Nine months. Nine months.
Nine months ago Tony and Loki had happened to create something together. Something wonderful, actually. They had managed to create life- in the form of a growing baby inside of Loki.
But that all seemed so long ago now. It had only been a few months since Loki had the child. Hrá. A tiny little being that had happened to come into the world blue- which terrified Loki until he remembered that she was part Jotun (which also happened to be why the little one had a Jotunar name that the pair liked and eventually agreed on). It had been a whirlwind of emotions, for both Loki and Tony. But eventually, it all boiled down to immense happiness. The feeling still remained, even as they currently were sitting together on the floor of Tony’s lab.
Oh, right. The lab. An odd place to be sitting with an infant. But there was a reason behind it. Simply put, they were introducing her.
DUM-E trilled excitedly, watching Hrá from Tony’s side. The little one wasn’t really doing much, but he was still ecstatic to see her.
Butterfingers kept behind the pair, watching quietly. U, who of course was also there, was curiously watching as Loki pet him with his free hand.
“This is U, Hrá. Your father made him,” Loki said softly, even though he knew in reality he wasn’t understood by the baby.
Hrá cooed as U moved his claw near, curious herself now. She touched his claw, babbling her baby nonsense happily.
The noises from Hrá set DUM-E off in excited chirps as he moved from Tony’s side to come closer.
“Careful,” Tony started, his voice soft yet still warning. “Don’t overwhelm her by getting to close, okay? U is kinda already over there and I don’t know how she’d be with two robots that close at the moment.”
DUM-E chirped and backed away slightly, making sure to keep a good distance like Tony wanted.
“Thank you,” Tony then said, petting DUM-E’s arm and earning another chirp.
“He’s quite vocal today.” Loki chuckled.
“He’s just excited to be around her. You know he’s been waiting to see her since we told them she was in you.”
DUM-E turned his claw towards Tony, chirping again. It was one that was almost him asking permission to get a teeny bit closer. Tony chuckled softly, patting him on the claw.
“Well… since she seems to be alright with having you guys around… If you’re careful, you can get close, I guess. Just… if you put your claw near her you better be the most careful you’ll ever be in your existence.”
DUM-E imitated a nod with his claw, slowly drawing near to Loki. U moved away now, just to ensure that the little one wouldn’t be overwhelmed. DUM-E took his place, chirping softly. Hrá made another noise, curiously looking up at the other machine.
Loki smiled fondly. “Hrá, this is DUM-E. He’s been waiting to meet you for quite a while.”
Hrá was cooing again, trying to grab at DUM-E. He lowered his arm, moving his claw cautiously closer to her. Immediately, her hands were on him.
“DUM-E…” Tony started, his tone a worried one. Quickly, Loki cut in.
“Anthony, love. He’s alright. I’m right here watching them, so don’t worry your pretty little head off like you are.”
Tony sighed. “Right. Sorry… never had my machines around a baby before. I just don’t want her to get hurt on accident.”
“She’ll be just fine, darling. DUM-E knows better than you think.”
DUM-E chirped softly, as if to agree to the god’s statement.
“Besides, U was close to her and nothing happened. Trust me, she’s safe.”
“Alright… I’ll believe you, since you’re usually always right. But if anything starts to happen, you’ll use your magic right?”
Loki nodded, petting DUM-E. “You need to tell him he’s being ridiculous. You’d never not be careful.”
DUM-E was chirping again, definitely agreeing to the statement now.
Tony pouted. “Rude. I’m not being ridiculous, I’m being cautious.”
“A little overly cautious, my love.”
Hrá babbled happily as DUM-E nuzzled her gently with his claw.
“See? She’s perfectly fine.”
Tony watched, pretty much melting from the sudden adorableness.
“Fine. You’re right. Sorry for not trusting you DUM-E,” He said, patting the bot affectionately. He got a trill in response.
Loki chuckled. “Always so worried. And I thought my worrying was bad.”
Tony rolled his eyes, continuing to watch his invention and noisy daughter interact.
“You know, I think she likes you DUM-E,” Loki said, smiling as Hrá imitated Tony and patted the robots claw with her tiny hands.
DUM-E chirped happily, which caused the little one to make more noise.
“Yeah, no she definitely likes you, bud.” Tony laughed softly. “That’s so cute. How’d we make something so cute?”
Loki smirked. “You know exactly how we did, my love.”
“Oh my god… not what I meant by that.”
“Well, what else could you even mean then?”
“I- goddammit, I don’t know.”
Loki chuckled. “Well, take your time remembering what you meant then.”
Tony simply sighed, a smile forming on his face. “How did I end up with you.”
The god grinned. “Do you want the short or long version of that story?”
“Rhetorical question, hun. We can tell that story when she’s old enough to understand us.”
“Oh, alright. A wonderful idea as always, you genius.”
DUM-E interrupted the pair with a chirp, wanting their attention.
“Hmm? What is it, DUM-E?” Loki asked, looking down at the machine.
He got another little chirp in response. DUM-E had laid his claw gently on Hrá’s body, letting the little one wrap her tiny arms around him. Loki honestly couldn’t believe that she fell asleep like this, but there she was- in his arms and snuggled to his chest whilst holding DUM-E’s claw.
“Oh, Anthony look at this,” Loki said softly.
Tony scooted close to the god, looking at their daughter.
“Oh my god… that’s fucking adorable.”
The inventor put his arm around the mage and moved even closer to him- close enough that Loki leaned into him as they watched their tiny child.
“God… look at us. We did good, didn’t we.”
Loki raised a brow. “Did good? What do you mean by that?”
Tony chuckled, pressing a kiss to the top of Loki’s head. “I mean we made something good. A family. I dunno… I’m dying from how cute everything is and I’m happy. I’m saying sappy shit.”
“Ah, I see. Well, in that case, I wholeheartedly agree with you. We did do good.”
DUM-E even chirped in agreement now.
Tony grinned and pressed another kiss to the god’s head. “I love you, Lokes.”
“I love you too, Anthony.”