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"Daddy, can we go ice skating?"
Tony looked up from the schematics he was studying to see his daughter giving him the patented 'I will take over the world faster than mommy attacked New York' puppy eyes.
"I don't know how to skate, Maguna, but it shouldn't be too hard to figure out. What do you think, Stephen?"
Stephen stared at his husband with a raised brow.
"Do you honestly expect me to be civil with that many people in close proximity?"
"No, but the entertainment value is way too good to pass up."
"What entertainment?"
Loki and Peter had just gotten back from shopping to find the rest of the family chatting excitedly about something.
"The entertainment of watching our husband try not to blow up at the lowly peons when we take the kids ice skating."
Morgan and Peter both let out an excited whoop, but Loki was frozen in place.
"Mama?"
"You okay Bambi?"
"I'm fine, really, I just need to..."
He teleported out of the living room, leaving the bags he was holding to fall into the floor.
"What just happened?"
"I think I have an idea," Stephen said as he rose from the sofa," I'll go talk to him."
"Alright, kids you come help me put the groceries away while Papa tries to figure out what's wrong with your mom."
************
Stephen found Loki hiding in the back of the Sanctum's library. He tried to cover his face with a book, but the fact that it was upside down made the distraction less than convincing.
"Loki, why did you run away from the living room?"
"Who said I was running?"
"Loki....."
"Oh fine, you got me!" Loki shouted as he threw the book he was holding past Stephen's head," I ran away from the conversation, so what?"
Stephen sighed and sat down in the floor next to him, wrapping his arms around the Góð.
"Is this about your Jötnar heritage? Cause you know neither me nor Tony mind when you pull a 'code blueberry' as he likes to call it."
"It's not just that, although it's certainly part of it. When I let go of the Bifröst all those years ago, I spent a long time floating through space before Thanos found me. Ice crystals built up all over my body and inside my lungs. You'd think being a frost giant, that wouldn't bother me....but I was so cold, and my lungs were burning and....and.....
Loki started hyperventilating, so Stephen signaled to his cloak to leave him and wrap around his husband as he rocked them back and forth.
"You're okay, you're okay....you're not there anymore,Loki....you're at home with your family...you're safe now honey, you're safe."
Between the snugness of the cloak and Stephen's gentle whispers, Loki began to calm down. He buried his face in the sorcerer's neck, not quite ready to face the rest of the world.
"You must think me a fool."
"No, I think you've been through things that none of us can comprehend, and that kind of trauma isn't something you can just shake off. If going to an ice rink is going to trigger those memories, then you can always stay home, Morgan would understand."
"No, I'll go, I wouldn't want my little princess to be disappointed. Besides, this might be a good opportunity to test her ice powers."
"Just don't let her turn blue,"Stephen chided as he stood up and held his hand out to Loki," I wouldn't want the other patrons thinking another invasion is happening."
"Oh, well that shouldn't be a problem, our daughter doesn't turn blue."
"That's a relief."
"Her Jötunn form is purple."
Stephen opened his mouth to speak, but then quickly shut it.
Some cans of worms were best left unopened.
**************
"Wow Daddy, this place is pretty!"
"Yeah..pretty crowded."
"Oh calm down, Stephanie," Tony said with a huff,"this actually a slow day."
Tony had brought the family to the rink at the famous Rockefeller center. It was gorgeous with the Christmas trees and large golden statue, plus he figured the open space might make Stephen less grumpy about having to socialize.
Might being the operative term.
"Bambi, you doing alright over there?"
Loki looked positively green, and not in his usual sexy way.
"I'll be alright, Anthony...did you bring the skates?"
"Of course I did!"
"Did you bring the ones without nanotech in them?"
"Yes, Stephen, they are 100% totally normal, boring ice skates," Tony grumbled as he whipped out his card to pay the entry fees," I swear to God if you didn't have that supreme ass, I'd...."
"Not in front of the children!"
"Sorry,Lokes."
*************
After getting inside and changing into their skates, the family made their way onto the ice. Peter, who'd taken lessons years ago with Ned and MJ, glided effortlessly across the frozen surface.
Tony, on the other hand, wasn't so lucky.
"Are you sure you don't need a penguin, Daddy?" Morgan asked as she skated along with the device designed for children skaters to practice with," It's really fun."
"Nope.....I totally got this."
"You're clinging to the wall,Tony."
"That is a minor technicality."
Stephen rolled his eyes and searched around for his other husband. Loki was standing off to the side of the rink sipping on a cup of hot chocolate. He seemed to be doing alright, even if he hadn't left the side of the arena the entire time.
