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I had forgotten how emotional this chapter was. I love it! As soon as I can I will start reading the story from the beginning.

Around the Realms in 80 days - chapter 21

Pairing: Reader x Loki

Story summary: You have fallen through a portal during the convergence into Asgard and come face to face with Thor, and his brother Loki. With no way to return, you must travel with the two men and their hoard of asgardian soldiers to get back home. Things get from bad to worse when you have to share a tent with the god of mischief himself.

Notes:

Hi!!! Hope you are doing well! I don't have much to say here for once other than the fact I really loved writing this chapter and I hope you enjoy it! This is my longest chapter to date standing at just over 5000 words so it has taken me a while! Please let me know what you think as all your comments mean the world!

Read this story on a03!

find all parts to this story on Tumblr here:

Your eyes flickered open. The world was moving fast in bright colours around you. You were vaguely aware of being in someones arms as you travelled through the rainbow tube. You tried open your mouth to speak but you blacked out again.

***

This time when you woke, you woke lying in a bed in the middle of a small room. Your eyes felt heavy, and difficult to open. You just wanted to go back to sleep but there was someone saying your name.

“How are you feeling?” It was a man’s voice you didn’t recognise.

“Hm.” You grunted. You mouth felt dry and strange to use.

How were you feeling? Tired mainly but your torso ached and it felt like there was a heavy weight on your chest.

“What would you give the pain out of 10?”

In your state you thought it was a stupid question. You were too tired to concentrate on anything, you couldn’t even open your eyes, never mind try to think critically about pain.

“It hurts. Like an 8.” You croaked out.

“Okay. I’m just administering oxycodone, it’s a strong painkiller.”

You didn’t care if he was administering orange juice, you just wanted to sleep.

“What is it now?”

“A 6?”

You weren’t completely sure there had been any difference but you wanted to be left alone. The man checked in a couple more times but soon he left you to sleep.

You spent the next few hours drifting in and out of consciousness, barely aware of your surroundings. Your thoughts meandered through your brain like clouds; never able to catch one and hold onto it for long. You were vaguely aware of people coming in and out to check on you, but you were never sure who or for how long they were there.

Eventually you came round to keep your eyes open for long enough to notice the dark haired, blue eyed man sat on the chair next to you watching you closely.

“You’re alive” He spoke matter of factly.

“So they tell me. Don’t get too excited.”

You blinked heavily becoming more aware of your surroundings. You had an IV tube coming out of the cannula in your left hand and a thin oxygen tube in your nostrils that itched if you thought about it too much. You were donning a sexy hospital gown and were tucked under thin blankets.

“What hospital is this?” You asked.

“You’re in Stark Towers.” Loki said, grimly. “They have some wards here, free health care for Stark employees.” Loki sniffed. “The care would have been better on Asgard.”

“I’m not so sure Odin would be best pleased with that.”

Loki didn’t disagree.

He continued to stare at you, not exactly friendly.

“What?” You grunted, your voice still hoarse.

“What?” He parroted, “What?” His voice started to raise, “You’re lucky you are not dead you wretched girl. If you were not in so much pain right now…”

“Yeah well you’re lucky to be alive too! You’re welcome by the way Jesus, next time I won’t bother.” You were in pain and irritated.

“Good, you shouldn’t.” He spat. “ I don’t think you realise… you could have died! I could have lost you.”

You both looked surprised at his admission. His eyes wide and mouth open slightly as if he wasn’t expecting those words to come out of his mouth.

“Well, I’m still here.” You said in a small voice.

Loki sighed and ran his hands through his hair. He looked almost as tired as you felt, with dark circles under his eyes and unkempt hair.

Your torso continued to hurt and you knew that if you tried to sit up it would be worse so you didn’t bother. After all that drama you felt exhausted.

“I apologise, I shouldn’t have raised my voice, not when you are in this condition.” He breathed. “We can talk about this later.”

There was a few moments silence before you decided to change the subject.

“What happened after I fell?”

“I took you back via the Bifrost.”

“And the Fire demons?”

“Thor and the others came out on top mostly, but we didn’t learn as much as we hoped.” He sighed.

“Actually…” You repeated back the conversation you had with the fire demon who had cornered you.

Loki looked thoughtful.

“I wonder what they’re using humans for.”

Your mind flicked back to that conversation which had resulted in you shooting the demon.

You shuddered.

Loki quickly switched his attention back to you,

“Are you cold?” He asked, sharply.

“Er, no.” You ignored the strange feeling in your stomach that arose due to his consideration, a feeling that had nothing to do with your injures.

Loki was still staring at you and you signed,

“I guess I feel bad about…hurting that fire demon.”

Loki continued to stare at you, unnerving you slightly.

“Well,” You huffed defensively “What if he was married? What if he had tiny fire demon babies and enjoyed going to see fire demon movies at the pictures on weekends and I just…”

His eyebrows raised and his mouth twisted into a smile.

“Stop laughing at me, sorry I’m not a cold blooded killer like you.” You turned your face away from him.

Loki signed and looked at you amused.

“You’re sweet.”

You turned back to him to scowl. A rare compliment from Loki and you were outraged.

“I’m not sweet, fuck off.”

He laughed and then spoke, seriously, as if just remembering again why you were here in the first place.

“You saved my life.” This time he didn’t say it angrily.

“Yeah well, we all make mistakes.” You brought the tone back to being lighthearted.

There was a pause for a moment and then Loki said,

“Fire demons don’t get married and have babies, or go to the theatre.”

You turned back to face him, still scowling.

“Well” you spluttered “then how are they created?”

“They’re formed, where the volcanic ash meets the flowing lava in the core of Muspelheim. Some say they are all the offspring of Surtur.”

“Huh.” You let this information sink in. “All of them his offspring? Gets around a bit then doesn’t he, ol’ flame breath.”

“Alas, I see you are back to your normal self.”

You managed to crack a smile and then frowned thoughtfully.

