I'm back! A bit of fluff to lighten things up!

Also, if anyone has any requests for scenes/events, let me know! If they work within the general plot I have planned for the story I'll include them here, and if not, I'll save them for a one-shot collection I have planned for once this story is completed (or for which I may start dual-posting).

I blinked blearily at the morning light. I'd finally gotten to sleep sometime after 4 am. Yet, here I was, at 9 am, already out of the tower and halfway across the city. Why? I'd promised Thor I'd hang out with him, and apparently gods only liked to do that at ungodly hours. I'd also had to take a few moments of extra time before leaving to try and wrestle a wig onto my head, since Tony wanted me disguised when I went out into public with any of the Avengers.

"There, right up ahead! Do you see it Daughter-of-Stark?"

"Shh! How many times do I have to remind you to not call me that in public? But yes, I see it."

"My deepest apologies Dau—Y/N. Here it is, my favourite place in this Midgardian land section."

I gave an amused smile at his new term for city and followed him through the door, looking around with curiosity. He'd brought me to what appeared to be a small 50s-styled diner.

The workers looked up at the ringing of the bell above the door, immediately smiling and calling out greetings to Thor—clearly on a familiar basis of sorts with him. This became even more obvious when Thor bellowed back his own cheerful greetings, calling many by name, and asking questions about their lives. The cook had apparently recently got a new kitten, one of the servers had just gotten back from her honeymoon, another had become a grandmother the night before, and the guy mopping the floor was going through a rough break-up—Thor tamping down his normal boisterous behavior to interact with the poor dude, being empathetic and encouraging in quiet tones.

I followed him in silence, nodding politely at the others when they glanced my way. After several minutes, Thor had finished his rounds and gestured me over to a table, "Come Y/N, sit, we eat!"

We sat down and the new-grandmother came over to take our orders, addressing Thor, "What'll it be today, dear?"

He beamed at her, "Helen, today is a big day, it requires much fuel. Two of everything!"

I blinked at him in astonishment, but Helen simply nodded like it was a regular occurrence and yelled over to the cook, "Double it up today!" She then turned to me, "And you, dear?"

I stammered, quickly trying to glance over the menu that had been in my hands for less than 30 seconds. Thor plucked it away from me and gave it to Helen, "She'll have the pancakes…how do you say it…ah, fully loaded!"

Helen nodded and whisked herself off before I could disagree. I turned to Thor, "What if I don't want pancakes?"

His brow furrowed in genuine confusion, "I thought all midguardians liked pancakes? They seem to be one of the most popular foods consumed. I see many images for it on Stark's TV presentations. Besides, the ones here are quite good—one of their favourite dishes of mine, I could not let you order anything but the best!"

He smiled, clearly proud of himself for protecting me from a potential subpar experience for my first visit. I gave in, "I suppose pancakes do sound good. What's the fully loaded?"

His eyes lit up, "It comes with all sorts of additional foods on top, there is fruit, syrup, jams, chocolate, butter, and whipped cream. She will bring out a list right before serving where you can choose how much of each you'd like, and if you want it served on top or on the side. If you come in the evening, they will also offer ice cream as an option," A crestfallen expression crossed his face, "Oh Daughter-of—that is, Y/N— I have failed, I should have brought you in the eve so as to truly allow you the best of the best here."

I rushed to console him, "It's fine, Thor, really! We can come back another time for the evening one."

He at once regained his previous jocularity, "YES!" He hit the table with his fists in excitement. Other patrons glanced over in mild concern, but none of the employees seemed to register the behaviour as abnormal. He grabbed my hands, gripping tightly as he met my eyes, "We shall come many times, so you can try all of the fare! Excellent idea, Y/N. We shall make it part of our weekly pattern!"

I grinned at him, his happiness contagious, "As you wish, Thor."

He grinned back, "I am a god— I do not wish, if I want something, I make it happen."

Our food arrived and we ate while we chatted. I explained a few of the midguardian things from the diner that he didn't understand, like the jukebox, and he told me stories about Asgard and his childhood, highlighting some shenanigans with Loki, including one time when they were eight and Loki transformed into a snake to trick Thor into picking him up, before turning back and stabbing him.

By the time I'd finished my one plate of pancakes, Thor had finished the seemingly endless array of dishes served to him. He stood up, put down a stack of cash, gave a satisfactory thump to the table, and proclaimed "Onwards we go!"

We headed out and I followed him down the streets for a few blocks, until he turned towards me, "Do you happen to know where we are?"

I stared at him, "No! Of course not! I thought YOU did?!"

He gave me a sheepish grin, "I believe I may have taken a wrong turn somewhere."

Fantastic.

I knew he didn't have a phone so I reached into my pocket for mine—and realized I must have left it at home in my exhausted barely-awake state.

Even more fantastic.

I glanced around us, hoping for clues as to our location. Now that I was paying more attention to our surroundings, I started feeling a bit uneasy. The buildings were more run down, with lots of boarded up windows and store entrances locked behind rusty gates. The touristy vibes—and the tourists themselves— seemed to be gone, leaving behind a sparse crowd of grungy and sketchy looking people. I inched closer to Thor. At least I was with a god.

