How about Loki and Thor trying to get Hela and reader's daughter to say the first words, they've been trying for hours, until Loki or Thor says a curse word and the reader's daughter repeats it? that would be funny
A/N: Been a bit since a good family fic, huh? Enjoy the shenanigans!
WC: 1094
Rating: G
TW: None
“Come on, little one. Can you say Uncle Thor? Hm? Can you say Uncle Thor?”
You rolled your eyes as you watched your brother-in-law coo over your daughter, Sigrid, and looked over at Loki just as they seemed to be doing the same gesture.
“Brother, you’ve been at it for two hours now. If our niece wanted to say Uncle Thor by now, she would have.”
Thor scowled up at his sibling as he continued to hold her little hands in his own, keeping her standing on her wobbly little legs as she grinned up at him with a gummy little smile.
“Don’t act like you haven’t been sitting right here trying to get her to talk, too.” He accentuated his sentence by sticking his tongue out in the most childish gesture you’d seen from him (that day, anyway), and Loki made a face in response, opening their mouth to bicker when Hela cut them off.
“Never mind the fact that, even if she wanted to say it, it’s highly unrealistic for her to say a phrase like that at ten months. She hasn’t even said ‘mama’ yet, and that will be her first word, thank you very much.”
You hummed out a soft laugh as you settled more comfortably into her side, letting your head fall to rest against her shoulder as you watched Thor refocus his attention on your daughter, smiling fondly as he made ridiculous faces at her to get her to giggle.
“As it is, she’s taken her sweet time with all her other milestones. She didn’t even start crawling until about a month ago.”
“Yes, well that’s because she’s the most spoiled baby in the entire universe, she hasn’t needed to move on her own. You two carry her everywhere.” Loki teased with a smile, and you scowled playfully at them.
“And we’ll continue to do so, because she’s the best baby in the whole entire world. Aren’t you? Aren’t you?” you cooed at her, beaming when she turned at the sound of your voice and gave a gurgly little grunt as if to agree with you.
“Is she walking at all yet?” Thor asked conversationally, watching as she bounced on her legs as though trying to jump but unable to get herself off the ground.
“Mm, I don’t think she’s supposed to be yet, necessarily. All the books say she should be pulling herself to stand up, as well as crawling.” Hela had read just about every book there was, you thought, when you’d found out you were pregnant, and you swore she had committed all the usual baby milestones to memory.
“We aren’t worried about it,” you added on, making a silly face at Sigrid as she kept looking at you.
“She does try sometimes, though. If you hold her at arm’s length and keep hold of her hands. You can try, if you’re careful.” Hela reached for her glass of wine, and your glass of sparkling apple juice, and handed it to you before settling back against the couch, watching with unabashed amusement as Thor got Sigrid stood up on her feet and held her little hands.
“Come on, little one. Come to Uncle Thor!”
Everyone in the entire room seemed to hold their breath as they waited to see if Sigrid would try, and sure enough, after a few moments of hesitation, she took a wobbling step toward Thor, who absolutely grinned as he let her keep holding onto his fingers so she had something to keep herself upright.
“That’s it, little star, you’re doing it,” Loki’s voice, though encouraging, was the softest you’d ever heard them speak before, and it warmed your heart to see how gentle they were with your daughter. She was the first baby in the family, after all, and all four of you had spoiled her since the day she was born. You didn’t think there existed a more loved baby than her.
You continued to smile softly as you watched her take another wobbly step, and then another. But then her little knees seemed to give out with the effort and, despite Thor’s light grip on her hands, she fell back onto her rear.
Thor, worried that she might have hurt herself, immediately looked alarmed. “Shit.”
“Shit!”
You looked over at her so fast that you thought you might get whiplash, and realized that everyone else had done the same, at the exact same time, and for a long moment you looked at your daughter, and then at Hela, who was looking back at you with the same expression of pure shock that you knew must be on your own face.
“Shit!”
Sigrid repeating the word broke you out of your stupor and you looked back at her, finding her absolutely grinning as she looked between you and Thor, clearly expecting to be praised.
The silence was broken by Loki, who hit Thor with a book just hard enough that you weren’t entirely sure if he’d meant to actually hurt him or not. “Now you’ve done it, brother.”
“I’m sorry! I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” Thor immediately looked up at you, with the most apologetic expression you’d ever seen in your life. And then he looked at Hela, and seemed to lose all color in his face.
That was when you decided to look at Hela. She looked remarkably calm, but you all knew her well enough to know that calm wasn’t exactly a good sign on Hela.
“Did you just have my daughter’s first word be a curse word?” Her voice was just as even as her expression, and you found yourself instinctually placing a hand on her arm to ground her, just in case.
“Hela. Sister, I swear it was an accident! Really! I didn’t mean to!”
“You’re in so much trouble.”
You only had a second to see Hela’s expression change from calm to playful for the briefest moment before she lunged at Thor with the most ridiculous war-cry you’d ever heard, and you relaxed, knowing that she was only playing with him.
It took Thor much longer to realize this, and he cowered as soon as he saw her coming toward him, pulling his hands up to protect himself. “Hela! Hela, please, I’m sorry, I’m sorry!”
And then Hela tackled him and, rather than actually fight him, instead wrestled him to the ground, laughing all the while, and all you could do was laugh as you watched your entire family lose it, Sigrid repeating her first word in the background, smiling all the while.
Hi could you write a hela x reader where r starts preparing for spooky season and gets hela accustomed with the traditions but forgets to mention to not actually raise the dead ( maybe with hela and r scaring her brothers if you're comfortable with it)
Happy spooky season 🎃👻
A/N: Yes, this is an OLD prompt, no I'm not dead (I just work a famous haunted attraction at a theme park and it takes up my entire September and October). I hope this silly little spooky Halloween prompt makes up for my absence. Once I recover from working until 2am for two months straight, I'll be posting much more, I promise. Happy Halloween!
Rating: G
WC: 2210
TW: None
“So… explain to me again why we’re buying all of these decorations that look like ghosts and ghoulies and… gourds, for some reason?”
“It’s to decorate for Halloween, darling. Do you need me to explain Halloween again?” You glanced over at your girlfriend, in whose arms were cradled a rather obscene amount of black and orange garland, a pair of ghost figurines, and various other Halloween decorations piled nearly as high as her chin. She was being such a good sport about being used in lieu of a proper shopping cart, and you made a mental note to make it up to her later.
“No, no. I remember. It’s a holiday where children go from home to home requesting candy from complete strangers. Which, in my opinion, is a horrid idea. Very unsafe. Mm.” Hela mocked an expression of concern that simply did not convey any real worry at all, and you had to roll your eyes, even as you breathed out a soft laugh.
“They aren’t alone. Parents go with them. And that’s just a small part of Halloween. Really, only one night of it. In this household, we celebrate Halloween from August first all the way through November second.”
“That’s very specific.”
“That’s because I love Halloween. And because I can’t disrespect my ancestors by forgetting Dia de Los Muertos. Though, that’s not really considered much to do with Halloween, to most white people.”
