Risks
Chapter 9: Risks
Two weeks in and Stella's powers are still dormant. The good news is her bruises are disappearing at a faster rate but she wished the pads Bruce placed on her can help her regain her energy. She has been spending more time in the gym, either working out or sparring with Natasha, or at the rooftop, meditating.
It has been days and Stella’s getting more frustrated, and Natasha notices. Her punches and kicks would throw off the Black Widow. Natasha understands her frustration, nevertheless. Stella keeps on apologizing whenever she throws Natasha off her feet.
“It’s okay. It’s not as painful as being thrown by an alien twice or thrice our size.” Natasha quipped.
Stella dropped her jaw. “But was my kick painful?”
Natasha stretched and pressed a hand on the left side of her torso where Stella kicked. “Not so much. I can handle it.” Natasha sat cross-legged on the mat next to Stella, who was sitting on the floor, knees bent. “How’s your magic?”
Stella hung her hand from her knee, palm open. “Still weak.” She pointed her palm to Natasha’s water bottle. The redhead turned to it. Stella concentrated and Natasha noticed the ripples inside the bottle. Stella exhaled loudly and the ripples stopped. “I can’t take down an enemy with this.”
“What were you trying to do?”
Stella sighed. “Push it.”
“But you’re physically strong. You have beaten me a lot of times now.” Natasha smirked proudly.
Stella lay flat on the floor, one knee perched up. “Yeah. If only it’s that easy.”
“What do you mean?”
“My power is one of the reasons why Athena made me a guardian. Well, the main reason, it is,” she admitted, her eyes set on the ceiling. “What if she’ll revoke it?” She sat and faced the other woman. “What am I gonna do?”
“I don’t think it’ll be the end for you. If that’s going to happen, I’m sure SHIELD has something for you to do.” Natasha told her with conviction.
“I don’t even think there are others like me.” Stella slouched.
“You haven’t lost your powers, Stella.”
The two women whipped their heads at the source of the voice. It was Loki, standing behind them. “How long have you been standing there?” Stella asked.
“Long enough to hear your fear of Athena revoking your responsibility.” He held his hands behind him. Stella replied with a “huh.”
“Any thoughts on Stella’s situation?” Natasha asked him with a raised brow.
“As I said, it’s still there. She just needs to keep on concentrating her energies to the center.” Loki explained as he walked towards Stella. He held out his hand. “May I?” Stella looked at his hand then up to him. Loki waited for her to move. When Stella placed her left hand on his, he released a breath that he didn’t know he was holding. “Extend your hand to the water bottle.” He instructed her.
“Are you doing the same thing you did?” Stella asked as she lifted her other arm.
Loki shrugged. “Sort of.”
Natasha watched the two.
Loki let his energy flow from his center to his hand, then transferred to Stella’s. Stella felt that zap go through her left hand, then it passed through her chest. A blue beam appeared from her right hand and zoomed to the water bottle, toppling it.
“What the-” Stella muttered in shock. She released Loki’s hand and brought it to her chest. “What did you do?”
“I amplified your magic. I transferred some of mine to trigger and support yours,” he answered. “I’ve been studying but I’m not sure if your Greek demigod status can handle ancient Asgardian magic.”
Natasha blinked. She couldn’t believe what was happening in front of her. Loki was undeniably helpful this time.
Stella perked up. “How does it work? I will do anything just to have it back.”
He paced in front of them. “Potions and some spells to trigger it, one of the processes is the one I did. Though it can drain my own, or worse, kill you.”
“Okay, never mind.” Stella waved her hand. “Keep your magic active. We can’t afford two sorcerers to be magicless.”
Loki cocked his head to the side. “You’re worried about me draining my magic but you’re not worried about me accidentally killing you?”
“I said we can’t afford the two of us to be magicless.” Stella reiterated. Loki shrugged.
“Why are you so helpful all of a sudden?” Natasha blurted out.
Loki stopped and faced Natasha. “I’m doing all these for the tesseract. That’s it,” he declared.
Stella felt a stone sink in her stomach. A record screech in her head. A sting in her chest. Her expression didn’t change but deep inside her jaw already dropped.
