Something about this story... It's kinda just been writing itself. Which is so nice and a bit of a reprieve from Universal Chaos. Thank you to those who've been leaving feedback! Love you!

I'm assuming I won't get another chapter up before Christmas so... Merry Christmas to those who celebrate! :)

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Loki's fortress rose from out of the craggy side of his mountain with an unmissable glimmer and a baffling height. Despite the snowy surroundings, he had chosen a blinding gold to make up his outside walls so that the structure flashed in the available light and stood out from the bleak skies.

It was all a bit ostentatious for Natasha. It begged to be noticed and carried the arrogance to believe no one could break through its walls. But no fortress was impenetrable; not from her at least.

She and Clint climbed up the cold terrain outfitted in their thick white and gray cloaks and were armed with only magicless items. Kind could sense kind, afterall, and there was no sense in risking a potion or two when Loki might be near enough to feel even the barest tingles of it. Especially not with the kingdom in so precarious a position and with Loki moving progressively closer to the boundaries of their land.

Fury had told them that, at least. Natasha still wasn't happy that he'd kept that the soon-to-be king and his top knight had been cursed out of their world.

"I think I'm half frozen," Clint complained for at least the third time as they neared the foundation of the fortress. Natasha tossed a droll look over her shoulder and continued on.

"We at least know your mouth isn't part of the frozen half."

"Are we close yet?"

Natasha didn't bother responding. Instead she held up a fist as she ducked down and stopped moving. Ahead, a patrol of Frost Giants marched by outside the front gates. They were tall, as their name suggested, and blue-skinned with red eyes. The cold didn't touch them; it was well known that they carried ice magic under their skin. Even a glance of skin contact could have you losing fingers or limbs. Natasha had seen it happen in the past.

She watched them with sharp eyes until they disappeared from sight, then switched her gaze over towards the fortress once more. Turning back to Clint, she gestured with her hands, utilizing a silent language they'd both learned that was handy for stealth.

"There's guards on rotation and activity inside. We'll have to swing around to a side entrance."

"Servants quarters or kitchen," Clint suggested. "Those are always open."

"Let's go then."

They had to move slowly and be especially quiet now with being so close. It was tedious travel. Clint made sure to step in the same tracks that Natasha left to cut down on the noise. By the time they reached around to the side, the cold was beginning to nip at even her. But, as always, she pushed down the discomfort to do the job at hand.

A polished wooden door with gold inlay that set in the wall they were creeping along opened and closed. A servant bundled in a thick coat and carting a bucket of slop shuffled out into the snow in order to toss out the garbage down the hill. Natasha waved her hand and they both darted for the door, slipping through and closing it again without making a sound.

The hall was dim, with a cobblestone floor and vaulted ceilings to accommodate the height of the occupants. The scent of baked goods and spices were thick in the air. They moved more quickly. If they were caught out in the open it'd be a mess trying to leave alive, and Natasha would rather avoid any confrontations if she could.

They breathed briefly into their cupped hands as they adjusted to the reprieve from the cold and moved further towards the heart of the structure.

"Alright," Clint whispered. "Where would you keep an all-powerful cube if you had one?"

Natasha grinned.

[]

Sutton sat in her apartment staring at the wall blankly. It was quiet, save for Sprinkles' anxious pacing back and forth across the room. She held out a hand, hovering in the air, to catch along the top of Sprinkles' head every time she passed in a lazy attempt at petting. Sprinkles stopped pacing, stuck her nose in Sutton's face, and whined loudly.

"Stop," said Sutton. She scratched behind Sprinkles' one bent ear and sighed. "It was like this before they came. You'll have to get used to it again eventually."

But Sprinkles just whined again, the sound deepening as she yawned in distress and resumed pacing. Sutton rolled her eyes.

"They're outside," she said. Sprinkles perked up at the word and ran to the front door. She turned in an excited circle and briefly pranced on her front paws. Sutton groaned. "No, not you."

A knock on her door drew away her attention and Sutton let out a relieved sigh.

"Finally."

