Little Loki's Big Adventure

An older brother

'I, am, exhausted.' Peter sighed as he walked into the living room, dropping his bag on the floor and letting himself fall face first into the couch.

'Why? Did you run into trouble?' Steve asked worriedly, noticing the Spider-man suit the teen was wearing. ''Cause you know you should call us if you do, right? Oh, and might I remind you, again, to use the front door next time instead of coming in through a thirtieth-floor window?'

'What?' Peter asked after raising his face from the cushion and gasped for air, 'Oh, you mean this?' he asked as he looked at his suit, ignoring his father's remark, again. 'No, dad made a modification to my web fluid formula, so I took it for a spin after school. Nah, I'm just beat from classes all day. Sometimes I just think mathematics teachers are out there just to make life harder, I mean, you try and figure out how-' Peter then stopped and frowned as he only now noticed that the captain was sitting at the salon table on the floor, a board of chess in front of him. 'I didn't know you played?'

'Oh, yeah, well, I haven't played in a really long time, but it looks like I still know the rules, at least.' Steve shrugged with a slightly beaten down smile as he looked at the board, thinking about his next move. He picked up a white knight but rethought his action and placed it back on its original spot.

'Want me to help?' Peter offered, already looking over the captain's shoulder, 'So, you're white, huh? Yikes, doesn't look to good for you.' He said as he noticed that most white pieces were already carefully lined up next to the board. 'Who are you playing against, anyway? Mister Banner?'

'Nope, against Loki.'

'... Seriously?' Peter frowned and then watched Steve as the captain moved back a little, revealing the young raven hiding at his side.

A silence filled the room at which the two just stared at each other. Loki's eyes slightly squinted as he held on to the captain's shirt, hiding behind the man, while Peter's eyes were large in complete disbelief.

'Loki...?' Peter managed to utter at which the trickster cautiously nodded. 'No way! That is, I mean, how?! What?!'

'A spell backfired, Thor's looking for a remedy on Asgard,' Steve smiled, placing a hand on the raven's back.

'That's just, oh my god, that's amazing.' Peter crouched down and looked at the raven up close, 'Hey Lokes, uh, Loki, how old are you?'

'I-I am eight years old,' Loki replied shyly, staring at the large black eyes sewn into the red mask as he dared to ask; 'Sir, who are you?'

Peter gasped, a bright smile hidden under his mask as he looked at Steve, 'He called me "sir"!' he nearly squealed and then quickly turned to the raven again. 'Well, I'm your friendly neighborhood Spider-man, but you can call me Peter!' the teen said as he pulled off his mask, causing Loki to flinch in surprise.

'... I am Loki, Odinson, prince of Asgard,' the child replied, his big green eyes gleaming in the afternoon sun.

'... Does this mean I am a big brother now?' Peter suddenly asked in all seriousness as he looked at Steve, determination burning in his eyes.

'Nope, sorry, still a single child,' Tony smirked as he stood in the door opening of the kitchen, two mugs of hot chocolate topped with whipped cream in hand. 'Now listen, Peter, I don-'

'I am a big brother now,' Peter stated, ignoring the words of his father.

'Yeah, no, that's exactly the opposite of what I said, Peter,' Tony sighed as he handed one mug to the trickster and one to the teen. He then sat down on the floor next to Steve, giving him a kiss followed by a quick smile.