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tarithenurse · 4 years

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Stolen - 27

Pairing: Loki Laufeyson x fem!gifted!reader Content: All the smut. Be smart about it and use protection unlike some idiots in this story. A/N: Yeah, I’m not posting regularly yet. We got told this week at work that we are in fact NOT returning to our old place (which we had left “temporarily” due to better use of resources during COVID19 wave 1). That sucks. A lot. So I’m still stressed and semi-depressed and now also sad that we won’t have the surroundings needed to complete our job which is to train/rehabilitate people with apoplexia. Anyways...ask or re-blog for tag.

27. Eat Me, Drink Me

... Reader ...

The swooping rush in your belly is extended as soon as the blue cloud dumps the two of you on solid ground by Loki pushing you backward. Your back against cold metal, you manage a peek at the surroundings despite the grip the god has in your hair. There’s only a hint of distant light coming through the windows because there’s very little room between the hull and the cave wall, but it is enough to reveal sharp lines in a familiar design.

“The ship.” Is he taking you away from Asgard?

“Yes,” he chuckles darkly, body suddenly flush against you and his other hand digging into your waist just shy of painful, “I intend to have you screaming my name, begging for more as I ravish you.”

Heh. “Words.” Your sneer makes his brows arch beautifully. “Empty words.”

“Have care, [Y/N] -” he begins with a deep growl.

“Or what? You’re all noise, like a mosquito buzzing in the night but just like an insect all you’ve done is leave an anno-”

Snarling at your taunt, he latches on to the tender spot on your neck just below the ear. Teeth graze over your skin, leaving a sting that he soothes right away by kissing his way along your jaw before he claims your mouth. Claim. There’s no better word for it as his tongue dances along your lips and tangles with yours, nearly distracting from the new occupation of Loki’s hands that roughly are untying knots and bows in your clothes before pulling the dress down around your waist. Immediately, he busies himself with your breasts. Long fingers massaging them, pinching your nipples as his mouth draws the first moans from you by sucking, kissing, licking, biting.

Half-dazed, you begin to fumble with Loki’s clothes, enjoying the simplicity of the tunic and leather trousers he has been wearing under the disguise, and it takes little time before his torso is bared to you and your hands skim the smooth skin of his ass (trousers abandoned mid-thigh).

“Impatient, pet?”

You love the smirk on his lips as he teases. Clearly, you’re not the only one wanting more because his erection is pressing against your pelvis, long and hard with the promise of filling the emptiness within. Managing to squeeze a hand between your bodies, you grab his cock and deliver a slow stroke from balls to crown. Fuck, he looks good. The thought makes you smile at the god who’s eyes have closed in bliss at the sensation...but then the trance breaks and he steps out of reach, yanking the dress so it pools around your feet before literally lifting you over his shoulder as though you weigh nothing.

“Enough of your taunts,” he growls against your hip, allowing his teeth to dig in as he carries you to his cabin where he tosses you on the bed. “I’ll ruin you for all other men. I’m a god. You’d do well to remember that.”

“There you go with the talking again.”

Moving up in the bed, you’re hyper aware of the state of undress Loki is seeing you in. The only scrap of fabric clinging to your body is the underwear – a flimsy scrap of silk barely covering you pussy and held on to your body with some lace – and, oh, does he like what he sees! Following you on hands and knees (trousers now discarded), the raven-haired man is upon you mouth first, kissing his way up your legs while paying extra attention to your inner thighs after noticing the sighs it elicits.

The only problem is, every time you reach for him, the god bats away your hands. It’s annoying. I’ve not gotten him this far only to be denied touching. Cool, smooth skin that screams for caresses of fingertips. Ropy muscles, bunching and rolling with each movement as a testament to the strength he possesses even if he isn’t bulky like his brother. No. The god’s body is made for endurance and flexibility. For fucking you into tomorrow in positions you’ve probably not even dreamed of. And you want it.

You’re just about to do something about it when the tip of his tongue delves between the folds, dragging the pooling wetness to your clit where he pauses, adds pressure, and then flicks it with a satisfied chuckle.

“You will get more...if you behave,” Loki smirks.

The taste of pleasure is still buzzing along your spine and you’re almost willing to do anything as long as it gets you more. Wait...You had had a plan before getting swooped up and dropped onto the bed. Push him.

“Of course,” your mocking tone makes him arch a brow, “throwing in some distraction rather than act. I should have known.” You’re aware that he’s allowing you to push him back with a foot against his chest, permitting you to get onto your knees and hover over him. “If I wanted a talker, I’d go to Fandral.”

The sound of the blond man’s name ignites something in Loki. You can see it instantaneously because his eyes flood with the colour of blood and the teeth revealed as he snarls looks more like those of a predator. Large hands grab you by your hips and drag you on top of him, expertly positioning your soaked cunt against the tip of his cock.

“Never...” he pulls you down, the slow drag against your inner walls delicious - “...compare me...” with a last tug and thrust, Loki bottoms out - “...to him.” In a heartbeat, he’s got you back against the wall, lips growling against your mouth. “I’m a god.”

Holding you up, he pulls back almost completely before rutting into you at a pace that has your back arching and eyes rolling. The sheer force pushes you to the very edge because you know that a part of him is still trying to rein in some of the power in an unspoken wish not to hurt you.

... Loki ...

His breath had been stolen and each attempt to regain it is shattered by the magnificent tightness of [Y/N] and her reaction to every thrust. Warm heat undulates around the Jotun’s cock in an attempt to draw him over the each prematurely while the gorgeous woman arches, presents her bosom for Loki to prey on greedily. Who am I to deny her?

Eagerly, he licks and bites at the nipples but barely manages to coax more than a half-swallowed moan from her lips. Loki grabs her by the jaw, forcing her to meet his eyes. I see. The challenge is blazing like a fire in her gaze.

A squelch fills the dim cabin as he withdraws, tossing the insolent woman onto the bunk again. This time, however, he leaves no time for her to taunt but embraces the straight legs against his own chest before leaning over her. For a split second, the male lingers with the tip of his cock at the entrance to heaven as he looks for the moment realization dawns upon her...all he gets is a wicked smile, empowering the thrust of his hips as he slams in.

Ravishing. Open mouthed, yet silent. Perfection. Hands clawing at his shoulders, nails leaving angry trails. Mine. Tight, wet, already quivering with the need for release.

But Loki keeps the speed controlled this time as he sheds the last layer of disguise and reveals the real him. The Jotun. The monster. Ridges rise, flooding his skin with the wintry colour and for once...he embraces it rather than hate it as his claws on one hand curl around her wrists, stretching [Y/N], exposing her even now as she willingly succumbs to the mercy of the beast within. A whimper breaks the relative silence as the Jötun markings have decorated his erection.

“Look at me,” he growls.

She obliges. Had he expected fear? Confusion? What Loki is treated to is an appreciative smirk.

“I see you.” Slowly bottoming earns him a gasp. “Finally.”

Cock punching out a steady speed – fast enough to make the woman breathless and slow enough for her to feel each inch and ridge – Loki fucks her steadily further up the bed until the each roll of his hips elicits drawn-out moans and ragged praises that never could have sounded sweeter than they do coming from the mortal’s lips. Balls tight, abdomen clenched, he drags her to the very edge and keeps her there until...

“Please! Loki!” [Y/N] begs with lust-blown eyes locked on him.

Claws scrape lightly towards her pelvis, drag through the short curls to where their bodies meet and he finds her clit with the pad of a finger. He has to fight himself to keep the pressure steady as the new stimulation sends a shudder through her perfect body. Almost. Aaalmost.

Then it happens. The epicentre of an earthquake buried inside [Y/N] sends the shock waves into Loki too, causing him to thrust deep and hard as she clenches around his cock.

The moan transforms into a scream, “Loki! Yeah!”

The tremors sends the Jotun tumbling after the human over the edge of bliss.

... Reader ...

Gasping for air, you don’t even feel close to being in a real world. Fuck...that was amazing. Slumped on top of you, resting with his hips between your thighs lies a god whose appearance fades back to the pale person you first met in your own apartment. You had hated him then. Now I love him.

“Mmmm, my dear,” Loki mumbles against your neck, “your scream was sweet music.”

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inmyownlittlecorner5 · 3 years

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Bifrost Blues Chapter 27: The Garden

Fandom: Thor (movies), MCU Rating: M Warnings: Slurs, Sexual Content, Violence Pairing: Loki/OC Summary: According to the rules, no Jotun shall ever set foot in Asgard. According to the rules, no Prince of Asgard shall befriend a Jotun. According to the rules Rules were made to be broken. Written for @flufftober2021

<< Day 26+

Day 28+ >>

Prompt #27: “I’m cold” “Here, take my jacket”

Read on Ao3+

image by the author with ourdining room @ tumblr

2011 A.D.

The banquet inside was still crowded with people when Angrboda slipped out into the quiet gardens. The hall had been unbearably hot with the crush of bodies eating, drinking, and dancing together. She tugged at the high collar of her dress, wishing she did not have to keep every inch of her skin covered to avoid detection.

The maze of hedgerows closed around her. When she was safely out of sight, she pulled off her gloves. For a time she wandered, hoping the cool of the night air would give her some relief. At the heart of the maze, she found a deserted stone bench, glowing silver in the moonlight. She sat down on it, dropping her gloves beside her. With a furtive glance in the darkness, she started rolling up the long sleeves of her gown.

“If I am hot, you must be sweltering,” Loki said, appearing from the shadows.

Dressed in his Asgardian finery, he looked every inch the prince, if an overheated one. He rolled up his own sleeves as he sat down beside her.

“What I would give for a Jotun gown,” Angrboda said. “But your Asgardians are too bold for that. I’m surprised no one has pinched my cheeks yet. They’ve tried to pinch everything else.”

“Hmmm. Are there some hands that need chopping off? As prince, I’d be happy to oblige.”

She ran a hand over her brow, wiping away the sweat beading there. “Perhaps not yet. Though if Fandral continues as he’s started, he may find himself thrown across the room for his troubles.”

He laughed. “I give you leave to throw him anywhere you like, but only if you alert me before you do. I’d hate to miss such sport.”

The stars overhead were dancing in rainbow patterns never seen on Jotunheim. She let herself lean against Loki’s shoulder, enjoying his nearness as much as the celestial lights.

“May I?” he asked, his hand hovering over hers.

The way her heart sped up had nothing to do with the heat. “Yes.”

His long fingers twitched, and a flash of green went over her, cooling her body from head to toe. She sighed with bliss as the heat melted away. But his seidr teased her until she was hyperaware of every part of him that touched her—his shoulder, his thigh, even their feet sat together on the ground.

“Thank you. That’s much better,” she said, her mouth suddenly dry.

His fingers reached up to toy with her necklace as he watched her. His eyes were the darkest blue, like the night sky.

“I would see you as you really are,” he said.

It was madness, but with the way he was looking at her, how could she refuse? Her hands trembled as she removed the necklace. Instantly she felt more comfortable, as though the Asgardian disguise itself raised her body temperature.

He took a lock of her red hair and wrapped it around his finger. “Much better.”

Time stopped. Later she could not say how long they sat there, breathing each other’s breath. Their bodies were drawn together inevitably, the way the moon draws the tide. Angrboda refused to close her eyes. She would see Loki’s face when they kissed for the first time—especially since this first kiss was likely to be their last. His lips were so close she could feel the heat of them—a soft, subtle heat, one that teased without burning.

But then there was a rustling on the path, and a scratching of boots on gravel. A feminine giggle turned into a gasp, and was joined by a man’s murmuring. Angrboda pulled back from Loki, trying to refasten her necklace around her neck, only to drop it. Loki retrieved it and placed it around her neck just as Fandral emerged from the maze, a fair maiden clinging to his arm.

“My Prince,” Fandral said. “And Lady Sigyn. I see you’ve beaten us here. My apologies for the interruption.”

But the moment was ruined, and Angrboda could not bear to stay here in this garden of broken dreams.

“No, we were just leaving,” she said. “Please, don’t go on my account.”

She hurried away, pretending not to hear Loki calling after her.

End Note:

I decided that frost giants would be hot, rather than cold :)

Day 28+ >>

#flufftober2021 #loki x original female character #loki laufeyson #marvel cinematic universe #thor #inmyownlittlecorner5

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scribeofmorpheus · 4 years

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Himmeløyne [10/?]

Pairing: Loki Odinson x Reader

Catch Up Here | Masterlist

Warnings: Is it angsty? Angst??? I don’t know anymore.

A/N: Nothin’ to report Cap’n

Taglist is open! Reblog, comment or leave a like please ☺

~Loki

A flash of vibrant colour blotted out his vision. The bi-frost whirred down. Heimdall and Y/N stood where there was nothing prior.

Loki couldn’t think. Solace, and the comfort it brought his aching heart, rushed through him. His lips moved, whether in curse or in reverence he couldn’t tell. His ears were too hot from the adrenaline.

In an instant, he swooped Y/N into his arms and held her flush to him. “I thought I lost you,” he whispered, intimately just so she could hear. “I thought you ran from me.” Those words held sadness.

“I’m alright,” she reassured him. After a shaky breath, she said more confidently: “Better than alright.”

Something had changed in her. That spark—joyful, curious and youthful—the one that had been leeched from her on Niflheim, was back. Almost. Every fibre of his being wanting to meld together with her for eternity somewhere far away.

Y/N breath hitched, her hands hugging him back with less power. Loki pulled away when he realised they were out in the open, being gawked at by Thor, and Sif and The Warriors Three, and his mother. Most frightening of all was the scowl on Heimdall’s face.

Loki stepped aside, hiding his blush with a feigned cough. Heimdall’s throat made a protective noise.

“Oh, Y/N, you gave me quite the scare, child.” Frigga embraced her as a mother would. Loki noticed how much Y/N leaned into the touch—cherished it.

“Next time, give us a little warning before you disappear,” Sif was the next to hug her. Loki saw that there was genuine worry on her face. Hogun, Volstagg and Fandral impeded upon their near sisterly reunion. Bunching up to form a shield of linked arms.

Thor lit up with a devilish grin when it was his turn to hug her. He lifted her high into the air, his bulging muscles barely doing much work. Thor kept his words short and loud: “Little Stormbringer!”

Y/N laughed.

Loki rolled his eyes.

Suddenly, Heimdall’s expression dropped. He looked to the palace with stone-cold eyes. Then, he excused himself: “There’s something I must…answer for.” Frigga walked with him.

As Y/N was being ushered away by the small band of warriors, Loki slipped her a note before teleporting to their spot; the balcony where he’d first kissed her. He wanted to be alone with her. To revel in her presence without prying eyes.

Loki’s chest was doing cartwheels. His foot jutting from excitement; or was it nervousness. He ran a hand through his hair as he waited to catch Y/N’s scent before she appeared from around a corner. Lavender, something citrusy and a hint of musk—not unpleasant or strong, just…human.

“Loki?” she said his name and his magic threatened to envelop her; to spark across her skin like a static cloud of excitement.

He smiled and looked at her. Her eyes were red from crying.

“What happened?” he asked.

She stuttered, looking at him in a way that told him no one else had asked her why she portal jumped. “I—I found my father.”

Loki’s head lowered. Had it been as I suspected?

“You knew didn’t you?” She peered inquisitive eyes at him. He was surprised to find them without accusation.

He folded his arms over the railing, “I had a hunch. I suppose you pieced together that was the reason for our Game of Fates?”

She hummed a yes.

Loki chuckled, “I never thought, of all the debauchery and merriment that my brother and his band of warriors do, that it’d be Heimdall who’d father an illegitimate child.”

Y/N sucked air in through closed teeth. He realised he offended her some. Curse his scholarly brain and its different ways.

“I didn’t mean it to be an insult,” he clarified. “I just found it—”

“Humorous?” she asked. “You and I both.”

Loki looked at her for the longest moment, her side profile burning into his memories to be kept there forever.

“Did you find any answers where you went?” Loki asked.

“Some. Not all,” a weak smile tugged on her lips. “I have a father now. I mean…I’ve always had one, I just never…”

“Had one,” he said in understanding. Odin, for all his benevolence, was not the most present parental figure in Loki’s childhood.

“There were no signs of life,” she said sadly. “No villagers. Not even the Jotuns that attacked. Simply outlines of things.” After a pause, she looked at him with a curious streak to her expression. “Do gods get sick?”

He refrained from laughing. He hadn’t expected that question. “Yes, we get sick. We grow old and we even die. My kind are only seen as gods by those who live shorter lives. Why do you ask?”

“Heimdall said you had a sickness once, years ago. My great-grandmother was summoned to cure you after a Jotun attack,” Y/N scoffed with no amusement to it. “Seems my family has a long history of entanglements with god-kind.”

Loki frowned, having no recollection of her tale. Perhaps Heimdall remembered it wrong. His mind grew loud with confusion, but then stopped when he heard Y/N sniffle.

“Maybe it was fate,” she took a deep inhale of the playful wind carrying nigh-bloom scents from the vines. “Maybe the destruction of my village was the price of my family’s gifts.”

Loki inched closer towards her. “I promise you, we will find the reason for the attack. I won’t rest until you find some peace,” he swore, genuine and true.

“Why would you do that for me?” She asked, tugging her hair behind her ear. There was no logic behind the move, the wind simply ruffled it again. It was a habit, a beautifully awkward habit. “Am I not just a curious thing to you?” She said those last words with no emotion. Stating it like a fact.

Loki grew angry. More with his past self for being so callous with his explanation in the library.

“You have no idea do you?” He whispered. “Still?”

She narrowed her beautiful eyes, “No idea of?”

He shut his eyes, trying to find stable ground. He told himself he’d wait, hold back after how their last emotional confrontation ended.

Then her hand touched his and Loki’s body grew hot.

She moved in closer, “Loki, why did you ask me here?”

“Forgive me,” he whispered with no remorse.

For what—”

He pulled her flush to his chest again, more hungry with need this time. Inching her body back towards the coldness of the vine-covered walls. His lips crashed over hers fervently. The softness of her mouth was like satin…Loki moaned as he remembered the dream; of her beneath him, in his emerald sheets.

He had to anchor himself—keep himself from losing control. He grabbed onto a vine to have something to pull. She kissed him back, not as hungry, but still willing. That spurred him on. Without thinking it, his hips jutted forward, somehow managing to find an opening between her legs.

She moaned and it sounded deliciously sinful to his ears. By the sacred tree, it sounded better than his dreams. He strained beneath his trousers, vines snapping from his grip when some of her magic spilled into their kiss. It was blissful; an intoxicating mix of fire and sensitivity. Through their intertwined magics, Loki could feel her straining for him too—beneath her clothes.

He moaned and angled her head so he could deepen their kiss. Then, out of breath, he demanded of her: “Never leave my side again.”

“Loki…” she tried to get a word in. He didn’t want to lose this moment to words. “Loki, wait.”

He clenched his jaw, blown pupils taking in her deliciously lewd look; heavy eyelids, flush cheeks, rustled hair tangling in the vines, slick and full lips.

“We can’t,” she placed a hand on his chest.

He scoffed at her words, “I’m a prince of Asgard, we can damn well do whatever we please, pet.”

She shuddered from the sound of her new pet-name. Loki smirked.

“Your father,” she protested.

Loki’s hand found its way to the small of her back, “My father should be the last person on your mind right now.”

The boots of a guard echoed from down the hallway. Y/N’s grew wide from fear of discovery. Loki on the other hand found excitement.

His hips jutted again, this time she bit her lip to keep her moan silent. Her magic snaked off her fingertips and travelled into him again. This time the energy found its way to his hardening member and Loki stifled his throaty moan with another kiss. A strange tingle travelling through his body from the residual effects. When he opened his eyes, the skin on his fingers hand flashed into and out of a familiar blue colour.

Loki knit his eyebrows, his mind churning with the mechanisms of thought.

“In the library, why did you ask about portal magic?” He placed his hands on her cheeks so she could look him in the eye.

Y/N was still flustered, still in the euphoria of the moment.

“Y/N, focus for me, it’s important,” he steeled his gaze and she swallowed loudly.

“I—I thought that the Jotuns had tracked your magic, like how your mother and Heimdall managed to open a portal to retrieve us from Niflheim. But that magic only works if you know the signature of the caster.”

“And how would the Jotuns know to look for my signature.” It wasn’t a question, but a realisation.

Was our encounter completely by chance? He questioned himself. Was I always fated to be drawn to her? He looked at Y/N’s face. He had no explanation to give. And above all, he had no right to be near her. Was it truly curiosity?

“What’s wrong?” she asked, but Loki could barely hear her. His mind was far away.

He looked down at his hands, remembering both instances when Y/N’s magic had turned them blue. Remembering the weirdly powerful magical pull he felt towards her in the forest. Remembering how the Jotuns only attacked after he went to Midgard. His mind suddenly snapped him somewhere else.

He stumbled before gathering his wits. He was in the library. With a wave of his hand, several books began flying off the shelf towards the table. Pages rustling so loud it sounded like an avalanche.

Frigga’s magic tried to connect with his. No doubt she sensed something astray. He blocked her off completely. Sealing himself inside the library.

Over and over again, he muttered to himself: “It’s my fault.”

#loki #loki x reader #loki x you #loki imagine #loki odinson #loki mcu #thor #sif #Warriors Three #odin #tom hiddelston imagine

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lokislittlesigyn · 3 years

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OG616 : Thor 1 - Pt.4 [A New King]

[My masterlist, where all parts of this and my other fics can be found]

Pairing: Loki / Sigyn (basically an oc based off the marvel/myth namesake)

Warnings: Angst? Maybe?

Author’s Note:

Taglist: @high-functioning-lokipath

To be added to the taglist, just ask me here or send a message! <3 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I'm going to find Sif." Sigyn clipped a short dark brown cloak around her shoulders. She was dressed in her regular clothes, now – sapphire and silver, dyed leathers mixed with comfortable, woven fabric. Like Lady Sif, she usually wore pants rather than dresses - but while Sif did so for flexibility in battle, Sigyn preferred it mainly for horseback riding. And it showed: her attire had hardly any metal on it, more breathable and adjustable than most armors. She smirked approvingly at her reflection before turning to Loki.

Loki nodded an understanding. He was still on the balcony. Staring out over the city, as though glued there, tethered there by some unseen force. She wasn't even sure he'd eaten yet.

She walked closer to him. Stopped a few paces behind, and waited.

"...Loki, are you all right?"

"I’m fine."

He didn't sound fine.

But she figured he was just as scared as she was, just as concerned. After all, their entire world had changed in a day.

Perhaps he needed more time. Time to mull over things, to process. He was always an introspective sort of person.

"I'll be careful."

Another nod.

Give him time.

Sigyn glanced at him once more on her way out.

~~~~

As she made her way through the castle, following a guard's guide of where the Warriors Three were resting, Sigyn thought to herself.

If Laufey truly meant his declaration of war, the Frost Giants would be here by now. They would already send war bands. Heimdall would see them, she assured herself, quickening her pace. They must still think Thor is still here. And they don't know about Odin... They have no reason to believe we're vulnerable.

She straightened up.

If we act wisely, we can avoid war. But first, we have to bring Thor home.

Sigyn reached a set of large gold doors. The guards in front of it stepped aside, allowed her to enter.

"It still stings a bit…"

"You've had worse, my friend."

"Believe it or not, Volstagg, being impaled on ice rather hurts."

“Who would have thought?” Sigyn stepped into the healing room. It was a comfortable, enclosed space with a fire in the center. Clearly, they had been here before – their wounds mostly mended, now only needing a checkup. The warriors turned to her.

"Ah, my beautiful Sigyn..." Fandral practically jumped up to greet her, kissing her hand with a wink. “Come to see me, have you?” She noticed the wrapping still around his otherwise bare torso. He caught her eye and shrugged playfully.

"Now he feels better.." Sif snorted.

“No, Fandral...” Sigyn smiled. The Warriors Three - and Lady Sif - had always felt like family to her, ever since she spent more time in the palace. They certainly joked like family. “I was rather hoping you could explain what happened yesterday.”

The room went quiet.

"Loki has been remarkably silent, even for him. What little he has said is far from good news. I'm worried."

"Well," Volstagg shifted in his seat, "What do you want to know?"

Sigyn took a seat across from Sif. Fandral joined her.

"Did anything happen to Loki, while you were away? He hasn’t been himself lately."

Sif shook her head, "Not that I saw. Though we were in the heat of battle... We may not have noticed."

"A bit of his armor was damaged," Fandral glanced at Sigyn, "But no. He wasn't hurt. He seemed remarkably untouched."

Volstagg nodded. "But it's not like Loki to get jostled in battle, now, is it?"

Fandral chuckled. "Doesn't want to ruin his hair."

"You're one to talk." Sif smirked at him.

"Where was Thor banished to?" Sigyn pressed.

"We don't know." Sif swallowed. "Allfather Odin demanded we leave the Bifrost before he was banished... And we had wounds to tend."

"Was Loki with you?"

"No. He stayed while Odin and Thor.. Talked."

Sigyn felt the breath leave her chest. "..He lied." She stood, clenching her jaw.

"…Well, that is one of his defining traits," Fandral settled into his seat.

"No, he told me he didn't know where Thor was. He lied. Oh, Loki, what is wrong with you?" She started toward the door, but Sif spoke.

"Sigyn - if there is any way to bring Thor back…" The warrior was standing, watching her with pleading eyes.

Sigyn paused, let out a deep breath. "I hope there is. But we can't do anything until we know where he is."

