Everything was so beautiful. Maisy never thought she'd be so glad to see the bright lights of New York at night. When she'd lived there she'd hated the fact that you couldn't see the stars, but now she couldn't stop herself from smiling as she took it all in from the helicopter pad they'd landed on.
"Welcome to Midgard," Thor laughed heartily.
"Sweet Andromeda," Linn whispered and when Maisy glanced at the younger woman she looked pale with excitement, "It's crazy."
"It's New York."
"I love it!"
"I thought you might," Maisy laughed and then turned away from the stunning view. Behind her was Avengers Tower in all of its shining glory. Just beyond some glass doors there stood a startled man in a suit, who was watching them in awe. He tapped his earpiece and reported something into it and Maisy wondered if Stark would be showing up soon.
Thor lead them both over to the doors and opened them with the swipe of an official looking key card. Maisy caught a glimpse of the card and saw that it had a picture of Thor smiling confusedly on it.
"This is Stark's impressive tower where all of us Avengers have been staying for the past while. We're on the common floor at the moment and if you come this way," Thor lead them like an experienced tour guide, "You can see the dent my brother left in the floor when Banner was displeased with him."
Sure enough, there was a person shaped dent in the floor that had been filled with clear glass to make sure no one tripped over it. Maisy raised her brows and had to hold back a gasp of concern. If a human had been thrown into such a hard floor with such force they surely would have died. But Loki didn't even have back problems.
"Looks just like him!" Linn giggled getting down on the floor and lying on top of the dent, "Ouch," she did her best impression of Loki, "Blasted green beast! Doesn't he know I'm the most important person in all of the realms!"
"Uh oh," a new voice said, "Loki back already?"
"Just me!" Linn sat up with a grin and looked over to Tony Stark, who'd just swaggered into the room with an Iron Man gauntlet on, "Hey Tony!"
"Well, if it isn't my favorite Krylorian-Earthen person!" Tony smirked, "What's up, Linn?"
"Dis is where you live?" She asked him, prancing over to him.
"Sometimes. Sometimes I live in Malibu," the billionaire said.
"Dis is almost as nice as the palace!" Linn said and then something caught her eye, "Oh my gosh, what is dat?!"
She'd spotted the large Christmas tree in the room. It sat in an area of the room that was on a slightly lower level with plush chic chairs around it. Linn leapt down onto the lower floor space and stared up and the lit up and sparkling pine.
"That's the Christmas tree I was telling you about," Maisy laughed, "Pretty, right?"
"Whoever had the idea to put trees inside was a genius!" Linn agreed, "Thor, you have to get Odin to do this!"
"Wait until you see it on Christmas morning! We'll all put presents underneath!"
"Presents?" Linn turned slowly to look at her friends, "What do you mean, presents?"
"Like… gifts? For each other? That's a pretty big part of Christmas."
"I fink I've died and gone to heaven," Linn collapsed into one of the chairs and giggled happily, "You mean to say that I get to give you presents on Christmas?"
"If you want to. And I'm pretty sure you'll get some presents too," Maisy walked over and climbed down into the seat next to her friend.
"Me?"
"Yes, you."
"Sweet Andromeda."
"I guess she's excited to be here," Tony walked over and ruffled Linn's hair with his Iron Man hand, "This is going to be fun."
"Thor, you're back!" Clint popped out of the vent above the Christmas tree and waved, "Oh and you brought Maisy."
"I did indeed," Thor waved back at the archer, "I thought you were leaving for Christmas?"
"I am. Wanted to do one final sweep of the airways before I left. I only found one electronic bug and I think it's from the Daily Bugle, so no big deal. There are a lot of wiggly living bugs too, but that's not my problem. I'm about to head out."
"Have a merry Christmas!" Maisy called upward.
"You too," he nodded, "Is he here?"
"Not yet. Loki will be joining us soon."
"Guess that means I'm going to get out of here even faster. Bye," Clint ducked back into the vent and vanished.
They spent a few minutes catching up with Tony, but Maisy couldn't help noticing that he seemed to be thinking of something. The weird part was that he kept staring at her when he had these thoughtful expressions and it was starting to creep her out. She found herself scooching and leaning away from him until the elevator doors opened and Captain America stepped out in all of his beefy glory. He smiled at Maisy and Linn and nodded to Thor.
"Welcome back to earth."
"Thanks," she smiled at him, "It's awesome to be back! It's been forever and last time I was here I was kinda bleeding to death, so you know… uh, this is nice."
"That reminds me!" Tony jumped to his feet and snapped, "I have something for you! An early present we'll say."
"Oh?"
"As soon as Thor found out your identity I found out where you lived and had some guys pack up your stuff for you. I have it stored in one of Thor's spare rooms since he hasn't been here lately."
"My stuff?"
"From your apartment. Keep up."
Tony started leading the way to the elevator and Maisy eagerly followed. They went to a floor that wasn't decorated much, but the few personal touches were reminiscent of Asgard and Maisy was surprised that the foreign bits were what really made her feel at home. Tony led them to one of the closed rooms and opened it, revealing a huge stack of boxes and a pile of familiar furniture.