I noted the lit up and unlocked entrance to a convenience store, pulling Thor towards the door. "You have more money still right?" I asked quietly. He nodded.

I pulled him around the store with me, trying to avoid making direct eye contact with anyone or to occupy any aisles someone was already in, until I found some maps of the city. I grabbed one and began to head to the cashier.

"Oooh, snacks!"

I rolled my eyes at Thor, "You can have two, but we need to go." We were already getting too much attention.

He excitedly grabbed two bags of gummies and I handed them to the cashier with the map. Thor paid and I led him outside, where I began looking for street signs. There didn't seem to be any at this intersection, so we went to the next block, which had a stoplight and seemed a bit bigger. Success! I backed up to a wall and pulled out the map, trying to keep it as small as possible to avoid attracting more attention.

I quickly identified where we were, realizing it was somewhere in Brooklyn—Steve's home ground. I scowled briefly before turning to Thor, "Anywhere particular you were trying to get to?"

"Yes, the Island of Cones."

I blinked, and glanced down at the map, "You mean Coney Island?"

"That's the one!"

I made note of the streets we needed to take—then tucked the map at my side and semi-confidently led Thor through several twists and turns. There were a few alleys that looked like they would shorten the trip, but I didn't want to take my chances. I doublechecked with the map a few times, and about twenty minutes later, we arrived at the shore. I gestured grandly, "Coney Island, Your Highness Pointbreak."

He gave me a little glare, before excitedly bouncing off towards the rides, pulling me behind him, nearly tearing my arm off in the process.

We spent the next several hours going on all of the rides and meandering amongst the many stalls selling gimmicky toys and souvenirs. There were also a bunch of carnival game stalls which Thor insisted on trying his hand at. He'd easily excelled at all of the ones involving strength, but his patience quickly waned when he had to try and precisely maneuver some fishing lines to hook plastic fish. Noticing it seemed like he was moments away from flipping the entire stall, I made a loud production over noticing the cotton candy cart a few meters away. He was immediately distracted, dropping the fishing pole and dragging me over to get some of the sticky sugar treat.

By early afternoon, I was starting to not only get tired, but also had a sneaking suspicion I'd be looking like a lobster in the morning thanks to all of the sun exposure. I hadn't thought to bring sunscreen with for Thor's surprise adventure. I used a payphone to call the Tower and Happy came to pick us up.

I gratefully slid into the air-conditioned car, letting Thor chatter away at Happy for the entire drive back to the Tower.

Thor got out, yelled " I'll be back for the evening meal, Y/N!" before summoning the bifrost and disappearing. Happy glared at the spot where the god had been standing, "He couldn't have done that back at the pier?"

I gave a small laugh, "Sorry about that, Happy. Are you coming up for a bit or staying down here?"

"I have some other security work to do on the lower levels, but I'll see you around." And he turned and walked away at a brisk pace, speaking into his comms.

I headed to the elevators and up to the penthouse floor. The place was empty, so I went up to my room and gratefully fell down onto my bed for a nap.

I woke up to Tony lightly pushing my shoulder, his voice a whisper, "Hey kid, time to get up for dinner."

I groaned and rolled over, burying my head into the blankets. His voice took on a mildly amused tone, "C'mon, kid."

I groaned again, then sat up, blinking sleepily at Tony, "Food?"

He grinned at me, a twinkle in his eyes, "Yes, Y/N, food. Lots of it. But you can only have some if you come downstairs now."

"Mmkay." I mumbled, groggily shifting my feet off the bed to head to the kitchen.

I heard Tony chuckling behind me and then a slight tug on my head, "You can leave the wig here, kid, we all know who you are."

I turned around to stick my tongue out at him, and he held his hand to his chest, giving me an offended look.

"Y/NNNNN/nnnnNNNnnNNN!" An energetic Peter hurtled into my room, knocking me over. I gave a startled cry but he caught me before I hit the ground.

"Peter, be careful!" Tony's panicked voice yelled.

Peter looked me over with big concerned eyes, "Sorry, Y/N!"

I brushed myself off. "It's fine Speedypants. At least I'm awake now. What's up?"

He blushed, "I'm hungry and they said wecouldn'tstart without you…so Icametogetyou."

I bit back a laugh, "Well, then I suppose we'd better get to the table. Who all is here for dinner tonight anyway?"

His eyes widened, "Practically everyone! It's crazy. We have to use the actual dining room so that we could use the big table…Wanda and Pietro are here, the Pyms, Scott, Rhodey, Vision, Bruce, Nat, Clint, Thor, and even Loki!

He continued excitedly rambling about the massive dinner guest attendance as we went to join them, Peter tugging on my hand to hurry me up, and Tony following behind us with an amused expression. When we turned the corner, I saw that Peter had forgotten to mention that his aunt and friends were also at the table, sitting next to Pepper. MJ had her usual bored expression, May was maintaining a polite smile as she chatted with Mr. Pym, and Ned sat there wide-eyed with excitement, looking like he could barely believe what was happening. Peter sat next to Ned, and Tony took his empty space next to Pepper, frowning when he realized the seat on his other side was no longer empty.

