Author's Note: Okay, so this is totally borrowed from one of my good friend's Magi Silverwolf's mini-verse, Blueberries. I utterly adore that mini-verse and have been wanting to put my own touch on it for some time now. I also know my other good friend Gwen loves them just the same as me, so I figured why not write a gift fic for them? You don't need to read these stories to understand this one, but I will still encourage you to go check out Blueberry Bargain & Blueberry Bribery by Magi Silverwolf anyway.
Enjoy!
Dedication: wintergreen825
Prompts: Loki/Tony Stark [Action/Plot Point] Cuddle Pile
Competition/Challenge Block:
Written for/Stacked with: Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry (Term 12); Monthly Challenges for All (Year 3)
House/Team: Ravenclaw (Hogwarts)
Role/Position: Prefect (Hogwarts)
Term (Assignment): Term 12 - Assignment 6
Subject (Task): Floreistry (Task #8 - Cream Rose: (Charm/Thoughtfulness) Write about someone who always puts others before themselves.)
Other Hogwarts Challenges: IPC: [822] (Restriction: Only male characters); 365: [85] (Embrace)
Other MC4A Challenges: Shipping War (Frost Iron); Spring Bingo 4B (Warmth); Trope Bingo 3C (Freud Was Right); Scavenger Hunt (Spring Object/Item - Kettle); Link Maker (Same Bingo Card)
Representation: Autistic Harry Potter; Desi/Black Harry Potter; Autistic Tony Stark; Baking; Cuddling
Bonus Challenges: Pocky Pockets
Tertiary Bonus Challenges: Terrarium (T3)
Word Count: 1,471 words (per Google Docs)
Beta(s): secretfanfictlover
Warning Tag: Implied/Referenced Past Child Abuse
Blueberries Baked
Harry had been a busy bee in the kitchen on a Saturday morning, eager to prepare something small but special for his parents. He was crouched in front of the oven door, watching the contents inside rising to just the right height before he quickly pulled the muffin tin from the oven with a mitt offered by U. Dummy closed the oven door to avoid any injury as Harry moved the hot tin over to a cooling rack on the counter. The homemade blueberry muffins filled the kitchen with their lovely aroma and both bots complimented their human siblings' creativity with little happy beeps.
"You think they'll like them?" Harry half-whispered, looking between both bots, seeking approval.
Dummy gave a snap while U offered a thumbs up. Harry smiled, looking back at his creation cooling in front of him. He made sure to carefully tap them out of the tin and place them upright on the rack to continue to cool some while he and the bots cleaned up the mess left behind. It was relatively early yet, so he made sure to keep quiet to not disturb his parents. It was an easy feat, being an unfortunate product from living with the Dursleys before he was rescued; being quiet was something Harry had mastered a long time ago.
He had found Tony about three years ago now, which quickly followed with Tony pulling him from the Dursleys clutches after a miracle letter found its way into Harry's hands that was intended for his parents. It wasn't an easy task for Tony to secure Harry under his care and guardianship. Taking him away from the only family he ever knew was what the court leaned heavily on, but it all eventually became nothing more than a really bad dream. A dark stain in his young life, now that it was replaced with a real family.
Loki came into the picture not too long after, taking great interest in Harry much to Tony's disdain—at first, anyway. The god did attempt to conquer the world, after all, but not solely by choice. Harry had accidentally interrupted this plan on Stark Tower after he caught Loki threatening Tony. He couldn't remember what exactly happened after their encounter, but Loki took great interest in him because of it. He wouldn't trade Loki's guidance and teachings on how to control his magic and mysterious ability for anything now. Harry and Tony growing quite fond of the god were inevitable after that, making the difficult challenge to keep him worth it.
After cleaning up, Harry put the kettle on and grabbed a few favoured mugs—with the help of Dummy and U—as well as some English Breakfast tea from the cupboards before testing the muffins temperature with a clean hand.
"Are they awake yet, JARVIS?" Harry asked, placing a few of the still-warm muffins on a plate that was now being expertly balanced on a tray Dummy now carried.
"They've only stirred some, Young Sir. I can pull the shutters if you'd like to help rouse them?" JARVIS replied.
"Maybe." He bit his lip in concentration, not wanting his bot-sibling to misbalance the cups.
U helpfully pulled the whistling hot kettle for him and made a reassuring sound that he'd manage it. "Could you do the window tint thing with it? I don't want them to be too disturbed."
"Of course. I'll do it now," the AI assured.
