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justfandomwritings · 4 years ago

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By The Norns (Part One - Soulmate!Loki)

Pairing: Loki x Reader, Soulmates AU

Word count: 2.1k

Warnings: Nobody was harmed in any way in the making of this story... but there was some arson.

Summary: She wasn’t a goddess. She wasn’t even an elf or a dwarf. She was a mortal, a Midgardian, a human. To Odin, she was a curse. To Loki, she was a second chance.

Notes: Don’t worry. Despite what the chapter and the description may make you think anyone whose read my stories before will know I am not a fan of soulmate aus that take away the character’s choice. This chapter is set up. Stick with me on this. I promise. Posted in honor of @muna1412 being very excited at the prospect of another soulmate au.

This is not related to Loyalty in any way... I just have an unhealthy obsession with Soulmate aus.

Fate was a funny, fickle thing. Loki knew that much. After all, he’d met her.

Them, to be more precise. The Norns.

Urdr, Skuld, and Verdandi were their names: Past, Present, and Future, as they should be known.

It was they who watered the tree, and they who grew its leaves. The task fell to the Norns to write, shape, create, and control the fate of every being under the branches of Yggdrasil.

A poor, dwarven craftsman working on the surface of Nidavellir, a beautiful, golden elf living on a hill in Alfheim, a meager, puny human scurrying around the surface of Midgard. It was they who made the dwarf rich, who killed the elf in his sleep, who let the human sow the land. They did not exchange the gold; they did not wield the dagger; they did not draw the plow. But it was by their hand, by their grace and mercy, that the worlds turned, that life waxed and waned, that the Realms drew breath.

Every birth was through their will. Every death was by their hand, and everything in between was because they decided it would be so.

All fell under the gaze of the Norns. The kitchen cook, Andhrimnir, who served the Aesir’s table at night, owed everything to the Norns. They allowed his birth into Asgard. They raised him above the station of a lowly tavern boy. They gifted him the family he cradled so dearly to his chest.

Odin, King of the Nine Realms, Protector of Asgard, owed everything to the Norns. He was born by their choice. He survived a thousand battles because they said he would do so. He married Frigga because they put her on his path. His sons…

Well, one of his sons.

Loki knew the exact moment Odin stopped looking at him as a son, the exact moment Odin chose Thor over him, the exact moment Odin turned his back on him, the exact moment his father marked him disappointment.

It was, like all things, the doing of the Fates. The Norns.

Fates were theirs to command from the highest branches of Yggdrasil down to its very roots. From king to beggar, slave to master, aristocrat to pauper, farmer to merchant, sailor to soldier. From Loki to her. She was their doing.

Love was an inevitable part of life. Not even the Norns, with all of the power of the gods and then some, could stop that. Humans, Aesir, Elves, Vanir, the sentient beings of the Nine Realms felt an overwhelming urge towards emotion, and one of the strongest, one of the most inevitable, was love.

They couldn’t stop it, but they could direct it.

It fell under the purview of Fate to decide who one loved. People, god and mortal alike, fell in and out of love all the time.

Sometimes, though, every now and then, the Norns would reach down and touch two beings. The Norns would take two souls in two bodies and braid them together, weave them together, mold them together, as if they were one.

Those who knew magic well, those like Loki, could see them, watch them, doing this.

They could see Urdr floating, invisible amongst them, deciding the pair. They could see Skuld, plucking up their souls. They could see Verdandi tying them together.

Loki watched them when they took his soul.

“Mother, Mother,” Loki tugged on his other’s silk skirts and pointed up into the rafters of the Grand Hall. “What’s that?”

Frigga followed her son’s gaze and gasped. Magic was not her proficiency, though what little she had she wielded well. She had enough to see the Norns, floating ghostlike in the air over her younger son. She had enough to see his soul in their hands, and another at their side.

In the old days, before that fateful night, it was considered an honor to be chosen by the Norns. It was a guarantee of a great, powerful destiny in the future. It was a promise of passion, understanding, and respect on the horizon. It was the mark of one who would know true love.

The Midgardians called them soulmates. The Aesir called them the destined.

“The Norns have touched Loki,” Frigga whispered to Odin at her side. “They are gifting him a match.”

“With who?” Odin asked because he could not see them for himself.

Frigga squinted in the direction of the apparitions tying together Loki’s future. “I cannot tell. She appears to be…” Frigga’s eyes whipped around to Odin, “Midgardian.”

Odin turned up his nose and sniffed.

Midgard. The word, the world, that had sentenced Loki to a lifetime of second best.

His ‘destined’, his ‘soulmate’, his curse.

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It was centuries before the soul tied to Loki’s found the body it would spend its own life in.

(Y/n), her parents named her.

They weren’t sure why they named her that. When asked, they said they saw the name once in a book. Or was it on the tv? Or in a dream?

Neither could really remember. All they knew was that, as she grew, the name suited her perfectly. Almost as if fate itself had chosen it for her.

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For centuries, millennia even, her soul had been lingering on the edges of reality, existing but not quite feeling. She floated through time and space, following the ties that bound her to existence, waiting.

By the time her soul entered her body on Earth, she had existed longer than any other Midgardian ever had or would in all of history. She had lingered for years just out of reach of one of the most powerful beings on Asgard, her soulmate. Lifetimes had passed her by in the blink of an eye, and though she didn’t remember any of them, they remembered her.

Her soul hovered above its mate, basking in the magic that dissipated into the air around him like smoke. She breathed it in, soaked it in, drew it in.

In many ways, even subconsciously, she showed her age, her mate.

Even as a baby, she never woke her mother up screaming, to the jealousy of her mom’s friends. She was the model toddler, even through her terrible twos. She almost never cried and rarely threw temper tantrums. They called her a prodigy when she started speaking in full sentences before time doctors even expected her to be learning her first words, and they called her a genius when she learned to read full children’s books while other kids were still struggling through their first alphabet flashcards. Even though she ran around playing in the mud or splashing in puddles, somehow her clothes were always pristine. She taught herself faster than the teachers could and skipped two grades in elementary school alone. She was suspiciously charismatic for such a little girl and made, literally, hundreds of dollars off her lemonade stand. She listened to a family speaking another language in the store once and ran up to them to answer a question they had; when her parents asked her how she’d learned to understand or say that in another language, she had no idea what they were talking about and seemingly hadn’t even realized she’d done it.

And yet there were other things, darker things.

When she was born, the nurses didn’t question the little shock of static that jolted through them as they held her. No one commented how, in the right light, the baby’s eyes could look terrifyingly aware. She lied as easily as she breathed and almost never got caught. A girl made fun of her friend's hair once at school, and that night ended up being rushed to the hospital by her parents with all the signs of a heart attack in a five year old child. She liked having things her way, and even when her parents refused her, they always found themselves oddly compelled to do whatever it was anyways. She had an affinity for snakes that often found her letting them in the house. The pranks she pulled on her little brother sometimes got out of hand and often resulted in loud crashes and screams, though by the time any adult arrived nothing ever seemed broken. Her father used to joke that she must be some kind of shape shifter because he swore that, from day to day, her eye would change their color. Sometimes, when he looked in them, he swore they weren’t his daughters, but when he blinked and looked back they always returned to normal.

Most of it was written off as the simple oddities of a child or exaggerations of first time parents.

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Superheroes did not exist when (Y/n) was a child.

It would be another decade before Tony Stark would stand on a stage and proclaim before the world, “I am Iron Man.” It would be even longer still before Peter Parker would put on a red and blue jumpsuit and call himself, ‘Spiderman’. Bruce Banner hadn’t even begun his research into the serum that would be his ultimate undoing. Dr. Stephen Strange was finishing up med school. Thor hadn’t made his presence known. Wanda had just been born. Hawkeye and Black Widow were still assassins working in the shadows. No one outside Wakanda had ever heard of the Black Panther. Vision hadn’t been built yet, and Captain America had been dead for decades.

Even if they did exist, it wouldn’t have helped (Y/n). Most of them weren’t born super. Most of them became so by lab experiments or radioactive insects or training or technology.

In the world (Y/n) grew up in, there were no superheroes. And if there were no superheroes... then what was she?

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She was 12.

It was her big day.

Not her birthday, she didn’t particularly care about birthdays. Something about them just felt off to her. When she turned 11, she asked her mom if she could have two of those candles that were shaped like the actual numbers, and she’d put them pressed against each other on top of the cake. She ran around all day telling everyone she was 1,111. Some people laughed, but mostly to humor her.

That was why she hadn’t had a birthday party when she turned 12. She didn’t like people fake laughing. It felt like lying. She didn’t particularly mind lying herself, but she hated thinking that people were lying to her. Especially because she could always tell when they were.

No, instead, she had this. The Science Fair.

She’d won first prize the night before. She knew she had because one of the judges had told her she’d won.

That morning, they would be handing out the awards, and she was so excited for everyone else to know the secret, to know that she was the best, even better than the older kids in her class.

The judges were walking up on stage, and any moment, once they got past the category winners they were going to call her name.

“In third place we have Jesse Martin with his project in the biology category!”

A cheer went up that, judging by the pitch, absolutely must have been from Jesse’s mom. The other parents in the room clapped while Jesse ran towards the stage, turning red in the cheeks from his family’s overzealous encouragement.

“Congratulations, son,” the Dean smiled as he bent down to shake the boy’s hand. The mike picked up a small bit of Jesse’s anxious thanks before he ran to join the line of winners.

“And in second place we have, (Y/n)! With her wonderful….”

Second place.

But Mr. Sellers, the science teacher had told her she won.

Was he lying? Did he honestly think second place was winning? Was he just saying that to shut her up? Or was he being mean? Did he want to laugh at her when his real favorite won?

The parents were cheering her, including her own. Her father was nudging her towards the stage, but she didn’t at all appreciate the gesture.

No. They told her she was going to win.

Her face screwed up in pain, and she balled her hands into fists.

At the back of the room something exploded.

A scream went out.

“Fire!” Someone shouted. “Fire!”

The poster boards up and down the hall were catching fire. It jumped easily from paper to paper. It didn’t help that there was no smoke, for some odd reason. That the sprinklers, that the fire alarm, didn’t turn on.

Someone grabbed (Y/n) by the waist. Her father no doubt.

(Y/n) barely noticed. She was still upset staring at the trophy on the stage over his shoulder.

Slowly, before her eyes, it began to melt.

She smiled. Good. If she couldn’t have it, no one could.

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“She caused the fire.” He whispered, staring down at the floor in front of him with glassy eyes.

“Wayne, that’s crazy; you know it is.”

“I saw it with my own eyes, Elle. She clenched her first and suddenly Christina Danvers poster exploded. She gets second, and the first place project explodes the moment she throws a fit?”

“Our daughter doesn’t throw fits.”

“Not normally, but she did today. She was about to, and then everything caught fire.”

“Wayne, you can’t be serious about this right now.”

“She was smiling.” He whispered. “When everything burned down, she was smiling.”

(Y/n) listened silently from the hallway as her parents talked.

She loved to eavesdrop on her parents late night. They never knew she was there. It was another one of those odd coincidences of her life that (Y/n) was the only person in the house who never made the steps creak when she walked up and down the stairs.

She was old enough to know what they were saying, what they were implying. It should’ve bothered her more than it did.

(Y/n) walked back upstairs, silent as the grave, and opened her closet.

She needed the duffle bag her father kept tucked away in the top of her closet, but she was nowhere near tall enough to reach it. As the door slid open, the bag teetered on the edge of the wire shelf and fell to the floor.

“How convenient,” (Y/n) mumbled to herself.

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“Hey Kid,” The man shouted at her out the window of his semi-truck. “What’re you doin’ out here at night? It ain’t safe!”

(Y/n) shrugged. “Not safe at home either.”

The man gave her an understanding look.

(Y/n) watched him carefully as he opened the door of his rig and offered her a hand.

Her mother had always told her not to talk to strangers, but (Y/n) had found she could always tell what people wanted. Besides, she was pretty sure she was a greater danger to them than they were to her.

“Where ya’ headed?” The man asked.

“West.”

“I can take ya’ as far as Texas.” He offered.

(Y/n) hopped off the curb and grabbed the man’s offered hand, hauling herself up into the passenger seat.

She didn’t know where she was going or why she was going there. But something inside of her told her she had somewhere to be.

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Next Time On.... Part Two

Thank you very much for reading! I hope you all enjoyed. I have just come back from a hiatus and a great deal of why I went on said hiatus was the stress of managing ‘added features’ for lack of a better expression. I like writing. I don’t like formatting or managing the blog side of things.

As such, no taglists. Please don’t ask me to be on a taglist. Keeping track of it stresses me out too much. I don’t feel like doing it. I don’t appreciate being pressured into doing it. In the olden days of tumblr, people used to follow each other, and I promise you that feature still works. If you follow me you will see part two when it’s posted.

#loki x reader #loki odinson x reader #Loki Laufeyson x Reader #loki soulmate au #loki soulmate #soulmate loki #loki fanfiction #loki fanfic #loki x reader soulmate #marvel imagines #loki imagines #marvel fanfic #marvel fanfiction #marvel one shot #loki one shot #loki oneshot #mcu fanfiction #avengers fanfiction

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lokidokieokie · 2 years ago

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Chapter 2 | Sneaking Around The Palace

"I'm bored!"

Medea deadpanned, "It's been ten minutes."

With the Warriors Three and Sif still looking for her, they both were confined to their little alcove for the time being. Much to her chagrin, because sometimes Loki was just a big baby.

"Entertain me." He playfully demanded.

She rolled her eyes, "What am I? The court jester?"

Loki grinned, "If I were to base it on looks alone~"

She picked up a rock and threw a rock at him, "Ow!"

Medea rolled her eyes; she had her work cut out for her, that's for sure.

"Entertain yourself." Loki huffed.

Picking up a stick, she began drawing little images in the dirt. It was a mixture of random things, there was the tree of Yggdrasil, a flower, a smiley face.

Currently though, she was drawing a caricature of Loki's face. Distorting his facial features was the most amusing thing. She began laughing at how ridiculously large she drew his forehead.

Loki, being the little imp he is, waltzed over to see what had gotten her so giddy and was disgusted by what he saw.

"What on Asgard is that?"

She turned to face him, "What does it look like, Lokes?"

He scrunched his nose up, "It looks like some sort of demon creature from Helheim."

Silently giggling she revealed what the image actually was.

He gaped, "I do not look like that!"

She giggled, "But you do, my Prince."

He pouted, "You're a terrible friend."

She playfully gasped, "I'm the best friend anyone could possibly have in the nine."

"I'm bored!"

Medea had about had it with Loki at this point. In the whole two hours they had been stuck in this alcove, he had said that one statement 137 times...and she wasn't exaggerating.

"If you say that sentence one more time, so help me Frigga, you won't have the epithet silver tongue anymore."

He mischievously grinned, "I'd like to see you try, Darling."

With that, she jumped up and ran at him. Loki blanched, quickly realising what he had started, and began to run away.

So, the chase began.

Loki laughed, "You'll never catch me with those little legs, Love."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that." Her sudden appearance in front of him made him yelp.

Catching his breath, "I should've never taught you how to teleport."

She smiled gleefully, "No, you shouldn't have."

And with that, she proceeded to tackle the God, earning a victorious groan.

"Was that necessary?"

Medea chortled, "Of course it was."

Sitting on his chest she looked at the garden walls surrounding them.

"But I suppose if you are as bored as you claim, we could sneak around the palace."

