Linn didn't sleep long. It took her forever to fall asleep, since she was quietly lying in her bed waiting to hear the fat Midgardian called Santa. She did not hear him, but did not stop listening for him until her eyes closed of their own accord and she fell asleep near three in the morning. Then, she bolted awake at six in the morning, and rushed out of the guest room she was staying in - on the Black Widow lady's floor - and sprinted to the elevator. She hit the button repeatedly, but it did nothing. Linn stared at it a moment and then at the ceiling where the robot man lived.
"Jarvis?" She asked.
"Yes, Miss?"
"Why ain't the lift working?"
"Mr. Stark knew that you would want to get up before everyone and see what surprises wait on the common floor, but he doesn't want you to spoil the surprise until everyone is awake to see it."
"Dat, dat, stupid Man of Iron!" Linn huffed and kicked the elevator door softly, "Fine. I'll take the stairs!"
"All doors to the common floor are locked until eight o'clock," Jarvis supplied helpfully.
"Son of a bilgesnipe!" Linn cursed and then sat down next to the elevator door, "Joke's on him. I'm sitting right here till these doors open."
And so she did. Light began to filter through windows and she heard the sounds of others in the tower waking up. Then, finally, the elevator door dinged and she jumped in, bumping into Thor and Jane, who were also onboard. Jane looked groggy, but Thor shared Linn's excitement and they batted the idea of Santa back and forth between them. Pondering how it could possibly work.
"Reindeer do not fly on Midgard," Thor shook his head, "I know it."
"But I've heard of flying moose on Alfheim!" Linn argued, "Maybe this Santa is an elf!"
"That is a possibility, but why in the nine would a Light Elf visit Midgard for the sole purpose of bringing gifts to everyone once a year? It does not make sense!"
"Maybe it doesn't have to make sense," Jane yawned, rubbing her eyes, "It's Christmas. Christmas is the time for special things to happen."
The elevator doors opened and they climbed out to see that they were the first ones up. Linn and Thor sprinted to the tree and gasped when they found that there were, indeed, many gifts underneath. They gaped at the presents and when Linn saw one with her name on it, she started to dive, but Thor wrapped his arms around her waist and caught her mid air.
"We must wait for the others to arrive!"
"Ugh! But dat one's got me name on it!"
"It would be impolite," but the thunder god looked like he wanted to start ripping open colorful boxes as well.
"You know," Jane said, going over to the bar and getting some coffee, "The others might need a little help to wake up. Maybe some encouragement."
"Oh yeah?" Linn said as Thor set her down, "Dat sounds smart."
"Just… maybe not Natasha, okay?"
"Not even if I had a deaf wish!"
"To not be able to hear? Why would anyone-"
"Stop making fun of how I talk, prince!" Linn stuck out her tongue and ran off to wake up everyone else. First stop: Captain America.
Steve woke up with a start when Linn jumped onto his mattress and yelled "Santa was here" in his ear. He reacted by putting up his fists as he sat up, but when he saw who it was he only laughed and got out of bed. He went off to join Thor and Jane in the common area.
Next Linn very carefully and politely knocked on Bruce Banner's door and quietly informed him that it was Christmas and that she would be exceedingly joyful if he would join them for the unwrapping of gifts if it would be pleasing to him and not upset him in anyway. He nodded sleepily and went to meet the others.
Jarvis informed her that Pepper and Tony were already awake and in the living room, so she woke Mr. Sichore up next and then moved on to wake up her two favorite guests of the Tower. She kicked their door open - Jarvis unlocked it for her - and screamed "happy Christmas" at the top of her lungs. Maisy sat up, clutching the blanket to her chest and Loki threw a dagger that narrowly missed Linn's face.
"Oh Sweet Andromeda!" The girl giggled, despite just barely avoiding being killed, "You're naked!"
Maisy was turning a bright shade of scarlet and pulling the blankets higher and burrowing lower into them. Linn laughed her head off until Loki threw another dagger and ordered her to get out.
"Put your trousers on, Loki!" She called as she turned around, "We've got presents to open!"