~~~~

On the way back to her quarters, Sigyn asked palace guards if they had any idea where Thor may be, or how Odin fell into the Odinsleep. None knew.

She re-entered her room. "Loki, I need to speak-"

Loki was gone.

Of course he was gone.

"Perfect."

"Is something wrong, Princess?" A guard peered around the door.

"Where is my husband?"

"Prince Loki has gone to the Allfather."

"Thank you." Sigyn made her way to the Allfather's room.

Act wisely and we'll avoid war... She huffed. We're off to a magnificent start, now Loki's lying to me. She pursed her lips. Don't assume anything. Give him a chance to explain. He deserves a chance to explain.

She reached the Allfather's room, stepping in to find Frigga, still at Odin's bedside.

"He's just left." Frigga stroked Odin's hand, speaking with her eyes still trained on him. She had a way of knowing just what people wanted.

Sigyn let out an audible sigh. "Just marvelous..."

Frigga smiled, turning to her. "You'll find him in the throne room."

"Throne room..?"

Frigga nodded at Sigyn. "The throne room."

With a slight huff, Sigyn turned and left, and broke into a sprint. A few passersby shot her looks as she ran past them, but she hardly cared. She was more concerned with finding Loki.

Throne room.

Why would Loki be in the throne room? He was a prince; princes hardly belonged there. Unless...

As she neared the throne room, she heard voices.

She turned the corner and - "Ah!" - Nearly collided with Volstagg.

"Whoa, you must be more careful, Princess." He steadied her shoulders, keeping her from falling over. She smiled in thanks, still breathing heavily.

"My apologies, sorry.."

"In a hurry to see your beloved?" Fandral stepped up beside Volstagg.

"Actually I was. Frigga said he was here."

"Oh, he's definitely here." There was an air of spite in Fandral's voice.

Sigyn paused. Even Fandral didn't despise Loki that much. "What's going on?"

"See for yourself." Sif passed by, giving a slight nod as she did.

Sigyn furrowed her brow when they left, then entered the throne room.

She froze.

Loki.

Loki was there.

Standing tall, clad in his full armor and holding Gungnir. He looked imposing. Regal. Kingly.

When did this happen?

She inched forward, astonished.

"You're allowed to speak, Sigyn." Loki straightened up, but his gaze was soft.

Sigyn now stood before him, mouth slightly agape, still staring at him.

"Did you plan on telling me about this?"

Loki smiled. "Actually, a guard was on his way to bring you here."

Sigyn nodded, adjusting to the sight of Loki as king. Loki as king. She swallowed.

".. Loki, I need to speak with you."

"Clearly."

"Why did you lie about Thor?"

His jaw stiffened. "I couldn't tell you."

"Why?"

Loki paused a moment… "Because if I told you, you would go after him."

Sigyn's cheeks turned a slight pink. "I.. Would not necessarily-"

"Oh, I think you would."

She shifted her weight. "I'm only trying to help."

"Even if you were to find Thor, you couldn't help him. He's on his own."

"And what of Odin? Of the Frost Giants? If they make it back into Asgard, if they find out our eldest prince and our king are powerless to defend us, they could-"

"Silence."

Sigyn shrank back, folding her hands.

"Odin will rest until he is restored. The Frost Giants have no knowledge of him nor Thor. And I am king, now."

They watched each other, each waiting for the other's move.

Sigyn broke the silence, never breaking eye contact with Loki. "Very well. Guard, have Villieldr saddled."

"Stay here, Einherjar." Loki turned to the guard, who remained at his post, then looked back at Sigyn.

Sigyn clenched her jaw. "I-"

"I am your king, Sigyn," He spoke with intent, lowering his head slightly, "And as your king, I order you to remain within the palace. Understood?"

She stepped back, fidgeting her hands. He never spoke like that to her. He hardly even raised his voice at her.

He's scared. His father and his brother are practically gone. He's carrying the burden of the throne now. The burden of the entire realm.

Just listen to him.

".. Yes, my king," She bowed, "As you wish."