Sutton stood from her couch and grabbed an envelope off her table before shoving Sprinkles out of the way and opening the front door. A tall, thin man in a second-hand suit stood outside her door and nodded once.

"Miss Regan," he said. "I trust you're doing well."

"I'm getting by, thank you Mr. Gardner. I've got the rent right here."

She held up the envelope with the check inside and passed it over. Mr. Gardner accepted the envelope primly, pulled the flap open to peer at the check, and then tucked it into his jacket pocket as he always did.

"Wonderful," he said. Sutton was always vaguely amused by his dry tone. As if he were an alien making attempts to connect to normal humans, but hadn't ever quite figured out how. "Everything is still working?"

"No issues since you last had the heat repaired." Sutton reassured him. Sprinkles nudged at her legs, trying to squeeze by and leave the apartment, and Sutton pushed her back with a foot. "It was nice seeing you, as always, Mr. Gardner," she said pointedly.

His eyes darted from her back into the apartment, but it was empty and silent save for her and Sprinkles. He looked down to Sprinkles and his lips thinned. Sutton edged further in front of Sprinkles and squared her shoulders.

"Anything else?"

"No," he said, drawing the word out. "I believe that's all." He finally settled his attention back to her and dipped his head. "Have a pleasant rest of your day." Sutton tilted her head in reply.

"You too."

She shut the door in relief and distracted Sprinkles by getting out her harness and leash while she waited for Mr. Gardner to move a few doors down the hall. He didn't always collect personally, sometimes he had an assistant do it, but Sutton noticed that he did it more often for her. She guessed there was some canine bias there.

Sprinkles sneezed in excitement as the harness was secured. Sutton wiggled Sprinkles' head back and forth with a smile as she stalled a bit more.

"You proved him wrong again, didn't you? Good girl. You haven't trashed the apartment one bit. Not like Mrs. Henderson's yappy Yorkie, huh? And if mean ol' Gary tries to tattle on you, we get to say how creepy and snoopy his is, don't we? We'll let Mr. Gardner know about the couple plants he shouldn't be growing in his apartment, won't we?"

Sprinkles surged forwards towards the door, dragging Sutton with her, and Sutton grunted as she righted herself.

"Alright, alright. Fine. I think the coast is clear enough. Let's go find the boys."

Sprinkles pulled on her lead despite knowing better and Sutton did her best to keep her dog from trampling over anyone as they finally made their way out of the apartment complex. Outside, Sprinkles paused and sniffed the air hurriedly and Sutton rolled her eyes.

"Go ahead; find them. Use your sniffer."

Her arm pulled in its socket as Sprinkles shot down the sidewalk. A few people yelped and Sutton sent them apologetic waves as she kept her grip on Sprinkles' leash. Steve and Bucky had only made themselves scarce from the apartment for about forty-five minutes. The fact that Sprinkles was acting like Sutton had already kicked them out and sent them on their way days ago made her unsettled.

How would her dog react when they actually left?

Sutton regained control of the walk, ordering Sprinkles to heel a few times before she actually did so, but continued on in their quest to find their friends.

"They really can't stay forever," Sutton said, but Sprinkles ignored her. "I've already stretched out their stay longer than I meant to. And everyone leaves eventually."

Sutton felt the more focused tug as Sprinkles spotted her targets, and she noted Steve and Bucky standing next to a market stall selling flowers and sweets. The vendor actually looked annoyed, and Sutton picked up her pace.

"-perfectly valid currency," Steve was arguing. "My friend was able to receive fair compensation for it."

"Look, man, I'm not taking it. It's cash or card only; I'm not a coin collector."

"Do you know who you're speaking to," Bucky cut in.

Sutton let out a short 'hyep!' as she hopped forward and let Sprinkles cut in front of the vendor's table.

"There you guys are!" She beamed brightly and tried to nudge them forwards. Flashing a smile at the vendor, she waved and turned back to the men. "Well I'm all finished with my stuff, so let's go! Alright, come on. Vamos."