She skipped to the elevator and whistled a holiday tune she'd heard the night before. When she arrived on the common floor she found all of the others gathered around and she told them, with a smirk, that Maisy and Loki were on their way.
When the happy couple arrived Tony sleepily told Linn that she might as well dig in. The girl dove into the immense pile of presents and quickly began distributing them. She passed out the gifts until everyone was holding one and then she picked up one with her name on it. As excited as she was to see what was in the nice box she held, she was equally excited to see what everyone else got. She'd handed out the presents from Tony first, since he was rich and got everyone something.
Steve got a box full of films, which were all ones Tony claimed he needed to see since he'd missed them when he'd been a frozen lump in the ocean.
Bruce got something sciency that he was excited about but no one else understood.
Thor got a stack of boxes that were as tall as him and were apparently filled with some form of breakfast sweet. Thor told Linn that they were called Poptarts and they were amazing. Tony had even gotten the company to print pictures of Mjolnir on all of the tarts.
Pepper was thrilled with the design that Tony had commissioned from Maisy. It was a black and white evening gown that the CEO said she'd wear to the next big event or charity ball that she went to. This made Maisy blush profusely and smile even more.
Maisy was given a bright T-shirt with her face printed on it that said "Maisy Sichore of Midgard for Champion". Linn recognized the shirts that Tony had made for the opening ceremony of Taka af Brúðr and Jane had fired from some sort of air cannon. Linn had one of the shirts in her room back in Asgard and she'd worn it a few times on her day off. Maisy hadn't seen the design yet and she was snorting with laughter about it now.
It turned out that Tony had also given Loki a larger version of the shirt and the prince only rolled his eyes.
Linn got something called a StarkPod, which was a device with music on it. She was also given large headphones that were blue and shiny and had cat ears on the top. She immediately asked Tony to help her set it up. He'd already downloaded music for her and she spent the rest of Christmas morning jamming out to AC/DC, Black Sabbath, Queen, and a few others that Tony said were essential.
When everyone had opened their presents Linn passed out more and watched everyone open them, always saving hers for last. Then they finally got to the presents from Maisy, which she'd also signed Loki's name to with a green pen and a heart dotting the "I". Loki rolled his eyes at this, claiming he had no part in it.
Since she hadn't had much time to go shopping, Maisy had given most people gift cards. She had given Tony a photo frame with a picture of her and all the Avengers smiling. She had fully green hair - save for one black piece - in the picture, which meant it must have been during the contest. She'd also given Pepper a drawing she'd done of the CEO and Tony.
Linn watched excitedly as Loki opened his gift from Maisy, which the Midgardian woman had purchased Christmas Eve when Loki had wandered off. It was a wooden box lamp and on one side there was a heart carved out that light could shine through, on another side was the year, on the third side there were their initials, on the fourth side there was the word "cherish" and on the top was a drawing of Maisy and Loki both grinning happily that Maisy had probably done herself.
"Sorry, it's really cheesy!" Maisy blushed and ducked her face, "But I thought it was kinda cute. And it's hard to shop for a prince, but I figured you didn't have one of these and… sorry. If you don't like the picture we can swap it out. And it's battery operated so you can use it in Asgard and stuff. Sorry, I know it's really dorky-"
"I love it," Loki said quietly, "Thank you."
"Really?"
"Of course," he sent glares around the room, daring anyone to comment, "It is heartfelt and personal. Besides, now I can read at night without the bright lights disturbing you."
"Yeah! That's what I was thinking too!" Maisy grinned and sat up straighter, "Because it's kinda more a gentle light, but still enough to see by!"
"Perfect," Loki kissed her cheek and most of the people in the room groaned, but Linn squealed happily and bounced in her seat watching her favorite couple in all the realms.
Mr. Sichore rolled his eyes and looked like he was studying the ceiling for an extended period of time. When the mushy stuff had come to a bit of a stop he got up and passed Maisy a gift from him. She unwrapped it and found a small journal. When she opened it Linn spotted messy handwriting and beautiful drawings of birds.
"Was this… was this Mom's?" Maisy asked, gaping at the little book, "Her bird watching journal?"
