The Sound of Silence

Chapter 2

You made sure to take your laptop, a pad of paper, and a pen with you when you left your room the next morning. You were intending on typing your 'sad tale' for Loki. You typed faster and more legibly than you hand wrote answers, and he couldn't have learned how to sign over the last 8ish hours. The paper and pen would be useful for shorter answers.

He wasn't in the living room when you made it to that floor of the tower. You left your laptop on one of the couches and continued on to the kitchen to see what you could do about breakfast. You hesitated for a moment when you saw Loki in the kitchen, especially when he was cursing, creatively, and not in English at the pan on the stove in front of him. You took a couple of hesitant steps into the room to see what the problem was. The pan on the stove in front of him was on fire. He was staring at it dumbly, obviously unsure how to fix the situation.

You rushed over to him, pushed him aside gently, grabbed the pan using your hoodie sleeve as a pot holder, and dumped the whole mess in the sink. You started the water to extinguish the flames. You looked over at the fascinatedly startled Loki and raised your eyebrow, questioning what had happened. He was clearly impressed with your efficient dealing with the problem of the flaming pan. "Apparently eggs are flammable," he commented dryly. You snorted in amusement, not brave enough to risk an actual laugh. He gave you a smile in return.

You rummaged through the cabinets to find new pans and started making a new breakfast. Loki watched in fascination. You slowly demonstrated how to properly crack an egg, which interested him so much you were worried how much egg shell had been in the original egg pan. You split the eggs and sausages between two plates and handed one to him when they were done. "Thank you," he said softly.

You nodded and thought he deserved a little teasing. Something about him said that it would be safe and he might even appreciate it, despite his outburst last night. So you wrote clearly on the pad of paper You have to do the dishes. You stuck your tongue out at him as he read the note. He started to protest. You jabbed your finger at the words on the page.

"Fine," he huffed, rolling his eyes. "You know, you're awfully bossy for someone who cannot speak," he grumbled as you two walked to the dining room. His tone was joking, but his words still caused you to unconsciously stiffen. "Gods, love, I'm teasing," you waved at him with a smile, trying to reassure him you were ok. "I never thought I would ever come across someone whose soul is more bruised than mine," he commented so softly that you could pretend you hadn't heard him.

You picked out a chair at the dining room table and set your plate down in front of it. You went to move the chair back from the table so you could sit in it, but Loki was already there, pulling the chair out. You looked away from him and went to move your plate to another place at the table, assuming he wanted to sit there. He rolled his eyes and gave you an overly-patient smile. He was obviously amused. "No, love, I pull out the chair, you sit in it, I push it in again. It is called 'courtesy'," he teased with a grin. You blushed when you finally understood what he had been doing, and his expression became more amused when he saw how red you'd turned. He pulled the chair out and gestured toward it. You obediently, though timidly, sat in the chair.

After enjoying the meal in companionable silence, besides his compliment on your cooking, you sat on the counter next to where Loki was washing the dishes, swinging your legs adorably with you laptop open on your lap. "Aren't you hot wearing long sleeves? It is nearly summer," he asked. You shrugged. It was warm, but you were going to stubbornly avoid bearing your arms for as long as possible. He gave you a look that he didn't quite accept your shrug as an answer, but didn't press for a better one.

"Y/N, is Reindeer Games bothering you?" Tony asked as he came in to grab some coffee. He glared at Loki, but Loki was up to his elbows in dishwater, scrubbing the pan he'd set on fire.