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"Yeah, ok, May. Got it." Peter scribbled down a grocery list on a random notepad he had found on the kitchen counter. "Larb you, too."
As he hung up the phone, he groaned and slumped in his chair.
Loki, who was sitting beside him, eating one of the leftover cookies that they had made the week before, asked, "What is it, child?"
Peter turned towards her, a hopeful expression on his face. "Do you want to go to Sam's club with me?"
"Sam's club?" The woman scrunched her eyebrows in confusion. "Falcon has a club?"
"Oh, no. Sam's Club is a store. It's like Walmart but bigger. Have you even heard of Walmart? Well, we're going anyway, so-"
"Wait a minute, I haven't agreed to this, Spider boy." She said.
"Neither did I to that nickname." He snorted. "Come on, it'll be fun. Chaotic."
At this, her eyebrow quirked up in interest. "Chaos, you say?"
Peter nodded, a grin painting his face. "Lots."
Loki did like chaos, and being in the Avengers compound for the past few weeks has been . . . boring, to say the least. But the thing that's been keeping her sane, or rather the person, was Peter. "I'm rubbing off on you."
"You say that like it's a bad thing."
It is.
"Come on, please? Aunt May's working until past midnight, and there's barely any food left at home. Plus, it's so boring going alone. I promise you, this will just be a simple Sam's Club trip."
"And how do you suppose we'll get there?" Her mind was already set on joining him for the day.
He couldn't drive, and he sure as hell couldn't just swing by in his suit, though that had been in his mind recently. Going shopping as Spider-Man. Maybe he would get free stuff. It would definitely hit the headlines, and Tony would be disappointed, so that was out of the question.
"Well, don't you have a way for us to get there?"
"You mean my magic?"
Peter bobbed his head up and down, enthusiastic as can be.
"I'm not supposed to be outside this building. Stark has made that very clear."
Tony had become more comfortable with Loki staying at the compound, but that didn't mean he trusted her. Loki had caught the other Avengers spying on her and trying to catch her doing evil behind their backs, presumably ordered by Stark. Frankly, she was tired of it all, but that still didn't mean she didn't want to resort to violence. With enough prompting, she would, and this was more than enough. She was on edge, to say the least, but she had Peter to keep her grounded. Without him, she would probably be in a cell by now.
"Since when do you follow the rules?" Peter asked.
"Since when do you break them?"
"Well, you make it easier."
"And that's a good thing?" The boy stayed silent, and Loki sighed. "Fine, I have a means of getting there, but you may get sick from it."
Peter perked up at her response. "I don't care; let's go."
"Ok, just hold onto me. Close your eyes and envision the place we want to be at."
Peter did as told, putting his arms around her waist and picturing the store, the parking lot, everything about it. He suddenly felt dizzy and nauseous, and when he opened his eyes, he barely had time to take in his surroundings when he was leaning on a tree and throwing up on the grass.
"You get used to it after a while." She waved her hand, and everything started to feel better. Then she repeated her movements, muttering, "Nothing to see here," and the people who were staring at them returned to the things they were doing before.
"Thanks, that was so cool! Wait, what about your outfit? Everybody will be suspicious."
Loki had on her usual gold crown over her head, as well as her green dress and gold cape draped around her shoulders.
With a sigh and nothing more, her outfit changed with ease. She now wore a green jacket that had a fluffy gold collar and green pants.
"Cool." He gushed. It never ceased to amaze him how effortlessly Loki could change her appearance. After another 'Nothing to see here,' Peter started walking across the street. "Let's go in."
Loki was expecting a pull-open door. Instead, she was met with the doors sliding as they stepped close to them. She gasped and put her hand on Peter's shoulder, pulling him away from the doors. She jumped in front of the doors, and they opened. As she slid away, they closed. Loki did this a few more times, Peter looking at her in amusement.
"What is this madness? Is it magic?" She was astonished by the simplicity of the entrance.
