"Sorry breakfast is simple," you apologized to Loki as you stood at the griddle making pancakes. He was watching curiously, but staying out of the way. "I was 18 when I died and didn't learn how to cook much before that. Mom and I used to make pancakes almost every Sunday, which is the only reason I know how to make them," you admitted.
"18? That is but a child," Loki protested, horrified.
You scoffed and rolled your eyes before you remembered. "Sorry, I forgot, by life expectancy equivalencies... I was around 900 by your standards," you clarified quickly, doing the math in your head. He nodded, accepting that and seemed impressed with your quick math skills.
"Still a young maiden and much too young to have your future ripped from you," he said softly, kissing the top of your head.
"I won't disagree on that point," you replied and handed him the giant plate of pancakes. "Can you put these on the table?" He nodded and went to do just that while you plated the sausages. He came back in to get plates and silver wear and you followed him with the plate of sausages.
"You never told me how you died," he prompted once you had sat down to eat.
You hesitated. It wasn't a story you wanted to tell, but he was curious, and Loki, and really, he deserved to know. "Will you answer a question for me first? I've been meaning to ask..." he nodded. "The day the team destroyed the seethe, they found out I was a vampire after the battle and argued for a long time with SHIELD over what to do with me, since I'd helped them, but it was Thor who finally convinced SHIELD to give me to the team. Which was admittedly after I said something in exasperated temper. I'm not surprised he saved me. I'm surprised he was... crying... while he did it,"
"What did you say?" Loki asked gently.
You flushed, embarrassed because your words had been unkind. "'If I'm for the axe, then for mercy's sake, just swing it,'" you repeated shyly. It hadn't been one of your proudest moments.
Loki winced. "Ouch, darling. Yes, that would be one of the few things for you to say that would get that response from the oaf,"
"I didn't mean to make him cry," you protested.
He gave you a reassuring smile. "I know, sweetheart. To answer your question: yes, I know why Thor had that reaction. During my trial after the events in New York I said those exact same words to Odin in a fit of temper. Thor was there and saw it and hasn't forgotten his fear that I would be killed for my actions, despite the fact that I was not acting on my own free will,"
"Oh...no wonder he was crying..." you pondered that and realized your words really hadn't been kind to remind him of his brother, but there had been no way for you to know. You wouldn't be doing that again, though. He was still watching you expectantly, he'd given you your answer, so it was only fair that you answer his question. "You know I graduated high school at 14, like 700 to you," again you did the math in your head. "Most humans graduate at 18 and either go on to a job or to further education, which costs a lot of money," he nodded, keeping up with the story so far. "I got a full-ride scholarship thanks from Stark to attend college. I didn't exactly have a normal high school or college experience since I was so much younger than the rest of the students. I went on exactly one date in college,"
"Which is a good thing," Loki snarled. "Adult men should have no interest in a child in their presence,"
You rolled your eyes. "I was 14, a teenager, not a child, but yes, legal adults should have no interest in an underage girl. I had no interest in them anyway, I was busy collecting degrees like Pokemon cards," he gave you a look and you shook your head; you'd explain the reference later. "Anyway, my first an only date was when I was 18, my chem lab partner begged me to go on a double date with her, since her date's friend needed a date for that night. She said he was 21, 1,050 or so to you, a reasonable age difference and we were going to dinner. It should have been perfectly safe. Needless to say it wasn't. He was perfectly polite, charming, flattering and I was a stupid naive 18 year-old who'd never dated. I did everything by the book and he still managed to drug my drink and steal me away, telling my chem partner I'd had too much wine and he was taking me home. I'd had soda all night. He took me straight to the queen of the seethe and she turned me that very night. He was a vampire and had been sent to get me. I never did find out how the seethe found out about my magic, but that's why they chose me," you explained. The story came out slowly, you hadn't wanted to tell it, or remember. That vampire had been kind that night, had given you your first kiss while you pretended to be more grown-up and experienced than you were so you wouldn't embarrass yourself. You never should have agreed to that double-date, but had had no reason to reject it at the time. There'd been no way for you to know.
