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lokigodofaces · 3 years

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thoughts on loki ep 2: the variant (spoilers)

under cut to not disturb your scrolling

Overall I enjoyed so that's good

Uh frick my mind blanked so sorry if things are completely out of order

I don't know, I expected the renaissance fair to be 2012 or 2021 or 2024 (Loki's time, our time, current time in the "sacred timeline"). So I was genuinely surprised when it was in 1985.

Ok, i really like the title card thing. And how the year scrolls around. It's a nice aesthetic touch there.

I wonder why the female Loki variant chooses her locations? Does she have a thing for renaissance fairs, French cathedrals, and Oklahoma?

1985 is when Back to the Future came out. And it's y'know, one of the most popular time travel movies ever. So I think they chose that year as a reference.

Again, not liking that the minutemen only have numbers, not names. It is giving me lots of Clone Wars vibes. If you don't know anything about Clone Wars, the clones are given number identifiers by the Kaminoans. Things like CT-7567. The clones would give themselves names (CT-7567, for example, names himself Rex). A really good sign throughout the series that someone is a sketchy person is if they call the clones by their numbers. The clones don't want to be known as numbers. They are people too, they deserve names, so they come up with all sorts of creative names (Rex, Fives, Cody, Tup, Hevy, Hardcase, Echo, Waxer, Boil, Wolffe, Jesse, Kix, Fox, Hunter, Wrecker, Crosshair, Omega, Tech, Matchstick, etc). The jedi respect this, and the only jedi that i can think of that called clones by their numbers is Krell, who fell to the dark side. the Kaminoans and other sketchy people all call them by their numbers and the clones don't like it. A big focus of the show is on the clone's agency (at the end, they all have brain chips that take away their agency and force them to kill jedi), and how the clones need to be respected. So for me to see in another series that people are only given numbers is bad. What's worse is that the minutemen are fine with this. They don't see it as dehumanizing or belittling. They are brainwashed into being okay with it. Which says a thing or two about the Time Keepers.

did. did the renaissance fair really have Bonnie Tyler's "Holding Out for a Hero" for their renaissance themed fight? Is this normal? Was it normal in the '80's? We saw later that the female Loki can do electronic stuff. Did she rig it to play it? For the vibes?

Also the stuff before the song was about fighting for a princess, and in the end she kidnaps C-20.

Okay, btw, I'm just gonna say Lady Loki for a while because no one has explicitly said Sylvie yet, so I'm going to refer to di Martino as Loki until she or another calls her Sylvie. Cool? Cool.

I was thinking the "Holding Out for a Hero" fight would be the roomba fight or something. It is such a good song that has huge potential for this genre. Why did they use it in a lame fight as that one?

When Lady Loki did the spell on C-20, it looked similar to what Wanda and Agatha can do. As in, it had similar visuals.

Loki reading a random magazine he finds while sitting with his feet on the desk bored out of his mind because he has to learn sh*t is a MOOD.

What is Miss Minutes? She can jump around anywhere, and pop into computers. But she can't be just a projection. She took the effort to dodge Loki swatting at her, so that may mean she was corporeal. She also could be something similar to the Kree's Supreme Intelligence?

So, did Mobius give Loki the shirt, tie, and slacks, but really didn't give him the jacket until they had to call him in? What? That makes no sense? Did the TVA not have any jackets with the variant label? Did someone have to custom design a jacket for Loki?

What is up with this show giving me things I wanted to see only in holographic form? First we saw Coulson's death, and now Loki in his Jotun form in a holograph of another variant.

Okay, Loki being someone the TVA has to constantly deal with is very on brand. Loki is a creature of chaos, of course he's going to unknowingly rebel against the sacred timeline.

Also, headcanon that the Jotun Loki we see is king of Jotunheim because that would be epic.

Also, for personal reasons I choose to believe there is a Loki variant that defeated the Avengers and immediately went queer rights.

Loki's reaction to there being many Loki variants. He's seen what his life is supposed to be. I think he is even more upset that the TVA often deals with him, that there are so many things that could have been instead if it weren't for the TVA and the "sacred timeline."

Also, I totally think Mobius was waiting for another Loki to show up to help him defeat Lady Loki. They get them so often, it makes sense.

Loki explaining the difference between illusion projection and duplication was great. And very helpful to me personally understanding lore. Also, Mobius, get your crap together. If you're a Loki expert, figure this stuff out.

Loki calling the TVA out on propaganda, we love that.

The wolf quote is actually very nice, I quite like it.

Okay, the TVA doesn't even bury or cremate or do any sort of ritual for their fallen minutemen, they just reset the timeline. Which to me seems like another way to show how little the TVA actually care for their workers.

There are statues of the Time Keepers in Ravonna's office. The camera pays extra attention to it. Keep reading for more about Time Keepers and cinematography choices.

What. What sort of relationship does Ravonna and Mobius have? What is going on there? I am really confused.

Who is this "analyst on the side?" What is going on there?

Ravonna is MEGA SUS. Along with that, the Time Keepers are mega sus.

She signs R. Slayer. Yeah. Slayer. Not at all subtle, Marvel. Letting us know that she'll do the deed if needed.

Mobius you are sending me mixed signals. What do you want?

Okay, Mobius saying Loki was a "cold, scared boy" and an "ice runt" and stuff was totally a jab at Loki being Jotun.

Mobius saying Loki is insecure because of Lady Loki is...probably true.

With the elevator, the camera stops and focuses on the Time Keepers.

The Creation of the TVA, the beginning of time, the end of time, all classified. That is sus.

Loki almost crying over Ragnarok was good. Let him cry over the destruction of his home.

Loki being the one to discover something the TVA had no idea about after a day is on brand for Loki. And it shows how the TVA really are vulnerable.

Mobius: Really? In front of my salad?

No but the object lesson was well done and actually did help me understand what Loki was talking about.

Casey! Casey drinks grape juice! Imagine how confusing this is for Casey though. Loki is captured, threatens to gut you like a fish (whatever that means), and now he's dressed like an analysist, stealing your juice box. Does Loki get Casey more juice?

Honestly, Loki looking at everything logically and scientifically is fantastic. Adds to the science = magic thing Marvel's got going on, since Loki is a sorcerer.

Loki saying volcanoes are cool is fun. I agree. Volcanoes mean the planet is geologically active, which means we won't die. Also, there is a volcano named Loki on one of Jupiter's moons. I wonder if the creators knew that and put Loki in Pompeii because he is already linked with volcanoes.

Mobius telling Loki to start off small and Loki completely disregarding that felt very personal to me.

Loki being absolutely chaotic and telling everyone they were going to die while speaking perfect Latin was iconic. I want more of that content. Let the man be buckwild.

Again, Loki finding something out after a day that the TVA never knew about is on brand.

"Be free, my horned friends, be free!" I love that way too much.

Mobius being obsessed with jet skis wasn't something I expected, but I'm down for it. Heck, even Loki admitted they were cool.

The discussion on beliefs is going to lead to saying the Time Keepers are bullcrap. Hopefully.

Grapes and nuts are "candy" on Asgard. So, when Loki was eating grapes in Ragnarok, we can interpret that as him eating M&Ms. Second, this might add to something I've seen around here. I've seen things about a book somewhere with Loki saying chocolate fountains are mythical (which is really funny to me). So, I guess Asgard really doesn't have chocolate.

Oh my gosh, so many apocalypses between 2047 and 2051...hopefully none of those happen in real life.

Roxxcart is probably part of Roxxon, something that has been around in Iron Man movies.

Lady Loki got the shovel thing from Roxxcart that she left in Oklahoma! The minutemen said it was from the early third millenia, which is where we are now! 2050 also fits that category!

I saw something about the file saying Class 8 hurricane...there are only 5 classes...which means this is a crazy storm.

Does B-15 want Loki dead? This is a legitimate question, because I think she does. Dead or pruned.

Loki looking around at the storm, I love it. This could be him loving science, or him missing Thor, since Thor creates storms. Also, at this point Loki probably things Thor dies shortly after him in the sacred timeline, so Loki would be particularly sentimental about Thor.

I love Loki drying himself off and not anyone else. And B-15 yelling about his magic. And Loki's motions are so fluid, it's so aesthetically pleasing, I love it.

Dudes, I thought B-15 was going to try to prune Loki when they were alone.

Okay, was Lady Loki bsing about the azalea sale, or does Roxxcart actually do that? I want to know.

Wunmi Mosaku did a really good job as Lady Loki, I loved it.

Loki being annoyed at Lady Loki and saying he understood how Thor felt, does that insinuate Loki can do what Lady Loki was doing?

B-15 and C-20 were both very shaken after being possessed by Lady Loki. I wonder how that felt for them? We've had different explanations of mind control/brainwashing/similar from Clint, Bucky, Daisy, Mack, Fitz, and Monica in the MCU (including AoS). I wonder what is specific to Lady Loki's possession.

C-20 kept going on about something being real. What was that about?

C-20 revealed the location of the Time Keepers to Lady Loki!

Lady Loki not wanting to be called Loki could be a sign she is Sylvie.

There's something weird where Loki's voice echoed around while the camera focused on Lady Loki. Maybe she's telepathic?

Someone needs to keep a tracker on people telling Loki this isn't his story in a show literally about him.

But, that does add to themes for his life, and how everything was always about someone else in his life. He was always a supporting character for Thor, for Odin, for Thanos. Now, even in his own story, everyone insists he doesn't matter.

I was wondering what the reset charges would be used for. I wasn't expecting a massive bombing of the sacred timeline! Wow! That was unexpected and I loved it!

Okay, this isn't from me, this is from New Rockstars. But to list all the places mentioned on chronomonitors, either bombed or not: Knowhere, Barcelona, Niflheim, Dartford, Phong Nha, Lisbon, Vormir, Thorton, Cookeville, Asgard, Rome, Sakaar, Barichara, Porvoo, Ego, Titan, New York City, Tokyo, Hala, Kingsport, Xandar, Beijing, Madrid, Portland, Jotunheim. Bolded are other planets. Those are almost all the planets visited in the MCU. So fun easter eggs there!

I like Lady Loki's aesthetic. The fingerless gloves, the cloak, I love it. And YES SHE ISN'T SEXUALIZED. So many genderbent characters are excuses to sexualize women. But Lady Loki is just as covered as the male Lokis.

Lady Loki just...left the time door open for Loki to follow...for a really long time...I'm worried he's running into a trap.

What is Loki going to do now?

Theory time y'alls: Lady Loki bombed the sacred timeline to flush the minutemen out of the TVA, leaving it defenseless. And she's gonna go after the Time Keepers themselves. We know she gets into the TVA from trailer footage, and that's what I think we're gonna see next episode. I think she (like the Loki we are following) is upset over the lack of free will, and she plans to change that. That's why she wasn't interested in helping Loki "take over" the TVA, because she doesn't want to become the leader of a new TVA, she wants it destroyed.

Alright, back to the Time Keepers stuff. They keep focusing on the middle Time Keeper. Even in the end credits they have a weird cut to focus directly on his face. I'm not 100% on this, but I like this theory. That face is similar to Jonathan Major's, the actor confirmed to be Kang the Conqueror in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. Kang is a well known time travelling villain in Marvel. Maybe he is Kang, and is using variant versions of himself (that's a Kang thing in the comics) to mess with the timeline, and no one expects that from him. Also, Renslayer was his S/O for a bit in the comics, and they keep framing her in front of that one Time Keeper's face. I feel like this would be a good way to set up Quantumania and to show how sus the Time Keepers are.

Also, Loki was absolutely adorable the entire episode. And he got to sleep! Yay for him!

Again, I enjoyed, and can't wait for next week!

#loki (2021)#loki (2021) spoilers #loki (2021) review #loki laufeyson #tva loki #dimartino loki #sylvie lushton #mobius m mobius #ravonna renslayer #hunter b 15 #hunter c 20 #miss minutes #time keepers #aaaaaaaa im excited for the next episode

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magnoliabloomfield · 3 years

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So I saw a TikTok about how “no diversity is forced diversity” as in its only forced when there is actually none, hopefully that makes sense. Anyway, I got to thinking about it and I believe that it’s also not diversity if there’s only one option.

Let’s say you’re lactose intolerant and you go to the ice cream shop with your friends. They get to choose whatever flavor they’re in the mood for, but there’s only one dairy free option. It doesn’t matter if you like the flavor or not, you had no other options and therefore no choice.

Now, for the sake of keeping it clear and simple, I’m going to focus on just two categories for comparison: number of males vs number of females in MCU movies over time. I know there are important additional categories like age, race, orientation, identity etc, but like I said I’m just trying to make one clear example of it in this particular argument.

Why did I choose the MCU? Because I realized that now there are a lot more female characters in Endgame than there were in the first Avengers film. Little boys could CHOOSE who they related to, they had OPTIONS: Iron Man, Captain America, Bruce Banner/Hulk, Hawkeye, and Thor. But girls had no other option than Black widow and therefore no choice, even if she was a flavor of non dairy ice cream they actually love. So I wanted to chart how we got from there to here.

My control group is top billed actors with more than 5 minutes of screen time in the movie.

Iron man 1 made in 2008 had a 5/1 male to female ratio, screen time for each is listed, and it is a bit impressive that Pepper at least has the second longest amount of screen time right after Tony.

The Incredible Hulk of 2008 saw a 4/1 male to female ratio. Bruce had less screen time compared to Tony but Betty had more than Pepper. So while there was no increase in female character options she got more screen time shared with one less male character than in Iron Man.

Iron Man 2 in 2010 finally has a 5/2 male to female ratio even though Pepper has roughly 6 minutes less screen time than in Iron Man 1, coming in at 4th place in screen time. But between the two female characters it’s about as much screen time as Betty had in Hulk, and more than the main villain. So we have one more female character, we have choices now, but the screen time isn’t improving.

Thor in 2011 gave us a 7/3 ratio, the number of women went up but so did the men. On a personal note this movie has two of my most favorite characters, Loki and Darcy, and two of my least favorite, Jane and Odin. But women in general get a whopping total of 37 minutes of screen time in this one, although Jane and Darcy are together for most of it so idk how that actually translates. (And I know I said I wasn’t gonna focus on this but don’t think I didn’t notice that the two white sidekicks have 30 more seconds than the Asian one.) Frigga is a great female character throughout the franchise but in this film she only had 2 minutes. Heimdal is one of my faves but only had 4:15.

Captain America the first Avenger 2011 sets us back, but it’s kind of understandable since it is set back in time and (sadly) portrays an accurate picture of things in that time period. Again, just my personal opinion, but I do like historical accuracy even if the history sucks. Peggy gets the second most amount of screen time just like Pepper did three years again in Iron man 1, but it’s less minutes, and again we’re back to a 6/1 ratio.

In Avengers we have a 8/2 ratio with Maria barely scraping in and Pepper falling short of 5 minutes screen time. So the two women have a little less screen time than Tony Stark, but Nat does come in 3rd place.

I’ll work on Part 2 later, this has taken me a while to do and I got other things to do today 😂

#MCU #marvel #avengers #diversity #feminism #black widow #iron man #Thor #Loki #captain America #hulk #Bruce banner #Bucky

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britesparc · 3 years

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Weekend Top Ten #498

Top Ten Movie Cameos

The first time I think I ever noticed someone cameoing in a movie was Steven Spielberg. I was watching The Blues Brothers, and there was this guy, who I was sure was Mr. The Berg. I must have seen him in some behind-the-scenes something or the other. But he was a director, not an actor, so it couldn’t have been him, right? Then years later I was reading Empire, and sure enough, I was vindicated. It was indeed the play mountain himself. But more on that later.

So, cameos, then. What is a cameo? Now, in my opinion, I think it really has to be small. Really, it should just be one scene – or even one shot. The smaller the better. I’ve seen people online refer to Judi Dench in Shakespeare in Love or Tom Cruise in Tropic Thunder as cameos, which is very, very daft, as those are clearly supporting roles – even if they are quite small (and remember, Dench didn’t win her Oscar for “Best Cameo”, she won it for “We Meant To Give You This Last Year”, which is a very important category in the Oscars). I also think the best cameos should be unexpected; a nice surprising treat. And usually they’re funny – the incongruity of seeing that person in this film. Because that’s the other thing: for a cameo to really work, the person cameoing has to be kinda famous. For instance, some might say that Ashley Johnson in The Avengers is a cameo, but whilst she’s obviously awesome and prodigiously talented, I don’t think she’s instantly recognisable enough (which, y’know, she’s mostly famous as a voice actor); also there’s nothing inherently funny or surprising about her role, she’s a waitress who’s saved by Captain America. It doesn’t feel like it’s saying anything to have Johnson play that role, other than I guess Joss Whedon wanted her in the movie (it’s actually funnier that her brief scene is referenced in Loki, because Kate Herron had the whole of the MCU to draw from in a montage, but chose to use an unknown character who’s in one tiny bit of one film, entirely because she’s a huge fan of The Last of Us – see, that is arguably a cameo).

So my rationale for what is and isn’t a cameo might seem complex or even arbitrary, but when has that stopped me in the past? And so, with no further ado, we now get deep into the weeds of it and celebrate my favourite movie cameos of all time. Oh, and there’s no Bill Murray here; I know, I know, it’s a really famous cameo, but, er, I’ve never seen Zombieland. Sorry.

Stan Lee in Pretty Much Everything (2000-2019): I mean, who else? The absolute King of Cameos. Lee was a massive publicity hound all his life, and passed up no opportunity to get in front of the camera, so once big, proper movies were being made of his comics, he was right there, selling hot dogs in X-Men (2000), rescuing children in Spider-Man (2002), and then right through every MCU film until his sad death in 2019 (and even popping up in Teen Titans!). Hearing him tell Miles Morales “I'm going to miss him,” in Into the Spider-Verse chokes me up every time.

Carrie Fisher & George Lucas in Hook (1991): this has always been one of my favourites because unlike virtually every other entry in this list, you only know this if you’ve been told. But it’s funny and it’s sweet. When Tinkerbell takes Peter to Neverland, she flies over a bridge, where a silhouetted couple are seen canoodling. Her pixie dust falls across them, and they begin to float into the air. And apparently the unrecognisable couple are played by Princess Leia and the director of Star Wars. Which, I think you’ll agree, is pretty cool (Hook is really good for cameos).

