Okay y'all... I was going to publish this on Tom Hiddleston's birthday, but for inexplicable reasons (probably involving the chaos that I like to call my brain) I completely forgot. So um... I won't wait until next year. Here you go XD.

Happy (late) birthday Tom Hiddleston!

-

[13 days to Loki's birthday]

"Wow it's cold in here," Bruce mumbled as he walked into the living room.

"Do you need a blanket?" Peter asked, "I could get you one!"

Bruce shook his head.

"No thanks Peter, I'm fine."

Clint raised both eyebrows.

"I'm cold too Peter," he whined.

"Then put the heater on birdbrain," Peter advised.

"Can't you get me a blanket?" Clint begged.

"No."

Peter grabbed a blanket for himself, crashing down on the couch in between Shuri, Clint, MJ and Ned.

Tony watched with a confused look, grabbing a bag of chips and emptying it into a glass bowl before putting it down on one of the bar-like tables that functioned as extended kitchen counter.

"What's going on between Peter and Bruce?" he enquired, lowering his voice so that Peter wouldn't hear him.

"I don't know," Natasha answered, grabbing a few chips, "Peter's been treating Bruce like a king for the past few days."

"Has Spiderkid blown up any of Banner's projects, perhaps?" Loki suggested, looking up from the dagger he was polishing.

"Not that I know of," Tony answered.

"Maybe he wants Bruce to help him with one of his projects," Steve suggested with a small shrug.

"He could just ask, the chance that Bruce refuses is next to zero," Natasha pointed out.

"Hi Tony," Bruce spoke up, walking up to them.

"Hi Bruce," Natasha, Tony and Steve chorused.

"Evening Banner," Loki grumbled.

"Do you need anything?" Tony inquired.

"Um... some tea would be nice."

"Loki," Natasha began, "could you-"

Loki switched on the kettle before she could finish her sentence.

"Yes that thanks," Natasha finished.

There was a mildly awkward silence.

"So... what were you guys talking about?" Bruce enquired.

"Peter," Tony answered.

"Just movies," Steve replied.

"Spiders," Natasha replied.

"None of your business," Loki muttered.

Bruce raised his eyebrows.

"So which is it?"

"The new Spiderman movie," Natasha answered, "but the conversation's been dancing all over the place as usual, so we've covered Peter and spiders as well."

"Nice save," Loki mumbled under his breath.

The kettle started whistling, and Loki switched it off before anyone could ask him.

"The rest is up to you lot, because I don't know where you've hidden the teabags."

Clint got up from the couch, walking over the them as well. He made a few quick hand signals, and Nat signalled back.

"What are you doing?" Tony frowned.

"Sign language," Natasha answered as if it was the most normal thing in the world.

"Why don't you just talk?" Steve enquired.

Clint answered with a few more hand signals.

"He says this is more secretive," Natasha sighed, "but I'm not going to translate for you Clint, so you'll just have to talk if you want the others to know what you're saying."

Clint's answer consisted of more hand signals.

Natasha considered for a moment, before signalling back.

More signalling.

"Guys..." Tony began.

"Shh," Nat hissed.

Bruce shook his head, deciding to leave them be and make his tea.

"Should we ask Bruce why Peter is treating him like this?" Clint whispered the moment he thought Bruce was out of earshot.

Tony glanced over the Bruce.

"I mean... we could..."

"There's a chance he doesn't know himself, though," Steve pointed out.

"Why are you all so secretive about it anyway?" Loki enquired, deciding his dagger was clean enough and sliding it back into its sheath.

"Because it could be a sensitive subject," Natasha pointed out, "and we would want to risk Bruce..."

Clint started furiously hand signalling, and Steve made a throat-slitting gesture.

"...he's behind me isn't he?"

"On your left, actually," Loki remarked dryly.

"You wouldn't want to risk me what?" Bruce enquired, sipping at his tea.

"...hulking out."

"Why would I do that?" Bruce enquired.

