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vislorrturlough · 3 years ago

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Scaramouche!

"Of course, this assumption of responsibility does not mean that we are not conditioned genetically, culturally, and socially. It means that we know ourselves to be conditioned but not determined. It means recognizing that History is time filled with possibility and not inexorably determined-that the future is problematic and not already decided, fatalistically."

- Paulo Friere

For as long as Loki can remember, tapestries have lined the walls of Asgard's palace.

When Loki was a child, the Allmother sat by his bed one night and explained the significance of the tapestries that lined the walls of their home.

“The Norns weave the tapestry that assigns our roles,” she told him. “So that we may fulfill our fate and serve Midgard as we are meant to.”

The tapestries stretched across all the walls of the palace, covering vast miles of golden wall with breathtaking imagery depicting life and death and love and hate and everything in between. They pictured Loki too, who moved from boy to tragedy to a vicious and cruel man.

“So I have a role too? And Thor?” he asked. She smiled at him with fondness. The Thor on the tapestries seemed brave and strong - Loki could never imagine his brother, still a boy himself, to become that hulk of a man someday.

“Of course, Loki,” she said. “We all have roles. I am a mother, and a magician. Thor will be a great hero. Your father, a beloved and wise king. This is what is sewn into our destiny, to be enacted until Ragnarok and again after that. In a cycle, unending and unwavering.”

He yawned, obscuring the nervousness bubbling in his chest and curling the silken covers around his shoulders. He knew what the tapestries said Loki would do. He had hoped that maybe - “What’s my fate, mother?” he asked quietly.

Her smile, previously relaxed, became firm and serious. His heart was racing, thinking of that man, and of the awful cruelty that was depicted to come at his hands. “We all have a part to play, my dear. And every story has a villain for a reason.”

Despite common misconception, Loki Laufeyson never lived in the moment. In fact, Loki found the moment particularly difficult to pin down. Once you begin to think “Hey, I think this is the moment!” it wasn’t the moment anymore, and Loki already had four tabs open on his phone about the relativity of time and he didn’t need anymore.

Loki lived in the future, which was why he was that very moment getting his fair share of serotonin from the Schrödinger’s Night Out with Sigurd and Lorelei he was planning.

“Sigurd definitely won’t come out if Lorelei isn’t,” he explained to Verity as he paced hurriedly around their absurdly fancy flat, which he paid for entirely and in return, Verity didn’t ask where he got all the money. “Which means I need Lorelei to agree first. One problem with that!”

“Lorelei hates you?” Verity asked, as she planted an orange tree in Stardew Valley.

“Lorelei hates me!” Loki agreed. “Which means I need to sweeten the pot.”

Verity glanced up at him suspiciously. “How are you going to do that?”

He grinned, and picked up a pen so he could start dramatically gesticulating. “Bisexual women! They’re always fascinated with me. And by the end of the evening, I’ll have established a system where I transport their attention from me to Lorelei and get her many dates. Like a Ford factory.”

She glared, turned back to her game. “You’re a walking hate crime.”

“Was that a lie, Verity?” he teased, collapsing on the couch and wrapping an arm around her shoulders. She tried just barely to shrug him off. “Was it a lie when I said bi women are fascinated with me? Was it?”

Verity narrowed her eyes at him, but didn’t say anything, and in response he burst into cackles of laughter.

—

Lorelei claimed to be very insulted that Loki thought bisexual women liked him more than her, but he knew well that she knew well that she looked like the straightest girl alive and really, that was her own fault. Once Lorelei was a confirmed booking, Sigurd swiftly followed, because he’s nothing if not a simp, and thus Loki had now established the perfect evening. A pricey club, two people who could barely stand him, and himself.

Although he never really enjoyed it. He’d never planned to.

Anticipation was a drug, really. And as previously established, the moment was very boring indeed. And this moment, Loki found himself crammed against Sigurd, who while very attractive and an owner of some very firm abs, was covered in sweat, and only slept with Loki when he was desperate anyway. Loki squinted up at him, and tried to figure out if he was desperate tonight.

“What the fuck are you looking at?” Sigurd shouted over the music.

Loki smiled at him genially, and proceeded to turn quickly around and elbow his way to the smoking area.

The initial smack of fresh onto his face was divine. He closed his eyes and smiled in satisfaction, continuing to move forward. The music was more muted out here, and the sound of voices and laughter blurred into itself until nothing was anything anymore. Peace! The lights were all different shades of pink and green, and they cast an ethereal glow over the throngs of young people with cigarettes in their hands, all here, all living now.

Loki bumped into someone.

“Shit!” he yelped, watching in horror as her cocktail spilt down her crop top. “I’m so sorry! Oh my God!”

She’d flinched a bit during the incident itself, but the alcohol had seemingly tempered any stronger reaction than that. Lightly brushing at her (now soaked) top, she only laughed lightly and smiled at him. “No worries, dude!”

He pulled out his best prince charming grin (practiced in the mirror and finely tuned). “Please, let me at least buy you another drink.”

“I’m not going to say no to a drink!” she laughed shyly, and they traipsed inside to the bar. Sigurd seemed to have vanished, but out of the corner of his eye he could see Lorelei getting very close to the DJ, so maybe if Loki had any luck he was crying in the gents or something. Usual affair, really.

He bought them both mojitos, and they fought their way back through the crowd to return to the smoking area. “I like your necklace,” he said, because his mother had always said women liked having their jewelry complimented. Sif had later said that they didn’t, but Sif was as much a woman as Loki was a man, so her opinion didn’t count.

The girl giggled. “Thanks, it’s a crucifix.”

“Oh sorry!” Loki said. “I’m not from around here. That’s the catholic thing right?”

“Do you guys not have catholicism in Britain?”

Ugh, mentioning Asgard would dance a bit too close to the possibility of ‘Oh man, anyone ever told you you look like Thor’s evil brother?’. Loki chuckled instead and rolled his eyes. “I was pretty sheltered. It was like, a weird cult?”

“Oh wow! That’s so interesting.” She had a sympathetic sort of look on her face, and Loki quickly buried the irritation that bubbled up in his chest. The sympathy wasn’t for Loki anyway, just some fake man who grew up in a cult. Did he think Asgard was a cult? God, he was glad he didn’t have a therapist

“Yeah, I don’t really believe in it now, you know?” he lied easily, smiling at her. “It’s hard to have faith when it’s like, you never see any proof.”

She nodded understandingly. “Yeah, lots of people say that nowadays, what with superheroes and Asgard and all. I don’t know, I kind of think the fact I don’t have proof makes it more important.”

“Oh yes?” Loki asked. “What do you mean by that?”

She looked up at the lights, placed her free hand on the crook of the elbow of the hand holding her drink. For a second, Loki saw ancient and revered philosophers! He decided that they’d had it all wrong. Screw the forums, they should’ve done all their philosophising in smoking areas.

“It means something, you know?” she explained slowly. “Like, of course we believe in the ground and the sky and all. Those are right in front of us, we can’t deny that. Same with science, or aliens, or Asgardians. But believing in God requires a certain kind of faith. I’m going beyond seeing and believing. I’m just believing. God has a plan for me, and I believe in that.”

Loki nodded slowly. A fate? One set, but controlled by a benevolent creature and entirely unknown? It wasn’t true or real of course, but there was a beauty to it, that Loki, who’s path was clear and determined, appreciated. The alcohol (he and Lorelei made a habit of spiking drinks they bought on earth with Asgardian liqueur, so they’d, you know, work) was beginning to blur his awareness anyway. “That’s beautiful,” he said kindly.

She giggled, quickly touching her necklace and looking at the ground. “Haha, sorry! I study theology, it’s kind of a thing.”

“No, no!” Loki laughed, giving her a wide grin. “It was very interesting! Where do you study?”

They got into a long conversation about Sarah’s (her name, Loki found out eventually) degree, NYU dorms and a guy she hated in her seminars, before he noticed Lorelei making a beeline towards him, her hand around Sigurd’s wrist.

“Hey,” she said, before frowning at him and glancing at Sarah. “I’m going home with a girl named Angelica. She’s goth and plays bass. So you need to take Sig home.”

“I’m literally an ancient hero. Of legend,” Sigurd interjected.

Lorelei turned and glared at him instead. “Well, you need to take Loki home.”

“Oh well, come on then Sig!” Loki said loudly, ignoring his scowl. “Thank you for such a lovely conversation, Sarah darling. Have a nice night!”

“Thanks Luke!” she laughed, not being not obvious about checking Sigurd out. Oh God, she probably thought he was dating Loki. Yuck, how mortifying. “See you around!”

“Go get a taxi,” Lorelei told him, before wandering off to a girl with a septum piercing and docs, which Loki considered quite basic, especially for Lorelei.

They didn’t get a taxi. They walked five minutes until Loki ducked around a corner, ignored Sigurd saying “Aren’t we getting a taxi?” and grabbed his arm before dragging him through the spaces in between the universe and dropping him on the bean bag in his living room. A solitary pringles can rolled quietly and hit Loki’s foot.

“Ugh, you’re disgusting,” Loki muttered, kicking it away.

“I hate you,” Sigurd growled, pinching his nose and clearly trying not to throw up. Loki didn’t know why, it wouldn’t be any major downgrade from how the room was currently. “And I hate that. You’re such a fucking prick Loki.”

Time to make his exit before Sigurd regained enough strength to cause him bodily harm. “Bye honey!” he trilled, and Sigurd’s growl was cut off as he made his way to his own apartment. He didn’t wake up Verity, she had work tomorrow, so he just kicked off his shoes and climbed into bed, surrendering to unconsciousness.

Verity and Loki had moved in together for two reasons.

1) Loki spent most of his time at Verity’s. He had a separate shelf in her fridge for his energy drinks and his salsa, and a special place at the bottom of her spice cupboard for his snacks. He told Verity she had full ownership over all the snacks and could have them when he’d left, but she never did. Instead she got the little clip things she used and pinched the bags closed carefully, putting them to the side for the next time he came over. It was thoughtful, and Loki didn’t know what to do with it, so he never mentioned it. He got bored quite easily anyway, and most of his ‘friends’ had a very limited tolerance of him, so most days he found himself on Verity’s couch, playing Uno and eating Oreos.

2) Verity’s flat was bad and small and Loki’s was perfect and expensive, and if he spent all his time with Verity, they may as well hang out in his sketchily acquired penthouse. Plus, paying her rent made him feel useful. It was like a payment for all the little clips on his packets of Doritos.

He didn’t regret it. Except he thought that perhaps he might be as close as he could get to regretting it as he lay in bed listening to her pounding viciously at his door.

“Are you alive?” she yelled through the mahogany. He groaned just loudly enough to be heard, and she banged one more time for good measure before her footsteps quickly petered off towards the kitchen.

He sighed in frustration, rolling off his bed with just enough basic athletic ability to land on his feet. His vision blacked out for just a second, and his head very much rejected the idea of being on his feet. Had he shifted through space while drunk? That was so dangerous. He should have gotten like, a driving ticket. A magic driving ticket.

He stumbled into the kitchen and stared blearily at Verity. “What are you cooking?” he mumbled.

“Eggs,” she replied without turning. “Want some?”

“Hmm.” He stares at the clock. One in the afternoon? That wasn’t too bad. Verity must have just gotten in from work though, which made him feel bad. Oh, how he missed the days when he had no shame and also no friends. “No thanks, I don’t want to throw up.”

“I thought alcohol didn’t affect you?”

“Human alcohol doesn’t.” He sat down on one of the tall swivel chairs at their counter and spun around. Ow, oh fuck, that wasn’t a good idea. He grimaced and placed his pounding head in his hands. “Lorelei and I spiked our drinks with something we got from Asgard.”

“Huh.” Verity sat opposite him, eggs piled onto the plate she set down in front of her. She’d cooked the yokes, the heathen. “Did you have a good time?”

Loki stared at her. “I feel like I’m being interrogated by my mother.”

“Oh honey,” she teased, grinning through a mouthful of eggs. “Oh sweetie. Wear protection!”

Loki dramatically re-enacted retching, and she choked on her eggs. A just punishment for her crimes, he thought.

“Ew,” he moaned. “I had to see Sigurd’s flat last night. It was disgusting.”

“I wasn’t being serious?” she stared at him. “I didn’t know you actually slept with-”

“Ew, ew, no,” he interrupted. “I was just detailing how he’s far too disgusting to ever consider as a sexual object. I would probably sleep with Lorelei though.”

“As if she’d sleep with you.”

“I’m forever alone!” he cried “Like the meme!”

