8210/Happy Birthday, American Man

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Happy Birthday, American Man
Date of Scene: 07 July 2019
Location: Backyard, Avenger's Mansion
Synopsis: The Avengers celebrate one of their own as Steve Rogers has his 109th(!) birthday!
Cast of Characters: Wasp (van Dyne), Mister Fantastic, Captain America, Spider-Man, Rogue, Scarlet Witch, War Machine, Elixir, Iron Man, Spider-Woman (Drew)




Wasp (van Dyne) has posed:
It's not quite a surprise, because-- well, you don't go lunging at combat veterans screaming loudly. But the team had ordered to keep things relatively quiet until the last possible second. Wanda had been enlisted into bringing Steve to the mansion on some prefix, and when they walked out back he was confronted by the entirety of the team standing on the end of the deck with a 'Happy Birthday' sign strung overhead. Someone had also scratched a 'Merry 4th' into the corner in blue sharpie. It was pretty well planned, giving Steve enough time to see everyone before bursting out with a loud 'Surprise!'

A four-piece band in the corner starts up; 'Happy Birthday' is on everyone's lips, and none are beaming more than Janet as she brings forward a monstrously oversized cake.

109 candles, and of course-- it's shaped like his iconic shield. It's a perfect 4th of July, with a bright late afternoon sky overhead, only a few wispy clouds in sight, and the scent of reactor-powered barbecues already warmed up and ready for the grillmasters.

"Blow 'em out!" Janet squeals at Cap, and hops up and down with a clapping of hands. She's dressed for summer, which means silver pump sandals, a flirty black skirt with a ruffled hem, and a bright yellow cotton top with a lot of decorative criss-cross straps covering her upper back and decolletage.

Mister Fantastic has posed:
    Reed Richards, yes, of the Fantastic Four, arrives and smiles as he looks around casually at all present. Although not an Avenger, he has been involved in a few cases here and there, including the Sentinels one. Taking a drink, he laughs at Janet's enthusiasm, and enjoys the comraderie he sees from everyone present. After all, Sue has been trying to get him to lighten up, and even though surprised at the invite, he was here. Ready to have fun!

Captain America has posed:
It is indeed a surprise, to an extent, that Steve walks out to see. Those ears betray him immediately and turn nearly fire-engine red in thrill. He laughs and rubs behind his ear at the appearance of the cake and its myriad candles.

"Sure we don't want a fire extinguisher for this?" he quips even as he considers the number of colorful tapers lit. Wow. He's old. "Alright, so..."

A huge huff of air, not hard enough to disturb any of the frosting on the cake (or knock the cake from the platter) and out the candles go, streaming silvery-blue smoke curls. "Still got it." The Captain lifts his clasped hands in a wrestling celebration move above his head and grins.

"Here, lemme cut pieces -- least I can do!" Presuming a cutting knife and plates, Steve in his white tanktop and jeans gets to portioning out pieces.

Spider-Man has posed:
There is no Peter Parker here because Spider-Man refuses to unmask.

Hanging out by the band, Spidey is standing on the side of a tree with his hand up around a branch while waiting for the man of the hour. "Holy Freedom of Speech Batman, you're 109?" Eyeing the cake as it's rolled out, "I mean, wait, hold on.. can I get a do-over? You don't look a day over 70."

BIG THUMBS UP.

Rogue has posed:
Rogue is here. She's not an Avenger anymore, but she's still here!

She'd made it into the city early as she could to get here before hand so she could be ready for the surprise part of the party, but she also has to get back to Westchester to help out with the Xavier's School affair going on up north of here...

When the surprise was shouted, she was right there with it, shouting it out with the proper level of screaming volune of happiness required for such a gesture and expression of affection.

Once its said and done and Steve is off to blow out his candles, Rogue waits and watches, claps with gloved hands in that very unsatisfying way that gloved hands sound when they applaud... and then waits for a second to speak up to Steve.

"Ya gotta open my present. Its a weird one and I wanna tell ya about it before I gotta vanish and you open all'a these things later once everybody else is drunk and passed out." She holds the present up in a red white and blue wrapped box and jiggles it a little bit. So... clearly its likely not breakable?

Scarlet Witch has posed:
Wanda walks out back with Steve, grinning and falling a step behind him once he sees everyone waiting for him so he can approach as the party's star as intended. She joins in yelling surprise with everyone else and then moves over to join everyone else as Janet is bringing out the cake.

There is one person there, Josh Foley, that many of the attendees probably don't know. Wanda moves over to join him, smiling at him and saying to him quietly, "I'm glad you were able to make it." She turns to watch as Cap blows out the candles. "Careful, asking someone his age just to breathe hard is a dangerous thing, I think," she teases, green eyes flashing a smile towards Janet and Steve.

Wanda is wearing a pair of shorts and a tank top that leaves her shoulders bare against the heat, and a pair of open-toed sandals that reveal painted toenails. "It figures," she says as Cap looks to cut the cake. "If there's a knife around, the soldier wants it in hand," she comments with a warm laugh.

War Machine has posed:
     Rhodey's there, because of course he is. After all this time of year tended to be a bit busy with a few birthdays in short order. He was one of the many singing out for a happy birthday to the ol captain. Though admitedly he is wearing his dress uniform this time around. "You know some people might say one oh nine but I'd just go for nineteen."

     There's a friendly smile on his face as he steps out of the crowd giving a tip of his marine corp dress cap."Admitedly I think I make that joke every year." A long pause taken before he just walks a bit closer to the group hands going down to his sides. "Though I guess next year'll be the last time I can for a while."

     He's not making a rush to just get in the way with a good chance everyone else will already be taking their chance to jump at the good ol birthday boy. "Come on the Country has a bit of a leg up on him in years so he's not the oldest one in attendence." Taking a light step down onto the ground a couple of times with a smirk.

Elixir has posed:
Josh waits for Steve to come out, feeling a bit out of place. The fact Wanda had wanted to him to come was exciting at first, daunting now. When Steve does come out he grins broadly, shouts and claps with everyone else.

"You think I'd miss it," he says to Wanda. He is in loafers, jeans and a collared light blue shirt. He chuckles at Wanda's comment. "You said it, not me."

Josh sees Rogue and waves to her.

Mister Fantastic has posed:
    Reed puts his glass down, and watches as all of the who's who in the hero community arrive. Shaking his head, he excuses himself so he can "powder his nose" and heads towards the nearest bathroom. Not having greeted anyone yet, this was probably easier to do now than later. After all, this was a happy occasion, one he wanted to be a part of.

Wasp (van Dyne) has posed:
Janet moves to intercept Steve, wraps her arms around his neck, and hauls him down for an utterly shameless kiss. Fingers roll through his close-cropped blonde hair and she holds him until it's worthy of a few snickers.

"Mwah! Okay. Birthday officially started!" the socialite declares, and turns back to the crew with hands upflung. "Y'all are wonderful; I'm glad you could make it. The grills are nice and warm, we just need a couple of you burly fellahs to go start cooking brats and burgers," she says. Hands clasp under her chin and she shamelessly flutters lashes at Rhodey, Josh, and Peter.

"There's some party games, too-- lawn darts, croquet, and bobbing for apples." She gestures at an old zinc-lined basin with apples bobbling on the surface. "And Tony said something about 'quiet fireworks' a few days ago and gave me that look that says 'brainwave' or 'constipated', so I'm sure he's got something GREAT planned."

