Loki chuckled as Morgan ducked back into the fitting room to change back into her normal clothes. "Are you ladies ready to go, then?" he asked hopefully. Morgan had found a dress. The shopping trip was a success.

Right?

Right?

"You're not off the hook that quickly, boyfriend," Nat teased and Loki groaned. He didn't mind clothes. He liked clothes and fashion. On Asgard where he had proper tailors. Here there were no tailors, just an endless supply of dresses for the girls to try on. "Just because Morgan found a dress, doesn't mean we did too," Nat reminded Loki with a grin as she peeked out of the fitting room.

Loki sighed. "Very well," he grumbled and settled in the chair to get comfortable to wait.

Morgan giggled and made her way over to Loki once she was dressed, following the sound of his voice. She leaned down to kiss him, her hands on his shoulders once she'd found him. His hands were on her waist as he leaned up to meet her halfway.

He broke the kiss and she curled herself on his lap, her chosen dress hanging up nearby, Loki had used magic to help her place it somewhere safe. "I can't find another chair, guess I'll have to share yours," Morgan teased as she curled up happily in Loki's arms. There was a chair next to him that they were both ignoring. Loki didn't mind in the slightest that he had Morgan curled on his lap. He liked having her there and liked that she was safe in his arms. She wrapped an arm around his neck and placed a kiss on his cheek. "You doing ok besides being bored out of your mind?" she asked gently, worried about Loki.

He smiled and leaned to kiss her cheek. "I'm fine, love. I just enjoy being in your company," he reassured her, even if he was bored out of his mind.

She still looked concerned. "I know you don't like being out among the mortals," she pressed. Loki had been far too adamant about not going out among the mortals for her to think he was suddenly ok with it now.

"They are too curious for their own good sometimes," Loki replied carefully. He didn't really want to explain why they were getting so many stares.

"You're talking to the queen of curiosity," she reminded him with a laugh. She was Stark's daughter after all and shared her curiosity with her father.

Loki chuckled. "Very true, my darling," he replied warmly and held her tighter, glad to have her in his arms.

Morgan leaned up to kiss him again, but got interrupted by Wanda clearing her throat. "Starshy, you're supposed to be giving opinions," Wanda scolded. The sooner she and Nat picked dresses, the sooner they could leave the store. She was unfortunately wearing a skimpier dress than the last one Loki had vetoed on his fifteen year old adopted little sister.

"Sestra, are you trying to annoy me right now?" he groaned, wanting to set the dress on fire so she couldn't try to buy it anyway.

"No, I'm trying to pick a dress~" she whined. Loki was being rude in her opinion, not letting her pick one out that looked more grown up.

"Well, you are not doing a very good job. Try again,"

"You're just a prude, starshy," she grumbled and stopped back into the changing room.

Loki sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Little sisters are so annoying sometimes," he grumbled to Morgan when Wanda had stomped off.

Morgan laughed. "You adopted a teenage witch as a little sister and you're surprised she's annoying about clothes?" she teased, which just made Loki groan more.

Nat and Wanda did eventually pick dresses and somehow Loki even approved the one Wanda finally settled on. The group went to pay and Morgan, turning red as she did, had to ask Nat to help identify the credit cards in her wallet. Loki wasn't offended that she had asked Nat. It would have taken a lot more embarrassing explanation for her to explain the Midgardian payment system to him. There was still a lot about Midgard that he didn't know or understand. Morgan, Nat, Bucky, and Wanda were usually good about explaining things, but there was still a lot about Midgard that he didn't understand. This particular thing he would figure out later.

They left the shop and Loki whined again about it being time to go home. Nat laughed at him. "Not yet, boyfriend," she teased. "First, you get rewarded for coming with us," she said. She was teasing, but she really did mean that she was going to reward him.

Loki raised an eyebrow. "Now what does that mean?" he asked, concerned. What could that possibly mean? He wasn't sure he trusted the assassin's intentions, much as he liked her.

The girls laughed and Morgan took Loki's arm. "You'll see," Nat told him with a grin. "One shop you want to visit and then we all get dinner. And yes, you can eat all the desserts, Stark's buying," she teased and led the way.

/You let Nat call you boyfriend?/ Morgan asked Loki as they made their way, following Nat through the mall.

/Lady Natasha can call me whatever she likes. I know she does it just to tease me/ Plus Nat was his friend.

/She's teasing you about dating me. She's definitely not being malicious about it/ Morgan reassured him, not wanting him to think Nat was actually being mean.

The group stopped in front of the bookstore in the mall. Nat grinned over at Loki. "Ta-da!" she said triumphantly.

Loki's eyes lit up in delight. "This is perfect, Lady Natasha." He appreciated that he was though of, even though the shopping trip was for them. He headed inside quickly with Morgan still on his arm. Even with his excitement over the bookstore, he was still conscientious of Morgan and her limitations. Morgan kept a grip on his arm while Wanda and Nat wandered off to look over books in their interests. Just because Loki loved books more than they did, didn't mean that they don't like reading too.

Loki spent a long time in the bookstore, picking out a stack of books to adopt.

Wanda had a couple of books when she caught up with him and Morgan and even Nat had picked out something. They didn't pressure Loki to hurry, letting him enjoy the bookstore. When he found what he wanted, he looked down at Morgan. "Did you want to find something in Braille to read, darling?" he asked her warmly.

