I woke up early the next morning due to Tony shaking the bed. "Get up, bedhead! It's Christmas!" "What are you, eight?" Clint sighed from the door. "Seems too old," I reply to Clint as I sit up and yawn. "I am up, you can stop shaking the bed."

"Come on!" Tony insists impatiently. "I hate suspense! I need to know what everyone got everyone!" I roll my eyes and climb out of bed, then I take in his Iron Man robe and laugh. "Don't laugh, we all have our own ones," he says. Then he smirks evilly and hands me something. "Here's yours. You have to wear it, no excuses. Merry Christmas."

I look at it. It's a dark green-blue with a black trim and very fuzzy. I try it on, tying the cord around my waist. "At least it has no Iron Man pictures," I remark. "He is not my favourite Avenger."

"Well they say 'don we now our gay apparel' for a reason," he shrugged. I only nod, pretending to know what he means. "Right, let's go check your stocking."

Oh, right. The sock.

I still don't understand why I had to hang a sock over the fireplace in the penthouse. What was preventing it from catching fire? Is that the whole point, maybe?

But once we arrive there, I see everyone's stockings have been filled. Natasha, Bruce, Sam, Loki, Thor, Wanda and Vision are already here and look over when we enter. "Merry Christmas, Lexis!" Wanda smiles. The rest follow suit, save for Loki, who seems separated as usual.

"Merry Christmas," I repeat, not understanding the point but saying it anyway since it seems to be a custom for the occasion, like wishing someone a happy birthday.

Steve showed up and we began taking the stockings from the fireplace and looking inside them. I received an orange, something called a candy cane, two gingerbread men and a set of ribbons for my hair. Okay... this was a little... random, I suppose is the correct word for it. But the gesture was kind, so I smiled along with the others.

I mostly just watched what the others did and copied them, not knowing what else to do. It seemed that next we were opening the presents set out under the tree, because Tony ushered everyone over to the chairs and ordered us to sit while he scooped up some of the wrapped goods.

He gave one to each of us. "These are my ones," he said to us. "Merry Christmas, you filthy animals." "... Home Alone?" I said uncertainly, remembering a movie we watched yesterday before the stone incident. I have to admit, I found that one to be my favourite out of all of them. He smirked. "Yup. Cap, you're up first."

Steve began unwrapping his present, all of us watching curiously. Tony was grinning like a child who was watching their mother use the mug they made for her. He was clearly enjoying the giving part more than I would've expected from him.

Steve held up a new set of paintbrushes. "Nice. Thanks, Tony."

And so it continued. We went around the room in the same order; Steve, Bruce, Natasha, Clint, Wanda, Vision, me, Sam, Thor and Loki, though Loki only sat there and got nothing from Tony, in the end. Tony gave me a phone.

We continued like that. Steve's presents were next. When it was my turn, I unwrapped a slightly large box. When I opened it, I gasped at what I saw.

I carefully held up the outfit. It was designed exactly like my black one they found me in, only the colour scheme matched my robe; a dark teal with a few hints of black. The skirt for the dress resembled scales. It looked like I had a tail, just like I should have if it wasn't for my curse. The front was short as usual and even had the shorts underneath, though there wasn't a way to detach the longer skirt if I wanted to have more manoeuvrability. Another difference was the small metal diamond shape on the front where the sleeves joined.

"This part here is a magnet," Steve told me, pointing to the diamond. "It's specially designed to hold your barb when you're not using it. What do you think?"

"This... this is incredible!" I say, still in awe of it. "Thank you so much!" Steve smiles. "I'm glad you like it. I got someone else to make it, but I designed it all. I thought you'd like a little upgrade from your other one."

"If I could, I would hug you," I tell him. "It is amazing."

But we weren't done yet. Bruce was next. He gave me a glass animal figurine. A wolf, to be exact. "Thor and Natasha told me how much you like wolves," he said to me. "And you said you liked my ones." "I love it," I told him as I thanked him.

Natasha gave me a dagger with a hilt covered in jewels - there were a few protests that giving someone a dagger covered in cheap fake gems wasn't a good present, but I thought it was wonderful - Clint gave me a pair of gloves he claimed would help if I ever took up archery, but would also look cool, Wanda gave me a jewellery box filled with beautiful bracelets and necklaces and rings, Vision gave me a spoon (he mainly gave kitchen utensils, though Wanda was given... something else, she refused to show anyone) because, like me, he didn't understand what was going on...

Then it was my turn.

I held my breath as I handed my presents out. Once I was done, I sat and watched Tony, who had taken first place in the lineup, unwrap his present.

"The Cookbook For The Drunk And Hungover?" He read the title of the cookbook. Everyone burst out laughing. "Joke's on you guys," he shrugged, flipping through the pages. "I might just use this."

Steve was thrilled with his art set. He'd worked up quite the collection by now, but he was still happy about the brand.

Bruce thought the glass Hulk figurine I'd found for him was hilarious. He smiled and laughed even as he thanked me for it.

Natasha loved the workout gear I'd bought her; it wasn't too tight or revealing and it was all black. "Wanda helped me choose the size," I added, not wanting Wanda's help to go unnoticed.

Clint and the others all laughed again when they saw the 'Nerf' bow and arrows I'd gotten for him, whatever Nerf meant. "Well, it's Nerf or nothing," he shrugged good-naturedly, causing the half of us that understood the joke to laugh harder. Unfortunately I wasn't in that half.

Wanda was happy about the scarlet dress I bought her. Unlike the one Steve designed for me, hers was more casual. She held it up to herself and twirled, watching the skirt flare out. Vision loved it, too.

What more can I say except that Sam's mind was focused on something else after he unwrapped his Wii U, whatever that was?

"What is this beast?!" Thor yelled when he saw his teddy bear. "You look like the kind of person who would enjoy bear hugs," I state. "The stuffed bear can confirm it."

He poked at it gingerly with his hammer. "Why does it not move? Lady Lexis, have you given me a dead bear?" Everyone laughed at him and Loki showed him that it wasn't real. It took a further half hour.

Finally, I gave Loki his present. His eyes lit up when he saw three large novels. "You did not have to do this, Lady Lexis..." "I could not leave you out," I say. "Besides, the look on your face was more than worth it."