The next morning found Zoë asleep on the couch of her new room. Her pencil and rubber were on the floor, her phone, her paintbrushes and her colours on a nearby table. Just next to her phone, was the painting she had taken with her.
She had managed to do half of the face of her beloved in one night. All she had left to do was add some details and then, she could colour it. The woman had not slept until the early hours of the morning, losing track of time as she drew.
Not that she really regretted her decision.
She would have slept until noon had she not woken up from a pained cry. Within seconds, the Asgardian was up and leaving the room, her eyes wild as she looked around for the source of the noise.
"Are you all right?" she yelled, so as to make sure that whoever was in pain would be able to hear her. She waited for some seconds, anxious as she seemed to only be met with silence. But then, she heard someone groaning.
Quickly, Zoë followed the source of the noise, only to reach the kitchen. There, on the floor, was Pepper, a small frown on her lips. Immediately, the gardener got to the woman.
"Madam, is everything all right?"
"I just slipped," she admitted, looking down at the floor seemingly embarrassed. The Asgardian, confused, looked at the floor around the mortal only to notice that there was nothing that could have led to the woman's fall. Perplexed, she turned back to Pepper.
"Excuse me, Madam, but how did you slip?"
"I wish I knew," the other woman replied as she slowly pushed herself up, using Zoë's body as a means of standing up. "One second I was walking to my room, and the next I was falling."
"Oh," the blonde mumbled as she stood up. "Well, would you like anything for breakfast, Madam?"
"I already had breakfast," the mortal muttered before shooting a small smile at her gardener. "Call me Pepper, Zoë."
"It is somewhat difficult for me to do that, Madam, you are the soon-to-be wife of my boss."
"I insist."
Reluctantly, the woman nodded as she turned her gaze on her feet. "All right."
A small smile appeared on the woman's face as she turned around and got back in the kitchen. "Would you like something for breakfast?"
"Oh no, Ma- Pepper, I can make my own breakfast."
"I don't doubt that," she murmured as she looked up at the Asgardian. "But do you want breakfast?"
For a moment, Zoë stood there, gasping like a fish, her eyes wide. When she had decided to move in the Avengers Facility until Tony came back, she had not thought that that woman, so close to her boss and subsequently as rich as him, would insist on making her breakfast. The kind gesture was something she had not thought of, and it had left her completely unprepared.
But as she noticed Pepper looking at her, waiting patiently for her reply, she knew, it would be rude of her to not answer. She opened her mouth to speak, but no sound came. She cleared her throat, and then tried to speak again.
"A toast would be fine."
"Just a toast? Are you sure? I could offer you a banana or an apple, perhaps an orange as well?"
"A toast is fine, thank you," she smiled. Pepper shrugged as she turned around and started making the toast.
"You know, Zoë, I quite like you," she said out of the blue, making her gardener fidget uncomfortably. "You are kind and polite, and that's great. I feel like we should spend more time together."
Seeing the opportunity to take the woman's mind off of Tony for a while, Zoë did not hesitate to snatch it. "That's a great idea actually. Perhaps, a game of chess?"
Pepper chuckled as she turned around, a small smile on her lips. "I do not know how to play. Tony had tried to teach me, but.." she trailed off as she looked at the floor, a small frown appearing on her lips. It seemed like at the mention of Tony, she could hide her worry no more. The Asgardian immediately tried to divert her mind off her soon-to-be husband.
"Well, I could try to teach you."
"It's really a waste of time."
"I would like to try my abilities as a teacher," Zoë shrugged. "Who knows, maybe except from a gardener, I could be fit for a teacher's position."
Pepper smiled slightly as she turned around to grab the toast. "Whatever, Flowergirl."
Two hours later, it was obvious to Zoë why Tony Stark had stopped attempting to teach Pepper how to play chess. The mortal simply could not remember what movements each piece made.
"Wait, how does the bishop move again?"
It was about the sixth time the Asgardian had been asked that question in the last hour. She was actually tempted to give up. Pepper seemed to realise her gardener's hopelessness as she smiled apologetically at her.
"I told you, I cannot understand the game."
"That's not necessarily true, perhaps I am just a bad teacher," Zoë tried to assure her, but the mortal had already left her chair. She watched her as she grabbed the remote control and opened the television.
"There are no news about Tony Stark's whereabouts. On another note, Captain America had been seen last night. The government is doing all they can to bring him to justice."
Pepper closed the television, her expression blank as she sat down on a couch. She rested her head on her hands, hiding her face. Zoë, growing concerned, made her way to the mortal.
"Pepper? Can I do something to help you?"
The woman let out a raged breath before she raised her eyes to look at her gardener. With a start, the Asgardian realised that tears had filled her eyes, and as the woman blinked, some fell on her cheeks.
"It's all so awful," she exclaimed as she let the tears fall freely on her cheeks. "Here we are, waiting. We can do nothing to help them. Tony is somewhere in space, and I don't know how he will manage to return and when. And as for the others, they are off doing whatever and we have no idea what to do! We can do nothing but wait and I hate it! What if something happens to them? We will never know!"
