Tagline: No one tells you that having memories of your past life could be such a burden.
Soulmate AU: People are reincarnated soulmates, but only one of them remembers their past life + soulmates are rare.
A/N: This is for @loki-the-fox 's Halloween Marvel Writing Challenge. This fic happens after Doctor Strange but before Infinity War. The Doctor is the Sorcerer Supreme in this particular fic. This happens in the MCU, but soulmates occur in this specific universe (though they are rare). Hope you enjoy! P.S. There will be a second part eventually.
“Curiosity killed the cat.”
It was a proverb very familiar to you throughout all of your life. Your parents, some of your friends, and even strangers always warned you of the danger of prying into things that weren't relevant to you or exploring places not meant for you.
That never stopped you, though, especially with the rejoinder, “But satisfaction brought it back.”
Despite some of the danger that came along with the curiosity, your mind always had an insatiable need for new knowledge and new experiences. After all, that need is what lead you to discovering your memories of past life and therein finding Kamar Taj and your soulmate.
“Daydreaming again, Y/N?” The stern, yet teasing voice of your friend drew you out of your thoughts.
“Mmm, more like reminiscing,” you replied, closing the book you had been attempting to read for the past hour. You weren't getting anywhere with it anyway.
Your friend stood a few feet away from you, browsing the shelf nearest you for another book. “Another memory of your past life came back, didn't it?”
Your fellow student of the mystic arts knew of your soulhuman status not one week into your training, in spite of the rarity of being one. Your spaciness in the middle of battle training signaled to them that something else was going on. When your friend confronted you about it, you told them the truth: that you were a Soul Human and that you'd been having more frequent flashbacks since you came to Kamar Taj.
“Yes, this time, I saw the first time I met my soulmate. Not a great first impression for either of us, let me tell ya.” You couldn't help but let out a little laugh at that.
“Sounds like your first meeting of Master Strange.” You could hear the smirk in their voice.
You scoffed, dismissing your friend's suggestion quickly. “I'm pretty sure almost everyone's first impression here at Kamar Taj of Strange wasn't that great.”
“Well damn, that was quite a mouthful, Y/N. You only do that when you want me to stop talking.” Your friend paused, scrutinizing your expression. “He's your soulmate, isn't he?”
“Oh, look at the time. I gotta go.” You got out of your seat and headed toward the exit, giving your comrade a guilty smile as you opened the door behind you.
They narrowed their eyes at you. “You coward. You just wanna avoid my question.”
You shrugged a shoulder, then said as you took a step back out the door, “You're not wrong. But you can't do anything about it.”
You stepped fully out of the library and let out a sigh of relief. “Fwoo, that was a close one. They almost got me there.”
The truth was, you knew that Stephen Strange was your soulmate. He may have not looked exactly the same as in your past life, but you could recognize those stark blue eyes of his anywhere. But you wouldn't readily admit that to anyone.
“Almost got you to do what, Y/N? I thought no one gets you to do anything you don't want to.”
You turned around and smiled at the Sorcerer Supreme. “You see, the key word in that sentence is 'almost.' They still didn't get me to do it.”
Strange rolled his eyes in feigned annoyance. “You're ridiculous.”
“Thank you, that's what I was going for!” A mischievous simper appeared on your face.
“If you're done trying to be funny, we have a lead on the time traveler that's been causing us trouble.” Despite the stern tone, you could tell that he was attempting to hide a smirk at your words.
“You should've just started with that. I would've stopped being funny earlier.”
Strange raised an eyebrow at you. “Are you done now?”
“Maybe I am, maybe I'm not,” you replied in an amused tone. “It's been a while since I've been on an adventure with the Sorcerer Supreme himself.”
“There's a reason for that, Master Y/N,” he quipped back at you, smirking at your exaggerated offended expression.
“How rude of you!” you cried as Stephen opened the library door and walked toward the room with the Sanctum portals. “I don't know if I can be friends with you anymore; I'm so hurt.”
“Come on now, Y/N,” he chided in a playful tone. “We all know that if you were really hurt, you wouldn't be jumping at the chance to go on a mission with me.”
“You know, I could just be following you because I'm bored and then my feelings about you wouldn't matter.”
Strange sighed. “You're not fooling anyone, Y/N. Once, you refused to go on a mission with another student because they'd hurt your friend.”
“…You got me there. Now let's go get that meddling time traveler before they escape.”
The Sorcerer Supreme didn't dignify your words with a response, knowing you two would keep bantering back and forth if he did. So he stepped through the portal to the New York Sanctum and didn't look back, knowing you were following close behind.
I'm telling you, Stephen, I feel like something's following me, you sent telepathically.
You felt an icy breeze tingle your neck, causing a shiver to traverse down your spine. Your paranoid mind almost thought it could be someone's (or something's) breath.
Stay calm, Y/N, you heard Stephen's voice send back. For all you know, it could be an animal or your mind playing tricks on you.
You took a deep breath in, then a deep breath out. I know, but doing missions in the dark always freaks me out.
You never liked being out in the dark, especially considering that it was a circumstance a lot like this one that got you killed in your past life.
A loud bang sounded behind you, causing you to jump on reflex, spin around, and summon a shield with your magic. Instead of running away like a "normal" person, you decided to investigate whatever made that noise.
Are you okay, Y/N? Stephen must have sensed your jolt of fear through the telepathic connection.
You didn't respond right away, edging closer to the source of the noise. The light of your magic revealed the perpetrator, standing there seemingly unaffected by the crashing noise they had just made.
“Well now I feel like an idiot,” you said aloud this time, disappointment and relief flooding your body.
Standing there on a trash can looking smug as all heck was a stray cat, yellow eyes glowing in the light of your shield.
It was an animal, wasn't it? You didn't have to see the doctor to know that he was judging you and having fun at your expense.
Yes, and now I feel-
All of a sudden, you felt a searing pain go through your neck, interrupting your thought. You made an attempt to yell but found you could no longer move any part of your body.
Now you feel what, Y/N? Y/N, are you alright?
You tried to send out a mental message back to Strange but found out (to your horror) that you couldn't do that, either.
Your body fell onto the ground of its own volition since you no longer had any control of it. You hit your head on the pavement below you, pain coursing through your body. Your eyes began feeling heavy. Your consciousness started fading away. But just before you lost control, you saw your own face staring down at you, a needle in hand and a sadistic grin on their face.
Disclaimer: I do not claim ownership of Doctor Strange or other Marvel characters and their stories. Gif belongs to the creator.
Summary: Steve takes you to an abandoned house during Halloween night for a ‘date’. What happens there is hard for you to believe…
Warnings: none
Words: 1037
Author: Rouge
A/N: this little oneshot was written for @loki-the-fox writing challenge. Thank you for the opportunity ☺
Against the dark night sky all Steve could see was the crumbling walls that were nothing more than a ghostly silhouette of some previous existence.
The wind whistled through the trees.
”Did you hear that? Let’s go see what that was,” he offered, glaring at you above his shoulder.
You shuddered as you pulled your coat tighter around your waist.
The fading of the sunlight had also meant the fading of the heat. Wintry air swirled around both of you, taking every lick of warmth it could.
“I am not sure, Steve, I don’t feel good here,” you claimed quietly, tucking your chin downward into your pullover.
“Shush,” he put his finger to his lips, humming softly. “I’m here with ya. You’re gonna be alright, come on,” Steve reached his hand out to you, a little smile appeared on his bearded face.
You sighed loudly but took a hold of his palm and let him to lead you in.
You didn’t like the idea at all but you loved Steve and it was cute from his side that he was trying so hard to impress you. The idea of a trip to an abandoned house during Halloween night was, however, not your thing. You’ve agreed on his idea mostly because you didn’t want to make him sad. You knew that he put a lot of effort to prepare something.
Besides, it was something new. You trusted him fully, in the end he was your boyfriend. Part of you still was afraid of what was about to come but you took a deep breath and followed him inside.
Both of you were exploring the house for almost an hour.
Dust was over every surface like dirty snow.
Thankfully, Steve has taken the flashlight with him so you didn’t have to blunder through the complete darkness.
The floors had been a highly polished parquet, individual blocks lovingly placed and sanded to a smooth finish before the varnish was brushed on with fine bristles. The walls stood firm, the window frames strong, glass triple glazed and whole. All in all, it looked like a movie-set, a place waiting for life to come. The only give-away was the odour, well, that and the dust. It was musty and dry, but nothing opening the doors and windows couldn't solve.
You both passed by cracked windows and mouldy, browned wooden walls with water stains painting as scars upon skin. You and Steve stopped when you came to a collapsed doorway. Wooden planks barred you from entering, still there from when the northern side of the house had fallen on itself.
You approached, peering through the slats, the light streaming in. It looked just like the rest: quaint in size, aging, and creepy. But what was ‘abnormal’, there was a little table in the middle of the room with a tiny ornate music box on its counter.
You glared back at Steve and he nodded softly, moving beam a bit to wider the slat for you to slither in.
“Don’t hesitate, Y/N. It’s safe to get in, I guarantee,” man assured you softly.
With a quiet whimper you got into the room and waited politely at Steve to join you.
As he did, you both heard some not nice cracking a floor above and you held your breath back.