He smiled, "That sounds amazing, Darling."

Sneaking into the palace was no feat for the both of them, as they knew the place like the backs of their hands.

What was tricky, though, was figuring out where the blasted Warriors Three and Sif wouldn't be.

"I don't think they'd be in the library. I don't even know if they know how to read."

Loki rolled his eyes, "So, they wouldn't be looking for you at the one place that you frequent daily?"

She shrugged, "I don't know if they're smart enough to put two and two together."

Loki laughed, "Sadly, I think that the library is off limits for today. Where else could we go?"

She smiled, "What if we go where they aren't expecting us to go?"

"I like the way you think, Darling."

Seated in what she had dubbed the Moron's Lair, both Medea and Loki were sipping on some of the finest mead known in all of Asgard.

"...and then, I stabbed him again!" Both gods laughed. Reminiscing on the tales of old was always a favourite for them both.

"Sometimes I feel bad for Thor, having to live with you as a sibling."

Loki holds back a fake gasp of offence, "I am angelic."

Rolling her eyes she lets out a little giggle, "The day you become angelic is the day Surtur causes Ragnarok."

"How dare you-"

His argument was cut off by a woman's--sounding eerily similar to Volstagg--screaming, "Where could she possibly be?"

Fandral sighed, "I'm inclined to give up. Being a female doesn't seem so bad."

Sif growled, "Speak for yourselves, I do not wish to be in this male form any longer."

Holding back their laughter, the mischievous gods decided to show themselves.

"I didn't know I was that hard to find."

Her unexpected dialogue caused the warriors to jump. Medea smiled, startling the four of them never gets old.

"You! You mischievous wench!" Fandral exclaimed.

Medea pouted, "Oh, your words hurt me so, Fandral."

Hogun stepped in before Fandral could continue to ruin their chances. "We don't have to fight; just change us back to our original forms."

"Let me think about it" About ten seconds were taken to think it over, "Yeah, I don't think so."

Just as the warriors began to charge, Loki took Medea's hand and teleported them both.

...and ending up at the bakery wasn't a surprise.

"How make cakes do you think we can steal before Yrva notices this time?"

You giggled, "The record is 23, right?"

Loki nodded his head. "Then this time I say 24!"

And with that, the trickster gods quietly entered the bakery. Tiptoeing because their lives very well may depend on it if they get caught, they carefully lowered themselves to the floor behind the counter.

A variety of weird hand gestures were made signalling some sort of plan, whether it would work or not was yet to be seen. Yrva was quickly getting used to the sneaking and stealing that occurred in her bakery, so they had to be stealthy.

Subtly raising her hand up, Medea managed to grab a singular red velvet cupcake.

"Yes!" She whisper-yelled.

She stuck her tongue out at Loki, "I got the red velvet one!"

Loki rolled his eyes and reached up to grab a cake, "You got the red velvet, but I got-"

He stopped talking when something grabbed his hand.

Both their eyes widened when they heard a voice, "By all means, your highness, which cake did you get?"

The two gods had never left the bakery as quickly as they did.

Yrva smiled and rolled her eyes, "Troublemakers."

Find the Series Masterlist here!

Find my Main Masterlist here!

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lovlydovlyjaycie · 4 years ago

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Ævi - Frontlines

Hey again! This will be a continued series. The first Ævi series is in my masterlist and is only four parts. This is going to be a ongoing series, so there is going to be a lot more of Ævi to come. :)

Summary: Y/n or also known as Ævi has lived through varies of world events. Now it is 1941, she has excepted that some things cannot be changed so Loki has convinced Y/n to go to New York and live a normal life, a life Y/n always wanted. Or as normal it can be, because new introductions lead to events that didn’t go down in the history books.

Warnings: Fluff

Characters: Y/n, Loki and more to come. Wink, wink

Main masterlist

Series masterlist

Part one

1941

Loki had thought it was a good idea to go to a party in New York. But that was a total bust. What he and I think of as a party couldn’t be more opposite. “You enjoyed that?” I asked Loki a little disappointed. This has been a area I have been waiting for the 40s. All the dancing. And in a couple of years celebrating freedom. “It was very civil. Something I thought I would never say of humans. Sometimes people on Asgard can be barbaric.. Especially Thor.” He muttered that last part under his breath. “Yes.. It was civil, but it was boring. They have these amazing places where people go out to dance and just.. have fun. Something I think the majority have never heard off in there.” I told Loki. We were walking the streets of New York. A few cars passed by every now and then. I was looking for a place where we could go dance. “Ok we’re not gonna find anything here.” I said looking around. “Find what?” Loki asked ready to go to the hotel room we had rented. “A party! To dance! Not one of those where people like to talk about money and stocks, cause lets be honest we both are not interested in that.” Loki gave me a small nod and smile at that. “Alright, but I am not going dancing. And besides there is no place here to go dancing anyway. So lets be on our way back to the hotel.” He tried to dismiss me. Keyword tried. I’m not giving up that easily. “Let’s go to Brooklyn! They have good places there. Here I’ll get us a cab!” I was putting my hand up waving at the cabs passing by. Non had stopped as if yet. “No stop that. We went to a party, now we are going back.” He told me. But then a cab stopped and I got in. “You know any places to go dancing in Brooklyn?” I asked the cab driver and he nodded his head. “Well.. You coming or what, cause otherwise I’ll just go without you. You decide Loki.” Loki sighed at that. “Fine but no longer than fifteen minutes.” He said as he climbed in the cad. “An hour.” He shook his head. “Twenty minutes.” He retorted. “An hour.” I told him again. The cab started moving at this point. “Thirty minutes.” He was getting annoyed, but I wasn’t about to give in. “One hour.” I told him again. He sighed. “Fine, but I’m not dancing, so you’ll have to find somebody.” I just shrugged at that. “You’re not a good dancer anyway. You’d just embarrass me.” And Loki rolled his eyes. I was ecstatic, I was so excited to go dancing. Just don’t know these kind of moves yet.

After about thirty minutes the driver dropped us off at a dance hall. You could hear the music booming outside and I couldn’t wait to get in. “Be careful! You are not exactly dressed like you belong here.” The cab driver said. We did kind of looked out of place here. Loki and I were very dressed up, Loki was wearing a very expensive looking suit and me, I was wearing a light almost steel colored dress my hair done half up half down and my lips were red. This place certainly wasn’t on the richer part of town. But those people don’t know how to really live up a party anyway.

We walked in and there was jazz music playing. “Come on lets dance!” I cheered. “No.” He was standing still in place and not budging. “Come on Loki! It’ll be fun! Besides, you owe me.” He put his hand on his chest like he was surprised. “What do I owe you.” I narrowed my eyes at him. “You were the one to convince me to go to America in a time like this. Saying, and I quote, ‘You have tried to change history and it didn’t work, so this time won’t be different, go show me around America please.” I crossed my arms and gave him a pointed look. “Yes to the first part and no to the second. Never said I wanted to go here.” I rolled my eyes. “Come on! we will just dance for an hour and then we’re out.” “I told you I’m not dancing.” He retorted. “Fine I’ll find somebody else to dance with than.” I looked around the dance floor and saw everybody have a partner to dance with. Some were just hanging around by tables and others were by bars. I decided to try it there. I saw a man standing alone by the bar. Perfect, doesn’t seem like he has a date. I have got to say who ever the is, he looks handsome even from the back. Broad shoulders, tall and dark hair. Hopefully he likes to dance and isn’t just here for the drinks.

As I walked over I got a lot of looks from almost everybody. I did look like I was very out of place. But I’m here to have a good time just like everybody else. My eyes were se ton whoever this man was. I noticed that some men had tried to come up and start a conversation with me, but I ignored them. This would be very embarrassing if that man does not want to dance. Anyway the man that was by the bar was leaning against it, so I did the same as I got there. “What are the recommended drinks?” I asked the tall man. He was taking a gulp of his beer and slightly choked when he looked at me. I’ll take that as a compliment. “They don’t have the fancy stuff here if that is what you are looking for. Mostly just beer.” He answered. His eyes were piercing. A steel blue and slightly hooded. “Guess I’ll have that than.” I said waving the waiter over and I ordered.

“So what is a dame like you doing in a place like this?” He asked, fully intrigued. “I came because I wanted to dance, but my friend over there is not so convinced.” I told him pointing with my finger over to Loki. He looked very uncomfortable. That made me slightly laugh. “Is he your husba-” “Oh God no! He’s a friend. He is just doesn’t like to have fun.” He looked a little relieved. “And now you’re here.” I nodded. “Now I’m here, living my life like my days are numbered.” He laughed at that. “Good way to see things.” He noted. The waiter came over with my beer and I nodded a thank you. “So what’s your name doll?” The nickname made me smile. The way it rolled off his tongue so easily. “I’m y/n Ironside.” I told him. Long ago I had taken Bjorn’s name and I still used it after almost a thousand years. I put my hand forward for him to shake. “James Barnes, but friends call me Bucky.” He took my hand and shook it slightly. It felt like electricity running through me. “Bucky?” I asked. “Yeah it comes from my second name, Buchanan.” He explained. “That’s cute.” And I slightly smiled. ”Well Bucky, would you like to dance with me?” I asked him and he smirked. “I thought you were never going to ask.” And he pulled me with him to the dancefloor. I now noticed that we were holding hands the entire time. It made me blush. It felt strange getting these feelings. But I pushed it down and thought nothing of it.

As we were standing in the middle of the dance floor something upbeat started playing. “I don’t know how to dance to this.” Bucky gave me another smirk at that. “Follow my lead!” He answered. He started twirling me around on the beat. It was hard to keep up. I was looking at the people around me what they were doing when I stepped on Bucky’s toe. “Oh sorry!” I grimaced. “It’s alright doll. Don’t get distracted by the people around you. Focus on me.” So I did. I followed his every move and tried to keep up. Still sometimes I stepped on his toes, but it was definitely a lot easier if I wasn’t looking at what everyone around me was doing. After the first song ended I didn’t even notice that there were other people around. Bucky and I were having fun, laughing at the mistakes I was making. It felt very nice for a moment not to think about what was happening in Europe. Then a slow song came on. I stepped closer to him and guided his hand around my my lower back. Then I put my left hand on his shoulder and grabbed his free hand with my right. “So, you do know how to slow dance?” He noted. “I do.” I mean I have sort of slowed danced for about a thousand years, so you could say I am well trained. Obviously couldn’t tell him that. “But you have been a good teacher for teaching me the fast pace parts.” I smiled at him. It was a lot of fun. Fun I haven’t had in a while. “You’re welcome. They don’t do that where you’re from?” Bucky asked. I smiled. They definitely do not dance like that on Asgard and also those type of dances change a lot over the years. “No they do not.” I told him smiling. “So.. You didn’t have a date tonight or.. Did you just come here by yourself?” I wondered out loud. “Oh no. I was with a friend of mine. Steve. But he left earlier. I was just gonna grab a bier before leaving, but then I met this beautiful dame that wanted to dance. And I would be a damned fool to say no to that.” He laughed. “Well I’m glad that I saw you by the bar then.” I stated smiling at him. I looked at our hand that were intertwined and so did he. I had a ring on my middle finger that Loki had gifted me a long time ago. It had the Yggdrasil tree on it. He said it was my symbol and that we are one, I was the protector of life, therefore the protector of the tree of life. It had a magic ability to snap me in to my fighting suit whenever needed. It was a great gift and it made it a lot easier to not have to change every time. “That looks like a old ring.” Bucky noted. “Uhm, yes it has been with me for as long as I can remember.” “Family heirloom?” He asked. “Hmm-hmm.” I nodded my head yes. “It’s a beautiful ring.” I smiled at that. I really loved it as well. “Thank you.”

“Time is up y/n. We’re leaving.” Loki came up behind me. I sighed. I was having so much fun with Bucky and I didn’t want this night to end yet. “After the song has ended.” I told Loki not even looking at him and still dancing with Bucky. He looked slightly uncomfortable, maybe intimidated by Loki. “You said one hour. It has been one hour. We’re leaving this awful place.” He was clearly getting annoyed, but Loki was always annoyed, so it didn’t bother me and he had a habit of giving in anyway. “I’ll leave after this dance. You can either wait here in the middle of the dancefloor or wait outside of it.” He sighed. Giving in and saying; “Fine.” Very annoyed.

“Very strong willed woman.” Bucky stated impressed. Now it was my turn to smirk. “He doesn’t know how to live in the moment some times.” I stated looking over my shoulder at Loki who was looking very impatient. And annoyed. That gave me an idea. “How do you feel about living in the moment?” I asked Bucky. “No better way to live.” He said smiling. I looked around quickly. “Alright. When the music ends you wanna go for that exit behind you?” He looked around quickly and gave me a shocked face. “You sure you wanna do that doll?” Bucky asked a bit unsure of it all. “It will be hilarious! Are you in?” He dropped his face in a smile. “Where ever you go.” He answered back. Loki is going to be so annoyed. It’s a bit childish of me, but I’m gonna love seeing his face after.

Bucky and I danced for a bit until the next song started playing. I quickly looked back and saw that Loki was coming up to us again. “Now run!” I yelled at Bucky. I pulled him with me towards the exit as fast as I could not looking back. I pushed the people who were in front of me aside in a fit of laughter. I heard Bucky was laughing too. Then we got outside and ran as fast as we could this time Bucky was pulling me with him. “How far?” He asked laughing. “Far enough!” I yelled back. People that were walking on the street looked at us slightly disturbed which only made this ten times more funnier.

We ran maybe two blocks away from the dancing place. We both slowed down still laughing at the situation. “You sure he is not going to be mad about this?” Bucky asked still laughing. “Don’t worry he’s not going to be mad at you, but with me, it’s fine.” I reassured him. “Alright.” Bucky said spinning me around. All this time still holding hands. “One more dance?” He asked me this time. “There is no music.” I stated smiling. “Let me think.” Bucky told me. “Somewhere over the rainbow, way up high, there’s a land that I heard of, once in a lullaby.” I started singing. Bucky smiled at me and took my other hand an guided me on the street. I continued singing as we were dancing. This song always made me thing of Asgard funnily enough. I always thought of the rainbow as the Bifrost, because when I didn’t understand any of this I thought it was a actual rainbow. And now, in this time, Asgard and it’s stories are lullabies. “I like this song.” He told me. I smiled an continued singing again. I started resting my head against his shoulder. This moment felt very peaceful in all the hectic-ness that was going around earth.

After the song it was time for me to go back to Loki. Enough messing with him for today. “I need to go back.” I told Bucky. He nodded his head in understanding. “Let me walk you back.” And so we walked back and it would end our time. I usually never saw the people I met on earth twice. It raised a lot of questions if there was a little more time in between, seeing I don’t age. Also if I hung out with the same people for too long it started raising questions as to why I was not aging. In the past people have thought I was a witch because of that. So I decided to just not have any relations with humans at all anymore. Which made me sad. Asguardians are great and all, but human.. I was one of them once or I still am, it’s just not the same. As we came closer to the dancehall I felt sad. “I had a really good time.” I told Bucky sincere. He was kind, funny and such a gentleman. “Me too. Uhm I have an extra ticket for the cinema tomorrow, would you like to come with me?” Bucky asked me. I wanted to see him again, but it wouldn’t be wise of me to do so. “I-” “there you are! I have been looking everywhere like a fool. It is time to go home now! I got us a taxi.” Loki said as he started pulling me with him. Now was the first time I let go of Bucky’s hand since I had met him. It felt empty now, cold. “Wait!” I got out of Loki’s grip and ran back to Bucky. “Thank you for tonight.” I told him holding his hands one last time and a gave him a quick kiss on his left cheek before I let go and ran back towards a irritated Loki. I just shrugged at him as I followed him to a taxi.

