Back at the tower, Loki, Tony and Clint headed straight to Tony's workshop.
"Do you have the broken ones?" Tony signed.
Clint handed Tony the broken hearing aids and he began examining the miniscule parts under a microscope.
"I have an idea," Loki signed. "I can use our telepathic link to experience your hearing. That way I can tell Tony what needs to be tweaked."
Clint nodded his assent and Loki relayed the plan to Tony. Then Loki placed his hands on either side of Clint's face and closed his eyes. The change was immediate. Loki had extremely good hearing as a Frost Giant, even more so than that of a human. As such, going from sensitive hearing to no hearing at all was almost painful. But Clint endured this most days, so Loki gritted his teeth and told Tony what alterations needed to be made.
"I'll have them finished by tomorrow," Tony told Clint.
He smiled and signed his thanks.
Natasha and Steve appeared in the doorway.
"We wondered where you'd got to," Steve said, taking a look at the remains of the hearing aid over Tony's shoulder.
"SHIELD's rubbish hearing aids fell apart," Tony complained, disgruntled. "I'm making Clint new ones."
Natasha began signing to Clint but suddenly he clapped his hands over his ears.
"I can hear!" he said. "But I don't have any hearing aids in. Why?"
Loki pointed at his own ears.
"You can hear because I cannot. I can transfer sensations, feelings. I can give sight to a blind man but I then lose sight myself," he signed.
"What is he saying?" asked Steve, the only person in the room who didn't understand ASL.
Clint interpreted for him.
"He's temporarily given me his hearing," he said. "Your hearing is fantastic!"
Loki, who was lip-reading, merely shrugged.
"Well, I am a god."
"It would be helpful if you could make that permanent," Tony told Loki.
"I shall have to do some work experimenting," Loki replied.
Clint suddenly hugged Loki. Loki didn't know whether Clint lost his hearing as a child or was born without any. He'd never thought to ask.
"Thank you," he said, and, although Loki couldn't hear him, he knew what he was saying.
They broke apart.
"I'll give you my hearing until Tony has finished your new hearing aids," Loki signed to him.
Clint, thinking it was now pointless to bother hiding his tears, hugged Loki again and then ran out of the room excitedly with Natasha, signing something about being a menace to the citizens of Manhattan with his new hearing. Even Loki's multilingual magic skills didn't quite reach to Clint's level of slang.
As Tony busied himself with Clint's hearing aids, Steve walked up to Loki. Since Loki couldn't currently hear and Steve didn't know sign language, Loki paid attention to Steve's lips while he spoke.
"I never really got the chance to say thanks for saving Bucky, and healing him. I can't tell you how much it means to me. I would say as grateful as Clint was, but it wouldn't be enough."
Steve fixed Loki with his puppy eyes.
"You knew Bucky as a child, didn't you?" Loki asked suddenly, assuming his voice sounded a bit weird.
"Yes, yes I did," Steve replied. "I've known him my entire life. I never had such a good friend as Bucky."
"Do you mean friends," Loki questioned suddenly, "or do you mean more than that?"
Steve suddenly blushed. Tony pretended to be busy in the corner, fiddling with a screwdriver, but he was clearly listening intently.
"Erm, um, I don't know what you mean."
"Yes, you do," Loki said pointedly. "It's not taboo anymore, Steve. You can do what you like, love who you like. I can dress as a woman, identify as anything, and you can love whoever you want. You can love whoever you want."
Steve's eyes were watery with suppressed tears. Another thing human men were told to keep inside: emotions.
"Bucky will need time to adapt to the modern world and what it does and doesn't accept nowadays but I think he'll be glad for the way the world has progressed. For what it means for him... and you."
Steve let a tear slide down his cheek and refused to wipe it away. Let men be men, the way they were meant to be, with emotions and so much love.
"Do you really think he'll be fine with it?" he asked quietly, tentatively.
Loki smiled.
"I've lived a long time, Steve, and I know what love looks like. If Bucky Barnes doesn't have feelings for you, I'll eat my non-existent hat."
Steve laughed. He held out his hand and Loki shook it. Hugs could come later.
"I guess a lot of people are thanking you today," he said.
Loki laughed too.
"I'm just stating facts. You guys are sweet together."
If anything, that only made Steve blush even more, and Tony dropped the screwdriver, unable to pretend anymore.
Loki didn't know who was more embarrassed: Steve or Tony.
Tony shrugged.
"What can I say? I just love love so much that I felt I had to join in."
He gave Steve a surprise hug.
"Wait until you hear about the LGTBQ community."
"The what?"
*****
A.N. Stucky is hereeeeee. Hope you guys are fans! It's not actually usually one of my preferred ships but they are a sweet pair. :)
Thank you for reading and please comment!!!!
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Starting Over #2 - Loki
Fanfiction[SEQUEL] Loki has found his place among the Avengers, but when will his luck run out? The sequel to Starting Over.