Hey, hey, hey, Stella. Just because this dude’s holding your hand doesn’t mean he likes you. Get over it. You’re just touch-starved. She mentally scolded herself.
She then chuckled instead. “Yeah. Ares is powerful. Makes sense.” She stood up. “Now if you’ll excuse me, Tony and I have something to do after breakfast. See you two around.” She turned to the door and left them and her chaotic emotions.
Up in the labs after breakfast, just as she said, Stella began tinkering with Stark over a new restricting band that can match the power of the band the twins left.
"Is this even humane?" She wondered as she studied the band at eye level.
"You're a demigod with superhuman powers dealing with other demigods sent your way trying to kill you with matching superhuman powers and you're asking if putting on that band is even humane?" Stark stopped across her. "Now my question is, are you insane?"
She chuckled. "I was just wondering if this can qualify for the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons. It's excessively injurious -” she wiggled her fingers in the air as she said those words “-according to them.”
He shook his head in return. "You've gotta be kidding me, kid. We're dealing with demigods and extraterrestrial beings here and your concern is if what we're doing is under the laws of the United Nations?" Stark poked a probe in the air between them as he explained. "I bet you those Chitauri and Asgard were not members of the UN. Are Zeus, Athena, and the others part of the UN?" Stella laughed. "Yeah, I don't think so."
“But Athena’s influence is why the UN came to be and I could get sanctioned by them if I do something that might hurt civilians,” she explained.
“Is she part of the council, though?” Stella smiled and shook her head in reply. “There you go. So don’t worry about that being too much. Anyway, we’re putting this on an errant god, not on civilians.”
“Isn’t the Avengers an international organization by now? Or is it S.H.I.E.L.D?” Stella picked up a micro screw with her probe as she asked. She passed the probe to Tony.
Tony received the probe and inserted the screw into a hole in the band. “S.H.I.E.L.D is.”
“So since the Avengers is a project of S.H.I.E.L.D you’ll be bound by international rules at some point.” She asked, peering through the holoscreen projecting the band’s blueprint between them.
“I don’t have to worry about them yet. They’re not yet coming for our asses anyway. We haven’t done anything wrong as far as we are concerned.” Tony replied, not looking up from his work. “By the way.” Tony pushed himself, his swivel chair transporting him to the screen a few feet from the working desk. “What's the deal with Reindeer Games?”
“What are Reindeer Games?” She asked as she studied the blueprint.
“It’s not an ‘are’, it’s an ‘is’.” Tony pushed himself back to the working desk. “It’s Loki.”
“Why do you call him ‘Reindeer Games’?”
Tony licked his lips. “Uh. He looks like a reindeer.” Stella’s lips curved and she nodded. “Anyway, you know anything?”
“What do you want to know?” She glanced at him.
“Why he’s here and why his father wanted him to work on this.” Tony looked at her through the holoscreen.
“All I know is that Odin wanted a sorcerer to work on this and the only sorcerer he can...trust...?-” she made the quotation marks gesture “-is him.”
Tony raised his brows. “Wow. He could still trust him after all he did to New York.”
Stella dropped the micro driver and replaced it with another tool. “He’s the only living Asgardian sorcerer, I think. As far as Athena is concerned. Amora’s long dead and Karnilla’s powers are fading.”
“Who are they?”
“Amora is one of the powerful Asgardian sorceresses. She was Karnilla’s apprentice.”
Tony folded his arms on the table. “How did you know these things?”
“Told ya, I have a seat in their war room,” she replied casually without looking up. “I was a consultant. And Athena trusts Loki.”
“Yeah, about that.” He scratched his nose. “Why? I mean, with all due respect to your sister, but why?”
“She trusts his cunningness and ability, and she’s never wrong on things.”
Tony crossed his arms on his chest. “So she’s putting all her money on a god who almost blew up a city?”
“Yeah. She’s putting all her drachmas on him.” She passed a fragment to Tony. “Check it out. Is it good?”
Tony studied the fragment. “Yes, it is. You’re good at this. Are you sure you weren’t an engineering major?”
Stella smiled. “I just spent hours at my mom’s workshop.” Stella stretched her back as she stood up and studied the collar Loki destroyed. Tony and Bruce put the pieces back together to study its composition and structure. “There’s nothing in here?”
