Instincts (A Loki Fanfic)

Chapter Twenty Seven

(Loki's Pov)

After the events of the night before, the extent of Kit's past seemed to be unraveling. At least somewhat. Loki returned to his room after making sure she was safe, not much later from when the Avengers finally gave up on eavesdropping. It wasn't like any words were exchanged anyways, despite their assumptions.

When Loki left his room the following morning, Kit's door instantly opened from across the hall. "Good morning, Loki!"

"Good morning, Kitten." Loki smiled, as Kit bounded from her doorway. Rather perfectly timed at that. "Were you waiting for me?"

She nodded, albeit a tad shamefully. "I still do not feel normal enough to be on my own."

"That's alright, Kit." Loki stopped their walk towards the elevator, turning to her. "You need time to heal. Just like the rest of us."

"It still is annoying."

They talked the rest of their way downstairs, facing the others shortly. It seemed the entire team had been waiting for them to arrive.

"Ah, there's my little Котя." Natasha called, before quickly embracing the Kitten. "Are you feeling alright?"

"Of course!" Kit smiled, the lie being accepted instantly by the others, with enough evidence by her bubbly attitude. Everyone except Loki, that is, who not only knew the truth from before, but could see the slight falter of her words as she spoke. That momentary lapse in happiness. And he couldn't stop the guilt that wracked its way through him, for Kit even assuming she must keep up her perfect personality mask while around friends.

"Great! Because this morning, you're learning to cook!" Clint's voice called out, the threat breaking Loki out of his thoughts.

So much for a normal breakfast.

*

(Kit's Pov)

Broken bread and a few sliced eggshells later, french toast was served. Although miraculously, it seemed everyone lost their appetite. Even Thor, who could eat dozens of pop tarts without blinking an eye.

But when Kit looked around at the slowly guilty faces, the team managed to eat a few bites. With a promise to 'really' teach her to cook next time they could.

Since breakfast was over, however, Tony invited Kit to his lab for a 'surprise'. She agreed, although only after being assured that no more tests would be done.

And of course, a certain prince escorted her.

"Here it is!" Tony announced, presenting a small box to her. After flipping the top open, Kit found a smaller black box inside. "I thought you could use one after last week. That way we can always keep in contact with you."

"Thank you?" Kit said, confused over this gift's true purpose. She flipped it over a few times in her hand, finding a shiny blue and gold case on the back. Its marbled design even featured a few flecks of black within it.

"It's a phone, Kit." He laughed, "You turn it on like this."

Tony pressed a button on the side, as the black glass side whirled to life. Icons popped up on the screen, each featuring letters beneath them.

Kitten gasped. "A phone?" She recognised these small almost box-like devices from the team's, as well as in movies. They always talked into them, as if they told little secrets. She started swiping across the screen, looking just for that. "How do I make it work?"

"You click on what you want to use." Loki stepped into the conversation, and away from all of Stark's mechanical tests scattered around the workbenches. Most likely to the billionaire's relief. "This is the messaging application, for example."

"You can use that to send romantic letters to those you're involved with." Tony interrupted, hiding a snicker as he glanced suggestively between his two guests. Loki rolled his eyes, although this piqued Kit's interest. 

"What is that?"

"A love letter?" Tony smirked, glancing between the two of them. Once might have been a coincidence, but two times of suggestive smirking? "It's when you confess your feelings-"

"It's like the cards you made us write on Valentine's Day." Loki stared at Stark, as if asserting dominance on who should really be the mischievous one.

Even while they had a battle of the minds, Kit found herself wishing someone would just give her a straight answer sometime. What was the point of learning this language if she was still left out? And even more so, why did Tony keep assuming something between them? They were friends, and yet no one seemed to act the same when anyone else was... involved in her life besides Loki.

Her moment came later that day, however, when she found a moment alone to talk to Loki. He just finished explaining the full function of her mobile device to her, about to resume his reading.

"Loki?"

"Yes, Kitten?" He responded, pausing just before he grabbed his book off the stand beside the couch.

"What did Tony mean by 'romantic'?"

It seemed her question was unexpected, and he paused completely in thought. "It's a theme between people who are... involved." Loki answered, although hesitating to find the right word before he settled on using Stark's from earlier.

Now Kit paused. Loki seemed uninterested- or even annoyed, rather- by the topic, but she had to know. "Loki?"

"Yes, Kit?"

"Are we involved?"

"W-what?" Loki stuttered from her apparently sudden question, becoming flustered. "No, we're not, Kit. It doesn't matter what the Iron Idiot says."

When Kit paused, Loki finally finished picking up his book to start reading. He even managed to flip through a few pages, before Kit realised something.

"Loki?"

Loki sighed. "Yes?"

"What's an idiot?"

(A/N: Sorry everyone for the LONG wait- but I'm getting back into the swing of things. And you're all going to love the next few chapters...  >:D Thank for reading!)