“What was that, Steve?” You whispered, instinctively grabbing a hem of his flannel shirt, tugging on it and pulling closer to him.
“Shush, Y/N. The house is old, it’s going rotten everywhere. It was just a wood, shush,” he explained calmly, stroking over your shoulder.
You mumbled something under your breath and you simply nuzzled to his wide chest, you shivered as you did.
“Hmmm? What’s that, Y/N? Don’t be afraid, it’s okay, I’m here. I won’t let anything bad happen to you.”
You could feel Steve smiling and you relaxed in his string arms a bit. Indeed, you felt securely when he was right next to you.
You glanced back at the music box.
“How is it not devastated like rest of the house? Only the music box is in a good condition. Interesting…” You muttered rubbing your chin with a thumb.
Steve let you out of his arms and gently pushed you ahead.
“Instead of talking, go and check why is that,” Steve suggested lightly and you frowned a bit.
Was it some kind of a trap?
You looked around the room in an attempt to look for any hidden camera but there was nothing.
As slowly as it was possible, you approached the old table and took the music box in your hands. You turned around to Steve, and within a second he was standing in front of you. Rogers took the box out of your hands and looked down at you as he was towering over your figure.
“Steve…?” You asked, cocking brow up and tilting your head a bit. “What’s that, Steve?”
He only smiled at you, showing his beautiful teeth as he went down on his knee slowly, and it was when you simply knew what was about to happen.
“Steve…?” You asked again but he kept smiling only.
Steve opened the box and you saw a beautiful ring with a sapphire.
You slowly put your palm to your mouth, you felt like you would collapse.
“Will you marry me, Y/N?” He asked softly.
The air was so brittle it could snap. But you took a step closer to him, nodding.
“I do, Steve.”
This time you spoke firmly, so sure of your own words. “I do.”
You let him put the ring on your ring finger, and when he stand up again, you simply jumped into his arms.
“I love you so fucking much, Rogers,” you whispered between kisses you were placing everywhere you could reach.
He giggled happily, wrapping his muscular arms around your waist and nuzzling his bearded face into your shoulder.
“I do love you too, honey-boo,” he claimed. “But, language!” He laughed harder, ruffling your bangs.
“Oh, c’mon, Steve! I’ve used THIS word to emphasise how much I love you, Cap,” you explained yourself and grabbed his palm. “Can we go back home now? I would rather not be killed in some abandoned house.”
Baking, Not Recreational (James “Bucky” Barnes x Reader)
Here’s my submission for @loki-the-fox River’s Marvel Halloween Writing Challenge. Thank you so much for letting me participate!
A/N: @mermaidxatxheart Thank you for all your help with this, sweet babycakes!!
P.S. Feedback is always welcomed and appreciated!
Pairings: Bucky x Reader, Platonic!Steve x Reader
Warnings: Swearing probably, a little bit of blood, lots of sass and some bets are made.
“Come on, babe!” you pleaded for one last time. “I’ve been planning this trip for weeks!” You gave your boyfriend the best sad puppy dog eyes you could muster. “This is the perfect time of year to go to the orchard. It’s early enough that all the good apples and pumpkins will still be there. And since I’ll be in DC the week of Halloween, I thought this would be a fun thing to do instead. Be festive and all that fun nonsense.”
“We celebrated last year,” Bucky told you, leaving down to lace up his combat boots.
You crossed your arms and popped a hip. “Eh, no. Not quite. We were in Wakanda, you just came out of cryo and were showing me your goats. There were no pumpkins, no costumes, no apple cider, and no donuts. APPLE DONUTS, Bucky! You can’t have Halloween without apple donuts!”
Bucky finished lacing up the last boot and stood up, a wicked grin on his handsome face. “You loved those goats,” he reminded you with a teasing tone. “And I seem to remember that we did have candy.”
You narrowed your eyes and scoffed. “No. You had candy. Something about not being able to enjoy life’s simple pleasures for the last seventy years?”
He offered you a sheepish smile, knowing that you were correct. “Yeah, that sounds about right.”
Releasing your defensive stance, you walked up to him and wrapped both arms around his neck and pulled yourself close. “How long will you be gone?” you asked, looking up at him, changing the subject.
Bucky met your gaze with affection in his eyes. “Just a few hours. Sam and I are doing a secret security check to see if we can break into Shield’s headquarters without being caught.”
You huffed, rolling your eyes. “You mean, you two are going to race to see who can break in first,” you corrected.
He smirked, rubbing his stubble covered cheek against yours affectionately, tickling you. “You know me so well. Plus, we both know Sam won’t make it through the first level of security.”
You pulled back and lightly smacked his chest with the back of your hand and scolded,” You’re so full of it.”
Ignoring you, he leaned down and pressed a chaste kiss to your lips.
Pulling away, you waved his off nonchalantly. “Go have fun with your manly man competition,” you told him, moving to step into your own boots.
The doorbell rang and Bucky gave you a confused look.
In return, you gave him a devious grin, walking to the front door while shucking on a light jacket to protect you from the crisp fall air. “I have a date with a manly man.”
Bucky walked to the door with you and pressed his chest against your back, wrapping his arms around your middle as you opened the door to greet the man who was picking you up.
You smirked at Bucky’s confused, “Steve?”
You and Steve had a blast at the orchard. It was a bit of a drive, but totally worth it.
By the time you were finished, you carried two 1 pound bag of apples each. Steve had to carry the pumpkins in one at a time because they were at least a solid twenty pounds each. You tried to tell him that you were more than capable of carrying your own pumpkin up the few stairs it took to get into yours and Bucky’s house, but Steve wasn’t having any of it, afraid you’d hurt yourself and have an angry Winter Solider hunting him down.
“What are you going to do with four pounds of apples?” Steve asked, rolling up the sleeves on his sweater and going to the sink, ready to wash his hands as instructed by you.
You grabbed the cutting board from its spot and pulled out a sharp knife to cut the apples with. “Apple pies of course.”
Steve dried his hands on the dishtowel. “Pies? As in plural?” he asked for clarification, eyeballing the massive amounts of apples.
“Mhm,” you hummed in confirmation, grabbing all the ingredients you would need. “I’m going to say at least ten.” You looked back at Steve and let out a laugh at his concerned look. “Don’t worry. I’m only keeping one here for Bucky. I’ll send you back to the compound with three and the rest are getting delivered to the VA.”
He let out a sigh of relief. “I was worried for a second. If you kept all of those pies here, Bucky would binge eat them.”
You rolled your eyes knowing he was right. “Yup, so that’s why we have to get them finished before he gets home.” You handed him a copy of the recipe.
He read over the instructions and looked back at you in awe. “How did you get this?”
You giggled and patted his cheek affectionately. “I may or may not have broken into the Smithsonian to get the Barnes Family Apple Pie Recipe. Not like they need it!”
Steve laughed. “I knew there was a reason why we kept you around.”
Together, the two of you managed to make 12 pies. Ten of which were already loaded into the back of Steve’s car. You decided to keep two and do a test to see if Bucky would be able to restrain himself from eating both in one sitting. You and Steve had a $50 bet on it, Steve saying there’s no way that Bucky wouldn’t eat both pies at once. Of course, Steve underestimated you and your skills at distracting your boyfriend. Poor Steve.
Steve had just finished carving his pumpkin and sat it down next to your on the kitchen island. He moved to stand next to you, wiping his dirty hands with a towel.
“I don’t understand how someone who is CIA can accidentally cut their fingers with a knife. Aren’t you supposed to be better trained than at?” He teased, nodding with his head towards your wound that you had covered with paper towel, trying to stop the bleeding.
You scoffed. “Says the one who added salt instead of sugar to the pie crust? Try me, Spangly Pants.”
“I’m not spangly,” he muttered as you heard the front door open, followed by familiar heavy footsteps.
“Bucky’s home!” you sang, giving Steve an evil grin. “I’m going to tell him it’s your fault I got injured.”
Steve gulped. “Alright, on that note, I’m going to leave. Protect the pies and all.” And with that, he was out the door, passing by Bucky.
Bucky turned and gave his friend a confused look, but didn’t try to stop him, instead, walked over to you and place a quick kiss to your lips.
“Hey, honey. How’s it going?” he asked, pulling away.
“All's good on this end!” you told him in a cheerful tone, casually sliding your cut hand behind your back so he wouldn’t notice right away. “How was the manly man competition with Sam? Who won?”
He sniffed the air, ignoring your question. “Do I smell pie?”
You snickered. “I swear, sometimes you’re a fucking dog.” Your boyfriend gave you a wounded look and you sighed. “There’s pie cooling in the fridge. But you have to wait until after dinner!”
Bucky smiled, eyes crinkling in the corners and pecked your lips again. “You’re the best!” He sniffed again and froze, eyes scanning your body. You knew you had been caught when his steel blue eyes landed on your arm that was still behind your back. With gentleness, he grabbed your arm and brought it forward and pulled the towel away and let out a low hiss when he saw the cut. His eyes then moved to the carved pumpkins on the counter and then back to you. “Did you seriously injure yourself carving a pumpkin?”
You let out a faux outraged gasp and pulled your hand back, holding it away from him. “How dare you assume things! I’ll have you know that this was a baking injury, NOT recreational.”
