A Lesson in Communicating
“Sage,” Loki called, as she put the last of her new outfits in the laundry.
“Yeah?” She popped her head out her door, a bit startled to see Loki almost right outside. “Is something up?”
“Well, no. It is simply… I wanted to express how much… How much we- Well, that is to say, ehm.”
Sage was, to say the least, a little taken aback. She’d never once seen Loki this lost for words. “Papa, is something wrong?”
Loki’s breath caught at that word. Papa. She’d started calling him that once or twice, usually when she was very confused or unsure, and he was caught unawares every time. He loved it. It made him think that she was finally becoming comfortable with them, letting her guard down completely. Clearly, though, after hearing that recording, he was wrong. The thought made him sick to his stomach. “No, love, it’s nothing.” He smiled at her, tears forming in his eyes and he hurriedly stalked back toward the kitchen, muttering something about hot sauce.
Weird, Sage thought, Loki didn’t eat hot sauce.
---
Their next attempt at casually bringing up the recording barely went better than the first.
“Hey.” Tony caught Sage in the kitchen, a half eaten sandwich hanging from her mouth, a bag of tortilla chips and a large bowl of queso in her hands. He surveyed her with laughter in his eyes, a smirk playing across his face. “Is there a movie marathon going on that I wasn’t invited to?”
Sage flushed slightly. “Nmu-” she set down the bag of chips and extracted the sandwich from her mouth. “Not really. Was just gonna watch some NCIS and I was hungry, so…”
He laughed. “Alright, that’s fair. Anything good happening?”
“Oh, you know. Bio threats, terrorism, Sasha Alesander… God, I love her.” She sighed dreamily, a fake far away look in her eyes.
“You’re ridiculous.” Tony couldn’t help but chuckle, patting her on the arm as he passed her to get to the fridge. He swung the fridge door open, making a face at the contents. “Is this kombucha stuff yours or Loki’s?”
“Oh, that’s mine. You can have one if you want. Actually,” she stepped around him and grabbed one. “I want one.” She now held the bottle of kombucha and the sandwich in one hand, the bowl of queso in the other, and she shoved the bag of chips into the crook of her elbow. “You wanna join?”
“Tony shook his head with a fond smile. “No, I need to do some work in the lab. Thanks, though. Oh, hey.”
She turned back around, eyebrow arched in question.
“You know we love you, right?”
Her eyebrows furrowed, and she looked confused, but nodded. “Yeah, I- I know.”
“Okay. Good.” Tony smiled at her, but winced when she turned her back and continued on the way to her room.
---
“Sage, can we speak with you for a minute?” She looked up at Loki from where she was reading on the couch, nodding as her stomach dropped like lead. Tony and Loki had been acting weirdly ever since the day she’d gone out with Sam. They’d been going out of their way to be nice, it seemed like, and she felt as though they’d been more lenient with her screwing things up, making messes. Now, that worried her. What if they had been being nice to her to catch her at unawares when they kicked her out?
“You aren’t in trouble,” Tony assured her, plopping down on the couch next to her, doing his best to serreptitiously set the girl at ease. “We’ve just got a thing to discuss. But first off, you have to promise not to get mad at Happy, okay? He was just tryiing to help, and he likes you, Sage. He wants what’s best for you almost as much as we do. Yeah? Can we agree to that?”
Sage nodded, eyes still a little wide with concern. “Yeah, of course. I love Happy, why are you expecting me to get mad at him?”
Tony smiled at her sadly, glancing up at Loki who was still standing. “J, you wanna play that recording for me?”
“Of course, sir.”
She looked confused at first at the sound of her own voice. The colour slowly drained from her face as she realised what she was listening to. “I-” she didn’t seem to be able to finish her sentence. He poor girl looked petrified.
Loki dropped his hand through the air in a vague slashing motion, prompting JARVIS to stop the recording. He crossed his arms in what Tony recognised as a defensive pose after years of fights with him.
To Sage, he looked angry. Upset. Her heart was pounding and free falling to the pit of her stomach. She felt like she was on the verge of vomiting. This had to be it. She was convinced. They thought that they could settle for her, but now that they’d heard those words from her own mouth, and they’d realised that they didn’t really want her-
Tony quickly realised that something, somewhere had gotten lost in translation. Sage looked like she was going to hurl, and Loki, he was realising, had his determined face on. Fuck. He’d forgotten that some people found Loki intimidating. “Sage, honey.” He stretched his hand out toward her, but froze when Sage flinched. “I meant what I said, sweetheart. You’re not in trouble. We’re not mad… Despite how Loki’s face likes to present itself.” He smiled reassuringly at the other man. “Hey, I mean it.” He smiled at her softly when she glanced up. “You’re not getting rid of us anytime soon, kiddo.”
She held her breath for a moment to hid the hitch, and very quietly asked, “You promise?”
“With every fibre of my being.”
Her eyes snapped to Loki, and her breath caught hopefully as a tear slipped down her cheek. “Okay,” she whispered, swallowing around the lump in her throat and looking away. “Listen, I-”
“Don’t apologise, sweetheart.” Tony hated that she felt the need to apologise. He hated it.
“No, nonononononono. I- I’ve gotta say this. I’m so so sorry that I still can’t get myself to completely believe that this is real and happening and that you guys want me. I’m sorry. It makes me mad, and it’s so not fair to you guys.”
She had this sad, disappointed pout on her face, and if this wasn’t breaking his heart, Tony would find it to be one of the most adorable things he’d ever seen.
“Sage, darling, it’s alright.” Loki was kneeling in front of the girl where she sat on the couch, cupping her smaller hands in his. He no longer looked closed off and ready to be hurt. Instead, he was in protect and comfort mode, which Tony and Sage would agree, suited him much better. “You do not have to fully believe it. You do not have to believe it today, or tomorrow; you did not need to believe it yesterday. We do not need you to validate our love for you, darling. We will continue to love you even if you… join the circus and become an emo.” His face brightened at her choked out laugh.
“That’s not…” She giggled wetly and shook her head, clutching at his hands. “You kinda mixed your metaphors.” The twinkle in his eye told her that he already knew.
He squeezed her hands gently and slowly stood, sitting beside her on the couch opposite of Tony. They both scooted closer to her, and Loki wrapped his arm around her, Tony taking her hands.
“We love ya, sweetheart. And we’re always here for you if you need us, okay? Night or day, doubts or otherwise. We’re here.”
She sniffled, squeezing her eyes shut and let herself have this. For five seconds, she let herself be. Be still. Be quiet. Be soft. Be calm. Be loved. Be happy. Be relieved. “Okay.” She whispered, not willing to open her eyes and risk shattering this moment. “Thank you.”
“Oh, sweetheart,” Tony murmured, wrapping both arms tightly around her, and pressing a kiss to her temple. “Of course.”