"I doubt they'll have anything... most commercial bookstores don't," Morgan replied, sounding sad by that prospect, though she was clearly trying not to let it show. "Dad special ordered all the ones I have,"

Loki sighed. He hadn't wanted to upset her. He'd wanted her to get something too. "I'm sorry, my love,"

"It's alright. I have plenty to read at home. Did you find anything interesting?" she asked to distract him back to his own happiness.

However, one of the employees overheard their discussion. "Ma'am, pardon the interruption, but we did just get some texts in Braille in the store," he offered. Stark may have yelled at the bookstore that he wasn't happy his daughter couldn't go pick out books on her own.

Loki lit up, glad the problem was solved. "Would you show us where they are?" he could be polite to the mortals, especially if he was getting something he wanted out of this.

"Of course, sir, this way," the clerk led them to a small section in the back corner of the store. It was clear that they didn't have many books in Braille yet, but it was better than the none they had a few weeks prior. When they reach the section, the clerk led them and Loki started reading the titles out to Morgan, trying to help her, until her fingers started to skim the the spins. She finally lit up at one and Loki breathed a sigh of relief.

"I don't have this one yet!" she said excitedly and pulled it off the shelf.

"Which one?" Loki asked, curiously.

She smiled in his direction. "It's a fairytale retelling I've been dying to read but didn't have time in college," she explained and grabbed the sequels off the shelf too. She also grabbed the Norse mythology book she had had to make Jarvis read aloud to her. She was glad she could read it quietly now. She was so delight to have found books to leave the store with. Even if she did make Loki carry them for her so she can hold onto his arm. Loki gladly carried the books, glad that she had such a bright smile on her face. Morgan paid for all of their books, since her dad would be paying for it anyway.

"C'mon, guys, I got us reservations while Morgan was picking out books," Nat told them all as they were leaving the store. She knew better than to let Loki go too long without eating.

While they were walking to the restaurant, Morgan yelped and clutched onto Loki's arm when she nearly tripped over a kid or the toy he was chasing. It was clear from her lack of coordination or ability to sense what was going on around her, that she was relying on Loki instead of her magic to sense her surroundings. Loki's arms wrapped around her, protecting her from falling flat on her face. She clutched onto him for a moment, afraid and nervous. He kissed the top of her head, running his fingers through her hair soothingly. "It's alright, my darling. I've got you," he soothed

"Thank you," she told him softly, embarrassed for almost ending up on her face. Her grip on him loosened when she was steady on her feet again.

"Of course, my love"

"You didn't kill the kid, did you?"

"No," he laughed. "I was too concerned for you."

Morgan nodded and gripped his arm again as they continued on their way. She was staying closer to his side than she had been. They made it to the restaurant with all three of those with sight doing a better job of watching out for dangers for Morgan. None of them were used to being her eyes yet, but they were trying their best. Loki was probably the closest and he was still getting used to it, but he enjoyed helping her.

The staff apologize profusely that there were no menus in Braille. Morgan politely reassured the staff that it was ok. She asked first, of course, but used Loki's eyes to read the menu. It was only a moment before he could feel just how low on power she was. It concerned him deeply. Her magic shouldn't be that low. /Your magic levels are dangerously low. What's wrong?/

/I had to use a lot of power all day at the office/ she admitted sheepishly.

/To do what?/ she shouldn't have needed that much magic in a muggle office building. He was proud of himself for remember the word from the books she'd lent him.

/Not trip over things, sense who each of the board members were, cheat around not being able to see so they wouldn't think less of me/

Loki sighed heavily. /You are going to drain yourself dry. It's not good for you/ he was extremely concerned over her. She sighed and didn't reply, just dropped the connection with his vision. /We may have to find a way to boost your magic capacity. Using so much in such a little time is dangerous. Especially for a new mage/

Morgan nodded /I didn't want you to worry.../ she sighed again, feeling down. She thought she'd been doing alright.

/I know, my love. But I care about you. It's my job to worry./

She nodded again, but still felt bad for being scolded.

Nat and Wanda both start listing off things on the menu they think sound good, conveniently listing most of the menu items as they "tried to decide". Loki smiled, knowing exactly what the other two ladies are doing and appreciated it. They were helping Morgan without being direct and condescending about it, sparing her pride. Wanda smirked at Loki across the table when she and Nat realized that he knew what they're up to.

Morgan chimed in with something that sounded good and finally orders were placed and the group chatted while they waited. Wanda and Nat glared at anyone who looked like they're going to try to make Loki uncomfortable. He doesn't take his eyes off of the little group but he could still feel the stares of the mortals. It wasn't often that the mortals saw someone with blue skin and horns in the fancy restaurant.

Thankfully their food was delivered quickly and the group enjoyed a late lunch, plus all the desserts for Loki. He devoured them like a child and was teased goodnaturedly for it. Loki found he didn't mind when it was the ladies he cared about teasing him.

They met Happy after lunch to return to the tower. The second they were back in the SUV, Morgan's head was resting on Loki's shoulder and she was passed on in moments, dead asleep from lack of power. Loki wrapped her up in his arms, kissing the top of her head.

"Guess it was a big day for her," Nat commented when she looked back to check on them.

Loki nodded. "She used way too much magic today,"

Wanda looked concerned. "You keep warning against that..." Loki had been teaching her magic and that was one of the first lessons.

Loki inclined his head in agreement. "Since she is so new to her magic, it is even more dangerous," he warned Wanda, who nodded and took the lesson to heart.