There was a moment of silence before he let out a loud laugh, pulling you to his chest and squeezing you tight. “You’re so cute when you try to be dramatic,” he cooed at you when he pulled away.
You just swatted at him, scowling. “I’m not cute. I’m downright terrifying.”
Steve owed you $50 and new pillows.
Sam never made it inside the perimeter whereas it took Bucky a total of 22 minutes.
A/N: So my hand slipped and I wrote over 6000 words. Oops. And as you can probably tell from the title this is a part two/sequel to Princesses and Pink Unicorns, but it can be read by itself. The first one just kind of introduces you to Thor’s life on Midgard and Lina. Also, Ragnarok? Don’t know her. IW? Really don’t know her. We’re pretending Thanos was caught and everyone is happy. This is my submission for @loki-the-fox Halloween Marvel Writing Challenge! It was inspired by this video. And as I stated before I’m such trash for Marvel men with little kids.
Prompt: Look, I dressed up as you.
Pairings: Loki x Niece & (some) Thor x Daughter
Summary: Loki spends Halloween night with his niece.
Word Count: 6.2k (oops)
Warnings: Fluff, swears, people being rude to a child, pregnancy
He loved his family, even if he was hard pressed to admit it. His annoying and obnoxious older brother, his gentle and kind sister-in-law, and his happy and carefree niece. And that’s how he ended up knocking on the door to his bother’s domestic Midgardian home on Halloween.
Thor opened the door, grin breaking out across his face. “Brother! You’ve come!”
“Of course,” Loki said, stepping inside the quaint house. Thor shut the door behind him. “You said there was something I just had to see.” Loki rolled his eyes a bit, sure whatever Thor wanted wasn’t that big of a deal. But he did enjoy time with Lina and getting out every now and then.
Thor nodded excitedly. “Yes! They’re finishing up with it now.” He patted Loki on the back. “You’ll love the surprise.”
“So, it’s a surprise now?”
“That’s how Lina put it, yes.”
Loki nodded and sat down on the living room couch. He didn’t know what was going on and didn’t know how long it was going to take. Honestly, he wasn’t sure it would be worth the wait at all. But if it was for Lina, he’d begrudgingly cave.
From the direction of Lina’s bedroom, he heard his sister-in-law call, “Okay! Here she comes!”
Loki stood up just in time to see five-year-old Lina come running out of her room. And she was dressed just like him. From her boots to her leather armor to her tiny green cape to her horned head piece. She was adorned exactly as he is in battle. Except for the pink unicorn wand she clutched in her hand. He was speechless.
“Uncle Loki!” She yelled, running right to him. “Look! I dressed up as you!”
He crouched down to her level. “I see that. But I don’t seem to recall carrying around a pink wand.”
She scoffed. “That’s because I’m also a princess.”
He smiled at her, pulling her into a hug. “Good call. Can’t let the commoners forget that.” She wrapped her little arms around his neck and hugged him fiercely. She was so sweet. So innocent. She had this effect on him that just made him melt. “This is the best costume I’ve ever seen.”
Lina pulled away and giggled happily. “Mommy and Daddy helped make it.”
Loki looked between the two adults. Both wore matching smiles. “Whose idea was this?”
“All hers,” his sister said, gesturing to the little half pint currently waving her wand. “She said she wanted to dress like her favorite superhero.”
Loki couldn’t help but laugh. “How does it feel, Brother? Beat out by me for your own daughter’s favorite superhero?”
Thor dramatically rolled his eyes, waving Loki off. “She’s lucky she’s as cute as she is.”
“She does wear it better than me.” Loki bent down and picked Lina up. “Don’t you, Petal?” He kissed her cheek and she squealed with delight. “This actually was a marvelous surprise.”
“Are you gonna come trick-or-treating with me and Daddy, Uncle Loki?” Lina looked at him with pleading blue eyes. He bit his lip, unsure of how to respond. Midgardian activities weren’t really his forte but how could he deprive his niece of such a simple request?
Thor spoke up, “You should come. You can get some free candy.”
He set Lina back down on the ground. “Well, alright.”
Lina cheered happily, dancing around in a circle. Loki was sure she was going to make herself dizzy. But her mother grabbed her hand, stopping her prancing. “C’mon, Olina,” she said, pulling the tiny girl. “We have to grab your candy bag.”
With the two females out of the room, Loki spoke softly to Thor. “Are you sure she’s alright to go out like that? I don’t want…after New York…what if someone’s mean to her for her outfit?”
Thor clapped his brother on the back. “That was a long time ago, Brother. Everyone knows Thanos was the real one behind New York. His capture revealed that, which, if you remember, you aided it. And you’re a different man now. Besides, Lina simply adores you. This was her choice. She wears your clothing proudly, Brother. So should you.”
While this wasn’t the first time he had heard of his niece’s adoration, it always had the same effect. He was honored. Lina was the greatest joy in his life and he felt so unworthy of being her favorite superhero. Especially when he didn’t feel like a hero at all.
And he knew the truth about the New York attack had come out to the public. Thanos had forced his hand in it. Thor made sure the air was cleared when the purple monster was finally brought to justice. But it was still Loki’s face that was connected to it. He was the one physically there, attacking. Some people, no matter what, still held him solely responsible for it. He couldn’t say he blamed them really. Even if he was key in capturing Thanos.
He was about to comment again when Lina came running back out, her candy bag in hand. It was a simple brown tote. On one side it looked like she tried to spell her name. Olina was sloppily painted on, each letter a different color.
“She wrote her name all by herself,” Thor whispered to his brother.
Loki nodded as Lina’s boots were properly fastened with her mother’s help. “Are you not coming with?” He asked, noticing his sister was still in just her socks.
She laughed and rested her hands on her large belly. “Walking around for two hours with swollen feet and a baby that could come at any time? No, I’m staying here. Someone has to give the trick-or-treaters candy.”
When Lina was ready she gave her mother a kiss and kissed her belly. Thor followed suit, adding to his wife how much he loved her and that they wouldn’t be gone for long. Loki felt slightly awkward and out of place. He merely waved his good-bye which she reciprocated with her own wave and smile. The three of them headed out the door, Lina in the lead.
“C’mon, Daddy! Uncle Loki!” She practically ran out of the house and onto the sidewalk. Her little candy bag was swinging wildly in her hand as was her pink wand. Thor chuckled and called for her to slow down.
“She’s very excited,” Loki commented as Lina started to jump up on down in one spot while she waited for them.
Thor laughed, the two men meeting up with the small girl. “She takes her free candy very seriously.”
Lina took off towards the first house once Thor and Loki reached her. She dashed to their neighbor’s front door and rang the doorbell with gusto.
Loki watched nervously, hoping Lina wouldn’t be shunned for her choice of costume. He was beyond flattered that Lina would want to dress as him. His heart swelled with love for the little girl, but she was young and naïve. She didn’t know what all he had done. She didn’t know all the people he had killed. If she did, would she still dress as him? Would she still call him a hero? He was selfish and hoped so. He wanted to live up to her image of him. The thought of disappointing her caused an ache inside of him that he just couldn’t explain.
The neighbor’s opened the door and Loki could hear Lina scream “Trick-or-treat!” He was flooded with relief when the neighbors simply smiled and placed the candy in her bag. Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad after all.
Once she had her candy. Lina raced back to them, jittery from her first score. With no encouragement she went over to the next house, Thor and Loki in tow.
Loki had to admit, he was enjoying himself. Watching Lina go from house to house, the smile never leaving her little face. Coming back to the two of them and saying what kind of candy she got before taking off to the next house. He could almost see why his brother was so fond of this life.
As he walked, he began to wonder. “Was this all planned?” He asked Thor as Lina was on her fifth or sixth house.
“What?” Thor questioned, glancing over at Loki. “Getting you to stay for Halloween? Not entirely. Lina wanted you to come see her costume-“
“Not that,” Loki cut him off. “All of this. Her,” he gestured to Lina, “your marriage. Your life here on Midgard. Was this all planned from the beginning?”
Thor chuckled and shook his head. “Not at all. She wasn’t planned at all.” He jerked his head towards his daughter. “After a mission there’s a lot of emotions and adrenaline. One thing led to another-“
“I don’t need details.” Loki waved off his brother’s words, not wanting those images in his mind.
“Her mother and I weren’t even together, you know,” Thor continued apparently unfazed. “But once we found out she was pregnant with Lina we began a proper courtship. We fell in love, Lina was born, and we wed. She’s very fond of Midgard, as you probably know.” Loki nodded. She was Midgardian after all. “So, we established a life here. This second child, our son, he was planned. But everything else, not so much.”
Lina came running up to them, bag and wand in hand. “Daddy, I got peanuts. Here.” She reached into her tote and pulled out the little baggie of peanuts. She gave them to Thor before going to the next house.
Thor laughed and opened the bag. “It wasn’t until it all happened that I realized this was the life I wanted.” He took a couple peanuts out of the bag and began to eat them. “I wouldn’t trade it for anything.” He offered Loki some nuts. Loki politely declined. Thor shrugged and ate another handful.
Loki thought about Thor’s words. This was all some big accident that lead to such an incredible life. It was a bit unbelievable if you asked him.