Peter laughed, shaking his head. "No, the ground has sensors, so when it senses people, the doors open. It's not magic; it's just technology."
Loki nodded, trying to wrap her head around the information. Midgard never ceased to amuse her.
They grabbed a shopping cart as they entered the store, and Peter took one of the weekly advertisements the greeter was handing out, thanking her as they entered.
He guided the cart with his foot on the lower metal bar, Loki following closely behind, and as they got close to the freezer section, Peter shivered.
"Can't thermoregulate." He said, putting his arms around himself in an attempt to warm himself up. Loki grabbed the list from his hand and told him to go find the rest of what they needed as she went towards the freezer.
She walked to the cart, which was propped next to an aisle, when Peter appeared, carrying two packs of Sparkling Ice. He put them on the bottom of the shopping cart, and suddenly, he got an idea. "Get inside."
"What?"
Peter motioned to the cart and said, "Get inside the cart."
"Why?"
"You came here to get your daily dose of chaos, right?" The glint in Peter's eyes was the same one that could be seen in Loki's every time chaos was about to break out.
She really was rubbing off on him.
That's what made her get inside the cart, cross-legged, in between all the groceries.
"Hang on," Peter said, hopping onto the low metal bar on the cart and pushing himself with his left foot. They glided in and out of aisles, picking out the last few items they needed from the grocery list and running into people (one of which cursed at them as they passed by). Caught up in the fun they were having, Peter sped up, and when he failed to stop in time, they collided into a paper towel display.
After scrambling to put all the paper towels back in their place, they turned to another aisle, high on the adrenaline.
It was Peter's turn to ride on the cart. Loki mimicked what Peter had been doing, putting one foot on the metal bar and pushing off the ground with her other foot.
They soon collided with a sample cart, knocking over the food that was on the table. Before the woman running the cart, (who was busy at the other end of the aisle) could turn, Loki used her magic to make the food appear on the table as if nothing had happened.
They trudged along, and Peter turned to his partner in crime. "Loki, you can't just do that!"
"I do whatever I want." The Goddess said. "Besides, nobody was watching. What's a trip to Sam's Club without a little mischief here and there? You said so yourself."
She continued driving the cart, walking to another aisle, where they came across a huge sloth displayed beside all the clothes. Loki stopped right in front of it, admiring the stuffed animal.
"I need this," she said, going towards it to pet its fur, "It's so soft. I need this."
When he got out of the cart and looked at the price tag, Peter's smile was wiped away.
"Seriously? Fifty dollars for this stuffed animal? This is . . . outrageous! I know it's big, but-" Right in front of him was something he thought he'd never see from the Goddess of Mischief. Puppy eyes.
He now understood how this felt. Peter had used his puppy eyes on May and Tony dozens of times, and though they wore off on May a long time ago, they still worked on Tony. Was this karma?
"No! No puppy eyes, Loki!"
Peter had, of course, put the stuffed sloth into the cart just for Loki after a bold attempt to steal the "huge fur baby," as Peter liked to call it, by transporting it into her room.
It was all courtesy of the credit card Mr. Stark had given him a while back.
"But only for important things." Tony had said.
This, Peter thought, counted as important. If Loki was happy with it, then it must be.
They went to the self-checkout, the machine saying, "This item has been scanned," after scanning every individual item. And to say Loki was annoyed was quite an understatement since she had to refrain from blasting the damn thing. However, she got her fix, right after the machine spit out their receipt, kicking it with what appeared to be a small amount of force to her but hard enough to break it.
Peter looked at her, his eyes screaming, "What did you do?!"
Loki grabbed the cart, ready to run out of there if need be, and whispered in his ear, "Let's go."
They turned, ready to bolt out of there, only to be met with the woman they had almost run over with their cart, angrily staring at them from the entrance of the store next to a man they could only assume was the manager.
They looked at each other, appalled by the mess they had made, and Loki practically dragged Peter to the bathroom. Before the manager could intervene, the two had vanished into thin air.