"You are not stupid for being tricked, naive perhaps, but not stupid. Especially considering your academic achievements," Loki told you kindly. You gave him a small smile.
"I know, but I still go through the what-ifs,"
"Which is only natural,"
You nodded and looked for something to change the subject. "Can you get the dishes? I need to get something from one of the twelve-thousand tool boxes spread around this place," Loki nodded, obviously wondering what you were up to, but didn't question your change of topic. You'd talked enough about how you'd died for one day. "Great! Meet you in the living room." You grabbed the good toolbox from under the sink and settled on your spot on the couch. Loki joined you a moment later.
"What are you up to, sweetheart?" he asked. You silently took the arm that had the Stark tech device on it and flipped the device over, examining it. "Y/N..." his voice was a warning.
"Trust me," you told him and reached into the toolbox absently. You held his hand in your lap with one hand while you reached for the tools you needed.
"Darling..." he tried again.
"Hush," you scolded lightly and got to work on the tricky piece of tech. He huffed and sighed, but realized that you weren't going to give up from whatever you were up to. You pulled out a small Jarvis screen from your pocket and scanned the device on Loki's wrist. It shocked you when you set the screwdriver in place. "Stop that," you scolded it. It sparked again while you were working and you glared at it. "I said stop it," you glared at it and Loki chuckled at you. A few screws, some shocks, and a well-placed shock to the device and it finally released from Loki's wrist. "Ta-da!" you announced as you removed it.
"Weren't you specifically told not to do that?" he asked, worried for you.
"That's the other surprise. We're officially off of house arrest according to Stark," you told him with a grin. "I thought I'd do the honors," you indicated the restraint device.
"That is excellent news indeed." You could see that his mind was already whirling with ideas and plans and you wondered what he was up to.
"Are we doing magic lessons this morning?" you asked, distracting him from whatever he was up to, especially since you were sure you'd end up on whatever mischief he was planning. "I'm not pressing for lessons, I just want to get to bed at a reasonable hour so I'm actually awake for the press conference this evening," you added quickly. You didn't want to seem like you were using him for his abilities.
"You're actually being reasonable for once?" he teased and laughed. You stuck your tongue out at him. "And don't be so shy, little one, I am the one who offered to teach you, and I appreciate that you not only wish to learn, but wish to actually go to bed at a reasonable hour," he reminded you and so the lesson of the day began, which looked boring to the team when they walked through to get breakfast and saw you sitting and staring at each other with power shimmering around you as the only warning that you were playing with magic. But telepathy was boring to watch, though useful to master.
Loki broke off the connection. "Well done, darling," he told you warmly and kissed you lightly. You smiled at the praise.
"Hey, Tinkerbell, any idea how I ended up in my room last night, last thing I remember were were in the lab?" Tony asked when the power stopped shimmering in the living room.
"I carried you to bed. Pepper let me in," you replied and hid a yawn behind your hand. "Speaking of bed, I should go find mine," you told them a bit apologetically. You hated being on the opposite schedule as the rest of the team. Usually you stayed up later and only napped for a couple of hours when the sun was brightest, but you needed real sleep occasionally, and the press conference seemed important. You stood and started to lean down to kiss Loki, but he was standing as well.
"I'll walk you," Loki told you.
"Loki, I can-"
"I will walk you," he interrupted more firmly. You sighed. Overprotective male.
"Thor, your brother is incorrigible," you informed Thor with mock grumpiness. He boomed his laughter.
"My brother is a gentleman," Thor corrected you jovially.
You laughed and took Loki's hand to let him walk you up to bed. You let him into your suite so he could see that there were no intruders for himself. He stopped outside your bedroom door and kissed you. "If you wake before dusk, I will likely be at the sanctum," he told you so you wouldn't worry about him if he wasn't here. "I know you have the range to reach me if you need me," he meant telepathically. You'd spent the morning working on your telepathy, so he knew exactly how strong your powers were now.
"Or you could actually take your phone with you," you teased. You'd shown him how to use the phone weeks ago.