"Pepper, I am sure everything is going to be all right," Zoë tried to comfort the woman. "Mr Stark will return and I believe in the others, they will be back from Wakanda in no time."
"What are they going to do in Wakanda?" the woman murmured as she brushed her tears away.
"I do not really know myself," the Asgardian claimed, a small frown forming on her lips. "I wish we could do something, but I don't know what we could do."
Pepper closed her eyes as she let out a sigh. A tear slipped from one of her closed eyes but she was quick to brush it away. "Why is it that every time all we can do is hope that everything is going to be fine?"
Zoë had no answer to present her with. And so, she remained silent. Pepper did not stay around for long. Soon, she retired to her chambers, leaving the Asgardian alone.
The blonde sat on the spot the mortal had previously occupied. She laid her head back and closed her eyes. She made herself think of a happy memory, anything that could make her feel better, and seconds later, she had found a memory that would do just that for her.
A small smile was on the blonde's lips as she looked around, enjoying the gentle breeze of the wind as it blew her hair back. She was sitting on the ground, her long modest dress getting dirty, but she did not care. The flowers around her seemed to be healthier than the others some ways away from her. It was expected for that to happen.
If one paid close attention, they would notice that all around her were miniscule golden spheres that the plants seemed to absorb.
Her blue gaze was glued on the flowers, as she enjoyed the sight of them swaying by the gentle breeze.
Zoë had decided it would be best for her to leave her house for a while. Her father was angry again, and she did not wish to be there. After all, she knew, if things became severe, her brother and mother would be able to calm him down.
As she pondered over the situation back in her house, she did not notice the person coming closer to her until she was covered by his shadow. Growing curious, she glanced up, only for a small smile to appear on her lips as she saw her visitor.
"Loki," she mumbled, her breath catching in her throat as the Prince shot her a smile.
"Can I join you?"
Her smile widened as she nodded and patted the space next to her. "Of course, I don't mind your company."
The dark haired man sat down next to her, his eyes darting from the golden spheres around them to the flowers and then back to her. "What are these golden spheres?"
"Nothing to worry about," she muttered, "It's just something I do to help the flowers grow. It's an ability of mine to make any kind of plant healthier than before."
"That's interesting." His eyebrows furrowed as he looked at the spheres all around them. Zoë watched as he raised a hand to touch them, but they scattered. Having realised that he could not touch the spheres, he turned back to her. "What else can you do?"
"I do not know," she shrugged, "I am still learning. Have you ever met anyone that has such abilities? Perhaps they could help me understand mine better?"
"I am afraid I cannot help you," Loki whispered as he looked at the ground.
The two fell silent, and Zoë took the time to try to look at the Prince next to her. She could not really examine his features properly because he was looking down, and so, she gave up and decided to ask something just because she felt like she needed to break the silence. "How come you came without your brother?"
It appeared that this was not a wise question to ask as Loki froze. For a moment, she thought he was glaring at the ground, but then, he raised his gaze to meet hers, and any hostility she thought she had detected before was gone.
"They believe I am in the palace," he informed her, "Would you like me to bring my brother next time? Or would you like it if I didn't come at all?"
"No," she protested immediately, her eyes wide as she looked at the dark haired Prince who seemed curious to know her reasoning. "That's not what I meant, I enjoy your company Loki. It's just that all the other times you had visited, Thor would be with you. I thought that something had happened to him."
"Thor is well," he assured her. "Should I tell him to come along next time?"
"You should not tell him anything," she shook her head, "I would not wish to force him to come. I would not blame you or Thor if you stopped coming one day. It's your decision, I have no say in it."
"As you wish," he mused, a small smirk curling in the corners of his lips. "So, am I your favourite Prince, then?"
The blonde's eyes widened at his question and she quickly looked down at the ground, trying to ignore the heat rushing to her cheeks and the sound of Loki's chuckles at her reaction. Without another word, the dark haired man stood up. "I'll take my leave then. I'll see you soon."
"Wait!" He raised an amused eyebrow at her, leaving her extremely flustered. Zoë turned her eyes on the ground, avoiding looking anywhere near him. "I actually do like you more than Thor."
Loki froze as he looked down at the blonde, his eyes wide. He was tempted to ask her to repeat herself just to make sure he had heard her correctly, but he did no such thing. Instead, he cleared his throat, making her look up at him. Without hesitating, he sent her a smile.
"Good to know. I'll see you soon, Zoë."
The blonde nodded, offering a small smile back at him. "I'll be waiting."
Shooting her a last glance, Loki teleported himself back in the palace, away from Zoë's eyes.
With a small nostalgic smile on her lips, Zoë stood up and made her way back to her room, feeling better than before. As she closed the door behind her, she immediately headed to her painting, grabbed her pencil and rubber and continued what she had left behind.
With every line she added, she felt as if her beloved was coming back to her. In the moments that she drew, she was under the impression that whenever he was, he was well, and he would return for her.
She would be waiting.