#whoever downplayed this as an incident needs to die

[serialunaliver]

"incident" are you fucking for real right now?

#looks like there was a request to change it to massacre #whoever downplayed this as an incident needs to die

[linkspooky]

Maki and Megumi pt. 2

Maki and Megumi are distant cousins and two characters connected by their shared blood in the Zenin family, but usually they’re almost polar opposites. I discuss this in my previous post about the two. However, despite their differences or maybe because of them they work rather well together as complementary personalities. Here’s an analysis on Jujutsu Kaisen chapter 108 and why it was Megumi who showed up to fight with Maki. 

All of the fights in Jujutsu Kaisen aren’t just there fore the sake of showing off cool patterns, every fight and fight matchup has thematic meaning. That means there’s something the author has to say in comparing and contrasting whoever participates in a fight in Jujutsu Kaisen. 

We see Maki and Megumi fighting together again like they did in the Sister School Event, because they both have something to learn from this fight. The Shibuya Incident Arc is such an excellently planned out arc that there are several parallels already going into this fight.

1. NobaMaki Parallels

Ever since Gojou got boxed the theme of this arc so far has been that while individual strength is important, it’s not everything, and simply being stronger is never going to win you every fight. This is why we see characters who are strong individualists getting hit hard this arc. 

Maki’s entire current goal revolves around the idea of her own individual strength. The way she sees it, in order to fight for her place in the world, and prove her family wrong about her she has to get stronger than even the toughest Jujutsu Sorcery user in her family all on her own. 

This is something we see Maki has sacrificed several personal relationships for, including any kind of healthy relationship with her own twin sister who she was much closer to when she was younger. Now Maki’s bad relationship with Mai isn’t her individual fault, it’s the family situation that created the tension between them, and both Maki and Mai are bad at reaching out to each other or understanding one another. However, Maki even says as much to Mai that she has to prioritize herself. 

In Maki’s mind, rising up to the top alone is more important than anything else, even being together with her twin sister. Maki’s not wrong for thinking that way she’s just an individualist, she’s very strong and singleminded. However, an individualist mindset does not win the fight in every situation. Which is why her parallels with Nobara come into play this arc. Nobara, Maki and Gojou are all characters that strongly parallel one another they all seem to believe they can accomplish anything with their own individual strength. They are, highly motivated and confident individuals, and most of the time this attitude works for them but not always. 

Nobara is also someone who uniquely sympathizes with Maki’s situation. You can see her sympathy arises for two reasons, one Nobara’s always attuned to people who get judged by unfair standards (she hated the people in her small town for judging her only friend instead of getting to know her), and two because Maki fought back against that unfairness. 

Nobara tends to like people who fight back against their circumstances with everything they have. She tends to dislike people who succumb to their circumstances and lash out. She has almost no pity for them. (Just a reminder you don’t... have to sympathize with someone going out of their way to hurt your friend because they don’t know how to communicate their abandonment issues in a healthy way). This is the entire point of setting up the Maki / Mai parallel where Nobara sympathizes with one of them, and doesn’t sympathize with the other even though they’re both reacting to the exact same situation. 

It’s because the way Maki copes really really alligns with Nobara’s world view, which is that with self confidence and strength she should be able to overcome everything. Whereas, Mai who is part of the Kyoto school who tends instead cling to connections of other people around her. (To Mai, her connection with Maki was what was more important than being a Jujutsu sorcerer, hence why she feels abandoned. Mai’s so close to her Kyoto friends one of them literally tries to explain the situation to Nobara.) The Kyoto kids are in general known to be much closer and more trusting than the Tokyo Kids who all fight side by side, but tend to be distant. 

Two different ways to react to a situation. However neither one of them is wrong, and neither one will work for every situation. Which is why Nobara loses her first major fight in the Shibuya Arc so far, because her go to strategy was to use herself as a decoy and charge in alone. As a result she was taken by surprise. She was stronger than her opponent but strength was not enough. 

Now paralleling that situation we have had several comments in the last three chapters on how Maki is completely out of her depth. Yes, Maki is strong, however she’s still not quite there yet. 

Maki’s worldview is that strength is everything, so what can she do when she’s just not strong enough to contribute to the situation? Maki isn’t going to be as strong as two much older sorcerers when she is still pretty much just a kid. It’s impossible to become that strong that fast no matter how hard you push yourself. 

So, what Maki experiences is the frustration of reaching her limit. She’s strong, but not strong enough, and therefore she’s just getting in the way in this situation, and even had to be protected by a man she hates. 

