' She breathed in deeply, picking up on a faint and fresh scent of mint on him. "Even if it's only me, is that enough for you?" Loki purred with a knowing smile, still hugging her tightly, "am I enough for you?"
Pulling her head away from his chest...
So I know I said I'd write an epilogue, but I actually really like how I ended this story. So instead, I'll do a few bonus chapters of events that take place after the end. Just for fun.
Also, for the sake of this story making sense, none of the movies after Avengers happened. No Thanos, Loki does NOT die (yay!), Tony and Nat are also still alive (double yay!!). However, basically ALL (or most) of the Avengers are living happily in the Avengers tower. :)
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• April 29, 2021 •
It had been eight and a half years since Loki and Estrial left Midguard together. A lot had changed. For instance, many new Avengers had surfaced. Some moved into the tower, such as Wanda, Rhodey, and Scott. Others lived elsewhere, but dropped by from time to time, like Peter, Clint, T'Challa, and Stephen. Thor went back and forth between living in Asgard and the tower. And one Avenger was completely man-made: Vision.
As for the other four, their lives got better with time as well. Steve and Natasha became the best of friends, Bruce got better control of "the Hulk", and Tony ended up marrying the woman who used to only be an assistant to him: Pepper. Not to mention their precious daughter, Morgan.
"Daddy?" A small voice called through the dim hallways. Little footsteps could be heard patting over the floor as a three-year-old girl searched for her father. Once she made it to the door that she knew would lead to her sleeping parents, she pushed it open gently. "Mommy?"
Morgan waddled over to the tall bed where her parents slept and tugged on the covers. Tony was the first to wake, groaning as he stretched and checked the clock. "4:00 am, huh?" He asked no one in particular. He reached down and lifted Morgan onto the bed. "There's no getting you back to sleep, now is there," he sighed.
The young girl smiled mischievously and shook her head 'no'. Tony chuckled and sat up. "I'm hungry," Morgan declared.
"Of course you are," Tony agreed in a low voice. He looked to his sleeping wife and decided, "let's let Mommy sleep a little longer. I'll make you some cereal."
Morgan nodded, and then the two left for the kitchen. Once there, Tony began to tiredly pour a bowl of Cheerios for Morgan. But the child was otherwise distracted, staring outside of the large glass doors that led to the balcony. "Daddy, look!" She exclaimed, trying to reach up to the door handle to slide it open. But it was far to heavy for her.
Tony rushed over to his daughter and picked her up. Holding Morgan on his left side, he looked to where she was pointing up. "What is it, Pumpkin?!" He asked, pushing through his exhaustion to show enthusiasm for his daughter.
"I saw a shootin' star," Morgan explained with a small lisp. She looked back outside and smiled. "There!"
Tony squinted through the glass and saw the dot of light still travelling at a steady pace across the sky. With a smile of memory, he opened the sliding door and stepped outside, still holding Morgan securely. His mind immediately went to thoughts of Estrial; he wondered if that was her, flying from one realm to another.
But his smile turned to a frown as he realized that this star...was still going. And it was no doubt headed for Earth. He set Morgan down. "Honey, go on and eat your cereal, I'll be right in," he told her in a rush, trying to keep an eye on the star.
"But I wanna see the star," Morgan argued.
"I thought you were hungry," Tony tried to change the subject. But in the split second he took to meet his daughter's eyes, the star vanished.
Morgan pouted, unhappy that the star was gone. Finally, she ran back inside to eat her breakfast. But Tony stayed outside; his mind was in a whole other world right then. He walked to the railing and looked up, watching the motionless early morning sky as memories flashed through his mind like an old film.
He couldn't have been distracted longer than five minutes before he heard a voice from behind him called shyly, "Tony?"
The man whipped around in shock, recognizing that gentle voice immediately. His eyes widened at the sight of Estrial and Loki, standing together with clasped hands on the balcony. "Oh my god," he nearly shouted, a smiled cracking across his face, "you're back!"
Tony immediately went in to hug Estrial. She stiffened for a moment before relaxing into the hug. And when he let go, he was about to hug Loki just out of pure instinct. But he stopped himself, instead giving the demigod a more sarcastic, 'oh great, you're back', look.
"Always a delite," Loki chuckled mischievously, then went on to ask in a teasing tone, "is this a bad time?"
"No--I mean--" Tony didn't get to finish his staggering sentence, for he was interrupted by a gasp coming from the still-open glass door.
"Woah..." Mogan gawked. Her gaze flicked back and forth between Loki and Estrial. The tall demigod who wore all black atop deeply contrasting fair skin, with silky black hair that shimmered in the star light. And the smaller lady who wore a milky white gown, with glowing skin and short hair. Right beside eachother, they looked like the pure essence of light and darkness.
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Estrial turned around to find the small human staring up at her with glittering eyes. For a moment, she was tossed back in time to when she was only a star, motionless in the sky, watched by so many similarly gleaming eyes.
"Are you Daddy's friends?" The child asked curiously.
"Morgan, come here, sweety," Tony called for his daughter. The child ran over to him and he picked her up again. He looked back and forth between Loki's surprised face and Estrial's pure curiosity with a small smirk. "A lot's changed."
"I'd say," Loki replied, trying not to let on how excited he truly was to be back. "You have a..smaller you," he observed awkwardly.
Estrial approached Tony, eyes locked with Morgan's. She gave a gentle smile and tilted her head to the side to speak quietly to the girl. "I heard...your wish."
Morgan's eyes widened. This girl was the star she'd wished on? She watched Estrial look up. The star raised a single hand as if to run her fingers gently across the sky. Her chest glowed brighter as she did this, and within seconds, tiny white flakes began to float down slowly.
"It snowing!" Morgan squealed wiggling around to the point where Tony had to set her back down.
"Snow..in April," Tony mumbled. He looked to Estrial with an impressed grin. "Looks like you learned some new tricks."
Estrial nodded slowly. "A few."
"That's right," Loki agreed, hugging Estrial against his side. He was proud of his star. So long ago, they set off on a mission to explore 'everywhere'. They'd both grown.
Tony watched Loki's eyes shine with love as the demigod looked down at Estrial. He recalled a time when Loki would do anything to cover his feelings. But now, he was embracing them a strongly as ever. "Well," he spoke suddenly, clearing his throat as he moved past the couple. Morgan was running around trying to catch singulat snowflakes. "Come on inside, there're some new people you should meet."