“What was that thing Surtur was talking about rag-thingy?”

Loki sighed and rubbed his head, “Ragnarok.” He spoke slowly. “The destruction of the cosmos and everything in it.”

You took a second to take this in.

“Not to sound stupid but like…why would Surtur want to even cause that?”

He gave you a slide glance.

“Its written in the prophecy that Surtur would bring about the ending of the realms, nothing left but the void. Then, in its place, a new, better world would emerge lead by superior beings.”

“Sounds kind of like a message a cult would try and push. And Surtur’s okay with dying if it means fulfilling the prophecy?”

Loki gave a half shrug,

“Perhaps he thinks he will survive to lead as the superior being or perhaps he feels driven to simply fulfil his prophecy, who can tell.”

“Well the other realms will want to stop this right? He won’t be able to go ahead with it?”

To your surprise Loki continued to look grim.

“It is like you said, some believe it is a mere fairytale, told as fiction or believed by an insolent few with nothing better to believe in. Would your people believe this?”

You shook your head, as you said before, it sounded like a stupid cult.

“Other versions of the story talk of the destruction of the Aesier Gods and the rise of the new Gods and there are many who would wish for this to come to fruition, and rather than stopping it would help enable it. I believe Surtur would work with anyone to help him bring about Ragnarok.”

Your eyes felt heavy again. The conversation had been an exhausting one and despite the fact you should be horrified, you mainly just felt sleepy. Loki noticed your fatigued state.

“You should get some rest. The doctors say that you will be very drowsy after the strong medication you have been given.”

“Thank you nurse Loki.” You yawned.

You were out before you could catch his reply.

***

The next time you work up, Loki was still sat in the chair next to you, squinting and looking irritated while he was apparently watching Ice Age 2 on the television.

“You’re still here.” You blurted out, surprised.

Loki glared at you, “I can leave if you’d prefer.” He said, affronted.

“No.” You said too quickly, his expression turning to one of surprise. “What I meant is…I was just surprised that’s all. I assumed you’d have better things to do than sit with me while I fall in and out of sleep, I’m not exactly much company.

“I grew up with Thor, believe me this is much more preferable company.” He turned back to the TV.

“How are you finding Ice Age 2?” You asked.

“Pitiful. Is this really what Midgardians see as entertainment?”

“Hey, this is a classic.”

He gave you a disparaging look as the nurse came into the room.

“Ah good, you’re awake. How do you feel?” She shot a couple of anxious glances towards Loki but to your surprise didn’t react too adversely to his presence.

“Tired still.” You said truthfully.

“The aesthetic will make you tired, it can take 24 hours for the effects to wear off so you are likely feel fatigued for a while. Now you are awake I can take your oxygen tube off.”

She bent down to do so and you were grateful for the relief from the itchy feeling of the tube.

“You should try and eat and drink something.” She advised you.

Ugh, the thought of food made you feel sick. She saw the look on your face and said,

“I’ll bring you something light, make sure you keep drinking through.” She indicated to the jug of water next to you.

“Here, let me sit you up a bit.” She pressed the button on the side of the bed and raised the back so you were sat instead of laying.

You pushed yourself up higher and cringed in pain at the feeling of moving.

“Are you okay?” Loki asked, quickly.

“Fine just hurts.” You winced.

Now that you were sat up, and feeling more awake, the nausea kicked in much heavily. You took a tiny sip of water and felt worse.

The nurse popped out the room and brought back some crackers, laying them next to the water. You eyed them, grossed out by their presence.

“I’ll come back to check on you later.” She said pleasantly and then left.

You closed your eyes again and tried to fight off the feeling of nausea.

“You should eat something.”

You didn’t reply you were busy focusing very hard on not being sick.

“You should eat something.” Loki repeated.

“Yeah thanks.” You mumbled non-committally.

Loki tutted angrily. “Do not make me repeat myself a third time. Do you want me to feed you like a babe?”

You cracked an eye open.

“Er no, no one wants that.”

“Well then eat something you silly chit.”

“You’re so pushy.”

Unfortunately, opening your mouth to speak triggered your gag reflex.

Loki jumped in his chair and moved his arms as if he was about to touch you and then thought better of it.

“Can you get the nurse to bring me a sick bucket.” You moaned.

“Right.”

He disappeared out of the room for a moment and came back with some disposable sick bowls that you always thought looked like cardboard hats.

“Here.” He passed you the bowl.

You sat yourself up higher and resumed the “I’m going to be sick” position over the bowl. Loki still hadn’t left and you side eyed him.

“Can you go please?” You gagged again.

Even in your state, you had enough pride to not want a God watching you as you threw up.

“Nonsense.”

To your surprise, Loki stepped towards you and gently moved your hair so it wasn’t in your face.

“I have seen worse things than an ill maiden.” He spoke softly.

Ugh, fine, you thought. If he wanted to stay for the show so be it, you couldn’t be bothered arguing. Nor did you have time as it turned out as you expelled the contents of your stomach.

Loki passed you some tissue to wipe your mouth with. You groaned and lay back as the nurse came and took the bowl away, giving you a fresh one.

The aesthetic and painkillers unfortunately did not agree with you, and you threw up a few more times. Loki continued to stay with you, despite the fact that you doubted Asgardian Gods regularly nursed over humans.

“Thanks.” You mumbled grimly as he took away one of your sick bowls.

“You have thanked me nearly ten times now mortal, stop it or I will shut your mouth for you.”

“I am thankful though, you really didn’t have to stay.”

Loki didn’t reply but brought you back another bowl and sat close to you.

“This is humiliating.” You moaned.

“There is nothing humiliating about being ill. Mortals still have such old fashioned ideas about modesty.”

“That’s easy for you to say. You have probably never done anything humiliating in your life.”

Loki gave a little snort but didn’t reply. You stared at him with your eyes narrowed.

“Go on then, what is the most humiliating thing you have done?”

Loki looked at you, unconvinced.

