#Tesseract: *blushes*

[tldrthor]

The Princess (and the chaos she brings with her) - steve rogers x fem!reader (1/?)

Summary: when Thor asked the avengers to guard a dear friend of his, they didn't think twice before saying yes. What they didn't know was that said friend is the princess of one of the nine realms, and a lost love of one Captain Rogers.

Part 1 // I thought you were dead // word count: 3.5k

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"(y/n), you have to eject, right now!" Steve screamed over the torrents of wind whistling through the ship. Schmidt was dead, gone. So was the tesseract. But it wasn't over yet. "I have to put her in the water!"

The girl behind him widened her eyes, battling against the elements to reach him. "There's no world in which I let you do that, Captain!"

"I'm not asking for permission!"

"Well then, I guess we go down together!" She painstakingly made her way to him, every step a feat of strength. Her previously neatly pinned curls no longer even resembled what they once were as her hair whipped around her face.

As Steve turned to face her, she somehow still looked angelic. He felt that right now, she was more heavenly than ever. He couldn't let her die with him.

"Buckle in." He commanded, as they began their quick descent. He looked at her, the first woman who had ever made him feel seen, the only person he had ever met who was as crazy as he was.

As the ice flew closer, he turned and placed a hand tenderly on her face. Tears welled in his eyes as his mind wandered to the future they could've had. God, they could have been amazing.

"I'm sorry, (y/n)." He whispered. She could only just hear it, even though they were right next to each other.

He pulled the yellow ejection lever on the seat she had just buckled herself into, watching as her eyes widened. "No! Steve, no!" She lifted her hands to stop him, to jam the lever, anything to stay with him. She wasn't quick enough.

Steve closed his eyes as her seat was ejected, hearing her scream his name. There was no world where he allowed her to go down with him, and he trusted that wherever she ended up, Stark and Peggy would find her. He hoped they would be able to find him, too.

He hadn't prayed in a long time, but as he went down, he bargained with God for her safety.

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"It is my honour to introduce the new and improved Captain America and the Howling Commandos exhibit, in honour of the 100th birthday of Captain Steven Grant Rogers." The crowd clapped as the senator stepped off the podium, motioning for Steve to take the mic. Bucky and Sam laughed at how uncomfortable the Captain was as he stood thanking everyone for an exhibit he never wanted. All part of the job, he supposed.

After the handshakes, and the photo ops, and the autographs and the meet and greets, the boys finally got relative peace to wander around the new exhibition.

"I can't believe you used to wear these stupid suits." Sam laughed, standing in front of the main exhibit. Bucky sighed, budging Sam's shoulder. "Says the asshole who wears a bird suit to fight." He retorts.

Steve laughed at his friends antics, but walked away when he noticed an addition to the exhibit he hadn't seen before. He stared, wide eyed at the name in front of him.

(Y/N): THE MISSING HERO?

Steve found himself drinking in every inch of the gorgeous photo underneath the text, her bright smile and barely visible freckles. The lighting highlighted the different hues in her immaculately pinned hair. She looked just like an angel, as she always did in real life.

Steve looked down, forlorn eyes investigating very few artefacts in the glass exhibit. Her folded uniform, found in her room after the plane went down. The blush lipstick you wore every day. Finally, an object that Steve didn't recognise. A golden ring, encrusted in unidentified jewels and a family crest no one knew. He frowned.

He had known her only a short few months, but he regretted never asking about her family. And now, it would haunt him that he never did until his last breath.

"They never found her, huh?" Bucky placed his covered hand on Steve's shoulder, a sadness tinged in his voice. He had only met (y/n) briefly, but he knew even then that Steve's heart rested in the palm of that woman's hand.

He had asked about her, once, but the look on Steve's face when her name was mentioned told him everything he needed to know.

"No. Howard searched for years, found nothing. Turned out that she had lied on her intake forms for the SSR, too. We don't even know if (y/n) was really her name." He took a beat. "We have no idea if she survived or not."

Steve didn't have to make the subtext clear, Bucky knew he worried that he had killed her by ejecting her from that plane. Bucky also knew there was no sense in trying to tell him she would have died either way, that the ice would've killed her.

"You okay?" Bucky asked, after another few moments of silence.

Steve nodded, looking at the photo. "I'm glad she's remembered. I just wish I didn't have so many unanswered questions."

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"So," Tony started. "Thor is arriving with the guest of honour later today, who we have agreed to protect here for the meantime. We don't have a lot of background for this one. The dark elves are the ones we're protecting her against, but Thor said threat could come from many areas. Do we have any questions?"

The team looked nothing short of bored. Well, most of them. Cap always had the good grace to sit up and look interested. Scott was straight up asleep.

"Is she important? How long will she be staying with us?" Steve asked.

"No idea, and uh, no idea. Anything else?"

"Is she single?" Sam asked, earning a laugh from some of the others. Steve shook his head disapprovingly, but smiled at his friend's levity.

As Steve stood up to go back to training, FRIDAY sounded around the room. "Excuse me everyone, my satellites have detected a bifrost signal heading for the compound imminently."

"Speak of the devil!" Tony clapped his hands as everyone headed out to the bifrost landing site (something that had been instituted after Tony's lawn got scorched one too many times).

Bucky smacked Scott upside the head to wake him up with a jolt. "Oh, where are you guys going?" He called behind them, jogging to catch up. Steve waited behind from him, laughing at his groggy friend.

A bright light connected with the grass just beside the landing site. Tony's hands covered his eyes as he mouthed are you fucking kidding me. When the light cleared, Thor stood tall in his usual armour.

"My friends!" His voice boomed, "I present to you, my fellow avengers, the honourable princess of Alfheim, jewel of the Alfar and ambassador to Asgard." Thor's voice boomed through the halls of the compound. "This is my friend, (y/n)."

Beside Thor stood a girl. She was breathtakingly beautiful, with a heavenly stature. She looked like she could have been carved from marble by the hands of God himself.

A light Asgardian pink dress was covered by a golden chest-plate which fit her body like it had been moulded just for her. It was covered in intricate etchings of suns and stars, which caught the light and shone brilliantly. She wore golden jewellery, which was nothing like the avengers had ever seen. Golden ear cuffs covered her pointed ears, with her long hair pulled into an up-do, emphasising the golden, bejewelled tiara on her head.

"Princess?" Sam squeaked. Wanda smacked him, with a look that screamed don't embarrass us.

Tony tilted his head in confusion at the guest, who he could almost swear he recognised from somewhere. "Thor, you did not inform us that we were looking after the ruler of a planet. We would have been more prepared."

"I am not ruler yet, Mr. Stark." The girl cast her eyes up at Tony, as she smiled sweetly. Her voice was honey smooth, and anyone who heard it felt themselves being charmed by it. "I have heard much about you all from Thor."

"Should we bow?" Bruce whispered to Tony, who shrugged his shoulders. Thankfully, (y/n) took the lead and shook each of their hands.

She looked around at each of the gathered avengers. Thor made his introductions to the rest of the group. "Where are the others?" Thor enquired.

"Here!" Steve smiled at the site of his old friend, his view of the princess obscured by the large man. Bucky and Scott tagged behind him, also happily greeting Thor.

"Captain, it is very good to see you. Please, let me introduce you to the Princess (y/n)." Thor stepped aside to introduce them, but his eyebrows knitted together in confusion when neither of them moved, almost frozen in place.

"Uh... hi." Scott side-stepped the Captain and caught the eye of their guest. "My name's Scott Lang."

The girl tore her eyes away from the captain, unsure really on what to do. But her training kicked in, knowing that being rude was one of the worst sins a princess could commit. "Hello, Mr. Lang. I am (y/n)."

"Holy shit." Bucky breathed out.

The rest of the avengers watched the rather silent exchange with confusion. It was very unlike Steve to get so tongue-tied, and he would never be so rude as to not introduce himself.

"Captain Rogers..." The girl spoke first, confusing them further. "I believed you dead." Tears had welled in her eyes, intriguing the observing crowd even more.

"I thought you were dead." He breathed. "What... what is going on?"

Bucky interjected. "Um, hi. I'm Bucky, we met briefly in '45."

She smiled softly at him, but her eyes betrayed her confusion. "Sergeant Barnes, of course! Didn't you... also die?"

"Yeah, we've all got a lot of explaining to do." Bucky laughed as the absurdity of the situation caught up to him.

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Thor's eyes darted between his friend and the captain. When Thor asked the avengers to guard her from the war on Alfheim, he knew some hijinks would ensue. This is not what he expected. He knew you had spent some time on Midgard before and when you returned you were emotionally distraught. He had simply figured the war you had fought with the Midgardians had taken it's toll.

He eyed both the Captain and you, suspiciously. You were his dear friend, but you had never talked to him about any mortal love.

"So, Princess. You've been here before." Tony enquired.

The Princess licked her lips nervously, glancing at Steve, who had barely moved a muscle, his eyebrows furrowed. "Yes, Mr. Stark. I spent some time here during the second world war. I left Midgard when Johann Schmidt was defeated, and haven't returned since."

"Tell us about your world, Princess. I've never heard of it before." Natasha, the red-head in the corner, asked the guest.

"You have heard of it before." The princess smiled, explaining. "I believe we are now known as a fantasy character here - you call us elves." She pointed to her pointed ears as each avenger clung to her words.

Thor smiled at his Midgardian friends' curiosity.

"The Alfar still live amongst you, they are simply unseen. I believe you may know Tolkien?" At the mention of the author's name, everyone's ears pricked. "He was one of my father's greatest friends and many of his book settings were inspired by Alfheim."

"What!" Scott exclaimed. "That's insane."

"Really, Ant Man?" Bucky responded, pointing out that they were all ridiculous, when you thought about it. The world was crazy now.

The princess chuckled, and rose from her seat at the conference table. "Thank you very much for your hospitality, Avengers. I would quite like to rest in my chambers, if you would be so gracious to allow me."

"Um, yeah... consider yourself allowed." Tony stumbled over his words. Very unusual for him, and it did not go unnoticed by the others. "Dinner is at seven."

"Thank you, Mr. Stark. Captain Rogers," She addressed the Captain, who looked up quickly. His face was pale, and he nervously twiddled his thumbs. "Would you be so kind as to show me my rooms?"

He popped up, almost comedically fast. "Yes. Yeah, sure. Um, this way." He walked out quickly, darting his eyes back to make sure the princess was following him.

She followed, gracefully. Her skirts fanned out behind her as she walked. The avengers in the room could scarcely take their eyes off her as she faded from sight.

As soon as the door closed behind them, the room devolved into chaos. People shouting theories and questions left, right and centre. Mostly, everyone was just bewildered. Bucky and Thor discussed how they had both known the couple separately, and whether each had talked about the other.

Natasha watched as Tony sat quietly on his tablet for a few seconds, searching for something she could only assume was relevant to the discussion at hand.

"Bucky, what's the deal there?" Clint asked.

He was interrupted by Tony. "Aha!" Stark called, silencing the room. "I knew I recognised her from somewhere."

He projected a photograph to the wall, and the avengers gasped.

The photograph consisted of Steve and Bucky front and centre. Bucky had his left arm wrapped lazily around Tony's dad, Howard. And Steve was looking directly at the girl next to him, holding her to him by the waist. It was the princess. The gaze he looked at her with... it was like nothing they had ever seen from him.

"They didn't just know each other, they were in love." Bucky replied to Clint's question, a hint of sadness underneath his words.

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(Y/n) followed Steve along the large corridors of the compound, her smaller legs working double time to match his long strides. They walked in silence, for the most part. It wasn't the comfortable kind.

"Captain." She spoke first, again. As she called for him, he stopped walking abruptly, turning slowly. He met her gaze and then cast his eye down.

"(y/n)... I mean, um, Princess." He responded.

"(y/n) is sufficient." She whispered, almost guiltily. "I can't believe you're alive..."

"I can't believe you're alive," He retorted. "I searched for you, when I woke up. They couldn't find any records of you other than your enlistment form, and they found you had lied. People think you're just a ghost story..."

He took a breath. "I can't believe you're here and... an alien princess?"

"I know it's hard to believe, I hope you understand why I couldn't tell you back then." She laughed. "When I found that you and Sergeant Barnes were dead, I couldn't face being here anymore... I returned to Alfheim."

As she thought back on it, a tear sprung to her eye. On seeing her reaction, Steve couldn't help himself but place a friendly hand on her back, rubbing soothing circles. She briefly froze at the contact, but quickly, she moved her own hand down his arm until she was holding onto his hand with both of hers.

So much went unsaid, but the contact confirmed what they had both most desperately wanted to know. Would it be the same?

"If I had known that you and Sergeant Barnes were alive, Captain..." She admitted. "I would have returned in an instant, I give you my word."

He smiled, rubbing a thumb over the back of her hand. A red blush hugged her cheeks as he did so.

It was typical of him that he couldn't concentrate on the moment, "Why are you here?" He asked. "What are we protecting you from?"

She sighed. "The Svartalfar, or the dark elves. You may know them - they attacked Thor in the Midgardian city of London some years ago now." He nodded in recognition.

"They are determined to conquer Alfheim, and have set their sights on my family. They have already managed to get close to killing me."

She pushed the collar of her dress down, showing a large, angry, red scar just above her collarbone. His hands flew up to trace the scar. She gulped at the close contact, her eyes meeting his.

His expression gave away his concern, knowing that Thor had suggested she was in a lot of danger. "Don't worry, Princess. You're safe here." He smiled, softly. "We'll protect you with everything we've got."

"Thank you, Captain."

"It's just Steve." He unhooked their hands, and gave her his arm. She linked her arm in his, and he resumed wandering down the halls to her rooms. "Do you have any bags?"

"No, I fled to Asgard with nothing when I needed healing. The Asgardians were kind enough to offer many gorgeous clothes for me to bring, but I figured they were a bit conspicuous."

Steve laughed, "Yeah, they might be."

They walked for a little while longer, before Steve entered a room to the side. It was rather basic compared to what she was used to, but it would more than suffice for the meantime.

"This is your room." He stood by the door as she entered. "I'm just down the hall if you need anything. I'll get Tony to send you some less conspicuous clothes. See you at dinner."

"Thank you, Steven." He laughed at her inability to be too informal with him. He nodded at her, and turned to walk down the hall to his room.

As he entered, the photograph of her from the Smithsonian caught his eye from the nightstand. He picked it up, tracing her features with his finger - unable to stop the smile spreading across his face. Who would've thought? Not only was his girl alive, she was also alien royalty. Sometimes, just sometimes, he adored his strange, strange world.

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"Sir," The agent walked into the dark room with purpose in her every step. "The Princess has been spotted."

The man in the chair looked up at the mention of his target. "Show me" he ordered. He watched as agent transferred the images on her tablet to the big screen, showing grainy, far away surveillance of the avengers compound.

As low quality as the image was, the woman arriving with Thor in the distinctive Alfar dress and armour was certainly the princess.

"Oh, my dear..." The man's deep voice dragged out. "You have walked right into our sights."