His eyes scanned the room and found her on the east side of the lab, studying the broken collar. “Yeah. Couldn’t even pick up the slightest energy signature.”
“So that means one thing: Loki’s magic can cancel out their magic, at least with this collar.”
The elevator doors opened and Pepper entered the lab. Tony turned on the micro drill and looked up to see who entered. "Hey Pep." He beamed.
"Hi, Miss Potts." Stella nodded to her and Pepper reciprocated the greeting as she strode to Stark.
"Everything's ready for tonight," Pepper told Tony as he placed a kiss on her cheek. "We also activated the entry cards for the guests." Stella returned to her seat and continued to focus on testing the energy levels of the band, politely trying to exclude herself from their conversation. She heard Tony mutter something to Pepper.
"Hey, little Athena," Tony called her back to Earth. Stella's eyes snapped back to them. "Pepper was calling you, you were so in the zone there."
"Oh, I'm so sorry, Miss Potts. What was it?" She apologetically smiled.
"You ready for tonight?" Pepper asked.
"Uh, what's happening tonight?" She asked as she removed her safety glasses.
"There will be a Stark corporate party upstairs. We'll be utilizing the top floor. Everyone who resides in this building is invited." Pepper explained.
A party, right. What a security risk. She thought.
"I bet you didn't know." Tony turned to Pepper. "She's been too busy lately."
"Yeah, I’m sorry just heard of it now," Stella mumbled as she went back to working on the band.
"It's no problem! Do you have something to wear?" She shook her head. "I can let you borrow some of my dresses and shoes if you want. I believe we have the same size?"
"Thank you very much Miss Potts but I think I can buy one..."
"If you're thinking of buying one, kid, then you might as well leave this building before I finish my sentence because the party will start in about 6 hours and I bet you can't scour the whole of Manhattan or New York for your dress, shoes, et cetera." She smiled and bit her lower lip, acting like she's thinking. "Why are you still here in front of us?"
"Yeah, I think it's practical to borrow."
"Perfect!" Pepper grabbed Stella by her arm and they walked to the doors. "We'll see you later, Tony!"
The party was a formal event. Stella didn't have a problem dressing up for that, but she decided to choose the colors close to her heart: white and gold. She easily picked a Grecian-inspired white dress from Pepper's walk-in wardrobe. The dress was flowy, simple yet elegant. The plunging neckline showed her collarbone, a part of her body that she loves flaunting in the mirror. Diamond-specked gold bars fastened the cloth on her shoulder. The same design cinched her waist. Good thing her physical injuries had healed during the past week.
Since Stella can't do her hair and makeup without her magic, with Pepper's permission, she borrowed her palettes and gave herself dramatic smokey eyes and light lipstick. She put up her hair in a braided bun with strands of hair framing her face. She put on the gold, dangling, dagger earrings she bought from one of the queer antique jewelry shops in the middle of New York.
She looked at herself in the mirror and smiled sweetly. Damn, I'm so pretty I could take myself out on a date.
Before she could forget, she sheathed the Aresian blade to its sleeve strapped on her right thigh. She wore the gold, heeled sandals she borrowed from Pepper and got out of her room to check on Natasha.
Just in time, Loki closed his bedroom door behind him.
They stopped in their tracks upon seeing each other. Loki's breath hitched when he saw the demigoddess all made up before him. Her hair was up, emphasizing her slender neck he was now tempted to touch. Her eye makeup was just right, and Loki just noticed that her almond-shaped eyes were expressive. Right now she’s looking at him in awe and he could see it through her eyes. Her lips seemed as soft as a rose petal. Oh, how he wanted to kiss it.
Stella's lips parted when she saw Loki suited up for the event. She didn't expect him to have a sleek build. Muscular, but sleek, and it shows in his ensemble. Unlike Thor who's all muscle and looking buff. Loki was wearing the deepest, darkest shade of green for his jacket, and the deepest, darkest shade of green slacks that perfectly fit his toned legs - not too tight, not too loose. Just right. The two top buttons of his white dress shirt were unbuttoned, giving a casual touch. I bet that two-piece suit is Versace, she thought. She couldn’t help but admire him in his Midgardian clothes. He let out that grandiose aura and it was a new thing for her to see since she was used to seeing him in his Asgardian leather garb.