"Because it could've been a sensitive subject," Clint answered helpfully.

"What could've been a sensitive subject?" Shuri enquired, appearing behind Tony to grab a handful of chips from the bowl.

"Whatever Peter's reason for being so nice to Bruce is."

"Ohhh... that," Shuri nodded, crunching on a few chips, "it's because Peter wants Bruce's help - well, not help, but aid - with something."

"And he couldn't just ask?" Tony enquired, turning to Bruce while Shuri darted back to the couch.

"He did," Bruce nodded, "and I said I'd think about it."

"...so now he's doing anything he can to get on your good side," Natasha smirked.

"So that's why Peter was bringing tea to your lab this morning!" Steve exclaimed.

"And yesterday, and the day before..." Bruce added with a smile.

"Aww, well you can't refuse to help him now," Tony decided, "not after he's gone through so much effort for you."

"I know that," Bruce answered, "but I was planning to leave him hanging until tomorrow."

"Or you could never answer," Loki smirked to himself, "and then you'll have an obedient servant for the rest of your life."

"He had a deadline, Loki."

"Awww, too bad."

-

Five days earlier...

[18 days to Loki's birthday]

Bruce knocked on the door to Peter's lab.

"What's the password?" Peter's voice enquired from inside the lab, sounding muffled because of the door.

"I don't know, it's me, Bruce!" Bruce answered.

There was a pause.

"The password is 'Road Work Ahead'."

Bruce raised his eyebrows.

"Road Work Ahead?"

"YEAH SURE HOPE IT DOES!"

There was another pause.

"You can come in now."

Bruce shook his head, opening the door and closing it again behind him quietly.

"Okay, why did you want to speak to me alone? Is it really this imp-"

He trailed off when he realized that Peter was sticking to the ceiling, taping cardboard over the vents.

"What are you doing?"

"Making sure Clint can't overhear us," Peter answered, "or anyone else, for that matter. These days Clint's not the only one you'll find in the rafters."

Bruce raised both eyebrows.

"Really? Who else has decided to make use of the system of convenient tunnels through the entire Tower?"

"Loki, amongst others," Peter shrugged, "Pietro and Bucky occasionally, and Shuri and I whenever we're looking for someone or just trying to prank someone. But my point is, I can't risk us being overheard. Hence..."

He gestured to the piece of cardboard that he'd taped over the vents, and every other entrance to the rafters found in his lab.

"It's not completely soundproof, but it should do."

He dropped down from the ceiling, putting the duct tape on his desk.

"I still don't know why you wanted to talk to me."

"Right," Peter dusted off his sweatpants, "so, you know it's Loki's birthday in a few weeks, right?"

Bruce smiled.

"What makes you think that? Thor's only been reminding us fifteen times a week."

Peter grinned.

"Well, I was thinking that after three weeks of listening to Thor reminding us I'd finally start on something."

"For which you need my help," Bruce stated.

"Well... not... help... but just... aid... I mean... you know Mr Stark pretty well, right?"

Bruce's eyebrows made another reappearance above his glasses.

"Yes... but so do you."

"This is about before I was in the Tower."

"Okay... what is it?"

Peter took a deep breath.

"So... remember Ultron?"

"I don't think I could forget Ultron even if I wanted to, Peter."

"Well... Ultron originally destroyed JARVIS, am I correct?"

"Yesss..."

"And then Mr Stark replaced him temporarily by FRIDAY while he attempted to fix the problem."

"Yes."

"And then eventually he fixed JARVIS and FRIDAY was... trashed."

"Well, not completely trashed. He still has her on a backup file in case he needs her."

"Exactly," Peter grinned, "and I need you to tell me where I can find those backup files."

"And why can't you ask Tony?"

"Mr Banner, answer me honestly here. Can you imagine a scenario where I ask Mr Stark for the code behind his old AI's so I can make one for Loki, and he doesn't try to help or otherwise stop me?"