“You’ve just held my hair back while I was sick, you owe me one humiliating story. Also I saved your life so.”

Loki rolled his eyes.

“You’re always going to use that as a bargaining chip to get what you want, aren’t you?” He said dryly.

“Hm. Now spill.”

He took a deep breath in.

He spoke slowly, “A couple of hundred years ago I…I slept with Fandral.”

You stared at him, your mouth opened slightly and eyes widened in surprise. You really hadn’t expected him to say that, you thought he would say something like “once I tripped up in front of the royal council” or “one time Thor left me with a black eye.”

He met your gaze, waiting for your reaction.

“What was he like?” You asked.

He gave you a little flick on the nose.

“Ow. I’m being serious Loki. Fandral is a good looking guy. Sleeping with a good looking guy isn’t humiliating. That’s like me saying oh this one time I won an award for being the too sexy and hot, it was so embarrassing for me.”

Loki ignored you and continued to look like he’d sucked a lemon. “They were dark days.”

“We’ve all slept with someone we don’t like as a form of punishment.” You paused, “Thanks for telling me, I know it meant a lot to admit that.”

He gave a tight smile.

“Don’t get too used to it mortal. I merely told you to stop you from winging about being embarrassed from throwing up in front of me.”

You spent the rest of the day flitting in and out of sleep, Loki beside you the whole time. You were to be kept a close eye on to ensure you were okay to be discharged so you stayed the night. To annoyance, Loki was asked to leave the ward at night. You persuaded him to go and get some rest and get a fresh pair of clothes and with great reluctance he agreed.

That night, you dreamt you were back on Muspelheim fighting fire demons. This time, when you tried to run to save Loki your legs wouldn’t move and you had to watch on as one of the demons took him down. The next time, Loki was completely blue and he was the one attacking Thor and the others while you tried to get to him.

You woke up abruptly, in a cold sweat and alone in your hospital bedroom.

Until now, you had completely forgotten about Loki’s skin turning blue and cooling your burns down. How could you have forgotten that? Was that part of Loki’s magic skills or something else? You were going to have to ask him about it when he visited later. Assuming that he did visit later of course, he had been there for the full day before he might decide his caring duties were finished. You closed your eyes again and managed to get back to sleep.

In the morning the nurse had brought you something to eat, which you managed to keep down. After she’d helped you to use the facilities you were sat up feeling a bit brighter now the aesthetic had worn off and watching day time T.V.

The door swung open but it was Thor that tipped into your room looking somewhat sheepish and holding a big bunch of flowers.

“You’re awake!” He greeted you, and planted a kiss on your cheek.

“Thor! Thanks for the flowers.”

Seeing Thor, future king of of Asgard stood in your small room with the largest bunch of flowers you’ve ever seen felt very strange somehow, as if he didn’t quite fit the space he was in.

“Er, sit down.” You indicated to the chair Loki had been residing in after a few moments of him stood awkwardly at the foot of your bed.

He plonked himself in the chair and then said, rushed,

“Latte, I cannot apologise enough for what happened and I am so glad to see you well. I take full responsibility for what happened to you and -.”

“Thor, oh my god, honestly it’s not your fault.”

He continued to look grave.

“I should have been keeping closer watch on you when we were on that forsaken planet and…”

“Seriously, Thor it’s fine I made my own choices.”

He sighed heavily but looked relieved.

“Thank you for saving my brother.” He said seriously. “Just to think, a little while ago you both hated each other, and now look at you, firm friends.” He beamed.

“Well, okay, let’s not be too hasty.” You tried to sit yourself up a bit higher. “How is everyone else doing?”

“Fine, fine. The rest of the warriors headed back to Asgard. Stark wants to speak to you by the way when you are feeling better. He said he might come down and see how you’re doing.”

There was a couple of moment of comfortable silence when you remembered your dream earlier.

“Thor, erm, can you tell me more about Loki’s…parentage?” You asked, tentatively.

His forehead creased.

“Why do you ask?”

“So there was this moment when I got hit by the fire demons Loki’s erm hand turned blue and like really cold?”

Thor shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

“I think its’ best I let Loki tell you more about that.”

You sighed, you thought he would say as much but it was worth a try.

Thor actually stayed with you for a couple of hours, watching Madagascar and it was nice to have some company. Unlike Loki, Thor actually seemed to find cartoons amusing and kept guffawing with laughter.

After a while, Loki popped by to see you again. He looked a little fresher than when you’d last seen him, but still had dark under eyes and a pale complexion. He was holding a bunch of flowers himself and he seemed unsurprised but a little irritated to see Thor there.

“I can take it from here, thanks.” Loki told his brother.

Thor kept his eyes glued to the T.V, “I’m just waiting to see if these animals make it back to their zoo.”

Loki glowered at him and Thor eventually looked up and got the hint.

“Er, see you later then Latte. I’ll come down and see you soon.” He gave you another kiss on the cheek to which Loki scowled further and then left.

Loki moved Thors flowers from your bedside table and put his down instead, moving Thor’s to further away from you.

“You didn’t strike me as the flowers type.” You raised your eyebrows pointedly.

“These are from my mother.”

“Huh?”

Loki gave you an irritated look. “She wrote to say she wishes you well.” He fussed over the flowers.

“You… you wrote to your mother about me?”

You felt funny inside, you were both flattered and unsure how you felt about the Queen of Asgard perceiving you and knowing what you got up to.

Loki shrugged your comment off and sat down where Thor had been.

You would normally spend longer pressing him but you really wanted to talk about the big blue elephant in the room.

“I need to ask you something.” You geared yourself up for your next question.

“Oh?” Loki was indifferent.

“Er yeah.”

When you took a deep breath in you caught Loki’s attention and he eyed you cautiously.

“Is this about Fandral again because it was a long time ago and…”

“No! No it’s not about that.” You interjected.

Loki relaxed back into his chair,

“Ok, then…?”

“How come your hand turned blue and cold when I got shot with that fire bolt?” You blurted.