"Anyway, dig in, eat up, have fun, love you aalll~," she sings, and blows a kiss to the Avengers.

"Oh! And feel free to call Steve up to open his gifts, you know how he looooves being the center of attention," she says, and hugs Steve's arm so she can beam up at him with a winning smile.

Captain America has posed:
"'m not the scariest one with a knife around here, I'll have you know," Steve replies to the Scarlet Witch with a grin even as he slides aside the fourth plate with cake upon it. "'nd thanks, Spiderman, it's in the genes." He salutes with the cake cutter from his temple towards the young man in his suit, respecting his anonymity instead of handing it away freely (or accidentally).

Good genes. Or jeans. Toss up on that one.

He pauses in distributing the slices when Rogue appears with her mysterious present. "I look older'n nineteen, Rhodey, c'mon. Give me a few years more'n that for my dignity," he jokes quickly towards War Machine before returning his attention to Rogue.

"I'm a bit dubious about your present now, young lady, knowing it's a weird one." The Captain still grins and extends his free hand for the small, apaprently not-breakable box.

However, claimed by Janet and now properly the center of attention, everyone gets to see his Irish blood out him something good. Now his cheeks match his ears. He waves the cake cutter around in a bashfully good-natured gesture.

"I'm just happy that you're all here to join me. Thank you for all that you do for the people of the city and the world. It's an honor to serve with everyone here. Now eat cake and be merry or however that saying goes." he comments and that's apparently that for his party speech. No more speeches. No speeching. Internally, Steve begs, no more speeching.

Scarlet Witch has posed:
Wanda doesn't want to be part of everyone rushing Steve at once, so she hangs back, though one might notice she has a box wrapped in blue foil and with a patriotic red, white and blue ribbon about it and some extra bunting on top of the box. She leans over to whisper something into Josh's ear as she motions towards the box.

Wanda straightens, watching Rogue go over to deliver her present. "And someone else here that you know already," Wanda comments to the blond-haired man as Josh also spotted the Mississippian and waved over to her. "She used to be a part of the team here. And has been assisting me with a matter of late as well," Wanda tells him.

Steve's comment to the crowd gets a soft smile from Wanda. Ever one to turn the spotlight of appreciation from himself onto the others that he serves with. Part of why they all love Steve so much.

Though mostly it's his butt.

Spider-Man has posed:
Spidey drops down from his tree perch and makes his way over to the birthday boy while fishing around in his belt for a folded birthday card in a 'red, white, & blue' envelope. "Hey Cap, it's not much, but..." He shoves it forward, opting to lay it down on the table next to the cake rather than interrupt cake distribution. "So, about this cake..." Motioning with both hands now that they're free, bringing them up as if to make a picture frame with his thumbs and index fingers.

Rogue has posed:
The kiss from Janet just makes Rogue grin, she even wolf whistles at it, a nice and quiet little whistle to voice her opinion of the hotness put on display there.

Her eyes dart over to the others and she spies Josh with Wanda, she raises a hand up to wave to both of them before she grins over to Rhodey. "Rhodes has Grillmaster duties, I bet." She says lightly with a grin before she looks back to Cap when she has his attention.

"Here." She says and thrusts that present at him. Its all shiny wrapping paper, glittering red white and blue shades. Not too big, shoe box sized. When and if he opens it he might be surprised to find inside it, beneath the soft festiv paper inside is a handgun. An ooooold handgun, worn and beaten by time!

Rogue grins. "Found it in the cockpit of a plane from World War Two. Off the coast'a Genosha. Tried t'clean it up a bit, but was told t'leave well enough alone with that." She raises a gloved finger up and points at it. "But look'it. Its got a name on it." LT. Michael Travis is engraved on the center mass of the weapon, still legible even.

"Check it. I looked him up. He was lost at sea." Rogue glances to the gun, then back up to Steve. "His family is here in New York t'this day. I was thinkin' maybe ya could take this to'em. MIght mean a lot comin' from ya and like, you're a soldier, so I figure you'd be the right person for this honor, right?" She's honestly not sure if this is a good gift or not and thats clear on her face.

Elixir has posed:
Josh chuckles when Wanda whispers to him. He hands her a card he brought.

"Looks like I'm on burger duty. Geez, more food here than I buy in a year! I don't know where this goes, do you?" he asks with a grin.

Josh winks to Wanda and meanders over to the grill.

"So does this thing fly or something, or is it just a fifty million dollar barbecue?" he asks nobody in particular. But soon the meat starts hitting the grill.

War Machine has posed:
     Rhodes is already walking over towards the grill, taking time to put on an apron around his waste. It's an odd look mixing the white dress uniform with the apron, but it oddly almost works on the vet. He looks down to the collection in front of him and gets to work doing a bit of laid back food prep. "You know I am Rogue, I spend enough time around fire at work I should damn well know how to cook with it."

     The Apron just reads 'Smell of Napalm in the morning' across the front with a picture of an appache attack helecopter made from a george forman. "You take burgers, I got the other side my dude." With a light smile and a bit of a move over into place. "And to think all I got him was that Oscar Brand cover of star spangled man." As he chuckles away getting to work on prepping some of the cold food while Quaid takes care of the burger side of things.

Captain America has posed:
Steve places aside the cake cutting implement after pressing a fond kiss to Janet's hair. She's free to do whatever she pleases, be it mingle with guests or direct grilling or tell people how to bob for apples because duh, there's totally a right way to do it.

"It's the thought that always counts, Spiderman, thank you," says the Captain as he looks from the card and to the suited young man. "Take a slice! Nobody's going to judge you for eating with your mask on." He grins before glancing back to Rogue once more.

With minimal muss and fuss, he does open the small package to see its contents. His eyebrows dance up as he looks back to Rogue again. Those fine features grow solemn. "You've got a huge heart, Anna-Marie, 'nd I'd be honored to bring it back to his family. I'll let you know what they say 'nd be sure to get you your share of credit too, if you want."

Wasp (van Dyne) has posed:
Janet squeezes Steve's forearm and drifts away to mingle. This is Janet at her peak: charming, gracious, and flowing through the social gathering like a fish in water. She moves to Reed and beams up at him, giving the inventor a friendly peck on the cheek and a quick hug. "Reed! Where have you been hiding?" she demands of him. "And where the heck is Sue? I've been meaning to get her in for a dress fitting for /months/," she exclaims.

"And you!" She pinches Reed's arm. "Leaving us here with Hank and Tony, /fending/ for ourselves. Can't you stay a few weeks here? Play interference?" she begs of him. "I just know in my heart one of them's going to get drunk and rebuild Ultron just to show the other up, and we need one more mad scientist in the room to remind them what a terrible, -terrible- idea that'd be."

Spider-Man has posed:
Pete holds his hands up and shakes his head at the cake, "It smells delicious, it looks amazing, but it goes straight to my hips." Both hands then pat those hips, "Radioactive spiders are a lot of things, but it is not a diet plan." He motions around, "Happy birthday, Cap. I'm going to meangle before I head home to spend the day with my Aunt." He takes a few steps back and spins on his heels towards the pool. Rather than do the meangling he said he would, however, he launches back to the tree beside the four piece band.

