With the capture of Johnson and his unit, SHIELD and in turn the Avengers, were busy trying to find those who had hired the agents to commander both the weapons and formula that could impede, or worse, destroy the Avengers; meaning that for the vast majority of the time, it was simply you, Beauty and Loki in Stark Tower.
"What are you doing?" Loki watched you fearfully as he came into the common area.
"I am going to see if I can figure out cooking again, well some shred of it. I think I will be a long time getting back to actually making anything of any substance. By the way, have you eggs on Asgard?" You asked as you beat a few eggs in a bowl.
"No, there are no fowl of any manner there." Loki rolled his eyes as his voice dripped sarcasm. "Of course there is."
"Then could you see if I put any eggshell in this please."
Loki rolled his eyes again before coming over to check. "Is there supposed to be?"
"Oh, there is, I am just asking because I wanted to make myself seem like an idiot." You snarked back before sticking out your tongue.
"It is shell free." He shook his head and smiled. "Congratulations."
"Yah!" You danced slightly on the spot, earning you a raised brow.
"What are you making?"
"Bread and Butter pudding."
"Sounds awful, and peasant like."
"It is. Well the peasant part anyway. With my father too drunk to know I needed to actually be fed, and with my mother not physically being home to care about such things, I sort of learned how to make food with minimal effort at a young enough age." You explained.
"It looks like something a child would try to concoct." He grimaced as you poured the eggs on top of the buttered bread, raisins and cinnamon mixture.
"Well I was six when I began to make it."
"Six Midgardian years?" Loki almost choked at that information.
"No, six centuries, yes six Midgardian years."
"But is that not a small child?"
"It is, I was young then."
"And none thought to care for you?"
"Well my father had another daughter and son, but they are over ten years older than me and lived with their mother in Canada, so not really."
"That is unacceptable."
"Wow."
"What?" Loki frowned.
"If the infant sacrifice is stating something is bad, it's horrific."
"You have a peculiar manner of looking at things." Loki commented.
"It's why you like me, let's face it." The words escaped your mouth before you could stop them, embarrassed you turned to not have him look at your face, only for a strong lithe hand to grab you.
"You are about to injure yourself, badly."
"What?"
"Put your hand in front of your face." You did so. "Now extend it." You had barely moved it three inches when it collided with the corner of the press door you had left open. "See."
"Thank you." You whispered.
"You need to be careful." Loki chastised.
"Even if I could see, I would have rammed into it." You shrugged.
"I think you right; you need to be more careful."
"You're right, if they came back and I was injured, you would definitely be blamed, even though it is in no way your fault." You stood backwards again only to collide this time with a strong and warm wall that was actually Loki's chest. Your breath shuddered slightly at that realisation.
"I think that would not be the most pressing issue, but that you would have sustained a terrible injury. It would have injured your face and eye."
"Because of course, I don't look bad enough as it is." You scoffed.
"You think you look bad?"
"Well I can hardly look well, my eyes are clouded over, which can never look good; and I have no idea what state my face and hair are in."
"It is only your pupils that are clouded, the iris is still a normal colour, as for your face and hair, I am no expert in the field of women's maintenance, but you do not appear to be in any way grotesque."
"Good, everyone wants to hear that they are not grotesque."
"Well physical appearance is judged on an individual to individual basis, is it not? I cannot state for definite that to others, you are not unappealing."
"Did you just use a double negative?"
"A what?"
"Nothing." You dismissed with a shake of your head. "Thank you, again." You started to feel around again. "What was I doing?"
"Attempting to poison yourself with that obscure concoction you created as a child." Loki stared again at the dish in front of him.
"Right, I…um…the oven." You continued to feel around.
"What do you require?" He asked, as he gently guided you to the appliance.
"Okay…" You began, but you quickly froze and swallowed hard. "Never mind." You turned away, tears in your eyes.
"What is the matter?" Loki frowned in concern.
"I…nothing, I think I need a nap." You dismissed, trying to walk away.
"No, what is wrong, why are you all of a sudden unable to…" He looked at the oven again and realised. "I see. Can I ask, if you had not created the formula you created on the first try, would you have become something else instead, a writer perhaps?"