“If you think referencing memes from 2008 is going to help you get laid-” she got up, pulled the dishwasher open and put her plate in without washing it off. Awful dishwasher etiquette, and Loki was from a place where they washed dishes with magic, so she had no excuse. “-then I think you might be beyond help.”

“I’m waiting for the right person,” he mumbled, squinting in the light streaming in from their egregiously large windows. “Like America. I ship America and myself.”

“America’s a lesbian,” Verity said.

“I’m a woman sometimes!” He got up and opened the fridge. “It’d be perfectly possible if she could tolerate me.”

“Which she can’t.”

“Yeah,” Loki said in faux-disappointment. “Ergo, forever alone, I’m mister lonely, involuntarily celibate, and sent to the friendzone.”

He shut the fridge, no bacon in sight, and stared at the front of it trying to consider his next move. He could head down to the store, but also he couldn’t, because he couldn’t imagine bringing himself to put on something other than the shorts he was currently in that said ‘BAD WITCH’ in bright green, metallic lettering on the back (a gift from Kate) and also he was pretty certain a drink had been poured on him the night before, judging by the smell of lager and the way his fringe had congealed into a hard point overnight. He wasn’t in any fit state to walk down the street. He had standards to maintain.

Yes, he was an illusionist, but he was a hungover illusionist with a headache, thus he opened up DoorDash and ordered McDonald’s.

“Vee?” he called down the hall. “Do you want anything from McDonald’s?”

“Ew,” she called back. “No.”

He placed his order and looked back up at the fridge. They had a shared calendar printed out on that kind of slippy photo paper so they could use whiteboard markers on it and make sure to not double book having people over. Last time it had happened, Verity’s cousin had to top-and-tail with Thor on the couch, which was a weird experience for everyone, but mostly for Daniel. Currently, the calendar was pretty sparse, since it was early April, but Verity had written something in for Sunday. ‘Easter - Mom’s House’.

He stared at it, confused. He didn’t turn when he heard Verity’s feet pattering back into the kitchen. “Hey, I didn’t know you were religious.”

“Huh?” Verity had flopped onto the couch and was fiddling with the remote control, probably trying to turn on Dr Phil. “Not really, what do you mean?”

“You’re going to your Mum’s for Easter?”

“Oh I guess.” The Judge Judy theme song streamed from the TV. Loki stood corrected. “I don’t believe in it or anything. It’s just tradition.”

“Huh.” He glanced out onto the street. It was lively. They were in pretty central Manhattan, and usually when you looked onto the road it was hard to see a part of the path that wasn’t covered in black throngs of city goers. He sometimes wondered where they were going, had they plans, or were they just wandering, aimless and free? Loki had always thought it would be night to wander off and see where his feet would take him if he didn’t walk with direction or intention. “Had an interesting conversation last night.”

“Yeah?” Verity responded mindlessly, staring at the TV.

“About religion. With a girl in the smoking area.”

“Dude.” Verity leaned over, effortlessly butch. “Conversations about religion in a smoking area? I’m putting my foot down. Either you download Grindr or find a therapist.”

“Both of those options are severely limited by the fact that I am a divine being and a world renowned criminal,” he replied. “Do you think guys on Grindr are into my evil vibes, actually?”

“Guys on Grindr are definitely into your evil vibes.”

“Thanks Verity,” he said, turning and heading towards the door. “You always have my back. Maybe I’ll find a bae after all.”

He grinned at her sounds of indignation and headed to his room to sleep his headache away.

Loki had always been rather a superior child. He had no need for childish matters of ‘bravery’ and ‘heroics’, instead favouring his intellect and insight. His mother said he was a bright young man, thank you. So he cared little about Thor informing him he was too small and weak to spar with him and his friends. However, he had in return let Thor know that he would be instead spending some time with his very close friends, who Thor did not have an acquaintance with and who thought Loki was very cool and interesting indeed. Thus, appearances had to be upheld.

He peered around the corner of the great, awning entrance to the Bifröst control room. Lord Heimdall had his back turned, but Loki was not a fool. A child, but not a fool.

“Your Highness,” the Watcher called out, turning to face him. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

He inched forward, the tips of his fingers trailing the chilly gold-plated walls of the gate. “I was bored,” he lied.

“Very well.” Heimdall set down the Key and sat heavily down onto its platform. “Would you be able to keep me company during my break?”

Loki lifted his chin, glanced around himself and headed to sit beside him. “I suppose I can grace you with my presence, for some time at least.”

“Have you a full schedule, your Highness?”

Anger and indignation built in his chest. Loki whipped around and scowled at him. “I’m very busy.”

Heimdall’s playful expression sunk with practiced ease into something serious. “My apologies. Of course you are, my prince.”

Loki crossed his arms. He knew that Lord Heimdall knew all his business, all of everyone’s business, but it struck him like a spear to his chest to have been mocked over his… lack of desirability. How dare he? Loki may be a boy, but he was his prince. It was not Heimdall’s place to mock him.

He struggled to think of something dignified to reply, and the pressure of the silence between them built into a garotte that tightened around his neck. He daren’t look at Heimdall, imagining a mocking grin staring down at him. It was unlikely, and would be utterly out of place on the man’s face, but Loki would rather avoid the possibility altogether.

“How is your brother, your Highness?” Heimdall said to break the silence.

In a fit of rage, Loki slammed his palm against the platform. His eyes watered with the pain of it. “Why does everyone only care about what Thor is doing? How Thor is? I am not a vessel through which people may be updated about my brother’s status!”

In his anger he’d turned to glare at Heimdall, and was horrified to find the man’s face transformed by pity. Loki scowled in disgust, and stared at the wall in the opposite direction.

“I did not mean to imply anything as such, your Highness,” Heimdall explained carefully. “I merely asked out of having nothing else very interesting to say. Perhaps I should have asked how you are?”

Loki hesitated, glanced back up. “I’m well,” he mumbled shortly.

“That’s good to hear,” Heimdall replied, staring ahead, out the gates and down the Bifröst. Loki wondered if he saw that which lay in front of him with more clarity, or if what his tangible eyes caught was nothing different to everything else he saw. “Is there anything in particular you would like to speak about?”

Loki was silent for a moment. A topic had been weighing on his mind, one he hesitated to bring to his mother. A heavy topic indeed. “Heimdall?” he asked. “Why am I destined to be a monster?”

It had been a burden to bear, acknowledging what was written upon the tapestries spun deep in Nornheim. When mother had first told him of his destiny years ago, it had seemed like a childhood game, but everyday the gravity of his situation held him just a little firmer to the ground. All has its place, his mother had told him, and your place is important. It is against you that others will shine.

It coloured everything he did, and how others treated him. Thor still loved him as a brother, but everyday his pride in his own journey grew and Loki could only stand and watch as he looked on his brother with a little more suspicion, held him at a slightly further distance. Loki’s cruelty had been encouraged, not in a direct way, but in the ways in which his parents and carers were cruel towards him. Like a knife being sharpened.

Heimdall did not move. “Everything has its duty. Our world is not much but an elaborate play, and we act according to our roles so that the other realms may live in our image.”

“But why me?” Loki pressed. “Why can’t I be the hero?”

Neither mentioned what lay between them. A man and a child and a destiny for two corpses, having slain one another, to lie in the middle of their world as it burned.

“I’m sorry, my prince,” Heimdall said quietly. “Perhaps take some relief in the fact that you needn’t worry over who you will be. The Midgardians in particular struggle with virtue.”

“Really?” Loki muttered, head in his hands. “Isn’t it very freeing for them?”

“Not as such,” he replied. “In return for their agency, they are burdened with the duty to be ever kind and charitable to one another, or be damned for their failure to do so. It's simpler for us. Our fate is predetermined, and while you may be the villain, you are doing your duty as such and can rest easy knowing that it is a moral and just thing for you to be.”

Loki was silent for a second, staring morosely ahead. “But I don’t want to be the villain.”

“I’m sorry, Prince Loki,” Heimdall replied, resting a hand on his shoulder. “But the tapestries have already been spun.”

The Allmothers, in their omnipowetful ability to be incredibly annoying, always called him when he was in the middle of doing things. In this case, a lovely girl named Amelia who had told him he looked like Timotheé Chalamet.

She screamed, causing Loki to whip around with a curse only to find Gaia staring at him through his mirror, disgust on her face and her right eye covered by Loki’s Blondie postcard that Verity had bought him from some emo shop.

Gritting his teeth, he looked down at Amelia, who seemed to be sinking into some form of shock. “Oh man,” he said. “I’m so fucking sorry. Uh, I kind of have to take this. Another time maybe?”

She looked up at him in speechless horror before turning quickly and climbing out from under him. Before he could even look up at her he heard the slam of the door. He glanced up. Huh, at least she’d taken her shirt with her. Loki was a feminist after all.

With a sigh, he turned to face Gaia. “My Lady!” He greeted with gritted teeth. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

She held his gaze for a few awkward seconds.

“Okay,” he said. “I would say, if anything it’s your fault that you decided to just turn up in my mirror without any prior warning. Really? You can’t expect me to be celibate. I’m Loki.”

She graced him with a performatively regal sigh and a significantly less regal eye roll. “The Allmothers have a task for you to complete, Loki.”

“Don’t you always?” He grumbled, pulling a hoodie on to cover up some of his nudity. Amelia may have only lost a shirt, but Loki was already down to his boxers. He was a feminist, after all.

“There is a great treasure in the belonging of one of our own, one who dwells in the realm of Midgard.”

“In English?”

The Allmother paused. Her eyebrows furrowed. “Your first language is the tongue of Jötunheim.”

“It’s just a-, it’s just a phrase, okay? Anyway, can you get to the crux of it? I was busy.”

“You aren’t busy anymore.”

He threw his arms out dramatically, making sure his irritation was painted clear on his face. “Thanks for that, by the way!”

“We would like-,” she continued, gathering her composure. “-for you to retrieve the ancient sword, Gram. It’s power is too great for us to allow it to remain out of our grasp. We have waited too long already, and time is of the essence.”

“Gram?” Loki asked. “You mean Sigurd’s sword?”

“The legendary sword Gram does indeed lie in the hands of the hero Sigurd-”

“But Sig loves his sword,” he interrupted. “He’s going to hate me if I take it for you. That’s narc behaviour.”

“This is your duty, Prince Loki, to your people,” Gaia said sternly. “You are, and have always been, a narc.”

“Hey, fuck you-”

She was gone in the next second, and Loki was left staring at his face in the mirror, and the way the skin underneath his eyes was grey and sunken, which made his eyes pop in a sort of consumption-chic. He looked a bit like Maleficent, he thought in an attempt to distract himself from the dread of the task that now lay before him and the inevitable broken friendship (he didn’t have many to break left).

But without all the milf energy. Loki didn’t have any milf energy, which was probably the source of most of his problems

Often, Loki found the easiest way to avoid all of his issues was to pretend he was a funny, quirky little guy living a funny, quirky little life. Oh Loki, he’s the token evil teammate, the funny comic relief in stories about other people, relegated to side character (but hot enough that all the fan art and fic was going to centre him). This allowed him to get away with his faults, which were many and numerous, by playing them off as the work of that darned scamp, Loki. This situation however, was one that worried Loki, as Sigurd was nothing if he wasn’t two things; 1) absolutely unenamoured by Loki and everything Loki had going for himself, and 2) in love with that fucking sword.

Loki sat down cross-legged on his bed and contemplated the choices he could make here. He could take the sword, and try to manipulate the situation to make Sigurd look like he was overreacting. Take the sword to the flat and mess around while he showed it to Verity. But, he knew, Verity wouldn’t play along, because her moral compass was ever on the straight and narrow and anyway, she’d know he was lying.

Lorelei would side with Sigurd over him, because she didn’t trust the Asgardian establishment and they all knew that the tentative little bit of control that let them languish in something resembling a real life on Midgard rested on Sigurd having enough power that Asgardia would rather leave him alone than bother. Losing Gram would put that in jeopardy, and Lorelei wouldn’t trade a shoelace for Loki, nevermind her happy ending. He knew well enough that this theft would be unjust, would put all of the power into the hands of the already powerful. He knew this, and he knew that Sig and Lorelei? Wouldn’t hurt a fly, really. For all the three of them pretended to hate each other, Loki knew they were good people, and they just wanted to live their lives in peace.

He could simply refuse. Not take the sword, let the Allmothers deal with it some other way. He could say it was above his pay grade, which it was.

Except, he couldn’t. Not really. He had duties that Sigurd and Lorelei couldn’t possibly understand. That idea couldn’t push its way forward from the back of his mind, as if constrained by something, writhing back and forth to break free. Or was it? Or was that an excuse, a claim to someone that he was trying, still, to do the right thing, and that it wasn’t his fault when he failed to.

