The music in Stark Tower was loud, vibrant, and annoyingly modern. Lights flickered in hues of purple and gold, bouncing off glass walls and designer furniture. Laughter echoed through the penthouse, clinking glasses filled the air, and someone was already drunk enough to start dancing barefoot on the bar.

Loki hated it.

He leaned against a corner wall, far from the main crowd, his arms crossed, swirling the remnants of his third glass of what mortals dared call “wine.” It tasted like wet dog and disappointment.

Midgardian alcohol... pathetic.

But worse than the drink were the people — mortals in strange clothes, with slang he barely understood and customs that made no sense. He was a god, forced to play guest at a party full of ants. All because Odin, in his infinite cruelty, had decided that “redemption” was necessary. Now, Loki was under watch — Thor, SHIELD, the entire Midgardian government breathing down his neck. Every step analyzed. Every breath documented.

He felt like a prisoner in silk.

And yet, there was one thing — one someone — who made this world even slightly tolerable.

Tony Stark’s daughter. A whirlwind of chaos and sharp wit, broken in the same places Loki was. Somehow, they understood each other — trauma, sarcasm, and the quiet ache of not belonging.

He hadn’t seen her all night, and his mood was darker for it. He wouldn’t admit he missed her, of course not. That would be ridiculous. Weak. Sentimental.

Still, as he downed the last of the sour wine, something shifted. He felt it — a presence.

Familiar. Electric.

His eyes lifted lazily at first... until they found her.

Across the room, entering with all the unbothered grace of a goddess in borrowed leather, she had arrived. Her hair caught the light. Her eyes scanned the crowd. And when their gazes met, Loki forgot how to breathe.

He didn't smile — not quite. But something in his face softened. Something in his chest stuttered.

And then, low enough that only the shadows could hear, he murmured:

> "Of all the mortals in this wretched tower... I had hoped, just once, to see a familiar star."

She was walking toward him now.

And though he rolled his eyes and tried to look annoyed, his entire soul exhaled. Because maybe this party wasn’t entirely unbearable after all.