Teleportation is just as strange the second time around. Pepper expects movement, some sorts of whoosh, or at least a swooping sensation of flying through space. Instead, one moment, she is taking Loki's hand in a firelit cavern, the next, she is blinded by white light. Her hand clenches down on Loki's, grip tight as she raises her free arm to shield her face from sudden sunlight.
Slowly, details fade in as her vision adjusts. She sees trees, grass, a paved walkway, and the rise of bushes. Pepper and Loki are standing on what look like marble tiles. Behind them, a statue sits on a horse, the shadow of the rearing animal falling over them so that just the tops of Loki's helmet horns catch the light. A woman pushing a sporty-looking stroller jogs past them, headphones in both ears. Children are yelling just out of sight.
Loki and Pepper are holding hands in Central Park.
"Oh," Pepper says, and they both let go at roughly the same time. Slowly, she lowers her arm.
When Loki hands Pepper the white plastic bag, she takes it on instinct. And then Loki is taking a step back, looking increasingly awkward. He clears his throat.
"It is but a short ride to your office, or to your companion's tower," Loki says. "I would have brought you nearer but it did not seem wise to - "
"Hi! Oh my gosh - "
"Hello! - "
"- I'm so sorry, I know we're interrupting - "
A babble of young voices comes from behind them and Pepper and Loki both pivot toward the sound. Loki has tensed up, his hands coming up at his sides, fingers flaring. Pepper feels it too, her heart rabbiting, and her expression goes neutral and pleasant as she braces herself for camera flashes.
Instead of a citizen's arrest or an impromptu interview, she's confronted by the sight of four teenagers, two girls and two boys, excited expressions on their faces as they stare at Loki.
"Your costume is amazing - " breathes the tall redhead holding a large plastic cup in his hand, thick blue straw sticking out of the top at an angle. All four of the kids are wearing backpacks and jeans and look absolutely riveted. The questions come hard and fast.
"How long did that take you?"
"Is that real leather?"
"Do you do commissions?"
"Ah, no," Loki says, taking a step back as the smallest member of the group, a boy with a short ponytail and an Avengers patch on his jacket, tries to edge into touching distance. Behind him, the two girls get into a short, whispered argument about whether the bracers are made of foam. "I do not sell my services."
"You even sound like him," the boy hissed, looking like Loki was the best thing that's ever happened. "Doesn't he sound just so British?"
Pepper's heart is finally slowing down again. She keeps a careful eye on Loki and the kids. As a (tragically misunderstood, according to his brother) villain, Loki tends to steal shiny objects of power from secure vaults, paint national monuments green, and release flying reptiles over populated areas. Once, he froze the Hudson, which threw the entire shipping supply chain that relied on the river into disarray. But Loki doesn't have a reputation for leaving victims in his wake.
But Pepper is ready to step in - just in case - as the kids crowd in.
"Can you do the pose? The pose from the Vienna heist photo?"
"Don, he doesn't have a staff!"
"He can still do the pose , though."
"Hmm, this pose?" Loki cuts in, and takes one dramatic step forward, one arm uplifted, the other hand sweeping out his cloak. The wind kicks up at the perfect moment, tousling Loki's hair as the phones come out.
"- Wow, this is so cool."
"- the details on the armor are just so good - "
Eventually, one of the kids turns to Pepper. "Are you supposed to be someone too?"
The kid looks genuinely curious, so Pepper lifts her arms just like Loki's been doing, as if to show off her blazer and pencil skirt.
"I am Pepper Potts," she announces.
"Oh." The girl with the bright red and blue hair stares at Pepper for a beat. "But she's a real person."
"Amy!"
Pepper can't suppress a loud snort of amusement. She has just been put in her place by a thirteen-year-old. Behind the kids, Loki is flat-out grinning ear to ear under his helmet.
" - Sorry, sorry, I just meant - "
There is a permanent sparkle in Loki's eye and Pepper is losing a battle against her own twitching lips. The last is a problem when they take a group photo, because, as Don and Amy explain, the real Pepper Potts, titan CEO of Stark Industries, never smiles.
Pepper is not the star of the show, though. Loki is. Attention quickly moves away from her when Loki climbs on top of a small boulder at the urging of the kids. Contrary to Pepper's expectations, Loki seems to have infinite patience for the teenagers. He basks in the attention and complies with every pose and selfie request.
"Friday, can you make sure these don't cause me any problems?" Pepper says quietly, as she watches Loki kneel down dramatically on his boulder.
No other passersby seem drawn to the tableau. No tourists wandering through Central Park seem to notice this perfect photo opportunity. Like the wind that always seems to start blowing when Loki needs his cape to sweep out dramatically, the park visitors all keep going about their business.