“Well, then if Halloween itself is only one day, why decorate and celebrate for so long?” Hela glanced at you as you began to carefully set item by item on the conveyor belt at the checkout.
You shrugged a shoulder. “’Cuz it’s fun!” You set the last of your decorations on the belt and shuffled past Hela so you could greet the cashier.
“Besides. There’s other aspects I think you’ll find much more up your alley, too,” you continued after you’d had all your new home décor bagged and paid for, the both of you loaded with several grocery bags on each arm.
“Such as?”
“Well, it’s a time of year that’s deeply rooted in… well, ancient times. Traditions and stuff like that. The Celtics were believed to be the first that truly celebrated it. They believed that All Hallows’ Eve, which we call Halloween night now, was when the veil between this world and the next was thinnest, meaning that ghosts and demons and the like could walk among them and wreak havoc. The idea of dressing up in costumes was borne of the idea that if you dressed yourself up to look scary, the demons and ghosts wouldn’t know if you were a human or another ghost, and so would leave you alone.”
“Demons aren’t scary.”
“Maybe yours aren’t, but the Christian-based depictions of demons, especially back in the day, were certainly nightmare-inducing. No one would have wanted to be associated with them in any way.”
“And look at you now, dating a literal Goddess of Death who could summon the equivalent to demons at any time, if she really wanted to.” Hela was smirking at you, but you pointedly kept your eyes on the road as you drove.
“Look, all that’s telling me is that Halloween is going to be your favorite time of the year, too. We’ll do all the fun Halloween things. We’ll carve pumpkins, and do cute coupley costumes and shit. I’ll even take you to Halloween Horror Nights. Though maybe not. You do tend to have a… reaction, when you get scared, and we do not threaten scare actors.”
“Darling, you’re assuming anything could actually make me scared.”
You finally glanced over at Hela, just so that you could give her a look with a raised eyebrow. “Do you really want to risk it?”
“…for your sake, no.”
You nodded, and the both of you fell into a comfortable silence as you drove the rest of the way back to your apartment and unloaded the car, carrying in your haul and emptying all the bags out onto the dining room table so that you could get a good look at everything while you planned where to put them.
“Okay.” You clasped your hands together in front of you, and Hela turned to look at you expectantly, an amused expression on her face as she regarded you with arms crossed over her chest as she waited to see just what you were planning. “I have a vision. Cobwebs on the doors. Don’t worry about them getting dirty or anything like that, they’ll get thrown away at the end of the year. There’s just not a good way to clean them. The ghosts, I think, are gonna go around the tv set-up. That seems like a good place for them. The glasses and stuff, obviously, are gonna go in the sink to be washed so we can use them. Vampire teeth pillow will go on the couch, and then… I’ll have to get out my other stuff and go from there.”
“There’s more?” Hela asked, and you couldn’t quite tell if she was amused or concerned for your well-being.
You only grinned. “I told you. Halloween is my favorite.” And with that, you began placing everything just how you wanted it.
Hela, for what it was worth, was a very good sport the whole time, helping you make sure that everything was angled just how you wanted it while not impeding with the usability of countertops or electronics, and she could reach the top corners of the doors to drape the cobwebs with an effortlessness that you would have never managed.
Later, once everything was exactly how you’d imagined it and you stood looking around the living room with a sense of contentment, Hela sidled up behind you, watching the Halloween ambiance video you’d found on YouTube for a moment.
“You know. I’ve been thinking about what you said earlier. About the demons and stuff.”
You looked over at her, brow furrowed. “What about them?”
“Well… I suppose what I mean to say is that… Well, your decorations look all well and good, but… they could be a bit more… more.”
Before you could even open your mouth to ask what she meant, her hands began to glow green and with a wave of her hand, your living room was suddenly filled with a number of… well, you weren’t sure what they were. Dead bodies, perhaps? Though they glowed green and looked how you imagined a ghost might. And really, what was a ghost if not a dead body, anyway?
And then you realized that you were rationalizing the differences between ghosts and dead bodies instead of addressing the fact that there were creatures in your apartment that absolutely could not stay.
“Hela.” You looked over to see her grinning such a self-satisfied smirk that you couldn’t even find it in you to be all that mad. Even if it was very peculiar having a bunch of random dead people in your apartment. “They can’t stay.”
“Aw, why not? They don’t make any messes.”
“They’re dead.”
“They’ll hardly make a sound.”
“We can’t have anyone over!”
“Why not?”
“What do you mean why not?”
“I’m calling my brothers. They’ll have the scare of their lives.”
“Hela…” But you hesitated, because if you were being honest, the idea of seeing Hela’s brothers’ dignity knocked down a peg or two was something that would be quite humorous, if you did say so yourself. “…just this once. And then they’ve got to go.”
“We’ll see.”
Ten minutes, and one innocent phone call later, and you were waiting for the tell-tale knock at your door that meant Thor and Loki had arrived for, to their knowledge, a perfectly normal visit to their sister and her girlfriend.
“You really are trouble, you know that?” you teased Hela, leaning against the kitchen counter while you waited.
“What, am I going to be sent to Hel for being a bad girl?” Hela gave you a pointed look, followed by a quirk of her eyebrows, and you ignored it to the best of your abilities. You were not about to let her distract you right now.
As luck would have it, you were saved by the sound of a rhythmic knock at your door, and you glanced at Hela, making sure she was ready for… whatever exactly it was she had planned. She had been more than a little secretive as she’d gotten all the ghosty-dead-body-people hidden away in your room while you complained that they’d better not ruin anything while they were in there.
She gave you a single nod, smiling innocently, and you nodded, as well, before going over to the door and greeting her siblings. “Thor. Loki. So good to see you. Come in, Hela’s just inside.”
Thor gave you a warm-hearted smile, while Loki gave you a much more reserved nod, and they stepped inside as you held the door open, closing it behind them as you followed them.
“Sister, good to see you.” Thor wrapped Hela up in a tight hug, which she pretended to be disgusted by, but you knew she relished in the familial affection she’d been denied growing up. “Loki’s glad to see you, too. They’re just being quiet today.” He lowered his voice to a conspiratorial whisper. “Loki’s in a mood.”
You looked over at Loki just in time to see them roll their eyes dramatically. “I am not in a mood, brother, I simply am curious as to why our sister invited us over out of the blue.”
In amusement, you glanced back over at Hela, who was smiling in the most innocent way she could manage. “Can a sister not invite her siblings over to partake in the viewing of Halloween decorations without having an ulterior motive?”
You would have facepalmed, if it wouldn’t have put even more attention on the fact that Hela was very obviously hiding something. Instead, you decided to try to cut in and save face as much as possible, even though you weren’t entirely sure why you should. “Hela’s just really excited to celebrate her first Halloween, and couldn’t wait to show off all the decorating she helped with.” You smiled and nodded, and Thor grinned as well, clearly buying, while Loki only narrowed their eyes, clearly not buying it.
“Well, go on, then. Show off!” Thor turned to Hela, who only continued to smile, but you could see that familiar mischievous glint in her eyes.
