Thor was going to wear a hole in the floor, Pepper mused with more concern than most people warranted (if anyone could pace through the floor, it would be Thor). His brother was stretched out on the couch with a book perched in his thin fingers, though Pepper was pretty sure that he was actually just trying to calm Thor down; though she couldn't understand them this far across the room, she could hear the low murmur of Loki's voice.
"Morning!" she greeted cheerfully as she clipped over to them, her heels clacking.
"Lady Pepper! How good to see you," Thor boomed, overeager in his relief for a distraction.
"Virginia," Loki smiled warmly, his eyes teasing.
"Hey, Thor. And Pepper, Loki," she reprimanded lightly, "or I'm calling you by one of your less-than-stellar names."
His nose wrinkled in distaste at that, but she didn't bank on having won; she didn't know any names of Loki's that he actually disliked.
"Are you just waiting for Jane?" she asked, knowing the answer.
Sure enough, Thor grimaced slightly and Loki stifled a grin.
"I am afraid so, Lady Pepper. It is hard to occupy my mind with other tasks at present," he admitted.
"Try impossible," Loki muttered, shifting back to his book.
"Why don't you help Steve train? I'm sure he wouldn't mind some company," Pepper suggested.
The god paused for a moment before nodding slightly. He wasn't addled, but the thought of Jane was enough to chase any logic from his mind. Pepper's suggestion was a good one. Thanking her thus, he hurried off to the gym.
Pepper chuckled, shaking her head as she sat down on one of the cushions Loki had moved his legs from. She'd braced herself, but it still came as a mild surprise when the fabric was cool to the touch instead of warm like it was when she stole Tony's seat.
"How long was he pacing?" she asked, scanning through some of the papers she'd sat down on the coffee table.
"An hour and seventeen minutes. And that was after waking me at dawn to ask what he should wear," Loki answered with a quiet snort.
"What did you tell him?" Pepper queried with a grin.
She had absolutely no difficulty in imagining Thor charging in to ask an absolutely inane question. Thor was Thor was akin to a child – a multi-thousand-year-old child who could beat most anyone to a pulp with his bare hands.
"I used a sleeping spell and transported him to his room. The wards didn't let him out till an hour and a half ago," he explained dryly.
Startled, Pepper was silent for a moment before her shoulders hiked up in laughter.
"Oh god. It's so cute," she giggled.
Loki merely smiled, green eyes flicking up over the top of his book. He didn't need to say anything for her to get the message: You don't have to put up with it all the time. Once she'd quieted herself, Pepper glanced across at the lanky god with a grin lingering on her lips.
"Sigyn's coming today, too, isn't she?" she checked.
"Mm," Loki nodded, his gaze drawn automatically to the book.
Biting the inside of her lip, Pepper studied his face curiously. Considering the trouble he had gone to, to bring his wife and son to Earth, Loki was consistently withdrawn when the subject came up. Pepper sighed softly and went back to work; it wasn't her business anyway.
"He's so…different," Jane commented, leaning back against the counter.
Natasha glanced over in surprise, her glass halfway to her lips. Thor was ecstatic, yes, but he hardly seemed out of character. The thunder god was well known for his enthusiastic emotions. …as was currently being displayed in he, Clint, Tony and Darcy's ping pong match.
"Thor?" she asked.
"Wha- oh, no," Jane laughed, "I meant Loki. When they stayed with us he was a lot…happier, I guess. More cheerful anyway."
Eyebrow quirking, Natasha glanced over at the lean god still draped over the sofa. He'd gotten up to greet Jane and Darcy, but otherwise had remained quiet and out of the way. Nothing seemed too unusual about that.
"Really? He's always like this," Natasha shrugged.
"Huh," Jane murmured before brushing the topic away.
The rest of the afternoon passed with quiet chatter amongst the Avengers and Co. They had all immediately taken to Jane and Darcy; polar opposites, the two women pulled each other out into the generally chaotic atmosphere of superheroes. With the lounge filled with science hypothesizing and inane chatter, it wasn't until evening that they noticed Loki's absence.