He noticed Thor glance over at him again. “You know you’re always welcomed here with us, Brother. We have room at the house and you know how much Lina loves you. She’d be so happy if you stayed.”
He thought about it for a second. Is a domestic life on Earth what he wanted? He wasn’t sure. “Thank you, Brother. But I think I’ll stay on Asgard for now. Someone has to watch the nine realms while you play here.”
Thor laughed. Loki knew Thor enjoyed his time on Earth and that’s what Loki wanted: for Thor to be happy but far away so he wasn’t annoying.
Lina came running up the them again. “Here, Uncle Loki.” Apparently, she got another bag of peanuts and this time Loki was lucky enough to get it. He took it with a smile and Lina went back to the lines of houses to get more candy.
The brothers followed Lina silently for a while. As time wore on, Loki noticed Thor check his phone more and more. Loki looked at him, perplexed. “Are you alright, Brother?”
Thor nodded, checking his phone again. “We’ve been out for almost an hour. She’s got two days left but she could go into labor at any time…” Loki realized Thor was just worried about leaving his pregnant wife at home alone. “Olina!” Thor’s loud voice carried easily towards the little girl who instantly turned towards her father. “C’mon! We gotta go home now.”
“Aw!” Her audible cry came out long and whiny. “But there are still other people out!” She dragged her feet as she approached them. “I still want candy!”
“I know.” Thor took her hand, pulling her along. “But Mummy is all by herself and her belly is so big. We have to go back and make sure she’s okay.”
Lina tried to resist. “But Mommy has baby brother in her tummy! He can keep her okay!”
“Let’s go.” Thor didn’t try to argue or reason with her. He simply pulled her towards home.
Loki wasn’t sure he was speaking until it was too late, “I can take her the rest of the time.”
Thor cocked his head, giving his brother a questioning look. “Are you positive?”
“How difficult can it be?”
Thor looked unsure but let go of Lina’s hand. “If you insist.” He reached into his pocket and gave Loki his cell phone. “Take this. Lina can show you how to use it. If you need anything or something happens, please call.”
Loki took the phone and placed it in his own pocket without so much as a glance at it. “Everything will be fine, Brother. Go home to your wife.”
Thor crouched down to Lina’s level. “I’m gonna go home to Mummy. Uncle Loki is gonna take you to get more candy. Are you gonna be good for him?” Lina put her whole body into her nod and Thor smiled. “I love you, Olina.” He kissed her cheek and she squealed.
“Are you absolutely sure?” Thor asked again.
“Yes, Brother, yes. I’m perfectly capable of caring for Lina for an hour.”
“Alright.” Thor gave Lina one more kiss before heading home. Lina waved at her father before going back to trick-or-treating.
Loki found watching Lina to be easy. She did all the work. All he had to do was follow her. And still no one seemed to react to her costume. At least not that was obvious. If anyone found it in bad taste they didn’t let on and simply gave Lina candy anyways.
Honestly, he quite liked being with Lina, even if she didn’t pay him much attention. He found joy and pleasure just watching her running around, looking just like him.
As she went he got a couple more tiny bags of peanuts and a few bags of pretzels. Lina apparently didn’t like anything that wasn’t doused in chocolate and or sugar. He would simply have to steal some of that goodness from her later. Or maybe he could simply ask her and she’d yield. He was her favorite super hero after all.
Lina came running up to him. “Uncle Loki, can we cross the street there and get more candy?” She looked up at him with pleading eyes.
He checked the phone Thor had given him, making note of the time. “Sure, Petal. We can across the street. Will you hold my hand?”
She nodded happily and let him take her hand. She waited by his side and he looked to make sure cars weren’t coming before walking across with her. He had to keep her in check. She wanted to dart across as fast as her little legs could carry her.
Once they were safely on the other side she tried to wiggle free, but he kept hold. “For safely escorting you to this side of the street, I request one chocolate as payment.”
She scrunched up her face, giving him her meanest glare (which also happened to be her cutest). She angrily stuffed her hand into her tote and started rooting around for some chocolate to give to him. He crouched down to her level as she searched. She would pull out a piece but then quickly shove it back in. He watched her with an amused smile. She was simply adorable.
Finally, she found a piece. “Here,” she handed him a squished piece of candy.
He happily took it from her. “Thank you, Petal,” he said with a chuckle.
“Now can I go get more candy?”
“You may.” She didn’t need any more prompting. She ran towards the next house, ringing the doorbell with excitement.
Loki ate his piece of candy and continued to watch her. She showed no sign of slowing down. Once the candy was eaten, he went to put the wrapper in his pocket. When he did so, he felt the phone that Thor had given him. He pulled it out and looked at it again.
The time was plastered in big numbers on the screen, making it easy for him to see. Other than that, the phone was just black. Big, rectangular, and black. It couldn’t be that hard to figure out. He didn’t need a five-year-old to show him how to use simple Midgardian technology. In fact, just to prove that he knew what he was doing, he was going to call Thor and tell his brother how simple it was.
Except, he wasn’t sure how to do it. He had seen Thor talk into the phone before, maybe that’s how one starts it. He brought the phone close to his face. “Phone,” he commanded, “call Thor.” The phone did nothing. The time numbers on the screen even went away. Clearly that wasn’t right.
His second attempt was to shake the phone. Maybe movement made it work. The time came back after he jostled it a bit but that was it. Only the glowing white numbers stared back at him.
He was starting to get frustrated. He was a God. He could work a phone. He squeezed it in his hand tightly. Maybe he needed to be more forceful with it. Maybe it needed to know that he was the one in control on it now.
He wasn’t sure what he did, but the screen lit up. The time moved and became smaller, making room for a big picture of Lina and Thor. Lina was dressed in her sleepwear, tucked snuggly into Thor’s side. Thor had a small book propped open on his lap. Both of their heads were down, looking at it. It appeared as though he was reading to her. It was a sweet picture that caused him to smile.
Beside the picture there was a grey block on the screen as well. It showed his sister’s name and the message: Everything going ok with Lina?
A thought struck him. This was Thor’s phone. Obviously, it couldn’t call Thor. How stupid he felt. He brought the phone back up to his face and instructed it to call his sister. He was even more annoyed and embarrassed when that didn’t work. Maybe he did need the help of a five-year-old.
He was about to admit defeat and call Lina over when her small voice caught his ear. “No! Stop! That’s mine!”
He didn’t realize he had started to lag in keeping up with her, fussing with the stupid phone. She was several houses down but he could still make out her green shape. There were several other girls with her. They looked older. And bigger. One had grabbed her bag and was pulling on it, making Lina scream.
Quickly he rushed over to the scene, shoving the phone back in his pocket. He got there just as Lina’s bag ripped and her candy went flying. The other girls were grabbing at it and stuffing it into their own bags as Lina cried.
“Hey!” He yelled at them. “What’s going on here?”
“Uncle Loki,” Lina sobbed. He couldn’t understand the rest of her words, they were too muddled with tears.
He glared at the other girls. How dare they make his niece cry. “What happened? Why did you make my niece cry?” The girls looked up at him, eyes wide in fear. When they didn’t answer he took a step towards them, placing himself between them and Lina while making sure to avoid stepping on the candy. “Why. Did. You. Make. My. Niece. Cry.” On instinct he started to draw his daggers but quickly stopped. These were children still, no matter how horrible they might be.
The girls crowded together. Lina continued to cry and sniffle behind him, fueling his rage. “Well?!” He took another step towards them.
Another voice caught his attention. “What the fuck is going on out here?” An adult woman came over to them, looking from the girls to Lina and then to Loki. “What the fuck are you doing to my daughter and her friends?”
“I haven’t done a thing,” Loki said, offended. “They,” he pointed at the girls, “made my niece cry, ripped her bag, and stole her candy.” He huffed. “Demon children.”
The woman narrowed her eyes at Loki. “Fuck.” She pushed the girls behind her. “You’re that monster who attacked New York!”
Loki scoffed. “That’s not the point-“
“You’re a fucking monster!” The woman screamed.
“No more of a monster than your child!” Loki retorted.
“Don’t you say a word about my daughter.” She said angrily, taking a step towards him. “That thing,” the woman pointed at Lina, “probably attacked my girls first!”
He was seething. It’s one thing for this woman to yell and insult him but for her to say something about Lina was crossing the line.
“Take your child and leave now,” he growled lowly. “Or I’ll make sure you regret it.” He could feel the daggers forming in his hands. She was an adult who brought this upon herself, right? He was just defending himself and Lina.
The woman took another step towards him. “You do one fucking thing and I’ll call the goddamn Avengers myself and have them murder your ass right here.” She made eye contact with him and held it surprisingly well. The fact that she wasn’t showing any sign of fear would have impressed him in another situation.
“Uncle Loki.” Lina’s small voice broke his glare. As much as he wanted to slice this woman to pieces he knew it wasn’t a good idea. He didn’t want to expose Lina to that kind of violence. And while he wasn’t scared of what the Avengers would say if this insane woman called them, he knew it would get back to his sister. Now that was a scary thought. Especially with her being pregnant.