Maki is getting picked on so relentlessly by characters here in order to put a crack in her world view. There are situations where her strength will not be enough. Even if she was the strongest person on earth (Gojou) she would still be caught in those situations. The solution isn’t to get stronger, the solution is to open yourself up to different possibilities and be flexible rather than try to solve every problem in one way. 

Maki even admits it. This was her mistake 1) refusing to listen to Nanami when he told her she probably should not be here, and 2) not going to meet up with Megumi because she wanted to prove herself. (Though in that dialogue she’s kind of also in denial about it, she says her real mistake is that she didn’t take it out fast enough but... the fact that Megumi saves her this chapter indicates that her mistake was indeed leaving Megumi). 

Maki’s mistake would have cost her her life, if Megumi had not shown up. Her narrative punishment is that one she’s put in a situation where despite being crazy strong, she’s just a burden to the others around her, and two isn’t able to overcome the situation with guts and her brash attitude alone and has to sit back and be saved. 

2. MegumiYuji Parallels

Megumi and Yuji are also strong narrative foils to the extent Nobara and Maki are. It’s no coincidence that literally right after we see Yuji lose a battle, Megumi comes in the clutch. What’s really interesting about this arc is that it’s a deconstruction of the piece of advice Gojou once gave Megumi. 

Gojou tells Megumi that he needs to stop downplaying himself for the sake of others, and instead learn to swing for the fences the way he and Yuji do. While this is good advice, once again it’s not entirely right. It’s also advice steeped in Gojou’s world view. 

Remember Gojou is someone traumatized by the fact that his only friend Getou went rogue and betrayed him. He once believed that as long as him and Getou were together as the strongest duo they could accomplish anything, only to be struck with his own powerlessness when Getou left and he could do nothing to save him, or make him stay. Gojou is someone who ever since then had a habit of taking everything on his own shoulders. Gojou’s advice is good to break Megumi out of his self sacrificial habits, but it also comes from a place of Gojou assuming that you’ll always die alone because nobody could ever fight alongside him after Getou left. 

Gojou’s decision to go alone into the subway system is the mistake that starts this whole arc up. When characters decide to cooperate together in this arc they’re rewarded, when they try to run ahead alone they’re punished. There’s a reason both Yuji and Megumi fought together before splitting off to fight on their own. 

This fight established that cooperating with another person is often harder than fighting alone, but also something ultimately worth it because strength would not have won Yuji this fight. The reason Yuji won is because Megumi’s strategy, and Megumi needed Yuji’s cooperation with him to overwhelm the enemy. 

Megumi, after unlocking Chimera Shadow Garden has developed into more of an individualist. He’s followed Gojou’s advice. The most important part of Gojou’s advice however isn’t that Megumi had to stop cooperating with other people and become more like Gojou, but rather the problem is Megumi’s way of cooperating with people is a tendency to sacrifice himself, and belittle himself for the sake of others. Megumi as a person is someone who is very repressed. 

There’s a reason Megumi was a delinquint in middle school, but is a very distant and quiet boy now. Megumi is someone who is always deeply angry, but instead of trying to deal with those feelings he represses them. He feels a deep hurt for being abandoned by his father, but insists to Gojou he doesn’t care. He feels deep protective feelings for his sister, but distances himself from her as much as possible. Megumi’s tendency to sacrifice arises from this, because he’s repressing himself. He thinks the only way he can help others is to sacrifice himself. However, true cooperation is what he did with Yuuji, it’s butting your heads together and both sticking up for what you believe in and finding a compromise between that. Getting along with people can often mean fighting with them too, and Megumi tends to be a very conflict avoidant person. 

In the current arc it’s Megumi whose grown in this particular aspect, and Yuji who hasn’t. The manga makes it clear that Yuji and Choso are pretty much neck and neck, the fight could have gone to either person. So, what is it exactly that loses Yuji the fight? 

This moment right here where Yuji decides that helping other people means sacrificing himself. He becomes more like Megumi, but is taking on a negative aspect of him rather than a positive one. This is also a flaw that’s been present within Yuji’s character from the start, he’s borderline suicidal sometimes in how willing he is to throw himself into danger and rather than focusing on survival he’s always trying to make peace with his death and find a good death. Yuji is someone who accepts his death far too easily, because he views himself as someone expendable. 

Yuji makes a decision midfight to keep fighting even if it means dying, instead of trying to live to the next day even though he promised Megumi this before the fight. 

