That evening, after Tony left the tower with a promise from Loki that he would protect you with his life if it came to it, and with the insistence that he take Clint the overbearing babysitter with him, the two of you found yourselves almost wanting to call them back. It wasn't that you were uncomfortable with so much time alone, or that you felt disconnected from the outside world there, no; it was the threat of starvation that was leaving you second-guessing your decision.

"Perhaps we should allow FRIDAY to order dinner in?"

"Loki, we can do this," you sighed, closing the final cupboard left to check, "we told Tony and Clint that we would be fine, and if we order dinner within the first half hour of them being gone, we'll never live it down."

"Yes, I do see your point."

Biting the inside of your lip as you surveyed the scarcely stocked kitchen one more time, after Barton had practically cleaned you out of anything passable as a complete meal, you were silently debating with yourself if it actually was worth the ridicule. "Wait!" you jumped, eliciting an equal response from Loki. "We can order groceries! They know we need them, and if we just happen to accidentally order a few pre-cooked things in there for dinner, they'll be none the wiser, and we get to have a relaxing night in by ourselves. Finally."

"I do like the way you think, darling," he smiled, with a nod of agreement. "Both for the meal and your plans for the evening. I should enjoy nothing more than time spent with you." He crossed the room with a playful smile curling the edges of his lips and a sparkle in his eyes, reaching out for you to take his hand so that he could pull you in. His hands clasped together gently at your lower back as he held you, looking down as if it were the first time he was gifted with the view. The longer that he stood this way, silent and introspective, the glimmer began to fade from his expression, replaced with one of wonderment and confusion. "I still don't understand," he whispered, "tell me why."

"Why what?"

"Why you have chosen me."

"Do you seriously expect me to put that into words when you're looking at me that way?"

Just like that, the smile returned, but with a gentle roll of his eyes as he chuckled at his own audacity, "well, yes, I certainly can see my error. I have put you in an impossible situation, asking you to be of clear thought when gazing upon my grandeur, held within the arms of a god."

"Oh, wow, okaaaay," you scoffed, "here we go. Let's hear it, pretty boy."

"Pretty boy? So, you agree?"

"The fairest of them all."

Loki furrowed his brow, taken aback at your reply and a familiarity in it that he couldn't place, "where...where have I heard that before?"

"Um...don't know," you answered coyly, slowly pushing yourself from his hold, "could be anything, really." He was so lost in his own thoughts, his eyes moving as if he were searching his mind, that he didn't take notice when you were fully freed and taking steps back as your own playful smile grew.

"FRIDAY," he finally gave up, "where is that quote from?"

"Snow White," she answered readily, "which is a children's story about a beautiful princess-"

"Oh, I know the tale!" he answered, coming back to himself to realize that you had run from the room, but your laughter wasn't silent enough yet to throw him off your path. Before running after you, he paused to reflect on his good fortune, and the miracle that had been bestowed upon him when he felt so undeserving. The sound of your laugh was music to his ears, and he followed the melody, entranced by the sound. "Oh, (Y/N), my love, now who's the mischievous one? I do believe that we are about to see."

~~~

After Loki's tour of the tower was done completely by chasing you through it, breathless from laughter and far too many stairs climbed, dinner was all but forgotten and you were both fully exhausted. It left him in a very tenuous position, however, as this was the first time that this particular situation had come up in your very new relationship.

"Darling," he called out to you before you stopped at the door to your room, "I must ask...if you had thought about our...arrangements?"

"Arrangements?"

"Which quarters shall I be staying in during our time here?"

"Are you being serious?"

"Do I not appear to be? This is my serious face."

You continued to stare at him in disbelief, though to his point, it never was discussed prior to this moment, so you had to cut him a little bit of slack for his apprehension and how obvious his building nerves were. The poor guy looked almost terrified at the prospect of what you were about to propose, and you very nearly changed your mind before you could utter the words. "You're staying with me. I thought that was assumed."

"I'm staying...with y-you...okay, of course," he stammered, nodding along as if he expected your answer. "I shall return momentarily, I must gather myself and change into more appropriate attire."

"Tony has a guest room down the hall with spare clothes if you need anything."

"Thank you," Loki sighed, "it would seem that in my haste to get to you, I neglected to pack anything if I were to stay." With that, he turned away and found the spare room, leaving you to go into yours to get ready as well.

You understood his apprehension and where it was coming from, and to be fully honest with yourself, you were nervous too. You were doing your best to not be completely obvious about it, but you weren't necessarily trying to hide it, either. You wanted Loki to feel comfortable and like he could be open with you about his thoughts and feelings, and hiding your own was no way to prove yourself to be a safe place for him to do it.

By the time you had changed into your pajamas, which were really merely shorts and a t-shirt, and washed up, Loki still hadn't come back. You climbed up into your bed and arranged the pillows for two rather than taking them all for yourself as you normally would, and you waited.

And then you waited some more.

"FRIDAY? Did Loki get lost?"

"No, miss. He's sitting in the hallway on the other side of your door."

"What the hell?" you muttered under your breath, tossing the blankets back to get up and cross the room to the door. You waited and listened for a few seconds, swearing that you heard Loki talking, and each time that you thought you could open the door to see him, his voice began again.

"Brother, what do I do?" he whispered into the phone he had found in the spare room. "What if she expects certain...things...from me?"

"Loki, you're worrying for nothing. It is entirely likely that she merely wants you at her side as she sleeps."

"I'm not sure if an intimate relationship is favorable right now. My being here is causing more trouble than I had expected, and I refuse to put her into harm's way again. If we grow closer-"

"Then you would be a very fortunate man."

Loki opened his mouth to reply, but no sound came from it, and he closed it again while he considered just what Thor was saying. The two brothers had lost nearly everything already, and here he sat, finding reasons to lose yet one more thing; something that meant more to him than anything else had in as long as he could remember. He was falling into his old ways of burying himself in doubt and anxiety that robbed him of far too many opportunities in his life thus far. "You're right, brother, thank you," he sighed heavily, smiling to himself and letting his muscles relax for the first time, "I appreciate your counsel. I also appreciate your discretion in the matter."

"I won't say anything, I promise."

"Loki?" you interrupted, poking your head through the door. "Sorry if I'm interrupting, but I'm going to bed. Just wanted to check if I should leave the light on for you or if you planned on staying out here all night."

"Go," Thor urged, "and call me tomorrow with every detail."

"I certainly will not." Loki closed the line and set the phone on the bench before standing to take your outstretched hand to lead him inside. "Are you sure?"

"Stop worrying. Now come on, I'm tired."

"Yes, darling," he answered softly, almost meekly as he followed behind, closing the door quietly and turning off the light before making his way to your bed. He paused and waited for you to choose your side, watching you settle into the blankets before taking his turn and finding a comfortable spot next to you. "Is this alright? Is there a better place for me to lay so that you're not disturbed?"

"You're adorable," you chuckled, rolling to your side to face him, waiting for him to do the same. When he finally complied and turned, the moonlight coming in through the windows gave him an ethereal glow, softening his chiseled features to give him a completely different appearance, though one thing remained even in the dark; the intensity in his eyes as he looked at you was as powerful as ever. "Loki, there's nothing to be nervous about, okay? Let's just sleep. I'm not expecting anything else to happen."

"But you do want more to happen, do you not?"

"Do you?"

"I asked you first."

"Yes, of course I do. But not until it's the right time."

"Very well, I fully agree."

You pushed yourself closer to him, bringing yourself against his chest, your hands coming up to hold his face to try to keep him calm. You slowly pushed a stray strand of hair back and behind his ear, smiling to yourself when he closed his eyes in contentment. He readily took your cue and leaned his head down for a kiss, but you could still sense his apprehension. "Goodnight, Loki," you whispered, turning away and taking his hand to drape his arm over you as you settled in. It was a relief and a comfort to feel him pull you in closer, and you fit together so perfectly that you already found yourself unable to imagine what it would be like without him there for every night that your life had left.