He was the one who backed down, albeit begrudgingly. “C’mon, Petal,” he said, shifting his focus to Lina. “Let’s go.” He went to take her hand.
“But my candy,” she whined and started grabbing at the remaining pieces on the ground.
“Okay,” he spoke softly, “okay.” He grabbed as much as he could and stuffed it in his pockets (along with her wand). When it was mostly picked up he took her hand and pulled her away. She followed, tears still falling. Her torn little tote dragging behind her.
Quickly, he got her away from the scene, trying to cool himself off. When he deemed them a safe distance he stopped and crouched down to Lina’s level. “Can you tell me what happened?”
Lina nodded. “Those girls,” she said, wiping her nose on her sleeve, “said mean things!”
“What kind of mean things?” He pressed.
“They-“ she tried to calm herself down, “they said- they said you were a bad person!” A new wave of sobs took over her. “They said you did bad things and I told them no you’re a good person not a bad person.”
His heart was breaking. Did all this happened because she tried to defend him?
“They said since I was dressed like you that I was a bad person and bad persons don’t get candy and they grabbed my baggie and then it ripped and they took my candy!” Lina was crying and near hysterics again.
“Petal…” He pulled her into a tight hug. She returned it, wrapping her small arms around his neck and holding on tightly. “It’s okay. I’ve got you.” He stood up, taking her with him. She continued to cling to him and cry her tiny eyes out. He whispered soft reassurances to help, rocking her gently and rubbing her back. Anything he could think of to help her calm down.
When her tears finally slowed and there were pauses between her sniffles, he pulled her away. She was still being held tightly in his arms, but he wanted to be able to look at her. “You didn’t have to defend me,” he said. This was exactly the thing he was worried about. Someone would get upset about her costume and be mean to her. This is what he told Thor about, but Thor just brushed it off and now Lina got hurt.
“But,” she sniffled again, “but you’re nice and they said you were mean.”
“I know,” he said, thinking his words over carefully. “But it’s okay if they think I’m mean.”
“But you’re not,” she argued, wiping her eyes. “Right?”
“Oh, Petal.” He brushed some of her blonde hair behind her ear. “Once, a long time ago, I was mean.”
“You were?”
“I was. And some people only think of me as mean.”
“Were you mean a real long time ago?”
“A very very long time ago.”
“Before I was born?”
“Way before.”
“Before Mommy and Daddy were born?”
He gave a soft chuckle at the absurdity of her question. “Not quite that long ago. It was right around when your parents met.”
“Oh,” she replied and wiped her eyes again. “Were you mean on purpose or on accident? Sometimes I do things on accident but its only because I didn’t mean to do them.”
“Um,” he thought about how to answer. “A bit of both. I made some poor choices and ended up in a bad situation. Then someone forced me to be mean.” He could feel himself tense at the thought of being back with Thanos. He stiffened, trying not to relive that nightmare.
Lina laid her head on his shoulder, almost like she was now comforting him. “It’s okay, Uncle Loki,” she said into his neck. “I think you’re very nice.”
He kissed her forehead. “Thank you, Petal.” He hugged her tightly. “Do you want to get more candy?”
She nodded. “But my baggie broke.” She started to cry again.
Loki used his thumb to remove her tears. “It’s okay. Don’t cry. I can fix it.” He set her back down and gently pried her little bag from her clenched fists. With a little bit of magic, the seams of the tote came together and sealed themselves. He gave it a tug to show Lina that her bag was secure once more.
“Thank you,” she said softly. “But…” The tears were coming again. “I lost all my candy.”
“We saved some.” Loki started pulling what he had out of his pockets. As he put the candy back in her bag he suddenly felt guilty for asking for a piece earlier. Her little tote wasn’t even half of its fullness. “And I have your wand, Princess.” He pulled the pink stick out and gave that to her as well. She grabbed it.
“Now,” he said once Lina had everything. He looked at the phone again, ignoring the message that was still on the screen. “We have fourteen minutes left to get candy. Shall we?”
She nodded, and he offered her his hand. “Will you carry me?” She asked so softly. How could he refuse her?*
With ease he scooped her up again. She snuggled in against him, holding her wand and her bag. She sniffled and leaned against him. “Where should we go first?” he asked her.
She pointed in the direction she wanted to go, and he carried her there. He tried to set her down, so she could go up to the houses, but she refused, simply holding on to him tighter. He wasn’t particularly pleased to have to walk up to each house for her. He wanted to limit his human interactions. And he was now worried about what reactions he would get. Instead of seeing people from a distance he was now up close and personal with them.
Thankfully, his worst fears were not met. Every house they went to people simply gave Lina the candy. She was shying away from people, speaking softly, holding out her bag, and burying her face in his neck. Most people seemed to find her cute (which she was) and would ask if she was tired. Loki went with it.
When trick-or-treating came to an end Loki carried her home. Her tote was almost to the point it was before her candy was taken. He still felt so bad for her. He felt like he ruined her Halloween. He would have to find a way to make it up to her.
He set her down when they reached her home. The door was unlocked, and they walked in, Lina in the lead. Her smile returned as soon as she stepped into her home. “Mommy!” Lina took off to her mother, dropping her tote and wand. Her mother was sitting on the couch, feet propped up with a pillow and a plate of food on her belly.
“My Lina!” She opened her arms for the little girl and Lina dove in, fitting neatly next to her mother. “You wanna watch Hocus Pocus with me?” Lina nodded, curling her legs under her.
Loki took a few more steps in and Thor emerged from the kitchen carrying a smaller plate of food. “Everything go okay, Brother? She wasn’t too much trouble, was she?”
Loki shook his head. “No, not at all.” He didn’t want to tell them about the incident with the woman and the older girls. Not yet. He didn’t want to cause his sister distress and make Lina relive it at the moment. That would be something he could tell Thor in confidence when they were alone.
Thor handed Lina the small plate. “Thank you, Daddy.” Lina took it and started eating.
“Did you have fun with Uncle Loki?” His sister asked to which Lina nodded. Her eyes stayed glued to the television as she ate. “Thank you, Loki, for staying with her. It really means a lot to us how much you care about her.”
Loki waved off the sentiment. “It’s nothing. She’s a pleasure.”
The girls snuggled on the couch, watching… whatever it was that they were watching. While he probably should have just left to go back to Asgard he felt compelled to stay where he was. At least for a little while. Long enough to eat Thor’s food and return the cell phone.
He hunkered down in the kitchen with his brother while mother and daughter were cozy in the living room. He wasn’t sure what he was eating, but it was good nonetheless. Midgardian food always was a mystery to him.
“Were things as good as you say they were, Brother?” Thor asked in a soft voice, so their conversation wouldn’t be overheard.
Loki sighed, pushing his food around. “Not quite.” He told Thor of the encounter with the woman and the other girls and what they did to Lina. Thor pressed him for details and descriptions. Loki told him what he could, and Thor vowed to investigate it discreetly. He didn’t want to upset his pregnant wife which Loki agreed with.
There was silence between the brothers for a while as they ate. He took this time to think about his own childhood. It wasn’t great. He didn’t have nearly as many people as Lina does who cared for him. He was so grateful that the adults in her life loved her unconditionally, him included. He would do whatever he possible to ensure she didn’t suffer like he did.
Loki could faintly hear the television and occasionally Lina’s giggles. It was a pleasant sound and made him smile. “Uncle Loki!” He heard her yell between giggles. “Come see this!”
Loki raised an eyebrow at Thor who simply shrugged. Not knowing what he was getting himself into, he simply obliged. Lina’s eyes were glued to the television as he sat down next to her. He looked but had no idea what was going on. There were three oddly dressed woman and a talking cat. It was quite bizarre.
Lina handed her plate of food to her mother and scooted closer to Loki. He instinctively opened his arm for her and she nestled right along side him. While he normally enjoyed her cuddled up with him he felt especially fond of it now. Especially protective of her.
Between giggles Lina would explain what was happening in the movie but he didn’t bother to keep up. For one her explanations were terrible and for two he didn’t really care. He mostly found Midgardian entertainment boring. But he sat there and watched it with her while her mother struggled to get up and take the plates to the kitchen. He removed Lina’s head piece, so he could idly run his fingers through her hair. She snuggled closer to him.
The movie ended shortly after and Lina’s mother came back in. “Okay, Lina. Daddy’s gonna give you a bath now. Say ‘good-bye’ to Uncle Loki.”
“Aw!” Lina whined much like she did when Thor tried to hinder her trick-of-treating. “Does Uncle Loki have to go home?”
His sister sighed. “He’s been here all night, love. You dragged him all over the neighborhood for trick-or-treating. I’m sure he wants to go home and rest.”
Lina turned and looked up at him, eyes wide and sad. Her little lip quivered, and he caved instantly. “I can stay a bit longer, Petal.”
She hugged him happily before she was pulled away. “You still need your bath. C’mon, Daddy’s waiting in the bathroom.” Lina’s little hand was grabbed by her mother and the tiny girl followed without complaint.
Loki didn’t know what he was supposed to do so he just stayed on the couch watching as the same movie came back on the television. Maybe the damn thing was cursed.
His sister came back out, but without Lina, and sat down next to him. The cushions sank under her weight, but he knew better than to comment on that. She propped her feet back up. “Thank you so much, Loki,” she said, resting her hands on her large belly. “You really didn’t have to do all this for her.”