That’s the flaw in Yuji’s logic. Him deciding to pull a heroic death in the middle of a subway tunnel isn’t helping anyone, whereas he could have made the decision to fall back and wait for help. Maki only got saved because Megumi was there to help him. In this situation mirroring Maki, Yuji was only saved because Getou’s surrogate family was there to help him. 

Yuji despite sacrificing himself for others is still really only thinking with an individualist mindset here. He’s making decisions without really thinking about how it will affect the people around him. Whereas, Megumi who has been the most cooperative character this arc, and also directly faced his tendency to take a dive so other people can succeed gets to show up in Maki’s fight. 

3. Future Predictions

There are several parallels between Maki and Megumi. Just to summarize, they’re both connnected to the Zenin clan. But while Maki’s entire life is dominated by the Zenin clan, Megumi doesn’t really care about his connection to the family. They both have sisters who are incredibly important to them. They also both chose to distance themselves from their sisters at one time, Megumi lost his sister to a curse and wants nothing more than to go back and apologize. Maki’s sister is still alive but she’s too prideful to apologize. They are both people who were taken in and helped by Gojou, Maki reflects Gojou’s ideology whereas Megumi is ideologically the exact opposite of Gojou and a much more cooperative person. 

They are set up as characters who have several similiarties, but almost always make opposite choices. Even from their family situations, Megumi was born outside of the clan but has a powerful Jujutsu Sorcery, Maki was born inside of the clan but was born with no Jujutsu Sorcery technique. 

The point of having such similiar but opposite characters together is so they can work together. They both have a lot to learn from each other, Maki has to learn how to more effectively fight in a team because there are going to be situations where her strength can’t solve everything. Megumi has to learn not to repress himself. Which is Maki’s greatest strength she never represses anything, because to her the absolute worst thing is the death of the self and having to let go of her pride. 

However, more than that Megumi and Maki being brought together now is likely because they are going to face an even bigger opponent than Dagan. Dagan is cute and all, but he’s not exactly someone who would bring about character development from them other than being a hard opponent to fight again.

However, one last similarity with Megumi and Maki is that they both heavily parallel Toji. Who just... happens to be running around right now. 

Maki and Megumi both share several flaws with Toji. He serves as a shadow archetype for both of them. 

The shadow exists as part of the unconscious mind and is composed of repressed ideas, weaknesses, desires, instincts, and shortcomings.

A shadow archetype is a character meant to highlight the repressed flaws of other characters. Toji is made up of Megumi and Maki’s flaws, but rather than being a work in progress as a person, Toji let those flaws utterly ruin him. 

For Maki - Toji parallels her in two aspects, one her desire to prove herself stronger than everyone else despite not having a Jujutsu Sorcery technique through her own strength alone, and two her choice to abandon her family members. 

Toji represents the extreme consequences of Maki’s choice. Maki is much more sympathetic than Toji, but she still displays unhealthy behavior that’s not going to be good for her in the wrong run. The thing about Maki is that she can have both, she can have both her connection with her sister, and also want to become strong enough to prove her family wrong about her. She just refused to compromise. Toji is someone who followed his own selfish desire to the end and regretted it. 

He thought the only important thing was being stronger than his opponents, and because he only lived for that strength, he abandoned everything else in his life, including his moral and his own son. Toji is a bad future if Maki continues to make that choice. 

For Megumi - Toji is Megumi’s father (obviously), and while he never raised Megumi they are similiar personality wise. They both repress themselves to an extreme amount. 

It’s not that Toji didn’t feel guilty for abandoning Megumi and killing people, it’s just no matter what he did he always repressed it and refused to face his actions. He was so good at denying his own feelings that he didn’t realize how much he regretted abandoning his son until he was literally at the brink of his own death and it was too late to change it. 

Megumi is also someone who tends to seriously regret things. He regrets the way he interacted with his sister, because now she’s gone he can’t apologize to her. Megumi and Toji are both bad at handling their own emotions, and especially their traumas. Megumi’s reaction to Toji’s decision to abandon him is to put a lid on all feelings related to his father and pretend he doesn’t care. 

That’s never healthy and it’s likely the lid is going to come off when he faces Toji again. Here’s my prediction for the arc, Toji is going to show up and it will be Maki and Megumi who fight together against them, because he’s a shadow archetype for the flaws that both of them need to overcome. 