Loki froze in his seat for a couple of seconds.

“I - I don’t know what you mean.”

“Don’t play silly buggers with me, I saw it.”

“I - er what?” You threw him off momentarily with your figure of speech.

You took this moment to push him further.

“Does it have something to do with your true parentage? I saw some things in a book about erm how maybe you come from an ice planet or something I forgot it’s name…” You faltered at the end of your sentence. “But those books you said are sometimes wrong so…”

Loki continued to stay very still, you weren’t even sure if he had taken a breath.

“You don’t have to tell me!” You rushed, “If it’s like a sensitive topic or something I was just curious but if you don’t want to tell me then that’s fine of course.” You blathered.

He blinked a couple of times before he spoke.

“Yes.” He seemed to force himself to say.

You wanted to ask “yes what?” But you let yourself be quiet.

There was a long pause and you thought about changing the subject when he finally spoke.

“I should probably tell you.” He spoke, strained.

“Well, er, only if you’re sure.” You hung on to his every word.

“It seems to have put some of it together already. I can’t say I’m surprised.” He seemed to deflate. “My father, my true father is Laufey, a frost giant from Jotunheim. And my mother…well one assumes she was a lesser frost giant. Either way I was abandoned and Odin took me in as one of his trophies.” He spat.

You remembered reading that now, and your mind flicked back to the pictures in your “Norse mythology for dummies” book. You do not remember them being described as an especially nice, kind people. In fact, you could remember that the Asgardians seemed to hate them.

It did not sound like Loki had the nicest of starts in life.

“And did you always know…?”

“That I was a frost giant?” Loki snorted wildly, “No, Odin elected to withhold that piece of information until a few years ago.”

Jesus, you weren’t sure how to respond to that.

From what you knew and had gathered already you started to piece things together. The idea Loki grew up for years not knowing why Odin favoured Thor or knowing why he was different from others made you feel…sad.

Loki’s face looked pained and although you couldn’t tell exactly what he was thinking about, you felt you were well versed in Loki’s inner battles. He stayed staring down at the floor, and continued to not move.

“Loki, thanks for sharing that with me.”

He flicked his eyes up to you.

“You seem unfazed by this.” He scowled.

It seemed he was waiting for something but you weren’t sure what he needed from you. How do you react when someone shares something so intimate with you? Perhaps he didn’t think you were being upset enough.

“No, no, I’m not unfazed, I think its’ really sad! I’m really sorry to hear that happened to you.”

You cringed at your words, you were clearly not very good at this.

Loki scoffed, “You should be scared, not sad.”

Now you were genuinely confused,

“Why would I be scared?” You asked slowly.

“I’m a monster.” He flashed his eyes at you.

“Well, I already knew that.” You caught his eye so he knew you were joking with him but he didn’t smile back.

“I look like a monster.” He said plainly, as if he wasn’t too bothered by this.

You weren’t sure how to respond to that or if he was looking for an ego lift or not. He was normally so cocky about his looks too so this had thrown you for a loop. You felt your face grow warmer as you tried to navigate your words.

“Well er I don’t know if it makes you feel any better but I actually think you look rather…good…you know, er, you’re pretty good looking and it feels like you’ve never really had an issue you know, scoring or anything…”

“Not in this form, obviously.” He rolled his eyes.

“Wh- like…an ultimate form or…?”

“My frost giant form.”

“Right, well obviously I haven’t seen you in that form so I can’t really comment. I also don’t know loads about frost giants so it’s kind of hard for me to understand, I guess I haven’t got much context…”

Loki nodded and stood up suddenly. You thought you must have offended him and he was going to leave but he stalked over to the door and shut it.

“I’ll show you.”

You tensed yourself, your heartbeat quickening, unsure of what was about to happen.

Loki stood at the bottom of your bed and closed his eyes.

Swiftly, his skin started turning a pale blue colour and he grew even taller. Markings appeared on his skin, trailing down his arms and face. Finally he opened his eyes and you were shocked to see that they were a bright red.

Your mouth hung open and you took a couple of seconds to take in the transformation.

“See. You are scared.” His eyes narrowed at you, getting angry at your reaction.

“No?” You stuttered, scared.

You gripped onto your blankets, and swallowed hard.

It really was a shock seeing him like this. It’s not every day someone in front of you suddenly completely changes.

“No.” You repeated stronger this time. “I’m not scared its just that you look, different, and it’s taking me a second to get used to it. If I grew a few feet and turned purple or something you would have to get used to it, ’m not saying it in a bad way or anything…”

Truthfully now you were settling in to seeing him like this and your breathing had calmed down you really didn’t hate it. He still looked like Loki, with the same long dark hair and facial structure. To be honest you thought the colour was pretty and the markings were very cool. The more you looked at him the more you liked it.

“I actually think this is a good look. It kind of suits you.” You said, candidly. “So does all of you look like this when you transform or…?” You asked, innocently.

Loki flashed his startlingly red eyes at you but you thought you could see a hint of a smirk too. You were relieved to see a shadow of his normal self and humour peaking through a somewhat angsty mood.

Loki turned himself back to how he normally looks.

“I meant what I said Loki. It genuinely must have been horrific to learn that there was such a large part of your past that you had been missing up until now.”

He didn’t say anything and continued to stand.

“The monster that parents tell their children about at night.” He chuckled.

“Well hey, if it makes you feel any better I definitely won’t be telling my children about you. And if you’re trying to scare me off you forget I have seen you with bed head, and I still stayed friends with you even after that, no form of you could be scarier than that.”

You managed to get a half smile out of him before he sighed.

“I have gotten used to this part of myself.”

You nodded, encouragingly,

“That can’t have been easy, to find out you are something that your people have always despised and been brought up to hate and to make peace with that. That’s a massive achievement.” You smiled at him.

“Yes I know.” He said, stiffly and rolling his eyes.

“I have made peace with being a monster now.” He eyed you curiously “however a sane human would have rang for the nurse and asked me to leave.”

