A/N: Yeah, I know this was suppose to be posted last Sunday, but I really wasn't sure if I wanted this chapter to be dark or cute (and erred on the side of cute) so it took me a while. Also I will make this story a Sunday/Monday post. Sorry. And wow! seven subscribers an two reviews for the first chapter. Thank you so much!

Wolftatoo: I do want to explore the bond between Thor and Loki. I don't think Odin is a terrible person, I think that his blinders were on in terms of Thor being the heir that he kind of ignored Loki. Maybe I should make that a chapter here and have him explain himself, no?"

timrachel: Yes he does needed to be reminded of that..and much much (much) more. LOL


Loki woke at the crack of dawn dressed and slipped out of the room while Thor was still snoring in a heavy sleep. Loki rolled his eyes at the Thunderer's laziness as the door slid shut behind him.

"Jarvis?" He called out uncertainly, wary of Tony Stark's technology, "May I- go into the kitchen?"

Of course, Mr. Loki. Sir has extended the use of the kitchen to you as well as Mr. Odinson.

At the mention of Thor's name, Loki grumbled under his breath and stomped to the elevators, and remembering which level the kitchen was on, pressed the button to go downstairs.

When he reached the kitchen, Loki smelled a sweet fragrance of food wafting from its depths, and the Black Widow leaning over the stove.

"Good morning Loki. I knew you were coming downstairs, JARVIS alerted me." Natasha greeted him, but didn't turn around.

"Good Morrow, Lady Natasha. What fare are you making?" Loki inquired curiously.

Natasha finally turned around with the spatula in her hand, "French Toast. I don't get to cook very often, but it's one of my favorite things to make when I get time. Would you like to try some?"

Loki hesitated for a moment; Romanov was a trained assassin, so poison would be part of her trade. But remembering what Thor had said the night before, Loki consented to the offer of food.

A moment later, he was presented with a plate with a fried but fluffy piece of bread covered in a brown gooey substance. Pancake syrup, Natasha had said. Loki bit into the food and was pleasantly surprised by the taste.

"How is it?" Natasha turned around again with her own plate.

"It is-favorable fare, I suppose." Loki muttered, not willing to let her know that the food was in fact delicious.

"Steve went for his morning jog a little while ago, he should be back any time now." Natasha stated, trying to make conversation. The meal had continued in silence for a while.

When Loki finished, he stood and said, "Thank you for the meal. I believe I shall go and read for a while." He had turned and started to saunter off, when Natasha stopped him.

"Wait a minute. You've forgotten one thing." Natasha insisted, pointing to his dirty plate.

Loki raised one elegant eyebrow and looked abashed, "You expect me to do the dishes? I am a prince, and a guest in this house!"

"You're temporarily part of this team and will follow the house rules. Put the plate and silverware in the dishwasher." She commanded coolly, pointing to a silver box that was tucked under a cabinet.

Loki snatched up the dish and with a growl, opened it to find dishes already placed within the strange contraption. He put his in and shut the door then looked up curiously at Natasha. "This...machine, it cleans dishes?"

"Automatically." She replied simply.

"Am I dismissed now, Lady Natasha?" Loki quipped, once again turning on heel and heading back towards the elevator before she had even answered him.

He did not hear her murmur something in Russian.


Hours later, Loki had been sitting in the "library" of his floor learning about the modern technology of Midgard. Thor had passed on his greetings for the day, and went down for some food. JARVIS interrupted his solitude, making the god jump again.

Sir is requesting your presence on the main floor, Mr. Loki.

Loki sighed with annoyance, snapping his book shut, "I'll be right there." He called back as he rose from the armchair.

When he arrived in the living room, he heard Natasha insist, "I really don't think this is a good idea, Tony. I mean, can you handle him?

"I can!" Quipped Tony, "I can call for my suit if he tries to make a run for it."

"I think I should come with you, Stark." Came the voice of Thor, "he is my brother and I am able to control him."

"Fighting over me already?" Loki commented snarkily as he came into the living area. The argument seemed to cool.

"I am going to be doing something important today, and I would you like to come with me." Tony stated flatly.

"And if I refuse?" Loki inquired smoothly.

"I could get the Hulk to drag you along." Tony retorted with ease, crossing his arms over his chest casually.

Loki tensed and looked over to Bruce Banner, who looked surprised by this declaration, but who nodded in agreement. He seemed to sign with resignation and finally said, "very well, Stark."

"Good, be ready in about 15 minutes and we'll get going." Tony instructed.

Loki nodded and heard Clint mutter as he turned to go, "I hope you know what you're doing, Tony."


"So where are we going, Stark?" asked in the car of Tony's apple red Porsche.

The answer was interrupted by a phone call, that came on a holographic screen. A dark skinned woman with designer glasses who reminded Loki of Heimdall appeared on the screen.

"Tony, you're running late. The troops are getting a little restless over here." She said in a scolding tone that was tinged with a little humor.

"Sorry Gab, we hit a bit of traffic. Be there shortly." Tony responded as he kept his eyes on the traffic signal.

"You stopped off for doughnuts again, didn't you?" She asked with a chuckle.

"I'll be there in ten minutes." Tony replied with one of his trademark smiles. The hologram disappeared and Loki was still in the dark about where they were going.

"The troops? If it the army, I believe Captain Rogers would have been a better choice, Stark."

Loki heard Tony chuckle, "That's not what she meant."

"Then what did she mean?" Loki hissed impatiently. This game was getting tiresome.

"When I get bored, I like to take the kids in group homes out to a store to buy whatever they want."

"Group home?" Loki inquired.

"They're kids are in custody of the state, waiting for foster families."

"And you let them buy..food at this store?"

