Homecoming
Chapter 37: Homecoming
As it drew closer to eleven Loki tasked the boys with summoning a ride for the three of them over to May's apartment in Queens. Their ride met them out front. Loki got in the front and Peter and Sean got in the back and they were off.
Loki watched as the city went by and even though he was a still a little on edge, even with his glamour and both his cuffs back in place, but he wasn't...quite so terrified of this city anymore. Knowing that one of the most powerful people to inhabit this city wasn't going to come after him and would even keep the others off any sort of scent they picked up was a little comforting. And even if he had been lying before he had now twice saved someone he cared about. He doubted even Tony Stark, brash and bold as he was, would dare to try something against a God whom he owed a favor to. Not that that's why he did it, but that was an added benefit of having done so. He would have helped to find Peter regardless.
The boys in the backseat were tucked over notes in their notebooks still working on their bot and Loki was happy to let them chat for the duration of their ride and just enjoy the scenary.
Once they got there, Peter lead the way up the steps two at a time and as soon as the door was open he called for his Aunt. Loki and Sean hung back by the door and took off their shoes.
May came running out of the living room in a blur of blue scrubs and a ponytail that was a little out of sorts after a long shift and night worrying about Peter. Her arms wound around him tightly. "I'm so glad you're okay. Are you okay?" She asked as quickly pulled back just a little and started looking him over.
Peter hugged her back and just took comfort in the safety of her embrace until she pulled away. "I'm fine...I promise." He assured, but let her do her inspection anyways.
Once she was satisfied she huffed a little. "That's good. By the way you're grounded for two weeks."
"But-"
May fixed him with a look. "You want to make it three?"
Peter looked down a little. "I was just going to say that Sean and I still need to finish our bot...we're close to the deadline to get it registered."
"Sean can come over here. You're just not leaving this apartment unless it's to go to your classes and I know your schedule young man so don't even try to lie to me."
Peter gave a helpless look to Loki who just shrugged. "Sounds fair to me." He said with a chuckle before he looked to May who was muttering about needing to get something made for breakfast.
"May, why don't you go and change out of your work clothes, take a shower, relax a little. You've had a stressful evening. I've already fed Peter as well as Sean and I. I'll make you something to eat while you do so."
"And I can help Peter clean up a little." Sean offered as well.
May looked at both of them in slight surprise. "Are you sure? You dont' have to..."
"I made you worry all night and the last three days. I think it's the least I can do." Peter said a bit guiltily.
"See?" Loki said as he breezed past her to the kitchen. "Everything will be fine May."
"Alright just...let me show you where some of the stuff is. Oh and-"
"Nope." Loki said as he stopped her in the entrance to the kitchen and gently used her shoulders to turn her toward the hall he assumed held her the bedrooms and the bathroom. "I can figure it out and if I have any questions I'm sure Peter will be happy to answer."
May still gave him an uncertain look, but she finally relented and took herself down the hall with the promise that she would try not to take to long. Loki called back not to worry about it.
Peter was staring in slight awe. "I think you're the first person I've ever seen manage to get her to just...go and relax for a couple minutes."
Loki shrugged as he rolled up his sleeves a little and started going through what they had in the kitchen. "I can be very persuassive. And she reminds me of Mobius...always trying to look out for everyone, but herself." He said a touch fondly before he looked around. "Alright you boys tidy up. Looks like a vaccuum could be run, some dusting maybe. See if there's any laundry that needs to be done. I'll take care of the kitchen once I'm done cooking." He said with a tone of finality before he stepped back into the kitchen.
There weren't to many fresher ingriedients on hand. A lot of it was easy to make box meals and stuff and he was not judging her one bit, just meant he had to get a little creative and it was a good thing he could. He found milk and flour, quite a bit of butter on hand and after a giving it a tentative sniff check some sausage that could be turned into a gravy. He wasted no time setting to work.