Bruce paused.

"No."

"Exactly."

"But... maybe giving Loki an AI for his birthday isn't the best idea."

Peter visibly drooped.

"You don't think he'll like it?"

"No! I mean, that's not it. I mean... he'll love it, Peter. But to be honest, you could've given him a peanut butter sandwich and he'd still love it. You have that effect on people."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Peter frowned.

"Unimportant," Bruce went on, "what I mean is; doesn't Loki get up to enough mischief without an AI to help him?"

"He has access to JARVIS now," Peter pointed out, "what would be the difference if I gave him a personalized AI?"

"The difference would be that we'd have two Loki's instead of one."

"That's not quite true," Peter countered, "I said a personalized AI, not an AI whose character is identical to his. She'll probably help him be less destructive, but in order to get characteristics like that right I need more than one example. And I have Karen's code, but I can't access JARVIS's, only Tony can. So if you could get me those backup files..."

He gave Bruce a begging look, and Bruce sighed, running a hand through his curly hair.

"I don't know Peter..."

"Please?"

"Give me some time to think about it."

Peter bit his lip.

"Okay, but I need to know by the end of this week, otherwise I won't have enough time."

Bruce nodded.

"Was that all? Because then I have a small project back in Tony's lab that I wanted to make some tweaks to, as well as an experiment in my own lab that needs watering."

Peter raised both eyebrows.

"An experiment that needs watering?"

Bruce's cheeks lit up red.

"It's a secret. You'll find out."

Peter grinned.

"Well, you're free to go then."

He walked up the wall, ripping the cardboard off the vents while Bruce shook his head, walking out of Peter's lab.

-

[12 days to Loki's birthday]

Bruce knocked on Peter's lab's door.

"What's the password?" Peter enquired.

"Road Work Ahead?"

"Nope, I changed it."

Bruce sighed.

"What is it now?"

"It's 'Burdened With Glorious Popcorn'."

"Burdered With Glorious Popcorn? Where do you even get these from?"

"From Shuri," Peter replied matter-of-factly, "you can come in."

Bruce entered the room, relieved to see that Peter was standing on the floor for a change.

"Peter," Bruce announced, "I've made my decision."

Peter turned to face him excitedly.

"And?"

"I'll help you find the backup files. BUT-"

He didn't get to finish his sentence as Peter tackled him an a tight hug.

"Thankyouthankyouthankyou!"

Bruce chuckled.

"Okay, I get it, you're welcome, please stop you're crushing me."

"Oh right, sorry," Peter apologized, letting go while Bruce carefully felt his ribs to check if they were still intact.

"You're almost worse than Thor," he teased, and Peter grinned.

"That's what Da- I mean Mr Stark says too."

Bruce's face switched back to serious, but the smile still lingered in his eyes.

"I think I know where Tony keeps the old backup files of his AI's, but I'm not sure and his storage is a mess. JARVIS might know, though."

Peter shook his head.

"JARVIS was unable to locate them, I asked."

"All right then, I guess we'll have to do without him. Do you think some of your friends could come help, or are they not allowed to know?"

"Ned is going to help me with this project, so he could help," Peter nodded to himself, "and MJ could come as well, although she might be helping Shuri."

"Meet me up on the twelfth floor," Bruce instructed, "I'll take a detour past my lab and check where Tony is so he doesn't sneak up on us, you bring whoever you're willing to allow to help."

Peter nodded quickly and energetically, and then stormed off.

Bruce smiled to himself, before following the young Avenger at a slightly slower pace.

Loki's birthday might just end up being even more interesting than I thought.

-

"I found them!" Bruce announced, and instantly Ned and Peter appeared behind him, as eager as puppies.

Bruce pulled a drawer out of it's dusty cabinet carefully, and in it were several rectangular chips, each with a nametag pasted on them.

"JOCASTA, JARVIS, TADASHI... Ah, here it is. FRIDAY."

