a/n: it's spooky szn y'alll and I live in the UK which means that the temperature has dropped very dramatically in the last week which inspired me to write this. also people have been asking me since like march to post some married mtb y/n x loki so here it is I guess.. I hope you enjoy <33

(ALSO pls send me any prompts if you have any and it might kickstart my motivation to carry on writing the nexus event<3)(sorry about the uninspired title it's 1am and i just needed to write some flufff)

...

It's been two months since... everything. The second Blip. The wedding.

Life has been so far from normal that you're still unsure that you're not having some stress induced fever dream and that the events of the past two months haven't actually transpired at all.

Loki has been catching you when he hears you thinking this.

"I'm here. I'm not going anywhere."

"I know." you lie to him, every time.

You would love to believe him. It's not that you don't trust him, but he hadn't exactly planned on leaving you before.

Love, he's gone. The stones are gone. We were there.

You hadn't actually been present to see Thanos turn to dust. Would you be any less paranoid if you had? You doubt it.

Steve had taken the stones back, that you were sure of at least.

"Are they all back? Did you do it?"

"Yes. It's over."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure."

"Did you put them back exactly-"

"Yes."

"Right, but are you certain-"

"Bucky."

Buck had been as paranoid as you. As paranoid as everyone, in fact. You felt as though you'd all been just waiting for something else to go wrong since everything had gone right again. Over the past few weeks though, as things continued to only go right, people had started to relax.

Some more than others. Others being you, and Bucky, to name two.

Despite all of the grief and loss and horror stories pouring in from around the country and the world, Halloween seems to be going ahead. It's as though the realm has made an unspoken agreement: we have to carry on.

The Halloween stores have opened up, and decorations have been appearing around the neighborhood. Because you and Loki live in one of those now. A neighborhood. After almost five years of living alone with Nat in the compound, the word sounds almost as foreign to you as it had done to Loki when you first mentioned it to him.

But it's becoming familiar... slowly. You're starting to build a home, however sparse your apartment may be at the moment. It's not that it's lacking things, but none of it is yours. Not yet.

The only things that feel like yours in the apartment are the rings on the fourth finger of your left hand and the sword from Asgard which you'd wrapped in a blanket and put in a cupboard the day you moved in and haven't looked at since. And of course, your husband.

But the sofas and the curtains and the toaster and the coffee machine... they're still just things. Unrelated to you, even though you own them. Technically they're Tony's, but now you have a shiny new bank account which came with a strict reminder that "I'm not made of money... anymore."

"Please for the love of Odin don't tell me I'm going to have to get a Midgardian job." Loki had said, sheer horror written across his face.

"He's only joking." you'd reassured him. "...Right?"

Tony had not actually replied, now you look back on the moment.

But that's all beside the point. The point is that it's nearing the end of October, and despite everything the weather has decided to stay true to the season (you'd never appreciated the weather for being so reliable before) and the temperature has done a nosedive over the last couple of days.

The point is that you're walking through the door clad in boots, trousers, a long-sleeved top, a jumper and a coat, wishing that you'd thought to take gloves with you and cursing your new apartment's unreliable heating system.

Loki is in the kitchen making... something. You've tried so hard to hide how happy it makes you that he likes to cook for you, thinking it would make him embarrassed (and it does when he finds out, because you are utterly unable to hide one single thing from him).

You're half way through wrestling your arms out of your massive coat when you look over to him and see him watching you with a look of concentration on his face. You smile and set about kicking your boots off.

"You won't get it today."

This is your game. When one of you gets back from the compound (the new compound, which is being rebuilt quicker than you can get your head around), the other has to guess what their mood is and why, without going into their mind.

Loki is infuriatingly good at it, so much so that you're convinced he's found a way to read your mind without you being able to tell. You are abysmal at it and usually end up concentrating on sneaking into his mind instead, which so far has a zero percent success rate.

You finish removing your limbs from the coat and boots and hold out your hands, as if to say, 'what's the verdict?'

"You're unhappy because it's dark and cold outside at seven o'clock." he announces.

"I literally told you that last night." you tell him, moving across the room to see what he's doing. Something with pasta; it actually smells quite good. You allow yourself the thought because he's not supposed to be in your head, but the flicker of indignance which passes across his features tells you a very different story.

"You have been cheating." you accuse him, picking up a dish cloth and flinging it at him in outrage. He catches it easily and throws it into the sink guiltily.

"Traitor." you scowl.

"I am quite astonished that you would think any different of me." Loki says as you retreat to the sofa.

"How have you been doing that?" you ask as you get to the sofa, spinning round when you sit down to rest your chin on the back of it.

"Do you really not like my cooking?"

"Don't turn this round on me!" you say, pointing at him.

"Hmpf." Loki says grumpily, turning back to the cooker. You're next to him in an instant, leaning against the counter.

"Loki."

"It's fine. I don't mind." he says, putting the spoon in his hand down on the side just a bit too hard for you to believe him.

"I do like your cooking."

"Fine. Good." he shrugs, raising his eyebrows.

"Stop it." you grin, pushing his arm gently. You can tell he's not really upset.

"You could have told me." he says, almost pouting as he turns to look at you. You struggle not to giggle at the look on his face.

"I only meant that it smelt better than usual." you say, wrapping your arms around his torso.

"Hm." he replies, and you turn your face away to hide your laughter. He's smiling as his hands find the bare skin just above your hips under your top. They're cold. Obviously.

He pulls his hands away and moves back.

"What?" you ask, frowning.

"Sorry." he says, nodding apologetically at his hands. Where before you could tell that he wasn't really upset, you can now tell that he is. And he instantly recognizes that you can tell.

"I hate that I'm cold all the time." he tells you suddenly, with an abruptness that takes you back. You hear the real sentiment behind his words: he hates that he's cold for you.

"It's okay." you tell him sincerely, reaching for him again. You are cold, and so is the apartment, but Loki can't help his constant cool body temperature. He lets you pull him back towards you, but keeps his hands away from your skin this time.

He's still worrying, and you roll your eyes.

"I knew what I was signing up for when I married you, Loki." you tell him, looking at him seriously.

"I know." he sighs.

You pick up one of his hands in yours and kiss the backs of his fingers, and when you look up at him the way he's smiling down at you makes your heart melt a bit.

It's okay.

You really mean it as you repeat it in your mind, and he knows.