“I’d do anything for her,” he said. He meant every word.
She smiled. “Lina really looks up to you, you know. We asked her what she wanted to be for Halloween a couple months ago and she said you. No prompting from us at all. So, we went to work on how to make her a tiny version of your outfit. It came out a lot better than I thought it would. She was so excited when she put it on for the first time. She wanted it to be a big surprise for you, too.”
“It certainly was a surprise. And an honor.”
A comfortable silence fell between them until little Lina came running back out, Thor behind her. She was dressed in her sleepwear and her hair was dripping wet. “Uncle Loki!” She yelled and dived onto the couch next to him and scurried onto his lap. “Will you read me my bedtime story?”
“Sure, Petal.” Lina cheered in delight then proceeded to giver her mother and father a kiss goodnight. Loki followed her into her bedroom. She grabbed a book from her nightstand and got under the covers of her bed. Loki got in next to her, a bit squished as the bed was more child sized than adult.
He opened the thin book as she laid her head against his chest. He started to read it to her softly, taking his time and cherishing the moment. It struck him that this was just like the picture that he saw on Thor’s phone. He wondered if his brother felt as peaceful then as he did now.
He wasn’t even half way through the book before he noticed Lina had fallen asleep against him. Her breathing came out in even puffs. Her hair falling in front of her face. She looked like a tiny angel.
He knew he should take this as his cue to leave but she looked so sweet he didn’t want to wake her. Instead, he adjusted in the bed, pulling Lina right against him. “I love you so much, my little Petal.” He kissed her temple gingerly and she didn’t move. He kept her close as he closed his eyes. Staying a little longer wouldn’t hurt.
A/N: Okay, this is probably my worst piece ever. I have no idea what happened at the end or anywhere in this disaster. This is just rubbish, but I said I would do the Halloween challenge for @loki-the-fox. So here it is, and I am so sorry you had to read this curse. I hope it’s good enough, though. Prompt was “What the hell was that thing?!”.
Warnings: Mentions of abuse, rape and alcoholism. If there need to be any other warnings like my horrible writing, then please let me know.
Word Count: 2 021
Blurb: “What the hell was that thing?!” Was not what (Y/N) expected to hear when she felt the pull of her summoning medallion. It had been eons since she left her previous master and moved to Midgard, but now she was being summoned by someone else, and right in the middle of trick-or-treating as well! Now she’s stuck in a battle between the greatest heroes of Earth and… cryptids or mythical monsters? Well, it is Hallowe’en after all.
*DISCLAIMER: I DON’T OWN ANYTHING IN THIS BUT THE PLOT*
“What the hell was that thing?!” Loki yelled at Captain America, who was throwing his shield at a yeti.
“I think that was the Loch Ness Monster! EXCEPT IT’S FLYING?!” His tone took a slightly hysterical note as the Loch Ness monster swooped down and barrelled into the Hulk, who had been released for some while by now.
And the only reason that Loki was still here, was because he could feel ancient magic coming from somewhere in the Temple of the Cryptids, which the Avengers were currently investigating for S.H.I.E.L.D. and he wanted that power.
His eyes swept the empty pedestals, and the floor which had been littered with traps when his eyes caught on something glimmering in the darkness.
A vampire launched itself at Loki, and Loki immediately summoned a stake and speared him through the heart. He was well-versed in the myths of the Midgardians, and now those myths were real. Over there fighting Iron Man was a cyclops, behind him he could hear Thor fighting the flying Loch Ness monster with the Hulk. Captain America and the Winter Soldier were fighting the yeti and that left the two spies, who were just shooting at the rogue, human-shaped werewolves and vampires, as well as the Fae and the small faeries which Loki had destroyed by simply crushing them in an overwhelming wave of magic. Flooding your system with magic was not a fun thing to do.
He reached for the medallion, a small silver disk with cat ears and whiskers etched into it, and when he took a closer look, the lines were made of miniscule words in some forgotten language. The magic was coming from it.
He felt his own Seidr respond and let his Seidr do the work, filling the small grooves in the medallion, and a shiver went up his spine as he felt the peculiar feeling of mind-bonding. Not as powerful as soul-bonding, but nearly.
“Master, you called?” A small, female voice asked, and he turned around to see a small Midgardian, around 16 to 18 years old, around his age, had he been a Midgardian, bowing with her head down and undoubtedly female. She was wearing a black cat onesie Loki noted dazedly as a vampire tried to bite him in the neck.
“And what are you?” He asked, quickly flipping he vampire over his shoulder and stabbing it with a wooden stake through the chest.
“I am a spirit. I have been living on Midgard ever since I escaped my previous master.” She looked up and his breath hitched at her piercing (E/C) eyes. They were definitely cold, calculating and dissecting his soul before him. “As you can see, I was just trick-or-treating.” The spirit either hadn’t acknowledged the fight or weren’t paying attention, because she was offering sweets to him.
“Can you fight?” Loki asked, glancing around, and (Y/N) laughed.
“Of course I can. I am a spirit of death and battle, myself and my followers were known as the best spies and assassins of our world.” (Y/N)’s smile took a vicious turn, and the onesie rippled, revealing black, silver and green armour, but she took one look at Loki’s armour and the silver changed to gold. Her armour wasn’t too different from the Valkyries, but there was a sigil on her chest that Loki didn’t understand, but it emanated power.
Within minutes, (Y/N) had taken down the cryptids, much to the surprise and amusement of the Avengers, when she managed to find the weak spots and knew all the weaknesses of the creatures.
“How did you do that?” Captain America came over, huffing and puffing.
“I told you, I am the leader of many assassins and spies, we know everything about everything.” (Y/N) shrugged. “You’re not safe as long as you’re living. That and I’ve had to deal with these creatures before.”
“And who are these spies?” The red-haired Black Widow asked, crossing her arms across her chest.
“That would be telling.” (Y/N) Gave her a mischievous smirk and turned to Loki, kneeling and bowing her head. “My lord, I am now in your care and your command. I pledge my life to protecting and serving you and your family, or chosen family. My servants, followers and magic will be yours to exploit, and my body to be used as your weapon as you choose. I am yours completely, until the day I reject your orders. Accept my pledge of fidelity and loyalty.”
“I accept.” Loki responded in turn, almost immediately before any of the team could object. (Y/N) stood up and smirked, her clothes returning to her trick-or-treating outfit.
“You found her, brother!” Thor exclaimed jovially, clapping a grimacing Loki on the back. “(Y/N) has been lost for a millennium, she was our servant once, but she disappeared one day. Do you not remember?”
Then it hit both (Y/N) and Loki at the same time. The strange familiarity of the magic in the medallion could be found in (Y/N), no wonder Loki stayed around after the Hulk was released. The easy way that (Y/N) could seemingly trust her new master, she had known him before.
“How are you the one that remembers?” (Y/N) asked, poking Thor in the side, and he rolled his eyes.
“Because I remember thinking you two would look good together as a couple.” He said bluntly, before turning to his friends, leaving a blushing (Y/N) and a flustered Loki to sort out their emotions.
“Did he just-”
“I think he did.” Loki cut (Y/N) off and stepped closer to her. The little, orange, plastic bucket fell to the ground as Loki hugged (Y/N). “It’s good to have you back.” (Y/N) smiled, and wrapped her arms around him, settling into his embrace. “But now that I have your medallion, I guess I’ll be summoning you a lot more.” He gave her a devilish smirk that melted her insides, not that anyone would ever find out.
“Well, Master Loki, I should be heading back to finish my Halloween celebrations.”
“Let me come with you.” He shot a disdainful look at the Avengers. “I need a reason to leave before the decide that it would be better to lock me away than let me help out.” (Y/N) laughed and nodded.
“Now then, let’s go.” She placed a small kiss on his cheek and disappeared in a flurry of green, gold and black flower petals, taking Loki with her.
Loki got lots of compliments on his very accurate (and very real) costume, and (Y/N) showed him the small things the Midgardians did on the 31st of October.
“So where do you live?” Loki asked at the end of the night, and (Y/N) gave him a rueful smile, bopping him on the nose.
“With my friends, silly.” (Y/N) turned around, and led him into a dark alley. She placed the bucket down and a green shimmer starting from her feet climbed up her body and she turned into a cat before Loki’s eyes. He looked surprised for a second, and then grinned, turning into a cat himself.
(Y/N) wasn’t surprised, instead she just turned around, lifting the bucket with her magic and loped off at a leisurely pace, making sure that Loki was handling himself well enough in his new body, and he caught on pretty quickly, they turned a corner and found an emptied and cleaned dumpster with six other cats in it. (Y/N) turned back into a human and placed the bucket inside, turning around to see a human Loki.
Loki pulled her in and trapped her between his arms and the wall.
“Oh, what is this? The cold and distant younger prince of Asgard is showing emotions?” (Y/N) joked, and Loki rolled his eyes, glancing down at her lips. She parted them slightly in acknowledgement and leaned upwards to kiss him.
