Rebel Magic!

III

The next day, Pepper had arrived at the tower around 12 p.m. Happy followed her carrying a load of shopping bags.

She smiled when she saw the image that the two of them supported in the middle of the living room, both were disheveled and still wearing their pajamas. Loki wrapped his legs around Tony's hips as if he were a koala, and Tony was giving him the dose of the pink medicine that Banner had prescribed for him with a syringe.

"The fatherhood suits you"

"Oh shut up, what's all this?" Tony asked as Pepper headed over to the kitchen island and started opening all the cabinets she could find.

"Vegetables, fresh fruits and real food in general. Loki can't feed on processed sugars and trans fats"

Pepper had now started throwing out the containers he had in the pantry, the colored cereal boxes being the first to go in the trash.

"Hey, what's wrong with peanut butter?"

"Expired. More than a month, Tony" she looked at him reproachfully, but she didn't insist too much on that, she was already used to him being a disaster.

When she was satisfied with the cabinets, the redhead pulled out a wrapped lunch box for Loki from the takeaway shop she found two streets down.

"Fish with boiled vegetables? Do you want him to dislike you on your second day?"

"It's healthy and nutritious, animal. Remember when Bruce talked about malnutrition?

Loki looked at his lunch and then at the two adults, not daring to take a bite.

"Don't you like it, darling?"

"Obviously, but I don't think that's the main problem, Lokes is a bit wary of new food. What I have to do." He exaggerated with a resigned sigh, taking a small portion of each item in the box, then chewing them down with a large glass of water. "Disgusting, but no poison. I'm pretty sure poison would taste better."

Loki began to eat his portion without complaining then. Surprisingly, he finished it all under Pepper's proud gaze.

"Unbelievable. The god of mischief is a model child. I'm going to burn every Norse mythology book I see."

"I have to go now, Tony. I'll take the opportunity to prepare the paperwork for the meeting this afternoon, someone has to go after all."

"Wait, Pepper! Before you go, could you give him a haircut? I've done most of it, of course, but..."

She nodded, looking at the strands of different lengths that Loki had in his hair. Yes, she could imagine that Tony had tried to cut him hair before.

"Loki, do you want me to cut your hair?"

"But I like it long."

"I'll leave it long, just a trim, okay?"

The boy nodded and settled into the chair Pepper had prepared for him, a towel draped over his shoulders. The soft strands of black hair fell out thanks to the CEO's skillful hands. she ended up leaving a perfect mane at the height of the nape of his neck.

Loki walked over to the large bathroom mirror as the two adults talked. He looked at himself with a smile. He looked great, better than he had been in months. No bruises covering his face and in clean new clothes. Even his cheeks looked a bit fuller, though he was still below a healthy weight.

Pepper left and Tony was able to immediately return to the workshop, leaving Loki on his own floor. He managed to work on his new nanotech armor models for two whole hours without interruption, lately he was having a hard time keeping up with the work without being dramatically required.