Daisies
Chapter Four: Daisies
It was Eris’ first birthday in the Marvel World and she was practically vibrating with excitement from her place in her expensive, luxury crib. Tony had returned to MIT a month after Eris had been born – which he had been forced to do by Howard despite already proving his ability to complete his education early – and Eris hadn’t been able to see him in person since. Jarvis, of course, made sure that it was impossible for Eris to forget Tony’s face, not that she would have, as he had put a load of pictures of her and Tony all around the room – pictures he had taken during the month Tony and Eris were together. Of course, it wasn’t just pictures; Tony video-called every night before Eris’ bedtime to wish her goodnight and sing her to sleep.
Jarvis and Maria had taken extra care to make sure that Tony was involved in anything that Eris did. If Eris, Maria and Jarvis ever went anywhere they’d sent hundreds of pictures to Tony or would video call him so that he could be involved all the while making sure that Howard knew nothing about it.
Maria entered Eris’ room that early morning and removed Eris from her crib – unlike Tony, Maria was much less careful when moving Eris around, not seeing her as a porcelain doll like Tony did – pulling her against her chest in a tight, warm hug. Smiling, Maria walked over to the huge, ornate wardrobe Tony had insisted Eris have, which was filled with outfits that Tony had picked out and shipped over to the mansion for Eris. She glanced through the majority of outfits before pulling out Eris’ favourite: it was a navy-blue dress that reminded Eris of a princess as it covered most of her body. It made her feel much less exposed despite being mostly helpless.
The finally part of her outfit was something Maria had personally gifted her: a blue monarch butterfly hair clip. It was vintage and had been gifted to Maria by her mother on her wedding day and Eris loved it more than anything else. Due to her physical age, though, Eris was only allowed to wear the clip while she was supervised since both Tony and Maria were hypervigilant when it came to her health.
Jarvis and the rest of the staff were moving throughout the first floor and public parlour, setting everything up for the small party that would be occurring in a few hours. Eris was looking around with wide, intrigued, brown eyes, absorbing every part of the house that her favourite character had grown up in. Everyone took a few seconds to wave at Eris and Maria as they passed and Eris attempted to wave back with a gummy smile that made people melt.
Entering the parlour that the party was going to be held it, Eris was shocked: there was a mountain of presents by the bay window that Eris was shocked to realise were for her! She’d never been able to have so many presents in her old life: she had two siblings and money was tight. Not to mention the fact that her birthday was often forgotten since her youngest brother’s birthday was on the same day.
Hearing a commotion from somewhere in the hall, Eris looked to her left and squealed with joy the second she spotted Tony entering the room, dragging Rhodey behind him. Tony practically skipped towards her, wearing the biggest grin his face could muster as he scooped her up into his own arms and spun her around with a laugh. He continued spinning her around in a little dance, his smile brightening the room as he looked between her and his best friend.
Rhodey was just standing in the doorway looking incredibly awkward as he tried to be as small as possible. He was entirely focused on Tony and Eris, somehow confused by how close Tony seemed to be to Eris and he was very unsure on what to do now.
“Rhodey, get over here!” called Tony.
James Rhodes stumbled into the parlour and cautiously walked over to where Tony was standing. Maria smiled at Rhodey in warm, comforting, motherly acceptance and stood up, leaving the room to make sure that Howard hadn’t stopped drinking himself into an early grave before the party. Rhodey smiled nervously at Eris but that nervousness melted away when she reached out for him and grabbed onto his shirt. She babbled up at him and reached up with her other hand as Tony beamed beside him.
“Told you she’d love you, Rhodey-bear,” grinned Tony.
Tony handed Eris over, slowly, carefully, hesitantly, making sure that Rhodey was holding her correctly before he even thought of letting go. Accepting her hesitantly, Rhodey felt himself beginning to grin as he and Tony settled on the couch together, Eris settled on Rhodey’s lap, and began to talk. Eris squealed and laughed along with the boys as they messed around with her while Maria recorded it from a distance.
“I know how to hold a baby Tony,” said Rhodey.
Stepping back with his hands raised, Tony nodded and smiled, simply watching his best friend and little sister.
I can’t believe this is happening, thought Eris, I have no words.
The presents she received from her family were all expensive and custom made for her. Tony and Rhodey took great care in helping her unwrap each one, making sure she didn’t accidently get a paper cut or choke on something – not that she would but they didn’t know that. Eris made sure to show her appreciation and love for the boys as much as she could, savouring the joy on Tony’s face and his relaxed aura while he still had it.
At some point, Tony stood up, leaving Eris with Rhodey and Maria, and began speaking to Jarvis and Ana about something for the party. No one seemed to notice the mischievous grin on her face as Eris attempted to turn on Maria’s lap and called out, at the top of her tiny lungs:
“Tony!”