Brad Pitt in Deadpool 2 (2018): having an invisible character offers plenty of opportunity for some good gags, especially in a Deadpool movie, but the real laugh in the film comes when the Vanisher is electrocuted and we get to see his face for a split second. And – ha – it turns out to be the hugely mega-famous Brad Pitt. It’s funny because he’s a massive star.

Martin Sheen in Hot Shots! Part Deux (1993): it’s one thing for the movie to do an Apocalypse Now gag, as Charlie Sheen’s Topper Harley sails down a river on a military boat, but hanging a lampshade on it by making it cross over with Martin Sheen’s Willard from the classic seventies Vietnam epic is another thing entirely. And then both actors notice each other – ha, funny, they’re father and son in real life – and say in unison, “I loved you in Wall Street!”. Very on-the-nose all the funnier for it.

Steven Spielberg in The Blues Brothers (1980): well, I mentioned him, and here he is, a totally nonplussed-looking administrator bloke just merrily eating a sandwich. He’s frightfully young (I’m guessing he was probably about 32 or 33) and he’s got a big brown tache instead of his usual ‘Berg Beard, he’s dressed very smartly and he’s awfully polite. His demeanour is hilariously in stark contrast to the mayhem around him, and his public persona is also hilariously in contrast to the raucous and ribald mood of the movie.

Cate Blanchett in Hot Fuzz (2007): this is one I didn’t even notice till I read about it after seeing the movie. In a very funny scene where Simon Pegg’s Nick Angel chats to his ex-girlfriend Janine, she is head-to-toe in forensic gear throughout, with a mask covering her face, so all we see are her eyes. But the gag of it is, she’s played by the phenomenally famous Cate Blanchett. You get a megastar to do one scene but make her unrecognisable. So funny it beats Peter Jackson’s evil Santa.

Don Ameche & Ralph Bellamy in Coming to America (1988): this is another one I remember finding hilarious when I was a kid. Walking down the street late at night with love interest Lisa (Shari Headley), Akeem (Eddie Murphy) nonchalantly gives a huge wad of cash to some poor homeless bums. But it turns out that they’re played by Murphy’s old Trading Places co-stars Ameche and Bellamy – and they refer to each other by their character names from that earlier film. “We’re back!” declares Ameche, referencing the end of Trading Places, when their crooked broker characters were defeated and ruined by Murphy and Dan Aykroyd. It’s a great bit of shared-universe tomfoolery, and very funny for fans of Murphy’s movies. Oh, and speaking of Aykroyd…

Dan Aykroyd in Casper (1995): in 1995 it had been six long, bitter years without a new Ghostbusters film; back then, we could still hold out hope for a proper Ghostbuster 3. Sadly that never came to pass, but it was a very pleasant surprise when Ray Stantz himself popped up in Casper, of all things, fearfully running out of Whipstaff Manor in full ghostbusting regalia and declaring, “Who ya gonna call? Someone else!”. I mean, after facing down Gozer and Vigo and who knows what else, you’d think three sarcastic arsehole ghosts would be no match for him, but maybe the ‘busters were having tough times. Maybe this will all be backstory in Ghostbusters: Afterlife. Maybe Cathy Moriarty and Eric Idle will return the favour and do cameos of their own. We can but hope.

Matt Damon, Luke Hemsworth, & Sam Neill in Thor: Ragnarok (2017): twenty years ago you could point to Goldmember as the, er, gold standard in multi-character cameo pile-ups. And while that is great – Danny DeVito giving the finger, Spielberg back-flipping – I think it’s been surpassed by this minor gaggle of stars hamming it up. Matt Damon – famouser than anyone actually billed in the movie – is An Actor Playing Loki. Dr. Alan Grant from Jurassic Park is An Actor Playing Odin (whilst Odin’s actor, Anthony Hopkins, plays Tom Hiddleston playing Loki playing Odin – do keep up), and Thor’s Real-Life Brother plays An Actor Playing Thor. It’s all delightfully meta and hilarious.

Ollie Johnston & Frank Thomas in The Incredibles (2004): this one’s really sweet, and like the Hook cameo, would very easily slip you by. At the end of the film, after the climactic battle, two old men cheer on the superheroes – “That’s old school!” “Yep, no school like the old school!” – but what’s great is that they’re voiced by – and designed to look like – Ollie Johnston and Frank Thomas, the last two surviving members of the famous “Nine Old Men” group of Disney animators, who’d worked on many of the classic Disney films. This was Pixar and director Brad Bird giving a tip of the hat to the legends who came before them, and made all the sweeter by the fact that Johnston and Thomas (both sadly now deceased) were absolute best buds in real life. A cameo that educates and makes you think! How nice!

There you go. Sadly no room for any of the many great Star Wars cameos, from Daniel Craig through to George Lucas’ entire family. Oh well!

#top ten #cameos #stan lee #thor #hook #incredibles #ghostbusters #eddie murphy #deadpool #steven spielberg #hot fuzz

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cozy-the-overlord · 4 years

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Crimson Curls

Summary: A barista at the Avengers Tower coffeeshop goes missing. Her boyfriend, prominent Avengers engineer Michael Hauer, headlines a desperate campaign to find her, aided by the support of Tony Stark and the rest of the super-powered team. But as Hauer’s narrative begins to unravel, it becomes clear that a certain Asgardian prince knows more than he’s telling.

Pairing: Loki x Original Female Character

Chapter 2: Perception

Previous Chapter | Next Chapter

Word Count: 7,914

A/N: This is a long one... I actually considered chopping it into two chapters, but that would have messed up my careful three-act-structure plans, so I kept it in one. Hope you don’t mind!

TW: domestic violence

Read it on Ao3

It all started because of the Christmas party.

The funny thing was Loki didn’t even want to go to the party. He would have much preferred to remain in his room, flipping through a book he had read hundreds of times before, shielded from the crowds of eyes widening in alarm and conversations that would trail off when they noticed his presence. The mood always shifted when people realized that the alien who invaded New York was in the same room as them, and Loki had become rather exhausted of it.

But Thor had insisted. “Please, brother,” he wheedled. “Just this once. You’ll enjoy it, I swear!”

He had ended up humoring his brother, simply because he knew he’d never hear the end of it if he didn’t. He didn’t expect to be there long. Surely, within an hour Thor would have broken out the Asgardian mead and subsequently have forgotten all else, and Loki could slip away to the sanctuary of his soundproofed quarters.

Stark had been going around introducing them to his various compatriots: everyone wanted to meet Thor, and Loki was an unfortunate obstacle that they had to put up with to do so. Loki hadn’t been paying much attention to them.

But after a while, there was one couple that caught his eye.

“Oh, Thor, you wanna meet this guy!” Stark said excitedly, steering them over to the corner of the room. “Hey, Hauer! Over here!”

Michael Hauer was unimpressive. Tall, pale, blonde—his face looked no different from the dozens of other men Stark had paraded in front of him throughout the night.

It was the woman that stood next to him that piqued his interest.

“This guy’s one of our most talented engineers,” Stark was saying. “That new Quinjet was mostly his design.”

“You give me too much credit, sir,” said the man, grinning widly. He grasped the arm of his companion and pulled her forward. “This is my girlfriend, Kristine.”

Kristine smiled too, but it didn’t quite reach her cerulean eyes. She was a small woman, but her posture made her look even smaller, with the way she huddled in on herself, her face barely peeking out through the strands of her curly red hair. Her long-sleeved dress clung to her body and only accentuated her thin form. She looked like a twig, ready to snap in half.

Her dress was green. Perhaps it was silly that such a thing still garnered Loki’s attention after all this time, but it did. On Asgard, green had been his color, just as red had been Thor’s. Women hoping to gain his favor used to wear green to the royal balls, hoping that he would notice how perfectly the color of their gowns matched his cape. He was well aware, of course, that such a practice was practically nonexistent on Earth. He understood that the Midgardian holiday they were celebrating was associated with the very same colors he and his brother had once claimed for their own. The color of the woman’s dress meant nothing.

But it still caught his eye.

Thor bowed gallantly. “It’s lovely to meet you, my lady.” Studying her face, he added, “I think I’ve seen you before. Don’t you work at the coffeeshop?”

Kristine tensed. “Yes sir, I do,” she mumbled, her voice just barely legible amidst the hum of conversation. She refused to raise her gaze from the floor.

Stark laughed boisterously. “Of course, how could I forget?” He motioned towards her wild mane. “You really do stand out in a crowd, don’t you? Gee, is that how you two met? What do you know, I’m a matchmaker!”

Hauer and Thor both joined in his laughter, but Kristine just looked uncomfortable. Loki cocked his head to the side. It seemed he had found someone even more miserable at this godforsaken party than he was.

He kept an eye on her for the remainder of the night. It wasn’t that he intended to watch her, but his gaze kept drifting back to her frizzy red hair and her sparkling emerald dress. She looked rather lonely, hovering in her boyfriend’s shadow for the entire night. Hauer barely acknowledged her. He was too busy laughing with Stark or enthusiastically explaining something to Rodgers or guzzling beer with Thor. Loki was rather disgusted by it. Had he been Kristine, he would have walked out hours ago.

It was later in the night when he finally decided to approach her. He had been debating about it for a while. On one hand, perhaps she preferred to be invisible—as unhappy as she looked, she didn’t appear to be complaining about her situation. She certainly wasn’t making the effort to capture Hauer’s attention or to find other means of entertainment. But still, something ached in his chest at the way she stood by so stiffly silent as her boyfriend frolicked about the room having the time of his life.

When Hauer joined the crowd gathered on the balcony attempting to lift Thor’s hammer, Loki made his way to her.

He bowed slightly. “Forgive my forwardness, my lady, but I was wondering if you’d honor me with a dance.”

Kristine was startled. “Oh!” she gasped, jumping a bit. She glanced towards the balcony uncertainly. “Uh… alright.”

He saw it there, that familiar flash of fear that he had been so desperate to avoid tonight. He cursed himself inwardly. What had he expected? “I don’t mean to pressure you—”

“No, no, it’s fine!” she interrupted hurriedly. Behind them, people hooted and chanted as Hauer tried his luck with the hammer. She turned back towards Loki. “I’d like to. Dance, that is.” Her cheeks flushed pink.

“Wonderful.” Loki offered his hand, smiling slightly when she took it.

Loki had long been of the opinion that Midgardians had no regard for proper dance. The complex steps and fluid motions of his youth had no place on the barbaric mortal floors. However, that night he experienced a rare stroke of luck. The song that was playing was softer, the couples dancing merely swaying slowly to the notes. He pulled Kristine on to the dance floor, and the two fell into a rhythm quite smoothly.

At first, they didn’t speak. Loki wasn’t sure what to say. She was clearly not at ease—he could feel the tension in her muscles as they danced—but he was beginning to doubt that he was the cause of her discomfort. She kept looking back towards the balcony, as if at any moment she expected something to come crashing through the windows. When somebody coming back into the main room slammed the door, she whipped her head around so quickly that Loki’s cheek was pelted by red curls.

Kristine gasped in embarrassment. “Sorry!” she said quickly, stumbling over her words. “My hair—I know it’s a complete mess, I try to get it to stay put—”

Loki laughed. “Nonsense. It’s lovely the way it is.” She made a face, shrugging indifferently, and he frowned. “Why would you ever think otherwise?”

“I mean— it’s so hard to care for,” she said. “And it gets on Michael’s nerves. Such a mess…”

There was something in her tone that Loki didn’t like, something that seemed to go deeper than hairstyles.

“It’s perfect,” he said fiercely. After a moment, he added, “My mother always thought red hair was the prettiest shade.” He inhaled at the memory. Frigga had loved the color because of her mother’s red hair. Her sisters had all inherited the same shade, but she had been left with her father’s golden brown. She used to tell him this story often when he was a child, whenever he questioned why he looked nothing like his older brother. Although now, all things considered, he found himself wondering if that had just been yet another lie to keep him from trying to look deeper.

Kristine looked thoughtful. “Really? Huh. My mother used to say the same thing,” she sighed. “But I guess all mothers tell their kids they’re pretty.”

“Perhaps, but in your case, she was speaking the truth.”

The girl blushed. “Thank you,” she murmured.

Kristine seemed quite shy, but she laughed when he made a sarcastic joke about Thor’s hammer overcompensation, and when the first dance ended, she agreed to the second without hesitation.

“I’m not used to doing much at these things,” she admitted. “I don’t really know anyone here except Michael. I never know what to do with myself.”

“He’s not one for dancing, I take it?” Loki asked.

Kristine laughed nervously. “No, not really.”

Their conversation continued, soft and simple. Slowly, she began sharing tiny details about herself. She grew up in Virginia. She liked to draw. Her favorite color was dark blue, but she liked green too—although she seemed embarrassed when he complimented her gown.

“It’s just a plain old green dress,” she told him. “I’ve had it for years. There’s nothing really special about it or anything.”

“I don’t find it plain. It’s quite striking on you,” he twirled her gently, watching her skirt fan out around her legs. “Very pretty.”

When he pulled her back, her cheeks were bright red. “Thanks,” Kristine sputtered. “I-I think you’re pretty too.” She winced. “Oh, that sounded weird—”

Loki chuckled. “Not at all,” he said. “I’ll take what I can get.”

He was enjoying himself far more than he preferred to admit. When was the last time he had had a friendly, casual conversation with anyone? His interactions with the Avengers were stilted at best— a reluctant necessity that both parties avoided as much as they could. And Thor… Thor was still trying to live a fantasy where the past had been entirely forgotten and everything had been fixed between the two of them. Call it irony, but Loki wasn’t that talented at lying to himself.

But this… this was nice. Just talking, joking, laughing. Spending time with someone who didn’t have any ulterior motives or unreasonable expectations. It was rather refreshing, even.

Which is why it of course had to end abruptly.

“Kris!” Kristine stiffened, ripping herself out of his arms immediately as Hauer came barreling across the dance floor. “Kris, where the hell have you been? I’ve been looking all over!” He grabbed her arm and began pulling her back across the room. “I want you to meet this guy I work with. Remember, I told you about him—”

Kristine glanced back at Loki, shooting him what he thought was meant to be an apologetic grin. It came off as more of a pained grimace. He frowned.

It wasn’t the place to make a scene. Loki of Asgard, the invader of New York, throwing a fit in Avengers Tower because he wanted to dance with another man’s lover—oh yes, that would go over spectacularly.

Still, he lingered far longer than he ever intended, his gaze following the couple from the corner of his eye. Something about the whole situation didn’t sit right with him. He watched as the man Hauer had been so eager to introduce to her moved on after a few minutes of conversation, and Kristine returned to her dutiful place trailing behind her boyfriend. They left shortly before one in the morning, Hauer’s arm around her waist as they slipped into the elevator.

Kristine met his gaze just as the doors were closing. She smiled softly.

And then they were gone.

He spent the next few days pretending to have forgotten her. He should’ve forgotten her. She was nothing to him—a random mortal who he had just happened to dance with at a party.

And who had a selfish, egotistical boyfriend.

Now that he had been introduced to Michael Hauer, Loki noticed him more often. He worked a lot with Stark, drawing up new designs and overseeing their test runs. From what Loki saw, Hauer was quite intelligent, and well aware of it. He clearly prided himself on his work, as it seemed to be the only topic he ever wanted to discuss.

Loki had found himself lurking around the lab more often, listening in on the discourse that went on between the engineers. His behavior was… odd. Despite many of his coworkers often bringing up their significant others in conversation, Hauer never once mentioned Kristine. Had he not known better, Loki wouldn’t have thought the man was seeing anyone at all. It may have been nothing, of course—perhaps he just didn’t want to discuss his personal life while he was focusing on his work—but Loki couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off about Michael Hauer. His concern for Kristine grew.

It was about a week after the party that he spoke with her again. He went down to the lower floors a few times to scope out the coffeeshop where she worked. It seemed she was always on duty—her crimson curls stood out even when she had them tied back behind her head as she spoke with customers and punched numbers into the cash register.

It was something of a marvel, really; here was this woman who had stuttered and blushed her way through two dances (or a dance and a half, to be more precise), completely calm as she juggled the demands of what had to be hundreds of impatient strangers a day. Was she truly that comfortable with her task, he wondered, or was she simply a better actress than he would have given her credit for?

It was late in the day when he decided to find out.

For once, there wasn’t a line to the counter. Loki sidled up to the cash register and smiled. “Good afternoon, my lady.”

Kristine looked up from her cellular device with a jump. “Oh, hi!” she smiled, but her shoulders remained tense. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you down here.”

“No, you haven’t,” he said. “But ever since his first visit here, my brother has been completely infatuated with this drink of yours. I thought I might give it a try.”

“Oh, yeah. It’s-it’s kind of addicting.” She shifted, pushing a loose strand of hair back behind her ear. He frowned. She still had yet to look him in the eye. “Um, I wanted to tell you… I’m really sorry I dipped so quickly the other night. Michael had told me he wanted to introduce me to his friend, I had just forgotten. I didn’t mean to—”

Loki’s features softened. “I completely understand. No need to apologize,” he said. Kristine’s posture relaxed at his words.

“Really?” she asked.

“Of course. If anything, I should be apologizing to you. After all, I’m the one who stole you away from your party in the first place.”

“Oh no, you’re fine! It was—it was nice. I had fun,” Kristine blushed once again. He smiled wider. Never had he encountered an individual so easily embarrassed by everything she said. It was rather endearing.

She cleared her throat. “So, um, what can I get you?”

Loki glanced at the screen behind her, the various types of drinks laid out in an electric menu he didn’t have the patience to read. “It seems I am in need of your assistance on that front,” he said. “I know nothing of these beverages. What would you recommend?”

“Um,” she shifted, settling into her barista voice. “Well today’s special is the peppermint mocha—it’s kind of the last of the holiday drinks, so—”

“You misunderstand,” he interrupted. “What would you recommend?”

“Oh. You mean—,” Kristine stumbled. “Well… I’m probably the wrong person to ask. I—I don’t really like sugary drinks. I just stick to black coffee most of the time. But that’s just me!” she added hurriedly. “Most people actually prefer—”

“I think I will trust your judgment. After all, I am hardly most people,” he grinned. “I can’t say I enjoy you Midgardians’ obsession with sugar that much myself.”