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a/n: let me know what you think! if you can't tell, this is basically the set up for a longer series... i'm really excited to explore this character and get deeper into the relationships!

i've never really written in the third person POV before, so let me know if it's something you like or not, and i can switch for the next part.

please like/reblog if you enjoy! let me know if you would like to be tagged in the next part <3

[silverior968]

You know what actually? I'm not done just yet. After this one we will return to our scheduled Larrikin/Anton programming

[Image ID: A digital color-coded sketch of Tesseract from Skulduggery Pleasant, drawn as a muscular if not very tall man with a gas mask, holding a bouquet of roses out at an arms length. He's wearing a turtleneck, a thick jacket and trousers. His gas mask is drawn with cartoonish blush lines. He's drawn with magenta lines. Anton Shudder, drawn as a slightly more lean but still very muscular man, who is slightly taller. He has both of his hand up by his chest, looking surprised with blush lines. He's wearing a long coat, a button up shirt and trousers, and is drawn with blue lines. / End ID]

[tallseaweed]

Relinquish Your Burden: Chapter 6

"The Sun Will Shine On Us Again"

Word Count: 3.9k

Relinquish Your Burden - Chapter 6 - tallseaweed - Loki (TV 2021) [Archive of Our Own]

"Again."

"Again."

"Again."

"Let's go faster this time."

"My Variants are already out there."

"Nothing survives, Loki. Not even the Sacred Timeline."

"You cause a war that kills us all."

"What good is free will if everyone's dead?"

"You're replacing one nightmare with another."

"I know what kind of god I need to be."

"You do know yourself."

"A villain."

Loki awoke with a gasp, his limbs tangled in sweaty sheets. A soft light was filtering in through a small leaded window on the far wall. Where was he? He needed to get back, the timelines needed him—

The scent of a familiar cologne surrounded him, soothing his panic.

Mobius.

It all came rushing back.

Sylvie.

Thor.

The Watcher.

Mobius's eyes and the dancing lights…

Loki rolled over, finding the other side of the bed vacant. Muffled voices were coming from the other side of the door.

He pulled himself from bed, bare feet padding toward the window. Outside, a grey spaceship with purple and turquoise stripes sat in the snow. The low-hanging clouds made it difficult to tell, but it must have been close to midday.

Mobius's laugh carried over the hum of voices in the other room, and Loki couldn’t help but smile to himself. Raking his fingers through his sleep-disheveled hair, he went to open the door.

The scene that greeted him made Loki do a double take. Thor was frying up some sort of egg dish on the stove while Love chatted with him from a barstool. Sylvie was on her tiptoes rummaging through one of the cabinets, and Mobius was chopping something on a cutting board. It all looked so ordinary, but the circumstances that had brought them all together were anything but. Loki felt as if his two worlds were colliding.

Across the room, Mobius's eyes met his own. Immediately, he set down his knife and smiled. "Mornin' sunshine."

Thor and Love's conversation tapered off, and everyone turned to face Loki. He gave a halfhearted wave as Mobius made his way toward him.

He and Mobius had fallen asleep in the clothes they'd been wearing the night before, but the latter was now clad in a brown knit jumper and denim trousers. If the luggage in the corner was any indication, he'd used Sylvie's TemPad to go retrieve some essentials.

"How'd ya sleep," Mobius asked, leaning up to give Loki a brief kiss on the cheek.

"As good as can be expected," Loki sighed, running his hand down the side of Mobius's arm. He could feel a blush creeping up his ears from the weight of everyone's attention.

"You owe me 5 units Aunt Sylvie," the young girl's cheery voice piped up.

Mobius rolled his eyes and took Loki's hand, leading him toward the table. "Do you want some lunch? 'Fraid we both slept through breakfast."

Loki caught Thor's eye from across the kitchen island. His brother looked surprised by the exchanges of affection but recovered himself quickly. He shot Loki a warm smile. "I've made a Midgardian dish called an omelette, Brother. Would you like to try?"

"Sure. Smells lovely."

~

Loki hadn't realized how hungry he was until he put the first bite in his mouth. When was the last time he'd had a proper meal? He honestly couldn't remember. Three generous servings later, Loki began collecting everyone's dishes and bringing them to the sink. He was stopped by Thor's hand on his shoulder.

"Would you come for a walk with me, Loki?"

Loki turned to face him, meeting Thor's earnest gaze. "Alright," he replied, though his palms began to sweat. The last time Loki had truly conversed with Thor, he'd been attempting to rule Midgard and secure the Tesseract for Thanos. Safe to say, they hadn't exactly left on good terms. Making matters even more complex was the fact that this Variant of Thor had watched him die. Had clung to his body after the Mad Titan snapped his neck. Truthfully, Loki had no idea what to expect from the interaction.

As they made their way to the door, he conjured himself a Midgardian outfit, similar to what the rest of them were wearing. When they stepped outside, Loki was clad in a forest green turtleneck and dark denim trousers. He was glad he'd included thick black boots when Thor led them off the main path and into the snow.

They walked in silence for a minute or so, the cold wind biting at their exposed skin. Thor was dressed much warmer, but made no comment on Loki's choice to forgo a coat. Even before they'd learned his true heritage, the two of them had discovered that Loki could withstand the cold much better than Thor.

"So… you and Mobius…" Thor smiled suggestively.

"Yes," Loki huffed a laugh. "I'll have you know it's a very recent development, but…" The corners of his lips twitched, and he found himself unable to fight the ensuing grin. "Would you believe me if I told you I wanted to kill him when we first met?"

Thor let out a booming laugh. Until that exact moment, Loki hadn't realized just how much he'd missed that sound. "Actually Brother, I can. You've never exactly been quick to open up."

Loki clicked his tongue but conceded the point. Prior to meeting Mobius and Sylvie, he had been slow to warm up to people. Taking Thor's lead of stating the obvious, he said, "Your daughter is a force to be reckoned with."

Thor smiled fondly. "That she is. Do you know how I came to adopt her?"

"More or less."

"Then you'll likely already know that she was Gorr's daughter first. He was a mortal, but when Love emerged from the Altar of Eternity, she had the powers and vitality of a goddess." He paused. "Selfishly, I'm quite glad for that. Until yesterday, she was the only family I had left. If I were to lose her so soon—"

Loki was a bit taken aback by the display of vulnerability. He supposed he shouldn't be after their emotional reunion the night before, but still, he wasn't quite accustomed to it. Open communication had never been their family’s forte.

"I think Mother would have liked her," Loki said quietly.

"I'm sure she would have," Thor agreed.

A beat of silence passed. "When I first learned she'd died, I—" Loki broke off, a lump forming in his throat. He swallowed. "I'm not envious of you for having to go through that."

Thor let out a deep sigh. "Be grateful you didn't. Though I can imagine the way you found out was horrible in its own way."

"You're not wrong there," Loki murmured quietly. He paused, choosing his next words carefully. "If it's any consolation, I've seen countless timelines where Mother is alive and well. Jane too, for that matter."

Thor drew in a deep breath, simultaneously swiping a stray tear from his cheek. "Good. I'm glad.”

They began trudging up a small hill when Thor broke the heavy silence. "Mobius and Sylvie told me how they came to know you, but I'm curious. What is it like? This TVA?"

Loki thought for a moment. What a complicated question . "It's— horribly bureaucratic and stifling. And honestly, a bit terrifying at first. They use Infinity Stones as paperweights."

Thor halted in his tracks. When Loki turned around, his brother looked aghast. "By the Norns, I— I knew that place was powerful, but I did not imagine…" he breathed.

Loki nodded grimly, standing still while Thor took a moment to process. "They kidnapped me from my timeline right after New York because I managed to escape with the Tesseract. That particular act took me off of the Sacred Timeline, my predestined path . When I managed to regain possession of the Tesseract at the TVA, it wouldn't work. All of the Stones they keep there are rendered completely useless." Thor's expression was somewhere between horror and sympathy. Loki wasn't sure he could stand it. "At first, I wanted to burn the whole place to the ground." Thor chuckled. Good. "Sylvie did too. She might still want to, honestly."

They began walking again before Thor asked, "Was it strange, finding out there are countless different versions of you out there?"

Loki cringed. "You have no idea."

They had arrived at a large rock near the cliffside, overlooking the sea. Thor frowned at the snow blanketing its surface. Loki shook his head with a small smile and cleared the snow off with magic. Thor flashed him a grin. "I had forgotten how useful you are to have around, Brother."

Loki rolled his eyes and gave Thor an exasperated smile. "Glad I can be of service, Your Highness."

Thor laughed as they sat down. After a moment of taking in the view, Loki continued. "I suppose I grew somewhat partial to the TVA once I learned that all its workers were brainwashed Variants. It's not like they'd asked to be kidnapped from their timelines. And, well, by that point, I was becoming rather fond of Mobius."

Thor smirked at him and Loki narrowed his eyes. The desired effect was lessened by the involuntary smile pulling at his lips. He broke their eye contact and sighed, looking back out over the water.

"In time, I started viewing a handful of them as my friends. If we're being honest, I—" Loki hesitated, glancing over at Thor. "I never really had true friends, back on Asgard."

Thor looked like he wanted to protest, but seemed to think better of it. Loki was pleasantly surprised. He almost hadn't said anything, but decided he was curious as to what Thor's reaction would be. If he were being honest with himself, he was waiting for Thor to jump to the defense of the Warriors Three and Sif as he'd always done.

After a weighty pause, Thor murmured, "I'm sorry that I never noticed."

Of all the things Loki had thought his brother might say, the last thing he'd expected was an apology. Completely taken aback, Loki swallowed the lump in his throat, dipping his head into a shallow nod.

Suddenly, the sun broke through the clouds, and Loki couldn't help but tip his face toward it. It had been so long since he felt the warm caress of sunlight, let alone took the time to enjoy it. He glanced over at Thor, squinting against the brightness, and was alarmed to find tears streaming down his brother's face.

"Are you alright?" Loki asked gently, turning to face him.

"Yes, I'm sorry, it's just—" Thor took a shuddering breath. "Before you died, you assured me that the sun would shine on us again." Thor chuckled wetly, shaking his head. "I assumed it was one of your rare moments of misplaced optimism, but, well… here we are."

Loki couldn't help the surge of remorse he felt for the man beside him. This Thor had lost his brother, and Loki was just sitting here, acting as if he could fill the chasm his Variant had left behind. "Thor… I'm so sorry."

"You have nothing to be sorry for, Brother," Thor said, wiping the tears from his eyes. "We're finally together again."

Loki's heart constricted painfully. After a moment, he said, "Do you truly still claim me as your brother, knowing I'm not the Loki you lost? After all the destruction I wrought on Midgard? On Jotunheim?"

Thor turned toward him, his eyes sparkling with sincerity. "Of course I do, Loki. You will always be my brother. Nothing could ever change that." He glanced back toward the horizon, the smile slipping from his face. "After facing Thanos myself and witnessing your terror when you recognized his ship…" He trailed off, a dormant rage flitting over his features. "I can only imagine the horrors you went through under his command." Loki closed his eyes, resisting the memories threatening to resurface. Thor went on. "Thanos was after the Tesseract and sent you to Earth as his pawn. I no longer blame you for what happened in New York, I— I blame myself for letting you fall into that monster's clutches."

Loki's heart twisted painfully. "The events preceding that were hardly your fault."

Thor turned back to him. "Was I not the one that instigated war with Jotunheim? Got myself banished from Asgard? If I had been there for you—" his voice broke with emotion, "perhaps you would not have let go."

"Thor…" Loki sighed, "that decision had nothing to do with you. It was impulsive and brash, and no one's fault but my own, but—" He drew in a breath. "I was irrevocably upset with Father. At the time, I believed he saw me as no more than a political pawn."

Thor made to argue, but Loki held up a hand. "It was not my most sensible conclusion, but none of it was your fault. Hel, I was even the one that goaded you into attacking Jotunheim in the first place."

"You warned me against it—"

"I knew you wouldn't listen. I never planned for us to get past the Bifrost— but I was playing with fire. With all that happened afterward, that scheme was undoubtedly one of the worst decisions I've ever made." He snorted derisively. "Though I suppose if I hadn't made it, I would have ended up at the TVA all the sooner."

Thor was silent for a moment, processing. "The circumstances of how it all happened may have been awful," he began slowly, "but not everything your scheme led to was all bad. I gained humility on Earth, and Father and Mother finally got around to revealing the truth of your heritage."

Loki made a face. "If you call Father finding me panicked and turning blue in the weapons vault 'revealing the truth,' then yes, I suppose he did. Midway through that conversation, he ever so conveniently fell into the Odinsleep."

Thor grimaced in sympathy. "I cannot imagine."

"No, I suppose you can't," Loki sighed.

They were silent for a moment, letting it all sink in. "Before you died, before Thanos—" Thor took a steadying breath. "In your final words to me, you reclaimed yourself as an Odinson. I know you're not the man I lost, but even with less shared history between us, nothing changes the fact that you're my little brother." Loki met Thor's gaze, shining with emotion. "And that I'll always love you."

Suddenly, it was all too much. Loki couldn't control the tears flowing down his face as he braced his elbows on his knees. Thor's warm, steady hand rubbed comforting circles against his back.

It was a while before his shoulders stopped shaking.

"You know, I'm actually your older brother now," Loki said after a while, attempting to sound lighthearted. Thor raised his eyebrows skeptically. "I spent centuries attempting to fix the Temporal Loom before I learned it was a useless endeavor. It took me longer than I care to admit to realize I had to hold the timelines together for the Multiverse to survive. It was all quite poetic, really; Eternal servitude to repent for my sins. Or so I thought. But, uh— I've got at least two or three centuries on you now."

Thor just watched him solemnly, his piercing blue eyes missing nothing. "You don't need to sacrifice yourself to be a hero, Loki."

Loki looked away, willing the tears not to fall again. He took a shaking breath . Since when had Thor become so perceptive?

"I've had to mourn you more times and more often than any other. No sacrifice is worth losing you again I—" Thor's voice dropped to a rough whisper. "I don't think I could bear it."

Before Loki even realized what he was doing, he was pulling Thor into a hug. Immediately, Thor squeezed him back, firmly gripping the back of his neck. "I missed you so much," Loki whispered through his tears.

"You'll stay?" Thor murmured into his hair.

"As long as you'll have me, Brother."

---

Left to their own devices to clean up what remained of lunch, Mobius and Sylvie settled into a comfortable rhythm. Clad in yellow rubber gloves, Sylvie carefully hand washed each dish before handing them off to Mobius to towel dry.

"I— I know this might seem out of the blue," Mobius began, "but, I'm really sorry for all those millennia I spent hunting you down." Sylvie turned to look at him, and he quickly clarified. "I don't expect you to ever forgive me—hell, I probably wouldn't—but I just… wanted you to know. You deserve to be happy, and— and you and Loki made the right call in freeing the timelines." He sighed heavily. "Even with all that happened afterward."

Sylvie set down the dish she'd been lathering and turned off the sink. "Thank you, Mobius, I appreciate it." She turned to face him. "You're a good man, you know that?"

Mobius looked down, shuffling his feet. "I'm not sure I'd go that far…"

"Well I'm not going to waste time arguing with you about it, but like I said yesterday, I'm sorry for keeping Loki's location from you." She looked out the window, lost in thought. "I was so caught up in finally having true freedom—so grateful for Loki's sacrifice, that it took me a while to see the bigger picture."

"We're all just doing the best we can to get by," Mobius said gently. They stood there in comfortable silence for a moment before Sylvie went back to washing the dishes.

