Monsters and Magic

Chapter 80

"Be glad that you didn't see her transformation. I wish I could erase it from my mind," Loki agreed with the team. "She likes to act like she is completely healed, but I know she is not. All of us need to be sure she does nothing but rest. At least until we don't have to worry about her losing her breath or her heart acting up," Loki expressed his own worries over your condition. He'd been warned that it would take you awhile to recover with how you'd been dead for four years. That didn't mean he was really prepared for how weak you'd be. How fragile.

"Getting her to rest is going to be a nightmare," Tony sighed, stating the obvious. You really sucked at sitting still or not having something to do and they all knew it.

"It is. We will all need to figure out a way to get her to heal," Loki insisted. It was a big step for Loki to agree that he might need the team's help with something, and an even bigger step to trust them with helping you.

Bucky returned to the room a minute later. "She's in her bed," he reassured Loki. Even he wouldn't go into Loki's room without express permission, even to tuck you into Loki's bed. He knew the overprotective Loki would prefer to have you in his bed behind his paranoia level of wards and shields, but didn't want to be smited for entering Loki's room without permission. It was a delicate balance. "Don't worry. She's well guarded. Lokibear and Buckybear are on the job. Though if that girl doesn't learn how to stay in her bed, I'm going to chain her to it," he grumbled. He then blanched and looked at Nat, who had stiffened at his wording. He rushed over to her and pulled her into his arms. "No, doll, you know I'd never-" he told her softly, soothingly stroking her hair. "You're safe little Natal'ka. You're not in that place anymore,"

Loki observed the pair for a moment, remembering that Nat had grown up in a place that had handcuffed her to her bed every night. Speaking up wouldn't help anything, so he left the room to go check on you. You were curled up in your bed when he found you, your arms around the two plushies that were supposed to be keeping guard. You stirred when Loki came in and looked up at him. "Hey, Noodle," you greeted him softly.

Loki gave you a loving smile as he made his way over to you. "Hello, love," he said warmly.

You sat up, the two plushies in your lap. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to... don't yell at stark too hard. Or stab him. He's tiny and mortal and Pepper would be sad if he died," you said, your words running together as you tried to get all of them out and protect Tony.

Loki chuckled at your bumbling words. "I will not attack Stark. Don't fret," he reassured you gently. The tin man was safe since you liked him.

"If you do need to express your displeasure with him, you can defenestrate him," you added with a smirk. It was a time honored punishment for an annoying Stark. One of the windows was even dedicated to it with weaker glass so Tony wouldn't die when he went flying out of it.

You had a feeling Tony liked being defenestrated since it seemed to happen to him so often.

Loki grinned in delight at the idea.

"After new York he set up a safety in Jarvis to automatically send a suit to rescue him were he to get defenestrated again," you explained. "And one of the windows is weaker so it doesn't kill him. Just let me record it if you do. It'll be hilarious," you grinned up at him before you climbed out of the bed and kissed your Loki lightly before taking his hand to walk back downstairs with him, a mischievous smirk plastered on your face.

Loki noticed the mischief in your eyes. "What do you have planned, little one?" Loki asked you, slightly concerned over what you might have up your sleeve when you were supposed to be resting.

"Using your army for my personal gain," you replied with an innocent smirk. Loki just chuckled at that ridiculous answer. "Mind helping?" You asked him, as you'd actually need his cooperation.

"Of course, darling. What do you require of me?" Loki was always up for a bit of mischief.

"Nothing strenuous. Just need a picture," you reassured him with a grin. You let him sit in his usual spot as you set up the TV and a particular video game. It was one in a series and you were desperate for the next game. "I have a theory that if I convince your army that you like this game. I can get the publisher to send 'you' one of the prepub copies of the next game. I've been waiting for the sequel to come out for like 10 years and they just started giving out the prepub copies to test gamers and reviewers," you explained. It was an innocent bit of mischief and wasn't hurting anyone.

Loki didn't quite understand, but you got your picture of him pretending he was playing and interested in the game. He made a good show of it for you. You posted the picture online with the caption "Impatiently waiting for Kingdom Hearts 3". Predictably, Loki's army blew up, preorders on the game quadrupled and later that afternoon Jarvis announced: "Loki, there is a deliveryman in the lobby for you, sir,"

Loki stared up at the ceiling where the voice came from, looking utterly confused. You sighed and got to your feet, pulling Loki up with you. "You have to go see what the deliveryman wants, silly noodle," you told him and walked with him to the elevator to head to the lobby. Loki chuckled and let you drag him to the elevator, especially since you seemed happy.

You found the kid with the package waiting in the lobby, looking awed by being in the Avengers tower. He snapped out of his awe to hand Loki the clipboard to sign. You sighed again. "You have to sign your name so he can prove to his boss that he delivered the package," you explained when Loki was confused over what the child wanted. Loki smirked at the kid's awed look, signed the clipboard and handed it back to the child in exchange for the package. The kid thanked Loki very politely, as any delivery person did in the tower and left quickly. "What'd ya get?" You asked Loki curiously.

Loki opened the package with one of his daggers from nowhere and found the game you'd been lusting after. You grinned and took the game from his hands. The accompanying note thanked Loki for his support of the series. "I love your army," you teased with a smirk, though you did make a note not to abuse his poor army. "Even you cant be upset with them, since I got them to do you a massive favor with this," you teased as you headed back upstairs together. Loki just looked at you confused. He didn't understand how his army did him a favor when you were the one who used them for your own gain. "What? You want me to rest. I'm not planning on leaving the couch for anything other than meals and sleep... and maybe kissing you," you teased with a smirk, "until I finish this game. That buys you a good... three days or so? Of getting me to rest without arguments. Very nice of your army to give you that," you were all warmth and happiness as you teased him.

Loki laughed. "True. I'll take what I can get. At least you'll be resting," he said warmly and pressed a kiss to your hair.

You grinned up at him in reply. "Thought you'd see reason," you said before you settled in on your couch to play your game and actually, finally, get some rest sitting on your ass playing video games.