"Mr. Loki!" Peter called, running after the man down the hall. Loki turned to face him, his eyes widening as he held his hands out to catch Peter just before he crashed into him.

"Someone's excited about something," Loki smirked slightly as Peter panted to catch his breath. "What's got you running around this early in the morning?"

"It's New Years Eve!" Peter beamed, looking up at Loki with the biggest grin. The man was almost worried that his face would crack at the sheer force and energy from Peter.

"So?"

Peter faltered slightly, his head tilting. "What do you mean 'so'? This is a big deal! It's your first New Years on earth! We have to make sure you enjoy it to the fullest! That means the party at the tower, watching the concerts in Times Square from the big TV, the champagne, food, fireworks! It's gonna be great! Mr. Stark throws the best New Years parties, from what I've heard."

Loki raised an eyebrow, a small chuckle leaving him. "You're allowed to drink champagne?"

"Mr. Thor said I could."

A sigh passed Loki's lips as he closed his eyes and massaged his forehead, "It's not Thor you should be asking..."

"I'm sure it will be fine! I mean, I'm almost of drinking age in England! And England was the first America, so it's okay."

Loki stared with narrowed eyes and creased eyebrows as he tried to understand Peter's logic. It hurt his head when the child was this hyper... Though he should be used to it by now, there was hardly a time when Peter wasn't this hyper. Loki swore that the boy could get excited over a rock.

"Just don't cry to me when Stark finds out and grounds you again." Loki turned to start walking again, Peter following close behind.

"That might be a problem... But I'll think of something!" Peter chuckled to himself as he looked up at Loki, "So you're going to come, right?"

"We'll see. You know these Midgardian parties are annoying and senseless to me."

"Yeah, but when on Earth, do as the Earthlings do."

Loki looked down at the boy, trying to fight off a smile as he looked ahead again. "If I agree to come, will you leave me alone?"

"Yeah! But you have to promise."

"Fine, I promise. Now run along and bother Thor or Stark."

"Awesome, see you tonight!" Peter ran off from the way he came, leaving Loki to shake his head with a fond smile. That boy was something else... Slightly annoying at times, but it only made Loki that much fonder of the child. At least he didn't feel like stabbing him every time they were together. That had to be a plus in someone's book.

With a sigh, Loki left for his room. If there was a party, he should dress appropriately. No matter how much he didn't want to go...

While Loki went down the hall, he happened to glance outside and see Peter helping some of the staff carry large wooden stands to the docks at the lake. Peter was carrying a stand in each hand with no struggle as the staff watched in wonder. Loki felt like laughing, for someone so obsessed with a secret identity, Peter wasn't doing a good job at hiding it. Or maybe it was just that he was such a good person that he couldn't just stand by and watch them struggle.

Thinking back, Peter had always been such a good kid - even when they first met. He was way too respectful and caring for his own good...  Peter was the type of person that was so good it made you feel bad about yourself while simultaneously making you want to be a better person so that you could deserve him. Loki supposed that Thor was the same way, but growing up with him made it harder to talk to.

When talking with Peter, no matter what the topic, it was always easy. Whether you just wanted company, someone to listen to you, or to be cheered up, Peter was good at it all. Perhaps it was his surprisingly good ability to read the atmosphere and judge for himself what topics to talk about made Loki grow so fond of him...

Whatever it was, Loki still knew how annoying the boy could be to get his way, and decided to stop watching them work and start back to his original goal of his room.

The evening came by faster than expected for Peter, having spent most of the morning and afternoon helping everyone around the Compound. When the first guests started to arrive, he figured it would be time to go clean up for the party.

By the time he was out of the shower and dressed, the building had become relatively more lively. Music from the band and the happy chatter of people filled the halls and drew Peter in, his excitement urging him to go faster and join everyone.

There were plenty of kids from his school that were throwing parties for today, and he had been invited to s few of them... But -aside from the fact that he was with the Avengers- Peter liked the parties Mr. Stark threw best. At these parties, he didn't have to worry about bullies or being an outcast - he was surrounded by people that wanted to talk with him for most of the night. Mr. Stark had explained it once as the people having high expectations for anyone so young to be allowed at the Compound, that the people expected him to be some kind of genius. Peter tried to deny it but was immediately stopped by everyone that had been in the room with explanations of why he was a genius.

But that only proved his point more on why the Avengers made better company than the teenagers from his school.

Once inside the party room, people greeted him and wished him well. Peter would smile and thank them as he carried on his way. He knew that Loki would come, but he wouldn't put it past the man to arrive until after the fireworks. So it was Peter's self-appointed job to make sure that Loki came on time.

