"Dad! Dad, I found it!" A small brunette in a brightly colored suit printed with hat-wearing sheep was scrambling across the floor eagerly and awkwardly, holding up a small yellow object triumphantly as he emerged from behind a large, comfortable looking sofa. A much larger blonde sitting on the floor by the tree beamed and reached out to the child from over a small building of similar yellow bricks, inviting the boy closer and to attach the last piece of the little toy castle.
"Great job, Champ. But we'll be a little more careful opening the bags from now on, right?" he chuckled, waiting just long enough for the piece to be secured before grabbing the boy into a light-hearted hug-turned-wrestling-match-turned-back-to-hug.
"Sure, dad," the boy managed to exclaim inbetween peels of laughter.
"Darling," a feminine voice from a softly glowing room a short distance away. "That isn't 'chaos and mayhem' I hear on Christmas morning, is it?"
The giant blonde sat up immediately, trapping the boy in his arms as they froze and gave each other mirrored guilty looks. Then Steve smirked widely at his son and shook his head teasingly.
"Of course not, dear. We just finished... uh... a lesson about architecture!" he called back, causing the boy to curl up tighter in his father's arms to surpress his snickers. A second later he inhaled sharply and then let out a triumphant crow.
"And Dad sat on a Lego! Now his butt's gonna be lumpy forever!"
"Oh dear. That sounds dreadful," came the disembodied response, sounding equally full of amusement.
Steve's brows shot up, but he snickered and then tickled the child until Michael was shrieking for him to stop. Punishment adaquate he released his hold and the child laughingly scrambled back over to his gift, picking up the castle before taking off and shouting for his little sister to come see.
Steve rolled back into his former sitting position, watching the boy vanish into another void out of sight, still laughing softly to himself before inhaling deeply. He didn't turn or acknowledge the pair who didn't fit into the scene, though his voice was soft enough it was unmistakably directed towards them.
"Here for the show?" he asked. He would have still sounded light-hearted and festive if a hollowness hadn't replaced the body of his voice or the gaze in his eyes. "Or to drag me awake? There a reason, or am I just not allowed to have these dreams?"