“Of course. We’ll start here.” Hela gestured to the line of ghosts around the tv and began fabricating a story about them in such great detail that, you had to admit, gave your own Halloween setup a charm that it had lacked before. It was endearing, in a way, watching her give backstory and information about each and every ghost and decoration. You made a mental note to write some of it down, when you had the chance to later.
“But the truly amazing decorations are in here. We went all out,” Hela finished, stopping in front of the bedroom door. Loki opened their mouth to make what you were almost certain was going to be a semi-inappropriate quip regarding the decorations being in the bedroom, but Hela cut them off without a moment to spare. “Loki, do get your mind out of the gutter. It’s nothing quite like what you’re imagining. Go on, have a look.” She gestured broadly to the door, and Thor excitedly reached for the handle, grinning as he opened the door unexpectingly.
The next moment, a number of the ghosty-dead-body-people were streaming through the open door, running straight into Thor with such force that it knocked him to the ground. The response was almost immediate. Thor began to absolutely shriek in terror, making sounds so un-Thorlike that you had to cover your mouth immediately to stifle your giggles as you watched him try to claw his way out from under the pile of bodies.
Loki, on the other hand, looked neither amused nor frightened, instead only nodded along as Thor shrieked, clearly having expected something of this sort from the very beginning.
And Hela… Well, she was absolutely beside herself with her guffaws as she watched her poor brother cower in terror. You were mildly surprised that she didn’t have her phone out to record the whole ordeal.
The three of you let Thor to continue to freak out for a little while longer before Loki finally took pity on him and waved a hand, magicking away the spectres and leaving Hela to scowl at them.
“What’d you do that for?”
“He’s emotionally scarred as it is, don’t you think? Why ruin him even more?”
You and Hela both made a face of consideration at that, and then Hela nodded. “Fair enough.”
It was only then that you all seemed to notice that Thor was still mid-shriek, eyes squeezed closed, and you all three fell silent, waiting for him to realize that the threat was gone.
It took a solid further ten seconds before he seemed to catch on, and peeked an eye open, looking around the room.
“…phew. They’re gone. I fought them off.”
This time, all three of you lost it, while Thor looked on with a pout.
Hi could you do a part 2 where Hela kidnaps the reader? The Avengers find the reader and Hela getting married or something like that? I really loved it. Please and thank you with Fenris in the wedding with a cute green bow.
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A/N: I’m not gonna lie, I’m really surprised that after so much time, I got a request for a second part to this fic, but I really hope that I did your idea justice. Enjoy~
WC: 3397
Rating: G
TW: None
If you were being honest with yourself, you weren’t entirely sure how you’d let Hela convince you into having an actual wedding.
When she’d mention that not even having rings and just saying that being married would be enough for her, you’d thought… well, that it would be enough. But you supposed that there was some little part of Hela, in the back of her mind, that had wanted, or perhaps expected due to her royal upbringing, that a wedding would eventually happen at some point.
It had been mostly wishful thinking, at first, you were almost certain. A stray comment here and there about how nice it would be to get dressed up and have a wedding, or a passing thought about what you or she might look like in gowns meant for a wedding.
You hadn’t really thought much of it all, until she’d finally turned to you while you were settling in for the night, reaching across the bed to take your hands in hers.
“Y/N… I know we said that… that we didn’t need anyone else to… to know that we’re married. That it would be just for us to know, and that I’d be okay with that… But I… I can’t stop thinking about what a real wedding would be like.”
You’d nodded along slowly with her, but hadn’t said anything, knowing she likely had more to add.
“And it doesn’t really have to be anything big. It can just be you and me and Fenris. Although we’d have to have someone to officiate the ceremony, as it were. Witnesses are… well, I think we could manage without them, given that we were considering ourselves married anyway with no sort of pretense or formal propriety whatsoever, but-”
“Okay.”
“I really think that this would just be a fun thing to do together, and-”
“Hela.”
“I won’t be mad at you if you say no. I know we said we didn’t need anything like this, I just-”
“Hela.”
Hela had finally seemed to notice that you were speaking then, and she’d stopped mid-sentence, blinking at you in slight surprise.
“We’ll do it.”
You’d been almost certain she hadn’t believed you, with the look she’d given you then. “…yeah?”
And you’d smiled and nodded. “Yeah.”
Okay, so maybe it hadn’t been difficult for Hela to convince you into having a wedding, but it was daunting to think about, now that you were actually faced with the event.
To be fair, Hela had done most of the hard work. She’d sought out someone in the village that could serve as an officiant for the wedding, and she’d commissioned simple wedding bands to be made for the two of you, and had found someone to (very secretively) make a gown for each of you for the ceremony, but there was still a part of you that found the whole thing anxiety-inducing.
Or perhaps the real problem was that things were simply going differently than you’d always thought that they would. Growing up, you’d imagined a ceremony with a bunch of family and friends, and a big extravagant party with far too much alcohol and terrible dancing. Instead you had been kidnapped a wooed by a literal princess, swept off your feet, and were now in the middle of planning an intimate affair to seal the deal legally. Two very different concepts that your mind kept warring against each other.
Your nerves didn’t settle in any way until the morning of the ceremony, when you finally got to see the gown Hela had had made for you. It was long and flowing, and your favorite color. It fit in all the right places, and cascaded around you in the most beautiful waterfall of fabric, and it was so perfectly and entirely you that you had to smile. Hela paid attention. She knew what you liked, knew what made you feel comfortable and happy.
And that, you wagered, was the true meaning behind all of this. A small way for Hela to prove that, no matter what, she was always going to be on your side. Even if the start of your relationship had been rocky and awkward and strange.
And you loved her all the more for it.
So you set aside all of your hesitant reservations, and dressed yourself in the gown, and waited for Fenris to come back into the cabin to escort you outside to where Hela would be waiting for you.
You didn’t have to wait very long.
No sooner had you finished checking your reflection in the mirror did you hear the sound of Fenris padding into the room, and you poked your head out, grinning when you saw that an emerald green bowtie had been fixed around her neck.
“Don’t you just look adorable,” you cooed, hands already outstretched to scratch her face as you walked over to her. “Yeah… You’re my best girl, aren’t you? My very best girl! Yes, you are.” You scratched her for as long as she’d let you, and you thought she likely would have let you for a solid half hour, if there hadn’t been more pressing matters that had left her drawing back after only a minute, snuffing out a short breath as she gestured her head toward the door.
“Alright, alright. I’m coming.” You beamed as you walked over to the door, Fenris at your side. “Tell me, Fen, is she breathtaking? Am I going to cry? I’m probably going to cry.”
Fenris only snorted in response, and nudged her nose against your cheek, and you smiled even more, nuzzling her gently before pulling away. “Okay. Let’s go get married, I guess.”
With one final deep breath, you straightened, and stepped out into the garden.
And subsequently froze where you stood, jaw dropping at the sight before you.
“Y/N! We’ve been looking for you for eighteen months!”
All you could do was blink dumbly as Loki ran to you, embracing you so hard that for a moment you thought they’d knocked the wind out of.
