Stress Reduction ( Loki x reader)

Chapter seven: The 'calm' after the storm

Author's note: Just to be clear, from now on, if you see yourself (or the main, I don't know how you guys read it) speaking in bold, it's because you are using compulsion as a vampire :DD

Love you! Enjoy!

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A few months had passed since the attack on New York. Thor had taken Loki and the tesseract (and your alleged answers) back to Asgard with the promise of justice, and life seemed to slowly revert back to normal as the streets got cleaned up, the buildings repaired and many people were able to move back into their homes. Numerous memorials and posters decorated walls and electric poles, singing proudly of the struggles The Avengers had to go through to save the city. In the matter of a few days your group became celebrities (except for Tony who couldn't help but emphasize that he was already one), and the public eye cheerfully watched every one of your moves. People had gotten tattoos or Stark's beard but the most absurd thing you saw was women dying their hair, destroying it, to achieve the glowing white color you were born with.

Everyone from the team appeared to be somewhat okay with you being a tale from the past, well, Steve had a hard time adapting to the change so he still acted suspiciously weird around you which was annoying but you understood that a fact like this was not an easy pill to swallow.

Only you and Tony stuck around, all the others have left New York about a week after the end of the fight. As The Avengers gained large popularity extraordinarily fast, people somehow leaked your home address and you got forced to lock up your doors for a few days until Tony rescued you and insisted on you staying at the tower for a few weeks. In lack of better options you agreed, receiving your very own living quarters, equipped with the highest form of technology there was, including J.A.R.V.I.S, who often scared you when caught in a peaceful moment.

Warming up to Tony a little better, you had to admit, he became the closest thing you had to a best friend. His keenness on vampirism never failed to draw a smile to your face and his unnecessary jokes moved you and Pepper into different rooms at times. When you went out, you posed for the paparazzi together, him throwing up a piece sign and you usually a wink. He often invited you into his lab to help him develop something new, using your abilities to test his success and gift you with something useful in exchange for a snippet of information on vampires.

Even though your dreams had left you, you still had troubles sleeping, most nights you just lay there wondering on about things, like how you knew Loki was going to attack. You were positive it wasn't just a coincidence but now, as your believed answer was worlds away you found yourself stuck, living in a constant state of guessing.

Yes, life moved on, but you still, and always found yourself dwelling on the past, doesn't matter if near or far, puzzling what you could have done differently.

"Wait. So you can drink and eat like humans?" Tony's ever so familiar voice pulled you back into the current, where you were sitting on the couch, enjoying a glass of red wine and the daily change of color in the sky. Turning your head to face him, washing your momentary confusion away with a grounding sip, you were met with an innocently confused Stark, stuck in information hunting mode. His full cheeks and rosy skin indicated that he's finally been sleeping and eating like a normal human being.

You couldn't help but smile as you looked him over. "Yes, smarty pants, I can."

"Woah, okay" He faked being taken aback by the nickname and threw you some seriously believable offended eyes before continuing. "but,... how does that even work?"

"Vampire senses are heightened, thus we enjoy the taste of foods and drinks probably more than humans ever could, it just doesn't ease the actual hunger." You explained calmly, feeling like a mother raising a child who continuously asks for the meaning of words, expecting an immediate answer or throwing a tantrum.