Loki Visits the Avengers: Christmas Time
Disclaimer: I don't own any of them!
Author's Note: Here's the final chapter of this one. The story will continue, however, in Loki Visits the Avengers: New Years. Read, review, and enjoy!
Tony woke up the next morning, tired from the lack of sleep. The first phase of 'Operation: Apologize to Loki and Show That He Is Liked by the Avengers' was finished two hours after midnight. They would have been finished earlier if Thor had just gone to bed when they asked him to, so they could pull out all the gifts "From Santa". Thor, however, being Thor, didn't listen and stayed up until all the other Avengers faked went to bed. And, even then, he insisted on putting out milk and cookies before going to sleep. Thank god (the one that wasn't Loki of course!) today was Christmas! After this, Loki will soon be gone and out of their hair.
Tony quickly got out of bed, had a cold shower, dressed, and lazily brushed his hair and teeth in a matter of minutes. Glancing at the alarm clock, he saw it was five o'clock. However, he wanted to go check out his stocking before anyone else got up. The one in charge of the stockings this year was Bruce, so, naturally, he was excited to see what favors his Science buddy got him. Tony quietly crept out of his room and made his way down the hallway, being careful as not to disturb anyone. Finally, he walked into the living room to see…
Loki was sitting on the ground, his knees tucked underneath his chin, arms wrapped tightly around his legs. He was staring in awe at the tree, the twinkling lights being on. Tony tried to back away without being noticed, but as soon as he moved, Loki's gaze was upon him. Tony couldn't make out the trickster god's expression. Not knowing what to do, Tony decided to walk over to the god and plop down right next to him. He wasn't sure if this was the brightest of ideas, but it was worth a shot. Loki stared for a moment before looking back up at the tree.
"You got me gifts. All of you," he said quietly, gesturing at the newly made pile next to Thor's, "Why?"
"Why not?" Tony asked with a shrug.
"I thought only good people get gifts," Loki whispered, the words almost being too quiet to hear.
Tony thought about this for a second before saying, "A bad deed doesn't make you a bad person. I mean, I've done some really messed up things in the past, but every day I regret it."
For a moment there was just plain silence, the light dancing across the room. The words "I regret" finally escaped Loki's mouth. Tony turned to observe the god, and this time to really take in everything. Loki looked so young at this moment, so vulnerable. Tony knew Loki was showing him a part of himself that he wouldn't even show to his own brother, and so, for the moment, Tony allowed himself to revel and take it all in. The colorful lights danced upon Loki's pale skin, making him look…beautiful. The god really was beautiful. Before Tony could stop himself, he wrapped an arm around the younger god's shoulders. Loki allowed himself the lean his head against Tony's shoulder, shocking the philanthropist. Tony opened his mouth to say something, but decided against it and, instead, made himself more comfortable and stared up at the Christmas tree.
Tony woke with a start, not exactly knowing when he had fallen asleep. He was laying flat on the ground now, his back slightly stiff from the hard floor, his right arm for some reason numb. Tony turned his head towards Loki and discovered the reason for this. Loki slept next to him, using Tony's arm as a pillow. The god had nestled into him during the short period of time. Tony, not wanting to disturb the trickster, slowly lifted himself up, being careful as to not just drop Loki's head on the ground. When Tony was free of the god's grasp, Tony lifted the god off the ground and laid him out onto a nearby couch. He then turned back and decided to go back to his previous mission: look in his stocking.
Before Tony could, however, his plans were thwarted with Bruce himself entering the room…Was it him or did Bruce have a smug smile…oh no. "So, how did you sleep? From what I saw, you slept pretty well," Bruce said, trying hard to conceal his laughter.
"If you tell anyone…" Tony hissed, jabbing the man in the chest with a finger.
"Don't worry; your secret is safe with me. I just think it makes sense is all," Bruce said with a warm smile. Tony started to respond, only to have Steve, followed by an excited Thor and two unenthusiastic assassins, enter.