"Ya know, in light of recent events, I might have to demote you to ' second favorite Loki,'" Mobius teased. "A certain God of Stories might not be too happy with me otherwise."

Sylvie threw her head back and laughed. Mobius didn't think he'd ever heard her sound so carefree. "As if I were ever truly in the running," she smirked, eyes twinkling.

After finishing the dishes, Mobius and Sylvie sank onto the couch. It was just the two of them since Love had slipped into her room with a book on Astrophysics once Thor and Loki left.

"Mobius?"

"Yeah?"

"I think I'm going to leave— once Loki and Thor get back."

Mobius sat up, turning to face her fully. "Really? Why?"

"I'm really happy with the life I've built, and now that Loki is free, I— I've done what I set out to do."

"Can I at least convince you to stay for dinner? It'd be a nice send-off. And Thor loves a good party."

Sylvie looked hesitant for a moment, but eventually conceded with a small smile. "Alright. One more night."

~

The sun dipped toward the horizon, painting the sky in vibrant hues of pink and orange. On the front porch of the cottage, Mobius's fingers carded through Loki's ebony curls. He didn't know how the God had wound up with his head resting in his lap, but he'd be lying if he said he didn’t enjoy it.

"You know, I was right about you all along," Mobius smirked. "You really are just a little pussycat."

Loki huffed indignantly  "I'll have you know that I'm a prince , Agent Mobius, and I will not tolerate this abased slander." Despite his words, he made no effort to move away.

"Whatever you say, Your Highness," Mobius chuckled.

As their banter subsided, Mobius's mind couldn't help but wander back to the night before. Although he couldn't fathom how Loki could ever want someone like him, the hours they'd spent under the aurora had done wonders to ease his anxieties. Despite this, there was one more thing nagging at the back of his consciousness. He knew it would sound ridiculous and irrational to voice it out loud, but he wanted to clear the air, and hopefully ease his mind.

"I'm not gonna lie Loki, I didn't expect this turn of events." Loki tilted his head up, giving Mobius his full attention. "This might sound kinda dumb, but I coulda sworn you were head over heels for Sylvie."

Loki hummed in acknowledgment, gently stroking Mobius's knee as he seemed to gather his thoughts. "Perhaps at one point I was, but for me, that was all centuries ago. She never felt the same, so those feelings didn’t last.” He huffed humorlessly. "She kicked me through a Time Door, remember? She was set on killing He Who Remains, and I wanted us to consider the consequences. I tried appealing to her emotions, and in turn, she manipulated mine." He looked up at Mobius. "I'll always care about her, but I assure you, I harbor no romantic feelings." His eyes sparkled, "Except, of course, the ones I have for you." Loki reached up and tucked a strand of Mobius's hair behind his ear. Mobius's heart stuttered in his chest.

"And how long have those been around," Mobius teased, before realizing it was a somewhat vulnerable question.

Loki rolled his eyes before they softened. "Unwittingly? It’s hard to say. I’ve been drawn to you ever since you told me you’d seen my entire life and didn't consider me a villain." Mobius raised his eyebrows incredulously. To his delight, a light blush began coloring Loki’s cheeks. "But knowingly? Since my 134th attempt at fixing the Loom."

"134th huh?" Mobius laughed. "And why's that?" Embarrassingly enough, he couldn’t help but feel a twinge of jealousy toward the version of himself that had been there. Which is ridiculous, he chided himself. That Mobius had been wiped away in a Temporal Meltdown.

Loki looked a little bashful. "I was, er, having a rough moment, and you just… made me feel safe. It sort of all just clicked into place."

Mobius couldn't help but squeeze Loki a little tighter. He leaned down and kissed his forehead. "Keep saying things like that, sweetheart, and I'll never let you go."

Loki flushed even more, but Mobius caught a glint of mischief in his eye before he pushed himself up, positioning his lips centimeters away from Mobius's.

"Then don't."

A thrill raced up Mobius's spine. He pulled Loki into a deep, possessive kiss.

~

By the time the last rays of sunlight dipped below the horizon, Loki had made his way into Mobius's lap, chin resting atop his head. After a few minutes of quiet embrace, Loki pulled back, looking a bit concerned.

"Earlier, I told Thor that I'd stay here with him. I never asked you if you'd want to go back to your life in Cleveland. I wouldn't be selfish enough to presume you'd want to uproot the entire life you've built to stay here in Norway with us, but—"

Mobius placed a finger against his lips. "If I'm welcome here, I'd be more than happy to stay." He let out a derisive huff. "The so-called 'life' I built? That was just me trying to keep myself distracted from your absence."

Loki gave him a bittersweet smile and squeezed his hand tighter. "Well, I can't imagine my brother having any objections."

Mobius smiled back, brushing a stray curl behind Loki's ear. "Earlier, Sylvie told me that she's gonna go back to her timeline. I convinced her to stay for dinner."

Loki hummed in acknowledgment. "I can't say I'm surprised. She's been uprooted too many times to leave it all behind again."

"I'm glad she's finally found some peace." Mobius sighed. Suddenly, he noticed two approaching figures in the distance. Loki took note of his distraction and followed his gaze. Thor was walking toward the cottage with a fierce-looking woman with long flowing micro braids—the King of Asgard herself.

"Well, looks like my brother brought a dinner guest," Loki observed, elegantly rising off Mobius's lap and offering a hand. "Shall we go greet them?"

-----

Notes:

Hey everyone! I'm so sorry this chapter took so long to get out. Life got quite busy this past month, and I wanted to make sure I took the time to do Thor and Loki's conversation justice. They have quite a lot of baggage to unpack.

I'm currently working on a oneshot prequel about when Loki realized the true nature of his feelings for Mobius (during his 134th attempt at fixing the Loom). When it's posted, you'll be able to find it on the 'Relinquish Your Burden' Masterlist :)

(Edit: It’s posted! You can read it here)

Reblogs and comments are always appreciated 💞

taglist:

If you'd like to be added or removed from the taglist at any point, please leave a comment or send me a message :)

@loopsisloops @muddyorbsblr @superficialdomina @infinitystoner @unlucky-number-13

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[cookies-and-music]

Ghost. - part 3: Bury a friend.

I suggest listening to the Billie Eilish song while reading this. Kinda sets the atmosphere.

Part 1 here - part 4 here

PAIRING: TVA!LokixOC

RATING: ALL

Graphic description of violence.

SUMMARY: Loki meets sombody at the TVA he once knew. Unfortunately she doesn't seem to remember him.

TVA, 2021.

Loki took a deep breath before knocking on the door.

"Come in."

Lydia had her back to him as she inspected the bruises she had earned on the field just a few hours before in front of a mirror in a TVA room.

"Hey," Loki greeted her from the door, not expecting to find her shirtless and blushing slightly.

"Hey," Lydia smiled at him from the mirror.

"I heard you had a tough day, so I thought I'd bring you some of these…" Loki showed her a couple of ointments and bandages.

To Lydia, Loki looked funny, with his hesitant expression, disheveled hair, and wrinkled shirt.

"Close the door," she nodded without turning around.

Loki approached her, who didn't move from the mirror, and observed the extent of the bruises covering her stomach and back. They were of various shapes and colors.

"It looks like a painting, doesn't it?" she let out a bitter laugh, but Loki didn't seem to appreciate it. He furrowed his eyebrows and reached out a hand toward her back without touching her.

"I'm so sorry," he whispered.

"What for?" Lydia tilted her head, trying to meet his gaze in the mirror, but he wasn't there.

Midgard, 2012.

"What was that?"

"You'll have to be more specific, Miss Princhett," Loki looked up at her, standing with his arms folded in front of him.

"You had a distant look and then you tilted your head, as if you'd been hit. Which is strange because the only one who could do that here is me, and it would give me a pleasure impossible to forget."

"You're foolish if you think you could beat me in a fight, Miss Princhett."

"Don't change the subject," she smiled at him. Interrogation rule number 12: don't get sidetracked by chatter.

They stared at each other for a second.

"Who's on the other side?"

Loki furrowed his brows. "What other side?"

"Don't play games with me," she gave him a smirk “Whoever is there, crearly is not on your side” Interrogation rule number 27, instill doubt.

"You know nothing, Miss Princhett," Loki stood up, walking past her and moving around the room.

"But I can see when a man is under duress. And you are, Loki of Asgard," she said. Interrogation rule number 15: keep the conversation going, and rule 16: even at the cost of a confrontation.

"Do I seem under duress to you?" Loki turned to her, starting to stomp heavily on the floor as he walked. "I have the Tesseract, and all the power that comes with it."

"And what do you want to do with it?"

"It's part of a larger plan" he turned to her. "Impossible for a lesser mind like yours to comprehend."

She looked at him.

"You don't know" she blew a derisive breath.

They stared at each other and for a moment she was convinced she saw his blue eyes tremble, with anger or frustration.

And he punched her.

Lydia should have expected it. She doubled over, gasping for air. Loki lowered himself to her height, bringing his face a few inches from hers.

"Don't push your luck too far, Lydia Princhett. Remember that you stand before-."

He couldn't finish the sentence before Lydia grabbed his head and kneed him in the face. Loki stumbled backward, bringing a hand to his face. When he lifted it, his nose had a strange shape, and blood covered his mouth.

They breathed heavily, staring at each other.

Lydia moved first, but Loki was faster. He reached out a hand, closed it into a fist, and brought it down, pinning Lydia hands and feet to the floor as if tied by invisible ropes. Loki approached and kicked her in the lower abdomen. Then again. Then in her back and again.

Lydia felt like she couldn't breathe.

Finally, Loki lifted her up, as if she were made of feathers, and holding her by the throat, pinned her against the wall.

"This is what happens when you oppose a god, Miss Princhett," he spat.

She gathered saliva, wanting to spit in his face, but she didn't even have the strength for that, and the mixture of blood and saliva only reached his feet.

"Odin is a god, he is feared and respected by the entire galaxy. You, Loki, are just an undergrown giant." She tried to force a laugh, but it came out as a groan. "And you'll never be like him."

Loki struck her again; Lydia didn't know where or how many times. Everything hurt. And she lost consciousness.

TVA, 2021.

"What for?"

Loki cleared his throat, taking a deep breath and blinking to dry his moist eyes.

"I'm sorry you got hurt."

Lydia turned to him. "It's the risks of the job, I suppose," she smiled, shrugging, and tried to suppress a grimace of pain resulting from that small movement. "Sometimes bad people act just like that, badly."

Loki nodded, keeping his gaze low.

"Do you mind helping me with that?" Lydia indicated the ointment.

Loki took a breath, as if reconnecting with the present, and smiled at her. "Of course."

Lydia turned again and shivered when she felt his hands covered in cold cream touch her skin.

"Sorry,"

She shook her head. "It's okay, thank you. No one else cared about how I was," finally, their eyes met in the mirror, "you're a good friend, Loki."

He nodded, lips pressed into a thin line, proceeding carefully with his task.

Midgard, 2012.

When she woke up, Lydia was on a makeshift bed, with a blanket pulled up to her throat. The strangest thing, though, was that she felt refreshed, as if she had slept for days and every muscle in her body had relaxed.

She furrowed her eyebrows. Relaxed?

She threw off the blanket and rolled up her shirt under her chest. She got up and ran to a black glass that could serve as a mirror, but again, nothing. She didn't even have a scratch or a mark. She was perfectly fine.

"Son of a bitch."

She grabbed a jacket and ran out, wandering all over the SHIELD base Loki had taken over.

She found him near the only exit to the outside. He knew she had noticed him, but he didn't move. Lydia joined him.

"So, is this your magic?" she asked.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Listen, I just wanted to say thank you” Lydia was angry at him, obviousely, but she knew that letting that anger out would get her nowhere "I know I provoked you."

"I hope you've learned your lesson," Loki glanced at her, but Lydia saw that it wasn't pure superiority in his gaze. There was a slight sense of guilt behind it somewhere. After all, why would he bother to fix her otherwise? Lydia saw humanity in Loki, an opening in his impenetrable facade. An opening she would exploit to the end.

"Oh sure, now I know how to get under your skin, and I can't wait to do it again," she smiled and he returned his gaze to the outside, "I can't fix your nose with magic, but my point remains. Loki," and the way she pronounced his name made him feel strange, making him turn to her with a less harsh expression than before, "if there's someone or something that somehow threatens you or if in some way all this isn't your doing, you can tell me. I promise I'll help you, and only us will know."

Loki didn't respond, not that Lydia expected an answer. But in this case, it was a victory, it meant he was considering her words, instead of taking them as an offense.

Maybe, just maybe, she would manage to get under his skin and handle his alien brain, convincing him not to destroy her planet.

----

I'm having so much fun displaying the two kinds of relationships in different timelines and how different they are despite being the same people. 2 Chapeters more and then the truth will come out.

Guys, thanks a lot for the support you've shown me, again feel free to leave a heart, a comment or to reblog, this really helps a lot. Part 4 will be posted around Tuesday 02/13!

[bi-kingdom]

Secret Liasons - Maria Hill x OC

A/N: Seriously, PSA to clean your drafts out. I cannot recall what my OC's name is right now but we're going with Alex Stevens or reader - you decide.

Prompt idea: In which Tony Stark hits on Alex as she does a check on the Bridge of the Helicarrier. (Takes place on the helicarrier after the tesseract levels the ground facility in the opening of The Avengers)

Warnings: Tony being cringe

Its just a quick inspection, nothing out of the ordinary but there was a quick notification blurb that popped up on my scans. The only thing making me nervous is the thought of having to walk through Hill's meeting with Fury's new 'Avengers'.

I steel myself. This is my job after all.

I brush past Tony Stark to inspect the source of my alert.

"Oh hi, didn't know they employed anyone besides Jarheads here." Stark smiles, leaning against the metal railing. I quirk my eyebrow at him as I maneuver through Fury's screen. "God I love a woman who can handle a man's equipment." I turn to the room, seeing them all watching our exchange, skating over Hill quickly so I don't erupt in a blush. I grimace and find the culprit - a device, disguised as a bolt, attached where it shouldn't be. I slide it off and turn to Stark as he feigns surprise.

"This equipment's too small to be our's...must be your's." I say, dropping the device into his jacket pocket. The effect is instantaneous, mumbles and groans of 'Stark' erupt as I slide past Hill.

"Stevens." Hill orders, her arm outstretched for my tablet. I hand it over and watch as she reviews the initial security alert for the bridge.

"Stark." Hill scorns, handing me the device back as she joins the thorough chew-out that's coming his way.

I leave their meeting area and make a round through the bridge, stopping after a moment to watch some on screen analyses. There's a bit of an uproar at the Avengers meeting, Stark getting scolded for his attempted hack by Fury himself now. Although I have no doubt he'll try something else.

I linger longer than necessary on Hill, her arms crossed over her chest as she keeps her expression neutral. I admire the way she's pulled her hair back, her bangs sweeping across her forehead. The cut on her face accentuates the height of her cheek bones making her jawline seem even more defined. She keeps drawing me in with her stern gaze and the sheer confidence that radiates from her. But suddenly, she rolls her eyes and she catches sight of me watching her.

I turn away, avoiding those blue eyes that cut down even the most resilient of subordinates. My cheeks are burning as I finish checking in on the techs on the bridge, keeping my back to Hill as I exit from the opposite entrance.