He inclined his head. "Also a valid option," he replied warmly. "Sleep well, darling," he bid you. You stood up on your toes to kiss him again.
"Goodnight, Loki," you told him and slipped into your bedroom with its blackout curtains to crawl into bed and get some sleep.
*
You jolted awake to intruders in your suite and jumped to your feet to see who they were. When you opened your bedroom door, you found Nat and Clint in your sitting room. "Sorry, didn't mean to wake you," Clint told you by way of greeting. You glanced at the light through the window and saw the sun was setting.
"No problem. I'd have been up soon anyway. What are you guys doing here?" you asked. It was unlike anyone to barge into your room, everyone else's rooms, besides Bruce's seemed to be fair game.
"We came to help you get ready for the press conference and the party afterwards," Nat explained. It was then you saw that she was wearing a dress and Clint had on a button-down shirt and dress pants. "Figured an 18 year old bookworm didn't have a lot of experience with press conferences," she continued.
"Thanks, I have no idea what to wear. Never been to a press conference, or whatever this kind of party is," you whined and led her to your bedroom so she could help you find something. You turned on the lights and drew back the blackout curtains so she could see and she dug through your closet to look for something. Clint turned on your TV in the other room. "Why is he here?" you asked, while Nat shooed you into the shower.
"He used to work in the circus and is a savant when it comes to doing hair and makeup. Well, actually your boyfriend is best at doing hair, but Clint is a close second," Nat explained, calling her answer into the bathroom where you were grabbing a quick shower. When you were out and dry, Nat handed you a gorgeous cap-sleeved floor length dress. It was elegant and beautiful.
"When did we buy that?" you asked, looking over the beautiful dress, dressed in nothing but a robe at the moment.
"I may have stolen your measurements and had it bought for you," she replied with an innocent smile. "You needed nicer things than jeans and t-shirts, despite what Stark says. Besides, boyfriend will like the dress," she added with a smirk.
"You guys are going to tease forever, aren't you?" you asked as Nat sat you in a chair in front of your dresser.
"Clint! You're up!" she called. "And we're only going to tease for awhile," she told you warmly. "We don't get a lot of new gossip around here,"
You sighed. "You do realize this is my first relationship ever, right?" you grumbled. Their teasing wasn't helping you be less nervous. "And we've had all of one date, and it was a one 3am picnic date at that,"
"He's been courting you since the first day he thought he was being sneaky going downstairs to visit you," Nat told you too patiently while Clint came in and got to work on your hair. She was right, Loki knew you well after your months of friendship. He also knew you hadn't dated, so he'd be careful and wouldn't push. In record time your hair and makeup were done. Your hair was in an elegant knot of some variety at the nape of your neck. It was soft and gorgeous. The makeup wasn't overdone, but made you look at least a couple years older. Clint vanished after you and Nat complimented his handiwork. You dressed in the floor length gown and Nat passed you a pair of heels to go with it. You barely recognized yourself in the mirror when you actually remembered the damn thing was there and looked at Nat and Clint's handiwork. "C'mon, the rest of the boys are waiting for us downstairs," Nat told you kindly and linked her arm with yours to walk with you from your suite. You laughed and walked with her and Clint downstairs.
The rest of the boys were waiting in the living room for you, all of them in suits. Even Clint shrugged on a suit jacket. "Ladies, you both look beautiful this evening," Thor greeted you warmly.
The rest of the boys were quick to agree, though you got a snarky "You can wear a dress," from Stark. You stuck your tongue out at him.
"Yes, I'm not entirely a grease monkey," you replied. Loki stepped over to you looking ridiculously handsome in an extremely well-fitting suit. He took your hand and bowed over it to kiss your knuckles.
"You look lovely tonight, sweetheart," he greeted you warmly.
"You clean up nicely yourself," you replied and leaned up to kiss him. You didn't have to work so hard at it when you were wearing heels. The rest of the boys were fighting over who was escorting Nat. Cap won due to anxiety appearing in public for these kind of events and hated having women throw themselves at him, so Nat often played decoy for him. Tony was escorting Pepper for obvious reasons, so he'd been out of the competition to begin with.