#megumi fushigoro #yuji itadori #nobara kugisaki #maki zenin #jujutsu kaisen #jujutsu kaisen meta #jjk meta #jjk 108 #jujutsu kaisen 108

[imagine-loki]

TITLE: Fear and Other Related Emotions CHAPTER NO./ONE SHOT: Chapter-2 AUTHOR: latent-thoughts ORIGINAL IMAGINE: Imagine meeting Loki to interrogate him while he is incarcerated in the Helicarrier glass enclosure. He initially tries to scare you away but then becomes interested in you as you keep talking to him. RATING: NC-17/ MA NOTES/WARNINGS: Warning for sexual situations, slightly dubious consent and violence (combat/fighting/interrogations).

This chapter picks up after the events of Thor: The Dark World and just before The Avengers: Age of Ultron. The events have remained canon so far, but it will turn AU soon.

(A year later)

Reva was listening to her client as she explained her recurring nightmares to her. It was only their second session and there was much to learn about her still. So far, she had come to know that the poor woman’s nightmares featured a pack of feral dogs chasing her into the darkness.

Involuntarily, Reva compared them to her own. Hers featured a feral space Viking. The nightmares showed him as angry and spiteful, wicked and seductive, cunning and calculating, all at the same time. Sometimes she was being murdered, and sometimes, seduced. She always woke up in panic, with sweat running down her back.

Loki was stuck in her head in the worst way. She was one of the few who he had personally terrorised, and even after a year of him being gone, she still felt the lingering effects of it on her psyche.

However, in her case, it wasn’t just the terror that kept bringing Loki back to her subconscious. Her thoughts about him tended to vacillate between resentful and grateful. Yes, he had deliberately toyed with her on the helicarrier. But he had also saved her life that day, having been the one who rescued her from the tarmac of the helicarrier.

The memories were vague, but she remembered being carried in his arms, hearing his voice barking orders at someone as she had slipped in and out of consciousness. She had fully awoken on a hospital bed a few hours later, briefly wondering how she had ended up there. Only one assumption seemed plausible, even though it went completely against Loki’s character. He had indeed dropped her at the hospital before going on his merry way to wreck New York.

She didn’t tell anyone about her rescue operation by Loki, and thankfully, no one asked. At the time, everyone had all but forgotten about her in order to save the world. It was a small mercy. She didn’t want the slightest focus on herself, and she was mighty glad that the attack had been thwarted by the heroes.

Loki had been captured and taken back to his home planet, Asgard. She had Tony Stark to thank for that information. He had sought her out after the dust had settled and was relieved to see that she was alright. He had told her that he felt a bit guilty about involving her in the mess with Loki, and in return, she had joked that she probably needed a therapist of her own to deal with the aftermath. Only… it wasn’t a joke.

However, things were looking up now. Life was getting better. She had gained more clients than ever in the last few months, most of them due to Stark’s recommendation. That more than made up for being manipulated by Loki.

The good thing was, her Loki related nightmares had reduced in their frequency and intensity over time. That may have been aided by the fact that Loki was dead, as conveyed to her by his own brother—Thor. It was the first time she had seen him after the attack of New York, about a month ago.

She had been attending one of Stark’s parties when Thor had approached her. At first, he had apologized for whatever had happened at the helicarrier. Then as she was trying to downplay the whole helicarrier incident, he had proceeded to tell her about his personal losses. His mother had died trying to protect his love, Jane Foster, from an attack by an alien species known as the Dark Elves, and Loki had apparently died protecting him.

The news had shocked her, and she had offered her condolences to Thor. She had wanted to offer free therapy sessions as well, but opted against it, in the end, not wanting to look desperate and creepy.

As for Loki’s death and the reasons underpinning it, Reva didn’t want to examine any of it. She was just glad to be back to a normal life which didn’t involve any alien attacks. Also, she often liked to remind herself that Loki had taken more lives that he had saved. That kept her opinion less ambivalent towards his ultimate fate.

After the session with her client ended, Reva went straight home. It was a Friday, the weekend was finally here, and all she wanted to do was unwind and watch TV. Boring, but satisfying. She was never a very social creature, so weekend outings were few and rare.

As she entered her apartment, Reva immediately felt an odd feeling creep up her spine. Her apartment looked the same as she had left it in the morning, but something seemed amiss. She couldn’t put a finger on it, but her home didn’t feel as inviting as it usually did.

Hesitating in the doorway, she tried to look around to see what was wrong, but nothing seemed out of place. Perhaps she was just tired and it was messing with her head. Nothing a little junk food and TV couldn’t cure.

She sighed and dropped her bag in its usual sitting place—a little table by the door. Only, it dropped on the floor with a thud. She looked down at it and then at the table. That never happened. How did she miss the table? Sighing, she picked up the bag and carefully dropped it onto the table.