Her brow furrowed anxiously. “Are you sure? I mean, it’s not that exciting—”

“I’m sure.”

She studied him for a moment, as if attempting to assess his sincerity. Her eyes really were quite piercing. Loki wasn’t sure if he had ever met a mortal with such vibrant blue irises.

“Okay,” she said finally, turning to the cash register. “Small, regular, or large?”

Loki followed her movement, leaning over the counter. “Large,” he said. “Why not? Let’s be dangerous.”

“Well, you are getting the most boring item on the menu, so I don’t know how dangerous you’re being.” Her eyes widened at her own words, clapping her hand over her mouth as her cheeks flushed pink yet again. “I’m sorry, I—”

But Loki was chortling. “My my, now where did that sharp tongue come from?”

Kristine giggled. “Cash or credit?”

She was still smiling when she handed over the warm paper cup. Loki took a whiff of the liquid and winced. “Norns, that is potent.”

“I think it smells nice,” she protested. “I—” Suddenly she stiffened, eyes trained on something over behind him.

“Is something wrong?” he asked, glancing over his shoulder and seeing nothing particularly alarming.

“N-no, no, um—” she looked away quickly, raising her voice. “Is there anything else I can get for you today?”

Frowning, Loki shook his head. “No, I suppose that would be all.”

“Well, have a nice day!” Kristine’s smile was wide and strained. Her message was clear, although Loki couldn’t fathom what had so quickly flipped the switch from playful conversation to such an abrupt dismissal. It was only after he thanked her and made to leave that he found the object of her concern.

Michael Hauer was exiting the stairway, making his way across the room to the coffeeshop. She must have noticed him coming down the stairs.

Still, he was confused. What was so alarming about her boyfriend coming to see her? Was she concerned that he’d see her with another man and get the wrong idea? But surely the brilliant Hauer understood that his girlfriend’s occupation required her to interact with a plethora of different characters every day.

Loki watched as Hauer spoke with her at the counter. He couldn’t quite make out what they were saying, but Kristine had become very still. In fact, she didn’t seem to be speaking at all: she just nodded and shook her head as her boyfriend continued. Loki found himself remembering all the things he disliked about Hauer.

After a few minutes, he left without buying anything. As soon as he was gone Kristine ducked into the back room, only to be replaced a short while later by another girl in a matching apron. Loki returned to his room silently, unable to shake the feeling that something was drastically wrong with Michael Hauer.

He began making a point of stopping by the coffeeshop once a day in the late afternoon. Furtive observation taught him that Hauer had a habit of showing up at the counter in the middle of the morning and again shortly after the lunch hour, although the purposes of these visits were still unclear to him. Kristine’s answers were evasive when Loki had attempted to casually broach the subject.

“Oh, you know,” she said, avoiding his gaze. “He just likes to check up on me.”

Despite his concerns about Michael Hauer (or perhaps because of them), Loki and Kristine struck up an odd little friendship. The coffeeshop was never that busy at the times he came by, so usually he’d stick around to talk for a bit. Their conversations were never anything earth-shattering: they’d complain about their lives, reminisce about their past, make fun of the eccentric individuals they’d see shuffling through the food court. Once, when she learned that Loki still had no idea how to use the cellular phone Stark had given him, Kristine insisted upon teaching him.

“So these are your text messages here,” she said, her fingers sliding across the slab of metal. “See the speech bubble? Geez, you have a lot of unread texts.”

Loki watched over her shoulder, doing his best to feign interest. “Now how could you tell that?”

“The number in the red circle in the corner. See that?” Kristine pointed. “That’s how many new notifications you have.”

“What am I being notified of?”

“People have been texting you. You can go in and—” she pressed the text icon “See? Here’s all your messages.” She frowned at the jumble of capitalized letters that greeted her. “It looks like they’re all from Thor.”

Loki yawned. “Is that so? Well then, we know they’re not important.”

She giggled. “Here, let me show you how to text back.”

Sometimes, she’d show him her sketchbook. Kristine really was a talented artist: her penciled sketches of the birds she’d see outside her apartment window looked as though they could almost fly off the page. She drew a lot of people as well. Most were portraits of Hauer, of course, as well as a light-haired, middle-aged woman Kristine identified as her mother, but Loki also recognized some of the Avengers: Tony Stark, Captain Rodgers, even his brother.

“You spent the time to draw Thor and not me?” he cried in mock outrage. “And here I thought we were friends! I must say, I’m quite offended.”

Kristine stifled a giggle. “I’ll draw you next,” she said. “I promise.”

In return, he’d show her bits of his magic. He’d conjure an illusion of a snake on the counter or make his hand glow or turn the sugar jar into a goblet of wine or something equally silly—hardly anything remarkable, but he loved how her eyes would light up at even the simplest of tricks.

“That’s the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen!” she laughed as she ran her hands through a fading illusion. “That is just so cool!”

He grinned. “You’re easily impressed, my lady.”

“I wish I had magic” Kristine continued. “It would make my life so much easier. Wouldn’t have to drive anywhere, I could just teleport. If I left my phone at home, I could just summon it through a portal or something.” She snapped her fingers. “You know what I’d do? I’d make it snow inside. It’s always so freaking hot in here—we could use some indoor snow.”

“There’s a far simpler solution to that problem, my lady.” He nodded at her shirt. “You should change your wardrobe. It’s far to warm in here for long sleeves.”

Kristine tugged at the collar of her turtleneck uncomfortably. “I guess. But—I’m just used to wearing this, you know? Like, you can’t teach an old dog new tricks, right?” She laughed again, but this time it sounded far emptier. “Besides, it’s not that bad in here. I just always make a big deal out of little things, you know?”

Loki nodded in agreement, but inwardly, he was distressed. He had suddenly realized that in the weeks he had been spending time with Kristine, he had never once known her to bare her arms.

His concerns only grew when one day Kristine came in to work with a blackened eye and a bruise that stretched down her cheek.

“Norns, Kristine, are you alright?” he cried. “What happened?”

“Oh, it’s nothing,” she said, speaking so quickly he could barely understand what she was saying. “I just fell down the stairs at my apartment. It was my fault, they’re really steep, I wasn’t paying attention. It looks a lot worse than it is.” She smiled desperately. “One large black coffee?”

“What is your opinion on Michael Hauer?”

Stark looked up from the box of spare parts he was rummaging through in his lab and frowned.

“Hauer?” he asked. “Why do you care?”

Loki glared coldly across the room. “Simple curiosity. Indulge me.”

He smirked. “What’s the magic word?”

“Stark.”

“Fine, geez,” Stark turned back to his work. “Hauer’s a genius. You know that new Quinjet we tried out in Novi Grad? That was his model. I never would have thought to—”

“I understand that he’s intelligent,” Loki interrupted. “But what are your thoughts of his nature?”

“His nature?” Stark shrugged, dumping the contents of the box on his desk. “I don’t know, he’s nice. Fun at parties.”

Loki raised an eyebrow. “That’s all? Hasn’t he been in your employ for years?”

“Hey,” Stark raised his arms in mock surrender. “I focus on the important stuff. You know,” he continued as he picked out pieces from the pile. “You can see for yourself, if you hang around a few minutes. We’re staying late tonight to test out one of his new designs—”

He started. “Hauer’s coming up here?”

“Yeah. If you want to meet him, I can—”

But Loki had already dashed out of the room.

Kristine usually got out of work early in the evening, but he knew that when Hauer stayed late she’d wait for him at the tables across from the coffeeshop. Perhaps this would be the best time to confront her, when she knew her boyfriend would be occupied for the foreseeable future.

He nearly ran into the man on the stairs going down to the food court.

“Watch it!” snapped Hauer as he came barreling up the steps, not even looking up to see who he was snapping at. For a moment, Loki was tempted to remind him, but he held himself back. Now was hardly the time or place.

The dark-haired girl behind the counter wasn’t Kristine, and she visibly stiffened when she saw Loki coming.

“H-how can I help you today, sir?” she stuttered.

“I’d like to speak with Ms. Ververs,” he said. “Is she here at the moment?”

The girl looked surprised. “Kristine?” she asked. “Oh, um, you just missed her. I think she went to the bathroom.”

He nodded. “Ah. Very well. Thank you.”

Loki made his way to one of the tables, resolving to wait for her return. Time passed. Men and women trickled down the stairs and out the door. Outside, the sun began its slow descent beneath the horizon. Kristine still did not return. He had waited nearly forty-five minutes when Loki decided to go looking for her.

The nearest restrooms were empty. He went down the hall to check the others, peeping into the cubicle offices along the way. He couldn’t imagine what she’d be doing in there, but perhaps she had run into a friend and struck up a conversation and lost track of time—he hoped that was what had happened. But she wasn’t anywhere he looked.

Loki was on the brink of alerting Stark that one of his employees had gone missing so that he could check security footage when he overheard what sounded like muffled sobs coming from a broom closet.

Frowning, he tapped on the door. “Kristine?” He cracked it open and called again. “Kristine, is that you?”

There was a moment of hesitation before the answer came. “Yeah,” she mumbled, sounding completely exhausted. “Yeah, it’s me, Loki.”

He pushed the door all the way open. She was huddled in the corner, hidden behind a mountain of cleaning supplies. Her hair was beginning to slip out of her ponytail, framing her face in wispy strands of unkempt curls. Her eyes were swollen. Loki’s chest ached as he took in her appearance. In the low light, she looked more like a frightened child than a grown woman.

Loki made his way into the closet, stooping to avoid the low ceiling. “What are you doing in here?” he asked gently as he sat down next to her. “What happened?”

“Oh nothing, it’s just—I thought—” she hiccupped. “I just wanted to get away from everything.” She rubbed at her eyes with the corner of her apron.

“Here.” Loki summoned a clean handkerchief to his hand and held it out to her. This time, the magic trick sparked none of the usual wonder in her eyes. She took the cloth with a barely audible thank you.

“What do you mean by everything?” he asked.

Kristine sniffed. “It’s nothing. Really. Michael and I—we just had a little argument. That’s it. It’s nothing.”

“Nothing,” Loki echoed. “And yet you’re hiding in a broom closet.”

“I—it’s just—” she sniffed again, blinking back tears. “He gets mad sometimes.”

She blew her nose into the handkerchief, wincing when she pressed too hard on her bruised cheek. Loki thought of Michael Hauer, fuming on the stairs as he stormed off from the coffeeshop. He thought of how he had dragged Kristine away on the dance floor, how terrified she had been when she saw him coming while speaking with Loki at the counter.

Hesitantly, he gave voice to the suspicion that had been lurking in the back of his mind ever since he first laid eyes on the couple.

“He hurts you,” Loki whispered quietly. “Doesn’t he?”

Kristine looked up with panicked eyes. “You can’t tell anybody!” she cried, trembling. “You won’t, right? You won’t tell anybody?” she grabbed at his shoulders as the tears streamed down her cheeks, her breathing coming in fast spirts. “Please, he’ll get so mad at me if he thought—you won’t tell anybody, will you? Please—”

Loki gently pulled her shaking body into an embrace, trying to soothe her as she hyperventilated. “Kristine, it’s alright—”

She sobbed into his chest. “He’ll get mad, he’ll get mad!”

He hushed her softly, rubbing her back. “If you don’t want me to tell anyone, then I won’t,” he murmured. “Can you breathe in slowly for me now? And now out. Just like that…”

They sat in the dark for a while, Loki whispering quiet nonsense into her ear as her breathing stabilized. People passed by outside, but thankfully no one barged into the broom closet.

“Why do you stay with him?” he asked after several minutes of silence.

Kristine shook her head. “He-he’s done so much for me—”

“He hurts you.” He looked down at her in disbelief. “You don’t owe him anything.”

She inhaled hoarsely. “I didn’t have anything when I came up here. My mom had just died, everything was going wrong, I was so lonely—” she sighed. “I’ve never been good at—at making friends. But he—he was so nice to me… I don’t know what happened.”

She sounded utterly broken. Loki’s arms tightened around her without realizing. “He’s not worthy of you,” he whispered fiercely. “You deserve to be treated like a goddess.”

Kristine laughed humorlessly. “But I can’t just leave him,” she said. “I’d lose my job. He’s literally best friends with Tony Stark, he’d be sure of it. And I wouldn’t have anywhere to go—he owns the apartment.”

“Don’t you have someone you could stay with temporarily?” he asked. “Friends, family? Surely you aren’t entirely dependent on that rat.”

“My parents are both dead,” she whispered. “And I never really got to know anyone out here before I met Michael. After that… I never really hung out with anyone else.”

“You hang out with me,” he reminded her. “I’m sure I could arrange for you to stay somewhere. I’ll tell Stark what kind of person Hauer really is. I’m sure the Avengers would be eager to have him terminated if they knew.” It would take some convincing, but if he got his brother to believe him, Thor could surely convince the others. Perhaps Stark would be unwilling, but Rodgers held just as much authority as the mechanic, and Loki somehow doubted that keeping a known abuser on Avengers payroll would sit well with the Captain’s heavy moral compass.

Kristine was less convinced. “They’d never fire him,” she said bitterly. “Not for me. Michael builds all their world-saving technology. They rely on him. I’m just some random barista. They’ll never sacrifice all that stuff for me. And he knows it.”

Loki frowned. “What do you mean?”

“I’ve called the police on him. Twice. I thought he was going to kill me,” she gulped. “The police got there, and he just talked his way out of it. Told them who he was, who he worked for, and they were like, shaking hands with him!” She sobbed. “They asked me if I wanted to press charges, and it was like, how could I? They were already on his side!”

“What do you do then?” he asked, horrified. “If you’re afraid to call law enforcement, what do you do when he’s attacking you?” Somehow, he already knew the answer.

Kristine shrugged. “Pray. Wait for him to get tired.”

“No.” Loki shifted, digging out the glossy Avengers-sanctioned cellular phone from his pocket. “Here. If you can’t call the police, call me.” The screen lit up the broom closet as he pulled up his number.

She frowned. “What?”

“Take down this number. If you ever feel you’re in danger, I want you to call it. Without hesitation.” Loki looked at her somberly. “I’ll teleport to your location immediately.”

“Are-are you sure?” she asked hesitantly. “Isn’t that number supposed to be, you know, like, top secret?”

“Don’t worry about it. Stark claims it’s untraceable.” He watched as she pulled out her own phone and began typing the number in. “I will get you out of this, Kristine.”

She ran her hands through her red hair. “You really think you can?”

“Yes,” he said. “I swear it.”

Things changed after that. His daily coffee-stops turned into check-ins: asking if she was alright, if Michael had done anything the night before, if he could do anything for her. It seemed that they had reached a period of peace: Michael was so distracted with his latest project with Stark that he didn’t have the time to be violent. Loki feared that it wouldn’t last long though.

Kristine had made him swear that he wouldn’t tell anyone else of her circumstances, so Loki figured that he’d have to get creative with getting Hauer out of Avengers Tower. Framing him as a security threat seemed to be the best option, as security was Stark’s highest priority. Loki set about planning to make it look as if Hauer was stealing SHIELD intel. It was a more difficult task than he anticipated. Leaving too obvious a trail would make Stark suspicious that Hauer was being set up, but too subtle a trail and nobody would even notice that something was wrong. He went back and forth on various plans, all harboring some flaw that could potentially give it all away, before storming out of his quarters one day in frustration.

It really shouldn’t have been so difficult. Loki sat in the food court, cloaked by an illusion, watching Hauer make his way down the stairs for his morning visit to his girlfriend. If he were to trip at the top of the staircase, put the wrong foot in the wrong place at the wrong time and go tumbling to his death, nobody would think anything of it. Oh, what a tragic accident. He was so young. And then they’d move on with their lives.

Yes, Loki thought as Hauer went on his way, it would be so much easier if you would just fall down the stairs.

He didn’t kill him though. It wasn’t out of any love for Michael Hauer—the very thought of the man drove Loki into fantasies of burying a dagger into his chest—but because of Kristine. Loki didn’t tell her about his murderous dreams, but she had her suspicions, and she didn’t like them.

“You wouldn’t do anything to hurt Michael, right?” she asked suddenly one day. “Like, physically?” She looked up at him, eyes wide and anxious. It cut him deeply to see her looking at him like that, as if he was the unpredictable monster she had to fear.

Loki shook his head. “No,” he said. “No, I wouldn’t do anything like that.” He left with his coffee, unable to shake the feeling of shame weighing down his shoulders.

It was late at night when the phone rang. Loki had been sitting on the couch in his quarters, the open book in his lap failing to hold his attention as his mind wandered to more pressing issues, when the ringtone crashed through the silence.

Loki jumped to his feet, clawing at his pocket to find the damn device. As quickly as it began, the room fell quiet. By the time that he had the phone in his hand, the ringing had stopped. Across the screen flashed a message: Missed Call from Kristine Ververs.

He didn’t remember making the decision to teleport to her apartment, only that suddenly he was there, ripping the door open so forcefully that the lock cracked.

Three things greeted him inside the apartment: Hauer, standing only a few feet from the door. Kristine, curled beneath him on the floor, gasping for air. And blood. Lots and lots of blood.

Hauer whipped up, eyes wild. “The fuck are you?”

Loki grabbed him by the collar and flung him into the television set.

Kristine was sobbing. Her bloodied hands clawed at the knife handle buried deep into her abdomen.

Oh Norns, what did he do to her?

“Here, hang on,” Loki knelt beside her in a frenzy, pulling her wrists away. Her shirt was soaked through with red. Helplessly, he pressed against her wound, hoping to staunch the bleeding.

How much blood has she lost already?

Panicked, he glanced around the room. The carpet was stained, a trail leading all the way back to the kitchen area.

“Loki,” she choked. “I didn’t—I tried—”

“Shh,” he hushed. “It’s alright. You are going to be fine.” He needed to get her out of here. He had no medical supplies in here, no healing stones. Gingerly, he scooped her up in his arms, kicking himself when she whimpered in pain. “I’m going to take care of you, alright?” he whispered as he stood. “You’re going to be fine. I swear, you’ll be fine.”

He teleported back to his quarters and laid her on his bed.

Healing stones. Need healing stones.

“Kristine,” he said urgently, bringing her hands to either side of the knife. “I need to you to press down here, okay?” He pushed her hands against her wound. “Just like that, alright?”

Kristine gave a short nod, but her eyes seemed to be staring past him.

