The Avengers returned from their battle within the hour. It turned out that the battle was not such a big deal after all, much to Loki's dismay. By the end of it, Loki was supported on Thor's shoulder who laughed loudly in his ear, causing his already aching head more pain. The captain was as serious as always, chiding Iron Man over his recklessness as machines started taking his suit off of him. The beast disguised as a man had run off into Iron Man's building not too long ago, possibly trying to find something to hide his shame.
Thor had dropped his adopted brother roughly onto a couch and followed the now vulnerable Stark to his bar where they started drinking to celebrate their victory. Captain Rogers had frowned at their antics, considering that it was only one in the afternoon, and left immediately. Loki felt like he could understand Steve's feelings. Even he, raised as an Asgardian, never understood the idea of drinking heavily. The amount of alcohol a warrior like Thor would drink would make any other man lose his thoughts. Loki could never imagine being without his wit. They were all he had left now.
His thoughts were soon interrupted when Thor himself dropped heavily onto the couch next to Loki, making him jump. Thor had two mugs in his hands, offering one to Loki. Loki put his hand up in front of him, shaking his head and averting his gaze.
"Oh, come on, Loki! You can't even have one beer?" Tony chided from across the room.
"I'd rather not display any of my weaknesses to those I would consider my enemies," he retorted under his breath.
"Brother, we are not your enemies!" Thor boomed immediately, looking taken aback.
Loki frowned and met his brother's gaze. "You are mistaken. I only meant if we were taken by surprise like before."
Thor's mouthed opened in the shape of an "O" which he then filled with beer a moment later.
"Besides that, it is quite clear what my punishment indicates. I could not be your enemy even if I tried."
Tony snorted and chugged a whiskey on the rocks. "And how does that magic-thing-a-gig work anyway? Is it like a genie? Can I wish for supermodels? Though I don't know about you, but I don't need magic to get any tail!"
Loki sent a glare in Tony's direction and Thor stared on with a dumb smile on his face.
"Man of Iron, it is only because of magic that lets my brother live with us."
Loki sighed. "It amazes me how you have spent so much more time on Midgard than I, and yet you still do not understand the meaning of sarcasm."
Tony laughed openly. "Oh, it's good to have someone else who doesn't have a brain affected by his muscles or by being frozen for over sixty years. Speaking of brains, where's Banner?"
"He is in the lab, sir," JARVIS spoke, causing Thor to immediately stand and look alarmingly around the room and Loki to let out another sigh.
"But he's missing out on all the fun!" Tony whined in a not so-adult manner. "Put him on the intercom."
There were a few moments of silence until Bruce's voice came over the intercom.
"I'm kind of busy at the moment, Tony," Bruce muttered, making Thor jump alertly once more.
"Bruce, get your nerdy ass down here and drink with us!" Tony yelled, knowing that he could be heard just fine.
There was an audible groan that came from the speakers and a brief moment of silence, Tony knowing that Bruce was pinching the bridge of his nose as he normally does when he needs a moment.
"Did you really interrupt me to drink with you? Tony, this is incredibly delicate work that could contain hazardous results if something wrong were to happen and I…"
"Blah, blah, blah." Tony interrupted, having mimicked Bruce by making his hand look like a man yammering on and on and then smirking towards the Norse gods, the taller not understanding Tony's meaning and Loki raising one of his eyebrow. "I don't care what happens. You'll be good boy and come out here and socialize with your friends."
"Your lab could explode, I could lose control, many could die, and your building would undergo renovations once more." Bruce stated, seeming to deadpan at Tony's response.
"I can afford it. It would be fun even! We could use more fun around here. Besides, nobody's going to die with us around!" Loki raised both of his eyebrows this time. 'Was the mutant invasion less than twenty minutes ago not enough to appease him?' he thought incredulously, 'Does he still wish to battle?'
"I can't believe you," Bruce muttered inaudibly under his breath. He then spoke up for Tony to hear him, "Tony, I'll come down later. Right now I really need to…"
"My house, my rules!" Tony interrupted with almost too much glee in his voice. "Now get down here and enjoy your company like a normal person." Bruce let out a snort at that comment. "I'll tell Dummy to clean up the rest."
There was a pause after this. "I'll be down in a minute," Bruce resigned, ending the call not a second after.
Bruce, true to his word, walked out of the elevator ten minutes later. Tony and Thor lit up, immediately bombarding him with offers of alcohol and conversation. Loki looked on at the sight, peculiar at most.
It was interesting, to say the least, that his own brother would enjoy conversation with the mortals. The brother he knew before his banishment would snub the idea of being with mortals, and now he sees the team as his own brothers in arms.
Not only was his brother's interest in the mortals intriguing, but so was the company of men that he surrounded himself with. A man with power in the form of strength, a man with power in the form of notoriety, and a small man who hid a powerful creature from the world were standing before him, speaking with each other, laughing with each other, being friends with each other.
The thought that these incredibly different men could join together in this manner was absolutely ridiculous, but it left Loki with a lighter feeling in his stomach. Their acceptance of each other brought him… hope?
Hope was an interesting feeling for him. He hadn't felt it since his attempt at taking the Earth and being king of all mankind and since then, had returned to his normal feelings of despair. Yet he could not help but smile when the circle of men welcomed him into their group with open arms.
Chapter one was written by Domi. This chapter was written by me.