Then: So tired…

If somebody would have told Phil Coulson that only a few weeks after this incident, only a few days away from Christmas, he would sit in Toni Stark's kitchen, watching the man who had almost killed him prepare a midnight snack for his personal pain in the ass as she was tinkering away on her 42nd suit in a row, he would have called said person an idiot.

S.H.I.E.L.D. was gone, they were supposed to be safe again, yet, he not only understood but also supported Pepper's wish to stay close to her friend who was fiercely protective of her CEO, and actually had tried to talk Pepper out of going back to work the day after that incident, because screw you, S.H.I.E.L.D.! It had not worked, but still, he appreciated it.

They had moved into a guest suite of the Malibu mansion, and while he had only kept Loki's and Stark's relationship a secret because Pepper had asked him to, after all, he did NOT like the engineer, and of course the stabbing demigod, he slowly realized that they all had been biased by what happened during the battle of New York, even after they knew that the demigod had not been acting after his free will… and had somehow managed to fuck up the entire invasion to eventually save the city nonetheless.

Stark had been the only one to get the bigger picture, and only now he understood why she had been fighting so fiercely to save the other man. He would do anything to keep Pepper and their child safe. Toni might not have had finding her soul mate in her mind when doing the right thing, but eventually she had.

"Isn't it driving you crazy, having to remind her to eat and to sleep all the time?" the former agent asked, turning towards the redhead next to him who was wolfing down the first batch of scrambled eggs the demigod had produced.

Loki smiled.

"Well, I could think of more pleasurable things to do at this hour of the night, but since Toni obviously has set her mind on building an Iron legion to keep the people she holds dear safe, who am I to stop her?"

What he could live without, though, was Toni covering up everything of herself again. He had gotten used to the revealing tanktops and the glow of her reactor in the few days she felt comfortable enough to not hide around him, and then…

"Uhhh… something smells delicious, Lokes, you are a God!" Their conversation topic sauntered into the kitchen, by now so used to getting her midnight snacks that her stomach had been conditioned on growling at the right time.

"Indeed, I am, my Love", the demigod smiled as she wrapped herself around him, arms around his waist, head against his chest, blowing onto the food on the fork he offered her to cool it down before taking the first bite.

"But Pepper got served first", Toni pouted, snatching the fork from his hand, while Loki's breath briefly hitched at the realization that this time he had not used his usual pet name for her.

"Well, food cravings require immediate reaction", the God replied, receiving soft smiles from both Pepper and Phil. Toni mouthed a "Hmmm" around her next bite. "Can I have ketchup with this?"

Loki tried to look offended. "Ketchup? Why do you have to drown everything in ketchup? I swear, one day you will eat French Toast with ketchup."

"So my food cravings do not require reaction?" Toni pouted on.

He bowed down slightly, having forgotten their company for a second as he kissed her temple. "Will you also work this entire night?"

"I'm afraid that if I say no another catastrophe will happen." Her head still leaned against his chest. "I'm so tired, Lokes…"

And suddenly she had 3 people worrying about her, she was so tired, she wanted to curl herself into her bed, with Loki spooning her, his hand under her shirt, his arm as her pillow.

"Take a break, my Love. You gave your son what he needs to pursue your goal, J.A.R.V.I.S. can manage a day or two without you, don't you think?"

She agreed, though Loki did not sleep at all that night. Her head rested against his chest, her arm flung over his upper stomach, one leg thrown over his legs.

He was cradling her hand on his stomach in his, hugging her tight to him with his other arm.