"Dear sweet gods in Asgard, what the Helheim did you get the kid?" Phil asked, coming in to the apartment and coming face-to-face with a giant box, quite large enough to hold a large man, in the middle of the living room where the coffee table usually was. It was wrapped in cartoon dinosaur paper with red T-Rex and green Apatosaurus characters, completely anachronistic to each other, which drove Loki crazy, but he was trying desperately to overlook it because he couldn't find any other dinosaur wrapping paper. The T-Rex's had speech bubbles saying "Rawr!" and the Apatosauri had exclamation points over their heads as though they were alarmed. Frankly, if they had lived in the same time period, Loki doubted that Apatosaurus would have been very frightened of T-Rex. According to his father, Tyrannosaurs hadn't picked on sauropods much, which lived in herds and were too large and dangerous for solo Rexes to deal with. In fact, according to Odin, and not that it wasn't a deadly hunter, T-Rex had lived predominantly as a scavenger.

He would tell Judah that the two-fingered caricature on his wrapping paper was an Allosaur that had suffered an unfortunate industrial accident. The boy wouldn't have been convinced at five, he knew, but he would be amused.

Loki put a finger to his lips and pointed to Judah with his other hand. The boy was drawing (dinosaurs) nearby at the coffee table where it had been moved out of the way. "It's a surprise," he said.

"I think it's an ATV," Judah said, looking up from his notebook, "but I don't know where I'd ride it."

Loki gave Phil a look meant to communicate that it was most assuredly not an ATV, but who knows if the man picked up on it. Phil sidled into the room, his gaze still locked on the gigantic present.

"I, uh… brought Judah a little something myself," he said, depositing a small, gaily-wrapped package alongside it on the floor. "Nothing much, just something I thought he might get a kick out of. Did you get the cake?"

"It's in the freezer. It's not even a proper cake, it's frosted ice cream with a bit of cookie thrown in."

"Oh, those are the best."

Loki shook his head. "I shall never understand mortals. You love to call things by the wrong names."

"It's just our thing, Pan."

"What?"

"That was a joke. Pan was… like… your Greek counterpart."

"I don't have a 'counterpart.' Pan is a unique individual with completely different powers and abilities from me, and he's nothing like me at all."

"You mean he's real?"

"No, actually. 'Pan' is the name the Greeks gave me when we encountered them some years ago on a scouting trip to Midgard. Another instance of mortals calling things by the wrong damned names. But they did fall pretty hard for the goat-man trick I played on them, so it's not all bad."

Interested in spite of certain misgivings, Phil asked, "Did you ever meet the Ancient Egyptians?"

"They gave us new names, too."

"What did they call you?"

"Anubis."

"Ah. Any particular reason why they gave you the head of a jackal?"

"Fashion changes in Asgard the same as anywhere else, if more slowly perhaps."

"So it was because of… what, your helmet?"

"And maybe a trick I may have played, once I realized they were bearing certain misconceptions about us."

Phil thought for a moment. "I kind of expected you to say you were Set."

"Set was a redhead, if you'll recall."

"So who was Set?"

Loki laughed. "Thor's friend Volstagg, if you can believe it. Don't ask me why, but they took a great dislike to the great lout. Invented a great load of vicious lies about him. I swear, I had nothing to do with it. But I wasn't entirely displeased. It was great fun."

Phil had seen Volstagg a grand total of once, for approximately fifteen minutes. "Isn't he the heavy-set brunet with the Warriors Three?"

"Yes, but after a short time in the Egyptian Sun his hair glowed a brilliant auburn. Apparently it made them very superstitious. They were far more trusting of me – when I had my helmet off. Actually it made the Asgardians a bit superstitious as well. Redheads are little more common among our people than among the Ancient Egyptians. It was nice to see someone else catching flak for how they looked for a change."

"I can't imagine you catching flak for how you look," Phil said, eyeing the handsome god warily.

