NOTE - I was in a fluffy mood today and couldn't resist writing this.

Jewel

"Let's go for a walk. Maybe I'll buy you a drink if you're somewhat reasonable." Without looking to see whether Loki followed or not, Natasha grabbed a jacket and, thrusting one arm into a sleeve, headed to the door.

Of course he followed; he always did, although he had no idea why he wanted to be with her so much. Perhaps it was because there was no one else – he was alone in that realm as he was in every other, to be honest. Maybe it was her conversation, still surprising him with her insight into the subjects they discussed lounging in her bed or on his uncomfortable couch, passing a bottle of wine back and forth. And there was the sex, of course – better than he had ever expected. No – wild enough to 'blow his mind', to use a Midgard phrase Natasha had taught. "The way you fuck me blows my mind," she sighed the night before, after the third time he had her against the wall.

Yes. She blew his mind.

"Why so serious?" Natasha bumped his side and grinned up at him. He looked down at her, so small beside him, yet so strong at the same time. That blew his mind too – she was like a delicate doll, a kitten, a slender blossom…

Loki stopped, breathless, and pressed one hand to the graffiti-covered wall beside them. Where had that rush of sentiment come from? He was acting entirely unlike himself.

"Woah – you okay? Maybe we should head back." Natasha stopped next to him, felt his cheek with the backs of her fingers. "Bruce still isn't certain of the effects of our atmosphere on your body, especially considering how screwed up our air is."

He didn't want to look weak in front of her, nor did he want to talk about his thoughts. "The air smells fine to me," Loki declared.

She pulled him closer so she could hiss in a stage whisper, "I think that's hotdogs. Actually, I'm hungry. Want one?"

Hotdogs. Loki accepted the paper dish with what looked like a meat tube inside cotton wool and yellow paint squirted over the whole in a zig-zag pattern. Natasha put a few dollars into the vendor's fingerless glove and took a bite, pulling Loki behind her.

"The bar's across the corner. Let's go have a few drinks before you screw my brains out. Deal?" She added a broad wink.

He followed, as he always did.

And that was another thing. Once he had been a prince, slept in a bed the size of the taproom where they now sat. Entire rooms had been at his disposal – libraries, salons, balconies, dressing closets filled with rows of exquisite garments. Gold slid through his fingers with wanton abandon as he gambled, purchased gifts for current love-interests, tossed it to cheering crowds in Asgard to make himself feel beloved.

Now he did not even own the coins to purchase hotdogs.

"Why are you so quiet tonight?" Natasha asked. "If you want to go back and be by yourself, dude, all you have to do is tell me. I don't mind."

"No," he said quickly, grasping her arm tightly as though she might dart off in an instant.

"Okay, okay – I'm not going anywhere. Do you want to talk? Or just sit here and drink? Like I said, I don't really care."

Loki eyed her as he took a long swallow from the thick glass in front of him. "I cannot buy you things," he admitted at last. "Once I could have offered you silk gowns, fine horses, lines of servants, jewels you could not even imagine. Now, I have nothing."

"Ohhhh." An expression of comprehension came over her face. "Yeah, I get that. And I know it's no use telling you I don't want any of that junk – where the hell would I put a horse in New York, for crying out loud? As for jewels, I'm just not into bling."

"Natasha, I could not even purchase the hotdog." Loki indicated his untouched meat tube.

She leaned close to him in the dark atmosphere of the bar. "I promise you that your penis will not fall off because you can't buy me a snack."

The bartender lurched towards them. "Yuh can't bring outside food in here, fer fuck's sake."

Loki felt anger overwhelm him like a boiling wave, but Natasha pushed him back onto his barstool as she waved a few notes at the man. "Sorry – I just really craved a good New York hotdog. Here, get us another round, and keep the change."

The desire for money started to overwhelm him. Loki looked around his tiny apartment furnished with broken things the others no longer wanted, and the anger steamed inside him again.

Two arms wrapped around him from behind. "Stop it," Natasha said. "I can see you're all – you. Stop being so you, this minute."

"This living place is disgusting!" He waved at the hard couch, pointed in the direction of the tiny bed. "Once I ate from dishes made of pearls and silver…"

"It is a shitty apartment. I'll grant you that." Natasha turned him around, pulled him down for a long kiss. "Getting frustrated? Need a job?"

The thought of having to work for money infuriated Loki, but he supposed there was no other choice. "I suppose a job would be – not too horrible. I could survive. Maybe."

"Okay. I'll talk to Fury." She pulled him in for another kiss. "Meanwhile, how about this job?"

Asgard consultant. That was the title given to him, along with a shabby laptop and the position of searching news and internet trends for items which seemed familiar or out of place. Instantly Loki figured out a way to stream several social mediums at once while scanning news channels at the same time. The position was incredibly tedious, but after several weeks he received his first paycheck.

Money in hand, Loki went shopping. A few hours later he arrived at Natasha's apartment, two paper dishes in one hand and an overflowing bag in the other.

As soon as she opened the door he thrust the dishes at her. "Here are hotdogs," he announced.

"Oh! Hey, thanks." Natasha took the dishes and, not certain of what to do with them, put the food on her coffee table.

"Also, a jewel." Loki rooted in his carrier bag and produced a candy necklace. "And chocolates. And a garment." He had purchased everything from vendors on the street.

She took the necklace, the Hershey's bars, and the I Heart New York sweatshirt from him. For a long time there was silence, and he wondered what he had done wrong.

Finally she dropped all the items on the floor and jumped into his arms. "Thanks. You don't have to buy me anything, but thanks." It was followed by a long, deep kiss.

"And I shall purchase our drinks this evening," he announced grandly.

"And I'll wear my new shirt."

"And your jewel?"

Natasha climbed down from his hips, picked up the candy necklace, slid it over her head, and offered him a sugar disc to crunch. "And my jewel."