(Y/N) was hesitant, this was her first real, romantic, consensual kiss, and Loki had obviously had experience (I mean, who can resist him?), but Loki took it slowly, his hands at her hips. (Y/N) didn’t notice as her arms wrapped around his neck and pulled him closer, but she noticed his cool hands moving to her back and holding her as close as possible.
“Hey! Keep the PDA to a minimum!” A young, male voice called up, and they broke away, panting and gazing at each other. There was a gagging noise, and (Y/N) laughed.
“Sorry Vyrn.” (Y/N) gave her younger friend a lopsided smile. “This is Loki, my new master.”
“My apologies, my Lord!” Vyrn squeaked and dropped to his knees. Loki shifted and stiffened in her hold and she ran her hands through his hair, knowing that he used to love it and it calmed him down when she played with his hair as they both read. Loki eventually relaxed long enough to tell Vyrn to stand up and go inside so that they could resume their activity.
Loki had, at this point, lifted her legs up to his hips where she wrapped them around his lithe form and pulled herself up as he pressed her against the wall. His lips moved to her neck and she gasped as they worked at her pulse, nipping, biting, and definitely going to leave a mark.
Vyrn once again interrupted them with all the gathered things, hovering behind him about an hour later. “If you’re done making out, Princess and my Lord, we really must be going.” Vyrn flinched then Loki pulled away and readjusted himself.
When Vyrn was only a kitten, and (Y/N) was just starting to serve masters, they had their first, abusive, alcoholic master, who would literally rape them in any form (cat, human, hybrid, you name it) and beat them if they so much uttered a word. (Y/N) regretted allowing her followers to make an appearance when she first met him, and could only hope that Loki wouldn’t treat her family so callously.
“I guess I’ll have to see you guys later.” He said casually, nodding at Vyrn in a casual manner, and then lifting (Y/N)’s hand to his lips, pressing a kiss onto her knuckles. (Y/N) shook her head at his casual manner and turned to Vyrn.
“Let’s go, buddy.”
“Don’t get too attached.” He told her cautiously, and (Y/N) ruffled his hair.
“Don’t worry about Loki, he’s a Prince of Asgard, he should be raised well enough to dump me in a way to leave us both with dignity.”
“He’s the god of trickery and lies.” Vyrn replied sourly, and (Y/N) rolled her eyes.
“Since when have you been so defensive?” Vyrn sighed and grabbed the corner of her shirt but said nothing as (Y/N) teleported him, their stuff and their family of kittens, cats and hybrids to their new home.
The bodies of the defeated cryptids had long since disappeared into golden mist and the mist had just stared to roll out, giving the whole place a mysterious aura.
“Don’t worry, everything will work out with us, and maybe you won’t be so scared of love anymore.” (Y/N) held Vyrn close and kissed the top of his head. “Don’t worry, little brother.”
Vyrn sighed, and relaxed into her hold. “It’s just that I feel like I’m going to lose you.”
“Lose me?”
“To love, to him, to all your emotions and thoughts again.” Vyrn pulled out of her arms and turned to face her. “You disappeared for two hundred years! I can’t survive it if you disappear again!” He was referencing the time that they escaped their master, left Asgard and erased their ow existence to those they loved the most. Loki had been almost like Vyrn’s older brother; Thor had practically adopted their (dysfunctional) family. (Y/N) would never admit it, but she did disappear. She died. She left her body for two hundred years, floating aimlessly like a ghost wherever she went because she couldn’t let it go. Vyrn was right. And she would never be weak like that again.
“I won’t disappear again. I know how far to let someone in. I promise you, I will never disappear again.” (Y/N) whispered. “The first time was my last time.”
a/n: :) this is for @loki-the-fox ‘s Halloween Writing Challenge!!! <3
warnings: flangst? is that a word? also, cussing (hi I’m an aggressively positive yet assertive with cussing)
summary: ghosts and demons still haunt you, ghouls pull you astray. but down the stairs comes your tommy boy, and he’s here to stay.
Another Halloween spent alone, you thought as you dipped your spoon into your bowl of whipped cream. Tom’s always gone around the fall, never falling short of leaving before Halloween. Why such a scary day to be so excited about?
It’s your favorite holiday and the day you and Tom got together two years ago. Usually, you’d go trick o’ treating with friends but tonight, you wanted to be alone. You could say that about all days, really. Any day without Tom is a day you wanted to be alone, but you always forced yourself to go out with friends. Tom always wants you to be social, but when he isn’t around to cheer you up, what the point of being negative all day around other people?
You sigh, eating another spoonful of whipped cream. You didn’t really like pumpkin pie so you ate the whipped cream instead; it was better than eating your mom’s pumpkin pie because let’s be honest, it’s less than stellar. You were going to spend Halloween with your two year old niece, but your sister told you that she was getting sick. So, you figured that staying home was your best option. You had whipped cream, candy galore, and horror movies to keep the aching feeling of loneliness at bay, where you hoped it would stay.
Your phone buzzed on the counter, and looked down, seeing your favorite picture of Tom (he was smiling so happily into the camera at a restaurant, you couldn’t resist taking a picture). Your mood suddenly perks up a bit, seeing that it was almost five in the afternoon and he hadn’t called you all day. You slide your finger across the screen then place it against your ear.
“Baby!” Tom giggled, and you smiled.
“Tommy!” you spoke happily back, as you put the spoon back into the bowl.
“Happy anniversary, darling. I hope you’re having a wonderful day.” His voice was so happy and gleeful, you wanted to pull him through the phone so you could kiss him.
You smiled. “It’s going better now that I’ve talked to you, happy anniversary, Tommy boy. Wish I could’ve sent you something, your manager said that you wouldn’t be able to get it.”
He sighed, but he then giggled again. “Did you get my present?”
Your eyebrows furrowed in confusion. You had gotten home an hour ago from the office. “Your present?”
“Did Harrison not call you?”
“No?” You snatched the spoon from the plastic bowl before you clicked on its lid, and you started towards the fridge. “Was he supposed to?”
“Well, yeah, he was supposed to call you when he dropped it off. It’s special.” He spoke softly, and you sighed. You figured it was going to be a prank of some sort, knowing Tom.
You opened the fridge and placed the whipped cream on the top shelf before closing the door. “Is it now?”
“Yep!” He giggled even more. “Oh, he just texted me. He said it’s in the bedroom. Big ol’ box, can’t miss it, he said.”
“Jesus, Thomas, if this is a prank I’m gonna fucking kill you.”
Tom laughed again. “No no, it’s not a prank, darling. Just an anniversary gift for my sweetheart.”
“Whatever, you dolt. You’re gonna prank me because it’s Halloween.” You grumble, as you started towards the staircase. Your eyes darted to the pictures that hung on the wall, and you noticed it again. The hairs on the back of your neck stood up. “Babe, I’ll call you back when I find it.”
“What? Why-” You quickly ended the call as you walked up a few more steps to one of your favorite pictures on the wall. Your eyebrows furrowed as you slid your phone into your pocket. This picture wasn’t on the wall two days ago, you thought, as you pulled it from the wall. You gazed down to it, and something in your stomach hit you, the feeling of nausea came up.
On the glass and frame were three large claw marks that you noticed before; the picture was of the time you and Tom danced at your sister’s wedding before you two were dating. It was special because it was the first time you had ever met Tom, and it was one of the times where you knew you had found the one.
“What the actual Hell is going on? This has happened three times now.” Your voice was harsh, as you started down the stairs. You walked towards the dining table and you placed it down on the surface. The claw marks looked deep and were definitely from an animal.
“Just like the rest of them.” You mumbled, as you turned the frame over and began to move the little locks away from the inside of the frame. This happens every single time Tom is away, he has never witnessed it. You’ve had to throw away frames, glass, and family pictures and you had no idea what was happening. You were convinced that the house was cursed, and you had no doubt about it at this point. But you’ve learned to live with it; no poltergeists have come crawling out of your TV yet, and anything that has no family ties hasn’t been touched. It was strange, it wasn’t like anything you read about the ghost getting angrier and angrier to the point that the person’s almost killed, it was like this child that liked one thing and one thing only: to scratch up your prized possessions. “Whatever, I’ll deal with this later.”
You move away from the frame and back towards the stairs, your body was shaking but you didn’t notice; the claw marks were normal now, even if they were terrifying. Your feet were light on the staircase, as you reached the landing. You turn to the right, and you begin down that hallway, looking at every picture to make sure that they weren’t damaged. Your stomach was knotting even tighter, you didn’t notice that your hands were shaking. Not only did sentimental things get damaged, you would wake up to footsteps in the halls. It’s an old house, you hear things but it takes pressure for wood to creak.
A familiar song began to play in your head, trying to distract you from the aching feeling of being watched as you walked slowly towards your bedroom.
“God knows I tried, God knows I tried,” Your mind hummed, as chills were sent up your spine. You forgot how much you hated being here alone; you felt like you were in one of those demonic houses in Buzzfeed Unsolved: Supernatural. Your hand gripped the doorknob when you arrived at your bedroom door, and you saw the massive box Tom was talking about. Relief set into your bones as you walk forwards and looked at the massive box that was wrapped in pink wrapping paper and a gold bow, a smile tugging at your lips.
The box was as wide as a car, half the length, and half the height, and you knew immediately it was the massive bean bag you’ve wanted for weeks. Your hand grabbed your phone that was in your pocket, and you quickly dialed Tom.