“Kristine,” he tapped her cheeks, “Kristine, stay awake!”

She made a nondescript noise and nodded again. With a troubled look, Loki grabbed a healing stone and broke it over her stomach, casting a spell of light to activate it. The dust shimmered as it sank into her skin through her shirt. He pulled the knife out as the wound closed and tossed it aside.

Kristine moaned, her head falling backward on to the pillow as her eyes closed. That was okay. In the handful of times Loki had used healing stones on mortals (usually members of the Avengers), he had learned that their bodies tended to be overwhelmed by the magic and need to sleep it off. It was okay.

He watched her chest rise and fall with each small breath, her crimson curls seeming even more vibrant against the paleness of her skin.

It was okay, right?

Her pulse was steady. Loki took it twice more, just to be certain. Her temperature was normal. Her breathing regular. Everything was fine. He sighed.

Loki cleaned up the blood best he could without disturbing her, then washed off and pulled up a chair. Kristine was still sleeping peacefully. He wondered suddenly what Hauer was going to do. The man was used to getting away with violence, but this went beyond beatings: this was attempted murder. Would he come clean? Or (and the more Loki thought about it the more likely this seemed) would he attempt to pin the blame on him?

“He crashed through the door and kidnapped my girlfriend! I tried to stop him, but he attacked me!”

From an outside perspective, the story might seem believable. After all, most of this world still saw him as the monster who lurked in the shadows, waiting with sharpened claws for the opportune moment to strike. It would be easy for Hauer to paint him as the villain.

Loki considered waking the others and explaining what had happened, before Hauer had a chance to tell his warped version, but he decided to wait until Kristine awoke. It was her life, after all—she should have a say in how things played out. Besides, doing so would require him to leave her by herself for a bit.

He didn’t know what it was, but he didn’t want to leave her alone.

By morning, she still had not awoken. It was a bit concerning—the other times he had used stones on mortals, they had only slept for a few hours. By the end of the day, she still had not stirred and he was convinced that something was wrong. Frantically, he consulted his books, searching for some caveat he had overlooked.

The obvious answer would be that she was having a bad reaction to the healing stones, but such a situation would merit a reaction: racing heartbeat, wild seizures, delirious hallucinations. But Kristine was still. Her vitals were normal, her sleep tranquil. Loki didn’t know what to do.

It wasn’t until he found a footnote in his old healer’s textbook that he realized what was happening.

Note that the potency of healing stones can be affected by the mental wellbeing of the patient. An individual who has suffered under extreme stress for an extended period of time may have a longer recovery period than one who has not.

“Oh, dear,” Loki murmured. He closed the book slowly. “Extreme stress for an extended period of time”—that practically described Kristine’s entire existence. She was going to be out for a while.

He looked at her on the bed, eyes closed, breath soft. He had never known Kristine to look so at peace. Perhaps a long, deep sleep was just what she needed. He patted her knuckles gently.

“You’re safe here, my lady,” he whispered.

The next day, when no one had crashed into his quarters accusing him of kidnapping, he thought that perhaps he better find out what was going on. He slunk into the common room, hoping to overhear some tidbit of information. Of course, Thor was never one to appreciate his desires for stealth.

“Brother!” he cried when he noticed him, patting him on the back. “Where have you been? Have you heard the news?”

Loki stiffened. “News?”

“Michael Hauer’s lady has gone missing! You remember her, don’t you? You danced with her at Stark’s last party.”

“Yes,” Loki frowned. Thor didn’t seem to have any idea of his involvement. “What do you mean ‘missing’? Has she been abducted?”

“We don’t know,” Thor said, shaking his head ruefully. “She and Hauer had a fight the night before last, and she stormed out. Hauer only saw yesterday morning that she never returned.”

“Oh.” Loki stared for a moment, shellshocked. Hauer had made up a story that didn’t include him in it. Why would he cut out his easiest option for a scapegoat? “Well,” he said cautiously, “I assume every effort is being made to retrieve the young lady.”

“Oh, yes. Stark plans to help the police, to make certain she’s found safely,” Thor sighed. “Poor Hauer. I can’t imagine what he’s going through right now.”

Loki shook his head. “No, neither can I.”

It was an interesting tale that Hauer had concocted. Loki watched it play out over the next few weeks as he watched over Kristine. Listening to the piece of filth pretend to weep over the woman who he had beaten and abused and buried a blade into made his blood boil, but Loki put up with it in an attempt to understand what Hauer was trying to accomplish. Shockingly, he continued to stick to his story: he and Kristine had a fight at around ten, she got angry and stormed out, and when he woke up the next morning he realized she hadn’t come back.

At first, Loki thought he was simply trying to cover up his violent history. But it didn’t make any sense: he had the perfect opportunity to solidify his innocence by throwing the blame on to Loki, and yet he continued to dig himself into a hole by claiming Kristine left on her own—something security cameras proved never happened.

It was only when he stopped to consider that Hauer had to have taken the time to clean the apartment, wash away the traces of blood and fix the lock and right the television set, that Loki began to examine an alternative explanation. Did… did Hauer even know what happened that night? Loki hadn’t exactly checked his force when he threw him across the room. It was possible that he didn’t even remember Loki showing up, didn’t remember what happened to Kristine… and woke up in an apartment full of blood…

Oh my, Loki thought as he watched Hauer stumble through an interview on television. He thinks he killed her.

The revelation and thought of the stress it must have been causing him gave Loki great joy, but watching the world fall for Hauer’s story hook, line, and sinker was frustrating beyond words. As the Avengers showered him with pity, not even bothering to question the shakiness of his ridiculous story, Loki thought of Kristine’s words in the broom closet, her steadfast belief that nobody cared enough about her to turn on her boyfriend.

Then the narrative flipped.

Loki remembered Kristine telling him about those two phone calls, but nothing could have prepared him for actually listening to them.

“Can you please just send someone?” her voice was shaking, barely holding together as she breathed into the phone, “He’s really mad, I think he’s going to break down the door. Please, is someone coming?”

Loki wasn’t sure what hurt him more, hearing her whisper through such unadulterated fear, or knowing that when the someone did arrive, they did nothing to help her.

The public had turned on Michael Hauer. The police found traces of blood in his apartment. Stark fired him. Descriptions of the missing knife plastered the news. Demands for an arrest flooded the Internet. The search for a body kicked into full gear. And then Loki had an idea that could put the nail in his coffin.

He left the knife where it was sure to be noticed by someone, just sitting atop the dumpster behind their apartment building. Sure enough, it was found within hours.

Four days later, Michael Hauer was arrested and charged with the murder of Kristine Ververs.

That same day, Kristine woke up. He had become so used to her stillness that he nearly jumped out of his skin when she groaned.

He knelt next to the bed. “Kristine?”

She stretched, blinking her cerulean eyes. “L-Loki? What—where are we?”

“My quarters in Avengers Tower,” he smiled wryly. “You’ve had a bit of a nap.”

Kristine shot up as if she was struck by lightning. “Michael! Oh my God, he—” her hands flew to her stomach, where the knife had gone in. “What—how—did he—”

Loki hushed her. “It’s alright. You’re safe. He can’t hurt you,” he said, taking her hands in his and giving them a reassuring squeeze. “I have much to tell you…”

#loki x ofc #loki marvel #loki fanfic #avengers fanfic #crimson curls #chapter 2 perception #crimson curls chapter 2

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mischief-and-tea-by-the-sea · 4 years

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First lines meme thingie

I was tagged by @mcfiddlestan, and I rarely ever get tagged for things. So here goes.

Rules: Post the first lines of your last ten fics read or written and then tag others to do the same.

10. WIP: From Chapter 5 of Mission (Part 2, of Hemispheres):

"Oh. You're back, Stark."

Tony stepped up to the cell just as Loki's honeyed voice greeted him from the darkness. Behind him, Fandral continued to use what Frigga had given him – more daylily, it seemed – to keep the guards befuddled and forgetful about their presence.

"I am, Bambi. And I see...well, hear...you're still awake. Which is good. I'd hate to think I was disturbing your sleep," Tony retorted, the corner of his mouth quirking into that smile that let anyone know he was amused, especially with himself.

Tony had actually fallen asleep after navigating his way back to his room and crawling into the orgy-bed. It was Fandral's voice hovering right over him, followed by a hand shaking him that had jolted him from sleep. He couldn't be mad, though. After all, here he was again, in Loki's presence.

Even if he couldn't see him yet.

As that thought entered Tony's mind, a candle silently illuminated the cell, and Loki sat on the edge of the narrow bed, dressed for sleep, his hair down around his face but not tousled yet to indicate any sleep. Those stunning green eyes pierced through the glass to stare into Tony's.

9. From Chapter 1 of Mission; “A spirit with a vision (Is a dream with a mission)”; (Part 2 of Hemispheres):

"Tony, this is madness."

Tony finished his third cup of coffee and poured another for himself. He turned to offer Thor a refill, but the God of Thunder covered the top of his ginormous mug with his hand to politely refuse. Buzzing from the caffeine and distracted for length of a cicada's wing-flutter, Tony tried to remember which one of them had taught Thor to be polite about coffee.

"It's not madness, Thor. I've just...had time to think about it, and...Loki should be here. Not...wherever you put him," he hedged and tried to meet Thor's eyes.

"He threw you through the window of your own home. He wrecked your city. He killed..."

Setting the carafe back on its hot plate a little rougher than he'd intended, Tony took the three wide steps it took to land him right in Thor's space, and he glared up at him.

"And how many have you killed, Hammer Time? You're the actual warrior, so how much blood do you have on your hands? How much innocent blood, at that?"

Thor was taken aback by the acrimony in Tony's tone, the way those dark eyes flashed with a red-hot forge fire that burned the breath between them. He lifted his cup between them, took a drink of what remained in it then set it down again. He never took a step back or tried to push Tony away.

"That is not a discussion we're going to have, Tony. You're upset with me, and I cannot fathom why," he told his friend, a hint of warning to his voice. "The last I knew, you were glad to see my brother returned to Asgard for punishment. You have nightmares..."

Tony stepped back of his own volition and waved a hand to dismiss the last thing Thor mentioned.

"You don't know anything about my nightmares. They have nothing to do with your brother." When Thor gave him a questioning eyebrow raise, Tony poked a finger into his chest. "They don't. Compared to what I saw in that wormhole, Loki was just a pissed off kitten."

8. From Part 1 of Hemispheres; Far away you were made in a sea just like me:

It was the gray light that gently tugged him from sleep.

Tony squinted, and at first, he wanted to grouse and tell the cloudy morning to go fuck itself; he wasn't ready to wake up. Especially when a warm body spooned against his, a creamy-skinned arm draped over his side, and the hand that belonged to it cupped his belly. That was enough to make him smile and close his eyes again, his own hand slipping away from where it rested between his cheek and pillow to settle on that other hand.

This must not be one of his many flings that he picked up at a bar or conference because he felt no need to get out of bed and begin the Ritual of Escape. He didn't have the urge to run and leave Pepper to 'take out the trash', as she so often explained it.

Wait. Is that Pepper behind me?

Tony caressed the knuckles of the hand on his stomach, and while the hand was fine-boned and nimble, it was certainly not the hand of a woman.

Definitely not Pepper's.

Still, that body felt so good against his back; not bed-warm the way he would've expected. It was cooler than most bodies, though not uncomfortably so, and Tony snuggled back against it all the same, feeling this lover's arm tighten against him.

He said fuck it to the outside world and responsibilities again, ready to drift off. Ready to ignore the meetings lined up for him, the half a dozen projects in his lab, and the business luncheon he no doubtedly was supposed to attend that was Incredibly Important to Stark Industries.

"Mmm, if you keep squirming against me like that, ástin mín, you're not going to make that breakfast meeting you're supposed to be at in..." Loki lifted his head to squint at the projected clock on Tony's nightstand. "...an hour," he finished and took that moment to snuggle back down against Tony's back, rubbing his smooth cheek along that naked shoulder.

7. From Ghost of a Chance, a Steve/Bucky/Peggy prompt drabble.

December 1943; London, England

Scratchy tunes faded in and out from the radio in the training facility. Bucky's eyes focused on the two men in the makeshift boxing ring, working in some training while the remains of the 107th continued to enjoy their break from combat.

Eventually, they'd have to get back in the fight.

Eventually, they'd follow the golden blond leader who barely matched the image Bucky went into combat with seared into his mind.

Eventually, he'd be chasing after Steve like he always did, but this time, they'd be equals against the mutual enemy.

Steve didn't even need him anymore, did he?

So, what the hell was Bucky supposed to do with himself anymore if Steve didn't need him?

"He's pretty amazing to watch, isn't he, Sargent Barnes?"

Bucky glanced over to see the pretty brunette whose heart Steve had managed to snag. All on his own, too. Bucky hadn't needed to set up a blind date or anything with this one. He huffed and shrugged a shoulder.

6. From Behind Blue Eyes, Emma Frost/Loki. With several twists.

Emma hissed as the cup burned her bottom lip, and she set it down with a scowl. Yes, she’d wanted hot tea, but she hadn’t needed it to come out boiling or to bring back the moral condemnation that still echoed in her memories. If Robert were here, she’d ask him to cool it down for her, but he wasn’t. She knew what was in his thoughts, and she sincerely doubted that he would join her at a café for an afternoon drink.

Would any of them?

She almost laughed out loud to herself when she realized that one person who might was the one person who offered her some of the only comfort throughout the whole debacle. Logan. However, she was as aware as one of his claws punched through her chest that he was like the others, too busy wrapped up in a woman who could have prevented everything that had happened, if only she’d been thinking with her head and not jealous little heart of hers.

And everyone thought Emma was the ice queen.

5. From Supernaut; Eventual Loki/Tony but Loki + Nebula; Infinity War/Endgame Divergent.

Whatever pieces of Loki were left in the wreckage of The Statesman were intact enough that healing from death...again...took only as long as Thanos' snap that ended half of all life across the known universe.

Ironically, Loki didn't die in the snap.

He'd been cold after Thor's body floated to...wherever it had once his unconsciousness pried him from the Trickster's corpse. Loki distinctly remembered that from his place at the gates of Valhalla; that alone told him that his death had come as an honorable sacrifice, and only after kissing his mother and father goodbye – for now – because he'd left unfinished business behind, did he wake up without Thor as his blanket.

Through whatever grace of the Norns that still existed, Loki stood on that piece of the ship that had held his dead body. He studied the stars, charted the constellations, found himself staring at Lokabrenna with a smile as it guided him. It was difficult to breathe as if Thanos' hand was still around his throat, and it was good he didn't need to speak words right away to summon the pieces of the ship around him, soldering it together with what magic he could bring immediately to his fingertips. His windpipe and voice box had been crushed, and it would take days to heal them unless he dug deep into the secret supply of golden apples he'd stored away ages ago in a dimensional pocket. Or unless Eir could come to his rescue, but he didn't know where she was. She and several chests of those apples had been on the escape ship with Brunnhilde, Korg, and half of the Asgardians.

Loki hoped they'd found a safe course and stayed out of Thanos' reach.

4. From We Were Never Boy Scouts; Loki/Steve Rogers.

A frost giant and a once-frozen centenarian walk into a bar...

That's where the joke ends. That bar isn't really a bar. It's the middle of nowhere in the North Siberian Lowland, and there isn't a structure or building or person in sight.

"Golly, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore."

Loki's eyes twinkle with mischief as he turns to see if his companion is as impressed by his Midgardian cultural reference as he is.

"I don't think we're anywhere near Yatutsk," Steve says. He's braced his hands on his hips. His breath forms ghosts. The air bites his cheeks, nose, and ear-tips until they're red. Loki's reference hasn't been missed by Steve, but he's not in the mood for a joke. "I thought you could teleport us anywhere."

He closes his eyes. Takes Thor's advice regarding a Midgardian calming trick by counting to ten. Several deep breaths keep him from yelling at the good Captain.

"I can teleport us anywhere. I did teleport us 'anywhere'. But I'm not from Russia nor am I from your planet, so I can't get you to exact locations when I haven't been to them, especially not when they seem to be in the middle of Frost-Etin wastelands."

3. From A Warrior’s Wounds, a Kurt/Logan (Nightcrawler/Wolverine) ficlet part of a 130 prompt list, and the only one I actually managed to write.

In the near-two centuries since he’d been alive, Logan had been stabbed, sliced, gutted, burned, shot, survived grenades, canons, arrows, magic, inter-dimensional weaponry, Dracula’s bite, Sabertooth’s claws, Hulk’s smash, Black Widow’s knives, Cyclops’ eye-blast, Jean’s mind-punches, Hank eating his leg, Remy’s flying sparky cards, Rogue’s touch, Emma’s diamond slaps, Reed’s rubbery choke-holds, S.H.I.E.L.D removing his head, Mystique’s...everything, and sometimes, his own clumsiness.

He’d endured just about every painful thing a body could endure.

And survived.

2. From Hey Jealousy, a Thor: Ragnarok ‘deleted scene’ short-fic; Loki and Bruce have a ‘conversation’ about Tony’s pants.

(skipping ahead from the first lines, which are replaying the canon lines from Ragnarok)

Before they split up to take care of their escape plans, Bruce tugs at the crotch of the pants again.

“How the hell does Tony wear these so tight?”

None of them notice the narrowed glare from Loki that could shoot magic daggers.

Instead, Loki changes his expression and speaks quietly, gently to the man who could rage-shift at any moment.

“Banner.”

The chains are off at last, and Thor’s busy staring at how much liquor Valkyrie keeps consuming. Loki corners Bruce but in a not-as-threatening-as-it-could-be way.

“Just what are you doing in Anthony Stark’s trousers?”

Bruce stares up...and up...at Loki, his mouth quirks. Eyes squint.

“What?” he asks, watching as Loki sheds the chains as easily as a snake sheds its skin. “What does that even have to do with...”

Loki stares down into Bruce’s face, and there’s something in the Trickster’s eyes that gives away his disappointment. His jealousy.

“What are you doing in Stark’s trousers, Banner? Are you two...together now? A...couple?”

1. From Sunset, an Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. ficlet during the Framework season of the series when the Framework is being shut down.

Radcliffe breathes a sigh of relief when Mack and Yoyo disappear from the Framework to return to the Other Side.

“Right then,” he says to no one. “Time tae go.”

