The Fates' Favorite (Loki Laufeyson)

Part 32

I put on my best front for dinner, smiling as the team made jokes and told stories around the table. I even held my own in small talk with Frigga, though I thoroughly wanted nothing to do with any of the Norse beings around me, if I were honest.

They all three knew, I was certain. And it now made sense why Frigga was so eager to meet me, so eager to speak with me.

A poor little 'halfling', left on Earth to keep her father's reputation in-tact.

Disgusting was an understatement.

I managed to excuse myself early without raising suspicion thanks to the way Shadow was acting. He glowered at the Asgardians just as much as I wanted to, going as far as to ignore Loki's presence entirely, a stark contrast to his usual lovable self.

I wrote it off to the team as him not feeling well, likely tired after a long day.

In reality, I had the strange awareness that he understood my feelings, and didn't have any of my compunction for acting on such animosity.

The moment I hit the plushness of my mattress, he was against me, forcing himself into my arms.

"They're a bunch of assholes." I mumbled half-mindedly to the wolf. "And here I thought Loki and I were actually close."

The next morning I had hardly slept, but pushed myself up and out of the bed to get a cup of coffee and let Shadow outside.

"Hey, Bandit." Tony acknowledged, though he seemed to be in deep discussion with Bruce.

"Everything okay?"

Tony nodded, shooting me a feigned smile before going back to his discussion. Okay, weird.

Pepper was placing delicate decorations around the commons, hanging greenery as two large men in maintenance suits carried in a large tree.

"What's going on?" I asked, my eyebrows furrowed.

"I always up the Christmas decor at the end of November." Pepper smiled with a shrug.

"Oh, right. Okay." I nodded. "Uh, sorry... When actually is Christmas?"

Pepper seemed taken aback for a second, but smiled. "December 25th. You've... Never celebrated?"

"No, no. Never Christmas." I chuckled. "My parents weren't Christian."

"Oh! We could try to do something for Hanukkah, or Yule?"

I shook my head with a laugh. "No, it's fine, really. We, uh. We celebrated Saturnalia."

"Oh, I'm... Afraid I don't actually know what that is."

I waved a hand in the air, shrugging off the statement. "Nobody does, it's ancient." I said with a small laugh. "I, myself, haven't celebrated it since I was a child. Christmas sounds cool, though."

"Good! Tony is excited this year, for whatever reason, so I have quite the day ahead of me."

"Well, I'm taking Shadow out, but I'd be happy to help you with the decor once I get back."

Pepper grinned at that, nodding vigorously. "I'd love that."

It was about an hour later, while I was helping Pepper hang some of the mistletoe, that the Asgardians came to the commons.

Thor and Frigga seemed to be in good moods, while Loki kept a blank mask, following behind with his arms folded over his chest. He didn't even glance at me, and I wondered to myself how he could possibly be angry with me.