Loki turned, cape sweeping after him, returning to his throne. He sat, watching her as she left.

~~~~

Sigyn stayed in the palace, as Loki ordered. She sat in a chair – one of a pair in their room, next to a table they set books on. But she hardly felt like reading. She had hoped to ride down to the Bifrost and ask Heimdall where Thor was, demand someone give her answers, but of course, Loki forbade it.

And he was her husband.

And her king.

This wasn't like times before, where she'd sneaked off before the sun rose, saddled her horse, and galloped off to explore the forest. Loki wouldn't follow her like he used to, laughing and calling for her, telling her how she should at least eat breakfast before going on adventures.

She wasn't sure Loki would laugh much anymore.

With a gentle sigh, she wiped a strand of hair back from her face. There was nothing more to do. Even if Frigga knew where Thor was, Sigyn couldn't change anything. She tapped her foot in annoyance.

Her only option was to wait.

Finally surrendering, she grabbed a book and took it out to the balcony. Opened it. The pages were covered in sketches, wispy drawings of various objects and people.

Her helmet. A wine goblet. A fire pit. Sif's sword. Mjolnir. Loki's daggers.

She turned more pages.

Villieldr, her beloved horse. Odin's horse Sleipnir. An Einherjar. Frigga.

Another page.

Loki.

She paused.

Loki, asleep on a quiet afternoon. Loki, deeply focused on perfecting a spell. Sharpening his daggers. Reading. Grinning after a particularly skilled trick.

She ran her fingers down the page, tracing his jawline with her fingertips. She heard footsteps, with a third beat accompanying them, then the soft clink of metal on the table. Someone stepped onto the balcony.

".. I thought you'd be in our room."

Sigyn lifted her head, snapping the book shut.

Don't mistreat him just because you're hurt. Don't make the wrong choice.

"I was. For a time. But then I wanted some fresh air."

Loki stopped next to her.

"Don't think I'm punishing you by keeping you here. I'm trying to keep you safe."

"I don't think that."

Loki hummed an understanding, turning to the city.

Sigyn joined him. Shifted her weight. "When were you crowned?"

"Today. Mother gave me Gungnir. I'm to act as king until Odin wakes."

"...I'm sorry, Loki."

He turned to her, his brow furrowed.

"I'm sorry all this has happened," She looked at him.

He swallowed.

"Loki, I," She stepped closer, "I can't imagine the pressure you're under. Everything that's happened in so short a time, everything that might happen.."

His expression didn't change. He just watched her. Silent. Waiting.

Please talk to me.

Please.

"If you need me… For anything, please, just say something. We can't lose each other." She blinked, swallowing hard.

Be strong. Be strong for him. He needs you.

Loki took a step back. He opened his mouth to speak, but shut it, taking another step away and turning back to the city.

Sigyn waited. She watched him, internally begging him to say something. Anything. Even if it hurt...

Nothing.

Then a noise from the distance. Flashing lights. The Bifrost had been activated.

Sigyn could feel Loki tense next to her. By the time she turned to him, he was already leaving.

I love you, Loki.

The door shut behind him.

I love you so much. Even if you stop loving me.

#lokixsigyn #loki fanfic #logyn #OG616 #Thor1

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avengerscompound · 4 years

Text

The Tower: The Queen of Asgard - 17

The Tower: The Queen of Asgard An Avengers Fanfic

Series Masterlist PREVIOUS //

Pairing: Avengers x OFC, Bruce Banner x Bucky Barnes x Clint Barton x Wanda Maximoff x Steve Rogers x Natasha Romanoff x Tony Stark x Thor x Sam Wilson x OFC (Elly Cooper)

Word Count: 2377

Warnings: Mentions of violence, death, and sex. Injuries.

Synopsis: The twins are now three and while the Avengers know that Clint and Thor are the biological father’s none of them know or care which blond, blue-eyed baby is related to which man. When Riley gets the power to control wind and it becomes evident that she is the heir to the Asgardian throne, Elly, Steve, Thor, and Tony take the twins to Asgard to train her.

Not every Asgardian is happy with their king’s choice of consort, nor the impurity of the heir’s blood. While others expect Thor to make things more official. What’s clear is, the role of Queen of Asgard is not easily filled.

Author’s Note: Written with the fert mother @fanficwriter013

Chapter 17: The Fight for His Life

Thor was still sleeping soundly with his head on my lap and his daughter draped over him with her mouth hanging open as she slept along with him when Natasha returned. She still looked a little stressed and no one really said anything while she helped herself to food from the carts. She sat down next to Wanda and started to eat.

“Looks like Pietro is asleep.” She said gesturing to Pietro who had started to sag over Clint’s head as he sat on his shoulders.

“I’ve got him,” Steve said, going over and gathering him up in his arms. He came past Thor and scooped up Riley too and took both the kids to their room. Thor stirred when Riley was taken off him and sat up stretching.

“What time is it?” He asked.

“Almost time,” Loki replied. “You should go and prepare.”

He nodded and stood, heading into the bedroom. I hugged myself as I watched him and looked for a topic to talk about that might take my mind off it.

“Bucky’s still punching things?” I asked.

Natasha nodded. “I tried to get him to come back, but he wasn’t listening.”

“Why’s he so upset? I would have thought this was a good thing. It might mean he gets to keep us.” I said.

She took a deep breath and chewed slowly on her food before swallowing. “I think it’s like the arm. He had this obvious solution to a problem that had been plaguing him but he never thought about it. Now here he had a solution to something huge and he’s upset it was never offered to him.”

“It’s not like we knew though,” I said.

“I guess he just thinks it should have been looked into. That Thor was just sitting on this knowledge.” Natasha said.

“That’s not what happened,” I said. “Thor didn’t know and what? Now he has to go into a fight to the death thinking Bucky hates him?”

“What I can’t be angry at someone I love?” Bucky snapped. I jumped and turned in my chair. He was standing in the door scowling, while Volstagg stood behind him.

“You can keep it to yourself until he comes back safe, Buck,” I said, frowning. “You’ll only be angrier with yourself if this is what you hold onto and it ends up being the last time you see him.”

Bucky came inside and folded his arms over his chest. “I’m going to be there.”

“Yeah, because watching him die while you’re pissed at him is going to make it better.” I scoffed.

“He’s not going to die, Elise.”

“You don’t know that, Bucky. Chances are in his favor. But none of us know what’s going to happen until it happens and I don’t want anyone here saying horrible things and feeling that way when he goes into this. Because his feeling guilty isn’t going to make it easier for him.” I snapped, turning in the chair to look at him. “And if he doesn’t come out, you’ll hate yourself. You know you will. You’ll hate yourself for holding on to that. You want to bond with Thor, don’t you? Tell him. Tell him that’s what you want. Don’t be angry it hasn’t happened yet. Be happy that it can now.”

“Well, of course, I want to bond,” Bucky said, running his hands through his hair. “It’d give me an end to my life that I don’t know for sure is gonna happen.”

“Is that the only reason you want to?”

He dropped his eyes and shook his head. “No.”

“So tell him. Tell him so he doesn’t go into that arena thinking he ruined things.” I implored, a tear rolling down my cheek. “Tell him in case you lose him and never get another chance to say it.”

Bucky sighed and gave a nod. “Where is he?”

I pointed to his room and Bucky shoved his hands in his pockets and huffed off in that direction.

Steve returned from putting the kids down and a little after him, Bucky and Thor came out. Thor was dressed in armor and his winged helmet. Mjolnir was clutched in his hand, as Bucky walked beside him. Loki stood. “It is time, brother.”

I jumped up and ran over to him, wrapping my arms around his waist and burying my face in his chest. “I love you.” I murmured against him.

He rubbed my back and nuzzled into my hair. “I love you too. I will return.”

“Which of you will be attending?” Loki asked.

“I’m coming,” Steve said, standing.

“Yeah, me too,” Clint said standing up.

“Yeah, I hate it,” Sam said, getting to his feet. “But I’m going to support my beefy boyfriend. One of my many beefy boyfriends.”

“The rest of you, please take care of each other and the children,” Thor said.

“Don’t worry,” Natasha said. “We have the heaviest hitters here.”

“Good,” Thor said and gently pried me away from him. “I’ll be back soon. It should only be an hour.”

I swallowed and nodded. “Good luck.”

“I don’t need it,” he said and kissed my cheek. “But thank you.”

Thor looked over at Sif. “I’ll stay here,” she said and looked over at the warrior three. “One of you three idiots will have to stay for the children too.”

Fandral made a sweeping bow. “I shall be your idiot.”

“How will you pull yourself away from your sometimes darling?” Sif teased. “Or are you two in a spat?”

“My goodness, Lady Sif. You do like living on the edge.” Fandral shot back. Sif shrugged. “Good luck, Thor. We shall celebrate upon your victory.”

“Yes, a huge feast. Bottomless ale.” Thor said as the group headed out.

I sunk down into the couch and started picking at my nails. Wanda took my hands. “Stop that. Smell the nice Wanda hair.” I sighed and nuzzled into her hair and inhaled deeply. “You could braid the nice Wanda hair if you like.”

“Okay,” I said sitting back.

“Okay?” Wanda said turning so her back was to me. “Yay.”

I started carefully teasing her hair into sections and twisting them together. It was actually a nice meditative action. Plus it kept my hands busy.

“So an hour, Sif?” Natasha asked.

“At least,” Sif answered. “No more than two. Most of it will be ceremony though.”

I felt myself tensing up and my heart began to pound. Wanda sent me a wave of warm energy, instantly making me relax. “Thank you, beautiful.” I hummed and finished up her hair. “There you go.”

She snuggled back in against me, but I kept looking up at the door like I expected someone to come in with bad news. I couldn’t quite relax and my head wouldn’t let go of the worst outcome.

“It’s going to be fine, El,” Natasha said. “Don’t make me come over there with this weird tofu stuff.”

“What are you gonna do? Choke me with it?” I asked.

She smirked. “I might.”

I looked over at Bruce. He was wringing his hands compulsively and his eyes kept flicking around the room. There was the faintest ting of green around his neck too.

“How are you doing, B?” I asked.

“I’m here.” He answered, his voice strained.

“Come have some cuddles,” I said.

He shook his head. “He’s right here.”

“He likes cuddles,” I said. “It’ll help.”

Bruce gestured to Fandral and Sif. “They don’t know him. He doesn’t know them.”

“Forget about them. They’re not going to provoke him.” I said patting the free space next to me. “He knows me.”

Bruce took a deep breath and moved over to sit beside me. I reached up and ran my fingers through the back of his hair. He shivered a little and lay down curling up with his head in my lap.

“I know you’re both scared. It’s probably good he’s ready if we need him.” I said.

Bruce made a small noise and I leaned down and kissed his temple and went back to stroking his hair.

We sat quietly for a little while. Wanda playing with my hair while I played with Bruce’s. Natasha finished eating and sat back with her feet on the coffee table. “So who have you been assigned to?” She asked Fandral.

“In general?” Fandral asked. Natasha gave a curt nod. “It changes. I usually stay with the children. Despite what the Lady Sif would have you believe.”

“And what do you do with my kids?” She asked.

“Mostly I stand by the door so that none enter or leave without clearance. When they are in Loki’s care I will play with the princess to keep her entertained when she loses interest in Loki’s books. When the princess had her lesson with Thor, I was teaching the little prince to ride.” Fandral explained.

Natasha made a tch noise and tapped her foot on the edge of the coffee table. “What makes you qualified to take care of my kids?”

Fandral shrugged. “I’m not sure I am. But I grew up with Thor and he trusts me. I think that’s the thing he’s most concerned about now.”

“Yeah, well. I’m not so sure about that.” Natasha scowled.

I laughed. “He’s fine, Nat. Both the kids like him. I like him. Thor likes him. He’s probably the only person other than the kids Loki can stand being around for more than an hour.”

“They’re not doing anything inappropriate in front of my children are they?” Natasha asked.

I chuckled and shook my head. “They barely even talk to each other in front of the kids. Going off how they interact in public, you’d think they weren’t doing anything inappropriate behind closed doors either.”

“How dare you, your highness? I assure you we do many inappropriate things behind closed doors.” He teased, feigning offense. He then stopped and looked at me seriously. “Please don’t tell Loki I said that.”

Natasha looked him over again. “Okay. You have permission to watch my children.”

Fandral bowed. “Thank you, my lady.”

The room fell silent again. The longer the others were gone, the thicker the tension in the room got. Natasha started tapping her foot in an erratic pattern on the coffee table, and Bruce got tenser and tenser, the green creeping up his neck until he sat up and started wringing his hands again.

“I hope it’s over soon,” I said, rubbing my eyes with the balls of my hands.

“It is.”

I spun to see Loki holding the door open. Thor limped in behind him. He was covered in blood with a few obvious cuts. One above his eye and some on his arms.

I jumped up and rushed over to him, putting my hands on his chest as I looked him over. “Oh my god, look at you!”

“It is but a scratch, my queen,” Thor said as the others filed into the room behind him.

“It doesn’t look like a scratch,” I said. “Do we have something to clean you up with?”

“Mead will do the trick,” Thor answered.

Fandral poured him a cup and pressed it into Thor’s hand. “Here you are, friend.”

Thor took a long drink and pulled me close. “That should have shut down the opposition.”

I melted in against him, pressing my face against his armor.

“Really, El?” Natasha scolded. “Make him take a bath first.”

I didn’t move and just made a noncommittal grunt as Thor drained the last of the mead in his cup. “He’s covered in blood Elise,” Natasha said.

I pulled back and looked up at him. “Let’s clean you up.”

“I’d advise against walking on that ankle,” Loki said. “It’s clearly broken. He should see a healer really.”

“It’s against the rules,” Thor said.

“It is not,” Loki scoffed. “Stop being bullheaded.”

“They’re making me jump through so many hoops. I don’t want to do anything that makes them doubt me again.” Thor said.

“Okay. Alright. Let’s get you to a bath. Bruce, Sam? One of you can set the ankle, right?” I asked.

Bruce growled softly. “Yes.”

“Yeah. No problem.” Sam agreed.

“Okay. Can someone bigger than me help Thor to the bathroom? I’ll go fill the tub.” I said.

Bucky and Steve moved to either side of Thor and put his arms around his shoulders. They supported him into the bathroom and started to strip him of his armor as I filled the tub with hot water and added a blend of healing and relaxing salts and herbs to the water.

“Okay, into the water,” I said when Thor was naked.

“Yes, mea vita,” Thor said, sinking down into the water.

I stripped down to my underwear and sat on the side of the tub behind him with my feet in the water and began to rinse out his hair. “This will stop the insurrection?”

“Yes. It should.” Thor said. “Elder Vasnor was the head of it all.”

“Good,” I said as I began to wash his hair. I checked his scalp for cuts and then rinsed out his hair.

“I’m fine,” Thor assured me.

I moved in the tub and began to wash his body, checking the cuts for severity. “You don’t have to pretend with me.”

“I’m not pretending.”

I ran my hand down to his swollen ankle. “I think Loki is right. This seems to be broken.”

“I’ve had worse.”

“That doesn’t make this not bad, Thor,” I said and sunk down into the water between his legs. “You fought. You won. You are very strong. We can all see it. Do you think for just tonight, you’ll let us take care of you?”

Thor let out a breath. “Okay.”

“Thank you,” I said and leaned over and kissed him gently. “Alright, soak. There are a few larger cuts that need dressing. Sam or Bruce can do that and set your ankle. Then you can stop letting us fuss and celebrate your win.”

“Thank you, carissima.” He said, caressing my jaw. I leaned my forehead against his and he wrapped his arms around me pulling me close to him. “We will be okay, my life. I promise.”

I nodded and attempted to relax in his arms, hoping that he was right.

// NEXT

155 notes · View notes

imagine-loki · 4 years

Text

Stubborn Independence

TITLE: Stubborn Independence

CHAPTER NO./ONE SHOT: 1/10

AUTHOR: brightsun-and-darkmidnight

ORIGINAL IMAGINE:

Imagine Loki struggling to adjust to someone who is independent and insists on paying for themselves all the time, even if it is a struggle sometimes. They need to do everything on their own. They never ask for help and refuse help. Just imagine Loki really wanting to spoil this person. Imagine how creative he would get to make life easier on this person who has captivated him.

Imagine being a talented singer at your local club. Loki comes in one night with Thor and the others (he’d rather be anywhere else but who turns down free drinks?) and gets ensnared in the voice of the beautiful singer on stage. Suddenly, his interest (and arousal) are more than piqued.

Imagine getting into a petty fight with Loki, so in retaliation, he puts everything on the top shelf where you can’t reach?

AUTHOR’S NOTES: College AU. Loki is determined to take over Odin’s company. He works hard and has a strict schedule for success. However, with the interference of Thor and the other four, Loki’s plans are often interrupted so they can play matchmaker.

My Ao3: brightsun_and_darkmidnight

~ ~ ENJOY ~ ~

Fandral smiled brightly with a loud laugh and in a desperate time to prove him wrong, Loki looked at his schedule with a smart remark on his tongue. Loki’s smile disappeared quickly. Damn. He did have the same class as Fandral.

Fandral smiled that bright smile and then winked to the side and Loki heard the high pitched giggles of flirting women, “Shall we walk together when classes start next week? Perhaps I could get you a date this year?”

With an eye roll and voice laced with sarcasm Loki replied, “yes because I want help from you."

Sif held her hand out to Loki for his schedule. Thor insisted earlier she could mark where everyone would be this semester for easy communication. So, unwillingly Loki handed it to her knowing he was sentencing himself to public outings instead of the comfort of his room with books. He pondered if he should get out of those outings or try to get out of his room. Perhaps he would meet someone, or a few people, to hang out with instead of his brother during meal times.

Thor clapped Loki’s back, "this is going to be the time of our lives. College is full of possibilities. Last year was such a great time for the five of us! There were plenty of people I met! Last year all you did in your free time was study. Lighten up Brother, and develop friendships.”

Siff spoke up after scribbling on schedules, “Or he could get the best grades, and the honors scholarship for extra money.” Sif gave Thor a raised eyebrow after he chuckled, then she shrugged going back to scribbling. She muttered, “graduate top class and make more money than you. Support himself and whoever stumbles into his life.”

Valstagg’s boisterous laughter caught everyone’s attention until his eyes darted in the direction of a food truck. He mumbled, “That would be quite the stumble for Loki to notice.”

Hogun’s lip twitches a smidge as he looked at the schedules with Siff and marking them. Loki’s schedule was back and he looked it over. He had the 8am class with Thor and knew the idiot would miss too much class from the way Thor groaned over a class first thing on a Monday. Loki had the damn extracurricular art class that Fandral was also in.

Loki was excited for art class because he practiced occasionally by drawing what he imagined a scene looked like from his leisure readings. Although Loki was terrible at drawing realistic details, nothing stopped him from trying. This class filled a block in his major which further helped him decide to pursue some knowledge for his little hobby. No one would ever see such things due to drawing being a secret… well, for now anyway. Fandral was likely to tell everyone of his poor skills once their shared classroom of a three hour long session two times a week.

Fandral inquired, “so…Sif are we going to come to your dorm room for lunch?”

Sif smirked, “the invitation goes to everyone but you.”

“How cruel to keep me away from the sight of your beautiful dorm mate.”

Loki turned as he claimed he would see them later. Loki strolled to the dinning hall. It was a typical day; annoying brother and his friends, people all around him talking animatedly with others, some more intimately touching with the hold of hands or lips locked together. Loki tore his gaze from those people and observed where he was, and why he was there and NOT for some romantic adventure.

The buildings seemingly new due to constant cleaning and repairs. The pathways that seemed to be expanding due to hurried people walking beside the sidewalk trying not to be late. His night owl of a brother for example was always in a rush and did not go with the pace of everyone else. Otherwise, the grass was perfectly manicured. There were areas for decorative flowers, bushes, as well as well placed trees.

Individuals gathered under trees seeking some comfort in the cooler shade. Loki glanced upwards to the sky that was currently cloudy. Then the sun shone thus pouring warmth onto him and momentarily blinding him.

Loki was sure he somehow ran into something but with a curse word flying out of someone’s mouth realization struck instantly this was not an object. Loki instinctively held his hands out to catch the person. Short hair in blended layers caught the sunlight in wonderful variations of browns. The hair seemed to flow slowly as Loki hastily pulled the person closer to prevent a fall. Warm leather in his hands that helped with the grasp. Once stabilized Loki glanced down and noticed the petite and plus size girl in his grasp.

Her eyes were shielded by huge sunglasses, her full cheeks framed by hair placed perfectly, except for a few strands dancing near her lips. A full lower lip pressed to her thin upper one as she pushed out of his grasp.

The trance seemed to end as Loki watched the girl pick up her phone. The glistening pieces around the device let Loki know instantly the screen was shattered. The woman ran her fingers through her hair and Loki was convinced that must be how her hair was supposed to be due to it looking better than before. Her eyebrows angled as she tapped on the phone and it seemed to be working.

Loki had money to replace her phone, even get his which was the newest model of over a thousand dollars. His parents had money due to his father, Odin, owning a software corporation that was supposed to be handed down to either Thor or Loki. Of course depending on who learned the most in college from their business majors. Loki actually had plenty of money he earned himself due to taking a position to work in his father’s business, a branch closest to the campus in an attempt to learn more. To inherit the corporation was the goal and was the reason he spent too much time in his room, practicing programming for his second major in computer science.

Loki quickly replied as soon as it registered, “I am sorry. I didn’t-”

The woman’s face turned to his with lightning speed and her lips parted with a harsh tone, “if you say you didn’t see me because I am short I will bring you down to my level with a punch to your gut.”

Loki blinked and finally noticed how short the woman was. He estimated a little over a foot smaller than himself due to him being able to rest his arm on her head easily, if he were to even attempt it. However with the fiery look he was getting, Loki stammered, “I can get you a new phone. Any phone you want.”

The woman was already tapping on her phone quickly as if sending a text. A few strands of her hair danced in her face but she seemed to ignore it. Loki however, needed to push back a single hair back in place to maintain his professional and clean appearance. Loki was not sure if she was ignoring him or not and he absentmindedly cleared his throat.

The dark haired woman placed her phone in a pocket, ran her other hand through her hair that parted in a different way..that was visually satisfactory as well. Her leather jacket protesting with sounds of attempts to stretch as she crossed her arms. Her eyebrows rose above her glasses and her bottom lip pressed to the thinner one. She seems to be annoyed, arguably she had every reason to have that right. She said nothing, nor did she make any attempt to even try to speak.

Loki wasn’t sure if this little ball of fire even heard a word he said. He spoke again as he took a small writing tablet from his inner coat pocket, “here is my information, we could meet later and you can pick out any phone you wish. There is a business not far from here that I work at-”

A casual, but with irritation mixed, voice spoke, “Not interested. I have the insurance on this one to have it replaced.”

Loki glanced up but did not see her. He turned and she was already walking away, quickly. Loki took long strides to her as he handed the woman the paper with his name, number, and location information to meet. The woman took the paper and seemed to be looking at it with a tilt of her head towards the paper but Loki already seen her eyelashes high up due to her obviously looking at the path she was on. The woman did nothing to stop her quick pace that Loki’s long legs easily kept up with.

As she crumpled up the paper and threw it in the recycling bin she spoke, “Thanks for the offer but I will pass.”

Loki’s eyebrows furrowed, “pardon?”

The small woman stopped as she replaced the sunglasses to her head. “Can you see now that I don’t want your help?”

Big eyes that were sharp and harsh with angled eyebrows. Eyelashes so thick they seemed to cast their own shadows among her face. Bright green eyes with flecks of dark brown and an inner iris of honey gold that stemmed into the outer green.

“You just cost me a ton of work to replace a dumbass phone. Nice work by the way to try to get me to call you. Clever plan, but it’s not something I fall for.”

“If you would let me help-”

The woman interrupted him, again with a scoff.

All Loki wanted to do was help her. Atleast to replace what he had broken. Everyone else would jump at the latest phone with the best camera and larger screen. Top notch software that had lighting quick responses. A phone that stored everything for Loki; His contacts, everything in his calendar, personal alarms for daily routines, apps that helped with maintaining his body physique, and importantly he had access to the school web pages for homework-In conclusion, Loki’s phone was his life.

Loki tries again for a chance to talk quickly.

She waved her hands, palms to him and waved them with her head down, “Uh huh. Nope. Go try to woo someone else with your good looks of, ‘tall, dark, and handsome.’” Her eyes met his as her hands gestured to him and her eyes skimmed over him briefly with the burning rage behind them. “There are a ton of people out there to fall for someone to take care of them with your fancy handwriting that obviously comes from a prestigious schooling. As well as your expensive clothes.”

Loki’s mouth parted and then shut firmly. “You make accusations based on nothing but a few things. Maybe you should try not to judge a book by its cover.”

She rose an eyebrow, “how? Over dinner while playing some Q and A?”

Loki rose his eyebrows in shock and his mouth parted slightly. Loki did not miss a chance though, “If it could even things out. Perhaps.”

She scoffed and put her glasses back in place over her eyes, “I would pay for myself anyway.”

Loki gesture between them before she would turn, “You think that would make this even?”

“How about you just read my lips and understand you don’t owe me anything.” Her eyebrows rose over the glasses with a forced smile, “we good now?”

Loki stared at the woman in disbelief. “If you insist everything is ok but-”

The woman replied with a curt nod and side smile, “Everything is great. Try to have a good day.”

Loki looked elsewhere not believing he was going to let her leave, “I wish you well and give many apologies.”

The woman turned when her phone went off, “I have to go. Bye.” She did not look back but greeted the person on the other line with a happy melodic, “hel~lo! Sorry I am late. I bumped into someone.”

Loki raised an eyebrow at the odd change but paid no attention to it as he went to the dining hall for food. Loki was going to enjoy some of his remaining free time with a large serving of sweets before returning to his room in solitude before Thor, Fandral, and Hogun returned to their combined space. Loki thanked the school for having the set up of separate bedrooms, however cursed the common small kitchen and livingroom that he had to walk through to use one of the bathrooms.

They would always try to get him to join in their “fun” of watching each other play a fighting game while they drank energy drinks. Hogun would go to bed at a reasonable time but the other two would stay up talking loudly about the damn game until they went out to a bar.

Sometimes Loki would join in a few games of cards just to take some of their money. It got to the point where everyone agreed to use just change instead of dollar bills.

Loki smirked as he remembered to take the vase full of coins to the change machine, “Idiots…”

Loki ate alone and no one bothered him either. He did watch as others around him talking cheerfully. A friend might be nice to spend some time with once in a while. However, Loki’s phone buzzing in his pocket with his schedule alarm to start practicing programming made him remember he was not there for companionship. He was at college to get an education.

Loki picked up after himself and walked swiftly to his dormitory, swiped his ID card to get through doors and finally his pin password for his shared space with the others. Loki stomach sunk when the lights were still off and no one was there. He noted the feeling as odd while he walked in a daze to his room. He shut his bedroom door off to the rest of the world and readied himself for an hour of programming.