He heard a thud, and saw that Tony had once again fell onto his butt. He decided to skate over to the help area and grab a skate aid, muttering the whole way about the Vishanti cursing him with idiots for spouses.
He'd only gotten halfway there when a group of teenage boys bumped him, nearly causing him to fall over.
"Hey! Watch where you're going!"
"Learn to stay out of the way, Grandpa!"
"Grandpa?!" Stephen huffed angrily as they skated away," those brats are sooo lucky I don't have a sling ring on me."
By the time he got back with the assistance device, Tony had managed to get back up off the ground.
"Here, hold onto this."
"Thanks Steffy, say did you see where Morgan wandered off to?"
Stephen looked around to find their daughter swirling about with the assistance penguin.....
right into the path of those awful teenagers.
He rushed towards her as fast as he could, but he was still too far away to stop them from shoving the little girl down.
The minute Morgan hit the ice, chaos erupted. The boys who had previously been laughing about their actions were now crying and screaming because the ice underneath them melted, causing their shoes to get stuck in place. Stephen got over there and picked the girl up just as a very red-eyed and extremely pissed Loki appeared in front of the group, daggers in hand.
"Foolish mortals! What gives you the audacity to think you can lay a hand on MY DAUGHTER?!"
"We're sorry, we're sorry! It was an accident...."
"The only accident here was someone allowing your conception!"
"Oh my god," Stephen said as his eye twitched," he's making Tony level one-liners."
"I've never been more proud."
Tony had finally made his way over to them and was watching the entire scene unfold with great amusement.
"KICK THEIR ASSES BAMBI!"
"Tony, they're barely Peter's age."
"Oh...well, ONLY KICK THEIR ASSES A LITTLE!"
"Oh I'm going to do much more than that," Loki growled as he put away the daggers and summoned his magic," you little imps are going to rue the day you messed with my lítil stúlka."
The sky grew ominously dark and lightning crackled along the horizon. The other patrons at the rink scrambled to leave the area, with Peter helping to direct the flow. Suddenly, a portal opened up and a huge ice dragon crawled out of it.
"Is that an illusion?!"
"Doubt it, unless illusions have the ability to slobber!"
The beast flew down to the arena and landed with a thud that shook the whole area. The hooligans trapped in the ice were shaking badly, and one of them had already peed their pants.
Loki whispered something in another language, and the dragon moved it's head forward until it was right in the squirming teens' faces. The minute it huffed at them, they let out screams shrill enough that everyone else scrambled to cover their ears.
"Jesus, that's a decibel even Clint would cringe at," Tony said while trying to cover his ears and Morgan's," I hope that thing eats them soon."
"Tony!"
"Okay,but they could at least shut....wait a second, did it just lick them?"
Indeed, all three boys were covered head to toe in dragon slobber. Loki released the ice around their ankles, and they took off out of the arena as fast as their skates could carry them.
Once they were out of sight, the skies cleared up and Loki immediately went to take Morgan from Stephen.
"Are you alright, my darling?"
"I'm fine,mama....can I meet your friend?"
"Of course you can."
"Uh,Lokes, as much as the sight of your wrath turns me on," Tony began with an awkward look toward the giant animal," is it really safe to take our kid near a man-eating dragon?"
"Flykrá is harmless,Anthony,she only looks intimidating. Otherwise, she's similar to a very large canine."
This was made apparent by Flykrá laying down on the ice in order for Peter and Morgan to give her belly scratches.
It was also apparent Stephen was going to need to pour an entire bottle of Merlot into his teapot later.
"Can we go home now, or do we have to stick around and pay for the damages?"
"Nah, I just told them to send the bill to Stark Industries, Pep will take care of it "
"She's going to need a raise for this," Stephen muttered before turning to his other husband," What are we doing about the dragon?"
"Oh I'm going to ride her home, we can portal her back to Jötunheim in the morning."
The kids immediately perked up at the idea of dragon riding.
"Can we ride her too?"
"Of course, come along, children."
They boarded Flykrá while Tony and Stephen walked back to the car. The Sorcerer Supreme collapsed in the front seat as his husband started the engine.
"You see now why this was a bad idea?"
"Yeah, I'll admit a public skating rink was not a good fit for our family."
"I'm glad you agree."
"Although," Tony said as he pulled out onto the road,"dragon riding could be a fun hobby."
"Shut up,Tony."
"Yes,dear."