I cringe the entire way back to my lab, shaking my head while I work, reviewing my schedule for the day. Hill shows up on my calendar, an impromptu request but not unexpected since Stark attempted to breach our systems. I huff, annoyed with myself for slipping up and letting my emotions get the best of me especially at work.

She's scheduled in a few minutes so I set about cleaning up my space as best I can, rolling up hardcopies of blueprints out of the way. I'd taken some good natured teasing for using physical blueprints still but with Stark's attempted hack earlier - I'm glad with my choice to do so.

"Stevens, how far did Stark get?" I jump as Hill jumps right into the briefing. I shake my head, avoiding her gaze as I fumble to show her the files that were hacked on the screens. I make it brief, waving my hands to swipe through the files. As soon as she gives me a noise of affirmation I stop the review and return to my work, fully expecting her to leave.

The sound of my lab doors opening and closing don't occur and I finally turn to face her as she unfurls a concept blueprint of mine across my desk.

"Oh, that's just an idea-nothing major-really just an idea-" I mutter, trying to make up an excuse to hide it again. I reach out my hands to put it away but she waves me off.

"You haven't shown me this one yet." She says absentmindedly. I briefly meet her eye as my stomach clenches at the eye contact.

"It still has to go in the computer." I try, watching her take a pencil to make a few notes in the margins.

"It's good."

"That's high praise coming from you." I blush, biting the inside of my lip. I steal a few glances as Hill continues her scribbling her notes "Thank you." I add.

The barest hints of a smile quirks in the corner of Hill's lips. I barely catch it before her usual neutral facade is back in place.

[the-avengers-ate-my-tongue]

Glorious Purpose?

Summary: Mobius had intentionally shown the frames of your conversation when he was being held captive by SHIELD. What did he intend with that? Meaningless sentimentalism? Or to introduce something else, something more?

Pairing: Loki x Stark!Reader

Warning: a bit of angst, spoilers of Loki (series), swearing

Word Count: 3072

A/N: yes' i'm random that way lol, had this idea doing my late night maladaptive daydreaming, thank you very much. English is not my first language! Any typos or something, let me know.

One of the sharpest pains he'd ever felt, and it wasn't even physical. 

Loki rewinds the video, looking at Frigga, his mother — even if he denied eventually in the future, the woman was still his mother —, lying on the floor. Dead. By his own intercession. He could feel his eyes watering up, his breath trembling. Was Mobius right? Would this actually happen, as it did every time in every single timeline? Moreover… Was all of the hatred for Thor worth it?

He fast-forwarded to another scene, lifting an eyebrow when he recognized someone in one of the frames.

You.

But it was you! You fought against him in New York, with the Avengers, developing some powers after being touched with the sceptre on SHIELD's giant flying device. Stark's daughter. He recalled how curious he was about the young woman, suspicious of what she could be. 

Of course, there hasn't been an Infinity Witch in over a millennia, as he learned the Sorcerers of the earth had been avoiding the birth of a new one for centuries. He remembered how the power of the Tesseract threw you over the balcony of that ugly Stark building, only for you to come back seconds later, a mist of an electric blue glow flowing around you. He could feel your suddenly powerful aura in his bones; all of his body hair bristled like a giant cat, and he couldn't help stare at you in absolute awe. You'd already been affected by the sceptre, now another stone had built up your power. 

Mobius had intentionally shown the frames of your conversation when he was being held captive by SHIELD. What did he intend with that? Meaningless sentimentalism? Or to introduce something else, something more? You both were in a small ship with Thor and Jane Foster.

He kept watching when you talked about the loss of your mother in labour, and how Stark had sent you somewhere called England until the age of seven, when you were expelled from a boarding school for building a bomb and exploding the chemistry lab. You laughed at the memory, and he admired how youthful the sound was; how your eyes gleamed, and you slightly blushed. You didn't seem to regret your mischief. That pleased him. 

"I'm so sorry about Frigga, Loki. She seemed to be a remarkable woman" your voice felt like velvet, and he could tell you were being sincere.

"Why?" He inquired, his voice sounding slightly annoyed. "Why are you sorry? You didn't even know her."

He was deflecting again. Feelings were never his forte. Feeling was… a waste of time. A distraction. 

You stared at him with patience, sighing.

"A loss is a loss. You seem to love her very much, I can’t even imagine losing my dad, it would drive me nuts. It pains me to see you hurting. Thus, she showed nothing but kindness to me, even when your f… Odin kept a harsh demeanour due to his suspicions." You corrected yourself in a haste, knowing how it would infuriate him to call Odin his father. He appreciated your gesture in silence, staring at the mountains while the wind messed up his hair. 

The scene changed. Thor pulled him over to his side, leaving you with Jane Foster slightly behind. You all seemed to be trailing along a vast desert. Svartalfheim. The land of the dark elves.

"What are you planning, Loki?" He interrogated, pulling him by his armour like chastising a child. "Y/n is a good woman. She doesn't deserve to be a tool for your dirty affairs."

He watched as himself laughed, but his eyes were perplexed. Thor would never trust him. 

"Nourns, brother… We were simply having a conversation. You're not jealous, are you? Must you always take all the good toys to yourself?" He provoked, his silver tongue sharp as a blade. He watched as Thor clenched his fists, waiting for the impact, but it never came. Instead, the blonde sighed, scratching the back of his neck.

"You both seem to share a strong connection ever since the battle of New York. I saw the way your stare longed for her when we used the Tesseract to return to Asgard." He halted, searching for words. "I mean it when I say she's a good woman. Do not fail her, brother."

The present Loki lifted his eyebrows in surprise, watching as his future self seemed to be pondering at Thor's words. Therefore, Thor was favourable to whatever was going on between the two of you… interesting.

He fast-forwarded again. His corpse was on the ground. You wept, hugging his body and begging him to wake up. Thor held your shoulder, also crying. The scene cuts to the throne room; Odin offering Thor the throne of Asgard, him denying it. Once he leaves, a voice comes from the shadows, your voice. Odin's form changes back; it was actually Loki.

"I hope you know what you're doing" you allowed yourself to be seen, raising an eyebrow once you realised how surprised future Loki seemed to be. "Really? A mere illusion? I'm the lady of infinity, you really thought I bought that little show of yours?"

"So you didn't truly mourn me? Were those tears as false as my death itself?"

You chuckled, crossed arms. You seemed more confident, powerful. Instantly, present Loki knew you had absorbed the powers of another infinity stone.

"You're incorrigible, Loki. Or should I say Your Majesty?"

"So, what happens now, milady? Are you going to try to stop me? Play hero as you did in Midgard?"

You seemed to consider your choices for a moment, poking your chin with the index finger.

"Actually, I think this could be good for you. Being king, learning some virtues for a change. I just hope you'll be a benevolent one. Asgard deserves it after the last events. Deal?" You lifted your chin, impetuous, looking even more dashing. "I'll be watching you closely, Loki. Don't make me regret this decision. And promise me Odin's going to be fine."

"I promise, Y/n." He simply stated, his lips curling in a satisfied smile, one you gladly reciprocated. "Promise one thing in return, milady?"

"Don't push it, god of mischief" you jested. "Name it".

He stepped closer, lifting his hand to place a strand of your hair behind your ear.

"Promise me you will watch me. Closely."

Present Loki couldn't help to smirk at the scene, appreciating the way your lips were ajar and the glow in your eyes. You allowed yourself to delight in his touch, nuzzling his hand like a kitten, and he wanted to find you pathetic, however, he simply could not. As confusing as it all was, he knew him. He wasn't trying to manipulate you. He was being sincere, he wanted you close.

"Loki…" you sighed, and the way you said his name, like a longing prayer, awoke something lost a long time ago inside him. His eyes fluttered and, for a few seconds, he couldn't catch his breath. 

The frame changed again. This time, Thor and you were in Asgard, arguing with Odin, who probably was still him. Thor threw Mjolnir, forcing him to stay in the hammer's way, since Odin had the power to stop it at his will. You lifted your hand, your eyes glowing yellow, and Thor released him right before the hammer could collide against him, staggering, right at the moment Loki changed back to his form. You had used the power of the mind stone to stop Thor from hurting him, watering eyes as you stared at the blonde.

Thor looked shocked, staring back at you with disbelief in his eyes.

"You knew, did you not? You knew all along and you did nothing to stop him!" He seemed hurt, betrayed. For a moment, Loki pitied him; however, he couldn't help to notice you took his side instead of Thor's. "I thought you could be a good influence on him, Stark, but you are as mischievous and untrustworthy as such." 

"Thor, please. I can explain" your voice cracked as you tried to avoid the tears that rolled free through your face. "I… I…"

"I don't wish to hear it! There's no possible explanation for this treachery! You said I was your best friend, and yet you betrayed me. You betrayed Asgard."

"I love him, Thor!" You sobbed, and Loki's heart skipped a beat. You held your chest, trying to catch your breath, and future Loki looked astonished at your words.

The scene changed again. Odin calls Thor and him his sons. You stare at the scene from afar with a knowing smile, hugging your body for comfort. Remember this place, Odin says. Home. He vanishes in a whirl of golden sand, gone. 

Another scene. Thor (with shorter hair?) states he thought the world of him, and how they thought they were going to fight side by side forever. Loki's heart softened at his brother's words, tears streaming down his face. For the first time, he felt as his equal. His sibling. Not a threat to be exterminated.

Another scene. All of you standing on the Bifrost with a Valkyrie, and you glowed so much your feet barely touched the ground, the air sparking with so much power. You smiled, raising your arms.

"Meet your demise, goddess of death."

The scene changes again. Thor says maybe he's not so bad after all, calls him brother. Thanks him. Another frame, and future Loki is holding you by your waist, smiling like he never did.

"You know, I really wish to promote my dad to grandfather. And Thor to uncle. I think one day we should think about that." You jested, stealing a peck of his lips with a sly grin. Little minx. Present Loki couldn't avoid a chuckle, his eyes teary. It's amazing how intimate both of you look, and he wished there were more scenes from before... Or was it after, since he hadn't lived it yet?

"I think, at least for a while, the world could not handle one more Loki or Y/n Stark, dearest."

"Gosh, I believe you're right. Forget about the world, we wouldn't be able to handle it."

Another scene. He stood in front of Thanos himself. The Infinity gauntlet was around your throat and, in his mind, you were begging him to escape. 

"I can handle it. I can beat him, but not with you here. Please, Loki. Just go."

He tried to stab Thanos, but the Mad Titan easily blocked him with the power of the gauntlet, releasing you on the ground. He then held future Loki by his throat, and he watched himself start to struggle.

"Undying?" Thanos mocked. "You should choose your words more carefully."

"Please! Please! I'll go with you, I'll do anything you ask of me, but please! Spare him!" You begged, crawling to the Titan's foot, undignified, desperate. 

"You… will never be… a god" his strained voice threw one last shot.

A loud crack. Your pained screams filling the air. You and Thor hugging his lifeless body, just as the Mad Titan grabs you by the hair, teleporting elsewhere, leaving Loki unsure of your destiny. He watched as the ship exploded, unsure if Thor survived either.

The tape ended, as did his life. Just like that. End of file. End of the great Loki Laufeyson, with his bloody glorious purpose. 

A dry laughter echoed through the room and, for a moment, he didn't realise it came from himself. Glorious purpose. 

"What's so funny?" A voice came from behind. It was the woman from TVA, the one that caught him. 

Things escalated quickly, the physical altercation taking it's toll. He stole the device that kept resetting him from Mobius earlier, and found the perfect opportunity to use it. He put it around her neck, resetting at his own will, over and over again just to spite her and, when it ceased being funny, finally getting rid of her.

"This way! Bring her." Agitated voices echoed across the hall outside. "This one was hard to get. Surely will be pruned as soon as possible."

"She seems alright" another voice replied, probably the other guard.

"She took out almost the entire unit by herself. Never trust a pretty face, they're usually the most dangerous types."

"Aw, you think I'm pretty?" Your voice echoed through the hall, and Loki's heart skipped a beat. "Don't worry fellas, I ain't doing shit. I'm tired of fighting."

Loki ran to the door, leaving it ajar and being able to see you. You looked almost the same as the frames; your hair was longer, and you had some new scars to show, but in spite of that, the same. 

"Y/n" he called before he could stop himself, standing by the door. You turned your head so quickly he feared you would get a sprained neck, your tired eyes glistening with tears. You tried to reach him, suddenly forgetting you were trapped, but one of the guards began to warn the others. 

Bad choice. Your eyes looked like helfire and, with ease, you knocked both of them to the ground, pruning them with one of the batons. Loki was astonished. You were something else; like a Valkyrie, a true fighter, a warrior. Imposing, dangerous. You turned to him, assessing with your eyes, only to throw your arms around his shoulders, hiding your face on his neck. Loki was taken slightly aback; he wasn't much used to physical displays of tenderness. You realised how stiff he felt, and it took a moment for you to understand what was wrong. Your eyes fell tired again, and suddenly, you looked much older than you really were. 

"Ah… You're not my Loki, are you?" You caressed his cheek with a sorrowful expression that pained him. The meaning behind those words, the sentiment, he could practically taste them in his tongue, like a bitter piece of a once sweet fruit. "Forgive me. I… I keep forgetting about the multiverse."

"I have seen you before, have I not?" He recalled, just before he snatched the Tesseract, he had a glimpse of the you of the Future Loki's timeline. Nourns, that was confusing. "You were trying to get the Tesseract. Why? You already had it, the avengers stole it from me."

"We didn't steal, you twat. It was SHIELD's, if someone actually stole it, it was you." You replied, but there were no emotions in your voice, no anger, or resentment. Nothing. You sighed, raising your head to look at him once more. "You look exactly the same. You don't know, do you?"

Loki looked around the hall, wondering if guards were coming for them. He pulled you back to the room he was in, shutting the door and placing a chair so no one would open it. 

"I know… I know enough" he kept the part about the two of you out. "I've seen my end. Pray tell, what happens after that? And how are you here?"

You sat on the table, staring at your knees.

"After you died, Thanos took me to collect the other gems, keeping me away from them so I couldn't absorb their power. I located the rest of them. He killed his own daughter to avoid me from getting close to the soul stone. I managed to escape when Stephen Strange opened a portal to send me to Wakanda, a city back on earth, where his army was attacking, so I could help protect Vision, since he had the last gem. Once Thanos came to take it, I managed to get close to the gauntlet, absorbing the power of the remaining stones. However, it was a bit too much for a few minutes, it made me vulnerable. The stones fought to corrupt me, and Thor tried to stop him, but he successfully snapped his fingers and fulfilled his plan. It was too much power, I couldn't… I didn't…"

You stopped for a moment, blinking away tears. Loki waited patiently in silence. 

"We found Thanos a few days after that, but I knew it wouldn't matter anymore. So I wouldn't be able to revert what he did, he destroyed the gems right after he escaped. I could feel my power being drained at each stone he destroyed. By the time we found him, there was nothing left. Thor killed him. We had lost, and shamefully. Half of our friends were gone, half of all life. It took us five years to actually come up with a plan to reverse his doings, to gather stones from other timelines, bring them to ours so I could regain my powers and bring everybody back. And so did we. An error in calculation, and we lost Natasha. But the stones were there. I absorbed them with the fear of being taken by them once more, drunk with power, but it didn't happen. I snapped my finger, and it was incredibly damaging to me." 

