Working Title : Loki & Annie

Chapter Twenty-Three Sanctuary & Guest Soaps

Annie watched Loki look at her face, he seemed to study her then he turned his face into Thor's chest. Annie looked up into Thor's face and saw he was about to apologize but she shook her head while grinning at him. She kept her voice low, it was filled with awe, "That's amazing, he's awake." She bounced on bare toes then backed up and waved him further into the apartment. "Come on, sit down, you know where."

Thor was relieved Annie didn't seem upset that Loki didn't acknowledge her. "Thank you. And while we are not wet like we were last time, we are rather damp."

Annie waved it off, "Still no problem. If the couch were something more than a great yard sale find I might feel different." She could tell Thor had no idea what she was talking about. "It's not valuable and it'll dry fast."

Thor still sat gingerly, arranging Loki carefully on his lap, keeping the red cape around him tightly. The collar still showing when the cape slipped down, Thor's tunic was too large to hide it. He looked up at Annie who was staring at it, her face thoughtful.

"It's still on him?" Thor just nodded. Annie took in a deep breath. "Let me get us something hot to drink, it'll warm all of us up. Coffee? Tea? Chocolate?" She was walking backwards towards the kitchen.

"Uh, not tea."

Annie smiled, "Coffee or chocolate?"

"Uh, chocolate?" Thor wasn't certain if he had drunk chocolate. He had eaten it, it was wonderful. He had drunk coffee and found that it had to be sweet and made to taste nothing like coffee before he enjoyed it.

"Perfect." Annie grabbed a pan and the milk from the fridge. Three mugs from a cabinet were set on the counter, she used one to pour the milk in to measure out how much to put into the pan. Once it was set on a medium flame she opened three packs of instant chocolate and poured one into each mug. While the milk heated she headed into the guest bathroom and took several towels from a shelf.

Thor watched Annie as she worked in the kitchen, she had a smile on her lips and kept looking over at them. When she did the smile would grow for just a moment, each time it felt as though another enemy fell at his feet. He leaned back, finally feeling his muscles relax. He looked down into Loki's eyes, they were staring at him with almost a considering look.

Annie brought the towels over, "Here." She placed several in Thor's outstretched hand. "You can at least get a little of the damp off, if you want."

Thor nodded in thanks as she walked back into the kitchen. Annie was thinking about the fact that she was serving hot chocolate to two gods. She frowned at the empty hot chocolate packets. They were the cheap, store brand. Not even the ones with the fake, crunchy marshmallows. The milk was hot and she poured it in the three mugs, stirred them then set them on a tray and carried it over where she sat it all on the coffee table.

"Loki, would you like some chocolate? Lady Annie has made some for you." Thor had turned Loki in his arms so that the boy was facing into the room where he could watch what was happening. Now Thor reached forward to accept the mug that Annie held out to him, making sure to grasp it before she was able to bring it too close to Loki.

"Here you go." Annie watched Loki carefully as his eyes locked on the mug. His expression looking as if he were afraid it was going to be thrown in his  face. "It's hot but not too hot to sip."

"Thank you." Thor looked down at the drink, the steam rising and he wondered where to begin in telling Annie of the issue.

Annie watched as well but her eyes were going between Thor's face and Loki's. Thor was clearly struggling to put his thoughts into words while Loki was just mesmerized by the mug that Thor was still holding in his outstretched arm.