A/N: I'm sorry for the extremely long delay! But! I really like this chapter. I think it leads into the rest of the story really well. *le hint le hint*
[CHAPTER 9]
"Okay, bud, listen up," Tony called. "As much fun as the park was, we're not going to be able to go there everyday. We adults have jobs to do, and you really shouldn't go outside in the first place." Loki frowned.
"I know. I'm glad we got to go, despite the possible consequences. I do not really need that much time outside. I need something to occupy my time; something to take me faraway places without ever leaving the tower," the seven year old responded intelligently.
"Smarty. I'm doing the best I can, alright? What the heck do you even mean? Like books?" The brunette scoffed. He ran a hand through his hair, and when he looked back at the kid, his big green eyes were sparkling.
"Books?!" He whispered. "Could I have some?! Please?!"
Tony's jaw dropped. Why didn't he think of this earlier. The kid was a mini-genius, and didn't Thor say something along the lines of 'he always spent his time in his room with his nose in a book?' The brown eyed man smacked himself.
"Alright. Let's head to the library."
The man led the dark haired child through the tower to the gigantic library. The moment felt oddly like the scene from Beauty and the Beast as he swept open the large double doors to the darkened room and was forced to open each set of curtains. When the last curtain opened, Loki spun in dazed circles, grinning like a maniac. A girlish squeal passed through his lips, and he darted towards the nearest bookshelf.
"There's so many!" He shrieked in delight. Tiny footsteps patterned through the entire room, even climbing ladders and going up the stairs to the second floor. Tony himself wasn't a huge fan of books, but several of the other Avengers liked to read, so he'd had this library made. He was glad he'd done so.
"Tony! Tony!" Loki cried and ran up to him. He tugged enthusiastically on the front of the man's shirt and bounced on the balls of his feet. "There's a book about Thor and I!" A curse fell from the brunette's lips as he was led towards the shelf were the Norse mythology book sat innocently.
"Hey, Loki," the brown eyed inventor was quick to kneel in front of the child, gripping his shoulders. "You have to promise me you won't read that book."
"What? But why?" The seven year old pouted.
"Remember when I told you about what future you did? That book is filled with all of the bad things that happen to you. You wouldn't want to read something like that, would you?" Tony demanded. He knew full well that Thor had yet to tell Loki about his adopted status, and one of the first things in the book was how Odin found Loki as a baby in the land of Frost Giants. He may not understand Thor's reasoning or why the Johtuns and Asgardians were such bad enemies, but he knew Loki would be really hurt if he knew the truth. He told Loki about the Battle of New York because the poor kid was so confused about why they all seemed so hostile when he'd never seen them a day in his life. And he wasn't going to cause the kid more pain than he already had.
"But if I read about it, can't I be more prepared for it when it comes?" Loki questioned innocently. The billionaire just shook his head.
"Those things already happened. You just don't remember. There's no need for you to prepare for them. Besides, who wants to read about themselves? Wouldn't you rather read about dragons or physics or whatever?" He suggested. The green eyed boy nodded slowly. "Here, what's your favorite subject?"
"Magic."
...
...
"Crap. Ummm, second favorite?"
-{[(•)]}-
By the end of the day, Loki had moved the books he was interested to a rapidly growing pile in his room. As soon as the seven year old had left the library to start his little hoard, Tony grabbed the Norse mythology and had JARVIS direct him to the best hiding place in the entire tower. Then he restricted the information of the book's location so that only he and Thor could find it.
It seemed Loki was in love with the fantasy books earth had to offer. They apparently came very close to what Asgard was actually like (in some cases), and the boy liked reading them so he didn't feel too homesick. He quickly became obsessed with the Harry Potter series; Tony secretly made plans to sit down with the kid and watch the movies.
The green eyed child also like books that talked about the history of earth. He drew his own world map with JARVIS and linked books to the countries they talked about so he had a reference guide. The All-Tongue allowed him to read in any language, and Natasha quickly jumped on the chance to read to him in Russian. Unfortunately, once Loki learned about the freezing temperatures of the northern country, he became wary of the topic.
Steve soon had the mini-magician interested in the art books the library offered. The duo say together for hours, learning everything the guides had to teach them. The captain's bedroom wall was covered with dozens of the boy's drawing by the end of the month.
When Loki finally got around to the science wing, Tony and Bruce dragged him away to the lab to show him everything he was studying. Bruce covered biology, physics, and chemistry, while Tony focused on engineering and technology.
Clint finally seemed to be coming around when he walked in on a lesson with a determined face, grabbed Loki by the back of his shirt, and hauled him off to teach him sign language and go through a few mystery novels. The archer also forced the boy to practice throwing knives and shooting a bow, but that's a completely unrelated matter.
Thor was the last to care about his brother's interest in books. "Once was enough. I don't want to loose my brother to those blasted pages again," he said. With enough nagging from everyone else, Thor eventually browsed the options the library had to offer. Not much caught his eye, but he soon found the adventure section. Every night, the blonde was found putting his brother to bed with another valiant journey or treacherous quest.
Even Pepper jumped on the reading rainbow, bringing in some of the best authors in literary history. Shakespeare, Charles Dickens, Stephen King, Benjamin Franklin, C. S. Lewis, Jules Verne, Kate DiCamillo, E. B. White, Hellen Keller, Edgar Allen Poe...
For the next three months, Loki always had a book in his hand or was in the lab. Even when the Avengers had a mini-party to celebrate half a year of Loki living peacefully with them, the boy still curled up in a corner of the couch to read. Clint had to literally steal the book from him and hide it.
After seven months of staying together, the Avengers finally had to swallow the fact that the spell may never wear off and they might actually have to raise the mini-God. Surprisingly, the team didn't find it too much of an inconvenience. Loki had already lived with them for over half a year and hadn't caused any serious problems. Tony and Natasha had accepted their roles as his parents, and everyone adored the boy as much as any family.
But there was one problem- Fury.
The man suspected something was up, as he had for the past four months. The Avengers suddenly seemed much less reluctant to spend time together, and one of them was always at the tower, as though they had something to hide. It was suspicious to say the least. Luckily, he figured they had just gotten closer over the past half-year of living together, and he decided not to focus too much on it. For now...
A/N: o.O Has it already been seven months? The first five chapters were Day 1, chapter six was the morning of Day 2, chapter seven was the first month with Loki in the lab, chapter eight was around month two, and this chapter adds another five or so months (give or take)... DANG. I did not really mean for that to happen, but I guess familiar bonds take longer to happen than friendships...
DANG.