Reassurance Calms the Soul
Sage and Happy parted ways in the elevator when he got off to check on some security stuff and she continued up to the Penthouse. Things were quiet when she got up there, which she found just a bit odd. Loki was sitting on one of the couches, staring out of the windows, looking lost in thought.
“Hey, I’m home!” She said, a bit louder than necessary, trying to snap Loki out of it without startling him too badly.
The god looked up at the sound of her voice, smile stretching across his lips as he took in the happiness shining on her face and the bags filling her arms. “I take it you had fun this afternoon?”
She nodded and lumped the bags on the kitchen island before jogging over to join Loki on the couch, nestling into his side. She knew he wasn’t quite as tactile as Tony was, but she was already missing Sam and she’d take comfort where she could get it. Or steal it, as the case may be. She half expected him to reprimand her for not taking her purchases into her room right away, and was a little confused when he didn’t. Loki was a stickler for neatness everywhere he appeared, a direct contrast to Tony’s habits of leaving everything where it fell. Speaking of the genius… “Where’s Tony?”
“Ah.” Loki looked vaguely troubled as he moved to accommodate Sage, lifting his arm and wrapping it around her shoulders. His eyebrows furrowed and his eyes got a sort of far away look. “He is sleeping in our room. Something happened earlier and he had a panic attack. Nothing major, but he was rather exhausted.”
“Holy crap! Is he okay?!” She bolted upright, looking worriedly in the direction of their bedroom, suddenly concerned.
“He is perfectly alright, Sage, He is simply tired.” Loki soothed, running a gentle hand over her hair and coaxing her back against his side.
She looked up at Loki’s face, eyes suddenly scrutinizing. “What about you?” She asked quietly, noting how tired the god himself looked. “Are you okay?”
He chuckled softly, returning her concerned gaze with one of vague amusement. “I must admit, it is always jarring when Anthony has one of these attacks. I can usually calm him down, but often enough the source of his attacks causes concerns to rise in me as well. I am alright, though. Thank you for asking. I simply wish there was more I could do to help him avoid this. They have gotten better, since you’ve moved in. Likely because he’s spent less time working himself to exhaustion in his lab. He loves you Sage. He wants to be an amazing parent for you, and he’s been taking care of himself more, so I suppose I should thank you for that.” His eyes sparkled with pleasure, and he smiled at her, more soft and relaxed than he usually allowed himself to be, knowing full well that the girl recognised that fact.
She shrugged, not quite knowing what to do with this raw, honest Loki. She was used to him being… not cold, but more distant than much of the team. Understandably, due to his past, and yet she didn’t mind this side of him one bit. “Well, I’m certainly glad he’s taking better care of himself. He’s doing an amazing job of being a dad, you should tell him that.”
“Oh, I do. Frequently. Although, I expect he would enjoy hearing it from you.”
She giggled. “Yeah, probably.”
“So, what sorts of things did you purchase?”
Her eyes lit up, and she sat up a bit. “Do you want me do show you? We could do a little fashion show!”
He laughed. “Oh no, we couldn’t without everyone else. They would hate to miss out.”
She scoffed and waved him off. “We’ll tape it for them. You can do that, right JARVIS?”
“Indeed, Miss Ahlers.”
She smiled smugly and turned back to Loki. “Fashion show?”
He sighed, as if put upon, but agreed, “Alright, darling, if it makes you happy-”
“Yay!” She squealed, pressing a kiss to his cheek and jumping up, grabbing her bags from the island and heading toward the bathroom. “I’ll be right back!”
---
Tony woke to the sound of Sage giggling, indie music playing over JARVIS’s speakers and, softer, Loki chuckling. He slowly got out of bed, pausing to pull on a pair of sweat pants and an old MIT hoodie before venturing out of the room. As he made his sluggish way into the room, he was greeted by the sight of Sage pulling all sort of ridiculous poses to the beat of the music in an outfit he was sure he’d never seen her wear before, unable to keep a straight face and laughing all the while. Loki was seated on the couch, watching her and unable to stifle his own laughter at her antics. “Well well well, what’s this? Am I missing a fashion show?”
Sage’s face brightened even more at the sight of him. “Tony!” She cried, rushing over to him and catching him in a quick hug before darting back to stand midway between him and Loki. “Sam and I went thrift shopping, so yeah, we were doing a fashion show. It’s okay though! You didn’t miss anything, JARVIS is filming it.”
“He is, is he?”
“Indeed, Sir.”
“Well by all means, continue. I would hate to ruin a fashion show.”
Sage grinned widely at him. “I was going to put on a new outfit anyway. Go and sit by Loki. I’ll be back in a sec.”
Tony wandered over, feeling slightly aimless and a little foggy after his nap. He sunk onto the couch beside Loki and curled into him, burying his nose in the other man’s shoulder. “She’s so happy. You’d never guess that-”
“Hush, love.” Loki pressed a kiss to the top of Tony’s head, refusing to let the inventor get worked up again. “Our girl is doing wonderfully with this… fashion show.” He shook his head, letting amusement color his tone. “Let’s not worry about other things right now.’
“Yeah, okay.” Tony yawned and cuddled further into Loki’s side. “‘M still tired.”
“You can go back to bed, darling. We’ll show you the whole thing later. Sage will understand.”
“Mmm. No. No, I wanna stay. Don’t wanna sleep anymore. No point if you’re not gonna sleep with me.”
“You’re incorrigible.”
“You love me.”
“Indeed I do.” Loki bent down for a kiss, looking up with mirth in his eyes when Sage awkwardly cleared her throat. “Ah, a new outfit.”
She giggled, biting back on the inappropriate PDA joke she was going to make. This was neither the time nor the place. Tony still looked ridiculously exhausted. She felt terrible. She wanted to see him smile. “Right. So, this sweater is vintage J. Crew, and-”
“Hey, now. Some of us take offense to that vintage nonsense.” Tony teased, his eyes sparking with mischief.
“Tony, people can’t be vintage. So it doesn’t apply to you even if you are old as dirt.” Immediately she regretted the comment, feeling mean for taking the low blow when he wasn’t at his best, but Tony laughed and shot back with fire.
“At least I can drive myself places. Remind me, Sage, are you capable of that?”
Her ears burned, but she laughed. Okay, that was actually fair and kind of funny. “Anyway, my jeans are Tommy Hilfiger, and I got them for six dollars, be proud of me.”
“Holy shit.” Tony whistled. “That is a steal. Where did you go?”
She shrugged. “A bunch of different thrift stores. I don’t remember which one these came from, but I saw them and at that price I had to have them.”
“Obviously. Damn, kid, you know how to pick an outfit.”
Sage smiled happily. “Why thank you. I try very hard.” He was okay, she thought, just a little worn down.