The Giant Asgardian

Chapter 12: Stark's Freakout

~Back in the Library~

"Young Stark! I found a book that explains-..!", Thor stopped in the middle of his sentence when he didn't see Peter on the library table anymore. "Of course he tricked me. He's been hanging around Loki now for two days and he has already picked up on his lying habit. I should've know this would happen", he said.
Thor stormed out of the library and marched through the halls, listening for his brother and the children. He soon stopped dead in his tracks in the hallway by his room and thought of the only place Loki would ever go to when he couldn't be found in the palace.

Thor practically ran to the garden. As he approached the doors to walk outside, he started to hear what sounded like laughter and people talking. "That..that can't be Loki laughing...", said Thor to himself. He shook the thought from his mind, but once he made his way to the corridor in the garden, his eyes immediately landed on a sight that made his mouth hang open in shock. He stared at the cherry blossom tree in the middle of the garden, but the sight that was underneath the tree made him smile ear to ear. Right there, before Thor's very eyes, was Loki with his back against the tree trunk, laughing away as he spoke to none other than Y/n and Peter. Y/n sat on Loki's left shoulder and Peter sat on his right shoulder. Thor made sure that his brother and the kids couldn't see him and he quickly decided to listen in on the conversation between the children and Loki.

"What made you want to turn Mr. Thor into a frog?", asked Peter. "I am more than thrilled that you asked, little one", said Loki. He smirked and said, "I'm a trickster at heart, so, I just felt like it", said Loki sarcastically.
That one sentence got Y/n laughing her head off. At the moment, she was leaning up against Loki's neck as he told the story, but mainly it was so she could hold herself up from laughing. Because Y/n was laughing so much, this got Peter caught in a laughing frenzy as well. Even Loki had to try and hold back a grin, but he just couldn't resist. As Loki laughed away, his eyes drifted off to the doors he and the children came through not too long ago and his face became as pale as a ghost when he saw who was staring at him. 'Thor...he better not try and take the children away from me', thought Loki to himself. He was well prepared to put up a fight, whether that be verbally or physically, if it meant his friends could remain with him.

Thor, however, just smiled fondly at Loki, giving him a slight nod to let him continue entertaining the children. Just the thought of Loki being affectionate towards Y/n and Peter made Thor incredibly happy and proud of how his younger brother had found friends to call his own. He was definitely surprised at first seeing how well Loki got along with two human teenagers, given the fact that Loki absolutely despises Midguardians, but for Thor, none of that mattered. What mattered was how much Loki cared about Y/n and Peter. Loki was willing to lay down the line for these two tiny teens if it meant they were kept safe, and Thor was finally able see that just by looking at them all talking and cherishing each others' company.
Thor was practically jumping up and down, but he had to be quiet so the children didn't hear him.
Loki, who was shocked at Thor's response to seeing him with both children, returned the smile and drew his attention back to the humans that sat on both of his shoulders.

"Stark will be more than thrilled to know that they're safe and sound here on Asgard", said Thor quietly as he strode off to the Bifrost to head to Earth. He wanted to give Tony the good news as soon as he could. "Now I just have to face the wrath of Stark once I tell him who Y/n and Peter are currently with", said Thor. A weird feeling in Thor's stomach began to irritate him as he thought of the reaction Stark would have.

~At the Avengers Tower~

"Mr. Stark, I am positive that Y/n and Peter are safe. They are both very smart after all. That is the reason why you wanted them to be your new recruits, correct?", asked Friday. Tony, at the moment, was pacing back and forth in the lounge room in the Stark Tower. "Of course it was, Friday. They're amazing kids who know how to handle themselves", said Tony. He stood there for a moment in the lounge area, thinking to himself. "Maybe I'm overthinking this way too much", said Tony as he worked on his breathing techniques to calm himself down. "Don't you always, sir?", teased Friday. "Don't push it", said Tony, who started up his pacing again.