As we sat in the taxi I looked if I could still see Bucky and I did. I wish I had answered his question for the cinema, but it would only make it more difficult if I did. The car started moving and Loki and I were off to our hotel. I gave him a final wave before I couldn’t see him anymore and looked down. “Oh please, you get attached too easily. You met him not two hours ago.” Loki stated. “He was different.” Is all I had to say, and he was, he was different. “You shouldn’t fall for these humans.. their lives are short and meaningless. Asguardians have a much longer lifespan.” I just rolled my eyes at that. “Their lives being short gives a lot more meaning to them.” I said under my breath.

Two weeks later

Bucky POV

“How about Dottie?” Steve asked. He was asking me if I went on any other dates with her. But truth be told. After I had met Y/n I couldn’t think of anybody else. I sighed and took a sip of my coke, we were sitting at a diner. “No? Buck you still got your mind on this girl? It’s been two weeks.” He tried to reason. He was right, but a girl like y/n I have never met before. “She was somethin’ else Steve.” Was all I has to say. “How was she so special?” Steve asked. “She was beautiful, you had to see her. She had this beautiful smile and this glistening in her y/e/c eyes. She carried herself in a way that was just so graceful. And she was so kind. and her laugh, Steve, you had to hear her laugh.” I sounded crazy, but that one encounter with her was what that did to me. “Well if it is meant to be you’ll see her again.” He tried to cheer me up. I looked out of the window at all the people that were walking around going places, work, home. “Maybe it wasn’t.” I said quietly. I wanted to look for her, but she would definitely think I’m crazy if I succeeded in that and I wouldn’t want to scare her away. In the corner of my eye I saw a woman walking the same walk as y/n did. I tried to get a better look, as much as I could with the window being in the way and the people on the street. I could only see her back. She had a yellow dress on with the same hairdo as y/n had that night. “It’s her.” I couldn’t believe it. I immediately stood up and walked out of the diner as fast as I could. I kept a quick pace to keep up with her. “Y/n!”

...

Let me know what you think!

Yes the dancing part of the street is totally an idea of the Notebook, it is one of my favorite movies and I always thought it was so romantic :)

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katzkinder · 4 years ago

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It’s cold and miserable and I am definitely, absolutely sick, so more C3 ramblings incoming also coping about 102 lmao can’t believe c3 arc are simpler times now

so like. This tree here at the center of C3 is most definitely meant to represent Yggdrasil, the World Tree that is the source of all life and holds up the 9 realms upon its branches. Coincidentally “World Tree” was the name of the hotel Tsubaki lived at.

Now the Aesir would be the C3 employees/magicians, the Jotunn are proooobably vampires/supernatural creatures in general, and the Vanir are most likely regular humans

Now there are A Lot of references woven throughout the C3 connected individuals, too many for one post, so I’ll be focusing on my faves, namely, how those faves interact with one particular myth.

so there's this one myth where Idunna, keeper of the golden apples that grant the aesir their immortality, is lured out into the woods by Loki after he was forced to agree to bring her to a jotunn named Thjazi

Thjazi kidnapped her, and without Idunna there to tend to the apples, the gods all began to grow old and grey, so Loki turned into a falcon and went to get her back

the best part of this myth to me is that, in order to rescue Idunna, Loki borrowed a magical coat from the goddess Freya that would let him turn into the falcon

Thjazi naturally chases after Loki, but when the other gods see him chasing after Loki and Idunna, they set him on fire and he falls to the ground, where they kill him

His daughter, Skadi, sets out for revenge, but the gods offered her stuff until she was like "... I'm still mad, but im not gonna wreck you"

part of this atonement was taking Thjazi's eyes and placing them into the night sky as stars

FURTHERMORE, there's an epithet used to refer to Thjazi, "Lady Wolf," though that's more about how he kidnapped Idunna than it is about him actually being a wolf

THERE'S SO MANY LITTLE DETAILS SPRINKLED IN, EVEN IF THEY DON'T ALWAYS MATCH UP WITH THE MYTH. And it’s always such a treat to sniff them out

and it's less that any one character is supposed to match any one person, and more like different people have had different pieces of the myths applied to them as tanaka saw fit

Like there's the obvious naming scheme stuff, but there's also the smaller bits that i’m going to try and break down, and this isn’t even remotely everything i’ve noted, but this post would get way, way too long if i did all that at once.

Like Loki turning into a Falcon and Shuuhei's ability being named after a hawk

Or Skadi seeking revenge for the death of her father, just like Shuuhei was doing

Shamrock losing an eye and being described to Inner Wrath as a star shaped like a tear, while Thjazi's eyes were taken and turned into stars after his death

Loki is the one who put Idunna in danger by bringing her to Thjazi, and Shuuhei accidentally shot Tinker because he couldn't see through his own Wrath

The Mother, now named Freya, owns an apple farm and her request to Iduna was for “that golden part of you,” referencing the golden apples the Goddess Idunna cared for that granted the Aesir their immortality and youth.

And then the “Lady Wolf” epithet, as well as the fact that Thjazi was burned while Higan offered to “burn [Shamrock’s] past away” for him, but then also accidentally burned Shamrock, Thjazi, while trying to harm Shuuhei, Loki.

There’s actually a second, completely separate way of relating Freya to Norse Mythology which actually has nothing to do with this myth, and also brings Gear into things, too, which is fun! I think I’ll work on putting that together next.

#servamp #iduna nobel #servamp freya #shuuhei tsuyuki #servamp shamrock #wrath pair #servamp meta #kat's katerwauling #kat's meow

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valeriethepussycats · 4 years ago

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I’m Only Human

Chapter 7

Pairing- Loki x Reader, Thor x Reader( Best friends)

Warning- cursing

Your thoughts in italics.

“I turned my gaze upon you in Jotunheim, but could neither see nor hear you. You were shrouded from me, like the Frost Giants who entered this Realm.” Heimdall disclosed.

“Perhaps your senses have weakened after your many years of service.” Loki divulged

“Or perhaps someone has found a way to hide that which he does not wish me to see.” Heimdall replied.

Loki sizes him up, smiles. “You have great power, Heimdall. Tell me, did Odin ever fear you?” Loki questioned.

“No.”

“And why is that?”

“Because he is my King, and I am sworn to obey him.” Heimdall answered.

“Exactly. Just as you're sworn to obey me now. Yes?” Loki supposed.

“Yes.”

“Good. Then you will open the Bifrost to no one until I have undone what my brother has started.” Loki ordered

Loki heads out of the Observatory. Heimdall stares after him.

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○

Thor, Y/n, and Erik sit at a booth at the back of the local dive. The bartender sets down a couple mugs of beer and two shots of whiskey and Bourbon. Y/n downs the Bourbon while Erik pours his shot into his mug and downs it. Thor follows his example.

“Seems Darcy's a terrible intern, but a talented hacker.” Erik shared.

“That was impeccable timing Erik.” Y/n praised.

“Thank you Y/n and Erik for what you've done.”

“Don’t mention it that’s what friends are for we have each other‘s back.” Y/n grinned.

“Don’t thank me. I only did it for Jane and Y/n she believes for some god forsaken reason.” Erik replied.

“Are you in love with her?” Thor asked.

“No he’s not Jane's like a daughter to him.” Y/n answered for Erik.

“Her father and I taught at University together. A good man, but he never listened.” Erik told Thor.

This registers with Thor. “Neither did I.”

Erik eyes him with interest.

“I don't know if you're really delusional, and I really don't care at this point. I just care about her. I've seen the way she looks at you.” Erik declared.

“I swear to you, I mean her no harm.” Thor promised

“Good. If that's the case, then I'll buy you one more drink, and you'll leave town tonight.” Erik told Thor. A long pause, then Thor nods. Erik gets up to go use the restroom.

“I’m sorry.” Y/n commented

“For what you got me out of there.” Thor replied

“About your father your thoughts are yelling at me Thor you got to control them.” Y/n shared.

“I’ve never had to control my thoughts before.” Thor laughed.

“No really Thor I am sorry. I know what it’s like to lose a parent, I lost my mother when I was five.” Y/n explained.

“How?”

“I was taken from her she died trying to save me.” Y/n said sadly.

“Now I am sorry.” Thor told.

“Don’t be.... All because someone’s gone does it mean they left.” Y/n declared.

“What does that mean?”

“It means your father will be in your head and your heart.” Y/n started. “Don’t listen to Erik. You are the best thing for Jane he knows it he just scared.”

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○

“I had it all backwards. I had it all wrong.” Thor remarked.

Erik watches him keenly. This is a different Thor than he's seen before. “It's not a bad thing, finding out that you don't have all the answers. That's when you start asking the right questions.” Erik told Thor.

Thor takes this in. “For the first time in my life, I have no idea what I'm supposed to do.” Thor confessed.

“Anyone who's ever going to find their way in this world has to start by admitting they don't know where the hell they are.” Erik commanded. Thor nods.

Two Drunk Townie a very tell one and a short one walks up to Y/n, Thor, and Erik.“Hey, I know you, man... “ The Short one Started.

An intimidating the tall Drunk Townie nearby sizes up Thor. He is one of the Townies from Isabela's Diner who saw Thor earlier. He approaches, belligerent and looking for a fight.

The tall walks over to Y/n and sits next to her

“How you doin.”

“Fuck off.” Y/n swore as she drinks her shots of Bourbon.

The tall Drunk Townie hangs his head low in defeat as he gets up and walks ways.

“ You were in the diner with that hot girl.” Short Drunk Townie commented. Thor doesn't like where this is going. “I wouldn't mind her doing a little research on me.” He laughed.

“I have no quarrel with you. But she's a lady. You should be more respectful.” Thor said annoyed.

“And you should shut the hell up, princess.”

“Really of all the insults you could say you choose princess.” Y/n laughed at the man.

Selvig looks to Thor, concerned that he's going to lose it. But, to his surprise, Thor remains unaffected by the Townie's baiting.

“I will not fight him.” Thor proclaimed.

“Then it'll be easy to kick your ass.”

Erik stands, steps between the two men. “Gentlemen, please. Let's keep our heads.” Just then, Erik head-butts the Townie, knocking him out. Thor's impressed. Selvig downs his drink, then hurls his glass aside, shattering it on the ground. “Another drink?”

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○

Thor and Selvig stumble down the street, singing a Norwegian folk song. While Y/n is recording them on her phone. They improvise an impromptu drinking song dance routine involving side steps and happy slaps, optimistically in time with the song.

"The mood is good, our hearts are full, there's magic in the air. / It's all because we're here tonight, and haven't got a care. /So raise a glass, and toast to life, wherever it may lead / Tra-la-la, tra-la-la, a friend is fine indeed. / Tra-la-la, tra-la-la, a friend is fine indeed!"

Y/n holds up a hand for Erik 's last finishing slap. Erik misses it completely and falls out of frame like a straight dead weight with a clunk.

Y/n laughs then Emerging from behind the car where Erik fell, Thor stands up, Erik slung over his shoulder, and starts to walk up the street towards Jane's trailer.

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○

The small trailer is in a state of perpetual disarray, strewn with various books, old pizza boxes, etc. A worried Jane lies on her bed, trying to read. She's startled by the loud rapping on the door. She bolts to the door and opens it to find --Standing there with the unconscious Erik slung over his shoulder.

“Erik!” Jane Remarked. “Is he all right?”

“He's fine. Not injured at all.” Thor started. As Thor enters, he bangs Erik’s head on the

“What happened?”Jane asked.

“We drank. We fought. He made his ancestors proud.” Thor Explained.

“Put him on the bed.” Jane told Thor.

Thor moves through the small trailer carrying Erik, like a bear lugging another bear, smashing into things along the way, until he finally sets Erik down on Jane's bed. Erik awakens groggily and“I still don't believe you're the God of Thunder.” Erik murmured. “But you ought to be.”

Thor grins, pats him on the cheek. As Selvig drifts off to sleep, Thor pulls a blanket over him. Jane watches, stunned by their friendship, impressed by Thor's tenderness. Thor turns back to her, looks around.

“These are your chambers?” Thor Asked.

Jane suddenly becomes self-conscious. She starts cleaning up the mess around her.

Well, it's more of a temporary living space, really. I don't usually have visitors in here.

Actually, never...” Jane trailed off.

Thor picks up a sock off the floor. She snatches it from him, puts it away. “Can we go outside?” Jane asked.

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○

Thor steps off a ladder onto the roof of Smith Motors. He offers Jane his hand, helps her up. There's a telescope set up, a couple chairs, some blankets.

“I come up here sometimes when can't sleep. Or when I'm trying to reconcile particle data. Or when Darcy's driving me crazy....I come up here a lot, now that I think about it.” Jane disclosed.

Thor looks at the night sky, filled with stars. “I'm glad you're safe.” Jane ended.

“You've been very kind. I've been far less grateful than you deserve.” Thor noted.

“I also hit you with my car a couple times, so it kind of evens out.” Jane joked

He grins, then reaches into his pocket and pulls out her Notebook.“ I don't believe it...” Jane trailed off. She takes it from him, surprised and grateful.

“It was all I could get back. Not as much as I promised. I'm sorry.” Thor said Sincerely.

“No, this is good. Thank you. This means I don't have to start from scratch...” Jane trailed off. She sits down and opens the notebook eagerly, then stops, a harsh realization clouding her face. Thor notices.

“What's wrong?” Thor asked.

“Shield , whatever they are. They're never going to let this research see the light of day.” Jane answered.

“You must do this. You must finish what you've started.” Thor replied.

“Why?” Jane wondered.

“Because you're right. It's taken so many generations for your people to get to this point. You're nearly there. You just need someone to show you how close you really are.” Thor remarked. Thor moves beside her, opens her notebook, turns to the page which bears a sketch of the Bifrost. He takes the pen from the notebook, begins to add to the sketch, leading from one point to another in space.

“Look -- your ancestors called it magic. You call it science. I come from a place where they're one and the same thing.” Thor finished.

We recognize that Thor is drawing the branches of Yggdrasil as she looks on, amazed and intrigued.

“What is it?” Jane asked.

“This is how my father explained it to me..... Your world is one of the Nine Realms of the Cosmos, linked to each other by the branches of Yggdrasil, the Worlds Tree. Now, you see it every day, without realizing. Images glimpsed through-- what did you call it?... (checks her notebook) ...this Hubble Telescope. So, Nine Realms...” Thor trailed off as They look at each other. She nods. They smile. This is going to be a long night.

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○

Jane sleeps beside Thor on the blankets on the rooftop. He stares up at the night sky. She rolls close to him, nuzzles against him in her sleep. He looks down at her, beautiful in the moonlight, looks out at the town beyond her. When Thor realize Jane in a deep sleep He gets up and walks over to Y/n and see her lying on the ground looking up at the stars.

“You and Jane look cozy is the god of thunder falling for the Midgardian.” Y/n teased Thor with a smile.

“Jane is different.” Thor confessed.

“I would be giddy a God falling for me....Before I met you I would’ve thought that this was something out of a comic book... Don’t worry Thor all will work out.” Y/n grinned.

”How do you know that?” Thor questioned.

