The next Sunday was pancake morning, just as every Sunday was. Loki loved pancakes, and Clint liked bribing the god to be in a good mood and like him. That was easily accomplished with food, especially in the form of pancakes. Clint handed you your plate with your usual orders not to share with Loki, or else you'd give him all your pancakes just to see him smile.
He handed a larger stack of pancakes to Loki. "Try not to steal the kid's pancakes when you finish yours," he teased Loki. It was a kind friendly teasing, not malicious at all, and he was just poking a little fun about Loki's love of sweets. And his giant adoration of pancakes. Loki just smirked in reply, making no promises
"Happy it's pancake morning?" you asked Loki as he took the seat beside you. You loved seeing your Loki happy and pancake morning usually did the trick to make him happy. Instead of giving you a proper answer, he proceeded to stuff his face with pancakes with childlike abandon. You giggled at his antics and started eating yours like a normal person as opposed to his impression of a pancake vacuum.
However, before he knew it, his pancakes were gone and he pouted pathetically at the empty plate. "Aww, poor noodle ran out," you teased him brightly as you always did on pancake morning and moved to dump the rest of your pancakes onto his plate.
Before you could, Bucky came around to your side of the table and lifted the chair you were in. While you were still sitting in it. "Hey!" you protested indignantly as he lifted you chair and all and moved you so you were sitting between him and Nat. Nat stole your plate before Loki could steal the pancakes off of it and placed it in front of you once your chair had been moved.
"Those are yours. Odinson can steal from someone else, or go make his own," Bucky told you firmly, overruling your protests. He glared at Loki for even thinking of accepting your pancakes after what had happened so recently in Asgard, especially when you were still recovering. Loki glared right back at both Bucky and Nat for stealing both you and your plate of pancakes.
"Don't glare. You know damn well she'll give you all of hers just because they're your favorite, and conveniently neglect that she needs to eat," Nat scolded him. Very few people would dare scold Loki, especially over you or pancakes, but he respected Nat so she could get away with it.
Before Loki can come up with a witty or snarky reply, there's a very distinctive rainbow light that appears outside the tower's windows. Everyone looked over at the rainbow light and then between Thor and Loki, confused for a moment because those are usually the only two who travel by Bifrost.
"I take it that's mommy-dearest?" Stark finally asked dryly when no one moved quickly enough.
At that, Loki and Thor jump to their feet and rush to the elevator so they can go greet Frigga. You weren't surprised at all that Loki was in the lead. You stood at a more reasonable pace and made it to the elevator as it arrived. Loki was almost bouncing in excitement all the way down to the lobby. You waited in the lobby behind the shielded windows while they ran out to the Bifrost circle outside to go see their Mother. You could watch them from your vantage point away from the sun. Loki's charm protected you from going blind in the sun, but it still drained you, and you weren't recovered enough to deal with that.
Frigga had indeed just arrived on the Bifrost and she lit up with a huge smile when her sons came rushing, nearly running, over to greet her "Hello, my sons," she greeted them warmly as they both hugged her and kissed her cheeks.
"It's so good to see you, Mother," Loki greeted her brightly, truly happy to see his beloved mother.
Frigga hugged them both back in turn and kissed their cheeks. "I have missed you, my sons. Things are quiet back home, so I thought I'd take you up on your offer to visit," she told them warmly. "I hope it is not an inconvenient time..." they had told her she was always welcome, but she was still concerned.
"It is most definitely not an inconvenient time and I am glad you did come to visit," Loki told her warmly.
She looked up at the tower, drawing her sons away from just gasping over the fact that she was here. "Is this where you live on Midgard?" she asked them as she took Loki's offered arm
"It is," Loki told her warmly. "Would you like to meet the team?" he asked as the three of them started to come back into the lobby where you were waiting.
"Of course I would like to meet your friends, darling," she told them both warmly. She was most pleased that Loki had actual friends, even if he wouldn't really admit it.
"I'm sorry that I couldn't come outside to see you," you told Frigga shyly, hating talking about your vampiric weaknesses. Frigga waved away your apology and pulled you into a hug, much to your surprise. You knew her and yet you were still surprised at how warm and kind she was an how glad she was to see you. Especially since while you weren't recovered, you were still doing better than you had been the last time she saw you.
