"Why the long face?" Tony asked as he, Pepper Potts, and Linn approached Maisy. She had been standing off to the side of the main celebrations, holding a glass of wine. The party had been fun for a while and she'd enjoyed herself, but it had been a few hours and she was starting to get worried. Of course, she couldn't tell Tony that the reason she was worried was because Loki had vanished. If he knew that Loki was on the loose somewhere he'd be furious and the party would have to come to an end.
Everyone just assumed that the trickster was hiding in their room, ignoring everyone. And Maisy had thought that he might do that and then she could sneak off and join him later, but he hadn't even wanted to be in the same building as the party, apparently. Jane said that he'd gone off for a bit, but that whatever he was doing was totally legit and nothing to worry about. Maisy didn't believe that for a second and she was uncomfortably reminded of when he'd had to run an errand the last time and come back smelling like Muspelheim.
"Kid? Hello? Anyone in there?" Tony waved his hand in front of her face and she blinked and then smiled a little.
"Sorry, Mr. Stark," she laughed, "I was just spaced out there."
"It's cause Loki's not here," Linn declared, "They is like sad love birds when they is apart they is. It's adorable, but they get so mopy!"
"I'm not mopy!" Maisy giggled, "I just hope he's not sad that he's missing the party."
"He is more than welcome to join us if he wants to," Pepper said gently.
"Well…" Tony started, but a look from his girlfriend cut him off and he hung his head, "Yup, he's so welcome."
"Thanks, but I know he doesn't like this kind of thing… at least not with you guys - no offense. Sorry, that sounded mean. But you know," she shrugged, "You know. Can't party with the people who thwarted your evil plan and so forth and so on."
"You know who I've been partying with?" Linn piped up and then pointed across the room to Mr. Sichore, "Your dad is a wild guy!"
"Oh no," Maisy gasped, "What did he say? Are you okay? He can be a total idiot, I'm so sorry!"
"He said he fought I looked like cotton candy, but I dunno what dat is. Then we got to chatting and he said that I should really grow my hair out so it'd be more girly," Linn ruffled her pink curls, which was getting long, comparatively, and reached past her ears, "But I said dat I keep it short to make work easier and I also said I keep it short so baddies and creepos can't sneak up behind me and pull me away by me hair."
"How did he respond to that?"
"He finks that you should get your hair cut dis short too!"
Maisy laughed. She spoke with them for a while and found that Tony seemed to have a hidden soft spot for kids. It didn't hurt that he and Linn were both smug, sneaky, little schemers. Pepper and Maisy just rolled their eyes.
The party progressed for another hour or so until the clock struck midnight. At that point Tony declared that they should all be going to bed or else Santa Claus wouldn't come. This, of course, had to be explained to Linn and Thor, much to the enjoyment of everyone else. That got both of the extraterrestrials quickly saying their goodbyes to everyone and looking at the huge, chic fireplace with excitement. When everyone was gone they both rushed to the elevator, Thor with Jane in tow, and said goodnight to the residents of the Tower.
"You'd best get to bed too, sweetheart," Mr. Sichore approached Maisy and gave her a kiss on the forehead, "Or else Santa won't come."
"Right Dad," Maisy laughed and gave him a hug, "Wouldn't want that."
"Hey, if aliens can be real, why not Santa Claus too?" He chuckled, "You look lovely tonight, by the way."
"Thanks," Maisy had dug through the room full of her stuff and found a dress she'd worn to several fashion-school hosted Christmas parties before. One of the designers who had been at that party had actually complimented her on the design, so she thought it would probably work for a high end party at Avengers Tower.
"Any reason your alien isn't here to enjoy your company?"
"Are you encouraging my love life, Dad?" She laughed in surprised, "That's a first."
"I think I've come to accept that there is nothing I can do about it now. And you both do seem to love each other an awful lot. You and him treat each other better than me and your mom or even me and Ima ever treat each other. I respect that."
"It's a Christmas miracle!"
"Aw, pipe down," he rolled his eyes, "And answer my question from earlier. Because if it turns out that alien has a less than perfect excuse for not being here tonight and making your eyes do that sad droopy thing, I take it all back and I'll kick his ass."
"Sad droopy thing?"
"It makes you look like you're gonna fall asleep, but I've known you long enough to pick up that it's actually when you're silent-sad. The kind of miserable that even you don't realize."
Maisy self-consciously itched her eye, trying to avoid eyeshadow and liner, but probably smearing it a little anyway. Oh well, it was the end of the party.
"Loki… isn't super social with these guys," she finally replied, "But he knew I wanted to come and I knew he didn't, so we split off for the night. Can't be together all the time, right? We'll be one of those weird couples who can only talk about each other."
"That's true," Mr. Sichore smirked, "I was starting to think you reminded me of RichandAmy. You remember that? In the Zits comic? You used to laugh your head off at those when the Sunday paper came!"
"RichandAmy? Really? No!" Maisy laughed, remembering the couple from the comic strip that were never apart and so essentially became one character, "If we ever walk around with our arms constantly wrapped around each other, pry me off!"
"It would be my pleasure. Got my crowbar and everything."
"Don't get me wrong, I love him, but that's a little too weird for me."
"And not the fact that he's from space?"
"Ha."
"Alright, love you, Lazy Maisy. Merry Christmas and goodnight."
"Love you too, Dad. Merry Christmas," she gave him a kiss on the cheek and then walked to the elevator. She rode to Thor's floor and walked in the direction of the room she was sharing with Loki. From the master bedroom on the floor she could hear soft laughter that meant Thor and Jane were home. She only hoped that the other Asgardian had made it back safely as well.
