Heart Of Stone

Chapter 42

Laura eventually goes off to talk to the others and Lila and Cooper go off too. I sit down and pet Rune, who is curled up and fast asleep on my lap.

"So you called her Rune?" Thor asks me after a brief word with Laura. "Yes," I nod. "She chose the name out of several. I did not want her to be stuck to a name she hates."

He nodded. "I assume you can communicate through the mind?" "She is surprisingly good at projecting her thoughts," I confirm. "It is easy."

He smiled and petted little Rune. "She is tired after playing with mortal children and from her first trip via the Bifrost this morning. She will be more energetic after her nap."

"I expected as much," I say. "She has done well to meet so many new people. Her curiosity and excitement are astounding."

"That they are," he agrees thoughtfully. "That they are."

We talk a while longer before Tony calls to everyone that it's time for the meal, so everyone takes a seat at the dining table we rarely use. I end up between Steve and Loki, who's brother I quiz on Rune's dietary needs and feeding habits. "Your Midgardian dog food should be perfectly fine," he waves it off. "But she will need more food than a Midgardian dog. Asgardians tend to have large appetites, in case you have not noticed before."

Steve's turkeys are carved and everything is served. I mostly stick to my stew. It's one of my favourite stews, this one. Getting the ingredients is difficult, but I still obtained enough to make a large amount for everyone.

This is my first time trying turkey. It's nice. I sneak a little to Rune. She likes it, too, but I warned her not to project her opinions of it so Loki doesn't realise I'm giving her turkey. He still smirks every time I glance at him. I think he knows.

We catch the kids giving her turkey, too, but we don't say anything. We only give them stern looks when they start dropping vegetables. They stop after that.

Saying Laura dislikes Loki would be an understatement, but she's willing to 'work through it' if he's really trying to reform himself. Overall the meal is turning out to be quite pleasant.

"What's in this stew?" Laura asks at one point, halfway through the food I cooked. "Yeah, what did you put in it?" Tony asked as well, looking to me. Everyone else followed suit. I noticed they'd all tried it.

"The meat is pheasant, rabbit and elk," I say. "I scavenged it all myself. I hope you like it." "I do," she nodded politely, but now that she knew that there was rabbit in the stew Lila was point blank refusing to take another mouthful. Oh well, you can't please everyone.

However, even I think she took it a bit too far when she yelled "Be free, bunnies!" and tossed my stew all over the floor.

Rune disagreed with my idea and hurried over to the stew, eating chunks of meat from the floor and licking at the liquid. I hurried over and stopped Rune, picking up the pieces of the smashed bowl before she tried to eat them. Thankfully she understood and waited patiently.

Clint, Laura and Natasha were scolding Lila, Cooper laughing his head off. Once I've cleared up the bowl, I go over to them. "Do not be too hard on her," I tell the adults. "If I had known she would object so strongly to the rabbit, I would not have cooked any."

"It's not your fault," Laura shakes her head. "Lila, apologise to Miss Grey. She worked very hard to make that." Lila looks up at me, meek after her scolding. "I'm sorry."

I kneel down to her level. "It is alright. Nobody was hurt, that is the most important thing. I understand your intentions and I admire your determination and strong opinions. But you should not throw hot liquid on the floor when there is an animal just waiting for someone to drop food. If Rune was not more careful, she could have been burned, or she could have ate part of the bowl, which would not have been good at all, or you could have even hit her. And that is only Rune, not including the rest of us. Do you understand what I am saying, Lila?"

She nods meekly. "Yes. I'm really sorry, Miss Grey." "You may call me Lexis if you wish," I smile slightly to her. "And I will make sure to not use rabbit in any other food I make should you be present. Now shall we get back to the meal? I am sure everyone would like to finish it as soon as possible so we can move on to dessert. I hear your mother makes wonderful pies."

She laughed. "Okay!" She then sat up at the table and went back to eating as though nothing had happened. "Okay, how did you do that?" Clint asked, looking at his happy little daughter in disbelief. "I've never seen her in a good mood after getting told off."

"The charm of a siren can go a long way," I smirk. "We are naturally quite likeable as long as we do not actively attempt to send people away. Then it is simply a matter of appealing to others, which is easier when you know their thoughts."

Clint nods and everyone takes their seats again. "I believe Lady Lila wanted..." Thor smirks, then picks up his plastic 'travel mug' - Tony's Christmas present for him because 'he cannot he trusted with the breakable glass stuff' - and slams it on the floor while shouting "Another!" at the top of his lungs. Those who understood the joke laughed, including me after I looked into their heads to make sure they weren't insane and saw what made it so funny.

The rest of the meal goes well and Tony was right; Laura makes amazing pie. I complimented Laura on it and she just smiled and said "I'm glad you like it. You're one of the few Avengers who don't eat like a pig, so I'd rather feed you than them."

The table fell silent for a moment. "I am not actually an Avenger," I tell her. "I refused the offer." "Oh," she looks down a little, embarrassed. "Sorry. I thought Steve said-"

-Sir, Nick Fury has entered the building.

Tony, Clint and Thor all groaned.