Loki's face clouded over. "Can't you? As the only black-haired person in the whole of a predominantly blond realm, I was always considered ill-favored."

"Lady Sif has black hair."

"Because I gave it to her."

"What do you mean?"

Loki waved a hand. "It's a convoluted story, and it was long ago. Suffice to say, she used to be as blonde as the rest of them. That woman can hold a grudge, let me tell you."

"What about that guy in the Warriors Three? He's got black hair."

"Hogun? He's from Vanaheim. Black-haired people 'happen' there. Now and then. Whatever. He wasn't around when we were growing up, we met him in the army. Asgardians look much more like Fandral and my dear brother Thor. Blond, blue-eyed, dashing… the thrill of any goddess's heart… and just generally as dumb as a bag of hammers."

"You never had a girlfriend, did you?" Phil said.

"Oh I did," Loki said. "Ambitious goddesses who sought to use me as a stepping stone to get closer to the Heir."

"That's messed up."

"Indeed."

"Wait a minute – Thor told me that Heimdall, the Gatekeeper of Asgard, is a black man. How do you explain that if everyone is blond-haired and blue-eyed?"

"I won't say Heimdall wasn't subject to more prejudice than I, but again, he came to Asgard as a grown god. He, too, is an immigrant from Vanaheim. And I don't know if I need to tell you this, but Vanir are nowhere near as looked down upon as Jotun."

"And… you're a Jotun."

"Though I did not know it. Frigga, our Queen, is a Vanir. But an Asgardian would sooner kick a Jotun as look at him. It's small wonder father hid my true identity. The nation would have been up in arms if they'd known I was a frost giant."

"Do they know it now?"

"No. That's a secret that has kept, amazingly, though they know now I am adopted."

Phil looked down at the toes of his well-shined shoes. "Well, we should get ready for the party…" he suggested carefully. "The guests will be arriving in about an hour."

Loki got up from the couch in one smooth motion. He was wearing a fashionable and perfectly tailored black suit rather than his armor but looked just as well-protected nevertheless. In three years, Phil had only seen him barefoot once, and that was the most skin the god had ever shown. Phil wouldn't have been any too surprised to discover that Loki showered with his clothes on, though by the always heavily pomaded state of his shoulder-length hair, he couldn't be certain the man showered. Maybe gods just didn't stink.

It had been on Phil's lips a thousand times to snap at the god to wash that grease out of his hair – surely a man so fastidious didn't think he looked better that way? – but his inherent courtesy stayed him every time.

Loki and Phil began setting up for the party, putting up decorations (dinosaur banners, streamers, plastic dinosaur toys), setting up extra chairs, getting the table set for dinner. Phil didn't know what Loki had decided to have for dinner and was a little afraid to ask. He didn't know if it would be home cooking or takeout, and had never tried the god's cooking before. He wondered exactly what a god would think to cook. Especially a god of mischief.

Natasha was the first to arrive, bearing wine for the adults and a present for Judah. "I didn't know what we were having," she said, presenting the bottle, "so I didn't know whether red or white would be more appropriate, so I brought a nice pink."

"Thank you," Phil said, smiling warmly. "That was really nice of you, Natasha."

"Does anyone drink pink wine?" Loki said from the kitchen. "Isn't that like drinking Ripple with the label ripped off?"

"It's very nice pink wine," Natasha half-shouted into the kitchen over Phil's shoulder. "Not cheap."

"It came in a lovely box!" Loki cackled.

"Ignore him. He's a dark, evil soul," Phil said. "I have had some wonderful pink wine in my day, and this obviously didn't come in a box."

"I don't know how even you manage to call him a friend, Phil," Natasha said, shaking her head.

"One point in his favor, he bought an ice cream cake," Phil said.

She brightened. "Oo, ice cream cake!"

Next to arrive was Bruce Banner. He handed over Judah's present and gave the air in the apartment an experimental sniff. "Something smells good. What's for dinner?"

