#sig knowing that's *exactly* what he's doing and immediately reassuring him

[victoriousfidelity]

Her smile widens as he replies exactly the way she expected him to, but when he continues to speak - open and vulnerable in a way that makes her heart ache - her expression softens. He's so gentle with her in this moment, one of so many private moments they've managed to snatch within this more secluded area of the palace gardens, that it's almost like he expects her to flinch away from his touch - even though she's never done so, not in all the years they've known one another.

That soft, serious air remains as she watches his thoughts linger on his doubts, his fears. She's known him long enough now - and well enough, more importantly - that she's able to read the miniscule way his expression shifts as the bitter voices of those who have belittled him ring out in his mind, or his own thoughts turn against him.

He's so close that she could kiss him, and under other circumstances that would be exactly how she chose to distract him from those spiralling thoughts. But she wants to know what he's thinking. She always does, but that's especially true where this is concerned - where they are concerned.

Had they gone about this in the expected way, their parents would probably have agreed to the match. There's a lot of sense in pairing them together, in uniting two Realms through their clever secondborn children who each possess an aptitude for wielding Seiðr.

But that's decidedly not what they have done. Their relationship has been conducted on their own terms, secretive and wholly theirs - a choice born of a need to have something which is untainted by the politics of their Realms, or the gossip of the courts, or the interference of their families. And though their secret relationship had become a secret engagement in a moment of pure spontaneity, Sigyn had meant the yes she gave in response with all her heart.

"And what if what I desire is you?" She asks him, her free hand reaching to take hold of his wrist lightly, stopping him from drawing his hand away from her face once he no longer holds that lock of her hair between his fingers. "The future that lies ahead for your is one with me standing beside you, Loki - whatever else may come. How many more years will I have to love you for, before you realise that I wish to be yours precisely because I see you?"

Doubts have haunted him since they last spoke. The ghosts of his words lingering about him, transformed into ghouls that mock, and belittle, and force down into the rightful place. Who is he to want her, to claim her? A prince of Asgard yes, but an outcast in his own home, disappointing, unmanly. Surely she can’t have meant it when she gave her consent to be his wife. Surely she can’t have understood what she was consigning herself to.

But Sigyn gazes up at him, with those beautiful eyes sparkling with mischief, and takes his moment of passion so completely in her stride that he feels himself falling even deeper. Loki’s forearm presses against the stone wall beside her head as he leans closer, not touching the goddess despite his skin crawling with the desire to. His heart thuds in his chest.

“Any of them. All of them. Whatever you desire.” The trickster’s heartbeat only quickens at the feel of her hand in his. Somewhere behind them the sun breaks free from its prison of clouds, but for Loki there is only the space between them, the pink of her lips, the red of her hair. He reaches out the fingers not holding hers to catch at a stray strand.

“I find it hard to believe you understand the future that lies ahead for me, and still wish for a part in it. I cannot comprehend how you can see me and still wish to be mine.” Tender fingers tuck the loose hair behind her ear. “What else am I to conclude, other than you are going into this lightly, and that it cannot last?”

[ichigokeks]

LITA really delivered this episode, a break-down and analysis of some of the best moments.

1) Sig is the side character that is portrayed as "stupid" but in a funny and endearing way when he really isn't stupid at all. He immediately recognised that Pom was letting out his frustration on Sky and intervened. He knows that Sky takes his duty seriously so he made sure to reassure Sky that he had not messed up anything and wasn't doing a bad job at educating and leading the freshman students.

2) Rain has gained braincells and wouldn't simply let Prapai into Sky's room. He made Prapai promise to not do anything.

3) This was hands down my favourite moment: The way Prapai held Sky and calmed him down. He has already realised that something is wrong with Sky. He knows the fever isn't the problem. He actively asked: "How can I help you?" I never expected this but this is exactly how to deal with a person suffering from mental illness or trauma. Instead of pushing your own image of what will definitely help aka I know it better than you without having experienced it - he asks Sky. He wants to help and acknowledges that he doesn't know how to. He wants Sky to voice what he needs and is ready to give him that.

4) Prapai not kissing Sky when he was in a weak and vulnerable situation. Amazing. This could have been a classic dub-con BL moment and they decided not to do it. Thank you. Considering what Sky has been through this kiss could have easily triggered him and ruined it. If Prapai had taken advantage of Sky while he was vulnerable, he would never be able to gain Sky's trust. The last time Sky was vulnerable, he got a abused and was heavily traumatised.

5) The way trauma was portrayed. Peat's acting was outstanding. The way he got triggered by simple words, his nightmares and his eventual breakdown where he begged Prapai to stop texting him. This was a moment so real and raw it really grabbed me. You could feel his pain. He just wants to be happy again and free of his pain. He is so scared to love again and let anyone in his life because he is sure that he will get hurt again. He likes Prapai and it makes it even more painful to not allow himself to have those feelings.

[imagine-loki]

Loki's Witchlings

TITLE: Loki’s Witchlings (Loki and the Witchling part 2)

CHAPTER NO./ONE SHOT: 31/?

AUTHOR: nekoamamori

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

RATING: T (so far) 

NOTES/WARNINGS: This is a direct sequel to Loki and the Witchling.  Also on AO3 click here

“We have been back on Midgard for less than an hour and we’re already called on a mission,” Loki grumbled as you headed up to the jet together.  

“And we’ve acquired two more problems on top of that,” you reminded him.  He looked down at you with his eyebrow raised.  You smiled at the familiar look on his face.  You knew him so well after all your years together.  It was so easy to be around him.  He had been defensive when you’d first met, but he’d let you in because of your magic, because of who you were, he’d lowered his defenses and let you in.  

You thanked all the gods every day for that. You didn’t know what your life would have been without him.  You never would have found out who you truly were, you wouldn’t be a princess of Asgard, and wouldn’t have your twins. 

You owed everything to the fateful day when Loki moved into the tower.  No, from the day Thor rescued you from your abusive foster parents and brought you to the tower.  Brought you home to live with your found family. 

“What problems are those, witchling?” Loki asked.  You couldn’t help noticing that he looked hot as Hel in his armor, his golden horned helm, and of course, his daggers and magic ready.  

Maybe you would do something about how hot he was after the mission.  

It seemed that you were finally getting some of your libido back after the pregnancy, if you were noticing how hot your husband was again.  Frigga’s post pregnancy healing spells and the spells to return your body to its pre-pregnancy form were fantastic and you would have to thank her for those spells.  They were a lifesaver.  

Else you might still be bedridden.

Especially from the part where you’d died.

“Scratch that, three problems, but one of them we already had,” you mused aloud as you rode up the elevator with Loki.  He stayed silent so you would continue, so you did.  “One is my wings and what exactly Hela wants from me,” you reminded him.  He inclined his head, so you kept going.  “Two is your scepter and how to find it and get it back from Hydra, because it definitely should not be in their hands,” his eyes went wide at the mention of the scepter and they started to turn that unnatural blue of the mind controlled.  You took his hand and sparked your magic, clearing those thoughts from his mind.  “Loki? Are you with me, love?” You asked him gently.  He had been under the control of the mind stone for a long time, through torture at Thanos’ hands.  He had been broken from the mind control when the Hulk smashed him into the floor of the tower, but there were still these rare moments where that unnatural blue came back to his eyes, where the trauma opened him up again.  You always pulled him back to himself, his anchor in the real world.

“I’m here, Sig.  Thanks to you, my love,” he reassured you and lifted your hand to his lips to kiss your knuckles.  He always got more formal when he was on edge and this was no exception.  

His eyes were back to their usual green, so you nodded, accepting his word.  You’d have to figure out a way to protect him when you got to the quest of hunting for his scepter.  He needed to be able to talk about it without opening himself up to its influence. 

But that was a problem for another time. 

“The third problem is Narvi’s obsession with Pepper’s baby,” you explained.  

Loki nodded and sighed.  “Thank the Norns we don’t have to deal with that one immediately.  I’m not sure what he’s up to, but it doesn’t seem harmful,”

You nodded your agreement and squeezed his hand.  “We’ll keep an eye on it,” you agreed.  You’d correct it if Narvi’s behavior became an issue, but for now, he was just curious and interested. You wouldn’t fault him for that.  

“Are you sure you will be alright fighting, darling?” Loki asked you gently. He didn’t want to question your skills, but he also was worried.  You saw that worry in his eyes, and it wasn’t just born of the memories of the control of the scepter.  “I know you are perfectly capable and a brilliant warrior, but you did die rather recently and you have two wonderfully lovely new appendages…” Loki said worriedly, looking at your wings.  You noticed the look in his eyes.  While he was nervous about you going into battle and being injured, he also appreciated your form as a woman.

And, most especially, your wings.

He and Thor always had been obsessed with valkyrie. 

Apparently, you were going to find out exactly how obsessed in the near future.  That sounded like such fun. 

Your expression turned serious at you looked up into his eyes.  “I know you’re worried, Loki,” you told him gently.  “But as you said, I am a fully trained warrior both in physical combat and magical combat.  I’m also a fully trained healer.  I’m not going to sit on the sidelines when I can help, but I will promise that I will be smart and I will stay by your side if it makes you feel better,”

Loki considered your words and leaned in to kiss your forehead.  “Alright, darling,” he relented.  “But please be careful. I can’t stand the thought of seeing you hurt again…” he trailed off and you knew he didn’t mean hurt, but meant dying in his arms.  You saw the haunted look in his eyes.  He definitely couldn’t handle that again.  You didn’t blame him, nor would you negate his feelings.  

“I know.  We’ll be alright.  Together,” you told him and leaned up to kiss him.  His lips were cool against yours as usual and you felt him relax with that gentle contact.

“Can’t you two stop being adorable and couple-y for five minutes?” Stark asked when the elevator doors opened.

There was only one reaction that was appropriate in that situation.  You and Loki both raised your hands to flip him off in the same movement.

Some things around the tower really never changed. 

[catboymingi]

if you’re reading this...

navi/masterlist

pairing: mingi x reader

genre: fluff, some crack maybe?; best friends to lovers

word count: 2.6k

warnings: literally not a single one. implied frozen hate (i‘m joking)

for evigt / måske for evigt / skal vi sammen samme vej / og når i morgen får øjne og natten hviler sig / skal vi for evigt måske den samme vej - forever / maybe forever / we’ll take the same road together / and when tomorrow comes and the night goes to rest / we’ll maybe take the same road forever

it had become a routine that after your classes you’d walk to the café mingi was working at, getting a hot chocolate (to which he added an extra large amount of whipped cream while giving you a wink) and settling on whatever chair was free in order to study some until he got off work. sometimes you’d spice it up and get a different drink, and sometimes he’d spice it up and bring you a mystery drink to wherever you were studying. today, however, you just got the regular while you waited for your best friend to have time to entertain you. you’d had an exam today and really just wanted to yell about the phonetic inconsistencies you’d had to deal with, but you knew no one but mingi was willing to listen. so you had to wait for him, sighing in annoyance every couple minutes as you looked through your study materials.

when his shift was finally over you grabbed your stuff, throwing away the receipt and napkins that he insisted on giving you even though you told him time and time again you didn’t need them. then you rushed over to him, an exaggerated sigh of annoyance leaving your lips in order to make him ask you what was up. the boy wrapped his arms around you and laughed when you dropped your bag from the sudden embrace.

“you had an exam today. how’d it go?” this was what you loved about him - he always remembered these details about you and your life, he knew your schedule well enough to get worried when you were late, and he genuinely wanted to hear about things that were on your mind.

“don’t ask. how can a single language have this many rules that literally no one cares about? studying for this was just like this is the rule. yes we use it. no we don’t. you’re welcome.” you said the last sentences with a fake cheery voice, making your contempt for the exceptions that seemed to be more than the words that adhered to the rules obvious. then you kept on ranting while mingi grabbed his stuff, and while you left the café, and you first got done when you were already halfway to your place, glad that you got to let out some frustration.

“that sounds… hard”, he said, unsure of what else to say since he had no idea what exactly you were talking about. languages were your thing while maths was his, but you both still supported the incomprehensible monologues of the other whenever one of you got either really excited or really frustrated about their subject.

“if it were me, i would simply make the language follow the rules.” you laughed at that - he said exactly what you’d thought countless times before.

“mingi for language council president”, you joked and he looked at you with big, excited eyes.

“that’s a thing? would you vote me in?” now you had to laugh even more. he really didn’t know anything at all about your subject, but the excitement was adorable.

“sorry to disappoint, i don’t think that’d work. you can be the ceo of choosing the movie though, if that mends your broken heart even a little bit.” you were at your place now, and you could feel mingi vibrate with excitement next to you at the prospect of getting to choose the movie. he acted like a giant baby sometimes, but that only made you like him more. this was much better than someone who never got excited about anything.

you let both of you in, getting out your laptop and placing it on your desk chair next to the bed (you were a student, so you had neither a sofa nor a decent table, your desk being cluttered to a point where it was an act of mental gymnastics to even figure out it was a desk at all), joining the boy who’d already settled on your bed.

“what’s the choice?”, you asked, cursor hovering over the search bar.

“frozen.”

“of course.” you laughed but complied with his request, sitting back and leaning into his chest as the movie started playing. you loved movie nights with him - when you were spending time with him like this you were able to relax, and knowing he enjoyed it just as much only made it better. by now you’d seen several movies upwards of five times because they were your go-to choices, but it didn’t matter. it was less about the plot than it was about being close to him and enjoying each other’s presence even when you didn’t say much.

the night continued like this, your best friend choosing silly movies only and the both of you trying to one-up each other with bad jokes until you got tired and went to bed. this was how it usually went, and you wouldn’t want to miss this for anything in the world. going to bed together, waking up together, making early mornings a little easier to stand.

days went on like this, meeting mingi at work, spending evenings and nights together, and to you everything was as usual. you continued to not pay attention to your receipt when you ordered from your best friend, which resulted in him sending his coworker to you one day when you were again studying while waiting for him to get off. you looked up surprised when it wasn’t your personal delivery guy bringing you your drink, and were even more confused when you were handed a plastic cup instead of the regular porcelain one. then you noticed that there was something written on it with a sharpie.

if you’re reading this i’m in love with you.

you looked up at yeosang in shock - you barely even knew him! but he grinned at you and pointed at where mingi was unsuccessfully trying to hide behind the counter, making you realise just who had written the little note. you didn’t really know how to react - his shift wasn’t over yet and surrounded by customers wasn’t exactly the best situation for a serious conversation. but, once more to your surprise, the boy who’d delivered the cup to you went up to your best friend and told him to end early.

“it’s only like half an hour left anyway, i’ll deal.” you smiled at him with gratitude in your eyes as the tall boy slowly made his way towards you.

“do you want a reply right away or do you want to go home first?” from what you knew about him you knew his anxiety was probably eating him alive right now, but you also didn’t really want to talk about this in the middle of the street.

“let’s just go”, he replied, though he was still avoiding your gaze. you wanted to grab his hand, but you had to carry your stuff in one and the other was holding on to the cup with his confession; no way in hell were you going to throw that away. but then you realised he had his bag hanging over his shoulder, which left both his hands empty, made obvious by his nervous fiddling.

“can you carry my bag for me?”, you asked, and he immediately did. this gave you the chance to grab his hand and you smiled up at him as you gave it a reassuring squeeze. for the first time since you left he looked at you, and you could see the fear in his eyes. so you decided to hurry, not wanting him to have to deal with the anxiety by himself much longer.

you finally reached your place, and you didn’t even bother to take off your shoes when you got in before you asked him: “you confessed on a cup?” you tried to give him an appreciative smile, but to him it seemed more like a teasing one.

“well, i tried on your receipts, but you always threw them away without looking, so i just… didn’t know how else to.” he sounded so nervous, his deep voice trembling slightly, and you felt so bad.

“i didn’t know you’d written something there! i’m sorry”, you apologised, remorse apparent in your words, and this time it was his turn to smile at you reassuringly, though it wasn’t very convincing, his own anxiety making it hard for him to have any expression other than one of heart-crushing fear of your reaction.

“it’s fine. i could’ve just said something, too.”

you looked at the cup again, and you could see he’d tried his best to write prettily, which was why you hadn’t even recognised the handwriting as his at first. he’d really put in effort. and you were about to cry at how cute he was and how long he’d probably been trying to get your attention with his little notes and at all the cute confessions that were now in the trash and never to be seen again. but you stopped yourself before you got too sad at that thought, eyes focusing back on the message he’d left you.

“you mean this?”

“mm. i thought i should tell you.” his gaze was glued to the floor. “sorry i did it stupid like this though.”

you stared at him in shock. “take that back right now.”

“huh?” this wasn’t what he’d expected. he’d thought you’d turn him down or laugh at him or something, but not that you’d tell him to take it back.

“this is the sweetest thing ever and if you say it’s stupid one more time i’ll have to reconsider my feelings.”

this day was just full of surprises for him.

“your feelings?”

you smiled, holding the cup in front of his face with the message clearly readable to him. if you’re reading this i’m in love with you. and even though this technically confirmed that you reciprocated his feelings, he wanted to be sure.

“you mean it?” you nodded, looking him right in the eyes as you did so, hoping he could see that you were serious.

“pinky promise?” now you couldn’t help but laugh - this was such a mingi thing to do, making you pinky promise everything that held some importance to him. but it was another thing about him that made you fall in love with this idiot.

“pinky promise. silly.” the insult was more of a pet name, your voice almost as soft as your expression as you linked your pinky with his. after this he wrapped his arms around your waist, picking you up with a lot more energy than you’d expected him to have after having just worked a full shift. but here he was, all but jumping up and down with you in his arms, and as much as you liked it you had to stop him.

“mingi! the cup!” too late. the rest of your hot chocolate had been emptied over him, serving as a rather unconventional hair treatment. you were both laughing as he let you down and you dragged him to your bathroom, insisting on washing his hair right there.

“it’s gonna get sticky if i don’t” was the reason you gave him, but really you just felt soft and affectionate and happy and wanted to be emotional without him being able to look at you while you said sappy things. so you had him take off his shirt (which had received some of the chocolate treatment as well) and kneel down in front of the shower while you rinsed his hair with warm water.

“is this temperature fine?” you’d checked it on your hand, but you knew that the scalp was always a different story.

“it’s nice. this is nice.” even though you couldn’t see it you knew he was smiling, and you smiled as well.

“you were actually scared i didn’t like you?”

“mm.” you laughed in disbelief.

“you’re incredible. i all but moved in at the café just to see you!”

“mm.”

“i let you choose the movies even though i know you’re gonna choose frozen for the fourth time this week!”

“it’s a good movie!”, he defended himself. but you weren’t done.

“i’ve had you over so much i might as well have you join me in the rent contract, you’ve become more essential for a good night’s sleep than my blanket, i regularly steal your clothes, i-”

he interrupted you, laughing. he knew that if you weren’t washing his hair right now, you’d be using your fingers to count just how many things you thought had been dead giveaways.

“okay, i get it. but you didn’t realise either, so we’re even.”

“mm.” you turned off the water and yelled at him not to move when he tried to get out the shower before you’d put a towel on his head.

“now you can move.”

“how generous”, he teased you before sitting up, making sure his shoulders were dry enough to not drip on the floor either.

“if you can’t appreciate this i don’t think you deserve the honour of dating me.” this time it was your turn to tease him, but you hadn’t anticipated the reaction you got. he turned around so quick that he almost fell on his butt, staring at you wide-eyed.

“dating you?” he sounded so shocked that you weren’t sure if he liked the idea or hated it. so you decided to keep joking just so you wouldn’t embarrass yourself if he didn’t want to.

“i was thinking about it, but now i don’t think i want to”, you said, pretending to be sulky. but it seemed like he was still so in shock that he didn’t catch on to the fact that you were joking.

“o-of course i appreciate this, and you! and you. i’m-” you hadn’t expected him to actually take you seriously, so it took a moment to realise that he did, but as soon as you did you interrupted him.

“i’m joking! i’m joking”, and as if to convince him you smiled at him, the smile you usually gave him when he’d forgotten to bring something you’d asked him to and felt guilty. the ‘it’s okay, you didn’t do anything wrong, don’t worry’ smile.

“oh. so you’ll date me?”

“mm. but can you ask again? this isn’t very, like… romantic.” this time your smile was apologetic, but his was so bright you were sure that if you turned off the light right now you’d still be able to see perfectly.

he was still on the floor and made use of that as he shifted to be on one knee, looking up at you who was looking at him with a mix of shock, adoration and a held back laugh at his silliness on your face.

“y/n, will you be my girlfriend, wash my hair whenever someone spills their beverage on it, be there to remind me to not make a mess, and make me smile for as long as you can stand me?” mingi was being goofy to make it less awkward for the two of you, but you knew he meant it anyway, and even though you almost burst out laughing at his proposal your heart was beating faster than it should, your stomach feeling tingly and weird but in a good way.

“yes. now get up, you’ll get cold.” and with that you grabbed his hand, dragging him to your bed as you set up your laptop. it was time to watch frozen for the fifth time this week, but as you settled against your now-boyfriends warm chest and felt him kiss the top of your head with water dripping from his still wet hair onto your nose, you realised that you’d watch frozen every day for the rest of your life if that meant you’d get these situations for the rest of your life.

[sabinemorans]

Mission Impossible: Nanny

Quinn McKenna x female reader

Words: 2,679

Warnings: none!

A/N: This was co-written with @nothing-but-a-comedy the title credit goes to @sailorsquadgoals

Quinn was finally starting to get the hang of caring for Rory, but there were some days he wished he had some help. Shared custody with his wife was already a bit of a struggle, and Quinn knew that Rory could use an extra caregiver or two. It eased his mind that Rory was actually the one to suggest this idea since his mother had hired a nanny recently. Of course he said it in his way– very blunt and matter-of-fact– but Quinn enjoyed it actually.