Then, as she proceeded on to the living room, her knee banged against the sideboard right next to the entryway. She cursed and rubbed the ailing spot, blaming her typical clumsiness. However, the bumping-into-random-stuff thing kept happening.

The bed, the coffee table, and even the dining table, all of them had hurt her like they had some personal vendetta against her today. Thankfully, her bathroom fixtures had spared her as she freshened up and changed into more comfortable clothes.

When Reva came back into the living room and sat down in front of the TV, she noticed that her ass landed not directly in her spot on the couch, but slightly towards the armrest. Something was seriously wrong.

Then it struck her. Her furniture had moved. No, it had been moved by someone. Not enough to draw immediate notice, but enough to make it so that she bumped into things. The scariest part, though, was that no one else lived in this apartment except her, and no one had access to it when she was gone. It wasn’t like she had housekeeping staff.

It could only mean one thing. Someone had broken in, or, her furniture was possessed. The former seemed more plausible.

Very slowly, Reva got up from the couch and started for her bedroom, where her phone was lying on the side-table, getting charged. Whoever had broken in was probably still here, and was probably watching her. Why the intruder hadn’t acted at all wasn’t her concern, getting out of this situation was.

The bedroom door creaked open as she pushed it casually, trying to act normal for her hidden audience. Her eyes straight away landed on the side-table.

The phone was gone.

Reva’s heartbeat surged. She turned around and made a dash for the main door. Only to be blocked by a tall, familiar figure clad in green and black armor.

“A nightmare, I need to wake up,” she muttered, discounting reality immediately.

Because how else could Loki be standing in her doorway when he was dead?

He appeared to be confused for a moment, then his eyes twinkled with mirth. “I’ve been called worse things. A nightmare is fairly mild.”

“No…,” she whispered desperately as he moved towards her. Now would be a really good time to wake up. “No, please god, no.”

Loki just rolled his eyes and walked right past her to sit down on the couch. Her body trembled like a leaf as she squeaked and jumped away belatedly.

On the couch, Loki spread his long legs and settled in as if he owned the place. Meanwhile, Reva contemplated her absolutely rotten luck, to be facing the crazy space Viking for the second time in her life.

“You moved my furniture.” Not the first thing she thought she’d say, but she considered herself to be on auto-pilot anyway. She was pretty sure screaming would not help anyway. Not this time.

“Just a bit of fun.” Loki chuckled and splayed his arms on the back of the couch. He made it look tiny as he hoarded almost the entire sitting space. “It was amusing to see you fumble around.”

“You’re supposed to be dead,” she accused, backing into the wall furthest from the couch. Interacting with Loki from the barrier of a cage was bad enough, interacting with him without any barriers was nearly wrecking her.

He rolled his eyes and huffed in response. “It seems my brother has already spread the news about my untimely demise.”

“And to think he’s still mourning you…” she muttered all to herself, eyeing him cautiously.

“It’ll not be the first time that I’ve purportedly died and come back.” He seemed really nonchalant as if discussing the weather and not his own death.

“Great, even hell doesn’t want you.” Reva hugged herself nervously, rubbing the prickling goose bumps forming on her bare arms.

He raised an eyebrow at her. “I didn’t actually die. I cheated death.”

“Sure you did.” She nodded, fighting hard not to roll her eyes.

“Come here,” he commanded, his voice husky and inviting. She knew that voice very well by now. “You aren’t going to escape through that wall by pressing yourself to it.”

“I’m kind of comfortable here, thanks.” She gave him a derisive smile—her attempt at being brave. Loki was dangerous. She wanted to keep as much distance between her and him as possible.

Loki sighed dramatically, mocking her. “Come now, Reva. You’re going to act all coy now? After that conversation filled night we spent together, after I saved your life on that wretched air-ship, I thought we’d be on better terms.”

“You and I remember that night quite differently. And pardon me for not trusting you with my life, irrespective of what happened on the helicarrier a year ago.”

“I think you are astute enough to note that if I had any plans to kill or harm you, I’d have successfully executed them by now.” There was an edge to his voice, but his expression remained serene. It made him sound like an exasperated adult dealing with a child.

There was some truth in his words, though. After all, Reva was still alive and breathing and he hadn’t made any move to kill her. But then again, who could trust a trickster?

“Do you need something from me?” she asked cautiously, her back still stuck to the wall.

Loki appeared right beside her then, leaning against the wall. Reva instinctively leapt back, nearly colliding with the sideboard right next to her. Loki’s hands shot out and grabbed her shoulders before she could.

“Of course I need something from you, why else would I be here?”