He sighed, and stood up. His wardrobe was a mess, but it was an organised mess, and anyway it was a bright, sunny day outside and he could find his dragon scale armour easily from the way it glinted in the light at the back of his slogan t-shirts.

Sig had moved all the dirty washing from his desk chair. Loki didn’t have high hopes that it was for any reason other than playing PC games though. Sig was really into, like, Call of Duty and Halo. Were they PC? Loki didn’t know. He preferred superior gaming experiences, like Professor Layton.

Lo and behold, Loki found the mysteriously disappeared dirty clothing on Sig’s couch. For a guy whose feats and adventures were written down in legend, he really had some drab taste in furnishings.

Loki moved silently through the flat, letting just a little bit of his seidr seep into his steps to cushion the noise. He didn’t turn on any lights, instead relying on a little bit of patience to let his eyes adjust to the dark. His Jotunn heritage, dare he say it, came in handy at times like this due to the Jotnär having pretty decent night vision. This was in order to do crimes and eat children, his nursemaid had informed him when he was small. Well, Loki was doing crimes, but the jury was out on the eating children bit.

Loki was an expert catburglar, tales of his stealthiness were scribbled on the walls of ancient Midgardian caves, the remnants of long extinct societies, all of which he had outlived. Thus, he cleverly noticed the Guitar Hero™ plastic guitar and stepped over it.

Loki knew one thing about Sigurd. He was paranoid. Thus, Loki had a suspicion about where he would put Gram, and if he was correct he knew this job wouldn’t be easy.

He eased open the bedroom door, and watched as the hero of the stories he had been told as a babe snored while laying on his front. Huh, great ass.

Loki mentally smacked himself. Bad!

His attention was then quickly snatched by the gleaming sword that lay against the left bedpost. Ding ding, we have a winner! Sigurd both expected his sword to be stolen and expected to have to fight off home invaders, and so he kept his greatest asset (other than his ass) right next to him in his most vulnerable times. Loki was his worst nightmare, well usually, but even more so at this moment.

He crept forward, stepping carefully over strewn clothes. Wait, was that Lorelei’s blouse? Ugh, he didn’t want to think about that. He’d much rather they remain entirely celibate in his mind.

Loki crept closer, and reached out to grasp the hilt of the sword silently.

“...What the fuck? Loki?”

He should have run, probably. Teleported, gone invisible, maybe should have even jumped through the window. That might have thrown Sigurd off the scent right? Prince Loki, God of Trickery and Harbinger of Ragnarök wouldn’t have just leapt through a window. Well, the window was seventeen floors up actually, so maybe a regular burglar wouldn’t have either.

Anyway, what happened was he stood stock still, unable to move a muscle or turn to face Sigurd, as if he were labouring under the delusion that Sigurd was a creature that tracked prey by movement. He looked like something out of Looney Tunes, which wasn’t fantastic for his dignity.

“Loki,” Sigurd snapped again.

He turned, and winced at the look of outrage on his friend’s face. Sigurd was sat up on his elbow, his other arm on his comforter. He looked like he was ready to attack someone. Loki was pretty sure he hadn’t expected it to be - well, Loki.

“What the fuck were you doing?” he said. “Were you stealing Gram? Why? For who?”

Ouch, that hurt. He may have been stealing it for someone else, but it was a bit upsetting that Sigurd had immediately disregarded the idea he was working in his own interest.

He opened his mouth. Closed it. “The Allmothers send their regards,” he finally admitted drily.

If anything, Sigurd’s outrage grew. “How- How could you?”

A bit dramatic, Loki thought. Sigurd leapt out of his bed, and Loki didn’t have the chance to step back before his shoulders were in Sigurd’s bruising grip and his back pushed hard against the wall. “You know what this means,” Sigurd said, his disgust evident. “You aren’t stupid, Loki. You know what you’re doing.”

Oh, that was it, wasn’t it? Loki wasn’t evil because he did evil things. He was evil because he knew they were wrong before he did them, and he did them anyway.

“I have to,” he mumbled weakly. Was that a lie? Verity would know. “I have no choice.”

“Yes you do,” Sigurd said, releasing his grip and stepping back, “Yes you do, you’re just too much of a coward to admit it. You’re so desperate to play happy families. I can see it in you, and so can Lorelei. All you want is to be useful to people, even if it’s for the Allmothers, who treat you like shit. You do their fucking dirty work and they kick you around and you love it, because you get to be part of their rotten little story.”

Loki stared at him, suddenly feeling utterly, entirely tired beyond belief. Sigurd could not tell him anything that he did not tell himself.

“You’re a coward. You’re a fucking coward who does everything the Allmothers ask of you. One moment you sneer at them up there, in Asgard, and pretend that you and me and Lorelei are all in the same boat, but the next moment you bare your neck to them. One day they’re going to ask you to hurt someone you really care about, and you know what? You’ll do it. They’ll ask you to hurt Thor, or Verity, and you’ll do it without a second thought because you’re a coward, Loki, and you always will be.”

His breath caught in his throat. “I wouldn’t hurt Verity.”

“Yes, you would. If someone put it on a tapestry you’d do it in a fucking heartbeat.”

“I see, well,” he paused, looked to his right to avoid Sigurd’s gaze. “I’ll let you get back to sleep I suppose.”

Sigurd reached out to grab him, but he was gone before he had a chance.

—

Received FRI 2:08

Verity: hey u coming back tonight or what

Verity: im assuming ur working

Verity: if u are there’s leftover pasta bake in the fridge. Ik you hate leftovers but its on offer. Im off to bed, night!

Received FRI 11:02

Verity: hey called lorelei to check in on you and she says you and sig aren’t talking. She didnt seem thrilled w you either. U ok?

Verity: call me if you get the chance ok

Received MON 15:47

Verity: yh ok this is cringe but please call. Im worried

Verity: you usually lmk when youre gone this long and sig was being suspicious

Verity: i asked him if hed seen you and he like laughed

Verity: idk maybe hed be more concerned if something had happened but u guys dont exactly have a normal expectation for health and safety in the workplace

Received WED 23:21

Verity: please call i’m worried

Verity: please

Received THU 18:54

Verity: you’re a fucking idiot

Verity: I hate you

Received THU 19:02

Verity: i didn’t mean that

Verity: sorry.

Verity: please do call. please

Verity wasn’t the only one texting him, which would have done wonders for his ego if it had been anywhere near still intact, but she was the only one who’s texts he kept re reading, scanning them obsessively and trying to convince himself he was doing the right thing.

The thing that nagged him though, was how would he know what the right thing was?

All his life, the right thing was whatever was in stride with where he was determined to end up. The path had been laid out for him - all he had to do was walk it. But, though the Norns had written out his beginning, his end, his great misdeeds and stories, they hadn’t written about things like whether he should get KFC or not, whether he’d be good at Mario Party or what dog breed was his favourite (alsatian). They had never had the name Verity Lewis brush their lips.

Because this world was untethered. It simply wasn’t important enough for the Norns to have seen. Did that mean that they were free, here? Was that bad or good? To Loki, who despite everything had spent an eternity comfortable in the knowledge that he knew what would happen, and that the future was clear to him as long as he could stand in the halls he’d grown up in and stare at the tapestries on the walls, the idea of absolute undetermined fate was deeply terrifying. It caught in his throat, wrapped around his heart, squeezed the warmth out of his chest.

But Sigurd was right, and so he had a decision to make.

There were people walking around under him, where he sat perched on the roof of a Soviet era apartment building in Brno. They didn’t know what would happen to them, how many kids they’d have, whether they’d marry or how they’d die. They didn’t know any of that, and that meant they could decide.

Huh.

He stumbled when he flashed in, and his hand reached out steady himself against the wall. The lights were off, but after a couple of seconds he heard a slight clutter from Verity’s room. Taking a deep breath he made his way to the kitchen and sat down at the bar. He didn’t bother to switch the light on, instead just collapsed into the chair and placed his head in his hands.

The lights switched on. “Loki?”

He peeked at her from between his fingers. Verity stared at him as if she couldn’t quite decide whether to be angry or happy. She was squinting (she wasn’t wearing glasses - she must have been asleep). He must have looked suitably miserable because instead of launching into a tirade she narrowed her eyes and slowly moved to sit opposite him, as if trying to tame some vicious creature. Apt, perhaps.

Their silence hung very heavily. “I’m sorry,” Loki eventually said, mortified to hear a crack in his voice from disuse.

She watched him carefully. “I forgive you,” she replied. Not ‘it’s okay’, because Verity found lying, even unconsciously, very difficult. “Can you tell me what’s up?”

By ‘can’, Loki knew that Verity was asking as if this was something related to his work for the Allmothers, but he found that even though this wasn’t any secret mission detail he was forbidden from sharing, he still found it hard to describe.

“I mean,” he muttered, breaking away from her stare. “Where would you like me to start?”

“Wherever you want to?”

He swallowed. “I had to steal something from Sigurd. Gram-” She opened her mouth and he jerked his shoulders defensively. “Please let me just explain. The Allmothers asked me too. I knew that if I did it it would put Sig and Lorelei’s relative safety at a significant risk. But,” he paused, bit his lip, horrified by the lump in his throat. “Even though I knew it was the wrong thing to do, and that all of you, all of my friends, would think less of me because of it, I had to do it. I had to do it because if I don’t do things that are wrong, that are bad, I am not filling the role that I am set out to fill, that I have always been set out to fill.

“There are tapestries, in Asgard,” he explained, a wobble entering his tone. “They’ve been there since before me, before my parents, before anyone. They were woven by the Norns, who see all of the past, the present and the future. They were woven so that we, who will be images of all the people of the Nine Realms and who will serve as a reflection of their large and varied communion, could know where we fit and what roles we are to play. And I’m a villain, Verity. I am the bad guy, because someone has got to be. There are people who actively choose to be bad and evil and selfish all over the shop, and someone has to represent them in the grand scheme of things. And, mainly, I have to keep everyone’s hands clean by making mine dirty.”

Her hands reached steadily out, grabbed one of his and held it between them. They were tears threatening to fall now, and they choked up his voice.

“So I do what the Allmothers ask me to, and I antagonise Thor, and I play my part as the bad guy of the story so that one day that story may be told to children as they are tucked into bed, so that they know that immorality causes you nothing but strife. I am supposed to have that strife, and through this my immorality is good and right, because I am an example.”

He paused. “Sigurd said I would hurt you, if they asked me to.”

“Would you?” she asked.

A second passed. “I don’t know. Maybe. I’d rather not risk it, but I thought you at least deserved an explanation for my sudden disappearance.”

She leaned back then, stared out their windows and onto the road beneath them, still busy despite the hour. “Do you want to know what I think?”

“Dare I ask?” he chuckled wetly.

Her voice was firm. “I think that’s bullshit. I know you’re telling the truth, that you might hurt me if your Moms asked you. But I think you don’t know that that’s not true, which is why it’s registering as right to me.”

He squinted at her in confusion.

“You believe it,” she explained. “Which is why it’s registering as true to me. But that doesn’t mean you would, it just means you don’t think you’re a good person, and that’s not news.

“You see yourself as some kind of cut-out character with one trait, a yin to Thor’s yang or some shit, but you only think that’s all real because people have told you it is. Who’s to say those tapestries are anything? I think that you - all of you Asgardians - are terrified of being unmoored, so you make up shit like this so that you don’t have to grapple with morality.”

He tried to interrupt, but Verity continued. “You’re all terrified of life, so you pretend it’s one big play you’re putting on for our benefit, with roles and lines so that you needn’t make ‘em up. But you know what? Why don’t you just try? Try to improvise. Break away from it all. Maybe those tapestries do mean something, but maybe they just come true because you all keep doing what they say.

“You’re not the bad guy in a play, Loki,” she told him, her voice full of emotion and her hand rubbing his. It was just enough to keep him tethered to reality, he thought. “You’re my friend. You’re funny, and flippant. You don’t like to talk about your emotions. You don’t have great self-esteem and you kick ass at Jenga. You’re playing a part, but you know the thing about actors? They have lives when they get off the stage, and you could too.”

His boots echoed across the ground as he climbed the short hill to his destination. It was dust, not dirt, that he trod on, and the air was stale and cloyed in his lungs. It was the kind of air that felt like it didn’t blow, but just hung in the air for eternity, older than you by indescribable amounts.

No one went here. It was unplottable by some working laid down long before even the beginning of Asgardian history. It had taken Loki four days to crack, because 1) he’d spent all of his non-eating, non-sleeping time in the last couple of days focused on it, 2) he’d already made a groundwork as a teenager before his mother had told him off for meddling in things he shouldn’t have been and 3) he was pretty fucking good. Really, the only reason he hadn’t touched it before was because as he became a man, he grew to respect the Norns. Things had changed.