Even though everything had changed after the Predators had come, this was a good thing to come of it. He felt closer to Rory now than ever and it would take a special person to be good enough to watch him, and a very special ad to draw them in. It was a normal ad detailing the basics up until it mentioned protection for his son, including the lines “people with ex-military or security background preferred.”

It took a little longer than Quinn had hoped, even if it was a unique ad, but he finally found the perfect candidate hit. She was educated, well reviewed, and passed a background check on the nanny site with flying colors.

That would have been enough for anyone else, but Quinn knew with his line of work, he’d have to do a deep search just to be on the safe side. He sent her name to Nebraska, knowing he could trust him to find out about any red flags. Surely she would understand, and if she didn’t, then Quinn would know she wasn’t right for the job.                                 

The best part was her suggestion for a secondary nanny as the request had mentioned this was protection for the child as well. The second one, a man, also passed with flying colors and was sent to Nebraska. When there were no red flags to be found after Nebraska had essentially done a deep dive-Quinn emailed them. Cause if Nebraska couldn’t find anything, then there was nothing to find. 

It looked like a solid deal, and Quinn was a little excited to be getting some extra help and a chance to make Rory happy. What he wasn’t expecting, however, was how attached he would become to her. To you. 

~~~

You’d partially given up on finding a new nanny job when finally good news was in your email. Quinn McKenna wanted to interview you! Grinning, you immediately called your backup and very best friend Din, telling him the news. 

“If he wants to see me, he probably wants to see you too, considering,” you said, moving from your kitchen counter to your stove where pasta was boiling. You had your headphones on so there was less chance of you dropping your phone into boiling water which had only happened once but Din acted as if it had happened a dozen times. Honestly, it couldn't have happened after he had left your apartment?

“Good, his was the only interesting job on there. I wonder if he’d be ok with me bringing the baby along at times. Maybe if the kid takes a liking to us, it might be good for him to socialize with a baby.” Din had adopted a baby at the beginning of the year. He’d gone with a mutual friend of yours to an adoption agency and just fallen in love. It had taken forever but as he put it, he’d just known as soon as those big dark eyes had found his that they were meant to be. 

“We’d definitely need to build some trust first. I know my little one doesn’t cry much, but to a child on the spectrum, it can be very hard to handle. That would be the best case scenario though since there’s two of us. Though this McKenna guy mentioned protection, so maybe he’s a political person or something. We don’t wanna bring that dark eyed angel into any danger.” You strained your pasta and dumped it a bowl, pouring sauce on top and beginning to mix.  

“Fair enough. Guess we’ll see, sweet girl, huh?” 

You smiled and shook your head at the affectionate nickname. “Don’t call me that Din, you know better. I always think you want something from me when you call me that.” 

“What me? Never,” came the reply where he was so obviously grinning like an idiot. God you hated him sometimes, it was so hard to love someone so ridiculous but you managed it even with knowing him as long as you did. You could ask for better company than him sometimes but you couldn’t ask for a better best friend. Bastard knew it too. The two of you were bonded for life, for better or worse.

“Smartass. I’ll call you with the details when he emails me back, love you Din.”

“Love you back, sweet girl.” You heard a laugh before he hung up and you pulled your headphones off. 

“Silly man,” you muttered as you began to eat your pasta and homemade sauce on the way to your couch. Turning your TV on, you settled with a comfort show so your brain could wander as you ate. Quinn McKenna...what an interesting name.

~~~

Mr. McKenna had been busy with work over the weekend, so it took a few days for the interview to happen. You arrived with Din by your side, as Mr. McKenna had proposed you had applied more or less as a team and would be interviewed as such. He told you that he liked your forethought to mention a second you already trusted, and that compliment made you smile. Thinking ahead had always been a strength of yours. 

“Should you knock or should I knock?” Din looked at you and you shrugged back with an indifferent look on your face. 

“Do you think it matters?”

“I guess not.”

“...you want to knock don’t you?”

The door to the cozy two story house had an old school knocker on it and Din’s grin gave you all the information you needed. 

“Go on then,” you chuckled, waving your hand at it. 

He knocked three times and sighed, satisfied with that stupid grin on his face. You shook your head. Ridiculous man. 

The man who answered the door looked anything but ridiculous. He was absolutely not what you’d been expecting at what-six foot two? Filled out well too with bright blue eyes you could get lost in, blonde hair shorter on the sides a little bit flopping at the top and a smile that screamed “good ol’ boy” more than anything you had ever seen.

And you were fucking hooked.

But you were a professional and despite the sudden mental images of jumping on him and pressing your body to his (likely muscular and strong and maybe even a bit pudgy) body you simply smiled brightly and hoped that Din would keep his professional manner even though Quinn McKenna was definitely one of your types. 

“Mornin’, thank you both for comin’,” McKenna said before waving the two of you in. 

Din let you lead and he followed both you and McKenna to the dining room table where your possible employer sat in front of both of you. He was prepared, both your resumes sat before him and he had them side by side with what looked like prepared questions written down. Din and you shared a glance that spoke volumes. He was very serious wasn’t he? Maybe he was political, maybe he was a part of the mob or maybe he was some kind of paranoid kook. It was a nice house and it actually reminded you of David Lieberman’s house in ‘The Punisher’ and then a fourth option to what Mr. McKenna did crossed your mind quickly followed by a fifth. 

Either he was a government spook, or he was the Punisher. Either way you weren’t that mad about it.

“Take a seat,” Quinn gestured to the chairs in front of him with a face that didn’t betray much emotion.

You noticed that he glanced at you a few times too many, but he made it hard to read what was going on in his head. He must have noticed the confused looks on your faces, because he gave you a reassuring smile as you sat down before clearing his throat. “You must be wondering why I needed two nannies with your type of background,” he chuckled.

You exchanged a look with Din for a split second before Mr. McKenna broke the semi-awkward silence. “I’m in the military too and I wanted people I could trust with my kid’s safety,” he explained. His answer was still a little vague for you, but you figured you’d ask him more about it later. It was nice to know he would understand the two of you though, you’d worked security for a little while and were amazed at how much people pushed back when asked what you thought was safest. With Mr. McKenna you might fight over strategies but at least he’d understand them.

You found yourself wondering what branch he was in, what his rank was when Din spoke, pulling you back to the present. 

“Well, in that case, you found the right people for the job,” Din said in a professional manner. “We both served in the Marines. I was a Corporal and she was a Sergeant as I’m sure you saw by our records.” Din explained, and you took a moment to admire how well he always pitched the two of you as valuable assets. He went on to detail (as much as he was allowed to) how you’d worked together for years. You did chime in here and there with details Din couldn’t remember and explained your individual special skills. 

Din was a master of stealth, infiltration and quiet extraction were his specialties. You on the other hand were a sniper. Your furthest confirmed kill was clocked at 1110 yards– a near record. The pair of you were well trained in hand-to-hand combat and familiar with most guns that could be thrown at you though with the choice between a gun or a knife, you favored the K-Bar while Din favored his Sig Sauer.

Mr. McKenna  crossed his arms in front of his chest, giving Din an impressed look as he heard his pitch. His eyes had lit up when you said you were a sniper and you smiled back, recognizing the look of a fellow sniper in him. The fact that you had something so specific in common was mind blowing really!  While you both derailed for a moment to talk about things you saw Din smirking a little. Ass. He knew exactly what it meant when you grinned like that. Trying to stay professional (and not give Din the satisfaction of knowing your thoughts too well) you locked down the thoughts of the two of you on a date, seeing who could  hit the farthest target even if it would probably be you. 

“Both of your resumes are impressive, but I’m wonderin’ why you guys left after spending so much time climbing the ranks.” Mr. McKenna quirked an eyebrow at you, so you chose to answer this question instead of leaving it to Din.

“It was just time for us to get out. With all the jobs I’ve had in the world I’ve listened to my gut about when it was time to seek out something else. Din trusted me enough that when I said the Marines wasn’t the right career for us anymore that he put in to leave when I did. A few months after we left we got word that a lot of our unit had been badly injured in an ambush masquerading as a rescue mission.” You shifted your hair from one side to the other and kept eye contact with Mr. McKenna, who let out a sigh through his nose and nodded. Nothing else needed to be said about that.

After that it lightened up. You felt at ease answering his questions; he didn’t seem as intimidating as you initially thought him to be, and the interview eventually flowed more like a friendly conversation than a job interview. You all even laughed about things! Maybe it was the fact that the three of you could bond over your military backgrounds (Quinn as he insisted on being called after the third time he was referred to as Mr. McKenna, was a Ranger Captain), or maybe it was because of the way that Quinn looked at you differently than he’d look at Din. You didn’t have time to put your finger on what kind of look it was exactly before a young boy came walking out of a nearby hallway but it certainly warmed you all over. It was nice to talk so freely with another man besides Din too, someone else who understood.

Din’s face lit up as he saw him, and you couldn’t help but smile as he exclaimed, “Oh hey, little man! Is that Rory?” He asked as he turned to Quinn with a bright smile.

“Yup,” Quinn responded, the corners of his eyes crinkling as he gestured for Rory to sit beside him. He ruffled Rory’s hair and pointed in yours and Din’s direction to introduce you to him. “These might be your new nannies, whaddya think of that, bud?”

Din held his fist out for Rory to bump and you shook the little guy’s hand in a greeting, smiling widely at how cute he was. You glanced up at Quinn as Din and Rory exchanged a few words, already acting like they were the best of friends. Quinn was obviously very protective of his son, happily watching the exchange, but you could tell he was watching closely to see how Din would get along with him. Din was being his usual self around children, boisterous but at a respectful volume, which was so different from how he was around most new people. You laughed at a stupid joke Din made which made Rory smile before running your hands through your hair again. Your eyes were pulled towards Quinn in soft glances and you noticed when he glanced at you as well, carefully timed to when you were listening to Rory talk about what he liked to do and how he liked things to be.

Before your eyes could meet Quinn’s and you could really analyze those glances, you heard Rory mention something about a fight. 

“I’m sorry sweetheart what did you say?”  Quinn looked at Rory, stunned and then at the two of you. 

“Now hang on buddy I don’t-“ His father started but Rory kept going anyway. He was definitely determined and had been waiting to say this. 

“I wanna see you guys fight, you know, see who’s better. And the winner can fight my dad! If you can beat my Dad or just hold your own you’re definitely good enough to be my nanny.” The sweet faced little boy was so succinct about his needs that you laughed a little incredulously but with no small amount of humor.

“You know what you want sweetheart I’ll give you that,” you said with a grin and shrug to Quinn and Din. “I’m game, but we probably shouldn’t swing to really hurt each other. Do you have boxing gloves maybe or we could do more Jiu Jitsu and grapple rather than throw punches.”

“Yeah no, no real hits. But if the little man wants to see a fight he’s gonna get a fight.” Din was already standing, making to take off his nice jacket and you were following suit when Quinn stood and waved his hands. Jesus-his hands were huge. How had you not noticed that yet?

“Hang on hang on,” he said looking at the pair of you, both paused with your jackets pooled at your elbows.

“But Daaaaad,” Rory whined, looking up at him.

Quinn raised a brow at his son before smirking and letting out a small chuckle. “You guys shouldn’t fight…” He grinned at Rory before adding, “...in the house.”

[rexsjaigeyes]

Mission Impossible: Nanny - Part 1

Quinn McKenna x female reader

Words: 2,679

Warnings: none!

A/N: this was co-written with @sabinemorans​​ and the title credit goes to @sailorsquadgoals

Quinn was finally starting to get the hang of caring for Rory, but there were some days he wished he had some help. Shared custody with his wife was already a bit of a struggle, and Quinn knew that Rory could use an extra caregiver or two. It eased his mind that Rory was actually the one to suggest this idea since his mother had hired a nanny recently. Of course he said it in his way– very blunt and matter-of-fact– but Quinn enjoyed it actually.

Even though everything had changed after the Predators had come, this was a good thing to come of it. He felt closer to Rory now than ever and it would take a special person to be good enough to watch him, and a very special ad to draw them in. It was a normal ad detailing the basics up until it mentioned protection for his son, including the lines “people with ex-military or security background preferred.”

It took a little longer than Quinn had hoped, even if it was a unique ad, but he finally found the perfect candidate hit. She was educated, well reviewed, and passed a background check on the nanny site with flying colors.

That would have been enough for anyone else, but Quinn knew with his line of work, he’d have to do a deep search just to be on the safe side. He sent her name to Nebraska, knowing he could trust him to find out about any red flags. Surely she would understand, and if she didn’t, then Quinn would know she wasn’t right for the job.

The best part was her suggestion for a secondary nanny as the request had mentioned this was protection for the child as well. The second one, a man, also passed with flying colors and was sent to Nebraska. When there were no red flags to be found after Nebraska had essentially done a deep dive-Quinn emailed them. Cause if Nebraska couldn’t find anything, then there was nothing to find.

It looked like a solid deal, and Quinn was a little excited to be getting some extra help and a chance to make Rory happy. What he wasn’t expecting, however, was how attached he would become to her. To you.

~~~

You’d partially given up on finding a new nanny job when finally good news was in your email. Quinn McKenna wanted to interview you! Grinning, you immediately called your backup and very best friend Din, telling him the news.

“If he wants to see me, he probably wants to see you too, considering,” you said, moving from your kitchen counter to your stove where pasta was boiling. You had your headphones on so there was less chance of you dropping your phone into boiling water which had only happened once but Din acted as if it had happened a dozen times. Honestly, it couldn't have happened after he had left your apartment?

“Good, his was the only interesting job on there. I wonder if he’d be ok with me bringing the baby along at times. Maybe if the kid takes a liking to us, it might be good for him to socialize with a baby.” Din had adopted a baby at the beginning of the year. He’d gone with a mutual friend of yours to an adoption agency and just fallen in love. It had taken forever but as he put it, he’d just known as soon as those big dark eyes had found his that they were meant to be.

“We’d definitely need to build some trust first. I know my little one doesn’t cry much, but to a child on the spectrum, it can be very hard to handle. That would be the best case scenario though since there’s two of us. Though this McKenna guy mentioned protection, so maybe he’s a political person or something. We don’t wanna bring that dark eyed angel into any danger.” You strained your pasta and dumped it a bowl, pouring sauce on top and beginning to mix.  

“Fair enough. Guess we’ll see, sweet girl, huh?”

You smiled and shook your head at the affectionate nickname. “Don’t call me that Din, you know better. I always think you want something from me when you call me that.”

“What me? Never,” came the reply where he was so obviously grinning like an idiot. God you hated him sometimes, it was so hard to love someone so ridiculous but you managed it even with knowing him as long as you did. You could ask for better company than him sometimes but you couldn’t ask for a better best friend. Bastard knew it too. The two of you were bonded for life, for better or worse.

“Smartass. I’ll call you with the details when he emails me back, love you Din.”

“Love you back, sweet girl.” You heard a laugh before he hung up and you pulled your headphones off.

“Silly man,” you muttered as you began to eat your pasta and homemade sauce on the way to your couch. Turning your TV on, you settled with a comfort show so your brain could wander as you ate. Quinn McKenna...what an interesting name.

~~~

Mr. McKenna had been busy with work over the weekend, so it took a few days for the interview to happen. You arrived with Din by your side, as Mr. McKenna had proposed you had applied more or less as a team and would be interviewed as such. He told you that he liked your forethought to mention a second you already trusted, and that compliment made you smile. Thinking ahead had always been a strength of yours.

“Should you knock or should I knock?” Din looked at you and you shrugged back with an indifferent look on your face.

“Do you think it matters?”

“I guess not.”

“...you want to knock don’t you?”

The door to the cozy two story house had an old school knocker on it and Din’s grin gave you all the information you needed.

“Go on then,” you chuckled, waving your hand at it.

He knocked three times and sighed, satisfied with that stupid grin on his face. You shook your head. Ridiculous man.

The man who answered the door looked anything but ridiculous. He was absolutely not what you’d been expecting at what-six foot two? Filled out well too with bright blue eyes you could get lost in, blonde hair shorter on the sides a little bit flopping at the top and a smile that screamed “good ol’ boy” more than anything you had ever seen.

And you were fucking hooked.

But you were a professional and despite the sudden mental images of jumping on him and pressing your body to his (likely muscular and strong and maybe even a bit pudgy) body you simply smiled brightly and hoped that Din would keep his professional manner even though Quinn McKenna was definitely one of your types.

“Mornin’, thank you both for comin’,” McKenna said before waving the two of you in.

Din let you lead and he followed both you and McKenna to the dining room table where your possible employer sat in front of both of you. He was prepared, both your resumes sat before him and he had them side by side with what looked like prepared questions written down. Din and you shared a glance that spoke volumes. He was very serious wasn’t he? Maybe he was political, maybe he was a part of the mob or maybe he was some kind of paranoid kook. It was a nice house and it actually reminded you of David Lieberman’s house in ‘The Punisher’ and then a fourth option to what Mr. McKenna did crossed your mind quickly followed by a fifth.

Either he was a government spook, or he was the Punisher. Either way you weren’t that mad about it.

“Take a seat,” Quinn gestured to the chairs in front of him with a face that didn’t betray much emotion.

You noticed that he glanced at you a few times too many, but he made it hard to read what was going on in his head. He must have noticed the confused looks on your faces, because he gave you a reassuring smile as you sat down before clearing his throat. “You must be wondering why I needed two nannies with your type of background,” he chuckled.

You exchanged a look with Din for a split second before Mr. McKenna broke the semi-awkward silence. “I’m in the military too and I wanted people I could trust with my kid’s safety,” he explained. His answer was still a little vague for you, but you figured you’d ask him more about it later. It was nice to know he would understand the two of you though, you’d worked security for a little while and were amazed at how much people pushed back when asked what you thought was safest. With Mr. McKenna you might fight over strategies but at least he’d understand them.

You found yourself wondering what branch he was in, what his rank was when Din spoke, pulling you back to the present.

“Well, in that case, you found the right people for the job,” Din said in a professional manner. “We both served in the Marines. I was a Corporal and she was a Sergeant as I’m sure you saw by our records.” Din explained, and you took a moment to admire how well he always pitched the two of you as valuable assets. He went on to detail (as much as he was allowed to) how you’d worked together for years. You did chime in here and there with details Din couldn’t remember and explained your individual special skills.

Din was a master of stealth, infiltration and quiet extraction were his specialties. You on the other hand were a sniper. Your furthest confirmed kill was clocked at 1110 yards– a near record. The pair of you were well trained in hand-to-hand combat and familiar with most guns that could be thrown at you though with the choice between a gun or a knife, you favored the K-Bar while Din favored his Sig Sauer.

Mr. McKenna  crossed his arms in front of his chest, giving Din an impressed look as he heard his pitch. His eyes had lit up when you said you were a sniper and you smiled back, recognizing the look of a fellow sniper in him. The fact that you had something so specific in common was mind blowing really!  While you both derailed for a moment to talk about things you saw Din smirking a little. Ass. He knew exactly what it meant when you grinned like that. Trying to stay professional (and not give Din the satisfaction of knowing your thoughts too well) you locked down the thoughts of the two of you on a date, seeing who could  hit the farthest target even if it would probably be you.

“Both of your resumes are impressive, but I’m wonderin’ why you guys left after spending so much time climbing the ranks.” Mr. McKenna quirked an eyebrow at you, so you chose to answer this question instead of leaving it to Din.

“It was just time for us to get out. With all the jobs I’ve had in the world I’ve listened to my gut about when it was time to seek out something else. Din trusted me enough that when I said the Marines wasn’t the right career for us anymore that he put in to leave when I did. A few months after we left we got word that a lot of our unit had been badly injured in an ambush masquerading as a rescue mission.” You shifted your hair from one side to the other and kept eye contact with Mr. McKenna, who let out a sigh through his nose and nodded. Nothing else needed to be said about that.

After that it lightened up. You felt at ease answering his questions; he didn’t seem as intimidating as you initially thought him to be, and the interview eventually flowed more like a friendly conversation than a job interview. You all even laughed about things! Maybe it was the fact that the three of you could bond over your military backgrounds (Quinn as he insisted on being called after the third time he was referred to as Mr. McKenna, was a Ranger Captain), or maybe it was because of the way that Quinn looked at you differently than he’d look at Din. You didn’t have time to put your finger on what kind of look it was exactly before a young boy came walking out of a nearby hallway but it certainly warmed you all over. It was nice to talk so freely with another man besides Din too, someone else who understood.

Din’s face lit up as he saw him, and you couldn’t help but smile as he exclaimed, “Oh hey, little man! Is that Rory?” He asked as he turned to Quinn with a bright smile.

“Yup,” Quinn responded, the corners of his eyes crinkling as he gestured for Rory to sit beside him. He ruffled Rory’s hair and pointed in yours and Din’s direction to introduce you to him. “These might be your new nannies, whaddya think of that, bud?”

Din held his fist out for Rory to bump and you shook the little guy’s hand in a greeting, smiling widely at how cute he was. You glanced up at Quinn as Din and Rory exchanged a few words, already acting like they were the best of friends. Quinn was obviously very protective of his son, happily watching the exchange, but you could tell he was watching closely to see how Din would get along with him. Din was being his usual self around children, boisterous but at a respectful volume, which was so different from how he was around most new people. You laughed at a stupid joke Din made which made Rory smile before running your hands through your hair again. Your eyes were pulled towards Quinn in soft glances and you noticed when he glanced at you as well, carefully timed to when you were listening to Rory talk about what he liked to do and how he liked things to be.

Before your eyes could meet Quinn’s and you could really analyze those glances, you heard Rory mention something about a fight.

“I’m sorry sweetheart what did you say?”  Quinn looked at Rory, stunned and then at the two of you.

“Now hang on buddy I don’t-“ His father started but Rory kept going anyway. He was definitely determined and had been waiting to say this.

