You Have Heart

Chapter 7

Moving in?

It was all too much.

In less than an hour you'd found your soulmate. Your soulmate was a Norse god. And an Avenger. Norse gods were real. You were in the Avengers tower. And in the presence of the actual fucking Avengers. You had magic. Loki was your soulmate.

And now they wanted you to move in?

You couldn't believe it. It was all happening so fast and all at once.

You weren't quite sure how you hadn't fainted and had a full-on panic attack by then. Sheer stubbornness? That was the only thing you could think of. You really needed time to process.

Instead, you were standing in the common room of the Avenger's tower, with Loki's arm casually around your shoulders, wearing a fucking Avengers T-shirt having been spirited away from watching an Avengers movie.

You would be embarrassed to be in the tower fangirling and wearing an Avengers shirt in the Avengers tower, but with everything else going on, you couldn't spare the braincells to be embarrassed over that. You could deal with that emotion later.

Right now, you had a more pressing issue.

"You... want me to move in?" You asked Loki and the team, confused and frankly overwhelmed by the prospect. Your fangirl heart couldn't take it.

Loki groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose. "I hadn't gotten to ask her yet, moron," he grumbled at Stark in particular. "I was trying to have some tact and ease into things as much as possible..." Loki had been extraordinarily gentle with you, especially considering the reputation he had.

It was to be expected, since you were just a normal boring human until that evening.

Nat huffed "Stark, I think you've caused enough trouble. Let Loki settle things with his soulmate," she said and moved to Stark, grabbing him by the ear to drag him from the room. She grinned over at you. "Nice to meet you. I hope you do stay. We could use more girls around here!" She said brightly and proceeded to drag Stark from the room. Barton and Cap followed her, figuring it safer to follow the assassin than deal with her anger later.

Loki sighed in relief when they were gone and helped you ease back onto the couch. "I apologize for them, drotning," he told you gently, then glared at Thor until his brother went to the other end of the room to give you some semblance of privacy. "There can be a bit of privacy issue here..." you understood that you were in one of the public rooms of the tower, and it was natural for everyone to be curious, especially about Loki's soulmate of all people to fall into their lives.

You took a couple of steadying breaths. This whole thing really was overwhelming. "You want me to move in?" You asked him again. Your brain was stuck on that point for good reason. It was kinda important.

More important than getting lost in Loki's gorgeous green eyes. Though that was surely tempting.

So was kissing him. And other things...

You blamed how hot he was for those intrusive thoughts. It was really all his fault.

Loki took a moment to gather his words, to figure out how best to explain. He finally nodded. "Yes, drotning. There are multiple reasons," he said before you could question why. "First, it would be much safer for you here. There are plenty who would hurt the soulmate of any of the team to hurt the team," he was wording his plea carefully, trying to make it sound like it wasn't just about him. Any of the Avengers' soulmates would be in danger. "And the enemies I have wouldn't hesitate to hurt you to get to me," he added with haunted pain in his eyes. You wanted nothing else in that moment but to ease that pain for him. He gave you a small smile and placed his hand on the words on his own arm. You realized from his expression that he felt your intention through the bond. That he'd felt how much you wanted to help him.

You waited quietly and as patiently as you could. You wanted to know his reasons, wanted to know if they were good reasons to move into this strange place. Unless they were crazy, you were definitely escaping your apartment and moving in here. This place was huge and your apartment was a cracker box. And the rent was crazy.

His smile remained as he continued. "The second reason, is that you have magic now and magic needs to be taught or it goes haywire,"

"And clearly you would be the one to teach that," you replied. Really, who else would be able to teach you Asgardian magic?

Loki inclined his head "Exactly so," he agreed. "Plus there are other things you'll need to learn, being soulbound to one of the princes of Asgard, but those can be gone over in time," he reassured you quickly. He was trying not to overwhelm your mortal mind. You appreciated the effort, though you questioned if it was too little too late at this juncture. "My third reason is entirely selfish," he admitted with a cheeky grin. "You can't blame a man for wanting his soulmate nearby,"

You laughed at that. "No, I definitely don't blame you at all for that," you replied as you tried to logically think it over.

"Before you fret over logistics, I am not suggesting that we share a bedroom at this juncture," his tone made it clear that he wouldn't force himself on you, even if you were soulmates. "There are plenty of bedrooms in the tower and at least three empty ones on the floor I live on. Stark is setting one up for your use, whether you officially move here or not,"

You'd have your own space? Plus all the amenities of the tower? That sounded amazing.

You dreaded the next question, but it had to be asked. "And... rent?" You asked softly. You lived in an apartment that you could barely turn around in and barely afforded. There was no way you'd be able to afford to live in the tower, in the middle of the city, and the most high tech building in the city.

Stark laughed from where he peeked in from the kitchen. So much for privacy. "There's no rent, kid. Avengers and soulmates get free room and board. If you need a job, I'm sure Stark Industries or SHIELD has something available that you can do. Hell, Fury might just assign you to Loki-sitting duty,"

You snorted at that last. Loki-sitting? That sounded ridiculous. Loki huffed and blushed. He clearly wasn't trusted yet. He'd said as much earlier, something about house arrest. There was so much that you still needed to learn about everything going on.

But first...

A place with no rent?

Even without all the other perks, you were sold on the idea.

"No rent? Plus all of Loki's reasons? I'm definitely moving in," your mouth said before your brain had made a conscious decision.

But really, what other choice was there to make?