"Hey, where'd Lokes go?" Clint queried, craning his neck to scan the room.
"He's not reading?" Bruce replied, surprise.
"Hey, Jarv, is Rudolf in his room?" Tony called, pausing for his AI's response.
"The younger Mr. Odinsson is not currently in the building, sir," JARVIS answered.
That announcement was met with silence and then a panicked flurry. Four of the friends tensed as thoughts of potential schemes whipped through their mind, while Thor and Clint shared a scowl.
"You uh want to clarify, J?" Tony prompted.
"Mr. Odinsson is on the roof, sir," the AI explained to a general sigh of relief.
However, that relief was short lived as Thor's face dropped in realization.
"Sigyn," he breathed before bolting.
The rest of the group hesitated only a moment before following – although, unlike Thor, they took the elevator – up to the roof, and all nine of them arrived at roughly the same time to the exact same scene.
Turned so that he was in profile, Loki's arm was wrapped about waist of a slim woman in the midst of kissing him, and a bit of black hair peeked up over his shoulder. The sound of the others' arrival, however, caused the two adults to break apart in surprise.
"Sigyn!" Thor boomed again.
Despite Loki's sudden scowl, the auburn haired goddess turned with a bright smile to her brother-in-law as well as the rest of the audience now gaping at her family. Loki shifted to allow Sigyn to actually face the Avengers and in doing so, revealed a bright-eyed toddler in his arms. Curly black hair stuck up in all directions, and the small child stared with wide grey eyes.
"Hello, Thor," Sigyn greeted with a faint inclination of her head, "The Avengers, Miss Foster, Miss Potts."
"It's a pleasure to meet you," Jane replied, offering her hand.
"Please, there's no need for formalities," Sigyn laughed, pulling Jane into a hug.
Startled, the astrophysicist's arms shot out reflexively before returning the brief hug. The rest of the Avengers – and Pepper – received a slightly more formal handshake and smile, which left some – Tony and Clint – disappointed in their lack of a hug from the petite goddess. Meanwhile, Loki had reluctantly relinquished his son into Thor's strong arms, much to the boy's delight.
"Uncle Thor!" he squealed, beaming.
"Aye, little fellow – by the Nine, you've grown," his uncle rumbled.
Loki's gaze flitted between his wife and son protectively, hating having them both pulled away from him. Without even looking at him, Sigyn could feel his warm look and hid a smile as she stepped back to him and interlaced their fingers. The relief that slipped through him was tangible.
"Hey, lil' man," Darcy cooed, wiggling her fingers at the boy, "Meet your aunt-sister-ancient-cousin!"
A few confused glances were shared, as well as Sigyn's snort of laughter, but most of them brushed it off as Darcy's general nonsense. The boy, however, scowled deeply as if deliberately attempting to mimic his father before his face cleared in an almost comical change.
"Hela?" he inquired happily.
Thor blanched, Loki swore softly, and the rest of them shared varyingly confused looks. Luckily, Tony picked that moment to step forward.
"So, nice as Manhattan air is – we have a tower," he pointed out, gesturing to the waiting elevator.
The Asgardians – and Jane and Darcy, of course – elected to take the stairs, but the others fit comfortably within the elevator. Leaning back beside Pepper, Tony scratched his jaw absently.
"Well – that was kind of awkward," he mused, "and damn. How'd Reindeer Games get her?"
Pepper rolled her eyes but stifled the desire to smack her boyfriend upside the head.
"I thought Loki's kids were all monsters," Clint commented.
"According to legend, he had two normal sons with Sigyn," Bruce corrected with a shrug.
The perhaps two seconds left in the ride were spent in silence, and once they reached the lounge, the Avengers-sans-Thor dropped into comfortable spots about the room to wait. Shortly after, Thor and Jane entered with the boy perched on his uncle's broad shoulders; Loki and Sigyn arrived just behind them, their hands clasped and faces warmed by faint smiles that lingered in the creases about their eyes.