“I wanna see you guys fight, you know, see who’s better. And the winner can fight my dad! If you can beat my Dad or just hold your own you’re definitely good enough to be my nanny.” The sweet faced little boy was so succinct about his needs that you laughed a little incredulously but with no small amount of humor.

“You know what you want sweetheart I’ll give you that,” you said with a grin and shrug to Quinn and Din. “I’m game, but we probably shouldn’t swing to really hurt each other. Do you have boxing gloves maybe or we could do more Jiu Jitsu and grapple rather than throw punches.”

“Yeah no, no real hits. But if the little man wants to see a fight he’s gonna get a fight.” Din was already standing, making to take off his nice jacket and you were following suit when Quinn stood and waved his hands. Jesus-his hands were huge. How had you not noticed that yet?

“Hang on hang on,” he said looking at the pair of you, both paused with your jackets pooled at your elbows.

“But Daaaaad,” Rory whined, looking up at him.

Quinn raised a brow at his son before smirking and letting out a small chuckle. “You guys shouldn’t fight…” He grinned at Rory before adding, “...in the house.”

[dahliawolfe]

In the Line of Duty

Pairings: Dean Wichester/ Dallas Rayne (OFC)

The woman’s scream bouncing off of the corrugated steel walls was nearly deafening. Dallas scowled and took a tighter grip on her Sig and picked up her pace. Her footfalls were nearly silent as she traversed the dark warehouse. She was well trained. The stench of filth fills her nose, almost gagging her. Squatters have definitely claimed this place.

“They’re probably all dead now,” she thinks bitterly.

She quickly reaches her left hand down to reassure herself that her throwing knife was on her thigh. She’ll need it for the Crocotta. Nasty son of a bitch. He’d been taking young women for months before they found him. He chose the vulnerable; the women who were looking for comfort. These women had lost someone dear to them. And the Crocotta preyed on that. He mimicked their voices, luring his victims in and slaughtering them. It honestly made Dallas sick. She’d lost more than most, and she knew that she still had the bleeding wounds on her heart to prove it.

She knows that Sam and Dean have her covered, but there’s always that small tendril of fear that sneaks up her spine and wraps around her heart. She’s going after a literal monster, after all. She finally comes into the loading bay of the warehouse and spots her target. His back is to her. Perfect. That’s exactly the position she needs him to be in. She silently unsnaps the button of her knife sheath and tucks her gun in her waistband. She slides the blade free and tests the weight in her palm. It’s familiar. Comforting almost. From the corner of her eye, she spots Sam emerging from the shadows. His gun is drawn, and he’s ready to do what needs to be done. Dallas has the best skills with knives, so it was decided that if it was at all possible, she’d throw the blade at the Crocotta, hopefully killing it immediately.

 And all of that flies right out the window when the woman spots her. That’s when shit hits the fan.

“Please! Help me!” she shrieks, alerting her captor that they are not alone. The Crocotta hasn’t maintained its human form as well as Dallas is used to. Its sharp teeth are glinting in the lone light bulb hanging from the ceiling. Its jaw is unhinged, and its features have twisted themselves into more beast than human. He turns with supernatural speed, and Dallas loses her shot. It looks like she’ll just have to dive right in. She lunges, swiping at the creature. Sam is close behind.

Dallas throws the entirety of her body weight at the creature, knocking it back. Sam is quick to pull her to her feet and take aim. The gunshot won’t kill the creature, but it might by them some time. Time enough for Dean to get the woman out before it gets too bloody in there. Dean swoops in from behind, as if reading Dallas’s mind and yanks the woman to her feet, pulling her to the exit, sparing a backwards glance at Dallas before hurrying into the darkness.

“Dallas! Look out!” Sam shouts as he’s thrown across the room. But Dallas doesn’t have time to look out. Because before she can get her bearings, the creature is on her, clamping its vicious mouth around her arm.

“Fuck!” she hisses, slashing at the creature’s eyes with her blade. The creature immediately hisses and recoils. Blood all but spurts out of Dallas’s arm, but she doesn’t really have time to worry about that right now. She steels herself and strikes, her aim true. Her hips rotate with the entirety of her momentum behind the knife. It plunges into the creature’s spine, and he goes limp. He twitches a few times before falling completely to the floor. Dallas pulls her knife from his neck and runs to Sam’s side.

“Sam!” she exclaims, dropping to her knees next to him. He seems dazed, but overall, unhurt. He blinks up at her.

“You get him?” he asks groggily.

“Yeah. He’s dead.” Dallas stands to help Sam to his feet, and that’s when the wave of dizziness sweeps over her. “Oh, fuck,” she moans as her legs crumple under her and she hits the concrete.

“Fuck, Dallas!” Sam exclaims, stooping beside her.

He scoops her head up with one hand, studying her face. “Dallas, come on, wake up.” He gently pats her cheek.

“Dean!” he bellows. Dean is going to kill him. He’d let Dallas get hurt, and that was Dean’s number one rule; don’t let anything happen to Dallas. And he’d fucked that all up. 

Dean is making his way back inside when he hears Sam shout for him. His gut twists, and he takes off at a full run. Something is wrong, and he has to get to Sammy and Dallas. He slides through the doorway, and his heart stops when he sees Sam leaning over Dallas.

“Sam?!” he demands, rushing over and dropping down by Dallas.

“She…It bit her, I think,” Sam rushes to say, applying pressure to Dallas’ wounds.

“Dammit, Sammy. Go get the car!”

Dean takes Dallas in his arms, hoisting her up before looking down at her.

“Don’t you fucking do it, Dallas. You stay the fuck awake, Baby.”

“D-dean?” Dallas mumbles, huddling closer to him.

“That’s right, Kid. It’s me. What the fuck were you thinking? Huh?! Rushing in there!” Dallas gives him a tired smile.

“All in the line of duty, Deano,” she cracks, before her head lolls back onto his arm.

“Dallas!”

…

They’ve stitched her up and cleaned her wounds the best they can. But she lost a lot of blood. And she’s still unconscious. And Dean is a wreck. He’d kicked Sam out of the room after they finished bandaging her, and now the older brother sat beside the sagging hotel mattress, holding the hand of the woman that he’s been in love with for damn near five years. Tears drip down his cheeks, unbidden, and he hangs his head. He’s lost too many people. He can’t bare to lose her too.

Dallas wakes up laying on a hard mattress covered in scratchy sheets. She stretches, and feels the pressure on her hand. Dean is sitting in the chair by her bed, his head resting on his arms, his hand wrapped around hers. He’s sleeping, and his breath gently makes his chest rise and fall. He was handsome. There was no denying that. His golden hair and skin and his apple green eyes made him seem almost otherworldly… At least to Dallas anyway. She’s been in love with him as long as she could remember. But he only sees her as a sister. And she knows that he’s ruined her for anybody else. He’s the ultimate gentlemen. He takes care of Dallas better than anybody else ever has. Dallas itches to touch his hair, but as she tries to lift her other arm to do so, it pulls painfully, and she grimaces. She must make a noise, because Dean sleepily raises his head.

“Dallas?” he asks tiredly.

“Hey, are you ok? What about Sam?” Dean gives her a grin.

“Don’t worry about us, Baby girl. How do you feel?”

“Tired. And sore.”

“He got you pretty good. But you got him worse.” Dean kisses her knuckles. “You scared me,” he admits quietly.

“I know. I’m sorry.” There’s a beat of silence before Dean speaks again.

“I couldn’t stand it if I’d lost you.” He strokes her hair back and looks into her eyes.

Feeling bolder than she ever has before, Dallas leans up, kissing Dean squarely on the lips. She expects him to pull away, but he leans in, deepening the kiss. When they eventually break apart, coming up for air, Dean beams down at her.

“Where the hell did that come from?” he asks, a smile tinting his tone.

“I��I’ve kinda wanted to do that since, well, since forever, pretty much.”

“Oh, yeah? And why did you make me wait so long?” he teases.

“You…Wait. You wanted to kiss me too?” she asks confused.

“For a long damn time,” he replies, sliding into bed beside her.

“Well, then you should have done it yourself, Doofus.”

“Hmm. Maybe I will,” he hums, leaning down to kiss her again.

…

1 month later

The door slams open with the force of two bodies bursting through it. Dean’s lips are attached to Dallas’ neck, and she is clawing at his shirt, trying to remove it. She’s burning up, desperately needing to feel more of his skin. Dean tosses her on the bed, throwing the door shut against its frame. He’s back on Dallas before she can catch her breath.

“Fuck…Off,” she breathes, pushing at his pants. Above her, he chuckles.

“Patience is a virtue, Ms. Rayne,” he teases, undoing his belt anyway.

“Fuck patience. Fuck me, Dean!” She tugs harshly at the button on her own jeans, raising her hips up in the hopes of getting what her body is craving. Dean obliges, grinding his own hips against her core as he removes his flannel and tee.

Clothes fly across the room. Dean dips down between Dallas’ legs, sucking on the skin of her thighs.

“Fuck, Baby. I’d love to taste you, but I’ve got to be in you,” he growls, taking up his position with her legs straddling his hips.

“Yes, Dean. Please,” she begs breathlessly. Dean slides in in one smooth motion, setting a steady rhythm.

Bracketing himself over her, Dean reads Dallas’ face, taking note of every expression. Every trace of pleasure that he’s giving her, almost as if it’s the last time he’ll see it.

He dips his head down, tasting the moans on her lips. He never wants the moment to end. His pace is graceful, and smooth, hitting just the right spots, and making Dallas writhe in pleasure.

“Look at me, Baby. Let me see those eyes,” he demands. Her eyes spring open, amber meeting emerald in an intensity that Dean has never experienced before. He knows before he does it that him playing with her clit is going to make her spring apart, but dammit, that’s what he wants. More than anything in the world right now. Is for her to come around him. To draw him in as far as he’ll go and get the release that her body is begging him for.

“Dean!” she shouts as she comes untethered. Her nails rake down his back as her own back bows off of the bed. He eases her through her orgasm before chasing his.

After he’s finished, Dean stays seated inside Dallas for a few moments. He strokes her hair back and kisses her forehead as he gazes at her. Her eyes are bright with ecstasy, and her body is loose and warm. Finally, he pulls himself from her body, raking his hair back and falling into bed beside her.

Dallas curls up in Dean’s arms, intertwining her fingers with his, and kissing his chest. For now, they’re both content.

But they both know that another hunt is always around the corner.

As long as they have each other, they’ll be fine.

word count: 1885

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Chapter 9: Tinsel on the Awnings

“No, no,” said Caleb, reaching for his pencil. “You have to account for Reichden’s Law of Opposing Forces. Otherwise you will just make the lightning even worse. Here, the glyph should look like this.”

Fjord, on his stool across the library counter, sighed. “I knew there was something wrong. I guess I just couldn’t put my finger on it.”

Caleb hummed his agreement as he worked. “No offense meant, but I am surprised you would make this mistake. It is...Spellcasting 101, you might say. Did your teachers never show this to you before?”

“Er, no,” Fjord admitted. “But I’ve also never exactly taken a magic class before, so I guess it makes sense that I’d fuck up like this.”

“You’ve…” Caleb’s hand paused over the page. “You’ve never been taught this in a formal setting?”

Fjord shrugged. “Is that hard to believe? I mean, you know how shitty I am at this. You’ve watched me fuck up for two weeks, now.”

“Yes," Caleb blinked, "but…to be perfectly honest, I thought you would at least know the basics. After all, Fjord, I saw you do magic that night at the Moondrop. You have arcane capabilities, you cast spells that I could not even name.”

Something flickered behind Fjord's eyes, but he tamped it down quickly. “Well…yeah,” he said slowly. “But that’s, um…”

He sighed and leaned in, lowering his voice. “Caleb, I’ve never really talked about this before, not even with Jes. So, you’ve gotta promise me that you’ll be discrete, alright?”

Caleb raised an eyebrow, but nodded. “Ja, okay. Sure.”

Fjord took a deep breath. “I, um…I’ve never actually learned magic before. And those spells you saw…I don’t think they were the wizardly kind—”

“—they certainly did not appear to be—”

“—right. So, what I’m saying is, I think my powers are...I didn't get 'em out of books. I just sorta…wish really hard for something to happen, and then it does. Is that, is that weird? Is that normal?”

Caleb suddenly burst into laughter, catching Fjord completely by surprise. “I just spilled my guts out there a bit,” he said with mild reproach. “Was there something funny about it?”

Caleb wiped at the corner of his eyes and shook his head. “Nein, no, well…maybe a little bit funny. Oh, you should have told me that in the first place! Now I understand.”

He met Fjord’s bewildered gaze and smiled faintly. “You are just a sorcerer, Fjord. There is nothing wrong with that. Your abilities are inborn, and natural to you.” Then he waved his hand dismissively over their notes, and the rough sketches of arcane symbols and circles across the pages. “You do not need any of this, my friend. You just need to practice your own skills. Mein gott, I cannot believe I was trying to teach magic to a sorcerer.”

Fjord found himself grinning as well, despite his confusion. “Oh,” he said. “Oh, uh…I didn’t realize there was somethin’ different about…uh…wait, are you sayin’ that your magic isn’t coming from you?”

“Oh, of course not,” Caleb chuckled. “I channel the raw arcana that exists in this world around us, in every living thing, in every thought and idea and emotion and et cetera. That is what all this chicken-scratch is,” he added, pointing at the notes. “But you get your magic from yourself. Whether it be because your ancestors were cursed, or blessed, or maybe one of them was a dragon, I don’t know, were your parents dragons, by any chance?”

Fjord’s smile faded slightly. “Uh…probably not,” he said. “I never, uh, knew them.”

Caleb’s jovial air immediately vanished. “Scheiss,” he said, “I am sorry. That was tasteless—”

Fjord shook his head. “No, no, don’t worry about it. But, uh…just checking, are those the only kinds of people who do magic? There aren’t, I dunno, there aren’t any individuals who just kind of picked it up along the way, or maybe they found something that granted them powers, or anything? It’s, it’s great to know I’m a sorcerer, that’s so cool, but you know, since we’re on the subject, is there anything…else?”

“Oh, ja, there are all sorts out there in the world. Warlocks, most of them, who tie themselves to unspeakable evils in exchange for a bit of power, sure.”

“Oh,” Fjord squeaked. “Uh…unspeakable evils, huh?”

Caleb shrugged. “Well, not always evil. Sometimes they’re gods, or they’re wandering spirits with nothing better to do. But I was always taught that more often than not, otherworldly patrons have otherworldly agendas that usually spell disaster. Then again, I was taught many things that today, I do not necessarily agree with.”

Caleb picked up his pencil again, and nodded to Fjord. “Now that we have established my uselessness as a magical tutor, then, perhaps we should spend the next hour on something else.”

“What?” Fjord asked, jolting out of his daze.

“What else do you need assistance with?” Caleb repeated. “Jester stopped by a few days ago asking about the Ratio Test, and your study guide says it will be on the final exam soon. Would you like to go over that?”

Fjord blinked, and then nodded quickly and reached for his math binder. “Yeah, yeah, sure,” he said. “Yeah, that’d be great.”

"How do you feel, so far? Do you understand it?"

Fjord rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "Uh...actually, I kind of don't. Sorry, I really haven't had time to study lately, what with all the craziness at work, and everythin' that goes into moving apartments."

“No worries, I am here to help. That is what you are, under my protest, paying me for, yes?”

“Gods, Caleb, I’m not gonna extort free labor from you. Not even if you insist.”

“I told you, it was more than enough for you advertise my services to your classmates. I am fully booked for this week, Fjord! That is…truly, that is an incredible gift you have given me.”

Fjord grinned. “Don't thank me, thank reading week," he said. "But, I mean...yeah. Of course. That’s what friends are for, right?”

Caleb chuckled softly. “You know, Jester has been sneaking envelopes of cash into my bags before she leaves from her lessons as well, now. Do you…do you have anything to do with that?”

“I dunno,” Fjord said, though it sounded like he did. “It doesn’t ring a bell.”

Caleb snorted. “I still haven’t figured out what rate she is paying me,” he said. “Sometimes it looks like ten cents an hour, sometimes thirty dollars. Does she understand how much money is worth?”

Fjord sighed, and flipped open to his notes. “I’ve seen the size of her trust fund,” he said. “She hasn’t got a clue.”

“Well,” Caleb said, reaching for his own papers, “let us hope she never has to learn.”

•

At this time of year, the Pentamarket Square was in full holiday swing. Storefronts burst with gold and silver lights, tinsel glittered along the awnings, and colorful wreaths adorned their doors. The usual wide tents of the street vendors had been replaced with wooden booths, their four walls covered in more sparkling lights, and their space heaters spilling warmth over the open counters and into the brisk winter air. Children wrapped in parkas and woolen hats ran through the cobbled plaza, and young couples window-shopped hand-in-hand. Cheery music played from a number of outdoor speakers, and the smell of hot baked goods, wisps of cinnamon, sugar, and chocolate syrup, drifted up and over the crowd.

This was the Winter Market, and it would last up until the week after New Dawn.

Nott the Brave, skipping cheerfully through the crowd at knee-height, was here to take advantage of that. Her pockets were already rather heavier than they had been this morning.

But just as she spotted a particularly promising-looking old woman with a shiny polished cane, she heard something that made her stop dead in her tracks and look around wildly.

“—ah, you look like someone who’d like to know their future, how about it? No? Well then, how about you, miss? Yes, I can see you’ve got something very important happening soon! What’s that? Well, you’d have to sit down for a reading to find out, eh?”

Nott immediately abandoned her search for loose wallets and jewelry and began shoving her way through, weaving around legs and ducking under shopping bags, until she arrived at a tented stall selling warm apple cider.

Next to it, sitting cross-legged on a thick, navy-blue carpet, was none other than Mollymauk Tealeaf himself. He was wearing his full makeup, glittering eyeshadow and all, and had his crimson performer’s coat on. A white cardboard sign by his knee read, FORTUNES TOLD FOR GENEROUS TIPPERS, and he was shuffling a thick stack of blue-and-gold cards between his fingers as he beamed widely at passing shoppers, winked to small children, even tipped an imaginary hat to an old woman walking by.

And then he caught sight of Nott, her face poking out from behind a young couple’s shins. His eyebrows shot up, and he smirked all the way until she had finally managed to throw herself onto his carpet, the small rectangular island of peace in this sea of people.

“Well, well, well,” Molly grinned, setting his cards aside and gesturing for her to sit. “Look at what the cat dragged in! Nott the Brave, how are you, dear?”

Nott took the seat opposite him. “I’m fine, I guess, but what’s up with you? Why are you here?”

Molly shrugged. “It’s the holiday season, dear. No better time for attracting customers! Well, it’s not quite as good as Midsummer or Merryfrond’s Day, or Harvest’s Close, but it’s best you can do in the winter, eh?”

“Winter sucks,” Nott grumbled. “Aren’t you freezing, out here? Most people bundle up so much there’s nothing I can pickpocket.”

Molly snorted. “Is that why you’re here?” he asked.

Nott crossed her arms. “You can’t prove anything,” she said. “But seriously, isn’t it cold? You’re going to get sick.”

“I won’t,” he reassured her, “tieflings run hot.”

“You’re not running now. How is that supposed to help?”

Molly opened his mouth as if to respond, then paused, and sighed. “Nevermind, dear. But hey, since you’re already here, how about a reading? I’d be willing to do it free of charge, for a friend as delightful as you.”

Nott rubbed her chin. “Are we even friends? I mean, I know we hang out with the same people, I think, but the two of us have never exactly…bonded.”

Molly waved a hand dismissively. “Let’s make this our bonding experience, then! Let me read your fortune.”

She responded with a suspicious glare. “This isn’t your way of buttering me up because you want to get to Caleb, is it?”

Molly lowered his hand. “Of course not!” he said. “But, er, he hasn’t mentioned me at all, has he? It’s been a couple weeks but, uh, I was just curious,” he added hastily.

“Ha! I knew it.”

“Come on, Nott, you can’t blame me for just asking. Besides, I am genuinely invested in getting to know you, now. Jester likes you plenty, and Yasha seems to have taken a shine to you, and you insult Beau just as much as I do, so really, we’re just best friends waiting to happen.”

She eyed him over carefully. Then she sighed and nodded. “Alright, alright, performer boy—”

“—mmm, not boy.”

“Performer person?”

“That’s sort of better—”

“Performer fey-being?”

“...sure, alright. Yeah, let's go with that.”

Nott nodded and leaned in. “Show me what you’ve got.”

Molly deftly scooped his cards back up and began to toss them from hand to hand, effortlessly forming a gleaming bridge between his fingers. He laughed cheekily as Nott rolled her eyes at the extravagance of it all. Then he made a few more passes, flicked his wrist elegantly, and let three cards fall onto the carpet between them. They landed face-down, lined up evenly next to one another, and Nott genuinely couldn’t tell if that was dumb luck, or pure skill.

“Would you like to flip them over yourself?” he asked generously.

“Why?” she asked. “Is that part of the trick?”

Molly scoffed. “It’s not a trick. It’s fortune-telling.”

Nott raised her eyebrow. “I’ll be the judge of that.”

•

“Hey, Beau?” Jester asked, lowering her magazine. “I know I don’t usually ask about this kind of stuff, but…shouldn’t you be looking for a job?”

Beau, who had been furiously doing chin-ups on a rod jammed into the doorway leading into the living room, paused. Arms raised, bare feet brushing the ground, she gave Jester a suspicious look.

“Why’re you so interested, all of a sudden?” she asked. “You’re not worried about money, are you?”

“No, no,” Jester said, and set aside her issue of Iva’s Secrets. “Well, okay, kind of a little bit. But I’m worried about your money. What are you going to do when I move out? Are, are you going to, to find a super-rich roommate, or something?”

Beau dropped off the bar and sighed. “It’s sort of a long story, but I don’t really…I’m actually good, financially speaking.”

