strangetrip | [GP] SNOW DAY

Thor and Loki got an early start, because there was a lot to do. Almost two weeks to the day since their first small-but-successful experiment with snow, Loki was confident that he'd improved enough for a bigger experiment. Still snow, because Thor wanted it and it did seem like a decent way to try something big-ish without causing Loki unnecessary grief with the other residents. (It was an arrival day, so there would perhaps be some grief with any new arrivals, but that was entirely acceptable.)

It was before dawn when they went out into the grounds. Thor called up clouds and loaded them with water so they hung low and heavy, covering the sky so that the sun, when it rose, wouldn't ruin the event. Loki took his frost giant shape and staff (now very familiar to his hand) and concentrated on dropping the temperature. Just around the Inn and grounds, but that was enough to be serious effort.

When the snow first started, the flakes were big and wet, and melted as soon as they hit the ground, which was still on the warm side. As they melted, they cooled the ground. After an hour or so, the flakes were smaller and more powdery - real snow, not glorified slush - and they were starting to stick to the ground.

By mid-morning, the Inn and grounds were covered with a thick layer of snow, and it continued to fall.

***

Meanwhile, indoors and inspired by the snow, Hurley and Xavin decided to try and make cookies. Cooking together was fun, since neither of them exactly knew what they were doing apart from 'follow the recipe', but since the point was 'try to make cookies' they ended up with a lot of cookies. Sugar cookies, gingerbread, all kinds.

There was no way they'd be able to eat all of them.

Instead, they loaded them onto trays and hauled them to the cafe, then brought out various frostings and candies for decorating. This had been completely intentional. Completely.

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Bucky is watching him, leaning in the doorway. He sees the heart and the hammer. He is quite curious what he'd shape for Tony, but he doesn't ask it. And don't even get him started on what Peter would make for him. If he made an arm, Bucky didn't know if he'd laugh or cry.

Either way, it was nice watching him do stuff for his friends.

"I used to do this with Steve. Back in Brooklyn." His voice was soft, quiet. "The kitchen wasn't as nice as this one."

"Yeah," Peter says. "Our kitchen back home in Queen's not nearly as big." May made do with the space as much as she could.

Peter glances at Bucky's arm and starts cutting some dough into the shape of a star.

"Cap was 100 years old in 2017, right? Are you 100 too?"

Bucky blinked. The last thing he wanted to do was correct Peter when he was wrong. And he was wrong about Steve's age. Still, he smiled and came into the kitchen, moving over to watch Peter a little closer. His eyes widened when he saw Peter doing the star, but he didn't get angry about it. Peter didn't know the significance behind the star and a cookie was just a cookie. It was the thought that counted.

"Yeah, we're both 100," he murmured. In truth, he was actually a year older than Steve, but it didn't matter much anymore. They were both fossils now.

Bucky sighed. "God, I miss New York. Didn't think that I would, but I do. The deli meat. The fresh fruit markets." Bucky looked up at Peter. "No place is as good as New York. What made you want to bake?"

Peter agrees. There's no better place than New York.

"May and I used to make cookies every Christmas," he says. "She's not here right now, but I want to keep the tradition going." His lips quirk up into a smile. "Two years running now."

Bucky nodded his head in understanding. Even though they were far from home, it didn't hurt to keep traditions going. May, whoever she was, would be quite proud of Peter. He had to believe that. "She'd like them. The cookies. They look like they'll be good."

Bucky wasn't good at baking, so he didn't try to help and mess things up. "You can't really mess up a cookie, can you? The decorating is the best part."

"Yeah, I'm worried about how they'll come out once they go in the oven," he says. "Last year I just made circles. If these expand too much, they're probably not going to look like much of anything."

That's why he was reluctant to do a spider for Annie. He was worried about it coming out looking like a blob.

Star cut, Peter frowns down at the rest of the dough laid out in front of him and tries to think about what to make next.

"What do you think we should do for Cap?"

"Honestly?" Bucky looked down at the dough, thinking it over. Honestly, Steve was the one that should get the star. It had been on his shield since Howard made it for him. "I think they'll be fine. Just don't make them too big and they won't expand that much. and your edges look crisp. You'll be good."

Bucky drummed his fingers on the counter. "A heart. Steve, he's all heart. He does what he thinks he has to, what he needs to. He takes care of others first before himself. The star would work for him too, because of his shield. Star or heart."

"Star," Peter decides aloud. "So you two match." It's good for best friends to have matching things, right? He and Ned did. Matching cookies for Bucky and Cap probably wasn't the same thing as matching shirts, but it was a start.

"Matching cookies. I like that." He smiled and moved back, away from Peter as he puttered around the kitchen. "You have a friend here too, right? I saw him earlier. Friend from home, I think?" He knew the ache of not having Steve in his life. Peter was too young for that ache.

"Yeah, his name's Ned. We've been friends since before my parents died." Which felt like an eternity now.

Two star-shaped cookies cut out, it was time to think of what he was going to make next. He should probably make one for Loki, right?

Peter starts cutting out a squiggly line for a snake.

[GP] SNOW DAY

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