After a few minutes of searching, he found the man with his brother near the lounge and chatting with other guests. Peter smiled as he made his way back to the crowd and heading for the food table. He hadn't eaten all day and could honestly say he was starving.

The night went by quickly and with lots of speeches and talks of resolutions, Peter was even starting to feel overwhelmed... A glance at Loki told him that the man was doing just fine under the attention he was receiving, which Peter was happy for. Loki seemed to be doing much better now on Earth and with the humans... The teen felt pride swelling inside him for his friend's accomplishments.

An excited screech from a certain Avenger groupie that somehow always got into the parties caused Peter to let out a slight groan at the headache she was causing, his eyes closing in pain at the party poppers she set off.

While Peter normally fed off the excitement and energy of those around him, now was no longer that time. Everything was so loud and bright and he felt like everything was caving in on him and oh God he couldn't breath-

There was a hand on his shoulder that started leading him somewhere. Was he being kidnapped? He couldn't bring himself to open his eyes to see who it was that was taking him away from the party, but he wanted to thank them... The dulled noises were so much better than before and when a blast of cold air hit him, he felt like he was in heaven.

The hand on his shoulder nudged him slightly so that he was sitting in a chair, a sigh of relief leaving him as his body slowly started to relax. When had he even started tensing?

"Feeling better?"

Peter smiled when he heard the familiar voice, he should have known it was him...

"Much, thank you." His eyes opened to see Loki standing above him, his body half turned away to try and hide the obvious concern on his face. "How did you know I was going into sensory overload?"

"Anyone could tell with just one look at you." Loki rolled his eyes and crossed his arms, looking out at the dark lake in from of them, "You looked like you were in pain while hiding your face behind your hands, it was obvious. Someone would have done the same, I just got to you first."

Peter nodded his thanks as he closed his eyes and tried to block out the sounds from the party. This was bad... The countdown would be starting any minute, and in his current state Peter had no idea how he would be able to handle the sounds of fireworks. Why did this have to happen now of all times?

Loki watched Peter struggle to get his senses under control, a knot forming inside him at the scene. He would never admit it out loud, but seeing Peter like this made him hurt as well... It was all very strange, but true.

"Those sound canceling headphones Stark made you, are they in your room?" Loki asked. Peter opened his eyes to see the man looking over the edge of the building and followed his gaze, seeing the workers start to set up the fireworks. A small groan left Peter as he started to push himself up from his chair.

"Yeah, I'll go get them-"

"No need." Peter blinked as the Loki in front of him disappeared in a flash of green and a new Loki was walking up to him with the headphones. "The fireworks are supposed to be loud, right? These should stop the sound but still let you see them."

The boy stared at him for a second before smiling and taking the headphones, slipping them on his head just as the people inside started chanting the countdown. The hair on the back of Peter's neck stood up as he stood up and went to stand next to Loki, overlooking the lake.

Peter laughed lightly as Loki jumped from the sudden explosion of colors in the sky. The trickster had an idea of what it would be like, having seen similar things before on other planets, but these humans seemed to modify and enhance them to be so much bigger and louder than anything he had seen before.

He had to admit though, they were nice to look at.

"Happy New Year, Mr. Loki." Peter said, looking over at the faint smile the man had.

"Happy New Year, Peter."

A/N: Happy New Years Eve, everyone! I hope you all have a great and happy new year in the new year! Remember to stay safe tonight for whatever activities you're going to do!

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After Peter had recovered from his sensory overload and the fireworks ended, the two of them went back to the party. The boy realized that he had been surrounded by adults the whole time before that he didn't have a chance to try some of the champagne...

With a chuckle, Peter took a glass off the plate from a nearby waiter. He glanced around to make sure that none of the Avengers (or May) were watching him before lifting it up to sip it. However, his eyes widened as the glass disappeared from his hand; he looked to the floor to make sure he didn't drop it but saw nothing. It wasn't until a mischievous laugh caught his attention, making him look up to see Loki walking to him with two glasses in his hand.

With no explanation, Loki offered one of the drinks to Peter as he drank from the other. Peter's eyes were narrowed as he slowly sipped his new drink, his gaze turning annoyed.

"This is Sprite."

"Yes, very good observation, Peter." Loki chuckled, "Sprite is a perfectly acceptable drink for the youth."

Peter rolled his eyes before letting out a laugh as he gave in, drinking more of his 'kid-friendly' drink. Better luck next year...