It only took two rings for him to answer, and a giggle escaped your lips.
“You better not have gotten me what I think you did.” You mumbled as you pressed your phone to your shoulder with your head as you walked forwards, grabbing the bow and untying it.
“Maybe.” He laughed.
You rolled your eyes as you tore away the paper, a massive box was left. You unfolded the box and you smiled. Your guess was right: a massive (Y/F/C) beanbag sat there. “Thomas Holland, I love you so much I might fly out there and strangle you.”
“You don’t have to, babe.” He commented, and you shake your head.
“Now I have to come see you! I’m going crazy in this house without you, Tommy.” Your hands grabbed the beanbag and you began to pull it out of it containment. Once it was over the side and out of the box, you threw the beanbag on the floor behind you. You turned and smiled, your heart warming up. “Thank you so much, baby. Happy anniversary, Tommy Boy.”
“Did you see the other thing?” His voice was hushed now, and your eyebrows furrowed.
“I swear to God-“ You spun on your heel, and your jaw dropped, so did your phone. Your heart practically stopped.
“Hello, darling.” Tom’s curly hair and bright smile made you want to explode, but your smile got even bigger when you lurched forwards and hugged him with a bone-crushing force. Your face was buried in the small of his neck, your arms around his chest as tight as you could as tears escaped your eyes. You thanked God that he was home for your anniversary; for him banishing that poltergeist that seems to have infested your home. “Darling, what’s wrong-“
“You’re home, you’re home…” You blubbered, your terror had left your body the second you made contact with him. You hated being alone here, you hated being without him for five months. You hated the damn ghost that seemed to follow you like a damn puppy.
Tom hugged you back immediately, his face buried into your hair. He missed this house and he missed you; he hated being anywhere without you, it killed him. “Oh, darling…”
You were shaking, you couldn’t tell if you were excited about Tom being home or terrified of the things you saw less than five minutes ago. “Don’t leave me here, please, don’t ever leave me here again.”
You pulled your face away from your boyfriend reluctantly, and he did the same, but he kept the soft grip on your hips just as they were. His smile dropped when he saw your tears, his eyebrows furrowed. “Y/N?”
“I’m going crazy, there’s something in this house, I’m going crazy, don’t leave.” You rambled and Tom shook his head.
“There isn’t anything in this house, darling.”
“We have a fucking poltergeist in this house and I swear to GOD if you don’t get rid of it-”
Tom stopped your little angry outburst with a kiss, and you melted in his arms once again. His hand was now placed on the back of your head as he pulled his lips away form yours, and he pushed your head to his shoulder. “There’s no ghost, baby. It was just Haz messing with you.”
“For an entire year?!” You practically screeched, and you tore away from Tom, anger bubbling in your stomach. You grabbed your phone from the floor as Tom began to laugh, and you dialed Harrison’s number faster than the speed of light.
“Hello?”
“HARRISON JAMES OSTERFIELD, I’M GOING TO KILL YOU!”
What the hell is that thing?-Promt for the Halloween Challenge from @loki-the-fox
I waited. Silence. I waited some more. More silence. I sighed annoyed and made myself comfortable in bed. There was nothing out of the ordinary. After a few minutes I was about to fall asleep, then...
THUD.
I tensed then relaxed and pulled the blanket firmly over my head. Whatever it was, Loki would deal with it. The God was strong enough. Another small sound. Unidentifiable this time. I let out a shaky breath. Was the room suddenly colder or was it just my imagination? Still Loki was Loki. He would deal with it. He would.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
“Loki?”, I whispered unsettled.
My only answer was another soft thump. They almost sounded like Loki’s footsteps. Except, I never heard his, always keeping in the shadows, always silent on his feet. You never knew he was there until it was to late.
“He has enemies...”
I started to worry as the thought hit me. It was true. Maybe, someone came for him. Cold fear started to slowly creep into my heard and my head alike. Could this be it? Could they have come to...
Screech!
My hands closed over my mouth in pure terror at the demonic sound. Loki cursed.
CRASH!!
More curses mingled with Old Norse. Something was happening. Then...
Silence
I waited for a few seconds numbing cold fear seeing into my bones, into my very soul. The shouldn’t be silence. It was worse then anything; pure agony, as I waited for a sign. I lied there in my bed, scared, blanket pulled over my head like a little kid.
“Please, please...please give a sign...”
Thump.
Right outside my door
A whimper left my mouth. Soft, scared and muffled. Tears gathered in my eyes. This couldn’t happen. Not to me. Please not me.They continued softy, getting closer. The door creaked. Soft footsteps neared me. I wanted to scream.
“LOKI! LOKI! LOKI!”, I screamed in my head. I didn’t want to die!! I didn’t want to die, please...
The blanket was pulled away.
I screamed and tried to get away kicking. Slipping in tangled blankets and still fleeing. Barely a few steps away arms caged me. I screamed in terror.
“No! Please no! Loki!Loki! ”
“Oh, for... Will you stop screaming?!”
I continued to struggle for a few more seconds until I realized whom the voice belonged to. My fear turned to fury. How dare he!? I though he had died! I turned around to tear Loki a new one when....
...I came face to...face(was it even?) with... something.Ugly as hell, two heads, six eyes looking as if a toddler glued them onto it’s...muzzle maybe. Five tentacles instead of legs. And it was dripping a nausea-inducing-yellow saliva onto the carpet. I watched with morbid fascination, as it dripped onto the floor. And sizzled. Make that acidic nausea-inducing-yellow saliva. It looked like it came out of a horror movie. And cute strangely enough.
“ What the hell is that thing? “
“A hallow.”
“A what?”
“Hallow. At type of pet dark elves used to keep. You said All Hallows Eve will be tonight, did you noT? I thought you would enjoy him. ”
Warnings: description of fake injuries so slightly gore-y, mention of blood
Word count: 528
A/N: My entry for @loki-the-fox‘s Halloween writing challenge! I chose the prompt “’come on just let me scare a few trick-or-treaters’ ‘you’re gonna horrify them’ ‘it’ll build character’“! I bolded the prompt as well. Also mixing Halloween and Loki boi together was so much fun I cANNOT
Feedback would be greatly appreciated! <3
Halloween was, without a doubt, your favorite holiday. The costumes, the decorations, the candy--all of it created an atmosphere that was irresistible to you.
You loved to dress up. You preferred the spooky costumes, the ones that were unsettling but not outright terrifying. Just enough to creep others out.
It took a bit of bribing, but you managed to convince Loki to dress up with you. The main selling point was that you promised to keep an extra bag of sweets just for him.
You probably should've placed set some sort of dress code, though.
"You know, love, when I said "dress up", I meant spooks, not a gory slasher victim turned zombie," you said.
His costume was all about the makeup. His face was painted to look like a zombie, with a smile "carved" into his cheeks and "oozing" blood. A similar "cut" was across his neck, with "bruising" painted on around it as if someone had choked him and then slit his throat. All the cuts seemed to have fake signs of infection as well. There were fake bloodstains and a few tears on his clothes as well. Though you had a suspicion that those weren't actually Loki's clothes. If you had to guess, they were probably Thor's.
"I thought the point of Halloween was the horror," Loki replied.
"Well, yeah, that’s part of it, but small children likely dressed as pumpkins will ring the doorbell as well," you argued.
"Come on, just let me scare a few trick-or-treaters."
"You're gonna horrify them."
"It'll build character."
You snorted a laugh. Loki smirked.
You crossed your arms. "Fine, but on one condition."
"And what's that?" He asked.
"Don't scare the toddlers."
"Deal."
He walked up to you and placed his hands on your waist. "Now, as for you, my darling, I'm afraid your costume isn't quite scary enough."
He lifted you up and put you over his shoulder as he started back to the bedroom. You shrieked and began laughing.
"Loki! Put me down!"
"Only when we get settled, love," he replied.
He sat you down on the counter.
"I'm supposed to be a fairy, fairies aren't scary," you reminded him.
"Maybe not in Disney legends, but let's not forget the tales of the Fey in which they lure you into their realm with a false sense of security and trap you forever," Loki countered.
"So I'm one of those fairies then?"
"Precisely."
You had to admit, when he was done, you ended up liking it better than your idea. Your makeup had been intensified, making you look both ethereal and unnervingly beautiful at the same time. What little fake blood there was was around the corners of your mouth. You were also wearing a row of upper false teeth that, when you smiled, showed off the sharp points.
"And you won't even scare any toddlers," Loki said.
You smiled.
"Perhaps you shouldn't smile at them. I doubt their parents would appreciate you striking terror into their child's heart at such a young age."
"This coming from the guy who wanted to build character."
"That was before you smiled with those teeth in."
You laughed. As if on cue, the doorbell rang.
"Come on, let's go scare some people. After," you added, "we check if there are toddlers."
"And if there are?"
"I don't smile, and you don't jump out at them from the shadows."
Luckily, neither of you seemed to scare any toddlers. The same could not be said, however, of anyone older.
Let me know if you wanna be tagged/untagged! Sorry if you didn’t wanna be tagged! Strike-throughs mean that it wouldn’t let me tag you.
