Of Numbers and Strange Friendships

Chapter 23

That evening, the team in formal dress gathered at the restaurant that Tony had made reservations at. It really was the fanciest restaurant in the city and looked impressive, even from the outside. Frigga absolutely loved the limo ride and was impressed with the creativity of the Midgardians. She wore one of her formal Asgardian gowns, a beautiful golden dress that the adorable little assassin girl, Lady Natasha she remembered, had insisted would fit in with Midgardian style. Loki was, of course, wearing his perfectly tailored all black suit. Even Thor had dressed nicely for the occasion and had Sif, in and actual dress, on his arm.

Of course Loki had his beloved mama on his arm as he escorted her into the restaurant. It was comfortable and familiar, as he often escorted her around the palace. She had taken his arm automatically.

Aunt May and Peter were dropped off by Happy as they were starting to head for the door to the restaurant, so they waited for the pair. Peter made quick introductions and he walked with Wanda so she wouldn't be lonely as they headed into the restaurant. The teen was wearing a button-down shirt, no tie. He was just a kid after all. Wanda had found a cute red dress to wear for the evening. Loki smiled at his two closest friends as they chatted about school on their way into the restaurant, following Stark and Pepper.

Aunt May walked in with Loki and Frigga. Loki offered her his other arm automatically. She was surprised for a moment, before she laughed at the actions of her nephew's friend, and therefore her strange alien adopted teenager and took his offered arm. She looked at Frigga. "It's wonderful to finally meet you. Your son has told us all about you,"

"Good things, I hope?" Frigga replied, as any mother would, with a look at Loki, who laughed and kissed her temple.

"Only the best things about you, mother," he replied warmly.

Aunt May laughed. "I don't believe he has a mean bone in his body, despite the rumors," she told Frigga. Loki heard that she actually meant it. Despite that Loki had tried to take over the world, Aunt May actually thought well of him. He was surprised, despite all he had done for her nephew. He was still surprised that she didn't hate him for trying to take over the world. He just couldn't believe it.

The group was led to their table in the banquet room and Loki pulled out his mother's chair and Aunt May's before he took his own next to his mother. Seats were chosen and drinks ordered. Every adult at the table made sure neither Peter nor Wanda tried to order any wine with their dinner. Though of course, Loki did. He was over a thousand years old after all.

"You seem to have come to know my son quite well," Frigga commented to Aunt May once the orders were placed.

Aunt May lit up. "He comes over for dinner at least once a week. He and Peter became fast friends," she explained. She went on to tell Frigga about how Loki helped Peter with his schoolwork, had been a great friend, a surprisingly good role model, and had above all, saved Peter years of medication and painful surgery to fix a medical condition the boy had had. She didn't clarify what that was. Frigga would ask Loki later. They weren't exactly supposed to use their healing gifts on the Midgardians, especially not on terminal human illnesses, which is what Aunt May had made it sound like.

It wasn't true, but that was the conclusion Frigga had come to.

/What did you heal for the child?/ Frigga asked Loki telepathically. He could hear the slight disapproving tone to her voice. He didn't care for it at all.

/The boy was born in a girl's body. I corrected the problem for him/ Loki replied. He would stand by his decision, even if his beloved mama didn't approve.

Of course she would approve of this, though. That bit of magic didn't break the Allfather's edicts on proper use of magic for healing Midgardians. Even if it had, for how happy Frigga saw her Loki was, she wouldn't have blamed him or told on him. She had just needed to know how bad his transgression was.

Luckily, it wasn't a transgression in the slightest.

/I am glad you were able to do that for your blood brother. He deserves to be happy/ Frigga replied and Loki sighed in relief that she wasn't upset.

The group told stories over the fancy dinner. The team told of their adventures and trials and of villains they had faced. Peter made up something about his fake internship and his school work. Wanda even told Frigga about how her sons had helped save her from the people who had held her captive.

Toward the end of dinner, Frigga smiled a touch too innocently, which had both of her sons turning to watch her warily. "Have my sons told you about the time they blew up a wing of the palace?" she asked innocently.

"MOTHER!" Thor and Loki both protested at the same time while everyone else at the table begged to hear the story. Especially if Thor and Loki were both protesting it so much. Peter in particular looked interested to hear a story where Thor and Loki were less than perfect and godly.

"This was around five hundred years ago," Frigga reminisced, despite her sons' protests and now their surly resignation to having the story told. The rest of the table was dead silence as they listened to her tale. "They decided that they wished to know what it felt like to be drunk,"

"It was Thor's idea," Loki grumbled under his breath, sourly.

Frigga pretended she hadn't heard him interrupt her story. "So they snuck into their father's private stores of his best old alcohol. The bottle they chose had been aged over a thousand years. The yhid in a spare room in an unused section of the palace so they wouldn't be discovered. And they may very well have not been. Except that magic and alcohol do not mix well. Especially for mages who are not fully qualified. Under that much alcohol, Loki completely lost control of his magic and the explosion destroyed the entire wing of the palace they'd been hiding in. Thor's powers went just as out of control and that wing, even rebuilt is nastily known for shocking people as they pass through. At the time, there was lightning crawling over everything and two very unconscious... your word is teenagers," Frigga told the team, who roared in laughter.

Loki and Thor both turned red and grumbled. "Mother left us to deal with the hangover alone in the dungeons. And made us stay in the dungeons until the palace was repaired," Thor grumbled. It had been the longest he'd ever been grounded. Loki had been grounded all the time as a child. Thor, not so much since he was Odin's favorite.

"The lesson taught you not to steal your father's alcohol again. Or get that drunk again," Frigga told them with laughter in her tone. The boys couldn't argue that. Much as they wanted to.