"Y/N KATHRYN STARK!" you heard your named bellowed the next morning. You and Loki were sitting on your couch in the common room minding your own business and actually not causing trouble. It was an impressively quiet morning around the tower. Until Tony started bellowing anyway.

You looked up from your laptop, on which you were supposed to be writing an essay that was due Monday, but instead you were posting the pictures of yourself and Loki from yesterday on social media. Loki had taken a bunch of pictures yesterday, so the upload was taking awhile, but that couldn't have anything to do with Tony's anger. You quickly thought over everything you had done recently, but couldn't think of anything you'd done that would upset Tony. At least not that much.

"What's wrong, Uncle Tony?" you asked, really having no idea this time why he was so pissed.

He glared at you as if you should know why he was angry. "WHY ARE YOU ON THE NEWS?" he demanded, still roaring.

You just stared at him, shocked. You weren't concerned over his roaring or anger, especially not after he'd accidentally thrown you into a wall. He wasn't going to risk your safety again anytime soon after that.

"I'm on the news?" you asked dumbly. That was the only reaction you could think of to that accusation. You hadn't done anything worthy of getting on the news for.

Tony grabbed the remote and smashed buttons until the local news came on. You stared at it in shock. They were showing images and a short clip of you and Loki on your date yesterday.

Oops.

You knew you were a celebrity, but you forgot that led to being on TV on occasion.

"WHY IS HE KISSING YOU ON TV?" Tony roared, as they showed the image of you kissing in front of all the fangirls. You blushed and looked away from him. "WHY THE HELL IS HE KISSING YOU AT ALL?"

You rolled your eyes at that. Even Tony couldn't be that oblivious. "He's my boyfriend. Kisses do kind of come with the territory," you replied with snark and sarcasm in your voice. It wasn't your fault your dumb uncle hadn't realized that you and Loki were officially an item.

The news reporter drew your attention as he was talking about how local celebrity niece of the infamous Ironman, appeared to now be dating Tom Hiddleston, famous actor who played the character Loki in all of the Avengers movies. "Their info is wrong anyway. Someone will rectify it eventually," you shrugged. You weren't concerned. Hiddleston's publicity team wouldn't let the mistake go on for long. "Calm down, Uncle Tony. It'll blow over in a few days. Go do something heroic and it'll go away faster. I'm not nearly as interesting as you are," you reminded him and the rest of the supers in the room laughed and cheered in general agreement that they'd take down a bunch of villains so you'd be out of the news again sooner. You couldn't help laughing at them. The younger supers were always so enthusiastic.

You were recognizable especially since Ironman and all of the Avengers were so famous, even the younger supers who lived here after magic exploded across the world. They did save the world, and especially New York, all the time. Since Tony was one of the few supers whose secret identify was compromised, you ended up being a topic of celebrity gossip too. It was an occupational hazard of being a Stark. You were usually boring, so you didn't end up in the news often, but it happened on occasion, especially when there wasn't much news. Your hair was a hindrance since it was so distinctively colored, which is why you had tried dying it last year. That hadn't ended well.

You went back to work on your laptop, ignoring Tony's spluttering. He growled about it awhile longer, but the story went away quickly when the press was notified that the person you were kissing was in fact not Tom Hiddleston. Duh. Tom didn't have Loki's hair unless he was filming. The news people claimed they were going to try to find out who the mysterious Tom Hiddleston look-alike was, and the story blew over from there.

Tony finally calmed down, and even seemed to accept that you were dating Loki, though he didn't seem to like it. You figured it was just because he was your uncle and legal guardian.