He handed the small chip over to Peter, who grinned thankfully.

"Thanks so much Mr Banner! I didn't know Mr Stark had so much..."

He let his eyes wander over all the dusty stuff lying in the old storage room, trying to find a suitable description.

"...junk?" Ned filled in, and Bruce smiled.

"Yeah, he does have the tendency to hoard stuff sometimes."

Peter shook his head.

"And why would he have four AI's? JARVIS, FRIDAY, JO-somthing and Tadashi. Wait, wasn't that the name of the one guy who died in... was it Big Hero 6?"

"Yes!" Ned nodded, "I remember him. Hiro's older brother! The inventor of Baymax. Why would Mr Stark have an AI named after him?"

Bruce shrugged.

"Don't ask me, ask him. Anyway, if we're done here I'll be getting back to my lab again. You're taking FRIDAY's chip, right? Don't forget to put it back here when you're done, and if it breaks Tony's gonna kill me so please keep it in one piece."

Peter and Ned nodded in sync.

"I promise!"

-

A few days later...

[03 days to Loki's birthday]

"There," Peter clicked the last button, and Ned pressed enter. A soft humming sound came from the bracelet in Peter's hands, and Ned braced himself behind the table, awaiting the impact.

The question was - would this one explode, like the first four, freeze over like the fifth attempt, electrocute Peter like #5 and #6, or turn to dust like the infinite other attempts?

Ned had overlooked a last possibility.

"Hello. My name is [ErRoR|FileNotFound]. How may I help you?"

"YES!" Peter cheered, almost hitting the ceiling in his leap of joy, "she works!"

A grin spread over both their faces as their high-fived, and Ned carefully took the bracelet from Peter, inspecting it for any faults or imperfections.

"I think we finally got it," he decided, "she still needs a name, though."

Peter sat down on his desk chair, spinning slowly.

"How about Sigyn?" Ned suggested.

"Might be a sensitive subject."

"Darcy?"

"Mmmmm... Thor might disapprove."

"Jasmine?"

"Too random. She needs a kickass acronym, you know, like Jarvis."

They both grinned.

"Just A Rather Very Intelligent System."

They lapsed into silence, both thinking hard.

There were startled out of their thoughts by Clint shouting "PIZZA!" through the vents.

"Something tells me we should get to the living room before all the pizza is finished," Peter grinned, "we'll come up with a name later. We have three more days anyway."

-

[00 days to Loki's birthday]

Maybe they've forgotten, Loki thought to himself wistfully as he got out of bed, getting dressed quickly. It was 11 AM, and he'd purposely slept late for a change so as much of his birthday as possible would be over before it even started. He'd stayed up until midnight to wish himself a happy birthday the night before, and sort of hoped he'd be able to sleep the rest of the day away so he wouldn't have to face enthusiastic well-wishers that expected him to be excited for having lived yet another year.

But he'd failed. It was 11:03, and he was too wide awake to stay in bed as much as a second longer.

He put one of the herbs Bruce had given him to help with his Jotun-problem in his mouth, melting it on his tongue and then creeping towards his room's door quietly.

He hoped that nobody had come up with the bright idea of awaiting him outside his room, despite that fact that he'd made it extremely clear that all he really wanted was to spend his birthday in solitude. He closed his eyes in the hope that it would make everyone disappear for the day, and set foot into the passage.

Nobody.

A minuscule part of him was disappointed, but he pushed the thought aside and moved to the stairs. It'd be quiet on the roof, it always was. The only ones that ever came there were Tony, for his test flights, and a handful of others for introvert-time. It was a place of peace and loneliness - correction, solitude - where everyone knew to leave whoever was there alone.

But not today.

Loki approached the narrow ladder to the roof, and his hope sank into his boots before dissipating into the cold floor. There was a small dab of glitter on the ladder. Which could only mean one thing - the roof was compromised.