You all piled into the elevator, which was too small to hold so many people, especially big people like Cap and Thor. Loki pulled you to him and held you safely from getting squished. You looked up at him gratefully and kissed his cheek, safe in the circle of his arms. You smirked at everyone vying for position where they wouldn't get squashed.
There was a limo waiting for your group right outside the tower. The boys climbed in first so you, Nat, and Pepper would have less sliding to do across the seats. Cap went over the plan with everyone while you rode to the press conference. It would be simple enough so you didn't worry over it. The press was already waiting when your limo pulled up. The ladies stepped out first and waited for your escorts. Cap stepped out first and Nat placed her arm in his. You could see his anxiety calm with Nat playing decoy for him. Tony was out next and he and Pepper walked together with years of practice evident in their movements. Loki was last out, since tonight was his announcement. He offered you his arm and you placed your hand on it, nervous. This was beyond your skill set.
"Don't fret, love," Loki told you softly as you followed the others into the building. "We're not announcing you as anything more than my girlfriend. No one will find out what you are. If anyone presses for information, you work at Stark Industries and work on the Avengers' weapons in the lab in the tower," he reminded you of your made-up back-story. You nodded.
"I know, but if I fall in these heels, I'm taking you down with me," you warned. You hated heels, but couldn't wear flats without looking like a child, especially not to an event like this.
He laughed. "Then I shall just have to make sure you don't fall," he replied warmly and somehow his arm was more supportive under your hand. You smiled up at him, reassured by his presence. Besides, he would be the one in the spotlight. You were keeping women from throwing themselves at him due to how hot he was in that suit, and he was showing you off, that was all.
You all stepped up on the stage. Tony kissed Pepper before she stepped off to the side, not part of the events either. Cap and Nat took their places up by the podium and the boys followed, including Tony once he got his kiss from Pepper. The press was loving the kiss too, you saw. Loki kissed you in the same spot before you separated so you went to stand next to Pepper and he joined the other actual Avengers. The actual press conference was short and boring, just Cap announcing that Loki was joining the team, New York wasn't his fault, and he was most definitely an ally.
Questions would come during the party after and Cap had warned you and Loki both to be on your best behavior answering them. You were hounded by press during the party, but they had spread out to question the entire team, so it wasn't too awful. You wandered the party, your hand on Loki's arm and let him handle most of the questions. He was overly polite to the reporters and was really good at giving them non-answers. Silver-tongue indeed.
You both stopped short when you ran into Doctor Strange. He looked you over suspiciously. "Doctor," you greeted him warily, hoping he wouldn't call you on the fact that you were currently very much not blind.
"Y/N, Loki," he replied, though gave you a questioning expression. "Your blindness miraculously cleared up?" he asked, disapproving of faking a handicap.
"The sun went down," you replied. He looked shocked.
"So the rumors are true?" he demanded, glaring at you. Loki took a step forward, easing you behind him.
"What rumors?" Loki snarled.
"That the Avengers somehow have a vampire working for them," Strange explained softly so your conversation wouldn't be overheard. You grabbed Loki's arm to keep him from lunging forward and killing Strange to keep your secret.
"Yes, it's true. Please, don't tell anyone. The team all knows and I'm not a danger to them," you told him quickly, making the decision to trust the sorcerer. He'd claimed to be an ally and Loki hadn't called him on the lie, so it must have been true. Strange looked like he wanted to argue, but finally nodded.
"I won't tell, but I would like to know more about the...species," he told you. Of course, he was a big-brain too, and wanted to know as much as he could about everything.
You nodded. "Alright, but not tonight,"
He nodded. "Tonight we both pretend to be normal humans," you nodded your agreement and went your separate ways, dragging Loki with you toward the bar to get something to drink.
"Brother, I brought mead from home for the party for us," Thor called as he joined you at the bar. Loki looked excited.