But first, he returns to the Triskelion. There’s something he wants from Madame Hydra’s office. Something he knows from Hydra-Fitz she keeps in there.

Tagging: @scottxlogan, @majorenglishesquire, @kleenexwoman, @mistressofmuses, @elvenferretots, @iamanartichoke, @gaslightgallows, @mypaopu, @jcrewguy, @mayphoenix

#First lines meme thingie #I never get asks #I never get tagged

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dearlazerbunny · 5 years

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Lie to Me (Ch. 23 of 28)

Pairings: Loki x Reader

Genre/Ratings: M eventually (aiming for a slow burn here); warnings for kidnapping and subsequent anxiety/PTSD (will be marked before every chapter)

Words: 1300

Summary: If you had to guess what the captured, traitor, trickster god Loki Laufeyson wanted or needed at this moment, a babysitter would be far, far down on the list. (Set after the events of Avengers 1.)

SHOUTOUT TO @molmcb and @jessiejunebug, I’m too tired to think of something clever to put here tonight (pt. 2)

Requested Tags: @deraniel, @iamverity, @yasnooshka24, @wegingerangelica, @themusingsofmany , @dark-night-sky-99, @tarynkauai, @stuffandstuff-stuff, @angelicshinigami, @my-current-fandom-is, @geekysimmerthings, @lokis-butter-knife, @help-i-need-a-social-life, @vodka-and-some-sass

Loki has stood in Asgard’s grand throne room too many times to count. Some of his earliest memories are of his small self hiding behind his mother’s skirts as he and Thor look on at various proceedings: Odin meting out cruel justice, or citizens presenting complaints, or yearly celebrations they were always turned away from once the hour struck late. This room was an idol to him, once. His endgame. Young hopes and dreams are embedded into every tile that paves the floor. As years passed, the gold that once shined so brightly in his eyes began to dull; warm words crystallized to stone and ice. It became a cancer that consumed his mind and turned his hand to darker thoughts, darker desires- something to conquer and claim rather than bow to and serve. He always knew, truly, that this throne would be his undoing, one way or another, for better or for worse.

And if he is being honest with himself, he always knew it would be for the worst. That nothing would ever end well for Loki Laufeyson.

But even as he is marched to the dias in the center of the room, flanked by thousands of citizens come to see their fallen dark prince meet his fate, his head is held high. The chains wrapping his form do not seem to weigh him down, and his eyes are alert and clever as ever. His armor gleams, his demeanor is calm, and his feet step lightly towards his doom. Because in every other face in the crowd, he sees your own- watching him with soft eyes, giving him courage where his usual boldness has failed him. He walks as you would want him to, as he would want you to see him: proudly, and without shame.

A prince is still a prince, no matter where he comes from. He may not be the prince his father wanted, the prince his mother deserves, or a prince Asgard would accept. But if he is still a prince in your eyes, even after knowing how deep his scars truly cut- then royalty he must be.

And so as he faces his father on his throne, Frigga at his side, and Thor by the other, he does so, for the first time, as their equal.

A hush falls over the crowd as he stops in front of Odin, and his escorts step away. He does not kneel. He does not bow. He simply inclines his head, and in a rare moment of understatement, speaks: “I believe you wished to see me?”

Odin’s gaze is disapproving, of course, but Loki thinks he catches a glint of amusement amongst the sadness mingling in Frigga’s eyes. Thor seems torn- his face is as unreadable as thunderclouds. “My son. It is under grave circumstances that you return to Asgard.”

“Only as grave as you wish it, All-Father. In a word you could transform this funeral into a feast. I am sure your guests would much appreciate the turn in mood.” Out of the corner of his eye, he sees the Warriors Three shift uncomfortably, and trade glances. They stand on Thor’s side, no doubt for his support, but Loki briefly wonders if they will mourn his sentencing. Perhaps not as he stands today, but for the mischievous, innocent boy they knew in their youth.

The rumble from Odin’s annoyance echoes throughout the hall. If the room was silent previously, you can now hear a pin drop. “Loki Odinson. Today you stand before the throne of Asgard for your trespasses against not only our home, but also Midgard, as well as myself and your own brother, Thor. To what do you say to these accusations?”

“I do not deny them. Indeed, I accept these charges as stated.”

The only indication of Odin’s surprise is a slight shift in his posture. “Will you not defend yourself?”

“I see no reason to, as the allegations are not false. I have wronged many and allowed destruction to befall many more. My guilt is clear, and my conscience heavy. As such, I will accept my penalty without complaint.”

“Hm.” His judge’s eyes are piercing, and cold. “It seems you have managed to maintain a mediocrum of dignity during your exploits.” For a moment, a familiar rage flares in Loki’s chest. He swallows it in a breath. “Very well. In consideration of your crimes, you shall be stripped of the immortality Idun has granted you, as well as the magic you so clearly covet. The rest of your days will be spent amongst your peers in the dungeons of Asgard. This is my decree, and this is my judgement.”

Immediately, those in attendance begin to murmur amongst themselves. To rescind one’s eternal youth is a grave penalty, and only used in the most serious of cases. The goddess Idun is the keeper of the apples which give the gift of youth and radiance, and she does not poison her prized fruit readily. Loki grimaces. He and the goddess haven’t been on the best of terms since he had a hand in her kidnapping by a giant, millennia ago. No doubt she will be only too happy to aid in his punishment.

When the double doors to the throne room open again, a breeze smelling of blossoming fruits and lavender floats in, easy and warm as the height of summer. Loki stands aside as a girl- twelve at most, with long hair braided into a crown and gauzy skirts that trail behind her- approaches the royal family and bows low in the old style. In her arms she carries a rough-woven basket filled with softly glowing apples.

Idun turns to Loki and regards him coolly. “Trickster. We meet again.”

He bristles at her use of his nickname. You call him Trickster out of fond exasperation, with a twinkle of a laugh in your voice. Her tone is not so kind. “Indeed we do. Have you been well?”

She doesn’t seem to know what to make of his casual conversation, but her face remains neutral. “My trees bear fruit, and so we live well,” she says simply. “Though it seems you will soon be excluded from such life. Are you prepared for the consequences?”

Reversing immortality is painful at best and lethal at worst. Odin could plan on torturing his son for decades in his dungeons, but there’s no guarantee that he will first survive the poison apple. “He does not have the privilege of choice,” Odin rumbles. “Prepare your spell.”

“Very well.” She inclines her head towards her king, then studies her basket carefully, eventually selecting a fruit that appears slightly plumper and fuller than the rest. Cupping it in her palms, she grazes its divine skin with a thumb, then brings the apple to her lips and begins to chant.

Aesir watch in morbid fascination as the healthy fruit begins to turn sickly and necrotic. Its golden sheen is replaced with a green-gray pallor, and it shrivels as though left in the sun for a thousand years, dripping hazy black smoke and droplets of acid that leave pockmarks on the floor as it leaks from her hands.

Even Idun doesn’t seem to take any pleasure at handing Loki the cursed apple. “May Heimdall smile kindly on your fate,” she whispers, and then retreats, as though she cannot bear to look.

Ash curls around his fingers and fills the air with a dead smell. “Eat,” Odin commands. “Accept your punishment with grace.”

Frigga looks as though she wants to cry, and Thor’s knuckles are clenched so tightly his skin has gone white. Loki looks at neither of them as he takes his first bite.

It tastes of rotted flesh, and acrid juice burns his throat and dribbles down his chin. Immediately, he can feel his stomach churn and his chest tighten as the curse works to undo thousands of years worth of magic. By the time he reaches the core and spits out the seeds into his palm, he feels as though fire is consuming his soul inch by inch.

The king nods in satisfaction. “So it is done. The All-Mother will oversee the revoking of your magic.” This time, Frigga visibly flinches. She cannot blatantly disobey her husband, but to have a hand in robbing her son of his pride and joy, a pride and joy that she herself fostered and nurtured from his infancy- it tears at her heart like nothing else. “Do you have anything to declare before you are taken into custody?”

Despite the agony curling around his person, Loki lifts his chin in quiet defiance. “I do.” He pauses, to make sure every eye is on him. “You call me Loki Odinson. You call me your son. But I believe we both know that I have ever been your son in name only, not in blood, love, or loyalty. I may die tomorrow, but I will die free, because today I declare my independence from the names that have haunted me for millennia. I am not Odinson, nor am I Laufeyson. I am Loki.” Loki’s eyes flare with pride as he fights to keep his voice steady. “I am singularly my own. I claim me for myself and no one else; with no unfulfilled names to carry with me to my grave. When I am stricken from Asgard’s history, remember me well as my own lord, master, and king.”

“GUARDS!” Odin roars, enraged by his words, but Loki simply smiles as his armored escorts drag him from the room by chains and lead him into the depths of Asgard’s castle. Yes, he may die tomorrow. But he will die liberated, with his last words ringing in all of the nine realms’ ears.

XXX

Frigga comes to visit him. He isn’t sure if she’s allowed to do this. He should ask, but most of the time he can’t do much more that shiver on the floor of his cell, arms wrapped around himself, jaw clenched to keep his teeth from rattling out of his skull.

At first, he curses Idun, but in his more lucid moments he admits she is only following his father’s orders. So he goes back to cursing Odin in between each painful breath.

Frigga can ease his pain slightly, but healing magic can only go so far when your very DNA is being re-written. She speaks with kindness, with love, and with pride, helping him through the worst nights when his stubbornness threatens to fail him and his resolve wavers as stars do in the sky.

“You spoke bravely, my son,” she whispers, her fingers against the barrier in front of her as though she might reach out and touch Loki’s face. “I have rarely been prouder. You have walked such a long road, and carried mountains on your shoulders that are all but invisible to others. And yet, you still find the courage to face your father as the prince I know you are. You have come so far.” In his chains, Loki clings to her every word. “Your love is looking up at the sky in awe, though she may not know why.”

Y/N. Just thinking your name eases a little of the sting that’s worked his way into his bones. As on Earth, you give him the hope to see another day.

“You shun the name of Odinson, and I cannot blame you for that. But I would be honored if someday, you would consider taking my own, Loki Friggason.”

Y/N Y/L/N. Loki Friggason. Two names to murmur in the dead of night to keep his heart beating until the sun rises once again.

A/N: Update 2 of 2 for tonight, sorry about that! The Idun kidnapping story is a real thing and you should def look it up, it’s a RIDE

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hela-avenger · 5 years

Text

All of Me

Author: hela-avenger

Word Count: 4083

Request by @lovelyangelofasgard : You write really good would you do a Loki x reader with the song all of me?

A/N: I’m sorry this took me so long to actually write. I must have written 4 different stories based around this song and then this idea popped into my head and I knew this one took the cake! I hope you enjoy.

Hela-Avenger Masterlist

What would I do without your smart mouth? Drawing me in and you kicking me out You got my head spinning, no kidding, I can't pin you down What's going on in that beautiful mind? I'm on your magical mystery ride And I'm so dizzy, don't know what hit me, but I'll be alright

“Why does she always wear gloves?” Thor asks in the middle of breakfast. He had watched you slip into the kitchen, grab an apple, and slip out without another word. Once again, you were wearing long gloves that reached all the way to your bicep. Thor was curious, and though he didn’t care to admit it, Loki was too. “Is this a Midgardian concept I’m unaware of?”

Natasha folds her newspaper and sets her coffee down.

“It’s because of her mutation,” Natasha answers. “Any person she touches, she acquires their face and a part of their memory. It can overwhelm her at times so she wears the gloves as a precaution.”

“Ah that’s a marvelous ability,” Thor exclaims. “She’s like you, brother. A shapeshifter.”

Loki rolls his eyes at him.

“She’s not like me,” Loki states. “I am not tied to the act of touch to shapeshift. I can impersonate anyone as I please.”

“You guys make it sound like shapeshifting is a gift,” Bruce mutters under his breath. “But it’s not. Becoming someone you don’t want to be by accident is a curse. Remembering things that you didn’t do… is worse.”

“But your case is different,” Thor argues. “As for Y/N, she can turn into any person. She can take any face she pleases.”

“And yet I can’t touch anyone I care about because I become them.”

You stood at the edge of the kitchen. Your focus was on throwing away the core of your apple into the trashcan while everyone became silent. You let out a sigh and look up at the group in front of you.

“The concept of shapeshifting may look appealing, Thor, but it’s not,” you explain to him. “I haven’t been able to embrace my family or hold my newborn baby niece. I haven’t been able to dance with my friends or go to crowded areas because one insignificant graze can lead me to take someone’s identity and memory. The only work I could get is spy work, which I have grown to love, but I can’t help but remember how much I wanted to be a teacher but the possibility of accidentally touching a student would lead to catastrophe so I had to let that dream go.”

The room remained silent and Y/N let out a light laugh hoping to lighten the mood. You had just returned from a 2-year long mission where you had to keep the identity of a possible Hydra agent’s wife. Remaining undercover as one person had jarred your own identity but it took some time and patience to return to your usual self.

“I uh… apologize for my unnecessary tangent,” you sigh out. “I’m very tired and I’m still transitioning to being back home.”

Everyone watches you leave after that and Loki can’t help but notice the solemn expression you wear as you disappear down the hall.

“I promise you she’s nice,” Natasha tells the Asgardian Gods. “She always gets in these moods after returning from a mission. It takes a few days for it to wear off.”

Thor nods at this and easily believes Natasha’s explanation. Loki was not as convinced as he was noting that your tangent had been nothing but honest. He detected no lies woven into your words.

And yet a few days later, Natasha was proven correct as your laughter from Tony’s lab rung through the compound. It was infectious and even the android Vision seemed to be amused by your return.

It was rare for Loki to focus this much on one person that held no purpose for him and yet he couldn’t take his eyes off you. Though you were all smiles and laughter with everyone around you, Loki noticed the hints of lies in your happiness.

He noticed the mask you wore with everyone around you and he couldn’t help but wonder why you had to hide who you really were to the people close to you.

My head's under water but I'm breathing fine You're crazy and I'm out of my mind

You had noticed the shadow that seemed to follow you everywhere you go. Loki had done well to keep himself out of your sight but your experiences in being undercover had given you a more attuned sense to your surrounding. You knew that someone had been watching you for a while now and it didn’t take much longer to find out who it was.

“Is there something you need from me, Loki?”

You were pulling off your velvet gloves so you would be able to work out with ease. The gym was empty except she felt that someone was watching her again and knew it must have been the raven-haired God.

“No,” Loki answers as he slipped out of his hiding spot and made himself known to you.

You had to admit, you didn’t know where he was hiding. You just knew he was there watching your every move again. Part of you was curious as to what led him to follow you around, but part of you was annoyed that your every move was being monitored.

“Then why have you been watching me the past week?” you ask as you stepped onto the treadmill and pressed start.

Loki set himself in front of the machine, arms crossed, with his focus still settled on you. You refused to meet his gaze and retained your attention to the screen that monitored your heartbeat and the distance run.

“You’ve been wearing a mask ever since you’ve come back,” Loki confesses to her. “I was waiting for it to slip but I must congratulate you in keeping it up this whole time. You are a very skilled liar.”

“I’m assuming that’s a compliment coming from the God of Lies himself,” you respond as your eyes flickered momentarily to his.

“Not many would find that a compliment from someone like me,” Loki answers.

You remain silent unsure of how to respond. He was right. You were a bit offended by the truths that he told you but you were trapped into this conversation as he waited for your response.

“They’re sending me to another undercover mission,” you confess to him.

“How long will you be gone this time?” Loki asks in concern.

“Maybe a few weeks,” you answer. “As soon as I get the entail the sooner I can leave.”

“You’re unhappy about this.”

“Of course I am,” you sigh out as your running tempo quickens. “I just got home and they’re sending me out again. I… I haven’t been myself for 2 years and I only had a week to try to get back to who I am but that time is not long enough.”

“Then why didn’t you say no?”

“Because I’m the only who can shapeshift,” you answer between breaths. Sweat was rolling down the sides of your face as a mile was quickly passed. “I’m the only one who can acquire that person’s memories so I won’t get caught.”

Loki noticed the way your speed had increased throughout the conversation. He sensed that your emotions had gotten the best of you and now you were channeling them physically. Loki noticed the beeping of the machine warning you to slow down but you were unaware of it.

“Y/N…” he calls out in warning.

“What?” you ask harshly.

Before you knew it the machine no longer kept your pace and started to slow down. You continued to keep your fast tempo which quickly led for you to overrun the machine. Gravity starts to tug at your body and you brace yourself for the impact onto the ground. Eyes closed, you feel your body fall and yet nothing happens.

The air is not knocked out of your chest. No pain is spreading around your body.

All you feel is the warmth of soft hands on your skin. You snap your eyes open to find Loki holding you against his chest as the machine slows down to a stop.

“Are you ok?”

You can’t find the words to answer as your eyes look at the hands touching the skin of your arms. Panic settles into your body as you realize what occurred.

“You’re touching me!” you exclaim as you pull away from his hold.

Without another word, you sprint out of the gym leaving a startled Loki behind. You make your way to your room and lock the door. Entering the bathroom your eyes stare at your reflection waiting for your skin to change and the memories to pour in.

Nothing happens and you wait in fear for your appearance to change.

You don’t leave the room in fear that it may be a delayed reaction. Perhaps his Asgardian genetics caused her to shapeshift later, but the day passes by and you remain the same.

Heading to breakfast, you decide to ask Loki about what occured yesterday and if he knew as to why you didn’t shapeshift like you were supposed to.

Instead of finding him reading in the corner of the dining room, Thor took his place and looked up at you with a soft smile.

“Where is he?” you ask. “Your brother?”

“He left this morning for a mission,” Thor explains to you. “Rogers wanted someone who could shapeshift and Loki managed to convince the Captain to give him a chance. We all knew you were excited to take the mission and I apologize on behalf of my brother for taking it away from you.”

“No, no, that’s ok,” you answer with a small smile. You didn’t understand why Loki would do such a thing especially with the way you reacted to him last night. “I uh… I guess I’ll take advantage of my day off.”

You turn to leave knowing that the answer to your question would have to wait but your name is called out by Thor.

“My brother wanted me to give you this,” Thor tells you as he hands the velvet gloves you had left at the gym yesterday. “He noticed they were your favorite to use.”