"You guys are killin' it with them horns. Oh... oh oh oh... do you know Flight of the Valkyries? I freaking love that song. I sometimes play it in my headphones while I'm fighting." Where he hangs from a treelimb easily and lazily, there's a super subtle swing like a child letting their feet dangle off a chair. "Am I messing with your concentration?" Squinting at the band who are trying to do band stuff. "Oh crap! You guys should throw down a rendition of Wrecking Ball. That Miley Cyrus... now there's a real american treasure, amirite? 'membah when she twirked at the V.M.A.s? oooh yeeah, I meembah."
Swing, swing.

Elixir has posed:
"You're actually James Rhodes," Josh says with a grin and a huh as he sets to grilling burgers. "I'm Josh Foley. Wouldn't it like, be faster to just, zap these things?" he quips, mimicking the suit hand blasting gesture. "Spatula's just not the same, you know?"

Josh glances at the interaction between Rogue and Steve with curiousity. The first time he met the Southern belle, she had been an Avenger. But it was still weird to see her here among them.

Scarlet Witch has posed:
Wanda Maximoff gave Rogue back a warm smile at the younger woman's wave. "That's a wonderful gift," Wanda says as Rogue explains what it is. The Transian woman looks back to Josh as he decides to help take over one of the grills. She picks up the present but walks over with Josh to the grill as he gets started there.

As Josh introduces himself to Rhodey, Wanda smiles and asks, "James, please no recruiting him into a set of power armor while I'm gone, yes?" She smiles to Rhodey and then says, "I'll be right back, let me go take this over to Steve."

She turns then to head over to the birthday boy. She pauses though to look to Spider-Man as Cap comments on his mask. "You know that you can remove that now, right?" she asks him. "We've known who you are for a long time now, J. Jonah Jameson," she teases, choosing the one name that she's pretty sure Spider-Man is not. She smiles to him and then continues over to Steve.

"I am never quite sure what to get people on a birthday," she confesses to Steve. "But I hope this is something you'd appreciate." She will pass over the blue, spangled box when Steve is ready for it.

Spider-Man has posed:
"I'll have you know..." Turning upon his hands where he's dangling from a tree, Spidey faces Wanda when she slanderizes him in such a manner, "That I go by J.J.J. Or three J. J Three is my rapper name, I have a mix tape dropping next week called; Spider The menace. You should check it out." Still swinging, the band is probably glad to have his attention turned away.

Rogue has posed:
Rogue just grins at Cap when he opens the gift she'd given him and she shakes her head softly. "Ah... nah, I don't need no credit." She tells him. "I know this is a weird lil thing, so I just wanted t'make sure it was in the right hands. You givin' it back t'them probably will mean the whole damn world t'them, rather than a random nobody like me." She holds her grin. "Anyway, happy birthday." Rogue isn't one for credit taking of anything, not after what she did to Carol Danvers, even if it was under the order of Mystique.

She steps away then and moves to go get a drink, finding a bottle of lemonade she looks for a chair to settle down onto and enjoy the ambiance of the party before she's gotta head north again.

War Machine has posed:
     Looking over towards Josh for a moment Rhodes coppies the motion once, then a second time. "Nope, doesn't work without the suit on." A bit of a smirk crossing his face as it builds into a smile. "Good to meet you Josh." As he looks back down to the spread getting everything set not taking quite that long but after all cake is already at the ready. "You really gotta make sure to time things just perfect if you want to get any sort of cooking done with that suit."

     He pauses just a moment prepping a bit of his own brought from home steak with him a light slam of the hammer getting things ready. "Still can't beleive this stuff was only two dollars sixty per pound with that veterans discount." Under his breath as he slides them over towards the grill master himself Foley! "Get enough practice and I'm pretty sure I could manage to keep em in zero g while they cook, but that would get rid of the grill marks." Though he calls back over towards wanda. "Only recruiting I do is to the Marine core, and we don't give power armor out."

Iron Man has posed:
The band, finishing a song, pauses, and confers together briefly, as they very clearly react to some sort of cue or arranged information. They adjust, and change into the opening chords of Queen, 'We will Rock you'.

At the pulses of music, the little drones that subtly circled into the back lawn each launch colored firework flares: streaks of gold, blue, white: all of them spiral out of the moving robots to fly skyward. The pulses go with the beat, painting the sky in flashes of colorful display, woven underneath a technological illusion spanning over the lawn and mansion: ethereal flutters of flags, and the shapes of dancers clapping and stomping, only to dematerialize. It's intense, and out of it comes Tony Stark, to just about ambush Steve out of the razzle-dazzle in a bearhug.

"Happy Birthday, Capsicle," Tony says loudly, smile sleek and comfortable. Tony's dressed casually, clearly having emerged from something else he'd been working on, but throwing on a suit coat dressed up the look of his rock t-shirt and jeans.

Elixir has posed:
Josh chuckles. "No grill marks? Dude, that's unAmerican /for sure/."

Josh winks at Wanda and then cocks his head at James.

"Marines pay for med school, don't they? Maybe I should sign up," Josh jokes in earshot of Wanda.

"Oh, and there's Mr. Stark."

Captain America has posed:
Peter's reply has Steve laughing and grinning enough to showcase his dimples. "That's fair," he allows before watching the young man swing over to mingle with the band.

"Alright. I'll let you know how it goes. Thanks, Anna-Marie," and he gives Rogue that same big grin. Nothing like being able to give back to someone who gave their time and life in return -- an excellent present.

Wanda's approach has him giving her a big grin as well. "You didn't have to bring me a thing, so thank you already, Wanda. You're very thoughtful." Carefully, he opens the box to find a baseball glove. "Oh, wow. I haven't seen this style since..." As he pulls it out, it's a model from the early 40s, in the time of Reiser and the Dodger's ascension to fame. The leather is well-loved and fits his hand...well, like a glove. "Thanks, Wanda. I'll probably keep it next to my signed baseball," he tells the Scarlet Witch even as he gently flexes his hand to feel the motion of the leather glove.

He takes a moment to holler towards Rhodey and Josh, "Either of you want a beer?" It seems Steve will be at least attempting to help host his own party unless someone stops him.

Thank god there's Tony to intervene and keep the Captain from attempting to host.

Turning around, Steve ends up belting out a disbelieving laugh at the display and returns the hug from the genius-inventor. "Tony, you never fail to impress," he quips as of the holograms and extreme patriotism in its bright colors. "Look, there's cake. Eat some for me. Oh, and your grills are working out great. No one's caught anything on fire yet."

Yet.

Spider-Man has posed:
Spider-Man kicks his feet up to increase his swing speed, craning backwards and forward all the way so that he's crouching down atop that same limb from which he was hanging. Closer to the explosions, grinning behind his mask at them, and then over to Cap's sudden laughter where Tony has made his dramatic entrance. "hah! Now that's how you join a party." One leg flicks out so he can settle up against the tree trunk, arm laid over a upturned knee.

Mister Fantastic has posed:
    Reed Richards returns, and grabs the nearest glass of whatever the party was having. His smile was a bit forced, but he looked around at all the heroes present, and admires the loyalty that such a man brings about. When Janet pinches his arm, he says, "Ow!" And grins at her as she kisses his cheek. "Hello Ms. Van Dyne. It is good to see you. Thank you for having such a wonderful affair!"

    "Sue has been called away. Something in Eastern Europe is brewing, and she felt she had to deal with it." Reed's eyes told her is must be you-know-who. "I am sure she would love to do the whole dress fitting thing." A pause. "Is that a thing?" Reed looks slightly flabbergasted. "For tou Janet, I will stick around. Prevent the whole Ultron thing. Scout's Honor! Promise!" His three fingers solidyfy the promise.