Loki programmed for about an hour and a half to figure out something new he stumbled onto. Loki needed a shower. Something about programming made him feel dirty, uncomfortable, and needing to feel fresh again. Loki’s cursed phone rang for the third time since he was getting ready to relax with a book. The most annoying sound he had on his phone was Thor’s ringtone. Loki purposely hit the end button to hang up and force the call to his mailbox. Grabbing a book and sitting in his comfortable desk chair Loki’s daily peace began.

#Loki #Lover #Angst #God of Mischief #Submitted fic #submission #stubborn indepence #chapter 1 #brightsun-and-darkmidnight

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brightsun-and-darkmidnight · 4 years

Text

Stubborn Independence

TITLE: Stubborn Independence

CHAPTER NO./ONE SHOT: 1/10

AUTHOR: brightsun-and-darkmidnight

ORIGINAL IMAGINE:

Imagine getting into a petty fight with Loki, so in retaliation, he puts everything on the top shelf where you can’t reach?

AUTHOR'S NOTES: College AU. Loki is determined to take over Odin's company. He works hard and has a strict schedule for success. However, with the interference of Thor and the other four, Loki's plans are often interrupted so they can play matchmaker.

My Ao3: brightsun_and_darkmidnight

~ ~ ENJOY ~ ~

Fandral smiled brightly with a loud laugh and in a desperate time to prove him wrong, Loki looked at his schedule with a smart remark on his tongue. Loki's smile disappeared quickly. Damn. He did have the same class as Fandral.

Fandral smiled that bright smile and then winked to the side and Loki heard the high pitched giggles of flirting women, "Shall we walk together when classes start next week? Perhaps I could get you a date this year?"

With an eye roll and voice laced with sarcasm Loki replied, "yes because I want help from you."

Thor clapped Loki's back, "this is going to be the time of our lives. College is full of possibilities. Last year was such a great time for the five of us! There were plenty of people I met! Last year all you did in your free time was study. Lighten up Brother, and develop friendships."

Siff spoke up after scribbling on schedules, "Or he could get the best grades, and the honors scholarship for extra money." Sif gave Thor a raised eyebrow after he chuckled, then she shrugged going back to scribbling. She muttered, "graduate top class and make more money than you. Support himself and whoever stumbles into his life."

Valstagg's boisterous laughter caught everyone's attention until his eyes darted in the direction of a food truck. He mumbled, "That would be quite the stumble for Loki to notice."

Hogun's lip twitches a smidge as he looked at the schedules with Siff and marking them. Loki's schedule was back and he looked it over. He had the 8am class with Thor and knew the idiot would miss too much class from the way Thor groaned over a class first thing on a Monday. Loki had the damn extracurricular art class that Fandral was also in.

Fandral inquired, "so...Sif are we going to come to your dorm room for lunch?"

Sif smirked, "the invitation goes to everyone but you."

"How cruel to keep me away from the sight of your beautiful dorm mate."

Loki was sure he somehow ran into something but with a curse word flying out of someone's mouth realization struck instantly this was not an object. Loki instinctively held his hands out to catch the person. Short hair in blended layers caught the sunlight in wonderful variations of browns. The hair seemed to flow slowly as Loki hastily pulled the person closer to prevent a fall. Warm leather in his hands that helped with the grasp. Once stabilized Loki glanced down and noticed the petite and plus size girl in his grasp.

Loki had money to replace her phone, even get his which was the newest model of over a thousand dollars. His parents had money due to his father, Odin, owning a software corporation that was supposed to be handed down to either Thor or Loki. Of course depending on who learned the most in college from their business majors. Loki actually had plenty of money he earned himself due to taking a position to work in his father's business, a branch closest to the campus in an attempt to learn more. To inherit the corporation was the goal and was the reason he spent too much time in his room, practicing programming for his second major in computer science.

Loki quickly replied as soon as it registered, "I am sorry. I didn't-"

The woman's face turned to his with lightning speed and her lips parted with a harsh tone, "if you say you didn't see me because I am short I will bring you down to my level with a punch to your gut."

Loki wasn't sure if this little ball of fire even heard a word he said. He spoke again as he took a small writing tablet from his inner coat pocket, "here is my information, we could meet later and you can pick out any phone you wish. There is a business not far from here that I work at-"

A casual, but with irritation mixed, voice spoke, "Not interested. I have the insurance on this one to have it replaced."

As she crumpled up the paper and threw it in the recycling bin she spoke, "Thanks for the offer but I will pass."

Loki's eyebrows furrowed, "pardon?"

The small woman stopped as she replaced the sunglasses to her head. "Can you see now that I don't want your help?"

"You just cost me a ton of work to replace a dumbass phone. Nice work by the way to try to get me to call you. Clever plan, but it's not something I fall for."

"If you would let me help-"

The woman interrupted him, again with a scoff.

Loki tries again for a chance to talk quickly.

She waved her hands, palms to him and waved them with her head down, "Uh huh. Nope. Go try to woo someone else with your good looks of, 'tall, dark, and handsome.'" Her eyes met his as her hands gestured to him and her eyes skimmed over him briefly with the burning rage behind them. "There are a ton of people out there to fall for someone to take care of them with your fancy handwriting that obviously comes from a prestigious schooling. As well as your expensive clothes."

Loki's mouth parted and then shut firmly. "You make accusations based on nothing but a few things. Maybe you should try not to judge a book by its cover."

She rose an eyebrow, "how? Over dinner while playing some Q and A?"

Loki rose his eyebrows in shock and his mouth parted slightly. Loki did not miss a chance though, "If it could even things out. Perhaps."

She scoffed and put her glasses back in place over her eyes, "I would pay for myself anyway."

Loki gesture between them before she would turn, "You think that would make this even?"

"How about you just read my lips and understand you don't owe me anything." Her eyebrows rose over the glasses with a forced smile, "we good now?"

Loki stared at the woman in disbelief. "If you insist everything is ok but-"

The woman replied with a curt nod and side smile, "Everything is great. Try to have a good day."

Loki looked elsewhere not believing he was going to let her leave, "I wish you well and give many apologies."

The woman turned when her phone went off, "I have to go. Bye." She did not look back but greeted the person on the other line with a happy melodic, "hel~lo! Sorry I am late. I bumped into someone."

They would always try to get him to join in their "fun" of watching each other play a fighting game while they drank energy drinks. Hogun would go to bed at a reasonable time but the other two would stay up talking loudly about the damn game until they went out to a bar.

Sometimes Loki would join in a few games of cards just to take some of their money. It got to the point where everyone agreed to use just change instead of dollar bills.

Loki smirked as he remembered to take the vase full of coins to the change machine, "Idiots…"

Loki ate alone and no one bothered him either. He did watch as others around him talking cheerfully. A friend might be nice to spend some time with once in a while. However, Loki's phone buzzing in his pocket with his schedule alarm to start practicing programming made him remember he was not there for companionship. He was at college to get an education.

Loki programmed for about an hour and a half to figure out something new he stumbled onto. Loki needed a shower. Something about programming made him feel dirty, uncomfortable, and needing to feel fresh again. Loki's cursed phone rang for the third time since he was getting ready to relax with a book. The most annoying sound he had on his phone was Thor's ringtone. Loki purposely hit the end button to hang up and force the call to his mailbox. Grabbing a book and sitting in his comfortable desk chair Loki's daily peace began.

#brightsun-and-darkmidnight #Stubborn Independence #loki #college au

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the-irish-mayhem · 5 years

Text

Ragnarok AU. Despite his hunt for the Infinity Stones taking him far beyond Jane’s galaxy, Thor had always managed to get word to her that he was safe. When months pass without any word from him, Lady Sif arrives with a dire message: Thor has gone missing, Heimdall has been removed from his post as Gatekeeper, and the Warriors Three wonder if their king is truly Odin.

rebuild all your ruins.

Read on AO3

I. Prologue / II. Theren

“Thor is missing, and the realms are in grave danger, and you are the only person who can help me.”

Jane’s shock at seeing Sif made the worry that had been gnawing at her gut solidify into a heavy brick.

“Is he alive?” she asked, suddenly hyperaware of how warm she was. Her fingers tightened on the door knob. She thought of Thor how she’d last seen him, so broad and warm and seemingly indestructible--

Sif sighed. “We don’t know.”

“Okay,” Jane breathed, determinedly telling the brick in her stomach to kindly fuck off. “Okay. Do you--just come in,” she said and stepped away from the door, allowing Sif into their hotel room and closing the door behind her.

There was a not insignificant part of Jane that suddenly felt self conscious, like when she first got up in front of her upper division Experimental Physics Methods class to answer a question, and she felt the odd urge to straighten the rumpled covers on the beds, stow her and Darcy’s food containers, make their space somehow more than a mid-budget hotel room. This part of her, though, was not strong enough to overtake the fear, shock, and confusion thrumming through her.

Darcy was standing now, looking between Jane and Sif, and Jane said, “Sif, this is my assistant Darcy. Darcy, Sif.”

Sif stepped forward, and reached a hand out. “It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance.”

Darcy met Jane’s eyes before she reached out and took Sif’s hand. Darcy had heard plenty about Jane’s feelings regarding Sif--which were not disparaging thoughts, exactly, but rather more on the self-deprecating side. Jane liked to think she was past that, but old jealousy can be hard to shake completely. Especially when the object of her jealousy was standing right here, looking like she’d stepped off the catwalk and could walk on the battlefield in a blink.

“You too,” Darcy answered with an easy smile. “I didn’t think Asgardians knew how to shake hands.”

Sif smiled back, fondness in her tone when she said, “I have some friends on Midgard who helped me apprehend a criminal not terribly long ago. I’ve made a habit to visit when I can, and they’ve been kind enough to impart me with a great amount of knowledge of your customs. Perhaps you know them? SHIELD?”

Both Darcy and Jane shared a yikes look between them.

“When was the last time you were here?” Jane asked.

Sif replied, “Do not worry, I am aware of the fallout that Hydra caused. My friends were fortunately on the right side. They continue their fight against Hydra even now.”

Jane didn’t really want to get into it with Sif about associating with anyone who even brushed shoulders with a bunch of Nazis, but she figured now wasn’t the time to throw that opinion out there. (Not even remotely brushing all the news about SHIELD functioning as a shadow agency with no government oversight or accountability, and all the panic over rogue agents and Inhumans--)

“They helped me locate you,” Sif continued.

“Oh boy,” Darcy said under her breath when Jane started to think maybe it was a good time after all to talk about the Not-Nazis--

“Jane’s not super fond on SHIELD,” Darcy explained quickly. “Stealing research and whatnot. Neither of us are, especially after the Nazi stuff. Long story. Now’s probably not the time to rehash all of that.” Darcy shot a look at Jane that said maybe now isn’t the time to go into that Jewish cultural scar.

Jane knew Darcy was right, and pushed past her reluctance and asked, “Right, so when was the last time you saw Thor?”

Sif sat heavily at the foot of one of the beds. “He returned to Asgard briefly after Midgard’s war with Ultron.”

“It was more like a long weekend,” Darcy said. “But go on.”

“He seemed--” she paused, searching. “Uneasy.”

“He told me he thought something was wrong with his dad,” Jane said, “and that he hadn’t been himself since Frigga was killed.” It had taken Jane a long time to be able to share that thought without automatically completing it as was killed protecting me.

“He hasn’t been,” Sif agreed. “It’s hard to explain precisely, but I know Odin better than I knew my own father. Fandral and Volstagg weren’t entirely convinced, but Hogun agreed that not all was normal.”

Jane nodded. “Thor said that he couldn’t speak freely there.”

Sif looked at Jane quizzically. “How did Thor tell you this?”

“With this,” Jane said and produced the stone from her pocket.

Sif’s eyes widened, and she drew forward off the bed with a start. “A communication stone,” she breathed. “Thor gave you this?”

Jane nodded. “Just before he left.”

“Have you attempted to communicate with him since he went missing?”

Jane’s brow furrowed. “I thought this was only one way?”

Sif shook her head. “Communication stones can function across the known universe.”

Jane’s jaw dropped.

“That--” Her mouth worked for a few seconds but no sound came out. They can function across the known universe. “That bastard.”

Sif seemed confused for a moment before realization set in. “He said you could not contact him.”

“I cannot believe he would lie to me about this!” Jane said, suddenly steaming. “Oh my god, we could’ve been talking this whole time and yet he decided to just cut me out of his adventure like an absolute asshole. When I find him I am going to murder him.” She held up the stone. “You said this could work across the known universe, right?” Sif nodded, if a bit reluctantly. Jane laughed. “This is a quantum entangled communication device, I bet. Physicists have theorized about it for years, but-- I thought it might be, but I haven’t had the time to sit down and study it and I thought that with the restriction of one way communication ruled out the possibility but oh my god, I cannot believe this. That asshole, he is going to be in so much trouble. Oh my god.”

She turns to Darcy. “Call Tony right now. I’m going to need his help if we’re going to find Thor.”

“If it makes any difference,” Sif offered, “I don’t believe his lie was malicious.”

“I’m with her,” Darcy said, phone in hand, likely already dialling Tony.

“Why?” Jane gritted out. “Wouldn’t be the first time he left me behind.”

With the phone up to her ear, Darcy gave her a look that said she would be paying for the irrationality of that comment later, but Sif answered for her.

“Jane, he loves you,” she said, with such finality and certainty it made Jane’s temper come up short for a moment. “You are an intelligent woman. You would have to be to understand the things that you do, so think about this for a moment. Thor set off on a potentially very dangerous mission, and now he is missing, likely being held captive by an enemy of Asgard. Communications between stones like those can be traced. Not easily, granted, but they can be with the proper time and motivation.

“I do not know much about the enemies that he pursued, but I am willing to wager that they would not have hesitated to abduct the prince of Asgard’s motal lover if they knew where to find her.”

Jane’s indignation began to fizzle; still there, no doubt, but now tempered with reason, and maybe a little embarrassment. “They could just ask Us Weekly,” she said. “They seem to always have the inside scoop on Thor’s love life.”

Darcy’s murmured voice from the corner of the room signaled that she’d gotten through to Stark. And Jane truly would need his help. As far as she could tell, using the communication stone would be the only way to find Thor. She had three degrees, but none of them in quantum physics. Her specialty was the big stuff. Astrophysics. Celestial movements. Universe origins. Wormholes. She needed someone who was into the small stuff. A certified quantum physicist, and that certainly wasn’t her. (Not that Tony would be either, but she figured in the interest of discretion and ease of access, he was probably her best bet on finding one.)

“So why are you here?” she finally asked Sif. “I mean, not that I’m-- I’m not-- I just feel like Midgard is probably the worst staging area for a rescue mission, right?”

Sif chuckled. “Not the worst, but not the best; you are correct.” She sat back down on the bed, looking down at her hands. “A few weeks ago, I was sent on an intelligence gathering mission to Knowhere.” She shook her head with a soft scoff. “Whatever prompted Odin to send me there, it was based on bad information. I was compromised almost immediately, and barely escaped the planet with my life. I called for my brother, but he did not answer.”

“Heimdall is your brother?” Darcy asked, rejoining the conversation.

Sif nodded. “He always answers if able, which means the Bifrost is no longer under his control.

“So it is my sinking suspicion that Odin sent me on this mission without intending for me to return.”

Jane swallowed. “He wouldn’t do that.” A heavy beat. “Would he?”

Sif looked up, pain on her face when she answered, “Before Knowhere, I would’ve said absolutely not. But once it happened, I couldn’t help but notice all the strange things about the mission. He wouldn’t allow me to take Hogun with me. Hogun is my preferred partner for such endeavors. In fact, I can’t remember the last time I did one without him.

“Now I can’t help but wonder if he intended to split us up.” She laughed softly. “Saying such things on Asgard would be considered seditious.”

“I’m not particularly fond of Odin after he called me a goat, so feel free to let loose all the seditious thoughts,” Jane said.

Sif shook her head. “It doesn’t matter right now. I ended up on Midgard because the ship I took from Knowhere wouldn’t get me anywhere else, and of the allies I have the universe, I trusted the ones I had here the most given the circumstances. And thus, here I am.”

“And you need Jane to help you get back to Asgard,” Darcy said, “or somewhere. Am I right?”

Sif nods. “I need to find Thor. No one is looking for him,” she said. “The king doesn’t seem to care, my brother can’t send me to him, and Thor told me that if there was anyone in the universe who would be able to achieve Bifrost travel without a Bifrost, it would be you.”

“Oh,” Jane said. It was exactly the kind of thing Thor would say, and despite her lingering annoyance at him for the unwitting protection he’d forced upon her, a surge of pride welled in her chest. “I have been working on a couple of different things. I’m a long ways off from being able to be as precise as the Bifrost. Like, decades off--” and decades was being optimistic, “--but I have developed a device based off my readings from the Convergence that can sense the natural pathways between realms, and we could hypothetically activate them with enough acceleration and friction.”

“We just haven’t been able to produce enough of either of those things,” Darcy finished.

Sif perked up. “Perhaps we can use the ship I arrived in. It’s not exactly the best of vessels, but perhaps pooling our resources would help solve your problems.”

Jane’s heart began to speed up with the promise of new discovery and innovation because maybe Sif was right--maybe the alien tech in the ship would be just the thing her devices needed to finally function. “It won’t be as effective as the Bifrost,” she warned again.

“But it is more than I had when I escaped Asgard,” Sif assured kindly.

(Jane really was wondering now if she’d imagined the animosity all along.)

“We can continue this discussion on our way to the airport,” Darcy said. “Tony has a jet waiting to take us to New York.”

“What about the conference?” Jane asked, suddenly remembering why she couldn’t just jet off to space to slap Thor again.

Darcy waved a hand, already handing Jane her small suitcase. “I called Dr. Rau since he owed you a favor for all the stuff you did for his last paper.”

“Perfect,” Jane breathed. Anish Rau was a fellow astrophysicist and a good friend, who, in Jane’s opinion, would probably benefit more from this conference than she would, given that he was an active professor at Dartmouth. “Thank you, Darcy.”

“Yes, I’m extraordinary. Now make sure you grab your toothbrush and stuff. I’ve already got an Uber waiting for us.” She turned to Sif. “Ever taken an Uber before?”

Sif looked absolutely confused. “I’m afraid the Allspeak is not working as well as it typically does. A what now?”

Ever since she’d first gone through the Bifrost, since she’d been hurtled through space faster than the speed of light and had seen galaxies and stars and nebulae and the full majesty of space blazing past a rainbow barrier of light, Jane had gained a rather romantic view of what wormhole travel would be like when she finally managed it herself. Realistically, she knew it probably wouldn’t be quite as refined as the Bifrost on her first go round, sure.

But somehow, her imagination had never conjured up this scene of her standing on a dusty alien planet, ship half buried in the sand and quite thoroughly engulfed in flames, standing next to Sif with the scalped remains of the Realm Hopper between them and wondering what the hell they were supposed to do now.

Initially, everything had gone exactly according to plan. Almost too well, even.

With Tony’s help, they’d extracted Sif’s ship from where it had crash landed in northern Canada, and Jane, for the first time, felt like she could relate to Luke Skywalker when he looked at the Millenium Falcon and saw a piece of junk. Because Sif’s ship was, quite frankly, a piece of junk. Leaps and bounds ahead of a lot of NASA’s most cutting edge tech in a lot of ways, but then there were also hundreds of blown fuses, large and small dents scattered across the entirety of the ship’s dull silver body, and one whole section of the fuselage seemed to be held shut with the alien equivalent of duct tape and dear hope. It was a four-occupant skiff, bullet-shaped with a few fins jetting off the body, a bit like a oversized model rocket ship. There were several windows crafted of some element not found on Midgard yet, apparently, that achieved diamond-like hardness and glass-like clarity. According to Sif, it was the only part of the ship that was actually worth much.

With a week of work, approximately sixty gallons of coffee, and less than twelve hours of sleep pooled between the two of them, Jane and Tony, plus a small team of trusted SI engineers, had altered the Realm Hopper 2.0 to function parallel to the ship’s (apparently outdated, Sif informed them, with only minor grumbling about how she “much disliked engineering while in school”) engine, which functioned much like the hypothesized Alcubierre drive (in other words, Jane was basically going to be using a Star Trek warp drive. Sweet.)

While they worked on repairing the ship and conducted experiments to make sure they’d be able to actually do this without dying, Darcy worked with Hope van Dyne on the quantum entangled communication stone. She couldn’t come out of hiding with the Sokovia Accords situation, but was sent data and teleconferenced enough for SI engineers to churn out a rudimentary tracking device in less than a week.

Which brought them to a massive crevasse in the Greenland ice sheet. Working off of the information they’d gleaned from the communication stone and Sif’s memory, they’d mapped a basic plan for how they would realm-hop back to Asgard. Jane would have to calculate new entry points on each planet based on where Thor’s transmissions had come from, but it seemed… doable. Actually, not just doable. Possible. Probable. Likely, even.

It didn’t quite feel real until Tony radioed from the site set up a quarter mile west of them. The crevasse, which plunged at least a mile down into the ice sheet, measured about fifty yards across at the mouth, and narrowed down to a few feet within less than 300 yards.

They’d really have to burn it in order to create a wormhole before they smashed into the sides of the crevasse. And with the speeds they’d likely be seeing, Jane knew her chances of survival would be pretty slim, unless there were some magical alien safety features Sif neglected to tell them about in her rundown about the ship and it’s parts.

The ship’s engine hummed as they hovered over the crevasse about three quarters of a mile up from the surface of the ice sheet. If she and Tony had gotten their math right, they needed to reach adequate velocity to open a rift when they were between 240 and 250 yards, so their margin for error was vanishingly small. (There were a lot of Back to the Future jokes tossed around at that particular point in their sleep deprived calculations--late night laughs about getting their Delorean to hit 88 miles per hour at the exact right time.)

Their radio, a shoddy little shortwave thing that would only serve a purpose for their initial preparations, crackled to life with the sound of Tony Stark saying, “Jane, everything is set to specifications. We’ll be getting a shit ton of data for you to look at when you get back.”

She huffed out a little laugh. “When I get back,” she repeated, almost to herself. She depressed the transmitter button. “Darcy, make sure he doesn’t steal any of my data,” she said.

When she released the button, Tony replied, “What, was one Nobel prize not enough for you?”

Darcy’s voice came over the radio then, sharp and vehement. “Stop bantering about data and just don’t die please. And since I know you’re gonna worry about it low key in the back of your brain, yes, we have several backup drives and another at a secondary location. You’ll be able to play back every minute of this absolutely terrifying experience if you so desire it when you get back.” The last four words were said as an absolute threat.

Jane softened. Her one-time intern, now assistant and arguably best friend was one of the few reasons her journey was even possible in the practical sense. Jane was hardly a renegade scientist chasing down fringe theories anymore, she was a highly sought after lecturer and collaborator in the science world. Darcy would be managing the gap her absence left, which was no mean feat.

And on the other, less rational hand… it was nice to be cared about. With Thor being gone, Darcy had effectively become her support system, and the affection that bloomed in her chest at her friend’s worry stole her breath.

“I’ll be fine,” Jane replied back. “I’ll be back before you know it.”

“Hate to break up the party,” Tony said, “but we have readings showing that molecular destabilization is at optimal. It’s time for you ladies to hit it.”

Jane looked over at Sif, who held the main control yoke. She wasn’t wearing her armor, but was still clothed in her Earth garb, her chestplate and bracers stowed in a leather-looking bag strapped to the back of her seat. Sif gave a resolute nod and reached for the main ignition switches. The ship’s engine began to hum louder, the deep bass of it pulsing through Jane’s neck and chest.

Sharp excitement welled within Jane. Deep down, every scientist who studied space kind of wanted to be an astronaut.

“Engine initializing,” Jane said. “Activating Realm Hopper in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.” Jane did not have a steering yoke in front of her, but a panel of various switches and dials that would control the wormhole-portion of their engine. She flicked two of the primary startup switches. A sharp, high pitched whir joined the sound of the Alcubierre engine.

Jane felt a smile stretch across her face. It was the sound of the universe at her feet, beckoning her forward. The danger and potential hazards fell away, leaving only pure thrill.

She was about to create her own wormhole, and she was going to cross it.

“I’m the next Neil fucking Armstrong,” she whispered.

Sif maneuvered them into position, tilting the nose of the craft downwards. Gravity pulled Jane forward against her harness. It was a clear day with perfect visibility, so when they were pointed downwards at the crevasse, not a cloud stood between them and the surface but open air.

“Ready?” Sif asked.

Jane could only nod, all of her internal organs having relocated to her throat.

“Engine engaged,” Sif said, and with a flick of one last control panel switch, she pushed the control yoke forward and they literally blasted downwards.

Jane was launched straight backwards into her seat, and though her internal organs may have felt as though they were in her throat, now they felt like they were pressed all the way back against her spine. Her hands dug into the arms of her seat as though her life depended it. The engine began to pulse in a steady one-two rhythm as they approached the terminal velocity. The Realm Hopper’s whine began to get distinctively louder.

The ice sheet was already upon them, and they plunged headlong into the darkness of the crevasse in the blink of an eye.

Jane didn’t even have time to pray to whoever was listening before the familiar streaks of rainbow light began to flash sporadically out the windows and suddenly their craft was bursting through the rift.

Light from the planet’s sun blinded her shocked retinas only for a moment before she adjusted and saw a vast expanse of desert sand, sulfuric yellow with streaks of dark brown across it. Sharp black pillars that looked like thin, tall mountains made the horizon jagged. Jane didn’t have much more time to ogle the world she’d brought them to; Sif cursed as their craft took a sudden dive, the Alcubierre drive whining in a way that did not sound great.

“Try to cycle down the hyperdrive!” Jane shouted over the din of the engine.

Sif grunted a response, and began flicking switches across the dash. The engine did become decidedly quieter, but it still sounded ill and they were still losing altitude. The planetary rift they’d crossed only spit them out about 20 meters off the ground, so there wasn’t much more altitude they could lose before they would crash.

Sif was hauling the control yoke backwards, desperately trying to pull up and decelerate at the same time, and neither was going particularly well.

“Hold on!” Sif shouted before the bottom of the ship made contact with the sand, bouncing harshly and causing the ship to rattle around them. The nose tipped down on the second bounce into the planet surface, harsh vibrations causing Jane’s teeth to clack together as the ship swiftly decelerated. The craft sheared into the yellow sand, the cloud of blowback obscuring their view until the ship finally ground to a halt.

The main viewport was almost completely covered in dust, but there was enough of a gap towards the top of the craft that Jane could look out.

(Crash landing? Unplanned, but Jane was sitting on a literal alien planet! And her tech had gotten them there!)

