The Witch's Familiar

Chapter 11

 You made pancakes the next morning just to see the look of delight on Loki's face when he came down for breakfast. It was well worth it, despite that you'd had to get up early to make a fancy breakfast on a school day.

"Morning, Lokitty," you greeted him warmly when you saw him get off of the elevator. He headed your way when he heard you voice.

"Good morning," he replied a little reserved, a little shy. If Stark hadn't continue to tease him all the time he might have warmed up more quickly in the mornings. But you two were alone right now, and once he realized it, he relaxed. You handed Loki a plate with a huge stack of pancakes when he came into the kitchen. He grinned in delight.

"Syrup is on the table," you told him.

"Thank you, Lady," he replied still too formal.

"You're being awfully formal this morning," you called him on it. It may not have been the nicest thing to do, but you worried about him. Suddenly being human again after months of being a cat much have been hard. Plus you cared about him. "Is everything ok?" you added as you brought your own plate of pancakes into the dining room. He had chosen the chair across from your usual one.

"I just did not sleep well," he lied. You let him keep the lie, though and didn't pry. You didn't want to scare him away, but you did have to ask.

"Do you want to turn back?" you asked him softly.

He sighed. "Some days more than anything," he admitted softly, hesitantly. "It was nice to be accepted, but the time for hiding from my problems is over. Though if Stark calls me a 'puddy-tat' one more time..." he growled.

You laughed at that, he glared at you. "Leave Stark to me. If he does it again, I'll teach him a lesson," you promised.

He raised an eyebrow. "You would do that for me?"

"Of course. You're my friend and no one hurts my friends. Though I know you are perfectly capable of taking care of yourself. There are sometimes more diplomatic means of solving problems than stabbing people or defenestrating them," you teased.

He inclined his head with a hint of a smile. "So I have been told,"

"Hey Puddy-tat, Sabrina," Tony teased the second he walked into the room. You were on your feet with your wand pointed directly at Tony's nose a moment later. Loki's withdrawl into himself broke your heart. "Kid, it was a joke!" he protested, hands up.

"Stark, you have got to learn to stop making fun of people all the time," you snarled at him. The others were coming into the room too. "Loki wouldn't change back for months because he was afraid of not being accepted by you lot. I've told you that the cat-ears are a side effect of staying in that form for so long. You see that the teasing upsets him, how is he ever going to feel accepted if you keep tormenting him?" you demanded. Tony spluttered more apologies. "So all of you are going to learn to be a little more openminded and accepting," you growled. A complex spell later and everyone in the room had cat-ears and a tail.

Loki was roaring in laughter as everyone spluttered and their tails puffed up in anger.

"Undo it!" Tony whined.

"No," you replied firmly.

"I have business meetings today!" He protested, horrified.

"Don't piss off the witch next time," you replied pleasantly. You turned to Loki. "I have to go to the magic school. Mind giving me a lift?" you shouldn't have done that spell, you were still low from the battle and stupidly fast healing. You could make it, but didn't want to be drained when you got there.