"You look exceptionally good, Stella." He finally said after a few seconds of being slack-jawed.
"You too, Loki." She smiled.
"I know.” Stella rolled her eyes in reply. “Though I am not fully on board with what Stark has organized upstairs. It might risk our security." He started, trying not to be enchanted with how she looked tonight. She looked like a goddess, a princess, he thought.
She chuckled. "You and I, both. But he assured me that guests don't have access to any floors of the building and we're heavily guarded by S.H.I.E.L.D agents."
"By them? And to think they manage to lose the tesseract. How amusing." He replied.
"Well, we gotta trust them this time and we're all here. We'll keep our eyes and ears open. I'm not putting down my guard." She tapped her right leg.
He saw her gesture. "Do you have a concealed weapon?" He raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah." She pulled up her dress and showed the dagger strapped on her leg, just below her knee. Loki pulled his hand from his pocket and ran a finger on his lower lip, trying not to think of other things that involved Stella other than her swinging a sword or flinging her beams off her hands. "It's better to be prepared than to be caught off-guard. And remember, I don't have my powers back yet."
Loki was about to suggest that she should wear the amethyst necklace since the chain has a protective enchantment but he dismissed it, thinking that she might find the gesture creepy or something. And it wouldn’t match her dress. "Of course.” He smirked. “Well, then." He ran a hand on his dress shirt, smoothing the invisible creases on it. "I shall see you upstairs." He smirked and left for the elevator.
Stella nodded and proceeded to walk to Natasha's door and knocked. "Agent Romanoff?"
"Stella?" The door opened, revealing Natasha in a black, silk, off-shoulder long gown. "Wow, you look like a legit goddess."
"And you're a bombshell, Agent." They laughed.
"Call me Natasha," she replied and closed the door behind her. Stella held her breath, surprised Agent Romanoff asked her to call her by name. "Ready?" Stella nodded and they proceeded to the top floor.
The room was already filled with Stark Industries' guests. Some people recognized Natasha and some gaped upon seeing Stella tailing behind her. They made a beeline to the bar area.
"I did not expect this amount of people to fit in this room," Stella commented as she picked up her drink.
"It looks small?" Stella nodded at her in reply.
A man in a navy blue suit lit up when he saw Natasha by the bar. He started to approach them and when Natasha saw him, she raised her hand in greeting.
"Hey, Rhodey," Natasha said to the newcomer. "Glad to see you here."
"Of course I have to be here." Rhodey turned to Stella. "And you must be Detective Stella Lords?" He reached his hand out.
Stella accepted his handshake. "Yes. I'm sorry, we haven't met before?"
"Yeah. I'm James Rhodes -"
"Stark's best friend." Natasha interrupted.
He waved his hand to Natasha in agreement. "Well, yeah. I work with the USAF and also with Tony...Stark. He told me about you and what you're here for."
She raised an eyebrow, unsure if this man can be trusted. Natasha noticed her change. "Don't worry, Rhodey's with us," she told Stella.
"Okay," she said slowly. "What did he tell you?"
"About the disappearance of the people from Kalambaka; said that it's connected to who you're after." He leaned closer to her. "And I know about the tesseract. I have my eyes on the case, too," he whispered.
Stella realized that he is to be trusted. "Yeah, about that. Steve thinks they're related."
"Thought so, too." He sipped on his drink.
Stella looked around and more people filed in as the minutes passed by. "This crowd is making me nervous," she whispered to her companions. "It's a high-security risk."
"Is that why your earrings are daggers?" Natasha asked her.
"Yeah. Laced with poison. You'll never know who'll attempt to take your life in any crowd." She winked at them and they chuckled.
"You don't have to worry about that now," Natasha told her, jerking her head at a man in a black suit, on his way to them. "Hey Clint, didn't expect to see you here."
"Stark was bugging me to come. Rhodey." Clint made a small nod at Rhodey before the latter went on his way to meet Stark’s other guests.
"Clint, this is Detective Stella Lords." Natasha placed a hand on her shoulder. Stella said hi and extended a hand.