“I don’t th-think I have anything to g-give you,” she stammered, feeling the cold of his hands seep through her top and into her skin. Oddly, it didn’t feel repulsive. Instead, it summoned the memory of how pleasant his cold hands had felt on her heated skin that night in the helicarrier.

Loki pulled her close and tipped her chip up with his finger. “Don’t assume, little one. Let me explain my motivations to you, and then we can discuss how you will assist me.”

“I didn’t agree to assist you in anything,” she protested as he took her hand and led her to the couch.

“At times we all must do things we don’t want to, for the greater good.” He pushed her down on the couch and settled in next to her.

Reva couldn’t believe she was back in the Trickster God’s clutches. It scared her, for obvious reasons. Fear and Loki went hand in hand. However, what scared her more was her instinctual draw to him despite the fear.

“When did you start bothering about the greater good?” she asked, trying not to fidget as he trained his sharp gaze on her.

“Ever since it aligned with my designs and purpose.”

“Hard to believe.”

Reva surreptitiously slunk as far away from him as possible while still remaining on the couch. His keen eyes followed her movement but he didn’t react. Instead, he turned his attention towards the coffee table as his hands hovered above it.

The familiar glow of magic emanated from his hands and a strange, dark box materialised on the table. It was so dark that it appeared to be two-dimensional to her untrained eyes. She had to squint and tilt her head this way and that to see if it was actually a box or just an illusion. It was non-reflective, like a little black hole shaped into a cuboid. It was messing with her visual perception.

Feeling curious despite her fear, she reached out to touch it. The material felt similar to velvet, but not quite the same. It was solid but non-metallic. Reva rubbed her fingers on its top, wanting to decipher what it material was. She was unable to come up with any plausible answers.

Loki smiled at her inquisitiveness and moved to open the box. She couldn’t even see the opening mechanism, it was that dark.

“What kind of material is this?”

“The darkest substance ever created. It doesn’t reflect light at all. It was conceived and forged by the Dark Elves first, now only Asgard possesses the means to produce it. I’m not sure your language has a name for it.”

“The same Dark Elves who attacked Asgard?”

He seemed suddenly irritated by her questioning and gave her a curt nod.

“Interesting. You know, us lowly humans are also developing a non-reflective black coating quite similar to this.” She pointed at the box. “It’s called Vanta Black.”

Loki just rolled his eyes and opened the box, clearly not impressed with human innovations. Placed within the box were a hovering, glowing blue gem and another small box with swirling red light emanating from its centre. Reva sat riveted as she stared at them. They seemed to emit a low hum.

She briefly noted that the box had six slots, in six different shapes, with only two of them presently occupied. But her attention was once again ensnared by the blue stone. It was especially mesmerizing, drawing Reva in like a magnet.

Instinctively, she reached to touch it but Loki grabbed her hand immediately and pulled it away. Her questioning eyes met his and he shook his head.

“Do not touch either of them. One will possess you and the other will incinerate you.”

Alarmed, Reva lurched away from the box. “Should’ve told me that before opening the box like a Christmas present.”

Loki sighed and closed the box, waving his hand to make it vanish. Reva kept staring at the spot where the box had been, wondering what he had just shown her. Whatever those things were, they weren’t to be trifled with.

“They are two of the Infinity Stones. They were created from the singularities of the Universe before it took its current form. The stones possess immense power and hence, cannot be handled by just anyone. One has to be very careful when wielding their power.”

Reva was intrigued and wanted to know more. But she was also apprehensive, not knowing whether she should be getting herself involved this cosmic intrigue. Biting her lip in contemplation, she turned her gaze to Loki, who was looking at her expectantly.

“I kind of understand,” she said, trying her best not to sound dumb. “I suppose you meant that these stones were formed before the Big Bang?”

He nodded and sat back against the couch cushions languidly. “Yes, these strange Midgardian terms are infinitely amusing.”

Reva ignored his taunt and continued. “Okay, I get it. These are powerful things, not to be messed with, blah blah. But why and how are they in your possession?”

It was worrying that this kind of power was in the hands of someone like Loki. She shuddered to think what he might do with it.

“Well, the blue gem was previously housed inside the Tesseract, which I took in my possession the last time I was here. It can be used to open doorways through space, among other things. And—”

“Holy shit!” Her eyes widened in realization. “That was the thing you had used to call in your alien army!”

“Do not interrupt me,” he snapped, his eyes flashing in annoyance, making her recoil. “The other one, the Aether, was discovered due to the meddling ways of Thor’s precious lover, Jane Foster. It possessed her, and Thor had to resort to my help to save her life. I nearly died in the process, but in the end, it landed in my hands.”