"I don't know, actually," Phil said. "Loki's been in the kitchen for awhile now. I haven't seen any deliveries so, unless he's using illusion, I think he's probably cooking."

Bruce looked at him nervously. "Cooking? Loki? What's… what's that like?"

Phil shrugged. "I dunno. Judah doesn't seem to mind."

"Yeah, well, Loki doesn't have any reason to, like, poison Judah."

"He doesn't have any reason to poison us, either, Bruce."

"Does he really need one?"

"Don't worry about it, Bruce. If he tries anything funny, just Hulk out on him. You know he's way more scared of you than you are of him."

"Yeah, and that scares me."

Phil looked at him blankly. "Why?"

"What did I ever do to him?" Bruce said, shrugging.

"Maybe it's more the possibilities he's afraid of," Phil said. "Go and have a seat, I'll let you know when dinner's ready."

Steve Rogers arrived, then shortly afterward, Clint Barton, as always not quite happy to be stepping foot over the threshold of Loki's apartment, but still bearing a gift for Judah. Newcomer to the team Sam Wilson arrived after that and eventually, late as always, Thor arrived in a rumble of thunder.

"Nice of you to show up in time for supper, brother," Loki said, appearing from the kitchen as Phil was showing him in. "Everyone else has been ready and waiting for some time."

"I'm not the last to arrive," Thor said. "Stark is not here yet."

"Tony… never comes to these parties," Phil said quietly, leaning in close to Thor's ear.

"Oh. Well… better late than never," Thor said, shifting uncomfortably.

"That depends," Loki said, sneering just a little. "Well, everybody grab a seat before they're gone."

Everyone moved to the kitchen and found a seat around the table. There wasn't much room but they all fit, barely. Fortunately most of them weren't built along the lines of Steve and Thor or there wouldn't have been room at all. Loki sat down next to Judah. "Well, happy birthday, my boy," he said.

"Thanks Dad," Judah said. "Thanks, everybody."

"Where's the food?" Thor said. "I'm starving."

"Thor!" Steve said.

"It's all right," Loki said. "By Asgardian standards that was quite polite. There you go; tuck in."

"All right, Harry Potter!" Judah said, slapping five with Loki as penne with meat sauce and garlic cheese bread suddenly appeared on their apparently clean plates before them.

"Pshaw, Harry Potter can eat my dust," Loki said. "He needs House Elves to make food appear on his plates."

"Was this magic or illusion?" Banner asked, pushing the noodles around nervously with his fork as he cocked an eyebrow at the god.

"The magician never reveals his secrets," Loki said primly, and popped a forkful into his own mouth.

"Dad, can you teach me magic?" Judah asked. Loki paused with a second forkful halfway to his mouth. He slowly lowered the fork to the plate and seemed to ponder the question while Steve was still silently saying Grace.

"Magic… is a complicated discipline, Judah," he said very slowly. "It takes many, many years of dedicated study."

"It only took Harry Potter a few years."

"Harry Potter is a work of fiction, written by a mortal. Mortal sorcerers have to dedicate their entire lives to the study of magic, although they consider themselves 'masters' at an incredibly minor level. Even a god has to spend an inordinate amount of his or her life studying if he or she wishes to become a master of magic."

"What if you just want to learn a few tricks?" Judah said.

Loki sighed. "Magic is… dangerous, Judah. Fun. But dangerous. It would be irresponsible of me to teach you just a few tricks."

"Is that a cop out?"

"What?"

"Because you don't want to do magic anymore? Uncle Thor says you don't want to do magic anymore."

"It is not a cop out, Judah," said a new voice, and everyone looked to see a new visitor in their midst. Tall and oddly dressed in a blue tunic and a red cloak, he might have seemed out of place except in the present company no one was particularly out of place. "Magic is dangerous. And Loki is right not to teach you 'just a few tricks.'"

"Doctor Strange. Crashing the party?" Loki said.

"I thought it sounded like you needed a little help with this one," Strange said.

"Observing closely enough?" Loki said.