The sun was shrouded in clouds that had a pink cast, and the ground itself, aside from the yellow tinge, looked a lot like the salt flats seen on Earth. Across the horizon, sharp spires rose up into the sky, black and blurry with distance.

She looked over at Sif in the captain’s seat; she was breathing hard, one hand poised at the steering yoke as the other flicked across various dials and switches across the dashboard. Jane felt the vibration of the ship’s engine finally cycle down and give one last pathetic sputter, and Sif met her eye once the ship had fallen still and silent.

“We made it,” Sif said, at the same time Jane laughed out, “We didn’t die!”

Sif’s eyes widened. “What?”

“There was like… a definitely nonzero chance that we would literally explode as soon as we hit terminal velocity, but it’s fine. Because we didn’t!”

Sif stared for a moment, mouth slightly agape, but then dissolved into laughter and tipped her forehead against the steering yoke.

“Oh, Jane Foster, we will get along splendidly,” she said. Sif sat back, and squinted out the window, taking in the landscape as Jane had done a moment before.

Jane had just hurried through unlatching her harness and reached under her seat for her bag, which had thankfully remained secure as well through their less than stellar landing when she registered the smell of smoke.

She stood like a shot and turned towards the back of the ship where the engine was located. In their slapdash haste, they hadn’t bothered to make the ship habitable for the four people it was meant to hold.

Apparently, a skiff like this would host a gravity generator and the engine side-by-side beneath the floor. The gravity generator had been shot to hell and she and Tony had scrapped it for parts to build the Realm Hopper addition. The engine itself had required a few bulky Midgard repairs, and thus about two-thirds of the floor behind the captain and co-pilot seats had been removed to make room, much like a supercharged engine that protruded above the hood of a vintage car.

So Jane did not have any real obstruction when she looked back to see smoke pouring out of the Alcubierre drive.

“Shit, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire--” Jane said, and began looking around for-- “Do we have a fire extinguisher?”

Sif looked confused. “A what?”

Jane kept spinning, looking for the red canister she knew would absolutely not be anywhere because why would an alien ship have a fire extinguisher--

“We need to get outside,” Jane said.

Sif noticed their predicament and uttered a word she’d heard Thor say numerous times and the Allspeak apparently didn’t have a translation for.

“Come on,” Sif urged. She untied her own bag from where it was lashed behind her, stood from her seat, and headed to the door. Without much fanfare, Sif kicked through it, the metal screeching as it tore open.

Jane hitched her bag across her shoulders and followed Sif outside.

She didn’t have much time to marvel at the majesty of the planet (!!!) they’d landed on, as she jogged a ways away and dropped her bag and then headed back for the ship.

“Jane, what are--”

“We need the Realm Hopper,” she threw back over her shoulder. The smoke was fairly billowing out of the fuselage, dark gray and ominous, and Jane thought she saw the light of full flames beginning to flicker through the open doorway. She swore loudly and ran her hands through her hair.

Her mind whirled through ideas--she didn’t have anything big enough to throw over the whole engine to starve it of oxygen, but it was a spaceship, if they just closed the door, maybe that could--

She groaned when upon closer inspection, she saw one of the body fins had been ripped away, exposing the inside of the ship and allowing more oxygen in. Who knew how many other gaps in the body had been created in their less than graceful landing?

That’s when her attention turned to the yellowed sand beneath her feet.

She dropped to a knee and scooped up a handful of the loose solid.

“So I have kind of a dumb plan,” she called over to Sif, “but it’s the only one I’ve got right now.”

Sif appeared next to her, kneeling as well. “Tell me.”

Jane sniffed hesitantly at the small pile of sand in her hand. While not overtly offensive, she did smell a faint undercurrent of rotten egg. A chemist she was certainly not, but she’d taken enough classes to know a bit more than the basics.

“I’m pretty sure this is a sulfur compound,” she said. “And sulfur is highly flammable.”

Sif gave her a confused look but said nothing.

“I don’t know how much is in this, so my plan I guess is kind of two-fold. Either it’s a low enough content that it doesn’t burn and we smother the fire. Or, it’s a high enough content, it burns for a bit and replaces all the oxygen on the ship with sulfur dioxide gas, which should smother the flames anyway.” Jane paused, thinking of everything she knew about sulfur. “It might explode after that at some point because sulfur dust is really, really easily ignitable, but we should have time to get the Realm Hopper out, in whatever condition it’s in.”

“You’re right, this is a dumb plan,” Sif said, but not in dismissal.

Jane shrugged. “I don’t have any other ideas, and starting from scratch on the Realm Hopper is going to be a huge delay that I don’t think we can afford.”

Sif shook her head, and then laughed lightly. “Okay, Jane Foster. Tell me what I need to do.”

Jane outlined her plan, and they set to work.

Sif used her shield as a shovel (which, by the way, she just reached into her very normal sized bag and just took out like she was goddamn Hermione or something), and Jane the broken off fuselage fin to heap piles of sand in the door and over the source of the flames. At first, it looked like basic smothering might work, until Jane saw a blue cast flame emerging at the edges of their sand covering.

“Sif!” Jane shouted, “It’s time!”

Sif tossed her shield back towards the safety zone of their bags, and lifted the door back into place. Sif turned to that her back was against the door, and with a determined plant of her feet, she pushed the door fully back into the frame.

Jane retreated to the safety zone a few dozen feet away. They couldn’t afford for Jane to injure her lungs with the fumes from the sulfur dioxide, so she would stay a safe distance, and watch for the smoke still pouring out of the hole where the fin used to be to die off. Jane felt like it shouldn’t take too long, right? The sulfur would probably burn pretty quickly and all the oxygen would be gone, replaced with sulfur dioxide long enough for Sif to make a mad dash inside, rip the engine out, and bring it out to Jane so that she could extract the Realm Hopper from it.

The smoke began to taper, and then ceased all together.

“Go!” shouted Jane, and Sif pulled the door open once more and she leapt into the craft. There was the sound of shrieking metal and an aggravated groan from Sif, but she appeared no more than ten seconds later, bearing the main driver of the engine upon her back.

Jane began to feel a little shock that her dumbass idea had worked, but they still weren’t out of the woods yet. “We should move back a bit further.”

It was a good thing they did, because not thirty seconds later, the ship ignited in a concussive explosion that knocked Jane forward a few steps.

Sif dropped the engine between them with a huff as they turned back toward the ship. There wasn’t much to properly burn, but the panels that made up the fuselage were bent and singed beyond repair. The door had been blown off of one hinge, and several electrical fires seemed to be working their way through the rest of the ship’s systems. The glass windows seemed perfectly intact, but otherwise, it seemed like a lost cause. They stood in silence for a moment while they looked upon the remains of their craft.

Sif was the one to break it. “Not even a day into our journey and we’ve already caused an explosion.”

“To hear Thor tell it, this is usually how all journeys including you go.” The joke slipped out of Jane without her thinking about it, and a flash of nervous anxiety fled down her spine before Sif’s laughter made Jane look over at her.

Sif responded, “Perhaps if I stopped carousing with the both of you, I might not find myself in such predicaments.”

Her words struck a chord, and Jane looked back at their destroyed ship. “I’m sorry for this,” she said. This was not how she’d imagined her first self-made wormhole trip across the universe, and she’d given them a whole set of problems that were all worst case scenarios.

“This is through no fault of your own,” replied Sif. “I knew this ship wouldn’t last us much longer. Admittedly, I hadn’t planned on the explosion, but I have been in worse straights. We will see this through.”

The steadfastness and surety reminded Jane of Thor in the best way, and calmed her rapidly spiraling thought process.

“You’re right. Yeah, we got this,” Jane said, almost to herself.

Don’t try to fix the whole thing in one go, she thought. Break it down and go one step at a time.

She dipped down to her bag, where she had, amongst other things, a set of tools that would allow her to remove the Realm Hopper from the engine. She withdrew those, neatly packed together in rolls of fabric, and handed the bag over to Sif. “Can you take out the tablet in there? It should still be interfaced with your map.”

Interfacing a modified Stark Industries tablet with a holographic data crystal from another world was essentially like trying to take Ada Lovelace’s Analytical Engine of 1822 and sync it with a modern AI. Thankfully, the data crystal was able to fill most of the operational gaps the tablet left, and it functioned more or less in cooperation so that Jane could calculate each of their jumps.

Jane took to her knees next to the main driver of the engine and set to work extracting the Realm Hopper.

“Our first jump was supposed to take us to Theren,” Jane said as she began the semi-arduous process of extracting her device. It was built a bit like a spider that wrapped its legs around the main body of the engine. Since it sat on top of everything, the damage from the flames was minimal, but Jane needed to be careful if she wanted to avoid any further harm.

Sif held the tablet with one hand and placed the data crystal on the ground with the other. With practiced movements, tapped the crystal to bring up a portion of the planetary map. The hologram was three dimensional and glowed a soft bluish white. The planets, stars, and moons glowed, their positions latticed with a criss-crossing network of navigational lines that resembled longitude and latitude on a map. One of the planets on the map was particularly bright, and Sif reached into the hologram and used two fingers to enlarge it. The hologram magnified the planet, bringing detail of the surface into focus and displaying a small information box that was written in a language Jane didn’t recognize.

“We’re certainly here. I’ve been here a few times,” Sif confirmed. “Admittedly, not to the Flatlands,” she said, gesturing around them, “but if my crystal is properly calibrated, then I believe that is Renos--” she pointed to the horizon, where the black spires Jane had noticed upon entry were starting to look distinctly civilization-like, with small dots whizzing around the spires and up towards the sky that were most certainly ships, “--and that’s where we’re going to get our next ship.” Sif spared another look and a scoff at the flaming remains of theirs. “I promise it will be much, much nicer.”

Jane nodded, glad that it seemed like Sif had some semblance of a plan, and gestured towards the tablet. “Can you run the program to calculate the next jump point?”

“Of course.”

Silence settled over them as Jane worked on detaching each of the “legs” of the Realm Hopper from the matching components on the engine. Jane’s mind has been relatively in the present for the duration of their time on Theren--what with all the unplanned excitement, she didn’t really have the time or capacity to worry about what would happen a few hours from now.

But now, as she settled into engineering mode and her hands moved over the device like it was second nature, her mind regained the latitude to wander.

“I don’t suppose we have money to buy a ship?” Jane asked.

Sif sighed. “Some. I didn’t start with much in the first place in Knowhere. I’ll have to look around and see what dealers there may be in the city.” She looked contemplatively over at the ship. “It may be worthwhile to salvage the windows and sell them. Geodin glass fetches a good price.”

Jane nodded absently. “Thor’s transmission from this planet is old. One of the first ones he sent. So I’m not sure what information we’ll be able to find about what he was doing or where he was going, but it puts us in a good position jump-wise to get to more recent stuff.” Jane glanced back at their burning ship, the smoke from the blaze drifting high into the air in a pillar of dark gray. “Is anyone from the city going to come investigate that? I don’t want us getting arrested by the alien version of SHIELD or local police or something.”

Sif shook her head. “Flatlands fires are common, and as for a police force, this is an outpost planet. Planetary security is outsourced by the corporations who do business through the space ports. They usually don’t bother with anything besides theft in city limits.”

Jane was wholly fascinated by the entirety of Sif’s explanation because by the sound of it, alien capitalism was also a thing, but she was struck by her first statement a bit harder than anything else. Flatlands fires.

Her hands paused in their work, and she looked back down at the ground, at the sulfurous compound she’d recently used to blow up their ship. It was literally everywhere.

“I hate to be the bearer of bad news again,” Jane said, “but we should probably move. And then probably keep moving until we get somewhere that we’re not standing on flammable sand.”

Sif’s eyes traveled the same path that Jane’s did--to their burning ship, down to the yellow sand beneath their feet, and then up at Jane. She let out a half-hearted chuckle, “I do think you and Thor may be cut from the same cloth in terms of bad plans poorly executed.”

Jane smiled a little bit. “How about a bad plan well executed with unintended consequences?”

“I suppose I can’t deny that.”

While their movements around each other weren’t exactly practiced, but they managed to get themselves set to move with minimal difficulty. After harvesting the fancy glass from the burning ship while Jane called out numerous warnings to please be careful, Sif dragged them back over to where Jane had begun to pack her tools away and check on the progress of the jump calculations (they were still quite a few hours away yet from having new coordinates.) The Realm Hopper legs were fully detached and she lifted the device off of the ruined Alcubierre drive.

There were three Geodin windows, unscathed from the crash and explosion, if a little foggy from the smoke residue--the main viewport, which was about seven feet by three feet and gently curved, and the two smaller windows from the sides, smaller ovals which both fit well within the confines of the main viewport with room to spare. Sif had them tied together and created a basic harness for herself with what looked like ratchet tie-down straps, procured from the magical bag of hers, so that she could drag the large plates of glass behind her.

Jane adjusted the Realm Hopper in her arms so that she could carry it like a bag of groceries--a thirty-one pound bag of groceries, anyway.

“Ready?” Sif asked. Jane nodded. “Good. It looks like it will be about a day’s walk, so let’s get moving.”

And so they began their trek to Renos. Thankfully, the sand was somewhat firm, so Jane didn’t have to slog like she was going over Saharan sand dunes, but it was not nearly as easy to traverse as the familiar, hard-packed sands of New Mexico surrounding Puente Antiguo. Despite the day being partially cloudy, the sun was harsh and the sand radiated heat, and after about 20 minutes of walking, Jane started to regret all those skipped gym days.

The Realm Hopper hadn’t felt like too terrible a burden, initially. She had some heavy equipment, and was well used to lugging it from place to place. However, “place to place” usually meant “lab to van, van to research site.” This sustained carrying was definitely not agreeing with her arms, and with the heat making her palms sweat, she kept having to readjust her grip on the device, which seemed at least ten pounds heavier than when they’d started walking.

She was starting to regret her clothing choice as well. She had several sets of clothing packed away, and her typical boots-jeans-tee-flannel research combo had seemed a perfectly reasonable choice when she’d been preparing for this journey, but now Jane would kill to have a tank top and shorts on. Not that it’d help for very long, and she’d open herself up to sunburn (which, she realized with a start, she hadn’t even thought about. She didn’t bring sunscreen, or even a hat. Oh god, she was going to be beet red by the end of this day.) The shirt under her flannel was thoroughly soaked through with sweat, her flannel not far behind. She didn’t even want to consider her jeans.

The worst part was, Sif was definitely starting to notice. Jane tried her best to keep up with Sif’s steady clip, but she was, without a doubt, starting to fall behind.

After about twenty or so minutes of silent slogging, Jane’s breathing becoming progressively labored, Sif stopped.

It took Jane a few steps to notice, wrapped up as she was in putting one foot in front of the other, and when she did she turned. “What are you doing?”

Sif answered, “Put the engine on the glass.”

“What?”

Sif’s answering sigh was frustrated. “I appreciate your fortitude, but please set your pride aside and let me help.”

“My… pride?” Jane should probably drink some of the water she’d brought with, because her mind felt sluggish.

Sif’s ire seemed to grow. “Midgardians are not as physically capable as Asgardians. That is simply a statement of fact. Refusing to utilize this is not only stupid, but actively counterproductive. You’re more likely to drop dead of exhaustion than you are to reach Renos as you currently are. Now put the damned engine on the glass.”

Jane felt a bit like a chastened child, which wasn’t particularly pleasant, and she clutched the Realm Hopper closer to her chest. She replied after a few beats of heavy silence with Sif’s impatient gaze upon her, “It’s not pride, you know.”

Sif didn’t say anything, but cocked her head slightly.

Jane bit the inside of her cheek, trying to scrounge up the courage and the words to explain herself. It all ended up coming out in a bit of a rush--“I still feel like I should be apologizing for ruining our only mode of transportation. And I always thought you hated me, and now I get you stranded on some remote outpost planet without a way to get off it. I know science doesn’t go perfectly the first time, engineering even more so, but I still feel like a bit of a failure because I’ve seen what Asgardian tech is like compared to what we have on Earth. Let’s just say I have a complex about it. And what with the whole Odin calling me a goat and everything--”

“Jane,” Sif gently interrupted, “I never hated you.” That certainly drew Jane up short. “Resented you? Perhaps a bit, when I first heard about Thor’s mortal, and then when he brought you to Asgard… It was more what you represented than who you were.”

“And what--what did I represent?”

Sif smiled, a soft, sad thing that spoke of times long gone. “I was never supposed to be a warrior. I decided to enter the military academy instead of pursuing a traditional education when I was young. I met Thor there. After the Valkyrie massacre, women were a rare sight in the army, but Thor accepted me right away. I spent most of my formative years running around with him and Loki, and once we grew older, it was assumed that we would marry.”

There it was, the thing that Jane had always assumed but had never confirmed. She’d never pressed Thor on it, had never wanted to be the naggy girlfriend who worries about her significant other’s exes. Her insecurity welled up against her will.

Sif must have noticed her expression. “I cannot say I never loved him. I’m still not sure if I can say I don’t love him now.” She laughed a little bit. “But I am quite certain that he’s never thought of me as more than the sister he never had. I was trying to come to terms with that since long before he met you.

“But please understand, the only thing that stood between us was my feelings for Thor. I have truly never thought less of you because of you being mortal, or being of Midgard. In fact, I admire you. It takes great fortitude to walk straight up to Loki and slap him,” she chuckled here, and Jane felt a smile tugging at her lips as well. “You carried an Infinity Stone within yourself, you helped Thor defeat an ancient enemy that threatened the entire universe. You’ve managed to create Bifrost-like travel with the most rudimentary technologies. It would be the height of churlishness for me to refuse friendship with a woman of such caliber simply because I felt some jealousy for her romantic ties.”

“Well, that--” Jane cast about for more words, coming up woefully short. “Okay,” she settled on. She moved forward, gingerly placing the Realm Hopper on Sif’s glass sled.

“The satchel too,” Sif insisted, and Jane complied without complaint, laying her bag next to the Realm Hopper. “I would suggest you get on as well, but I’m not about to push my luck,” Sif quipped.

That pulled a laugh from Jane’s chest, a little breathless yet, but genuine. “Thank you,” she said softly.

Sif stepped toward her and placed a friendly hand on her shoulder. “You are more than welcome.” With a tip of her head and a determined step, Sif set off again, and Jane followed, significantly less burdened, both physically and mentally.

“If I may offer you some advice,” Sif added, “don’t listen to what Odin said. I--I care for him as though he were my own father,” this said with a grimace and Jane remembers Sif’s suspicions about Odin’s motive in sending her to Knowhere, “but he is not without fault or without mistakes in judgement.”

Jane scoffed. “Oh, I know that. But then I think, ‘How much easier would it be for both of us if we just didn’t do this?’ I know that’s what his dad wants.” The thoughts almost felt traitorous spilling out of her mouth. When she and Thor were together, it was easy to push those thoughts to the back of her mind. But in the last months without him, they’d become louder. This was the first she’d spoken them aloud, but certainly not the first time they’d been felt.

Sif exhaled, her profile against the sky thoughtful. “My brother has said that destinies are shaped of their own accord by those walking the path, not by the outside observer. It was one point upon which Odin and he disagreed often. In the time I’ve spent with you, the more I realize how true his sentiment is. You’ve traveled across galaxies to find Thor, Jane Foster. You’ll be traveling across several more. Odin cannot stop you, and I can say based upon years of experience that he certainly cannot stop Thor either,” she finished with a chuckle.

A silence fell between them again, but Jane made it a brief one. She made sure to catch Sif’s eye so that she could hold her gaze as she said, “Thank you. It means a lot to me to hear that from you.”

Sif smiled. “I find it’s best to begin long endeavors with a partner with the air between them clear. So if you’ve any further grievances, air them now,” she said, a touch of mirth to her words.

Jane replied, “Not anymore, really. The, um, jealousy thing. I mean, you’re literally perfect so I was intimidated by you.”

Sif let out a cackle. “Hardly perfect, but the sentiment is appreciated.”

“I do have one grievance left, though,” Jane said. “Or, I guess more of a worry. How are we going to get another ship? Are three nice windows really going to be enough to buy us something that won’t break down after a single jump?”

“I suppose if that’s your only worry so far, we are in far better circumstances than I imagined.”

“Well, for all the other problems, we at least have something of a path to a solution. The ship is the one thing I’m stuck on.”

Sif sighed, “You are right, these will fetch us a good deal of money, but not enough to buy a ship in fair enough condition to complete our journey. Which is why I’ve had to come up with another plan.”

Jane nodded. “So what’s the new plan?”

Sif turned and grinned. “How do you feel about thievery?”

#fosterson #actually there is basically no fosterson in this #just jane x sif #jane foster #thor #fosterson fic #my fic

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thebifrostgiant · 5 years

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If You Know Where to Look - Part 8 (1/2)

Summary: in which Loki hunts, and you listen. Thunder rumbles from a distance

Part 1 / Previous

Read on Ao3

Word Count: 2,423

Rating: T (for now)

Pairing: Loki/Reader

Chapter 8: A Crown’s No Cure

A week. Loki has a week until he’s meant to be married. And yet here he is, in the middle of a self-appointed task, a task that he sees the necessity of even if there were a fair many other things he’d envisioned himself spending this time doing. It seems he has elected to take a hunting trip after all — and wouldn’t Thor be quite chagrined that he had gone off without his brother or their companions — but rather than terrorizing some poor beast of the forest and bringing its head back as a trophy, he follows the cold trail of another wretched creature, seeking blood not for sport, but to satiate the burn for vengeance on a more personal matter.

He urges Fóthradr into a trot with a gentle prod of his heels into the palfrey’s dappled flanks, and ducks beneath the lowest hanging branches of a small alder as he scans the ground for any slight clue. The air is cool as it streams against his face, bringing with it the damp wash of a brewing storm and the scent of upturned leaves.

The trail is already faded and nearly imperceptible. A heavy downpour would sweep away any chance of following it altogether as barely-there spoors became slicks of mud and patches of faintly crumpled grass, telling of a stray footstep here and there, were whipped flat by the squall. But subtlety is Loki’s art, and it is not raining yet.

His eyes find traces where most others would not. A broken twig here, the smashed cap of a mushroom there. A winding track a hairsbreadth too wide to be used simply by deer. The trick, Loki has found, is not to come at it head on, for one often misses even the most obvious of signs when they are right in front of one’s face. Instead, he knows that it’s far better to approach things of this nature sideways, seeing without seeing, and he glances around from the corners of his eyes. Underlooking to avoid overlooking, catching the tiny details in a most delicate manner. And...

Ah. There.

In his left periphery, Loki can just barley make out the hazy glimmer of a dew trail, a slender pathway through the grass where the droplets have been wiped away by shuffling boots. Loki smiles. Thor may be the stronger hunter between them, able to take down large prey by sheer force, and Fandral the better shot with an arrow, but when it comes to tracking, to uncovering hidden passages and noticing the unnoticeable, it is Loki who is best.

He slings his leg over the bare back of his mount and drops gracefully to the forest floor, and goes to take the bit out of Fóthradr’s mouth and slides a halter over his nose, tying the rope to a sturdy branch and leaving plenty of slack for his horse to graze. He pats him twice on his freckled cheek and turns his oblique attention once more to the moisture-ridden earth, slipping through the forest on foot as he pursues his ravin.

***

When the door swings open with no warning, you have to jump back a bit to avoid being smacked with the heavy wood, and once you recover, you're met with the frowning face of a woman who is decidedly not pleased with either you or your response to nearly being knocked unconscious.

“Ah. You must be the little servant brat Loki mentioned,” she says coolly, as if you’re some insignificant child and not nearly of an age with her. You notice there is a slight accent to her discourteous tone that you vaguely recall is Vanir. Then she sneers, and somehow manages to look down at you even from the scant inch she has on your own height. “It certainly took you long enough, but I suppose if this was the best Asgard had to offer, I shouldn’t be surprised.”

Her eyes flick to your scar and you suddenly wish she had hit you with the door. You feel cold, and your hand itches to cover your cheek, but you stand there, lips pressed together so hard they’ve lost color, trying not to feel so humiliated and waiting for some instruction. You hate this, you realizes with fervor, especially since Loki’s betrothed is every bit as awful as the prince himself, but you’d hate it as much even if she was as kind as Eir, because taking orders and being expected to comply to every demand of another is degrading, and when compared to your simple life on the farm, where all there was to worry about was plucking the worms off the cabbage plants and gathering fatwood for the winter and chopping apples so they could be dried and stored for the rest of the year, not even the ethereal glory of the palace is enough of a counterbalance.

“Well?” she says, brimful of impatience, after a long moment, still standing in the doorway

Oh. Evidently she expects you to enter, despite not inviting you forth, so you gently step around her into the room and she pulls the door shut with a snap behind you.

The room, or rather the suite of rooms that makes up her chambers, is larger than your whole home, with towering shelves crammed with tomes of all sorts, a bed big enough for four people stacked high with pillows and silk sheets, desks and wardrobes of carved wood inlaid with brushed silver and deep perse garnets, and curtains draped elegantly over floor length windows. It all makes you feel very small and paltry.

The woman moves across the floor to stand in front of a set of ornate mirrors bordered with floral designs in wrought brass, and you’re not sure what you’re supposed to do. You get the impression that she doesn’t particularly wish to have you speak to her, but should you ask? Perhaps you’re just expected to know, only you’ve never done anything like this before, and you have no idea what duties a servant of a princess is meant to oversee. You run your hands down the sides of your tunic, trying to get them to stop sweating as you continue to hesitate in the corner of the room. Her bright yellow eyes find yours through the glass of the mirror, leaving you exposed under the second-hand scrutiny.

“Are you going to help me get dressed or not? I don’t have all day.”

Right. Of course. You’re only just now realizing that she’s clothed only in a slip and there’s a splendid golden gown spread out before her, seeming to shimmer in the light, and yes, perhaps she would need an extra set of hands to manage getting it on properly. Right. You nod, and step forward to do just that. It couldn’t be that hard, could it?