After waking up Loki, much to his displeasure, the Avengers set out opening their gifts. First were the stockings, which, to everyone's delight, were filled to the brim with candy. Even Loki had some good stuff in them, including some chocolate 'coal', which even made him smile a bit. They then went down to business at opening the actual gifts, deciding to go one at a time. "You first Clint," Steve said. Clint, tiredly, opened his first gift which turned out to be…
"Really, Tony?" Clint asked annoyed, holding up a toy bow with matching arrows, which had suction cups at the end. Both Tony and Loki suppressed their giggles as the archer muttered in displeasure. Besides that, he received a real bow and arrows, an Asgardian hunting knife (from Loki of course), his favorite flavor of salt water taffy (much to everyone's disgust), a sweater, some socks, and a new IPad (he sort of dropped his from one of his perches).
Natasha, meanwhile, received a couple of guns, Asgardian throwing knives (also from Loki), a pink shirt with sequins (which she quickly threw across the room, then glared at Tony with a look that said 'I'm going to kill you'), a new pair of boots, and a gift card to Starbucks.
Steve received polish for his shield, an IPhone, a manual on how to use an IPhone (he stared at it blankly for a while before putting it down and deciding to ignore it, much to Tony's amusement), a sweater, an Asgardian shield (cough cough Loki cough), and also socks. Yay.
Bruce happily accepted his new Chemistry set, extra test tubes, books, a jar of something weird that must have been from Loki and so he would have to ask about it later, a sweater, socks, and stretchy purple shorts for the Hulk.
Thor was delighted to find Pop Tarts, a sweater, socks, an IPhone, a book about Midgardian traditions, and... "Brother?" Thor questioned as he stared at the precious gift in his hands. Before him was a framed picture of he, his brother, Odin, and Frigga, all standing before the Bifrost, smiling. Both Thor and Loki in the picture were boys, Thor grinning proudly while Loki smiled mischievously. "How…"
"I have my ways, brother," Loki said, smiling. Thor, noticing Loki used the word 'brother' leaned over the Loki and gave him a great big hug. The rest of the group listened as they exchanged a quick conversation in their native tongue before pulling away.
Tony quickly ripped open his gifts to find a book about manners, a big red button that said 'Off' ("Ha ha, very funny guys"), some bottles of fine alcohol, bags of coffee, and a strange hunk of metal that immediately piqued Tony's interest. "Thanks, Loks," Tony said, giving him a grin. Loki raised his eyebrow at the new nickname, but decided not to comment.
Finally, it was Loki's turn to open his gifts. One by one he opened them, and with each he was astounded by how generous they were. Boxes of expensive chocolate truffles, books about the different cultures of Midgard, popular Midgardian fictional books ("I've been meaning to buy this one," Loki said, holding up Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone), old spell books from Asgard he hadn't been able to check out before, an IPhone (with manual of course and plan paid by Tony of course), and a shirt that said 'I Do What I Want'. Loki looked around at them all and, with a big smiled, said, "Thank you, all of you, so very much. This is really too much." The team offered him back their smiles. 'Operation: Apologize to Loki and Show That He Is Liked by the Avengers' was a success. This definitely warmed all of the Avengers' hearts.
The rest of the day was very peaceful, relaxing, and enjoyable. Pepper came over for a short visit, opening her gifts ("Really Tony, an agenda? You didn't even try did you?") and leaving for her new boyfriend's house, AKA Phil Coulson. They all sung Christmas carols, watched Christmas specials (including the new Doctor Who episode), and ate up all the chocolate chip cookies. When dinner finally came, they all tucked in to a delicious feast of Chinese food, much to the God of Mischief's pleasure. Within minutes, all the dumplings mysteriously disappeared, but the team decided to not comment on that. Afterward, they stuffed themselves with cakes before deciding to relax in the living room. "This really is the best Christmas ever," Tony said, lounging back on the couch, one hand with a glass of eggnog with rum, the other hand trying to not wrap itself around Loki's shoulders again.
"What are your plans after this Loki?" Steve suddenly asked. The team looked up at Loki expectantly.
The god blushed slightly before saying, "If it's alright with all of you, would…would it be okay for me to stay for New Years?"
"Of course," Thor boomed happily.
"Sure," both assassins said at the same time.
"You bet," Steve said with a smile.
"You have to," Bruce said, grinning.
Tony gave in and wrapped his arm around Loki's shoulders, pressed him against his person, grinned and said, "Wouldn't be the same without you."
End of the Christmas Time Visit.