Both men still appeared frustrated, but with Sprinkles attempting to weave herself around Steve's legs and Sutton pushing at their backs, she was able to get them away from the market booth and out of sight down the sidewalk.

She sighed as they left the conflict behind and she shot an exasperated scowl up at Bucky and Steve.

"I leave you two alone for an hour," she said, "and you already almost get into a fight in Pike's Place."

"It was not almost a fight," Steve argued. "The man was just being obstinate."

"Since when is gold coin not accepted," asked Bucky.

"Oh, I don't know. Since the 1600s? What were you trying to get anyway? What was so important that you felt like you had to cause a scene."

"Nothing," Steve said quickly before Bucky could answer. Sutton ran a hand through her curls.

"If you need something, you can just ask."

Steve's jaw clenched slightly. Sutton frowned. She'd started wondering if perhaps these two were fine with accepting support from whomever would give it to them. But the face Steve had just made… she recognized it.

Pride.

Her mother had made that face more than once when neighbors tried to offer support or money. There was always that flash of anger, that tilt of the head and thinning of the lips. That glint in the eye that said they'd almost rather starve first than admit they were struggling.

He didn't like being solely dependant on her. He didn't like having to ask for things.

"Sorry," she said. Both men looked at her. "You know, it wasn't actually that big of a deal. How about some coffee? Bucky still hasn't tried a cappuccino."

Bucky was a sport and willingly tried the drink. Steve ordered a white mocha and Sutton got a simple vanilla latte. She was wondering why the barista was eyeing them so oddly, when she followed the girl's gaze and finally understood she was gawking at Bucky's chainmail covered hand. Sutton didn't think she'd seen him without it on since they popped into her life. With a shake of her head she dismissed it and paid for their drinks.

The cappuccino turned out to be acceptable to Bucky. One sip of the white mocha and Steve's face puckered. Sutton laughed.

"What's the matter? Don't like it?"

One might've thought Sutton made the drink herself with the way he fumbled to try and come up with some polite excuse.

"No, it's good. I just, well, it's a bit sweet. But no matter!" He took another sip and cringed. Sutton snickered again and pushed over her latte.

"Here," she said. "I'll trade you."

"I couldn't-"
"Steve, it's fine. Really. I like white mochas."

She grabbed his cup and wiped the rim with her thumb before taking a drink. Steve watched her and followed her finger as she tapped the latte's lid.

"I think you'll like this one better. It's more basic."

There was a lingering pause, and then a bang from under the table. Steve jerked in his seat.

"Right," he said. "T-thank you."

His reaction to the latte was more positive and Sutton smiled.

"Although, if you're a king-"

"Not quite."

"In all but name," said Bucky.

"Then I probably should've tried the drink before giving it to you. Didn't they do that? To make sure it wasn't poisoned?"

"You'd never be given that duty," Steve said firmly. Sutton hummed.

"Probably right. I'd most likely end up a chambermaid. Or maybe a baker if I were really lucky." Steve's lips ticked down.

"No," he insisted. Sutton raised a brow and rested her chin on her fist.

"Oh? Alright then. What job do you think I'd have if I lived in a magical kingdom?"

Bucky smirked and eyed her posture, then mimicked it; resting his own chin on his chainmail fist.

"Yes. What job would she have, your majesty?"

Steve fiddled with his cup and rotated it on the table top.

"Well," he said. "I think-"

A loud bark sounded from outside, and Steve abruptly stopped speaking as they all turned to look. Sprinkles was staring at them through the window and had edged forwards as far as her tied leash would allow. Sutton thought she heard Steve sigh, but didn't mention it.

"I guess being seven feet away is too much for her to handle. She's going to absolutely lose her mind when you guys leave. Well, Steve, mostly. Sorry Bucky. You and I are in the optional category." Bucky waved off the slight without much offense.

"She cares about you," Steve said as they stood.

"I used to think so." Sutton huffed, miffed. "Now I see she was just waiting for someone better to come along."

"She wouldn't pick me over you if it came down to it."

"I would." Sutton muttered as she took another swig of the mocha and made for the door. Bucky hurried forwards to open the door for both of them.

