The Fates' Favorite (Loki Laufeyson)

Part 20

We took the longest hiking route possible when we went to the trail, not far from Queens. I held onto the pup's leash as we walked, occasionally rattling off names to him in the hopes he'd agree to one.

"What about Alpha? It's a funny play on a dumb experiment some scientist did, and even though it..." I paused when I realized I was quite literally explaining a scientific study to a wolf dog, giggling a bit to myself. "What about Alpha?" I now asked more simply.

Nothing.

"What about Shadow?"

The puppy looked curiously at me for that one, pausing to sit as it's head tilted.

"You like that one? Shadow?"

The playful bark I earned in response made me grin.

"That solidifies it; you're definitely a mummy's boy." I teased the puppy with a scratch on his head. "My little Shadow."

We spent most of the day in the small nature preserve, doing nothing more than the occasional sit down to play with sticks or leaves before walking the path again. Shadow was the most well-behaved of all the canines I had seen amongst the other hikers, though he was one of the smallest as well.

A couple did cross our path with a couple wiener dogs which were roughly the same size in length, only a bit shorter than the pup, which he had an enjoyable time sniffing as he happily wiggled. Most of the others were larger, making my overprotective nature force me to keep him at a distance.

I took him to the store as promised afterwards, somewhat surprised no one questioned his presence.

I was never one to break such social norms as taking your animal places they weren't normally welcomed, but the pup naturally seemed to understand he was to be kept at my side, grazing my leg without any break of attention as we walked to grab some basic necessities I neglected while with Thor. He even sat patiently while I got myself a coffee.

"Is your service dog allowed a pup cup?" The young girl behind the counter asked as she handed me my drink.

Ah, now it made sense why no one had questioned him.

I smiled. "He, -uh. He can have one." I responded before she handed me the small paper cup.

I thanked her again as I began walking once more, now simply walking through Queens.

A large, prominent crash made my eyebrows furrow as I scanned around me, soon seeing a body go flying across the pavement.

I felt myself mumble a quick 'shit' as I dashed to the thin frame, my head tilting as I saw the strange goggles and ski mask over the individual's face.

"What the-"

The dashing thief behind me fired a gun, making me flip around and grab ahold of him with my shadows. I ran at him to pull the gun from his grasp, earning a sharp hit to the cheek with the stock before I got it away from him and allowed my shadows to hold him to the ground.

It was only a second after that the figure in the street shot up, consciousness returning to him as I picked up my pup.

"Hey, calm down there." I warned as I pointed my finger.

"Holy crap! You're-you're that girl; the new Avenger!"

I furrowed my brows as I took a step further. "Not officially."

"H-Hi! I'm Pe- I mean... I'm Spider-Man." He added, dropping his voice down an octave lower making me giggle.

"How old are you, kid?" It wasn't that he necessarily sounded like a child, but only a kid would think to do something like that to sound 'manlier'.

"I- uh. I'm sure I'm not much younger than you."

I feigned out an 'awe' and touched the kids shoulder lightly. "Be more careful next time, Arachnid." I hummed as I readjusted Shadow in my arms. "He'll be down until the cops arrive."

"Fantastic, I have to get ho-" he stopped and stared at me for a second as I chuckled. "I mean, I have other... Superhero stuff, to do."

"Right. Well, go on; keep yourself out of timeout." I teased further before watching as he shot himself away with a quickly yelled 'goodbye!'

Getting back to the tower, I noticed Thor, Frigga, Loki, Tony, and Nat all in the commons, but tried to hurriedly pass to the bedroom. That didn't work, as Tony was quick to get between me and the staircase, calmly acting as though he was simply pausing to talk to me.

"How'd your hike go?"

"Good." I responded flatly.

"Yeah?"

I bit my cheek. "Yes."

"So that's why I just got sent this by Happy?" Tony turned his phone around, and a cellphone video of Spider-Man and I played. "Why were you in Queens?"

"That's where the trail was." I shrugged.

"Who's the guy?"

I could nearly feel the others perk up at the mention.

"What guy?" Nat quickly asked.

"You were with a man?" Thor's eyebrows furrowed as a crease formed on his forehead.

Loki only stared at me with a similar expression as Thor's, his hands gripping the sides of his chair though he stayed quiet.

Frigga quietly sipped her tea.

"Some kid playing superhero." I sighed out to the group. "I'd guess he's like 16, at most. Shadow and I were walking home and saw him get thrown across the street, so I went to help."

"I've seen videos of that kid." Tony acknowledged, nodding in acceptance of my explanation. "I just wanted to make sure you weren't out looking for trouble."

I rolled my eyes. "Yes, dad, I was being safe and normal. The trouble found me."

Tony rolled his eyes with a smirk at my sarcasm.

"I'm thinking Poncho's for dinner?"

"Sounds fine to me." I mumbled as I took some of Shadow's food from the fridge.

I loaded one of his bowls up with a careful balance of stuff as I felt Loki enter the kitchen area, his presence looming behind me before he finally rested against the counter beside me.

"You have a bruise." He said quietly, reaching for my cheek.

I grabbed his hand, holding it as I smiled at him.

"It'll heal up by the time I go to bed, Lo. No need." I whispered back.

"Does it hurt?"

My heartbeat sped at the way his concern lingered in his words, making me smile even wider.

"No."

Looking back to see the four others facing the other way as they talked about the television, I got up onto my tiptoes to kiss Loki's jaw, before settling back down to place Shadow's bowl on the ground.

"I should apologize, for my mother. She's... Inquisitive. Downright intrusive. I should'v-"

"It's alright, Loki. We can discuss it later." I said with a small smile, glancing back at the group. "Besides, I'm not mad."

He nodded in acceptance of my answer, but cleared his throat and took a step back when Frigga and Nat turned to look at us.

"Well, boys, your father has called me home." Frigga smiled sweetly as she stood from the couch.

"It was wonderful having you here, mother." Thor grinned as he kissed her cheek.

"It was nice to meet you." Tony added before moving out of the way. "You're welcome any time."

Frigga thanked him again for his hospitality before walking to the kitchen and hugging her youngest son.

"I'm sure I'll see you again, darling." She smiled at me.

"It was wonderful to meet you." I responded quickly, forcing a feigned smile to my own lips and praying Loki didn't smell a lie.

With that her sons escorted her back to the roof of the tower.