Loki took your hand when Frigga let you go and you tried to shoo your mama's boy back to Frigga. You knew he would want to spend every moment of Frigga's visit with her, but Thor offered Frigga his arm to lead her to the elevator. Loki gave you a knowing smirk. He knew what you'd been trying to do.
The four of you entered the elevator and Frigga looked in awe of the Midgardian realm. You remembered she had said she didn't travel much, and never had. Jarvis threw a fit when you tried to push the button to head to the common room. "Overrideen, Jarvis," you told the AI quickly before he got too upset. You had equal security clearance as Stark and could do basically whatever you wanted with the system. You pulled a Jarvis screen out of your pocket and expanded it to full size in front of you to type on it quickly while Frigga watched on, interested. "I'm sorry, I couldn't preauthorize your security access until I had an image for Jarvis, the computer that runs security and other things in the tower," you tried to explain as you all rode up to the common room. She nodded and seemed to understand. You went back to work quickly. "Done. Sorry about that. You'll have full access to everything in the tower, except Stark's lab," you glared at Loki for that. He'd spoken with Stark and Bruce after you'd fallen asleep in the lab and they'd revoked your access until you had recovered. Loki just smiled innocently in return.
The team had been enjoying the last of the peaceful breakfast. Peaceful because the pancake thief wasn't there. When the elevator doors opened, they came over to meet Frigga. Of course Cap was the first one over. "It is an honor to meet you ma'am, your majesty," he corrected quickly, blushing.
Frigga laughs a beautiful melodic sound and waves Cap's correction away. "My title and rank on Asgard have no meaning here. I am simply a mother meeting the friends of her children and expect to be treated as such,"
Cap gave her a bright smile. "Of course, ma'am," he replied. She raised an eyebrow at his 'ma'am'. He smiled "My mother raised me to be polite. I'm Captain Steve Rogers," he told her and from there the introductions began.
"It's wonderful to see you two have such amazing friends," Frigga told her sons warmly. It was a comment that she approved of the team, which pleased them more than any of them could say. But it was also a comment about how happy she was that Loki had friends. Sif and the Warriors Three were always more Thor's friends than his.
"They're more Thor's friends than mine," Loki told her with a shrug, emphasizing that exact point.
"Sure they are, Lokes," you replied with a massive eyeroll and as much sarcasm in your voice as you could muster. "Which is exactly why Clint makes pancakes every Sunday..." that was the easiest example of something the team did just to make Loki happy. Loki glared half-heartedly at you for ruining his point, but didn't respond in front of Frigga.
Frigga just laughed, the opinion that you were a perfect match for him cementing itself more firmly in her mind at your interaction. "And what are pancakes, darling?" she asked Loki curiously.
Loki both lit up in delight that he could introduce Frigga to pancakes and was upset that she didn't already know the wonder of pancakes. "Barton, would it be possible to make pancakes for my mother?" he asked politely. Clint was the keeper of the pancakes, since his were the best.
"She can have mine," you told him quickly. You knew there were never extras on pancake morning. Everyone in the room glared at you and you huffed and rolled your eyes.
"I'll make another batch," Clint told Loki and headed to the kitchen to do just that.
Loki seemed to think about something and leaned down to whisper in your ear "Have you had any blood yet today, sweetheart?" his voice was barely loud enough for you to hear, even with his lips against your ear.
You still blushed at the question. "Of course not. It doesn't go with pancakes," you told him as if that was obvious. It was to you. Blood and pancakes seemed like a terrible combination. He made a soft noise of acknowledgment, accepting your answer for now.
For now.
He'd bother you about it again in a couple hours if he hadn't seen you eat something before then.
Stubborn god.
The team sat around the dining room table and told Frigga about themselves. She returned the favor by telling them old stories of Thor and Loki from when they were children. The team laughed at their childhood antics while Thor and Loki both protested. Bucky and Nat reluctantly moved your chair back to its usual place next to Loki, assuming that you would behave in front of your boyfriend's mom. That really was a terrible assumption on their part, but you did finish eating your breakfast under everyone's watchful eyes.
It wasn't long before the next batch of pancakes was done and Clint placed a plate of them in front of Frigga, leaving the rest of the fresh pancakes in a free-for-all pile in the middle of the table. Loki immediately went to grab more pancakes from the stack of extras and everyone smirked knowingly at his antics. Frigga said a polite thank you to Clint and daintily tried the pancakes. Her eyes lit up in delight, very, very reminiscent of a certain trickster.