"Whoa, you were, uh, really thorough, weren't you?"
"Had my guys pack up everything except the trash can and the major appliances. You probably didn't want that nasty fridge anyway."
Maisy stepped into the room and found a box labeled "clothes". She dug around until she found her favorite sweater and immediately slipped it on over the blouse and jeans she was wearing. She couldn't keep the smile off her face as she rummaged through her clothing. As someone as obsessed by fashion as she was it was quite the collection and she was delighted to have it back. The question that remained, was if she could possibly bring it all back with her. It probably would not fit in her wardrobe on Asgard.
"You know, you had a few portfolios of designs and Pepper and I happened to look at them," Tony opened another box with all of her clothing designs in it, "Pepper has some connections if you're interested in getting into the fashion business. She liked some of your work so much that she pretty much wants to throw money at you."
"What?!" Maisy spun and looked at him, "Like, Pepper Potts, Pepper?! CEO of Stark Industries?!"
"Well, yeah…"
"She likes my designs?!"
"Yes."
"I may faint," Maisy giggled, bouncing excitedly, "Tell her I'll design something special just for her! Tell her I'll be her personal stylist if she wants! Tell her that - gah! She's just so cool!"
"She really is," Tony sighed happily.
"Aaah!" Linn's voice shrieked and then a muffled, "Oooh, you have nice pillows, Maisy!"
They all turned to see that Linn had tripped over something on the floor and landed face down in a pile of pillows and cushions. Maisy laughed and Thor wrapped one arm around the young girl's waist and hoisted her to her feet. She patted his huge arm by way of thanks and then continued to explore the room. She quickly vanished behind a stack of boxes.
"Thank you so much for saving my stuff, Mr. Stark," Maisy shook Tony's hand, "I really appreciate it."
"No problem, kid. And if you really can design something special for Pep, then hey! That means I don't have to do any more Christmas shopping!"
"You didn't already have something picked out for her?" Steve asked skeptically from the doorway, "I thought you said you got it months ago."
"I did, but the problem is I'm not good at getting presents for her," Tony put a hand on Maisy's shoulder, "So I keep getting presents because I figure the more I get the more chance there will be that something will make her so incredibly happy that she'll forget the fails."
"Tony-"
"Shut up, Cap, I know you already have the most beautiful heartfelt presents for everyone. And we will all treasure them forever," Tony interrupted, "Not all of us are as good as picking out presents as Captain Freaking America. But now I've got a secret weapon! Maisy's design will win Pepper over for sure!"
"You aren't just saying that to be nice, right?" Maisy asked sheepishly, "I mean, just because you're… well off and I'm your friend, you don't have to like my stuff. I don't want you to feel obligated or anything."
"I wouldn't tell you if that was the way I felt," Tony said, "As the incredibly wealthy friend with everyone's best interest at heart it is my sacred duty to make everyone feel better by buying their love."
"Okay then…"
"But Pepper really did think your sketches were really good."
Maisy grinned, not sure if she believed him fully, but deciding she would just go with it.
They sorted through some of the other things piled up in the room and Linn resurfaced wearing a trendy floppy hat that had never suited Maisy and a silky scarf with peacock pattern on it. She'd also unearthed a throw blanket that she was using as a cape and a yardstick that she was using as a sword.
As they were all sorting and Maisy was concerned about what to do with her things now that she no longer lived on planet, a prim and proper voice made an announcement.
"Mr. Stark, security wishes to alert you that Loki has arrived on the helipad and they are now trying to restrain him. He is putting up a fight."
"Oh no," Maisy groaned and quickly sprung out of the room and was followed by Thor and then the others. They sprinted to the elevator and went back to the common floor to find a team of Stark security guys trying to wrangle an enraged Loki. He threw one guy over his shoulder and the man was barely saved from bowling the new arrivals over by Thor catching him and setting him on his feet.
"Stand down Reindeer Games!" Tony called, firing a repulsor ray from the Iron Man gauntlet he was still wearing. The only response was another man flying through the air.
"Brother!" Thor exclaimed scoldingly, "Stop this!"
"Loki stop that this instant!" Maisy hollered.
No response from anyone involved in the scuffle.
"Good grief," Maisy covered her face with her hands and shook her head. She got an idea and turned to the guard that Thor had caught, "You got a knife?"
"Yes ma'am, why?"
"This is going to sound weird, but could you possibly hold it to my throat and threaten to kill me if he doesn't calm down?"
"Ma'am?"
"Please? It should do the trick."
"Alright, if you're sure," the guard flicked a worried glance at Tony, who shrugged. He pulled out a bowie knife and wrapped his arm around her middle, holding the blade to her throat, "Hey! Loki! Look over here!"
Loki didn't listen and Maisy sighed irritably.
"Loki!" She cried shrilly, "Help!"
"Maisy?!" Loki exclaimed and paused just long enough for every security officer to tackle him to the ground and put him in restraints. They held him down fairly well, but Loki was still struggling, fury burning in his eyes.