***

It’s almost too easy, Loki thinks as he spots the rising smoke above the trees and treks on silent feet to the campsite. Several old, patchy tents dot the clearing centered around a felled tree and a shoddy fire pit. It’s pitiable, almost, or would be if Loki were inclined to feel such things for these lowliest of people who would disgrace themselves as they had.

Loki watches for a moment, unseen amongst the trunks, as a handful of men and a young woman drift back and forth across the site, idly chatting, the men carrying buckets and roughly hewn hide packs, the woman mending the torn outsole of a boot with neat little stitches. They seem harmless enough, simple-minded, dirty peasants concentrated on survival, but Loki is a sensible man, and he puts no stock in depthless suppositions.

He steps forward and reveals himself.

Impressively, no one screams, but they do take off running. Mead and wash-water slosh everywhere as buckets are overturned, needle and thread and leather flying as they scramble like panicked deer in all directions.

“No, no. I don’t think so,” he chides, and all seven or eight of them freeze. He smirks. “You’ll be coming with me. You see, some of you” — he recognizes two of the men from their part in delivering the girl to him on that cur Einvald’s behest — “seem to have blood on your hands, and you will be punished for it, have no doubt, and the rest of you... well, you’ve been privy to such crimes and yet you’ve deliberately held your silence, so it would appear to me that you are guilty in equal measure. But your fate is not for me to decide, and so, an extemporaneous jaunt to the palace’s prison cells is in order. Come along, now, let’s not waste any more time.”

It’s hard not to feel smug as they all march like ducklings after him, but he knows he’s missing one, and it does put a damper on the taste of victory. It seems Einvald may be more wily than he’d first thought, slipping away from him like a weasel slinking from a falcon’s claws. But he will be back for the man, to ensure he is repaid tenfold for his insults. And, in spite of the imminent storm, Loki can hardly wait.

***

It can be that hard, you find out. Maybe if it weren’t the strange, Vanaheim style of dress with so many straps meant to be tied just so, and maybe if the one you were attempting to dress wasn’t so irascible and fidgety, and maybe if you had the first clue about any of this it wouldn’t be so bad. But you don’t, and by the time you’ve finally managed to get all the parts of the dress situated properly — and you have to admit it does look rather nice — your mistress is practically frothing as she grits her teeth, flared nostrils visible in the mirror as she lets out a furious breath. Clearly, your incompetence is a cause of great irritation to her, a fact that she lets you know in no uncertain — nor, really, construably polite — terms.

In fact, everything you do over the next few days is met with much the same reaction. It’s a steady stream of “What are you doing? No, not like that!” and “I said braid my hair, not turn it into a tangled wreck! Ouch, stop pulling!” and “Why isn’t my bath ready yet? The water’s too hot! Ugh, now it’s too cold!” and “Élivágar and Ginnungagap, girl! Can’t you do anything right?” without you being able to get a word in edgewise. It’s enough to give you a headache, and make you think that Prince Loki may actually deserve her.

You’ve been kept busy making the ridiculously lavish and comfortable bed in Ülle’s chambers, stoking the fire in the hearth to maintain the perfect temperature, drawing baths in the largest tub you have ever seen — complete with wonderfully fragrant and, you imagine, expensive oils and soaps — dressing Ülle, brushing and plaiting her hair — which is slippery and fine, and resists being done up in even the most simple of styles — picking up and putting away all the assorted things she leaves strewn about, retrieving this and that and the other thing from who even knows where, all on top of being expected to follow ��lle around wherever she goes as her personal attendant, which leaves precious little time to do all the other tasks, but you still have plenty of time to get yelled at, of course.

On the positive side, you’ve just about figured out all the turns to get to the kitchen and back, having made the trip several times a day to bring Ülle her breakfast and whatever else she requests, and you no longer fear getting lost in the palace. The bad news is the other servants don’t seem inclined to be friendly toward you, not that you go out of your way to encourage any interactions. You know they whisper about you when they think you can’t hear. Mostly they talk about your scar, predictably. No one seems to know how you got it, and there are several trails of gossip going around, some more wild than others.

But you do learn some things from their tales. Apparently you had been so limp and covered in blood when Prince Loki carried you in that you had looked dead, and the prince was so bloody and disheveled, with a somewhat frightening look on his face, that some had thought he had killed you. But since you are obviously still alive, that idea had been proven wrong, though most seem to think that Loki had, at least, given you the scar, and at most actually tried to kill you, and that you perhaps have other scars elsewhere on your body hidden beneath your clothing (which does in fact match that of the other servants). Still, there’s a theory that Loki hadn’t been the one to hurt you, but that he had rescued you in some daring fight against those who had hurt you and rushed you back to the palace to save your life. A bit closer, but still nowhere near the truth of it. On the tail end of that one was a particularly absurd rumor that you were the prince’s secret lover, although how that gained any credence you shudder to wonder.

Despite the high stress of it all, and the work you know you’ll have to make up later, the most interesting parts of your days are when you do accompany Ülle when she leaves her chambers, following at her heels like a trained dog and fetching whatever she demands, often loaded down and carrying assorted chattel that she couldn’t possibly be expected to carry herself as she strolls the palace gardens — extravagant, interwoven pathways with shady bowers covered in bright pink, orange, and blue-violet blooms, and creeping clusters of tiny white and yellow flowers that grow on trellis archways and smell wonderfully sweet, and thick, verdant grasses and shallow pools and clinging vines cascading from berry laden rowans and stooped, feathery willows as far as the eye can see — or the library — central to the palace, massive enough to get lost in, with low lighting provided by lanterns and warmed by cozy little fires lit in corners meant for reading comfortably, with wooden tables and long chairs upholstered in velvet, the scent of thousands of books’ worth of parchment and leather permeating every crevice — or several other various and grand locations throughout the residence of the Allfather and his progeny.

(2/2)

#loki fic #loki fanfic #loki/reader #loki/you #loki x reader #loki x you #loki odinson x reader #loki odinson x you #loki laufeyson x reader #loki laufeyson x you #loki imagine #loki fandom #if you know where to look #bifrostgiant writes

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tilltheendwilliwrite · 6 years

Text

Of Blood and Roses

Chapter Sixteen

Previous Chapter

Pairing: Loki x Lauren | Word Count: 6407 Warnings: Thor is a bonehead, Loki is up to his usual tricks, and Fandral is a sweet scoundrel.

“I don’t know if I can do this,” Sif muttered for the third or fourth time as she came to a stop.

Lauren turned to face her and reached for the hands she was twisting nervously together. “Sif, what’s the worst thing that could happen?”

“Everyone laughs,” she whispered, pressing her hands to her belly. “This is so different.”

“But what is the best thing that could happen?” Lauren asked, twining their fingers together.

Sif shot a glance a Loki who smiled and nodded encouragingly. “He… he may finally see me as a woman and realize he’s madly in love with me.” Sif shook her head. “Foolishness.”

“You never know, Sif. Occasionally even the Asgardian male has a moment of clarity,” Loki chuckled.

Sif’s smile was quick and gone as her nerves paled her face. “I’m going to make a fool of myself.”

“Stop it,” Lauren huffed and gave her hand a sharp tug. They were standing in a side hall off the main thoroughfare which would take them to the dining hall, or so Loki had explained, allowing them a few moments alone before returning to the public eye. “You are stunnin’. I know this feels… different than you’re used to, but Sif, you’re gonna knock people’s socks off tonight.”

Sif smiled a little when Socks the kitten meowed at his name. “I’m used to being invisible.”

“No, you’re used to hidin’ behind your armour, but this,” Lauren motioned toward her dress, “is just a new kind of armour. It’s a woman’s armour, and once you learn to use it, you’ll be just fine.”

“Armour?” she huffed. “I highly doubt it.”

“No, no. Lauren is right,” Loki agreed. “You appear more - and please do not take offence - but more a lady than at any other time I’ve known you. You may even find the men treat you with greater respect and a softness you weren’t expecting. Try and enjoy the attention, Sif.”

“And don’t fidget,” Lauren gently scolded. “If you appear uncomfortable, people will wonder why.”

“I usually stand with my arms crossed,” Sif murmured. “But if I were to do so now…” She made to try and sent an excessive amount of bosom heaving to the neckline of her gown.

“No, no!” Lauren giggled. “Let’s not do that. How about a drink? We’ll get you a glass of somethin’ you can carry and use if you’re nervous.”

Sif frowned. “How?”

“Well,” Lauren smiled and lifted her kitten to her chin. “Say someone asks you a question you’re not prepared for, you take a sip, givin’ yourself time to formulate an answer.”

“I will be drunk within the hour.”

“You don’t actually need to drink. You pretend, sip, fake a swallow. And just cause you’re wearin’ a dress, doesn’t mean you can’t talk to people about the same stuff you always talk about. Clothes don’t make you someone else. Just be you, but a little girlier version.” Lauren smiled and hugged her before Sif knew it was coming. “And if all else fails, Socks makes a perfect security blanket. His purr is very soothin’.”

Sif laughed and hugged her back. “I may just take you up on that offer. Alright. Let’s go before I talk myself out of this.”

Loki held out his arm first to Lauren and then to Sif. “Ladies. The feast awaits.”

Still holding him high under her chin, Lauren rubbed against Socks’ furry head, listening to the little kitten’s mighty motor while taking in this new section of the palace.

Loki was keeping Sif occupied with questions about the guard and which tournaments she’d participated in and won recently. All were things Lauren had no idea Sif had competed in, making her happy Loki had thought of it, helping assuage some of Sif’s nerves.

She, on the other hand, was awed all over again by the enormity of the palace. The walls seemed to soar upward forever. The smooth modern walls of polished metal gave way to stone arches and pillars. In narrow niches, statues of people she didn’t know stood three times the height of any of the people walking by. The late evening sun shone through the arched windows at the end of the hall, casting beams of light on the patterned and polished floor.

Lauren wondered if she’d ever stop being amazed by the sheer magnitude of Asgard.

Loki led the way toward a high and wide archway, through which he guided them into a much darker hall. Here, again, the modern accents of Asgard had been foregone in favour of the charm of old stone and flickering torches.

Noise poured out from the opening at the end, the sound that of happy voices and celebration. She could see people standing in groups or seated around tables, many times more than what had been on the boat.

Here, again, pits lined the center of the room where massive carcasses were roasting. Servants would return with platters where pitmasters with long forks and large knives carved great hunks of meat from the succulent beasts.

As Loki led them from the shadows into the light, Lauren had to gape a little at the sheer size of it all. Tables spread out everywhere. People clambered and called to one another. It was like the biggest school cafeteria she’d ever seen with a second floor obtained by ascending a wide staircase where all the cool kids sat.

No one announced them, but still part of the hall fell to silence as Loki murmured, “Chin up, ladies. You are the most beautiful women in attendance.”

Lauren smiled and blushed. Sif’s smile was slightly more forced, but her chin lifted, and she walked with confidence toward the stairwell.

From one of the nearest tables, a man called out, “My lord! How fair is it to the rest of us that you escort Asgards two finest beauties?”

“Lady Sif simply has excellent taste to appear on my arm,” Loki chuckled as he swept them both through the hall.

A titter of laughter ensued.

A large man stood from another table, his eyes wide as he approached and offered Sif a deep bow. “Lady Sif, you would honour me if you would join me for the feast.”

Sif appeared taken aback by the offer. “That is most kind of you, Amar, but…” she faltered.

“You can't be stealin’ my dear friend away tonight, Sir Amar,” Lauren said, smiling sweetly as she stepped around Loki to link her arm through Sif’s. “Who else am I to turn to when that one,” she tilted her head at Loki, “takes up teasin’ his brother?”

“Lauren!” Loki gasped, then pouted at her.

More chuckles rippled around them, and Amar smiled when he offered another bow. “Of course, Princess. I should not have presumed otherwise.”

He returned to his seat, and Lauren continued on, a slow sway to her hips as she kept Sif from sprinting for the stairs.

“I feel like the stag during a hunt,” Sif murmured.

“You're doin’ fine.” Lauren squeezed her arm.

A round of boisterous laughter came from the second floor, and Lauren released Sif to collect the front of her dress. Loki’s warm hand rested against her back, and she smiled at him as she started up the stairs.

Here their group of friends waited. Thor and Odin, Hogun and Fandral, Volstagg, Daven, and their eldest daughter Glinda who looked quite starstruck to be seated at a table with the current and past king of Asgard.

The tables around them were full as well, some with people Lauren recognized, others she didn’t. But she smiled graciously when all the men stared and jolted to their feet.

“Loki, Lauren! I had thought we'd have to send a search party for you!” Thor called out.

Then Sif crested the stairs to Lauren’s right, and she watched gleefully as Thor’s eyes nearly bugged out. “Sif?”

“My king,” she dropped a short curtsey.

“You look…” Thor floundered.

“Splendid!” Fandral breathed, his eyes nearly as big as Thor’s.

“Different,” Thor murmured.

Lauren nearly face palmed. She could practically feel Sif’s confidence waver. “Different? Really, Thor?” she huffed and collected Sif’s arm. “She looks lovely, but then she always does!”

***

“Oh!” Loki gasped in sudden understanding. “Oh, my stars. Well, now that makes much more sense,” he murmured looking from the downtrodden Sif to his idiot brother and back.

Lauren frowned at him. “What?”

“Nothing. Nothing, darling. I'll explain later.” Thank the Norns he’d figured that out before making a right mess of things. “Forgive my brother, Lady Sif,” Loki said as he herded the two women toward the last of the seats and held a chair out each. “I'm afraid he never did learn to think before he spoke.”

“I beg your pardon!” Thor huffed.

“As you should, brother. As you should. Trying to teach you decorum was migraine-inducing, wasn't it, Father?”

Odin archer a brow, his eye taking in all and seeing more than most. “Quite right. Your mother washed her hands of it long ago.”

“You're both impossible,” Thor scoffed. “Sif knows what I meant.”

“Clearly you dislike the change,” Sif quipped, not bothering to look at Thor. “That is too bad as Lauren and I both agree I have far too much armour in my wardrobe. Perhaps I'll make a few changes.”

“Why ever would you do that?” Thor snorted.

Loki kicked him under the table.

“Ow! What was that for?”

“Terribly sorry. My foot slipped,” Loki muttered.

“I for one think Lady Sif looks lovely. It is past time she showed her softer side to Asgard,” Odin smiled kindly.

Sif blushed and looked down at her plate. “Thank you, All-Father.”

“You are like a rose which has bloomed suddenly and without warning,” Fandral said softly. “Divine, Sif. Truly.”

Loki glanced a Fandral and could have slapped a hand to his face. And here he thought catching Fandral’s attention would be difficult. Apparently not, but he was not the one Sif was hoping to attract as Loki had initially thought.

His imbecilic brother was.

Sif blushed and smiled at him. “Thank you, Fandral.”

“The colour is lovely on her, isn't it?” Lauren gushed.

Loki blinked, glanced her way, felt the irritation for his brother radiate through his heart stone, and decided to keep his mouth shut. Thor had thoroughly stuffed his foot in his mouth. Loki would not be responsible for getting it out and began filling Lauren’s plate as well as his own.

“It is,” Daven agreed. “Lady Sif you look very fetching. I may need to speak with Madame Lanche if this is the type of work she’s currently producing.”

“Bah!” Volstagg grumbled. “You don’t need to be dressing so grandly, woman. I won't be having the young bucks sniffing around my wife. Or you girl,” he said to Glinda when she made to speak. “You're too young yet for those thoughts.” He wagged his finger at Glinda.

“And Madame Lanche didn’t make my gown, Daven. Loki did.”

Thor’s head snapped up, and his eyes narrowed dangerously at Loki with Sif’s words. “He did, did he?”

“Yes,” Lauren said, her voice distinctly icy, “he did, at my request, Thor. It wasn't as if we gave her time to have one made with how fast this day arrived.”

Thor flinched. “Of course, Lauren.”

Loki moved his leg out of the way before Thor could kick him beneath the table. “Wine, love?” he asked Lauren.

“Please, elskan min,” she smiled sweetly at him. “Perhaps you should have taken up Amar’s invitation to dinner, Sif. He, at least, appears to know how to treat a lady.”

“I am well versed in the proper treatment of a lady,” Fandral pouted.

“You are well versed in the proper seduction of a lady,” Hogun muttered. “But our Lady Sif is not so easily charmed, and though she appears as soft and refined as any one of the flowers of Thor’s court, we all know she is a diamond, honed sharp on the battlefield. She will likely stab you with her hair ornament if you get out of line.”

Sif burst out laughing and grinned at Hogun. “Thank you, my friend.”

From there the tension broke, allowing the table to return to its previous jovial quality. Loki relaxed, listening to Lauren speak, her hands animated when they weren't working to keep Socks off the table. But he was acutely aware of the dark, gloomy cloud hanging over his brooding brother.

***

With dinner finished, the group moved out of the feast hall and into a second chamber as big and grand as the first where already the musicians played, and the dancing had begun.

Lauren had slipped away to dance and laugh with Glinda and see the child thoroughly enjoyed her first grownup feast, while Sif mingled, carrying Socks in one arm and a horn of mead in her other hand.

She’d been a resounding success in her dress. So much so, she’d taken to returning to Loki’s side time and again, to allow him to run interference for her when the offers to dance and to take a walk in the gardens had become overwhelming.

At one point, she’d marvelled it was as if all of Asgard had suddenly seen her as a woman. A flush of pleasure had darkened her cheeks and seemed to be a permanent part of her face with how happy she was.

Thor, on the other hand, was not pleased.

“Ridiculous,” Thor grumbled, sidling up beside Loki who was enjoying watching Lauren learn a quick stepping dance from Glinda.

“Whatever has put your cape in such a twist?” Loki sighed, tired of his attitude.

“I don't like it.”

“Why? Sif looks stunning.”

“She looks… not herself!” Thor huffed.

“Is it that she looks not herself, or is it that now others are looking at her and seeing just how beautiful she is?”

“Shut up, Loki,” Thor growled.

“Did you expect to keep her forever at your side, unchanging and without hope for a future?” Loki snapped.

Thor looked taken aback before his brows lowered. “Maybe. Besides, she has a future. One at my side.”

“Did you ever stop to think the future she wanted is not the one you held out to her? Perhaps she wants a home. Husband. Children!”

“Why now?” Thor sighed. “I thought… she was happy.”

Loki crossed his arms and returned to watching Lauren. “Because Lauren is far more observant than you or I and is very easy to talk to.”

“Is… is Sif truly unhappy?” Thor asked.

He’d never heard his brother so uncertain, and Loki took a modicum of pity on him. “With her place? No, brother. But one can be satisfied with their career yet still want more.” The fair golden head of Fandral caught his eye as he made his way toward Sif. “It appears one of us is quite smitten with the softer side of Sif.”

Thor frowned. “I like that even less.”

“Why?” Loki asked, already aware of the cloud of jealousy surrounding Thor.

“He’s a scoundrel! He will hurt her when his interest wanes.”

“What if it didn't? Perhaps our Sif will be the one to tame Fandral's wild ways.”

“I won't allow it.”

Loki arched a brow. “Since when did the King of Asgard become a tyrant? You would rule the free will choices of your subjects now, Thor? I'm afraid not even I could not save you from the wrath of my wife if you were to pull such a stunt.”

Thor only grunted and looked away from where Fandral was working hard to charm Sif into dancing with him.

“And after how you treated Sif at dinner, I highly doubt she would take anything you say seriously.”

“What! How did I treat her?” Thor scoffed.

“You practically said you hated her dress.”

“I do not!”

“And the idea of her adding more such pieces to her wardrobe was abhorrent to you.”

“It is not!”

Loki only glared at him. “You could have fooled me, brother. I believe your exact words were she looked “different," and when she voiced expanding her wardrobe you said, “Why would you want to do that?” What were the rest of us to think?”

Thor looked slightly green. “I did not mean it that way.”

“What way did you mean it then?” Loki huffed.

“I've… always thought her lovely just as she was. There was no reason to change her attire.”

Loki arched a brow. “Do you have feelings for our fair Sif, brother?”

“No! No, of course not,” Thor protested.

He could taste Thor’s lie on his tongue. “Perhaps you need to ponder why it is her change, and the attention she is now gaining from said change, bothers you so much?” Loki murmured as he walked away to join Lauren.

He smiled at Glinda who grinned back and darted away to join her mother. The girl had grown more comfortable with him over dinner, something which pleased Loki greatly.

“Darling,” he murmured, sweeping Lauren into his arms. “I'm desperate for your company.”

“I've been gone all of ten minutes,” she snickered, wrapping her arms around his neck.

“Ten minutes which lasted hours,” he whined and nuzzled his nose against her jaw.

“Flirt,” she giggled. “Thor still poutin’?”

“Quite epically, yes.”

“Good. I hope you gave him what for.”

“Darling, that is cruel,” Loki chuckled. “As he is the one Sif wants, one would think you’d be slightly more sweet to him.”

“He deserves a kick in the pants for how he reacted!” she muttered. “So, you figured it out?”

He nodded as they swayed together. “Though I must admit I originally thought it Fandral she'd set her sights on.”

Lauren burst out laughing. “Oh, that's funny!”

Loki chuckled along with her. “I must admit it made very little sense to me. Though with Thor being an absolute ass to her, perhaps Fandral and his smooth tongue will win her over.”

She looked over at Sif and Fandral. “Maybe… maybe you could talk to him? Get him to lay off a little?”

“Or,” Loki smiled deviously, “we could leave them be and let Fandral’s attention drive my brother mad.”

“Why would it drive Thor…” Lauren gasped. “Really?” she squealed when she caught his meaning. “He likes her too?”

“He is pretending he doesn’t, but yes. I believe he does.”

When the shadow fell over them, Loki looked up at Heimdall. “Guardian?”

“My prince, it would be a great honour if you would permit me to dance with your lovely wife,” Heimdall said, bowing to them both.

Loki looked to Lauren, who’s blush was an answer in itself. “As long as you promise not to charm her away, Heimdall,” he chuckled softly.

“Oh, stop!” Lauren huffed. “Why don’t you go save Sif from Fandral’s attention.”

She shooed him away and offered her hand to Heimdall, blushing all the harder when the big Guardian bowed over it and kissed her knuckles. Loki continued to chuckle as he walked away, knowing Heimdall would look after Lauren and treat her with the utmost respect.

Heading for Sif, Loki picked a horn of mead off a passing tray and drank deeply. He’d missed the feasts of Asgard. The food, the drink, the ability to mix and mingle. In this atmosphere, he felt less an outcast. It had been easier to fit in when he was younger, still using his title of Revelry rather than Mischief, and found he was enjoying himself in the same way once again.

Right up until Sigyn stepped into his path. “A moment, Prince Loki.”

He stepped around her. “I haven’t one to spare.”

“Loki, please!” she whispered.

Unfortunately, the desperation in her voice tugged at him in the same way it used to. Loki sighed but motioned for her to step back out of the view of the eyes now watching them intently. “I will give you one minute to speak.”

She fiddled with her sleeve, her gown of dark green velvet looking drab when he compared it to the exquisite dress Lauren currently wore. When her hand lifted to wrap a curl of hair around her finger, he lost his patience. “Speak!”

She jolted and stared at him with wide eyes. “Why are you doing this?”

“It is not I who did anything!” Loki hissed. “You are the one who sought to take Lauren’s place. I told you, Sigyn, right after I finished the Brúðr Steinn you were not my Ástvinur. To hear from Thor how you went to Father, petitioned to be my bride? How dare you!”

“I did it for you!” she gasped. “So you would be freed of your confinement! How was I to know you would have an Ástvinur? No one believed it would ever happen. I did what I thought right to save you!”

“I did not need saving!” Loki snapped.

“You were sitting in a prison cell!” she cried, eyes full of tears.

As they’d drawn more attention, Loki threw up his hand and a shield with it. Silence surrounded them as he blocked the noise from coming in or leaving. “I deserved to be there.”

“No you didn’t!” she snapped.

“I killed hundreds, thousands of human with my actions! Yes, I damn well did deserve to be in that cell!” She reached out to him, but Loki brushed her hands away. “You haven’t the right!”

“But I love you! We were meant to be together! You promised!”

“I was nothing more than a foolish child! Grow up, Sigyn! I am wed to the woman I love, honour, and cherish above all others. There is nothing here for you. Not now.” Loki shook his head, feeling nothing but pity for her.

“You are wrong. I know you love me,” she insisted.

Anger had him drawing himself up tall. “Once, perhaps. But we were friends, and what love I may have had for you was nothing but the kind between friends. Lauren is my heart. She will be my heart until the end of our days. If you incorrectly thought otherwise, I am sorry.”

“Loki!” she gasped, staring at him in horror.

“I feel nothing for you, Sigyn. Nothing.”

Tears flooded her eyes. “You don’t mean that.”

“I do. The only woman I see is Lauren.” He took a menacing step forward. “And if you had anything to do with the attack on her today, or come at her in any way in the future, I will not hesitate to rip out your heart.”

Her chin gave one quiver before she disappeared in a sparkle of red magic.

Loki sighed, wanting to be relieved to have gotten this confrontation out of the way, but he closed his eyes instead, trying to discern if he’d made things better or worse in regards to the future and the feeling he had about Lauren. But all he heard was silence.

“Do not worry so much, Loki.”

He opened his eyes to find his father standing before him. “How did mother do it? Have these… premonitions and not worry about them?”

“She took them in as they came, spoke of them with me, and we made a plan as best as we could before she let them go.”

Loki drank deep from his horn and found Lauren laughing in the arms of Heimdall. “And if the vision had been of Mother? Of danger coming her way. Could you simply let it go?”

When Odin looked up, Loki realized that was precisely what he’d done.

“You knew? You knew there was danger yet you did nothing?”

“Frigga did not have visions which could be changed, Loki. What the Norns showed her came to pass. Every time.”

Loki reached for the wall, needing something to hold him up. “So it is certain?”

“I said Frigga’s visions came to pass. You have not had enough to know that yet,” Odin said, lightly patting his arm. “You cannot live your life in fear, my son. Prepare as best you can, as I know you will, and move forward.”

Odin left him there, fighting to recover his composure, then Loki straightened and continued toward Sif and Fandral. It appeared she had extracted herself from Fandral’s tender attention, leaving him standing to the side of the hall pouting, holding her glass and Lauren’s kitten as Sif took a turn around the dance floor with Volstagg.

“It appears you’ve met your match,” Loki snickered.

Fandral through him a haughty glance. “So it seems.” He handed Socks to Loki as the kitten was currently chewing on his finger. “Little needle teeth.”

Loki let Socks climb his arm to perch on his shoulder. “You do realize Sif tolerates you, but your womanizing has never sat well with her. If you are serious about this pursuit, you’d best clean up your act.”

“As the God of Mischief, I thought you would be better at spotting a ruse when you saw one,” Fandral smirked at him.

Surprised, Loki arched a brow. “One would think. Perhaps you should explain yourself?”

He laughed as he leaned closer. “After all these years, and the thousands of hours together, you think I’m so blind I haven’t seen Sif cast a longing glance your brother’s way? Then when he was with Jane and the pain that put in her heart? Pfft!” Fandral snorted. “Thor, of course, Norns bless him, is completely oblivious.”

“Does everyone know of her preference?” Loki asked curiously.

“No.” He shook his head. “I believe you, and I are the only ones. But then I have had much practice when it comes to reading the likes and preferences of women.” He cleared his throat softly. “And there was the time she soundly told me the sun of Asgard would freeze over into ice before she’d let me lay a hand on her.”

Loki burst out laughing. “So she is aware your praise is all an act?”

“My praising of a beautiful woman is never an act, but her initial appearance was a pleasant shock. Then when Thor stuffed his foot in his mouth, I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to both lift Sif up and make your brother squirm.”