It takes another dozen selfies before the group seems satisfied. And then, like in the wake of a passing storm, the teens are gone, the afternoon is sunny and startling quiet, and it's just the two of them again.
"It was kind of you to indulge them," Pepper says.
"Yes, it was, was it not?" Loki says, looking pleased.
But the smug happiness seems to drain out of Loki as Pepper watches. The earlier tension returns in increments, and the suspicion is back in his eyes as he stares around the park in wide sweeps of his gaze.
Pepper decides to see if they can recapture some of the cheer of the afternoon with a tasty distraction. "Have you had dumplings before?"
"No."
"These are a pretty good place to start," Pepper tells him, hefting the plastic bag in her hand. and then has a sudden thought. "Can you eat Earth foods?"
Thor eats everything, but Thor is Asgardian. Maybe ice giants are different.
Loki throws her a distracted glance. "Of course."
Right, okay. With some disappointment, Pepper puts "silver-tongued" in the mental category of yet another doubtful thing that Thor proclaims about his brother – right next to "a great and versatile cook" and "an excellent quest-mate!"
"You look just like him, you know. That Loki guy," Pepper teases, deciding to give it one more go before throwing in the towel. She hefts the bag of food. "Want to sit down and eat this with me?"
"Ah, I do not think that lunch is wise - " Loki mutters. Despite having just survived living proof that no one is going to realize he is the real deal, Loki is still hesitating. His eyes keep flickering around the grassy knoll and the artificial pond as if he thinks that Captain America is about to come creeping out through the thrushes like some bog beast to drag Loki off to supervillain jail.
Actually, that's probably exactly what Loki's imagining.
"Friday," Pepper says. "Can you give us a heads up if the Avengers are on their way or try to approach?"
"Of course."
Loki casts Pepper's phone a doubtful look.
"And…Friday?" Pepper adds on impulse. "Can you apply that to all law enforcement and government agencies?"
"Of course, Miss Potts," Friday says, and this time, her tone is a lot less cheerful about it.
Pepper walked over to the statue and sat down on the ledge of the cement platform. She toes off her shoes as she works on the knot at the top of the bag of food. At the edge of her vision, she sees a large, green shape with horns drift over.
She's not sure why she wants to salvage the outing. Maybe she can count the date as practice. And Loki is Thor's brother who is Tony's friend and -
Well, there is also that small, illicit thrill at having a late lunch in the middle of Central Park with an honest-to-goodness supervillain who (for whatever convoluted and confused reason) had just tried to kidnap her just so they could go on a date. It ranks right up there with the time Pepper's first boyfriend took them on a joyride in his parent's car and that time Tony rented out an entire water park for the weekend just for the two of them. A date with a supervillain is a terrible use of Pepper's time and a very real risk to her reputation, but the park is shiny with sunlight and now that he's sitting down, Loki has these nice, long legs to go with his lanky frame and great shoulder to waist ratio.
Plus, Pepper knows exactly who to blame if this whole dating-a-supervillain-thing blows up in their faces. (It's Tony. Obviously.)
"The Vienna heist photo?" she tries another conversational gambit, thinking back to the comment one of the kids made about Loki's outfit. The knot at the top of the bag gives, just a little, and she's able to wedge her nail under it as she tries to pry the bag handles open.
"Oh that," Loki says, and Pepper looks up at his tone. The dour frown on Loki's face is temporarily replaced by a small self-satisfied smirk. "Your superheroes were engaged in a scuffle at the Natural History Museum in your city of Vienna. Something about a rock Doctor Doom wanted for a spell - as if that hack would know real magic if it drove a chariot through his front door."
Loki snorts and Pepper makes a humming sound for him to continue. He glances at her, and seems almost discomfited to find her attention on him as she waits for the rest of the story.
"Well, neither the armored heroes or their caped foe even noticed me walking into the exhibit," Loki says. "Or out of it."
"The photo on the big marble stairs," Pepper realizes, her hands still on the bag. Loki reaches over and cuts the knot between her hands with a small upward swipe of a knife that shimmers in and out of existence on a breath. It's gone before Pepper has time to react. "Oh, thanks. I missed all of that when it was happening. It was right around the time - "
Right around the time Tony tried to neutralize Pepper's extremis for the first (and only) time. But she does remember seeing the footage, long after the actual event. Loki, in full armor and regalia, sweeping out though the giant doors of the museum, taking a moment to stare at the gathered police and journalists–and then to descend dramatically down the steps, turning into shimmering green wisps as he went. At the time, it had been just yet another thing in the briefing packet her assistants had put together for her to make sure she was ready to face the world and pretend she hadn't just nearly died from Extremis taking exception to Tony's attempt to fix it.