    

Scarlet Witch has posed:
Wanda smiles as Steve pulls out the well-cared for baseball glove and looks it over. "Apparently it was from a famous player in your day. Someone named Joe Gordon? It was his glove he used in 1942,' she tells Steve.

Joe Gordon. New York Yankees Hall of Fame second baseman from the late 30s until Steve went into the ice. Also, he won the MVP in 1942.

Wanda smiles and says, "I have a case you can keep it in as well to help keep it in good condition, which I'll bring by later." It is about then that Tony makes his entrance, Wanda looking up to grin at the display of streamers and light. "Fashionably late, but quite the entrance," she tells Tony in her softly accented English. She'll make room for others to make their greetings then, drifting back over towards the grill.

The comment from Josh Foley about joining the Marines, even if joking, gets a soft, "Oh no," from Wanda and a laughing shake of her head. "Do you /want/ to have to report to someone like this?" she asks, patting Rhodey's shoulder while giving him a smile to make clear she's just teasing him.

War Machine has posed:
     "If you want I could go for a Yuengling" Spoken as he slides over a few more of the stakes for the grill already readying to take instructions on how people want theirs. The cut isn't the best in the world but for just over two and a half dollars a pound the stuff's fantastic. A nice thick set of juicy steaks right for the eating after a kiss of the grill. "Haven't had one of those in a few weeks now." He pauses for a moment. "Just saying, we pay for college, and you'd most likely wind up as a hospital corpsmen, rear lines away from combat, no getting shot at and you get to work with some of the best professionals in the industry."

     He offers a bit of a light smile towards Wanda before looking back down to the tabletop as he's as much trying to recruit Foley as he is tease Wanda right back. "Explore strange new nations, seek out new life and new civilizations to boldly go where wars are and patch people up."

Wasp (van Dyne) has posed:
Janet grins at Reed. "I'm gonna hold you to that, Richards," Janet warns him. "Be careful, though. The most trustworthy person in a woman's social circle is her stylist~," she sings at him. She laughs, hugs Reed once more, and drifts on into the party.

Janet waves off the special effects as Tony lands, and insinuates herself between Josh and James. A slender arm rises and partially snakes over their shoulders, though she's too petite to make anything of it. "How's the grilling going, boys?" she asks them both. "Tony said these'll flash fry a buffalo in ten seconds flat. I think that's a bit overkill, personally, but I might literally murder someone for a cheeseburger in the next few seconds," she advises them.

Janet looks over at Steve's deluge of presents and beams a happy smile at him, before focusing on the self-appointed Grillmasters.

Iron Man has posed:
"We're keeping to only intentional fires today," Tony replies to Steve with a playful lift of both dark eyebrows, using the edge of an index finger to slide the tech glasses he's wearing up his nose a smidge. The glasses are tinted with a mild yellow, which casts a golden reflection from the firework bursts on his eyes and cheeks. "Cake? Magical words; I'll be starting with steak, that, and a drink," Tony says, orienting towards a drone that isn't actively shooting fireworks, and snaps his fingers authoritatively at it. It buzzes towards the drinks. Clearly a vague snap-snap and gesture translates to 'drink now'.

"That's just the starters," Tony answers Wanda flippantly, smiling. "...unless you'd rather a more subtle, low-key party," Tony says directly to Steve, raising his voice over the boom of the fireworks and other band noise.

"Rhodey," Tony greets, next, with a one-handed aim to clap one hand to his buddy's shoulderblade. "Don't let me down on that streak," Tony teases, well aware Rhodey is aware of Tony's steak preferences. "I'm starving." As always.

"Careful with the misquote, Janet. Two seconds, on highest setting, if you don't need your eyebrows or goatee," Tony points at her, smiling. He won't be grilling, obviously.

War Machine has posed:
     "Come on Tony, you've known me long enough that I always get it just right." A light in his eye as he sees his old friend. "If there's two things I know food wise, it's Pizza, and steak." He pauses for a quick moment looking back down towards the grill. There's already a small stack of burgers and the like the two have been able to knock. "I'll tell you he's not lying, not sure if it's the same one brought out in Bogota, but we got to see first hand what it can do to an entire buffalo."

     A low rub of his eyebrows and beard area as he thinks back. There's a distant look in his eyes as Rhodes sees off into the far horizon looking into the endless void with an expression that says the comment may well be more then a joke. "So much burnt fur." A light pause as he plates a burger. "I can still hear the flames."

Captain America has posed:
Careful to put the baseball glove away into its temporary holdings, Steve's back to looking pretty bashful again. "I'll keep it safe," he promises Wanda on an aside. It's clear he's pleased as pie to have such a thing to display -- it is exceptionally rare to have found.

A glance towards the grill again and he upnods towards Janet, flashing dimples. He's comfortable if not still pinked at the ears about the whole affair. After all, this is his family in the modern era, immediate and extended alike.

Tony's question is a valid one. "Probably give the fireworks another few seconds and then cut 'em. Neighbors'll complain otherwise," he opines with an easy-going grin; he's only a little tight around the eyes at the noise.

Steve does meander over to the grills in time to hear the short tale of the barbequed buffalo from Rhodes. He eyebrows over his forkful of cake and comments around it, "Think we'll keep the grills at a lower flame'n that, Rhodey. I'll take my burgers medium-rare."

He does espy Josh, however, and smiles. "Don't think we've met. Captain Rogers," he says, introducing himself to Josh. "You here with someone?"

Mister Fantastic has posed:
    "I would expect no less, Van Dyne." Reed grins and winks at her with an almost absent glance. "Stylist. Apt intelligence that I will keep buried in here." Reed taps his right temple with his right index finger. Reed finishes off the conversation with a hug, and then a sip from his glass. He meanders into the party, listening and trying to look like he belonged there.

    Moving closer to Steve Rogers, Reed Richards tkaes a moment to smile, nod, and say, "Happy Birthday Captain Rogers. I hope you are well on this day. Here's to many more to come!" Reed holds up his glass, and takes a drink, maneuvering himself away as the crowd continues to surround the man. Moving into the background, he takes another moment to nod towards Stark, and then simply "hides" in the background. These situations were not really his forte.

Elixir has posed:
Josh laughs. "I dunno, my world's pretty strange and new these days!"

"You want one of these?" he asks Wanda, offering a burger.

"Yo! Burgers are up!" Josh calls out with a grin. "You look like you need a double stacker birthday guy!" he calls to Steve and waves him over.

Spider-Man has posed:
Spidey watches from his high perch with a grin behind his mask and a lazy lull to his head off in that direction. Such as it is, however, he's on a timetable. Dinner with Aunt May, party that's already happened at Xavier's. The metaphorical finger is tapping the metaphorical watch. You're late, Peter Parker. "Aren't I always." He grumps, reaching up to grab a limb with which he can pull himself to foot.

"Hey Cap! Happy Birthday." He jumps backwards off the limb, shoots webbing at it, and swings in beneath to pick up momentum that carries him over the back wall with his legs twisted off to one side with his body. Less he not clear the railings, which he do.

THWIP!

Spider-Man is off for a very important date with a very important lady. Then he's gonna get druuuuuuuuuuunk and slide on an ice slide.

Because he's an adult.

Iron Man has posed:
The drones seem to have some difficulty in the air as they try to NOT shoot Spidey with fireworks as he passes by. It sems to upset them, and the patterns of holograms flux.