“I have this feeling that somethings about to happen tomorrow I don’t know, what you might want to get some sleep you may be Asgardian but right now you’re human. Y/n disclosed .

Thor sees a bottle of pills next to Y/n and confusion appears on his face.

“What are those?” Thor asked.

“Oh these are pills that block my power.” Y/n answered picking up the bottle.

“Why would you want to stop them.” Thor questioned.

“I had an accident when, I was younger I caused an earthquake and blackout an ever since then my father had me taken this pills to block half of my power. It’s why I have good control of them but When the pills are out of my system I loses control again.” Y/n explained.

“Your trying that’s all that matters.” Thor grinned.

Y/n smiles and gets up and makes a check mark in the air and Thor looks at her confused once again.

“What was that?” Wondered Thor.

“Every time I want to do something that I didn’t know I wanted to do I check mark the air.” Y/n revealed.

“What did you do?”

“Have a alien as my best friend.” Y/n said smiling then she walks away leaving a smiling Thor.

Part 8

#loki x reader #loki x black!reader #thor x reader #marvel x reader

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zmediaoutlet · 4 years ago

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in support of Black Lives Matter, @mystifiedgal donated $30, and requested Tony Stark/Stephen Strange pre-slash. Thank you for donating!

to get your own personalized fic, please see this post. (no longer taking prompts)

It’s a real busy month. The superfriends break out of supermax, with the help of a blond beefboy who flings frisbees at the security cameras and doesn’t care who sees his face; the UN goes ballistic and demands Tony help; Tony gets extremely, extremely drunk like he hasn’t in years and sends Ross a manip video of Tucker Maxx getting rawed by a donkey dressed as a colonel instead of responding; the superfriends crash back into America, and Natasha--traitor--lets them back in to the Avengers compound upstate; Tony, still drunk, decides to let them stay instead of incinerating the damn thing from space; Wanda gets kidnapped by a wizard; Tony and Steve have to go save her. Tony and Steve. No, Tony’s not bitter.

“I’m struggling to come up with a reason why I shouldn’t have my house nuke your house from orbit,” Tony says. Steve gives him a bitchy look. Yeah, what else is new. He lifts his chin, looks at the wizard through his green glasses. Everything’s better in green. “Anything? Mister Wizard?”

Said wizard gives him an unimpressed look. Tony doesn’t know why. His facial hair is even more ridiculous than Tony’s, and Tony cultivates this shit. “Strange.”

“Yes, you are,” Tony says, and Steve sighs and cuts his hand through the air before Tony can continue.

“Doctor,” he says, polite. Tony rolls his eyes. Wanda, in stasis halfway up to the skylight in this weird-ass mansion, pulsates in angry red, trapped in amber. “You have to understand that things were--different. The Avengers have no desire to go to war with the--Sanctum.”

“The Sanctum has no desire to go to war with the Avengers,” the wizard says--and, jesus, what is his name? Blue eyes, good hair, cape that seems to float in magic wind. Fancy Bastard isn’t something that should go on a birth certificate. “However, you are harboring a magic user who could cause extreme damage to the innocent people of this plane if left unchecked.”

Steve frowns. “Now, look--” he says, and the wizard’s eyebrow cocks and he waves a hand, and in the circle of amber that appears midair (how?) there’s a perfect 4k, 3D view of the deaths of innocents in Lagos, of the devastation of Johannesburg after the Hulk was enraged there, of a man with red light crawling up his neck and the terror filling his eyes before his neck snaps.

Above, Wanda’s silent fury goes quiet as the red dims. Steve looks constipated, which Tony can admit inside his own head actually means he looks grim and upset and heroic. The wizard looks between the two of them. “This is a problem. It would be wisest to transfer her to an alternate plane, or at least to have her abilities removed.”

“They’re part of her,” Steve says, immediately. Tony looks up. Hard to see, from down here, but he can see that Wanda’s eyes are closed, inside her amber prison, and her face--he looks away. “You can’t remove them without killing her.”

“Well,” the wizard says, and doesn’t look even remotely regretful--who is this guy?--and Steve’s shoulders square up in that muscular way that presages a truly stupid fucking fight that’s about to ensue, and Tony opens his mouth without a single iota of a plan and says, “Wait a minute,” and the wizard and Steve and Wanda all look at him, and oh, for fuck’s sake. That means--

Doctor Stephen Strange. Brilliant surgeon. Incredible asshole. Drama queen, and the worst kind of all because he pretends not to be. No one has that beard without wanting to cause drama. Tony would know. Unfortunately--Stephen Strange, Sorcerer Supreme, and Stephen Strange, super wizard, and Stephen Strange, taking over a wing of the compound, coming and going as he pleases in a whisk of amber light, and Stephen Strange, Tony’s lab companion for the foreseeable future.

He misses Bruce.

The compound isn’t comfy. The various wings are divided into factions. Steve and the superfriends, hiding out from the UN and all of the other dozens of countries that want to prosecute them, are on the east side where the sparring rooms are. Tony’s set up on the west side where the labs are, and he didn’t think to put a bedroom in the lab because he thought this place would be all kumbaya, superhero summer camp, and figured maybe they’d actually want to talk to each other when they were all here. More fool him. He sleeps on the couch in the lab most days, when he sleeps at all, and it means he’s got a great view every time there’s a swirling mind-bending circle of amber light and all of a sudden there’s a fucking wizard in his house, ready to work with Wanda on how not to accidentally kill thousands of people.

This morning, for example. Morning? Tony drags a hand over his face, smears drool and engine grease. “Good morning, Mr. Stark,” Strange says, and Tony mouths it back at him schoolyard style--what he assumes normal kids did in schoolyards--and Tony lets Friday speak the room into brightness, telling him the time and the weather and whether the world’s blown up, while he’s catnapped.

“How’s the scarlet terror?” Tony says, knuckling his eyes. Christ, this sucks. 69 degrees and he can’t even make a joke about it.

A pause. “Progressing,” Strange says. He’s still wearing that stupidass cosplay outfit. Cape and all.

Tony squints at him, slumped back on the couch. “You know, if you were a real wizard, you’d magic me up some coffee.”

Strange looks at him. He always looks stern. Like Tony’s failing some test. It’s tiring from the rest of the supercrew; it’s not better from some rando in a RenFaire uniform. Strange gestures, with his left hand, and unfurls the fist of his right at the lab table, which--abruptly becomes a coffee table, in that there’s a pot of steaming coffee and toast and what Tony thinks is--fucking lox?

“From that deli on 44th,” Strange says, matter-of-fact. “You know, when I’m not a sorcerer I’m a doctor. In my medical opinion, you could look less like shit.”

Tony staggers upright, fetches up against the table. His head gongs like a--like a fuckin’ gong. It’s too early for metaphor. He pours a cup of coffee and ignores that his hands are trembling. “In my layman opinion you can suck my dick,” he says, friendly, and Strange rolls his eyes but he--he smiles, too, and he--doesn’t look like nearly so much of a dickhead when he smiles. Cape or no. Tony holds the cup (finest porcelain, like Tony has drunk coffee at Buckingham Palace in less-nice china than this) and squints, brain still offline, and Strange shakes his head and says, “Good luck, Tony,” and whisks away to deal with their little magical terror, and leaves Tony to think of what the hell. Just--what the hell.

Turns out there’s a big difference between kinds of magic. And here was Tony, just thinking that physics were physics. “No, no,” Strange says, impatiently. “There is of course the physics of our plane, which follow their own laws. Then, naturally, there is the magic of Asgard, brought forth from Yggdrasil the world-tree and the belief therein, which is the sort that Loki and Odin may perform. Then there is the magic of the Infinity Stones, which perform their own miracles, and of course there is our problem with Miss Maximoff.”

He’s drawing a chart in the air with his hands as he talks, marked out in amber light. Tony says, “Friday, take that down,” and the house grabs the image of whatever magic Strange is doing and transmutes it into data, neatly transcribed in cells and manipulable forms for Tony to grab and hold and think about, and Tony grips Strange’s leatherette-and-cape shoulder and says, “Buddy, I could kiss you,” and Strange rolls his eyes but his cape swirls up and pats Tony on the hand in a brush of woolly affection, and Tony doesn’t really think about that because he’s locked into the possibilities and sees a lot of sleepless nights ahead, but that’s okay. He’s got time to think about it, later.

Strange won’t give up much info about the rest of his little magic crew. Numbers, attitudes, location. “I am the representative on Earth,” is all he’ll say, and--jeez-us, what a statement.

“I am the representative of the Avengers in Oneida County,” Tony says, in exactly the same tone, and then pauses, flicking armor designs from one ephemeral bin to another. “Shit. Am I? Maybe it’s Steve. Okay. I am the deposed representative of the Avengers in--”

“You’re the one I’m talking to,” Strange says. He’s still sitting in the antique armchair he magicked up for himself, sipping tea. Seriously. Like every single thing he does is for the hashtag-aesthetic. “Mr. Rogers is certainly impressive, but it’s you who has had every actionable idea on streamlining Ms. Maximoff’s abilities. Don’t undercut yourself.”

Tony raises his eyebrows, lowers his hands. “How dare you,” he says, lightly, even if his chest feels--some kind of way. “I have never, in my life, in my entire existence, undercut myself, and in fact I think I’m going to set the StarkTech legal team on you--Friday, call up Pepper, see if we can sue the entirety of the Sanctum Sanctorum and also magic itself, and throw David Bowie in there too--”

Yes, Mister Stark, Friday says from nowhere, lightly amused just like she should be--good girl--and Strange rolls his eyes. “Don’t bring Bowie into this,” he says, mild, and Tony grins and Friday cues up Fame without even needing to be asked.

“Oh, very good choice,” Strange says, looking up at the ceiling, and Tony waves the armor out of existence and says, “Okay, Mister Wizard--dinner, and we’re talking Bowie and we’re talking King Crimson and we’re talking Yes, and you’re putting in an opinion about those star-and-moon pants Page used to wear, let’s go--” and Strange says, “First, they’re incredible; second, only if we’re getting Thai,” and Tony--Tony could just--

A bad night. Tony lays on the couch in the lab and hugs a bottle of very good, very rare, very expensive scotch against his ribs, and doesn’t drink it, and wants to. Above he’s had Friday peel away the armor of the ceiling and the sky’s a patchwork quilt of stars. Enough sound baffling and he can’t hear whatever might be going on in the rest of the compound; if Steve and the others are training; if anyone’s even here, but him. It’s peaceful. It sucks.

A swirl of amber. “You look ridiculous.”

“Yeah, well.” Tony shrugs. “Sometimes you get sued by grieving parents for your technology being used in exactly the way you intended and you think, fuck, they sure have a point. And then you want a ham sandwich and no one will get you one. It’s tough.”

He thinks he maybe sounded more bitter than he needed to. He maybe should’ve tried harder. He watches a satellite track across the sky, feels his body. Even now, when he breathes deep, there’s still a twinge where the reactor should be. He wishes sometimes--but it’s stupid. The reactor didn’t make him him. It wasn’t any more accountability than any other pain could’ve been.

There’s a sinking sensation, by his feet. Strange, sitting on the couch. “I could get you a ham sandwich,” he says, quiet. “But I suspect it wouldn’t do the trick.”

“Clever man, Doctor,” Tony says, acid. He closes his eyes. He doesn’t want to be acid. He imagines--the armor--dissolving slowly, the facemask melting into a broken sizzle of empty gestures. He maybe should’ve had less to drink.

“We are making progress, Tony,” Strange says. “Every day. Time... isn’t always on our side. But we do what we can. That’s all there is. What we can.”

Tony stretches his legs out. His shins bump Strange’s back. He’s not wearing the whole ensemble--cape and leather and whatever the hell. He’s in a sweater, and jeans, and he looks like someone Tony can actually touch. Something that obeys the physics Tony understands. Something real.

He puts the bottle of scotch on the floor. “Maybe a ham sandwich wouldn’t hurt,” he says, finally.

Strange--Stephen--touches his knee, lightly. He smiles at Tony, in the dark. “Mustard?” he says. “I can do whatever you want.”

Tony breathes deep. Settles. He says, “And you better add a pickle, cheapskate,” and feels Stephen squeeze his knee, and feels--well. Some kind of way.

#fffb #mystifiedgal #tony stark/stephen strange #...ironwizard?#my writing

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momentofmemory · 5 years ago

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fictober - day nine

Prompt #9: “It has a certain taste.”

Fandom: Marvel Cinematic Universe (Thor, Guardians of the Galaxy)

Warnings: Grief

Rating: T

Characters: Thor Odinson & Rocket Raccoon

Words: 1674

Author’s Note: set in the near vicinity (1-3 months) post endgame.

>>Snøsøte on the Mountains

The Milano was scheduled for planet departure in a little over forty earth minutes, and no one had seen Thor in six hours.

They’d landed on Krylor three days ago so that Rocket could make some much-needed repairs to the ship—Krylorians were famous for their psionic-guided engines and other advancements in interstellar flight—and Rocket was convinced he could use his reputation as “savior of the universe” to schmooze as much free tech out of them as possible. In his defense, it had been going stunningly well until Drax accidentally offended half the local government being, well, Drax.

The need to leave on time had increased significantly after that.

Rocket sat in the copilot’s chair, inspecting the hyper-wave bomb he’d lifted off the security guard that’d escorted him out.

“Rocket.”

He vaguely registered Quill’s voice, but decided it probably wasn’t important. Instead, he turned the bomb around until his claws found the seam. He huffed in triumph, then flipped it upside down and pried off the base.

It immediately lit up and started beeping.

“Mother of—”

Rocket chucked it at Drax, but it bounced harmlessly off his head and rolled to the floor. It glowed briefly, then powered down.

Drax didn’t even wake up.

“Huh.” Rocket crawled out of his chair and snatched up the orb. He bet he could reverse engineer the power core with some of those lame lithium-ion batteries he’d stolen from Rhodey last week.

“Rocket!”

He winced and flattened his ears back against his head. “Geez, what, Quill? You trying to wake up the whole sector?”

“If that’s what it takes to get your attention, then yes.” Quill closed the map he’d been looking at and walked to the front of the ship, stopping in front of Rocket. “Thor still hasn’t shown up, and he isn’t answering his comm.”

Rocket poked at one of the wires and was immediately shocked for his efforts. He swore and shook his hand vigorously, glaring up at Quill. “Yeah, and?”

“And I’d like to leave this planet in one piece, which means on time. We’re not exactly on the hottest terms with the locals.”

Rocket frowned. “I’m sorry, I seem to remember that being Drax’s fault. I don’t see you asking him about electro boy.”

“That’s because Drax is an idiot.”

Rocket snorted and tried to slip past. “Guess that explains why you’re not doing it yourself, either.”

“Rocket.”

“He’s a big guy! He can take care of himself.”

“He is sad.”

Both Quill and Rocket turned as Mantis appeared in the doorway. “I do not know what is wrong.”

Quill gave Rocket his best I told you so look and Rocket crossed his arms over his chest. “I still don’t see why that means I have to go get him.”

Groot, who hadn’t even bothered to look up from his console the entire trip, chose that moment to stare at Rocket with his obnoxiously sincere eyes. “I am Groot?”

Rocket deflated and tossed the grenade at Quill, who yelped and dropped the datapad he’d been holding to catch it. “Use this if things go south before I get back.”

Groot smirked. “I am Groot.”