A shadow passed over his sharp features, conveying a deep, unspeakable sadness. The easy going façade of the quintessential trickster dropped for a second there. Reva wondered what else happened in the struggle for the Aether that he wasn’t telling her.

He noticed her scrutiny, and that seemed to snap him out of his funk faster than she could blink.

“I know you want to know more,” he said with a pitiless sneer, “but I’m not here to regale you with tales of my valiant endeavours.”

Reva rubbed her eyes in frustration. Keeping up with him was exhausting. “Then please let me know the reason that brings you here, to my humble abode.”

A cold finger touched her bare arm, making her jump. Loki seemed to enjoy her reaction as he stroked the length of her arm with that offending finger. She wanted to shrink back, but there was no room left to do so.

“I need to retrieve my sceptre. It contains something precious that I want to add to my… collection in the box,” he stated, watching the rising goose bumps on her arm in the wake of his touch. “I believe it is in the custody of Anthony Stark, the man of iron, as he prefers to be called. You know him.”

She stiffened at the mention of Stark. “I’m not that close to him, if you’re thinking of using me to get that thing—the sceptre, whatever that is.”

His hand now reached up to pull gently at a few strands of her hair. He was driving her insane with these little touches here and there. The temptation to lean into him was getting stronger with each touch.

Instead, she resisted and turned, shying away from him. He, however, snaked an arm around her waist and pulled her back against his chest. The sudden proximity made her panic and she grabbed his arm reflexively. However, instead of trying to remove his arm, but her traitor hands settled in to trace the engravings on his vambrace.

“You are so soft and pliant, just like I remembered,” he hummed seductively, brushing her hair with his other hand. “And don’t worry, I have a plan for you.”

“That’s not reassuring at all,” she breathed, not sure how to react to his advances.

The feeling of being this close to Loki wasn’t at all unpleasant and therein lay her problem. It was like staring down a sheer drop from great height, feeling terrified but also exhilarated, the urge to jump as strong as the urge to retreat.

“Hmm Reva,” he continued, now nuzzling her hair, “what are your thoughts on the Midgardian courtship ritual called dating?”

“Dating?” Surprised, she whipped her head around to face him. Bad decision, as she found her face merely inches from his.

This close, she couldn’t help but admire his sparkling green eyes. They were gorgeous, with long, dark lashes lining them. She could get trapped in them if she let her guard drop. The trouble was, her guard was already slipping.

“Yes, we will go on a date.” His cool breath fanned across her face as he spoke, making her shiver. “And our destination shall be Stark Tower, attending one of his extravagant soirees.”

That threw her off and jolted her out of her Loki-induced reverie. “What?!”

“You heard me,” he replied, raising an eyebrow, still holding her close. “I believe the celebrations for one of Stark’s obscure achievements will be happening in the next week.”

That, right there, was the reason for his visit, the purpose Reva was going to serve. She wanted to slap herself now for not realizing it sooner. Loki had bigger plans. She was but a mere pawn in his elaborate chessboard setting.

“It’s next Saturday,” she huffed, turning her face away in annoyance. “Wait, how did you know?”

He handed her mobile to her then, as the obvious answer, not even trying to appear guilty. She gave him a look of pure indignation, wanting to deck him for going through her texts. Also, she was kind of impressed at his familiarity with human technology and gadgets.

“So, Saturday it is,” he said, ignoring her glare. “We’ll attend the event as a couple, we’ll socialize as per Midgardian customs, and then I will go in search for my sceptre when everyone is sufficiently inebriated to not care about my absence.”

Reva groaned in dismay upon hearing his plan. “I’m not fake dating you and becoming your accomplice in a crime.”

“I never said anything about it being fake,” he stressed, sliding his palm over her cheek. “And pray tell me how is it a crime to take that back which belonged to me in the first place?”

“Whatever, Loki, I don’t want you to start another war,” she confessed, squirming in his grasp, “and I don’t want to help you in that.”

“War might actually be the opposite of what I want now.” He pulled her closer, cradling her face fully in his hands now.

“What is it that you want then?” Her voice wavered as he drew closer still. Her gaze involuntarily dropped to his lips, wondering if they’d feel cold on hers.

“I want a lot of things, but right now, I want to kiss you,” he rasped, his voice sending tingles between her legs. “I have wanted to, ever since that night when we first met.”

“But I’m a lowly human,” she reasoned, wondering if he was toying with her. “Am I not beneath you?”