“Are you alright? Has she done anything to you? Spells, enchantments? Poison?”
For a long moment, you simply couldn’t comprehend why Loki was so distressed and fussy over you. And then you remembered. You had very much been kidnapped without so much as a note or anything to let them know that Hela had you, and-
Hela.
You drew back from Loki so that you could see where Hela was, and you found her very awkwardly being held by Thor, who was pressing Stormbreaker against the side of her face akin to the way one would hold someone at knifepoint.
And for what it was worth, she did look absolutely breathtaking, in a gown of emerald velvet (that matched Fenris’ bow), that fit her like a perfectly-tailored glove.
It was just that at the moment, you were a little concerned that that gown would soon be blood-soaked, and that scared you more than anything else.
“…what are you…? How did you find me?” you finally managed, tearing your gaze from Hela only after she’d given you a slight nod to let you know that she was okay. You hesitated for a moment before adding, “…please don’t hurt her.”
“It… We… Don’t hurt her? I’m sorry, did you just ask us not to hurt our bloodthirsty sister who kidnapped you in some thinly-veiled attempt to get me and Loki together in one place so she could kill us? Which, by the way, isn’t going to work.”
You could see Hela fighting the urge to hold her head in her hands, while you lost against the urge to face-palm.
“Looks like it actually did, you oaf,” Hela taunted, which definitely did not help her case, as Thor shifted his grip on Stormbreaker a little. “Anyway, I didn’t do any of that to lure you here into some sort of trap.”
You could see the skepticism plainly on both of her siblings’ faces as they considered that.
“A likely story,” Thor finally said after some time, and you wanted to laugh a little. It was good to see that Thor was still… well, Thor.
“It’s true, if you’d just let Hela go and give us a moment to explain what’s going on, maybe you’d find it in you to believe us,” you insisted, crossing the garden so that you could go to Hela, who was still being held tightly by Thor.
“Look, space nerds, maybe we should let Y/N talk.”
You jolted at the sound of Tony’s voice, having not realized that he was also there, and you turned around to see not only him, but Nat, Steve, and Bruce, as well.
“…how did you all get here? What’s going on?”
Nat huffed out a laugh. “How about you talk first, then we’ll talk. Deal?”
That seemed fair enough to you, so you nodded once. “Deal. But you let Hela go.” You turned back to look at Thor. “Please?”
He still seemed wary at the idea, but after a tense stare-off he finally heaved a sigh and let Stormbreaker drop to the side. In seconds, Hela was close to you, pressing her forehead to yours and cupping your face gently.
“Darling, are you alright?” she murmured, voice hardly above a whisper.
“Yes, are you?”
“Yes.”
“Okay, we need answers. Spill.”
It seemed Tony was still very much Tony, as well.
You looked back at Hela, eyebrows raised in a silent question of who should do the explaining, but at Hela’s hesitant glance at her siblings, who were still close enough to grab her if necessary, you nodded, taking her hand in yours before facing the group.
“Long story short, Hela wanted to court me, so she did and we’re in love, and now we’re getting married.”
“Trying to,” Hela grumbled under her breath, and you squeezed her hand gently to remind her to stay calm.
The entire group blinked in you at response.
And then all began to speak over each other.
“Court you?!”
“I’m sorry, I’m really confused here.”
“Isn’t she really deadly?”
Unable to take it anymore, you took a step forward, raising your voice to be heard over everyone else. “SHUT IT.”
That did the job, and everyone looked back at you, and it was silent for a long moment before Tony finally spoke again.
“Care to make that short story a little longer?”
You winced, already knowing how it was going to sound to everyone once you explained it.
Eventually, you nodded again, pressing your lips together while you tried to decide how to word what you wanted to say without making Hela sound absolutely insane.
“Hela brought me here because she wanted to court me,” seemed like a good place to start, but apparently wasn’t enough for the group as they shared a concerned glance.
“Like… kidnapped you and brought you here?” Bruce asked, looking bewildered, and a little frightened.
“…if you want to be technical about it, sure,” you mumbled, though you knew they could hear you.
“And you just… went along with it?” The incredulity in Steve’s voice stung for some reason you couldn’t quite place.
“I mean, I woke up on a strange planet without anyone or anything to save me, and no way to contact you lot, what was I supposed to do?”
You had a point, and the expressions of the Avengers showed as much. When they didn’t say anything further, you decided to continue.
“Anyways, Hela told me what her plans were, and… I admit, at first, I was extremely alarmed and very confused about what was happening and why it was, but…” You looked at Hela, face softening into a gentle smile. “But then I got to know Hela, and… we really hit it off, and one thing led to another and… well, here we are.” You shrugged a shoulder as you looked back at the group, who were wearing expressions that ranged from confusion to disbelief to mildly interested consideration.
“So, she pulled a Beauty and the Beast on you, essentially?” Nat asked after a pregnant silence.
You laughed. “That’s exactly what I said!”
“I still don’t know what that means,” Hela pitched in from your side, and you couldn’t help but to shake your head fondly. “Can someone please explain that to me?”
“It’s a movie about a beast that keeps a girl in his castle because he wanted to keep her father there, but she took his place, and then over time they fell in love, and it turned out the beast was only a beast because of a curse, and when they fell in love, it broke, and he turned back into human, and why am I explaining the plot of a Disney film to a grown woman who never left her teenage emo phase?”
That only made Hela’s brow furrow even more, and you rolled your eyes.
“The point is, Hela, not to judge a book by its cover.”
Hela nodded slowly. “You mean like how my siblings tried to kill me without even trying to get know me or why I was doing what I was doing?”
You pursed your lips together, eyes going wide as you looked between Hela and her siblings, hoping this wouldn’t lead to a fight.
Thor raised a finger, opening his mouth to argue, but whatever he was going to say seemed to die on his tongue.
“I hate to admit it, brother, but I think she’s right,” Loki admitted, looking as sheepish as you imagined Loki could. “Maybe we should have had a nice chat with her over tea before jumping straight to killing her and Asgard alongside her.”
Thor dropped his finger and sighed heavily, passing Stormbreaker between hands in what looked like a somewhat regretful, embarrassed gesture. “…I suppose you’re right.”
He reached over, then, to put a hand on Hela’s shoulder, with enough force that she actually jolted a bit, amusing you to no end.
“Sister, I’m sorry that I never took the time to listen to you, or to hear your side of the story.”
“And I’m sorry that I agreed with him,” Loki added, which earned them a grumpy glare from Thor. “We should have talked to you. Gotten to know you. You’re our sister, after all.”
Hela said nothing, but eventually gave a single nod, and Thor and Loki each did the same. You figured that was the best you were going to get; of the three of them, only Thor was truly keen on hugging things out, so a pat on the back and an understanding nod would be the extent of patching things between them.
“…not that this family trauma therapy circle isn’t absolutely blowing my mind, but… are we… done here?” Tony asked, ever impatient-to-a-fault.
It earned him an elbow in the side from both Steve and Nat.
“Actually…” you started, looking between everyone in the group. “…I’d like it very much if you could stay for the ceremony. We didn’t really have witnesses, anyway. Hela, are you ready?”
