The mood of Christmas filled Stark Tower as Stacey listened to Rob Thomas', "A New York Christmas" on her iPhone.
"Hey, what is that contraption that you are playing with?" asked Loki as he sat down next to her in the living room.
"Oh, it's my iPhone," Stacey said, "I'm listening to a guy named Rob Thomas."
"You will have to forgive me. I know nothing of this Midgard stuff; it's still new to me."
"Well, I let you listen to a song once. Would you like to hear this one?" she asked.
"I would be delighted," said Loki.
Stacey took off her headphones and handed them to Loki. As he put them on his head, she watched him. He began to sway his head to it; it excited her to watch him. He closed his eyes.
"I am going to get my headphones back soon, right?" Stacey asked.
"Not yet," said Loki.
Clint and Natasha walked into the room carrying Christmas decorations and lights.
"Hey, Stacey, Loki, want to help us decorate for Christmas?" Natasha asked.
When they didn't answer, she walked over to the couch and saw that Stacey's head was on Loki's shoulder while he wore the headphones. She reached out and patted Stacey's arm.
Stacey sat up, "Oh, Natasha, I didn't hear you guys come in."
"Yeah, I can see that," said Natasha.
"This is not what it looks like. He has my headphones on and I wanted them back, but then I got bored of waiting," said Stacey.
"It's okay, Stacey, you're not in trouble. So, do you want to help us?" asked Natasha.
"Yeah, sure," said Stacey, getting up.
Loki opened his eyes and saw that Stacey was going to help them.
"You can help too, if you want, Loki. I think Stacey would like that," said Natasha with a smile.
"We're just friends," said Stacey.
"It didn't look that way a minute ago," Natasha said.
"I don't wanna talk about this right now," said Stacey.
"Okay, what can I do?" asked Loki.
"Here: You can hang this on the tree over there," said Natasha, handing Loki a snowman.
Natasha took out the lights.
"You guys on this planet have some weird traditions," Loki said, taking another end of the lights.
"I'm guessing you guys don't have this on Asgard," said Natasha.
"No, we don't. I mean, we heard stories about it, but never celebrated it," said Loki.
Stacey watched Loki the whole time, trying to imagine him as a kid. She imagined he would still have his long, raven hair. Oh, she loved his hair.
"Uh, Stacey?" said Natasha, snapping her out of her thoughts.
"Oh, sorry," said Stacey.
"Day dreaming again?" said Natasha.
"Yeah, Nat, of course she was," said Clint, gesturing toward Loki, "She can barely get her head out of the clouds long enough to do her work."
"Okay, Clint, I think that's enough," said Natasha.
"I don't even know how she gets any work done for Tony. She's always thinking about Loki!"
"Why would she be thinking about me?" asked Loki.
"It should be obvious. Thor says you're supposed to be smart, and yet...Loki, she's in love with you, but I can't understand why," said Clint, "I mean you're cruel, you can't love, and you keep to yourself too much. You're just a waste of space."
Seeing Loki hurt, Stacey walked between Loki and Clint, "You know what, Barton? Loki is a great guy, and I don't care what you say. Loki is twice the man you'll ever be, and he is not a waste of space!"
"Nat, are you hearing this?" said Clint.
"Oh, yes, I am," said Natasha, not even making a move to help her boyfriend.
"Come on, Loki, let's go out," said Stacey.
"Hey, wait, you can't leave Stark Tower with him," said Clint.
"Oh, really? Watch us!" said Stacey, as she grabbed her coat and they both walked out.
"So where exactly are we going?" asked Loki.
"Anywhere we want," said Stacey, "I'm going to show you what winter in New York is like."
"You think Barton and Romanoff will come looking for us?" asked Loki.
"So what if they do? Let them look," said Stacey as they wallked along.
"Now what?"asked Loki.
"Well, let's take a walk," said Stacey.
As she took Loki's hand in hers, Loki thought it was a little weird, but he didn't stop her.
"Hey, let's get out of this cold," said Stacey.
They walked into a coffee shop.
"This is where we first met," said Loki, "Only this time we don't have Barton getting in the way."
"Yeah, I mean, the man watches us like a hawk. I see why he got the name, 'Hawkeye'," said Stacey.
"Yes, and that is also why I took over his mind," said Loki, feeling a bit guilty now that Stacey had opened his eyes.
"You know what? I have a crazy idea. Let's run away from here," said Loki.
"What ? Are you kidding?" said Stacey, shocked at what he said.
"No, I actually mean it. We can go somewhere the Avengers can't find out," said Loki.
"Oh, you are serious about this, but one problem: You don't have your magic," said Stacey.
"Oh, you're right. I forgot," said Loki.
"Just out of curiosity, what were your powers anyway? Can you fly like Thor?" asked Stacey.
"No, but what I could do was morph or multiply. As a matter of fact, in Asgard, when Thor went to play with his friends, I would make clones of myself to keep me company. I could also create illusions," said Loki.
"So, is there anything you can do to get your magic back? I mean, it's not permanent, is it?" asked Stacey.
"To be honest, I don't know. Odin didn't tell me that part, which doesn't surprise me," said Loki.
This was the first time Loki had mentioned his and Thor's father to her. She had heard talk of him between Thor and the Avengers, but not to her. She didn't like how Odin sounded.
"Um, hey, you want a coffee?" asked Stacey.
"Sure, why not?" said Loki.
"What do you want?" she asked.
"I'm not familiar with this stuff. You will have to surprise me," said Loki.
"I know just the thing," Stacey replied, and went to the counter.
A few minutes later, she came back with two cups.
"It's a mocha. Drink it; you will like it. I promise," she said.
Loki took a sip.
"Well, what's the verdict?" said Stacey.
"It's great," said Loki.
Stacey smiled.
"Okay, come on, let's go back to the tower. Clint should be calm by now," Stacey laughed.