Son of the Storm

Family Matters

The next morning, both Harry and Jane found themselves rising early, yawning, and in Jane's case, kissing the still sleeping Thor, grabbing and belting on a dressing gown, and heading for the kitchen. In Harry's case, he just rolled over and straight of bed.

After a moment of silent irritation, he got up and staggered, zombie like, out of his room.

Jane wasn't much better off, but ambled over the kitchen and began boiling water for coffee. Gag gifts aside, the Avengers didn't really believe in coffee machines.

Harry walked in a moment later and Jane smiled in sleepy amusement at his hair, which made a birds nest look positively neat. Of course, her own hair had a definite case of bedhead, and was currently hanging loose, but Harry's almost defied description. It had tangled up into a nightmarish thicket of fluffy black tangles that, along with his bright green eyes and pyjamas - Iron Man, this morning - made him look rather adorable.

"Harry?"

"Hmm?" he mumbled, looked up and peered at her. Then he mumbled something obscene, and concentrated for a few long moment, then muttered, "Accio glasses."

A moment after that, the item in question flew towards Harry, zipped past him and bounced onto the sideboard. Harry, confused, began looking around for them.

"Here," Jane said kindly, picking them up and walking over to put them on his face.

He smiled at her, blinking, still only half awake. "Thanks."

"No problem," she replied. "Do you want anything to drink? Tea, hot chocolate..."

"Coffee?" he asked cheekily.

"No, the last thing the world needs is you on coffee," Jane said firmly, making her own. "You attract enough weirdness," she continued, stirring it. "Already."

Harry wrinkled his nose in agreement, then got a glass, went to the fridge and picked out a carton of orange juice, poured a glass, perched on a seat at the centre island of the kitchen and began to drink, slowly and carefully.

As Jane drank her coffee, and slowly began to feel more human, she watched Harry, who was clearly nodding off.

"If you want to go back to bed, that's okay," she said gently, talking to him like she would her half-brother, Matt, as she went over to join him.

"'m fine," Harry mumbled, even though he was more likely to fall asleep than wake up. His head suddenly lolled, resting against her side, and Jane... smiled, shook her head and slipped her free arm around him, while taking an absent gulp of coffee.

"Silly boy," she said affectionately. Harry just made a sleepy mumbling noise and snuggled against her. She couldn't see him as a would be step son. He was too old and just... no. But as a sort of baby brother, ignoring all the disturbing ways you could think that through in terms of her relationship to Thor... now that was easy enough. "It doesn't hurt," she observed aloud. "That you are ridiculously lovable."

Harry didn't reply, and soon, Jane heard the light, even breathing of someone soundasleep. She could have moved away and gently prodded him back to bed. Instead, however, she pulled up a seat and sat down, careful not to disturb him, one arm still curled protectively around him.

The next person in was Clint. He probably wasn't the next person awake - Bruce rose early and meditated, Natasha did tai chi in the light of the dawn, and Steve usually went for an early morning run. After that, normal habits dictated that Thor would probably surface, then Loki quickly after, and then eventually Tony, after a good deal of prodding from Pepper, or JARVIS if Pepper was at work. But he was the next person in the kitchen. He walked in, took in the scene, and raised an interrogatory eyebrow.