~~~

At 3am, the decision to go to bed without taking the time for dinner reared its head and left you stumbling in the near-dark towards the kitchen, trying your best to not wake Loki. He had looked so peaceful that you had considered staying there, but the rumbling in your stomach was growing louder by the minute, and that was more likely to wake him than anything else.

The kitchen didn't have a lot to offer, so you first made a box of mac and cheese that Clint had left behind, and when that didn't satiate you, next was one of the frozen pizzas he had gotten for you when you moved in the week before. You found a few stray pieces of fruit in the refrigerator, just to say that you had something healthy in case Cap tried to give you a hard time about your middle of the night kitchen raid. He had a strange way of knowing these things.

"Mmm, it smells wonderful in here," Loki yawned widely from the doorway, "what did you make?"

"Nothing special, just pizza. You're more than welcome to help me eat it."

"I will definitely take that offer," he yawned again, running a hand through his sleep-messed hair. He had chosen to wear one of the spare t-shirts that had to be Thor's, given the sheer size of it, and a pair of pajama pants that were unmistakably Steve's.

"I like the pants," you smiled, nodding towards them, "the little shields everywhere are cute."

"They were the only ones that fit properly."

"I'm gonna give Steve so much crap for those. I would've expected Tony to wear his own brand, not Cap."

"Oh, there were Iron Man selections as well," Loki clarified, "but the legs were far too short. I felt a bit like an adult trying on a child's clothing."

Before you could utter a retort, the oven timer dinged and pulled away your attentions. Loki stood to help you, but you waved him away dismissively, already putting on the oven mitts before he could take a single step. He leaned against the counter top and watched you cut the pizza into an equal number of slices for you both to share, using careful technique to be sure that no piece was larger than another. When you carelessly touched the pan to turn it to cut at another angle, the heat singed your skin; you let out a yelp and dropped the cutter onto the stove top, rushing to the sink to cool the burn with cold water.

"Stupid!" you hissed at yourself. "I really shouldn't cook anything at this time of night."

"Are you alright? Let me see."

"I'm fine, it's just a little burn," you showed him, turning off the water and gently drying it on your shirt. "I barely touched it, it's nothing."

"It's not nothing if you are in pain," Loki said in a whisper, inspecting your wound carefully. He slowly brought your hand up to his lips, leaving a gentle kiss next to your injury. "Does that help, my dear?"

"Y-yes...yes, it does."

His lips then moved down toward your wrist and onto your arm, leaving small kisses along the way, with a trail of goosebumps in every inch of skin he had touched. "And this?"

"Yes, much better."

"(Y/N)?"

"Hmm?" you answered as you watched him, still kissing his way along your arm until he paused, looking up at you with that intensity again, only this time, his eyes were as dark as the night sky just beyond the windows that overlooked the city, and the nerves that had plagued him only hours before were gone. He moved quickly and grabbed your waist, lifting you onto the counter top with a hold so tight that it took your breath away.

"I do believe that it's the right time now."