"One of them," Mr. Sichore nodded, "She left it behind. Said she wanted you to have it. For a while I was too mad at her to give it to you. But I figured now that you are off in space you might want something to remind you of us mere earthlings from time to time. Some drawings of earth-birds."
"Thanks Dad," Maisy quickly wiped away a tear and smiled, "This is great."
"I see where you got your drawing abilities," Bruce commented, "Those birds look like photographs almost!"
"She made sure I took a lot of art classes growing up," Maisy nodded and she closed the book. Linn noticed how her nails dug into the leather cover and the lady-in-waiting wondered if Maisy was, perhaps, just a bit angry with her mother. The younger girl supposed she'd be mad too if her mother had left her instead of just dying like she had, but at least Maisy had a mother out there somewhere.
"Ooh! Open the one from me next!" Linn shoved a crudely wrapped box at her friend, "It's for Loki too."
Maisy offered it to Loki and he carefully unwrapped it. Inside the paper was a box and when they opened the box they found two small golden ovals on matching chains. The ovals turned out to be lockets and Maisy and Loki each opened one, expecting to find pictures of each other inside. Instead, they found matching pictures of Linn grinning ear to ear and giving them a thumbs up.
"Aw!" Maisy slipped the chain around her neck and admired the picture, "It's so cute!"
"You do realize you are not actually our child, right?" Loki asked with a laugh.
"No, but I'm both of ya's best friend apart from each other. Fought you'd like to have a reminder of me always," Linn smirked and batted her eyelashes at them.
"Thank you Linn, this was very thoughtful," Maisy giggled.
"Oh you know I was just joking around," Linn took two small oval cut pictures out of her pocket, "Here. You can put dese in… along wif my picture."
One of the photographs was of Maisy smiling and the other was of Loki, looking brooding as ever. Linn helped them put the images in the lockets, right across from her own portrait.
"So Reindeer Games," Tony said from his seat, with his arm wrapped around Pepper, "You get Maisy anything?"
"Mr. Stark," Maisy said quickly, "He didn't even know about Christmas until a few weeks ago!"
"Still…"
"It's fine," she quickly turned to look at Loki, "It's fine!"
"Contrary to popular belief," Loki said coldly, "I can think of others besides myself from time to time."
"So you got her something?" Tony asked, almost mockingly.
"As a matter of fact, I did," the Asgardian stood up, "I simply left it in our room. Excuse me a moment."
He strode out of the room and everyone was silent until he returned a moment later with a carefully wrapped present. It was wrapped in green paper - of course - with a gold bow on top, and was shaped almost like an American football. He handed it to Maisy with a smug grin.
"Oh Loki, you didn't have to," she was smiling at him hugely and Linn settled in to watch more adorableness unfold. She hoped it was something good. Or romantic. Or funny. Or perfect. She put her chin on Maisy's shoulder to watch the unwrapping with baited breath. It seemed like it took forever for the paper to come undone and when it did Linn wrinkled her nose.
"A spindle?!" She said, "Dat's it? Loki, we got plenty of dose in the laundry room!"
Maisy only smiled and looked at Loki for explanation.
"This spindle is older than the palace of Asgard. It was passed down from my great-great grandmother to my mother. It is a tradition to pass it on and it is said that it holds great power that no one truly understands," Loki sat down next to her again.
"That's… amazing!" Maisy looked back at the spindle and admired the careful carving along the dowel and whorl. On the bottom there were traces of gold in swirling patterns, "It's beautiful!"
"I thought Mother wouldn't mind if you had it, seeing as she didn't have any daughters."
"Pssh, that'd be weird," Thor said, "Imagine us having a sister! Ha!"
"Besides, you are so interested in the making of garments that I thought it might be appropriate."
"Alright," Linn allowed, "Dat is pretty cool."
"So you went back up to Asgard while I was shopping for you!" Maisy said with a laugh, "That's why you couldn't come to the party last night!"
"Wait, wait!" Steve exclaimed, "Loki left the planet and no one even noticed? He could have been anywhere doing anything and you didn't think to tell us?"
Maisy blushed.