“Yeah, yeah. I get it,” Rocket said, taking the datapad for himself. He sighed. “I’m the captain.”

_________________________

Krylorians are deathly allergic to all forms of alcohol, so that ruled out the normal kinds of places the Asgardian would frequent. Fortunately for Rocket, however, the Milano’s energy sensors are one system he’d managed to get updated before Drax blew his street cred. He tapped in a few commands and the system recalibrates to perform a city-wide search for the weird, low-grade electricity signature Thor always seemed to give off.

The wavelength was nowhere to be found in the city, but widening it to include the nearby geography quickly solved the problem.

“Hey Quill,” he said into his comm as he grabbed a jetpack from the Milano’s storage, “How long do you think you can delay that take off for?”

“How long do you like living?”

Rocket didn’t bother responding. Quill was an idiot, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t good at bullshitting excuses.

He exited the Milano and flew to the outskirts of town, keeping an eye on the map. It took him twenty minutes to approach the location, mostly because of the rain, and Thor’s marker didn’t move the entire time.

He knew Thor got moody around the anniversary of the snap—who didn’t—but that was reversed now and anyway, that date wasn’t for another three months.

He finally found the Asgardian sitting on the edge of a rocky outcrop, his legs hanging down and hands folded in his lap, looking out over the coastline. Rocket landed next to him, rain water soaking his fur and dripping onto the hard surface. Thor smiled in greeting.

“Rabbit!” The man spoke with the level of exuberance he reserved for when he was feeling truly miserable. “How goes your quest for the finest technology this side of the galaxy?”

“Not so great, actually,” Rocket said, hiding under one of the larger rocks and shaking off. "We kinda need you back at the ship.”

“…Ah.” Thor made no move to get up. “A shame, really.”

Rocket was still trying to de-clump his fur. “What? You got something against being dry?”

“No.” A chuckle, likely at the expense of Rocket’s struggling. “But nothing against being wet, either.”

Rocket gave up and stepped back into the rain, and noticed Thor was rotating something between his fingers. “What’s that?”

Thor blinked in surprise and looked down, as if he himself had forgotten the item.

“This is Yggdrasil,” he said, carefully placing it in Rocket’s palm so the raccoon could get a better look at it. “The great tree of life, out of which Asgard was grown.”

Rocket turned the figure from side to side. It was small, barely bigger than his own paw, and felt like Terran marble. The trunk of the tree fused into the bottom of a cylindrical city ringed with mountains, and three branches curved up and around its base to form a domed top. In the center of the city rose the spire of a magnificent palace, and out of that, the rest of the tree: nine branches in all.

Rocket handed the carving back. “Asgard, huh?”

“Mm. It was the crown jewel of the Nine Realms.” Thor looked at the tree, then tucked it away in one of the pouches on his belt. “Home of the first root of Yggdrasil.”

“Seems fancy.” Rocket curled his tail under him and sat down beside Thor, though his legs weren’t quite long enough to hang off the edge. “They just called my planet Halfworld.”

“Oh, I’m sure it was a very whole planet in its own right. Not anywhere near as impressive as Asgard, but still.”

“No, that was literally its—look, nevermind, that isn’t the point.”

The planet’s sun was beginning to set, casting the sky into deep shades of green, blue, and purple—a sharp contrast to the pale yellow of the day.

Thor sighed. “This place reminds me of my home.”

“…You sure?”

Thor laughed and clapped Rocket on the back, nearly hurling him off the ledge in the process. “My apologies, Rabbit! I forget sometimes that you, too, have seen Asgard.” His countenance fell. “But it is not merely the geography that makes up a place.”

Rocket’s eyebrows knitted together and Thor smiled. “My father said that to me, right before Ragnarok.”

“A what rock?”

“It’ll be six years tomorrow, actually,” Thor said, continuing as if Rocket hadn’t spoken. “Six years since I had to destroy my homeworld.”

Thunder cracked in the distance and Rocket suddenly wondered if the rain wasn’t just by chance.

“There are much more important things to mourn, of course. Mostly people. Lots of those.” Thor shrugged. “Still.”

Rocket shifted. His fur was completely soaked through, and the sunset meant the temperature was dropping. Quill probably needed them back to the ship as soon as possible.

But he was the captain.

“You said this place reminds you of Asgard?”

Thor looked at him in surprise. “So it does.”

“Gotta say I can’t see it, but, you were there longer, so.” Rocket leaned back on his paws. “Explain it if you want.”

The smallest of smiles appeared on Thor’s face. He turned towards the violet-coloured sea, watching the waves crash into the coastline. “It’s true that the appearances aren’t very similar. I’m sure you’re correct about Krylo being technologically advanced, but stylistically they seem very lacking.”

“Harsh, but continue.”

Thor laughed, and took in a deep breath. “It’s not about the visuals at all, really. It’s in the way the air feels.”

Rocket frowned. “The… air.”

“Indeed, Rabbit.” He closed his eyes. “There’s a certain… taste to it, almost. Fresh and crisp. Metallic, though not badly. The barest touch of salt from the sea.”

“Sounds like you knew the place pretty well,” Rocket said, thinking of his own distorted memories. “Shame I didn’t get to see more of it.”

A hopeful look appeared in Thor’s eyes. He rose to his feet, offering a hand to Rocket. “Perhaps I could tell you more on our journey back?”

“Better than listening to Quill whine, so sure.” Rocket accepted the hand and climbed up onto the man’s shoulder. “What was this Asgard of yours like.”

Thor thought of the palace, its golden spire glistening in the moonlight, even as the heart of the city cast its own light from below. The churning waterfalls at the edge of the world he and Loki had explored as children, always with the careful eye of Heimdal guarding them. Sunlight streaming through the great, gilded archways that had been so lavishly sculpted as his people bustled through. Lignonberry jelly on toast, shaved salads with dulse at the evening náttverðr, his mother’s pönnukökur for breakfast. Snøsøte blooming in the mountains, its rich, deep-blue petals stark against the fresh white snow.

Thor smiled, and twirling his hammer, launched both of them into the air.

“It was beautiful.”

#fictober19 #tw:grief #thor odinson #rocket raccoon #mcu fanfic #thor fic #fanfiction #yes that really is the name of rocket's homeworld #memsfic

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tilltheendwilliwrite · 6 years ago

Text

Of Blood and Roses

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Master List | Loki Laufeyson Master List

Previous Chapter

Pairing: Loki x Lauren | Word Count: 8421 Warnings: none

Thor and Hogun paused at the base of the mountain to look the long way up to its summit. The sun had barely begun to lighten the sky at its peak, allowing the jagged crag of the spire to appear a dark scar against the deep velvet of dawn.

“Are you sure about this?” Hogun asked, dismounting from his horse alongside Thor.

“I am.”

“You are very secretive, my king.”

Thor glanced at Hogun and sighed. “I suppose you are right, but I can't, that is, I don't want to…” He sighed a second time and looked up the mountain. “I seek the First Gift.”

“First Gift?” Hogun frowned before peering at Thor. “As in a courting first gift?”

Thor could feel heat darken his cheeks. “Yes.”

“Who are you-” Hogun's eyes widened. “No!”

“She is very dear to me. She has always been dear to me.”

“I can't believe it. You two have danced around each other for ages! Haha! It is about time you saw our Sif as the woman worthy to rule at your side.”

Thor threw up his hands. “Did everyone but me know of Sif's feelings?”

“Fandral, he suspected. He may have mentioned something when he was drunk. Volstagg is oblivious. I assume Loki knows. He knows most everything that happens in Asgard. And as Lauren has been pushing our Sif from her armoured shell, I assume your lady sister is also aware.”

“They have been conspiring since nearly the moment of Sif and Lauren‘s meeting.”

Hogun chuckled as he tied up his horse. “Such is the way of all happily married females. Soon they begin working to see those around them also find such joy.”

“Well, now you know why I'm here, and why I must do this the hard way.”

“No one would fault you for flying to the summit. The journey is difficult.”

“The reward is in the difficulty. I will not degrade the gift by taking shortcuts.” Mjolnir landed with a thud as if to prove Thor's point when he dropped it to the ground.

“Then I wish you good hunting, my king. May you find the stone worthy of our fair Sif.”

“Thank you, Hogun.” Thor reached out and clasped his arm. “I appreciate you being my guide in this.”

From his side, Hogun held out an oddly shaped knife. It was thick with a tapered tip that curved back on itself. “You will need this to sever the root. Remember. You must dig down carefully. The Crystals are very fragile until you cut them from their mother. Once you remove it, they shall begin to harden, and the colour will darken. Place it in this,” Hogun held out a thickly woven basket with many layers of padding, “And get out of there before the sun sets. You do not want to face YipShi without your hammer.”

“I will attempt to do all those things,” Thor said as he took the items from Hogun and started up the path.

“And do a good job! Sif will make a wonderful queen. I'd hate it if you screwed up and chose a terrible gift!”

“Harhar, Hogun. You are so amusing.”

“And do not eat the purple berries, no matter how good they smell.”

That gave Thor pause. “Why?”

“They are YipShi's fruit. She will come for you and make you return them by ripping out your innards.”

Hogun's face showed no signs of jest. Thor nodded. “I will be careful.”

“You should allow me to accompany you.”

Hogan had been trying to convince him of that since Thor's early morning arrival, but Thor shook his head. “Your presence would influence my choice. I will not take that risk.”

Each stared the other down until Hogun finally bowed his head. “As you wish, my king. But your future lady will be most unimpressed if you are injured.”

Thor waved a dismissive hand and turned away. “She was already most unimpressed I refused her company.” But it wasn't possible for her to assist in this mission. It was one he must take on his own.

Mount Yammo lay before him. At its summit, the Cave of YipShi waited with it's dark, gaping maw, side by side with the Crystal Meadow of Mon Moshi. One of those fabled crystals was what he was after. They grew unlike any in existence, not within the confines of a cave, but in a grove like a field of flowers. Symbiotic with the mother crystal, Mon Moshi, each subsequent “bloom” grew out of the ground like a flower, fragile and soft. A strong wind could and had, damaged many a tiny crystal, but if they made it through their first few years, they slowly grew stronger and harder until they were miniature versions of their mother.

The Vanaheim had discovered the crystal's unique musical properties mostly by accident when a party of warriors had come up the mountain in exploration. They'd been enthralled by the sound when a gentle breeze had blown through the field, creating the most beautiful music ever heard. They'd stayed throughout the day, learning the fragility of the small crystals quickly, and studying Mon Moshi, the mother, protected by the crag of stone behind it. A few tender crystals were carefully harvested and packed away for further study once the explorers returned to their homes.

Unfortunately, they'd chosen to bed down for the night near the meadow and had been the first to encounter YipShi. Of the ten men who'd gone up the mountain, only three returned. The others had all been slaughtered by the venomous, two-headed YipShi.

The youngest of them, a nimble soldier called Pao, had managed to save the samples of crystals they cut only out of sheer luck and returned with them to the village.

People gathered around to hear the tale of their adventure, that of the YipShi, and to see these wondrous crystals, but when the three soldiers produced the marvels, all sang off key. The noise was atrocious, grating, and foul, until Pao brought forth the one he'd harvested personally.

He'd done so with the thought of his new bride in mind, knowing she would love the music they played. Pao took it from the basket and set it before Mia, and all held their breath waiting for the horrendous noise to being once more, but nothing happened. No sound, no resonance, nothing, until Mia reached out and touched the beautiful stone.

Then, the sound from heaven poured forth, amazing the crowd. The other soldiers produced their crystals, but, here again, the same horrible sound grated the air. Pao, a man curious by nature, asked questions of both his comrades, wondering if they'd been thinking of themselves or another when they harvested the crystal. As the men had sat around bragging about the fortune the crystals would bring them; he was sure he already knew the answer. All but Pao had chosen a stone for themselves, not another.

With time and further research, it became clear the crystals could not be harvest for personal want. Something about the magic within, cracked the resonance unless one of Mon Moshi's blooms was picked with another in mind. Of course, with YipShi living so close to the meadow, collecting such a crystal was dangerous work. YipShi hunted only at night and loved nothing more than fresh bones to munch. Thus, Vanaheim had never been able to capitalize on the Crystal Meadow of Mon Moshi for each stone had to be hand-picked by a giver with a pure heart and strong sense of the receiver.

Hogun had made the trek in his youth, harvesting such a crystal for his wife, who had been happy to play it for them - Thor, Sif, and the Warriors Three.

Thor remembered the look of shock and desire on Sif's face vividly when the sound had rolled through the room. She'd hidden it quickly, but Thor had never forgotten how stark the desire had been. The longing on her face had made his heart ache to provide her with such a gift, but it would have been too telling a present. The better a person knew, loved, and understood the receiver, the purer the sound. It was a true gift of love and adoration. It was a First Gift worthy of a woman like Sif.

With determination in his heart, Thor began to climb.

***

The sun was warm on his face as Thor paused for a moment to take in the view over the valley. Spread out before him was all of Vanaheim. It appeared peaceful and beautiful. Nothing but forests, mountains, and rivers for as far as the eye could see. It was a nice change to Asgard, not that he didn’t love the gleaming towers and cobblestone streets of home, it was just Vanaheim was beautiful in such stark contrast.

The quiet made him think he could be alone in the world. The wind whispered through the trees. Insects hummed in a gentle chorus. He watched a bee fly drunkenly from flower to flower and smiled. Thor didn’t want to rush her, but he would love it when Lauren felt ready to call the animals back to Asgard. To see insects and birds, rabbits, squirrels, and weasels, even deer graze through the gardens of home again would be such a joy.

Last night he and Sif had joined Loki and Lauren in the center of the garden, walking a path of wildflowers the likes of which he’d never seen before. With Lauren cradled in his arms, Loki’s look of pure adoration was something Thor had never seen before. Their love was so blinding, his brother’s happiness so pure, it filled Thor with envy until he’d looked at Sif and found her knelt in the grass playing with Lauren’s kitten.

Lauren’s power had manifest in the most fantastic way, turning spring to summer in moments. The Norn’s knew it had been years since anyone had seen such magic. The strength of her power was evident. Lauren would be a powerhouse of an Earth Mother if her gifts remained what they were, but if, as Loki suspected, there was more to his little sister, Lauren would become the greatest treasure Asgard had knowing in millennium.

An Earth Mother, Goddess of Creation, had more power than all the Gods of Asgard combined. The sweet, quiet, gentle woman who’d spent her entire life bowing to the will of her abusive family would never again have to bow to anyone. A Goddess of Creation had set the worlds in the stars and nurtured Yggdrasil into existence. Thor may be king, but Lauren’s gifts would far outdistance his own.

He found he didn’t mind that one bit. Lauren and Loki together could and likely would, ensure peace and prosperity for Asgard for centuries to come.

Thor shook himself free of such thoughts and turned back to the mountain. He wasn’t here to contemplate Lauren and her future, but to picture Sif’s and his own. The woman whose very presence could make him burn with lust. It had always been so, but with her apparent disinterest, Thor could ignore the way she’d made him feel. Now, he was not so lucky. Now he knew of her returned desire for him, and he could no longer control the things she did to his body.

Sif. His beautiful Sif. The woman whose heart was as fierce as any Fire Dragon. Whose skill with sword and shield put all others to shame. Whose strength was the stuff of legend, but whose soft, tender heart remained hidden from all but a select few.