You snorted, you thought about saying “I’m not like other girls” ironically but you didn’t think Loki would get the joke.

“Are you saying I’m not sane? That’s kind of rude, I’m in hospital, aren’t you supposed to be cheering me up?”

Loki gave you the exasperated look you were used to him giving you.

“Come on, why don’t you sit that blue ass down and watch…” You flicked the guide on “…Harry Potter with me?”

Loki gave you a stern look.

“I will sit down, but not because you told me, because you are unwell and have been through serious physical trauma. Clearly this trauma involved a sever bang to your head which has made you think you can talk to me in such a vernacular way. I will forgive you however, because you are a patient.”

“That’s very generous of you your majesty.”

Notes: What did you think?? let me know!

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c0mputersaysn0 · 6 hours

Text

Around the Realms in 80 days- Chapter 20

Pairing: Reader x Loki

Notes:

Um so hi!! I hope some of you are still out there!!! I'm so sorry for my insane absence but I have been struggling with some health issues and had to have surgery to have my gallbladder removed! Either way I am back now and I really really hope some of you are still interested in reading this story and can still remember what is going on lmao!

I honestly thought at one point this chapter would be short but I always think that and I am always a clown. We have gotten back to the plot more in this chapter after a couple of silly fun chapters so I hope you enjoy it!

Read this story on a03!

find all parts to this story on Tumblr here

The fire demons were attacking from all sides, with you and Loki in the middle. You were surprisingly calm and felt focused on your task, creating forcefields to protect you and Loki from the firebolts headed your way. Loki’s green magic blasted towards the demons, knocking them with force.

“Impressive shield work, I suppose you've had ample experience dealing with fiery nuisances.”

You grinned at him in the middle of the battle, “my life is basically a never ending bonfire.”

The demons retaliated with a torrent of flames and you wielded your staff to make your forcefield stronger.

Loki flourished his sceptre towards the demons,

“You’re extremely competent with that staff.” Loki said, impressed.

“That’s what he said.”

You both laughed heartily.

“My dear, your quick wit and fiery spirit are almost as impressive as my powers.”

Loki shot the rest of the demons with two pistols he drew from his holders attached to his tan leather buckled belt.

There was quiet after, and you dropped your forcefield now the enemy had been dealt with. You looked back at Loki, taking in his brown batwing chaps. You had the sudden desire to be as close to him as possible and you both took strides towards each other. Loki gave you a smouldering look, his eyes full of passion, took you in his arms and leaned in…

“Latte?”

Who had said that? Loki’s lips had moved but a different voice sounded. Had Loki always had that cowboy hat on?

“Latte.” A singsong voice stated again.

“Hm? Yes please…”

There was a gentle chuckling which confused you. What had you said that was funny?

Come to think of it, what was that strange whirring noise? And what was digging into your head?

Your eyes opened slowly and found Thor and Fandral looking at you, grinning.

Oh god, you’d fallen asleep on the spacecraft.

Worse still, you seemed to be resting your head on the shoulder of none other than Loki of Asgard.

He shoved you off, surprisingly not too sharply.

“You have a bony shoulder.” You mumbled, rubbing the side of your head.

“How did you fall asleep? I thought you were nervous.” Loki asked, almost slightly impressed.

“It’s a gift.” You yawned and stretched and ignored Loki’s narrowed eyes. “Are we there yet?”

“Nearly.” Thor answered as he and Fandral shared a look. “Best prepare yourself.”

They wandered to the front of the helm with Hogan. Prepare yourself? How could you prepare yourself? Maybe you could take a defensive stance or something?

Unfortunately the more nervous you got, the loonier your brain tended to get and your dream had knocked you off kilter.

“Stop it.” Loki said, sharply.

“Wh-i’m not doing anything.”

You refused to make eye contact with him, the dream still far too fresh in your memory. Jesus, what would have happened if you hadn’t been woken up?

You stared determinedly at the steel floor.

“I can tell you are ruminating, you are going to work yourself up, as you usually do.” He added at the end unnecessarily.

Why did he pick now as an opportunity to be kind of sweet? Well as sweet as Loki could be, which was still rather stern and prickly.

What was that uncomfortable feeling, were you…

“Are you blushing?” Loki asked incredulously. “Like a fair maiden?” He added smugly.

“No!” You said too fast.

Loki’s smugness seemed to grow.

“I hope you are going to be able to focus on the mission at hand.”

“Ugh don’t be so gross. It’s just a bit warm in here. And besides I’m allowed to ruminate. Is this 1984? Are you the thought police?” You prattled on.

God you hoped not now would be a really bad time for Loki to be the thought police.

He raised an eyebrow as if to say ‘I told you so’ and you stuck your tongue out at him.

“Very mature.”

“Well given that I’m not one billion years old like you are I am allowed to have moments of immaturity, especially before I face certain death.”

You noticed out of the corner of your eye that Sif was giving you a strange look from the seats opposite you, and it was not exactly friendly.

You had kind of forgotten about the additions to your Asgardians pals on this trip and the fact that they weren’t particularly used to seeing mortals. And probably not mortals who argued with their most hated Prince. And you had just blushed too which was so uncool. Oh god, you were never going to beat the sycophant rumours.

Your phone buzzed in your pocket. How do I have signal in space you wondered, starting miraculously at your phone.

The text was from Oliver, a gif of a cat waving goodbye and the light relief made you chuckle.

“What has amused you my lady?” Fandral asked, sitting down opposite you next to Sif. He sat with his legs very wide, almost touching Loki’s legs with what little gap there was between the two seating benches.

Loki rolled his eyes and made an irritated noise which Fandral ignored.

“Nothing really.” You shrugged it off.

“Well something has got you smiling.” Fandral raised his eyebrows at you, teasingly.

“Honestly it’s nothing a text.”

“What’s a text?” Volstagg asked, biting into an apple.