Cause all of me loves all of you Love your curves and all your edges All your perfect imperfections Give your all to me, I'll give my all to you You're my end and my beginning Even when I lose, I'm winning Cause I give you all of me And you give me all of you

You nervously tugged at the material of your gloves as you walked through the compound. The question Loki had left you had been gnawing on you ever since he left and you hated him for his sudden departure. You didn’t understand why he left so suddenly and why he took the mission you were supposed to go on.

You were so deep in thought that you almost ran into Clint. He swings out of your way at the last second and you quickly apologize to him.

“Sorry Clint, I wasn’t looking.”

“Neither was I,” Clint answers with a shake of his head. “Stupid Loki got under my skin again.”

“Loki?” you ask confused. “He’s back?”

“Yeah I had to pilot his ass back home,” Clint scoffs out. “Remind me to never work with him alone again. I still hate that guy.”

You offer Clint a sympathetic smile before heading towards the hangar where you suspect Loki was still hanging around in. You barely manage to catch him as he finally unloads the last of his bags.

“How was the mission?” you ask.

Loki looks up to you in surprise and narrows his eyes at you.

“It was fine,” he answers.

“Really?” you ask. “Because you were supposed to impersonate Mr. Crim’s assistant and she’s…”

“A woman?” Loki offers. “I have shapeshifted as a woman before. Thor doesn’t like to talk about it.”

Making a mental note to ask for that story later, you quickly decide to shift the direction of the conversation.

“Why did you take that mission?” you ask.

“I owed you,” Loki answers. “I touched you and I know you must have shapeshifted into myself, seen things you didn’t want to see, become something…”

“That’s the thing,” you interrupt him. “I didn’t shapeshift into you. You touched me and nothing happened.”

Loki looked at you in confusion as if he didn’t believe what you were telling him. You quickly step towards him and pull off the gloves from your hands. Without wasting time, your hands reach for any aspect of his skin. Your hands lay against his neck and jawline and Loki tenses at the contact.

“It only takes a few seconds for me to shapeshift,” you tell him. “It takes a few minutes for the memories to pour in.”

Your hands continue to remain on him and you relish at the feeling of warmth that his skin emits.

“I am still myself,” you tell him. “I can touch you and still be myself.”

Loki relaxes as he hears this and his gaze softens as he looks down at you.

“How long has it been since you’ve been able to touch someone without fear of the repercussions?” Loki asks her.

“Too long…” you whisper as your eyes revealed unshed tears.

Loki doesn’t know what to do and what he’s meant to do. You sense this and start to move away from him.

“I’m sorry,” you apologize to him as you tried to reel back the emotion. “I just…”

“It’s fine,” Loki answers as he reaches for your hands again. The warmth of his hands was welcoming and soothing at the same time. You stare at your joined hands and the big question returns once more.

“How is this possible?” you asked him.

Loki knew the answer but he feared that telling the truth might scare you away.

“I’m sorry,” he answers. “I don’t know.”

My head's under water but I'm breathing fine You're crazy and I'm out of my mind

With the new development that you had come across to, Loki had seen you more often than he had expected to. He shouldn’t be surprised as he knew that you had gone through many years of not being able to touch someone without shifting as them. Loki found himself allowing the soft touches that you gave him and he soon grew to rely on them.

Your gloves were discarded in the moments alone you spent with him. Both you and Loki had decided it was for the best to keep this a secret. You feared that the team would grow concern at this and forbid you to talk to Loki. While Loki feared that they would demand answers and that his brother would spill the secret he had sworn to keep.

Those thoughts were discarded as Loki felt your fingers trace any bare skin that you could find. It was a recent change for Loki to start wearing short sleeve shirts so that your exploration could continue.

Your hands memorized every outline of his face and hands. You grew familiar with his touch and you relished in the way that there was no influx of memories and no change to your own skin.

Loki watched the way your fingers soon linked with his as you grew tired. Your head leaned onto his shoulder as you tuck yourself next to him.

“I’m never going to get used to this,” you confess to him. “I’ve lived so long being someone else but with you… I can still be myself. I can feel normal.”

Loki felt the ripple of guilt pass through him again. You deserve the truth. You deserve to know that the person you were able to be yourself with was a mere illusion of someone that he’s not.

Telling you the truth now would destroy everything he kept dear and somehow losing you along the process was something he couldn’t bear to lose.

It didn’t take long for you to be called up for another mission and yet confirmation of a departure was never sent as Loki took it upon himself to take this mission for himself. He was as subtle as a sledgehammer as the team soon realized his sudden need to volunteer himself was because of you. You ignored the lingering gazes as you tugged at your gloves and made your way into the living room.

You plopped down on the sofa and was set to watch a movie to enjoy your free time when Thor took the seat next to you. He was careful not to get too close to you knowing that you still held a physical distance from everybody.

Thor was the same as his brother as he was not as subtle as he wished to be. You already knew what he was building up to ask and to spare him the idle small talk, you jump straight in.

“So what do you wanna ask me Thor?” you prompt him as you picked a movie to watch. “Is this about Loki?”

“How did you…”

“I know everyone has been meaning to ask,” you tell him. “And you being his brother, well it’s not that hard to connect those dots.”

Thor nods at this and you pause the intro of the movie to focus on him.

“Why had he volunteered in your place?” Thor asks. “This is the second time he does it.”

You let out a sigh knowing the truth was bound to come out sometime.

“Somehow, Loki just knew I was uncomfortable with the things that I do to attain the information that the team needs confirmed,” you answer. “He knows that I like being myself and just wanted to give me some time to enjoy it before I’m needed once more.”

“I understand,” Thor whispers. “2 years must have been long to be someone else.”

“Yeah,” you answer.

Thor nods at this again but another question pops into his mind.

“I didn’t realize you were this close to my brother,” Thor states.

You can’t help the smile on your lips.

“It’s a new development.”

“How so?”

You ponder the question wondering if you should allow more truth to be told to end this once and for all. Thor was Loki’s brother and you knew he must know what was allowing you to touch Loki with no repercussions.

“It’s a bit of a secret,” you tell Thor. “But… by accident, I touched Loki and nothing happened. I didn’t shapeshift and I didn’t see any memories. I touched him and I was still myself.”

“Nothing happened?” Thor asks confused.

“Yes,” you answer with a laugh. “The past few weeks, I’ve been hanging out with him. I touch him and nothing happens. It’s such a strange mystery...”

Thor does not share the amusement that you do. In fact, he looks serious and concerned.

“Has he told you why this happens?”

The smile on your lips fade away as you hear this.

“Told me what?” you ask in return.

“Why you are allowed to touch him without changing yourself?”

“He told me he didn’t know.”

Thor lets out a sigh and looks away from you. You feel fear at the pit of your stomach as his silence continues to stretch on.

“He lied, didn’t he?” you ask. “Why would he…?”

Thor clears his throat and his focus returns to you.

“As you know, Loki is adopted,” Thor states. “He was raised in Asgard but his true lineage is from Jotunheim, the home of the Frost Giants.”

“Ok,” you answer still confused. “And what?”

“Frost Giants are the enemies of Asgard. They are tall, strong creatures. Skin a winter blue with carvings decorating their features. A touch from a Frost Giant can create a harsh frostbite for an Asgardian… to a human, it may be possible it could kill.”

“But Loki… he’s not…”

“The face he wears now is one he conjured in his youth,” Thor explains to her. “One that covers his true lineage. The Loki you can touch is the mask he has worn his whole life. You’ve been touching an illusion of a man.”

Cards on the table, we're both showing hearts Risking it all, though it's hard

The truth settled heavily against you knowing this aspect of Loki that he had foregone from telling you. It hurt to know that he lied to you from the very start and you couldn’t help but wonder why he would ever do such a thing. Why lie? What purpose did that serve him?

The moment you heard that Loki was on his way back. You made your way towards the hangar. The helicarrier lands soon after and Natasha gives you a confused glance as she sees you waiting for them.

“Welcome home,” you tell her as she walks out first.

Natasha nods at this and stops in front of you.

“I don’t know what’s going on between you and him, but be careful,” she warns you. “Everyone has been silent about it because we don’t really know what’s going on but if he…”

“I can handle it,” you interrupt her as you watch Loki descend from the ramp. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have someone to talk to.”

You leave Natasha’s side and make your way to Loki. He smiles at the sight of you having not expected to have you waiting for him.

“Miss me, pet?” he asks you.

You don’t answer with your useful playful remark and simply stare at him with a blank face.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” you ask him causing the smile on his face to disappear. “Why didn’t you tell me the truth about why I can touch you?”

Loki remains silent which forces you to continue.

“Thor told me everything,” you tell him. “About you being a Frost Giant and how you look now is just a mask…”

“Y/N…” he whispers.

“You lied to me,” you state. “Why?”

Loki notices the pain that your eyes are filled with and he curses Thor for ruining the happiness that you once held for him.

“You wouldn’t understand,” Loki answers.

“I think I would,” you answer as you step towards him. “I think out of everyone in this universe I would understand what you’ve been through.”

Loki remains silent as he watched you tug the gloves away and let them fall to the ground. Your hand hesitantly raise towards his cheek and he closes his eyes waiting for you to step away.

You don’t.

Instead, he feel the warmth of your palm on his cheek.

“I have wandered throughout my whole life thinking I was the only one who felt like this,” you confess to him. “In fear of the identity I present myself to others and that a simple touch can destroy all of that and now I found you… you who know exactly how it feels like and you can’t possibly understand how much relief that gives me.”

“You don’t hate me?” Loki asks as his eyes open to look at you.

“I hate that you lied,” you answer honestly. “But you… I could never hate you.”

Loki lets out a sigh of relief as his hand encompasses yours. He leans his forehead against yours and you let out a sigh at the gentle touch.

“I don’t care how you look like, Loki,” you tell him. “I care about who you are and who you can become. As long as you hold me to the same regard, I’m all yours.”

Loki pulls you into an embrace and places a soft kiss onto your forehead.

“And I’m all yours.”

Loki Tag: @unicorniorosacomefrutillas @what-didido @thesilentbluesparrow @oddly-drawn-muse @josiehosiedaninja @hp-hogwartsexpress

All Work Tag: @jmb959 @astudyoftimeywimeystuff @hellocookiecutter @teresaoliva20 @steve-rogers-personal-hell @buckybarnesyard @not-zari-tak

Shoot me a message if you’ll like to be added to one of these Tag Lists!

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aphrodaisyacs · 5 years

Text

Stoki Fic Rec List

No Six Sentence Sunday this week just me and my first ever fic rec list. This is the result of me caring too much for a rarepair that not enough of the fandom cares about but ANYWAY. The fic rec lists I’ve seen for this pairing are quite a few years old, so I decided to make a new one of my own. The list is sorted in chronological order of the MCU timeline, and also quite long, which is why I put it under a read more:

under bright stars burning by @thelightofthingshopedfor (nearly 21k words, Teen and Up)

When Steve is a kid, he meets a boy named Loki who says he's a prince and shows him real magic. It's kind of weird (but that doesn't mean he doesn't like it).

A fic where Steve and Loki sort-of grow up together, but it’s still set in the canon-verse (don’t worry, the timeline discrepancy gets explained). Kid!Loki and Kid!Steve are so damn adorable, there’s quite a bit of angst between them but there’s also more than enough hurt/comfort to make up for it. I was so disappointed when this fic ended where it did, because I enjoyed it so much that I wanted it to go on forever.

Silver Moon by aurilly (23k+ words, Mature)

Steve and Bucky meet a weirdly dressed guy who claims to be a banished prince from some place they've never heard of. Most New Yorkers would have left the lunatic right where they found him, but Steve and Bucky have never been good at doing things the easy way.

Okay so I cheated a bit, because this fic is actually Steve/Loki/Bucky, but. It is so well-written that I’m including it in this list anyway. In this universe Loki discovers his heritage far earlier than in canon, which leads to a series of events resulting in him getting his powers stripped then banished to pre-WWII Midgard- specifically, Brooklyn. After repeatedly failing to convince Heimdall to return him to Asgard, Loki eventually settles into a life with Steve and Bucky. But then WWII happens. Slow build, quite a bit of angst, but there’s an optimistic ending.

Those Who Favor Ice by CatalenaMara (18k+ words, Explicit)

“You haven’t said anything incorrectly so far,” Steve said, and could hear an edge in his voice.

“Men of such beauty and strength and talent often feel they must outshine everyone they meet. That they must cast a very large shadow so that the world sees only them.”

So many emotions crossed Loki’s face so quickly that Steve could only interpret a few. Resentment. And longing. And need.

“I wasn’t always strong,” Steve said slowly. “Not as a child. I was sickly - so weak that anyone could beat me.”

Loki’s gaze sharpened. “And did they? Beat you?”

Don’t mind me I just love fics that feature Jotunn!Loki and/or Loki dealing with his heritage and Jotunheim in general. We get to see a possibility of what might have been if Heimdall hadn’t betrayed King Loki, which apparently involves Loki running off to become King of Jotunheim and later Steve’s lover. Beautiful prose, smut that doubles as character study, A+.

Madness by @scotlandevander (19k+ words, Teen and Up)

Time makes a deal and when Time makes a deal, it plays out till it is fulfilled. Steve Rogers is learning this the hard way and he’s quite sure it’ll end in madness.

Steve is stuck in a time loop spanning from the moment he wakes up in the 21st century to the events of T:DW. Needless to say it doesn’t take very long for him to run out of fucks to give. I really love the gradual development of Steve’s relationships with Bruce, Natasha and of course Loki throughout the loops. The progression of Stoki is slow mainly because Steve’s a useless bisexual and nice to read. Definitely one of my all-time favourites for this ship.

Living Contradiction by Ebyru (1k+ words, Teen and Up)

Loki hates Captain America, but over time he realizes it’s a lie.

Excerpt: "Captain America is brave, strong, independent and an astounding leader. Maybe no-one can tell, but far beneath the mask of strength he wears and the flag he carries, Loki can see he’s just a follower."

Something short and sweet set vaguely post-Avengers (2012). Contemplative character study as Loki learns more about the man underneath the Captain America costume. I recommend this if you’re in the mood for a quick pre-slash read.

In The Land of Gods and Monsters by thisiswhatthewatergaveme (nearly 5k words, Explicit)

Steve makes a mistake: he lets his guard down. He lets a momentary relief cloud his judgment. He doesn’t spring into action when Loki spins around and presses a tight-lipped kiss against his mouth. Doesn’t even move when it softens, slightly, Loki’s hands curling over his arms.

And then the god is gone and Steve realizes something important. He realizes, perhaps for the first time, that there are different kinds of war.

While the author has tagged this fic as Porn Without Plot, I think it’s more accurate to say that there is plot, it’s just that the entire plot is centred on the build-up to the porn. And said build-up is mostly Loki catching Steve unawares to kiss him, interspersed with Steve suffering some moral crises over being attracted to his enemy.

Thawing Universe by Vulcanmi (17k+ words, Teen and Up)

A what if that starts after the events of Thor: the Dark World but before Winter Soldier. What if Loki had gotten tired of playing Odin?

Parts 1, 2 & 3 are purely Stoki, while part 4 & 5 are Thor/Bucky-centric with background Stoki. Loki gets bored of pretending to be Odin rather quickly, and thus he goes down to Earth to continually invite himself over to Steve’s apartment. Steve has exactly zero say in all of this. This series makes the pairing seem way more adorable than it has any right to be, all the while keeping everyone in-character. Part 1 builds the relationship, part 2 has the other Avengers reacting to it, and part 3 has Steve finally getting off his useless bisexual ass and asking Loki out for real. One of my favourite depictions of this pairing for sure.

Strange Love by @dvswraatins (12k words, Teen and Up)

It starts with a simple taunt.

Spoiler alert: the aforementioned “taunt” is Loki putting on a great show of seducing Steve in order to piss off Thor. Featuring Loki being unapologetically a piece of shit, Loki as a part-time Avenger and narration that becomes hilariously descriptive whenever Thor enters the picture. One of the things I adore about this fic is that it explores a dynamic for this pairing I didn’t know I needed- of Loki trying to use Steve for his own gain, but Steve manipulating him right back.

The Dreamfasting by suchaprettyface (80k+ words, Explicit)

This is the highly unlikely and yet somehow inevitable story of how Captain Steve Rogers, Avenger, becomes the lover of Loki Odinson, younger prince of Asgard and Public Enemy Number 1 according to the FBI database of known offenders.

Steve and Loki discover quite by accident that they are connected by a very old form of magic whose initial purpose seems to be getting them in each other's pants as often as possible. But there's far, far more at work than that...

To break this series down to its bare essentials: lots of porn + lots of plot. Post-AoU, Loki gets captured by SHIELD but almost immediately after Steve runs into him again, the two of them begin sharing wet dreams. The more dreams they share, the stronger the indescribable connection between them grows. Yet, in the background of all the dream-fucking, there is the mystery of why these dreams even exist in the first place, as well as Steve finding himself physically changed by them.

Look At Me Now by @arimabat (33k+ words, Teen and Up)

Steve is on the run. His already complicated life becomes just a little more complicated when an old enemy shows up unexpectedly. But Loki has changed since their last encounter and he could have crucial information to stop a fast-approaching threat. If he’s willing to tell Steve.

Or, the one where Loki keeps bothering Steve until he figures out a way to get something useful out of it and then it all just becomes a mess.

Post-Civil War, pre-Ragnarok. Loki is absolutely delighted by a jaded, cynical Steve, and Steve is very much unamused by the unwanted attention. Steve attempts to take advantage of this attention anyway by interrogating Loki about the Infinity Stones, which leads to the gradual development of a relationship neither of them expected. I absolutely love the conversations and banter between everyone in this fic- not just between Steve and Loki, but also between Steve, Natasha, Sam and Wanda. However, (spoiler alert) the ending for this fic isn’t all too happy BUT the good news is that it’s part of a series, which isn’t complete yet at the time I’m typing this up.

Be My All-American Boy by @gavotteangel (6k+ words, Teen and Up)

It's Steve Rogers' birthday and it's Independence Day. Naturally, the freshly reunited Avengers vacation to a lake house and throw him a party. Nothing goes as expected.

