Loki was growing awfully impatient. He had things, important things humans could never understand, to attend to. He had spent quite a while by human standpoints (even by god standpoints) figuring out how this entire thing would go down, how his army would conquer Midgard, how long it would take for the beast to break free. He felt, dare I say it...slightly apprehensive.

It had almost worked. Once. At first it had infuriated him that the little mortal, Eden or something along those lines, had stopped it. But, after a quick reflection of his situation, it turned out better than worse. This could be very useful information in the long run. The fact something so tiny could control something so much bigger than itself fascinated him. The potential this held was limitless. The, "Avengers," were nothing but humans frolicking about in tights and masks. These two, however, had abilities even some Asgardians would envy.

Loki continued his pacing in the cage, occasionally his eye twitching in agitation. When he was beginning to doubt himself, the god heard the unmistakable roar of the Hulk. Sighing in contentment, his face broke into a wide grin and a small, amused chuckle escaped his lips.

If anyone had been paying attention, it wouldn't have been an exaggeration to say it was positively shocking the twins slept through the entire ordeal. Particularly Tony. He knew they were crashing, but this was ridiculous. Of course, no one paid the kids a whole lot of mind at the very moment. Except Tony, who briefly wondered if they were okay, or were freaking out, hiding under their bed? The possibilities were endless...They weren't dumb, though. Stark was sure they knew when to stay out of the way. Mostly all kids knew, except for him. What he would've given to have been an obedient little kid. Maybe he would have gotten along better with others.

Loki strode through the Floating Fortress, in calm as possible way, in search for the telepathic twins. In minutes he found them comically sprawled out across the ground in front of a half-open door. They must have been trying to get inside, but they conked out before they could even make it into the room. Loki laughed, not a scary madman laugh, but in genuine amusement. Midgardian children were funny. He wondered if they had feelings.

Loki bent down, carefully scooping the twins up. Holding them in his arms-it just didn't feel right to him, though he would have been lying to himself if he said that it didn't feel strangely good. They weren't terrified of him, shaking in fear, or glaring hatefully at him, all expressions he was so accustomed to. He couldn't remember the last time someone had willingly let him hold them in his arms, if ever.

Liam's head rested against his shoulder, Eden snuggled into the crook of his neck. He stiffened at the action, not used to someone so intimately close to him. This brought the Trickster out of his monetary daze. He had things to do.

When Eden awoke, it felt as if she had slept for days, heavy and dreamless. Just like every time, whether it is an afternoon nap or in the morning, Eden stretched her arms, left and right, to feel for Liam and make sure he was there, safe and sound. Of course he was. She ran her fingers through his tangled hair, wishing she could cut it off and somehow implant it on her head. He'd like hers better, anyway. Half of his getting ready for the day was taming the hair. Hers was like straw, easy to care for. Add some spray and it was a fact Liam could pull it off, make it into something fantastically gorgeous.

It took a surprisingly long time for Eden to notice this most certainly was not her bed. It was not even her scratchy SHIELD bed. This was something entirely new, soft and silky and squishy and smelled like a brand new set of crayons and muffins, mixed into one dizzying aroma that nearly knocked her out once more. She hugged the silky blanket to her chest, sighing. When she observed the blanket, fluffy pillows and even the sheets were a dark emerald green, the girl immediately knew something was horribly, horribly wrong.

Eden bolted upright, staring straight into the eyes of Loki of Asgard. He was sitting, looking rather bored, at the end of the long green fluffy bed. Instead of what she had last seen him wearing, he was dressed pretty normally, in a dark green suit with a tie. His hair looked exactly the same, as his pale face. So pale, in fact, Eden wondered if he smeared baking powder on it like a clown would. He had lazily turned his head towards her at her stirring. He smiled; all teeth. "Good evening."

"Wha-where?" she gasped, desperately trying to comprehend what was happening, panic clawing at her stomach, fear pooling into her fingertips. Where was Mr. Tony, or Captain America, or even Bubble Butt?

"I'm terribly sorry if I have inconvenienced you at all," Loki said, mock pouting.

Eden tried to speak, tried to have the words as Liam or Mr. Tony often did, but all she could do was let out an undignified noise of fright and haul the blankets over her head as if it offered any protection.

This incident woke the older twin. Just as frightened as his sister, but able to somewhat hide it well, a sleepy-eyed and confused Liam sat up and said, "Hi, Loki of Asgard."