“Hello!” he called, not surprised to find the three women staring at him, likely well aware of his arrival for at least eternity, or something.

“Liesmith,” Lady Verdandi spoke in a low, powerful voice. “You have come to rattle the chains that you feel resting upon your shoulders.”

“Yep,” he responded, popping the ‘p’.

“These chains,” Skuld said in a tight voice. “Are imaginary.”

“No actually,” he said, beginning to pace around the room. “You see, I don’t really care if they’re ‘imaginary’ or whatever. I actually am just here to let you know that I’m just going to be kind of doing my own thing from now on.”

“Your ‘own thing’?” Urd sneered. “ You do not have your ‘own thing’. The fate we have laid out for you is everything you are.”

“Everything I am is just a mask. A mask that you put on me!”

“Oh? That implies something on which a mask can be put. Is there anything under your mask, Loki? Do you even know?”

“Well, I guess I’m going to find out,” he ground out. They were sat down, staring up at him, and he felt unnervingly like he was still a child who had been summoned to his father’s study to receive an admonishment for troublemaking.

“You will find out,” Verdandi explained calmly. “That you are mistaken, and that you will play your part in the fate that will become and will end and will begin again, whether you try to fight against it or not.”

“So that’s it then?” Loki said softly, although his voice still echoed across the ancient walls that enclosed him. “There’s no path to grace for me. I’m your villainous fool, cast in this grand play so that your heroes may show their virtue in my vanquishment. I’m good when I’m bad, and I’m bad when I’m good.”

He paused, and stared her down.

“Well, I’m afraid I’d rather be bad on my own terms, actually.”

Verdandi had opened her mouth to say something else, probably something even more patronising, but before she had the chance Loki had stepped between reality and left Nornheim and its frigid, stale air behind him.

“Saw you coming,” the Watcher said when Loki stepped out in front of him.

Loki smiled. “Naturally,”

Heimdall sat tiredly on the Bifröst’s lock. Loki noticed with a sort of jolt that Heimdall was getting old. Maybe they all were. “What is it you would like from me, my prince?”

“Oh nothing really,” he answered. “I just thought I should let someone know that I will be unable to complete the most recent mission that the Allmothers have given me. In fact, perhaps you could let them know that I’m putting in my two week’s notice, so to speak? Although I’m not really giving them any notice, let alone two weeks.”

“Oh? Might I ask what has brought this on, your highness?”

Loki crossed his arms. “I’m trying this new thing called ‘making your own destiny’. All the cool kids are doing it.”

Heimdall nodded. He wouldn’t have been able to have viewed Loki’s conversation with the Norns, but he would have seen what Verity had said. “I wish you luck, dear child,” he said softly.

Loki’s smile turned quiet and genuine for just a moment, before he turned away and took a few steps. Wait! He had something else to mention.

He looked back at Heimdall.

“By the way, maybe I am going to kill you someday,” he said. “”But I promise that I’m going to try my damndest not to.”

With that, he stepped back into New York, and headed towards Dominoes to pick up their pizza. They were doing movie night, he and Verity. They were going to watch Legally Blonde. Loki thought about - What was her name? Susie? Sarah? He thought maybe she was right, in the end. Maybe it was a gift to believe in what can’t be seen, and thus a gift to follow darkened paths. But the path that brought him home felt warm and reliable, just like it always did.

#this is nothing #really its just an attempt to see if i can write something 5k+#so its not good #but hey #loki #loki agent of asgard #agent of asgard #verity lewis #loki fic

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thorne93 · 5 years ago

Text

Unforeseen Chasm (Part 8)

Prompt: Two sisters fall for men that are absolute enemies. The love they have could tear all of them apart, or it could bring them together.

Word Count: 1537

Warnings: Language

Note: This is by far the longest thing I’ve ever written (including my novels). It’s a collaboration with the amazing @mrs-dragneel-stark-solo. It started as a funny “What if…?” and it evolved and got huge. This took two years to write. We are both proud and happy and we hope you enjoy it. It follows from Thor 1 to Endgame in the MCU. Some of the timelines may be off in order to fit certain people, and some characters may show up earlier or in different ways than they have in the movie. But for the most part, it follows the MCU. It also has a bit of crossover with some other Marvel characters throughout the story.

Masterlist for Unforeseen Chasm

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Shannon,

It's good to know you are receiving the letters. Trying to find a raven was rather difficult, but Thor managed to borrow his father’s. This feels almost like Harry Potter, doesn't it? Writing via letter, and sending it through magical realms on a bird? Hehe.. I wasn't sure the raven would even know how to find you.

I miss you and Lucky very much… I hope you're giving him a kiss every night for me.

I am going to go mad. But I take solace knowing that Tony will ask you on a date very soon. Believe me, Shannon, that man is head over heels for you. It will be any day now.

That is good about Jane. She will be a great asset to the team, I'm so glad my data helped you.

I am sending the phone back with the raven. I hope you can upload the photos and see what I see. And as a matter of fact, King Odin has asked for my help. He is looking into getting me a job with some elite scientists. Thor told him of my work on Earth and he felt my skills should not go to waste. I am looking into studying their atmosphere.

Shannon, this world is incredible. They have fruit sweeter than candy, meat that needs no seasoning. They use and believe in magic. Queen Frigga and Loki are well versed in magic, probably what we would call witchcraft back home. I tried to take a picture of them performing magic, but the energy won't show up. But yes, Frigga and Diane would get along great!

Funny story, I got a “formal” portrait of the royal family. It took a lot of begging on my part, and convincing on Thor and Queen Frigga's. It looks amazing. Odin is on the throne… you'll see. Thor lets me take all the pictures I want. Frigga is shy, but she allows photos so long as it is in the evening. Odin forbids them except for the portrait. He was not amused when I tried to take a selfie with him. Loki, I tried to steal a few photos of him, but he is clever and wise to me.

I decided to drop a note at Loki's door. He seems to be quietly brooding, constantly on edge. I thought maybe if I reached out, and gave him the chance to approach me, it might be better. I basically told him in the note I know what it's like to be overlooked, to be unwanted. I told him that it doesn't matter what his father thinks of him, or his brother. What matters is what he feels his worth is. I dropped that at his bedroom door this morning, so we shall see.

He hasn't spoken to me since I broke up their fight two weeks ago. It’s killing me. I can't explain it but I desperately wish to get to know him. I want to help him, and I don't know how to get him to open up to me.

No promises about the battles, hehe. My footwork is getting better, or so Thor and Sif tell me. Tomorrow I will practice against Fandral, which makes me very freaking nervous. Wish me luck.

The books about Asgard actually aren't foo far off the correct path. There are a few things I need to revise but so far we've gotten it mostly right. I am going to have to stress how stunning this world is. I may even update some of the politics. They run things somewhat differently.

I will ask Thor what he would like from Earth, for his gift, haha.

The news on my parents is promising. The data team here has been going through records and they've found birth records for my month and year. When they find a female baby with my similar characteristics they'll let me know… I hope to know something soon.

I miss you.

Love, your bff,

Y/N/N

——----------------------------

Dear Y/N/N,

It's so good to hear from you again, I was hoping to get a letter soon enough you have no idea what's been going on over here. It feels like im awaiting my letter from Hogwarts except this is so much better! I’m sure Odin doesn’t mind that we’re using his raven. The raven thing works well, although it did give Lucky a good scare when it flew over his head to land on the lab table.

Speaking of Lucky, he’s been doing alright there’s a few times where he’ll cry because he misses you but I’ll be sure to let him know you asked for him. Ever since I snuck Lucky in and Tony caught me giving him a bath, he’s arranged for us to have a room to stay in. Although Tony won’t admit it, he does like seeing Lucky in the morning. Bruce even makes us have breakfast. Lately Lucky’s been disappearing a lot from my side, he usually lays down under my desk and watches me work, and you won’t believe where I found him. I found him sleeping in Tony’s bed. Seems he’s gotten Tony to actually get to bed most nights.

Speaking of Tony, you can take solace because I overheard him talking to JARVIS about planning a dinner date for us two but he’s unaware that I heard. He asked me out the next day to say I'm nervous is an understatement i have no idea what to wear I wish you were here to help me pick my outfit. I don’t know about head over heels for me but he did seem different after he asked me out.

With looking at the research I was able to retrieve for her, I showed Pepper the results and was given the go ahead to fund any further research she makes so as long as I’m able to read through and add to our file. She’ll be getting a letter soon. I’ll let you know how she reacts seeing as you two are good friends.

I’ll be sure to upload the pictures onto the system and try to locate the heat signals off the energy from their magic. I’ve made some changes to the system. Just make sure its secured on to the raven good so we don't lose it. Seems like Odin is a bit of a stiff man. Does he ever smile?

Good to hear that even on another planet you’ll be helping further some sort of research. They are very lucky to have you there. You have to tell me more about it when you start working.

It must look formal with how Sif and the other warriors were dressed it must be something out of a story book. In sure Queen Frigga is private about herself which is quite normal, are you planning a way to get pictures of Loki in anyway? Don’t tell me you plan on asking to be taught magic by either of them as cool as it would be there must be some risks.

Glad to hear your still trying to help Loki but I’m not sure he’s looking to connect just yet maybe give him some more time? Try and get to know him rather than just getting him to see you two are equals?

Y/N, so help me I will find a way to get to Asgard, don’t you go riding into battle unaware of whether or not your truly Asgardian. Sounds to me like Sif has her work cut out, you always were a quick study kinda girl. Wish you the best of luck and that you knock Fandral off his feet.

I could send you the book to you so you can make the changes as you see? I’ve finished reading through it and with what you know now it’ll be even better.

Maybe I’ll send him poptarts he did seem to enjoy those when you told me. Haha

I'm sure you’ll get the answers you need soon enough, Y/N, try not to stress too much about that.

Lucky and I miss you too.

Your sister,

Shannon

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tag List:

@essie1876

@magpiegirl80

@letsgetfuckingsuperwholocked

@iamwarrenspeace

@marvel-imagines-yes-please

@superwholocked527

@missinstantgratification

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Loki:

@lostinspace33

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@lenawiinchester

@esoltis280

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@wangdeasang

@harrymewmew

@jayfantasyatyourservice

UC:

@lokis-high-priestess

#unforeseen chasm #loki x reader #tony x ofc #tony stark x ofc #loki fic #loki #tony stark #tony stark fic

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golddaggers · 6 years ago

Text

baby pictures

pairing: thor x female!reader

warnings: slight mentions of smut and a looooooot of fluff. srsly

a/n: anon, i’m not sure it’s quite like you imagined, i kind of went along with the plot and added some stuff. i still hope you like it. :)

later addition: forgot to add the translation to some old norse words haha. well “mín dróttning” means “my queen” and “sváss” means “beloved one, sweetie”. and dearling is the old spelling of “darling”, it’s not a goof. well. now it’s explained.

word count: 2,1k+

It had been six months since Thor asked you to join him in his stay at Asgard, six months of living in pure bliss. Most of the days you had to force yourself to believe it was really true, that you were there with him after all. Waking up to his warm body wrapped around yours so tightly you sometimes had to elbow him to loosen up a little. Waking up to the light, rhythmic snoring and the smell intoxicating you.

There was no single doubt in your mind that being married to that man is everything you want. To give him children and watch those electric blue eyes shine with excitement. He will be such a great dad when the time comes.

With a smile, you wrap yourself in a silk robe and goes to the dining saloon, finding Frigga eating breakfast by herself, which was not an unusual sight.

Often the two of you would be stuck together when both Odin and Thor were called up elsewhere to battle in the name of Asgard. In the beginning, it wasn't so great to be around her. Frigga certainly wasn't pleased with her son's choice, she thought he could much better than a Midgardian, a plebeian. Sif was her obvious choice, she'd spend hours emphasising how great she was. How beautiful. Strong. Fit for a future king.

It had made you feel so little and meaningless, you'd smile and dismiss yourself to your room. Only inside you allowed yourself to cry, your insides sadly agreeing with her. Yes. Thor would be much better with someone like him, someone fit for a future king. And it wasn't you.

The memories stung, you reminiscing on the night he finally found out what his mother was doing. Thor had grown very mad, cheeks bright red in anger.

"My love, why haven't you told me?"

"I-I didn't think it mattered." Your voice is barely a whisper, tears staining your cheeks. "She's your mother, Thor. She only wishes you the best."