"Um no...mostly clothes, toys, games, whatever." Tony replied with a shrug.

Loki sat back in his seat and sighed, "I do not know why you dragged me to meet a bunch of orphan brats."

"Because it'll teach you something." Tony responded very much like a father speaking to his son.


When they arrived in the parking lot, Loki found that there were only a handful of cars, and a larger blue colored version of a vehicle they were driving.

Seeing Loki's attention draw to it, Tony said, "It's a bus. Like a car but bigger, holds more passengers. It's what the kids come here in." He parked the car, and both exited from it to stand in front of a tan nondescript building with what looked like a huge target hoisted on the exterior with the words "Super Target" next to it. Loki scoffed at the obviousness and went through the doors with Tony.

He'd never been to a "store" before, but was fascinates with the aisles of clothing, food, and housewares that he had never seen before on Asgard.

"Hello Mister. Stark!" The group shouted in unison. Loki looked at them and found the children to be fifteen of both genders. Some were fair skinned like the billionaire, and others were dark skinned like the woman Stark had spoken to on the phone. Behind them were surely the employees as they were wearing the same colors that the building offered.

"Hey kids!" Tony returned cheerfully, "This is Mr...Laufeyson, my business partner. We're going to be helping me today. You all can grab a cart and fill it up with anything you want. But you only have an hour, so be mindful of that. These nice folks (he gestured to the helpers), Mr. Laufeyson and I will be walking around the store if you need help, okay?" There was a yell of acknowledgement, and then Stark clapped his hands, "Alright, let's get to it then!"

The bigger children got their shopping carts for themselves, while the younger ones were helped by the store's employees. When they all had departed, Loki turned to Tony. "And just what am I suppose to be doing to help?"

Tony shrugged, "Act natural. Take a cart and pick something out. It's on me."

"I need no charity from you, Stark!" Loki sneered.

"Then help out the kids." Tony ordered. "And try not to insult them, they're young."

Loki hissed under his breath and stalked towards the men's clothing section of the store He then made a sharp turn to the right and found himself in the sports section, much to his chagrin. There, standing about the odd shaped tools of sports was a slightly thick set, sandy haired boy with the name "Jason" on his name tag.

"Hey Mr. Laufeyson, can I ask your help?"

Loki groaned internally, but then sauntered over to the teen. "What do you wish of me?" He asked impatiently.

"Man, you got some messed up language there. I was gonna ask you if I should take up a sport." Jason asked.

"You are old enough to decide for yourself, are you not?" Loki replied in a condescending tone that was obviously not caught by the child.

"Yeah," the boy suddenly look embarrassed, "The other kids say I'm too fat to."

"You shouldn't care about what others think of you. If you want to take up sport then do so. And in time, perhaps the exercise involved will improve your physique to your advantage."

The boy's face lit up with that encouragement, and he punched Loki in the arm lightly, "Hey, thanks man!"


The hour seemed to pass slowly for Loki, who helped a little girl pick out an outfit (what did he know of Midgardian fashion for small girls?!), pick out a book for another (much to his own admitted pride), and near the end, found himself in the toy section where a young man was trying to reach the higher shelf. He stopped suddenly at this, and determined that the child was close to tears and he jumped and missed a few times.

"Would you care for some help, boy?" Loki said, and made the child start and whirl around. The little one was dark haired and had brown eyes. "Alex" was the name of the kid.

"Yes please," Alex muttered, still sniffling, pointing to the Iron Man action figure.

Of course Loki thought as he stepped on a smaller shelf and easily reached for it. Turning, he handed the figurine to the boy, who now hugged it to his chest. "Thank you, mister!"

"Why do you like Iron Man...Alex?"

"Because he's rich, and he's got cool suits and he helps people!" the boy chirped.

Loki seemed to consider this a moment. Stark did indeed have impressive technology that he created from scratch. And rather than spend money on himself, he spent it on the less fortunate. He could see why one so young could look up to Stark (though not other less desirable traits like the drinking).

Nodding, Loki looked over to the partially filled cart. "Would you like me to help you find some more toys?"

The boy glanced up at him, "Yes please."

The rest of the time was dedicated to playing fake pirates with fake swords, a make believe war scene with toy soldiers, and bouncing a ball down an aisle.

"You look like you're having fun!" Called a voice behind him, and Loki stopped dead in his tracks, the rubber ball bouncing away before rolling to a stop. Loki whirled around to find Tony Stark leaning against a column, grinning like a Chesire cat.

"Alex and I were checking the quality of these toys." Loki said, trying to cover a lie.

"Sure," Tony retorted playfully. "Well, 'fraid playtime is over., it's time to check out."


When they left the store and were on the way back to Stark Tower, Loki finally mustered the courage to ask, "Stark, why do you give away your money so freely? Surely those children are not poor. Why do you insist on charity?"

Tony's face turned stony, "Well to be honest, I wasn't always charitable. Sure, I had a charity in honor of my mother, but that was about it. I spent a lot of my money on parties and airplanes and whatever from weapons sale. Then one day I was captured in Afghanistan and I found out my weapons were being used by the bad guys to harm helpless people. That's why I gave up making weapons and focused on helping the environment with new clean energy. A man named Yinsin helped me escape my captors and the cost of his own life." There was a long silence, then "He told me I had a second chance and not to waste it. Those kids may not be poor, but the state can only afford so much, I just...ease the burden a bit and let them have some things they might not get otherwise."

"I see..." Loki said. He did not care that Stark was trying to teach him charity, but his heart warmed slightly at the fact that he was able to assist those who were not afraid of him. For once, he was happy not to be a god or the second prince of Asgard.

TBC...