"Do you really think it's a good idea to go back to Earth?"

"Yes, of course," Thor nodded, "the people of Earth love me, I'm very popular."

"Let me rephrase that," Loki clarified, "do you really think it's a good idea to bring me back to Earth?"

"Probably not, to be honest. But I wouldn't worry, brother," Thor sighed with a slight grin, "I feel like everything is gonna work out fine."

~~~

The feeling of anxiety was a stranger to Loki; he was built upon a solid foundation of confidence and assuredness in nearly any situation, so this particular and unpleasant sensation felt as if this could be the end of his mischievous life. As he looked through the ship's windows and down towards the planet they had just begun to orbit, his chest began to burn with each breath and he felt a little off balance from the shift in oxygen. "Is this what humans call a panic attack?" he asked aloud, more to himself than anyone else, but as luck would have it, Thor was a mere few steps away.

"Something wrong?"

"I find myself at an impasse," Loki answered carefully, "in that I trust your decision to seek refuge here, but I also challenge your rationale for which side of the planet you're about to park us on."

Thor smiled smugly and landed a firm slap on Loki's shoulder as he took his place next to him. It wasn't a hastily made decision to return to Midgard, but it was quickly realized that the remaining Asgardian's had little for other choices. "We'll be fine, brother. I know that a lifetime of history tells you to share your trust with caution, but I should earn it today. This is the best option for our people, you'll see."

"I do trust you, Thor...well, to a point," he smiled back. "Yes, I was worried about Midgard overall, but I certainly did not expect to find us here. Of all of the places that this vast planet has to offer, and you have chosen the worst to announce our arrival. You can't imagine that I will be welcome in the home of the Avengers."

"They're my friends," Thor shrugged. "Where else would you have me choose, but a place where we are most likely to be taken in without question?"

Loki paused and considered what Thor was saying, and he really did understand, but there was no way that the Battle of New York had faded from anyone's minds, even now. As soon as he could set foot on the ground, it would begin; there would be penance and restitution to be paid, and he had no doubt that the bill would be insurmountable for a man with now-empty pockets. Thor's words had done nothing to quell his nerves, and as the planet grew within the window frame, and once the team compound finally came into his sight, they only became worse.

"Anywhere, brother," he sighed, "literally anywhere else."

~~~

The first week of Loki's resistant life at the compound was pretty much as he had expected it to be. The brothers were met with vastly different welcomes; Thor found smiles and hugs from his teammates, whereas Loki found scowls and whispered doubts spoken as he walked past. Thor did his best to reassure the humans and one android that his troublemaking brother had given up his ways and that he could be trusted; if they couldn't trust him, then they could at least rest knowing that Thor would take responsibility for him if anything should happen. The sideways glances and concerns began to cool by the end of those seven days, but the public perception was much harder to change.

The second week on Earth was when Loki would get the chance to meet you; you had been away on a job when the Asgardians arrived, working as the publicist for both Stark Industries and the Avengers. Between the two, you had more work than you needed, so to return home for even a few days was a welcome retreat before you would develop a plan to introduce Loki to the people of Earth, while breaking it to them that he wasn't leaving any time soon.

You had come home much later than planned, well after midnight, so the meet and greet would have to wait until morning. Thor had alerted Loki to the change in plans, and in his usual conceit, he tried to not take it personally as if you were avoiding him just as he had predicted.

"So, this (Y/N)," Loki asked his brother, watching him shovel cereal into his mouth with disgust, "does she know of my history? Should I prepare my customary explanations and apologies for her arrival?"

"She knows, yes," Thor nodded, with a slurp of milk from his spoon, "but worry not, brother, she is not like the others. (Y/N) has a much more tolerant and open mind. Her work for the team is to portray us at our best, so she is quite forgiving."

"Challenge accepted."

"No, there is no challenge. You have promised to behave, and I am here to ensure that. We're running out of homes to call ours and I won't allow you to threaten our welcome at this one."

Loki was about to retort in his usual sarcastic manner, when he opened his mouth only to close it quickly at the sight of you coming into the kitchen. He had never seen something like it, as far as he could recall; the energy that you carried into the room was confusing yet enthralling. Normally, when he was to meet someone and create a first impression, that person would bring forth a false persona as if to impress him, but it was clear within the first few seconds that you were not that type of person.

"Good morning, Thundercat," you smiled, moving to Thor first to get your much-awaited hug as he stood to greet you, "I've missed you."

"Hello, (Y/N)," he hummed contently, "I've missed you as well. I'm sorry to have been gone so long." When he released you, he took a small step back to look at you as if he had forgotten what you looked like, only to chuckle quietly at what he was seeing. "Are those Barton's pants?"

You looked down at your attire and sighed, "yeah, I missed my shot at the washing machines when I got back from my trip, so I raided the dryer and found these. Snapped up one of his shirts too...or maybe it's Stark's...eh, whatever, at least I'm dressed this time, right?"

"This time?" Loki joined in, his eyes wide in surprise.

"Oh, I'm sorry! Where are my manners? You must be Loki," you apologized as you hurried around the table to greet him. You extended a hand for him to take, which he did readily as he stood. "It's nice to finally meet you."

"It...it is?"

"Yeah, of course! I've heard so much about you. Not all that great, as you can imagine, but some of it was good. Besides, there's no way that Tony would even consider letting you stay here if you were still up to your old tricks, right?"

"Right," Loki readily agreed softly. He was completely taken aback by your quick acceptance of him, almost confused as to how someone would actually be happy to meet him. "Well, it certainly is my pleasure to make your acquaintance...(Y/N). I hope that we are given the chance to know each other better."

