Sixty Nine
The next morning, we told Îrben and Malrin that we needed to return to Midgard. Aeyrn was upset, but Loki promised her we'd return again soon. She still stomped off mad at him. Malrin assured us that if we ever needed anything, not hesitate to make another trip. She hugged us both tightly.
"You take care of our Loki. You hear." She whispered to me.
"I will." I whispered back, squeezing her tighter. Loki had gone in search of Aeyrn.
"Tony it was good to finally meet you. I hope to see you again, soon." Îrben said, clasping a hand to my shoulder. "Hopefully before the end of your lifetime." He laughed. I tried to laugh along, knowing they'd outlive me.
Aeyrn came pouting back to her parents. I knelt down to her. She'd been crying.
"What's wrong?" I asked.
"You and uncle Loki have to leave. I don't want you to leave." She burst anew with tears. She wrapped her arms around my neck tightly. I tried to shush her.
"Love bug, could you go get one of my gauntlets?" I asked, standing. I rocked her slightly until Loki returned. I handed the metal glove to her.
"You keep this safe for me, and I'll be back to show you how it works. Promise?"
"Tony, is that really safe?" Loki raised an eyebrow as did Malrin.
"Of course. It can't be powered without this." I tapped on my Arc Reactor. Malrin's eyes brightened when she saw the reactor. A slow smile spread across her face. I figured it was because she'd hadn't seen it until now and brushed it off. Aeyrn slipped the gauntlet on her small hand. She wiggled the fingers the best she could, and smiled wide.
"Promise!" She shouted. She hugged me tight again, then leapt into Loki's arms. He hugged her tightly.
"And I promise when you're older, you can stay on Midgard with us for a month or so." He said kissing her cheek. Malrin gave him a concerning look. "When you grow into this." He added holding her gloved fingers.
Loki carried her outside, followed by her parents. He set her down, and she ran to where I had my Ironman suit waiting. I gave both Malrin and Îrben a hug and said my goodbyes. Loki said his goodbyes while I suited up. Aeyrn watched in awe. I knelt and touched her cheek with my free hand.
"Now, you promised you'd keep that safe until I get back. You be a good girl for your mommy and daddy." I smiled.
"I will, uncle Tony!" She hugged me and ran to Loki for one last hug. I stood watching. Loki looked like he was about to cry. Îrben touched Loki's arm. I watched the energy flow from one to the other in a light touch. Loki walked to me, grasping my fingers. He kissed me deeply, his fingers tightening around mine.
"Let's go home." He breathed, his lips barely brushing mine. I wrapped my gloved hand around his waist and shut my eyes.
When I reopened them, I met his green eyes. I didn't care where in the nine realms we were as long I had Loki.
"Welcome home, sirs." Jarvis chirped.
"Jarvis," I sighed. "I thought I corrected you.
"Sir, you did. Dr. Banner has reconfigured my protocols. I congratulate you and Mr. Laufeyson on your relationship." Jarvis announced. I looked around, finally prying my eyes from Loki's. We were in the Malibu house instead of New York, like I was expecting.
"You want to very quietly let Pepper know we're home, or do want to wait a few days?" Loki asked.
"Why are we here?" I questioned stepping out of the suit.
"Felt it was safer, in case we are still not accepted."
"I will let Natasha know, she can keep a secret better. Pepper will just screech and let everyone know. Besides, it may take a few days for them to come out here. I know they'll want to see how you're doing." I smiled moving to the desktop to send a quick email to Nat.
"Jarvis, order some Chinese food for us. It's been a long journey."
"Yes, sir." The AI chirped. Loki wrapped his arms around me, kissing my neck. I leaned into him, loving his arms wrapped around me. His nimble fingers guarding the Arc Reactor. My computer chirped. I tapped it, only to be greeted by Natasha and Pepper's faces on my screen.
"Where the hell have you been?" Pepper shouted.
"She means well. But seriously, where the hell have you been?" Natasha corrected, pushing Pepper off screen.
"Off planet." I replied.
"Alfheim." Loki corrected.
"For a year? You've been off planet for a year!" Pepper yelled again.
"A year? No! A month. Right?" I turned to Loki, who just smiled and shrugged. "Seriously? We've been gone a year?"
"Time flies when your having fun?" He shrugged again.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because the rest of the team needed to calm down, especially my brother." He explained.
"Speaking of Thor." Natasha interjected. "He's been scouring the planet for you two. He's still quite upset."
"Are you coming back?" Pepper asked, pushing her way back into the screen.
"We'd like to stay here for awhile. Handle the hatred one group at a time." Loki answered for us. "As long as you stay quiet about out return, you two can come out to see us. Don't tell Jane, she'll just tell Thor."
"Yeah, I'm not ready for that argument yet." I agreed. "Bring Bruce. Tell him to bring details if that drone project. I want to see what he's done in a year."
"Yeah, let me gather everything and make excuses. We can be there by morning. Might want to adjust Jarvis's security. I don't know if Steve figured it out to notify him of your return." Nat informed us. I tapped a few keys, updating and changes that Capsicle made. The security footage was now just running a loop of the empty house.
"See you in the morning then." I replied. She ended the video, and it was just me and Loki again.
Loki walked to the door to receive the food from the delivery person. I opened the steel curtains that enveloped the house. It was night, with a beautiful full moon just starting to rise. I did miss the moon.
"Love bug?"
"Yes, Tony?"
"So when, we made love the other night, under the stars. That was the first time in almost a year?" I asked, still looking at the moon. He wrapped me in his arms again. I turned facing him.
"Yes."
"We have a lot of sex to make up for, don't we?" I said leaning in, my lips barely touching his.
"Yes." Loki replied.