His eyes were narrowed, thick arms crossed tightly against his broad chest. It was a sight that would leave anyone trembling in their knees, scared of this man's wrath. Not you though, you could only think that he looked absurdly cute when he was angry. You just wanted to run your fingers through his hair while kissing that adorable pout, the pink bottom lip puckering forward.

A gentle sigh pushed past your lips as you opened your arms to hug him. If anything, you didn't want him to be angry at his mum. He had an adoration for her she had no wishes to destroy, that was why she hadn't said anything. There were so many more things for him to worry about than the petty way of his mother to treat you.

"I am going to speak to her."

"No, baby, you don't have to. It's nothing. So what if she thinks you should marry someone else? She's in her right to want the best partner for you."

"You are it." Although it was meant to be a quiet whisper, Thor's deep, loud voice certainly made itself heard. "You are the best partner for me. I love you, little bird, and I am not allowing my mother to make you think otherwise."

He was crouched forward, his face buried in the crook of your neck, the thick beard bristling the skin. You shivered when his lips found the soft spot slightly below your ear, nibbling at it lightly. Large hands gripping on your hips, heat radiating from his body to yours. You wanted to stay inside his arms forever.

That night he made love to you with so much tenderness, so much care. Thor has never failed at making you feel wanted, whether it was when he pushed you against the door because he couldn’t wait to be inside you or when he spread your legs wide, tasting you at leisure. It was a mad, blinding love. One you wanted to drown in it.

Despite your request for him to keep this between the two of you, he spoke to his mother the day after, while you were still asleep. To this day you’re not quite sure what he said to her, but she hasn’t been anything other than nice to you ever since, always chatting about Thor’s childhood, how this little blond boy grew up to be a warrior, so strong and fearless. She talked about how overprotective he was with her, always ensuring she was okay. You absolutely adored these conversations.

Once the awkwardness was gone, Frigga turned out to be the loveliest woman. She was kind to you and by her blue eyes, ones that looked exactly like Thor’s, you could tell she was actually being sincere. You’d laugh together, have meals together. Finally, she became the mother-in-law you were expecting when you first arrived.

And she had been for the last four months, making you feel much more at home each day.

“Good morning, dearling.” The tall, beautiful woman said, putting down the cup of tea she was having. “I take you had a good night of sleep?”

“Yes. Yes, I had, thank you.” You smile briefly, rubbing your eyes sleepily, going over to take a seat across her. “And you?”

“I have, yes, thank you for asking.”

There was a moment of silence as you poured fresh coffee into a tall mug. Everything smelt absolutely amazing, your stomach growled, arguing in hunger. You hadn’t realised you were so hungry, normally you didn’t eat much in the morning, just the enough, but today you wanted to swallow all the great dishes in front of you.

“They should be back today.” Frigga expresses, sipping at her tea again, a genuine smile on her lips. “Thor must miss you deeply. He was always dispirited when he came here and had to be without you.“

“He misses you too, all the time we spent at Earth, he would tell me stories about his parents, especially about you.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, late at night he’d go on about how we would love one another because our personalities were so similar. Then he would laugh, saying that maybe my temper wasn’t just as calm as yours.” A gentle chuckle slips from Frigga, she feels happy to imagine her son being a perfect mama’s boy, gushing about her. “I suppose he wanted the two women in his life to get along.”

“He most certainly did.”

The memory of him makes the two of you exchange an intimate smile, which feels oddly familiar. In the past week that they had been gone, Frigga clung a lot to you, bringing you to her room, braiding your hair… She was honestly treating you like the daughter she haven’t had. Not that you were complaining, you liked the extra care. And being able to tell Thor about his mum would make him happy, so you were even happier.

Breakfast went on and ended in a burst of laughter, Frigga has told you a story from his early childhood, he couldn’t have been more than four when she heard childish screams and ran to find out what was going on. She recalls being so concerned until she saw them, her toddlers inside a bathtub, playing carefree with tiny boats.

In wishes to show you, she took you to a great living room, searching for the pictures that had been taken at the time.

“Look.” She hands you a photograph of said scene. “Loki was always trying to kick his big brother, but seeing them play was so relieving.”

“Oh really? I never thought they had such a complicated relationship, Thor speaks very fondly about his brother.”

“Thor adores Loki, always has, but Loki is… complicated.” As she shrugs, you comprehend it’s a delicate matter. “Never mind that. Look at this one!”

“He was so cute!” There’s another photo in your hands, a pale baby bathing while golden locks fall to his face and he smiles happily. “No wonder he turned out to be so handsome.”

“Although I am his mother, therefore entirely biased, he is a beautiful man.” There’s proud beneath those words, chest slightly inflated. “When you have children of your own, you’ll know what that’s like.”

“Hmm, actually, I was-”

Before you could tell her, two mighty men strolled inside the huge room, their voices loud as they discussed, although you couldn’t quite pin what they were talking about. Your heart thumped upon seeing him, there were minor bruises on his face, but the smile, it had you tingly, blue eyes watching you with adoration. A week was too long for you to be without him.

It didn’t take long for you to feel a pair of strong arms pulling you up from behind to a back hug, his heady scent flooding you completely. After so long, you were at ease. It made you nervous when he took a while to come back home, of course you knew he was strong enough to defeat all of his enemies. It didn’t stop you from being nervous still that one day… Well. No use to dwell on those now, he was home and safe.

“Hello, milady.” Odin takes on of your hands to place a kiss on its back, one of his arms looped around Frigga’s waist. “Hope my Frigga treated you nicely?”

“She is a delight as always, sir.”

“Oh no, no need to call me sir. You’re family.”

Thor smirks against the skin of your neck, where his head is in hiding, long fingers fiddling with your robe's knot. It was such a small sentence but it really got to you. Perhaps it was because of your current state that family suddenly became so important to you. Plus being in an entirely different realm sure made you feel out of place.

"What were my two beautiful women doing?" It was your fiance's turn to ask. "Must say your laughter is certainly satisfactory."

"Your mum showed me some baby pictures of you. You were such a cute child."

"He takes after me." Odin boasts, the four of you laughing in unison. “Why don’t we give them some space, mín dróttnig? Thor has not sealed his lips about this girl in the journey back, he needs time with her.”

“Odin!” Frigga scolds, a blush rising to her pale cheeks. “You are embarrassing our son.”

“Oh no, mother, it is true, I cannot function without my sváss by my side and I have missed her quite a lot.” For a quick moment, you feel him tighten his arm around you. “But what were you showing her?”

“For the cold temperatures here, you sure spent a lot of time naked.” You mocked, giggling at him, noticing the tips of his ears go pink as you look back at him. “It was just you bathing. Loki and you certainly looked cute playing together at four.”

“Mother!”

“And with that, we will leave you to it.”

There’s the reminisce of a chuckle as the elder couple leaves, Thor spinning you to take a proper look at his wife-to-be, taking in all the features he missed when away, the smoothness of your face on his hands and your lips against his. It was a short, desperate kiss, showing all of the longings you both had. When air made itself necessary, you hide your face on his stiff chest, enjoying the warmness it gave you, large hands going up and down your back.

"I see you and my mum are doing well."

You nod.

"I think she wanted to have a daughter instead of boys. One day she took me to her room and spent two hours braiding my hair." Thor snickers. "It's good though. I like spending time with her, makes me miss my mama less."

"Oh, sváss, we'll go to Midgard soon, I have to make sure Asgard is safe."

Reaching up to cup his cheek, you enjoy the prickling his beard causes. It's so sweet how he worries about your wishes even though there's so much in play, so many wars to fight and lives that were dependent on him.

"There's something I want to tell you."

"Yes?" He urges you forward, a crinkle of worry appearing on his forehead. "Is everything okay?"

"I am-" Your lip rests between your teeth as you hesitate. "Oh Thor, how would you feel about having a baby?"

"A baby? Are you with a child?" The booming voice questions, cobalt eyes wide in astonishment.

"Shhhh. I don't want people to know yet."

"Are we becoming grandparents?" Frigga sneaks her head into the room, Odin smiling behind her. The All-Father sensed your different energy. "Why haven't you told me, dearling? We could have started preparing-"

"Mother-" Thor cuts her off. "-You are overwhelming her. She needs peace. Come now, sváss, I shall take you to our chambers."

A loud squeal slips as he lifts you in his arms, your weight disappearing in the magnitude of his thick biceps. You drape your arms on his shoulders, supporting yourself while smiling in pure glee.

"Get my daughter-in-law back, we have planning to do, Thor."

"Later, mother."

And with that, he takes you to your bedroom, your heart filled with happiness. Feeling like your life is exactly where it should be.

tags!

marvel: @frenfics

thor: @lancsnerd @odinson-barnes

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mrs-dragneel-stark-solo · 5 years ago

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Unforseen Chasm (part 8)

Part 8 of Unforseen Chasm

Prompt: Two sisters fall for men that are absolute enemies. The love they have could tear all of them apart, or it could bring them together. Word Count: 1537 Note: This is by far the longest thing I’ve ever written (including my other fic series). first major Collab with my best friend @thorne93 what was first a simple “what if” moment turned into a two year writing session and I’ve never been more prouder of myself than when i started my first series. goes through most of the MCU plots there are some changes to accommodate for what we wanted and there is a bit of a crossover between the MCU and other characters. I hope you guys enjoy reading this just as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Shannon,

It’s good to know you are receiving the letters. Trying to find a raven was rather difficult, but Thor managed to borrow his father’s. This feels almost like Harry Potter, doesn’t it? Writing via letter, and sending it through magical realms on a bird? Hehe.. I wasn’t sure the raven would even know how to find you.

I miss you and Lucky very much… I hope you’re giving him a kiss every night for me.

I am going to go mad. But I take solace knowing that Tony will ask you on a date very soon. Believe me, Shannon, that man is head over heels for you. It will be any day now.

That is good about Jane. She will be a great asset to the team, I’m so glad my data helped you.

Shannon, this world is incredible. They have fruit sweeter than candy, meat that needs no seasoning. They use and believe in magic. Queen Frigga and Loki are well versed in magic, probably what we would call witchcraft back home. I tried to take a picture of them performing magic, but the energy won’t show up. But yes, Frigga and Diane would get along great!

Funny story, I got a “formal” portrait of the royal family. It took a lot of begging on my part, and convincing on Thor and Queen Frigga’s. It looks amazing. Odin is on the throne… you’ll see. Thor lets me take all the pictures I want. Frigga is shy, but she allows photos so long as it is in the evening. Odin forbids them except for the portrait. He was not amused when I tried to take a selfie with him. Loki, I tried to steal a few photos of him, but he is clever and wise to me.

I decided to drop a note at Loki’s door. He seems to be quietly brooding, constantly on edge. I thought maybe if I reached out, and gave him the chance to approach me, it might be better. I basically told him in the note I know what it’s like to be overlooked, to be unwanted. I told him that it doesn’t matter what his father thinks of him, or his brother. What matters is what he feels his worth is. I dropped that at his bedroom door this morning, so we shall see.

He hasn’t spoken to me since I broke up their fight two weeks ago. It’s killing me. I can’t explain it but I desperately wish to get to know him. I want to help him, and I don’t know how to get him to open up to me.

No promises about the battles, hehe. My footwork is getting better, or so Thor and Sif tell me. Tomorrow I will practice against Fandral, which makes me very freaking nervous. Wish me luck.

The books about Asgard actually aren’t foo far off the correct path. There are a few things I need to revise but so far we’ve gotten it mostly right. I am going to have to stress how stunning this world is. I may even update some of the politics. They run things somewhat differently.

I will ask Thor what he would like from Earth, for his gift, haha.

The news on my parents is promising. The data team here has been going through records and they’ve found birth records for my month and year. When they find a female baby with my similar characteristics they’ll let me know… I hope to know something soon.

I miss you.

Love, your bff,

Y/N/N

Dear Y/N/N,

It’s so good to hear from you again, I was hoping to get a letter soon enough you have no idea what’s been going on over here. It feels like im awaiting my letter from Hogwarts except this is so much better! I’m sure Odin doesn’t mind that we’re using his raven. The raven thing works well, although it did give Lucky a good scare when it flew over his head to land on the lab table.

Speaking of Tony, you can take solace because I overheard him talking to JARVIS about planning a dinner date for us two but he’s unaware that I heard. He asked me out the next day to say I’m nervous is an understatement i have no idea what to wear I wish you were here to help me pick my outfit. I don’t know about head over heels for me but he did seem different after he asked me out.

I’ll be sure to upload the pictures onto the system and try to locate the heat signals off the energy from their magic. I’ve made some changes to the system. Just make sure its secured on to the raven good so we don’t lose it. Seems like Odin is a bit of a stiff man. Does he ever smile?

