A Twist Of Marvel || Infinity War

87. Laughter

"Aw, really?" Naomi asked with a grin, glancing sideways at Tony, who laughed.

"Yep. I leave him alone for 5 minutes, and all of a sudden- the kid's playing dollies with an alien tree and a literal princess." He shook his head in an exasperated manner, but Naomi could hear the smile in his tone. It was nice to hear that Peter had made friends with the other teens, though the three of them together would no doubt be a big headache for their parents. She had hoped to see Peter in person, but Tony had informed her that he had already sent the kid back home for school, so she would be face timing him later. A good enough method, Naomi supposed, for letting someone know she wasn't dead. However there was still several heroes remaining in the complex that Naomi needed to touch base with, most importantly Loki.

Unfortunately, Tony hadn't known where the mischievous man had gotten to, so they decided on finding Thor instead. Naomi could reveal that she was alive, and hopefully find out where Loki was in one move. Currently, Tony was leading her towards the dining room, where FRIDAY had detected Thor, Bruce, and Valkyrie all together. Naomi had been disappointed that even FRIDAY was unable to locate her maybe-boyfriend, but she would get to him eventually.

Her and Tony had picked up their usual repertoire almost immediately, after he got over the shock of seeing her alive and well. He was all too eager to start complaining about Cap, and the Guardians, and Thor's group, and pretty much anyone that wasn't Rhodey or Peter. Naomi listened to it all with a grin, butting in occasionally to add her two cents. She had no doubt that later she would be recounting her space travels to him in the same way- though Tony was more prone to interrupting than she was.

"You wouldn't even BELIEVE half the stunts the wonder team has tried to pull-" Tony waved his hands dramatically as he whined about the Guardians yet again, "- the little skunk one keeps trying to invade the air vents and take apart all the walls, and the blue guy refuses to believe that I was inside the Iron Man suit. He thinks it's a different goddamn person!"

Naomi snorted with laughter, nodding at Tony to provide some sympathy. "Aw, poor baby." She pouted at him playfully, dodging his hand as he swatted her away.

"Yes, I am a poor baby. You should pity me. Maybe buy me something to make me feel better." He said matter-of-factly, speeding up to walk backwards in front of her. Naomi hummed in response, raising an eyebrow at his antics. Checking behind him, Tony stopped at a large glass door. "Here we are, ladies first." He said, opening it and promptly walking through first. She sighed, but couldn't help but smile. Tony was quite the handful, but she loved him for it. Taking a second to brace herself, Naomi stepped through after him, entering into the large dining room that looked exactly like every other room in the complex. Seriously, Tony had to have some sort of obsession with white walls and glass.

Immediately, all activity in the room froze. Naomi took special notice when Bruce dropped his spoon into his cereal bowl, the splash cutting through the silence.

"Oh my god." Valkyrie spoke first, staring at Naomi with a deadpan expression. The woman's eyebrows hitched upwards slightly in disbelief. Naomi didn't have much time to respond before Thor and Bruce rushed at her, however.

"Oh my- Naomi, I don't- well how the... I- what?" Bruce sputtered incoherently, eyes wide as saucepans. Thor took it a little better. He clapped his hands down onto her shoulders, leaning down slightly to her eye level. Naomi frowned slightly, a tad confused.

"You have been hanging around my brother far too much." He said to her, in complete and utter sincerity. It took all she had not to burst out laughing in his face, though she could hear that Tony wasn't even trying to hold back his cackling. 

Thor ignored Tony, continuing, "Now, I'm overjoyed that you've returned to us, but this cannot become a habit of yours, alright?" He peered at her, serious but still warm. Naomi smiled, and nodded to him.

"Alright Thor, I promise I won't die again."

"Okay wait-" Bruce interjected, clearly in distress. "So you did die? But you're here?" He ran his hands through his graying hair, squinting at her. "And I- I'm happy about that, you know... but, but the Space Stone-"

Valkyrie, coming up behind Bruce, shoved a bottle into his mouth, effectively shutting the scientist up. He hesitated for a moment, before accepting the bottle and taking a large swig of its contents. Pulling away from the liquor, Bruce gasped for air before looking around at everyone's endlessly amused faces. Naomi was actually becoming a bit concerned for Tony, with how hard the man was laughing.

"Oh yes, what did happen to that pesky little thing, do you have it?" Thor asked, satisfied with Naomi's promise to not 'die' a second time.

"Oh, no, the Watchers confiscated it." Naomi shrugged. "I'll explain later." She added, seeing the widespread confusion as to who the 'watchers' were."

"Ooo, the Watchers!" Thor grinned, "sounds spooky." 

Bruce took another swig of his drink. Valkyrie looked vaguely impressed.

"Right. It's been amazing to see you all, but I do need to find Loki." Naomi spoke up, hesitant to leave them so soon, but also very eager to find the elusive raven-haired man. Upon hearing this, Thor narrowed his eyes suspiciously.

"Why? Are you two..." He trailed off, thinking deeply. Naomi gulped, a little apprehensive about how much Thor knew. She and Loki weren't exactly keeping their relationship a secret, but she would rather not talk about it with Thor before she even knew what was happening between her and Loki. It was hard to put a label on what exactly they were, but the first step to decide that would be for him to realize she was actually alive. Naomi supposed that would be helpful. 

"Going to go die or something?" Thor finished, once again lapsing into complete sincerity while saying something absolutely ridiculous. Naomi simply stared at him in disbelief while literally everyone else fell into laughter. Even Bruce seemed to be amused, though that might have just been whatever was in that bottle Valkyrie gave him. Naomi prayed it wasn't too strong, she didn't feel like taking care of another one of Bruce's hangovers. Thor looked around at them, confused. "What? It's a serious question- he's being a bad influence on her!" This only increased their laughter, Tony grabbing onto Naomi's shoulder for support as he doubled over.

"Dear god, that's just gold." He wheezed, dramatically wiping a tear from his eye. Naomi chuckled, shoving him off with a muttered 'oh jesus.' "Ah. But yeah, we need to see reindeer games stat." Tony reminded Thor, who huffed, but gave in.

"I believe he went to the courtyard. Naomi's demise affected him greatly- I wasn't aware you two were close." Thor said somberly. The mood grew heavier, Naomi turning to Tony with a meaningful look. He nodded, and started toward the door.

"Thank you, Thor. And um, sorry for the death scare, everyone." Naomi grimaced, following Tony and sending them a small wave. Valkyrie nodded at her before snatching her bottle away from Bruce, who protested weakly. He would definitely have a wicked hangover later. Hopefully he wouldn't forget the entire encounter and freak when he saw Naomi again later.

"Good luck, Lady Naomi." Thor smiled kindly, waving her off. Naomi rolled her eyes at the title, but smiled nonetheless, giving another wave as she slipped out the door behind Tony. With a contented sigh, Tony put a hand on her shoulder before giving her a wry smile.

"Let's go find your little boyfriend."

"Oh my god Tony."