“Must you always be eating?” Fandral asked, laughing. “A text is a Midgardian form of electronic communication.” He smirked at you, knowingly.

You fought back the laughter that threatened to escape you at the sight of Volstaggs confused face.

“That’s right.”

“But I wonder, who is sending you texts?”

“Just a friend wishing me well.” You replied hastily.

“Ah” Fandral frowned. “But there is no need for such wishes, you have Asgards mightiest warriors with you.” He winked.

Loki scoffed, and seemed to be about to say something when the craft suddenly jolted, as if it had hit an invisible wall.

Thor took a few strides back to face the party.

“We’re here.”

***

Surtur was huge. And also terrifying. And had you mentioned the huge thing? You could see why the fire demons had made him their leader.

He looked as though he was made completely from molten rock and seemed to remain ablaze. He had two horns sticking out of either side of his skull which alone must have been about the height of a double decker bus. His eyes were two yellow fires held in the twisted roots of his skull.

You guessed this was sort of the court for the fire demons. Surtar sat at the furthest end of rocky landscape (fire demon architecture left much to be desired) with a few other important looking fire demons surrounding him who seemed to be swagged out with various pieces of gleaming multicoloured rock jewellery.

There were more of the demons surrounding, snarling at your group as you walked past. Thor and Loki strode ahead of the party, and you had tried to position yourself in the middle, hoping you wouldn’t be noticed.

God it was hot. You fought the urge to fan yourself and you felt yourself getting a very sexy top upper lip sweat already. Your outfit was doing nothing to help although you were grateful for it. Stark had kitted you out in head to toe Stark tech. The material was flame resistant, as well as having some other properties that seemed helpful but you couldn’t for the life of you remember what they were now.

Of course, the Asgardians didn’t seem to have worked up a sweat.

“Your council seem unhappy to see us, Surtur.”

“My council are unused to visits from Odinsons. As am I.” Surtur spoke with a deep, gravely voice that you felt in your stomach.

“We want no trouble.”

“And yet, you bring the God of trouble himself.” His voice reverberated around the room, encouraging the other demons to laugh, a sound that concerned you.

“We demand answers. Why have you attacked Midgard?” Loki ordered.

Surtur laughed again,

“Surely you have not come all this way, placed yourself in danger to lecture us about a tiny world that none of us care about?”

Rude, you thought.

“Midgard is under Asgards protection. My father stopped the frost giants from conquering Midgard many moons ago and I will stop you from doing the same now if I have to.” Thor stated.

“I have no desire for Midgard.”

Then why attack at all, you wondered.

Luckily, and also scarily, Loki was on the same page as you.

“If Midgard is so wretched, why even bother attacking them?”

Surtur frowned his great big forehead.

“Midgard had grown complacent, it was time to remind them their fairytales were real.” He opened his mouth into a fiery grin.

You didn’t buy it personally, but you had bigger problems to worry about. One of the Surtur’s burning councilmen was staring directly at you, his eyes glistening like black coals.

“Come now Surtur, you can’t think us so foolish as to believe that, when for thousands of years you have left the Midgardians alone? Your attacks on Midgard seemed random; attacking three cities and then retreating quickly? Not the strategic planning of the Surtur that we all know and revere.” Loki played to his ego.

“The attacks on Midgard were just the beginning.” Surtur leant forward in his gigantic throne.

The fire demon doing his best to stare you out was continuing to make you uncomfortable. You wanted to ask about the disappearances; after Stark had told you about the attacks you had done some googling and it turns out that a number of people in the cities had gone missing during the attacks. They were presumed dead, their bodies left somewhere in the destruction and rubble but something about it felt off to you. You had raised it with Stark and he had agreed.

You were stuck between mentioning it but not wanting to draw any more attention to yourself. You thought briefly to how Loki sometimes talks to you in your head, a phenomenon you were not particularly fond of.

Could there be a way you could do the same with him? You weren’t sure exactly how it worked and maybe it was just one of Loki’s irritating tools in his magical toolkit but could there be a way of reaching him in a similar way?

You focused firmly on the back of Loki’s head.

Ask about the disappearances.

…nothing happened.

Next, you tried to imagine sending the words from your head and into Loki’s head, but again

nothing seemed to happen and you felt a bit stupid. You tried again a couple more times, shouting the words louder in your own head. Finally, you closed your eyes and imagined pushing the thought like a wave, crashing down onto him.

Ask about the disappearances, bitch

You tried louder and angrier too, in case that helped.

You watched Loki closely as he shifted slightly.

By the Norns, can you stop shouting at me?

Oh my god, it worked.

How did I do that?

I left the channel between us open and you figured how to tap into it.Even telepathically Loki sounded irritated, as if he regretted doing so. You however, were very pleased he had.

So I’m not telepathic?

Fortunately not.

But I did figure out how to do this. You felt very smug.

Congratulations. Loki sounded sarcastic.

“What do you mean ‘just the beginning’” Thor frowned.

You snapped back to the conversation happening not in your head.

Surtur laughed in response.

You noticed a shared annoyed glance between Loki and Thor.

“What about the mortal disappearances?” Loki asked.

“So many questions.” Surtur goaded them, “how does it feel to be in the dark Asgardians?”

He was loving this, it was very frustrating. You wanted to punch his massive scorching face. Although, your hand would probably burn which wouldn’t have been ideal.

Still you thought, he didn’t deny the mortal disappearances which could mean something. Or perhaps he was simply playing with you all.

Thor scoffed, “Surtur you old fool, Asgard is still the most powerful realm in the Cosmos, do you really think whatever scheme you have bought into is going to prevail?”

“Odin grows old, Asgard is not what it was. Perhaps it is time for change. The end of things as we know it and the rebirth of something new.”

“The ‘rebirth’?” Loki took a step forward, “careful now Surtur, that sounds suspiciously like…”

“Ragnarok.” Surtur finished in his deep, slow voice.

The Asgardians around you shifted, and Sif made a noise of disgust.