"I am, for the time being, Sorcerer Supreme of this realm," Strange said. "That means I have to keep an eye on all of its dangers. You included."

"We have a word for guys like you in Asgard. We call you 'Peepers.'"

"We don't call Heimdall that," Thor said.

"That's because Heimdall knows when not to look," Loki said.

"You haven't done anything too exciting thus far, actually," Strange said, smiling just a little. "But you can't blame me for keeping an eye on you after the Chitauri incident."

"Yes, yes, hold that over my head for the rest of eternity," Loki said, rolling his eyes.

"It's only been three years," Barton said, shooting him a dirty look.

"That's practically forever in your terms," Loki shot back.

"Not for something like that."

"Oh, you're just upset you had your brain scrambled, like you were the only one."

Strange raised his hands. "If we could focus on the fact that it's a child's birthday?" he said.

"Of course. Come on, eat up, the cake's getting progressively more frozen," Loki said.

They ate, space at the table magically appearing for Strange, though there hadn't been room for one more. But they weren't many bites in when Judah raised the subject once more.

"So what if I promised to study really hard?" he said.

Loki put down his fork again and breathed out very hard through his nose. Strange steepled his fingers in front of his face and grinned behind his hands.

"I thought you wanted to be a paleontologist?" Loki said, looking over at Judah.

"I do. But I want to learn magic, too!"

"And last week you wanted to be a ballroom dancer!"

"I still want to do that, I just found out you can't make a living at it."

"Believe me, Judah, there's no living to be made as a paleontologist, either," Strange said, still highly amused.

"I'll make you a deal, Judah," Loki said. "I'll teach you how to brew a few simple potions, and if you take to that, and want to keep pursuing it, we'll go on from there. All right?"

"Potions? Well, all right. But don't be like Snape, okay?" Judah said.

"I promise, I will not be like Snape."

"Potions? Isn't that… at least as dangerous as magic?" Natasha said, brow furrowed.

"It's easier to control, believe it or not," Loki said. "Apprentices of beginner magic are a danger to themselves and others. Potions can be taught in controlled conditions. Still somewhat dangerous, but safer. And believe me, I know what I'm doing."

"If you say so," she said, raising her glass of pink wine to her lips.

"I wasn't all that dangerous as an apprentice," Strange said.

"You are an Adept, like all your mortal contemporaries," Loki said. "Born with a certain amount of natural magical talent. Statistically speaking, Judah probably isn't. It doesn't matter. If he has enough determination, he can master magic all the same – given the time."

"Cake!" Phil said brightly, standing up. "Who's ready for cake?"

"Ice cream cake?" Judah said.

"That's what I heard!" Phil said. He pulled it out of the freezer. "Oh look at that! That looks great! Let's get this candle lit, 'cause you know what comes after cake? Presents!"

Phil stuck a number eight candle in the icing above the green frosting T-Rex on the top of the cake. He lit it with a flick of a lighter and brought it over to the table. Everybody sang "Happy Birthday," the Asgardians still sounding uncertain as to the precise lyrics after three years, then Phil cut the cake and dished it out. Everybody ate, a more "normal" conversation asserted itself during that time, and then they repaired to the living area so everyone could sit in more comfortable chairs and Judah could open his presents.

"Let's open the smaller ones first, save the big one from your dad for last, eh?" Phil said, handing Judah a package. Judah thanked him, thanked the giver, Steve Rogers, and ripped off the paper. He exclaimed over the toy inside (a GI Joe set) and gave Rogers a hug.

"You're a good kid, Judah," Rogers said, hugging him back.

Judah unwrapped a few other presents, and then there was a knock at the door. Phil gave Loki a look. "Were we expecting anyone else?" he asked.

"I didn't invite the ones that came," Loki said. "You handled all of that."