"Ah, yes. Fury told me about you. Good to finally meet you." He said as he shook her hand. "You're here for the missing Tesseract case?"
"Among others." She nodded.
“Is it true that you’re a demigod?” Clint asked. Natasha shot him a look and he noticed. “It’s my first time to meet her and I’ve heard rumors from the S.H.I.E.L.D facility,” he told Natasha.
Stella cocked her head. Natasha made a mental note to slap Clint. “What rumors?”
“That Fury signed a demigod into the team.”
Natasha opened her mouth to speak but Stella beat her to it. “Not really a full-time member of the Avengers. More like a de facto member.” She gave them a shy smirk.
Clint studied her over his drink. “I think you can be an Avenger.”
Stella looked at both of them and they looked pretty sure of that fact. She smiled, trying not to let the awkwardness show. “That’s good to hear but I need to go back to Eastern Europe after this. They don’t have the Avengers there.”
“Too bad, I think you’ll be a great addition to the team.” Natasha declared.
Stella almost spat her drink. “Coming from someone who stopped the elevator car to interrogate me?” She tilted her glass to her, which was kind of a dangerous thing to do, now that she thought about it. I did that to the freakin’ Black Widow. But she didn’t let her face betray her.
Stella studied Natasha’s face. Clint took notice of the women standing on his sides. “You did that on the first day you met her? You fully know Fury trusts her,” he told Natasha.
Stella finally took a sip when Natasha genuinely laughed. “I’m sorry about that, Stella. I just wanted to make sure Fury made the right decision. Looks like he did.”
Now Stella was the one who can’t fully trust Natasha. “I won’t let you down. I can’t.”
“I don’t think you will.” Natasha returned her wink. “I can tell.”
“Also, another thing.” Clint gestured with his glass. “I heard Fury was okay with letting Loki work under our supervision.” Stella looked at him because his voice dropped to a suspicious level.
“It’s a complicated set-up but, yes, he is,” Natasha replied.
“Why?”
“Because he knows what this man is after, and we are facing a god. Fury thinks we need Thor, Loki, and Stella.” Natasha explained.
“But we have defeated Loki and his army of aliens back in 2012, why do we still need him?” Clint dropped his voice. “We could defeat a god just the six of us.” Clint’s eyes flicked to Stella. “No offense,” he told her.
“None taken.” She gave him a toothless smile.
Natasha sighed and took a sip of her drink. “Clint, the god we’re facing is Stella’s half-brother.”
Clint frowned and his brows furrowed. His eyes darted from Stella to Natasha. “Is Fury letting us in on other families’ problems now? First, it was Thor and Loki then now this.”
“You might have forgotten that the tesseract’s missing and this man could pull up a Hydra on Earth any minute from now.” Natasha hissed. Stella picked up another drink. She could feel Clint’s distrust of her. “I trust her, Clint.” Stella felt lighter when she heard Natasha say those words.
Clint sighed and nodded. “You know I trust you,” he told Natasha before he left them.
“I’m sorry about that.” Natasha turned to Stella, who was trying not to feel awkward sitting right beside them while they were arguing. “Clint had a bad experience with Loki back in 2012.”
“May I ask why?” Stella cradled her drink on her lap.
“He was under the influence of Loki’s scepter. Loki made him do whatever he wanted. He even commanded Clint to kill us.” Natasha found Stella in a slight shock. “Don’t you know that?”
“I have heard and seen the news but I didn’t know the nitty-gritty. I knew he had people working under his influence but I didn’t know he turned one from your team.” Stella blinked. Does Athena know about this? She thought. She took a deep breath and tried to reconcile this newfound fact and Athena’s reason why she wants her to work with Loki. Athena said it. She must have a good reason why. This is Athena’s recommendation...no. This is her command.
Natasha held Stella’s arm, breaking her from her thoughts. “Stella, are you okay?”
Stella took a sip of her drink. “Yeah, yeah. I’m good.”
“It must be a surprise for you, knowing about this now we’re in the middle of it.” Stella glanced at the spy. “Just so you know, we’re an odd bunch here. No one’s holier than thou here. Maybe except for Steve.” Natasha smiled fondly.
“Why him?” Stella perched her elbow on the bar.