Good to hear that even on another planet you’ll be helping further some sort of research. They are very lucky to have you there. You have to tell me more about it when you start working.

I could send you the book to you so you can make the changes as you see? I’ve finished reading through it and with what you know now it’ll be even better.

Maybe I’ll send him poptarts he did seem to enjoy those when you told me. Haha

I’m sure you’ll get the answers you need soon enough, Y/N, try not to stress too much about that.

Lucky and I miss you too.

Your sister,

Shannon

Unforseen Chasm Tag list- @reigningqueenofwords @oldfreakything

Tag list- @cas-you-assbutt-dean-needs-you @winchester-writes @winchesterenthusiast @georgialouisea @deansdirtylittlesecretsblog @livelikeawinchester @sammysbuttcheek @bran2015 @misz-adrii @sandlee44 @womanxofletters @natsuccs @childishhoebinoo @depressed-moose-78 @expecteddifferent @girl-next-door-writes @fanaticfanfiction @dakotapaigelove @sassy-spn-knight-of-hell @weclassygirl @adefectivedetective

#unforseen chasm #loki x reader #tony x ofc #tony stark x ofc #loki fic #loki #tony stark #tony stark fic

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tilltheendwilliwrite · 6 years ago

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Of Blood and Roses

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Master List | Loki Laufeyson Master List

Previous Chapter

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

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

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

“I am.”

“You are very secretive, my king.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Harhar, Hogun. You are so amusing.”

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

That gave Thor pause. “Why?”

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

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

“You should allow me to accompany you.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

With determination in his heart, Thor began to climb.

***

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

***

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“That’s not how it works, my heart.”

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

“See your what?”

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

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

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

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

“Why would they do that?”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Whatever you like.”

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

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

“Dagny.”

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

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

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

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

Lauren frowned. “I’m sorry. What?”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

***

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Yes, Highness?”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Lauren arched a brow. “Baron.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Yes, Lady Lauren?”

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

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

“Then should you be on that horse?”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Alright. Get on with you.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“That must have been so hard on Etsuko.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Next Chapter

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

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avengers-nextgen · 6 years ago

Text

Prometheus XI

(I may have messed up on my Roman numerals but oh well)

Thalia was certain she was going to throw up. The jet whizzed about like mad. It banked sharply left then teetered right before curving downwards. Siyanda held her hand which was the only thing distracting Thalia from her nausea.

Enzo seemed to be enjoying the ride like it was a roller coaster but Orion and Nathaniel were in the zone. James had taken up the gunner position in Nathaniel’s jet letting loose a volley of bullets.

Water had swirled together with the shadows until a grotesque mutant of a creature was raging about. It’s hand swung widely attempting to clip Orion from the sky, but Orion was in his element.

Cutting the engine he dropped like a rock before flicking it on again. Scout was paler than a sheet of paper, but he trusted his boyfriend. Valkyrie shot with deadly precision cutting through the water until its liquid arm was severed.

“It’ll grow back. We’ll run out of ammunition soon. There has to be a way to get rid of this thing,” Scout worried.

“Evaporation,” Chloe’s eyes glinted like a light bulb had just gone off on her head. “if we super heat it-“

“It’ll turn into vapor.” Piper concluded. “I’m on it. Keep it distracted for me.”

— — —

Sage tumbled onto the ground in a heap- soaked to the bone in cold water. Alex remained still. Her lips were blue, and her eyes were cold. The only indication she was remotely alive was the faint tremors of an occasional shiver that raced down her body.

The agents in the room looked in surprise at the two, but Sage ignored them. Alex wasn’t breathing which meant there was water in her lungs. She wasn’t an expert at CPR but Sage had done it once before-she could certainly do it again.

Each second seemed impossibly long and after nearly a minute the sorceress nearly gave up. She continued for ten more compressions and it was the eleventh that did the trick.

Alex heaved an incredible amount of water from her lungs onto the floor. Sage didn’t even think it was possible to hold that much liquid in your chest. After a few ragged breaths the exhaustion of Alex’s ordeal combined with her injuries sent her back into the realm of unconsciousness.

While she was breathing the danger wasn’t over yet. There was the very real threat of hypothermia. By now someone had been wise enough to get her parents and Alex was picked up safely into her dad’s arms.

“Hypothermia,” Steve frowned, “she needs to be warmed up, quickly.”

— — —

Piper darted about like a fly. She was looking for the best opening, but every time she got close the stupid beast picked up on her.

“Bank!” Nathaniel warned. Piper took his suggestion and put it into action avoiding a dangerously close hit.

“I need to have an open shot.”

“We need more of a distraction,” Orion grumbled. “We only have so much feul.”

“That’s what we’re here for son. A friend of yours rallied us old timers,” Stephen stepped from a portal leading into Orion’s ship.

Orion, excitedly glanced back at the well known hero. Scout wanted to clobber him, “Orion eyes on the roa-the Sky!”

“Right. Sorry.” Orion grinned.

Nathaniel whistled happily when up ahead another portal opened in the sky and Tony Stark went to join his daughter. “Alright Pipes, let’s super charge him.”

“WWE Superstar Giant man!” Scott-who no one had noticed at first-grew to the size of a giant. If Penny had been awake to see it she’d have been excited as he matched the mutant monster hand to hand.

Renewed hope charged the kids up for another attack.

— — —

Natasha sat next to Alex in the steam filled bathroom. The young blonde was sound asleep in a hot bath. Her shivering had stopped but Natasha could already see the bruises blossoming on her daughter’s skin from the injuries.

She ran a hand through Alex’s damp hair knowing that some part of her daughter’s brain was registering the loving gesture.

Meanwhile Sage paced about trying to get warm too. She was still soaked and only had her arms to wrap around herself. No one seemed to pay much attention to her. They were too busy keeping an eye on the mission.

Her stomach was full of nervous butterflies. She wanted to know what was going on too. She wanted Enzo to be okay and Bianca to be okay and... even Thalia. Her cousin had grown on her though she’d never admit it.

“There’s no reason you should stand frozen in a hallway,” Sage glanced down the hall in search of the speaker only to find a glowering Sif.

“It’s fine, they have priorities.” But even as Sage spoke her teeth chattered. The goddess didn’t take no for an answer and Sage found herself warm clothes to wear-albeit they were borrowed-and a bundle of blankets. “Uh...thanks.”

“Of course.” Sif nodded. “You’re Loki’s aren’t you?”

“Unfortunately.” Sage nodded.

“He’s not all bad you know. He’s done his fair share of heroism.”

“Not from the sound of it,” Sage snorted.

“How much do you really know about him?” Sif’s question was one of genuine curiosity.

“To be honest-no one tells me much.”

“I’ll change that.”

— — —

“On my count.” Tony called as Scott toppled backwards sending a tidal wave in all directions.

“Copy that!” Piper followed her father’s movements trailing closely behind him. The two whizzed about hardly traceable until they paused on opposite directions of the monster and let loose.

Bright beams of light exploded in such vibrant heat Nathaniel had to look away even if he was flying a jet. Water sizzled loudly like a trillion snakes were slithering about. No one knew if the idea was working lest they lose their retinas.

When the beams died all that was left behind was steaming water. Piper cheered loudly into the coms, “Yes! Haha!”

“That’s my girl!” Tony yelled.

“Well done,” Stephen chuckled. “It’s a wrap guys, let’s head home.”

“What about the ship wreckage? Is it still dangerous?” Scout asked.

“I’ll handle it. I can take care of myself.” Stephen promised. “For now I need to get the rest of you back to the hangar.”

“Alright, whenever you’re ready,” Orion sighed in relief now that the threat was gone. He turned the jet slowly until its nose pointed at a glowing opening. On the other side he could see the hangar. “See you on the flip side Doctor.”

Nathaniel followed shortly after Orion feeling his heart beat finally slow. They’d defeated a long time threat. Someone who was responsible for this battle and the previous one. It felt good-it felt like he was safe for once.

“I don’t know about you guys, but I’m looking forward to some peace and quiet,” Nathaniel laughed lightly. “If we’re lucky enough to get some.”

“I think it’s about time we had some luck,” Enzo agreed, “let’s eat some fortune cookies.”

“I like the sound of that.” Bianca grinned.

#avengers #avengers next gen #marvel #black widow #captain america #mcu #natasha romanoff #pepper potts #romanogers #scarlet witch

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davemcbadass · 3 years ago

Note

Do all the souls questions since I know you obviously want to :P

Which games have you played?

All of them save for the DeS remake!

What’s your favorite game?

Bloodborne for sure!

What’s your least favorite game?

Demon's Souls, easily.

Dark Souls 1, 2, or 3? Choose your favorite.

I guess DS1? I like them all for different reasons, but DS1 is the quickest one to rev up a random run with so let's go with that!

What’s your opinion on Dark Souls 2?

I have many opinions on DS2, I've been slowly putting together a long-form essay on why it's a super integral part of the franchise! Of course, there's still a lot to complain about, but I do genuinely love the game.

What’s your favorite DLC?

The Old Hunters, for sure.

What’s your favorite boss fight in every game you’ve played?

DeS - Penetrator, DS1 - Artorius, DS2 - Fume Knight or Velstadt, DS3 - Gael or Dancer, BB - Orphan or Maria, Sekiro - Father Owl.

What’s your least favorite boss fight in every game you’ve played?

DeS - Dragon God, DS1 - Bed of Chaos, DS2 - Royal Rat Authority, DS3 - Deacons of the Deep, Bloodborne - Living Failures, Sekiro - Demon of Hatred.

What’s the hardest boss fight in every game you’ve played?

DeS - First time with the Flamelurker, DS1 - Manus, DS2 - Fume Knight, DS3 - Midir, Bloodborne - FUCKING DEFILED CHALICE DUNGEON ROM JESUS FUCKING CHRIST, Sekiro - Demon of Hatred.

Which boss has the best design?

Most of the Great Ones from BB are up there for me, Artorius, Manus, Burnt Ivory King, Dancer, Nameless King, Gwyn/Soul of Cinder.

Which area is pure nightmare fuel for you?

Fittingly enough the Nightmare Frontier, but holy shit nothing is worse than the Valley of Defilement. Actually genuinely the most horseshit level in any Souls game ever.

Which regular enemy gives you a hard time?

I'll cheat and say the Sharks from Old Hunters, if that counts? If it has to be more 'regular', then it's the Heide Knights.

Who are your Top 3 NPCs and why?

Solaire - Best Boy, Alfred - Problematic Best Boy, Maiden in Black - Best Waifu.

Who is your least favorite NPC?

Fucking uhhh Spider Patches or Pate.

Which boss has the best theme?

God it's so easy to say Gwyn, but I love Maria's theme.

Which NPC has the saddest fate?

Come on, it's Seigmeyer if you see his quest through. You spend the whole fucking game saving and one-upping him, and he finally decides in Izalith that he wants to repay his debt and let you escape, but instead you fucking drop down, kill the Chaos Eaters and prove once and for all that he's just a sad useless boy. Then he goes hollow lol.

Which boss has the saddest fate?

Ceaseless Discharge maybe on pure 'totally didn't do anything wrong but holy shit he's a big demon made of pain and lava, the poor boy.'

Fuck, marry, kill hug [3 specific characters]

Fuck - Clearly the DS2 Pyromancers, Marry - Solaire, Hug - Siegmeyer.

What is your favorite piece of lore from Dark Souls?

The one that made me realize the game was special is a minor one. It's when you climb through the cracked window in Anor Londo and make your wall all the way down to the corner of the painting room and find Tarkus' armor. It's just a cool and subtle way to convey that not only was he the one that broke the window, but that his thicc ass armor made it impossible for him to cross the scaffolding and he fell to his death.

What is your favorite piece of lore from Bloodborne?

Probably just the entirety of the story of the School of Mensis.

Which build and weapons do you prefer?

I like my big bonks because I'm a big boy!

What do you think about Patches?

Patches is a little shit but I never end up killing him.

Do you headcanon Sif as male or female? Why?

I guess my default is female?

Souls-likes (Hollow Knight, Dead Cells, Salt and Sanctuary, …)! Have you played any? If yes, which one(s)?

Oh god I've tried most of them haha. Hollow Knight, Salt + Sanctuary, Dead Cells, The Surge 1+2, Lords of the Fallen, most of the ones that came out last year...Code Vein haha.

Oh No! You got sucked into a game world! In which game could you survive the longest and why?

Bloodborne because house.

You’re a boss now. Choose an appropriate name!

Consuming Abberation, which ironically enough is a magic card.