"What an interesting thing to say," he commented as she passed him. Sutton blinked, realized he'd heard her, and shot him a scathing glare.

"Zip it, Lancelot."

[]

Sutton wasn't sure what all they'd been attempting to shop for in the market, but she took them back to the thrift store to pick up a few more things because she felt bad they had to keep switching between the same two outfits. She made Bucky put back a jacket that looked like it could've been in a Michael Jackson music video and had about 50 buckles on it, but otherwise they did fine with picking themselves.

Another quick stop at the dog park where Sprinkles was a bit more wary to let Steve near the other dogs, and Sutton was glad to call it a day.

She made breakfast for dinner because she could and hummed to herself as she worked. Steve insisted he could help. It was on the tip of her tongue to decline the offer, just because he didn't seem to have much cooking experience and it was easier to do things herself, but then she remembered the expression he'd made earlier. Recalled the pride and the frustration that had flashed across his face, and so she gave him the bowl for the pancake mix and instructed him to follow the directions on the box.

Bucky watched idley from her dining table, a book in front of him, and stayed out of the way. Her tiny kitchen was already crowded with her and Steve, not to mention an ever present Sprinkles who was keenly watching Sutton pull out the bacon. Sutton booped Sprinkles on the nose then pulled out a frying pan.

"Only one piece this time," she said. "You're getting too spoiled."

Sprinkles let out an insulted sneeze and reaffirmed her place next to the stove, edging so that she was just in Sutton's line of sight.

Steve followed the pancake recipe almost too closely. Sutton stole glances from the corner of her eye as she watched him carefully measure out each ingredient in the measuring cups she'd given him. Even going to far as to double check the portions and avidly watch the clock on her stove so that he mixed the batter for precisely two minutes like it said. She pursed her lips while trying to fight back a smile and devoted extra attention to the bacon.

Sutton dropped two pieces of bacon in Sprinkles' bowl and added a cupful of kibble over it before they sat down to eat themselves. Sprinkles usually didn't beg as much if she felt like she got her "fair share" of the meal.

All the food was brought to the table, along with some scrambled eggs and syrup and a stick of butter. Sutton thought she liked the way it all looked on her table. Like a real meal instead of eating on her couch or over the sink. If she could get a couple placemats and napkins, she could make it- no. She shook her head. No point thinking like that. What use would she have for placemats and fancy napkins when they were gone? It'd be wasted money.

They sat down to eat, each going to their own claimed chairs. Sutton made sure to let Steve know that the pancakes were delicious.

In the middle of the meal, Sutton was once again distracted by Bucky's arm. He was trying to make sure he didn't get syrup on the chainmail and she imagined that'd be uncomfortable to say the least; to have sticky fingers wrapped in sticky metal links. She prodded at her eggs and chewed on her bottom lip a moment.

"Hey, Bucky. Do you mind if I ask you a question? If it's personal or makes you uncomfortable, you obviously can just ignore me."
Bucky looked up quickly and blinked. His gaze darted to Steve, who was also now paying attention, and he looked back to Sutton with his head tilted to the side a bit.

"Of course," he said.

"Why do you always wear the one chainmail sleeve? I don't think I've seen you with it off once since you've been here. I was just thinking it'd be uncomfortable after awhile."

Bucky looked down at his own arm and then back up as if the idea that she'd question it hadn't occurred to him.

"It's my arm," he said simply. Sutton rolled her lips through her teeth and gestured with her hand.

"I wondered. I mean, is it… injured? Or...something?"

Bucky's lips twitched as if that humored him.

"I mean the chainmail is my arm. I lost the real one while fighting the Frost Giants, so Tony enchanted this specially for me to replace it."

Sutton didn't move. She stared up at Bucky with wide, blank eyes and pressed her lips together as she processed his story. She cut her eyes over to Steve, but he only nodded marginally as if to confirm it all. Sutton steepled her fingers and leaned forward.

"Are you trying to tell me that if you took that sleeve off there'd be nothing underneath it?"