You looked over to her, squeezing her hand gently as she smiled at you. “I’ve been ready all day. This lot’s who ruined.”
You huffed out a laugh, looking around the garden with your brow furrowed. “Um… Where did the…?”
As if on cue, the person you assumed was officiating the wedding popped his head out from behind a tree on the far side of the cottage. “Right here. My apologies, I didn’t want to, ah… get in the way of…” He gestured his hand in the vague direction of everyone standing there. “…that…”
Everyone laughed at that, seeming to finally relax after the intensity of the last few minutes, and you watched as all of your friends gathered themselves together off to the side so they could watch. It made your heart warm, to know that your friends accepted what had happened and didn’t seem to care about the strange circumstances.
By the time you looked back at Hela, she was already looking at you, holding both of your hands as she smiled softly down at you. “You really do look stunning, Y/N. That dress looks perfect on you.”
“You don’t look so bad yourself, you know,” you teased, and then fell silent as the officiant began to speak.
The entire ceremony felt like it went by in mere seconds. All you could focus on, all you could see and feel and want was Hela, looking back at you with more love in her eyes than you could bear, and before you knew it, you were stumbling your way through the marriage vows, and exchanging the rings Hela had had made.
They were gold and simple and beautiful, and it felt like the purest form of magic was forming between the two of you as you each carefully slipped the rings on each other’s fingers.
And then you were told you could kiss each other, and your breath caught in your throat as Hela cupped your face with a gentleness expressly reserved for you, drawing you close so that she could press a lingering kiss to your lips that felt like coming home and starting on an adventure all at once, and you never wanted that feeling to end.
You hoped that it didn’t.
As you separated, you could hear the entirety of your friends applauding and cheering, the loudest being Thor, which somehow did and didn’t surprise you. But it made you feel whole. The next moment, Fenris had come up to you, with so much force that it nearly knocked the both of you over as you laughed and scratched behind her ears and under her chin.
Once the officiant deemed the ceremony officially over, you both thanked him as he took his leave, and you couldn’t stop smiling as Hela turned back to you, lifting your hand so she could press a kiss to the back of it.
“What a day, huh?”
“Mm.” You leaned into her as she wrapped her arms around you, and you couldn’t resist going for another kiss, desperate to get lost in her again.
It wasn’t until you heard someone clear their throat that you realized you very much still had an audience.
You turned back to look at the Avengers, all of whom were smiling as they came up to you and Hela, each of them talking over each other as they congratulated you and Hela and apologized for coming in gun’s ablaze and ready to start a fight.
It was chaotic and loud, but it was familiar, and for the first time in a long time, you felt a pang of homesickness.
“We’d love to have you come back home, you know. Even if it’s just for a visit,” Loki insisted after conversation had died down to a murmur between everyone else.
“…Hela’s home is here. And I don’t want to take her away from that. And it’s just as much mine now, too, anyway.”
“I understand.” Despite their honesty, you could hear the sadness on the edge of Loki’s tone.
“This won’t be the last time you see me. Or her.” You nodded in the direction of Hela, who was actually having a civil conversation with Thor while he showed off his axe to her. “I’ll talk her into a visit. I’m sure I can persuade her.”
Loki made a face. “Ew, I don’t want to hear about what you do with my sister.”
You rolled your eyes and shoved their shoulder, but couldn’t stop grinning regardless.
Eventually, the group decided it was time to go back home and explain everything that happened, and the time came to bid goodbye to all of your friends, which proved harder to do than you expected, and as you stood watching their ship take off, you couldn’t help but to feel sad, watching them go.
“You could have gone back with them, you know.”
You looked up at Hela, who had her arms settled around your waist as she watched the sky, and shook your head.
“You’re my home now. You have been for a while now. And we can always go visit them later.” You grinned a bit. “I want you all to myself now.”
Hela smirked. “Oh, is that so? Shall we… head inside then?”
You beamed, leaning up to kiss her gently. “I thought you’d never ask.”
Hi!! It’s been a while since I’ve checked the Hela tag since I believed I had read everything and I just found your blog and I love it! I’m so happy the community loving Hela is growing :’) if you can, could I request Hela x reader wedding on Asgard? I’m completely in love with the way you portray Hela and your writing. Thank you so much!!! :D
A/N: Full disclosure, I pilfered the idea of the wedding tattoos from a fic called Porcelain by GalaxyThreads over on Ao3. The idea was just so romantic to me, and it instantly became canon for me. I highly recommend it if you’re looking for a good canon-divergent fic that tackles sibling feels, familial trauma, and Hela whump. Settle in with a nice snack, this one’s a long. And if you need me, I’ll be crying because I’ll never have a wedding like this. Enjoy~
WC: 3840
Rating: T (purely for… Implications)
TW: None
When Hela had proposed to you, you had assumed it would besomething that would stay between just the two of you, and you had been okaywith that. No one other than her brothers knew about your relationship, and youhadn’t exactly been fond of the idea of singing out your love for each otherfor all of Asgard to hear. Most could care less about the matter of who lovedwho, but it was a different matter entirely when one of you was a princess andthe other was… not.
When Hela had suggested a large, public wedding, you had asked her point blank if she had lost hermind. If she had any idea the grave she very possibly was digging for the bothof you. But she had been insistent, and even her brothers had been on boardwith the idea.
“Well, they grew to accept Hela being around after…everything that happened. This is peanuts considered to that,” Loki had saidflippantly, garnering a glare from the other three in the room.
It had taken another four days and some persuasion from Hela for you to finally agree to it, and thewedding planning had taken off from there. It had been a whirlwind few monthsof arrangements. Who all would be invited, who would sit where, who was goingto walk down the aisle, who was going to be the one to walk them, what wouldyou wear, what would they wear.
Sometimes you wondered if Hela should have never proposed atall, so that it could be just the two of you, together against the world,forever. But you did have to admit,the idea of Hela prepared to declare her eternal love for you in front of somany people did warm your heart in a way you never knew it could be.
And now here you were, six months later, hands worryingtogether as you tried desperately not to smooth your skirts down for thehundredth time in less than five minutes.
“Alright, sister-in-law, are you ready?”
They had all decided that, since Hela lived in the palaceand was princess, it made more sense for her to be at the altar and for you tobe walked down, and Thor had announced that it would be his express honor to walk you down theaisle, and you couldn’t have said no to his puppy dog eyes even if you hadwanted to, so that had settled that.
“I don’t think you can technically call me that for aboutanother half an hour,” you mused, trying to smile and managing only an anxiousgrimace.
“Nonsense, it’s just semantics.” He offered his arm to you,and you took it, taking a slow, deep breath in a meager attempt to calm yournerves before nodding, giving Thor the okay to start walking you.
The amount of people that had showed up astounded you. Youknew that all had been invited to the affair, and you hadn’t expected but maybehalf of them to show up, but you’d never seen so many people in one place inyour whole life, and they all looked gladto be there.
The crowd did absolutely nothingfor your nerves, however.