Jester blinked. “Good? What do you mean by that?”

“I just mean…it’s not a concern. I found a way to get cash.” She leaned against the wall and crossed her arms. “It’s not even illegal, so don’t worry about that either.”

“You just found some way to make money like that, not illegally, where you don’t have to work for it?”

“Yup.”

Jester considered this. Then she reached for her magazine and nodded. “You should write an article or something about that for Iva. That sounds just like the sort of thing that she likes to put on the cover.”

“I’m really concerned about what that rag is teaching you, Jes.”

“I’m not.”

Beau snorted. “Fair enough,” she said. Then she added, under her breath, “It wouldn’t really work for everyone, anyways.”

•

“—and then I told him that his fortunes aren’t right, because I’ve never even owned that many swords before.”

Caleb paused in his whiteboard calculations, bit the end of his dry-erase marker, and stared at Nott. She was sitting at the edge of the kitchen table, swinging her legs off the side and peacefully decimating family-sized pack of chips.

“Are you…aware of how tarot cards work?” he asked slowly.

She waved a hand dismissively, sending Xtreme BBQ flavoring scattering through the ar. “Not really. But I also wasn’t paying too much attention, because while he was talking, I saw a woman passing by with some really nice buttons, so I was busy trying to Mage Hand them off of her.”

“Ah,” Caleb said weakly. “I see. And did you get those buttons that you wanted?”

She beamed, wiped her hand off, and fished around in her hoodie. She produced three glittering, gold baubles the size of her fingernails.

“Got ‘em. Look, look, they’re in the shapes of flowers, I think.”

Caleb did not in fact look very closely, but his slightly-weary, mildly-amused smile was good enough for Nott.

“How’s the accountant stuff going?” she asked after the buttons had been safely stowed back into her pockets. “Are we looking good for the month?”

“More than good,” Caleb grinned, and swiveled the whiteboard around for her to see. “We are looking the best that we ever had, spatz, thanks to Fjord and Jester for getting their classmates to hire me. Movie night tomorrow will go off without a hitch, I am sure. We even have money for extra pizzas! We can even go to a bookstore, can you imagine?”

“I can,” Nott said happily. “I can imagine it real well. Thanks, Caleb.”

He scoffed. “Do not thank me, I am just riding on a wave of good luck and kind people.”

“No, no,” Nott shook her head. “I meant, thanks for keeping me around. And for, um, buying me stuff, and letting me live here. And for not kicking me out even though you’re rich now.”

“I am not rich, far from it,” he laughed. “But…” he added in a more somber tone, “well, of course. Of course. It is a pleasure and an honor that you are my friend, and I wouldn’t exchange that for anything else.”

Nott cracked a small smile. “Thanks, Caleb,” she said. “I wouldn’t, either. Here, have some chips.”

After that lull in the conversation, he went back to checking over his math, then set on memorizing the contents of their budget. But just as the thought crossed his mind that, actually, I could just buy paper now to do this on, there was a loud cough from across the table. He looked up, and saw and Nott eyeing him over nervously, the snacks discarded at her side.

“Er…yes?” He blinked a few times. “Is everything alright?”

Nott sighed, and pulled out her phone. “That depends,” she said, and handed it over to Caleb. “That depends on whether or not you’d be willing to ask a specific purple bastard out for some more coffee.”

Caleb lowered his marker and frowned. “Er…what?” he asked.

She rolled her eyes. “When was the last time you spoke to Molly?” she asked. “Alone I mean, not at movie night. I know you don’t use your phone, and I bet you haven’t gone out together since.”

“Well, no,” Caleb frowned, “I have not. But…do I need to?”

“Didn’t you have fun on your last coffee-not-a-date?”

“Yes? I did?”

“So don’t you want to do it again?”

Caleb hesitated. He fidgeted with his marker. “No? Er…yes. Wait, no, that’s…” He sighed, and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Yes, I had fun,” he said. “But that does not mean…that does not mean I want to ask Molly to do it once more. I mean, what reason would we even have to meet up? He does not have any of my possessions, at the moment, and I do not have any of his.”

Nott stared at him incredulously. “Caleb…you don’t need an excuse to see him.”

He bit his lip. “Yes, I do.”

“What? Why’s that?”

Caleb sighed, and put his forehead against the kitchen table. “I…I can’t just ask him. He’s probably busy, and probably has much better things to do.”

“Now, that’s just a lie,” Nott countered. “Both of us know pretty well that he’s been bored out of his mind ever since the Moondrop shut down.”

“Ja, alright, but he would probably be offended if I asked him to coffee out of pity.”

“But it’s not out of pity, it’s because you’re friends and you want to hang out!”

“Are we…friends?”

Nott leaned over, and prodded Caleb between the eyes. “You won’t be for long, if you keep avoiding him! Come on, it’s easy! Just pick up the phone, ask him if he’s busy. I don’t know why you’re so freaked out.”

Caleb considered this. He thought about telling the truth, telling Nott that he couldn’t do it, that he was afraid to ask, that if he initiated things, then he would be acknowledging his own feelings, that he would be indulging in something he shouldn’t, that he would be making things real, that he didn’t deserve this happiness, and that worst of all, above everything else, he would be betraying her—

But then he thought about how much he didn’t want to say any of that. He thought about how excited Nott was for him, how supportive she had become, and really, how nervous and excited and elated he felt at the prospect of seeing…

Caleb sighed, and reached for Nott’s cell phone.

“Fine, fine. But you’re going to help me compose the message, spatz. I…I really don’t remember how to do this sort of thing.”

Nott grinned. “Oh, I know exactly what to do! I’ve been reading that magazine Jester showed me, ever since you got back from the last date."

“You’ve-wait, what?”

“Shhh. Don’t worry about it. Okay now, type this out—”

•

Today 6:22PM

Nott TB: good evening Mister Mollymauk Nott TB: it has been some time since we last spoke Nott TB: how are you doing? Molly Tealeaf: … Molly Tealeaf: nott what the fuck Molly Tealeaf: I just saw you today Molly Tealeaf: why are you talking like that

Molly, sprawled across his bed and back in his silk pajamas—at six in the evening, no less—watched the tiny dots appear at the bottom of his phone. He had a glass of wine in one hand, and an appropriately bewildered expression across his face.

Nott TB: schmid Nott TB: *scheiss Nott TB: I am so sorry this is Caleb, actually Nott TB: sorry

Molly spat his wine out. He practically threw the glass onto the nightstand in an effort to free both his thumbs.

Molly Tealeaf: CALEB Molly Tealeaf: GODS I THOUGHT THIS WAS NOTT Molly Tealeaf: CALEB???

There was a brief pause. And then the words:

Nott TB: yes, caleb Nott TB: Caleb Widogast? We went on that double date once Nott TB: and we fought a really big toad together a couple weeks ago Nott TB: I think you told nott a fortune this morning, I am her roommate

Molly snorted, and shook his head.

Molly Tealeaf: yes yes dear I know who you are! Molly Tealeaf: I was just surprised!! Molly Tealeaf: I didn’t think you knew how to text

Another pause.

Nott TB: nott says that youre joking and also that this is a common theme in our group chats Molly Tealeaf: shes absolutely correct Molly Tealeaf: now, how have YOU been? and how can I help you?’

Molly was not too proud to admit that he waited, with baited breath, for the answer.

Nott TB: oh Nott TB: actually I have been well Nott TB: and I was wondering Nott TB: if you were free any time this week? Nott TB: id like to get some coffee together, if you also would Nott TB: my treat this time

Molly felt his soul burst into song.

Molly Tealeaf: that sounds lovely!! Molly Tealeaf: and I would never say no to such a gentleman Molly Tealeaf: Wednesday or Thursday works for me! Nott TB: thursday it is

Then there was a long pause, and the “…” icon appeared on the screen for almost a minute, before one last text came through.

Nott TB: I have missed spending time with you Nott TB: see you then.

Then this was followed by another message.

Nott TB: im back Nott TB: I hope your happy Nott TB: im deleting this conversation off my phone

Molly rolled his eyes, and waited a few more beats, just in case there was more on the way. When nothing else happened, he sighed deeply, screenshotted the entire exchange—for posterity’s sake. Then got up and waltzed out into the kitchen for more wine.

As he closed the refrigerator door, his eye caught the calendar that Fjord had hung up ten months ago. They had used it for about a week, before promptly abandoning it in favor of never knowing what day it was.

He flipped all the way to the last page, and found at this coming Thursday.

Soon.

•

“Oh, but then he confesses his love for her!” Jester sighed, leaning flush against the brick wall behind their building and pressing a hand to her forehead. “He tells her that no matter what, he would stay true to her forever, and then she starts crying because no man has ever been that open and loving to her in her entire life!”

“Uh-huh,” Beau mumbled. She was only half-listening to Jester’s account of Guard of My Heart, instead directing most of her energy towards trying to open the lid of the dumpster—which had sealed itself shut with a thin layer of frozen trash slime—as fast as possible, so they could get back inside. The weather forecast had predicted heavy snowfall tonight.

“But then in the second act, her family finds out about it!” Jester continued. “And of course they don’t approve, she’s a high-ranking member of the Crownsguard! And he’s only a lowly butler, but they’re so in love, and—”

“Uh-huh,” Beau muttered. She had almost lost her thumb to jagged ice, and was now trying to figure out a different angle of attack.

“Beau, are you even listening?” Jester asked, crossing her arms. “You just cut me off.”

“Uh-huh. Sure.” Maybe if she wedged a stick under the hinges, yes, that could work—

“Beau! Beauuuuuu, are you sure you’re listening?”

“Yeah, yeah, Jester, their…families suck?”

“Oh. Oh, you were paying attention! Right, okay, so, basically what happens next is that her dad forces him to a duel for her favor, and the conditions are that he has to duel a member of their family. And that sucks, because all of them are such badasses, you know? But then, oh my gosh, I didn’t even see this coming, she’s also in the family! And so now it’s two lovers forced to fight, one to prove his love and one to defend hers, and…”

Beau finally gave up, and took a deep breath, and slammed her shoulder as hard as she could into the tiny gap between the top of the lid and the dumpster itself. It flew open, leaving a rank trail of festering garbage-stink through the air as it went, and Beau was so relieved that she almost immediately threw the trash bag over the edge to call it a day.

But she didn’t.

Which was fortunate, because if not for that split second of hesitation, if not for the quick pause she had afforded this errand, Beau would have completely missed the tiny black bundle huddled in the corner of the bin, draped in dirty, wet fabric, and shivering in the cold.

She dropped the garbage bag onto the pavement. She threw her face closer to take a better look, ignoring the smell.

“What’s wrong?” Jester asked, and joined her at the edge of the dumpster. “What is it?”

“Do you see that?” Beau asked. “I…I can’t really see in the dark, but…there’s something in here? I think it’s moving?”

Jester peered in. “Ugh, it's so gross, what are—”

Her eyes, glowing a faint purple and built for low light, immediately latched on to what Beau was talking about.

“Oh, shit,” Jester breathed. “Oh my gods, what should we do?”

•

TUSK LOVE 2: ELECTRIC BOOGALOO Today 7:09PM

(ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*: heyyyyyyyyyy guys? (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*: uh (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*: I think maybe whoever is free right now might want to come over (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*: beau and i sort of found something???? (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*: and we need a little help Lavender Thunder: of course, I’ll come now Lavender Thunder: what kind of help? NottSoBrave: and what kind of something??? Seaman: fuck, im at work Jes Seaman: is everything alright? Drunkmonk: we're fine but like Drunkmonk: just Dunkmonk: you have to come and see alright? we don’t know what the fuck to do NottSoBrave: caleb says “don’t worry” NottSoBrave: caleb says “we’re on the way”

Today 7:14PM

NottSoBrave: caleb says “help we don’t have a car” DrunkMonk: good gods Lavender Thunder: im stealing Fjord’s station wagon, i’ll get you two NottSoBrave: caleb says “tell Molly I said thanks” Lavender Thunder: (o^-')b Lavender Thunder: be there in a flash

• • •

💚 ☕ ☕ 💚

[merriecana]

Serial Cheater

[Human!AU DenNor and DenSpa Warning: Cheating Word Count: Rating: PG (Language)--This is a two part series, the second part will be rated M (; ]

I’m not sure you want to do this, Sig. Like look you don’t deserve to do this to yourself…

             Sigve’s phone lit up, drawing his attention away from the uncharacteristically silent movie night he and Mikkel were having. His brows knit slightly as he skimmed the text from his coworker, his stomach flipped a moment later when his phone buzzed again.

If I didn’t think this was necessary I wouldn’t have texted you. Give me his number.

I’m not sure you want to do this, Sig. Like look you don’t deserve to do this to yourself…

            Sigve’s phone lit up, drawing his attention away from the uncharacteristically silent movie night he and Mikkel were having. His brows knit slightly as he skimmed the text from his coworker, his stomach flipped a moment later when his phone buzzed again.

Don’t just leave me on read lmao

             He gave a soft snort then glanced over at Mikkel, who was watching The Lobster with rather intense concentration. Sigve found himself gazing fondly at the Dane, a fondness that was almost painful. He uncrossed his legs which were propped against the coffee table and shifted them into his boyfriend’s lap. Momentarily confused, Mikkel gave him a sideways glance then set about massaging Sigve’s foot through the thick wool socks he was wearing. Sucking in a deep breath, Sigve reveled in the normalcy of the moment before unlocking his phone and typing out his response.

If I didn’t think this was necessary I wouldn’t have texted you. Give me his number.              A few minutes passed and Sigve let the movie take him away again. The way the people in the movie spoke was somewhat disconcerting upon first tuning in—constantly texting was definitely taking away from the atmosphere the filmmakers worked so hard to create, but this conversation felt so much more important. He became aware that Mikkel was looking at him after a few moments, his nerves were getting the better of him and he’d been shaking his foot in his boyfriend’s grip.

“Want me to stop?” Mikkel asked, his fingers digging into his tendon. “Mh-mhm…” Sigve gave him a soft smile. “You’re breaking your own rule, texting away on that thing,” he tossed his head towards his phone, “You doin’ alright, Sig? Something with work?”

             Well, the king of excuses picked out an excuse for him, so Sigve didn’t struggle to fabricate a story about how his buddies at work were trying to plan some office get together for later that month. It didn’t take much to make it work—Mikkel didn’t seem too interested to begin with. This had been a common theme. He’d try to talk about developments in his work relationships or just office drama but Mikkel refused to take the time to learn the names of the people he was talking about and he constantly forgot the details of the prior story so there was no point. His lack of curiosity stung. It seemed that he’d just lost interest with him as a whole…

             He was dragged from his self-pitying thoughts as his phone lit up again, this time with an attached contact. Toni Carriedo with the number attached. He flipped to his notes to compare the contact to the unsaved number that he’d pulled off of Mikkel’s phone. They were exactly the same. Sigve’s mouth went dry and his hands suddenly felt restless. He closed his phone and sat with his hands in his lap for a moment before staring at the TV, trying to find it in himself to get interested in the movie again.

             He wanted his feet out of Mikkel’s lap. He wanted to be anywhere else but on the couch with him, and the thought that he’d be sharing a bed with him tonight was just… It was too much. After forcing himself to sit still for a solid minute, he pulled his feet back to himself and tucked them tightly under him. His face was completely still, but he felt like something was shredding his insides. Sigve wasn’t typically a crier, and this little bump in the road wasn’t going to change that about him. But… God, did this hurt. He needed space.

             And with that he picked himself up and gave his boyfriend a tired smile and told him he was going to go shower then lay down; he was feeling sick.

             As he stood under the hot water of the shower he let his head fall limply. Staring at his feet, Sigve tried to understand. What had changed between the two of them? Had he done something wrong or was this just something inside of Mikkel? He couldn’t parse it apart.

             About a month ago, something in their 3-year relationship had changed. Mikkel switched his password on his phone and wouldn’t let Sigve in, which inherently hadn’t seemed like the worst thing in the world. Mikkel offered up some excuse that he’d read about the dangers of having someone know your codes on that snapchat, Mashable daily reading thing. Sigve had brushed it off. Then, Mikkel began to keep a closer hold on his phone.

             Once, Sigve found it on the counter and went to put on some music—only to remember that he didn’t know the code anymore. Just as he was setting it down, his startled boyfriend was there. Charming as ever, Mikkel spun up something about needing to make a phone call to someone, somewhere for work. Sigve had thought nothing of it at the time and willingly handed him his phone back.

             Then, their time together seemed to evaporate. Fewer dates, less time alone together, and far more alone time for Sigve. Mikkel always seemed to be out. He was working, going drinking with his friends, working late, getting more drinks, late night gym trips, he joined a cycling group… Nothing unusual for Mikkel, really. But it was just the combination of everything.

             Sigve didn’t snoop. He prided himself on this. As a partner, he felt that snooping and constant checking of your partner’s phone showed signs of an unhealthy relationship. After 3 weeks of minimal contact and a wild swing from over affection to almost none, Sigve found himself feeling in need of reassurance. So, he watched Mikkel unlock his phone one day and memorized the passcode.

             And if this story was a good one, Sigve would have forgotten about the code and had a direct conversation with Mikkel and addressed his issues. But that’s not what happened at all. Instead he found texts between Mikkel and some random number that spanned the past two months. At first, they started out platonic enough but the most recent ones were… Explicit to say the least. And there were photos. So many back and forths between the two men.

             Sigve hadn’t noticed when he had started crying, but his nostrils were pouring mucous and the steam wasn’t making breathing any easier. He could hardly feel where his tears ended and the water ended and he liked it that way. He shifted to lean against the wall and cried. He had stuffed his feelings down far enough that he had been able to ignore them but now they were all rushing to the surface. Every sign that Mikkel was acting different came back to him and the confusion and sadness that he’d forced himself to not feel were fresh as day. He was gasping at this point. The hot water was calming usually, but the steam was making it hard for him to breathe. Gasping and snotty, Sigve’s sobs ripped out of him silently, wracking his entire frame.

             The stupid man had him turned in knots. He loved him—it had been three years and Sigve was the happiest he’d ever been. Never in his life had he found someone who could make him smile quite like Mikkel. They’d known each other since they were children but it wasn’t until they were both out of college and in the working world that they realized they were in the same city. They met for coffee and the rest was history. It was the dream. It was perfect. It was wonderful…. In the beginning it was all Sigve could do to keep Mikkel. The world had so much to offer and while Sigve knew he wasn’t plain by any means, there was just so much out there. And keeping Mikkel tethered was like trying to tame a falcon: hard, but possible.

             The introduction of this Toni person had, seemingly thrown the balance. And Sigve couldn’t really blame Mikkel. He’d seen the photos. The man was gorgeous. Fit, trim, tall, tanned, handsome—with a smile much like Mikkel’s own. They could have met anywhere… The gym, a bar, work… Well, Sigve had suspicions it was through the bar Mikkel made a habit of going to. His coworker, Matthew, tended to drop by there with his sister every now and again and when Sigve gave the description of the man—Toni—Matthew knew who he was talking about immediately.

             He was making himself feel sick again. He needed to figure out what he was going to do.

 ------

             Confrontations always went smoother in public, right? That’s what Sigve tried to tell himself as his anxiety spiked. It was about ten minutes into waiting that he wished he’d kept his prescription for Xanax or that it was past 3PM so he wouldn’t feel quite so terrible being in public drunk. Not that drunk, mind you. Buzzed. Something to take the edge off so he wouldn’t feel quite so… terrible.

Every brunette to enter the café made his heartrate jump up about a hundred beats per minute. By the time the proper brunette walked into the café Sigve’s poor heart was about to give out. But the second he finally saw Toni he wished he could go back to waiting for the guy to show up. He’d texted him off Mikkel’s phone and asked him to meet him here and up until now he’d never seen the man in person. He could understand why Mikkel was fucking him, he gave off this electric energy and his features were stunning.

That being said, seeing his full figure only dredged up mental images of him and Mikkel fucking or whatever it was that they did. That was what sealed the deal. Sigve’s hands and feet felt cold as he stood. He clutched his cup of coffee in shaking hands and headed towards the table Toni had seated himself at as he tapped away on his phone. Sigve loomed beside him; Toni didn’t look up.

“Ah, give me a second I’m waiting for someone--,” He glanced up to see Sigve and gave him a confused smile when he realized he wasn’t staff. “Oh, uh, sorry can I help you?”              God dammit, even the way he speaks is beautiful. Sigve couldn’t help but compare Toni’s soft rolling of his r’s and tutting of his t’s to his own harsh r sounds and his morphing of t’s to d’s.

“Are you Toni Carriedo?” He felt totally numb, his brain was on auto-pilot. “Yes, I am. Antonio, but same difference. I’m sorry, do I know you?” Though he still looked confused he flashed a brilliant smile. Sigve sank into the chair across from him, earning an even more confused look. “I’m sorry, I have someone who’s coming…” He began.

             Sigve shook his head until Antonio fell silent, he was beginning to look antsy. Sigve stilled himself with a sip of coffee.

“Mikkie isn’t coming.” He used the pet name with little affection and the word felt like glass in his mouth. “I don’t need to hear anything from you I just… I need you to listen to me.”

“…Alright,” Antonio looked downright concerned at this point.

             Sigve sucked in a deep breath and set the coffee down on the table, his eyes trained on the stains near the rim of the cup. As he sighed it out, he felt like he was going to completely deflate. The chipper demeanor he’d been trying to sell fell away with that sigh and it lay in a heap on the ground at his feet. What was left, whatever little emotion he’d been able to knit together was all that was left.

“I don’t know,” he began, delicately licking his lips, “what it is you have with Mikkel Jensen. I don’t—I can’t know. But Antonio, this man has been the light of my life since I was a child. I… I am not a happy person. But he makes me happy. You are, I mean… You know. You wake up and see how you look. You know that you’ve got me beat in looks. You’re fit, you’re tall, you’re… You’re perfect. You could have any person man you ever wanted and all you’d have to do is pass them a wayward glance and… And they’d fall into your fucking lap.”