"How in Valhalla did you manage that?" he asked as the bartender poured three wine glasses of the stuff. "Careful, love, this is stronger than Midgardian alcohol... can you even get drunk?" he asked as you picked up your glass and sipped carefully on the delicious honey mead.
"No idea," you replied. "Haven't actually tried." You'd been 18 when you died and hadn't had much alcohol outside of Yarbarah since you'd been turned. The ID Nat made you said that you were 21, so you didn't feel bad about drinking now.
"Just be careful," Loki advised. You nodded, and weren't planning on being stupid.
"This is delicious," you told them both.
"I brought it back with me after I visited home last time," Thor explained. He had come home with a huge bag of stuff from Asgard from a short visit to check in at home.
Nat came up behind you and touched your back. "I'm going to go powder my nose. Are you coming?" she asked over protectively. You nodded and kissed Loki's cheek, handing him your drink to watch.
"We'll be back in a minute," you told him. He raised an eyebrow, not understanding the euphemism it seemed.
/Women don't go to the restroom alone in public events like this. Powdering one's nose is a euphemism for visiting the restroom/ you explained telepathically. He nodded to indicate he'd heard you and you linked your arm with Nat's to find the ladies' room.
On your way back, a reporter cornered you and started pestering you about how you'd met Loki, what it was like dating the famous super-villain, all sorts of annoying questions, trying to get a spin about how Loki was evil, which you weren't giving him. All of your answers were about how he was a perfect gentleman.
You tapped Loki's mind telepathically and he casually made his way over to you. At least he appeared casual. "There you are, darling," he greeted you and handed you your drink back as he kissed your cheek. "I was afraid you'd gotten lost,"
"Sorry, Loki, I got held up," you indicated the reporter, who suddenly lost interest in questioning you and rushed off to bother someone else. "Thanks," you told Loki when he was gone.
"Of course, sweetheart. Shall I kill him for bothering you?" he asked pleasantly, teasing since the reporter hadn't actually done anything.
"I don't think that would make a good impression on the mortals," you replied with a smile.
"It would make an excellent impression for them to leave you alone," he replied just as pleasantly.
"Loki..." your tone was a warning.
He sighed. "Very well, he can survive. Tonight. Because I'd much rather dance with you," he told you with a smirk. Your mead was gone and you vanished the glass back to the bar.
"I don't know how to dance," you admitted sheepishly.
"Then I shall just have to teach you," he replied warmly and took your hand to lead you out on the dance floor. He patiently showed you the basic steps, then took your right hand in his left and placed your hand on his shoulder. "Fear not, love. All you have to do is follow," his voice was reassuring and he began the dance. You managed to follow his lead and smiled when you realized it was fun. He was an extremely strong lead and could compensate for any mistakes you made. All you had to do was not fall on your ass or step on his toes and you somehow managed to avoid doing either. "Thank you for the dance, my lady," Loki bid you when the song had ended and he bowed over your hand again to kiss your knuckles. You dipped an impudent curtsy in reply.
"Thank you for teaching me," you replied.
"Have you eaten anything tonight?" Loki asked as you made your way off the dance floor.
You shook your head, but knew he wasn't talking about the hors d'oeuvres. "Not since our picnic this morning. I'll be fine until we get home," you reminded him firmly. You weren't that weak that you needed blood every couple hours. He gave you a look. "I'm fine, I promise," you told him. He inclined his head and let your reassurance stand.
It was nearly dawn when the stupid party ended. You were getting more and more anxious the closer it got to dawn, since you weren't at home with the safe windows. You wondered how the party could have lasted all night, but it was one of Tony's shindigs, so of course it had. Most everyone was drunk by this point, suit jackets had long been ditched and ties had been loosened, the remaining women had lost their heels in a pile by the door. Your heels were among them, and you were wearing Loki's suit jacket over your dress.
When your anxiety got too bad, when dawn got too close, Loki sat you on a couch in the corner of the room. "Calm down, love," he told you.
"It's almost dawn," you told him, a hint of panic in your tone. You'd been expecting this party to end hours ago.