Or: LOKI HAS A BIG FAT CRUSH HAPPY 4TH OF JULY FOLKS

Post-Ragnarok, post-Civil War, with a dose of Infinity War being cancelled. Highlights include Loki having a crush on bearded!Steve and abhorring the fact that the crush even exists in the first place, Loki trying his best to hold back his stabby instincts on his new allies, Loki and Natasha being drinking buddies and Loki eating the rest of Steve’s birthday cake out of pure pettiness.

I’m also going to shamelessly self-promote and rec my own series Mischief Managed (nearly 20k words, Teen and Up)

Set post-Ragnarok in an AU where Infinity War is cancelled and Steve and Tony have gotten their shit together.

The series follows Steve and Loki while they form an unlikely bond as they team up to prank others, again and again.

Initially based on this headcanon, with Steve getting the opportunity to confront Loki about it, which somehow leads to both of them teaming up to prank the rest of the Avengers. Part 2 expands on the unlikely friendship they formed in part 1, except this time Steve and Loki take advantage of the media circus and fake date to piss off homophobes. Meanwhile, the Avengers are forced to watch this train wreck happen in real time. According to the comments this series is funny enough that it made people laugh not that I’d be able to judge properly since I’m the one who wrote it.

Tangerines are Sweet Enough by @fel-as-in-tumbld (4k+ words, General)

(Steve is seven, cold and hungry and it's Christmas morning; he's seven, sitting on the floor, pulling perfect miniature suns out of the foot of his stocking. Tangerines; he's seven, and he can feel the flesh tear under his thumbnail, can taste the burst of flavour on his tongue, the juice slide down his throat; he's seven, and he's sitting with his mother and everything has been cold and hunger, but there is this--tangerines, like eating the sun with his mother, and the warmth of her laughter--

Steve hasn't eaten a tangerine since she died, since Bucky vanished off to war; too many memories, too much intimacy.

Post-Infinity War fic where Loki actually gets revived I’m looking at you Russos. It has beautiful prose which sets a soft, wistful tone to the whole thing, helped by the fact that it takes place during the winter holidays. Steve and Loki’s relationship here is... well, melancholic, mostly, but it does end on a warm note.

This rec list only reflects my personal reading experiences (and are also only limited to AO3), so feel free to add more suggestions in reblogs or replies!

Honorary mention goes to Remember This Cold by @veliseraptor (nearly 800k words, ranges from General to Explicit depending on the part) which I didn’t include in the main list because let’s be real, anyone who’s looking for Stoki fic recs has already read this series.

#stoki #fic recs

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thatwanderingwriter · 5 years

Note

Sifki #2!

so… i clearly didn’t write these in between studying (but i did make a 107 on my lab practical which proves that i was actually studying for once lmao) and then i completely forgot these prompts were just chilling in my inbox for two weeks and i am so sorry pls forgive me i can’t human

thank you for the prompt, friend!

2. things you said through your teeth

a/n: this really helped break me out of the writer’s block i’ve been in, so double thank you, ann!

(title from nfwmb by hozier because it’s a sifki mood, folks!)

felled by you

Loki found her in the sparring arena ruthlessly destroying three trainees simultaneously.

Oh.

That usually signified that something was not okay.

He didn’t know what it was, but he would find out. Even if he had to annoy it out of her.

“Lady Sif!” he called, trademark smirk visible despite his distance. “Will you not ease up on your young protégés? I’m sure their mothers would like them back in one piece for the evening meal, would they not?”

The axe which narrowly missed his head asserted his earlier assumption of her mood to be correct.

She dismissed her pupils with a wave of her hand and they took their leave, whispering to each other and glancing between Sif and Loki’s approaching form as they exited.

“What do you want, Loki?”

He put his hands out in front of him in a show of insincere supplication. “I wish only to speak with my friend and learn the reason behind her ire, my lady.”

She glared at him. “Well I wish to fight and as you’ve so graciously released my partners I assume you will take their place, will you not?” The smirk threatening to break through the grim line of her mouth gave him pause.

She didn’t think he would accept her offer, a suspicion confirmed by the flash of surprise on her face when he stepped forward. He didn’t much care for one-on-one combat, but he was never one to shy away from a challenge.

“Very well, but I must warn you, I have mastered new tricks since last we sparred.” He summoned a dagger with his magic and moved into a fighting stance.

“And what trick can compare to true skill?” she asked, eyebrow raised.

It was a low blow but he figured he deserved it for goading her in the first place.

“I guess we will found out how evenly we match.”

There was a double meaning to his statement which she did not fail to miss. He could tell she had caught it by the slight frown that peeked through before her stoic mask slipped back into place and she charged him with her sword.

He focused all his attention on countering her blows and not dwelling on her negative reaction to his simple jest.

He had always teased her on the very subject matter, the silly debate between him and his brother always a thread at which he so loved to pull. It had always been a game. A joke.

Until one day when it wasn’t.

Sometime throughout the past decades the young idealists had become seasoned warriors who did nothing if it was not for the good of Asgard. And Asgard had its own judgment on what they should do. And who they should do it with.

What he wouldn’t give to have those carefree days back. He was never one for duty, after all.

They fought in silence for a few minutes until he broke it.

“I apologize for my earlier comment. You know I meant nothing of it.”

She didn’t respond, only lunged forward as her sword sliced through the air where he no longer stood.

“It would be quite the scandal though, wouldn’t it? The Shieldmaden and the Silvertongue.” His eyes lit with mirth.

It didn’t sound bad at all, in fact, Loki quite liked the idea. Not that he would ever let it show. This was just another game. It had to be.

“If nothing else, it would be a good laugh just to see their faces. They would never expect it.”

He got so carried away imagining what a scene they could make that he was not quick enough to dodge the full force of her shield which knocked him to the ground.

Sif quickly straddled his thighs, her blade pointed under his chin.

“I am well aware of what Asgard expects,” She grit out.

Loki was certain the fire in her eyes would surely light his funeral pyre by the morrow. And what a brilliant way to go out, he thought.

Her stare was so intense that he realized he had missed this.

Missed her gaze on him and him alone.

Missed her.

They hadn’t spent much time in each other’s company lately, a fact which he desperately wanted to remedy.

“The complication is that Thor is nothing but my friend and will never be anything more. I feel for him as I would a brother.”

Her brow furrowed and he wished he could smooth it out, ease her problems.

Destroy anyone that ever caused them.

“But you-” she paused, her rage dissipating at a moment’s notice and she looked at him with something…

Well, something he never thought he’d ever see directed at him.

She had dropped her shield and the hand which once gripped it was now splayed on his torso. To any passerby it would appear as if she was holding down her opponent, securing her victory, but he could feel that she placed no force behind it.

No matter, he wasn’t planning on moving even if Ragnarok itself approached on the horizon.

Hope sprung in his chest as she opened her mouth to utter words that she couldn’t possibly mean unless this was all a cruel twisted joke.

Before she could finish her thought, however, Thor’s booming voice drifted over from the entrance of the arena.

“Loki? Is that you? Father has been looking for you. Come now, brother, we must discuss the upcoming journey.”

He didn’t react in the slightest to his brother’s beckoning but chose instead to continue staring up at Sif as if she was the sun.

Because to him, she was.

And he would have no qualms burning in her embrace forever.

She stood first, seeing as how he was still a statue - a stark contrast to his usually animated self.

“You should go.” She prodded him lightly in the side with the business end of her sword, urging him to get up or in the least move a muscle. She frowned, glanced up at his brother and uttered the phrase that broke him out of his stupor.

“Asgard comes first.”

prompt me!

#prompt fic #sifki #sif x loki #psychoticgirl #hope writes #ask fic

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goddessofgamma · 5 years

Text

Extreme Lengths to Prove Loki Wrong, part 2, written for a prompt from @ragnarokwrites

Summary: Bruce and Thor make their way to Asgard for Christmas, and Bruce tries his best not to be too intimidated by Thor’s eccentric family.

Thor scanned the crowd at the Airport entrance. There was a little excitement on most of the faces there, although it was almost always tempered by a fair amount of stress. Raising his head as high as he could, Thor searched for the dark grey mop of curls that was so familiar to him.

He nearly jumped out of his skin when he felt a hand pat his arm and heard Bruce’s voice.

“Hey, Thor.”

“Bruce!” Thor had tried to hide the surprise in his voice but failed. “You’re here, good, I was beginning to worry.”

“Worried that I was gonna decide that committing treason wasn’t how I wanted to spend my Christmas?” Bruce asked, shaking his head. “Apparently all my good sense left when you came into my life.”

Thor couldn’t help but smile at that.

“Thank you, for everything, Bruce, I know this would not be your first choice for a festive activity. I hope you get some enjoyment from these few days. Asgard is beautiful, and you are very good company.” Gaze lingering on Bruce for a little while, gauging his mood, Thor’s thoughts were interrupted by the sound of an announcement, making him remember what they really should be doing. “Our flight’s luggage check-in is over there, we should get going.”

“Mjoln-Air?” Bruce read the airline name from the sign above the counter.

“Asgard’s largest commercial airline. My father offered to fly his jet here, but –“ Bruce looked queasy and intimidated at that “- I thought you’d find it all a little ridiculous.”

“I guess it’s gonna be a bit hard to forget that you’re royalty for the next few days,” Bruce sighed.

“You usually forget that I am royalty?” Thor chuckled. “Do I not appear regal enough to you, Banner? Please do not tell me I am not a charming prince.”

“Erm, yeah, you do look regal.” Bruce seemed flustered, as they made their way to the queue. “And charming. But maybe it’s just because I’ve known you for a while now. I think you’ve started saying things like ‘need’ instead of ‘require’, you’ve got a little less prince-like.”

That queue, and the next, and the one after that, went very smoothly for the two of them, which Thor suspected was something to do with the Mjoln-air staff recognising him as a prince. In all the time they had waiting, they were able to discuss the ins and outs of their so-called ‘relationship’.

The story they were going with was simple, sticking as closely to the truth so that neither of them would stumble when asked questions. They had known each other through work. Thor had been spearheading the charitable organisation funded by the wealth of his father, looking for projects that were worthy of their funding, and one of the projects he had looked into was Bruce’s work on regenerating people’s immune systems. The results, so far, were promising, and Thor had been so enthralled by Bruce’s work that they had gone for dinner afterwards so that he could continue their conversation. New to the States, Thor had found his first set of close friends through Bruce.

All of that they would describe as it had really happened. What they would change was what followed.

According to their story, each visit that Thor had made to Bruce’s labs after that was not only to make sure his money was being spent well, but to work up the courage to ask Bruce out. After half a year of friendship and coffee dates, Thor had taken him to dinner and told him how he felt. Since then they had been going out for just under a year, and were thinking of finding a place to move in together.

When they made their way onto the plane, Thor could feel Bruce tense-up.

“Is everything okay?”

“What?”

“Everything’s okay? Are you okay with flying?”

“Oh, yeah. Well –“ Bruce fidgeted, brushing his hair back with his hands. “- I’m okay with heights, it’s just the whole ‘confined in a small space without being able to get up’ thing that doesn’t bode well for me. I should have brought a book, something to distract myself.”

“I can distract you,” Thor offered.

“You, er, you can?” Bruce looked a bit uncertainly at him.

“Of course.” The plane was making its way forward now, the wheels spinning, accelerating. “I’ll keep you occupied.”

“Thanks. You’re a good boyfriend,” Bruce joked.

“I am.” The plane had just left the ground. “Tell me, Banner, what other things make me a good partner?”

“You, err…” Thor could tell that Bruce was a little off-put by the plane taking off mid conversation. “You always take an interest in my work. You look out for me.”

“Mmm,” Thor hummed his approval. “Am I a romantic?” Bruce almost smiled at that.

“Yeah. You took me stargazing on my birthday. Surprise me by looping your arms around me when I’m cooking us dinner.”

“You mean when you’re putting our ready meals in the microwave,” Thor corrected.

“You make sure I’m never in a situation that makes me too uncomfortable. Always turning up to the labs with a sandwich to make sure I’ve eaten something.” That last one was true. “Yeah, you’re a good partner. What about me?”

Thor considered for a moment.

“You’re also romantic, but not in the usual way. You humour me, when I want to try something new or get a stupid inclination in my head.” Bruce raised an eyebrow. “You’re the one that microwaves our meals.” He was met by Bruce shaking his head. “What? I thought that preparing meals was romantic. Anyway, you always look out for me, sometimes more that you even look out for yourself, much to my distress. And in the bedroom…” Thor trailed off, teasing.

A packet of peanuts hit Thor’s cheek, and he laughed. Bruce’s face was stark.

��Don’t…” He warned.

“What? I was just going to say that in the bedroom, sparks fly. You are quite a genius in every area of life, Bruce, even after the lights are out.” Thor used the best, deepest flirting voice he had. Bruce put his head in his hands, but he was smiling underneath it all. “Have I distracted you yet?”

Throughout the flight, Thor continued to try to distract Bruce, talking about everything from Asgardian mythology to going through all the elements of the periodic table (with Thor insisting that Bruce would one day have an element named after him).

They walked straight out of the airport once the landed, none of the customs staff wanting to delay the son of the king.

“How are we getting to the palace? Castle? Whatever it is?”

“My father has sent a car to pick us up, just look for the sign that says ‘Mr Odinson’”

Bruce’s eyes scanned across the cab drivers.

“Is it that bald guy over there, with the tattoos?”

“What? No, it should be…” Thor stopped talking as he saw the man Bruce was indicating, with a hand-drawn sign saying ‘Prince Thor’. “Maybe it is.”

Approaching the man, Thor looked apprehensive.

“You here to pick us up? Who are you, where’s Volstagg?”

“Don’t you remember me? I’m Skurge, your sister’s right-hand man. Volstagg had a little too much to drink last night so they sent me instead.”

Thor groaned.

“My sister’s here?”

Skurge nodded and turned to Bruce.

“Let me help you with your luggage, Mister…?”

“Doctor Banner,” Thor corrected on Bruce’s behalf. “There’s no need, I’ll do it.”

Thor hefted the suitcases into the boot. He smiled a little when he noticed how Bruce was watching him carrying multiple bags at once and took it as an opportunity.

“Like what you see, Bruce?”

He didn’t respond immediately, and Thor thought it likely that Bruce had for a moment forgotten their ruse.

“Yeah,” Bruce humoured him. “You make a very gallant prince.”

“Gallant, is that what I am? I thought you said I was charming?”

“Synonyms,” Bruce explained.

“Mmm,” Thor agreed. “But generally people don’t dream of one day meeting their ‘Prince Gallant’.”

It was pitch black as they drove to the palace, with only the moon and the occasional, outdated ornate street lamp to guide them. Skurge seemed to know the way well enough, even without the light. It was already past ten o’clock on Christmas eve, and after the flight, Thor could tell that what Bruce really wanted was somewhere to sit, or sleep, and ground himself.

As they approached the grounds of the palace, Bruce finally got his first proper view of Asgard. The car drove through a pathway (or was it a bridge? Bruce found it difficult to tell in the contrasting light), almost half a mile long, that was lit up, illuminating the multi-coloured flora and fauna that bordered it. Every colour Bruce could think of was on display; greens, purples, electric winter-bluebells and fiery golden ivy.

“You like it?” Thor asked.

“Yeah.” Bruce was at a loss for words.

“They call it the Bifrost, it’s the envy of every gardener the world over, or so I’m told.”

On arrival at the palace, two men and a women were standing at the gates to meet them. Thor smiled as they approached, and stayed by Bruce’s side as they left the car and made their way up the palace’s stairs to meet them, not wanting him to feel like he was alone in this.

“Thor, my son.” The woman embraced him, and Thor felt a kind of warm safety he only associated with the happier parts of his childhood. “It’s good to see you so happy. How was your journey?”

“It went smoothly, the weather has been good. Mother, I’d like you to meet Doctor Bruce Banner. Bruce, this is my mum, Queen Frigga.”

Bruce awkwardly bowed. Frigga laughed, but it was a kind laugh, not mocking. She took Bruce’s hand in hers.

“It is good to meet you, Doctor, I hear you make my son very happy. May I call you Bruce?” He nodded his response. “You can call me Frigga, if you like. This is one of our best advisers and friends, Heimdall, and beside him is my other son, Prince Loki.”

Heimdall looked deep at Bruce with his golden eyes, and Thor prayed his friend wouldn’t say something that would intimidate Banner.

“It is an honour to have a Nobel Winner in our presence, Doctor Banner,” Heimdall said. Bruce fiddled with his tie.

“You, er, know about that?”

Heimdall nodded.

“I’ve seen it.”

Loki rolled his eyes.

“You mean you’ve googled him,” Loki corrected. “Like my mother says, I’m Loki. I expect you’ve heard quite a few horror stories about me.” Thor nodded on Bruce’s behalf knowing he’d be too polite to answer. “They’re all true.”

They made their way into the palace, and Thor made excuses for them both, citing their long journey as a reason to go to bed so early. He thought that Bruce might be a little overwhelmed if he had to meet Hela and Odin on top of everyone new today.

“Don’t worry about Loki,” Thor said as he led the way to their room. “He may threaten you put I can always put a stop to anything before it gets out of hand.”

“I think I get it now.”

“Get what?”

“Get why you wanted to annoy Loki so much that you did -“ he gestured between them “- All of this.”

Thor nodded in agreement, but in truth he’d forgotten that Loki had been the reason for this in the first place. He opened the door to their room, holding it open for Bruce.

“Wow,” Bruce said as he took in all the ornate decoration and furniture. “You weren’t kidding when your said that Asgard was covered in gold.”

“I hope it’s not too much for you. I’ve never gotten the impression that it was one of your favourite colours.”

“No, I like gold, it’s like your hair.”

Plonking himself down on the bed, Thor grinned back at Banner.

“And does my lovely partner spend much time thinking about the colour of my hair?”

“Don’t go there.” Bruce sat on the other side of the bed. “I need to lie down.”

“Bruce Banner, going to bed at a reasonable hour?” Thor said in half-feigned shock. “I really must be a positive influence.”

It didn’t take long for either of them to get to sleep, the day’s travels catching up with them.