Phil went over and opened the door. Tony Stark stepped in, taking off his sunglasses as he did so as though he were stepping in from outside rather than the hallway of his own building. "Sorry I'm late, but I had to go to the store," he said. "Do you know I looked all over but I couldn't find a single damned Erector Set? Do they even make them anymore?"

"You can… erm… find them online," Phil said. "Some stores probably still sell them."

"Well not the ones I went to. If I'd had time I would have done the online thing but you know me – procrastinator."

"We… um… didn't know you were coming," Phil said.

"Yeah, well, Loki said the little trickster didn't know who I was. That needs to be changed. For him," he said, thrusting a half-wrapped case into Phil's hands. Phil took it by the handle.

"K'Nex?" Phil said.

"How did you know?" Tony said.

"It's the next nearest thing to an Erector Set and almost any store sells it."

"I could've got him something else," Tony said, blushing a little.

"But you didn't," Phil said, grinning.

"Yeah, well, I knew whatever I got him it wasn't going to measure up to what Good Ol' Dad got him. Has he opened that yet? I see he hasn't," Tony said, and trotted down into the living area and took a seat. He flapped a hand. "Well, get on with it."

Judah finished with the smaller presents and sat for a moment with his hands folded, looking at the big one.

"Well, go on," Loki said.

"I want to wait a minute," Judah said.

"Why?"

"Because the anticipation's sort of the best part."

"What, you think you won't like it?"

"No, I expect I'll love it. But I'll never not know what it is again."

Loki put his hand on the boy's head and smoothed back his unruly hair. "Take all the time you need."

Judah looked at the giant box for a long moment, then began looking for a seam to exploit. "How do I open it?" he said at last.

"How about we do it the easy way?" Loki said, and he pulled the box off what was underneath. Judah jumped to his feet.

"NO WAY! NO WAY! YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!"

"Just so I know, is this a good reaction, or a bad reaction?" Loki asked. Judah jumped into his arms and hugged him tightly. Everyone in the room stared at the massive object resting on the marble display platform.

It was a perfect, unfossilized Tyrannosaurus skull, as fresh and new as if it had just died, and large enough to swallow Thor in a bite.

"What kind of monster did that come off of?" Steve Rogers asked.

"You've never seen a dinosaur, Steve?" Clint said.

"Not like that," Steve said. "Where did he even get it? Aren't they all supposed to be in museums?"

"He got it in Asgard," Tony said. "I was there when he brought it back. That's why it's not fossilized. Daddy Odin hunted it. I don't quite understand how it survived so long in such good condition, but… well… Asgard is special."

"I can't believe he gave that up," Thor said in amazement. "He loved that ghastly thing."

"Where is he going to put it?" Natasha said. "It's too big for the apartment."

"I want to know how the hell he got it in here," Clint said.

The party cleared out, Phil and Loki cleared up, and Judah went to bed at last. Then, around midnight, he awoke. His bedroom door was open and Loki was standing silhouetted in the gap.

"What's the matter, Dad?" he asked.

"Nothing," Loki said, a little more gruffly than he intended. "I'm sorry I woke you. Go back to sleep."

"Okay. G'night."

"Good night."

He began to close the door, but stopped. "Judah?"

"Yeah?"

"When did you start calling me 'Dad?'"

"Gee, I dunno. Why?"

"It kind of took me by surprise, is all. Time moves strangely on Midgard, for me. I notice it every now and then."

"What do you mean it moves strange?"

"It goes too swiftly. I cannot keep up with it."

Judah propped himself up on one elbow. "Dad?"

"Yes, Judah?"

"Are you homesick?"

Loki paused. "What makes you ask such a thing, Judah?"

"It just dawned on me that you've been away from your home for a long time. Uncle Thor goes back and forth when he can but you don't do that, do you? Or do you?"

"I went back to get your present."

"I bet it was a quick trip."

"Yes, it was."

"Do you want to go back? To stay?"

Loki paused. "Perhaps someday."

"Dad?"

"Yes?"

"Am I what's stopping you?"

Another pause. "No, Judah. Go to sleep now."