I own the OCs and plunny

So every year I do an Advent Calendar of stories, one drabble a day counting down to Christmas. This year's fandom is Avengers.

The story is set during the middle of 'How to Survive Being a SI Employee'. In between Chapter 9 and 10 ish in my somewhat vague timeline.

Day 1: Advent Calendar

"Boss"

"Yes Veer?"

"What is this?"

Kit stopped her work to turn around to see what her assistant was asking her. Veer stood, holding a thick red book in his hands. "That's the 'How to Survive Christmas at SI' employee manual," she explained. Her eyes narrowed. "Have you not read it?"

"Ummm... no? Was I supposed to?" Veer asked. "How is it any different than the regular 'How to Survive Being a SI Employee' manual?"

Silence fell over the room as Kit just stared at Veer for a few minutes. Finally she shook her head and sighed. "Oh you poor soul."

xXxXx

Hotaru let out a heavy but happy sigh. Today was December 1st, which meant it was time to break out the Advent Calendar. She placed a long brown box on her desk, opening it carefully. Then she screwed the wooden green tree to the base and emptied the handcrafted ornaments on her desk. She quickly found the star ornament, labeled 1 on the back and placed it on the tree at the top, matching it to the nail labeled one. Satisfied with that, Hotaru placed the tree on her countertop.

"Very nice Advent Calendar, Mrs. Yamashita."

Hotaru smiled. "Good morning Agent Coulson," she greeted. "With any luck it'll make it through the week before the lobby gets destroyed again."

Coulson grimaced. If he recalled correctly, the lobby was destroyed three weeks ago because a Doombot had crashed through the doors. The repairs had finished earlier in the week. Tony had been complaining that the lobby had rebuilt nearly once a month since the Avengers had moved in. To quote Tony, "It's great to have everyone here, but I think my employees are going to start a revolt soon if the lobby keeps getting destroyed. There will be hell to pay if this drives Hotaru into quitting."

"If it's any consolation, Mrs. Yamashita," Coulson said. "I apologize for all you go through and applaud you for dealing with this on a daily basis."

"It's fine," Hotaru said with a dismissive wave of her hand. "It's hardly anything different than my younger years. Beside Mr. Stark was kind enough to order me several dozen Advent Calendars to replace this one if anything happens."

Coulson smiled. "Well I do think Advent Calendars are great for counting down the days to Christmas."

Hotaru stared at him, rapidly blinking. Then she let out a chuckle. "No no, Agent Coulson. This Advent Calendar isn't counting down the days to Christmas."

Coulson's eyebrow rose in a questioning manner.

"This counts down the 25 days of insanity at Stark Industries."