"Aw, is our neighbor /upset/?" Tony asks smugly when Steve answers him about the fireworks, with a pointed LOOK over at the Pym laboratory building set up on the lawn not far from the party. There might be a reason a lot of the loud firecrackers were set off next to it.

"Rhodes, the sound is more recent than you think, but as for 'fur'---" Tony starts to say warningly, of the crackle of fire that's attached itself to Rhodey's grilling glove's side. Tony also steps back, due to knowing what's about to come:

Three drones fly down out of nowhere urgently and abruptly attempt to spray Rhodey heavily with their extinguishers.

Tony's expression very much reads of concern, but then amusement: he's had his share of being sprayed, whether or not he was actually on fire. And he's learned where to stand.

Scarlet Witch has posed:
Wanda Maximoff does indeed take one of the burgers from Josh. "Thank you. And don't listen to Rhodey. He'll have you all khaki'd and saluting if he has his way," Wanda says in a joking voice to the two grill masters.

As Steve comes over to introduce himself to Josh, she smiles to Steve for including the other man. "Steve, this is my +1. Josh Foley. Medical student, and not-Marine," she says, the final part given with a jokingly pointed look to Rhodey.

Wanda takes a bite of the burger and then adds, once she's swallowed the bite, "And... I'm finding out, a very good cook apparently too," she says of the burger.

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
At some point, another apparently slipped in, with less fanfare than Tony. Jessica Drew stands on the perimeter, a little subdued, but with a gentle smile across her lips, watching the others as she sips from a glass of iced tea. She hasn't inserted herself yet...just standing and watching for the moment, and enjoying a distraction from the events of late.

Spider-Man has posed:
As he swings, Spidey pats one of the drones on the drone head, if only to confound them more because he's not rally an adult at all. "Aren't you a cute little fireworks drone doing droney fireworks things." Thwip, swing, pat, thwip. Now he's just being a spider-troll. "Yes you are, YESSSSSS you are.." Nuzzle nosing, or something, it's arial and probably dangerous.

War Machine has posed:
     Rhodes snaps out of it a moment mid sentence asking "What the hell do you mean n- Oh no, oh no" As he's backing away from the grill. "Not this time Bonjovi, not th-" Stopped mid sentence while trying to pull off the grilling mit only to be covered, yes covered completeley from head to toe by a mountain of foam.

     The foam pile grows larger and larger causing Rhodes to appear more like a snowman then a regular person. Dripping from his entire body in white foam Rhodes swats at the drones still spraying him shouting. "IT'S OUT, THE FIRE IS OUT DAMMIT" before his cries of fire cause another two drones to come down and empty out their chemical foam spray onto the pile trapping rhodes on the spot.

     He just stands there. Stands there in silence as a lone drone with treads instead of the usual areal drones comes over. He doesn't even fight it just looking down as useless sprays him with the contents of his extinguisher as well, receiving a pat on the top of the dome from the mountain of foam that was once James Rhodes.

Captain America has posed:
Hearing Peter call out to him, Steve glances over his shoulder from where he stands now by the grill. "Thanks, Spiderman! Have a good night!"

Reed gets a return salute with the plate of cake from the Captain at his well-wishes and a broad grin. "Thank you kindly, Reed. I hope you enjoy yourself. Thanks for being part of the turn-out!"

Josh garners the Captain's attention with his call-out and he lifts his hand holding the cake fork. "Yes, double-stacker, please," he replies in a carrying voice. The arrival of the drones, however, have him taking a few steps back. "Nice to meet you, Josh, thanks for..."

He means to say 'showing up', but the sudden actions of the drones have him dancing back another few steps yet. He almost loses his slice of cake as he laughs, giving Tony a slightly betrayed look -- excuse me, these are your drones, what on earth?!

"I expected someone to push someone into the pool, this's definitely not what I thought would happen," Steve comments as a whole to the mountain of foam that is now Rhodey.

Wasp (van Dyne) has posed:
It's moments like this that heroes are made of. Janet spots the drones incoming. Her eyes go wide. She knows what's coming too. What does the Winsome Wasp do?

She snatches two patties on a plate, then shrinks and buzzes under the table for cover. She pops up on the other side, clear of the foam spray, and starts nonchalantly putting patties on buns and covering them with ketchup and condiments.

"Party foul!" Janet boos Tony, and walks towards Steve. She takes a few big bites of his (her) burger, then comes up short when she realizes he's looking at the half-eaten burger in her hand.

She gives him her most adorable chipmunk look. Cheeks packed. Little ketchup on her mouth. "Uh...I got you one, but a dog... took it." She swallows. Gestures vaguely. "Came out of /nowhere/," she adds with lame emphasis.

Janet looks down at the burger on her plate, then up at Steve, and offers the plate to him.

"Wanna share mine?"

Iron Man has posed:
Tony gives a little shrug, "Safer. Less drowning."

/Less/ drowning, not /no/ drowning.

"He's fine; he's used to it."

Tony manuevers around the foam splash zone with a plate of previously cut cake on a plate in his other hand. He's spotted Reed, and is veering that way with a singular purpose usually reserved for approaching a heroic meeting: Tony's relaxed as always, but purposeful intensity. "Reed, I've got a party favor to ask; it's up your alley, got a few?" he asks, serenely, but the tone betrays that it's a serious matter. His head tips to jerk a motion towards the building. "I can solve the snag, but you'd enjoy it, I think," Tony adds around a mouthful of cake.

Mister Fantastic has posed:
    "No problem Captain!" Reed says, returning the salute. Sipping his drink, Reed moves back away from the crowd, and looks like he was about to find his way towards the nearest exit when Tony Stark swoops in. It couldn't be better timing actually.

    "A party favour. Fascinating. Of course, anything I can do to help." Reed puts down his glass, and waves towards the exit. "AFter you then. Curiousity killed the cat as it were."

Scarlet Witch has posed:
Wanda Maximoff smiles towards Reed, waving to him before he can get away. "Hello Reed. So glad you made it over. I met Crystal the other day as well. Johnny had mentioned her. I hope things are going well with her people," Wanda comments towards him.

Looking over there also causes Wanda to spy Jessica Drew. The Spider-woman is given a wave of greeting, that turns into a wave over for Jessica to join them. If Wanda meant to call to Jessica too, it's interrupted by the Rhodey being buried beneath foam. The Transian woman jumps back out of the way even as she's laughing.

"So it is turning into one of those kind of parties," she says, flashing a grin towards Josh. "Save yourself if you can," she tells him in a stage whisper.

Wanda's attention swings back towards the birthday boy as Steve makes known his expectation that someone would be pushed into the swimming pool. Her hand that is on the far side of Steve goes into motion, red energy gathering around her fingers, and simultaneously around Steve's lower body. "Well, we wouldn't want you to be disappointed," Wanda tells Steve about the time the scarlet energy rises up his body enough he probably notices it. That's also the moment he'll feel that energy trying to lift him into the air and send him on a graceful arc towards the pool!

War Machine has posed:
     Rhodes makes his way slowly over to one side of the party area. Behind him he leaves just a trail of foam that can be used to spot exactly where he's going. A lone arm moves up out of the foam-man wiping off Rhodes face a bit and slapping a bit more foam onto the ground. "You know Tony the worst part of this whole thing is that you're right" Called back with a shout as he goes for a towel. It's going to take some time for him to clean himself off.