0 notes

yujachachacha · 7 years ago

Photo

Yujacha’s Birthday Scout for UR You

Now in meme format! Click for captions~

Final result of 24 scouts: UR Time Travel You x2, SSR Time Travel Ruby x1, SR Time Travel Kanan x3, various R cards x18.

Explanation of each image (i.e. the full story of my scouting adventure) under the cut!

I debated whether I should make this post, or try my hand at making a video since I recorded my scouting adventure. However, editing would take me a while, and I also kinda didn’t look forward to hearing my own voice since I talked during the scouts. When I mentioned this in a previous post:

...which is a good point. _(:3 」∠)_ I might still decide to make the video after all, but in the event that I do, it would be a while before I’d finish it. Thus, I came up with this post!

1. To scout or not to scout

Context: I put up a poll on Twitter + asked Tumblr if I should try scouting on SIF for my birthday, since it happened to fall within the “increased chance of pulling new members” period for the latter half of the Time Travel set. Since Time Travel You happens to be my favorite out of her URs so far, I decided to slightly bend my self-imposed rule of “no scouting until Rin’s birthday box is up on the Global SIF server” by using the large amount of scouting tickets I’d saved up.

The options were as follows:

Yes, but only use some.

USE THEM ALL Y O L O

No, you’ll regret it T_T

save for rin, u traitor!!

As you can see from the first image in the above photoset, the poll winner was option 2 - using all 79 of my tickets.

2. >Has 2.4k love gems >Scared of using just 24 tickets

Those of you who’ve been up-to-date on my blog know that I ended up picking option 1 instead. Now, I do have an explanation for this. What happened was that I was in a video chat with some ONIBE members towards the end of my birthday. At that point, I realized that the number of votes meant that I would be scouting that day. What I hadn’t decided, however, was whether I would actually use up all of my scouting tickets.

I then asked ONIBE what their votes would be, and most of them wanted to see me scout. Some of them thought it would be bad luck to scout while streaming it, but in the end we came to the consensus that I should just use some of the tickets - and that’s how I ended up picking option 1.

One of the replies to my poll was to use 40 tickets for You, and save 40 for Rin (I would technically only have 39 left if I did go with this plan, but I’d definitely be able to earn at least 1 more scouting ticket before November). I really liked this idea, and was thinking of trying this out when an ONIBE member suggested using just 29 tickets to scout, leaving me with a nice round number of 50 for the future. I wasn’t a huge fan of such an odd number, but then it inspired me to pick a similar number: 24, to represent my birthday.

I very reluctantly made my way to the scouting screen and tried delaying the inevitable for several minutes - “nooo, I’m gonna regret this...aaaah...ugh...” and so on. This was the first time I’ve seriously scouted, not counting the few scouting tickets I used when I started SIF (which all turned out to be Rs). My strongest cards, as a result, are Promo URs and idolized event SRs. My teams are pretty pitiful, but it’s all for the sake of seeing my teams get filled up with Rins later this year...!

3. Finding happiness in the small things

My first three scouts were all Rs. I wasn’t really discouraged, since scouting tickets are the equivalent of solo yolos. I was pleasantly surprised when the new SR Kanan showed up so early in my scouting run. I was glad to welcome her as the first non-event SR I’ve ever pulled!

The next two pulls after the SR joined my growing pile of R cards, and at this point someone in ONIBE pointed out that I hadn't pulled a repeat card yet. All of the cards so far were unique girls. In order: Dia, Riko, Maru, Kanan (SR), Ruby, and Chika. Pretty interesting. What I chose to nitpick about, however, was the fact that You hadn’t shown up yet, not even as a R. Then, three pulls later...

4. “Should I stop scouting now?”

My exact words when I was doing this scout: “Lucky nine! You-chan! You-chan! You-ch-”

*UR envelope flies out*

“Oh my-”

*UR Time Travel You pops out*

“OHMYGOD HAHAHA-” *breaks down into hysterical laughter*

I was talking relatively quietly up until then because it was towards the end of the day, but I screeched really, really loudly when UR You popped up. My dad actually came into my room to ask me what was wrong, haha.

At that point, I asked myself if I should stop now that I had achieved my goal of obtaining UR You, and someone said I should try to idolize her. My exact words: “I highly doubt I'm going to pull her again. Like, what are the chances that I'm gonna pull her again?”

Oh, the irony...

After several minutes of indecision, I decided to push forward since I did want the You UR idolized. I pulled a bunch of R cards again after that, and during that time I casually remarked that since I got SR Kanan and UR You, it would be really nice if I got SSR Ruby.

5. Ruby answered my wish

Seriously, the scout right before this was KimiKoko Ruby, and I was just like, “Oh, okay. Wrong Ruby, but good to see her.” Then when I pressed the scouting button again:

*SSR envelope flies out*

“Oh?”

*SSR Time Travel Ruby pops out*

“OH MY GOD! Oh my god, what the fuck...?”

With that, I had everyone in the Pure trio, AKA Kayouby (coined by Furirin during the December 2016 trio niconama), for the Time Travel set. The only card I hadn’t pulled yet for this half of the set was SR Yoshiko!

At this point, I was cackling, “Birthday luck is real!” But then I had another “I'm scared, I wanna stop now” moment because I was lowkey terrified of these nice scouts. I eventually convinced myself to keep trucking on.

6. YohaMaru confirmed(?)

Two scouts later, I tried saying “Yohane, shoukan!” on a whim to see if I could pull the remaining card in the Time Travel set. When Maru popped up instead, I just said, “Oh. Well, I summoned her girlfriend~” haha.

7. “Oh! Okay, that’s nice, I can idolize her!”

Kanan now had the honor of being my first idolized non-event SR as well when I ended up pulling her again. After my bout of joy, I exclaimed, “This is pretty good for solo yoloing! WTF is up with my luck today?!”

On the scout right after this, I actually pulled the same exact Smile R Maru card that I had pulled right before Kanan. :3c

8. “Oh! What the- haHAHAHAHA”

This was scout #20. Within 20 scouts, I got the same 2 URs. I know there was a rate-up for this set, but this was crazy!

My second hysterical laughing fit of the day ended up waking my mom, who was sleeping at the time. Oops. But I was extremely happy to be able to idolize my favorite UR so far of my best Aqours girl!

Though, this scout also triggered “I actually want to stop now” self-doubt session #3. Someone commented on my reluctance to scout, and I retorted, “How else do you think I've saved 2.4k love gems? It only took me...two years...” I can only hope that my self-restraint for Rin’s sake will result in something as good as my birthday scouts.

Next scout was a R Chika, and I remarked, "No, it's all gonna be rares now. I've used up my luck for the year."

9. lol bich u thought

Scout #22 brought me my third SR Kanan. I guess my second best Aqours girl loves me a lot~

Once I found out that this card was a Perfect-Locker, someone suggested selling her for seals. I briefly considered it, but thought it was better to just use the 3rd Kanan to unlock her final skill slot.

10. Datenshi misfortune averted?

My last two scouts were R Maru (Mijuku Dreamer set) and R Ruby (Aozora Jumping Heart set), even though I chanted “Yohane, shoukan!” for both of them.

Hilariously, this meant that I ended up with a grand total of zero Yoshiko cards. I've opted to interpret this as her way of granting me birthday luck by keeping away her notorious unlucky streak away from me. Thank you for your sacrifice, oh mighty fallen angel Yohane-sama. :’)

Results

24 scouts → 2 URs, 1 SSR, 3 SRs, 18 Rs:

You: 2 URs, 1 R

Ruby: 1 SSR, 3 Rs

Kanan: 3 SRs

Chika: 4 Rs

Maru: 4 Rs

Riko: 3 Rs

Dia: 2 Rs

Mari: 1 R

Yoshiko: 0

Goals achieved:

(Initial objective) Pull UR Time Travel You → ✓

Pull SSR Time Travel Ruby → ✓

Idolize UR Time Travel You → ✓

Pull SR Time Travel Yoshiko → X

In the end, I of course withdrew the URs for idolization. I also decided to withdraw Kanan, even though she's a PL card, since I don't own that many idolized SRs. The SSR Ruby, however, is still in the present box. The last card I withdrew was actually that Smile R Maru in Image #6, because I actually hadn't idolized that particular card yet.

Lessons learned:

Birthday luck is real.

Chanting “You-chan” will summon You-chan.

Chanting “Yohane, shoukan” will not summon Yoshiko (but it might summon her girlfriend Maru).

Every time I doubt my scouting luck, SR Kanan will show up to prove me wrong.

Don’t ask the internet if I should use up all my scouts on solo yolos, because the answer will always be “yes”.

#love live! school idol festival #love live school idol festival #llsif #aqours #time travel set #yujacha plays sif #queuetie panther #ignore the watermark i was too lazy to make proper images :blobwhistle:#this is the most insane luck i've ever had #if good shit like this happens when i scout using actual love gems for rin #imma probably collapse from cardiac arrest

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thorne93 · 5 years ago

Text

Unforeseen Chasm (Part 10)

Prompt: Two sisters fall for men that are absolute enemies. The love they have could tear all of them apart, or it could bring them together.

Word Count: 966

Warnings: Language

Masterlist for Unforeseen Chasm

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Shannon,

That is wonderful to hear! I'm so glad things are moving in the right direction for you two. Tell him straight from me that if he hurts you, no suit of armor will stop me from hurting him right back. ; ) I hope he knows that he's getting the whole package with you, right? You aren't some science groupie he can just cast aside. You're a stunning, marvelous, brilliant, gorgeous woman who deserves a man of the same caliber. He better know that.

I am glad to hear he's happy about Lucky.

I bet it does feel like a dream! I know how long you pined over him. It's a relief to know you two are finally together!

That's fantastic about the apartment! Although I can't imagine wanting to return home just yet.

Shannon, you won't believe this. Life on Asgard is as magical as it gets. By day, I'm helping teams of scientists build structures, discover new ways to work with elements, and build gadgets. I have started working on plans for a small rocket ship for them. By night, I'm training with Thor.

It's fantastic, I'm getting so good now I actually pinned Volstagg and Fandral. I still need to conquer Sif, Hogun, and Thor. When I'm not working or training physically, Frigga is teaching me how to be a princess. She teaches me the ways of the royalty. How to hold my head, how to eat, how to dance.

And if I'm not doing any of that, Loki is showing me magic and telling me about their customs. He is incredibly sweet despite my first impression of him. He asks me every day how I'm doing and if I need help with anything or need help adjusting. If I make a social faux pas, he merely corrects me quietly and apologizes for me.

He's... he's amazing, Shannon. He loves listening to me talk about my work, and asks me questions about it all the time. Just as I ask him nonstop questions about his life and his magic.

And ha-ha. It isn't like that. So he's handsome, and kind, and hilarious, and a genius. He knows so much poetry. Their poetry here is astonishing. It rivals Frost and Shakespeare. He loves showing me new books every day.

Thor is focusing on building my muscle and physical ability while Loki has said, "Your mind is your best weapon. You don't possess the braun that Thor and Volstagg do, so it's best you learn how to outwit your opponent." So he's teaching me ways to be tricky and clever.

I would love to see me duel you with a sword. It could either be hilarious or catastrophic, haha. A new training room... Hmm, that's curious. I wonder what it's for.

And do not worry about me, sis. I'm doing just fine. None of the royal family would let anything happen to me.

Speaking of family, how are Tom and Diane? Have you talked to your parents lately? Is anything new with them? Have you told anyone where I've gone?

I shall try to check on the PopTarts, haha. I'm not sure Heimdall can just open the bifrost for some breakfast pastries though. We'll see....

No news on my parents just yet. I will let you know if we hear something more.

Ever yours,

Y/N

——————

Y/N, my dear,

You make me blush! If he knew the tricks you have up your sleeve he wouldn’t dare cross you. I’ll let him know. As happy as everything is, there’s been some rough patches with Shield lately but that was eventually going to happen. There's been some changes to what's going on here at the tower.

It's good to hear about everything that's going on over there, you'll become a legend when you finish with the rocket and have won a fight against Sif or Thor.

Princess Y/N, I like the sound of that. Maybe when you come back you’ll be Queen Y/N. Very kind of Queen Frigga to show you their customs.

Loki seems like a kind and curious man. I hope to soon meet him. And I look forward to seeing that selfie if you and him together. It's true what he says your mind has always been your greatest weapon, no need for swordsmanship or magic just 100% Y/N smarts.

It would probably be a mix of catastrophe and hilarity. I can't wait to see you! Do you know how much more you might be gone?

I would hope that they do keep you out of harm's way. I would never forgive them or myself.

