyone says," she remarks. Janet flitters from Steve's shoulder, hovering in front of his face. "I'm going to go upstairs and get all cozy in my jammies and slippers," she tells him. "Thanks so much for the brownies. You're an absolute *peach*," she assures him.

With another excited clap of her hands and a chiming giggle, she flits skywards towards the mansion's upper levels.

She's clearly expecting brownies from Steve, having already forgotten his earlier remonstrations.