"Precisely."

Clapping once, Sutton pushed herself back away from the table and sighed. She rubbed her face tiredly and felt her hopes of them ever leaving their delusion sink even more.

"You don't believe him," Steve said. Sutton thought she'd been doing a pretty decent of playing along so far. But this- this was a bit too much. The man believed he'd lost his arm! When it was clearly there, right in front of him. He was using it, picking up a coffee mug and shifting his plate and rubbing his face.

Sutton might have been willing to believe he was hiding a prosthetic under the sleeve if his arm didn't move so fluidly. If the fingers weren't all filled out and the muscles obvious. But no prosthetic moved as naturally as he moved his arm.

"No," she finally said. "Sorry, but, I mean. Your arm is right there. I mean...have you tried looking at it?"

Steve, surprisingly, didn't look upset like he usually had when she admitted she believed none of their stories. Instead his eyes were lit up and he was leaning in closer to her.

"What if he took the chainmail off and there was nothing underneath?"

Sutton let out a short laugh.

"Then I'd probably lose it."

"You'd believe in magic and Andolasia and everything we've been telling you?"

She rolled her eyes a bit and let out another sad sigh. Just because she didn't believe them, didn't mean she wanted to hurt them.

"Probably," she said. "But, look-"

Instead, Steve turned his attention to Bucky, and without either of them saying a word Bucky let out a huff and said,

"Fine."

"What are you-"

Bucky stood from the table and pulled off his sweater in one quick move. Sutton's face skewed in confusion and she was about to attempt reasking what he thought he was doing, but she stopped. She'd never seen him without a shirt on. If anything both men were incredibly modest, with Bucky even sleeping in a t-shirt every night.

When he removed his sweater Sutton was finally able to see that the chainmail sleeve cupped around the shoulder and was held in place by a couple leather straps that wrapped around his chest.

He reached up and undid each buckle in turn then grabbed the chainmail around his shoulder and pulled it away. The entire sleeve went limp. Sutton jerked back in her chair with a cry.

Where the fingers had been filled out and the forearm and bicep defined, it now looked like an ordinary costume sleeve, clinking and rattling as Bucky dropped it on the table.

There was no left arm underneath. Just a portion of the shoulder that came to a stub and some mottled, darkened skin that certainly looked like it could be the aftereffect of frostbite.

"Do you believe us now? Sutton?"

She blinked. Opened and closed her mouth a few times, but couldn't find the proper words. Instead she shook her head, unable to tear her gaze away from the empty sleeve and Bucky's clearly not there arm.

"No," she finally said. "No, no, no, no. No-how? That's not- That's not possible."

"Not for you or I," said Bucky. "But Tony is a skilled sorcerer."

Hearing the distress in Sutton's voice, Sprinkles left her food bowl and hurried over. She froze momentarily, her ears flicking back as she eyed Bucky and his changed silhouette, but after observing him a moment and scenting the air, she ignored him again and squeezed between Steve and Sutton's chairs.

"Holy heck."

Sutton's mind was fritzing.

There was no arm. There was no arm. He didn't have a left arm. And there wasn't even a prosthetic under the sleeve to explain it away.

Bucky picked the sleeve back up and held the opening up to his shoulder. It instantly filled back out and he held it in place with his actual arm while he managed to secure the straps with the other. It was obvious he was well practiced with it.

"Sutton?" Steve prodded again. "Are you alright?"

Magic. There really wasn't another reasonable explanation. Just magic.

Sprinkles whined and put her paw on Sutton's lap, and Sutton automatically lowered her hand to scratch behind her ear. The adrenaline ebbed and her heart stopped racing quite so fast. Sprinkles sat on her haunches and brought up the other paw so that she was resting her head and upper body on Sutton's legs. With the extra pressure and the warmth from Sprinkles' body, Sutton felt like she could finally breathe again.

"Magic," she said. She laughed, a high, still strained, disbelieving sound, but she was smiling in awe as well. "Holy cow, you guys actually have magic."

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Hoo-boy! What a revelation!