That, or Peter had attempted to take another wildly decorated art project onto the roof to see how fast it would fall down the Tower compared to a tennis ball in an attempt to replicate Galileo's experiments, but that was a lot less likely.

Loki slowly turned around, his senses on their highest alert as he listened around in an attempt to locate anyone.

"JARVIS, where is everyone?" he enquired.

Nothing.

"JARVIS?"

Where is everyone?

Loki shook his head to clear his thoughts, and decided to check the kitchen. There was almost always someone in the kitchen on the 12th floor.

This is what you wanted, isn't it?

Loki froze as the words hit him. Yeah, he'd wanted to spend the day alone, but he hadn't been expecting anyone to actually listen to his complaints. They were pretty much just the obligatory ceremonial grumbles. Part of his reputation as the local icy ex-villain. No-one ever listened to them.

Although, for my birthday... of course they went through that kind of trouble to stay out of my way. Thor would've convinced them, and I'm sure they were all glad to have an excuse to get away from me.

He let out a soft sigh, and continued walking. The kitchen on the 12th floor had frozen blueberry waffles, he could toast those for breakfast.

Alone.

He forced the thought out of his head, planning his day out. If he went to bed early, there would be even less suffering for him to go through. The sooner this birthday was over, the better.

He approached the door to the kitchen, his face subconsciously set to his usual scowl. He swung the door open with a ferocity that startled Tony enough for him to fall off his bar stool.

There was a silence as all the conversations in the room froze on Loki's entrance, a silence only broken by the slam of Tony falling to the floor, followed by a series of snorts and giggles from Clint's direction, and a horrible screeching sound as the toppled bar stool grated across the floor.

Oh. They're all here. I guess they were just having a late breakfast then.

"Well, if it isn't our very own Sleeping Beauty," Wanda smirked, "Happy Birthday, Loki."

"Eleven o'clock isn't that late at all," Loki grumbled.

"It is for someone who's usually up at six," Pietro piped up, "Happy Birthday, Lokes!"

He was greeted by a wave of "Happy Birthday"s, including a rather annoyed "Happy Birthday Reindeer Games" from Tony as he got up from the floor, a "Happy Birthday Tricksy" from a grinning Clint , and a touchingly sincere "Congratulations brother" from Thor, the effect of which was completely lost to what was supposed to be a hearty clap on the shoulder, but came across more as an attempt to break all of his ribs.

So they didn't forget.

He was struggling to keep the beginnings of a smile off his face, trying - and failing - to maintain a neutral expression.

"If you don't mind, we'll leave the presents until after breakfast," Steve suggested, "that way we can all eat first. I know it's already almost noon, but most of us were up on the roof helping Peter replicate one of Galileo's experiments, and the rest was waiting for you. There's a toaster over there by Tony, I'm sure he's more than willing to pop a few of those blueberry waffles in it for you."

"Presents?" Loki frowned, "why in the name of Jotunheim would you do that?"

"Because it's tradition!" Shuri replied, "you can't have a birthday and not have presents."

"Oh I'm sure Odin would beg to differ," Loki muttered under his breath.

"Are you suggesting that you don't usually have presents?" Peter enquired, his eyes wide in shock.

Loki saw the look on Peter's face, and formulated his next words carefully.

"Stark, do you think you could toast a few of those waffles for me?"

"Magic word?" Steve prompted, and Loki rolled his eyes.

"Please?"

Tony muttered something about bar stools and doors, but put four waffles into the toaster.

"It's nothing," Loki answered Peter dismissively, grabbing a wildly decorated bar stool (that said "LOKI" in green glitter, and had green and gold garlands draped all over it) and seating himself in between Peter and Wanda, "gift-giving is just not really a 'thing' on Asgard. Nor on Jotunheim, as far as I know. You receive gifts for other things, such as coming of age, or achievements in battle and such. Not such a small thing as birthdays."

"Birthdays are important!" Shuri pointed out from Peter's other side, "they celebrate your impact on the world as the years go by!"