             Sigve’s voice was low but his gaze was steady as he looked at Antonio. After a moment he let his eyes drop.

“I can easily understand how you could… You could take him. You could have anyone, Antonio.” He coughed and cleared his throat before continuing on. “I don’t want to sound too melodramatic but, Mikkel is the love of my life. And I do not think—“ his voice cracked and he quickly adverted his gaze to the lid of his coffee as he paused. “I—I’m—,” Antonio began, stumbling with words with a pain in his eyes. “Please. Just let me finish.”        

             They sat in silence for a moment. The bustle of the café continued on around them, but the two men seated by the window seemed frozen against the chaos.

“I’m begging you, please don’t take him just because you know you can. If what you have is… If it’s something more than simple lust—I don’t… I can’t condone it. I’m having this talk with you Antonio, because… Because my happiness hinges on whatever you decide to do. Please. Don’t take him, even though you can.”

             With that, Sigve stood up abruptly. He sniffled softly and shoved his free hand into his pocket, his lukewarm coffee in the other hand.

“Hope I didn’t interrupt your day,” he said stiffly before turning to go.

“I didn’t know,” Antonio caught his elbow and Sigve visibly recoiled. Whether it was the touch or the words was unclear.

“Next time you should ask,” he spoke softly but the words came out with venom.

             And with that, Sigve made his way out of the café and onto the street. He stood on the sidewalk for a moment, taking in a moment to enjoy the warm breeze that danced between the buildings. Nothing had changed about his physical appearance but he felt so… exposed. When he let go of that thick skin to Antonio he peeled completely out of it and that protection was lying in that café while Sigve was walking back to his small apartment in the outskirts of the city. He couldn’t hold back the tears that welled in his eyes, but they felt somewhat refreshing this time around. There was no running from it anymore.

             A week passed and Mikkel was in a blue mood that fluctuated between depressed and angry. But there was no mention of his intervention. His moods swung far from raging—slamming cabinets and stomping through the house—to dismal—not leaving bed for hours, not speaking or returning texts—within mere hours. To anyone who didn’t know him better, it would seem like a bad week. But Sigve knew him well—it was how Mikkel dealt with rejection.

             And as that mood passed, Sigve felt some semblance of hope start to come back into his chest. It hurt like hell to hope again but it was better than the alternative.

[imagine-loki]

Soulbonds and Fairy Dust

TITLE: Soulbonds and Fairy Dust (rewrite) CHAPTER NO./ONE SHOT: 27/?

AUTHOR: nekoamamori ORIGINAL IMAGINE: Imagine one of the fae has been helping the Avengers, jumping in to help them on missions and vanishing before Shield can bring her in.  Loki joins the team and convinces her to come talk to the team and consider joining before Shield takes more drastic measures. RATING: M NOTES/WARNINGS:  This is a rewrite of the original work of the same name.  Also on AO3 here

Loki pulled his horse to a stop and Sigyn was forced to follow suit.  The two of them were at the back of the group, so it took Thor and his idiot friends a few paces to realize they’d stopped.  They slowed their horses, to wait for Sig and Loki to catch up.  Somehow the morons seemed to realize that they were in the middle of an important conversation and didn’t come interrupt or eavesdrop.  Which was frankly amazing. 

Loki had a serious look on his face when he turned to Sig.  “Explain,” he ordered her firmly, his voice nearly icy.  He softened a little when he added “Please.”  He did try to remember that he was talking with his soulmate.

Sig didn’t quickly know what explanation he was asking for, but she started talking anyway.  She didn’t want to upset him, and he really did deserve the truth.  “I told you the Gray Lords are the most powerful of the fae. I have the magical power and physical fighting ability to qualify. I was ‘awarded’ the title when I came of age…” she was leaving a lot out, but that was the bare bones of it.  Loki reevaluated the scars she hadn’t been coherent enough to hide back behind her illusions after closing the doorway.  She wondered what he was looking at and blushed when she saw her arms and realized her scars were visible.  She quickly threw her illusions back into place.  She looked exactly the same, but minus the old battle scars from her fighting for her life for her entire life. 

Loki didn’t comment, though she knew he’d question her about the scars later.  Instead he asked:  “So you technically have a noble standing among the fae?” he was trying to get his head around what a Gray Lord was.

She nodded her agreement. “I do. I was the first new Gray Lord in at least 500 years,” she added as if that mattered.

Loki looked impressed anyway, though he didn’t really understand.  He considered more implications of Sig being among the Gray Lords.  “Will they try and bring you back to Underhill?” he asked.  That was the biggest concern at the moment.  

Sig considered, then nodded again.  “It looks really bad on the court that one of the Gray Lords abandoned Underhill in preference of the mortal realms…” she explained.  It really did look bad on them that she’d left.  They’d been searching for her since she had, which is why she’d had to hide on Midgard.  The court also wanted her powers and skills for themselves.  They weren’t going to let her stay free easily. 

“When, in reality, they know you aren’t truly fae? That you were born an Asgardian goddess?”

“I don’t think they realized that I’m an Asgardian goddess. They don’t know much about Asgard. And probably assumed only the royal family receives godhead,” she explained with a shrug.  She hadn’t known until Odin had announced hers that she was a goddess.  She owed Loki another explanation, though. “Also the Gray Lords are higher ranked than simple nobility,” she told him.  “We’re the princes and princesses of the fae, at least in terms as you would understand them,”

Loki nodded, accepting her explanation.  “Is there anything else I should know?”

“Probably a lot of things, but none urgent,” she replied with a smirk.  Of course there were tons more things he probably needed to know.  She just couldn’t think what they were at the moment. 

“Will you tell me when we get back to the palace?” he asked, misunderstanding what she meant.

“I just meant that I’m sure there are things I’m not thinking of that you ought to know or would want to know. I’ll tell you if or when they become important or come to me,” she told him warmly.

“Alright. I can agree to that,”

“Did she just say she’s a fairy princess?” Fandral demanded loudly.  Apparently they’d wandered back close enough to eavesdrop.  Sig blushed and got shy again, curling in on herself.  

Loki glared at Fandral.  “Would you shut up, you imbecile?” he snarled, jumping to defend his soulbond.

“But she’s a fairy princess!!” Fandral protested loudly as if it really mattered what her rank was. Or that she was half fae.

“She is of nobility in two different realms. What of it?” he asked Fandral as if Fandral was stupid.  He was correct of course.  Thor’s moronic friends were morons.  Fandral most especially.

 Sig groaned since she saw the childlike glee on Fandral’s face.  He was annoying and obsessed with the fact that he thought this was some kind of fairy tale.  “The courts of the fae are nothing like the fairy stories we were told as children, you moron,” she glared at him.  She had to get this point across to him now before he did something stupid.  “Do you really think I would have gone through so much to escape if they were? Now kindly shut up about it before I let Loki stab you,” she growled.  She was uncomfortable drawing so much attention or being so firm, but he had to know.  It was important.

Loki smirked, looking proud of Sig.  “You should listen to her, Fandral. I’m about ready to stab you anyway,” he added the last nonchalantly.  He was just so casual about the prospect of stabbing his brother’s moronic friend.  Sig didn’t blame him.  At all.

Fandral wisely shut up.  

The group rode for awhile longer and reached the area of the fourth gate midmorning.  Sig put her book away as she got near, since she could sense potential danger from the fae better than any of the others.  She noted that Loki was sticking close to her.  He was worried after the previous day and how drained she’d been after the last gate.

“There’s nothing waiting for us,” she told the party as they approached.  She was still nervous.  She didn’t trust the apparent safety of this gate.  After the last two were so well protected, it seemed strange that this one was unguarded.  Just because Tilly was allowing her to close the gates, it didn’t mean she was going to be making it easy on Sig.  That wasn’t how Tilly did things.   It also didn’t mean the fae were going to let her, or would make it easy on her if they did.

Loki noticed her nerves and gave her a reassuring smile.  “We will remain on guard, don’t worry, Sig,”

“I don’t like this, not after the last two doorways being so well guarded,” she confessed as she dismounted. They were close enough to the doorway that she needed to walk the rest of the way.  The group dismounted to walk with her. 

Loki stuck close to her side.  “I’ll be right beside you the whole time,” he promised.  Sig could tell that he understood her worry.  He would do anything and everything to keep her safe while she dealt with the doorways.  

The whole group stood around her and the doorway, weapons drawn and alert for danger as she sliced her palm open, summoning the power she needed to close the doorway. She spread her blood across both of her palms and gripped the edges of the doorway and tried to pull it closed.  It wouldn’t budge no matter how much she tugged on it.  She cursed loudly and in multiple languages as she let the power fade.  It wouldn’t close and wasting power wouldn’t fix anything.  

She turned to the group.  “I have to go through.  There’s something on the other side holding the door open,” she told them while they were all staring in awe at her ability to curse like a sailor.  That wasn’t something typical of Asgardian ladies.

Loki looked nervous.  He did not want her going into Underhill when the fae were desperate to get her back to rule in the seelie court. “Can anyone go with you?” he asked her gently.  He wouldn’t let she face the danger along, not if there was anything he could do about it.  

Sig considered that and finally nodded. “I can take two through with me safely,” she told Loki. She also knew that he needed to determine who was coming with her.  “Whoever trusts me the most, or whoever you want to come with us, Trickster,” she told Loki. He would feel better being able to choose who came with the pair of them.  Of course, he was going to be one of the two she brought through with her.  Thor would be the other one he trusted.

They were also much too close to Underhill and the creatures living on the other side to use his name or any variation of it.   Or any of their names.  

Loki nodded and didn’t even consider before he turned to Thor.  “Brother, would you be willing to come with us?” he trusted Thor with his life, and more importantly, with Sig’s and her safety. He had fought side by side with Thor for centuries and while they didn’t always get along, the two fought well together.  

Thor nodded immediately.  “Of course,” he replied automatically.  He seemed offended that Loki had even thought he had to ask.  Thor looked to his friends. “Guard the gate on this end,” he told them firmly as he gripped Mjolnir more securely in his hand.  

Sig looked them both over. She hesitated a moment for what she needed to do next to protect the three of them, but she steeled herself to get it done.  “I don’t know what’s waiting for us on the other side.  I can give us some additional safeguards, if you trust me,” she told them both.  She turned her attention to Loki “and if you don’t mind if I borrow a little power,” she could use Asgardian magic for what she needed to and she knew Loki would rather she use his magic than drain herself more trying to use her own.  

Loki offered her his hand without any hesitation.  “Take what you need,” he seemed relieved to be able to help her in any way, shape, or form.  

She took his hand and after a small nod of thanks, used his power to cast illusions on the boys.  It took a surprisingly little amount of power, mostly due to her own skill and experience.  She lengthened their hair braided down past their shoulders, pointed their ears, changed their eye colors to tri-colored.  She let the feel of fae magic surround them, disguising them as fae.  “That should help at least until we know what we’re dealing with,” she told them.  She couldn’t help appreciate how handsome they looked, disguised as fae. She was so used to being surrounded by handsome fae men and this felt familiar to her.   “Remember, don’t use any of our names while we’re there.  Not even nicknames.  It’s too dangerous when they’re looking for me,” she reminded them firmly.  When they nodded their agreement, she took Thor’s hand too.  She had to have physical contact with them to escort them safely through the doorway. “Ready?” she asked them.  They both nodded and let her take the lead.

Sig kept a firm grip on both of their hands to lead them through the doorway.  She couldn’t let them go until they were all safely through.  Time and locations could get a little wibbly-wobbly when non-fae traveled through the doorways.  It was best to have a fae escort. 

Sig hoped whatever was waiting for them on the other side wasn’t too awful for the three of she to handle and was beyond grateful that she didn’t have to face this challenge alone.

She never had to be alone anymore.

[imagine-loki]

Soulbonds and Fairy Dust (rewrite)

TITLE: Soulbonds and Fairy Dust (rewrite) CHAPTER NO./ONE SHOT: 5/?

AUTHOR: nekoamamori ORIGINAL IMAGINE: Imagine one of the fae has been helping the Avengers, jumping in to help them on missions and vanishing before Shield can bring her in.  Loki joins the team and convinces her to come talk to the team and consider joining before Shield takes more drastic measures. RATING: M NOTES/WARNINGS:  This is a rewrite of the original work of the same name.  Also on AO3 here

Loki’s scarlet eyes widened in shock and horror as he tried and failed to bring his Asgardian form back.  He hated seeing the sapphire skin and the markings on his body.  He hated the suddenly colder room.  He hated that he was a monster. 

He couldn’t don his illusions again, no matter how hard he tried, not while she held him in her control.  She was only exerting a tiny piece of her abilities, just a small piece of her control.  It was only a hint of what she could do with his truename.

   She saw his eyes widen when he realized how much control she had, and how much more control she could have if she so chose.  His expression still turned hard when he realized that he couldn’t bring his illusion back, his eyes panicked for a moment before they turned harsh and angry. “Sigyn, enough!” He snapped at her, snarling in rage at what she’d done.  He hated the proof that he was a monster and her cruelty in using it as her example.

Sig snapped her mouth shut and looked down, cringing from his anger.  She’d been expecting it, but still couldn’t help be frightened by the angry powerful male.  She’d had true horrors in her past and had a hard time getting past those.  “I’m sorry,” she said softly, talking to her lap, refusing to look up at him.  “I release you,” she added, just to be safe after she’d released him from her power.  “Your illusion will be back in a minute…” she added softly and hated that she could hear the fear in her own voice. That meant he could hear it too. 

He turned away from her, turning his back to try to hide his true form until the illusion reappeared.  It was no use.  Though Sigyn hated that he seemed so ashamed of his beautiful sapphire skin and the raised runic markings, of his beautiful scarlet eyes.  

This was Loki just as much as his Asgardian illusion was.

“There’s no need to hide,” Sigyn told him just as softly, her voice gentle and loving.  She dared to look up at him while he focused on getting his illusion back. 

It took effort, but he finally managed to summon the illusion back, finally managed to look how he wanted to again.  He turned back to her as soon as he was looking Asgardian again.  He was still glaring and she shrank back from him. “There is a reason I hide behind illusions, Lady,” he told her firmly, anger in his voice and tone, snarling her title.  The way he said it, she knew that was all he was going to say on the matter.

She nodded and looked back down at her lap.  “Sorry,” she said again. She really hadn’t meant to upset him. “You needed to understand the power of names and this was the easiest way to show you…” her voice was soft and afraid.  And she hated how fearful her words were. She hadn’t meant to hurt him.  

He sighed and properly looked at her, past the haze of his anger.  He finally realized he didn’t want to lose his best friend again, especially when he’d just gotten her back again. He took a deep breath, another, before he spoke again. “It’s alright.  I was just surprised.  I did not expect anyone to be able to break my illusion…” he gave her an expectant look to explain herself.

Sig nodded and relaxed slightly, looking up at him again. “It’s part of the power of true-naming.  If a fae with sufficient power knows a being’s true name they can control at least aspects of that being, or completely control them.  Names are dangerous.  True-naming is a rare skill among the fae, so you don’t have to worry, I’m one of the very few who can do it, and none can do it like I can. But that is only a touch of what a fae can do with a being’s real name, ergo why real names aren’t used,” she explained, thoughh she wasn’t sure her explanation was clear.  She were still speaking softly, cautiously, bordering on afraid.  She may have known this man when they were both children, but that was centuries ago and she only barely remembered pieces of it. She really needed to take the time to undo the blocks on her memories. She just needed time to do so. 

Loki nodded along in understanding, figuring out what she meant from her explanation.  “Then I can live with a nickname. I actually like Lokes,” he gave her a reassuring smile. He may not have liked her method, but it had been effective in explaining what she’d meant quickly. 

“I can pick a different one if you’d like,” she offered immediately.  “I just needed one quickly for the outing. I know how it feels to be stuck with a term of address she don’t care for…”

Loki gave her a real smile and shook his head.  “Lokes is fine.  Like I said, I actually like it, especially coming from my old friend.  I’m just not used to having a…kind… nickname.  Thor’s moronic friends weren’t kind with their nicknames and Stark is… well Stark.”  Sig nodded her understanding. She’d gotten the impression already that Loki and Stark hated each other.  And that was enough to make her wary of Stark. “Is there anything else you wish to share?” Loki asked her gently, wanting more information, but not wanting to pressure her. 

 She hesitated, unsure what else he would want or need to know.  “Sorry, I’m not used to anyone taking an interest. Anything else you wanted to know in particular?” she asked in reply.  Fae secrets were secret for a reason, but she would be honest with Loki.

“How long have you been fae?” He asked and she saw the curiosity in his eyes.  He was always desperate to be able to find out answers to any mystery that he came across.  

Some things never changed.

Sigyn had to think that over.  “Well, I’m not entirely fae, but I’ve been like this,” she indicated her pointed ears, tri-colored eyes, and sidhe red hair “Since shortly after they took me.  500 or so years ago?  You seem to remember when that was better than I do at the moment…” When she’d been taken all those years ago, she’d still been a child. Maybe 6 or 7 by Midgardian reckoning of years.   And Loki was older than her by fifty years, she remembered.  She didn’t know how or why she remembered that random fact, but she knew it was true.   Aging among the Asgardians happened in spikes of aging followed by long plateaus. She’d been around 500 when she had been taken.

Loki nodded, thinking over her words.  “The whole kingdom was in an uproar when you vanished. Mother and the Allfather sent out the palace guards to search for you. They would have done it anyway, but it was even more urgent since you were so close to the princes, to me and Thor.  They searched for at least a decade with no leads. I’m so sorry, Sigyn…” he said softly, his eyes and and tone full of centuries of old sorrow.  Tears welled in his eyes, though he refused to let them fall.  

“They wanted you,” she told him softly, her eyes haunted with old memories “or Hammer-brain, but you were more fae like,”

His eyebrows furrowed in confusion. That didn’t make any sense.  Though he was royalty, but that didn’t seem like enough of a reason to single him out. “Why me? What could I have possibly offered them?” He asked her, hoping she’d have more insight.  “I was only a child too…Yes, I was a prince, but that couldn’t have been enough of a reason…”

“An alliance between the fae and Asgard?” she suggested with a shrug.  “They didn’t tell me much of their dastardly plans. They were so angry when they realized I wasn’t a princess…” she told him, remembering their anger, their hate.  Those memories she hadn’t been able to block out.  She’d saved her family, but hadn’t been able to save herself her own pain. 

“You were basically royalty, just not officially. I doubt that Mother or the Allfather would have given into the fae even if they had taken me. Especially the Allfather,” she noted that he didn’t call Odin ‘father’ anymore and she wondered what happened to cause the rift. She’d missed a lot while she was gone. 

 “They didn’t think Hammer-brain would take to the magic or transition.  You and I, on the other hand, already had magic, since your mother was teaching us. Like I said, they didn’t exactly share their plans with me;  I’ve only put together a few bits and pieces over the years…” she explained as best she could.

He nodded, accepting her story.  It made sense that they wanted mages, which would make Thor useless for their plans. “I’ll have to let mother know. It could be important. Do you know why the fae wish for an alliance with Asgard?”

 “The Asgardians are one of the long-lived races.  And the seidr is compatible with fae magic.  The fae aren’t… dying out necessarily, but they aren’t having nearly enough children and the children they are having are with the Midgardians, since the Allfather won’t let them into his realm and it’s hard for them to get into the realms with the other long-lived races as well. The children with the Midgardians aren’t immortal and their magic is weak at best. They think the chances will be better to strengthen both the fae and the Asgardians with an alliance,” she spoke quickly, trying to get all the ideas she’d been able to gather out of her mouth in a coherent thought.  She wasn’t entirely convinced she was being coherent.

Somehow, Loki kept up, nodding along in understanding.  “I’m so sorry about what happened to you. It should not have.  I wish…I wish we had done a better job protecting you.  You were ours to defend, and we failed you,”

“Lokes, we were children!  It wasn’t you fault. We were just kids. And I’ve made it out of Underhill now…” she tried to reassure him.  All she wanted to do was cross the distance between them and pull him into a hug, but she knew instinctively that he wouldn’t appreciate it. 

“I know. I just wish I could have done more to help you. Or at least let them take me over you!  They should have taken me!” He sounded so frustrated and helpless and she knew he’d been chewing himself out over it for centuries.  He was a prince and a warrior.  It was his job to defend those in his care.

“No, Loki,” she had a slight hesitation over using his name, but customs were different here and she’d seen how he didn’t care for nicknames.  This conversation needed his real name.  “You would have fared worse there than I did, and I would not have wished that on anyone,”

“What exactly happened to you in Underhill?” His voice was full of heartbreak at her tone, her words, the past he was gleaning that she’d had.

“A lot of awful things. The fae are not kind to those who aren’t fae.  It’s only possible to gain power there by having powerful friends or being strong enough or beautiful enough to gain power other ways.  So even though I was part of the seelie court, it wasn’t safe. I told you that no one goes by their real names, everyone has monickers.  Mine was ‘mongrel’.  So believe me when I say that you would have fared worse, Prince,” she told him.  His title also counted as a nickname in her book and wouldn’t offend him.  She wasn’t saying it out of cruelty, but to emphasize the seriousness of the conversation.

His expression still looked haunted, but he nodded, forced to accept her words. “My brother and I, along with this team, will do all we can to keep you safe. You have my word, Sigyn,” he told her firmly. He sounded determined to keep her safe this time.  He wouldn’t lose his best friend again. 

Sigyn gave him a small, warm smile.  “I’m not exactly helpless,” she reminded him as her smile turned to a smirk that so very mirrored his usual one.