Loki looked over to Frigga from where he was enjoying, but not devouring, his own pancakes. "How do you like them?" he asked her warmly.
"They are quite delicious," she praised with enough joyful honesty that Clint actually blushed under it. Loki caught his blush and smirked at him, which just make Clint glare. While they were distracted, Thor stole the rest of the fresh pancakes, leaving Loki with no more options when his stack inevitably ran out again. Loki turned his glare on Thor, which was completely ineffective as Thor was immune by now. You laughed and gave Loki the last couple of yours and kissed his cheek. He gave you a warm, grateful smile and went back to enjoying his pancakes. Clint always gave you extra anyway, since you always gave some to Loki.
"I can stay with Striga if you two want to show your mother the sights," Bucky offered as the meal was winding down. He assumed correctly that the boys wanted to do something with Frigga besides hang around the tower and they wanted to show her their second home.
Loki looked over at you. "Do you wish to remain here or come with us to show Mother around Midgard, darling?" he asked.
You flushed, embarrassed. "Um... Lokes... It's a little bright out for me to go with you," you reminded him softly. "Yes, your charm is working just fine, but..." you trailed off not wanting to go into detail about why going out in the sun when you weren't fully recovered was a bad idea. "But if you want to go out to dinner or something this evening, I'll gladly come," you added quickly. It wasn't that you didn't want to spend time with Frigga. It was that you weren't up to dealing with the sun until you recovered more. Really, you should've gone to bed by now.
Loki gave you a warm, reassuring smile. "Alright, darling. Why don't you go get some rest? I will make sure to wake you when it is time to go to dinner," he told you gently, hoping you would actually listen to him for one.
"Finefine, have fun showing your mother around Midgard," you agreed lightly. You didn't know that the others at the table realized that the tone meant that you in no way shape or form actually intended on resting. Bucky caught Loki's eye and gave him a slight nod. Loki nodded back nearly imperceptibly.
Loki stood and gave you a chaste kiss since Frigga was there. "I'll see you later, darling," he told you warmly.
Frigga and Thor stood as well. "Thank you for the lovely meal," she told the team warmly, especially Clint since he'd made her breakfast. She promised to see you for dinner and you noted that she was scrutinizing you with a healer's eye, as if to see just how bad off you still were.
Loki offered her his arm and the trio headed to the elevator. "My lady has been exhausting herself instead of trying to take care of herself. She is getting better slowly each day," he told Frigga when they were out of earshot. He was worried about you and you were really bad at resting and taking care of yourself.
"I doubt she's doing it on purpose, darling. She's been through so much that I doubt she appreciates how little she can do," Frigga reassures him. "She'll heal in time, don't worry,"
The second they were all out of the room, Bucky came over to you. You smiled up at him, wondering what today's activity was to entertain you with. He said he was babysitting you today while Loki was out with Frigga and Thor. Instead of saying anything, he just lifted you from your chair and threw you over his shoulder, holding you there with his metal hand despite your protests, no matter how loudly you complained about the treatment. You weren't well enough to fight him and win.
He stopped dead in his tracks and flushed when he reached the elevator and realized that the elevator for Thor, Loki, and Frigga hadn't arrived yet and they were still there. He thought he'd waited long enough that they would be gone. Loki raised an eyebrow at Bucky and you flung over his shoulder. "Sergeant, what are you doing?" he asked calmly, letting Bucky explain since he actually liked the soldier.
"Making sure someone goes to bed since it's past bedtime for certain vampires," his words were flippant and joking, but his tone was a little sheepish, mostly due to his methods.
"Put me down, damn overprotective metal-armed army-man," you grumbled in reply, slapping Bucky's back to absolutely no effect. You were perfectly capable of walking to bed. Loki made a snirk noise as he tried to hold back his laughter. Frigga failed and started laughing at your antics. "You could help, Loki," you grumbled, figuring he might help you from getting carried to bed thrown over Bucky's shoulder.
Loki chuckled. "Sorry, darling, the Sergeant is right on this one. You will not go rest unless you are forced to," he reminded you.
An elevator heading up arrived and Bucky gave Loki a sarcastic salute as he stepped in with you still held securely over his shoulder. You glared at Loki and gave him a rude gesture for taking Bucky's side. "You're my boyfriend You're supposed to take my side!" you called to Loki as the elevator doors started to close.
The last thing you heard as the elevator doors closed all the way was Loki's uncontrolled laughter