"Whoops."
"Hey, I knew too," Jane piped up, "Don't just blame Maisy. In fact, I'm the one who encouraged him!"
"We can't just let a known criminal wander around and do whatever he wants!" Steve chided.
"It was for Christmas and for love!" Jane declared, "And nothing happened. So drop it, Spangles."
"Oooh, I love it when she gets feisty!" Thor grinned, "But in all seriousness, you probably should have at least consulted with me first, Jane."
"I'll do that next time."
"There won't be a next time!" Steve said, "We aren't letting Loki wander around wherever he wants!"
"Don't worry, Captain," Loki rolled his eyes, "I won't be on Midgard long enough to cause any trouble. Maisy and I are heading home at the end of the week anyway."
"Right…" Tony said, "About that… we were thinking you should probably stay longer. To smooth some things over."
"What things need smoothing over?" Maisy asked.
"Well… let's just say earth isn't your biggest fan right now."
"They never have been," Loki scoffed, "Why should I try and fix that now?"
"I wasn't talking about you," Tony winced, "The public kinda, sorta, maybe hates Maisy."
"This is absurd!" Loki was pacing the floor of the room they shared, every once in a while throwing his hands in the air in disgust. His speed picked up the angrier he got and Maisy was slightly worried that he'd actually wear a trench into the floor.
She was sitting on the bed, hugging a pillow to her chest and watching him. They were both still reeling from watching the documentary about them. Maisy's chest felt tight, her hands were shaking, and she could feel tears threatening to fall. She was partly mad because of the slandering film and partly sad that the people on earth - her own people - hated her. There were people in Asgard calling for her to stay on Midgard and people on Midgard who either wanted her to go back to Asgard or for her to end things with Loki.
"If we were on Asgard I would have the creator of that film flogged!" Loki fumed, "I'd have him charged with treason for speaking out against Asgardian royalty! I'd put his head on a-"
"Well we aren't in Asgard," Maisy interrupted quietly, "And I wouldn't want you to hurt anybody over them expressing their opinion."
"Ridiculous American freedom of speech!" Loki seethed, "Can't we ask Rogers to change that rule long enough to imprison the film maker?"
"Ask Steve to change rules?" Maisy grinned genuinely, "Steve isn't the lawmaker of America, Loki."
"Really? But he captains this country, does he not?"
"That's just his superhero name!" She laughed, "He was in the army - although I don't know if he ever actually made captain or not - and he was used for propaganda and stuff to get people to buy bonds, plant victory gardens, collect scrap metal and stuff."
"He's an actor?!"
"Sort of," Maisy giggled, "He did save a lot of lives and stuff. And from what I've heard from him, he stopped Hydra from using the Tesseract to take over the world and from blowing places up. But he isn't part of the government!"
"Wait, he's dealt with the Tesseract before?" Loki asked curiously, "No wonder I was defeated!"
"Also, because the Avengers kick ass," Maisy reminded, "Not that you aren't great."
"How reassuring," he smirked and sat down next to her. They were quiet a moment before Maisy sighed heavily and took his hand gently in her own. She looked him in the eye.
"Loki," she said.
"Maisy," he quirked a brow.
"You have to promise you aren't going to try and find the guy who made the documentary. Promise me you won't try and hurt him or anything."
"He deserves-"
"Loki."
"Alright, fine. I promise I will not hunt him down and hang him from his own entrails."
"Ew!"
"Or cut off his legs and hit him with them."
"What? Why would you even think of that?"
"Or reach down his throat and pull his stomach back up through his mouth."
"That's disgusting!"
"Yes, that one can get a tad messy," he winked, "Especially if they've just eaten."
"Please tell me you've never done that to anyone," Maisy was pale just imagining it, "Because I can forgive you for a lot of things, but I don't know about that…"
"No, I've never tried it. Thought of trying it a few times, but haven't actually gotten around to it."
"And you never will if you want me to stick around very long!"
"I'll erase the idea from my mind," he flopped back onto the mattress and stared at the ceiling, "But in all seriousness, if you do not want me to find and destroy that worm who made you look bad with his video, I will not. I swear."