They’re doing great. They do so terribly miss you as they haven't seen you since before you left for Asgard. Turns out they’re planning to go cruising through Europe which is a nice change to being in Nevada all the time. They were worried that something might happen to you being in a whole new universe. But after hearing from you through my letters they are less stressed out.

The only people who know of your whereabouts are Tony, our family and myself. We’ve tried to keep things quiet for the most part.

On the pop tart agenda I could send a small pack with each letter and of different flavors so he can have a pick of one. I doubt the poor raven would be able to carry a ton of stuff.

Speaking of raven, it seems to like roaming near Bruce. It’s been perching nearby watching him look through his notes or even just doing some meditation. He’s gotten me into the habit of drinking tea lately I don't crave the energy from coffee like I used to.

Fingers crossed you get the news soon enough about your parents

Hugs and kisses.

Shannon

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tag List: @essie1876 @magpiegirl80 @letsgetfuckingsuperwholocked @iamwarrenspeace @marvel-imagines-yes-please @superwholocked524

@missinstantgratification @thejemersoninferno @rda1989 @munlis @thefridgeismybestie @bubblyanarocks3 @igiveupicantthinkofausername @kaliforniacoastalteens @feelmyroarrrr @kaeling @friendlyneighbourhoodweirdo @damalseer @heyitscam99 @yknott81 @sorryimacrapwriter @glitterquadricorn @xxqueenofisolationxx @little-dis-kaalista-pythonissama @bittersweetunicorm @alyssaj23 @sea040561 @princess76179 @thisismysecrethappyplace @sarahp879 @malfoysqueen14 @ellallheart @breezy1415 @marvelmayo @random-fluffy-pink-unicorn @cocosierra94 @hardcollectionworldtrash @capsmuscles @marvelloushamilton

Loki: @lostinspace33 @ultrarebelheart @lenawiinchester @esoltis280 @tngrayson @wangdeasang @harrymewmew @jayfantasyatyourservice

UC:

@lokis-high-priestess

#unforeseen chasm #loki x reader #tony stark x ofc #tony x ofc #tony stark #loki fic #loki #tony stark fic

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yujachachacha · 7 years ago

Text

Get to know me

Tagged by @symphonyalpha (I forgot the URL for a second and was like, “Why isn’t Jaewhy showing up when I type it in the user mention???” lol).

Rules: Answer these 92 statements and tag 20 people.

Last: 1. Drink: Barley water, because that’s what my family drinks ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 2. Phone call: My grandma, telling me what time she needed me to drive her to her doctor’s appointment. 3. Text message: To my little brother, telling him to STFU because he kept sending me dumb shit on iMessage. 4. Song you listened to: Does SIF count? If so, “Sore wa Bokutachi no Kiseki”. If not, I was headbanging to “Paradise Lost” by Chihara Minori after dropping my grandma off at her friend’s place the other day, lol. 5. Time you cried: tbh I probably teared up a little when I was watching the footage from the Lantis preview of the Aqours 1st Live BD/DVDs ｡ﾟ( ﾟஇωஇﾟ)ﾟ｡

Have you: 6. Dated someone twice: I haven’t even dated someone once :’))) 7. Kissed someone and regretted it: I’ve kissed exactly one person, so...hm. There was a period of time when I had conflicting emotions over what happened, but in the end, I don’t think I regret it. 8. Been cheated on: See #6. 9. Lost someone special: I’ve had a grandfather pass away, and this is probably going to sound bad, but...I really appreciated him, and he was nothing but kind to me. However, since I’d only seen him about three times in my life, the biggest way his death affected me was through my mother. It took her a while to get over my grandfather’s death, so it changed the way I behaved around her during that time. 10. Been depressed: Yes. 11. Gotten drunk and thrown up: Exactly once, because I made the mistake of keeping pace with my uncle in Korea who takes soju shots like a champ. This also happened to be the night before Lunar New Year, so I got chewed out by my aunt (older sister of my uncle) once she realized why I was so lethargic during the festivities. _(:3 」∠)_ I don’t regret it though, because before that I had never been hungover before and was wondering what my limit was, haha.

List 3 favorite colors: 12-14. Red, blue, and...uh...other than those two I don’t have any definite faves. I guess the third would be either yellow or purple...? I’ll just go with purple for the sake of completion.

In the last year have you: 15. Made new friends: #TeamONIBE 16. Fallen out of love: That would require me to fall in love with someone first. 17. Laughed until you cried: I think it might have been when Mayushii and King did that disastrous cooking niconama. Like...what the actual fuck, do they seriously not know anything about basic kitchen safety and hygiene??? 18. Found out someone was talking about you: The number of times I’ve gone on to Discord and found out that someone in ONIBE was talkin’ smack about me... (｡･ˇ_ˇ･｡) It’s all in good fun though, haha. 19. Met someone who changed you: See #15. 20. Found out who your friends are: Nothing says "friendship” like screaming your heart out at an anisong concert, eating McNuggets while insanely drunk, sleeping while squished together in a seedy neighborhood, wotaing loudly in a moving vehicle, and other various activities I did with people I had never met in real life. ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ AX 2017 was hella great for ONIBE bonding. 21. Kissed someone on your Facebook list: I don’t think I’ve even used FB for non-work stuff since 2016 lol

General: 22. How many of your Facebook friends do you know in real life: If this means “I’ve actually met them in person and have had a decent conversation with them”, then maybe a few hundred? But if this means that I actually talk to them on a semi-regular basis, then, like...10, maybe. :’) 23. Do you have any pets: See my answer in the previous chain post I did. tl;dr I had a turtle and a dog in elementary school, but after that, no pets. I’d like to have a dog when I get a place of my own, though. 24. Do you want to change your name: Nope. 25. What did you do for your last birthday: Watched LLS Episode 13 in the morning and ate Korean BBQ in the evening. 26. What time did you wake up: Today? I honestly don’t remember. Sometime before 9? 27. What were you doing at midnight last night: Laughing at dumb shit on Twitter and Discord, probably. 28. Name something you can’t wait for: The Delayed Viewing for the 2nd Live for the US! I’m making plans to meet up with ONIBE folks again and it’s gonna be ~L I T~ 29. When was the last time you saw your mom: Early in the morning. She was like “lol get up and lose some weight” while I was still in bed so I groaned back, “You’re one to talk,” and went back to sleep. 30. What is one thing you wish you could change in your life: I was gonna say “how about eliminating my student loans haha” but I suppose this is supposed to be a more serious question. I guess it’d be nice if I was a neater person. Like, my room is a total mess right now and I’m terrible at keeping track of things I should be working on... 31. Listening right now: Fun fact - I actually only listen to music while I’m driving. Otherwise, it distracts me from what I should be doing. 32. Have you ever talked to a person named Tom: Yup, that was the name of my debate coach when I was in junior high. 33. Something that is getting on your nerves: People who hate on LL seiyuu. Like, they’re actual human beings who are working really hard to live up to the expectations of thousands - no, millions of people worldwide. To be quite honest, I invite you to tell me if you legitimately want to shit on any one of them (both µ’s and Aqours), because I have yet to see a single person who has had a good justification for doing so. 34. Most visited website: Probably Tumblr/YouTube/Twitter/Reddit, too lazy to figure out which one of those it is.

Jaewhy put in random questions here because they were missing for some reason, so I guess I’ll continue those: 35. Mole(s): I have a few around my face, but other than the one on my right cheek I don’t think they’re that noticeable? I don’t spend a lot of time in the sun like other Californians. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 36. Mark(s): I have a birthmark on the backside of my right shoulder that I’m sort of self-conscious about. It’s the perfect shape for getting a tattoo of a sunflower around it, so maybe I’ll do that some time in the future? 37. Childhood dream: Lawyer. 38. Hair color: I feel like I’ve answered this in a previous chain post, but it’s black. Duh. Though if you hold it up to the sun, some of the ends are more like dark brown. 39. Long or short: Long. 40. Do you have a crush on someone: See #16. Nope. 41. What do you like about yourself: I’ve spent an unhealthy amount of time staring at computers/video games and I still don’t need glasses. :D 42. Piercings: No, but I should probably get my ears pierced at some point? 43. Blood type: O. 44. Nickname: Yujacha, but a lot of people shorten it to “Yuja”. 45. Relationship status: Single. 46. Zodiac: Libra, Dog. 47. Pronouns: I feel like it’s obvious what gender I am, so just go with those. 48. Favorite TV show: I don’t really watch TV these days, but if I’m kicking back with some hot cocoa at like 2am I might watch Criminal Minds or something. 49. Tattoos: Nope, but like I said in #36 I’ve been thinking about it. 50. Right or left hand: Right. 51. Surgery: Wisdom teeth removal is technically dental surgery. 52. Hair dyed in different color: I had highlights in my hair a few years ago, but they faded real quick. I’m vaguely considering dyeing it brown in the distant future...? 53. Sport: It’s fun to watch the occasional match when there’s a World Cup or Olympic thing going on, but otherwise I have no interest. 54. (A question I came up with since #54 was missing) Extracurricular activities: I was a debate kid for most of my school life, and in college I was in the Korean Club and Student Union. 55. Vacation: Does the 2nd Live DV later this year count? 56. Pair of trainers sneakers *American anthem plays in the distance*: I actually need new ones because I’ve tripped while hiking on at least two separate occasions due to my shitty old sneakers.

More general: 57. Eating: Haven’t yet. 58. Drinking: Wasn’t this literally the first question? 59. I’m about to: Eat. 60. (This question was missing so I'll make one up again) Thinking about: What to eat lol 61. Waiting for: 2nd Live DV~ 62. Want: Money tbh 63. Get married: I’d like to at some point, but at the moment I’m kinda tired of hearing about it from every middle-aged woman who talks to me (including my own mother). 64. Career: Working on it.

Which is better: 65. Hugs or kisses: Hugs, because they’re warm and comfy and can be shared by complete strangers. 66. Lips or eyes: I was gonna repeat a previous answer and say “eyesmiles” but since this is “lips or eyes” rather than “smiles or eyes”, I guess my answer would fall more under “eyes”. 67. Shorter or taller: Bruh, if someone’s shorter than me then I’d need to check their ID to make sure they’re not jailbait. Taller. 68. Older or younger: I’ve never dated anyone so I honestly wouldn’t know, but I’d probably look for someone close to my age first? 69. (Lmao why was 69 missing :3c I’ll just make something up again) Outgoing or shy: The former, since I’m lazy. If someone doesn’t drag me to places I’ll just lay in bed all day. 70. Nice arms or stomach: It’s actually really hard for females to have a toned stomach, so any gals with abs are like ooh~ 👀 But I actually like hands! I have smol stubby fingers so I really dig people with nice hands. 71. Sensitive or loud: The former, because I don’t need the entire neighborhood to know when I’m gettin’ laid kthnx 72. Hook up or relationship: Relationship, because sure why not? 73. Troublemaker or hesitant: Maybe the former, but if they’re being too much of a lil’ shit then I’d go for the latter instead. I’ve dealt with friends who take like 20 minutes to decide what to order from a menu so I know that feel. :’)

Have you ever: 74. Kissed a stranger: Nope. 75. Drank hard liquor: Yup. 76. Lost glasses/contact lenses: I’m pretty sure I annoyed half of ONIBE during AX when I went “haha y’all are blind af” after I found out I was pretty much the only one who didn’t have corrected vision. 77. Turned someone down: I was about to say “no” and then I got a sudden flashback to a certain incident in college, wow thanks for making me remember something I had tried to forget...sooo, uh, yup. 78. Sex on the first date: See #6. 79. Broken someone’s heart: IDK if turning someone down counts as breaking their heart. 80. Had your heart broken: ...yes. I think? 81. Been arrested: Nope. 82. Cried when someone died: Do fictional characters count? 83. Fallen for a friend: Uhhhhh...kind of? It was complicated.

Do you believe in: 84. Yourself: I’d like to think that I do. 85. Miracles: KISEKI DA YO~ ...sorry, I had to. Yeah. 86. Love at first sight: Shukashuu is living proof of this. 87. Santa Claus: Nope, sorry Maki!!! 88. Kiss on the first date: Sure.

Other: 90. Current best friend(s) name: IDK if I have one. :’) 91. Eye color: I’m Asian, take a wild guess. 92. Favorite movie: I don’t really have a favorite, but I did like “Kimi no Na wa.” (Your name.) so much that I made it my phone’s lock screen.

Tagging: I've only tagged people the first time I did one of these and I’m gonna try to keep it that way. If anyone who reads this wants to give it a go, feel free~

#yujachat #chain post #queuetie panther #edited the words from british to american english spelling BECAUSE I CAN HAHA #are these even interesting to people why would u wanna know about boring old me

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