A life together

A Pirates Visit

The problem came when the avengers tried to have a moment alone. Every one of them - except for Clint - was being hunted by the visions that Maximoff had made them see. So naturally, Loki offered to extract the magic.

With reassurances from both Thor and Tony, Natasha, Bruce and Steve accepted the help of the god of mischief, and by supper time they were all clear of any magical residue lingering in their heads. No one was particularly hungry, so they went to sleep early, only the householders had dinner to keep Harley company but once they were done they also quickly went to bed.

The next morning, the family woke up bright and early to make breakfast for everyone. Natasha, Steve and Clint were already outside exercising while Bruce was sitting on the porch staring at the lake, enjoying the calm. Thor wolfed down five waffles and said goodbye.

"I saw something in that dream. I need answers, but I will not find them here," is what he said to his brother. Loki wanted to question him, to offer to go with him, but the face of determination and subtle fear stopped him. It'd been a long time since he had seen Thor so shaken up about something, and that too scared him. What had his brother seen to react in that way?

"- and Peter said that I had to paint it in a way that would be cool, so I thought, which superhero is the coolest? And for a moment I thought about painting the Mark 8 as War Machi- hey, don't hit me, it's not my fault Uncle Rhodey is cooler than you. He's part of the Air Force and he taught me how to aim at Uncle Thor's head."

"And who do you think designed and actually built his damn stupid suit?" Tony asked, totally offended and throwing a blueberry at him.

"Don't interrupt, I'm trying to say something important," Harley said, throwing a blueberry back.

Loki caught it easily, "No flying fruit on the table. Honestly, you people have no manners."

"Yeah, yeah, we're from the lower class, we get it. Let the kid talk."

He scowled but Harley giggled and said, "Anyway, I ended up painting it other colors."

Tony frowned, "Please tell me it's not red, white and blue. You're going to sleep on the roof if you tell me that."

The kid laughed but his expression quickly darkened, "No, I would never do that. I don't like Captain America."

Neither adult tried to ask why he disliked the soldier. Loki because he already knew - they had watched the footage together- and Tony because he thought that every child should form their opinion of people on their own. His father had shoved the story of the great Captain down his throat from the moment he began to be aware of his surroundings, he wasn't going to make the same mistake.

"Didn't you see the potato gun I used yesterday?"

"Hmn, no. I was distracted by everything that was going on. Believe it or not, hugging my son after not seeing him for days was more important to me than the fact that Thor had a little bump on his forehead."

Harley blushed and without being able to look into his eyes, he showed him the image of the design he had stored in his phone. "Oh, this is certainly cool. I mean, I understand Thor is a god and blah blah blah, but I thought the Hulk was a better choice. Just saying."

They both stared at the genius in disbelief. "You are so helpless, my love," he said, trying not to face-palm. "What other superhero has red and gold, Anthony?"

"Well, Iron Man, duh, but that's not- oh." His eyes were wide as saucers.

Loki chuckled, "Yeah. Oh."

In just a second, Tony had Harley in his arms and was grinning like a maniac. Loki simply watched the scene fondly, not intruding, knowing that they both needed that moment.