He'd been granted entrance into those hallowed ranks but days ago. Shy, uncertain, gentle Sif had become his new obsession. He liked being responsible for the blush on her cheeks, adored being the one behind her plump, swollen lips. The taste of her had become a drug Thor couldn’t get enough of, and the more time they spent together, touching, laughing, learning the secret, hidden sides of each other.

For her, Thor relaxed his guard. He allowed himself to soften and become serene. Sif made him feel calm, calmer than any before her. Not even with Jane could he relax so wholly. With Jane, the pressing weight of her fragile Midgardian nature had always stayed his hand, but with Sif, he knew her capable of both protecting herself and watching his back. There was no need to remain always on guard with her.

But more than that, she knew him. She knew him when he’d been a too proud youth. She was aware of his flaws and faults, yet still, she found merit in him to admire to the point of having feelings for him. The dark beauty wanted him, and it made Thor’s heart yearn for the day she would look at him with her shining blue eyes and agree to be his wife.

The people would find no fault in her as his bride. A warrior of her skill could and would lead Asgard as the Queen they needed in times of trouble. And though it didn't matter in any sense of reality, Thor found the contrast between Sif his tall, strong, warrior maiden, and the smaller, gentler nature of Lauren most fitting. The ruling house of Asgard would be complete and stronger than ever.

Then it would be on to the joyous act of seeing his heir created. Thor had no doubt that his secondary title would come in handy. He planned on spiriting Sif away to the family's hunting lodge well back of the mountains on Asgard and remaining there for at least a week. His sweet, shy Sif would be well and truly initiated into the art of pleasure by the time they returned, and Thor would be pouring every ounce of his fertility magic into them both to see she quickened with his child before they returned.

For now, Loki was his heir, but he knew that was no longer Loki's wish. His brother had zero desire to ascend to the throne, wanting nothing more than to be at Lauren's side and follow wherever she led. That included waiting until she was ready to bear them their first child.

Thor had no such luxury. If Sif did not thicken with his child within their first year of marriage, their people would worry. After all, Thor was the God of Fertility. If he couldn't impregnate his own wife, it would call his abilities into question.

Still, Thor smirked at the clouds overhead as he followed the trail, no more than a goat path up the mountain. He hoped Sif didn't catch too quickly. The fun was in the trying.

With her face in his mind, Thor created the last ridge, and the Meadow came into view. Its beauty caused his breath to catch even as the dark maw of YipShi's cave made his heart pound. Not once in a thousand years had Thor come across a place that screamed malignant evil like this one.

He moved toward the meadow while keeping an eye on the cave. YipShi was said to hunt only at night, but Thor had also heard those types of stories before. If the creature were hungry enough, it would try and eat him no matter if the sun were up or not.

As Thor drew closer to the meadow, a light breeze played across his face. Then, the most beautiful sound he’d ever heard sang through the air. It was stunning and dropped him to a knee at the edge of the meadow, watching as the sun sparkled on stones and the music played on and on.

When the breeze ended, he shook himself as if rousing from a dream, finding his knee ached and the fabric of his breeks had grown damp. An oddity, he stood slowly, feeling an ache in his muscles as if he’d remained unmoving for some time and looked up at the sky. The position of the sun gave him a shock.

Thor had been knelt at the edge of the meadow, locked in the music’s thrawl for almost two hours.

He shook his head a second time and vowed to ignore the music should it spring up again. Hogun had said nothing about the crystals music being so mesmerizing. As he looked over the field again, Thor wished he had one of Stark’s cameras. This would be an image none would believe without seeing, and few had ever made the deadly, dangerous trek up the mountain to see it. But such stunning beauty real had to be seen to be believed.

The earth between himself and the high wall of sheer stone was cover in clusters of crystals in every shape and sizes. Some were as tiny as his thumbnail, while others were as big as a Bilgesnipe, but at the rear, right up against the stone, stood a tower of spires of humming crystalline rock. A ripple of rainbow colours washed through Mon Moshi, the mother crystal, and pulsed outward through the ground into each of her offspring.

Thor took his first tentative step into the field of crystal and felt the pulse of life and magic through his boots. “Blessed Mon Moshi. I seek an offering for my beloved. A gift worthy of her and no one else. Give me your blessing. Help me choose the right one.” No, he didn’t need to speak words to the mother crystal, but Thor found the impulse to do so overwhelming. He’d learned over the years to listen when those instincts spoke.

Another softer pulse, almost curious, fluttered through the soles of his boots.

“Her name is Sif. She is beautiful beyond words. Strong. Smart. Terribly brave. Once I would have said her invulnerable, but I have seen her softer side. I know of the insecurities in her heart now. I have learned the depths of the secrets she’s kept hidden. She is so wonderfully gentle. Her heart contains a tenderness I have been blind to for so long. I want nothing more than to make her as happy as she makes me.”

A sparkle of light caught his attention. One palm-sized crystal about thirty feet away was glowing. Thor made his way carefully toward it, skirting the smallest crystal blooms to avoid crushing them.

He knelt and placed the basket down beside him before gently brushing the dirt away from the base of the crystal. The spires were clear, their colour unknown, but that mattered little to him. If Mon Moshi thought this cluster his best option for Sif, Thor would accept her gift with gratitude. “Thank you,” he said to the large stone against the heart of the mountain and began to dig.

***

Lauren walked into the barn with an easy stride, happy to be back. Something about the cool, shadowed interior with its scent of dust and horse just made her heart feel warm. Back in riding clothes, this time she'd insisted Loki stop putting her in white, Lauren found herself garbed in black breeches and a dark green tunic. Double layered, it reduced the chill from the air. After the last few days, Lauren still found it wildly strange how cool the air on Asgard remained even at the height of the day.

Loki drew her attention when he placed his hand on her back. “You should eat first, my love. I don’t like the idea of you not eating before teaching the children.”

She waved a dismissive hand. “I agreed to work with the kids, but I haven’t talked to anyone about horses or tack. There’s too much to do.”

“Lauren.” He gave an exasperated huff of breath. “I informed the barns of your wish to teach Hedda the same day you made the offer, then increased the number of mounts when you decided to include Baron, and sent word last night when you offered to include Lady Anna’s daughter. The current assistant stable master sent a missive this morning. She will be setting aside five mounts for your use, all geldings, with gentle temperaments and dispositions. They’ve been stabled in the aisle closest to the arena to give the children easy access and keep them out from underfoot for the barn staff.”

Lauren stopped to stare up at Loki in the middle of the barn. “You did all that?”

“Of course, darling.” He gently brushed her cheek with his knuckle. “The idea of teaching Hedda brought you such joy. The time you spent instructing Baron did as well. I’d do anything for you, Lauren. Seeing you accommodate with your students was nothing.”

“It’s everythin’.” Lauren passed her hands over Loki’s chest, biting back tears. “You make me so happy, Loki.”

“That’s all I want, pet. Your smile gives me the greatest joy.” He brushed his thumb over her lip. “But I would be even happier if you ate something.”

Lauren rolled her eyes. “Fine. Make me a sandwich. I’ll eat as we go.”

“That’s not how it works, my heart.”

She started down the aisle and shot him a glance over her shoulder. “It’s that or nothin’. I've got an assistant stable master to meet, horses to look over, Sleipner to visit, and I want to get a ride in with Snøstrom before returnin’ to the keep and seein’ my…” Lauren let the words fade.

“See your what?”

She flinched. “Nothin’. Forget I said anythin’.” She should have known he wouldn’t let her get away with that.

His fingers curled around her wrist and drew her around. “You know better than that. Forget I said anything is in the same category as fine, Lauren. It is an unacceptable answer. Tell me what is wrong?”

“Clareon made my earrin’s. I was gonna send him a thank you note because, well, it’s only polite after gettin’ a gift, and the twins told me about my office, and keepin’ room, and parlour. They didn’t think I was ready to entertain visitors, what with me bein’ new and all, assumin’ I’d want a few lessons and stuff before that, but after dealin’ with Nesper they figured I’d be fine. Then after that thing with Sal today,” she hung her head, “maybe they were right.”

“Stop it.” Lauren lifted her head with a snap. “You spoke out in the most beautiful fashion, you comforted a boy you’d never met, and you stood up for a woman who needed a champion. Quite frankly, darling, if you’d told Sal to go to hell the people likely would have cheered you on.”

“Why would they do that?”

“Pet, haven’t I been telling you the laws are different here? This such as abuse of children or women or yes even men by those stronger than them is considered a heinous crime on Agard. That Sal could look at Mektild and side - albeit subtly - with Absalon set most of the court on their heels. You shone brighter than ever today, my little golden goddess, so if you wish to entertain visitors in your parlour, do it. You are no weak-willed woman to take anyone’s guff. In fact, I will show you your public and private spaces once you finish with your students and that menace of a stallion. I think, darling, it’s time we put a schedule together for you.” He shifted his hand to her back and escorted her through the barn.

“But I’ll still have trainin’ with Sif and Hogun in the mornin’s?”

“Yes, darling. I’m afraid this will put a dent in your downtime.”

“As long as it doesn’t put one in my Loki time.”

He gave a sharp bark of laughter and dragged her quickly into an empty stall where he spun her into a wall and held her there with a press of his hips. “Loki time, hm?”

“Just can’t get enough of you.” Lauren reached up and traced her fingers along the curve of one golden horn. “Especially when you’re wearin’ these. You ever gonna leave them on for me?”

He chuckled and lifted her, so her legs wrapped his waist. “You naughty, naughty girl.”

Now mouth to mouth with him, Lauren gave a smile worthy of his name. “Just the way you like me.” She closed her hand around the horn and pulled the crown from his head, then turned it around and set it on her own.

“Mischief-maker.” He nipped his teeth into her lower lip. “Those are mine.”

“But don’t they look better on me?” She batted her eyelashes and smiled.

“Such trouble you are.” The light of mischief filled his eyes. “Though, now that I am thus uncrowned, I can do this.”

His mouth fell to her throat where he worked his tongue over her pulse point until Lauren whimpered and gave a wanton moan. “Oh, peaches… that feels-” A loud hiss broke through the haze of lust Loki was building. They looked down at the same time to the snake whose head was peaking out of the satchel on Lauren’s hip. “Well… that’s gonna a be a problem.”

Loki chuckled and set her on her feet, the moment broken. “I think you’re going to have to find me a new endearment, my sweet.”

She gave the hair her fingers were tangled in a little tug. “You seemed to like it when I called you sugar. Maybe I’ll use that.”

“Whatever you like.”

He plucked the horns from her head and returned them to her own as Lauren encouraged Peaches back into his cozy satchel. His tongue flicked over her fingers and made her giggle before Loki led them out into the aisle as if nothing untoward had just taken place in the empty stall.

They rounded the final corner with Loki leading Lauren toward a young woman who was speaking quietly to the pretty chestnut horse whose head hung over the door.

“Dagny.”

She looked up when Loki called her name and hurried toward them. “Prince Loki. Princess Lauren.” The woman executed a court worthy curtsey. “I’ve everything ready for you, Highness.”

Lauren instantly liked her. She had the most vibrant orange-red hair Lauren had ever seen. It frizzed out around her in a wild mass of untamable tight corkscrew curls. A half dozen pins were doing their best to contain the mass in some semblance of order and failing miserably. She had skin like alabaster, but it was so thoroughly saturated in freckles one could hardly tell how pale she was. Bright brown eyes twinkled with merriment and friendly curiosity, and she smelled of horse and leather, just like Teddy at home.

“Thank you, Dagny. I hope it hasn’t been too much trouble?” Lauren asked.

“No, milady. Well, perhaps the requests for admittance have been a bit troublesome, but I said I wasn’t overloading your Highness until I had your permission to do so.”

Lauren frowned. “I’m sorry. What?”

“Oh, aye. A good dozen or so of the upper court have asked to have their children taught riding with you, but I cut them off at the first five. Miss Hedda and Baron of course, then Lady Anna’s daughter Maja. Lady Haddy’s son Knut, and finally Lord Aslin inquired if his daughter, Etsuko, might also be included.”

“Well, my stars. Isn’t that somethin’.” Lauren gave a tight swallow. “And there’s a dozen more you say?”

“Aye, ma’am. At least that many, though I’ve yet to check my desk today. There very well could be more. It seems word’s spread about what you did with Snøstrom. There are lots of people who’re interested in learning from you. Hell, I’d learn from you if you were want to teach a few of us older folk.”

She grinned big and wide and made Lauren snicker. Dagny had the way of a horsewoman about her. Simple. Earnest. Without preamble. Lauren definitely liked her. “Wasn’t like I did anythin’ special.”

“But you did, darling. Our horses are used for transportation, farm work, and to ride the hunt, but no one on Asgard has ever thought to put the animals over fences. Why until I saw you watching it on television at the tower, I’d never seen it before either.”

Lauren looked up at Loki in surprise. “Never?”

“No, darling.” He shook his head, bent, and placed a kiss on her cheek. “I must leave you in Dagny’s care, my heart.” But he turned over his hand and held out a napkin wrapped around what looked like a chicken and cheese sandwich on a thick bun. “Eat.”

“I’m gonna eat!” She gave an exasperated huff and took the sandwich. “Go do princely things, Loki, and leave us girls to talk horses.”

He stepped back and swept her a bow more suitable for a peasant to a queen. “Yes, my lady. Very well, my lady.”

“Get on with you!” Lauren laughed and shooed him down the aisle. She and Dagny watched him go with an air of amusement as he sauntered along, through the portal that opened, and was gone

“He’s so much lighter,” Dagny said. Then her eyes widened, and she turned toward Lauren in concern. “Begging your pardon, milady. Not to imply-”

Lauren waved her off with a raised hand. “No, I understand. He is much happier. A lot less broodin’ than he was when we first met. I can only imagine how people who knew him before are feelin’ seein’ him now.”

“It’s good. For him and Asgard. Already the air feels fresher. Lighter. Warmer.”

“This is warmer?” Lauren snickered and bit into her sandwich.

Dagny smiled and nodded. “Asgard’s run cold for many years. The winters have been harsher since the prince… well.” She shook her head. “Can I ask a question?”

“As I plan on askin’ more than a few of my own, shoot.”

“What’s the purpose of what you did? With the fences?”

“Well, durin’ Earth’s eighteenth century in England, a law was passed requirin’ people to fence their boundaries, but ridin’ a hunt and followin’ foxhounds was quite the sport so the riders had to acquire horses that could jump the obstacles if they wanted to continue with the sport. Eventually, it became quite the spectacle to see horses and riders flyin’ over fences, but how are spectators supposed to watch when they can’t follow the hunt? So they brought courses to enclosed arenas and made it convenient for people to watch and now its a multimillion dollar sport on Earth.” Lauren took another huge bite of sandwich.

“Wow.” Dagny’s eyes were big. “So it’s just… for fun?”

“Fun and competition.” As she ate, Lauren went on to explain about her family farm, the racehorses, and the hunter/jumpers they raised. She talked about Silver Belle and how she’d grown up riding in shows and competitions. By the time she’d finished the sandwich, Dagny was grinning ear to ear.

“Asgardian horses over fences…” She shook her head. “I never would have thought of it. I’m not sure we could make that work here though. Our steeds are bigger, stronger, faster. The obstacles would have to be as well.”

“There’s always Eventin’,” Lauren said, smiling at Baron when the boy appeared and made his way toward her.

“What’s that?” Dagyn asked, her voice loud with excitement.

“The same idea, but you run the course cross country with much larger obstacles, pits, drop-offs. The jumps are more natural than man-made. Horses and riders have both been seriously injured takin’ such risks at home.”