The guard holding Maisy let her go and she shook his hand, walking back over to where her husband was practically hogtied on the ground. He stared up at her in confusion.
"Calm down," she said to him, "Let's get this sorted out before you start throwing guys around, okay?"
"You…" he narrowed his eyes, "You tricked me."
"Sorry," she said, "But no one could get you to stop!"
"But I thought that man was going to kill you!"
"That was the point," she looked at the guys holding him down and then back at him, "Are you going behave yourself?"
"I suppose," Loki grumbled.
"Can you guys let him up?"
"Mr. Stark?"
"I don't know," Tony was grinning, "I think we should keep him like this all Christmas. That way he's here like Thor wants, but we don't actually have to deal with him."
Loki responded by snapping the restraints and getting to his feet, brushing himself off. He sneered at Tony and the guards all looked ready to tackle him again, but Maisy tried to dissuade that idea by going up to Loki and hugging him firmly. She was glad to see that he hadn't gotten himself into much trouble in the half an hour they were apart.
"Alright guys, stand down," Tony rolled his eyes. The guards did, but none of them looked happy about it - except the guys who had gotten thrown across the room.
"Midgard is uglier than I remember," Loki commented, still holding Maisy in a hug, even though it was far past the socially acceptable point of hug duration. Maisy took a deep breath of him and found herself gagging when, instead of the soapy leathery scent, she breathed in smoke, brimstone, and charred toast. The exact smell of Muspelheim.
She jerked back and looked up at him with concern, his arms still wrapped around her. When he glanced down from his suspicious perusal of the room and saw her expression he frowned slightly and mouthed "later". Maisy shook her head at him and stepped out of his hold, unable to be near the smell anymore.
"Thor, please show your guests to their rooms," Tony commented smugly.
"Rooms?" Thor asked, "I assure you Stark, they are more than comfortable sharing."
"Yeah," Maisy nodded, still a little distracted by the smell of smoke.
"That would actually be prefered," Loki crossed his arms and raised a brow in challenge, "As we are married."
"Oh no, no!" Tony replied, "I had a special request from one of our other Christmas guests that they be kept far apart. So Lucky Charms here is going to be in the room next to Thor's and our Fashionista is going to be staying on Natasha's floor."
"Who requested that?" Maisy wrinkled her nose.
"Sweetheart!" An all too familiar voice rang out, "You're alive!"
Maisy slowly turned to the elevator where a man was getting off. She grimaced and thought that maybe Loki had been right about spending the holidays in Asgard. It might have been a safer choice than spending any time with Joshua Sichore.
A note from the author: So, remember when I said that Thursdays were my free day? Well... my boss decided that Thursdays are now going to be one of my regular work days. So that's fun. Sorry about not posting yesterday, but I'll get this schedule figured out. I'm thinking maybe Friday afternoons/evenings now, seeing as I usually don't do that much except recover from the week and get ready for my Saturday hours. :P If anyone was curious, the reason I'm suddenly so busy is because I did not have a job over the summer or much of anything else going on, but now I have two jobs and a few other things happening. And it's great to have work again, but figuring out my new schedule has been a pain.
I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! I am participating in NaNoWriMo, so I'm not actively writing this story right now, but I have plenty of chapters stored up to post while I'm working on my novel. :) It's just finding the time to post them that's the hassle, lol.
Anyway, thank you so much for reading and hopefully I will see you next week with another chapter!
Special thanks to my lovely reviewers:
Lwolf: Thanks for reading!
Ninja Squirrel: Loki didn't think he'd ever shout "Take me to the Christmas party" either, but here we are. XD And Egil is burnt to a nice crisp, which is fun.
CheetahLover: Glad the wolves are happy! I wouldn't want them coming after me should anything... unfavorable happen in the story. *smiles at wolves nervously*
ferbette: He is a massive idiot, I think we can all agree.
XinterestingX: Yeah... I reread it after I posted it and I was kinda wincing at my own violent writing. Apologies if it was too much!
darkangelynn5: Tell the dragon I'm sorry for not letting him have first dibs on burning Egil's remains. I promise if there are any other villains I will give the dragon that honor. ;)
yellowroseofthenw: If she finds out he is going to be in a lot of trouble... let's hope she doesn't find out, eh?
xlokiswolfx: As I was just telling yellowroseofthenw, Loki is screwed if Maisy finds out. I mean, she ain't gonna be happy. But yes! Christmas party! It's going to be great! And awkward! And fun!
Ceres Friggadottir: Eh, don't feel bad. He's a turd. :P Lol.
nina del carmen: He is all crispy and burnt! Woo hoo! Thanks for reviewing!
Guest: I do not know this John Mulaney, but I think I may have to look him up. :)
irisheyes85: Hope this satisfies! :) Thanks for reading!
You are all the best and I'm sorry I didn't leave longer comments in regards to your reviews, but my sister needs to get to bed and I'm keeping her up by typing. :P
Until next time!