"Kyrie, darling, I love you dearly, but are you sure we need to find out if you can still fly and carry me at the same time?" Loki asked nervously a couple of days later. You were up on top of the tower, the level that was the flight deck for Tony, Thor, and jets.

"Cap insisted," you reminded him. Cap wanted to know your capabilities, everyone did. Cap was on the roof with you. Stark was in the air already. Thor was standing by. "Loki, I'm not going to let you fall. You've known me your entire life. Have I ever let you down?"

"No," he admitted softly. "I just really dislike flying," he reminded you and you could hear the fear in his voice, though he hid that fear from the others.

"I know. I also know it's because you can't fly yourself. Trust me, love," you bid him. "You're the best one for this test. My skin won't hurt you. If something does happen, which it won't, you're capable of teleporting to safety. If something happens, which again, it won't, I'll teleport you to safety. Plus Stark and your idiot brother are standing by to rescue us just in case. You'll be fine," you reminded him firmly.

He sighed heavily. "I go on record hating this idea," he grumbled.

You laughed. "At least we're not jumping headfirst off a cliff this time, being chased by bilgesnipe," you reminded him.

"No, we're only jumping headfirst off the tallest building in the city," he commented dryly. You laughed, wrapped an arm around his waist and walked with him to the edge of the roof.

"Ready?" you asked.

"Hardly," he grumbled, but wrapped his arms firmly around your neck. "This is a terrible idea," he reminded you.

"Trust me, my prince, I am your sworn Valkyrie, I will not allow any harm to come to you,"

He sighed, but kissed your cheek. "Very well, my angel," he replied. Before he could change his mind, you did exactly what he feared and leapt off of the roof, bringing him with you. Your wings were folded tightly against your back. You laughed in joy at the feel of the wind on your face as you plummeted headfirst for the ground. "You're supposed to be flying!" Loki yelled at you. You laughed at him and spread your wings, swooping up on an air current. With a couple of wing flaps you were back up at the level of the flight deck. It was a strain on your back muscles, but you managed to get you two even higher.

"Open your eyes, love. It's beautiful up here," you bid him, hovering above the city, flapping your wings to keep your altitude.

"Yes, you are," he told you, opening his eyes to look at you.

"You're supposed to be looking at the skyline, silly prince," you replied. He glanced at the skyline.

"Ok, I've seen it. Can we return to firm ground now?" he asked.

"In a second," you told him. He looked over at you confused. You kissed him.

"That part is not so bad," he told you softly, but his grip was still tight around your neck. You carefully flew the two of you back down to the flight deck. "Let us not do that again," Loki said, firmly.

"Only if it's necessary," you agreed as you folded your wings against your back, though you cringed when the muscles in your back protested. Thor congratulated you and Tony landed again. Cap agreed that was enough of a test for the day. Loki moved behind you and touched your back. He had seen your cringe. "I'm ok," you told him, turning to look at him.

He rolled his eyes. "Sure you are, darling. You haven't worn your wings this long in centuries. Come on," he grabbed your wrist. You dug in your heels and tugged ineffectively at his vice-like grip. You could make him let you go, but you preferred for him to do it on his own. He chuckled. "I'm not going to hurt you, little Valkyrie," he teased. A moment later you were in his bedroom.

"What are you up to, Lohk?" you asked him suspiciously. He pushed you gently toward the bed.

"Unsurprisingly, getting you naked in my bed," he teased and backed you toward the bed.

"Loki..." you told him with an eyeroll of exasperation at your silly Trickster. In reply he kissed you, deeply, effectively distracting from whatever your argument was going to be. You melted into the kiss, your arms wrapping around his neck and twining in his hair. You didn't complain when he lifted you by the waist and lifted you onto the bed, kneeling so you could still kiss him.

He broke the kiss and smirked at you. You had enough time to look at him confused before he spun you around and carefully, but firmly pushed you forward so you fell onto your stomach, catching yourself on your outstretched arms. Before you could turn and find out what he was up to, his weight was on your back.

And your shirt had vanished.

He had said he was getting you naked in his bed.

"Loki, what are you doing?" you growled softly. You could still throw him off of you if you wanted to.

"Fixing your back, now lie down," he told you firmly, pressing his hand against the spot between your shoulder blades.

"My back is fine," you grumbled, but lowered yourself down to the bed and pillowed your head on your folded arms.

"No, it's not. Your entire back is nothing but knots from dealing with the weight of your wings for days," he reminded you sourly. "Spread your wings," he told you. You sighed, but did as he bid, cringing again as the sore muscles fought against obeying. His hands started working on your back and you moaned in pleasure and relief as he carefully worked the knots out of your back, used healing power to ease the sore injured muscles.

He worked on your back for a long, long time. "Come on, love. I have a surprise for you," Loki whispered in your ear when he was done and your back felt normal again.

"Loki," you murmured softly, your voice no more than a half-asleep whisper. His work on your back had you thoroughly relaxed. He chuckled and managed to haul you to your feet. It was more difficult for him to pick you up and put you where he wanted you when your wings were out, especially spread at they were.

"Tuck in your wings, little bird," he told you softly. You obeyed and folded them against your back.