“Lady Lauren, you and I need to talk more about this.”

Dagyn’s excitement was infectious and made Lauren laugh. “I’d be happy to.”

“Our people look at Sleipner's children with two purposes. Work and leisure. The farmers have their heavier stock, culled and carefully bred to their work. Then there are those bred for travel. Hardy but lacking grace. Then there are the palace bred steeds. Ones like Snøstrom. The Wild Ones, and Mistral over there.” She flicked her fingers at the sleek black faced gelding. “They are the best of Sleipner’s children. Pure of blood, swift, strong, smart. Having you here, showing an interest, getting people excited about them again? That would be wonderful!”

“People aren’t excited about them? But there are so many!”

“Not like they used to be. The new generation has little desire to learn or ride when there are ships to fly to get places faster. Our horses are slowly losing their necessity. Something like you’ve described, competitions and fun may be what we need to bring it back!”

“I’ll gladly help where and when I can,” Lauren agreed. “Though some of this we may need to run past Thor.”

Dagny nodded enthusiastically. “Of course, my lady.”

“Now, before the rest of my student’s arrive,” she motioned Baron closer, “introduce me to the schoolin’ horses you’ve picked.”

***

Thirty minutes later, Lauren’s mind was full of horse facts, and she was standing before Mistral’s stall with Baron. The door was pushed open, but the gelding was content to stand and doze while Baron groomed her under Lauren’s watchful eye. The boy would be her helper with the other four. He’d remembered every step, every comment, every correction she’d given him from the other day to the point the big gelding damn near gleamed his coat was so clean.

Dagny had put out tack suitable for children, each horse had his own grooming kit, and a wheelbarrow and five pitchforks waited against the wall across from the five stalls. The assistant stable master had appeared both amused and mildly terrified at the prospect of having four noblemen’s children mucking out and cleaning tack, but Lauren insisted.

Hedda was the first to arrive, dragging Daven by the hand. “C’mon, mom!”

“The horses aren’t going anywhere Hedda.” Daven gave an exasperated huff when she saw Lauren and rolled her eyes. “Are you certain you wish to keep her? She’s been up since before dawn in excitement.”

Lauren chuckled softly and patted the girls back when she deserted her mother to skip over and hug Lauren around the waist. “I think we can handle a couple of hours together.”

“Goodbye, mother.” Hedda sent Daven a pointed look.

Daven sent one of her own in return. “Hedda, manners.”

“Yes, ma’am.” The girl nodded, her pigtails flying.

“Hm,” Lauren hummed after Daven had left. “Dagny?”

“Yes, Highness?”

The woman stuck her head out of another stall where she was busy spreading fresh bedding. Lauren figured it was prudent to move Snøstrom as well, saving precious steps that would cut into her riding time. “Do y’all use protective headgear when teachin’ your kids to ride?”

“We do not. Our steeds know better than to toss one of the little ones. If they do fall, it’s usually a slide to the ground on their bums. Even then, the horses usually catch the change in balance and either stop or give them a jig to get them back up where they belong.”

Lauren snickered and looked down at Hedda. “Well, that would have saved me many a sore backside when I was your age.”

Hedda giggled, her eyes bright. “Can we go? Can we start? Which one’s mine?”

“So eager.” Lauren tapped the girl on the nose, then held out her hand and led Hedda to the stall at the far end from Baron and Mistral. “This is Elf.” The dark chestnut had ears that were just a touch too long and very pointed, giving him his name, but his eyes were dark and soft, and he immediately nuzzled Hedda’s cheek.

“He’s darling!” Hedda squealed, ducking beneath the rope which kept Elf from leaving his open stall.

Usually, Lauren would have reined the girl in for rushing into the stall of an unknown horse as she had, but something inside her held Lauren back. When Elf turned his head to look at Hedda and the girl locked eyes with the horse, Lauren inhaled sharply. A small curl of pink flame flickered in the depth of Hedda’s pupil.

“He very much likes his name, Lady Lauren. We’re going to have so much fun together!” Hedda wrapped her arms around Elf’s neck and squeezed until Elf lifted her off her feet and made her giggle when she dropped back down on them.

“That’s good, Hedda.” Still stunned and wondering about what she’d seen, Lauren pointed to the grooming kit. “Do you know how to brush down a horse properly?” Hedda rattled off the names of the brushes in the proper order and then got to work without further prompting. “I’ll come and check on you in a minute.” The child was a whirlwind, but not the first of her kind whose enthusiasm when it came to horses knew no bounds.

She turned in time to smile at Lady Anna and her daughter Maja when they arrived only to have the smile fall from her face. “Lady Anna, I’m afraid your daughter isn’t properly attired for ridin’.” Slippers and a dress, fancy hair and far too much makeup on a girl who was at most ten, would not cut it in her class. “Hedda?”

The girl popped out of Elf’s stall. “Yes, milady?”

Lauren waved her closer. “I’ll need you to outfit Maja like this if she’s wantin’ to learn to ride.” She pierced the girl with a stern look. “You do want to learn, right Maja? There will be no airs in my class. No finery. You’ll come dressed to work and ride, or you won’t come at all.”

Maja nodded nervously and looked at her feet. “I… I want to learn.”

Lauren patted Hedda’s shoulder and sent the girl back to Elf. “Then it will be boots, breeks, and tunic. Dagny, have you anythin’ Maja could borrow in the interim?”

This time she didn’t even bother to stick her head out of the stall. “I don’t, but she’s close in size to Baron. Boy! You got any spare clothes lying around?”

“I-I-I…” Baron stuttered, his face white.

“You want my daughter to wear a stable hand’s clothes?” Anna gasped appearing faint and pale as she grabbed for the heavy jewelled collar around her throat. “First you tell me she must muck stalls, and now you want her to wear an orphaned boy’s clothing!”

The woman’s voice had risen substantially in pitch. “If she wants to set her behind in a saddle today?” Lauren lifted her chin. “Yes.”

“This is unacceptable!” Anna’s hands fluttered and face reddened in rage. “You’re supposed to be a princess of Asgard! Not some, some, filthy stable person digging in the dung!”

Anger ripped through Lauren. “I am the princess of Asgard. I’m also a horsewoman who knows the value of proper horse care along with equitation. And I can assure you, Lady Anna, I’ve had my hands in worse things than shit! I’ve birthed foals, I’ve scrubbed mud and blood outta a dumbass stallion’s hide when ran through a wire fence. I’ve held flesh wounds together and wielded the needle that sewed ‘em up. And when they turned septic, I was there to drain the puss from the wound, so yes, I’ve dirtied my hands with a lot worse things than horseshit, but I’d rather dirty hands after a hard day of honest work than the soft pampered ones of a lady not worth her salt in Thor’s court!” The satchel on her hip shifted subtly, and Lauren placed her hand gently against the agitated snake.

Anna gave an outraged squealed and grabbed her daughter’s arm. “Come, Maja. We’re leaving!”

The girl didn’t budge an inch. “I’ll take the clothes.”

Lauren arched a brow. “Baron.”

“Yes, milady.” The boy was off like a shot, running hard for his quarters.

“Lady Anna. You may return for your daughter in two hours.” She stared the woman down until she dropped into a curtsey and then turned to go. “For Maja’s next lesson, I expect her to be properly attired.”

Daggers waited in the woman’s eyes. “Yes… Highness.”

Silence weighed heavily on the barn as Lauren cast a glance around. There were far too many stable hands standing idle until she caught them watching. They all snapped into action and hurried on about their business. Two unfortunate souls ran into each other with a crash and a jumble of tack. Lauren bit her lip to keep from laughing and returned her attention to Maja. Over the girl’s head, Dagny gave her two thumbs up. Apparently, that was a universal action, for she’d never seen such glee on anyone’s face before.

“Have you really birthed a foul and, and done all you said?” Maja asked.

“I have.” Lauren nodded, smiling for the girl. “Are you sure you wanna go against your mama like this?”

“My mother is overbearing and too concerned with her appearance. Father is much more level-headed, and when I explain to him that she offered the princess of Asgard insult, he will see I am properly attired for next time.”

Lauren gave the girl a once over. Blonde with blue eyes, there was already the gleam of calculation behind the innocence. This one was already mostly aware of court politics and knew how to play the game Lauren was still learning. But it was clear Maja would rather endure her mother’s wrath than stand beside her when word of Lady Anna’s dressing down by Asgard’s Princess spread.

Still, Lauren would have an honest answer from the girl. “Maja, do you want to be here? Have you any interest at all in learnin’ to ride? Answer me truthfully, and if your answer is no, I won’t hold it against you. You’ll be free to leave without consequence.”

She bit her lip, worried it, and cast a nervous glance at the horses. “I’ve always thought horses were majestic and beautiful, but their size… frightens me. I want to learn, but I am scared.”

It was a genuine answer, and Lauren smiled. “Very well. When Baron returns, duck into the tack room there and change. Then, he’ll help you get to know Flekk.” She brought the girl to Flekk’s stall.

His black and white patches were beautiful to her mind, and Lauren gently stroked his cheek. “Here.” She dug a horse treat, something Dagny had in handfuls, from her pocket and gave it to Maja. “Hold your palm out flat and give it to him.” Lauren cradled the back of the girl’s fingers as she did so, and smiled when Maja giggled, learning the first joy of tickling horse lips. She needed little encouragement after that to pet Flekk’s cheek, and Lauren left her to whisper to the horse she was already falling in love with.

The last two of her students arrived together. Knut, the boy, was a strapping lad of roughly twelve. His smile was wide with excitement, but his mother looked less impressed. It appeared Lady Anna must have bent Lady Haddy’s ear about Lauren before their arrival, but if the boy had been concerned, he didn’t show it. He bowed to Lauren and smiled, speaking excitedly about learning to ride and how he was looking forward to it.

Again Lauren had a trickle of something like suspicion travel her spine. The boy read as false, and when she looked from him to his mother, Haddy blushed. “Y’all really need to learn to listen when I speak. I said it last night, and I’ll say it one last time. I don’t take kindly to false platitudes. If you have an agenda here other than your son learnin’ from me about horses, y’all can take yourselves from this barn post haste.”

Knut’s face fell, and Haddy’s went red. As one they turned and left, hurrying back the way they came.

Lauren turned her annoyed gaze on Lord Aslin. He dressed similarly to Hogun when the man had taken off his armour, and Lauren pegged him for a Vanir. His daughter, Etsuko, was a slip of a girl with long black hair and beautiful dark eyes. Approximately eight years old, she appeared serene but for the tight clasp of her hands in front of her stomach. At least her attire was correct, or more so than Maja’s had been.

Her boots were wrapped with leather from ankle to knee, keeping her loose flowing pants from moving, while a stunning split tunic worked with cranes and other exotic birds fell to well below mid thigh. It was a work of art, and silk, and far too extravagant for barn work.

“I apologize if I startled you,” Lauren said.

Lord Aslin smiled and bowed to her, surprisingly, so did Etsuko. “Fear not, princess. Though we did not mean to, we overheard some of what Lady Anna had to say to Lady Haddy. And I was also present last night when you spoke out about being a truth speaker. I see you were not exaggerating that fact.”

“No. I wasn’t.” Lauren turned her attention to Etsuko. “Tell me honestly, Etsuko. Do you want to be here?”

“Yes, your Highness.” It was barely a whisper, but it still rang true.

“I’m afraid my daughter is painfully shy, my lady. I was hoping classes with you and Lady Daven’s daughter, as well as - I see - Lady Anna’s,” he sounded intrigued by that, and maybe even impressed by Maja’s disloyalty to her mother, “would help her come out of her shell, and perhaps see her making a few friends.”

Lauren smiled, her heart softening with his words for there was nothing but truth and maybe a little hope in them. “And you are aware of my stipulations regardin’ entrance into my class?”

He tilted his head in agreement. “I am.”

“Then I sincerely hope Etsuko has somethin’ on under that…” She wasn’t sure what to call the exquisite garment.

“We call it a Kappe or Kimo if it is the longer women’s version, and yes, Etsuko can remove it for her lesson. It is simply a mark of her status as my daughter for her to wear it in the halls of Asgard.” With deft fingers, he helped the child out of it and carried it over his arm.

“It’s wonderful,” Lauren said, grinning down at the girl who smiled shyly. “Would you mind waitin’ a moment while I get Hedda to help your daughter get acquainted with Ørn?”

“I am at your service, Highness.” He bowed deeply to her again.

Lauren held out her hand for Etsuko who shuffled forward but didn’t take it. Not wanting to force contact on the child, she led the girl to the stall next to Elf’s where Hedda was laying on his back, face up. “Hedda!” Lauren snapped, causing the girl to sit bolt upright and nearly tumble from her mount.

“Yes, Lady Lauren?”

“Do you have permission to be on that horse?”

The girl shrank a little. “No, my lady.”

“Then should you be on that horse?”

The stern look she gave the girl had Hedda sliding swiftly to the ground. “No, my lady.”

“That’s right. You’re in my class now. Mountin’ a horse in his stall can be dangerous. I don’t care that they’re Asgardian and smarter than my Midgardian stock. You wait for permission to mount, and I’d best never catch you on Elf’s back in the barn again. Understood?”

“Yes, my lady,” Hedda whispered, staring at her boots.

“Is that clear to everyone?” Lauren called down the row.

Baron and Maja stuck their heads out of Flekk’s stall. “Yes, Lady Lauren,” they chorused together.

“Good. Now, Etsuko. Do you have any experience with horses?” The girl held up her finger and thumb close together. “A little?” She nodded. “Alright. Hedda, daughter of Volstagg, this is Etsuko, daughter of Aslin. I’d like you to help Etsuko in grooming Ørn. Show her the proper order of things. Can you do that?”

“Yes, my lady!” Hedda perked up at the prospect of meeting another horse.

“Alright. Get on with you.”

Hedda giggled and grabbed Etsuko’s hand, then slowed down when the girl tugged against her. “A little nervous?” Etsuko nodded. “It’s okay. I’ll help you.”

Lauren smiled at Hedda, proud of the child’s intuition, and returned to Lord Aslin’s side. “Thank you for waitin’.”

He tilted his head. “As I said, my lady. I am at your service.”

“Can you tell me a little about Etsuko? I find with the shy ones it can be easier if I have some background,” she explained quietly.

“Ah, well.” He cleared his throat. “Etsuko is my only child. For the first five years of her life, she was very cheerful and outspoken, then… her mother died.”

Lauren gently touched his arm. “I’m so sorry.”

He smiled sadly. “Her sickness was found too late on my homeworld. Had I known earlier, I could have brought her to Asgard for treatment, but once I returned to Vanaheim to find her ill…”

“That must have been so hard on Etsuko.”

“Hard. Yes. The move to Asgard was even harder. She loved Vanaheim. The woods and nature. All the creatures. Asgard has long been void of animals. Living here has been difficult for her, but my position is here, and I could not allow her to stay on Vanaheim alone. She is homesick. I hope the horses too will cheer her, as well as the companionship of children her age.”

Lauren looked where Aslin’s eyes had drifted and smiled at the heads of Hedda and Etsuko bent close together. “We will certainly try, Lord Aslin.”

“Your compassion is a gift, Princess. One I too hope you never grow out of.”

A blush coloured her cheeks. “Saw that did you?”