“My dear, Fandral,” Loki grinned wickedly. “How is it you and I never got into trouble together in our younger years?”

“I was busy chasing skirts, and you were busy being dark and brooding,” Fandral snickered.

“I do not like the look of the two of them together,” Sif said, a smile curling her lips as she returned on Volstagg’s arm.

“Mmm. It is disconcerting,” Volstagg chuckled. “I shall leave you to deal with the two rascals, Lady Sif, as my wife will quite skin me if I do not now dance with her.” He gave the group a nod and left to find Daven.

Loki cast a glance at the dance floor, only to find Lauren laughing at something Odin was saying as they danced together. It made him pout for this reminded him a little too much of the party of Lauren’s mother where everyone danced with her and left him to twiddle his thumbs for a good hour.

“Now, what are you two up to?” Sif demanded when Fandral handed back her cup.

“Why, Sif dear. Whatever would make you think we were up to anything?” Loki asked.

“You appear two deviants about to cause chaos,” she grumbled.

Fandral pressed a hand to his heart. “I am hurt, Sif. Hurt.”

She was in the process of chuckling into her cup when Thor stomped over. Loki could tell she was hurt, still, by the dismissive way Thor had spoken to her and shot a glance at Fandral who casually placed his hand on Sif’s arm, an action which did not escape Thor.

“Lady Sif. Dance?” Thor asked bluntly.

Sif lifted her chin, eyes flashing defiance. “I have already agreed to dance with Fandral. Perhaps later, my king.”

Without missing a beat, Loki took the cup from her fingers as Fandral gallantly bowed and tucked her hand in his arm.

“You haven’t danced until you do so with me, my Lady Sif,” Fandral said as he guided her away from their little group.

“However did you manage to charm Jane for so long?” Loki asked once Sif and Fandral were out of earshot.

“Shut up, Loki,” Thor muttered.

“No, I am asking seriously,” he pressed. “You haven’t shown one moment of charisma with Sif, which I happen to know you possess as you’ve been excellent when it comes to Lauren. But ever since Sif arrived at the table you have done nothing but stick your foot so far in your mouth I am surprised you do not mumble.”

Thor ran his hands down his face. “Things were… simple with Jane. Things are not so simple with Sif.”

“Well, she did hit you with her car,” Loki snickered. “Humans do tend to find us impressive. Sif is not so easily swayed by your looks and your size and your power. And you quite hurt her feelings.”

“Which I would have apologized for had someone not swept her away to dance.” Thor glared daggers at Fandral.

“Perhaps you should try again, using words like please and I apologize when you speak with her. You didn’t even tell her she looked nice.” Loki shot him a hard look.

Thor appeared sheepish but nodded. “Would you be kind enough to inform Sif I would appreciate the pleasure of her company on the terrace.”

He left before Loki could do more than nod his agreement. Lauren hurried over to take his hand.

“What is it? What’s happened? Why is Thor leavin’?”

Loki cupped her chin and snickered as he bent to take her lips in a soft kiss. “Thor goes to wait for Sif to join him so he can apologize for being rude.”

“And Fandral?” she asked.

“That too is taken care off,” Loki snickered. “It seems Fandral was taking matters into his own hands to jab at Thor. His praise is genuine, but he does not seek Sif for his own.”

A quiet giggle escaped Lauren. “So he’s more than just a flirt, hmm?”

“So it appears.”

Loki nodded toward the returning pair. Sif looked flushed with happiness, her smile brighter than it had been all day. She moved swiftly toward Lauren and bent to hug his wife.

“I was worried for nothing. Thank you.” Sif turned to Loki and held out her hand. “Both of you.”

Retaining control of her hand, Loki locked eyes with Sif. “It is a lovely night. I think you should take a walk on the terrace.”

“Perhaps later. I could use-”

Loki tugged hard on her hand. “No, Sif. Now. My brother has requested the pleasure of your company, and yes, those were his exact words.”

Her eyes went wide in understanding. “I… I see.” She swallowed hard, smoothed down the front of her dress, then looked again to Lauren.

“You’ll be fine. I have complete faith in you,” Lauren assured her.

“And if he says something stupid again, do not be afraid to hit him,” Fandral smirked.

Sif nodded, took a deep breath, and walked away.

“He better not screw this up,” Lauren murmured.

“He’s going to screw it up,” Fandral sighed.

Loki hummed for he wasn’t sure what his idiot brother would do.

“Loki?” Lauren said, looking up at him a bit slyly. “Any chance of, oh, I don’t know, watchin’ from a distance?”

“Darling,” he purred. “How wonderfully devious of you,” Loki chuckled and flicked a hand.

The three of them landed in the shadows of the terrace where Fandral gave a giddy whispered squeal at being included.

“Shh!” Lauren hissed.

The wide terrace overlooking Asgard was empty and dark for the moment, but Loki knew Thor better than his brother knew himself. The big blond preferred the side which overlooked their mother’s garden and had thus placed them nearby but made sure they wouldn’t be seen.

Thor stood along the rail, arms crossed, staring out at the night. Head tilted back he seemed to be studying the sky.

They all watched as Sif arrived in the doorway. Paused to slide her hands down her dress again, then made her way forward.

“Thor?” she called softly.

He turned and smiled. “I was afraid you wouldn’t come.”

Sif moved up beside him. “When my king requests my presence, what else could I do?”

“Sif,” Thor sighed. “Forgive me for earlier. You surprised me with your appearance, and I tripped over my tongue. What I should have said is you look…” He appeared to flounder for a second time.

A sigh left Sif as she turned to face him. “You hate it, don’t you? That’s why you can’t speak. Does seeing me like this so upset you?”

“No!” he nearly shouted and reached for Sif’s shoulders only to hesitate before touching her. “No. It… disconcerts me. You have always been lovely, but now you appear so… soft. Fragile. Delicate. I feel clumsy next to you.”

Confusion wrinkled Sif’s brow. “I do not understand. Is my being a sword at your back all that I am good for to you? Is my acceptance of the fact that I’m a woman that much of a challenge to you, Thor?”

“Yes.”

Loki could have killed him when Sif gasped, hurt flashing over her face. Lauren groaned quietly and pressed her palm to her mouth, and Fandral looked ready to leap out and come to Sif’s defence.

“Then-then I’ll go and take myself from your presence,” Sif whispered, turning away.

“No! That’s not what I meant!” Thor snapped grabbing her by the arm.

Sif was having none of it and quickly slammed her elbow into Thor’s jaw, her foot into his thigh, and her fist into his side. Knowing just how hard she could hit, Loki winced in sympathy.

“Dammit, woman!” Thor bellowed, refusing to release her arm. He swung her around and pinned her against the balcony railing. “Will you listen to me for one Valhalla damned moment! I’m not Loki. I can’t just turn a phrase like that silver-tongued devil!”

“Then speak plainly, Thor or let me go. I think I’ve had my feelings hurt enough for one night!”

“You’re beautiful!” he roared. “Alright! You’ve always been beautiful, but you cleared the stairs tonight, and my heart plummeted to the stones because now everyone else is seeing it too. I thought you so stunning the moment you appeared claiming to be better with a sword than any man, but you were only interested in a spot at my side, nothing more. Now, here you are, looking like a goddess and stopping my mind from functioning, and Loki is nattering in my ear about how a place at my side is no longer enough, and suddenly I am faced with the reality that you want more. More with someone who you can have a family and find love with and that person will not be me.”

Sif stared up at him in silence before slowly shaking her head. “Loki was right. You are an idiot.”

“After everything I just said, that is how you respond?” Thor barked.

“You’re a daft fool,” she murmured as she reached up to cup his cheek. “You have never shown an interest. You take women to your bed at every turn. You found Jane, lost her, found her again. Then Frigga passed. Then Jane left you. And now you are back to taking women of all nature to your bed and wonder why I never let on I have feelings for you? There was never a moment, Thor! How could I?”

It was Thor’s turn to stare at her in shock. “You… have feelings for me?”

“I do,” Sif whispered.

He swallowed thickly. “Which… which ones?”

Sif licked her lips, pressed slowly up on her toes, and placed a kiss on Thor’s cheek. “When you are through chasing every skirt that swishes, you know where to find me to ask me again.” She stepped out from under Thor’s looming form and made her way toward the door only to stop a few yards away. “And this?” She waved her hand at her body. “I didn’t do this for Lauren.”

“For who?” Thor croaked.

“I did it for me. I am more than just another sword in your arsenal.” She lifted her chin and walked away.

A roll of thunder and a crack of lightning preceded Thor leaping from the terrace as his brother disappeared to brood like the storm gathering overhead.

“Oh, my stars!” Lauren squealed and jumped up and down.

“Darling?” Loki frowned. “That did not quite go as planned. Why are you so happy?”

“It went better!” she laughed and danced out of the shadows to spin a circle. “Now they’ll be on even ground.”

“Do you understand any of this?” Fandral muttered. “Is it female logic? For I am flummoxed.”

“Don’t y’all see! If she’d just given in, fawned over him, fallen under his damn spell, she’d been no better than the women he’s always escortin’ into dark corners. Now, she’s made her position clear. She won’t just be some fling. If he wants her, Thor’s gonna have to work for it, and he’s gonna have to make some changes. I’m so proud!”

She gave another loud squeal and dashed through the door to chase after Sif.

“That…” Fandral murmured.

“Actually makes sense,” Loki finished, scratching Socks’ chin when the kitten purred in his ear. “Thank the Norns I have an Ástvinur. Female logic is… scary.”

“You’re poor brother.”

“Hm. He will actively have to court Sif if he wants her. I think that is his first decision,” Loki said, following after Lauren.

“Are you going to assist? Or sit back and watch the show?” Fandral asked.

“I plan on assisting,” Loki grinned wickedly at Fandral. “Sif.”

Fandral burst out laughing, then nearly choked on it when Sif turned narrowed eyes and a hard glare their direction. “Oh, shit. How are going to explain spying? I do believe your wife outed us.”

“It’s all for the greater good. And it was Lauren’s idea,” Loki murmured, and though he adored his wife, he was completely willing to use her as a shield between himself and Sif.

Next Chapter

#Of Blood and Roses #Loki x Lauren #loki laufeyson #loki fanfiction #god of mischief #god of mischief fanfiction #asgard au #southern belle

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canyousevmyheavydirtysoul · 5 years

Text

Bodyguard II: Familial Ties (Part II - Chapter 9) (Brendon Urie x Reader)

With a small smile, you watched as Thor helped Jane down from the ladder, revelling in the cuteness while you made your way towards the entrance to the lab. You barely set foot inside before you were tackled.

Aaron’s body collided with yours in a massive hug that knocked the wind out of you, allowing you to only get the tiniest of giggles out as you hugged him back.

“I missed you, too.”

“How are you, love?”

“Good,” you smiled, pulling away and rubbing your hand at the back of his head affectionately. “Thor and I had a training session last night, and I think it’s safe to say that I won’t be shutting down any cities anytime soon.”

Aaron laughed happily. “That’s great!”

“What’s great?” Selvig asked, shuffling into the kitchen area tiredly.

You and Aaron shared a look before you swiftly covered up; things might have been better, but you still weren’t entirely comfortable with broadcasting your abilities to the world.

“Oh, that problem I left to take care of? It’s all sorted.”

Which technically wasn’t a lie.

Selvig nodded in understanding, rubbing his eyes. “Nice to hear your great-aunt is okay.”

Smiling at the older man, you sneaked a wink at Aaron – garnering a beautiful smile in response – and turned to make some coffee.

Ten minutes later, the rest of your group had joined you, and four of you were sitting at the table, sipping coffee while Thor and Jane prepared the eggs for breakfast.

Jane scooped the eggs from the hotplate and placed them on the plates, which Thor carried over and placed in front of each of you.

“Thanks,” Darcy beamed.

“You’re very welcome,” Thor bowed his head and pulled up a seat for himself, Jane joining with a couple more plates.

The lot of you proceeded to dig in, while across the street on the roof of one of the buildings, Agents Garrett and Cale surveyed your group, bored out of their wits. Cale watched you through the lab windows with binoculars and Garrett listened to the comm.

“They want an update,” he said, turning to Cale.

“Tell them he’s eating eggs.”

“Scrambled or fried?” Garrett asked, getting a glare from his colleague before speaking into the comm, “Target is eating eggs, sir. We’ll keep you posted.”

✧ ✧ ✧

Security room. S.H.I.E.L.D desert base.

Coulson raced into the room as Dallon called up satellite footage of the Bifrost storm that was currently occurring on the computer monitor.

“What the hell was that?” Coulson questioned.

“I don’t know, sir,” Dallon shook his head, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose, only to have them fall down again, “We got massive energy readings out of nowhere, then they just disappeared. Fifteen miles due northwest.”

“Let’s go take a look.”

✧ ✧ ✧

Bifrost landing site.

Amidst the fury of the Bifrost storm, the Warriors Three and Sif dropped to the ground in the New Mexico desert. They clambered to their feet as the Bifrost quickly receded, the hole in the sky closing up behind it. The rainbow bridge’s runes covered the desert sand around them.

“He must have landed nearby,” Volstagg said, glancing around to gather his bearings, “It’s time to put our tracking skills to work. Spread out. Check the sand for indentations of his boot prints.”

Fandral piped up next, trailing his finger in the air. “The winds would have blown them away by now. We should look for signs of a campfire.”

“Or we could just start there,” Sif suggested, pointing behind the group to the town in the distance – the only visible sign of civilisation – and to Hogun, who had already taken initiative and started walked towards it.

Volstagg and Fandral traded looks, their egos bruised, before the former spoke again.

“It’s worth a look, I suppose,” he shrugged, and the party began trooping towards the town.

Townsfolk stared in wonder at the Warriors Three and Sif as they strolled down the street in all their Asgardian splendour, paying no mind to the strange looks they were receiving.

A little way down the street, a boy hit a baseball, which rolled under a parked car. He ran to retrieve it, but couldn’t reach it. Suddenly, the side of the car rose into the air. The boy looked over, his mouth dropping open at what he saw – Volstagg easily held the car up with one hand.

Volstagg picked up the boy’s ball, then dropped the car. He handed the ball back to the boy, reaching out to tousle his hair.

“There you go, lad!” he boomed.

The boy just stared, standing frozen, as the Asgardians headed off.

“Is it just me,” Volstagg continued, addressing his fellow Asgardians as he looked at the surrounding streets and buildings, “or does Earth look a little different to you?”

Sif shrugged, looking around as well. “It has been a thousand years…”

“Things change so fast here. You leave for a millennium, and it’s like the whole neighbourhood’s gone.” Volstagg sniffed, picking up a scent. “Perhaps we should split up.”

From the rooftop, Agents Cale and Garrett spotted Sif, Fandral and Hogun walking down the street.

“Is there a Renaissance Faire in town?” Garrett scrunched his face up.

“Call it in,” Cale instructed.

Before either of them could, Volstagg rose up behind them, smashing their heads together. They were out like a light.

“Never cared for spies,” Volstagg grunted.

He started to move away, then saw their bag of fast food on the ground. Intrigued, he pulled out a cheeseburger and took a bite.

“Exquisite.”

✧ ✧ ✧

Jane’s lab.

Your little group made a charming team, tidying up after breakfast – washing, drying, and putting plates and utensils away.

The front door burst open.

“Found you!”

All of you turned to see Sif and the Warriors Three, staring baffled at the sight of the domestic Thor drying dishes in mortal clothing. Jane was so startled at the sudden intrusion that she dropped a plate; it went shattering on the floor.

“My friends!” Thor happily raced over to greet his comrades while the rest of you watched from across the room.

You and Jane looked concerned, while Selvig, Darcy and Aaron eyed them with wonder.

“I don’t believe it…” the two doctors spoke in unison, totally in awe.

“Who are they?” Darcy asked.

Volstagg took the liberty of answering. “Lady Sif and the Warriors Three. Surely you’ve heard tales of Hogun the Grim, Fandral the Dashing, and I, Volstagg the Svelte?”

Selvig looked pointedly at Volstagg’s massive gut. The Warrior shifted awkwardly.

“Well, perhaps I’ve put on a little more muscle since I was here last.”

“That would have been a thousand years ago?” Jane frowned. “Northern Europe?”

“Exactly!” Volstagg beamed, “Those lovely herring people. They worshipped us!”

Thor grinned, laying a hand of the Warrior’s shoulder. “My friends, I’ve never been happier to see anyone. But you should not have come.”

Fandral stepped up. “We’re here to take you home.”

“You know I can’t,” Thor’s face fell, “My father is dead because of me. I must remain in exile.”

The other Asgardians exchanged puzzled looks, with Sif being the one to inform him.

“Thor… your father still lives.”

✧ ✧ ✧

Bifrost landing site.

A few S.H.I.E.L.D vehicles were parked by the site, with a few agents standing nearby as scientists took readings. Coulson kneeled, examining the Bifrost runes. He turned to one of the agents.

“Get somebody from Linguistics out here.”

Just then, they heard a rumbling overhead, as the Bifrost storm roared in the sky above. Coulson and the rest of the agents scrambled for cover, the vehicle windshields shattering as the storm grew in strength. Finally, the hole in the sky overhead opened, and the funnel cloud exploded out of it, touching down onto the desert floor. The agents used their arms to shelter their eyes from the maelstrom.

From behind the SUV they sought cover at, the agents lowered their arms once it was safe to do so, and peered around the vehicle. They were met with the sight of the Destroyer – a towering entity making its way toward them.

“Is that one of Stark’s?” one of the agents queried, staring at the adversary in awe.

“I don’t think so,” Coulson shook his head, then shrugged lightly, “But the guy doesn’t tell me anything.”

Stepping forward, Coulson grabbed a megaphone from inside the SUV and called out to the Destroyer.

“Hello! You’re using unregistered weapons technology. Please identify yourself.”

There was an audible hum in the air as the Destroyer’s fiery energy began to power up inside of it, prompting Coulson to step back and flail his free hand around.

“Incoming!” he warned.

The agents scrambled for cover yet again, just in time to dodge a blast of energy from the Destroyer; it hit one of the SUVs, blowing it to pieces. Aiming their weapons, the agents returned fire.

✧ ✧ ✧

Main street.

Townspeople filled the streets, staring at the fire fight in the distance. The Asgardian members of your recently expanded group prepared for battle, as Thor turned to address Jane.

“Leave this town now. Get yourself and your friends to safety.”

“What about you?” she frowned, shaking her head.

“I must stay and fight,” Thor answered, as his friends looked at him uneasily, “I’m still a warrior,” he reminded them, “and I will fight by your side.”

“So will I,” you stepped up, much to the surprise of Jane, Selvig and Darcy.

Aaron stood with a proud smile and when the others noticed his lack of concern, they looked at him in confusion.

“Long story,” he brushed them off, waving his hand dismissively.

“It would be an honour to have you fight alongside us, Skadi,” Volstagg gave you a huge smile, which you returned, before he turned to Thor with a frown, “But you! You’re but a mortal now. You’ll get yourself killed.”

“Or one of us, trying to protect you,” Fandral chimed.

“The best thing you can do is get the mortals to safety and leave the battle to us,” Sif added in agreement.

Thor looked at the townsfolk all around, all of them oblivious to the oncoming threat.

“You’re right,” he nodded, much to Sif’s surprise; he wasn’t one to normally relent so easily.

Thor turned to the four mortals. “Help me clear the streets. I’ll let none of these people die this day.”

Thor, Jane, Selvig, Darcy and Aaron started herding the crowd of townsfolk off the street, and with a quick nod between you all, you, Sif and the Warriors Three headed across town, towards the Destroyer.

“Keep him distracted,” Sif instructed before hurrying off, the rest of you continuing towards the behemoth.

“What do you think?” Fandral asked his fellow Warriors as he sized up the enemy, “’The Svartalfheim Twist’? ‘Kiss of the Hag’? ‘Face Full of Boot’?”

Volstagg grinned eagerly. “’The Flying Mountain’!”

Hogun and Fandral groaned.

“Not ‘The Flying Mountain’!” Fandral protested, “It threw out my back for a year last time!”

“Trust me, it’ll work.”

Watching the three with a worried expression, you mumbled to yourself under your breath. “I can’t believe that this is my life now.”

From down the street, Thor looked on anxiously as the four of you got into position before the Destroyer.

“They fight bravely,” he commented to Jane, “but they won’t be able to hold it back for long.”

Hogun and Fandral took off running towards the Destroyer, as Volstagg stood limbering up. When he received the cue from Fandral, he sprinted forward at full speed and caught up to his comrades, who grabbed him on either side and with all their Asgardian might, hurled the voluminous warrior into the air and at the black mental behemoth.

“For Asgaaaaard!” Volstagg yelled.

The Destroyer was unable to react fast enough, and Volstagg crashed into the creature. For a moment, it seemed as if it might have worked, but the enemy remained grounded on its feet. It lifted Volstagg into the air by the scruff of his neck and savagely hurled him at Hogun and Fandral, smashing into them.

Sif leaped off a nearby rooftop with her two-headed spear and plunged it deep into the back of the creature. It stood there motionless, the fire dimming in its faceplate and Sif standing atop its back. The Asgardians had a brief moment of hope.

But it dissipated when the creature stirred with life, its fire igniting once again. Sif looked of with growing trepidation as slowly, unnaturally, the Destroyer spun its torso around one hundred and eighty degrees to face its attackers.

It released a blast of fire at Sif, and that moment was your time to step up. Throwing your hand out, you created an ice blast to counteract the fire, giving Sif the opportunity to dive off of the creature before she got hurt.

The Destroyer rose again to its full height, pulling free from Sif’s spear, the weapon slipping through the slats of its armour.

The four of you huddled together and tried to regroup, when the creature unleashed another blast. You created an ice shield this time, projecting it forward to protect you all. The collision was so powerful that it sent each of you flying in different directions.

Thor saw all of you lying injured on the ground, but had no time to act, as the Destroyer fired in his direction.

“No,” you groaned, pushing yourself up and trying to fire after the blast, but to no avail.

A storefront near the lab exploded, knocking all of your friends off of their feet. Thor helped Jane and Aaron helped Darcy up, when they noticed Selvig lying on his back amidst the debris, impaled by a twisted piece of iron.

They hurried to his side. He was losing blood, and going into shock. Jane took his hand as Thor spotted Hogun’s pouch of healing stones lying in the middle of the street, where it had landed when he was sent flying through the air only a few moments ago.

Thor made a break for the pouch, dodging through the flaming wreckage, then grabbing it and racing back. He opened the pouch to find the fragile stones crushed and useless. He poured the contents out in his hand.

“Come on… give me one!” he growled.

Amidst the useless powder, he finally found one stone still intact. Thor tossed the pouch aside and held the stone over the end of the iron rod.

“What are you doing?” Jane asked, “What is that?”

As the stone began to glow, Thor crushed it. The others looked on, amazed, as the glowing powder fell upon the piece of iron, dissolving it, heading downwards until it reached Selvig’s wound, healing it completely.

Thor looked down the street, seeing his wounded friends and cousin still lying there, as Selvig sat up in utter astonishment. The doctor reached through the hole in his shirt to touch his healed flesh.

Looking to Jane, he raised one brow. “I’m really starting to like him.”

Jane turned, only to see that Thor had already taken off down the street. The god reached you and Sif, lying dazed, battered and bloodied on the ground. He quickly pulled you behind a burning vehicle before doing the same to Sif.

“Go, while you can!” he urged both of you.

“But the others…” you argued, shaking your head.

“You can’t help them now. Your jobs are to survive.”

Sif struggled to sit up as he snapped back. “No! I will die a warrior’s death. Stories will be told of this day-“

Thor gently took her shield from her. “Live and tell those stories yourself.”

At last, she nodded. Thor spotted Volstagg lying unconscious, with Hogun and Fandral lying nearby, and rushed over to them.

Volstagg was barely breathing. Thor tried to pull him to safety, but it was no use; he wouldn't budge. The god roused Hogun and Fandral.

“Get him out of here!”

“No. Can still fight!” Fandral stood up confidently.

“But not win. Move Volstagg, or he’ll die!” Thor looked at his friends and seeing their forlorn expressions, grinned in assurance. “Don’t worry, my friends. I have a plan.”

The two Warriors reluctantly grabbed their fallen friend and dragged him away from the battlefield. After they went, Thor turned back to the Destroyer, then tossed Sif’s shield aside. He strode down the street towards the behemoth, completely defenceless.

“Brother…” Thor called out, striding closer, “for whatever I have done to wrong you, whatever I have done to lead you to do this, I am sorry. But these people have done nothing to you. They are innocents.” He continued towards the Destroyer. “Take my life, and know I will never return to Asgard.”

Thor reached the Destroyer and extended his arms. The creature hesitated; sizing up the defenceless Thor, then swatted him with its enormous arm. The sickening crack of breaking bones resounded in the air as Thor went flying.

He landed in a crumpled, broken heap in front of Smith Motors, before Jane, Selvig, Darcy and Aaron. The wounded Asgardians watched helplessly from down the street, a look of horror on their faces. Jane tried to rush out to Thor’s aid, but Selvig held her back.

“Jane, no!” He pulled her to safety.

Thor’s eyes closed, his last breath leaving his lips. The Destroyer stood over Thor’s body, lowering its head towards him. It opened its faceplate, locking it in place and readying to release its fiery blast.

With a shake of your head and fuelled by rage, you charged down the street, running towards the creature with determination. Aaron went crazy when he saw you, crying out desperately for you to get away.

But you stood your ground, clenching your jaw as you replied. “I’m not losing anyone else.” You looked from the doctor, to Thor, to the Destroyer, assuming a battle stance. “Not if I can help it.”

As if on cue, the creature opened its mouth and released its blast, but you were ready for it, and with a loud yell, extended two open hands in front of you, projecting a torrent of ice that resisted the fiery blast.

Meanwhile, inside the crater at the S.H.I.E.L.D base, the runes on the side of Mjolnir reappeared, burning bright. Electricity started to crackle on the hammer’s surface and scientists beside it took notice as it vibrated, and a rumble came from overhead. They looked up, seeing clouds forming in the sky above.

Just then, with a crack and a flash of lightning, Mjolnir flew straight up into the air like a rocket.

You were still going at it, producing a seemingly never-ending surge of ice at the creature to keep the fire at bay. It was preventing it, yes, but you were struggling to get it to stop.

Projecting continuously took a lot out of you, and you could hear your heartbeat in your ears and feel the blood rush to your head as your stance became shaky. But you pushed through, refusing to give up despite the fact that you were beginning to slip away.

Just when you thought you couldn't take anymore, a blinding bolt of lightning struck down from above, colliding with the Destroyer’s blast. The explosion was massive, and you mustered up a shield to protect yourself from it as it sent the Destroyer flying backwards, a cloud of dust enveloping the street.

As the smoke cleared, there stood the Mighty Thor, clad in his full battle armour, holding Mjolnir in his hand – the God of Thunder once more. Thor kneeled, bringing Mjolnir down onto the ground.

Lightning shot of out the sky and struck the Destroyer, causing it to convulse. With a smile on your face, you watched it all occur, your smile growing even bigger when your cousin extended a hand to help you up.

“Hey, how come I don’t get the fancy cape and armour?” you pouted slightly, making Thor chuckle.

“You’ve got the hair,” he reminded.

You shrugged, smirking slightly. “True.”

The two of you looked at each other for a few seconds, both knowing what the other was thinking. Then, you turned to the creature.

“Ready?”

“Always.”

With a deep breath, you shut your eyes and summoned all of your power; when you reopened them, your hair and eyes assumed their platinum colour as you raised yourself up on an ice platform.

Beside you, Thor swung Mjolnir around, taking off straight up into the air, as the Destroyer got back on its feet and looked up at the two gods in front of him.

Storm clouds gathered around Thor as he summoned gale force winds, and little snowflakes swirled from your fingers as you moved them around. Debris from the battle began to rise up into the sky, but the Destroyer remained in its spot, kept grounded by the ice you had solidified around its feet.

It lifted its head up at Thor, opened its faceplate and unleashed its blast. Thor dove downwards straight at it, with Mjolnir before him. The hammer collided with the fiery energy blast, overpowering it and pushing it back, forcing it down at the Destroyer.

