Packless Monsters

Chapter 34

 "Shh, love," Loki's voice came as he extricated himself from under you and shifted you so you were laying on Thor instead. You'd fallen asleep between the two boys in the living room with a movie on in the background after you and Rachel had worn yourselves out breaking things. You murmured softly and settled back to dozing, cuddled with the warm cuddle.

"How did you manage this?" Samuel asked incredulously a minute later. "I should have found you crying halfway across town while they were 'shopping',"

"You knew?" Loki demanded. You heard the 'shing' as he drew a dagger.

Samuel just started laughing. "Of course. I take it your little Omega didn't think to warn you. She'll be more reasonable tomorrow," Samuel reassured Loki. "Though I still don't know how you got them to sleep... or stay in the building..."

"We let them break old computers downstairs. It gave them something active and useful to do while they burned off energy and they stayed in the building," Thor explained, his voice a rumble.

"Hmm?" Rachel asked softly, Samuel's voice and Thor's rumble rousing her.

"Thank you for watching over her. I'm sorry she was such trouble today," Samuel told Thor and Loki.

"I would say that she was no trouble, but I know better than to lie to a werewolf," Loki replied. You could hear the smirk in his voice. Samuel laughed.

"We'll all go out Saturday as recompense. Father's treat," Samuel replied.

"We would have done the favor, there is no need for a bribe," Thor protested.

"Of course you would. But if we don't take the girls out for something fun, they will get annoying again and try to convince everyone and everything that it's perfectly safe for them to be out on their own. Trust me, it's self preservation as much as a bribe. But, for now, I should get Rach back to her own bed." You opened your eyes enough to see Rachel get lifted from the cuddle pile by Samuel. "Did you have fun, darling?" he asked her when she stirred at being moved.

"Mmm. They made good food and we got to break things. Might've even been better than shopping. Asgardians can actually keep up with werewolves," she praised the boys, who did not in fact look like they had kept up with the werewolves. They looked dead on their feet.

"Yes, but I think they've had enough out of you, sweetheart," Samuel chuckled and carried her from the tower after thanking Thor and Loki again.

Loki settled back in next to you when Samuel was gone. Both boys shifted to lay their heads on you, arms wrapped around you. You weren't moving without a lot of effort, and they were both glad to know you were safe in their arms.

"What-?" Cap started, looking over the scene of three of the being with the most energy completely passed out.

"Do not babysit werewolves," Loki growled. "If we do this again, the entire team is helping," You giggled and kissed his forehead. He groaned. "Please, love, please for the love of all of the wonders in Valhalla, please go back to sleep,"

*

"Loki, I have to go to school. And work," you told the annoying god the next morning while you were eating breakfast. "I can't miss two weeks of classes and work," you reminded him.

"You're in danger without your wolf," he told you.

You sighed heavily. "I have to go, and I'm going. Cap left you off of the duty roster for a reason," you reminded him. "Just come with me,"

He just stared at you. "You're not arguing over that?" he asked, disbelieving that you would give up so easily.

You gave him a look, then smirked. "You're making the argument that I can't go at all. I get my back up and snap and snarl. You finally downgrade to coming with me to guard. The argument continues, and you threaten that you're guarding or I'm not going at all and we both end up unhappy. My way is better. I tell you to just come spend the day with me. I pretend we're hanging out, you know you're coming with me to guard, and we're both happy," you shrugged. Loki just started for a minute, then started laughing.

"Excellent idea, love," he seemed proud that you knew how this game worked.

"I thought so, now eat your breakfast. We have to leave soon," you told him as you placed the plate of french toast in front of him. He glared at your plate. You rolled your eyes. "Lo, I'm human. I don't need to eat like a wolf right now," you reminded him. He didn't argue, but insisted that you eat one of his slices. You'd thrown an extra slice on his plate and one less on yours just for that reason and protested just enough to avoid rousing his suspicions. You were quite well practiced with dealing with overprotective males.

Loki drove you to class and there was another argument over him actually sitting in the classroom with you. You won that one, barely, since he wasn't allowed. Some of the professors got grumpy over the smallest things.

"March is supposed to be warm," you whined at Loki when he met you after your first class with the coffee drink you liked so much. He smiled and wrapped a scarf around your neck. "Thank you," you told him for both the scarf and the coffee. Loki leaned down to kiss you as the rest of the class was filing out of the room. You indulged him. It was oh so difficult to let him kiss you.

"Mine," he whispered in your ear when they had all passed.

"Lo, they're not interested and everyone who remotely follows the team on social media knows that we're dating. Your claim is not in jeopardy by college kids who I wouldn't be interested in anyway,"

"You would not be interested in men your own age?" Loki asked as you walked with him to your next class, sounding scared that you might prefer someone else.

You laughed. "Not at all. They're immature morons the lot of them. Besides, they wouldn't be able to deal with the wolf," you reminded him. "Plus, I'm going to live forever as long as someone doesn't purposely kill me. Humans...don't and I don't want to have to turn anyone... I don't want anyone to have to deal with all being a wolf entails..." your words were soft, but careful in case you were overheard. "Loki, I love you. I thought letting you in the other night-" you flushed at talking about that activity "-proved that. Where did this sudden fear come from?"

"It did, and it brought me joy that you would share that experience with me. I don't want to lose you," he told you, wrapping an arm around your shoulders as if to reassure himself. "I hate that you're vulnerable..."

You looked up at him. "True, but not an answer to my question. Why are you suddenly afraid I'm going to leave you?"

"Why would you want to stay with a monster like me? Everyone turns their back on me at some point," he finally answered, tears in the eyes that were starting to tint red.

You stood up on your toes to kiss him. "You're not a monster anymore than I am. And I love you. I'm not going to leave you. I'm not going to abandon you. I'm going to love you for as long as you'll let me." You dug into your bag and handed him a tiny box wrapped in shiny paper. "I was saving this for the perfect time, but it seems like you need it now. It's a silly tradition..." He carefully opened the box to find a simple slim gold Claddagh ring. He raised an eyebrow. "It's a promise ring, not a wedding ring," you told him quickly. "A symbol of love popular among Midgardian teenagers especially, but I thought you'd appreciate the gesture. And will let everyone who sees it know that you're in a committed relationship," you told him. "And mine," the words came out slightly more possessively than you'd meant, but he wasn't offended.

You saw the emotions play across his face. He was touched by the gesture. There were tears briefly in his eyes. You took the ring from the box and slipped it on his finger. It was a perfect fit as you'd known it would be. "I love you, Loki. I'm not leaving you," you stood up on your toes to kiss him while he was still shocked, his silver tongue remained tied enough that he couldn't thank you properly, though he was relieved and reassured by your gesture.