"Behold, Vali the Brave!" Thor announced, "Great warrior of Vanaheim and Asgard alike – scourge of all ne'er do wells!"
Giggling happily, the boy raised his hand and little sparks of chartreus appeared about the fingers before Sigyn's hand shot out and the magic disappeared. From her tired look, it was clear that this wasn't a rare occurrence, and from Vali's frustrated frown, it wouldn't be the last this night.
Steve found himself grinning at the kid even as Vali scrambled down from Thor and raced around the room, a self-declared hero. Before long, he'd gathered each of the heroes' names and their specialty. At Bruce's hesitant explanation of the Hulk, the boy had verily beamed.
"My papa shapeshifts, too!" he exclaimed, "You're a seidrmandr."
The excitement in that declaration was such that none of them had the heart to correct the boy. There was, however, a little trepidation as Vali set out attempting to prompt Bruce's shift until Steve had scooped the boy up and distracted him. Only a few moments passed, though, before Vali was darting over to scope out the arc reactor. Tensing immediately, Tony nearly tossed the boy when magic sparked in his fist again. This time, though, it was Loki who stifled it.
"That is entirely his fault," Sigyn commented, leaning into her husband's arm, "He's always taking things apart."
Loki grinned languidly, his entire body relaxed into the couch, and shrugged a shoulder. He and Sigyn had taken the couch, and both kept a watchful eye on their hyperkinetic son. Once Vali had started introducing himself to the rest of the Avengers, Jane and Thor had settled down as well, and the astrophysicist was now in the midst of talking to Bruce about the relative application of gamma rays in locating potential Bifrost spots – no one was surprised that, of all of them, those two would be talking science instead of just chatting.
"Whoa, lil' guy," Steve chuckled, picking up Vali and situating him on the stool the god-child had been attempting to scale, "What do you want, buddy?"
"Mead," the boy explained with a sunny smile.
Even Tony blanched at this, all of them shooting startled stares in Loki's direction, but neither he nor the other two Asgardians seemed bothered by this request. In fact, Thor was giving the rest of the room a bemused glance at their hesitation.
"Uh – isn't he a little young?" Clint queried, "I mean, I get time runs differently up there, but he's like six."
"Mead's given to all ages save infants," Sigyn explained, "but, if you have milk, he'd probably be fine with that."
She had spent far less time on Midgard recently than either of the brothers, but she recognized that concern with all the surety of a Midgardian. There wasn't really a good reason for the all-ages mead drinking in Asgard, because even with the saltwater that surrounded them, they had enough contact with the other realms to get fresh water (and really, either Odin or Loki would be perfectly able to transform the ocean into drinking water, at least around Asgard); nonetheless, most children drank the sweet liquor as soon as they were old enough to not need milk.
"There's a gallon in the fridge," Pepper called over as the archer grabbed a glass.
"So, how'd you two meet?" Pepper started with only the faintest hint of uncertainty.
Sigyn chuckled, though she tossed a worried glance over at her husband. An easy smile was still on his lips, though, and Natasha's curiosity sat up sharply. Apparently seeing nothing to dissuade her, the goddess paused as if in thought before starting.
"When we were much younger, Thor decided to take on the Fire Serpent of Muspelheimr," she began, amusement in her tone, "and greatly misjudged his opponent. The Warriors Three and Lady Sif rushed him back, but it was all we healers could do to stop the venom. The All-father and All-mother were in great distress – and it was doubled when the younger prince vanished. I was quite certain we wouldn't have a palace left with their panic."
Though she was smiling in laughter at this, Loki's face had shifted with genuine surprise – and a hint of suspicion. Natasha's eyes narrowed slightly, listening more intently.
"After enough hours – when we had all but convinced the king and queen of the need for funeral preparations – Loki returned, and with him was the cure for the serpent's poison. Everyone was overjoyed and relieved that both princes had returned. Of course, it took Thor knocking Loki out for the rest of us to realize that he was hurt. I was the one in charge of him – though he was a terrible patient," Sigyn finished.