The God of Thunder jammed his hammer deep into the creature’s faceplate, forcing the fiery energy to build up inside the creature and explode within it.

Thor smashed the Destroyer to the ground in a tremendous heap, the fire within it extinguished forever.

Pulling Mjolnir from the faceplate, Thor walked away from its lifeless carcass. As he did so, the other objects and debris pulled into the air by the gale force winds dropped down from the skies around the Destroyer, burying it. You descended too, joining your cousin.

Now that it was safe, your friends and the rest of the Asgardians hurried over to the two of you. A battered Coulson and several S.H.I.E.L.D agents approached as well.

“Just a man, huh?”

✧ ✧ ✧

Minutes later. Bifrost landing site.

“Heimdall!” Thor called up to the sky, “Open the Bifrost!”

Nothing happened at Thor’s request, prompting the god to look to the other Asgardians in concern.

“He would open it if he could. I fear the worst.”

“Then we’re trapped here forever,” Volstagg remarked.

“Then I suppose we’d best start settling into our new lives.” Fandral looked to Darcy, turning on the charm. “Are all Earth maidens as fair as you?”

Enjoying the attention, Darcy smiled coyly. “No.”

Thor shouted back up to the sky in a second attempt to reach the gatekeeper. “Heimdall!”

Suddenly, the Bifrost exploded down from the sky. Thor grinned, as the mortals looked on in amazement.

Fandral turned to Darcy with an apologetic face. “Sorry, my love. These things happen.”

He walked off to join the other Asgardians at their side, as Thor turned to Coulson.

“Know this, son of Coul. You and I, we fight for the same cause – they protection of this world. From this day forward, count me as your ally.” He paused for a beat, then continued. “If you return the items you have stolen from Jane Foster.”

“Not stolen. Borrowed.” Jane shot him a look, and Coulson quickly proceeded. “You’ll get your equipment back. You’re going to need it to continue your research… which, after today’s events, S.H.I.E.L.D would like to fully sponsor. If that’s all right with you.”

Thor took Jane’s hand and kissed it tenderly. She looked at him, her eyes filled with the fear that she may never see him again.

“Whatever fate lies before me, you are part of it,” he said to her before taking her in his arms and kissing her passionately.

When he pulled away, he turned his attention to you. “As are you, (Y/N).”

“Of course.” You nodded. “Family first, right?”

Thor gave a small smile. “Are you certain I cannot convince you to return with me to Asgard?”

“Nah,” you declined his offer, looking around the area, “I have my own duties to perform. Here.” Your gaze landed on Aaron next to you, and you smiled softly at him before looking back to Thor. “This is my home.”

Thor bowed his head slightly to show his understanding, then looked to Aaron.

“Farewell, Aaron Jacobson. Thank you for your help, and thank you for taking care of (Y/N).”

“Oh, it’s-“ the usually silver-tongued doctor was suddenly at a loss for words, “No need to thank me. Really.”

With a smile, Thor glanced back at you. “He cares deeply for you, you know.”

Looking at Aaron, you beamed brightly, maintaining eye contact with him even while answering Thor. “I know.”

“Until we meet again,” Thor said finally, stepping back.

“Until we meet again,” you nodded in agreement.

With a final smile, Thor and the Asgardians leapt into the Bifrost.

_______________________________

Thank you for reading x

Taglist:

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tarithenurse · 4 years

Text

Stolen - 24

Pairing: Loki Laufeyson &/x fem!gifted!reader Content: The saying “Lie in the bed of your own making” is pretty spot on. A/N: Well...I just couldn’t wait with posting another chapter and read your tormented/delighted reactions ;) Ask or re-blog for tag.

(Slightly out of context GIF)

24. Let Your Ego Die

... Loki ...

Emerging from the bathroom, where he has folded the towels and placed the laundry in a basket, it’s as though something has shifted. The trickster’s first instinct is to look to the shadows – eyes and ears alert in fear of intruders – not a muscle moves until he is certain the only difference is the passing darkness from a cloud obscuring the moon. Good, he sighs.

“Got me worried there for a moment,” the voice is dry with sarcasm.

And now he sees it: pushed up by the elbow, [Y/N] is watching from the bed. Returning her gaze with a lift of the brows, no evidence springs at him that she may still be angry. In fact, the woman doesn’t show any emotions at all. Hm.

“Did I wake you?” He has to bite back the usual endearments, not daring to poke the sleeping fire.

“No.”

Hmm-hm. “Then I suggest you go to sleep, ‘tis late.”

“And I suggest we talk,” she counters, sitting up properly while tugging the covers up her armpits.

Clearly, she does not intend to negotiate – something she emphasises by gesturing to the foot end of the bed – and Loki silently obliges, curious to see where this will go.

“Firstly.” She even holds up a finger to show the count and no digits has ever been so perfect at the job. “You owe me an apology -” she continues without leaving room for interruption - “because of your behaviour earlier. I might just be ‘mortal’ as you say, but I’m no less worthy of proper respect than you.”

Her words hang in the air, laden with stern expectancy Loki can’t resist. “I was out of line.” She blinks in surprise. “I take full responsibility for my outburst and the frustration fuelling it. Please forgive me.”

As if unsure how to react, [Y/N] fidgets with the silk covering her. Did she not consider this outcome? But the Jotun hides his amusement, simply waiting for her to continue. Sitting in silence, he can feel her toes wriggle underneath the cover. [Y/E/C] gleams in the silvery light when she dares shoot him a glance.

“Yes. Uhm. Right...” A heartbeat more and she has regained her posture, including the nigh regal air which could enslave any man. “After...after our...argument, I went for a walk and I met your brother.” Loki keeps his mouth shut while every muscle tenses at the mention. “He even asked me what was wrong...guess what I told him?”

That you despise me now? “How can I know?”

“Because you should know that I, at least, still want to avoid my world being shattered by Thanos.” It’s a hiss but might as well have been a kick in the balls, leaving a bitter taste in Loki’s mouth. “I didn’t lie, but I did as you wanted and hinted having seen a larger threat, someone worse than you wanting something from Earth.”

Did you, now? “Show me,” and his hand is already moving to the soft skin of [Y/N]’s forehead, only hesitating long enough for the minimal nod.

... Reader ...

A scene underwater unfolding before you to reveal every action, you re-watch with horror as storms of emotions form waves around the two figures speaking on the balcony. Shit! Praying to anything that might hear for Loki only to pay attention to the spoken words, you recognize the hurt, disappointment, and longing raging around the memory of Thor and yourself.

Too proud to give that part of the magic a second thought, you had wanted to prove your accomplishment and forgot the sharing of feeling. Maybe the terror seeded in you the previous (and only) time Loki worked this spell has had time to feel as though it truly is yours, blinding you to the fact that the god would have had access if the stream had been reversed.

Has access. Fuck.

Gasping for breath, you resurface from the recollection and immediately swallowed by his eyes. Crinkles around them prove that he’s smirking. Probably about to make fun of me. Torment me. I’m too easy. This would be the moment where a smart person pulled away rather than letting his hand skim along your hairline before the fingers dig into the mess of locks to cradle your skull softly.

And then he pulls you closer ever so slightly.

And you can’t breathe.

And what you thought was mocking mischief gleaming in his eyes is drowned by the velvety blackness of his pupils.

And then he’s on his feet, growling at a knocking on the door while you still sit with your lips slightly parted as if waiting for the impossible. It’s the golden shimmer of his disguise reappearing that jerks you back in action, nodding when Loki looks over his shoulder at you for confirmation that he can open the door.

You had half expected to find Thor waiting, not the sight of Fandral and an exasperated Sif behind him.

“M’laddy!” Despite the fervour in the blond’s cry, you can still hear the slurring. “A mmmoment of y’r time, I be-eg.”

At least he doesn’t try to enter the room...though that could be because Sif has a strong grip on his shoulder now. “My apologies, short of knocking him out I could not stop him from coming here.” She sounds sincere.

Bet you didn’t actually mind knocking him out, though. “No worries...I wasn’t sleeping yet.” You ignore the tension in Loki’s shoulders, well aware he just wants his old friends gone. “What’s going on?”

A silent battle of wills unfolds in seconds before your supposed servant steps aside for the Asgardians, rushing to find a robe which he holds up as a shield between you and any spying eyes when you step out of bed until your arms slip through the loose sleeves and you can tie the silk around your body.

In the meantime, Fandral has managed to shake Sif off and he probably would have slammed the door in her face if she wasn’t quick enough to catch it.

“They mock me,” the drunk man tries to explain, “they shay our l-love isnn’t real...”

“That’s not -” Sif sighs deeply – “We might have said it was...one-sided.”

Great. As if things aren’t complicated enough now the living proof of how deep you’ve been digging your own grave is standing in your room at crap in the night, demanding an explanation while Loki looks at you with a smirk hidden from the others – a smirk that only can mean “told you so”.

“Fandral.” You step a bit closer, aware of your only ally moving with you. “You’re a very kind, and sweet man.” Even attractive, a thought adds.

Even in the relative darkness, you can see his eyes are big and round when he looks at you. “Butchu don’t love me...”

“I’m sorry if...I don’t know about Asgardian dating.” Confusion blooms in his and Sif’s eyes. Language barriers be damned. “I mean...courting. Where I’m from, a dinner date doesn’t equal eternal love, for instance...it’s a...a way of getting to know someone.” At least there is understanding mixed with the dejection. “I like your company, yours and the others’...but no. I’m sorry.”

Fandral’s eyes grow distant, his body sort of deflating while your words seem to roll through his brain. Then he straightens (only wobbling slightly) and smiles politely. “I can acshept that. Don’t...don’t think less o’ me for finding you loverly...lovely...” He contemplates the feel of the word before nodding happily. “You shall have my friendship instead. Good night, m’lady.”

... Loki ...

As soon as the Jotun has closed the door behind the uninvited guests, he can hear [Y/N] plop onto the bed with a groan. You and me both. And still he can’t help but rejoice, the elation of an unknown victory burning through his body and fuelled when he turns to see the woman splayed on the bed with an arm over her face.

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marvelousbirthdays · 6 years

Text

Happy Birthday, doccd23414!

July 21 - Hela/anybody “You haven’t had sex in how long?” for @doccd23414

Written by @ozhawkauthor

I picked Skurge. Because Karl Urban’s hot and his characters never seem to get any (still salty about Éomer…). Also, we know Hela has the run of Asgard for several months before Thor and Loki finally get there.

It hadn’t taken Skurge long to realize a bored Hela was a Bad Thing. She would amuse herself by making plans to reconquer Alfheim (“What do you mean, they no longer pay us tribute?!”) or taking Fenris for ‘walks’ that inevitably ended with dead Asgardians. For some reason, she tolerated his presence, but being amusing was straining his ingenuity. He was no court jester.

Today, she sat on her throne with Fenris snoring at her feet, her long silken black hair flowing loose over the arm of the throne as she rested her cheek on her hand and gazed up at the ceiling murals, apparently lost in thought. From the way her perfect lips were pursed, her thoughts led nowhere good.

“Will you tell me of how you came to have Fenris, Your Majesty?” Skurge asked, casting desperately about for a topic to distract her. The gigantic wolf was the only thing for which she seemed to have a genuine affection; he hoped it might be a safe subject.

A smile softened Hela’s ice-cool facade, and she lifted one slender foot to rub the thick hackles behind one pointed ear. Fenris rumbled happily in his sleep.

“He was a gift, from a suitor.”

Skurge blinked, kept his mouth from dropping open by sheer effort of will. Paying court to Hela would be a terrifying prospect; he could not imagine a man brave enough to do so.

“He was just a tiny puppy then, weren’t you, my darling?” Hela crooned to Fenris. “Not even as tall as I am.”

“Who was the suitor?” Skurge blurted. “Did Fenris come from his homeworld? I have never seen, or heard tell of, wolves of his size.”

“Indeed, you would not.” Hela cast a dissatisfied glance upwards again. “Prince V’zkydr came from Z’gur, which is no more. He sought my hand, and an alliance with Asgard.”

Skurge was pretty sure he knew how that had ended.

Hela’s mouth curved up in a vicious smile. “Asgard did not make alliances. We conquered. I nailed V’zkydr’s head to the door of my bedchamber, as a warning to any future potential suitors.”

“Quite a deterrent,” Skurge said faintly.

“It wasn’t intended to be a deterrent,” Hela gave him the look she reserved for when she thought he was being particularly dense. “Merely a warning… that any who dared seek to share my bed had better be prepared to be conquered.”

“... Of course.”

The thought of being conquered by Hela really shouldn’t be that arousing, but Skurge found his brow becoming damp and his body growing hard beneath his armor.

“What happened to Z’gur?” he asked, trying to distract himself. “I’ve never heard of it.”

“By the time we had finished with it, not a living thing remained in that entire star system.” Hela looked far too pleased with herself, at having been the destroyer of an entire civilization. “What are they teaching you kids these days? Z’gur was an object lesson, and we made sure word of its destruction reached throughout the known realms!”

“I am not a kid, I’m sixteen hundred years old!” Skurge protested.

“So old,” her smile mocked him. “I was five thousand years old when Odin locked me away, and five thousand more have passed since then.”

Skurge could not allow himself even to think that it was a pity Odin hadn’t lived five thousand years longer.

“Yet, you don’t look a day over nine hundred,” he said gallantly, and was surprised when Hela threw her head back and laughed.

“You surprise me, Skurge! I was told someone named Fandral was the court flirt, but you can be positively charming when you put your mind to it! Such flattery!”

He didn’t want to think about Fandral. He’d considered the other man a friend. He smiled instead and said “Your Majesty, I am not a man gifted with pretty words, but flattery and exaggeration are not required when confronted by one such as yourself.”

Something new entered her eyes then, a spark of interest, and she uncrossed her legs to sit upright before rising to her feet in a smooth, sinuous motion. Stepping over Fenris’ snoring form, she walked towards Skurge with that slow, slinking stride of hers. He had to work hard to keep his eyes on her face rather than watching her hips.

A pointed fingernail traced the line of his jaw as Hela moved around behind him.

“Do you have a lover, Skurge?” she asked.

“If I said yes, would she survive the day?”

Hela’s laugh was cruel. “You know me well already, I see.” Something brutally sharp pricked at his throat. “Do you have a lover?”

“No.” It was the truth. “Not at the present time.” He’d had hopes, when he was manning the Bifrost chamber. Women were impressed by the title of Guardian, even if he didn’t have all Heimdall’s uncanny abilities.

“Good. Because it’s been six millennia since a man last warmed my bed.”

His head snapped around, the sharp blade in her fingers scraping his throat as he did. “You haven’t had sex for how long? But you were imprisoned for five thousand years…”

“And for a thousand years before that, no man was brave enough even to consider me as a woman rather than the Goddess of Death.”

Skurge didn’t think he was particularly brave, or particularly smart. But he heard the faint note of hurt in Hela’s voice and turned more fully towards her, raising one armoured arm and offering his hand.

“I am not worthy of you, Majesty. Still, I am a man, and I consider you very much a woman.”

Delicate fingers curled around his, so fragile-looking, but he knew how insanely strong she was. It was quite possible he might not survive the night.

It was quite possible he didn’t deserve to, anyway.

So he let her lead him to her bedchamber, and thought only a silent, fervent prayer to any gods who might be listening that his sacrifice might not be in vain, that Hela might be in a good enough mood tomorrow to spare the life of even one Asgardian.

After all, he thought, letting his eyes drop to the sinuous sway of her hips as she moved, it might not be all bad.

#Hela/Skurge #potentially dubious consent

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hellv1ra · 6 years

Text

Written in the stars

Chapter 3

Previous: Chapter 1, Chapter 2

Parings: Alpha!Reader x Beta!Fandral, Alpha!Loki x Omega!Sigyn, Alpha!Bucky x Omega!OFC(Jasmine Flowers)

Summary: Post coital wake ups, things get a little steamy with reader and Fandral, Loki and Thor are little shits to their sister, we finally get some Stevie.

Warnings: ABO Dynamics, Things get a lil steamy and

Word Count: 2429

A/N: This is kind of a filler chapter. Sowwy. and thank you to everyone who has read this i appreciate it.

��YN woke to the one of her servants quietly moving about her chambers, Fandral was wrapped around her, his face buried in her neck. She slipped gently out of his embrace and sat up in bed and stretched languidly.

“Please forgive me if I woke you your highness.” She said bowing her head.

“You didn’t wake me, could you fetch me my robe please?” The girl nodded and rushed off to retrieve her robe. YN quietly crawled to the foot of her bed and stretched her arching her back working the muscle fatigue from the previous night’s activities. She and Fandral had parted ways with their playmates after a quick nap and another round of pleasure in the earlier hours of the morning as the sun was just beginning to crest over the horizon.

“You truly are the most beautiful creature I have ever beheld” Fandral said sitting up as he admired her form. YN glanced at Fandral over her shoulder, batted her eyelashes and blew him a kiss. Her servant reentered the room carrying her long black silk robe. she held out the robe to slip it over YN’s shoulders. “No, no, no that won’t be necessary” Fandral said quickly crawling down the bed and pulling YN from behind back on the bed. “You can leave the robe.” The servant giggled and placed it over a chaise not far from the bed. She quickly exited the chamber, knowing the history between the two lovers and that her presence would not be required for the time being.

“Fandral!” YN squealed as he pulled her into his embrace. He turned YN, so she was sitting sideways in his lap. His large muscular thighs embracing her backside, creating the perfect seat. “Excuse me sir, but I have to dress so I can breakfast with my family. I’m supposed to leave with Thor to Midgard in a few days and we have to discuss the journey.” YN whined leaning into his broad, well-muscled chest.

“Even more reason to laze about in bed with me while I worship you, my beautiful goddess. Who knows when I shall have you in my arms again.” Fandral said running his lips up her neck before catching the lobe of her ear in his mouth sucking the soft flesh into his mouth. YN squirmed in his lap, heat pooling deep in her belly. Fandral began leaning her back licking his way back down her neck.

“Fandral” YN moaned running her fingers through his hair. She pulled him from her neck and brought his mouth to hers, the kiss turned rough and passionate Fandral growled as she pulled his hair roughly. Fandral broke apart the kiss and moaned loudly. YN smiled knowingly at him as she ground her backside into his hardening member. Fandral growled nipping at her neck and running his hands to cup her breast and thigh.

“Yes Princess?” He asked massaging the soft flesh of her thigh.

“Take me to Valhalla”

A few hours later YN had finally convinced Fandral to take his leave, with the promise that she would miss him terribly while she’s gone, and had barely managed to get cleaned up and dressed in time for dinner with her family.

“Well look who decided to grace us with her presence” Loki smirked at his sister as she took her seat across from him and next to Thor.

“Hush, you” YN said yawned as a servant filled her glass with wine.

“Fandral wear you out sister?” Thor asked raising his own for a refill.

“I wouldn’t say that, I just had a very, very long night with a lot of playmates who needed my attention.” She smirked taking a large sip from her glass

“Well, to be fair you had Fandral to help. I don’t require the assistance of another to bring screams of delight from my chamber” Thor smirked

“Such a pity, dear sister I thought you’d have more prowess than that? those rumors of insatiable delight must be fables then?” Loki smirked darkly from behind his own glass.

“Wha-” YN sputtered “Excuse me! I did NOT need his help! In case you’d forgotten Thor, I’d he was one who required my attention as well. I don’t see you taking both men and women into your bed do I brother?” She put her glass back down on the table “And you can shut your trap Loki, you’re mated now so you have no room to talk about what goes on in an unmated Alphas chamber.”

“She’s so defensive brother.” Thor pointed at his sister.

“Agreed, I dare say we must have struck a nerve?” Loki suggested and smiled antagonistically at his sister. The brothers occasionally took delight on tormenting their older sister, they couldn’t help it, it had been going on for so long it was like second nature to them.

“Why are you two ganging up on me?” YN crossed her arms indignantly and turned away from them.

Both brothers burst out laughing and quickly quieted as their mother and Loki’s wife entered the dining room.

“Now what has my sons laughing so hard at their sister?” Frigga asked sitting at the head of the table, Sigyn took the seat next Loki. Thor cleared his throat and began inspecting his finger nails. Loki quickly brought his wine glass to his mouth and began staring intently at the ceiling.

Eyeing both of her sons suspiciously “Thor?” she asked looking to her left. “Loki?”. Both sons refusing to make eye contact with their mother. Sigyn turned to the side and back handed Loki in the chest. Thor covered his mouth and nose with his fist and snorted as Loki rubbed the spot that his wife hit.

“Your mother asked you a question husband” Sigyn demanded from her husband.

“Yes, brothers do tell our mother what is so funny.” YN hissed.

Thor then made an enormous misstep, he looked into their mother’s eyes and folded like a cheap suit under her intense stare.

“Loki started it” he accused pointing at his brother.

“Traitor!” Loki bellowed standing from his chair “You’re the one who suggested she was lacking in the bed chamber!”

Both were now standing and accusing one another of being at fault. Failing to notice the smirk on their sister’s face and their mother trying to hold in her laughter. As the brothers continued blaming the other at the women at the table could no longer contain their laughter.

“Enough!” Frigga yelled winking at her daughter trying to control her laughter “Apologize to your sister.”

“Sorry” both men muttered as they sat back into their chairs. Sigyn scooted closer Loki and ran her fingers through his hair. He grabbed her hand bringing it to his lips for a tender kiss to her delicate knuckles.

Servants began entering the room places various dishes around the table for the family to dine on. The family settled in the meal conversing at the previous nights festivities, omitting the events occurring in the sibling’s bed chambers of course because their mother did not need to hear that. Laughter was shared amongst them as dishes were cleared and wine glasses filled. The discussion turned to Thor and YN’s coming excursion to Midgard.

“When do you plan to leave for Midgard?” Loki asked relaxing into his chair.

“I’d like to leave tomorrow, but since YN is coming id like to be able to give her more time to prepare for her departure.” Thor said raising his glass to his lips.

“I can be ready to leave tomorrow” YN said eagerly “Hel, I’d leave this evening if we could. I haven’t left Asgard in over a thousand years.”

“Then its settled, we leave on the morrow.” Thor said slamming his fist on the table. Accidently cracking it down the middle.

“Not another one, Thor! How many of these must we replace in my life time?” Frigga exasperated at her son.

“Sorry Mother!” His sheepish smile earning him quick forgiveness from their mother.

A shiver of anticipation ran down YN’s spine, things were finally beginning to feel like they were looking up.

Steve sighed as he rolled over to glance at the clock on his nightstand. 2:00 it mocked him. For the last few nights he hadn’t been able to sleep for more than a few hours at a time. His instincts have been going haywire, not necessarily a sense of foreboding, but something was going on that he couldn’t quite out his finger on and it was driving him crazy.

Running his palm down his face Steve flipped the sheets from his body and got out of his bed to stretch. He headed for the bathroom, scratching at his stomach he caught his reflection in the mirror and stopped to inspect himself. Sometimes he still struggled with the reflection in the mirror, not because he didn’t like what he saw but that it was still hard to believe that he had physically changed so drastically from the man he was before.

It doesn’t change what you really are, “Or were” he said aloud. Steve tried not to think about it too often, but sometimes the loneliness felt almost unbearable. Not that he was alone, he was never alone. Always surrounded by his friends and team mates. He was however alone he had no mate. He had hoped that Peggy was the one for him but, the serum had quashed any hopes of that. His true nature needed to be suppressed, no one could know, it would have been too dangerous. The only people who knew were dead, except Bucky, and thankfully he remembered and that it was a secret.

“It’s for your safety Stevie” his mother used to say. She told him that he had to hide his nature, it would have made him an even bigger target than he had been for being as small as he was. His mother had told people that he had been born a small and sickly Beta, and with his myriad of health problems no one ever questioned the validity of her claims. The only reason Bucky even knew about it was that he had caught Steve in a weak moment after his Mom died and he’d spilled his guts.

“Well that explains so much about you, and why I feel the need to protect your ass all the time Punk” Steve smiled at the memory as he finished his business in the bathroom. He got dressed and headed out to the kitchen to see about making some warm milk to try and fall asleep again.

“Bucky, you’re so bad” he heard a quiet giggle coming from the kitchen as he walked in. He saw Bucky with his plump little omega wrapped in his arms. Steve couldn’t help but feel a pang of jealousy, he wished that he could find someone that was perfect for him the way Bucky had.

“Heya punk!” Bucky’s voice cut through Steve’s musings.

“Taking a break from your rut jerk?” Steve asked as he went to the fridge in search of milk.

“Yeah, I mean I can’t have my best girl croaking on me because I can’t keep in in my pants for ten minutes.” Bucky laughed as he kissed her forehead.

“Oh please” she said squirming her way from his grasp “He’s the old fart who can’t keep up.”

“Oh, that’s the way its gonna be Jazz? You gonna do me dirty like that?” Bucky asked crouching his frame lower like he was gonna pounce.

The little omega squealed, grabbing their snacks and bounded off towards their room.

“You better run missy, I’ll be taking out of your hide later” he called after her. Steve smiled and sighed sadly at their interaction. “Alright punk, what’s eating you?” Bucky asked tilting his head at his friend.

“It’s nothing Buck, I’m just really happy for you” he said settling pouring himself a mug of milk and putting it into the microwave. “It’s just I can’t help but feel a little jealous you know, I wish I could have that you know.”

“Well, its not like you can’t man. There are plenty of willing omegas and betas, and VERY willing alphas if they knew the truth. You just have to be open to the idea of it.” He smartly advised his best friend.

“It’s not like I haven’t tried, I mean look at Sharon. She’s a beautiful beta, smart and skilled, and completely fucking wrong for me man. It’s just nothing feels right you know, like even as much as I loved Peggy even after the serum it just never felt right. As good as this serum has been, it’s like the thing that is fundamentally who I am is gone.” Steve leaned against the counter, the sadness in his eyes unmistakable.

“Well, do you think that the suppressants you’ve been on for the last 85 years might have something to do with how you’re feeling?”

“Buck, I haven’t been on suppressants since June 21st ,1943.”

Bucky’s jaw dropped, and just stared. His mouth opening and closing like a fish. “How, why- How?!” he stuttered. “Does anyone else know? Besides me that you’re an omega?”

“No!” he hushed “and keep your voice down damnit. I don’t want anyone else to know?”

“Why not? It’s not like it was when we were kids Steve, there are a lot more Omega males now.”

“I’m not, at least I don’t think I am anymore. I think the serum made my body into a beta. My brain still feels like an omega, like its instincts are still to respond like an omega would, but my body doesn’t match up anymore. I feel I’m in the wrong body Buck.” Steve’s voice hitched up higher and tears formed in his eyes. It was a rare moment of weakness for Steve, who was usually annoyingly calm and collected.

Bucky wrapped his arm around his best friend’s shoulders “Stevie, you gotta see a doctor about it then, at the very least talk with Bruce about it. He’s not gonna tell anyone about your nature and he might actually have an idea about what’s going on with you.” Steve nodded his head and embraced his friend.

“Alright man” he said pulling away “Get back to your woman, before she comes out here and reams both of us”. Bucky chuckled and clapped me on the shoulder one last time before heading off to his room.

I grabbed my milk from the microwave and headed off to my own room in search of a few more hours of sleep.

#Alpha!Reader x Beta!Fandral #Alpha!Loki x Omega!Sigyn #Alpha!Bucky x Omega!OFC #Language!#ABO Dynamics #a/b/o dynamics

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