A/N: This chapter was a real struggle for me, so be gentle please.
[Chapter 15- Movie Night]
"Alright, I don't know how, but somehow Loki has lived here for almost a year and hadn't seen a movie," Tony snapped over the intercom. "I know I tried to introduce him, so what's up with all'a you?"
"We were too busy getting him to read Harry Potter, the Hunger Games, and the Lord of the Rings," Natasha deadpanned.
"There are movies for those!" Tony huffed.
"I was teaching him to draw."
"We were working on his magic."
"He needed to learn how to defend himself if you remember?"
"Someone wanted to get him a cat."
"Excuses, excuses!" Tony waved away their statements. "I'm trying to say we need to remedy this grievous error. I am declaring a Family Movie Night in the common room at 6:00 tonight! Be there! Or else."
-[]-
"What is a movie?" Loki asked.
"It is a most marvelous thing, brother!" Thor exclaimed.
"It's like a moving picture," Steve grinned. They'd had movies back before the ice, but there had been amazing advancements since then, especially in the special effects department. "It's a story you can watch."
"Alright, what should we start with? We've got Disney, but Jarvis pulled up a few other kid movies to start with. I thought maybe we'd start Loki off easy-"
"Disney is easy? Everyone dies!" Clint cried.
"Wow, way to ruin it," Tony snapped.
"What about the Harry Potter movies?" Bruce suggested. "We know Loki'd like those."
"Harry Potter?" Loki questioned with a surprised smile.
"I wanted to show him something new!" Tony whined.
"You have been getting him interested in science, yeah?" Natasha asked. "What about the Astro Boy movie that-"
"We do not talk about that," Bruce and Tony declared at once.
"Avatar: The Last-"
"Or that."
"Well then what do you think he should watch?!" Clint threw his hands up.
Tony and Steve shared a look.
"Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog."
...
...
...
"Tony, that's a terrible idea. I thought we were starting him off easy?" Pepper replied. A few others nodded.
"Let's just go back to Disney, it's at least more kid friendly."
"I vote Beauty and the Beast!"
"Meet the Robinsons!"
"My brother would most enjoy the King of Lions!"
"Oh my gosh, Thor! No way!"
"If I may add my input..." Jarvis's voice came from the ceiling. Everyone but Tony looked up.
"Shoot, J."
"Would Loki enjoy the Artisocats?"
"Oh my gosh."
"Why didn't we...?"
"That's perfect..."
"Of course!"
The AI pulled up the movie, and everyone settled in to watch. Clint passed out bowls of popcorn, pretzels, crackers, chips-
"How much food did you think we'd need?!" Tony yelped as another bowl was put in front of him.
"What? Dude! It's a movie night! Gotta have variety, right? There's also orange soda, Sprite, Coke, root beer, Diet Coke, Mountain Dew-"
"We are not giving Loki caffeine," Bruce rolled his eyes. He went to the fridge and poured the seven year old a glass of apple juice. The boy accepted it happily and turned his eyes back to the television.
"When shall the Cats of Aristo begin?" He asked.
"No, Loki," Natasha smiled. "It's Aristocats, like aristocrat."
"Oh," the child thought for a moment. "Okay. Let it begin, then!"
Jarvis gave the closest sound to an electronic laugh and started the cartoon.
Loki watched with interest until the mama cat and her kittens were kidnapped and dumped under the bridge. He began to panic then, making Jarvis quickly pause the movie.
"No! No!" The seven year old cried. He grabbed at Tony's pant leg. "They were happy! Why did they get taken away!"
"Loki, it's not rea-" Natasha started, but Tony shushed her and gently scooped Loki up into his lap. He awkwardly adjusted them for a moment. The genius hadn't really adjusted to his fatherly role all the way, but he was prepared to help Loki even if it was a discomfort to himself.
See, Steve? He could be selfless.
"Loki, think about what just happened. What led to the... kitties being taken?" He asked.
"They were playing, and the rich lady was working on her will. The servant heard she was leaving her wealth to the cats, then to him... But cats don't live that long! He could have waited!" Loki frowned.
"Yeah, he could have, but he let his greed get the best of him. He wasn't a bad servant, but he wanted the rich lady's stuff more than he wanted to keep being a good guy. The movie teaches us that lesson, that we can't let the bad things control us," Tony tried to explain. The child thought about it for a moment.
"Like older me. He let the bad things get him and that's when he started to be bad," Loki compared.
"I- Well-" Tony paused for a minute.
"We're not sure that older Loki was bad," Pepper managed to say, finally. "In fact, there might have been... someone else... forcing him." Loki tensed up a little, flashes of darkness, blue light, and purple shooting through his mind.
"You better now? We should keep watching the movie," Clint said. His eyes tracked all of Loki's movements. He understood exactly how Loki would be feeling- the guilt, the insecurity, the anxiety. It wasn't something anyone should have to go through, much less a seven year old.
The dark haired boy broke out of his thoughts and nodded quietly to Clint, practically begging for a distraction with his eyes. Those flashes and thoughts were happening more and more often now, and he was afraid of what would happen when the barriers in his mind finally fell.
Jarvis started the movie again, and the family watched as the main characters saved themselves from a monster's greed. Tony and Pepper snuggled Loki close, Thor made sure he had plenty of the delicious snacks, and Natasha read a story to him before bed to make up for her failure to reassure him earlier. Clint felt slightly closer to Loki, almost like another older brother.
Steve proposed a Family Movie Night whenever they had an available Friday, and the others agreed.
A/N: QUESTION OF THE UPDATE: If you could pick one Disney movie for Loki to watch, what would it be, and what do you think of that movie?