Instantly, everyone froze.
Tony spun on his heel without a second through, everything about him screaming in astonishment and joy and pride as he stepped towards Eris and fell back to his knees. Eris looked just as innocent as usual as she reached out towards Tony, who sat back, blinking.
“What did you say?” asked Tony, hesitantly.
“Tony! Tony!”
In a second, Tony had scooped Eris up, into his arms, and was spinning her around, laughing his head of as bright, happy tears rolled down his face in waves. Eris laughed along with him and Rhodey and Maria could only share happy, knowing looks as they watched the brother and sister enjoy each other’s company.
“She said my name! her first word is my NAME!”
Howard blinked for a moment before remembering that he hadn’t actually told anyone that Eris had spoken to him. A part of him wanted to correct Tony, to show off that Eris’ first word had been ‘Dada’ instead but seeing the pure joy on his son’s face, Howard decided to let it be. Tony needed this.
“We heard,” said Rhodey, fondly.
“Our Tesoro is a little genius and she loves me! She said my name!”
“Tony, calm yourself, before you make her sick, alright?” said Maria, calmly.
Tony immediately slowed down and looked at Eris before nodding and sitting back down on the couch. He hugged Eris properly, gently kissing Eris’ forehead while he beamed at everyone else. He felt like he was on top of the world as Eris giggled at him and patted his arm with her tiny hand.
“Time for cake,” said Ana, entering with a smile and holding a cake in her hands.
Peggy Carter stepped into the Stark Mansion alongside several of her SHEILD colleagues. Music and the sound of people talking was flooding the area as she took off her coat and handed it to Jarvis with a soft smile. Maria was waiting by the doors to the public parlour and immediately moved to hug Peggy as the two women got closer to each other.
“How are you, Peggy?”
“Busy,” she answered, with a smile. “But it’s worth it.”
“Thank you for coming.”
“Of course!” said Peggy. “I wouldn’t miss the opportunity to see my God Son and God Daughter.”
Tony came dancing by the open doors, Eris in his arms and Rhodey trailing along behind his best friend, holding their drinks and a bottle for Eris. Maria and Peggy both laughed sightly as Rhodey sent the pair a pleading look before he was dragged along to another section of the parlour.
“Howard?”
Maria pointed towards the large group of men in the corner, with Howard at the forefront. Peggy could do nothing but roll her eyes and step into the parlour as more people began arriving. She waved goodbye to Maria before striding over to her godchildren with a smile.
“Aunt Peggy,” beamed Tony, rocking Eris back and forth as she played with one of the toys she’d received earlier. “How are you?”
“I’m practically perfect, and you?”
“Never better!” beamed Tony. “Oh! This is Rhodey.”
“James Rhodes, ma’am,” Rhodey introduced formally.
Seeing how nervous the poor boy was, Peggy decided to leave him alone and not torment him like she usually did.
“Pleasure. Now may I hold my god daughter?” inquired Peggy.
Tony hesitated for just a second before handing Eris over. Eris squealed and grinned and gently grabbed Peggy’s immaculate hair. It was so soft! Peggy just smiled and gently rocked Eris back and forth as the party continued on all around them.
“Aren’t you gorgeous?” cooed Peggy.
Eris squealed and waved her hands towards Peggy who was just as enamoured as Eris was. Tony and Rhodey were rushing around together as Rhodey was given a tour of the mansion before the majority of the guests arrived for the party.
“Howard!” called Stane. “How’s the research going?”
The second Eris saw Stane entering the parlour, she felt something inside of her freeze in Peggy’s arms. Peggy didn’t seem to notice this as she continued talking to Tony and Rhodey while she rocked Eris. Stane spent a few seconds speaking to Howard before attempting to move towards Tony, Eris, Peggy and Rhodey.
“And how’s the new golden goose?”
Stane reached towards Eris and she immediately began crying – full on screaming. Tony grabbed her in an instant, rocking her back and forth and turning his back to Stane so that she couldn’t see him anymore. He shushed her and rocked her and looked to Rhodey who was just as shocked by her outburst as Tony and Maria were.
Maria was quick to begin damage control, citing how tired Eris was. Tony took it as a sign and quickly left the parlour and took off towards the nursery so that Eris would stop crying. Rhodey and Peggy followed quickly behind him.
Entering the nursery, Tony gently placed Eris in her crib, hushing her and telling her different things until he eventually saw her stop crying. Smiling down at her, Tony gave her a gentle kiss on the cheek before spinning around and facing Rhodey and Peggy.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you act so grown up, Tones.”