You showed some of your scars. 

"It's an unbelievable source of power, Loki. No one should be able to gather them. I was built for it and it still hurt me deeply. We were attacked, Thanos came from another timeline and tried to gather the Infinity stones once more. I wasn't able to use the powers again so soon, so…" you hesitated, your eyes moving from one place to another as if you were looking for a way to bolt. "So dad had built a gauntlet so another person could use it in case of me being corrupted by the stones, and he used it to finish Thanos for good. My dad was human, so it killed him. He died because I couldn't fulfil my duty. Because of me. And that was the last trigger, the last thing I could possibly stand. So I travelled through the multiverse trying to find a way to reverse what happened and bring everybody back. Apparently TVA saw me as a threat, so here I am." you stared at him in silence, waiting for a response. "Is that… is that the Tesseract?"

Loki followed her stare, forgetting for a moment that he had taken the electric blue square from the drawer, seeing several infinity stones with it. 

"Yes. It doesn't work here."

"Yeah, I figured. Tried to use my powers lots of times here. We're trapped." You shrugged, taking the square and rolling it in your hands. "As cheesy as it may sound, at least i'm with you."

[softwebss]

lil imagine req??? peter parker, loki (LOMLLL), MJ (queen), maybe bucky idk & how they would react if they saw you wearing their shirt??? tytytyty lovey sista

first of all: a) I hope you go to hell for asking me to write for loki + bucky (i dont vibe w/ bucky so ima ignore him nws) , and b) stfu <3 ya lil shit of a cousin

peter parker . 🕸

He would most likely notice that you’re wearing his shirt after a long time. You’d borrow his favourite T-shirt and he wouldn’t bother til’ a week, when you were studying with each other. It was cosy and snug to your skin, so who could blame you? When he saw the shirt on you, his cheeks would redden.

He felt as if a hoard of butterflies were fluttering around his stomach. His breath hitched, taking in your essence. Peter’s poor soul would be delighted to see you wear that. The squirming feeling didn’t go, even after he kept telling himself, "Pull yourself together spidey, yeah the love of your life is wearing your shirt, n-no prooooblemo! did you wash that though?” He mumbled under his breath. When you saw him murmuring, you still were oblivious to why. You’ve had the shirt for so long, you forgot it was initially his (and the fact he didn’t know you had it)

He caught your gaze and blushed furiously. He looked away, sheepishly. You called his name out, and he snapped out of it. He fumbled around with the strings of his hoodie, and refused to even stare to you.

Embarrassment was creeping on him. “Is everything alright, petey?” You softly whispered. He ran a hand through his hair and leaned towards you, locking eyes. He tilted his head, gawking at your figure fit perfectly on his shirt. He put a hand to the small of your back, as you froze.

Peter rested his head on your shoulder, breathing in the scent of you. You were still frozen in place, your heart racing. “You look cute in my shirt,” he smiled innocently. Your shoulders slumped forward and you hung you head.

“You finally noticed?” You mused. He flushed, pushing you away.  “Shut uppp!” 

michelle jones . 🦋

MJ was your partner for a history assignment that you were supposed to be researching on.

You snuck her sweater out from a few days ago, when you came over to her house to hang out. You were scrolling through your laptop mindlessly watching tiktoks on her study-table, when she leant over to you to see what you were doing.

Coincidently, she saw you wearing her sweater. A sudden buzz went through body, a feeling of attachment and affection. She thought you looked absolutely lovely in it, and that was something new for MJ.

You felt as if someone was staring at you and you turned towards her, finding MJ with a smirk plastered across her face. Her heart warmed, seeing you all comfortable in her clothes. “Whatcha looking at?” You asked. “My very attractive best friend wearing my clothes,” she replied, without missing a beat. Immediately, you buried your face in your hands. “I shouldn’t have worn this,” you murmured, as you saw her grin widening. She wrapped her arms around your neck, pressing her face against your neck.  You stood still. “Don’t worry, love,” MJ flattered, “you still look attractive- maybe even more-“ the comment made you blush. “Oh stop it,” you played along, flirtatiously She bat her eyelashes mockingly, leaning back on her chair “But I still look better!”



loki laufeyson . 🌿

loki and you were in the kitchen counter of Stark tower, making breakfast. after the small 'tesseract' incident, his father banished him from asgard. depressing, yes, but what else choice did he have? loki had a hoodie (where he got it from, goodness knows) laying around in his room a few days ago, which you very seductively... stole. now, back to the present. you were baking french toast, powdering puffs of cinnamon, as loki passed you the egg, he noticed what you were wearing.

the deep emerald hoodie with gold designs on the cuffs was draping over you. he stared at you, his breath stopping. the shirt on you looked elegant and fancy, and you loved it.

he stood behind you, putting the bowl of egg beside the counter. you froze, feeling his breath cascading from your neck. He felt a feeling he hadn't before, a sugary-sweet love. he craved affection from you, and seeing you in something that was his made him feel you were his.

"darling?" he mused.

you paused. "yeah?" "is that mine?" you could almost hear his malicious grin oozing from the tone of his voice.

before you could reply, he leant to your side, a devious smirk on his face. "You know, you do look better on it. it suits you," he pondered, "I'll let you keep it."

You hoped he couldn't see the relieved, blushing mess that was in front of him.

[olet-lucernam]

A Hollow Promise [26] chapter vi, part iii

{_[on AO3]_}

main tags : loki x original character, post-avengers 2012, canon divergence - post-thor: the dark world, canon-typical violence, mentions of torture

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summary: In the aftermath of the Battle of New York, the Avengers need a few days to build a transport device for the Tesseract. With the Helicarrier damaged and surveillance offline, SHIELD sends an asset to guard Loki in the interim: a young woman who sees the truth in all things, and cannot lie.

Even long presumed dead, her memories lost to her, Loki would know her anywhere.

And this changes things.

Some things last beyond infinity. And the universe is in love with chaos.

(Loki was never looking for redemption. It came as an unexpected side-effect.)

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chapter summary : astrid gathers her allies, and draws the attention of her enemies. loki pays a heavy price for a victory.

recommended listening : let's get it started, måneskin

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tag list: @femmealec, @mischief2sarawr

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special thanks to the lovely @mischief2sarawr: when i had to rewrite pretty much all of this, their encouragement helped me get it done within a matter of days, instead of weeks. (thanks for the virtual tea, sarah <3)

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[PREVIOUS] | [MASTERLIST] | [NEXT]

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Actually- Ophelia wasn’t even her second appointment.

During daylight hours and early evening, the tight-woven alleys of Shinjuku’s Golden Gai were almost serene, lined with potted plants, faced in pale stone. By nightfall, however, the countless micro-bars that hemmed the narrow passageways threw open their doors and exploded into neon light and colour and conversation, entrances plastered with stickers, interiors crammed with patrons, walls pasted with advertisements and unique theming, spilling with the smell of beer and charcoal smoke, electric signs and sandwich boards and utility boxes jutting out like soliciting hands over the stone stoops.

Each establishment only had a tiny footprint- two storeys high and barely large enough to host more than a dozen patrons at a time- and therefore tended to be selective, some only catering to regulars and refusing tourists.

Fortunately, Astrid had been introduced at a few of the bars before- and she was due to meet someone there.

She had been waiting outside, carefully tucked out of the way of passing foot traffic- the same wool coat from Cornwall now arranged as a cape over her shoulders, draped over a black cocktail dress with one sleeve artistically falling off her shoulder, polished up with her favourite pair of blush-pink heels, filigree golden hardware glinting- when she felt a familiar presence storming up from behind, Manolo Blahniks snapping on the pavement.

A hand seized her elbow, dragging her into the bar with a hiss.

“You suck, ‘Strid.”

Astrid heard the annoyance, and general insincerity beneath it, and grinned.

“Hisashiburi, Miko-chan,” Astrid said in sugar-coated, casual Japanese. “Genki desu ka?”

“I hate you,” the voice groused.

Laughing quietly, Astrid allowed herself to be shoved into the tiny space, and towards a perilously narrow staircase, climbing to the second floor to seek out one of the small booths.

She had barely lowered herself into her seat, shrugging the coat from her shoulders, when the other person dropped heavily into the chair opposite her, unceremonious and pointed.

Socialite heiress, fashion icon, and sole grandchild of the chairman of Fujikawa Industries, Rumiko was confident, intimidating, and the consummate, catty epitome of the rich bitch archetype; she was Regina George’s grasp on social capital, thrown into a blender with Heather Duke’s utter ruthlessness, topped up with Cher Horowitz’s fashion sense. Overdressed in a silk Givenchy slip dress, complete with Cartier earrings and a matching watch, her satin-gloss hair tumbled to her waist and wisped above her downturn eyebrows, jaw locked in a scathing disapproval that would make a lesser being curdle into themselves.

“What are you even wearing? You could have at least worn that Dior piece I got you.”

Astrid smirked at the familiar barb, electing not to point out that her dress was Valentino, and the shoes were Ralph and Russo.

“Good to see you too. Am I buying the cocktails?”

“Fuzakenna yo, kora! You disappeared for two years, yes, you’re buying the cocktails-”

“It was eighteen months, I gave you the heads up, and in my defence, I was abducted for fourteen of them,” Astrid rattled off, already slipping out of her seat and pulling out her wallet, stuffed with freshly obtained yen. “I’ll be back.”

Rumiko jolted. “What?! You were abdu-”

“Later. Long story. Drinks first.”

“You’re a dead woman, North, I swear-”

Astrid hid her grin.

Predictably, Rumiko had loosened up enough to listen to her by the time she reached the bottom of her first drink. If they had talked over coffee, or brunch, Astrid wouldn’t have been able to get a word in edgeways. Rumiko was incorrigible when her temper was piqued, and Astrid had expected her disappearance to be an issue.

The two of them had met by chance, years ago. Rumiko’s paternal grandfather was Kenjiro Fujikawa, the CEO of Fujikawa Industries, a tech company with a niche in sophisticated surgical robotics. While she was merely expected to marry whichever worthy successor Kenjiro selected for her, Rumiko was still regularly pulled to attend medical conferences, and various industry-based galas and dinner.

It was at one such event that Astrid- as Astrid North, not as Alethia- had met her.

The two had become friends, in the kind of half-accidental way that might have happened if they had attended the same school. But they had become close enough that Astrid had expected Rumiko to be a little sour, when she returned, even with the warning that she would be disappearing for a while. Rumiko hated being left in the dark, and Astrid had told her nothing.

She hadn’t expected the sourness to be masking masses of pure, trembling relief.

So as Rumiko guzzled down her second sidecar, Astrid gave her the truth.

It was far from everything, but it was enough- and more than Astrid volunteered to most- either those who knew Astrid, or those who knew Alethia.

When she was finished, Rumiko set her half-empty coupé glass on the table, not quite slamming it down, faintly disconcerted.

“Okay. If it wasn’t for New York, I’d be getting out the straitjacket.”

“If it wasn’t for New York, I wouldn’t be telling you this,” Astrid rejoined, swallowing a mouthful of her espresso martini. She felt oddly drained, brimming with endorphins, like the aftermath of a workout.

“That’s fair,” Rumiko said dryly. “You sound insane. It’s literally like the plot of Men In Black- wait. ‘Strid. Could you be an alien?”

“Maybe.” Astrid admitted blandly, shrugging one shoulder. “I haven’t eliminated the possibility.”

Rumiko blew out a breath, head dropping forwards briefly. “Okay. We need beer. And fried chicken.”

“Mm, good call.”

Once their table was packed with piping-hot plates of fried izakaya dishes, their glasses refilled- Rumiko switching over to a frothing plastic pitcher of beer and Astrid taking up sake- Rumiko was significantly calmer, hardening over with the kind of ruthlessly practical, efficient composure that would have made her an excellent successor to FI, if her grandfather had been an ounce or so less of a misogynist.

“Okay, so- let’s figure out where you stand.” Rumiko said efficiently, picked up a piece of karaage with her chopsticks, grease and sesame seeds glistening on the batter. “I mean, it all depends on what you want, but either way-” she pointed her loaded chopsticks at Astrid, before popping the fried chicken into her mouth, “this agency.”

“This agency,” Astrid agreed with a dip of her head, sipping on her sake.

“You’re off their radar right now, but it sounds like they have the sheer resources and numbers to just keep looking, so, that’s likely temporary.” Rumiko tapped her nails against her glass, leaning forwards against her elbows. “Okay. Do you have any backchannels you can use? Anyone who seemed sympathetic, or might hear you out if you got in contact? You might be able to cut a deal, if you can figure out some leverage. It’s either that, or you’ll need a deterrent. Some way to make the cost too high, or the gains too low, to keep coming after you. Again, you’ll need leverage for that. Where are you staying right now? And how long can you lay low? If we can buy you some time-”

Astrid’s expression had cleared, focused as a lens, and Rumiko paused.

“What?” She prompted.

One shoulder lifting, Astrid bought her cup to her mouth.

“You really need to start that PR crisis firm, Ru.”

Startled, Rumiko reared upright from her casual slouch. “The fuck, ‘Strid?”

“Well, I have just told you that I am wanted by a secretive multinational agency,” she pointed out, dropping her voice low enough to blend within the camouflaging ambient chatter of the tiny bar, “who abducted me and has been covering up the existence of magic and monsters since the forties- and you acclimated within fifteen minutes, then launched straight into working out how to handle it. Remind me again why you’re not making bank from this? Aside from your grandfather being a jackass, I mean.”

“Oh my god, we’re so not doing this right now,” Rumiko muttered into her glass, followed by an unladylike gulp of beer.

One corner of Astrid’s mouth curled.

There was a subtle, telling flatness in Rumiko’s scowl, as the words and their sentiments sank in- like water soaking into soft earth, swiftly and undramatically, absorbed and drawing itself down.

Setting her cup aside, Astrid let Rumiko ignore it, for now. “Are those my only options? Bargain, deter, appease?”

“What, you have another plan?”

The question wasn’t quite rhetorical, but it was tinted with a rational scepticism.

If Astrid had been anyone else- anything other than truth incarnate, or someone who had gone up against SHIELD for years with nothing but her wits and her ability to arm her, fallen in love with a demigod, and promised him everything- she might have agreed.

“If the world doesn’t work for you,” she said, taking up her chopsticks and plucking a cube of fried tofu from one of the plates, swiping in through the dipping sauce, “then change the world. Right?”

Rumiko froze, looking from under her fringe to glare at her incredulously.

“You’re not fucking serious.”

“Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Because that’s insane.”

“Is it? The world already broke in New York. I would just be rearranging the pieces.”

“I take it back,” Rumiko said bluntly, dropping her chopsticks and topping off her beer glass. “I’m getting the damn straitjacket.”

“Good luck with that,” Astrid answered breezily. “I’ll give you a clean number, later, so don’t worry about me disappearing again. Not completely, anyway.”

“You’re insane,” Rumiko reiterated.

“But you think I can do it,” she stated neutrally, meeting Rumiko’s eyes, the words tasting golden and hot in her chest, metal and bright.

Rumiko stared back at her for a long, fierce moment.

