daylight.

“Huh?” Klara woke up from her 30-second micro-nap, slightly confused about what was happening around her. “Sorry, must have dozed off,” she said, giving the other person an apologetic smile. After the events of the last party, she didn't let her daughter out of her sight, nights included. “What were you saying? I promise you have my attention now," she encouraged them, while bringing Lovisa closer to her.

“I asked if you were okay.” Jane tilted her head to the side, studying her friend for a moment. She reached out for the baby, only taking her when Klara let her. “Come on, Mama.” She stood and reached for Klara’s hand with her free one, holding Lovisa as close as Klara had with the other. “Call Raf and let him know you and the girls will be gone tonight. We’re staying at Loki’s place—it’s covered in all kinds of Asgardian magic and has a direct connection to Heimdall and the palace. No one will know you’re there. And you’re going to let us help with Love so you can rest.”

“All right, you know what?” Edward let out a deep sigh before looking up at the person standing in his office. “I’m going to busy myself with paperwork for five more seconds and you can rethink if you really want to say what you just said.”

“Well,” Jane began as she walked into Edward’s office, “if she won’t tell you, her partner-in-crime might.” Surprisingly, Eisa had snapped her mouth shut at her father’s words, apparently deciding against talking her way out of it further. Jane glanced back at her own daughter, who looked unbothered as she skipped her way into her uncle's office. 'Hiii, Tíoooo,' Astrilde chirped. Jane snapped her fingers and pointed to the chair beside Eisa, completely ignoring the hot pink frog she was holding. “Nope. Sit.” She gave Astrilde a look until she complied, then turned back to Edward. “They unleashed a crayons-turned-frogs nightmare on their classroom and think it’s hilarious.”

"Really feeling the love, Aunt Jane," he mumbled, wincing a little when she pushed his hair back. "The whole like, area," he said, gesturing to the left side of his head. Next time, he'd use a web and keep a safe distance away. Outside, he heard a particularly loud chant, mostly unintelligible by the time it echoed up to their window. Peter sighed. "Don't they ever get tired?"

"I'm sorry," the smirk on her face said otherwise, though. Jane turned around to get him an ice pack. "Looks like a nasty bump. I don't think you were hit hard enough for a concussion, but why don't you hang out in here with me for a little bit and we'll see how you feel?" Jane was about to say something else, but her attention went to the window when Peter's did. She sighed and walked over to close it. "No. They always have something to complain about. But if SHIELD and the Avengers weren't here doing anything, they'd complain about that, too." She leaned back against her desk, attention still on the window. "It got really bad after Thor had Loki cleared. People were out there all the time claiming he was evil, we were all mind-controlled, we were hiring villains." Jane's gaze went back to Peter. "I know your dad's had his fair share of it, too. I'm not really sure what set them all off this time."

Thor had taken some time to himself after parting from his brother. He found a rocky cliffside far outside the city, where he could pretend he was on Asgard if he closed his eyes and just listened for a while. Listened until the rain finally stopped falling, and thunder became a distant echo. But as the sun began to climb in the sky, he felt himself called back -- home. Home to Jane, to Astrilde and Eisa, to the city of his friends and family. To all that truly mattered.

Jane looked up at him and gave his arm a squeeze. “Honey, there’s no easy way to tell you this,” she started. “But when someone talks about the dramatic Odinson, it’s not your brother.” Jane smirked and walked with her husband closer to where the girls were playing, far enough to keep their distance but still able to see them. “You don’t have to prove anything to me. Or to the girls. They think their dads hung the moon, stars, and every planet.” She smiled before shaking her head. “You have nothing to prove to me either. Or to your brother.” Jane watched the girls playing silently for a moment. Both of them were laughing and running hand-in-hand, and she could only assume their relationship mirrored the one Thor had with his brother before their father interfered. “I think he needs you to acknowledge his pain and just be there.” Jane turned back to Thor. “Me, Klara, Edward, even your mother—we can try, but he needs you. And you need to stop putting so much pressure on yourself to be a perfect big brother and protect him. You’re literally the reason he’s with us right now. You just need to be there for him, babe. However he needs you.” She gave him another smile and placed a hand on the side of his face, leaning up on her toes to kiss him. “I have a question, though,” she asked after a moment. “You ever think your father drove you apart so you two wouldn’t rule together? I feel like if it was just one of you, some of his traditions and ways could have stayed. But together, they’ll be completely overturned.”

"No!" She said wide eyed. "No I just wanted you to know so that you're not surprised when you see the mess in the lab. But I'll make sure it's all cleaned up and figure out what went wrong so we can fix it."

"Oh. No. I was just making sure you were okay," she said, frowning a bit at the mention of the lab, but then shook her head. "I don't work in the labs, so that's no concern of mine."

"I really, really don't wanna talk about it," Peter muttered, rubbing his eye. But he didn't even have to glance up at his (basically) Aunt Jane to know the look she was (probably) giving him. He sighed. "I... I was trying to take one of those dumb signs," he muttered, jerking his thumb towards the windows. The protestors weren't a huge crowd, but they were loud. "I pulled, he pulled back, the sign went flying and hit me in the eye."

Jane just looked at him for a moment, before nodding her head. "Okay." She attempted to bite back a smirk, but was obviously struggling. "I'm sorry. That's just the most Peter thing I've ever heard you say." She reached up to brush his hair back so she could better look at it. "And you're adorable and I love you. I need you to know this. But did you get hit in the head? Or just your eye?"

She nodded in agreement, letting out a deep breath. "Yeah, it nice that people are so happy and having a good time but I wish there was a quiet space."

"Yeah." She glanced around the room. "A quiet space to get away from the noise would be perfect."

Thor wrapped an arm around his wife and held her close. "You are my fresh air, min sol." He smiled down at her, shaking a considerable amount of glitter out of his hair and over the railing. "It's quite the party inside. And you stand out amongst it all," he beamed, pressing a kiss to the side of her head. He rested there a moment. "It is nice. To do this. To put down the weight for a while."

"Poetic as ever." Jane smiled, immediately leaning into her husband's side. "My Prince Charming." She wrinkled her nose, teasingly, and leaned up to properly kiss him. She pulled back after a moment, reaching up to brush his golden hair back. "I'm glad you've been able to put everything else aside for the night."