“What could you expect from someone who was born in 1918?” Natasha chuckled.
Then suddenly a man slithered in and faced Stella. "Hi, miss. It's my first time seeing your face anywhere here. You new?" The man said.
Stella glared at him.
"Sam, that was hella creepy." Natasha deadpanned.
"You guys know each other?" Stella asked them.
"Oh wait." Sam covered his mouth. "You're the detective Steve told me about?"
"Not sure if we know the same Steve but yes, I am a detective, Sir," Stella replied confidently.
Speaking of Steve, he clapped Sam's shoulder. "What did he do this time?" He asked the group.
"He tried flirting with Stella," Natasha informed the newcomer.
"Is this the Steve you know?" She asked Sam, jutting her chin to Steve. Steve finally understood what happened and laughed, patting Sam. Sam nodded. "Good, because I also know him."
"I'm sorry. Really sorry." Sam wiped his palms on his slacks. "I'm Sam Wilson, by the way." He offered her his hand.
Stella shook his hand. "Detective Stella Lords. Nice to meet you."
Sam finally relaxed when she smiled at him and grabbed a drink from the counter. "Girl, you are intense," he said and she just laughed.
"I actually have no idea."
“So, what were you talking about before Sam became a creep?” Steve asked them.
“Loki,” Natasha answered.
Sam snapped his head back to them as he picked up his drink. “Yeah, Steve told me about that during the briefing. Is it true you’re working with the god of 50 shades of crazy?”
“He has to. There was an agreement.” Stella answered.
“And Fury let him. Said we needed him for his magic.” Natasha added.
Sam downed his drink and picked up another one. “I might need to get drunk tonight to believe what I just heard.”
The elevator doors opened and out came Bruce and Thor. With Thor was a petite woman, arm curled on his biceps. "Wow, Thor has a date."
"That's Jane Foster. His girlfriend, I think." Steve answered.
Thor saw them and beamed. The three of them walked towards the group. "Hello, friends!" Thor bellowed.
They replied. Stella gave him and Bruce a small salute. Thor formally introduced Jane to her, and within a few minutes, they were already engrossed in their world, talking about constellations and planets.
"It did not occur to me that you are interested in astronomy, Lady Lords." Thor interrupted at one point.
"Call me a hobbyist." Thor was confused at the word. "I'm into astronomy for fun. That makes me a hobbyist." He nodded and smiled, patting her at the back. “My mother was an astrophysicist,” she told Jane.
Jane tilted her head and smiled. “Really? What’s her name?”
“Helena Lords.”
Jane’s brows crunched. “I may or may not have heard of Helena before but I know of a Lords.”
“We’ve been transferring from Europe to Asia and back.”
"By the way, have you seen my brother?" Thor interrupted them.
It didn't occur to her to look for Loki when she stepped into the room until Thor brought it up. She craned her neck and looked around until she saw the tall, raven-haired god of mischief in the corner of the room, already hitting on a blonde woman. She took a deep breath and swallowed.
Wait. WHAT THE HELL. Why am I disappointed? It's not my business anyway.
"Stella? Are you alright?" Jane placed a comforting hand on her arm, bringing her back to the room.
She didn’t notice that her lips had formed a scowl. "Oh yeah." She almost choked on her reply but she managed to smile and tapped Thor. "Your brother's busy." She jerked her head to Loki's direction.
Thor turned and he was not sure if he liked what he was seeing. He was confused with his brother too. The last time Loki was worried sick over Stella and now he's wooing another woman. Thor sighed and faced the ladies. "He needs to set his priorities straight."
"Nah, leave him be. He probably needs some distraction." Stella replied coolly.
The next day, Stella's high-security risk paranoia ended the same time the event ended and there was not a single alarm blaring all over the building. Despite accidentally drinking copious amounts of alcohol the night before with the rest, she dragged herself to their floor's pantry to heat water for her tea. She opened a cabinet for a glass and filled it up with water when a door from the hallway opened and a blonde girl wearing nothing but a man's white dress shirt and black underwear appeared in the pantry, giggling. It was the same girl Loki was talking to the night before.