“You’re serious.”

Astrid picked up and popped one of the mayo prawns into her mouth. “Yes.”

Rumiko hissed out an exasperated breath, worry creeping into the crimp of her perfect eyebrows.

“’Strid.” She said grimly. “Seriously. Going up against a multinational spy agency. Is this really worth it?”

“Yes.”

The heat in the word burned like a brand.

Rumiko looked back at her, despairing and incredulous and impressed.

“You’re insane,” she said resignedly.

Astrid laughed. “If you set up the scaffolding for that PR firm within two years, I’ll give you a gift.”

“I am not starting a-”

Rumiko paused.

“A gift?” She echoed, intrigued and sceptical. “What kind of gift?”

“That would be for you to find out. You know I give the best gifts, Ru,” Astrid pointed out. “Remember when I gave you the wing mirror from your ex’s car?”

Rumiko’s mouth tilted into a nostalgic smile.

“That was a really nice present,” she conceded fondly, before grimacing, reaching for the pitcher to top up her beer glass. “But tonight, all I want is alcohol.”

Astrid laughed, and leaned in to clunk her cup again Rumiko’s glass.

“Ah, fine. I suppose I owe you that much,” she agreed easily. “But in that case- shots?”

Rumiko’s eyes glinted.

“Karaoke?”

-

An hour later, as they stumbled out of the bar, arms linked and heading out to get into trouble somewhere in Kabukicho, Astrid dropped her notebook into her pocket with its second entry.

Ink pens.

-

Ophelia would be deeply insulted if she ever found out that she wasn’t even Astrid’s third port of call.

Astrid was tempted to tell her. It would be good to regulate her ego.

The taste of alcohol was still sour in her mouth, swilled with water, the tang masked by the fresh espresso and gelato that was gently melting in a glass bowl in front of her.

The afternoon air in Rome was cool, despite clear sun-soaked skies and the heat of the crowded streets. Clouds of chatter and the clink of plates and glasses reflected against the warm, pale-yellow brick, the buildings carved with classical ornamentation, spilling with artfully cultivated vines, stained with graffiti. The sett-block pavement was hemmed with café boards, parked motorcycles, and folding wooden-slat bistro tables; cream parasols and restaurant awnings created pockets of deeper shade, between arched shopfronts.

Astrid spooned up the last of her affogato with a swirl of silverware, lips sealing over the spoon.

Seated at the café bar, she was twisted side-on against the counter, watching the passing foot traffic and outside tables through the windows. A cross-breeze drifted over her every so often, cutting in through the entryway and seeping through her clothes, refreshing her overheated skin.

“Propiro l’affogato, sì?” The ageing server behind the counter prompted, briskly pleasant as he calculated her bill. “The, ah- qual è il nom inglese-”

Astrid swallowed a melted mouthful of vanilla, cream, and espresso.

“It’s affogato in English as well,” she told him, startling the waiter. “Il mio Italiano è pessimo?”

“No, no, per niente! Il tuo accento è- your accent, it’s very good! Molto bene. Ma- in Rome,” the server bought a wrinkled hand to cup his ear indicatively, “you hear it, sì? I can tell you’re English, a little.”

Astrid nodded, setting her spoon down and gently pushing the empty glass bowl away from her.

“Ah, vedo- è il tuo orecchio, non la mia bocca, sì?”

“Sì, esattamente! Ho sentito che- I can hear, that you learn it when you are grown,” he said with a grin, “not when little.”

“Ah, vedo- ciò ha senso. I did a summer at Sapenzia,” she explained gamely. “I had a friend who used to say the same thing. That my cadence gave me away.”

“Aha, bene, bene! You’re here to visit your friend?”

“Sì, ma- as a surprise,” Astrid admitted, unsnapping her wallet from where it rested at her elbow, before glancing towards the windows, and the bistro tables arranged within their sight. “Ah- do you see the two women seated under the vines?”

The waiter paused, looking up and leaning to see. “Sì- la bruna e la rossa?”

“Sì. La bruna? Quello è il mio amico.”

His dark eyes widened demonstrably. “Veramente?”

Astrid grinned at him, resting her chin on the hell of her palm. “She doesn’t know that I’m here.” Slipping a credit card loose from her purse with her free hand, she rapped it against the bar top. “Do you think I could pay their cheque, signore? Come una sorpresa?”

His mouth formed a silent exhale of understanding, tapping the side of his aquiline nose before returning to the register. “Naturalmente, signorina- ah, you want me to tell her it was you? Or will you tell her later?”

“Mm.” Astrid watched the server pull up the order details of the table. “Do you have a serviette, signore?”

-

Less than five minutes later, Astrid left the café, stepping out into the sunlight just in time to see the same server pausing at one of the al fresco tables.

As Astrid had observed on her way into the bistro, two women were seated underneath the arch of a vine clinging to the outer wall, with several half-finished plates on the table between them.

The first- a redhead, the coppery tresses cropped into a flattering pixie-cut, broad-shouldered in an olive jacket and white capris jeans- had her back to Astrid, the slight curve of her face in profile just barely visible. The second woman was facing towards her, torso leaned askew and head tipped up, mildly annoyed askance painted across her face like a fresco as she spoke to the server.

Arms folded forward onto the table, the fall of her black hair almost bleeding into her tank top, Vittoria Montesi hadn’t changed much from when Astrid had last seen her. She was still model-lean, as though she subsisted solely on coffee and cigarettes- which was probably accurate, if her on-call diet hadn’t changed since residency- with a full, sceptical mouth, poised to argue and drive and diagnose.

Astrid waited just long enough to see the server hand her the napkin, before melting into the crowd with a grin and a lilt in her weaving steps, escaping towards the tourist trap of the Fontana di Trevi.

A new addition was jotted into her notebook with a borrowed pen.

Coffee grounds.

-

Several hours later, Astrid departed from the Gallery.

Arriving back at the Madripoor penthouse, she stripped out of her clothes, changing into a comfortable camisole, jersey shorts, and thigh-high socks, and retrieved her notebook from the breakfast bar.

New shoes, Astrid wrote onto her list- before flipping the cover shut, tossing the pen down, and collapsing into the sofa with a soft groan.

Four.

It was a start.

Lying in the demi-dark, cheek pressed into the arm of the couch, impatience hummed under her skin like an electric current, settling in the roots of her teeth. Her heart drummed hard and impatient against the adipose-softened wall of her breastbone, eyes open.

The silver light of the city rinsed through the windows, across the apartment, pooling across the floor like the shallow waterline of the incoming tide. Her synapses were slowing, sloping into a long-overdue caffeine crash- but four felt like not enough, not enough, not enough.

She had done more on less sleep.

Four would need to be hundreds. Thousands. Tens, hundreds of thousands.

Four was not enough.

It had only been twenty-four hours, but it had been almost natural, for her to slip into the mindset that she had lived in for years: keep moving, keep working, don’t stop, don’t hesitate, be smart, be quick, be relentless, use your greed, use your selfishness, next step, next step, next step-

Everything else became easy to ignore. The storm within her, whatever doubt and anger and loneliness and turmoil broiled inside, pressing behind her eyes like to urge to sob, became simple fuel, like glucose, until she was done.

None of it would matter, once she got what she wanted- and if it did matter, she would deal with it then, when it was safe.

It was easy, because Astrid was her father’s daughter. He had taught her how to use her worst traits as a whetstone, to make herself scalpel-sharp.

Her flesh was cooling, the cushions were warm, and her limbs grew heavy and slack with every passing moment.

And she suddenly remembered Loki’s parting words to her, as she had finished the dregs of their rose tea at the Cornish tea parlour.

I should get up, darling, he murmured reluctantly. I must get to work. But make sure you take your rest- I want to see you later.

Astrid sighed into a smile, defeated.

Sly bastard, she thought fondly.

She shouldn’t keep him waiting.

Lifting her head just long enough to set an alarm on her phone, Astrid dropped the device on the coffee table and sank back into the sofa, limbs sliding across the upholstery in a drag of wool and cotton and bare skin, as she let sleep claim her- just for a little while.

-

54 weeks and 6 days out

“I’ve walked the deserts for miles Swam the waters for a tide Searching places to find A piece of something to call, mine A piece of something to call, mine- Coming closer to you-”

You will be careful, won’t you, Astra?

“Hm?” Astrid paused her singing, fingers still strumming at her keyboard, the click of the keys weaving her response into the comment box like a shuttle in a loom. “With what?”

She clicked post, watching the response box disappear.

The text popped up within the thread, slotting into place in the conversation, sealed into format. Astrid clicked away, skimming the rest of the forum.

This, Loki replied, with the mental equivalent of an expansive gesture. Whipping up a group over which you do not have full control.

“Mm, you’re one to talk, alderliefest,” Astrid commented, eyes unmoving from the screen of her laptop, reaching for the plate at her side, “with what you’ve been doing through- Brunn, was it?”

Brunnhilde, Loki confirmed- but immediately becoming distracted by what Astrid had bitten into.

Cut thick, the slab of pain pavé was spread with unsalted butter and honeycomb- treacly and faintly earthy with clouds of unprocessed pollen

It tasted of late summer and wildflower meadows, and dirt on her skin, a shock of calories into her system.

Over the weeks, Astrid had been narrowing down Loki’s preferences. Within his sweet tooth, it seemed that he had a particular weakness for anything that featured honey, or chocolate; honey reminded him of Asgard, of better memories and better days, of the royal city at golden hour and light-hearted laughter, of his brother’s broad grin and of a flash of pale-bright hair that always sent Astrid’s stomach swooping with something unidentifiable whenever it flickered into her mind, through his.

Chocolate seemed to provoke thoughts of Midgard. It made him think of city cafés, of her bed in the penthouse, of cold mornings as she went through her morning routine, of the warmth of the crook of her neck and the view of snow-capped mountains through broad windows.

Astrid had gained a new appreciation of chocolate.

And touché, Loki conceded, his thoughts still humming with pleasure at the taste of the honeycomb.

She tongued the soft film of beeswax from her teeth, quietly content for a precious, ephemeral moment.

It felt better, at least. The ache of their separation- and the omnipresent lack and malcontent that she could live with, but never quite ignore- was less when he was there, and she was reminded that she was doing something, moving closer.

Coming closer to you, Astrid hummed the sweetly-lilting bar.

A warm breeze swept over her, as she glanced up over the top of her screen.

They were in Chile today- on a rooftop amongst the soaring metropolitan clutter of Santiago. Astrid had positioned herself to gaze out at the distant summer-red of the Andes, looming above the basin of the city, hazy through the sun-bright smog; the building she was perched atop was within view of one of the city’s many green spaces, the lush foliage a shock of emerald against the concrete, a faint rush of traffic carried up on the thermal lift.

She changed where she worked every day, cycling through a roulette wheel of hemispheres, climates, continents, countries, the only prerequisites being a stable internet connection and a good view. But she had noticed that Loki liked mountains, and cool open air, and she had begun peppering them in as often as possible.

I, however, am far more removed from my work, Loki pressed, edged with caution. And circumstances leave me beneath suspicion. You are far closer to the fire, songbird.

“Mm.” Astrid traced her collarbone absently. “True.”

Her gaze dropped to the screen, sucking a smear of honey from her opposite thumb.

“But these ones are less the fire, more the firestarters.” She added lightly.

The forum was thick with activity.

The hacktivist group known as the Rising Tide was a hornet’s nest- a collective that had sprung up in the wake of Culver, devoted to dragging SHIELD from the shadows into the cold light of day- and one that Astrid had repeatedly agitated, pointed in the right direction, and watched swarm SHIELD’s most recent project.

With New York, they had been galvanised, by a publicly validated raison d’être.

The corner of her mouth folded up ruefully.

Their organisation was an ad hoc nightmare, and they were incapable of communicating with the general public without coming off as uncredible, melodramatic, conspiracy theory whackjobs - but the Rising Tide were her first true allies, arguably, and incredibly skilled at what they did.

They had given her the lead in New Mexico. Astrid would always owe them a debt, for that.

“Anyway,” Astrid said, straightening, arms extending above her head, feeling her shoulders and spine click and realign, “arguably- if anything is the fire, it’s me. It’s only a matter of time before they try to extinguish me. Before the inevitable, I should burn as bright and hot as I can- don’t you think?”

She felt Loki sigh, fondly exasperated.

As long as you don’t burn out completely.

“Completely?” She noted the specificity.

He smirked, and nipped at her shoulder. A little destruction is good for the soul. Cathartic. You deserve a little of that.

Astrid laughed softly, and imagined her own fingers running through his hair.

From his shiver, it seemed that practice was slowly beginning to pay off.

“Well, I have heard that volcanic soil is amongst the richest and most fertile in the world.”

Ah. You do have a rather volcanic temper, beloved.

“You think so? Interesting. I would call yours glacial, prince.”

She felt his eyebrows steeple in askance, faintly sardonic.

Passive and slow to act?

“Quiet. Patient. Underestimated,” she listed, leaning back slightly, feeling the illusion of him catch her weight. “Ruthless, and relentless. And with the power to reshape the world while no one is paying attention.”

Loki breathed out a laugh, and planted the sensation of a kiss behind her ear, eliciting a pleasantly startled noise from her.

Such shameless flattery, he murmured against her nape, mood warmed beneath the teasing. What am I to do, in the face of such an assault?

Astrid sighed, sinking into him- and willed herself not to think.

“Surrender,” she suggested breathily. “And believe me.”

The phantom of his arm curled around her waist, mouth nestling at the shell of her ear, folding himself around her.

His mood was tepid, opaque.

The anxiety she felt was a pit, somewhere behind the wall of her abdomen.

She refused to dwell on it, and risk drawing the keen edge of Loki’s attention onto it.

Her laptop gave a chirp of distress, and she looked up. The internet connection had dropped again.

Grateful for the distraction, Astrid sang the signal back into strength.

“I’m moving, I’m coming Can you hear what I hear? It’s calling you, my dear Out of reach-”

The bars rocketed up back up, Wi-Fi boosted from a café several dozen feet below.

Astrid exhaled a smile, propping her chin on her palm. “Take me to my bea-each…”

Old songs- ones that she had listened to and re-loved thousands of times over- were best for weaving magic as she multitasked.

Combing her hair back behind her ear, Astrid flipped through her tabs, refreshing each one, keeping up the melody under breath.

“I can hear it, calling you I’m coming, not drowning Swimming closer to you-”

One of her dummy social media accounts reloaded.

Astrid scrolled through her feed at a reflexive skim, idly liking a few posts to keep up her account activity. She was keeping track, but not sincerely expecting to see a moving of the needle, just yet.

It was something that the Rising Tide, for all their skill and drive and passion, hadn’t quite recognised yet: they could afford to lay out the trail, prompt the question, and wait.

Slow is fast, Astrid reminded herself.

Ah. Stark is trending, Loki observed idly.

“Hm?”

Astrid paused, glancing at the trending topics sidebar.

“Ah. Hardly surprising, beloved.” She lifted her shoulder. “Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist. And the world’s first modern superhero.”

Loki rearranged himself nonchalantly, like draping satin.

Is your heart still set on him, as an ally?

Astrid hummed through a sigh, leaning back slightly more, lounging against him and tipping her head to the skies, propped on the strong ledge his shoulder.