"…you knocked out your brother after he just saved you and was already injured?" Clint demanded.
"Oh, oh no! I didn't mean -" Sigyn stammered, flushing.
"He forced me to drop an illusion hiding the burns," Loki explained with a shrug.
"The idiot nearly killed himself," Thor snorted, "and all of Asgard calls me the proud one."
"At least I had enough sense to avoid getting myself turned into a serpent's lunch," Loki rejoined.
Bruce had broken off from his conversation with Jane to genuinely grin at the brother's bickering; it was so far removed from the usual personas of them – Loki with his icy mask and Thor with his puppy-like geniality. For once, he could see the brother of whom Thor had also spoken so affectionately.
The rest of the night was easy, with laughter and conversation floating through the room as if they were all old friends and not the motley crew they were. Sigyn and Steve had found themselves chatting up a storm, even with Loki's light-hearted comment about losing his wife to a mortal, and Clint found himself the perfect match for one Vali Lokison. When it was sometime closer to morning than night, however, they all called it quits and, save for Tony, wandered off to their rooms.
Still wide-awake, Tony had grabbed a mug of coffee and set off for the lab: he'd started working on a phone for Thor's inter-realm travels with Loki's assistance, and he was possibly using JARVIS to run tests on the magic Loki had used. So far, it was driving him far more insane than he preferred; while the Tesseract and 'glowstick of destiny' had both emitted radiation akin to gamma rays, Loki's magic alternated between just about every form of energy there was, constantly evolving and changing.
He was three hours into it by the time he finally leaned back in frustration and laced his hands behind his head. Everything could be explained by science – everything. There was no way in hell that some stupid alien with glowing – okay, he needed a break.
"How're our guests, J?" he called, trying to distract himself from impotent frustration.
He wasn't going to get anything out of his time down here if he resorted to railing at Loki in his own head. Sure, he could work wonders when he was trapped in a cave or stuck out in the middle of Tennessee with a kid as a colleague, but yelling at a god inside his head was about as useful as smacking that same head against the table. Not very.
Somewhere around the time that he came to this round-about realization, he also realized that JARVIS had said no more.
"J?" he queried before starting in surprise.
On the screen was the live feed from Loki's room – Tony didn't ask why JARVIS had a camera positioned directly over the god's bed – and, much to the tinkerer's relief, the scene was hardly a kinky one: laying mostly on his side, Loki's one arm was draped over to rest gently on Sigyn's shoulder, her own arm curled about the boy sleeping between them with a faint smile on his lips. An echoing stretched pulled Tony's own lips, and his mind automatically drifted to Pepper. That grin stretched wider with wry understanding.
"Point taken, Jarv," Tony chuckled, flicking off the computers and heading upstairs.
AN: So, that's basically where my inspiration grinds to a screeching halt [and yes, that entire chapter was just for a snuggly scene of Loki's family. I regret nothing.]. I'd love some suggestions if you have any for what adventures to include next!
Oh, and I realized belatedly that I reference a lot of fics that I love without explaining them...at all. So!
Darcy's comment about being related to Vali stems from this fic: /works/495868/chapters/868126 [rated M for adult content... mostly sexual suggestions and some content, I s'pose]
Loki saving Thor comes from this one [the whole series is lovely and puts an [to me] awesome light on the whole royal family's relationships]: /works/543843
...I know there are more, but I can't find all of them [i.e. the one in which Loki knows he's jotunn and saves Thor from a bilgesnipe - I have searched all of and AO3 and come up empty!].
Also, sorry it's taken so long to reply to reviews - I really can't stand the built in system ^^;
Kiiriminna and BlazeingEcho - Thanks a bunch! It's always nice to hear one's work is appreciated.
SirVacuumThe3rd - I've been writing for a little under a week, but yes - posted all in four days. Thanks a bunch!
Sombraline - Aw, thank you for making me the exception ^^ I'm really glad to hear that; I kind of worry that I put too much Tony and Loki in and make them OOC - it's nice to hear otherwise. Thanks for replying to the Author's Note, too!