The Witch's Familiar

Chapter 14

"You look lovely as ever, little sorceress," he replied warmly, accepting your praise for what it was. He hesitated a moment, but finally said: "I wanted to ask before we head to Tony's party: would you allow me the honor of escorting you on a proper date this Saturday evening?"

"It would be my honor," you replied automatically, just as formally as his question had been. You'd been waiting for him to ask after all. "Where are we going?" you asked curiously.

"It is a surprise," you gave him a look. The last date you had gone on had not turned out well. Neither had the ones before that. You weren't sure you trusted surprises, even from him. "Trust me, love. It will be a pleasant surprise. At the worst, we will have a fun evening out and remain friends." You relaxed at that. You could accept the surprise fun evening if there was no pressure that you'd lose your best friend if the dating thing somehow didn't work out.

"Alright, but you're going to have to give me some clue or I'll have no idea what to wear," you informed him with a teasing smile. You saw his grin and the glimmer of mischief and fun in his eyes.

He offered you his arm. "Shall we?" you hesitated before you took it. He looked surprised and a little hurt that you didn't take his arm automatically like you usually did.

"Not that I mind," you told him quickly "but if we go down to that party arm-in-arm every single person there is going to assume that we're dating and it will end up all over the news and tabloids. I don't mind," you repeated firmly. "I just want to make sure that you're ok with it," you knew how shy he was even around the team, though they were all starting to warm up. Out among normal people who would probably recognize and hate him for trying to take over the world? It was already amazing enough that the magic school accepted him with little to no question. He was a cat and a god, of course he'd tried to take over the world. Everything had worked out in the end, so the witches and wizards moved on. It's what they did. Muggles were harder to convince.

"You wish to make sure I feel safe?" Loki mused with a warm smile. He looked truly touched that you were thinking of his feelings. "I promised to face this challenge with you," he reminded you and offered you his arm again. You smiled and placed your hand on his offered arm. "This might be fun after all," he commented as you walked to the elevator to head to the ballroom. He would enjoy the press having a field day.

You tightened your grip on his arm when you stepped off of the elevator, glad for his presence. The ballroom was packed. Everyone was in costume, though the rule was that only the team were allowed to dress as Avengers. At least your friends would be easy to find. You didn't know how or why Tony had invited so many people to this stupid thing. "It's alright, love," Loki's voice was kind, but you saw his tail bristle under the illusion spell. He wasn't comfortable in this crowd either. You steeled your spine and courage and stepped into the room proper.

"Let's go get drinks," you told Loki and gestured to the bar. "That's where Stark's likely to be and we can't escape until he sees us here," you added. Loki inclined his head to indicate that he'd heard you over the crowd and he led you to the bar. The crowd seemed to part for him and you couldn't tell if it was magic or his presence that was getting them to move.

"You two finally decided to show up!" Tony exclaimed when you reached the bar and handed you each a drink.

"You threatened me if I didn't," you glared at him.

"You need to have fun sometimes too, kid," he teased, "even if it's forcefully. Now have fun," he told you and shooed you toward the dance floor. You weren't going near the dance floor until you had to, or until Tony played something you could actually dance to instead of this...club music. Instead, you found the science bros corner. It was a quiet corner where Bruce and Doctor Strange were currently hanging out.