He grinned back at her, feeling like old times and familiar footing.  “I’m aware. You were trained by my mother. It would be an insult to her if I said she did not have the power to defend herself, or train others to do so,”

Sigyn giggled.  It was a sound she hadn’t heard herself make in centuries and was wonderful and melodic. Loki relaxed at the sight and sound of a happy Sigyn.  “And no one would dare insult Mama Frigga,” she agreed, her old form of address for the Queen of Asgard falling off her tongue automatically and it sounded perfect and like it was still correct.

His smile widened to a true smile, a smile she remembered on a much younger Loki.  “Very true,” he agreed warmly and she recognized the expression he wore when he thought of his beloved Mama.  “Very true indeed,”

[imagine-loki]

Soulbonds and Fairy Dust

TITLE: Soulbonds and Fairy Dust CHAPTER NO./ONE SHOT: 41/?

AUTHOR: nekoamamori ORIGINAL IMAGINE: Imagine one of the fae has been helping the Avengers, jumping in to help them on missions and vanishing before Shield can bring her in.  Loki joins the team and convinces her to come talk to the team and consider joining before Shield takes more drastic measures. RATING: T (so far)  NOTES/WARNINGS: Also on AO3 here

The next emergency was called the very next day while you and Loki were enjoying some alone time in what had been Loki’s room, but was quickly becoming your shared room. 

Loki growled in aggravation.  At least you’d finished your… activity… before the alarm went off.  Loki would be in a much more terrible mood if you’d been interrupted.  And no one wanted to see him that pissed off.  “I don’t wanna go,” Loki whined like a toddler and buried his face in your chest to hide from the alarm.  Very mature.  

You stroked his hair with a fond smile.  “I know,” you told him gently.  “But you have to,” she reminded him. He was on Midgard serving penance after all, which meant he had to go with the team on missions.  

A ping came across the Jarvis screen on the nightstand with a message that you weren’t to come on this mission.  You were too new to the team and Cap didn’t want someone untested on this trip. Which was ridiculous.  You were plenty well tested in the field, just not this field.  You glared at the screen when it told you that, then looked over at Loki.  “I’m coming with you, rules or no,” you informed him firmly.

Loki nodded, accepting your words as truth.  The fae didn’t lie after all.  “Are you sure?” He didn’t want you hurt, but wouldn’t stop you from coming. 

You nodded, your fists clenched in case he decided to argue with you, though you doubted he would. “Also not planning on telling Cap about it until it’s too late,” you added with a smirk, hoping your mischief god of a soulbond was as much of a trickster as you remembered.

Loki laughed.  “Sounds absolutely perfect,” he purred, clearly glad that you were still as much into mischief as he remembered.  

You stood and your armor shimmered into place as you did.  Loki did the same, though you saw that he really didn’t want to leave the bed.  You couldn’t exactly blame him.  Once his armor was in place, you shifted to demi-form and hid under his hair where you wouldn’t be seen, perched on his shoulder.  

Loki chuckled at your sneaky method of getting past Cap.  /Comfortable?/ he teased telepathically. 

You huffed /Do you have a better plan?/ you replied.  You were proud of your plan. He didn’t have to make fun. 

/No. I was just teasing/ he reassured you gently.  He was beginning to suspect that your emotions were heightened when you were in demi-form. 

/Thank the Norns you have long hair or this wouldn’t work,/ you reminded him as you held onto a lock of his hair.  Loki chuckled as he left the room to head to the common room where the team was gathering to find out what the problem was.  He was grabbed along the way and told about the Hydra agents and monsters as the team went up to the jet.  

“Sig isn’t seeing you off?” Thor asked Loki, concerned that something was wrong with your relationship.  Which was sweet.  Except that Thor was an idiot and fucking up his own relationship. 

“We said our farewells upstairs, brother,” Loki lied effortlessly.  It was amazing that after all the centuries of knowing each other, Thor could never tell when Loki was lying.  Especially since Loki was the god of lies.  “She really does hate sending me off without her. You know that,” Loki added for emphasis to sell his lie.  

Thor nodded and gave Loki a sympathetic look.  “I know, brother. We just wish for her to be safe,” he replied, knowing that you had been excluded from this mission for a stupid reason.  The team occasionally saw you as weak since they didn’t really know what you could do. 

“I know. It just isn’t fair to her,” Loki replied with a glare at Cap’s back. 

“I’d rather seem unfair than see her taken from us again,” Thor replied cautiously.  He was kindhearted for someone who was such an oaf. 

“I agree. I wouldn’t be able to take losing her again,” Loki agreed and you could see him fight the urge to reach up and touch you to reassure himself that you were still there. 

/You better not be thinking of sending me back/ you grumbled at him.  He was sounding too worried. 

/Don’t worry. I’m not. Just be careful, ok?/ Loki replied, still sounding worried.

/Of course I’m going to be careful/ you huffed.  You weren’t stupid

/Then you don’t have to worry about me sending you home./ Loki reassured you.

It wasn’t long before you reached the raging battle.  /Get ready, darling./ Loki warned you before he jumped into the fray with you clutching onto his collar for balance.  reach the raging battle below loki immediately jumps into the fray.  You peeked out from your hiding spot to watch.

As soon as he jumped into the battle, he, and ever member of the team were swarmed by tons of enemies.  You jumped off of his shoulder behind him, shifting to full size as you fought back to back with him.  The pair of you were a force to be reckoned with.  You fought nearly identically, both of you were fast and fought with both magic and blades.  You took down any and every adversary that dared to get close to you or your Loki, fighting with a vicious grace. 

You suddenly grabbed Loki and hauled him behind you as a fire breathing creature attacked, dragonscales rippling over your skin as you placed yourself between the creature and Loki.  Loki whirled, forced into a battle with a different creature who had attempted to attack you from behind.  You quickly dispatched the fire breathing creature, safely immune to fire with your dragon scales.  

“I feel like they’re going too easy on us, Sig,” Loki teased.  He was having fun fighting side by side with you.

You laughed as your dragon scales faded away.  You’d missed this, missed this side of him, missed being together so companionably too.  “They definitely are!” You agreed.

Loki mock-pouted “It’s unfair. I was looking forward to a challenge,” he whined as he stabbed a creature with one efficient kill. 

You giggled at your silly Loki, but yelped when a stray bolt of lightning flew your way.  You grabbed Loki, jumping into the sky as your wings unfurled from your back in one well-practiced movement.  Loki gripped onto you tightly, shocked and hating flying as per usual.  “What the-?” He demanded.

“Lightning. Your idiot brother probably wasn’t watching what he was doing.  Sorry it was the easiest way to keep us from getting fried,” you said, holding Loki firmly while you were in the air.  You stayed above the ground for a minute before you landed again, fading your wings when it was safe.  

It only took another minute to clear the battlefield.  Loki looked around when everything was dead or captured. “Now what?” He asked, pleased with the fairly easy battle.

“Now, you explain what the hell she’s doing here!” Cap snarled, glaring at you.  You yelped at his reacting and clutched onto Loki’s arm.

Loki glared at Cap, angry with the soldier for scaring you when he had no right.  “Back off, Captain. She has a right to be here,”

“She is supposed to be back at the tower where she’s safe from those pursuing her,” Cap reminded you both firmly.  

Thor had strolled over and shrugged innocently.  “You expect a Lady of Asgard to remain behind when her soulbond is in danger? She can clearly handle herself,” Thor defended you.  Perhaps he hadn’t been so oafish after all.  For once.  

Loki nodded his agreement and tried to rein in his temper.  “We have both had enough of her being stuck in that tower. She is more powerful than we even understand.  She is part of this team and deserves to be treated as such,”

You blushed at all the praise.  “You know my skills,” you reminded Loki softly. You hadn’t exactly kept them secret from him.  Loki nodded, but you saw in his eyes that he while he knew of your abilities, he didn’t really understand the extent of what you could do.  

Stark decided to interrupt for something useful for once.  “Good, someone competent to join the team.  Jarvis, where are we eating today?” He asked the AI.  Everyone’s attention was drawn to that, as the post-battle meal was vitally important. 

A hole-in-the-wall restaurant was chosen and Loki took your hand to walk there with you.  You swung your joined hands happily as you walked with your love, together in your armor.  You saw from the look in Loki’s eyes that he found it adorable that you swung your arms like you did when you were children. 

The press tried to stop you to ask questions, but Cap didn’t allow it, fending them off while you made your way to the little restaurant.  The team piled into the restaurant and took over two tables while Stark ordered enough food to feed a small army, or a bunch of Avengers.  You laid your head on Loki’s shoulder as the team talked about the battle and how easy it was.  Loki was relaxed and seemed just happy to have you with him.  

“How are you feeling, my darling?” Loki asked in a lull in the conversation.  

You looked up at him with a reassuring smile. “Good.  The battle went well.  No one was really hurt.  Though you seemed freaked out by flying,” you teased.

Loki chuckled.  “It’s not really my thing. I prefer teleporting honestly,” he reminded you.

You giggled. “Yes, well not all of us know how to do that.  I learned shapeshifting and therefore flying,” you replied. 

Your food arrived and was promptly devoured by the starving team.  While you were eating, and they were distracted, you casually reached up and placed a couple fingers on Loki’s temple, nodding for him to look at Thor and Sif and see the thin thread of a bond between them.  Loki looked and you saw his eyes widen when he realized just how weak the bond was. It looked like a thin thread that could be snapped with just one tug.  /That is pretty frayed. My brother has a lot of work ahead of him./ Loki said sadly.

/He does/ you agreed softly and were beyond tempted to mend the fragile bond anyway.  It was within your powers.  

Loki noticed the glint in your eyes.  /Let him fix his mistakes, Sig. He won’t learn from his mistakes if he doesn’t./  You sighed, since you could so easily mend the connection, but you wouldn’t argue with Loki about the best course of action with his brother.  You dropped your fingers from Loki’s temple and returned to your meal.  

Thor had Sif on his lap while they were eating and you were curled up with Loki.  You noticed the other customers cooing over how adorable all four of you were.  

“How’d you sneak on the jet anyway, Navi?” Stark asked you while you were eating.  He wasn’t angry, just curious.  You could tell from his tone.  Even if he did always use the same joking tone most of the time.  

You blushed. “I hid as a demi-fae,” you admitted softly.  You wouldn’t be able to pull that trick again. 

“In my hair,” Loki added, proud of your creativity.  

“So we’ll be cutting that off…” Stark said dryly, teasing the god. 

Loki growled. “You try and I will cut off both your hands, Stark,” he informed Stark with venom in his voice.

Stark laughed.  “It’s long enough to hide a fairy in apparently.  That’s much too long.  and the braid is ridiculous,” he continued teasing the god, because he was a moron.

“I’m warning you, Stark. If you bring scissors anywhere near my hair, I will cut off both your hands and destroy every single one of your precious suits,” it was the only thing Loki could think of that Stark cared about as much as Loki cared about keeping Stark away from his hair. 

You smirked. “You’re wording that a bit incorrectly, dearest,” you told him gently and far too innocently.  Thor snapped to attention at your too-innocent tone.  “The correct wording is: I swear to you, Stark: if you bring scissors or any other implement near my hair with the intention of cutting it, your hands and your suits will never work again,” it was a far more vicious punishment.  

Loki nodded.  “What she said,” he agreed, playing along with whatever you were up to. 

You rolled your eyes.  “I’ll accept it because I love you,” you told Loki patiently.  You looked over at Stark with a malicious gleam in your eyes.  “The oath was witnessed and acknowledged by the Gray Lord of Oaths.  So it was sworn so shall it be carried out,” you announced, your voice ringing with power.  

Loki laughed when he finally realized what you’d been up to.  “You’re screwed now, Stark. Try anything, and that promise will be carried out,”

Stark just looked shocked and confused.  You hadn’t actually told the team much about you abilities besides what they’d seen you use. “She… can do that?” He asked stupidly. 

Loki nodded with a dark malicious look in his eyes.  “She is the Gray Lord of oOaths, Bindings, and the True Names of Things. There is much she can do that you could not imagine,”

“Such as?” Cap prompted, curious as to what you can do.  Stark still looked terrified about Loki’s oath and how you could enforce it.  The rest of the team looked interested to see some more of what you could do. 

“Sig? What would you like to show them?” Loki asked you gently.  He wouldn’t make you do something you were uncomfortable with, but understood the team’s desire to learn more. 

You looked around the table for a victim, knowing you couldn’t use Loki in public.  Of course, you chose Thor.  You smirked.  “Hammer-brain, you up to being a demonstration?” You asked, especially since you were in public.  Thor raised an eyebrow, looking curious, but nodded as Sif climbed off his lap to her own chair. 

You also noticed that the team was beginning to note that they were all acquiring nicknames from you.  You really had a thing against real names.  They would understand why in a moment.  

Your smirk became a wide grin as you focused your power on Thor.  “I name you Thor, son of Odin the Allfather, prince of Asgard, God of thunder, fertility and hammers, weilder of Mjølnir, Donald Blake, Point Break, Blondie, Hammerbrain, Oaf,” you recited name after name of the god, even his nicknames and aliases.  Against his will, his armor shimmered to his formal coronation gear, including his stupid winged helmet.  He looked surprised, though not angry.  “So I name you, and so you are mine to command,” that had his eyes widening for a moment.  But a moment was all he had.  “Kiss your lady, stand, walk around the table three times clucking like a chicken,” as you gave the commands, Thor followed them without question, without fight or inhibition.  “Look at me,” you told him firmly.  He looked into your eyes obediently.  “I free you from my thrall, son of Odin,” you said formally, ending your magic against him.  You sagged against Loki.  It had taken a lot of effort to enthrall a god.  Loki’s arm wrapped automatically around you, holding you to him, though he was roaring in laughter as he watched his brother obey you.  

The rest of the team looked horrified that you could do that to Thor.   

You waited for Thor’s rage.  You didn’t have to wait long.  “YOU DARE?!?!” Thor roared at you, even though he’d agreed.  He hadn’t known or understood what it was that you could do. 

You squeaked and shifted to demi-form, hiding under Loki’s hair again.  Loki glared at his brother for scaring you.  “You consented to it, brother. Watch your temper,” he snarled.  They all knew you were afraid of anger from men in your direction.  Bad guys was one thing, but men who were supposed to be friends were a different matter.

/I freed him/ you mewed softly in Loki’s mind.  

“She also freed you from her thrall. She could have kept you under her control. Don’t take this out on her when you agreed. She could have just done it without asking your permission.  Or you could have asked what she was going to do,” Loki replied as he reached a hand up to cover you, to reassure you.  Thor continued to glare while Sif was laughing her ass off. “Even your soulbound finds it funny. Stop being so rude,”

“It wasn’t done to her.  And if she can do it to me with names she has no right knowing, she could do it to anyone at this table,” Thor growled, still only upset at looking like an idiot.  He knew you better than to actually hurt him.  

“I would have offered myself, but you know how I feel about you know what,” Loki reminded Thor pointedly.

Thor’s eyes widened.  “She can strip your illusion?” He demanded, not feeling any better about you having that ability.  

Loki nodded, nonplussed.  “She showed me what she could do when she first came to the tower. She completely stripped my illusion in less than a second,” he sounded impressed more than concerned.  

“And it doesn’t concern you that she can enthrall anyone she chooses?  That she stripped you, a master magician of your illusions in seconds?” Thor replied.  

Loki shrugged.  “She was a strong magic user before she was taken. It is no surprise to me that the fae magic enhanced her Asgardian magic and her abilities,” he replied, completely unconcerned.  

“I think we would all feel better if we had some assurance that she wasn’t going to use that particular ability on any of us,” Cap said gently.

Loki glared at him.  “So little trust. How do you expect her to trust you if you can’t trust her?” He replied, trying to be polite to the soldier.  Though it was getting increasingly difficult.

Nat glares down the table at Cap, tired of the bullshit too.  She was much less polite about it, though.  “Haven’t you figured out yet that she’s given all of us nicknames? She doesn’t want to use that ability on us.  She would have had plenty of opportunity by now if she did.  She’s part of this team now, so start acting like it,” she glared at everyone at the table, who all looked sheepish at the reminder.  They’d gotten so tied up with their fear that they were being extra stupid.  

Loki gave her a grateful look.  No one would argue with Nat.  That was just suicide. “Thank you, Lady Natasha,”

Nat smirked.  “I like the pixie and don’t want this lot scaring her because they’re stupid.  We all have dangerous abilities, but we all know we’re not going to use them on the others outside the training room. They just needed to be threatened to remember that fact,” she said warmly.

Loki chuckled and you finally started relaxing as the team mumbled apologies and promised to do better. They hadn’t meant to hurt you or not trust you.  They’d all just had a collective moment of stupidity.

[imagine-loki]

Soulbonds and Fairy Dust

TITLE: Soulbonds and Fairy Dust CHAPTER NO./ONE SHOT: 16/? AUTHOR: nekoamamori ORIGINAL IMAGINE: Imagine one of the fae has been helping the Avengers, jumping in to help them on missions and vanishing before Shield can bring her in.  Loki joins the team and convinces her to come talk to the team and consider joining before Shield takes more drastic measures. RATING: T (so far)  NOTES/WARNINGS: Also on AO3 here

Loki looked horrified when he realized what he had done.  “I’m so sorry, darling. This is all new to me-” he tried to explain quickly.  He looked ashamed of what he’d done.  At least he had the decency to look ashamed.  

You glared at him again and turned to the others with panic and anger in your eyes.  “Get to the horses and be ready to ride out.  Now. I’ve got to get this closed,” you snarled at them.  There was no time to be nice.  Not with the doorway still open.  “Every single fae hunting me will know exactly what doorway we’re at,” you reminded them all for the reason for the rule about no names.  The others rushed to prepare the horses and mounted while you worked on closing the doorway.  

Loki wisely remained silent as you worked.  He knew you were rightly pissed at him.  More at the situation than him, though.  It was a simple mistake.  It was just a potentially deadly simple mistake.

You drew a wickedly sharp blade, this one much larger than the belt knife you had been using for this.  This blade was one of your battle blades and as long as your forearm.  You gripped the dagger carefully and draw a long line down your arm, wincing in pain as you cut deeper and longer than you had for any other doorway.  There was no time to pussyfoot around about this doorway.  You heard Loki’s gasp in sympathy at your pain and what you were doing.  He didn’t approve.  It wasn’t his choice.  Not this time.  

You gathered more blood, more power to shut this doorways as fast as possible.  You ignored the drain, even as you shivered from drawing so much power at once from the power of your blood.  You drew even more power to charm the area to keep any new doorways from being created here for a long, long time.  

You turned to face the others with the same panicky edge to your tone and expression.  “We’ve got to move on.  Now. It’s not safe here,” you told them firmly and started back to the horses on shaky legs.  

Loki stopped you, his hands on your shoulders, steadying you.  “Wait just a moment, darling,” he told you, though you were nearly too dazed with power drain to understand or comprehend what he was saying.  He held you to him while his glowing green hand went over the bleeding wound on your arm, sealing it so it would stop bleeding.  Once the bleeding had stopped, Loki’s arm wrapped around your shoulders and he rushed you over to your horses.  Everyone else was mounted already. You swung into the saddle of your horse, focused on getting the Hel out of here.  “We have to go, now,” Loki directed the others.  

“They shouldn’t be able to come through here.   I spelled the area to block more gates, but…” you weren’t thinking clearly due to exhaustion and power drain.  It was safer to get out of there, just in case.  Loki nodded in understanding and you could see he was feeling guilt for his slip up.  You kicked your mare into a gallop, terrified of being caught here.  You trusted the others to catch up and keep up.  Loki caught up with you quickly.  The others followed just behind.  

You finally consented to slow the headlong panicked gallop once you were out of your ability to sense the clearing.  You sighed in relief.  “We should be far enough away now,” you told the others softly.  You were visibly wilting as the adrenaline rush of terror finally wore off.  

Loki looked over at you, extremely concerned over your state.  You were holding onto the saddle-horn to keep on your horse’s back and trusting that the others would lead you safely to your next destination.  You were too drained to do anything for yourself.  Blood magic was draining enough, it took magic from the user’s body, and the user’s life-force if too much blood magic was used.  You’d drawn the heat from your body, drawn on your fae power, and the exhaustion was bone numbing as you sat shivering in your horse’s saddle.  Loki rode closer and reached out his hand with a cloak in his hands.  It was green and fur-lined.  And you were sure it belonged to Loki.  You reached out a shaky hand to take it and managed to drape it over yourself.  “We must find an inn or tavern, now.  She’s in bad shape,” Loki told the others as you went back to staring listlessly at the pommel of your horse’s saddle.

Thor consulted the map, judging your location after your headlong gallop.  “There’s a village not far from here,” he told Loki.

“Then let’s go. She needs to rest, desperately,” you could hear the fear and worry in Loki’s voice as he spoke.  

Thor led the way to the village.  Everyone looked concerned at how listless and exhausted you looked.  You were drained even more than usual from closing that doorway.  You were wilted and it seemed your vibrancy was diminished, your very colors faded.  

“You two might want to figure out how to break her illusion spell on you.  You look like fae,” Sif reminded Thor and Loki.  You hadn’t had an opportunity to remove the illusions from them. 

“I can try it,” Loki told her.  He looked to you.  “Sig?” you blearily looked over at him.  “Sig, what do I have to do break your illusion?” he asked once he could get your attention.  

You blinked quickly and tried to focus on the words to make them form a coherent sentence.  Really, it was amazing you were staying on your horse.  “You can dispel it just like any other illusion.  I cast it with your magic,” you told him softly. You hoped your words made sense.  They seemed to, since Loki focused for a moment and the illusions on him and Thor both shattered so they looked like themselves again. 

You were mostly asleep in the saddle by the time you reached the village.  You only half-woke when the horses stopped in front of the tavern.  You didn’t wake enough to notice any of what was going on around you.  Loki dismounted and helped you down from your horse. He immediately swept you up into his arms.  You yelped a protest.  “You’re dead on your feet, love.  And it’s my fault.  Let me take care of you,” Loki bid you gently. Your head crashed onto his shoulder, too exhausted to fight him.  