#Hope you like! Merry Christmas!!#Thorbruce #thor #bruce banner #thunderscience #gammahammer #christmas fluff #long post #loki #heimdall #my fic #sorry for all the tags

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rhetorical-ink · 5 years

Text

Rhetorical Ink: Avengers - Endgame Review

**AVENGING SPOILERS BELOW**

I had to wait nearly a week to see the film, since we saw it for my brother’s birthday -- it was surprisingly a packed theater for a week after a movie’s come out...and with all the hype, here are

My Top FIFTEEN Thoughts of Avengers: Endgame:

In all honesty, with a movie this big, and with my somewhat torn opinion of the film, I have to do a list of likes and dislikes. Let’s start with:

THE GREAT

10. Rocket the Racoon DELIVERS in every scene he’s in -- making for a great balance of humor and drama; clearly, he’s lost a lot from Infinity War, and I honestly could not tell it was Bradley Cooper in this role -- that’s how good the character is (more on the not-quite-that below).

9. I’ve never been a huge fan of Ant Man in the Marvel Universe, but I really, really liked Paul Rudd in this movie -- his levity was much-needed, but at times, especially in the beginning, his acting is just SPOT ON. He’s a major player in this movie and his role carries weight and makes sense. Just a great character that I didn’t think I would want to focus on in this film!

8. Speaking of characters I didn’t think I would care about, War Machine is oddly relatable and has a bigger role in this film too, and I really liked Don Cheadle’s performance in the film!

And I couldn’t mention surprises without mentioning Nebula -- her entire arc in this movie is just fantastic -- Karen Gillian did a helluva job acting and working with this character and I just LOVED it throughout the film! Her character gets a meaty role and she knocks it out of the park.

7. Spoilers, Wanda Maximoff aka The Scarlet Witch returns by the end, and her battle against Thanos was just wonderful -- I was rooting for her and her powers the whole end battle! More on that end battle below!

6. The premise of time travel and how they explain it and work through it in the movie was clever, fun, and a great source of humor and creativity -- I loved the idea of going through various timelines and into the past and seeing bits and pieces of scenes from previous Marvel films -- it just was a great premise and execution, throughout the film!

5. Of course, there is a final battle with The Avengers vs. Thanos, and while some parts (mentioned below) are awkward, I really loved just how COMIC BOOK like the entire end battle was, incorporating elements from the past several films and new elements we’re sure to see in future installments -- it was definitely a moment in film history that was a culmination of a decade of build up and it paid off!

THE INTRIGUING

5. Similar to Rocket, Thor has a BIG part in this film and his appearance when he first reappears after the time skip in the movie was HILARIOUS -- seriously, I never thought Fortnite would make it into a Marvel film, but I loved it nonetheless.

However, Thor is highly unstable throughout and goes from being hilariously like “The Dude” from The Big Lebowski to being unhinged and nearly insane with his mood swings and emo nature. It was a hit and miss performance and parts seemed more like Chris Hemsworth being funny than Thor being funny; but I am intrigued to see where his character goes after this film!

4. I would be lying if I said I didn’t connect with Hawkeye and find his storyline powerful; hell, the opening scene with him had my jaw dropped. That being said, I was disappointed that when we get to him and Natasha going after the Soul Stone...and it’s Natasha that’s sacrificed. Especially the shot of her at the bottom of the stone basin; it really took away from Gamora’s sacrifice in a way. I really thought it should have been Hawkeye sacrificing himself, but I guess it makes sense since he got to be with his family again after they come back.

I guess I wanted more Hawkeye in the past films so that his character’s actions would have more payoff here...but...how does that Rolling Stones song go again?

3. The appearance of Tilda Swinton was SO welcomed and I loved her interactions with Bruce -- I really wish we’d had more of those moments with characters interacting with those they’re not normally paired with. Yes, we do get Thor and his mother reuniting and Tony Stark and his father -- but I wish they’d shown Rocket getting the reality stone from Jane, or see Paul Rudd run into a character from Avengers, etc.

2. So...Loki? We see him get an infinity stone and run off -- to where? Clearly it means we’re going to see him in the future and I need that in my life!

1. Speaking of hypothetical situations, there was so much that could have been done with Tony Stark and Pepper Pott’s daughter, Morgan. I really hope that she becomes Iron Man in the future! I just thought there would be more of a conflict with changing the past and altering the future -- it would have been a compelling part to mention...maybe it would have been too much more to add to the many storylines happening throughout the film -- I just wanted to see Tony’s decision to help change the past have more weight on his future, I suppose...but then, Tony ends up dying, so I guess it really did have weight! I don’t know what’s what anymore. In any case...we love you Tony Stark, we love you 3000.

THE ERRRRM.....because no film is perfect.

-5. When we are reunited with The Hulk, he’s become a perfect blend of Bruce and The Hulk -- I realize we’ve been slowly building towards this, especially with Thor Ragnarok and how The Hulk is portray...

...but I just couldn’t get behind it. I’m not sure if it’s the CGI or some other factor, but The Hulk just wasn’t...The Hulk in this. Granted, the scene where Bruce puts on the Hulk-buster Gauntlet and notes the Gamma Radiation being how he can handle it was cool and clever as all get out -- I still felt like I wanted to see The Hulk be more like himself throughout this movie.

-4. Captain Marvel. I will admit that I haven’t seen Captain Marvel, but I just can’t get behind Carol Danvers. She’s kind of a wet towel, and she just disappears for most of the film to only show up at the very end when it’s very convenient. I just couldn’t get behind her character and she seemed super overly arrogant and just hyped. I’m glad her character could stand up to Thanos, but didn’t just kick his butt instantly -- I don’t know...maybe seeing her own movie will make me get it more...

-3. The whole female characters get together and run into battle scene was a little...much. I get showing these characters fighting and winning, and I’m all for it! But I felt the scene where ONLY the ladies get together to fight was a little on the nose...I just couldn’t get behind it for the moment.

-2. I really loved that Captain America could wield Thor’s hammer -- such a good call back and payoff in the movie! What wasn’t a good payoff was his “staying in the past,” aging, and passing his shield down to Falcon. I realize the connection to the comic -- but it just seemed shoe-horned in the end and a bit ham-fisted. Those fight scenes, though? KILLER! And that “American Ass?” MORE KILLER.

-1. I think going into the film over-hyped was a detriment -- it’s a good film, and I teared up with Tony died. But the over hype did leave me with a smidgen of disappointment.

I liked the film, but I feel I liked Infinity War better. At least we have wild antics to look forward to in Guardians of the Galaxy 3! If you’re a comic fan, you won’t want to miss this film, but if you’ve not read the comics, you might be a little lost!

#The Avengers #Endgame #Captain America #Tony Stark #Rhetorical Ink Reviews #My Top Ten Thoughts #Avengers Endgame #Spoilers #Endgame spoilers #Avengers spoilers #hype train

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imagine-loki · 6 years

Text

Loki and the Witchling

TITLE: Loki and the Witchling

CHAPTER NO./ONE SHOT: 57/76

AUTHOR: nekoamamori

ORIGINAL IMAGINE: Imagine you’re a healer working with the Avengers when Loki comes to join the team

RATING: T (so far)

NOTES/WARNINGS: Also on AO3 click here

You stared in horror at the spot where Loki had been for an instant longer until your brain kicked back in and decided to function again. You closed your eyes, focusing on your senses and magic. You felt Loki’s location in an instant and were summoning power to teleport to him when a hand clamped firmly around your wrist.

“Don’t,” Thor told you firmly when your eyes snapped open so you could glare at him. You drew a dagger and held it to his throat.

“Unhand me,” you snarled at him.

“You do not have enough power left to teleport us both, so I think not,” Thor told you firmly, his grip tightening on you. He knew damn well that you couldn’t teleport away from him while he kept a hand on you.

“Let. Me. Go. We have to go save him!” you protested with tears in your eyes. It didn’t matter that you were swaying on your feet, it didn’t matter that your magic was next to tapped. The only thing that mattered was that some piece of walking carrion had stolen your Loki and you had to go save him.

“We will,” Thor told you gently. “When we have recovered, when we have regrouped, we will go rescue him. We cannot hope to win when we are half-cocked and unprepared. You are in no shape to fight. This plot was designed to weaken you and Loki so they could sneak you away. Whatever their plot, they want you for it,”

“He let them take him to save me,” you protested weakly.

“He did,” Thor agreed, his voice was sad, hurt, but still had the gentle caring edge to it. “Loki knew what he was doing, sister dear. He is a warrior and we have been through centuries of battles together. He can and will weather whatever happens until we regroup. They will not kill him. They need him as bait for you,”

“The Aesir can take a lot of pain before dying,” you protested again. You had to go now.

Thor inclined his head. “We can,” he agreed. “Loki will survive and we will rescue him as soon as we have recovered enough to do so successfully. We all will. He will not want you to risk yourself going after him in this state,”

“I can’t- Thor- we have to-” you couldn’t string the protests together. Why didn’t he understand that you had to rescue Loki now, before they could hurt him or worse? In one movement of Thor’s, your dagger was clattering to the ground and you were somehow over his shoulder. “Thor!” you protested, the tears in your voice now as well as your eyes.

“I know. Rest, Lady Sigyn,” he told you.

“Thor! Sig! Is she ok? Where’s Loki?” Cap demanded when Thor left the ballroom with you to meet up with the others who were still with the children.

“Loki was taken. This attack was a plot to abduct Lady Sigyn. She is uninjured, just drained of power and distraught. Whoever did this knew exactly how to take her and Loki out of the fight,” Thor explained. He held you firmly over his shoulder while you protested weakly that you had to go save Loki now. You weren’t exactly thinking logically…

“How is she even still here?” Nat demanded. “In this state she should have teleported to him by now,”

“She is too low on power to teleport more than just herself, and she cannot teleport alone while someone else is touching her,” Thor explained.

Clint sighed. “This is going to be a long night of babysit-the-healer, isn’t it?” he asked.

“We could just drug her…” Tony suggested. You weren’t sure if he was joking or not, but you were officially too out of it to protest either way. The adrenaline of the battle was wearing off and your worry over Loki wasn’t enough to keep you conscious.

“Thor, get her home. I’ll finish up things here. We’ll figure out how to keep her at home until we have a plan,” Cap ordered. You made a soft protest. Why didn’t they understand that you needed to go now?

“Hush, little sister. You can’t even stand on your own. Rest so we can rescue Loki,” Thor told you. His grip tightened as he swung Mjolnir and soon you were in the air. You determined extremely quickly that thrown over Thor’s shoulder was officially your least favorite way of flying and most terrifying. You had even less control than when you could at least hold onto him. It was thankfully a short flight back to the tower.

He didn’t set you down until you were in the living room. He laid you gently on your usual couch. “Rest, little sister. You need to recover so we can successfully rescue Loki,” Thor bid you. He didn’t need to try so hard. Your eyes had closed at some point and weren’t opening again.

“Loki…” you murmured as sleep, or possibly unconsciousness claimed you.

You woke multiple times throughout the night, worry, fear, and nightmares breaking through sleep. Someone on the team was always sitting with you when you woke. They told you to go back to sleep, that everything was ok. Tony threatened to shove sleeping pills down your throat if you annoyed him or if he had to touch you to keep you from teleporting away.

You dreamt of your Loki in chains, bleeding, and bruised. He was roaring in anger, pain, fighting against his bonds, his magic flaring even past the bindings they placed on him. They thought they could contain him. And they could, for awhile. But his rage and power would win out eventually.

You needed to rescue him before the pain broke your Loki.

He was finally healing the soul wounds of Odin’s treatment of him. He was finally healing from New York. He was finally opening up and happy.

You couldn’t let whoever this asshole was break your Loki.

You couldn’t.

You shot awake, jumping to your feet. Nat’s hand remained clamped around your wrist. “I’m not running,” you told her firmly. She let you go with a nod. The team was gathered around the livingroom, still in uniform, making plans. You saw pillows and blankets all over. They had gotten napes in, it seemed. “What have you got so far?” you asked Cap.

“We can’t get a lock on his location,” he started warily.

“I can,” you replied firmly, you already had a plan on how. Cap nodded.

“It looks like they attacked the children with Hydra weapons,” Cap continued.

“We’re expecting to face a large force,” Clint told you, warningly. You glared at him. You didn’t care how many people you were facing.

“I will kill every single one of them if that’s what it takes to get him back,” you told them firmly. “I can’t teleport you all. Get ready, this rescue mission leaves as soon we’re all armed. Thor, kindly never tell your brother what I’m about to do in that kitchen,” you added as you stomped into said kitchen and began rummaging through the drawers and cabinets.

“Sig…” Thor was on his feet following you a moment later. In fact, the entire team had swarmed to see what nonsense you were pulling. “What areyou doing?”

“Something incredibly stupid. But desperate times and all that…” you found what you were looking for and apologized to the poor coffee maker for what you were about to put it through.

“Is she…making coffee with an energy drink instead of water?” Tony demanded, impressed.

“I am,” you replied grumpily, reaching for Tony’s caffeine pills to crush up in the bottom of the carafe.

“Hey! Those are mine!” he protested. You glared at him.

“I’ll buy you new ones,” you growled. He held up his hands in surrender.

“Why are you suddenly resembling Tony on a project?” Bruce asked gently. He was Bruce and the only one you wouldn’t snap at. “Only I’ve seen him drink that stuff. The results were not pleasant and Pepper has banned him from ever making it again,”

“It’s a shortcut that we are never telling Loki I took, because he will kill us all for it. It’s an artificial power boost. They’re torturing him and I will do everything and anything in my power to get him back before they break him.” You weren’t telling them that the artificial power boost came at a price, as did everything when it came to magic. You set another pot to start as soon as the first one had finished. “Get ready, guys, we leave the second I have finished drinking this pot of coffee,” you told them as you held up the carafe. Thor turned automatically and summoned Mjolnir. The rest of the team looked incredulous, but you blew ice on the carafe to cool it, a trick Loki had taught you. You lifted the carafe like a mug of ale and started downing it in a manner that they had only seen Thor do with the aforementioned mug of ale. The rest of the team scattered to get ready, finally figuring out that you really weren’t joking. You shuddered and were sure your heart had skipped at least two beats when you set the carafe down. “Blargh, that stuff tastes awful,” you complained and shuddered again at that much caffeine hitting your system at one time.

Rule #1: Do not make monster-coffee.

Rule #2 If you break rule number one, do not drink the entire pot in one gulp.

Rule #3 Do not piss off the healer enough to make her break the first two rules.

Your heart skipped another beat, but you felt the power flare. You smirked as you dumped the second pot into a thermos and vanished it. You would need it later. You dug your phone out of your pocket as you stormed to the elevator. “Strange, incoming. The entire team is coming. We need a portal and a locator spell, I have the focus for the locator spell. We’ll be there in five minutes tops. I’ll explain when we get there,” you told Strange without greeting the second he answered the phone and hung up before he replied.

The rest of the team met you at the SUV in the garage a minute later, armed to the teeth. “Where are we going?” Cap asked as Nat climbed in the driver’s seat.

“Doctor Strange’s sanctum,” you answered. Nat peeled off. She didn’t bother asking for the address. She knew everything.

“Do you have a plan for when we get there?” Tony asked hesitantly. He didn’t trust your mood. None of them did. You didn’t care. Thor seemed to understand your mood at least.

“We’re portalling directly to Loki. I’m sure he’s guarded, which is where you come in. I’ll rescue Loki. He’s in a right state and I’m the only one he won’t kill first and ask questions later. Thor, don’t give me that look, you know he’ll stab you. We get out of there as soon as we have Loki. We don’t know how many of them there are or if we can take them all. They have to know we’re coming, especially as I haven’t shown up alone yet,” you told them as Nat drove. No one commented on how your plan wasn’t so much a plan as 12% of a plan. They also weren’t arguing. They all knew you would go without them if they did.

“We will rescue him,” Thor promised.

“I know we will,” you told him with a malicious glint in your eyes.

“Don’t piss off the healer,” you heard Clint murmur so softly you knew that you weren’t supposed to hear. It was excellent advice nonetheless.

“Do not make an Asgardian Lady fight for what she loves. Our Ladies are cherished. We protect them and they are generally not warriors, not because they are weak, but because they are more vicious in their rage,” Thor explained with…pride? in his tone. He raised your hand to kiss the back of it. “We will rescue him,” Thor reassured you again.

Nat parked in front of the sanctum and you all piled out. You led the way inside without bothering to knock. Strange was waiting for you. “What’s going on?” he asked, getting straight to business.

“Loki has been abducted. We’re going to rescue him,” you told Strange simply. He nodded.

“You said you have a focus. You know you can’t use Thor’s hair, right?” he asked. Thor stiffened at the implication that you were going to harm his hair, but steeled himself.

“You may-” he started.

“It wouldn’t work,” Strange cut him off before he could make the offer. “It only works with something of his or that of someone biologically related,” Strange explained quickly, looking for you for the focus you promised.

You nodded, already reaching up to undo the lovelock braid in your hair. “I know,” you told him. Your fingers moved quickly and you undid the braid. You hated giving it up, since Loki had given it to you, but it was the only way to get to him right now. He would forgive you for losing his token. You held out the lock of Loki’s hair to Strange. “This will work,”

“It’s-?”

“Loki’s,” you confirmed.

Strange took the lock of hair from you. “Yes, this will work.” His hands started flying with gold magic flowing between them. You drew a dagger as he worked. The rest of the team armed up around you. “Ready?” Strange asked.

�� “Yes. Keep the portal open,” you confirmed. He nodded. He would keep your escape route open, though that meant he couldn’t join you for the fight.

An instant later the portal opened in front of you. You, Thor, and Cap ran through with the others following directly behind. Thor and Cap took point with you a step behind, just in case this was an ambush.

There was a flurry of movement in the large warehouse-like room. You ignored it. Your eyes were on the solitary figure, chained kneeling in the middle of the room.

Loki.

Your poor Loki.

He was blindfolded and chained so securely he could scarcely move.

That wasn’t the worst thing.

He was raging and fighting his bonds.

That wasn’t the worst thing.

His power flared around him as he fought the spelled bonds.

That wasn’t the worst thing

He was beaten, bloody, and bruised.

Even that wasn’t the worst thing.

No, the worst thing brought tears of rage and grief to your eyes. Your anger and power flared as disbelief settled into pure, undiluted rage. They hadn’t just taken your Loki. They hadn’t just bound him. They hadn’t just hurt your love.

They had tortured him

They had sewn Loki’s mouth shut

#Loki #Lover #Submitted fic #submission #chapter 57 #nekoamamori #Loki and the witchling

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