What was that word? You thought you could vaguely remember reading it somewhere but you couldn’t remember what it meant. By the reactions of the people around you, you guessed it was not good news.

“What?” Sif spat and grabbed hold of her sword.

Loki’s eyes were hard and steely, and his face pale despite the heat but he replied dryly,

“Ragnarok? A tired prophecy Surtur. Surely you can conjure a more original plan than that?”

“Puny Gods, you cannot stop this. If I were you I would go home and spend your remaining time with your loved ones.” Surtur chuckled.

You cursed yourself inwardly for not paying more attention to your books, if only you could remember what Ragnarok meant so you knew what they were talking about.

Thor looked properly angry, a look you had not seen on him before, “Cease this senseless nonsense, this is your warning or Asgard will have no choice but to engage in war.”

“You will have your war Odinson and you will loose. Ragnarok has already begun and there is no stopping what the fates have decided. The prophecy must come true.”

“Then you know what we will do, you have signed your people a death sentence.”

As Thor’s hammer glowed an electric blue, your heart jumped as you realised that a fight might break out.

Oh god this is really happening.

“Thor, let’s think rationally about this.” Loki put his hand on Thors shoulder.

Thor however seemed beyond reason, and he shrugged him off as he held his hammer up and swung it, preparing to fight.

“You have made a grave mistake Odinson.” Surtur stood suddenly and you followed his flaming body with your eyes, amazed and terrified at the size of him now you could see his full height.

“Don’t say it.” Loki groaned.

“I make grave mistakes all the time, but everything seems to work out.”

“And you said it.”

The air crackled with tension for a few seconds, and then before you could comprehend what was happening, fire demons began their attack.

After a couple of seconds of standing there with your mouth open like a fish without water, you remembered the plan you Thor, Loki and Stark had come up with before your visit here; if a battle starts to get out of harms way as quick as possible. Luckily, the demons rocky architecture you had been judging earlier made for plenty of hiding places.

As Loki distracted the demons conjuring illusions, you managed to spring yourself into action, ducking and diving behind a large rock. You moved further over to the left, staying low behind the walls where you could be covered and still keep an eye on the action. Gripping hard on your gun that you felt ridiculously underprepared to use you focused intently on what was going on. The weapon you had been supplied with in case of a worst case scenario, wasn’t outrageously powerful or anything, you doubted you would be trusted with anything too deadly however it could cause some damage if needed.

You hoped however that you would’t need to use it. What had Loki said yesterday? Take any opportunity to leave or hide.

It was alright for him you thought dryly as you studied Loki fighting off a demon. Despite fighting seeming to you more akin to a nightmare, he seemed to be enjoying himself.

In fact, they all did. You watched Thor wielding his precious hammer that you could never remember the name of with unwavering determination, lighting crackling around him. Sif with her sword gleaming in the firelight, moving with grace and precision striking swift and deadly blows. Even Hogan, armed with his mace stood as an immovable force. Sif and Hogan seemed to have some sort of count on, with who could kill the most demons.

You watched Fandral and Volstagg bantering as they fought off a couple of ugly looking demons.

Watching them joke around make you feel more confident, as surely nothing bad could happen if the Asgarians didn’t think this was too difficult a feat.

Where are you you heard Lokis voice.

Behind some rock you sent back to him.

Very helpful, can’t you be more precise?

What am I, a compass? I’m somewhere to your left, I can still see you all. You replied. Directions had never been a strong point of yours.

Stay hidden.

You rolled your eyes. As if you were going to do anything else. Did he think you were going to try and take on a fire demon single handedly? You thought about replying something snarky but decided you’d better just let him concentrate.

Indeed, Loki seemed very busy weaved in and out of reality, appearing and disappearing, his daggers cutting through the fiery adversaries. You knew that Loki’s skills were looked down on by the other warriors, Fandral had made cutting remarks during your time in Asgard but you still couldn’t understand it. You hadn’t had an opportunity to watch him mid action like this before and it truly was a sight to behold; he was lithe and quick while still strong and powerful, thwarting demons like it was his day job.

It reminded you of something…then it hit you. This was similar in some ways to the dream you had had on the ship.

Oh my god now is not the time. You physically shook your head to stop yourself from going any further than that route.

Turning your attention back to the others, you watched Thors hammer crashed into the demons, unleashing thunderous blasts that scattered through their ranks, as Sif and Fandral sliced their swords through the air.

Despite the fierce onslaught, the demons fought back relentlessly. Their fiery attacks rained down upon the group, testing their mettle. As the battle raged on, the ground shook beneath their feet as flames engulfed the surroundings.

You wiped the sweat out of your face, looking around you for anyone who might have found your hiding space. However everyone was concentrated on fighting the Asgardians.

Loki had told you to look out for opportunities to find out information that you might be able to gather more than others, however given the current circumstances you doubted there would be any chance of that. In fact, you felt a little bit useless crouched here watching the rest of them fight.

Granted, your skills were never going to lie in hand to hand combat, but you still felt desperate to do something to support them.

Despite Lokis’ warning to stay out of sight, you decided to take a chance. You stayed low and moved swiftly to the next bolder, dodging an ill timed flame headed towards you. From here, you were slightly closer to the action.

You had a sudden strange feeling of playing laser tag as a child and how this felt much the same; crouching behind walls and hiding in dark corners. Unfortunately, the stakes were much higher now.

Your eyes drew back to Loki, watching as he used his magic to push back against the demons. You bit down on your lips hard, as there was a close moment he barely missed a fireball that could have burnt his arm.

Can you be more careful you idiot, you sent your concern over to him before you stopped yourself.

Worried for me mortal? How cute.

You wish.

You were though, worried for him. You knew Loki and the rest were seasoned pros at fighting off monsters but you had never been in a battle situation before.

Come on, you told yourself, pull it together its not like they haven’t done this before, worry about yourself.

While you were staring at him, you suddenly felt your back get very warm. You turned quickly, clutching your weapon to find the demon that had been staring at you earlier staring down at you.