"What are you talking about?" You half sniffed, trying to hold back the tears.
"Well I can only assume you wish to desist this little endeavour due to not being able to try and work this 'oven', yet you have not even attempted to do so."
"I cannot see what kind it is, whether it is a fan one, hell even if the temperatures are on it, what if for some reason it is in Celsius, I cant see." You exclaimed.
"Yes, we are aware you are not able to see, how that that has been established, shall we get on with recognising other obvious facts. The hound barks, the sky is above us, and I can see. This tells us therefore, that should you require assistance, I am capable of doing so." He stated factually.
"I hate you sometimes." You sniffed, and a small smile on your face as you wipe a tear from the corner of your eye.
"Well everyone seems to despise me, so that is not new." You scoffed. "Shall I describe to you what this contraption looks like?" You nodded. "Very well."
Fifteen minutes later, the pudding was in the oven and you were placing the used utensils into the dishwasher. "Thank you Loki." You commented as you closed it again, waiting for the click before feeling for the tea towel to dry your hands. He grunted in response. "And I don't actually hate you." You added before biting your lips together.
"I gathered from your tone and facial expressions it was not a genuine comment."
"Still, I should never have said it. I mean considering your own situation with Thor's father and the shitbag that was your actual father, it wasn't a nice thing to say. I'm sorry."
Loki stared at you in an assessing manner for a few seconds, trying to fathom if you were serious. "Yes, well, apology accepted." He answered awkwardly.
"There's nothing I am going to bang into is there? Have I left anything open I can collide with?"
"No, you are safe." He informed you.
Holding onto Beauty's harness, you went over to the sofa where you had left the book you were trying to make your way through next and waited for the food to cook; yourself and Loki in a relatively comfortable silence.
When the buzzer for the food rang out, you rose to your feet before stumbling forward. Thankfully, Loki had caught you before you had fallen. "What in the Nine?"
"I have pins and needles."
Loki stared at you in almost terror. "What?"
"I cut off some of the circulation to my legs with how I was sitting, so now it feels weird when I stand." You explained.
"Can you hold yourself up?" His hands remained on you.
"Yes, but for a few minutes, walking is going to be interesting." You half giggled, hating the ticklish sensation that came with trying to move after such an occurrence.
"Mortals are the most peculiar creatures." He shook his head.
"Yeah, hard to fathom how we are the chief being here, isn't it?" You giggled again as you took another step forward.
"That is somewhat of an understatement." He agreed.
Finally, you made your way to the kitchenette and dealt with the cooking. "Perfect." You smiled as you smelt it.
"How do you figure that?"
"Is it burnt?"
"No."
"Does it appear raw?"
"No."
"Then how does it matter?" You grinned in delight.
"The smell then?" Loki gathered.
"Yep." You popped the 'p' proudly.
"Astute enough when you want to be, are you not?"
"I try. Want some?"
"I may as well, though if I die of poisoning, I will kill you."
You laughed at that. "Fair enough, cut yourself a slice."
"This is most peculiar." He studied it apprehensively.
"It's nice."
"I doubt it."
"I beg to differ." You beamed, hearing him stab a piece with a form before there was silence again. By listening carefully, you heard him place it in his mouth. "Well?"
"It is not as I had assumed."
"Good."
"How long did it take you to perfect this as a child?"
"Couple of days, I was lucky enough to actually figure out how to flavour it thanks to a TV show."
"That is not the least bit depressing to hear, how can Midgardian parents be so callous?"
"Do I need to pull out the 'says the sacrifice baby' card again?"
"Jötnar do not suggest they are the most caring of species."
"Well the more of my species I come in contact with, the more I think there is none less caring." You stated before taking a bit yourself. "I wonder what cherries would add to this?"
After eating, you felt yourself relax on the sofa, Beauty resting beside to on the ground contently. Stifling a yawn, you shifted around, hoping to remain awake, but you failed, and felt yourself begin to doze. Somewhere within the two realms of awake and asleep, you could have sworn you heard Loki speaking, and all too suddenly, you drifted off to sleep, unknowing slipping your head onto his lap as you did so.