    "I think that's the fifth or sixth time your drones decided to try and drown me in chemical foam." He pauses as he takes off his hat and just tries to get out of the foam covered clothing down to the swimwear he made sure to put on underneath.

     Massive chunks of foam fall off of his person as he begins to slowly but surely become more man then foam, the process going on one limb at a time. "You'd think after the second time I'd learn not to try cooking around here, but you'd think wrong." Spoken as he shakes out his arm now wearing a rather simple pair of swim trunks and a short sleeve shirt his head still holding a small tower of foam that rises up into the air. "Guess I'm just a glutton for punishment."

     Before he dives right into the pool himself.

Captain America has posed:
"He'd have to be by now," Steve replies to Tony, eyeing the departing drone after it's finishes leaving its final offering of fire-retardant foam. He's eating his last bite of cake when he hears Janet. Glancing over to her, his attention falls from her face to the burger and to her face again. The ketchup spot is noted and he smiles even as he shakes his head mildly.

"I'd love to share yours, thanks, Shortcakes." Setting aside his empty plate, the Captain snags up a napkin and momentarily "dads" the Wasp in removing the ketchup. "Had a little spot there," he explains. He's sufficiently distracted at his task to not realize he's now talked himself into a proper target at his earlier comment about the pool.

The second his feet leave the ground, he lets out a yelp-laugh of surprise. "Party foul! Party foul!" There he goes, nearly in tandem with Rhodey. Two splashes and the pool's now in use, ladies and gentlemen. Steve surfaces and shakes water out of his hair before gasp-laughing again. "Maximoff, I'm switching all the spices in your spice cabinet!" It's a friendly threat for all that the Captain laughs through it.

Iron Man has posed:
Tony salutes Steve and Rhodey with his cake fork, amused (but a little distant) as they both end up in the pool, and then gestures with said fork for Reed to follow him inside.

While Tony loves parties, there's no derailing the Tony train off of what he's working on: no party, no rest, no nothing, it needs to be solved. And Tony is not above outsourcing and delegating sections of work to others that so happen to fall in his lap.

"Great, I've got most of the setup in my tower, but the fabrication's located here," Tony begins to chatter at Reed as he leads him indoors. "I'm running tests, and I've got some errors that I shouldn't be getting. Bring your troubleshoot hat...."

Wasp (van Dyne) has posed:
Janet buzzes up to Wanda (metaphorically) and whispers something in her ear, fast and insistent. She bursts into peals of laughter a few seconds later, hanging on Wanda's shoulders.

"Damnit Wanda, couldn't you put 'em both in those clingy surfer shorts first?" Janet chides the witch. She helps Steve out of the water (Sorry Rhodey!) and beams at him. "Oh, you need to open your present from me! Well, one of 'em," she tells Steve, and digs her phone from her skirt pocket (yes, she has those). A few swipes of her thumb sends Steve a message. *ding!*

"Happy birthday, sweetheart." She pops on her toes and kisses his cheekbone, then immediately doublechecks to make sure the water didn't smudge her makeup.

Elixir has posed:
Josh greets Steve, and then sees the incoming drones at the last moment. He snaps the lid down on his grill and catches a bunch of the overspray. Then Captain America and Warmachine, illustrious heroes, are tossed into the pool!

"Oh yeah, definitely one of /those/ parties," he chuckles to Wanda. "There any cleaning spells that don't involve me going into the pool?" he asks her. Josh wipes off a bunch of foam on a nearby towel and washes his hands.

"Burgers survived!" he grins. "Who's up? And where's the beer?" he asks.

War Machine has posed:
     As a Marine Rhodes should be used to water, As a Marine Pilot Rhodes feels a bit more comfortable in the air, as a former NASA astronaut Rhodes is used to being underwater for space simulation.

     Whatever the case he's just swimming along. Man's got his six pack abbs on full display as he just shuttles around enjoying his time in the pool. As funny as it may be he's already got the almost skin tight surfer shorts, but then again those are the sacrafices made to stay comfortable when wearing all that overclothing. Though eventually he will have to actually get the dress suit cleaned up.

     Ripped abbs: Check. Skin tight surfer shorts: Check. Finally getting that damn chemical foam out of his hair? Checkerino. Good golly does it feel nice to just relax in a pool, and shirtless Rhodes is enjoying it."Hey you know I wasn't entirely sure how the burgers would turn out with the foam, but I'm pretty sure even the foamy ones will be mostly fine." He pauses for a moment diving to the bottem of the pool to get that last bit of foam off his head.

     When he comes back up he adds. "Mostly."

Scarlet Witch has posed:
Wanda Maximoff grins over to Janet. "Oh no, getting them out of clothes, and into others too, is someone else's job," Wanda tells the Wasp as she waves her hands to stave off that whole subject as she laughs. Wanda smiles as Cap takes it in good-natured fashion, and she floats a few towels over to greet Steve and Rhodey whenever they depart the pool.

One of the towels floats over to Wanda as she turns to Josh. "Kind of an occupational hazard around here," she tells him, reaching out to help wipe some foam clinging to some blond hair, before giving him the towel to finish the job.

The woman has a bright look in her eyes though. Being around her teammates in such an environment has definitely done something for her mood. The bit of melancholy that had claimed Wanda from time to time over the last few weeks is gone at the moment.

Wasp (van Dyne) has posed:
Janet licks her chops at Wanda, subtly, and bites her lower lip. Hard. "Right?" she mutters, sotto voce.

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
Jessica furrows her brow as bodies hit the pool, and then she smiles, catching Wanda's wave. She rights herself from where she stood, leaning against the wall. She joins Wanda, dressed for the heat in a red tanktop, just a hint of sparkle, and a fluttery black skirt down to her knees with matching heels. Her hair spills down over her shoulders in dark waves. "I see you're the one to make friends with," she says to Wanda, after the display of magic that put Steve into the pool. "How are things, Wanda?"

Captain America has posed:
Swimming to the edge of the pool, Steve accepts the offered hand from the wee Wasp to get out of the water. He slicks his palm back over his flaxen hair to get it completely off of his forehead and glances from her phone to her. "I left the phone in my room, so I'll look once I get back," he says, grinning. Hey, if the water didn't smudge her make-up, he sports no lipstick on his cheek as a result. Safe!

Now out of the immediate circle of ruckus, the dripping Captain espies Jessica by the grill and lifts his hand. "Hey, Jessica! Have a burger, they're great. Nobody's going to throw you into the pool, don't worry," he adds with a laugh, wringing out the hem of his clinging t-shirt. The offered towel, crackling with crimson power, is taken from the air and Steve's still amused enough to salute Wanda with it in silent gratitude.

"Can't drink while you're in the pool, Rhodey." Steve heard Josh's question about beer and shows up again with a bottle of something fairly standard. "Thanks for being the grillmaster. Sorry if foam got on the burgers. At least nobody really caught on fire," he asides as he towels off his hair. A glance around proves Tony and Reed have departed, but no doubt it was due to serious business. Steve makes a note to check in with both later.

War Machine has posed:
     "Yeah, last thing we need is me drunk at the bottom of the pool." Rhodes takes one last deep dive into the pool gathering his time. He pushes hard off against the base, then he kicks into a speed slamming up onto the side in order to hoist himself full up into the air and land back down securely on the edge of the pool.