"You foiled Doctor Doom's dastardly plans," Pepper says drily instead, handing Loki one of the boxes with dumplings to cover the pause. "Practically a hero yourself."
And for the first time since he appeared in a shower of sparks in Pepper's office, she sees Loki look at her with something bright and genuine in his expression as he throws her an amused smile.
The dumplings are cold, so Pepper uses her fingers to pick them up. By the time she takes a bite, they are warmed up, with little wisps of steam coming from the meat inside. All that practice with the popcorn is paying off. Across from her, Loki snags a dumpling from the paper container, using the chopsticks like a pro. Pepper wonders if Asgardians eat with chopsticks on their planet, or if it's something he's picked up on earth.
And then she realizes that she can just ask.
So she does.
Pepper's phone buzzes. Bad manners, but her eyes flicker down to the screen. It's a text from her accountant.
Less than six seconds later, her phone rings, a cheery blast of noise and rock and roll.
"Sorry, I'm going to need to get this."
Loki is back to looking suspicious, his eyes narrowed, but gives a grudging nod.
Pepper takes the call. "I set the phone to silent for a reason. And no, Tony, you can't just - " Pepper lifts the phone from her ear to check the text she received from her accountant. " - buy a dozen cruise ships. They're not eggs."
"But Pepper, it's my money - "
"Yes, your money, all tied up in my company's stocks."
"What if it's for science? What if I need them to save the world?"
"Do you?"
"Well, no, but Clint said that - "
"Give me a good reason, or Clint is going to have to come up with the liquidity to make the purchase himself."
Tony tries. God knows, he tries: "Right, so you know the culture committee at Stark is always looking for ideas for team retreats - "
"Okay, go on," Pepper says, deciding to give him thirty seconds to make his case. She gives up eleven seconds in, right on the idea around the time she hears the words "free buffet" and "top deck rock concert cruise ship race-off."
"Goodbye, Tony. I have to go. Bye, I'm hanging up now," Pepper says as she hangs up.
She smiles awkwardly at Loki, who is still sitting there, and who overheard the entire insanity that is a typical conversation between Tony and Pepper. But Loki smiles back with a small shrug to let her off the hook. Over the course of the call, he seems to have decided that their conversation is not a coded message spelling out an impending ambush.
"Friday, put in an order for one of those fruit jelly cakes Tony likes. The ones with the flowers inside," Pepper says as she puts away the phone. If Tony is doing his version of cruise ship retail therapy, he's either deathly bored or feeling lonely. Either way, he loves those darn desserts. "Get it in red and yellow."
"A bribe to appease the man's ego," Loki comments, voice mild and posture lazy. But his eyes betray him, intent behind long, lowered eyelashes.
"I like to think of it as protecting my investments," Pepper says, thinking of the damage a bored Tony could do to Stark's stock without even trying. At least Friday has standing orders to keep Tony away from all forms of social media.
"Ah, I am unfamiliar with the vagaries of Midgardian economics, but surely the Man of Iron has his own funds. As do his Avenging companions," Loki says, nibbling at his dumpling. "Enough to purchase…what was it? A couple boats?"
"Tony's very rich," Pepper shrugs. "But most of that money is tied up in Stark and stocks and real estate holdings."
"Which you control."
Pepper laughs. "Hardly. A Board of Directors oversees the company, a foundation oversees the Avengers, then there are trusts and laws and banks and a veritable army of accountants and lawyers."
Loki reaches over and gently catches Pepper's hand.
"All of whom, I am sure - " He presses a brief, light kiss to the back of Pepper's hand. "- are at your beck and call, Lady Virginia."
Despite first impressions, Loki turns out to be a charming and lively conversationalist. He speaks with his hands, and with wide sweeps of his gold horns as he gesticulates and moves with his stories.
He tells her a lighthearted tale of mistaken identity, a small dragon, and a very confused goat herder, and looks pleased when she laughs along at all the good parts. He asks her questions, and seems fascinated to hear about the latest feud between Accounting and Design. In between the moments when Loki's armor catches the light in flashes of gold, and when he asks her how she feels about flying snakes, Pepper could almost pretend she was on a regular date with someone she met at a gala or conference.
The food is long gone, and so is Loki's paranoia. They walk along the park path, following the curves and turns alongside joggers and the occasional cyclist. Pepper ignores the occasionally gentle buzzes of her phone against her leg. If it's important, Friday will let her know.
"You know what, this was actually nice." Pepper says. She pulls her notebook and pen out of her bag and tears a sheet out. Carefully, she prints her number on the corner. "Here, I don't know if you use a phone, but call me if you want to do this again."
Turns out, Loki wants to do it again.