Instincts (A Loki Fanfic)

Chapter Seven

(Loki's Pov)

"Ugh..." Loki groaned as the world around him slowly materialized into painful, annoying reality. Even with the curtains drawn it was too bright, every thud from the other floors sending a pang of agony through his thick skull.

He should never have gotten that drunk.

Speaking of the night before, although he didn't remember much, he did know that there was no way he could have made it to his bed on his own. And surely the others wouldn't have bothered helping him.

So how did he end up in his bed?

A small meow made its way from near his feet, Loki glancing up to meet the curious eyes of Kitten. Too innocent of eyes, rather.

"I don't suppose you had anything to do with this?" He teased, a smile breaking across his face when she almost looked nervous. Loki placed a cold hand on his forehead, relaxing when his hangover subsided from his icy touch. At least his heritage was useful for one thing. "I'm just teasing, Kitten."

She seemed to almost understand him, standing and jumping from the bed. This is what she did every morning, waiting for Loki to get up and open the door. What else could a cat do? It's not like they could open doors.

"Can't you let me sleep in for one morning?" He laughed as he trudged from his bed, opening the door to let her out. He summoned an outfit other than the alcohol-scented clothes he had worn to bed the night before, and when he was done Kit jumped onto her usual perch on his shoulders.

*

(Kit's Pov)

"Avengers!" A deep voice shouted much later that day, after the entire team had healed their hangovers, and were now relaxing around the tower. A certain voice that belonged to none other than the bowling ball pirate himself.

Director Fury.

"Nick." Natasha acknowledged his presence, continuing to stroke Kit's fur. The cat laid as her larger form in a patch of sun, a quiet purr accompanying each pet she received. "What's going on?"

"Just a check up-" He reassured, glancing at the giant panther in the living room."-on our newest members." When he realised none other than the two girls were in the room, Fury glanced up at the ceiling. "Jarvis, tell everyone to come down here for a roll call."

Within moments the Avengers appeared, Loki even shimmering out of thin air. Of course he was late, but fashionably so. When Kit noticed him appear, however, she instantly switched to her house-cat form to jump and perch on his shoulders.

But when she jumped, instead of landing on his shoulders or even colliding with him at all, Kit flew right through his illusion. To the amusement of the others, apparently. She shook off the crash and the embarrassment.

"Oh, poor Котя." Natasha cooed, scooping her up in her arms when the others just kept chuckling. Everyone except Fury, that is.

"What, not a cat person?" Tony probed, when the laughter finally died down.

"Cats aren't always what they seem." He glanced at the feline, her mismatched eyes staring back just as suspiciously. "Dr. Banner, have you received her blood work yet?"

"No, and we haven't found the time to take another sample."

"What happened to the first one?" He glared at the doctor, Bruce glancing at Tony for his answer.

"We... Don't know." The billionaire admitted.

"Well, find out. We have a press conference in one week, you can give me the sample then."

"Or, we can give it to you at the party after?" Stark's eyes lit up at the opportunity for a celebration, most likely already planning all the details out.

"Fine." Fury sighed, "But I want you all physically there." He glared at Loki, still shimmering from his illusion being disrupted.

The moment he left, it seemed instantly Jarvis beeped with another mission. The team filed out, Kit being left behind.

At least she wouldn't be bored anymore, though. She could complete her lessons while they were gone, learning more and more about their world.

*

"What is... 'party'." Kit recited to Jarvis, a few hours after they had left. The team shouldn't be back for a few more, leaving her plenty of time to be ready. She finally learned that mystery word that seemed to be said so much around her, 'what'. That was very helpful.

"A party is a gathering of people to usually celebrate a holiday or special occasion." Her friend responded, then going into detail about what a 'holiday' was. It was like this for most words, each rabbit trailing through half a thesaurus of synonyms.

"I go?"

"I cannot be sure, Miss. Mr. Stark has yet to create a guests list."

"Guest?"

"Someone invited to an event, party, or other gathering." Jarvis paused after describing a few more words to her, guessing her next question. "You would like to go?"

"Yes. With friends, and Loki."

"Is Loki not your friend?" Jarvis inquired when she talked about him in a separate manner.

"Loki is friend... but more." She couldn't explain the extra happy feeling she felt around him, different from what she felt for the team- or even Jarvis. Loki was a friend, but in a different sort of way.

"I think I understand." Jarvis reasoned, but almost with a smirk in his voice. She couldn't ask what he meant though, brushing off any chance of an implication. "However, if you are to go to the party, you are going to need a larger understanding of the language."

"Yes." She agreed, "You teach more?"

"Of course, Miss. Might I suggest a variation of night school, if you still would not like the team to know?"

"Night school?"

"Extra schooling taken after school-hours, usually by those not available during the day."

"Yes, night school." Kitten smiled, thinking how the team would react. They wouldn't know it was her, but maybe afterwards she would tell them. Hopefully they would just accept her, instead of throwing her back in that cage. "Where?"

"Might I suggest the library? It has been vacated between the hours of 1am and 6am within the past month."

Kit nodded. She would take a few extra hours of lessons, and learn everything she could until the party. Then she could surprise them by not only being human, but knowing their language too.

It would be the perfect night.

Hopefully.