"Okay, Wanda, you're gonna need to move."

"But then I won't be next to Pietro!"

"Then both of you move, I don't care. I want my kid beside me."

"Then you should have saved the spot, Stark."

Tony glared at Pietro for that remark, before turning back to Wanda.

Before things could escalate, I tapped Tony's shoulder, "It's fine, Tony, I can sit elsewhere. It's not a big deal."

"But—"

"It's fine. I can sit with—" I glanced around the table, noting the only other empty spot, "Loki."

"Like hell."

"If I call him Reindeer Games will that make you feel better?"

Loki objected from across the room, "Please don't."

Tony gave him a threatening glance, "Try anything with my daughter and you'll be lucky to live long enough to hear another 'Reindeer Games', got it?"

Loki held his hands up in a surrender position, "I'm on my best behaviour…what's that midguardian saying…" He held his fingers in a mock salute, "Scout's honour."

Tony scowled, but I squeezed his shoulder reassuringly before making my way around the table to sit beside Loki.

"Hello."

He gave me his usual amused glance, "Hello there, child."

I started scooping food onto my plate along with everyone else. "So, Loki, been up to anything interesting lately?"

"Of course, I don't believe I've ever not been having an interesting time."

"Really, you've never once been bored?"

He leaned in as though telling me a secret, whispering, "You're never bored when you know how to spice things up," He paused then gave me a sly smile, "Sometimes literally."

Before I could ask what that meant, I heard cries of outrage from across the table, where Thor was frantically pawing at his tongue, "This is thwo hot, thwomeone help mehhhh!"

Loki turned towards him, "Try drinking some water, brother."

Thor obviously was in too much of a panic over the spice burning his tastebuds to notice his brother's obviously fake concerned expression, instead following his advice and downing his entire glass of water.

There was a pause and then his panicked yelling increased, "Thwomuch worse! Browthewr whhyyy."

Loki adopted a look of innocence, "My apologies, brother, I forgot, it is water you're not supposed to have, and it is milk which should aid you."

Thor glared as he huffed and panted at the heat, "Naht fahling for that."

While Hope leaned across the table to support the milk theory, Loki shrugged, unconcerned, and returned to his own food. I gave my own an uncertain look. I noticed others also looking askance at their own plates. I took a forkful and sniffed it. It smelled alright. I still hesitated, not being someone who got along well with spice. Loki seemed to notice my nervousness, leaning towards me again, "Don't worry, Y/N, it's only my brother's food that I've messed with."

I gave him a wary look, "How can I trust you're not tricking me?"

He grinned, "You can't. It's part of my charm."

I sighed, putting my fork down with a little pout as my stomach growled just loud enough for Loki to hear. His cocky smile faltered, and he gave me a serious look, "I swear on my mother—on Freya— I've not messed with your food, Y/N."

I looked at him for a moment longer before nodding and bringing the forkful of food to my mouth. It was delicious, and certainly non-spicy. I gave Loki a grateful smile, and he gave me a small one in return, returning to his own food as well.

The rest of the meal passed amiably, Thor eventually finding a plate of untampered food to eat. Several conversations flowed around the table, sometimes petering off, some growing to include those around it, new ones branching off. I expected to watch in silence, as I usually did at Avenger evenings, but with Loki as my table partner, it seemed that was not to be. He kept me amused with Asgardian tales, and stories of his childhood with Thor. I noticed some of Thor's stories from earlier, and some slight differences between the brothers' versions.

Loki proudly told me of some of his most successful tricks, and even confided a few ideas that he had been brainstorming. But he didn't only talk about himself. He also asked me questions about my life, both before Tony and after. He seemed genuinely interested in how I was doing with the transition, though his ever-present amusement at Tony's surprise child was also evident during the conversation.

Near the end of the meal, as I was halfway through my dessert, I finally asked Loki, "Why are you so amused by me anyway?"

He gave me a knowing smile, "Because you bring chaos, child. Stark is a man that likes to have a certain control on the world around him—it's why he focuses so much on science and such, and why he can never be satisfied with his technology, he must keep improving, he must stay ahead of whatever the world might throw at him. Your existence and your presence here, no matter how much he wants it, disrupts that control. It's an amusing conundrum to watch him experience."

I frowned, looking back down at my plate. "Oh."

His smile dropped and he gently bumped my shoulder, "It is a good thing, child. Chaos is the best thing that can happen within the universe. Chaos is necessary for change. It is like a fire in a forest, that when it's done, the forest can regrow healthier than it was before. The Avengers are often stuck too far up themselves. The boy brings some of their humanity out, makes them remember to not always take things too seriously, but he is not always around. Being Stark's child, you'll have a much stronger presence in this tower. The less serious they take themselves, the less 'high and mighty' they think they are, the better they'll be for it."

I raised an eyebrow at him, "And of course, you're not 'high and mighty' at all?"

He scoffed, holding his head high, "It's entirely different, I'm a god. I'm supposed to be high and mighty."

"Uh huh." I chuckled to myself and returned to my food, ignoring the light glare Loki sent my way.