Koyaanisqatsi: Nature out of balance; a way of life so unbalanced that you need a new way.
Modi is running through the Avengers Tower at full tilt, bobbing and weaving between and underneath table legs and other pieces of furniture. The ones that he does not manage to evade, he zaps away into some other dimension to avoid hitting, and Loki smiles in delight and applauds Modi's slowly growing control over his seidr as Tony's prized dinner set disappears piece by piece.
Modi stops in his tracks as he comes upon a little cradle, the contents of which include one burbling pink bundle and a multitude of soft, fuzzy toys. He squints at the thing, examining it.
"What dis?" he asks his mama, pointing into the crib, sticking his fingers through the bars, not tall enough to look over the top of the cradle. "So pink."
"Yes, that is a very pink baby," Loki agrees, going over to his son and capturing his tiny fingers in his own, longer ones, just to provide an extra barrier in case Modi takes it upon himself to zap the baby into another dimension. Loki would have trouble explaining that one.
"Baybee?" Modi asks, squirming and looking around Loki's knee to look at the thing. "Me baby, not it."
Loki laughs. "You are my baby, and she is Miss Pepper's baby. Remember? Emily is her name. I told you before."
Modi scrunches his face, trying to remember and clearly failing.
He hesitates uncertainly. "Mama...love baby?" he asks, frowning.
"Well, yes, I suppo -" Loki starts, before Modi buries his face in his knee and begins to sob all over the freshly laundered distressed denim of Loki's black skinny jeans. "Oh, Norns, what is it now?" he asks, as Emily, in her crib, begins to cry also. Pepper comes rushing out from the other room, discarding a stack of sheets haphazardly on the sofa, to pick her daughter up.
"Me baby, Mama should wuv me," Modi whines, pouting into Loki's neck as Loki hoists him up. "Not it."
Pepper cannot help but laugh, and Loki throws her a glare over his shoulder, almost considering having another new baby in a year or so, just to put the woman through this same thing.
"There are many babies," Loki begins, explaining over Pepper's laughter, which has started anew, "and their mamas love them, you see?" Modi buries his face into Loki's neck, smearing tears all over his skin, and Loki rolls his eyes at the ceiling. "And you will be my baby, okay? Forever. So for heaven's sake, don't cry, you said you were a big boy, remember?"
Modi had, just a few hours earlier, insisted he was all grown up and therefore should be allowed to have an entire steak like Papa. Loki had not agreed with this sentiment, but he had also been relatively sure Thor was sneaking Modi chunks of steak underneath the table.
Modi snuffles his way into an early nap, cried out and tired from all his running around, and Loki sighs, shifting the child to another shoulder before walking off to put him into bed.