As Thor walked you down the aisle, you tried to discreetlycrane your neck toward the front, where you knew Hela was waiting for you.
“She looks beautiful. You’re gonna cry,” Thor insisted,keeping his voice low so only you heard.
You began to wonder if half the ceremony was going to bejust the walk up to the altar.
“I was alwaysgonna cry. In fact, I might cry right now if I trip in front of all thesepeople. Are we there yet?”
Thor only laughed, and turned his head back to face forward,the most genuine grin plastered on his face.
It took a solid thirty seconds of walking before you couldfinally make out Hela, and you huffed out a breathless laugh.
Thor was right.
You’d seen Hela wear many gowns before. She was princess,after all, even though she much preferred clothes she could easily move in. Butyou’d never seen her in such an ornate gown. It was golden, and while the skirtwasn’t nearly as full as yours was, it made up for it in length, pooling for agood few feet behind her as she stood waiting for you. Her hair had beenbraided, likely Loki’s doing, as they were the only one Hela trusted with herhair, and you could just make out some flowers from the late queen’s gardenswoven amongst her hair.
You felt a little underdressed in your own gown, which wasan outrageous thing to say, considering that your skirt sat a good foot awayfrom your feet in all directions, and the veil you wore trailed even furtherthan that. You had opted for a more traditional white color, but the lace alongyour collarbone and down your back and arms was intricate, and had taken weeksto get just right. It was the prettiest thing you had ever worn, and you stillcouldn’t believe that it was yours.
When you were finally close enough to properly meet Hela’sgaze, you were only mildly surprised to see that her eyes were welled up withtears as she beamed at you. Hela wasn’t usually one for showing emotions soopenly, even in front of you, but you supposed she had deemed a wedding aspecial enough occasion to let her guard slip.
By the time Thor had handed you over to Hela, your eyes wereso watery you worried you wouldn’t be able to see for the entire wedding, andas she took your hand, brushing her thumb over your knuckles, you let out abreathless little laugh, unable to do much more than that.
“Hi… You look… breathtaking,Y/N,” she whispered, looking at you with so much love in her eyes you couldhardly bear it.
“So do you, Hela, I… wow.”
You both laughed at your inability to properly form a coherentsentence, but before either of you could say anything else, the officiant wasstarting the ceremony, and you were forced to pay attention to someone else besides Hela.
A task which proved to be impossible, as every so often, youfound your gaze drifting back over to Hela at your side, every time findingthat she was already looking at you with that same love-struck expression onher face.
When the time came for vows, you couldn’t stop smiling asyou were finally allowed to turn to face her. You knew you were supposed to gofirst, and you hoped you didn’t trip over your words and completely muckeverything up.
“Hela… The first time I saw you, it was like… everything Ihad ever done in my life had led up to that one singular moment. Like a puzzlepiece falling into place as my very soul said ‘Oh… There you are.’ Not a daygoes by that I haven’t thanked my lucky stars for whatever act of fate broughtus together, and every day that I’ve gotten to spend with you has beeneverything and yet nowhere near enough for me. I want today to become always,and I want always to become forever, as long as it’s by your side. I promise tolove you with all that I am, as I am,for as long as you’ll have me. I promise to be yours, in every and all ways,and I promise that no matter where we go or what we do from here, it will be together. Always.”
You were openly crying by the time you had finishedspeaking, and judging by the various sounds of sniffling and crying around you,several in the crowd were, as well. Hela was holding your hands so tightly thatyou wondered if she’d lost feeling in her own fingers, but the way she waslooking at you, like she’d never been more in love with you than she was inthat moment, made all thoughts leave your head entirely.
Finally, she cleared her throat a bit, and blinked a fewtimes, no doubt clearing her own vision of tears as she gave a soft littlelaugh. “…I’m not as good with words as she is, but… what she said.”
That made you laugh, too, as well as the majority of thecrowd, and it was such a Hela thingto say that it couldn’t have been a more perfect moment. You heard a few morethings being said, but you couldn’t focus on them. Not when you were finallyallowed to look at Hela face to face. Whatever important things that needed tobe said, you really didn’t care what any of them were. The only ones you werewaiting for were…
“Princess, you may now kiss your wife.”
Your heart skipped a beat at the very idea. Wife. There was something about finally being called that that made theentire day feel that much more real, and you couldn’t stop yourself fromsmiling even wider as Hela gently cupped your face and pulled you toward her soshe could kiss you softly.
And then everything was Hela, Hela, Hela.
The entire world melted away, while she kissed you. All youcould feel was her hand at your waist and her fingers threaded in the hair atthe base of your neck, and her lips against yours. All you could smell was theintoxicating scent of her perfume mixed with the earthy, metallic scent thatwas just uniquely her. All you couldtaste was her. You never wanted themoment to end, and even when she pulled away, purely for propriety’s sake, youwere certain, she stayed as close to you as she could manage, forehead pressedto yours and eyes closed, and you did the same, just taking in the bliss of themoment while the crowd around you clapped.
You were fairly certain that you could hear Thor cheeringrather loudly over the rest of the guests.
By the time you opened your eyes again, Hela was alreadylooking at you, and you could just barely hear her say that she loved you overthe crowd applauding.
The only thing that was left to do was the tattooingceremony; one you’d never dreamt you’d get to experience. Marriage amongstcommoners and even the lesser nobles of Asgard was still celebrated, to varyingdegrees, but royal weddings were unique in the tattooing ceremonies, if onlybecause it was usually only royalty that had the permission to use thenecessary magic to perform them.
Using carefully concentrated seidr, each person would use itto draw a looping figure-eight on the forearm of their partner, and inside eachhalf of the design, each would draw the sigil for their bloodline or house. Itwas a beautifully romantic idea, to have a physical representation of both halvesconnecting as a whole in a display of their unending love for each other, andyou couldn’t wait to share that with Hela.
You let her go first; you were a little nervous, and fearedthat your shaking hands would cause the magick to be a little wonky, eventhough it would be doing all the work anyway. You watched her softly as shegently took your left hand in hers, pressing a kiss to your wrist before shebegan, using the seidr to effortlessly draw the looping figure before fillingin each side with their respective sigils. You loved that her own sigil wasalso a sign that looped in on itself, strong and unending, as you hoped yourrelationship would always be. When she finished, she kissed your wrist again,admiring her handiwork before letting go of your hand so that she could holdout her own arm.
Taking a deep breath, you did exactly as she had, using thechanneling device as steadily as you could manage and hoping for the best. Toyour relief, the magick came out with a perfectness that had to have beenpurely due to the seidr itself, and whatever shakiness you had was completelynegated by it. When you had finished, you took her hand, pressing a kiss to theback of it before threading your fingers together, grateful that you hadmanaged not to make a fool of yourself in front of so many people.
“With that, your marriage is official and true in the eyesof the King, and all the Kings that came before him, and you are henceforth andofficially pronounced wife and wife.”The officiant nodded at each of you, and you felt another weight lift off ofyour chest.
You didn’t think you could be any happier than you were inthat moment.