He whipped up a quick biscuit dough and set them on a cookie sheet once he set down a piece of parchment paper on it. That got stuck in the even and the bowl he had had used to make the dough had gotten washed and then put away. Next he found a skillet and set it on one of the burners and let it start warming up. Once it was hot enough he put the sausage in the pan to let it brown so that he could use the grease to make a nice gravy.
He heard the vaccuum running in the living room and there was the sound of running water, but it was muffled which told him that the washer must be filling. Good. He checked on the living room once his gravy was done and he turned the burner off, but left it on there so it would stay warm.
Sean and Peter had finished up their tasks and the couch had been set to rights as well. They had disappeared to Peter's room, but Loki looked over as May finally came out the bathroom. She already looked a little better. Loki told her to sit on the couch while he went back to the kitchen. He slipped off one of his cuffs and secretly called one of his Early Grey tea bags from Sean's apartment and set some water on the stove to boil.
He fixed a cup of tea and got a plate for her and brought both out for her. "Here you are May." He said as he set both on the coffee table and then sat down on the other end of the couch. "They're in Peter's room, working on their bot."
"Thank you this smells delicious." She said as she reached for the plate and blew gently on it to try and cool it off a little more. She had been to stressed and worried about Peter to even think about eating so she had skipped her lunch break, but now that everything was right again she was starving. "How...how did you find him?"
"Like I said I'm diligent. It wasn't a lot of information to go off of, but the exact location was more towards the outskirts of the city so I just started looking."
She sighed. "I know there's something he's not telling me and sometimes I wish he would. Does he think I wouldn't understand?"
Loki shook his head. "No May, I don't think that's the case. I think...in his own way he's trying to protect you. So that you don't worry. Or...maybe worry as much. I gave him a pretty stern talking to though. He won't be doing it as much."
"You...you got him to listen to you?" She asked in slight shock.
"I did. I set some serious ground rules. He'll be alright May. If I can help it at all he will be."
Her shoulders sagged in relief as she finally took a bite of her biscuits and gravy. "That's a huge relief on my shoulder. I appreciate that he wants to protect me, but I don't think he realizes just how much this worries me already. I don't think it's possible to worry more than this."
***
Loki and May talked about more mundane things after that while she ate, but the last three days were of little sleep were catching up to her and with the warm tea and meal she was yawning pretty regularly. "Go lay down May. I'm going to stay with here until Sean's ready to go home so I can keep an eye things."
This time she didn't even try and fight it as she pushed herself up and went to her room to get some sleep.
Loki got up and took her dishes to the kitchen and gave them a quick wash before he headed back out to the living room to pull out his phone to get caught up with the news of his little town in Ohio and see what he had missed.
Around four in the afternoon he gave a knock on Peter's door. They both called for him to come in, but he just stook his head in. "Sean, I'm going to back to your apartment. I'm planning on catching an early flight out of town tomorrow so I should get some more sleep. Are you coming home with me?"
"Uhhhh....no I think I'm gonna stay the night. We're so close to figuring this out."
Loki nodded. "Alright then, I love you so much Sean. Your first battle is next month right?"
"Yep!" Sean said with an excited nod.
Loki smiled. "We'll all be there and next time we come down we'll bring Hiss. I didn't think to grab him this time I was in a bit of a hurry, but next time for sure." He said before he looked to Peter. "Stay out of trouble young man. And good luck." He said before he shut the door again and took his leave.
He caught a cab back to Sean's apartment and settled onto the couch to watch a little TV to pass the time and book his flight back to Ohio. He was eager to get back to Mobius. Now that the direness of the situation was gone things had been handled the anxiety of being in this city alone and so far away from his son was starting to settle in. He was ready to be home. He wished he could just teleport home, but that would be far to hard to explain to Kevin so he settled for keeping appearances and found an early flight out for four in the morning. That would be perfect. He booked it before he set his phone aside with a yawn and pulled the blanket back off the back of the couch.