"Thank you."
"To think Stark and Thor want us to stick around and try and sort this out! I don't see what they expect us to do about it. As soon as this holiday is over we will head home."
"Actually," Maisy laid down next to him, "I was thinking Thor and Tony might be right. And it's not like we'd have to stay very long, right? Just long enough to convince everyone that you've changed and that I'm not some psychopath for marrying you."
"That would take a great deal of time," Loki commented, "We could be here for the rest of our long lives and never truly convince them."
"But my dad can take back his statements. Say that he was wrong. It might take some coaxing, but I bet we can convince him to do that."
"It would never work."
"What if they saw that you've changed? That you are a hero now?" Maisy turned on her side and looked at him hopefully, "What if-"
"I joined the Avengers and protected this realm?"
"Well… yeah."
"You must be kidding."
"Think about it! That would make you into a hero! It's happened before. I mean, Natasha has probably never tried to conquer a planet-"
"Though I would not put it past her."
"But she's done plenty of really bad stuff. And Clint. Tony sold weapons for a living. Bruce is Hulk for goodness sake! None of them - except maybe Steve - have a clean record. Not even Thor, even if the people here don't know about it. But everyone thinks they are heroes!"
"Perhaps I do not want to be a hero."
"You sure as hell aren't a villain anymore," Maisy said firmly, "So… what? You just want to be nothing? Not good, not bad?"
"The opinions of Midgard mean little to me," he sighed and looked at her.
"Asgard loves the Avengers," Maisy reminded, "If you were one of them Asgard would love you too."
She watched his face and saw that he was carefully considering the idea. He knew it was true. If he completely flipped around and started saving people then he would be a noble prince of Asgard once more. And he'd be loved by everyone.
"I will think on it," he finally said and kissed her forehead, "But for now, please, can we return home once this holiday is over?"
"Of course! But I want to be able to come back here soon."
"If you must," he sat up, "Now, with that mulled over, I believe Linn is listening at our door to see when we shall rejoin the Christmas morning festivities."
"Just curious!" Linn's voice came through the door.
"She really is the worst servant ever," Loki rolled his eyes.
"Yeah, but that's why we love her."
A notre from the author: MERRY CHRISTMAS! I told you I'd get the Christmas chapter posted before Christmas and here we are December 24th! It's a holiday miracle.
I hope everyone has a great Christmas (and if you don't celebrate Christmas then I hope you have a darn good day anyway)! Even if Christmas was originally a pagan holiday for dudes like our pal Thor, I personally use it to remember Christ's birthday (even though, yes, He was born more toward April, I know) so that's what I'll be doing with my family. I hope you all enjoy whatever traditions you love! :)
Heads up, I'm working on a Christmas dinner story in which Maisy and Loki go to Mr. Sichore's house for Christmas in a totally non canon adventure and I will hopefully be able to post that today and if not today then maybe tomorrow and if not tomorrow then probably on the 26th. So be sure to keep an eye out for that (it's filled with lots of awkwardness and horrible family members).
Thank you so, so, so much for reading you fabulous people!
Special thanks to my reviewers (aka the best people ever):
Guest: Thanks for your review! :)
CheetahLover: Hope his gift didn't disappoint! I love writing Linn, lol, that's why the first part of this chapter is from her point of view. XD
nina del carmen: I'm so glad you enjoyed it! I hate to make you wait, but Maisy and Loki probably won't have a baby for a while. It will be more towards the end... if they do have a baby. ;)
Ninja Squirrel: Congrats on passing your finals! That's awesome! Also, while I do not condone throwing mistletoe at people I will sit back with a bucket of popcorn and watch you throw it at them. XD Also, also, I feel like you would really like the book Norse Myths by Neil Gaiman if you ever have time to read it. It has all of the most famous Norse myths written in the style of a novel sorta. It's really interesting if you like that kind of thing. :)
ferbette: "Loki, why is your brother bleeding profusely?" "Moooother, it was a joke! I swear!" Poor Frigga. She must have been the most patient mother of all time. XD
Thank you all! You're the best! Merry Christmas! :D