"That may be true here," Loki smiled, "but imagine if everyone on Asgard were obliged to give everyone else presents. It would be great the first few hundred years, but when you're a thousand? There'll be nothing left to give, and it will become a forced tradition rather than an enjoyable feast."

"Are you saying you don't want presents?" Peter asked.

"I'm saying there was a good reason we didn't get presents on Asgard," Loki smirked, "but we're not on Asgard, are we?"

-

"PRESENTS TIME!" Peter announced, dragging Loki along to the couches, where the large coffee table was stacked with all sorts of brightly wrapped boxes - as well as, on the far side, some form of a glass dome which was misted over so you couldn't see what was inside.

The Lord of Mischief's eyes went wide as he took in all the boxes stacked onto the table.

"All of that?" he enquired in a small voice, clearly impressed.

Most of them were in the green-and-gold theme that the kitchen had been decorated in too, but Loki spotted a bright red Iron-Man print package too, as well as one covered in green and gold glitter - undoubtedly Peter's - and one in techno-blue, which he guessed was from the Wakandans and MJ.

"Who starts?" Steve enquired.

"I will!" Tony jumped up, grabbing the small box wrapped in Iron Man gift wrap and handing it to Loki. Loki accepted it with both eyebrows raised, and opened it cautiously.

It was a pair of dark sunglasses, in a shiny black with Stark Industries written on the side.

"Thanks Stark," Loki grinned, putting them on straight away.

"You're welcome Reindeer Games," Tony grinned back.

Next was Clint. He'd gotten Loki a shirt that said 'Leader of Loki's Army' with a picture of Loki's helmet on it. Then came Shuri and MJ's present, which was also from T'challa because they'd used his money. It was a small bracelet, painted metallic gold and green with a blue stone. If you pressed the stone, it transformed from a bracelet into a miniature scepter.

After Thor's present (a hug, and some Asgardian coin that apparently had significant meaning) and Wanda's (a book on Midgardian Chemistry), it was unanimously decided that whoever the big glass dome was from should go next.

Bruce pressed his glasses back onto his nose properly (they'd started to slip off) and stepped up.

"So, um..." he began, biting his lip as he turned to Loki, "I...just open it. And watch out, it's cold."

At this point everyone's curiosity was piqued, and Loki slowly walked up to the glass dome, which was nearly as tall as he was (but not quite). There was a glass handle on it so you could could open a part of it and reach inside. As Loki gently pulled it open, the mist that had gathered inside of the dome billowed into the living room, so cold that some of Loki's hair froze, and the back of his neck flushed blue for a few seconds.

Loki didn't notice, he was staring at what was inside.

"You have to make sure it stays kinda of cold," Bruce warned, "I don't think it'll survive otherwise."

"What is it?" Tony enquired, trying to look through the glass. All he could see was another small dome, this one about the size of one of those glass coverings sometimes used to contain flowers, like the rose in Beauty and the Beast.

Inside of that was a thin layer of dark soil, and sprouting out of that, a small blue tip of... whatever that was.

A slow grin spread over Loki's face, and he turned back to Bruce, closing the glass dome with care.

"The big one is for when it gets bigger," Bruce explained, "it's small enough to keep inside the small dome for now, but I don't know-"

He was cut off by a hug from Loki.

There was a moments awkward silence, as everyone realized that Loki was hugging Bruce. Loki-that-never-shows-his-emotions-Loki. Thor's-not-my-brother-Loki. Hugging Bruce.

Loki seemed to realize it too, because he stopped quickly, instead resting his hands on Bruce's shoulders.

"Thank you Banner."

"What is that?" Shuri whispered, and Peter shrugged.

"Whatever it is, there's no way our present is anywhere close to as cool as that," he mumbled.

"Be positive!" Ned hissed back, "he'll love it!"

He paused for a moment, his gaze resting on the glass dome.

"I hope."