Harry and the bots proceeded down the hall to his parent's room after getting confirmation from JARVIS that they were now slowly waking. He quietly opened the door enough for the bots to get in before he proceeded to expertly climb onto the oversized bed and wiggle in-between Tony and Loki. Tony instinctively shifted over some to make room before rolling onto his side to face Harry. Loki was slightly less receptive, still growing used to the minor disturbance from the child, but after a moment he stuffed the pillow under him to help prop himself up some while still laying on his stomach.
"Morning, squirt."
"Hello, Little One," Loki mumbled, peering over Harry's dark curls to catch a glimpse of Tony's bots making their way in. The aroma of the freshly made muffins filled the room. "To what do we owe the pleasure of this spectacle?"
Harry looked over at Dummy then, who had approached Tony's side of the bed with the bed tray. U was nearby, holding the steaming kettle and bleeped once, raising the kettle upward slightly as if asking if it was time to pour. Harry shifted down the bed some to make room, shaking his head at U to wait. By now Tony had sat up, using his own pillow to support himself as the bot sat the tray over his waistline.
"It's breakfast for you two," Harry explained, smiling from ear to ear. "Muffins and tea. We made them ourselves."
"It smells delicious," Tony said, nervously watching U as he approached to pour the hot water into the mugs on queue. "But you didn't have to do this, squirt."
Harry's smile faltered some, wondering if it was because he was baking without supervision. Another skill he unfortunately obtained early in life, he didn't think anything of it. Making these muffins was the first time he's cooked since he was adopted by Tony, and he didn't think of the potential drawbacks of not asking first. The residual fear of being punished still lingered at times even though there was nothing to fear anymore.
"JARVIS was monitoring me. As well as Dummy and U. I made sure I was careful," Harry stammered out.
"Young Sir is correct," JARVIS chimed in, "his skills in the kitchen are impeccable, however. Very little interference was required."
"Good looking out, JARVIS," Tony said, giving Harry a reassuring smile.
Harry moved to the bottom-center of the bed, crossing his legs under him so Loki could move closer to the tray. He picked up one of the muffins, seeming to inspect it briefly before a lazy smirk played his lips, sliding his gaze over to Tony.
"Blueberries," Loki observed and Tony lightly chuckled.
"I thought you'd like them," Harry explained, the inside joke going over his head, "There was a large, unopened container of them in the fridge. Usually I use frozen but fresh makes it less mushy and…"
"It's great," Tony said, leaning forward slightly to ruffle the curls that finally started to grow out properly after some well-needed hair care.
"Shall we, love?" Loki asked, raising his own muffin in the air some as if toasting.
Harry waited in anticipation, hoping that they would enjoy their fresh homemade breakfasts. After a few quiet moments, Harry shifted slightly again, disturbing the bed some.
"What do you think?" he prompted, looking between Loki and Tony, eager for a response.
"They're delicious," Tony said, popping the last piece of his in his mouth before attempting to nick some from Loki's.
He promptly pulled his away, wagging a finger at Tony. "Ah, ah, Merchant. You had your share."
Tony raised a slight brow at the dismissive taunt. Harry wasn't sure what this exchange meant, but Tony gave him his attention again when Harry moved up the bed some to pull the teabags from the mugs and set them on the crumb laden plate.
"I have more in the kitchen. U?" Harry looked over at the bot who beeped in response. "Could you get the rest of the muffins, please?"
U seemed all too happy to and scurried off to the kitchen for the required items. Loki grabbed one of the mugs of tea and swirled it in his hand, taking in its aroma.
"Such a lovely gesture, Little One," Loki said, taking an appreciative sip of the beverage.
Harry scratched the back of his neck, a nervous tick he hadn't been able to break. "I wanted to do something special for you two. To thank you both."
"There is no need to thank us, Harry," Tony assured, getting that look in his eyes that Harry knew was his own hidden guilt about the past situation.
"I wanted to," Harry said, "You've done so much for me, and helped me with my er… abilities. Had you not kept Loki here with us I… I don't know what would've happened if I lost control like that again..."
Tony had moved the tray back to Dummy at some point because Harry was quickly pulled into an embrace. Harry could hear the steady warm thrum of Tony's heart mixing with the cool metal of the core in his chest pressing against him. Loki moved in and gently draped an arm around him as well, embracing them both.
"You are enough, Little One," Loki whispered.
"You both are enough," Tony added.
Harry never felt more loved at that moment.