“I think,” she said slowly, “that not even trying to work with him would be like shooting ourselves in the foot, with our last bullet, while in the middle of a firefight, and then amputating the limb with an unsterilised knife and no anaesthesia.”

Graphic, Loki remarked dryly. But I take your point, my heart.

“Can I take that your approval?”

Why should I withhold it? Stark appears to be a wise choice. And the best option, amongst the Avengers.

“Damningly faint praise, prinsinn minn. We’re not exactly spoilt for choice.”

He snickered. Astrid couldn’t ignore how it sublimated at the edges into wistfulness, and a resignation that had fermented from frustration and outrage and hurt, like wine in a cask.

They both knew who Loki was thinking of- the one who should have been the better option.

It was a wound and a rift that Astrid hesitated to touch, for now.

“Still,” Astrid redirected, straightening on the palm of her hands, “I value your opinion. I want you to tell me if you think it’s a bad idea.”

I don’t, truly. An arm slipped around her waist, its weight comfortable and comforting. Astrid had to bat away the reflexive desire to feel the lean muscles flex against her abdomen, as Loki dragged her flush back against him, pinning her to the length of him. Stark listened to you, is aware of the threat, and offered me a drink, he teased. You can keep him if you wish, songbird.

“I have to obtain him, first,” Astrid riposted. “Or have him decide to obtain me.”

Just talk to him, sweet thing. How could he possibly resist?

She grinned broadly, shaking her head, the sickness in her abating. “Now who’s flattering?”

Refocusing on the trending bar, her head cocked as she caught up, wondering whether it was a personal scandal, a Stark Industries development, or a cheap editorial that had put the name in people’s mouths today.

Trending Topics #christmaseveeve #tonystark #mandarinbombings #happyfestivus

Mandarin, Loki noted, reading through her eyes. As in standard Chinese, the fruit, or the bureaucrat?

“None of the above- I think.” Astrid said distractedly, the pixels beginning to split in her vision. “It’s the supposed head of a terrorist organisation. They’ve claimed responsibility for a series of bombings, over the past few months.”

Supposed head? Loki echoed shrewdly.

She twitched her shoulder upwards wearily. “Someone is appropriating a name that doesn’t belong to them. I saw one of the videos, after the most recent incident. I know enough about the Ten Rings to know that this is someone dressing up in their colours. Especially with that moniker they-”

She halted.

Loki went still with concern.

Astra?

Gaze blank, her tongue was numb as she answered.

“The Ten Rings.”

What about it?

“Three years ago. Afghanistan. Do you remember what I told you? The incident created Iron Man.”

Loki froze.

And what better way to bait Stark, he said, quiet and sharp, than to use the name of an organisation that almost killed him?

Astrid’s hand darted out, clicking on the tag, hoping that it was just a coincidence of the algorithm-

BREAKING: Tony Stark’s mansion bombed in suspected terror attack – Iron Man missing

“Fuck!”

-

[PREVIOUS] | [MASTERLIST] | [NEXT]

[imagine-loki]

Soul-mates

TITLE: Soul-mates CHAPTER NO./ONE SHOT: one-shot AUTHOR: colifower ORIGINAL IMAGINE: Imagine Loki’s spotify wrapped. Wait, what’s that? They added a musical soulmate in this year’s edition? RATING: PG NOTES/WARNINGS: my AO3 version has Tess' spotify wrapped up and some basic mechanics behind the selection of the Soul-mates. I honestly couldn't bother to copy them here so... bon apple titty, as the youths say

"Huh," said Loki, sprawled over Thor's sofa. "Have you seen this?" Thor peeked over his shoulder and shrugged. "With the ammount of times you've rickrolled me this year it's no wonder it's on your top five. 420 views? Seriously?"

The younger snickered. "I actually rickrolled you 413 times, but I HAD to play it up to 420. I was talking about the music soul-mate feature." "Oh, yeah! They added the feature this year." "Here it says it's somebody with the username Space_Stoned_420" "With that username they need to be somewhat like you." "I'm intrigued. I think I'm gonna find them." "What?" "Aren't you intrigued? Who is your music soul-mate? Show me!"

Thor took his phone out of his pocket and smashed it against the closest wall. Being the heir of a galactic empire meant that he neither had a concept of money nor was he going to start any time soon.

"I only listen to Bears and Beards," said Thor. "So it makes sense that it's Fandral and Hogun's podcast account." "I thought they stopped uploading after the first wave of negative coments." Thor shook his head. "They are my friends," he said full of pride. "But I would do anyways, the bear tips are just incredible." "What do you want them for? Do you have a boyfriend or something?" "They're not for that kind of bear. Most of the times, at least." "Do you have a bear, Thor?" "I like to support local queer artists." "You have not answered my question." "What question?" "Do you have a bear, Thor?" "Hm...?" said the eldest, walking slowly towards the door. "Thor." "...what?" Loki sighted. Thor kept avoiding the question. He stepped once again towards the exit. "Thor..." groaned the god of mischief. "Not this again." "Ok, I can explain..." Please do." "...They are an endangered species, so I brought two with me home because here on Asgard polar bears don't have any natural predators and..." "TWO POLAR BEARS?!" "It is part of a rescue program. Besides, mom and dad won't even notice..." "Thor! They hunt people! To eat them! Asgard is not prepared for another one of your experiments in invasive species." "Yes, well, I..." Thor sprinted out of the room and down the corridor, Loki followed suit, knife in hand. Later on, Loki sat on his bed, feet up on the wall, staring at his email inbox. He furrowed his eyebrow. It was spotify alerting him that Spaced_Stoned_420 followed him back on the music platform." That was the problem, wasn't it? No chat option in the music app. Loki sighted. At least he could give them a follow back. Perhaps even snoop on their playlist, surely their 'music soulmate' would have good taste. Loki was greeted with a collaborative playlist called 'follow this n00bmaster69', you bitch. He smiled.

The charm worked wonders on those midgardian mercenaries known as S.H.I.E.L.D. Loki was able to slide right under their noses and into the secured vault. He opened the case, as their instructions told him to. There layed...

"A cube?" "The sexiest cube in existance ;)" Loki blushed. The sound of the... being? reverbereated loudly in his head. "So... Space Stoned 420?" "You're missing a fiew _, but yes. That's me," continued the cube. "I go by Tess these days. It comes from Tesseract." "Oh, em... Loki. I mean... I'm n00bmaster69. I think we're spotify soulmates." "Oh yeah! I forgot about that," said the stone. "My brother has been recently involved with an AI. And by involved I mean intrinsically connected: they share a body." "I know the kind," said the magician, thinking of his brother's 'hammered dates' where the alcohol and the palm fruits were nowhere to be found.

"Yeah... he's been trying to set me up with increasingly more complicated algorithms. My tinder match called me a bluff for posting 'unrealistic body images'. It's not my fault I'm a powerful and mysterious cube." "That sucks, bestie." Tess sighted. "It's difficult out here. More if you look like I do." "I like it" said Loki. "Unexpected. Uncommon." "Thank you. It means a lot, it really does." "So... are you up to a date? I've heard that they sell boba tea here in Algeria. Globalization and all that." "What doesn 'tea' mean?" Loki wrinkled his nose. "It's... um... a drink. I think you'll like it." said the somewhat of a man, picking up the stone. He found Tess warm to the touch, and found himself fond of it." "Hell yeah >:P"

[somescenecatholic]

Skylar: (To audience) Thanks again to Tu Youyou for sharing your fascinating cure for malaria



Zubi: Yes, yes, how charming. What... quaint notions



Tu Youyou: (grumbles in Chinese)



Skylar: And now for a special guest lecture by one of Burbank's greatest and zaniest toon... Zubi Warner!



[The Warners take the stage. Wakko and Dot pushes a cart with a tarp over it.]



Zubi: Ladies and gentlemen... and Skylar... [Winks at Skylar, who waves back] I'm here to talk about multi-dimensional bubbles! But I'm not just going to talk about blowing bubbles! I'm going to blow... your... minds!



Skylar: Hmm?



Zubi: [Revealing bubble creator] This is a bubble-blower of my own design. With this, you can blow bubbles in different dimensions. [She sets the device to two dimensions and blows a bubble with no depth.] This two-dimensional bubble casts a one-dimensional shadow. [She sets the device to three dimensions and blows a normal, everyday bubble.] A three-dimensional bubble casts a two-dimensional shadow. [She sets the device to four dimensions and blows a three-dimensional shadow that appears to be a projection of a four-dimensional tesseract.] A fourth-dimensional bubble casts a three-dimensional shadow... IT IS BEYOND COMPREHENSION! [The audience is amazed.] Beyond space!! Beyond time!!



Skylar: Zubi... that would mean you've created...



Zubi: Yes... A BLACK HOLE!!!



[The projection turns into a black hole. Everything starts going towards it. Wakko protects everyone as Zubi laughs maniacally. Wakko grabs Zubi and pulls her over.]





Skylar: ZUBI!! DO SOMETHING!!



Zubi: It's okay. I'm sure the solution is on my bulleted— [Losing it] LIST!! [The list gets sucked in.] Don't worry. I have everything under control.



Skylar: UNDER CONTROL?! MY GUESTS ARE TERRIFIED!!



Zubi: YES!! AND THEIR BRAINS ARE RELEASING ADRENALINE! DOPAMINE! EVEN DIMETHYLTRYPTAMINE FROM THE PINEAL GLAND! This has serious educational value!! Thanatophobia and this NDE is giving us euphoric altered awareness!! Don't you see, Skylar?!? WE WERE ALL BORN TO DIE!!



Skylar: YOU'RE TRYING TO KILL US ALL?!?



Zubi: NO, OF COURSE NOT! I'M TRYING TO GIVE YOU THE GREATEST CONFERENCE EVER!!!



Skylar: Zubi...! You've gone insane!



Zubi: What?! No way! I'm, like, the smartest girl in Burbank, thanks to these glasses!



Skylar: Glasses? Zubi... take those off. You're not yourself!



Zubi: But—



Skylar: [Eyes watering] Please!! I need the real you!



[Skylar takes off the glasses. The zoom from earlier is reversed, and the camera eventually comes out of Zubi's bead hair tie]



Zubi: What's goin' on?! [Noticing black hole] WHOA!!!



Skylar: You blew it, Zubi! With this! 



Zubi: Then I'll kill it... with these! [Her claws appear]



Skylar: Be careful! [She loses her grip on the bubble creator and it comes hurling towards Zubi.] Zubi!! Look out!!



[Zubi stabs the device, turning her claws into a fourth-dimensional claws]



Zubi: Wha? Fourth-dimensional! Wak! Let me go!



Wakko: Zubi!! Don't do anything dangerous!!



Zubi: I can't help it!! [Unravels herself] I'm all about danger!! YAAAAAAH!!! [She leaps into the black hole, readying her claws for attack.]



Skylar, Yakko, Wakko, and Dot: ZUBI!!!!



[The black hole is suddenly destroyed in a grand explosion. Zubi is hurled out with claws back to normal Wakko protects everyone from the explosion while catching Zubi at the same time.]



Skylar: Zubi... My Science Barbecue was a fiasco... [Cries]



[All of the audience members suddenly cheer excitedly and enthusiastically; The bulleted list from earlier lands in Skylar's hands.]



Skylar: What's this? [Reading list] "Make hyper bubble. Cause black hole. Become insane. Skylar takes off the glasses. Save the day. Win the heart of Skylar."? Zubi, you knew all this would happen?!



Zubi: Huh? Knew what? I wrote that list when I was insane with smartness!



[Skylar leans in and kisses Zubi on her cheek. Zubi blushes and breathes heavily and nervously before fainting. Skylar giggles at her as the audience continues to cheer]

GAY.

[nastya-sokolova-2002]

Skylar: (To audience) Thanks again to Tu Youyou for sharing your fascinating cure for malaria



Zubi: Yes, yes, how charming. What... quaint notions



Tu Youyou: (grumbles in Chinese)



Skylar: And now for a special guest lecture by one of Burbank's greatest and zaniest toon... Zubi Warner!



[The Warners take the stage. Wakko and Dot pushes a cart with a tarp over it.]



Zubi: Ladies and gentlemen... and Skylar... [Winks at Skylar, who waves back] I'm here to talk about multi-dimensional bubbles! But I'm not just going to talk about blowing bubbles! I'm going to blow... your... minds!



Skylar: Hmm?



Zubi: [Revealing bubble creator] This is a bubble-blower of my own design. With this, you can blow bubbles in different dimensions. [She sets the device to two dimensions and blows a bubble with no depth.] This two-dimensional bubble casts a one-dimensional shadow. [She sets the device to three dimensions and blows a normal, everyday bubble.] A three-dimensional bubble casts a two-dimensional shadow. [She sets the device to four dimensions and blows a three-dimensional shadow that appears to be a projection of a four-dimensional tesseract.] A fourth-dimensional bubble casts a three-dimensional shadow... IT IS BEYOND COMPREHENSION! [The audience is amazed.] Beyond space!! Beyond time!!



Skylar: Zubi... that would mean you've created...



Zubi: Yes... A BLACK HOLE!!!



[The projection turns into a black hole. Everything starts going towards it. Wakko protects everyone as Zubi laughs maniacally. Wakko grabs Zubi and pulls her over.]





Skylar: ZUBI!! DO SOMETHING!!



Zubi: It's okay. I'm sure the solution is on my bulleted— [Losing it] LIST!! [The list gets sucked in.] Don't worry. I have everything under control.



Skylar: UNDER CONTROL?! MY GUESTS ARE TERRIFIED!!



Zubi: YES!! AND THEIR BRAINS ARE RELEASING ADRENALINE! DOPAMINE! EVEN DIMETHYLTRYPTAMINE FROM THE PINEAL GLAND! This has serious educational value!! Thanatophobia and this NDE is giving us euphoric altered awareness!! Don't you see, Skylar?!? WE WERE ALL BORN TO DIE!!



Skylar: YOU'RE TRYING TO KILL US ALL?!?



Zubi: NO, OF COURSE NOT! I'M TRYING TO GIVE YOU THE GREATEST CONFERENCE EVER!!!



Skylar: Zubi...! You've gone insane!



Zubi: What?! No way! I'm, like, the smartest girl in Burbank, thanks to these glasses!



Skylar: Glasses? Zubi... take those off. You're not yourself!



Zubi: But—



Skylar: [Eyes watering] Please!! I need the real you!



[Skylar takes off the glasses. The zoom from earlier is reversed, and the camera eventually comes out of Zubi's bead hair tie]



Zubi: What's goin' on?! [Noticing black hole] WHOA!!!



Skylar: You blew it, Zubi! With this! 



Zubi: Then I'll kill it... with these! [Her claws appear]



Skylar: Be careful! [She loses her grip on the bubble creator and it comes hurling towards Zubi.] Zubi!! Look out!!



[Zubi stabs the device, turning her claws into a fourth-dimensional claws]



Zubi: Wha? Fourth-dimensional! Wak! Let me go!



Wakko: Zubi!! Don't do anything dangerous!!



Zubi: I can't help it!! [Unravels herself] I'm all about danger!! YAAAAAAH!!! [She leaps into the black hole, readying her claws for attack.]



Skylar, Yakko, Wakko, and Dot: ZUBI!!!!