"So I don't know if I'm the only one," Tony began, putting on his demanding I'm-the-billionaire-so-I'm-in-charge-of-everyone(-except-Pepper) voice, "but I'd like to know what that is."

"It's a Jotun Thorn," Bruce clarified, adjusting his glasses as he went into Science Mode™, "it's one of only very few plants that can grow on Jotunheim, and can handle a Frost Giant's touch without wilting. They take a while to sprout, but once they do, they grow really quickly. They require extremely cold temperatures to germinate, originating from Jotunheim as they are, which is why I've kept it at such cold temperatures. It should be fine in temperatures above zero now that it has, but if it gets hot you may want to store it in the fridge. Or freezer."

"Their thorns are extremely sharp and dangerous," Loki nodded, clearly up-to-date on the subject, "but once every twelve moons they bloom, and it's the most beautiful sight in the world."

"I thought it was a nice metaphor," Bruce smiled.

"It's official," Peter mumbled, "Bruce had the best present by far."

"Hey, it's not a competition," Ned attempted to cheer his friend up.

"Come on Ned, it's a plant from another planet."

"You're right, we don't stand a chance."

Pietro handed over his present (another book, this one on the history of 'magic' as the Midgardians saw it) and then it was Ned and Peter's turn.

They exchanged a look, and then swallowed.

Peter stepped forward to hand over the glittery box, and Loki accepted it with a smile.

"It can't compete with Bruce's present," Peter mumbled, "but I hope you like it."

Loki sat down on the couch to unwrap it, pulling Peter onto his lap.

"I already know I'll love it."

That managed to spark a small smile on Peter's face.

"How are you even expecting me to unwrap this?" Loki asked jokingly, holding up the package covered in glitter and tape, and with Peter's help he opened it.

He took out the small silver bracelet with a low whistle, running his fingers over the smooth designs. Engraved on the inside were the words Very Encouraging Romantic Intelligent Truthful Youth.

"Wow, that's amazing," he whispered, and a broad grin spread over Peter's face.

"Voice recognized. Welcome, Loki Laufeyson."

Loki's eyebrows shot up above his sunglasses.

"Impressive."

"My name is VERITY, your personal AI. I was made by Peter Parker and Ned Leeds. How can I help you?"

Loki turned to Peter.

"Well, what do you suggest?"

Peter shrugged, but was struggling to keep the look of pure joy off his face.

"Switch off the lights!" Ned suggested.

"You heard him, Verity, switch off the lights."

The lights in the living room dimmed, and then switched off.

"JARVIS, switch the lights back on!" Tony ordered.

The lights switched on.

"And back off," Loki grinned.

The lights switched off.

"JARVIS!" Tony complained, "do something."

"I'm afraid I can't deny access to the lighting, Mr Stark, as that is technically something everyone has access to. Even Mr Barnes and Mr Wilson have access to the lighting."

"Even me?" Bucky complained.

"Yes," Natasha nodded, "you had your access to almost everything else revoked when you and Sam set the tower on fire for the seventh time."

"The fifth time was Clint's fault!" Sam pointed out.

"True," Nat shrugged, "but the seventh wasn't."

Meanwhile, Loki was making use of the distraction to give Peter a hug, and Peter embraced it happily. It wasn't often that Loki handed out hugs. In fact, he would probably deny anything as such having happened the very next morning.

"Thank you Peter," Loki whispered, and Peter smiled.

"You're welcome. But you have to thank Ned too."

Loki let go of Peter, and thanked Ned as well.

At that moment, he was extremely thankful for Stark's sunglasses.

They ensured that nobody saw the tears of happiness welling up in his eyes.

----

Awwww, happy Loki. (Fun fact: it feels really weird to write a chapter where Loki is not depressing or overly sarcastic. It's almost as if *gasp* he's not usually happy??!?!)

Do any of you know what the name Verity is a reference to? *smirks*

Thanks for your votes & comments, Loki appreciates your birthday presents XD

~Evanlyn