“You mortals have your merits,” he admitted with a wink, “and I’d very much like you beneath me, quite literally. But first, I’d like to explore this…” He traced her lips with his thumbs, making his intent clear.

She gulped and gave him a nod. Oh, she was so damned curious to see how his kiss might feel. Just one kiss—it couldn’t hurt. One kiss and she’d be done. It was for personal research purposes…

Reva’s eyes fluttered close as his lips brushed against hers, cold as his hands were. He seduced her mouth slowly, with a gentle suction. She had assumed that he’d be harsh and brutal, but he was surprisingly gentle and sensual.

His arms encircled her fully as he turned her whole body towards his. Reva broke the kiss with a gasp, needing a breath. He proceeded to kiss the side of her mouth and lick her lower lip.

She heard him hum something in an unfamiliar tongue as his lips brushed against her again and again.

A warm glow burst behind her eyelids and she gasped in surprise. He chose the moment to deepen the kiss. His tongue, cold and delicious, teased hers languidly, coaxing her with the promise of pleasure and fulfilment.

Reva was pretty sure her mind had melted away by the time he broke off the kiss. No, it couldn’t be called a kiss. It was a possession.

Loki looked back at her with a self-satisfied smirk as he licked his lips. “Mmm, that was a good beginning.”

“You can kiss,” she panted, eyeing his lips in awe. In the back of her mind, though, she wondered what all she was willing to put on stake for Loki’s kisses. She wasn’t sure she was ready to face the answer to that yet.

“I offer more than a mere kiss, little one,” he said, easing her back against the cushions. “I’d like to taste more of you… in time.”

She closed her eyes and exhaled, willing herself to resist his charms. “I still don’t want to help you.”

“Oh, but you will.”

“And then what?”

“You’ll see.” He brushed his fingers across her cheek, the gesture coaxing her eyes open. It almost felt affectionate, if not for his condescending tone.

“So once you get your toy, you’ll leave me alone then?”

He chuckled, and she wished the sound didn’t make her stomach flutter. “Once I get what I want, I very much like to keep it close to me.”

His cryptic words nearly gave her a headache. She deliberately ignored his last comment. “But everyone will recognize you at the party, especially Stark. Being my date won’t change your face.”

“No, they won’t recognize me,” he said, as his green-gold magic shimmered all over him, transforming him into a perfect duplicate of none other than Captain America.

“Holy shit!” She jumped in disbelief and nearly fell off the couch. “You can do that?”

He transformed back into himself and nodded. “I believe that should convince you.”

She was pretty sure she was gawking at him like a lunatic but she didn’t care. This little stunt of his reminded her of how little she knew of him.

“Is there any limit to your magical abilities?”

“A conversation for another day.” He got up from the couch and looked down at her regally. “I will come to fetch you on the eve of the party. Till then…” He seized her hand and planted a soft kiss on her knuckles. “…farewell, my lovely lady.”

Reva rubbed her knuckles unconsciously after he let go. His lips were so sinful, they were evil incarnate.

“Oh, and don’t bother trying to tell anyone about me or my plans,” he said with a knowing smirk. “Or mayhap, do try. You will soon realize it’s futile.”

And then he was gone, poofing away with that same green-gold shimmer of his magic.

His words registered a few beats later, and Reva felt a growing dread inside her. Grabbing her phone, she immediately started typing a text to see if she could write anything about Loki in it. Her fingers froze every damn time she tried to type anything relating to him or his name. She couldn’t even type mischief or space Viking.

She opened her mouth to call his name, and it would not come out. She could feel it on the tip of her tongue, but she couldn’t utter it.

“Such a dick move!” she grumbled in frustration, tossing her phone away. “I don’t understand how you can be so cruel and yet, so likeable at the same time!”

Reva hadn’t really thought about tattling against him or his plans. She knew better than to trick the ultimate trickster. And she valued her life. She wondered why he felt the need to bind her in this manner, if he wasn’t planning something sinister, like attacking the Earth or something equally bad.

And then came the penultimate question… Had Loki lied to her about his true plans? He was the lie-smith after all.

Reva shook her head, wanting to dispel her growing distrust in Loki. He had toyed with her before, what was to say that he wasn’t doing it again?

However, she could do little more than sulk in indignation. The trickster had tricked her into remaining silent.

#Loki #Lover #Angst #God of Mischief #Others #Imagine #Submitted fic #submission #latent-thoughts #fear and other related emotions #chapter 2 #interrogate #Reincarnation #Helicarrier #enclosure #scare #interesting #=interest