[The black hole is suddenly destroyed in a grand explosion. Zubi is hurled out with claws back to normal Wakko protects everyone from the explosion while catching Zubi at the same time.]



Skylar: Zubi... My Science Barbecue was a fiasco... [Cries]



[All of the audience members suddenly cheer excitedly and enthusiastically; The bulleted list from earlier lands in Skylar's hands.]



Skylar: What's this? [Reading list] "Make hyper bubble. Cause black hole. Become insane. Skylar takes off the glasses. Save the day. Win the heart of Skylar."? Zubi, you knew all this would happen?!



Zubi: Huh? Knew what? I wrote that list when I was insane with smartness!



[Skylar leans in and kisses Zubi on her cheek. Zubi blushes and breathes heavily and nervously before fainting. Skylar giggles at her as the audience continues to cheer]

173:Aww. It was so nice at the end. ^^

[pinkiemeowstic89]

Skylar: (To audience) Thanks again to Tu Youyou for sharing your fascinating cure for malaria



Zubi: Yes, yes, how charming. What... quaint notions



Tu Youyou: (grumbles in Chinese)



Skylar: And now for a special guest lecture by one of Burbank's greatest and zaniest toon... Zubi Warner!



[The Warners take the stage. Wakko and Dot pushes a cart with a tarp over it.]



Zubi: Ladies and gentlemen... and Skylar... [Winks at Skylar, who waves back] I'm here to talk about multi-dimensional bubbles! But I'm not just going to talk about blowing bubbles! I'm going to blow... your... minds!



Skylar: Hmm?



Zubi: [Revealing bubble creator] This is a bubble-blower of my own design. With this, you can blow bubbles in different dimensions. [She sets the device to two dimensions and blows a bubble with no depth.] This two-dimensional bubble casts a one-dimensional shadow. [She sets the device to three dimensions and blows a normal, everyday bubble.] A three-dimensional bubble casts a two-dimensional shadow. [She sets the device to four dimensions and blows a three-dimensional shadow that appears to be a projection of a four-dimensional tesseract.] A fourth-dimensional bubble casts a three-dimensional shadow... IT IS BEYOND COMPREHENSION! [The audience is amazed.] Beyond space!! Beyond time!!



Skylar: Zubi... that would mean you've created...



Zubi: Yes... A BLACK HOLE!!!



[The projection turns into a black hole. Everything starts going towards it. Wakko protects everyone as Zubi laughs maniacally. Wakko grabs Zubi and pulls her over.]





Skylar: ZUBI!! DO SOMETHING!!



Zubi: It's okay. I'm sure the solution is on my bulleted— [Losing it] LIST!! [The list gets sucked in.] Don't worry. I have everything under control.



Skylar: UNDER CONTROL?! MY GUESTS ARE TERRIFIED!!



Zubi: YES!! AND THEIR BRAINS ARE RELEASING ADRENALINE! DOPAMINE! EVEN DIMETHYLTRYPTAMINE FROM THE PINEAL GLAND! This has serious educational value!! Thanatophobia and this NDE is giving us euphoric altered awareness!! Don't you see, Skylar?!? WE WERE ALL BORN TO DIE!!



Skylar: YOU'RE TRYING TO KILL US ALL?!?



Zubi: NO, OF COURSE NOT! I'M TRYING TO GIVE YOU THE GREATEST CONFERENCE EVER!!!



Skylar: Zubi...! You've gone insane!



Zubi: What?! No way! I'm, like, the smartest girl in Burbank, thanks to these glasses!



Skylar: Glasses? Zubi... take those off. You're not yourself!



Zubi: But—



Skylar: [Eyes watering] Please!! I need the real you!



[Skylar takes off the glasses. The zoom from earlier is reversed, and the camera eventually comes out of Zubi's bead hair tie]



Zubi: What's goin' on?! [Noticing black hole] WHOA!!!



Skylar: You blew it, Zubi! With this! 



Zubi: Then I'll kill it... with these! [Her claws appear]



Skylar: Be careful! [She loses her grip on the bubble creator and it comes hurling towards Zubi.] Zubi!! Look out!!



[Zubi stabs the device, turning her claws into a fourth-dimensional claws]



Zubi: Wha? Fourth-dimensional! Wak! Let me go!



Wakko: Zubi!! Don't do anything dangerous!!



Zubi: I can't help it!! [Unravels herself] I'm all about danger!! YAAAAAAH!!! [She leaps into the black hole, readying her claws for attack.]



Skylar, Yakko, Wakko, and Dot: ZUBI!!!!



[The black hole is suddenly destroyed in a grand explosion. Zubi is hurled out with claws back to normal Wakko protects everyone from the explosion while catching Zubi at the same time.]



Skylar: Zubi... My Science Barbecue was a fiasco... [Cries]



[All of the audience members suddenly cheer excitedly and enthusiastically; The bulleted list from earlier lands in Skylar's hands.]



Skylar: What's this? [Reading list] "Make hyper bubble. Cause black hole. Become insane. Skylar takes off the glasses. Save the day. Win the heart of Skylar."? Zubi, you knew all this would happen?!



Zubi: Huh? Knew what? I wrote that list when I was insane with smartness!



[Skylar leans in and kisses Zubi on her cheek. Zubi blushes and breathes heavily and nervously before fainting. Skylar giggles at her as the audience continues to cheer]

Cute. Crazy but cute.

[rockinlibrarian]

Author Interview

@littlerit has tagged me to complete this whole Author Interview question list in its entirety! So I'm gonna! Writing the answers right after the questions because otherwise I get too confused!

How many works do you have on AO3? 34 I think if you count anonymous ones

What's your total AO3 word count? 176,382

What are your top 5 fics by kudos? "The Invitation: an epilogue" at 126; "In Which Jason and Chidi Rob a Bank" at 113 after a month and a half!; "Chapter 19.5: Hidden. Safe. Somewhere." at 103 which I KNOW is wrong, most of those have to be bots or a glitch or something, not that it's bad, there's just no way; "Not Just Stupid Kids" at 101; and "The Puppy-Fly Effect" at 82. Those are all different fandoms, I'm kind of proud of that.

Do you respond to comments? Why or why not? I answered this one here, and also still haven't caught up on all those Yuletide comments!

What fic has the angstiest ending? "Exploration of the Astral Plane: An Immersive, Multidimensional Study, by Cary Loudermilk, PhD, and Oliver Anthony Bird," on account of it canonically has to. I'm such a happy ending person. But I didn't shy away on this one. I fully made myself cry writing it.

What fic has the happiest ending? Having just said I'm a Happy Ending person, I wasn't sure how to choose (and to be fair, a lot of my endings aren't so much "happy" as "hopeful"), but scrolling down the list "Syd's (Third) Childhood Begins" sticks out, maybe because it's the alternate timeline ending of my ANGSTIEST ending choice, but maybe also because it's Oliver Bird psychically bonding with a baby and it's the cutest thing and I'm getting teary-eyed thinking about it.

Do you write crossovers? I LOVE CROSSOVERS! I've only posted two, the aptly named "Introduction to Infernal Crossover" and "A Captain With Seven Children...What's So Fearsome About That?" OH SHOOT, and also "Tesseract," I can't believe I almost forgot that one. So, three. And "The Magic Man of Oz" which isn't a true crossover, but an AU using another story. But I feel like crossovers are, like, the pinnacle of fanfiction. You can't DO that in any other kind of writing! So I actually haven't written a LOT of crossovers, but I really appreciate that they exist.

Have you received hate on AO3? No. I can barely handle indifference on AO3.

Do you write smut? No, but sometimes even just acknowledging that smut is happening off-screen makes me blush and I'm like do I need to up the rating on this? Does this count as needing to warn for Underage because he's a sixteen-year-old slut who won't shut up about his conquests? (actual question I have asked myself). Look, I have one fic posted "anonymously" just because it LINKS to someone else's smut fic!

Have you had a fic get stolen? Not that I'm aware of.

Have you had a fic get translated? No, pretty sure not. Unless of course, it was STOLEN then translated.

Have you co-written a fic? This was also answered over here.

What's your fave ship? *Sigh* Yes, still can't get over Fiktor. Reading or writing. I just started writing another one, too. Looks like it might be multichapter. Also looks like I've started weaving in mysteries I don't even know the answers to and I don't even know if I feel like getting into it, but that's just where the premise is going, darn following the premise to its logical conclusion.

What's a WIP you want to finish but never will? Never say never. Though I have got some hanging out that I haven't looked at in ages. I keep teasing that old Firefly fic-- that's probably the oldest with no further development on it-- but I SWEAR SOMEDAY especially if someone else has any interest in me doing so?

What are your writing strengths? Dialogue. I tend to draft in dialogue actually.

What are your writing weaknesses? Adding the stuff that comes in between the dialogue. Also finishing. Also plotting.

What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages on AO3? Little bits and phrases here and there, hey, go for it. Longer than that makes for a hard read.

What's the first fandom you wrote for? This is answered very enjoyably over here, and by "very enjoyably" I mean "There's a link to X-Files Crack, you should follow it."

What fandom/ship have you not written but want to? I think until "Jason and Chidi Rob a Bank" the answer was The Good Place, although technically I wrote a little of that (but no MAIN characters!) in "Intro to Infernal Crossover." Now I'm not sure. Nothing's sticking out. Also ever since I saw that Yuletide nomination I've been obsessed with the concept of Sal and Gabi fic, but I can't do it, I need someone who actually knows Cuban-American Spanglish to do it for me. Speaking of other Yuletide nominations, Lemony Snicket would be fun. Haven't tried that yet.

What's your fave fic you've written? Honestly I don't know. It depends which one I haven't reread in awhile and am not sick of yet. I like to go with "Two (or Three) Mutant Freaks Against the Fourth Grade" because the number of hits it's gotten is WAY out of proportion with the amount I love it. But now it's actually got more hits than "The Magic Man of Oz" which is my newest favorite, so maybe I have to start hyping that one up, too.

So @uniasus, I will tag you to answer all the other questions I didn't ask you before then! Who else hasn't gotten tagged? Everyone else who writes and hasn't gotten tagged!

[worstloki]

remember when Selvig referred to the Tesseract as truth and how Loki smiled and agreed, saying he knows that and then stammered when saying it touches everyone differently while still smiling the most genuine way he had the entire film

[art-by-gayrainbowbridge]

Tesseract in hooman form 😳

[bi-kingdom]

Secret Liasons - Maria Hill x OC

A/N: do you ever go through your drafts and realize past you never posted a whole freaking fanfic idea??? Like, even the tags were added?? I just had it sitting there...there's like 2 or 3 posts even 😂

Warnings: mainly fluff

I've been developing the Avengers initiative for over 5 years now, working as a tech developer. But its a little open ended. I've worked on coding programs, delved into physical engineering, and designed prototypes for numerous weapon designs - it's never a one role place. Erik Selvig had even let me assist him with his Tesseract setup in the lowest levels of the facility.

I never wanted to do much but I found myself rising through the ranks until I'd managed to get my hands on my own lab and freedom to develop at my own pace. So long as the higher ups knew I was working on something.

Those higher ups being, Nick Fury, and one step below him, Maria Hill. She'd been my main manager these past 2 years, and to my annoyance, the most invested in my work. Fury I could handle, the man wanted a new QuinJet draft, fine. Here's a draft, and a little red ink later we've got another. But Hill?

No.

She's more thorough than him, more involved. And you'd think all this time spent together would make me dislike her - and I did - for the first couple months. But there was something about her that grew on me, whether it was her fascination in a project of mine or the sheer amount of boss lady energy she radiated. I couldn't deny the blush on my cheeks when she came in for her weekly progress checks.

From then on it was just a freaking free for all, a damn snowball effect. She comes in with absolutely no idea of her effect on me, making notes on my blueprints and assessing a new prototype.

The base evacuation is bittersweet and I hurriedly shove computer hardware into secure lock boxes for transport, but I know that on the other side of this we are moving to the SHIELD Helicarrier. I'd had minimal input with that build, having only been part of the team working on solutions for solving energy output needs and reviewing the ship's cloaking devices. I didn't want to leave this lab, but even in the midst of a full meltdown evac, I'm eager to see the final product up and running.

I must be among the last of us to evacuate to the tunnels leading to the underground exits, one of the vehicles loaded up with my gear as I gesture for the guards to go ahead with it. I'm right behind them. But gunshots ring in these tunnels and I duck behind a pillar as a truck takes off, an odd man with a staff following behind. Hill chasing after them.

The foundation shakes, knocking dust from the concrete overhead. I jump into a remaining jeep and take off into the fray, my heart racing as the tunnels are filled with others fleeing the facility. Eventually I can see two vehicles ahead of me. Agent Hill in her stand-off with the man from before. I can see light ahead, the light at the end of the tunnel. But the foundation gives way behind me and the dust is like rain overhead. I hit the brake as a boulder sized piece of the foundation comes down onto the engine, my arms covering my head as I lay on the seat, my eyes shut to avoid the dust flying about.

I'm not sure how long I wait before I attempt to move. Pinned to the seat, I kick the door over and over with my foot until the door gives way and I can finally slide out of the jeep. I see a slab of the foundation laying over top of the vehicle, the lights flickering nauseatingly and illuminating my near cause of death menacingly. My only saving grace was where the bed of the truck and the top of the engine held up. The frame of the truck is flattened, the tires shoved under the wheel wells. I was that close - that close to being crushed to death.

I cough in the midst of all the dust, waving away at the air. As I recover, the stone leading towards the exit starts to shift. I crouch against the jeep, my heart hammering against my chest.

But to my relief, I see Hill sliding through a crevice, pushing debris out of her way.

"Holy shit I thought there was an aftershock." I huff, coughing as I continue to taste dust in the air.

"How the hell did you make it out alive?" She says once she's finally through.

"Well I'm technically not out yet." I correct, nodding to the caved in tunnel we're in. "And even then, I almost didn't." Hill assesses the jeep, shaking her head.

"You've got a good kick." She compliments, looking at the dent in the door. I smile at her, running my fingers through my hair as I release it from its bun. There's no need for professionalism right now.

Hill extends her hand to me and helps me up, eyeing the path that leads further into the tunnels. She tries finding a loose bit of stone but shakes her head as nothing gives way.

"We'll have to send in rescue teams, try to get all this stone out." I nod, steadying myself against some concrete. She tilts my head up and I hope to god it's dim enough to hide my blush. She touches a spot on my head, her fingers coming back darker than before.

"And get you patched up." She huffs, leading me out of the tunnels.

On the outside, there's a whole mob of SHIELD Agents rallying around to find survivors. A few paramedics rush over to Hill and I and set to work cleaning us up. I end up with a bit of gauze taped to my forehead and some large bruising but other than that I'm one of the lucky ones that didn't get crushed by the collapse.

I'm deemed fit to transport to the Helicarrier, Hill included on board as the recovery efforts get underway below. She sits beside me, leaning forward and staring at the floor of the Helicopter. I nudge her knee with my own in this cramped space. She tilts her head to me.

"Who was that man?" I mutter, my throat still dry from inhaling the air in the collapse.

"Fury didn't say. But it's safe to say that we're at war." She continues to stare at the floor, leaving me wondering what might be going through that battered brain of her's.