Loki realized rather belatedly that he was still in the Captain's lap so he carefully unfurled himself and stood up. He shook ever so slightly but the blood slipping through his glamor seemed to slow till it stopped completely. Loki was calm once more. With a snap of his fingers the music changed once more from the musical that the young woman seemed so fond of to soft lyrical songs that were better at grounding him.
"Thank you," Loki said again to Steve.
Steve wasn't sure if Loki should be standing yet considering the convulsions he had just been put through but he didn't say anything other then a gruff, "Of course."
Tony, unsure of what he should do, started to gather bits of the broken mug onto an outstretched palm. The tea was covering the small table and a few drops were even dripping onto the floor. When he couldn't fit anymore pieces onto his palm he took the shards to the trash the the front of the cafe.
Loki intercepted Tony before he reached the trash can. "I'll take those off you. Would you mind grabbing a towel? One or two should be under the counter to the right of the cash register."
With a nod Tony went to retrieve the towel. It was full of holes and warn at the edges but it still managed to collect all the tea that had spilled.
As Tony and Loki went about cleaning up the mess, Steve grabbed the paperwork about Loki becoming an Avenger. He read through it as they finished clearing the table. It was surreal but he understood what he should do.
Loki took the towel from Tony and threw it into the sink in the kitchen.
Tony took another mug and filled it with tea. He pressed it into Loki's hands and gave him a small smile. "You didn't get to finish the last one or even start it."
The mug was warm, not searing hot. It was comforting and Loki smiled before he took a careful sip.
They sat back down at the table at the same time as if nothing was ever amiss. As if Loki hadn't lost himself because of some lyrics he hadn't meant to play. They sat in silence for a few moments as if everything was perfectly fine.
Steve was the one who broke the almost comfortable silence. He place the letter from SHIELD in front of Loki and said, "I know what you said. You don't want to be an Avenger and I get it."
"I-"
"Let me finish," Steve cut Loki off. "Look, you're not my favorite person."
"Thanks." Loki said it with what sounded like a smile though his face was completely blank of emotion.
"But, Tony was right. You don't deserve this. You just had a massive panic attack because the background music of your shop changed to something you couldn't handle. Which is no fault of your own or anything. You're alone here and if you worked with us you wouldn't be. We could help you."
After taking another sip of his tea Loki asked, "Why would you or your team want to help me? What stops you or them from taking advantage?" He put down the mug of tea and leaned a bit closer to Steve, "I'm not safe here but I wouldn't be safe there. At least here I can act as if I'm free to do as I wish."
Steve carefully listened to Loki's concerns. They were silent as he thought of what to say which took a few moments. "We want to help because it's sort of in the job description of what we do. And no that is not the only reason or even the primary reason. We care, you are hurt and need help. I suppose nothing would particularly stop us from hurting you but does anything stop that from happening here or in your life right now? No, you said so yourself. Look I know that you have no reason to trust us. But if you work with us instead of for us you would have rooms to yourself that no one could get into unless you wanted them too. You will not be confined. If you want you can write up an entirely new contract with whatever loopholes you want so will be as safe as you can be. You could even keep owning and operating Tea and Potions if that's what you want. You will be free to do "as you wish."
Loki leaned back in his chair, eyes never leaving Steve's, looking for even the smallest of twitches to see that he was in fact lying. Loki couldn't find any lie. A part of him wanted to say 'no'. He wanted to turn down the offer and maybe even kick Tony and Steve out of his cafe. He didn't. Instead Loki said, "I'm sure you will let me do what I will but you'll find ways to limit me, slowly so I don't notice but I will. Maybe lock my seidr away bit by bit till nothing is left. You'll act like you care. You won't. No one ever does."
Tony took Loki's hand in his without thinking. "I have a room the could be ready for you in less than an hour. How about you just come with us and check it out. Talk with the team. You won't have to commit to anything, I swear. Just...see if we could help you. See if you want to be a part of the team. You could leave whenever you want and if you want I'll never bring it back up. But if you don't at least check it out then I'll just keep asking till you come just to shut me up."
"Well then," Loki rolled his eyes as he stood up. "I suppose it won't kill me to visit or perhaps it will. Either way." He shrugged.
Steve and Tony looked like they wanted to say something but Loki was already closing up the cafe for the day. Soon they were the only ones left and everything was silent.
"Let us go," Loki said by the door as he waited for the two to catch up. Right now, this moment, he was ready to face what the Avengers had in store for him. Loki was calm.