*

The rest of the week was fairly quiet. You went to school with Loki every day. He sent you notes during classes all day and was generally adorable. You had combat training every day, and you were getting better with the dagger as well as with hand-to-hand fighting. Loki was even teaching you how to speak with him telepathically. It wasn't perfect, since you were a human without magic, but he taught you meditation and how to order your mind. He could speak to you with his own telepathy and if you thought about your response in a focused manner, he could hear the reply. He taught you how to put up boundaries on thoughts and memories you didn't want him to overhear and you trusted absolutely that he wouldn't invade your privacy. You didn't master it in a week, or course, it would always be a work in process, since you didn't have powers, but you made headway. It made it a lot easier to talk to him when he was guarding you.

Tony took you out for breakfast on the morning of your birthday. He took you to the same restaurant every year, which was adorable and showed he cared. You also went to the arcade and the indoor amusement park in the mall, which was also tradition. You had a feeling Loki was sad that he couldn't spend the entire day with you, but he was glad you were enjoying the day with your uncle. He would see you that evening for your party.

Your birthday was also one of the days each year that you went to the cemetery to visit your parents. You brought flowers to their grave and told them everything you had been up to since the last time you had been to visit. Tony stood nearby, but out of earshot. This was another tradition. You couldn't actually talk to your parents anymore, or get advice from them, but you liked thinking that they were watching over you, and it made you feel better to talk to their graves, talk to them like they could hear and answer. So you told them all about Loki and how much fun you were having. You told your mom how you had chosen to date your best friend, just like she always said you should. You told your dad how he was a perfect gentleman and how he would be able to find no fault in Loki's behavior towards you. You told them both that you were careful, even living with the supers, and how much you loved them and you would try to come visit them again soon. You promised to bring Loki to come meet them, so they could interrogate him for themselves.

With bittersweet tears, you went to Tony's spot. He wrapped you in a hug. "You ok, kid?" he asked as he hugged you too tightly. This was hard for him too, though he held it together better for your sake.

You nodded against his chest. Tony wasn't big on hugs, but he made an exception for you. Especially today.

"I just miss them," you told him, rubbing the tears from your eyes. He kissed the top of your head.

"I know. I do too," he held you for another minute. "Do you mind if I tell them goodbye?" he asked. You shook your head and waited for him to say a few words to their graves. He didn't talk to them like you did, but he always said something before you left. Your dad was his brother after all, you weren't surprised he missed them too.

You felt phantom arms wrap around you while you watched Tony. The arms were cool, just like their owner. You weren't surprised he had found out what you were up to. "Thank you, Loki," you whispered, knowing his touch even when he wasn't really there. "I'm ok. I'll see you soon." He was too far to talk to you telepathically safely, apparently he risked hurting you if he used to much power to make the connection, so he didn't do it unless you were in fairly close proximity already.

Tony took you for ice cream to try make you smile again before you went back to the tower to spend the evening with your super family.

Loki hugged you the second you walked through the door of the tower. "Are you ok?" he asked, concerned. "You were crying," he whispered in your ear. He didn't usually spy, but he must've felt your emotions leak through.

"We went to visit my parents," you explained softly. He nodded his understanding and pressed a kiss to your hair, comforting you.

Almost immediately afterwards, the festivities began. There was a huge sign reading "Happy 18th Birthday!" And stupid party hats all around. There was cake, pizza, and even more ice cream. All of the supers stopped by to wish you a happy birthday and add their donations to the huge pile of presents in front of you. You opened them to find mostly books, which you thanked everyone for. Though Nat got you a new taser, Clint decided you needed a bow and arrow set that you'd never use, Bruce got you some scary book about science he insisted helped him through med school. The original Avengers tried their best, even though you rarely saw them.

The last present came from Loki. The tiny familiar teal box appeared in his hand. You had seen your dad give your mom gifts in those boxes all the time growing up. There was only one store in the universe you knew of that used that particular shade of blue in their gift wrapping. And no way that Loki should have been able to afford anything from there. "Happy birthday, darling," he told you.