"Me too," you smiled back, "but right now I need to grab breakfast on the run. Sorry to bail, but I've got work up to my eyeballs today and I want to avoid the wrath of Stark. He and I need to put together his press release now that you two are full-time Midgardians. Midgardians...right? Did I get it right? Oh well, no matter, gotta run! Later, boys." With a quick wave goodbye, you grabbed a banana and a bottle of water before hurrying to the door, downplaying the embarrassment and pain of a stubbed toe as you clumsily and nervously closed the door behind you.

Thor returned to his seat, taking his spoon in hand and wasting no time in overfilling his mouth with cereal again as if nothing strange had just happened right in front of him. He knew it was one of Loki's peeves to have to listen to his incessant slurping and chewing, but this time it wasn't meant to simply annoy his brother in good fun; it was a test that gave him the answer he needed without a single word. When he looked up, Loki's gaze was cast down at his hands, which were tightly folded on the tabletop with whitened knuckles, and he was uncharacteristically silent. "She's single," he offered with a lopsided grin.

"Hmm...what?" Loki jolted, finally looking up. "Why should that matter to me?"

"Because so are you."

"Again, no matter. I'm simply confused as to why she would say that it was nice to meet me. Certainly, that must have been an error on her part."

"You're no longer that person, brother. Allow yourself to believe it. It appeared to be that she had a genuine interest in learning more, so I say that you should entertain her desire to study."

Loki shook his head emphatically, again averting his eyes, "no, that interest was merely for her work commitments-"

"Loki," Thor interrupted, "I've known (Y/N) much longer than you have, and believe me when I tell you...that had nothing to do with work."

~~~

The next time that Loki would see you, he held back where you couldn't see him as he watched, waiting just outside the kitchen as you and Sam put together the grocery list for the team for that week. The sounds of cabinet doors slamming and laughing beneath half-hearted arguments about Pop Tarts and cereal and Tony's expensive coffees that he insisted on bled out into the hallway. It was amusing to him, listening to mundane activities of daily human life. At least that was true if it were anyone else acting them out; as he observed, it was clear to him that nothing you did could ever be described as mundane.

How could a voice that carried such music with each word ever be anything other than exquisite to hear? In all nine realms, had there ever been a laughter that touched anyone's heart as yours did for him? How could someone of your beauty not be regarded as royalty and deserving of reverence by anyone who crossed their path?

"Oh, dear," he mumbled softly as he continued to listen, "this could be quite problematic."

"Sam, don't forget Nat's ice cream."

"Got it. Check if Cap's out of yogurt."

You pulled the refrigerator door open, sticking your head inside and pushing items away so that you could see the shelf that was designated for Steve, only to come away with more questions than answers. "Which one? There's like ten kinds in here. Does he have some probiotic problem we should know about? What's with the obsession?"

"Better to not ask," Sam sighed, waving you away dismissively. "He's probably got enough, let's move on." He looked down at the list in his hand, humming to himself as he read each line, coming to the conclusion that there was more than enough for two people to shop for on their own, and if anything was missing, that was just too bad. "Okay, let's go. I want to get this done in one trip."

"Hold on, did we get that juice Loki asked for?"

"Which one is that?"

"That pomegranate, grape, cranberry, orange something or other?"

"Hmm, let me see...yep, here it is."

"Okay, good, now we can go."

Sam held back and watched you gather your belongings before making your way towards the door, and when you noticed that there weren't the sounds of his steps following you, it made you stop and look back with complete confusion. You tapped your pockets to be sure that you had your phone and keys, and when everything was there, you shrugged and waited for an answer to your silent question as to what you could be missing.

"Why are you so concerned about getting stuff for that guy?"

"Why are you concerned that I'm concerned?"

Loki held his breath as he listened, his curiosity just as piqued as Sam's was now; so much so that he took a few steps forward to get a better view, nearly giving himself away by standing close to where you might catch sight of him.

"Pfft, I'm not," Sam argued, "it was just a simple question. But I think that your reaction tells a lot, (Y/N). Is there something going on there that we should know about?"

"Yep, definitely something going on, Sam," you scoffed in reply. "We need to make sure that Loki feels safe to ask for whatever he wants no matter how different or picky we think it is. He lost his home and his people just like Thor did, so if we're going to be empathetic to him, then we give Loki the same respect. He's not just that guy. He's family now."

Loki's mouth had dropped open in such shock that he was certain that you had heard his jaw hit the floor as he listened. This was completely foreign to him to hear, and he wasn't sure what to do with the feelings that your words were churning up from an unknown place deep in his gut.

"Brother? Are you alright?"

"Thor," Loki whispered, raising a hand to keep his brother's voice low as well, "entertain me, please, and tell me this...do you believe in the notion of love at first sight?"

"No, I never have," he answered almost too readily. "Why? That's a very strange question for you to bring up." Thor looked at Loki and followed his eye line to see what or who had gripped his attention like he had never seen before. Loki was always in motion, filled with energy; but now, he stood as still as a frightened animal in the view of its prey. "Ah, I see! You have eyes for (Y/N). I should like to say that I'm surprised, but I am definitely not. She is unique."

"She is mesmerizing," he whispered, "and I should like to know more of her."

Thor smiled widely and gave his brother a firm slap on the shoulder, nearly knocking him into the wall. Loki panicked, thinking that you might have heard him, but when he looked in your direction, you were well on your way down the far hall and toward the garage. "Loki, I never thought the day might come that your heart would accept another in, but here we are! I'm surprised that you've found someone on Earth, when you were so resistant to coming here."

"Yes, well, I know that I stated that I would rather be anywhere else other than here. But now, I find there's nowhere else in the entirety of the universe that I would rather be."