Just know. You're not alone.
Home, Phillip Phillips
Black… Loki's head was spinning, ears making a seriously obnoxious buzzing sound, and beyond that, voices. Sigyn's beautiful, honey-sweet voice, and someone else's. A woman's. They were talking… talking about him!
"I know he did much to your city, but in all honesty, I don't think he truly wanted it. Please. Give us a chance." Sigyn pleaded.
"It's not really my choice. But I'll… I'll vouch for you, when Tony makes the decision. You seem like a nice enough person, Sigyn, and it'd be barbaric to turn you out onto the streets in the state you're in."
Loki cracked his eyes open, raising his head wearily. "I…"
"Loki!" Sigyn's voice greeted him. "Welcome to the land of the living!"
"Urgh…" Loki struggled to a sitting position. He'd been laid out on one of the couches, his head in what was left of Sigyn's lap. He didn't recognize the woman who was pointing the gun at him warily, but assumed she was the one who had been talking. His mouth tasted like metal. "The dart…"
"Incapacitated you. You've been asleep for about ten minutes. The Man of Iron should be here any minute, now." Sigyn informed him.
"And, the Man of Iron has arrived!" A familiar, and yet, obnoxious voice called. It sounded somewhat tinny, and Loki looked to see Tony Stark, wearing his suit, lounging on the clerk's desk. "Look what the cat dragged in. But, seriously, it's Iron Man, not 'Man of Iron'. You guys sound like Yoda." He clanked over, flipping his mask up, and surveying the couple sitting on the couch. "What is this, Christmas in May? Sorry, I don't have a stable."
"Are you Anthony Stark?" Sigyn asked, her eyes wide with wonder. "Oh, I love your armor! The color scheme is striking!" She gushed, reaching out a finger to feel of the vambrace.
"You've got good taste." The engineer grinned.
Loki decided that right then would be an appropriate time to speak up. "Man of- I mean, Iron Man…"
"What do you want, Bambi?"
Loki thought it somewhat ironic that someone who cared so much about getting their own name straight would have so little respect for others', but he decided it would be better to stay on the billionaire's good side. "We are seeking shelter, and as you can see, my wife is in no state to be on the street. I was wondering, perhaps you would be kind enough to let us find asylum here?"
"Maybe an insane asylum." Stark winked at Sigyn, who rolled her eyes playfully. "Don't worry about pouring out your sob story to me, J already told me everything your elfy girl said to Pep." He sat down on the couch next to the Trickster, causing him to nervously scoot closer to his wife. "Hate to say it, though, Rudolph, but your 'shelter' here isn't my decision. This is no longer Stark Tower, it's Avengers Tower, so this'll have to be a group discussion. We can take a vote, tomorrow. Yay, democracy! You know?"
Loki barely understood a word that came out of his mouth, but he nodded anyway. He'd understood the part about having the decision be left to a vote, and that was most likely the important part. "so, what shall you do with us until then?"
"And where are the rest of the Avengers?" Sigyn asked enthusiastically.
Stark grinned, and stood up, again. "The Avengers are out for the night, Sigyn. God, you need a nickname. Anyway, Brucie Boy and Stevie Wonder are asleep upstairs, up lots and lots of stairs, and Red and Legolas are out doing super-cool spy stuff for SHEILD that I was sadly excluded from, something about my 'incapability of shutting up for more than two seconds'. Probably isn't compatible with spy-stuff."
Loki snorted at this assessment, earning him an annoyed glare from Stark. "Legolas?" Sigyn asked. "You know my brother?"
He looked at her in surprise. "Welp, that's a conversation I would be very upset to miss. Anyway, Rock of Ages happened to ask what we shall be doing with you until the morn," He dramatically mimicked Loki's accent, "which happens to be an excellent question. I can either have both of you sleep down here on the couches, or I can have Princess, here, go up into one of the guest rooms. Your choice."
"She will have a comfortable bed in the… guest room?" Loki asked, and Stark nodded. "Then she sleeps upstairs."
Sigyn turned to him, indignant. "Says who? I'm staying with you, Melleth, you know that."
"What did she call you? Melon?" Stark grinned, as Pepper rolled her eyes for the umpteenth time. "That is your new name, Melon."
"Melleth." Loki corrected through gritted teeth. Stark was one of the most exasperating men he'd ever met. "It's the Elvish word for 'Beloved'."
"Melon." Stark repeated. "Well, Melon, what'll it be? Ok, never mind, it's not an awesome enough nickname."
Loki shifted his gaze back to Sigyn who was looking very irritated. "As the gentleman in this situation, I insist upon taking the couch."
Sigyn smiled, thinking back to the early days of their marriage. "Alright, Beloved. Stay safe, yes?"
Loki nodded, kissing her on her cheek.
"Tony, what about Loki?" Pepper spoke up. "He's a dangerous criminal! You can't just leave him down here, unsupervised!"
The billionaire tapped his chin thoughtfully. "No, I can't… Good point, Pep. Got it! Jarvis, call in Dum-E."
"On it, Sir." Jarvis responded from the ceiling. Stark grinned down at Loki. "Alright, Reindeer Games. I'm sure you know I used to be a weapons manufacturer, right?"
Loki nodded, not sure where the mortal was going with this. A robot that looked like a metal cross-beam with a few attachments on it's base, and a claw on the end of it's beam rolled into the room. "Behold, Dum-E!" Stark grinned, making a grand gesture towards the unimpressive metal beast. "This was my very first artificial intelligence. You can leave it to your imagination to imagine how fearsome such a weapon would be."
Loki nodded again, silently wondering what Stark could have equipped this beast with.
"Okay, Dum-E? If Rudolph, here, lays a foot on the ground, shoot him with all you've got." The machine beeped happily, rolling over to the end of the couch to better survey the Trickster. Said Trickster hurriedly tucked his feet underneath him, off the floor. "And not a moment before, hear me?" The creature's creator glared at it. "If you go trigger-happy, again, I swear, I'll turn you into a glorified clothes-rack. Got it?"
The machine whirred understandingly, and Loki regarded it with wide eyes. Stark obviously trusted it to be able to take him down, so it must be more powerful than it appeared. "Pep, can you lead Princess to her room? I'm turning in. Jarv, if the spies come in, or the boys come down for some reason before a reasonable hour in morning, and see Bambi, don't hesitate to explain what's going on."
"Of course, Sir."
And with that, Loki was alone. He glanced at the guard-robot, who flexed its claw ominously. Loki slowly, carefully, removed his helmet, coat, and boots, and stretched out his tall, lanky frame on the couch. The mechanical servant considerately dimmed the lights, but Loki lay awake long into the night. He'd always found it immensely hard to sleep when he didn't feel safe, only succumbing when absolutely exhausted. He was close, but not quite there, yet. So, it wasn't until around 3:00 in the morning that Loki finally drifted off into a light, restless doze.
EEEEH, HE DE BESTEST! Did you see what he did? Oh my gosh, Loki's terrified! Of DUM-E! I crack myself up...
Next time, the Avengers all show up. OOOOOOHHHH...
A heart lets you steal Loki's helmet while he sleeps, a review allows you to SHOVE LOKI OFF THE COUCH SO DUM-E WILL "ANNIHILATE" HIM.
Ehehehe...
TheOnlyHuman.