Stella thought her worries ended as soon as the last guest she saw walked out of the door. Never was I so wrong. She immediately located all the sharp objects that she can use if ever this blonde woman starts attacking her. The nearest one being a butter knife. Great. I can’t cut skin with this. She flexed her fingers and was relieved that her hands weren’t stiff. She could throw punches if the need arises.
"Hi. How may I help you?" Stella slowly inquired, a brow was setting too high on her forehead.
"Hi, where can I get a glass of water?" The unnamed woman asked, her voice raspy. She must've been screaming the whole night long. Good job on the soundproofed walls, Stark, Stella thought.
Stella retrieved a glass and filled it up with water, her eyes cautiously fixed on the woman. She set the glass on the corner of the counter, away from her.
"Thanks." The woman beamed at her. Stella folded her arms across her chest and tried to find an interesting spot in the room to divert her attention from the girl. Although it wasn't her intention to see the red map forming on the woman's behind. Stella rubbed her face as if it would remove the thought of Loki slapping the woman's butt.
The woman was refilling her glass when a topless Loki appeared on the floor. "Good morning, Stella."
"Wow. Good morning," she replied, unimpressed.
"Hey there, babe." The woman crooned. Stella had to turn her back to them and flipped through the box of tea so they wouldn't see her cringe. Jesus Christ, when will this water boil?! She set a teacup and the packet of jasmine green tea on the counter while the woman lustfully kissed Loki.
Stella cleared her throat and they stopped kissing in front of her. "Yeah, I'm still here."
"You need to leave," Loki told the woman but she was protesting, wrapping her arms around his neck. Stella rolled her eyes so hard she swore she saw the last two brain cells she had in her. "No, you can't stay. You have to leave. Now." Loki practically dragged the woman to the bedroom since she was clinging on him like a sloth. When Loki turned away from Stella she saw red scratch lines along his back. She threw her head back and planted a hand on her eyes. For the love of God, can I un-think a thought? After a few minutes, the elevator door dinged and Loki reappeared in the pantry. "I'm sorry about that."
Stella put down the kettle aside and dunked the tea bag into her cup. "That was a security risk," she practically snarled.
"I had it under control," Loki replied, sounding particularly impressed with himself.
"Are you sure? What if it was someone who posed as Stark's guest and her aim was to get through to us?" She squinted at him.
Loki grabbed a glass of water and drank. "She didn't have the pendant, I checked."
Stella placed a hand on her hip. "Oh, I'm sure you did a thorough check." Her voice lilted, although sarcastically.
Loki placed the glass on the counter and squinted at her. "If that was the case then why am I still alive? Why wasn't my throat slashed?"
Stella sipped on her tea. “Remind me why you’re doing this again? Why are you on board this Ares case?”
“I want to find out why he’s after my neck,” he sneered.
“Good. I hope you can remember that anyone can be him.”
He crossed his arms on his chest, scowling at her. "You're paranoid, Lords."
She side-eyed him. "Coming from someone who was also worried about the crowd last night."
Loki shifted his legs. He puffed out his chest and crossed his arms. "You're jealous."
She spat her tea. "Excuse me?"
"You wish it was you with me last night, didn't you? You know I won’t mind you showing up in my room." He smirked scornfully.
Stella’s jaw fell, then she narrowed her eyes and gritted her teeth. “WHAT THE FUCK?! ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?!” She badly wanted to throw the contents of her mug at Loki’s face but she resisted and placed the tea down. If she did that, this will get out of hand and she didn’t have her powers to deflect Loki’s. Also, she didn’t want to destroy Stark’s tower. "Wow, now you're being irrational. I can't believe this. You're ludicrous." She picked up her tea and left the counter. "There's still some hot water in the kettle if you want some tea to pair with your blonde biscuit." She slammed her door shut.
Another door opened and Natasha appeared in the common area, still in her loose shirt and flannel pajama pants. “What happened? I heard screaming and a door slamming,” she asked Loki, arms akimbo.
Loki, still having no shirt on, crossed his arms on his chest, and leaned on the counter. “Nothing much. Would you like some tea?” He offered.
Natasha’s brows furrowed and she went back to the corridor. Loki heard soft knocks on a door. Natasha must’ve checked on Stella. He chuckled and made himself a cup of tea.