The next hour or so passed in a blur, as everyone cheeredand congratulated the happy new couple, and Thor led you to the banquet hall,were a lavish feast had already been prepared, with a table for you and Hela atthe head of the room. It felt a bit excessive to you, but you couldn’t havecared less at that moment. All you could think about was how nice and complete you felt, now that you were officially Hela’s wife, andshe was yours.
It wasn’t until you and she finally had some quiet toyourself at your table that you finally felt like you could breathe a bit. Evenif Hela was still making it a little hard to, with how stunning she looked inthat gown.
“I think you should wear that gown every day. Hela, it’s stunning. How did you keep it from me?”
Hela smiled as she took a sip of her wine, and then wentright back to holding your hand. “It was very hard. But it would lose itscharm, if I wore it all the time, don’t you think?” She pressed a kiss to yourtemple as you smiled, and then lowered her voice to a soft whisper. “Besides… Ithink you’ll like what’s under it a little better.”
You laughed softly, even as you blushed. “Yeah? Is that apromise?”
“Mm… Let’s sneak away, while no one’s looking… They won’tmiss us…” She trailed off, pressing a kiss to your throat, despite the factthat you knew people must be lookingat you.
“Hela, it’s ourparty. Of course they’ll miss us…” You struggled to get the words out; shealways had a way with kisses that made her very persuasive. “Besides… Your siblingswanted a dance with each of us.”
“They can wait. You’re allmine now.” She bit your neck, but it was more playful than anything else,and you laughed, drawing back so you could look at her.
“And you’re mine.”You pressed a much more chaste kiss to her lips. “But we’re staying. At leastfor a little while longer.”
Hela heaved a dramatic sigh. “Fine. Two hours is my absolutelimit, though.”
You rolled your eyes, unable to stop smiling. “Deal.”
As luck would have it, less than a half hour later, Thorapproached you for a dance while Loki went over to their sister, and you couldn’thelp but to smile as Thor clumsily led you in a traditional Asgardian waltz.
“Thank you, by the way,” Thor said after a few long momentsof him focusing entirely too hard on recalling the correct order of dancesteps, and your brow furrowed as you looked up at him.
“…for what?”
“For giving my sister what she deserves. I know it wasn’teasy, for… a multitude of reasons with her history and the people and… well, I’mjust glad that she has you. And that you have her. I don’t think I’ve ever seenher look so happy.”
The both of you looked over to where Loki was effortlessly,if showily, spinning Hela in a circle, and you blushed when you realized thateven across the room, she was still trying to keep her eyes on you.
“I think, in a way, you saved her,” Thor continued, spinningyou in a much less graceful turn that made you laugh a little.
“She saved me, too. In several ways.”
It was true. Before Hela, you’d given up all hope of findingthe whirlwind romance you’d always dreamed about as a little girl, or even justa plain romance, for that matter. You’d been let down too many times, and yourheart had become a hollow shell that somehow still continued to hold far toomuch love for you to ever be able to keep to yourself. And when you’d beenintroduced to Hela, it suddenly felt like everything you’d ever been throughhad prepared you for this exact moment and everything fell into place soperfectly that it was a little scary. But you were grateful for it, all thesame.
“I’m really happy for you. Both of you. Don’t ever tell her I said that.”
You rolled her eyes, and as the music slowed to a halt, yousmiled a little more, and allowed Thor to kiss the top of your head.
“Yeah, while we’re at it, you should try doing that to Hela. She might stab you, youknow. I did get her that really nice dagger as a wedding gift, and I’m sure she’dlove to show it off,” you teased, andthe both of you laughed.
“Please, she’s in much too good a mood for stabbing.” Apause, as he glanced back at Hela, who was walking over with Loki. “…I hope.”
Once again, you rolled your eyes, and let Thor hand you offto Loki as Loki did the same with Hela, and you let your fingertips brushagainst Hela’s as you passed each other, desperate for just a small bit ofcontact with her even though it had hardly been a few minutes since you’d beensitting together at your table.
As the next waltz began, Loki led you expertly through thedance, and you found yourself wondering, as you so often did, how many secretsLoki managed to keep hidden up their sleeves. You imagined, though, that beinga fair dancer was one of the lessdangerous ones.
“I didn’t think I’ve ever seen my sister smile so much inher whole life as she has today.”
You had to laugh, if only because it was true and you knewit. “Well, maybe we can get her to smile a bit more from here on out, yeah?”
“Please. There’s absolutely no we about it. It’s all you. You’re the only one she has eyes for.Thor and I’ll be lucky if we can get her attention span away from you for evena second for the next… six months, Iwager?” Their voice was light and teasing, and fought the urge to roll youreyes for the tenth time that evening.
“Yes, well, you’re her siblings.That’s a different bond than the one she and I have, and it’s just as strong,you know. She loves you. Both of you. Even if she’ll never say it.”
“Oh, I will betelling her that you said it, though.”
You scowled playfully. “Wow. Setting me up for death on myown wedding day. Truly, they named you well, God of Mischief.”
Loki smiled innocently, but said nothing else as the dancefinished, merely smiling and bowing politely before leading you by the handback to where Hela was waiting for you.
“I believe it’s my turn again, finally,” Hela declared,immediately sweeping you into your arms, and you smiled contently as you settlednaturally into her. Hela always felt like coming home. You loved that abouther.
“Oh, how terrible those five minutes must have been for you,”you pouted dramatically, letting Hela turn you around so she could put one handon your waist while she took your other in hers, threading your fingerstogether with care.
“Hey, it was actually eight and a half, so.”
“Kept count, did you?” You grinned up at her, finding heralready looking down at you with so much love in her gaze that you thought youmight buckle under the intensity of it.
“Just eager to get back to my favorite wife.”
“And only one,thank you.” You pouted again, but the expression was short-lived as Hela dippedher head down to kiss you sweetly.
“I’m all yours. And you’re all mine. And it will be that wayfor the rest of eternity.”
The words weren’t anything particularly fancy orthought-out, but they meant the world to you, and you couldn’t resist leaningup on your toes to kiss her again before laying your head against her shoulder,smiling when you felt her arm around your waist tighten the slightest bit.
“I love you. More than anything. Always.” You murmured itagainst her collarbone, voice soft amongst all the din of the celebrationaround you, but Hela heard you all the same, bringing your joined hands to herlips so that she could kiss the back of yours.
“And I love you. And nothing and no one will ever changethat. No matter what changes we go through, no matter what struggles we face.We’ll do it all together. You and me against the nine realms. Forever.”
You hummed softly, and despite not wanting to move away fromher, you tilted your head up so that you could look up at her. “…did you everimagine that you’d get… all this?”
“Mm. The pretty dress and the big wedding? Yes.” Shegrinned, but then grew more solemn again. “But you… I never planned for you.And to be honest, I don’t think that I ever could have. I don’t think anyonecould even try to plan a love likeours. You have to be lucky enough to find it, and earn the right to keep it.”
You smiled, and buried your head in the crook of your neck,mostly so that you could hide the chaste little kiss you pressed against herthroat. “I’m so happy that I have you. You’re… everything, to me. I can’timagine life without you. And I don’t really want to.”