She went to open the door, but found it locked. Jiggling the handle a bit, she heard an exclamation from inside and a loud rip of paper. She raised an eyebrow and tried again. It didn't work.
"Loki? You in there?"
"Norns! Is the party over already?" He called through the door, "I thought I had at least another hour! Didn't Stark break out the booze?"
"It's a Christmas party. With Linn there! It was probably the most tame party this tower has ever seen," Maisy laughed and tried the door again even though she knew it wouldn't work, "Can I come in? These shoes are killing my feet."
"One moment! I just…. need… one… second!"
"What are you doing in there?"
"How was the party?" Loki misdirected her question, "Did Thor do anything stupid that I should know about? His antics at parties can get quite hilarious."
"Uh, not really. He was disappointed you didn't come."
"What did you tell him?"
"That you weren't in the mood for a party," Maisy stared skeptically at the door, "But you seem like you're hiding something, so maybe I should have told him the truth… you didn't go to Muspelheim again, did you?"
"No, no! Of course not! And I never will again if I can help it. Nasty place," he finally opened the door, "See! Nothing to hide!"
"Unless you already hid it," she pointed out, looking around the room. There was nothing suspicious that she could see anywhere, but that didn't mean a thing when playing hide-n-seek with the god of tricks and lies.
"Hmm," Loki sighed behind her, and she turned around to find him staring at her.
"What?"
"The way you look in that dress makes me regret not going to the party. That's all."
She blushed and walked over to give him a hug, "I wish you were there too."
"I know, my presence is highly sought after and the lack of it makes any party dreary."
"So true, so true," Maisy nodded seriously and then opened up her small purse and pulled out a sprig of mistletoe, "You know what this is?"
"A plant," Loki declared.
"Do you know what plant?"
"No. I'm no horticulturist."
"It's mistletoe!"
"Great?" Loki smiled indulgently.
"I see this is going to take some explaining," Maisy laughed, "So, for one reason or another, around Christmas, whenever you and someone else pass beneath mistletoe, you have to kiss!"
"Why?"
"I dunno. Probably tied to some old myth or something."
"Ma'am, if I can be of assistance?" Jarvis asked and Maisy jumped. She didn't realize he had speakers in their room.
"Uh, yeah, sure, Mr. Jarvis."
"From what I can find, Loki plays a part in this particular tradition. At least, the persona of him found in Norse mythology."
"No way!" Maisy exclaimed and looked at Loki to see if that was right. He winced.
"There is a myth in which Odin has a son named Baldr, who was so beloved by Frigga that she asked everything in the nine realms to refrain from hurting him, making him invincible. She, however, forgot to ask the mistletoe, as it seemed small and insignificant," Jarvis said.
"Uh oh. I see where this is going," Maisy shot a glance at Loki and he rubbed his face tiredly.
"When Mr. Laufeyson discovered this weakness, he, of course, exploited it."
"Of course. What else would he do?" Maisy asked wryly.
"He made an arrow from mistletoe and had Baldr's brother, Höðr, fire it at him. In some legends the arrow hit and killed Baldr, causing great mourning and leading to some horrible events. But in other versions Baldr was saved and Frigga was so grateful that she declared mistletoe the plant of love and said that all who passed beneath it would show love by way of a kiss."
"That's so cute! Except for the part where you tried to kill a guy," she looked at Loki and he rolled his eyes.
"So many inaccuracies with that story I do not even know where to start. For one thing, Baldr and Höðr were our distant relatives, not Odin's sons. Odin only has the two sons. No other children. For another thing, Frigga did not simply go around asking plants and things to protect Baldr, she made one of the most powerful spells known to history because there were rumors that if Baldr died then it was a sure sign that Ragnarok was on its way. She couldn't protect against mistletoe, because it was impervious to her magic."
"Did you actually try to kill the guy?"
"It was a joke! He was showing off how invincible he was and I may have thrown a mistletoe dart at him. The way he reacted you would have thought it was an arrow and everyone thought he was dying. But he lived. I don't recall my mother ever saying mistletoe was a plant of love though."
"I shall alert the History Channel," Jarvis said dryly and there was a click, meaning he'd left them for the evening.
"Well?"
"Well what?" Loki looked back at her and she was holding the mistletoe above them.
"Even if the legend is fake aren't you going to kiss me?"
He grinned at her and didn't hesitate.
A note from the author: Ta-da! Christmas party with the Avengers. So fun. Well, at least I had fun writing it! :)
Thank you all so much for reading and a special thanks to my reviewers:
DeniedLove13: Glad to hear that you are enjoying the story! I am, actually, aware of Yuletide and I have mentioned that the Asgardians in this story celebrate it. In this story it's not exactly the same as the original Yule festivities since it's on another planet and I figured Asgard would have some different traditions from the human vikings. It's true that I don't always do a ton of research for fanfics, but in some cases I do and then I tweak myths, comics, and movies so they work together more smoothly (at least I hope it's smooth :P). Anyway, thank you for your review!
ferbette: Loki would be one of those guys who wraps a gift card in a box the size of a car and makes you solve a puzzle box before you can actually get to the gift card. XD
CheetahLover: Glad you're still enjoying it! :)
XinterestingX: You'll have to wait until the next chapter to find out!
Ninja Squirrel: If you're curious about more info on Yuletide I found this interesting article on a website called historythings dot com titled "What is 'Yuletide' Anyway?" and it has some good information. :) I hope your finals went well if you're finished with them already, and if not then I hope they go well!
Lwolf: No worries! Maisy is okay! I guess I have a bad reputation of making unfortunate things happen when Maisy goes missing lol. XD She's just gift shopping! Thanks for the review!
You guys always make my day! Thank you for keeping up with the story! :)
Until next time (which will hopefully be before Christmas)!