"I know. Stay here, the light won't reach this corner of the room. You're safe," he told you kindly. "I'll go remind Stark that dawn is coming." You clutched onto his hand, nervous. You didn't want to be out in public past dawn. Four years of instilled fear of the sun was hard to break. You could be out in the sun, but it was unpleasant and terrifying without proper preparations.
"Loki," you said softly.
"I know, sweetheart. There's still time before dawn," he reminded you and kissed your forehead. Thor walked past, looking concerned at the scene.
"Is everything alright?" he asked.
"Dawn is coming," Loki replied, since you still weren't loosening your grip on his hand, weren't letting him leave you alone, even to help. "It is making my lady anxious to be so far from home with sunrise so close,"
Thor nodded. "Come on, we'll go get the others and go home." You couldn't teleport home and draw attention to something being wrong. You didn't want that kind of attention with the press still being here sniffing around for stories besides that Tony liked to party all night. You stood again and wrapped both your arms around Loki's, nervous and anxious and scared without your parasol, sunscreen, and blackout glasses. You weren't prepared to be in the sun and you were scared. You'd been fine until it got too close to dawn.
"Shh, love, you're safe. We're not going to let anything happen to you," Loki reassured you again. Nat and Clint both looked worried when they saw you, though you were trying to look not nearly as afraid as you felt.
"What's wrong?" Nat asked softly, then checked the time. "Shit. We should've stopped Tony's stupid party hours ago. Why didn't Pepper-?" Pepper was asleep on one of the couches. She was Tony's impulse control. "Oi, Stark, time to end the party," Nat called to boos from the drunken guests and press. "Boys, get Y/N to the limo. We'll be there shortly," Nat barked the order. Thor, Loki, and Clint walked with you back to the limo as the sun was beginning to rise.
"Loki, they don't know-" you whined and clutched tighter to his arm, afraid of seeming even more monstrous. Afraid of the sun and being blind among the press and team.
"Darling, listen to me. You're safe. I promise, you're safe with us. The team is not going to look down on your for the sun draining you when this party lasting this long is Tony's fault. They aren't going to look down on you for being blind in sunlight," Loki told you firmly as he led you to the limo. You heard surprised noises from Thor and Clint. They hadn't known still.
"Brother, the press cannot see us in here, get your lady home," Thor told him when he'd climbed into the limo after you. The windows were darkened and the press couldn't see in.
Loki nodded and with a shimmer of magic you were safely in the sitting room of your suite. You wrapped your arms around Loki's neck. "Shh, love, shh, we're home. You're safe," he told you as he rubbed your back, held you while you shook from nerves and anxiety. Loki's magic shimmered over the pair of you and you were back in pajamas, your hair loose and makeup gone. He swept you up into his arms, despite your soft whimper of protest, and carried you into your bedroom. He set you gently on your bed and closed the blackout curtains again. "There, love, it's safe," he promised you and joined you on the bed, holding you safe in his arms in the dark room until you could finally relax. It took awhile before you could relax, before you could get it through your stupid brain that the sun couldn't reach you and hurt you here. Panic attacks were illogical most of the time.
"I'm sorry," you murmured sleepily, emotionally exhausted by the panic attack when he had finally ended. You shouldn't have had a panic attack over the sun.
"It's alright. We all should have gotten you home hours ago," Loki told you and kissed your forehead. "You should get some sleep, sweetheart," he started to move to get up from the bed, to let you sleep.
"You're leaving?" you asked softly.
"It would be...improper..." he started, though you wondered why he was suddenly worried about propriety, and realized he was probably intending on sleeping too, and didn't want to invite himself to sleep in a lady's bed. You scrambled to follow him off the bed, not wanting to be alone. He sighed in loving exasperation and pushed you back onto the bed. "Fine, I'll stay, at least until you fall asleep," he promised and settled back on the bed, holding you safely in his arms, rubbing your back, running his fingers through your hair, and whispering soothing words and old poems in a language you didn't know, until you finally calmed properly and fell asleep in his arms.
"I love you, sweetheart,"
Was that real or your imagination talking?