"What are you up to this time, Trickster?" you asked as he started to lead you to the door. "Hey, you vanished my shirt!" you protested, reminding him of that fact, digging in your heels.

"We're just going across the hall and no one is up here," he told you, but your shirt shimmered back into place. He was possessive and jealous. He wouldn't let the others see you with no shirt.

"I thought your plan was to get me naked in your bed," you teased, but walked with him across the hall, curious what he was up to more than anything. You barely spent time in 'your' room anymore, Loki's room had become a shared space.

"I'll settle for getting you naked in your bed," he teased back. You opened your bedroom door and stared. Instead of the normal human bed that had been in here, Loki had replaced it (presumably by magic) with one of the big, round, nest-like beds that the non-married Valkyrie preferred.

"You always hated my bed," you reminded him. The bed sank in the middle, which was perfect for the Valkyrie, since they could lie in the middle and have their wings supported. Loki hated it because he felt trapped when he sank in the bed.

"I do," he agreed, smiling at your surprised reaction. He was pleased with himself. "But I love you, and I know it's uncomfortable for you to sleep every night without your wings supported properly, or tucked against your back." He kissed you lightly. "Why don't you go try it out?"

You caught the tone in his voice that he wasn't joining you. "You're not coming?" you asked.

He scoffed. "I don't much feel like drowning in your marshmallow bed," he told you. You hesitated, wanting a proper nap, but...

"I can always test it out later," you'd rather spend the afternoon with him.

He smirked and kissed your forehead. "Go enjoy your nap, angel," he bid you warmly. You kissed him again and he left, insisting he had work to do. You climbed in your nest-like bed, laid on your stomach, spread your wings, and sighed, relieved when you could take all of the strain off of your back since they were supported by the bed.

"Thank you, Loki," you whispered, though he wasn't in the room.

"You're welcome, dearest," you heard the whispered reply in your ear and smiled. Of course he wanted to make sure you were happy with the gift he'd given you.

*

"Y/N, run through those warmup drills of yours with Loki," Cap told you one morning. He had called you and Loki down to the training room.

"Any particular reason why?" you asked as you stretched. You'd been planning on running through them anyway, but you wanted to know why Cap specifically made that request.

"I want to see if your wings affect your fighting ability. This seemed like the easiest way,"

"They don't, but I can prove it to you," you told him and stepped out to the middle of the floor. Loki followed you a moment later.

"Are you sure they won't affect-?" he started. You rolled your eyes.

"Lohk, trust me," you replied and began the first move of the drills. Loki followed. He was taking it too easy, not trusting your word. You growled at him before you involved weapons and nearly punched him in the face since he was taking it too easy, too careful, too slowly. You jumped backwards, fluttering your wings automatically to carry you an extra pace back. "Loki! I told you to trust me. You aren't going to hurt me. The wings won't slow me down, I promise. Stop treating me like a piece of china. I'm a Valkyrie of Asgard," you reminded him firmly.

"I'm sorry, darling. I just... don't wish for you to be injured," he told you softly.

"I won't be, but you know that it's more dangerous not to trust in your partner in the drills," you reminded him, glaring at him. This was important for him to remember and remember now. "I would tell you if my wings would affect my ability to fight. They won't. Now will you run through the drills properly, or do I have to spar Thor to prove myself to Cap?"

Loki sighed heavily. "If you are injured I shall be quite cross with you,"

"If you get injured because you forget that Valkyries aren't like the fluff-headed fragile China-dolls that make up most of the court, I shall be quite cross with you," you countered. He had called the court ladies that on numerous occasions while whining about how much they bored him. He smirked and gave you a small bow.

"It seems we have come to an agreement, Lady Valkryie,"

"That we have, your highness," you replied and stepped back to the starting spot. He took his place in front of you and the dangerous dance began. You sped your way through the drills with the same speed as usual. Everyone thought your wings would be a hindrance, but you used them as additional balance. You could actually be faster with them than slower, though not until you were completely used to them again. You kissed Loki at the end of the drills and Cap agreed that you could fight just fine with wings.

Jarvis posted the video of that set of drills as well. The internet decided that your new epithet was 'Angel of Death'. You weren't entirely convinced it was a complimentary epithet, accurate though it was.

*

Stark insisted on having a party across town, some kind of charity event that was being hyped up because the team would be there. He also insisted quite firmly that you and Loki had to attend this event. Neither of you wanted to be social among the mortals, but the team didn't give you much of a choice.

You were even more nervous at appearing in a public event like this at all, but much less with your wings out. You could put them away again, but you usually wore them during battles on missions. The press loved it and the media expected to see them.

Loki helped you out of the limo that Stark had gotten the team for the evening. You kept your wings tucked against your back and you had to admit they looked fantastic with your blue floor-length gown. The dress was backless for your wings, but also had sleeves down to your fingertips and somehow still looked elegant and gorgeous.

You were laughing and chatting with the team, your hand lightly on Loki's arm as you walked from the valet into the event. Loki would be extra overprotective tonight. He hated these kind of crowded events, and would be on alert for anyone stupid enough to try to touch you. Even though you were barely showing any skin tonight. Plus the whole world knew you were engaged to Loki. So you laughed and joked with him, and tried to get him to relax.

You stopped laughing and stiffened when you saw the pair of ravens watching your group.