     It'd be almost impressive if he didn't slide slightly on the foam ruining the grace of his stuck landing and instead about sliding him right past the offered towel. The upside is that he at least gets the towel and is able to clear off his face, chest glistening in the light of the sun as he slings it over his shoulders and starts walking. For as old as Rhodes might be he still does his best to keep in top physical fitness.

Wasp (van Dyne) has posed:
"You're-- phone-- in the--" Janet just splutters as Steve walks past her, hands flailing at his back. She manages to sink a nail into his t-shirt and uses it to haul him backwards.

Well, physics being what it is, she hauls herself /forwards/, and skitters in front of Steve. Hands plant on his chest to... uh, something.

To stop him! That's right. It takes her a second to remember, face to face with the wet, clinging cotton t-shirt....

Janet digs her phone out of her pocket again and waves it in Steve's face. "You ninny, /look/," she tells him, with a vexatious tone. "Happy /birthday/," she says, again.

Elixir has posed:
Josh gets back to serving burgers.

"Oh, wow, hey! You're Jessica Drew!" he says brightly when the woman comes over. "We met once, like last year? Bank robbery with these fire mutants and crazy stuff. People getting hurt. You totally stuck some dude to the ceiling!" he says with a broad grin and sticks out a hand. "Josh Foley."

Scarlet Witch has posed:
Wanda Maximoff greets Jessica with a warm smile as she moves over to join them by the grill. "I'm doing well, Jessica, how about yourself?" she asks. Wanda moves over to a cooler to pull out three beers, offering one to Josh where he's at the grill, and one to Jessica.

"Jessica Drew, this is-" she says, making an introduction before realizing they have met. "Ah, so you've met the grill master extraordinaire, who gallantly sacrificed himself to save our burgers from fire-retardant foam," she says, giving a flashing green-eyed smile to the younger man at the grill.

Wanda opens up her beer to take a sip of it. "If you did want to swim, Josh, we could find a suit inside," she offers.

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
"I'm...dealing. Best anyone can do, right?" Jessica's expression is a little tense, but she's trying to relax as she replies to Wanda. She forces a smile. "Glad to see you here, though. Sometimes I guess it is important to try to unwind."

Turning to Josh, Jessica tilts her head slightly. She gives a smile and a nod to Steve, before focusing more fully on the young man. "Y-you're that...healer, yeah? I remember...God we could use more like you, Josh," she replies, shaking his hand, her smile relaxing. "I hope you've been well, it's been too long. I'm so glad to see you again."

Captain America has posed:
"You're better served being drunk out of the pool," Steve agrees with Rhodey and laughs. "I'll get the beers."

The whiplash stretch and reduction of fabric brings Steve up short if only because now there's suddenly a Janet in his direct path. He sets aside the beer in his hand in order to take her phone and squint at it.

His eyebrows jump up and nearly disappear as he outright stares at Janet. "Oh...wow, Janet...how'd you...how'd you manage that? I don't even -- the entire chain?" he asks quietly.

The Captain hears Wanda's comment and glances quickly over at her with a wry little smirk. "Don't even need a suit if someone tosses you into the pool," he comments, loudly enough for everyone to hear.

Elixir has posed:
Josh beams when Jessica remembers him. "That's right!" he says. "Oh, and then that time you introduced me to Mr. Stark. I've been working at Stark Biomed ever since. Really grateful, just wish it got me in the field... But apparently even if you can save lives with your hands, if you're not a doctor..." Josh spreads his hands. "Great to see you though."

"I can't believe you threw Captain America in the pool," Josh says to Wanda with a grin. "This place is almost as weird as the mansion. But hey, you wanna go in, I'l go in! It's /hot/."

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
"Happy birthday, Steve!" Jessica calls out as Janet blinks at Steve'

"We just do the best we can, you know?" Jessica replies to Josh, and she eyes the burgers with a tentative glance, taking a beer. "Maybe in a bit, I'll have one of those. It's awfully hot to be eating." But she watches the partygoers with increasing interest.

War Machine has posed:
A lone drone floats down near by Jessica as she says the word Hot. It has a fire extinguisher hanging from it as it hovers on the spot inquisitivly looking over towards Jessica and hovering up and down on the spot tilting slightly to one side.

Wasp (van Dyne) has posed:
"Well, you told me it was your favorite pizza recipe," Janet says, blinking at Steve's surprise. "That's big talk from a Brooklyn boy. And I heard Panucci was gonna sell, and the best offer was this ... gross conglomerate out of frickin' Washington," she says, nose wrinkling. "God. Seattle? Can you imagine? All that rain? Hard pass," she says, dismissively. "What do they know about good pie?"

"Anyway, you don't have to do a thing, the management staff is all on board and happy to stay in place. Though they're hoping you'll swing by at some point for a photo as the new owner," she says, beaming up at him. "If you wanna get into the pizza company business, well, you now own five turnkey restaurants and a chain with growth potential."

She glances behind her, then kisses Steve's cheek again. "Sec."

A second later, a twelve-foot tall Janet picks up Wanda by the waist and tosses her into the pool!

Scarlet Witch has posed:
Wanda Maximoff is turned towards Josh as he mentions he's willing to go for a swim if she is. "It is so hot out here, that might not be a bad-" is all that Wanda gets out before she suddenly lets out an very un-Avenger like squeal as she feels herself plucked up by a giant hand. The squeal quickly turns to laughter as Wanda spots whose hand it is, and she doesn't resist as she is sent airborne towards the pool.

Wanda isn't a gymnast to twist into some fancy dive in mid-air. She just splashes in, landing butt-first and then sinking beneath the water. She surfaces after a few seconds, hands brushing the wet hair away from her eyes. It sounds for a moment like maybe she's choking on water, but that's only because she's started laughing before she was fully back up in the air.

"Oh, what is the English expression about turnabout?" she asks, laughing and swimming slowly over towards the side of the pool. "Josh, I think that's a yes, about swimming," she calls to him.

Captain America has posed:
"Oh...gosh." Rubbing behind his ear again, Steve grins broadly. "Yeah, I'll have to stop by and say hello. I'm all for supporting their small business. Best chain in New York, hands-down." Janet's heard the little rant before about authentic pizza cuisine, so the Captain lets the vein of conversation go for now.

He glances up at the Spiderwoman and grins. "Thanks, Jessica. Glad you could make it. There's cake whenever you want it. It's outside of the fridge right now, best grab it while you can." He shoots her a wink.

Then, eyeing Janet curiously, he takes a step aside as he watches the Wasp grow Amazonian in a short period of time. There goes Wanda! He eyes the spray of Wanda landing in the pool and puts aside his beer to golfclap. "I'll give the splash radius a 7.2," he calls out.

Wasp (van Dyne) has posed:
Giant Janet eyes Steve, picks him up, and kisses his cheek. It envelopes half his head. "JANET LOVE TINY STEVE," she booms in a theatrical voice-- and then tosses Steve back in the pool not far from Wanda!

Elixir has posed:
Josh's eyebrows go up when he sees the giant Janet. He laughs as Wanda gets tossed into pool.

"You know, it's just like the mansion," Josh says to himself.

"When in Rome, right?" he says to Jessica with a grin. "You coming in?"

He walks to the pool, kicks off his shoes and socks. He leaves his shirt and phone on the deck and dives in. He comes up beside Wanda, wraps his arms around her waist and half-tosses, half-drags her back underwater. Josh comes up laughing and grins. He turns a bit to avoid getting splashed in the face by cannonball Steve!

