Welcome to Gaia! ::

Venser felt himself shrink as the red-head Pepper tore verbally into poor Toni. He figured he at least deserved -some- of the blame, after all he didn't really try to stop Toni after her close call with her mafunctioning reactor. Then his eyes widened as a living legend marched in with Thor: Captain America himself came to congratulate Venser. The awestruck fanboy in Venser was probably what kept him from passing out from the pain after Thor gave him a good slap on the back. Apparently Norse Gods weren't used to keeping their strength in check. From the goofy broad smile on Thor's face, it was likely he never even heard of holding back. Suddenly Mr. Stark brought up supper. Venser's eyes widened at the thought.

"You're sure about this, sir? You're not just going to drop me off tied and gagged in front of the Xavier Institute? I mean I did kind of break out of my cell and all that...." he admitted somewhat sheepishly.

Venser froze, with Mr. Stark standing in the way. He obviously had something to say in private, With the look in his eyes, Venser had a faint idea what the man was going to say. He hadn't expected such a reaction from Tony, but he supposed that any man would be deeply protective of his daughter, especially from a stranger.

"I understand, Mr. Stark. Just know I'd never go out of my way to hurt your girl."

"Hm? Well sure, you're basically the reason any red-blooded American can charge the frontlines feeling like a super hero."

It was weird seeing the Captain in a dress suit, but then Steve Rogers was more the type of man to feel comfortable in his work clothes. The guy was probably doing more Spec Ops missions in a week than the number of shows Super Dave had planned through the 90s.

Venser was wearing a white long-sleeved dress shirt under a black vest and some slacks, with a silver pocket watch hanging from the vest pocket. He hoped he didn't seem too obvious in his admiration of this seemingly Timeless hero, but he supposed the Captain probably could smell the stink of fanboys as easily as the sweat of hidden assassins.

"So, what's it like out there, Captain? The field must be a totally different world from what civies can even dream of."

As he conversed with Steve, Venser noticed Toni across the table. She looked very nice in her dress suit, a faint glow eminating from her bosom. He tried not to stare and directed his attention back to the Captain as he spoke, with Hawkeye chiming in with all the crazy stuff they were tied up with just last week.

Venser was awe-struck. He couldn't believe the Super Soldier process was so unique and.....agonizing. It was like every cell in Steve's body had turned into a super nova, threatening to burst from the dam that was his muscles. It could have happened to anyone! But Steve was chosen, a sickly little recruit with asthma, to take part in the experiment. And here he sat, the epitome of what every man hoped to become. Well, Venser couldn't say the man didn't deserve it. He loved his country with everything he had, and Venser genuinely couldn't help but admire and respect that. He was glad that it was him that was chosen, because if that power ended up in the hands of anyone else, Venser doubted they would be sitting here today, telling old war stories to unblinking fanboys.

Venser's thoughts of charging the battlefield with the Captain were broken, as he felt the brush of Toni's foot against his shin. He looked at her, seeing her lips part softly in a smile as her foot stroked against his. He smiled back at her, trying not to draw too much attention as he continued to listen to the Captain who seemed to get rather keen on bragging about punching Hitler in the face with each glass of wine he sipped up.

A tiny, shaky gasp escaped as Venser felt the outline of Toni's toes stroking the fabric of his slacks, gently tracing lines up and down as she gave him a distinctly flirty smile from where she sat. The activity of his brain was pretty much grinding to a halt, and his body was a discombobulated network of signals that were freaking the hell out at what was seeming to happen. His cheeks flushed a dark shade of pink, and he tried his best to keep a straight face as he continued chatting with Captain, Thor and Hawkeye.

"Oh, what is this? You seem to have become feverish, lad. Come, after a few gulps of this tasty chalice, all your worries will just slip away!" Thor, having taken an interest in the conversation, grabbed a handful of Venser's hair and tugged back, tilting his entire goblet of Asgardian ale down Venser's throat. Everyone was surprised by this, but they all had a good laugh after they saw that this indeed relaxed Venser. Within minutes he had his necktie tied around the side of his head, and engaged in a drinking contest with the Captain and Thor, which of course he lost rather badly.

Thor and Venser were laughing their asses off at each other for reasons no one else at the table could really discern, save for the fact that Venser was wearing the Asgardian winged helmet while Thor decided to give the necktie a try around his head. It seemed Thor was quite satisfied finding someone other than Tony to party with. Venser was minus one shoe though, and he was taking his turn to tease Toni as he stroked his toes up and down her thigh. The Asgardian ale definitely took away the edge of sitting at the same table with her overprotective father.

"Hm? Truth or dare?" Venser slurred as he turned to the elder Stark, the helmet slanting a bit atop his head.

"I'm game. And I bet I'll beat your a** at this one, Thor." he jeered, frogging the Asgardian in the arm, who went and snagged his helmet back.

Leaning on his fist, he smirked at Thor's enthusiastic response. Venser couldn't help but envy how Thor viewed pretty much everything with such objective simplicity. Whether it was slaying Norse dragons or asking out the girl he likes, it seemed like there was nothing this guy couldn't handle. As the questions rotated around the table he started wishing that his and Nettie's intermingling feet were each other hands.

Venser's turn finally came around, with Toni's lips pursed seductively as she asked. He reached into his pocket and grabbed a coin, genuinely with little concern over affecting his fate with magnetism.

"Let's let chance decide." he said garishly, flipping it in the air and catching it. It came up tails, the second choice.

"Dare, it is."

Oh, how everything seemed to swim around him with illumination! Even non-animate objects like the wings on Thor's helmet or the glass the pretty redhead sipped from were contorting with his vision. He'd never partied this hard at the institute, but he didn't feel the least bit uncomfortable. Bruce was being uncomfortable enough for everyone, but when Clint had mentioned earlier how the guy can't get too excited, well, he supposed some things just couldn't be helped.

Venser's turn finally came, and his number was stripping to My Little Teapot....er, I'm a Little Teapot. Yes. Giving a shrug and a nod, he kicked out his chair from behind him, Clint Tony and Thor started clapping for a beat to boogie to, which he did. He hadn't exactly seen any male strippers in action, but from his movements and surprisingly decent sense of rhythm he seemed to have the act down, flinging his vest aside and peeling off his white dress shirt. He was in decent shape, showing that he at least worked out once in a while, though most of his muscle was toned from being out in the field, rather than the gym. Most guys at the institute had similar muscle tone, considering the unique experience they had of being regular attendants of the Danger Room.

"I'm a lil' tea-pot short 'n stout.......here is my handle, here's my spout." he slurred, his torso tilting with the usual motions and inciting hysterical laughter from Hawkeye, Thor, Tony, and even getting smirks from everyone else. He hopped up on the table, working on his pants and slipping down to his boxers.

"When I get all steamed up, then I shout, Tip me over and pour me ou-woah-whaaaaa!" his performance ended prematurely by a few words as he tipped a little too much and took a tumble off the table.