“Every word you spoke was inspired.” He offered her a deep bow and turned to go, but stopped and looked back at her. “No matter what anyone says, you are the Princess of Asgard. It matters not if your hands are soft and pampered, or covered in horse excrement. You make of your title what you wish it to be. Your place on Yggdrasil proves you are who and what we need. Asgard has been waiting for you, Lady Lauren. No one but you will do.”

Tears burned the backs of Lauren’s eyes, but she somehow managed to swallow them back and tilt her head. “Thank you, Lord Aslin. Tomorrow I plan on openin’ my door to guests. Your company will always be welcome.”

“My lady.” With a final bow, he walked away, and Lauren turned back to her students.

Next Chapter

#of blood and roses #loki #loki laufeyson #loki and lauren #loki laufeyson fanfiction #Loki x Lauren #god of mischief #god of mischief fanfiction #southern belle

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hjbender · 6 years ago

Text

In Bloom

Chapter 13, The Little Frost Troll

Fairies and flowers and frost troll kisses, oh my.

They walked through the forest for a little while longer, Loki sometimes falling behind to smell flowers or inspect trees or study crawling insects. He was fascinated by holes in the ground and hollow tree trunks, sniffing around them and peering into them, quietly asking the darkness if anyone was home. It was absolutely endearing to watch. Thor could tell when Loki was interested in something because his tail would curl into a serpentine shape and the flat, spadelike tip would flick rapidly back and forth.

Thor couldn’t remember the last time he was so enchanted by someone. Everything about Loki was wonderful. Such brightness and curiosity packed into his little body, so much energy and eagerness. Already he was looking better, Thor thought proudly. Filling out, gaining weight, his skin no longer stretched over his bones, his belly and face looking fuller. He was still thin, but his malnourished appearance had faded and his sharp features were becoming soft. Even his tail was looking thicker and stronger, like a long blue snake. He was beautiful. A handsome little frost troll, the most charming, sweet-natured person Thor had ever—

He was so focused on Loki that he walked headfirst into a low-hanging tree limb. He blurted out an oath and rubbed the side of his head, then began to laugh at his own foolishness.

Loki looked up from the pudgy green caterpillar he was petting and scampered back to Thor’s side. “What happened? Did you hurt yourself?”

“Not really. I, uh. Wasn’t paying attention to where I was going.” Thor grinned sheepishly and rubbed his throbbing temple. The salt of his hand produced a stinging sensation and he knew he had broken the skin.

“You scraped yourself,” said Loki, standing on his tiptoes to see the injury. “It’s bleeding a little. Do you want me to lick it? I can, if you want.” His eyes were wide and urgent, ready to offer his care.

Thor rolled his lips together, thinking. It was only a little scratch, hardly worth dressing, but he suddenly found himself longing for Loki’s touch. He had been gone all day yesterday, tending to business on Midgard, and now every fiber of his being seemed sore and aching, yearning for Loki’s presence. He craved the sound of his voice and the warmth of his company, for it meant that goodness and mercy and kindness was still alive and well in Yggdrasil. And perhaps Loki, who had been so deprived of care and comfort, longed for Thor’s touch as much as Thor longed for his.

Slowly Thor bent his leg and lowered himself onto one knee, until Loki was a few inches taller than him. Loki crept forward and took Thor’s face in his small hands—one cupping his chin, the other resting on his thick blond hair—leaned down, and began to wash the bloody scrape with his strong, bristly little tongue.

Thor closed his eyes and released a long, slow breath. “That feels so nice,” he said, though “nice” was a poor word to describe it. It felt incredible. The stinging pain was gone in an instant, the throbbing sensation fading under Loki’s tender ministrations.

“This is how troll mothers clean their young,” said Loki between licks. “So I’ve been told. I have no experience caring for babies.”

Thor smiled. “Maybe—” He stopped short as echoes of a previous conversation came to his mind.

Do you think you’ll ever have a family of your own someday, Loki?

I’m not sure. It doesn’t seem very likely. I don’t even know if my belly works.

“Maybe what?” asked Loki.

Out of the corner of his vision, Thor saw that Loki had shut his eyes and seemed to be in some sort of peaceful trance. His pointed ears were pressed flat against his head, and his tail, which had settled atop Thor’s bent knee, was beginning to slip around his thigh almost protectively. Anchoring him. Keeping him close. Thor wondered if this was a maternal instinct. It reminded him of a cat cleaning her kittens, how the mother would pin her youngsters in place with her paws while she diligently bathed them.

But he didn’t want to cause Loki any anguish or distress over his ability—or lack of it—to produce offspring, so he tried to rework his answer.

“Uh, maybe. Maybe I need to… keep more… focus gooder.” Thor struggled to remember what words were and how to use them. “Need to… wash where I walk…”

Loki was lapping at his cheek now, moving toward his ear, and it was awakening something deep and powerful inside Thor. His hand unconsciously settled on the side of Loki’s bare waist, fingers spread wide. Loki was so petite that Thor’s smallest finger rested on his hip while his thumb touched lowest of Loki’s ribs. He pressed his palm into Loki’s side, squeezing gently with his fingers, glad to feel the thin layer of fat forming over his strong, lean muscles.

There was something very pleasing about having palpable evidence of Loki’s good health. That he wasn’t just living, but thriving. Or so Thor hoped.

He pulled back reluctantly with a hazy, sleepy look on his face. “Are you happy here, Loki?” he asked in a gravelly voice, his eyes searching Loki’s face. “Am I doing right by you? Was it wrong of me to bring you to Asgard and make you endure the sun and heat? Would you have been happier elsewhere?”

The moonstone around Loki’s neck glowed brightly as he held Thor’s face in his hands, his tail swishing slowly back and forth. “I am very happy here, Thor. Despite all that’s happened today, losing my tooth, biting you, hurting my nose… I have never been so content.”

Thor glowed with gladness. To know that Loki was happy, to be reassured that he was treating Loki well and taking good care of him, was the greatest, most satisfying thing Thor had ever felt.

Loki returned Thor’s smile, stroking his bristly cheeks with his thumbs. He pursed his lips and leaned forward, planting them awkwardly on Thor’s forehead. He remained completely still for a moment, then pulled back with a quiet smacking sound.

“Is that how it’s done?” he whispered. “Making the kiss? Was it the right time?”

Thor was quite certain his heart melted at the sweet innocence of the questions. “Yes, Loki, it was perfect timing. It was a wonderful kiss. Thank you.” He clasped both of Loki’s hands in his own and kissed his small blue knuckles.

Loki grinned, revealing his missing fang, and Thor’s heart was rendered a warm, sugary puddle. He could kneel here like this for hours, he thought, just staring at Loki’s lovely face, holding his cool little hands.

Continue reading at AO3

Tagging @erdediekatze, @wu-the-stoic, and also @spacefloozy for inciting inspiring the whole “Thor smuggles fairies and other small contraband creatures into Asgard and Heimdall tries to do his job but ehhh what are a few fairies gonna d--OH SHIT” idea

#the little frost troll #hjbwrites #thorki #fanfiction #thor odinson #loki farbautison #jotunn loki #troll loki #schmoop #fluff #cutesy stuff #jotunn aesir romance #falling in love #loki is a frosty blue cinnamon roll #thor is a warm protective bread #this story is a carb fest #and a sugar fest

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merryminstrel · 6 years ago

Text

Lightbringer

Rating: E Relationships: Loki x Original Female Character Status: Updates Weekly AO3 Link: Click here

“The Midgardians believed that a giant dragon lived below Yggdrasil, the tree which encompasses all worlds. Nidhogg, they called him, the Malice Striker. He gnawed on Yggdrasil’s roots, feeding on its life-force. Another wonderful example how humans just catastrophize and butcher the truth at their whim. If they had ever set eyes on a true dragon, held council with them, shared a tiny bit of their wondrous magic, such childish legends would never have come to be. Then again, dragons can be quite petrifying.” – Odin

Summary:

In his youth, not yet consumed by jealousy and anger against his brother, Loki had a strange meeting with a seemingly reckless woman. Many years later, she returns and is introduced to him as a dragon - one of the ancient guardians of Yggdrasil - with the task of evaluating his former crimes, and Loki finds himself facing a whole different conflict. Can he overcome the poisonous inner demon that had driven him for so long? Or will he choose to walk in shadow once more, pulling the single light that remains with him into the darkness?

Excerpt (Chapter IV. Skirmish)

“Why do I even get an advocate? Lightbringers see truth in all things. Can you not easily see if I am guilty by looking at me? Not that it’s much of a question, anyway…”, Loki mused. Ljosira couldn’t help the twitch of her lips.

“If it isn’t a question, then why do you ask?”, she retorted. At her words, a look of surprise fleeted across his face, followed by something that looked like curiosity. She was bright, this one. Why are you even surprised?, an inner voice mocked. Torchbearer, living sun, the people called them. It had been a long time since he had talked to anyone remotely interesting. Had the chance to spar with words, engage in a duel of wits. And she would likely be a formidable opponent.

“No reason.”, he lied. This made her chime a laugh. A strange sensation fluttered and swooped in his chest at the sound, as though a little bird zoomed around there without rest. He dismissed it as part of the entertaining banter they were having. But he could not quite ignore the way her face lit up when she smiled, how her hair looked a little ruffled from sleep, how she had failed to put on her robe properly and it had slipped just a bit, revealing a perfect patch of snowy white skin on her shoulder.

“You get an advocate because the circumstances of your case are… unclear.”, she answered calmly, prowling the length of the barrier.

“There is nothing unclear about it. I joined forces with an army of aliens to rule Midgard as a benevolent god!”, he exclaimed, his temper close to the surface as so often these days. Ljosira kept something from him. She eluded, holding a crucial part of information out of his reach. Suddenly the playful air from before vanished and she spun around to glare at him with a ferocity that would have silenced braver men than him.

“Do not lie to me, trickster!”, her voice had dropped low. Deep and menacing now, almost a growl. A dragon’s voice. The aura in his cell changed within an instant. Lights started to flicker, the ground rumbled. Unrestrained magic pressed down on his lungs, making it hard to breathe.

“Why did you make the deal with the Chitauri?”, she snarled at him. Loki had taken it a step too far with the dragon’s patience, and he knew. The next thing he’d say could very well be the last words of his life.

“Why do you keep avoiding every question I ask?!”, some foolhardy impulse drove him to counter nevertheless.

Now I am going to die, he thought. Pile of ash scattered to the wind. Loki saw a flash of unspeakable anger flicker in her eyes, and he recoiled, expecting the death-blow that was sure to come. Only it never did. Instead, her shoulders sagged and her divine fury vanished, replaced by something he couldn’t grasp: It looked like a sad kind of regret.

“Because you are not asking them right.”, Ljosira said quietly. This staggered him. She had just turned away and was about to leave, when Loki’s voice, bereft of its usual velvet arrogance, made her stop.

“Wait.” Not more than a whisper. She paused, but didn’t move otherwise, just kept standing there, looking sternly into the opposite direction. “I am still alive.”, he added, sounding incredulous.

“It would seem so.”, she sighed, a thread of defeat in her voice. Loki leaned against the wall above the barrier, trying hard to puzzle out what she might be thinking. Her demeanour did not lack for emotion, yet he was even further away from understanding her intentions than before.

“Do you wish that I was not?”, he asked in earnest, almost gently. Ljosira lifted her head as if the prison’s ceiling held the answer and gave it a slight shake, before her perceptive grey eyes found his.

“I wish you would stop looking at me like I’m your enemy.” The sincerity ringing in her words left him speechless.

And then she was gone before Loki could gather his wits. In the silence that followed, he sank back onto his cot, dropping his hands to his knees limply. Confusion and reason fought each other on the eternal battlefield of his mind.

#marvel #marvel fanfiction #loki x oc #loki #oc #writing #my writing #romance #fantasy #adventure #loki fanfiction #loki fanfic #loki x ofc #dragons

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kaleenjackson · 7 years ago

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Advent: Day 18

Look I got 18 up. I didn't think I would but I did. I really like this one even though it is so short. I love Stargazing.

Warning: Spoilers for Ragnarok, nothing else really.

Pairing: Winterfrost

Dec.18

Stars.

It stopped snowing around the time everyone had made their way into the kitchen for lunch. Someone had let it slip that Bucky was making pancakes and if anyone could make a killer pancake it was Bucky.

No one really mentioned the patches of blue on Loki's hands and neck but they didn't go unnoticed either. Tony had asked if there was anything anyone could do to help fix it but Loki had simply said that there wasn't.

Bucky was surprised by that reaction but thought it might be a good thing. Loki might be learning to accept his differences.

That night he expected to find his boyfriend in the library. When he entered with their cocoa he was surprised to find it empty. After some searching he found the door to the roof open.

Loki sat alone, staring at the night sky. He didn't jump when Bucky kissed his forehead. “Did you bring cocoa?”

“Of course, and some candy canes.” He kissed Loki's lips. “So what are ya lookin at Mischief.”

“Well come here and let me show you my dear.” Loki smiled softly.

Bucky sat next to him.

“No, no. Come sit here in front of me. I can't be sure I’m pointing out the right stars if you’re next to me.” He pulled Bucky closer to the right spot. “I like this. You’re so nice and warm.”

“This is comfy. So what are we looking at.”

“Yggdrasil. The world tree, or rather the interconnections between the realms that were protected by Asgard. By my family.” Loki shifted so his head was next to Bucky's. He pointed at a star. “Traveling the way we do, does some strange things. That is the light from Asgard. It is no longer there but it’s still visible.” He moved his hand. “That is Jotenheim. That is where I was born. I tried to destroy that planet. I was distraught and thought perhaps Odin would have loved me. It took almost ten years before he would actually call me his son again.”

“So… Basically I’m looking at your home then, or at least where it was. You alright?”

Loki sighed. “I have destroyed one planet and tried to destroy another. Yet I am in a realm and can see the light from both. It’s a bit surreal.”

Bucky intertwined his fingers with Loki’s before pointing at the sky himself. “That’s Orion’s Belt, and that’s the rest of Orion.” He traced the constellation. “That one’s the Big Dipper and it points to Polaris, the North Star. You can actually use it to navigate in the northern hemisphere. It’s also a part of the Little Dipper.”

“You have names for the groups of stars? Interesting. Can you teach me more of them?” Loki cuddled into his boyfriend.

“You bet. Would you believe that some people think that the stars and their positions influence their lives?”

Loki laughed. “Tell me Bucky, how would that work?”

“Well, when’s your birthday?”

“I don’t know. We don’t exactly celebrate one day for every year we live. After a thousand years you don’t exactly pay attention to the date anymore.”

“Alright, I think that you could always pick a day but it wouldn’t be accurate. You should tell people it’s the 1st of April.” Bucky smiled.

“Why?” Loki sounded skeptical and amused.

“It’s April Fool’s day. You prank people during the morning.” Bucky leaned back and closed his eyes. “Then again, the 25th of this month would also work. I mean you have died and come back and you’re considered a Savior…”

“That might be true but I think too many people would take offence, and I would have to share it with someone else, just not the right date for me. The Day of Pranking seems a better fit to my personality.” Loki held him tightly.

“I agree. That makes you and Aries, which I don’t know where it is in the sky.”

“That’s fine Bucky. Let’s stay and watch the sky for a bit.”

“Sure Mischief. I would like that.” Bucky said softly, his eyes still closed. “I like this Loki. You think we might be able to keep doing this?”

Loki carded his hand through Bucky’s chocolate brown hair. “I hope so. I hope we get to do this for many, many years.”