You took the box from him, surprised. "Thank you," you replied automatically. You opened the box to find a gorgeous silver bracelet with black and green gems in it. There was also a gift receipt in the box, showing that Loki had actually bought the bracelet instead of conjuring it. You wouldn't have minded if he conjured it, but you knew it was extra special to him for actually buying it. He had gone and done the thing the Midgardian way. "It's gorgeous," you told him as you pulled the bracelet out of the box and clasped it around your wrist. "I love it!" you jumped up and hugged him, wrapping your arms tightly around his neck. "And I love you," you whispered in his ear. You hadn't been brave enough to say the words until then.

"You are most welcome, my darling," he replied. You kissed him deeply to catcalls from your family.

"Come on! Time for movies!" one of the teens called. You relocated the party to the common room where the movie was already set up.

"Sorry," you told Loki. "It's tradition. Superhero Musical followed by the first Avengers movie." He smiled.

"That is nothing to be sorry for. They love you, my dear, and want to spend time with you, as do I," you grinned and sat on the loveseat with Loki, in the place of honor directly in front of the TV. You sang your way through the musical with your friends and family around you. Loki even tried to join in for the duet, but he hadn't memorized all of the words yet. You applauded him for trying, though.

Part of the way through the Avengers movie, Wanda, who had the remote, paused the movie and looked directly at Loki. The heads of everyone else turned to him as well. "Why are they staring at me?" Loki asked you.

You erupted into laughter. "They want you to say the line," you explained. You weren't surprised this was happening, especially after the news story everyone saw confusing him for the actor in the movie.

"Say the line!" the supers called. "Say the line! Say the line! Say the line!" the words became a chant. You laughed even harder.

"They're not going to stop until you say the line," you told Loki over the chanting. He sighed and rolled his eyes. With his put-upon expression he held up a hand to quiet the chant. The room fell silent immediately.

"I am Loki of Asgard, and I am burdened with glorious purpose," he intoned in the most dull dry monotone possible. The crowd groaned at him and started throwing popcorn and other small harmless object at him. You shrieked and held your arms up in front of you to deflect the projectiles. Not everyone had good aim and didn't care if they hit you in collateral damage.

"Do it right!" they complained.

He sighed again, but you saw the glint in his eyes. He was pleased and enjoying himself. He held up his hand again. He stood, and then stepped up onto the coffee table. In the same movement, his clothing changed to an exact replica of the character's including the golden horned helmet.

"I am Loki of Asgard, and I am burdened with glorious purpose. Kneel before me," he hesitated for a moment. "I said KNEEL!" he bellowed. You burst out laughing at the cheers of the crowd. A few of them actually knelt, while the rest applauded his rendition. Loki rejoined you on the couch, not bothering to change his clothes back to normal. You laughed and leaned over to give him a kiss.

After the movie, Loki walked you up to your suite. After you'd hugged your friends and your uncle one last time and thanked them all for a wonderful birthday. "I have one other gift for you, darling. Though I did not wish to give it to you in front of the others," Loki told you when you were safely away from the others.

"Loki, you shouldn't have," you chided him. He had already done enough by getting you the bracelet. You knew it couldn't have been cheap, not when it came from that jewelry store.

He moved his hands and a box appeared in them, despite your protests. He wasn't going to give up no matter what you did, so you took the box and opened it to find a leather dagger sheath. An empty leather dagger sheath. That seemed like a strange gift and you raised an eyebrow at Loki when you looked up at him.

"It is enchanted," he explained. "Anytime you reach for a dagger from it, one will be there. You need never be without a weapon again," he added.

"Thank you. That's amazing!" you told him. You tried it, attempting to pull a dagger from the empty sheath. One appeared and you were able to pull it from the sheath. You wondered how much work had gone in to making such a thing, but you had a feeling you would never find out. That didn't make it any less fantastic.

You felt a lot safer knowing you'd always have a weapon.

"Did you have a good birthday?" he asked you once you were curled up on the couch in your sittingroom together. You nodded.

"It was perfect," you replied.

You got to spend the last moments of the day enjoying kisses from your boyfriend.