 The innkeeper gave Loki a room, which he carried you to quickly and tucked you into bed gently.  He kissed your forehead.  “Rest, darling.  I will watch over you,” he bid you softly.  You nodded and were asleep as soon as your head hit the pillow.  

*

Loki stayed with you the entire time you were asleep.  You stayed asleep for long hours, recovering your strength.  It was afternoon when you woke again, cracking your eyes open and sitting up slowly.  “Hey Lokes,” you said softly when you woke and saw him sitting on the bed next to you.  You gave him a warm smile. 

Loki smiled in return. “Rest well, Sig?” he asked you gently.  

You nodded.  “I did,” you replied softly and moved to get out of the bed.  You needed to get to the last gate and you were recovered enough for that.  

Loki put a hand on your shoulder.  “You need to rest for a little while longer, darling. You haven’t completely regained your strength,” you could hear the concern in his tone.

“I’ll be fine,” you told him, though you knew the words were unconvincing.  You weren’t technically lying.  You couldn’t lie.  Especially not to him. 

“You need rest, darling. Don’t argue with me,” Loki told you firmly.

“Stubborn and bossy,” you huffed at him.  You stuck your tongue out at him, teasing.

“I’m only trying to keep you safe,” he replied.  You could hear the guilt in his voice, see it etched on his face.  

“I know,” you said softly.  “And that last gate seems to have scared you…” you added carefully, not quite entirely sure of his mood.  

Loki nodded and sighed heavily.  “I made a mistake and said your name. I’m not accustomed to fae rules. It is all new to me. I haven’t had a chance to study more on the subject,” he explained as if that made it better. 

“It’s alright, Lokes. It was just a mistake,” you reassured him.  You’d calmed down a lot now that you were safe.  Now that you were all safe.  “Everything worked out ok.  Hopefully after the last gate we don’t have to deal with the fae again for a long, long time…” you said wistfully, though you knew that wasn’t likely.  Not when you were a Gray Lady and the other Gray Lords would be after you until they got you back to Underhill.  

“We will have to wait and see. After what you told me, they don’t seem to be the type to give up easily,” Loki replied, echoing your thoughts.

You sighed.  “They don’t give up easily and they live forever unless someone goes out of their way to kill them. But it’ll be harder for them to get to Asgard and they won’t think to look for me on Midgard for a long time, since they know for sure I’m here,” you reassured him.

“I hope you’re right. I would hate to see something happen to you, darling,”

“Me too,” you agreed with a smirk. Then before he could grump at you to go back to sleep you asked. “Is there anything to eat?”

Loki smiled warmly and nodded. “Would you like me to get you something?”

“That would be appreciated,” you replied softly. “Though I’m perfectly capable of going with you. I’m not weak or helpless…” you reminded him firmly.  You couldn’t, wouldn’t, have him thinking you some helpless maiden in need of constant defending.  

He gave you a warm smile.  “I know, my darling soulbond. You have more strength than I originally believed. You are truly extraordinary,”

You gave him a warm smile in return, blushing a little at the praise.  “High praise from the prince of Asgard,” you teased to lighten the mood again.  

He smirked in reply. “Indeed. You should count yourself lucky,” he teased right back. 

“Very lucky, indeed,” you replied with a smirk.  

Loki chuckled. “Get some more rest, darling. We will head to the last doorway in the morning,” he bid you gently. 

You laughed. “You promised me something to eat first,” you reminded him and he chuckled.  “Or do I have to go get it myself after all?”

“Right. I’ll be right back, darling,” he stood from the bed and left the room.  

The warriors and Thor all looked up when Loki came into the eating room of the inn alone.  “Brother, is something wrong?” Thor spoke their concern.  He didn’t think Loki would leave you alone.  

Loki shook his head. “I’m simply getting her something to eat. Don’t fret, brother. She’s fine.” Thor sighed in relief.  One of the serving women handed over a huge tray of food to Loki, enough for two hungry Asgardians.  It was noted that Loki hadn’t eaten either.

When he returned, you had moved from the bed, sitting on the couch by the fire, which you had stoke up.  You were still shivering as you sat next to it, trying to get warm.  You smiled up at Loki when he returned and moved to help him with the tray of food.   Loki shook his head and set the tray down on the table in front of the couch.  He summoned a blanket with a warming spell and draped it around you.  “Better?”

You gave him a warm smile and cuddled the blanket around yourself.  “Much. Haven’t been able to get warm,” you admitted softly.  Your words betrayed how drained you were.  It was spring in Asgard and plenty warm. You only couldn’t get warm due to power drain and blood magic. 

“You need to rest and recharge. You used way too much blood to close that doorway,” Loki told you knowingly.  He knew the basics about blood magic, even if he wasn’t allowed to learn how to use it. 

You nodded your agreement.  You wouldn’t argue when it would involve lying.  It had been too much blood and too much magic, but you’d had to get out of there in a hurry.  Loki was also stubborn about you being in no shape to close another doorway.  At least not yet.  He also felt terrible, so he was overprotectively taking care of you to make himself feel better and try to make his mistake up to you.  You would let him get away with it for awhile and contentedly sat next to the fire with your heated blanket and the pleasant company of your soulbond. “So how’d you like your glimpse of underhill?”

“The land itself was beautiful to say the least, and so full of magic.  The other fae, were not nearly so beautiful,” he commented, but his comment was a question, questioning why they weren’t elvish like fae like you were.

“Those were the fae of the unseelie court. Of course they weren’t beautiful. There’s a reason I disguised you as seelie fae,” you explained.

Loki looked confused. “And what reason was that?”

“A few actually. One, it wouldn’t make sense for a Gray Lady of the seelie court to be traveling with unseelie fae. Two, you’re handsome enough to pass as seelie fae with just a light illusion, the oaf ?” you shrugged. “He’d needed more work, but even he could pass for a seelie lord. Three, the unseelie court is the dark court. The fae that look like me, nearly like the elves of Alfheim are part of the seelie court, the light court. The monsters and creatures are part of the unseelie court,” you explained.  Loki nodded along, accepting your explanation.  You went back to your meal when he didn’t say anything else.  You were worried you’d upset him.  He was hard to read sometimes and you tried to come up with something else to talk about. 

“I’m so sorry about what I did in Underhill. You warned me and I still slipped up and it put you in danger,” Loki told you again, his voice full of guilt. 

Oh, that was what was upsetting him.

You’d thought that was past you now.  You’d forgiven him already.  It was just a mistake.

You gave him a warm reassuring smile.  “It’s alright, Lokes,” you reassured him. “Everything turned out alright,”

“True. But you are not looking well, darling. You can barely even keep yourself warm,” Loki reminded you worriedly.

You nodded.  “Blood magic is taxing. One of the many reasons your mother won’t let you learn it,” you reminded him right back. You both knew all of this already. 

“I know. And now I see exactly why,”

You nodded.  “There is also little honor in it as most blood mages use the blood of others instead of their own, making their victims take the consequences and power instead of the mage themselves,”

“Which is another reason Mother refused to allow it to be taught in Asgard,”

You nodded.  “I’m sure it is. That’s why it’s usually forbidden. I am not nearly so dishonorable as to do such a thing,” you made a face, telling him clearly what you thought of people who would do such a thing. 

“I know. Even when I’ve offered to help, you always refuse,”

“That and in this case your blood wouldn’t help. Only mine. I’m fae and a Gray Lady. As I said, there are few with the power to open and close the doorways. Only the gray lords, the queens, and Tilly herself are capable of it,” you explained.  There really weren’t that many who could open and close the doorways.  

Loki nodded. “I understand, but the offer stands. If you need my help for any reason, you only need to ask. I want to make this easier on you in any way I can.  I know there is not much we can do besides keep you safe, but if there is anything, any of us will help you in any way we can,” Loki told you.  He really did want to help you in any way he could and you could tell he felt bad that he couldn’t do more.

You nodded. “And it’s appreciated. At least there’s only one left,” you told him tiredly. 

“One that we will not be dealing with until tomorrow morning,” Loki told you firmly.  

You sighed.  “You’re right,” you admitted softly.  You used a touch of Asgardian power to summon your iron sword.  “Just in case there are fae around,” you told Loki as you laid it on the table where he could reach it.  It spoke to how much you trusted him that you gave him a blade that could kill you easier than slicing butter.  

“Do you think the fae would attack here?”

You shook you head. “I don’t, but it doesn’t hurt to be prepared, especially since I’m not in much shape to help if there’s trouble, besides letting you use my blade,”

“I’ll be with you, darling. I won’t leave you alone with how exhausted you are,” Loki knew how low on power you were.

You gave him a warm smile. “Of course you won’t. I expect nothing less of my best friend, and I’d do the same for you in the same situation,” you might’ve been a bit in denial that this relationship was quickly moving from friends to more.  But maybe, just maybe… You gave Loki a shy smile.  “You know the soulbond doesn’t mean we have to be anything more than friends,” you told him softly, you didn’t want to push him or pressure him.  You didn’t want him to feel forced.  You then added hesitantly.  “Unless you’d like for there to be more…?” you trailed off, leaving the sentence a question that he could answer or not as he chose. 

“I would love nothing more for this to become more. But only if you want it. I don’t wish to force you into anything,” he told you, sounding as nervous as you felt.  

You leaned across the couch and kissed his cheek.  Your lips were nearly as cold as his cheek and that was never a good sign.  “I’d love nothing more,”

[imagine-loki]

Soulbonds and Fairy Dust

TITLE: Soulbonds and Fairy Dust CHAPTER NO./ONE SHOT: 13/? AUTHOR: nekoamamori ORIGINAL IMAGINE: Imagine one of the fae has been helping the Avengers, jumping in to help them on missions and vanishing before Shield can bring her in.  Loki joins the team and convinces her to come talk to the team and consider joining before Shield takes more drastic measures. RATING: T (so far)  NOTES/WARNINGS: Also on AO3 here

You all woke early the next morning to get to the gate as soon a possible.  You blushed when you realized you were cuddled with Loki, still wrapped in her arms.  Loki gave you a bright, happy smile, a smile you loved on her face and never wanted her to lose.  “Good morning, darling.”

You returned her smile a little shyly from you position curled in her arms.  “Good morning, princess,” you replied.  Her smile widened even more if that was possible.  She apparently loved being called princess by you.

You would have to keep that in mind.

“We should get going. You have a doorway to close as long as you’re feeling up to it?” Loki added the last hesitantly.  She didn’t want you overexerting yourself, and you smiled at how much she cared.

“We should,” you agreed and disentangled yourself form Loki’s arms to stand and get dressed with magic.  You were looking much better after proper rest, which made Loki relax some.  Loki stood and dressed with magic as well.  She was apparently deciding to stay female for awhile.  You didn’t mind one way or the other.  Loki was Loki no matter her form. 

After a quick breakfast your group headed out of the town to find the gate.  It was a short ride through the woods to where it was.  Thor led the way based on the map, but once you got close, you took the lead.  You could feel the doorway by its magic. As you drew near something sparked your senses.  You had your magic, your senses, cast out around you to try to spot danger before it reached you.  You stood in your stirrups, sensing something. 

“Sig?  What’s wrong?” Loki asked, noting your odd behavior as you cast around, trying to figure out what you were sensing. 

“We’re expected,” you told Loki as you finally figured out what you’d been feeling.  “There’s a whole group of creatures at the gate to defend it. At least one giant and troll,” you told him.  The rest of the group had too similar of magical signatures for you to be able to tell exactly how many of them there were, or what the group would be facing.  

Loki nodded and turned in her saddle to look to the others.  “Be ready. We have a battle on our hands.” They said their agreements and loosened their weapons in their sheaths, readying themselves for the battle ahead. You couldn’t help in this battle and you knew it.  You needed to keep your strength and magic to close the doorway.  Much as it pained you, you needed to stay out of the fight.

“Stay back, darling. Let us handle this,” Loki told you gently.  She knew how hard it was for you to stay behind while your friends were in danger. 

“I know,” you told her softly.  You knew that’s why the group was here.  The warriors were here to defeat any obstacles from keeping you from closing the doorways. That’s why they were here. “I know that’s why they’re all here, it still feels like I should help,” you added just as softly.

Loki nodded. “I understand. But we are here to keep you safe.  You’re the only one who can close the doorways,” she reminded you.  You nodded and your group reached the break in the trees.  You could see the group of thirty-odd creatures prepared to defend the gate as you approached.  You all dismounted at the tree-line, where you could see the battle, but were safely away from it.  “Stay here, Sig. I’ll come get you when the battle is over,” Loki told you firmly.  She didn’t like leaving you alone about as much as you hated staying behind.  You knew it was the best plan.

“Be careful!” you told Loki nervously.

Loki gave you a reassuring smile.  “I’ll be fine, Sig. I’ll see you soon,” 

You waited nervously from your safe spot with the horses while the others went to battle.  The battle was glorious, according to the moron boys.  You were just watching in horror as your friends fought, and were injured too.  You had to watch them take small injuries and you prayed that they wouldn’t be truly injured. You had to admit that they were skilled warriors, even if you were worried for them the entire time.  

It took awhile but they did finally all return to you, alive.  Loki was uninjured, so was Thor.  Sif only had a small wound.  Fandral was bleeding from a nasty-looking head-wound, and the other morons were bandaging wounds as well, but they were all relatively alright.  

Loki nodded to you. “Whenever you’re ready, darling,”

You hugged Loki around the neck instead.  “You’re ok!” you told her, obviously you’d been worried over Loki’s safety.  Thor chuckled when Loki stiffened at your hug.  Loki hadn’t expected to be hugged so enthusiastically.  

Loki was surprised, but her arms immediately wrapped around you.  “I told you I would be alright, darling,” she told you gently.

You let Loki go slowly.  “I still worry, especially when you go off to battle without me,” you told her softly. You blushed a little at such sentiment, especially as you fought the urge to kiss Loki’s cheek.  You turned to go to the doorway to seal it.  Loki remained by your side as you did. She wasn’t taking chances with your safety.

You sliced your hand and drew the power to close the doorway.  It was harder than any of the previous ones.  It was draining and you felt like the power was tearing you apart as you finally got the doorway closed.  

You sagged visibly when it was closed, drained and exhausted beyond belief.  Loki steadied you and healed the cut on your hand quickly.  She wrapped an arm around your shoulders, seeing that you were too incoherent with exhaustion to make any decisions on your own, or be trusted to walk anywhere on your own.  She helped you back to the horses and you let her steer you, wrapping your arms around her waist and laying your head on her chest as you walked, leaning heavily on her. “Let’s find something to eat. You need to get your energy back before the next gate,” Loki told you gently and you nodded, agreeing with that plan.

The warrior boys flittered around you both, concerned.  They highly disliked seeing noble ladies in distress.  Their instincts and training were to immediately help.  To sweep you off to a nice safe bed, to do something.  Loki glared at them to back off.  She had it handled.  She handed you up into your horse’s saddle and you held onto the saddle horn to keep your seat.  The rest mounted quickly and Thor led the way back to the town so you could all find somewhere to rest and recover before you moved onto the next doorway. 

“How are you feeling, Sig?” Loki asked you as you rode.  You figured it was equal parts checking on you and equal parts making sure you stayed awake enough to stay in the saddle.  

You gave her a tiny smile meant to reassure her, but didn’t think you succeeded.  “Tired, but I’ll be alright,” you replied. 

“Hopefully when you get some food in you, you’ll feel a bit better,”

You nodded and Thor finally found an eating house that was acceptable.  You dismounted and walked inside with Loki.  The warrior boys loudly cheered about the glorious battle, even though they were injured. Morons.  You picked at the meal, but you ate, knowing you’d need the energy to close the next gate that day. 

Loki watched you carefully, but you stayed coherent enough to assure her that you were ok enough to keep traveling. When you finished eating, you returned to the horses to head to the next doorway.  The group decided you were going to stop halfway there to rest for lunch as it was farther away than the others had been. None of them trusted you to travel that far.  You tried to hide how drained you were, but you were exhausted, staring listlessly and unfocused as you rode.  

Sif rode up to Loki’s other side.  “I don’t understand the difference,” she told Loki softly so as to not disturb your listless half-dozing.  “You mages aren’t usually so drained by your magic and Sigyn has always been a strong sorceress. Why is this magic so draining on her?” Sif was curious and not asking maliciously.  She really just wanted to know why this was different.

“Blood magic is not the same as the magic you see me or my mother use. It’s a more physical form. It takes an individual’s energy from the blood they spill to cast their spell. It drains them physically and mentally and can be extremely dangerous. That’s why every time Sig closes a gate, she looks and feels drained. It’s because she actually is. The magic I use takes a lot more power before I were to become drained like that,” he gestured to you.  Sif nodded her agreement, accepting Loki’s explanation.  There was a reason blood magic wasn’t allowed to be practiced on Asgard.  She still looked understandably worried about you, and more urgently, your ability to stay on your horse.  

You managed to stay ahorse and awake until you found a village to have lunch in about halfway to the next gate.  “We should rest here. We can continue onto the next gate after Sig gets some rest,” Loki told the others, getting more and more concerned about you as you rode.  

“There’s a tavern, they should have lunch and Sig can rest there,” Thor agreed and the group started to dismount in front of said tavern. 

Loki helped you down from the saddle. “Do you wish to eat now or rest first, Sig?” she asked you gently.

“Eat first,” you replied, ducking under Loki’s arm to wrap your arms around her waist. You trusted Loki to steer you where you needed to be while you closed your eyes for a moment and leaned your weight on her.  Loki led you straight to an empty table and coaxed you into sitting down.  She’d noticed how unsteady you were on your feet from closing the last doorway.  It had been a miracle that you’d remained in the saddle.  You ate what was placed in front of you without paying attention to what it actually was and laid your head on Loki’s shoulder as soon as the food was gone.  Loki stood once she had finished eating and dragged you to your feet.  She helped you to a room in the inn so you could get some desperately needed rest.  

“Do you wish for me to stay?” Loki asked after she’d gotten you tucked into bed. 

“Only if you want to,” you murmured, mostly asleep the second you were lying down.  

“I’ll stay with you if you’re ok with that,” Loki would rather not leave you so defenseless.  You nodded and moved over on the bed to make sure there was room for Loki to sit with you if she was so inclined. You closed your eyes again the second you’d moved.  Loki settled on the bed next to you and summoned a book to read to pass the time. You wrapped your arms around Loki’s waist like she was your favorite plushie and used Loki’s lap as a pillow, purring softly as you got some much needed rest. Safe with your Loki. Loki smiled warmly and ran her fingers through your hair while you napped.  She thought you were adorable and loved having you safe in her arms.  

You napped for a couple of hours before you stirred and sat up again, blushing a deep red at having used Loki as a pillow.  Again.  She was going to get annoyed if she kept getting used as a pillow.  Loki didn’t like being touched.  You didn’t quite understand yet that you were the exception to that rule. It had only been a few days after all. 

“How are you feeling, darling?” Loki asked you gently.  

“Better,” you replied and gave her a real smile.  

Loki’s smile grew even brighter and warmed your heart.  “Wonderful. Though we should be heading out before night falls,”

You nodded. “We should have time for me to get the third doorway before dark,” you agreed and moved to get out of the bed.  Loki nodded as well and you headed out to the tavern area where the morons were drinking.  Thankfully, they were only drinking ale, so it hadn’t affected them much.  They’d be fine by the time you made it to the next gate.  It didn’t take long to get everyone back on the road.  You rode next to Loki chatting with her as you rode.  “Was the battle awful at the last gate?” 

Loki shook her head.  “Not really. At least, not for me. The others had a much harder time,” she teased the warrior morons.

“Of course they did,” you agreed with a smirk.  “You’re a much better fighter,” you told Loki warmly.

“He took all the easy ones!” Fandral protested, which just made you giggle. Annoying Fandral was a fond pastime from days long past. 

“No. You just aren’t as great of a fighter as me,” Loki replied easily.  Taunting Fandral was fun

You giggled even harder at their argument as Fandral spluttered that he was a great warrior.  You all chatted for awhile and you eventually went back to reading your books.  “So what do you think, Lady Sigyn?” Fandral asked you about…Something… you hadn’t been paying attention while you were reading.  

You saw that he was arguing with Loki over whatever it was.  “I wasn’t paying attention,” you admitted, “but whatever it was, I side with Loki,” you replied with a smirk. Loki smirked over at Fandral triumphantly. 

“You can’t take Loki’s side without even listening to the argument!” Fandral protested while you turned your attention back to your book.

You flipped a page in the book as Fandral started to try to explain it again. You held up a hand to stop his explanation. “I can.  I’m going to side with Loki regardless, so save your breath,”

Loki’s smirk only grew.  “Thank you, darling,” she replied warmly.

Fandral spluttered indignantly at you, the noble lady who wasn’t charmed by him.  You smiled warmly at Loki. “Of course, Lokes,” you said brightly before you returned to your book.  

It wasn’t much longer before you approached the third gate.  You vanished your book as you got closer.  You could sense the fae better than any of the others and you were on alert for danger. “Will we be facing any resistance, darling?” Loki asked when she noted your glazed expression as you focused on your surroundings.

“Yes, but not how you mean,” you told Loki, your eyes unfocused as you focused instead on what you were feeling.  “You’re going to argue, but I have to deal with this one.  She’ll kill you all on sight,” you told Loki.

“Darling? What are you talking about?”

You were close enough now that your group could see the gate and the lone figure standing in front of it.  A fae child, or so she appeared. “She’s who I’m talking about,” you replied, pointing to the girl.

“And she is?” Loki asked impatiently.  You weren’t being particularly clear or helpful.