Your heart thumped loudly and you panicked, fumbling for the trigger on your weapon as you tried to half stand; an awkward movement due to your panic and trying to ensure the back of you wasn’t left exposed to an open attack.

Before you could do anything, the demon surprised you by speaking.

“Your friends are going to die. There is no getting out of this.”

You stared at him, unsure of how to respond to that. Instead of something heroic or even settling for something normal, you blurted,

“Why haven’t you attacked me yet?”

“Are you a mortal with a death wish?” His black eyes glinted at you.

“No.” You chocked out.

God seriously get a grip, you chided yourself, stop acting like such a prat.

“Leave these Asgardians to their demise and come with me, there’s a greater future waiting for you.”

Now you were confused.

“What are you propositioning? What greater future?”

“The human race is weak and frail.” The demon hissed. “But they can help make you stronger.”

“Who can?” You graciously ignored the insult.

The demon just grinned at you, menacingly.

“Who are you working with?” You asked again. “Who has promised you Ragnarok?”

“You are on the loosing side mortal. Look at you, useless, cowering while the others fight. But that can change if you surrender yourself to them.”

He wasn’t wrong but it still stung a little. Hadn’t you just been thinking that it would be nice to be able to feel more helpful?

“We can make you powerful.” The demon continued to press you.

Powerful…

You laughed and met the demons eye, drawing yourself up straight for the first time. Maybe that would have been a tempting offer to someone else. Unfortunately, if he was trying to sell you something he was going the wrong way about it. The thing is, you had never been particularly interested in the notion of power.

“The issue with power is that it usually comes with responsibility. And I really, really hate responsibilities.”

You took a deep breath in.

“Tell me who you are working with, or I’ll blast you with this…thing.”

In a flash, you saw the demon narrow his eyes and lift his hand to throw a fireball at you, which at this distance would have killed you. You closed your eyes, let out a scream and pressed the trigger.

You heard the blast and a noise that sounded suspiciously like something hitting a rock, and opened one eye slowly to see what you had done. Hitting something at close range meant that the weapon had proved to be pretty impressive, and you saw the demon lying in a heap a few feet away from you.

You shuddered, that was horrific. You wondered if Captain America usually shuts his eyes and screams like a ninny when dealing deadly blows.

You gipped.

Oh god I’m going to be sick, you thought, dropping your gun and gripping your stomach with one hand and a nearby rock with the other.

The adrenaline of nearly dying but besting a demon and the gory sight of seeing it laid on the floor had proved too much. You were embarrassed to find tears in the back of your eyes.

Seriously dude, this fire guy was going to kill you and you beat it. Cheer up a bit maybe. You mentally shock yourself.

It was then you realised that the demon had managed to burn you before you had shot it, your hand that you had held the gun with, that hadn’t been covered in anything was bleeding and sore.

You’ll have to process this later you told yourself, trying to push it back into your mind so you could focus on the rest of the fight. Your hand stung but it would recover fine.

After a few breaths you pulled yourself around. You still weren’t overly keen on the idea that you had just killed something but you also had a sense of pride too. You had just beaten a demon for Gods sake! Useless human who? And you had been able to find out something interesting too, these mystery figures wanted humans for something.

You bent back down and picked your gun up, turning back to face the fight. You looked up and made eye contact with Loki. His eyes took in your grimacing expression and caught the dead demon not too far away from you.

Everything suddenly fell into slow motion. Loki took steps towards you and his mouth opened, you could see him saying your name but you couldn’t hear it. As his attention was turned towards you, a particularly large demon was running towards him from the left.

Without giving it a second thought you ran straight towards the fight.

The demon opened his palms to shoot the flames towards Loki and you weren’t going to make it in time.

You changed your direction running towards the demon and shot your weapon as you leapt straight in front of the torrent of fire that was made for Loki.

It hit you straight in the chest knocking you forcefully back onto the gravely terrain and you cringed as you felt your head hit the floor.

Someone was shouting your name but you weren’t sure who. There was a ringing in your ears from the impact nearly drowning out the noise of the battle. You could only focus on your chest hurting; it stung and ached and you were winded. You hoped that your outfit had helped a little in preventing burns but given the pain you weren’t so sure.

Loki’s face appeared in front of you, a little blurry but still looking furious.

“What the hel were you thinking?” You could tell he was incandescent but you were struggling to focus on anything other than the pain.

“You’re welcome by the way.” Your mouth tasted like blood and you winced.

You felt yourself being taken into his arms which you huffed at and he ignored, and he placed a surprisingly freezing cold hand on your burns. You looked down to see your Stark tech top was ripped and the skin under looked red and inflamed. Where Loki rested his hand, his skin was blue.

“What the fuck?” You tried to move away, the sight taking you by surprise.

Loki shushed you and held you tighter so you couldn’t move.

“Stop fighting me for once.” He paused, his forehead creased

“You… I would have been…” He stated, his eyes met yours, his forehead creased. He looked confused and vulnerable for a second.

“Okay, this is dramatic, let’s not tell anyone about this.” You let your head rest in the crook of Loki’s arm.

Just as you spoke, Thor realised what was happening and after he had finished off his fight came over to see. The others either hadn’t noticed or were holding down the fort with two of their men now fussing over a human.

As the adrenaline was wearing off, the pain got worse and everything started getting more blurry. Your body felt heavy and tired.

“If you die I’ll go to Hel and bring you back myself so I can kill you again for being so stupid.”

You tried to keep your eyes open for as long as you could.

“I’ll look forward to it.”

Then everything went black.

Notes: What did you think????? Also yes I had to get the AI's sequence in somewhere it was too funny lmao. I so so hope some of you are out there and reading this and I'm not just talking to myself.

Tag list:

@lonadane @imalovernotahater @lokisgoodgirl. @laliceee @dlwrish @paetonnn @lovelysizzlingbluebird @reas-writing @buttercupcookies-blog @acidcasualties

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