Stars Have Fallen - A Loki Love Story (Marvel/Avengers)

11

Without thinking, Loki stepped abruptly between Estrial and Tony. He put a hand up to the rich man to hault him. Thor was appalled by the serious look on his brother's face. Loki cracked a dangerous smile. "Don't you touch her," he warned in a low voice.

Tony lowered his eyebrows and pursed his lips slightly. He slapped away Loki's hand, that just barely grazed his shirt. "Don't you touch me," he snarled back. "Get the hell outta my way."

At first, Loki did not move. He adverted his eyes, glancing at those around him for a split second. All eyes were on him, goggling in shock and suspense. Realizing that he'd let slip a bit of emotion, he mentally cursed himself. He hated that this star could make him act so impulsively. Slowly and awkwardly, he moved aside.

Estrial was met with Tony's gaze once again, but it was much warmer now. "I'm not mad at you," he cautioned, "I just need to check your controls."

Now Loki felt even more stupid. He'd moved to protect Estrial and she wasn't even in danger. He should've just stayed where he was; now he was sure that his brother would ask questions. Or even worse, he wouldn't ask questions, but would just assume he already knew the answers.

Estrial held out her left arm, wrist facing upwards. There was a bit of smoke dancing across the fabric; Tony's suit for her had failed. He took her arm and examined the fabric up closer with a sigh. "Well, back to the drawing board," he muttered to himself, then met Estrial's eyes. "Do you want me to try and make another?"

"Yes," Estrial answered, much quicker than expected, "yes..please."

"Alright," Tony nodded, giving her a smile to show again that he wasn't mad at her. "I'm gonna need this suit back, see if I can fix it," he told her, then looked up. His eyes travelled around the room. Steve was still awestruck, and Bruce looked like he was waiting to wake up from a dream. Thor was standing strong and confident as usual, and Loki wore an unreadable expression. Tony cleared his throat and clapped his hands together once. "Alright, show's over."

Turning away from everyone, Tony began to walk back to his lab. An awkward silence rose in the room. Loki smirked wildly and held his hands up at his chest. He wiggled his fingers slightly and exclaimed, "surprise."

Bruce took a deep breath and rubbed his forehead. "I'm gonna...go help Tony out," he stated, then left the room as well.

"That went better than I had expected," Thor admitted, scratching the back of his neck.

Steve walked over to the small group. "So, he's staying here now," he begged for clarification.

"Think of it as a really long slumber party," Loki teased with a chuckle.

Steve raised his eyebrows a bit in warning. "I'd rather not," he countered.

"Don't worry, I'll behave," Loki insisted with a bright, devious smile, "this is going to be fun."

Estrial had been staring at Loki's face as he talked, feeling his feelings and deciphering his words. It seemed that he was speaking the truth; he really was excited to be in the Avengers tower. The only question was: was he excited about the possibility of disaster, or about the second chance he was being given? But the grin on his face made her smile. This was happiness that she was feeling, and of all the mortal feelings she'd developed, it was her favorite.

"Fun," Estrial repeated in a quiet, cheery voice. Loki looked down at her again and winked cheekily.

With a small sigh, Thor took Estrial gently by the arm and began to lead her toward her room. "Come now," he boomed, "we should get that suit to Tony Stark." Loki followed them, sulking as he did. He didn't like that his brother was so touchy with her.

When they finally arrived, Estrial slipped into her room to change, leaving the men outside. As she did this, Thor gave the God of Mischief a small sideways grin. "Her human form is taking a toll on you already, my brother," he noted.

Loki scoffed, "oh, Thor, how your eyes decieve you." He leaned gracefully against the wall before going on casually, "you've no idea what you're talking about."

With a loud laugh, Thor pushed further. "Haven't I?" He asked, almost to joyously, "my life changed so much for the better when I met Jane; I am excited for you, Loki."

This seemed to snap something inside of the demigod. He narrowed his eyes at Thor, keeping his voice dangerously quiet. "Don't you recall? It was Estrial who helped me to sleep at night; it was her whom I found comfort in, when you and all of your friend would disgard me like some waste," he spat, his words like a whispering venom. "What you see is nothing more than relief that the only one who ever brought me peace of mind has returned."

The smile on Thor's face quickly fell into a frown of guilt. He had never thought about it that way. When they were much younger, Loki was often excluded from activities. The younger man was always quiet, and therefore never made any real friends of his own. What Thor now had to consider was that Loki had made a friend, unbeknownst to anyone else at the time. A friend that had been ripped from him for far too long. And finally, she was back. He couldn't imagine going through that with his own friends.

Perhaps Thor had seen a spark of something more where there was none at all. Perhaps Loki really only was glad to have his star back.