Dragonscales

Chapter 14|Press Conference

A/N The picture is a drawing I did of Thistle. 

Thistle's POV

I woke up with an arm around me and Tourmaline in my arms. Shouldn't she be in the Med Bay? I groggily rubbed the sleep out of my eyes when the memories from last night flooded back. My face burned at the proximity between Loki and I. But it was okay because we were friends, right? Friends had sleepovers all the time. Only I kind of wanted to be more than friends... Best friends! No, that wasn't right. My eyes widened and my blush deepened as I realized that I liked him. In not a 'Hey, we like each other mutually so let's do some stuff that friends do!' but a 'Oh shit, I like him in a romantic way but I don't know if he likes me in a romantic way!'

Tourmaline noticed my anguish and met her eyes with mine. Thistle, if you're that worried about your relationship with him just ask him to dance at tonight's party. She said, exasperated. There's a party tonight? No one told me anything about a party. I overheard the Robot Man and Sometimes-Angry-Green-Man talking about it while they were healing me. Tourmaline explained. Their names are Tony and Bruce, Tourmaline. I corrected. She shrugged as much as a dragon could shrug wedged between two people and crawled on top of the blanket. She then proceeded to fly over to my backpack and curl up in it. My stomach growled and I wondered the last time I had eaten.

I gently lifted Loki's arm off of me and wiggled out of bed. I wrapped a spare blanket around me like a cloak and padded out to the kitchen. I grabbed a bowl of cereal from the kitchen and decided to eat it in the common room while watching TV. Tony had taught me the basics of using a thing called 'Netflix' so I could watch whatever I wanted. I enjoyed watching a cooking show where an angry blonde man yelled creative insults at his contestants when they fucked up. 

I entered the room to find a strange human eating a large bag of chips and watching something on the T.V. He paused what he was watching and turned toward me. "Hi! I'm Peter! You must be Thistle, right? Mr.Stark told me about you but we never ran into each other. Are you really an elf like in movies and stuff? Why do you have horns?" He babbled excitedly. "I am an elf, and I have horns because I'm a dragon rider." I sat down on my usual spot and took a bite of my cereal. "You're a dragon rider?! That's so cool! Mr.Stark mentioned a dragon living in the tower but I thought he was just being sarcastic." How could he be so happy and talkative in the morning? 

"I'm watching My Hero Academia. It's a show about teenagers training to be superheroes in Japan," He explained, "Japan is a countr-"  "I'm well aware where and what Japan is. There's a few tribes of Earth and Air elves that live in that region." Peter's eyes went wide. "You mean there's multiple kinds of elves?" "There's only one kind of elf, we're just connected to different magical elements. The different elements have different physical features and abilities. Like some Water elves can cause hurricanes while some Fire elves can control heat if they're strong enough. It's kind of like the different races of humans but with magic instead of having everything be the same except a few characteristics of a person's appearance. I'm no different from a Fire elf than you are from a person with a different ethnicity." I explained matter-of-factually. Peter nodded. "I understand."

I ate the rest of my cereal and Peter watched his show. It was kind of interesting. Although the small purple sticky person was very annoying. I wanted to stab him on multiple occasions. 

Loki walked in the room with a box of chocolate pop-tarts. He greeted Peter and sat down next to me. I stole a pop-tart as Peter began talking. Loki's eyes flicked over to me but then he looked back at Peter. "Snek, have you finished Harry Potter yet?" Peter asked. He wasn't annoying, just overeager. "Yes, I have Spiderling." "Great! We can watch the movies this weekend. Thistle can join us!" His smile widened as Tony walked in the room with a steaming mug of coffee. I'm pretty sure if you stabbed him he would bleed coffee. 

"Hey kids!" Peter was really the only kid, as I would technically be of age if I were still living in my village and Loki is thousands of years old. Still, Loki and I were seventeen in human years because we age slower. "There's a press conference in an hour for you and Tourmaline since you've joined the team. After that I'm throwing a party. Hope you can dance, Reindeer Games." Tony announced. In the month I've living at the tower Tony has thrown two parties. Loki, Tourmaline, and I didn't attend either of them. I was invited, but I never wanted to. I instead used them as an excuse to spend a quiet night reading with Loki or in the garden. Party nights were always free from the normal chaos of pranks, stabbings, and yelling because it was all concentrated in one spot. The ballroom. 

"I thought Tourmaline was supposed to be getting rest?" I inquired. "We really just need her to be at the conference so the press can take a few photos and a small cameo at the party. Nothing too bad." Tony answered. Seemed manageable enough. Especially if I transferred some of my energy since I actually slept last night. Elves didn't require that much sleep. "Will I have to answer questions?" "Yes. But it's okay to not answer anything your uncomfortable with, now go get ready so you look nice." 

I nodded and went back to my room. I guess I would finally be using the formal clothes I bought with Natasha and Clint. I took a short shower and dried my hair. I looked look my collection of human formal wear. A dark blue dress with silver stars caught my eye. I slipped it on and put on finger less black gloves and a black choker as accessories. Tourmaline flew onto my bathroom counter as I was doing my hair and makeup. It wasn't that different from elf-made stuff we had back in my village. Sometimes a few elves would bring back samples of popular clothes and makeup when doing human studies. That was decades ago, before superheroes existed.  

Tourmaline clutched two ribbons in her mouth.  I finished doing my makeup and tied the ribbons onto her horns. She hopped down from the counter and rubbed her head against my legs. Sometimes she acted like a cat with scales. Tourmaline thanked me and scampered out of the bathroom. I laced on my shoes and we joined the team in the common room. 

Loki was dressed in a black, perfectly tailored, three piece suit. A light pink dusted his cheeks as he noticed me. "What?" I raised an eyebrow and crossed my arms. "You look very lovely, Thistle." He said and offered his arm. I hooked my arm around his and we followed the rest of the team to the ballroom where a clump of reporters in formal attire were waiting. I steeled myself and forged on. Tourmaline had grown to her natural size. Loki unhooked his arm and faded to the back of the group. 

"Miss elf! What is your hero name?" A female reporter asked. I pondered the question for a few seconds. Eclipse, Tourmaline suggested. Her purple eyes flicked over to mine. I smiled. "My name is Eclipse." I answered. A few reporters jotted something down on their notepads. "Eclipse! What is your relationship with Loki, the god of mischief?" They must've seen us walk in together. "He is my best friend in the tower." I answered truthfully. 

"When did you start living in the tower?"

"A month ago."

"What is the dragon's name?"

"Tourmaline, after a type of gem."

"Are you really an elf?"

I raised an eyebrow in confusion and pointed to my ears poking out of my naturally white hair. Tony butted in as someone was asking a question about my personal life. "That's all the time we have today. Feel free to visit the refreshment table on your way out. Have a nice day." I looked at him in thanks and whisper, "No problem." The press grumbled as they drained out of the room and music started playing. Steve joined a group of his World War 2 friends and everyone split off to do their own thing, leaving me and Tourmaline alone. 

I felt a cold hand slip into mine. I met Loki's sparkling green eyes and knew he had some pranks in mind.