Scarlet Witch has posed:
Wanda Maximoff waggles a finger towards Steve Rogers as he rates her splash radius. "If that is commentary about the part of me that hit the water first, 7.2 sounds much too large and uncomplimentary," she tells him through a grin. One that grows as Janet sends Steve flying back into the pool beside her. Wanda lets out another little warm laugh.

She turns back to Josh then as he comes over to join her in the pool. "The water is perfect," she tells him as he's diving in and comes beside her. The Transian woman smiles to him, completely unexpecting of what results as his arms go around her. She lets out a gasp and then gets pulled down beneath the water's surface again.

As Josh surfaces and survives Steve's splash, there's no sign of Wanda. Just a stream of bubbles that float up to the surface one after another. One probably can't try to expel their breath in a way that results in bubbles that look pathetic and evoke sympathy, but the female Maximoff twin is surely trying. Eventually her bubble-making air runs out and she reemerges back above the surface, leaning her head back to get her hair off of her face. "Just like your mansion?" she asks with a grin.

Captain America has posed:
Another laugh-yelp escapes Steve. He squirms at the kiss and briefly presses at giant-Janet's face before he's enjoying another arcing flight towards the blue of the pool-water. There's enough time for him to indeed curl into a ball and hit the surface of the water with a tremendous splash!

Bubbles float to the surface before he does as well and emerges again, pfffting water in a spray from his lips. "Alright, alright! I give! I give! I'm in the pool. I'll stay here." He swims to the edge and lingers there with his arms folded and chin resting on his forearm. A grin is shot at Wanda and Josh. Good, everyone's having fun.

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
Jessica shoots a look at Steve that is half in jest, and half something else. "You put that cake back in the fridge, and you might as well kiss it goodbye," she replies with a grin. What fate may befall it there, she doesn't quite let on.

"Why not?" Jessica replies, as Josh takes to the pool. She shrugs, and sets down her newly-opened beer, approaching the pool and slipping off her tanktop to reveal a black string bikini top. Except the strings create a crocheted spiderweb up over her shoulders, and the two meet at the nape of her neck for a larger web across her shoulderblades. She unwraps the skirt, and beneath it is a matching bottom, the string webs meeting over her hips. "Sorry to violate dress code in the pool, but I didn't really want to go in wearing a skirt." She slips off the black heels at the edge of the pool.

Wasp (van Dyne) has posed:
"Hey! Don't hog that cake," Janet says. Once more adorably fun-sized, she sits on a bench with her legs crossed at the knee and one foot swinging lazily in the air. "I slaved over that for /hours/. By which I mean, I told my assistant to get it made, and then sent him to pick it up, and then bring it here," she admits.

"But I put in every one of those candles!" she adds fiercely. "I mean, most of them. A bunch. Some. ...I'm not on trial here!" she huffs, and shifts her weight to cross her legs the other direction.

Elixir has posed:
"Maybe not /exactly/," Josh says to Wanda with a grin.

He glances up and notices Jessica undressing down to her bikini.

"All Avengers parties end up in here?" he asks Jessica. "You came prepared!"

"I shoulda come prepared, these are my only clothes," he laughs to Wanda. He takes Wanda's hand and leads her over towards Steve.

"So, uh, they keep you trapped in the pool every birthday?" he asks /the/ Avenger.

Captain America has posed:
Steve laughs at the idea of disappearing cake. "Regardless of its state of being, at least one more slice is mine. Dibs," he says, pointing at the table holding the collective pieces of cake yet. "I should get my burger at one point too..." The musing is more quiet. He eyes Janet in particular for a second, his lips curling into a wry little smile.

"You've got more appropriate get-up than we do right now, Jess. No harm, no foul. Water's nice." He slaps at the water once.

And then slaps a HUGE, supersoldier-sized wave towards Janet. There's no escaping it. Cue maniacal music.

Looking serenely over at Josh after enjoying the Wasp's reaction, he shrugs. "Not every birthday, but often enough. I'm lucky my birthday's in July, I guess. It'd be worse in December," he quips after he slicks his hair back again. "Least the weather's behaving."

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
"One should assume in life that any party that begins near a pool will end /in/ the pool, Josh." Life wisdom from one who seems to have very little of it. Jessica steps down into the pool, goosebumps prickling her skin as she sinks inches at a time down into the water.

"I'm just saying, you put a cake in /that/ refrigerator, and you might end up with Hydra popping up out of it!" Jess calls back to the now huffy Janet.

Scarlet Witch has posed:
Wanda Maximoff looks over at Janet as she sits there all nice and dry out of the water while most of the team has gotten thrown in. "Now Janet, you know I would NEVER throw you in the water, don't you?" she asks the other woman, exaggerating the word as if to make the honesty of her statement questionable.

But Steve makes any follow up unnecessary as he sends the wall of water flying towards Janet. Wanda breaks out in laughter, and as Josh takes her hand, she lets him tow her over towards Steve, slipping an arm about his waist to let him hold her up where he can touch bottom and she cannot in the deeper water.

"We don't end up in here enough, actually," she comments. "It's good to spend time together like this though," she says, flashing a soft smile about at all of her teammates. The green eyes swing back to her guest. "And nice that you could come today too. I was wanting to get to introduce you to everyone," she tells him. "So whose birthday is next, anyway?" she inquires.

Wasp (van Dyne) has posed:
Janet gets to her feet and shucks off her clothes. She's wearing a swimsuit too, a twist-tied red top and matching red bikini briefs. The fashionista takes a step backwards, out of her (very) expensive shoes, and makes sure her clothes are properly hung up.

She gets a running start to leap into the pool and curls into a cannonball, holding her shins.

When Janet hits, 500+ pounds of overgrown fashionista hits the water and displaces a MASSIVE wave at everyone. She surfaces, once again normal sized, and beams triumph.

"I am /queen/ of the cannonballs," proclaims the Queen Wasp.

Captain America has posed:
"Oh my g -- "

Steve ducks underwater to survive the worst of the sudden displacement of pool-water by the rapidly size-shifting brunet. It makes him ultimately no less soaked to the bone when he emerges again. "Yes, your highness, you are," he agrees towards Janet -- and can't help another small batting of water at her along with a grin.

"Next birthday's...Rhodey's birthday, I think. Somebody check with him in a sneaky manner. We'll hide his cake elsewhere if it's going to end up somehow summoning HYDRA throught the fridge." That's enough of a thought to make him laugh again.

Wasp (van Dyne) has posed:
A giant Jan steps out of the pool and with a surge of motion she's normal-sized again, shedding gallons of water around her.

"Okay folks, I think that's about it for the festivities," she declares. "I wanna thank y'all for coming; this was precisely what I told Steve he had in mind," she says, eyes dancing.

"The band's payed up through the night and the drinks and food are flowing. I just want to offer a Happy Birthday to America," she says, hefting a glass of champagne. "And to America's golden boy. Happy birthday, Steve Rogers," she proclaims, and kneels down near the pool to kiss Steve's cheek.

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
Jessica sinks and goes under with the sudden tidal wave that is Janet. When she surfaces, she lets the water slick back her hair and laughs. "I don't think anything short of Big Green himself could have done any better than that."

Then, Janet calls the evening to an end. "Fair enough!" she replies and moves to climb out of the pool and retrieve her things, grabbing a towel to wrap around herself. "Happy birthday, again, Steve!" she adds, as she picks up her shoes and moves quietly away from the festivities and the slice of life that distracted her for a little while.