riverviewlogs | [OPEN] apple pie is officially banned from this party, aka Steve Rogers' birthday

who: ANYONE
what: 616 Bucky, Peggy, and 616 Tony throw a birthday party for Steve.
when: July 4th, afternoon into the evening
where: A nice park
warnings: Birthday fun. :v

Steve Rogers, former (and still) Captain America, was born on the Fourth. It was pretty much fated. That said, he deserves a party that has nothing to do with Independence Day, and that's what Bucky, Tony, and Peggy set out to do. They rented a nice little park with some good open, grassy space perfect for a pick-up game of football (American, of course). On one end of the park, in the relative shade of a couple of large trees, they've set up two long tables - one for food, and one to deposit presents for the birthday boy on. The picnic tables already in the park have nice blue tablecloths to eat on. A banner hung between the trees proclaims, "Happy Birthday, Steve!", in blue letters on white.

The decor tries to stay away from Fourth of July colors - there isn't a speck of red, just shades of blue and white, and it's all very put-together and classy looking (thank you, Peggy and Tony). It's the sort of party they thought Steve would want, outdoorsy and casual, just a gathering of friends and whoever else wants to come by to wish the birthday boy a happy one.

Invites
Invitations have mostly been word of mouth and texts sent to people Steve is friends with, nothing too fancy. They just say to drop by and wish Steve a happy birthday, have some food, and spend some time hanging out; Rogers wouldn't want anything fancy anyway. That said, they won't turn anybody away from the barbecue if someone decides to just crash the party, as long the behavior stays respectful.

Food
The food is mostly standard American barbecue fare. Two large grills have been set up near the tables and someone (often Bucky) is usually cooking on them - an array of burgers, hot dogs, steaks, even some ribs and chicken. Side dishes are laid out on the food table, the usual simple things. Here and around the picnic tables are a good place to mingle; there's plenty of food for everyone, and metal tubs full of ice and bottled soft drinks. There isn't much alcohol present at this party, though, just one of the tubs set aside with beers in it.

There's also a massive cake for Steve, with close to a hundred candles dotting its layers - Bucky's idea, payback for the time he couldn't see his own cake for all the candles.

Tossin' the Old Pigskin
They're all (mostly) adults here, so there aren't 'party games' necessarily, but there are a couple of footballs and some frisbees in the grass for anyone who wants to play a game in the lush field. Just be careful if the heavy hitters decide to arrange a game, it could get pretty out of hand.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[How did Doom find out about the party? Who knows, but he's here now and he's hanging out away from everyone else because really, he's not here to mingle, he's here for food and any party involving this mix of heroes is definitely going to have large quantities of food.

...okay, maybe he'll wish Steve a happy birthday if he finds himself near him when nobody is around to see. Because reforming villain or not, Doom has a reputation to uphold and he does not want to ruin it so easily by being actually somewhat friendly.

But barring any Steves alone, Doom is going to be over here with his food and watching everyone else from a distance like some lonely weirdo.]

[He's not sure who invited Doom or why, but this is a public park, and he can't exactly kick him out. Besides, Bucky is making an attempt at being civil for now.

That doesn't mean the wallflowering and watching from a distance is going to endear him. At some point during the day, a spare barbecue spatula (heat-resistant plastic, at least, not metal and not dangerous), comes flying at the back of his head with pinpoint accuracy, no matter how far he is from the rest of the activities. Bucky is flipping burgers and will deny responsibility, but who else but the Winter Soldier can fling a spatula across a park?

If he's going to be here, he might as well interact with other people.]

[Doom goes where he should not, which is why he's here. Not to mention free food, which is something he can't pass up, especially since he's no long constrained by a mask. Thankfully, he is behaving himself, mostly by not going out and talking to people. Which might be considered a plus.

The spatula doesn't hit his head, not because of some lightning fast reflexes, but because of the defensive spell he always has set up before he even leaves his bed in the morning. He notices it and picks it up, looking over at the one person who could have thrown it before walking over to Bucky and holding the spatula out for him.]

It appears that you dropped this.

[His tone indicates that he knows he threw it, but he's not going to turn this into a big deal.]

[He's been caught out, but he expected that, and he will keep denying responsibility. As you do. (Look, he's behaving, even though the guest list isn't exactly what he'd prefer. Keeping an eye out, and maybe hassling Doom a bit, but hes behaving. And it's good to know about the defensive spell.) He's the picture of innocence when Doom brings the spatula over, theatrically flipping a burger patty into the air.]

Huh. Wonder how that got over there.

[ Okay but Doom here at this party is interesting given Tony trying to tell him things about Doom's past? He isn't one to judge by someone's previous actions versus their current ones but the fact that he's here, for Steve, when Tony is also here, for Steve, and there's apparently a Past going on...

Well, whatever. S'up, teach. ]

Far be it from me to teach the teacher, but you're aware partying involves interacting with the rest of the party?

I am aware. I'm not exactly the person the people here want to see at this party, thus why I'm keeping myself away from them.

[He knows exactly what everyone thinks of him and is perfectly happy to stay away to make sure no fights break out just because of his existence.]

Uh... people who aren't wanted at parties don't usually show up at parties.

[ Points for the self-awareness, though. Cain knows Victor knows that isn't the point of it, but there's really only so many ways to point out how ridiculous that sounds. ]

[ Steve enjoys the party, but he is aloof enough that he does eventually come across Doom by himself. He isn't about to avoid the man, in any case, because Steve doesn't run if he can help it. If anything, he has even more reason to walk right up to him and make his presence known.

He's not expecting the man to say anything to him, but when he takes up a spot at Doom's side and starts eating, he's surprised by the greeting. ]

You aren't going to participate?

[This Doom, seemingly new and improved and trying to redeem himself, is an odd one, doing things that don't seem to make sense in the context of how Doom was. It's odd for Doom himself, who is trying his best to make sense of how to be good and restrained, which is really the exact opposite of what everything Doom stood for.]

I think I'll pass, at least for now. I'm the last person they would want here and I don't blame them.

[He gestures out to the other people here. Heroes and friends and those who just wandered in at the chance of free food. Even Loki, for all his lies and tricks, belonged here more than he did because he was further down the path of being something other than what people expected of him.]

[ Steve is still trying to understand the differences. He's not against the idea of reform by any means, but as everyone knows, Steve Rogers is slower to change and trust than some of the other Avengers. He does make an effort, however, and he listens to Tony, who has deemed Doom at least honest in his attempts to be better.

So Steve awkwardly tries to make a gesture, so at least he can say he has done that. ]

The last, huh? How can you tell?

[ The question is honest. To Steve, everyone seems uneasy and he feels like being displaced as put the Avengers in as distant a position as some of the former villains. There are so many strangers and new rules he doesn't know where he stands. ]

[OPEN] apple pie is officially banned from this party, aka Steve Rogers' birthday

some jerk | ota

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