“It’s a good look on you,” agreed Peggy with a maternal smile.
~Stark~
Loki had been distracted. Odin had ordered him to look after Thor – not unusual – meaning that he hadn’t been able to check on Eris for at least a month. There hadn’t been much change in her emotions, though, and Loki relied on that – and his allies – to inform him if Eris was safe or not. Her emotions were a dull throb in his chest, a string that connected God to follower, and every-so-often he felt a light tug as her emotions changed or grew more intense.
It felt nice, knowing that he was no longer completely alone in the world, always having someone beside him, someone to rely on even when he was feeling at his worst. When Thor grated on his last nerve and the Warrior’s Three decided to mock him, Loki could focus on Eris, on their connection and heart beat and he remained calm.
“Come now brother! We must feast to honour our victory!”
Thor’s arm slammed onto Loki’s delicate shoulder and Loki attempted not to wince at his unrestrained strength. The Warrior’s Three were already ahead of them, cheering and recounting their exploits to any and all that would hear them as they made their way towards Odin’s throne room.
“Of course,” said Loki, diplomatically. “Though I shall first remove the guts of our enemies from my clothing.”
“Ah, always thinking of your appearance,” laughed Thor and Loki felt a slight sting at the jab.
He brushed it aside as Thor went to join his friends and Loki was left alone to his own devices. Loki did his best to ignore the snickers that he could hear all around him. He knew they were laughing at him, they always did, and he knew that he could punish them for it, but he didn’t care enough to try anymore. Besides, Odin would just growl at him and attempt to make him feel like he was out of line for such actions – despite being a Prince of Asgard and being well within his right to do so.
Striding down the familiar hallways where his chambers resided, Loki scanned everything, looking for even the slightest thing wrong as he continued on. Odin often sent people to Loki’s wing of the palace to spy on the young Prince, he said it was to make sure that Loki was well taken care of due to not seeing him often but Loki knew the truth: Odin didn’t like how much time Loki spent learning about magic and the Nine Realms.
Loki could only assume that Odin was paranoid – which wasn’t a surprise – especially about Loki’s magic, since he was the only one in the Royal family – other than his mother – who possessed such gifts. Even the All Father didn’t have a natural affinity for the magic of Yggdrasil that coursed through him and as such couldn’t access all of its potential – not that he allowed anyone outside of Frigga to know this piece of information.
Perhaps this was the reason that Magic was seen as a Woman’s Weapon. Loki was often called an Ergi by those who were brave enough to risk his wrath, due to his magic and affinity for it. He used to feel so offended by the use of the slur but now he could do no more than huff at the word as he no longer cared for the meaning.
Opening his chamber doors, and removing his protective spells, Loki was quick to strip his dirty clothes and replace them with fresh ones. Feeling himself again, Loki sighed in content and grabbed one of his many tomes that he had been forced to abandon when Odin had ordered him to go with Thor.
It was only when he felt the slight pull at the Godly bond that Loki remembered what day it was down on Midgard: his Priestess’ Birthday!
Grinning like a mad God, Loki quickly moved to grab the spell he’d been saving for this day, a spell that would allow Eris to adapt to any and all situations. It was a spell mostly used by Gods of War – like Thor or Frigga – but Loki was prepared to use it on his young follower. Only the best for the child that believed in him.
~Stark~
When Eris woke up from her crying induced nap, she found Tony and Rhodey sitting in her room, playing cards. The second, however, that Tony noticed she was awake, he was beside her crib and grinning down at her.
“Hey, how you feeling?” he cooed.
“Tony!” beamed Eris, enjoying how happy he got when she said his name.
“I have something for you,” grinned Tony, his chocolate eyes gleaming as he reached into the backpack. “I didn’t get the chance to give it to you at the party so, here.”
Her eyes followed his callused hand and they exploded when she spotted what he was pulling from the backpack. It was a magnificent necklace! One that was in the shape of the arc reactor – it was an exact replica even down to the blue iridescent glow! Eris knew that he had no idea about the significance of such a gift but she didn’t care as she beamed when he carefully placed it around her neck and watched as she examined it with her tiny hands. It was silver and warm to the touch and hung just over Eris’ heart, right where Tony’s reactor would have been.
“I found the pattern in some of Howard’s things,” said Tony, smiling. “Rhodey gave me the idea to make it, said you’d probably want something to remember me by while I’m away.”
“Are you sure that’s safe to give her?” asked Rhodey, “I mean, babies tend to put small things in their mouths.”
Tony went silent for a moment, glancing between Rhodey and Eris, before shrugging and moving to take the necklace back. Eris, however, refused to release the gift and curled into a ball so that Tony couldn’t get it back.
“I guess that answers that.”