You rolled your eyes and huffed just as impatiently.  “She’s the realm I’m sealing away,” you told Loki too patiently.  “I did mention that she’s sentient.  That is her. To name her is to give her power,” you reminded her that there was power in the name of things. 

Loki nodded her understanding once you’d spelled it out for her.  “Are you sure I cannot help?” she asked.  She didn’t want to leave you in danger, though she accepted that you knew the fae better than she did.

You considered that, considered your options. “You can come.  They cannot.  The soulbond should protect you, but there are two conditions,” you told Loki firmly.  There could be no deviating from your conditions and you would leave Loki behind if she couldn’t agree to your terms. 

Loki nodded while the others looked like they wanted to protest.  They were supposed to protect you, not let you go into danger alone. “What do you require of me?”

 “Don’t speak to her unless she asks you a direct question.  If she does. Do not lie,” you told Loki firmly.  Loki was the goddess of lies and sometimes her default was to lie or fib.  She couldn’t do either in front of Underhill.  You hesitated before you added.  “I won’t stop you from coming with me, but the other condition is that you cannot go before her with any kind of illusions.  Any.  She’ll see through them and take it as an insult.  I can face her alone and I won’t ask that of you,” you added the last gently.  You wouldn’t ask Loki to strip her last illusion.  

You couldn’t do that to her. 

Loki shifted back to his male form.  “No illusions. I may be the god of lies, but I know how to tell the truth, Sigyn,” he told you firmly. 

It broke your heart what you had to do to get your point across. He hadn’t understood.

“No, Loki.  No illusions, not even this one,” you told him gently.  You knew what it would cost him to strip the last illusion.  “I told you that I won’t ask it of you.  You can guard from here with the others.  I won’t ask you to strip the last illusion in front of them,” you indicated the others, reminded Loki that they were here.  They would see, if he went through with this. 

Loki sighed heavily once he understood what you meant.  “Is this the only way I can come with you?” he finally asked.  “I do not want you facing her alone,” 

You nodded. “It’s the only way.  She takes great insult at any who come before her under illusion.  And she is the one who enforces the rule that the fae cannot lie,” you explained.  You then added. “She likes me, I’ll be perfectly safe.  You don’t have to come the rest of the way.” You wouldn’t ask him to strip his last illusion in front of the others. 

He sighed again and hesitated, but dropped the last illusion, appearing in his jotun form with his beautiful sapphire skin and scarlet eyes.  He looked sheepish and afraid to be seen like this, but you just gave him a warm smile.  He was your Loki no matter his form.  “We do this together. We’re soul bound. You don’t have to do anything on your own anymore,” he told you firmly, determined to see this through with you.

There were gasps of shock from the morons.  Sif and Thor were more polite about their curiosity.   They’d all been told Loki was a jotun, but none of them had seen his true form until now.  You stood on your toes to kiss his cheek and he blushed purple. “Thank you,” you told him, though the words were hard for you to say.  You saw his nerves at the reaction of the morons, but he was more shocked by you kissing his cheek.  You concentrated a moment and your own illusions faded.  There were more gasps from the morons as they saw the scars all over your body from duels in the seelie court.  You hadn’t told anyone about them.  

Loki would grill you about them later.  For now, you took his hand and the pair of you walked down to where Underhill was waiting for you. You dropped Loki’s hand a few steps in front of the girl and took another step forward alone, leaving yourself as the focus of conversation to protect Loki.  You dropped to one knee to be on the girl’s level while she looked over you both with ancient eyes that didn’t fit the form she wore.  “Hello Tilly,” you greeted her gently.

“Siggy!!” she replied happily and you prayed to any god who would listen that Loki wouldn’t pick up that particular nickname.  She looked at Loki.  “Who’s he?” she demanded suspiciously.  She didn’t like strangers.  

“He’s my soulmate,” you replied carefully, answering her question without naming Loki.  “and my other best friend, besides you of course.” Loki wisely remained silent while you spoke with the child-shaped realm.  He was immensely curious, but he wouldn’t put either of you in danger. 

Underhill nodded, accepting the answer. “The Seelie Queen said you’re trying to seal me away.  She knows better than to lie to me,” she accused you.  

You smiled kindly.  You could deal with Underhill if she continued being reasonable.  “Seal away my friend?  Not at all.  The queen must be confused.  I’m only closing a few gates that are in inconvenient places.  You don’t want more sad children like I was, right?  The Gray Lords like taking children like me, and these gates are too close to places with lots of children.  I want them safe,” you explained to her.  You were careful to tell her the absolute truth, just twisted in your favor.  

She thought about that for a terrifyingly long time.  “Stealing children is bad,” she finally agreed and you nearly breathed a sigh of relief.  “You’ll come visit me again?” she asked softly.

Shit.

You had to agree.  There were no other options.  You also had to be careful about it.  “I will in the future when it is safe,” you replied, making the promise since you had no other choice.  

Underhill hugged you.  “Then you can close the doors,” she looked at Loki and you could see that she was looking not at him, but into his very soul.  She was a realm of magic and could do such things.  “I like him,” she finally said and you breathed another sigh of relief.  It wouldn’t be good if she didn’t like Loki, or decided he needed to die.  You couldn’t take on an entire realm and hope to win.  “He can take care of you for me,” she added before she bounced back through the doorway to her realm. 

You sighed heavily in relief. Loki brought back his Asgardian illusion once she was gone.  “Are you alright, darling?” he asked, knowing how difficult that conversation had been for you.

You nodded and stood again.  It was emotionally draining to keep up that conversation with her, to be so careful not to offend her.  “One must tread carefully around her.  It’s a good thing she likes me and was being reasonable today,” you told Loki.  

He nodded and you got to work on closing the doorway.  Loki stayed at your side, wary of Underhill and not trusting that she would keep her word.  That doorway was even harder to close than the others.  Underhill said you could close it, but she wasn’t making it easy on you.  You managed, but the color seemed to drain from you when the doorway was closed.  Your hair had lost its vibrancy, your eyes dull.  You swayed, fighting to keep your feet under you. Loki’s arms were around you in an instant, holding you on your feet.  You held onto him, exhausted, letting your head rest on his chest for a moment.  “Tilly didn’t have to make it so hard…” you grumbled softly. 

“She said you could close the doorway. Why did she make it so hard?”

“Because she can? Because that’s how the fae are and she rules all of them? Because she still doesn’t like that I’m closing them?” you whined too exhausted for existential questioning.

Loki sighed.  “Come on, darling. Let’s get back to the palace,”

“No!” you protested, looking up at him horrified.  “There’s still two more gates, we can’t go back yet!!” you continued protesting, distressed by the suggestion that you were failing and needed to go back home. 

“Darling, you can barely stand on your own,” he told you gently. 

“I’ll sleep it off and we can close the last two tomorrow,” you insisted.  You didn’t want to fail Mama Frigga and you didn’t want the Asgardian children in danger. 

“One gate at a time, darling. Two nearly has you passing out,” Loki insisted.

“There’s only two left. I’ll be fine,” you tried to reassure him. “Then we can go back to the palace,”

“Are you sure that’s wise?”

“I want this done,” you told him softly and stood on your own again.  “Once it’s done then we can go home to a hot bath and comfortable beds,” you added wistfully.

Loki sighed, but gave in, knowing it was no use arguing against duty.  “Alright. But let’s head to an inn so you can eat and rest,”

You nodded and took his arm to walk back to the horses and the others.  “Did you defeat the vicious little girl child?” Fandral teased Loki.  

You glared at Fandral. “That was an entire realm personified as a child. She could have killed us all where we stand and not broken a sweat,” you informed him with a snarl.

Loki was also glaring at Fandral. “Magical beings are more powerful than anything else. You would do well to remember that,” he told Fandral coldly.  Fandral wisely shut up and you headed to the inn in the nearby town. 

Loki got you settled at a table with food in front of you and stayed by your side. You knew he was worried about how exhausted you were. You nearly passed out and your colors were so muted.   You were still unsteady on your feet.  “You really should get some rest, darling. That last gate took a lot out of you,” Loki told you the second your plate was empty.  

You nodded, noting how worried everyone was and got to your feet to head to your room.  You had your own, but you’d already told Loki he was welcome to share with you, no matter what form he was in. Loki took you up on the offer.  He was concerned over you and not willing to let you be alone when you were so drained.  “I told you this wasn’t going to be easy. You know why Mama Frigga won’t let you learn blood magic…” you reminded him as you headed upstairs, your arms around Loki’s waist as you walked.

“I know, but I worry about the toll it is taking on you. I know the dangers of blood magic, but seeing it first hand helps me better understand Mother’s warnings,”

“Please don’t think I’m weak because of this,” you told him softly. “I don’t want you to think I’m one of the helpless feather brained noble ladies you despise…” it was one of your concerns if Loki kept seeing you weak like this.  

Loki stopped in his tracks and turned to you, cupping your face in his hands to make you look up at him. “I would never think you weak, darling.  I know how difficult blood magic is.  I know how hard this is for you and I see you persevering despite how difficult it is for you.  In fact, after all this, I consider you one of the strongest people I know. Do you understand?” he demanded firmly.

You gave him a warm, exhausted smile.  “Understood, my prince,” you told him with a hint of teasing in your voice.  

He smirked in reply, glad you were still up for sarcasm and sass.  “Good,” he replied warmly and wrapped his arm back around your shoulders to steer you to your room. You headed straight to the bed to crash and made sure there was plenty of room for him in the bed too.  You knew he wasn’t going to leave you alone. 

Loki read for awhile while you rested, before he got some sleep himself, wrapping you safely in his arms. You gave him a warm smile when he pulled you into his arms, but didn’t stir.  You were exhausted and too drained to wake.  It was extremely powerful dangerous magic you were using and the doorways were immensely powerful as well.

You woke right after dawn and smiled at Loki.  Your color had returned and you looked better at least.  “Good morning, prince,” you greeted him warmly.  You found that waking in his arms was a pleasant way to start your day. 

He easily returned the smile.  “Good morning, darling. How are you feeling?”

“Better,” you told him.  Your smile was still a little tired, but that could easily be due to the early hour. 

Loki wasn’t quite sure whether to believe you, but finally nodded, accepting your word.  “Alright. Should we head out to the next door?”

You nodded and climbed out of the bed, riding clothes shimmering into place as you did. “So how long before you grill me on every detail of my conversation with Tilly?” you asked him lightly as you collected the others and breakfast to eat in the saddle.  

Loki smirked. “Since you brought it up…” he teased.

You giggled in reply. “Ask and you shall receive,” you told him warmly.  Your group mounted up quickly and set off towards the next doorway. 

Loki turned to you once you were settled on your horses.  “So, what did you and a magical realm talk about?” he teased.

You rolled your eyes. “You were there for the entire conversation, princeling,” you teased him right back, much as you’d done with him as a child. 

He chuckled.  “The fact that a magical realm likes me was certainly shocking to hear,”

You laughed. “Well Tilly likes me so I’m not surprised she likes you too,” you replied warmly.

“A magical realm was speaking to you and likes you?” Fandral asked stupidly, eavesdropping on your conversation.  “Someone likes you?” he added even more stupidly in Loki’s direction.

Loki ignored the moron.  “Are you actually friends with her, darling?”

You nodded.  “I didn’t know what she was when I first met her, but she was so glad for someone to talk to and be nice to her. She’s the reason I survived when most of the other changelings didn’t,”

“Then I’m grateful to her for keeping you safe,”

You nodded. “She did keep me safe and helped me learn to control the fae magic. And she made the queen and gray lords be… not nice… but bearable. Or at least let me hide with her when they weren’t,” you added with a shrug when he looked horrified at how you were treated.  

When he finally got his emotions under control again he spoke. “I’m glad she made your life there a bit more bearable,”

“Me too,” you agreed. “The gray lords didn’t much like a mongrel in their court, especially one as powerful as I am. At least not until I came of age, then I was suddenly useful,”

“Well, you don’t have to worry about them. You’re home now,” Loki reminded you.  He was so relieved that you were home.  So were you.  Asgard was your home and you were beyond grateful to be back here, back among your people, back with the princes you grew up with.  

“The gray lords are powerful, Lokes. I doubt they’re going to just let me go without a fight…” you reminded him, though you were hesitant to say more about fae politics.

“Meaning what, exactly?” he demanded with a scowl.  If any of them even dare to mess with you, they would have to deal with him first.  Loki’s overprotective nature was as legendary as his temper.

You sighed and committed yourself to the explanation.  “The gray lords are the most powerful of the fae,” you explained.  “Besides the queens of the two courts. Their will is law and they dislike being defied. The soulbond will protect me from having to marry one of the fae, but that doesn’t mean the other gray lords won’t want me returned to the court,” you looked away with a blush when your tongue slipped.  And you hoped Loki hadn’t caught the wording.

“Other gray lords?” he asked and you cursed to yourself.

You sighed heavily. “Of course you caught that…” you grumbled at him.  “Too observant for your own good…”

“Don’t avoid the subject, Sigyn. Tell me, please. Let me help,” he pleaded.  He wanted so desperately to be able to help you, protect you.

You sighed and stared at the pommel of your saddle instead of looking at him. Your voice was soft, shy, nervous, when you spoke again. 

“I’m one of the gray lords,”

[imagine-loki]

Soulbonds and Fairy Dust

TITLE: Soulbonds and Fairy Dust CHAPTER NO./ONE SHOT: 14/? AUTHOR: nekoamamori ORIGINAL IMAGINE: Imagine one of the fae has been helping the Avengers, jumping in to help them on missions and vanishing before Shield can bring her in.  Loki joins the team and convinces her to come talk to the team and consider joining before Shield takes more drastic measures. RATING: T (so far)  NOTES/WARNINGS: Also on AO3 here

Loki pulled his horse to a stop and you were forced to follow suit.  The two of you were at the back of the group, so it took them a few paces to realize you’d stopped and they stopped too, waiting for you to catch up.  They seemed to realize that you were in the middle of an important conversation and didn’t come interrupt or eavesdrop.  

Loki had a serious look on his face when he turned to you.  “Explain,” he told you firmly, his voice nearly icy.  He softened a little when he added “Please,”

You didn’t quickly know what explanation he was asking for, but you started talking anyway.  “I told you the gray lords are the most powerful of the fae. I have the magical power and physical fighting ability after years of duels for my life to qualify. I was ‘awarded’ the title when I came of age…” you were leaving a lot out, but that was the bare bones of it.  Loki reevaluated the scars you hadn’t been coherent enough to hide back behind your illusions after closing the doorway.  You wondered what he was looking at and blushed when you saw your arms and realized your scars were visible.  You quickly threw your illusions back into place.  You looked exactly the same, but minus the old battle scars.

Loki didn’t comment, though you knew he’d question you about the scars later.  Instead he asked.  “So you technically have a noble standing among the fae?” he was trying to get his head around what a gray lord was.

You nodded your agreement. “I do. I was the first new gray lord in at least 500 years,” you added as if that mattered.

Loki looked impressed anyway.  He considered more implications of you being among the gray lords.  “Will they try and bring you back to Underhill?” he asked.

You nodded again.  “It looks really bad on the court that one of the gray lords abandoned Underhill in preference of the mortal realms…” you explained.  It really did look bad on them that you’d left.  They’d been searching for you since you had, which is why you’d had to hide on Midgard.

“When, in reality, they know you aren’t truly fae? That you were born an Asgardian goddess?”

You considered that.  “I don’t think they realized that I’m an Asgardian goddess. They don’t know much about Asgard. And probably assumed only the royal family receives godhead,” you explained with a shrug.  You hadn’t known until Odin had announced yours that you were a goddess.  You owed him another explanation, though. “Also the gray lords are higher ranked than simple nobility,” you told him.  “We’re the princes and princesses of the fae, at least in terms as you would understand them,”

Loki nodded, accepting your explanation.  “Is there anything else I should know?”

“Probably a lot of things, but none urgent,” you replied with a smirk.  Of course there were tons more things he probably needed to know.  You just couldn’t think what they were at the moment. 

“Will you tell me when we get back to the palace?” he asked, misunderstanding what you meant.

“I just meant that I’m sure there are things I’m not thinking of that you ought to know or would want to know. I’ll tell you if or when they become important or come to me,” you told him warmly.

“Alright. I can agree to that,”

“Did she just say she’s a fairy princess?” Fandral demanded loudly.  Apparently they’d wandered back close enough to eavesdrop.  You blushed and got shy again, curling in on yourself.  

Loki glared at Fandral.  “Would you shut up, you imbecile?” he snarled, jumping to defend you.

“But she’s a fairy princess!!” Fandral protested loudly as if it really mattered what your rank was. Or that you were half fae.

“She is of nobility in two different realms. What of it?” he asked Fandral as if Fandral was stupid.  He was correct of course.  Thor’s moronic friends were morons.  Fandral most especially.

 You groaned since you saw the childlike glee on Fandral’s face.  He was annoying and obsessed with the fact that he thought this was some kind of fairy tale.  “The courts of the fae are nothing like the fairy stories we were told as children, you moron,” you glared at him.  You had to get this point across to him now before he did something stupid.  “Do you really think I would have gone through so much to escape if they were? Now kindly shut up about it before I let L,” you growled.  You were uncomfortable drawing so much attention or being so firm, but he had to know.  It was important.

Loki smirked, looking proud of you.  “You should listen to her, Fandral. I’m about ready to stab you anyway,” he added the last nonchalantly.  He was just so casual about the prospect of stabbing his brother’s moronic friend.  You didn’t blame him.  At all.

Fandral wisely shut up.  

You rode for awhile longer and reached the area of the fourth gate midmorning.  You put your book away as you got near, since you could sense potential danger from the fae better than any of the others.  You noted that Loki was sticking close to you.  He was worried after the previous day and how drained you’d been after the last gate.

“There’s nothing waiting for us,” you told the part as you approached.  You were still nervous.  You didn’t trust the apparent safety of this gate.  After the last two were so well protected, it seemed strange that this one was unguarded.  Just because Tilly was allowing you to close the gates, it didn’t mean she was going to be making it easy on you.  It wasn’t her way.   It also didn’t mean the fae were going to let you, or would make it easy on you if they did.

Loki noticed your nerves and gave you a reassuring smile.  “We will remain on guard, don’t worry, Sig,”

“I don’t like this, not after the last two doorways being so well guarded,” you confessed as you dismounted.  You were close enough to the doorway that you needed to walk the rest of the way.  The group dismounted to walk with you. 

Loki stuck close to your side.  “I’ll be right beside you the whole time,” he promised.  You could tell that he understood your worry.  He would do anything and everything to keep you safe while you dealt with the doorways.  

The whole group stood around you and the doorway, weapons drawn and alert for danger as you sliced your palm open, summoning the power you needed to close the doorway. You spread your blood across both of your palms and gripped the edges of the doorway and tried to pull it closed.  It wouldn’t budge no matter how much you tugged on it.  You cursed loudly and in multiple languages as you let the power fade.  It wouldn’t close and wasting power wouldn’t fix anything.  

You turned to the group.  “I have to go through.  There’s something on the other side holding the door open,” you told them while they were all staring in awe at your ability to curse like a sailor.  That wasn’t something typical of Asgardian ladies.

Loki looked nervous.  He did not want you going into Underhill when the fae were desperate to get you back to rule in the seelie court. “Can anyone go with you?” he asked you gently.  He wouldn’t let you face the danger along, not if there was anything he could do about it.  

You considered that and finally nodded. “I can take two through with me safely,” you told Loki. You also knew that he needed to determine who was coming with you.  “Whoever trusts me the most, or whoever you want to come with us, Trickster,” you told Loki. He would feel better being able to choose who came with the pair of you.  Of course, he was going to be one of the two you brought through with you.  

You were also much too close to Underhill and the creatures living on the other side to use his name or any variation of it.  

Loki nodded and didn’t even consider before he turned to Thor.  “Brother, would you be willing to come with us?” he trusted Thor with his life, and more importantly, with yours and your safety. He had fought side by side with Thor for centuries and while they didn’t always get along, the two fought well together.  

Thor nodded immediately.  “Of course,” Thor replied automatically.  He seemed offended that Loki had even thought he had to ask.  Thor looked to his friends. “Guard the gate on this end,” he told them firmly as he gripped Mjolnir more securely in his hand.  

You looked them both over. You hesitated a moment for what you needed to do next to protect the three of you, but you steeled yourself to get it done.  “I don’t know what’s waiting for us on the other side.  I can give us some additional safeguards, if you trust me,” you told them both.  You turned your attention to Loki “and if you don’t mind if I borrow a little power.  You could use Asgardian magic for what you needed to. You knew Loki would rather you use his magic than drain yourself more trying to use your own.  

Loki offered you his hand without any hesitation.  “Take what you need,” he seemed relieved to be able to help you in any way, shape, or form.  

You took his hand and after a small nod of thanks, used his power to cast illusions on the boys.  It took a surprisingly little amount of power, mostly due to your own skill and experience.  You lengthened their hair braided down past their shoulders, pointed their ears, changed their eye colors to tri-colored.  You let the feel of fae magic surround them, disguising them as fae.  “That should help at least until we know what we’re dealing with,” you told them.  You couldn’t help appreciate how handsome they looked, disguised as fae.  “Remember, don’t use any of our names while we’re there.  Not even nicknames.  It’s too dangerous when they’re looking for me,” you reminded them firmly.  When they nodded their agreement, you took Thor’s hand too.  You had to have physical contact with them to escort them safely through the doorway. “Ready?” you asked them.  They both nodded and let you take the lead.

You kept a firm grip on both of their hands to lead them through the doorway.  You couldn’t let them go until you were all safely through.  Time and locations could get a little wibbly-wobbly when non-fae travelled through the doorways. 

You hoped whatever was waiting for you on the other side wasn’t too awful for the three of you to handle.

You were beyond grateful that you didn’t have to face this challenge alone.