Peter had poofed them to May's apartment. Or more like Peter had thought of the place, and Loki had used her magic to poof them there.
After putting everything in its place and reminiscing over the chaos they had caused, Peter decided this day wasn't over, and Loki had to go and have the Starbucks experience every American has ever had.
"It's peak American culture." The spider-boy had said; whatever that had meant.
"I usually order a Caramel Frappuccino." He said as they walked into the place.
"Then, I'll have the same." She decided.
After a nervous but successful attempt to order, and twenty minutes of waiting, they finally got their drinks.
Peter sat, staring at Loki, whose face contorted as she sipped the cold drink. As she leaned back in her seat, she licked her lips, nodding her head. "This is delicious."
"Told you," Peter said. "I don't like coffee, so instead, I order this, and it's the best every time. Full of sugar, just how I like it. Next time, we'll have to try something new. Or maybe I could buy one of each flavor."
Loki grinned at him, and before Peter could comment on that, his phone rang. He fished it out of his pocket and-
"Oh, shit, we're dead." He looked at Loki, full of dread for what was to come.
So much for next time.
He got up to take the call outside. "Hey, Mr. Stark, what's up? How's Morgan and Pepper?"
"Yeah, they're great. Say hi, Mo."
"Hi, Petey. When are you coming over?"
"Soon, Morgan. It's been too long without seeing your adorable face." He smiled.
Tony was back on the phone, sending Morgan off to bed. "So, you doing ok at the compound?"
"Uh, yeah. I actually had to buy groceries for May."
It wasn't a total lie.
"Groceries, huh? That all you bought?"
"Uuuh. . ."
"Oh, what's this? A $50 stuffed animal, two frappuccinos, a missing Loki, and you've been banned from Sam's Club, huh?"
He closed his eyes, mentally face-palming himself. He didn't think Tony would receive any notifications on his credit card activity, but he shouldn't have expected less from his mentor. And of course, there was FRIDAY, the advanced AI that was really getting on Peter's nerves. And-
Wait. Did he just say we were banned?
"She's not missing." He finally said.
Peter could practically hear how angry he was even with the deafening silence. "Pete, I specifically told her not to go outside the compound. She may be a danger to other civilians-"
"Has she been anything of danger these past few weeks? She can't just be locked in the tower forever, Mr. Stark. Oh my god, do you even hear that? You guys are literally Gothel, and she's Rapunzel."
"Ok, kid, you've watched a ton of movies, I get it. But this isn't a fairy tale. This is real life. Loki might not pose a threat inside the compound, but-"
"Yeah, yeah, you don't trust her, blah blah. I know. Same shit, different day."
"No, you don't. And, come on, language! Do you even remember New York?"
"She was being mind-controlled. Look, I get it. You don't trust her. She's betrayed us and all that shit, but just give her a chance. She's not a threat, Mr. Stark. What about the other night we spent time together?"
"That was when she was nearby, and I could keep an eye on her."
"So, what, you just stalk her any time you get? What a life to live, huh? What about trusting my instincts? Just trust me on this, ok? She's trying."
He heard Tony give a sigh in the other line and then a distant, "Stand down."
Peter furrowed his brows, looking around outside. Then, as his eyes wandered to the inside of the Starbucks, he saw Nat and Clint sitting at a table at the far end of the store, dressed in costumes.
Peter huffed. "Are you really having people spying on us?"
He walked in, past Loki and towards the spies. He took the fake mustache Clint had and both their hats and glasses.
"Who else?"
"No one else. Just us." Clint said.
Peter lifted his eyebrows, not believing them, and Nat repeated, "Just us. We're trying to protect you-"
"I don't need protection." He muttered
She got up and dragged him to the back. "What about other people?"
"No, these people don't need protection either. She hasn't done anything wrong. Just stop." He lifted the phone up to his mouth and talked a little louder. "Got it?"
Before Tony could further defend his actions, Peter pushed the 'end call' button.
He walked towards Loki without another word, taking his drink with him, saying, "Let's get out of here."