"Hello, tiny mortal," replied Loki, sensing his uneasiness but admiring his bravery.

Liam patted the shaking body of Eden, who was still too frightened to move. This hardly consoled her. What had happened? Why was Loki the scary alien man here? The thought of what could happen from now on made her so scared she almost fainted, but that would be impossible, with all of her teeth chattering. "What's a m-mortal mean?"

"That's what you are," said Loki, taking note of Liam's very first stutter thus far.

"I'm a human bean," he said.

"Human being, actually," Loki corrected, proving himself wrong. Perhaps mortals, even children, could be more intelligent than they appeared.

"Thank you. You're smart. You must have gone to college."

This was a term the god was unfamiliar with. "Is college some Midgardian system of learning?" he questioned with only a hint of real inquisition.

Liam by this point had paled a few shades, hands began to tremble. He averted Loki's gaze, trying to inconspicuously plan a route of escape, to get away. The room was bigger than anywhere Liam had ever been, spacious and green, green everywhere. It was a really rather cozy place, and judging by view from the huge bay window, very tall up, as he could see the tops of some of the tallest buildings in New York.

The corner of a green pillow was clenched in his fist. "Maybe," he finally said. "My Momma went to college where she had me and Eden. I don't know my daddy. I was born first. Eden came a minute and twelve seconds later. She was backwards. I can't read time. Have you seen any Alfred Hitchcock movies? Do you like Coca-Cola?"

Loki ran his tongue along his upper row of teeth as he contemplated all that had been said. Who knew they would be this talkative? Well, one of them, at least. Faintly, he said, "I have not attended college."

"Me neither. It's not legal yet. That's illegal."

It was quiet for a little while. Liam tried to hold Loki's gaze, but he ended up being the first to look away, to stare at the shaky blob known as Eden. Loki stared out the window, creepily silent.

Since neither had anything to say to one another, Liam crawled under the blankets, joining his sister, and wrapped Eden up in his arms. This is weird, he said. For the oddest reason he felt like laughing.

He's gonna eat us!

"I have no intentions to eat anyone," Loki informed the telepaths.

Everyone sincerely fell silent now, although the twins were no less relieved at this solemn promise. Loki, the god of mischief, felt a strange sense of guilt. He really never wanted them to dislike him, or be afraid of him. Especially the girl, who was having a panic attack as we speak. Maybe they would like some of those flat, sugary things...pancakes? He had no clue as to how to prepare them, but being a god, he would quickly discover all he needed concerning Midgardian feeding habits.

The spongy quietness and her darling brother slowly coaxed Eden out from under the covers. She rubbed her eyes, adjusting to the sunlight. (Though the sun was setting.) She seemed so calm; Liam wondered if she even remembered where they were. That's why it startled him when she leaped from the bed and dashed for the nearest door, her legs carrying her as fast as she could take her.

Loki easily could have stopped her if he wanted to. Truthfully, he was too entertained by her to stop her. The slam of the door could be heard, and Liam cringed. It was going to take a whole lot to get his sister to come out. To say she was incredibly, disgustingly stubborn would be an understatement.

Of course, Loki was unaware of this, and Liam wasn't about to open his mouth any time soon.

The God of mischief smiled grimly as he strolled to where Eden was hiding. His hand closed around the cool metal of the doorknob as he pushed on the door with a mixture of annoyance and anticipation.

Only to find that it wouldn't budge. At all.

Damn.

His entire good mood came to an abrupt halt. She had locked him out of his own room. (Well, Tony Stark's, actually, but at the moment, his.) She actually had the nerve to lock him out. How dare she? He shook his head back and forth in disbelief, smirking tiredly, but not yet acceptant of defeat. "Eeeeeden…" he cooed in a sickly sweet voice, "open the doooooor…"

The hippie trembled on the other side as if the earth shook beneath her feet.

Loki could have had the child out of there without having to lift a finger if he so wished, but he knew that would only make things worse. He needed them to trust him, and breaking a door into smithereens would most definitely not earn him any trust. "Eden," he tried again, softly. "Darling..."

Silence. As if she was not even there. Liam swallowed thickly from across the spacious room.

Loki was truly becoming angered. Perhaps this was not one of his better ideas. Maybe the god had made a mistake. Because, for the foreseeable future, the flower child would not be moving from her hiding spot.

May be the last for a while, just before it starts getting fun! xD i have exams D: wish me luck (: should I continue this anyway? I'm not sure if too many people like it...? Let me know...^^

Love Katerina