Hela pressed a gentle kiss to the top of your head, finallywrapping both arms around you as you both stilled where you stood. “And you’llnever have to. I swear to you.”
You drew back again, but this time you were glad to, becauseyou wanted to give her a proper kiss, audience be damned. You kissed her for solong and so intensely that by the time you’d separated, you were more than alittle breathless, and when you looked up at her, you found that she waslooking at you with eyes that were starting to go dark with wantonness.
“Darling… I think it’s time we turn in for the night.”
You’d never heard a sweeter sentence in your life.
Okay since it’s nearly the first day of fall (only a couple more hours 😂) I was hoping to request something with either the reader taking Hela to their family’s house for Thanksgiving or with Hela taking the reader to meet her parents idk why I just thought it’d be hilarious 🤷♀️
A/N: This turned out to be a lot more... serious than I intended for it to be when setting out to write it, but over the course of a week writing it... this is what happened. The prompt should tell you how long some of these requests have been sitting in my inbox, oops. Disregarding the fact that it’s currently February, please enjoy Thanksgiving shenanigans with the Odinkids~
WC: 4292
Rating: G
TW: Homophobia
“Y/N, it’s not too late to back out, right? Why don’t wejust go back to the hotel and we can cuddle and watch a movie and maybe take abath together, and get into some shenanigans…?”
You had to laugh at Hela’s weak plea.
It hadn’t exactly been her idea to go to Thanksgiving withthe rest of her family, but you had been the one to find the invitation Thorhad sent the pair of you in the post, and you’d done your best to convince Helato RSVP for it. You’d known that things had been fairly rough between Hela andher parents growing up, and that they’d kicked her out at some point, but youhad a feeling you didn’t, and wouldn’t ever, know the full story, and youdidn’t want to make her tell you, soyou’d simply never pushed it.
Hela had certainly seemed less than thrilled at the prospectof seeing her parents again, to the point she spent an hour telling you howmuch of a bad idea it would be to have all five of her family members under oneroof, but you’d done what you could to remind her that it would be differentbecause you’d been there, and thatyou wouldn’t let anyone be mean to her. It wasn’t until the promise of a rewardwhen you got back home that Hela finally caved, and even then, you knew it wasless that she wanted the reward of intimacy and more that she wanted to prove apoint to you by agreeing so that you could see how quickly things would godownhill.
Nevertheless, you’d made all the plans, booking a hotel roomand packing your car and making all the other necessary arrangements for theweekend. You’d even tried to make the whole road trip up to see them a game,playing I Spy with Hela in the car, and bringing all of her favorites sweetsand snacks so she’d be in a better mood.
But as soon as you’d pulled in the driveway for the actualdinner, Hela had started to become visibly less confident, and had resorted totrying to convince you to leave.
“Hela, we can’t go home after we already told them we’d behere. Besides, I think there’s someone at the door waiting for us. Is that…Thor? I can’t see from here.”
“Of course it’s Thor, he’s always the goody two-shoes whoshows up extra early so he can help and get on mom and dad’s good sides so theystay proud of him. Typical little shit.”She scowled and crossed her arms over her chest like a petulant child as shesank down in the passenger seat.
“Hela,” you chided softly, unbuckling your seatbelt so youcould turn to face her, reaching to take her hand in both of yours. “I guarantee you, everything is going to beokay. And if it isn’t then you get to say ‘I told you so’ as soon as we getback in the car to go back to the hotel. Okay?”
Hela didn’t look at you the entire time you spoke, stillscowling at nothing as she faced out of the windshield, but eventually shenodded once, and gave your hand the slightest squeeze, and you smiled, bringingher hand up so you could kiss her knuckles gently.
“Thank you. Now, let’s go. You have the wine we brought?”
“…I wasn’t supposed to drink it?”
You gave her a look,one eyebrow raised, and she sulked, though you couldn’t decide if it wasbecause you hadn’t fell for her joke, or because she was still being a littlegrumpy.
“Fine, fine. But I wishI’d drank it. I’m gonna need it.”
“You get drunk in there and start swinging insults, and noreward when we get home. Understood?” You knew you were being a little harsh,but you knew that Hela tended to make not so great decisions when she drank alittle too much, and you were not preparedto be the mediator for that tonight.
“Yes, ma’am,” she retorted, with just enough brattiness thatyou knew she was just trying to get a rise out of you now.
You simply rolled your eyes and opened your door. “Come on.Before Thor comes to drag us in himself.”
You heard Hela mutter something about the likelihood of himdoing just that, but you busied yourself with getting your purse and the piesyou’d stress-made the night before when you realized you should probably bring something besides a host gift. By thetime you’d rounded the back of the car to where Hela was standing, she wasalready cradling the two different wine bottles you’d chosen, still sulking abit, but you could tell that, under all her petulant, childish grumpiness, shewas nervous, and it made you soften a little.
“…hey. You know I love you. Right?”
Hela seemed to soften, as well, as she turned back to lookat you. “…I love you, too. Can we just… get this over with?”
You nodded, and leaned up to kiss her cheek chastely beforegesturing for her to walk in front of you.
As you’d thought, Thor was at the door, holding it open foryou once he saw you coming up the walkway. “Sister. Fiancée-in-law. Lovely tosee you both, as always.” He tried to reach an arm out for Hela, but she onlyscowled at him, and shoved a wine bottle into his hand instead, before continuinginto the house, and Thor watched her for a moment before looking back at you.“How much convincing did it take her to agree to come?”
“More than I’d care to admit. We just spent five minutessitting in the car while she tried to talk me out of it. Again.” You huffed outa laugh, and let Thor hug you awkwardly while you both tried not to drop whatyou were holding. “She’ll… be okay, though. I’ll make sure.”
Thor nodded, and you did as well, and for a short moment, anawkward silence fell over the two of you as you watched Hela disappear around acorner.
“Ah… Kitchen?” you asked, glancing down at the baked goodsin your arms, and Thor seemed to come back to himself a bit.
“Yes. Right this way, I’ll show you.”
You’d expected Hela’s childhood home to be somewhatgrandiose, as you knew she and her whole family had come from decent money, butyou hadn’t expected a kitchen the entire size of your apartment when Thor ledyou around the corner. You couldn’t help but to stare at all the counter andcabinet space a little jealously. What you wouldn’t give to have this muchspace in your kitchen.
“You can set them right here.” He gestured to a counterwhere you could see an almost comical amount of different dishes and dessertslaid out. You were pretty sure you’d seen entire bakeries without this muchfood in them.
“It’s a beautiful house. Do you miss living here?” You hadto make some kind of conversation tofill the silence in the room that was quickly becoming more and more awkward.
“Sometimes. But it’s nice to have my own place. Well, Imean, I share it with Loki, you know, but… still. I don’t think… any of us could stand living here anylonger.”
You bit back the urge to mention that Hela hadn’t had achoice in continuing to live there, but didn’t want to be the one to cause anydrama when you’d specifically told Helanot to, so you just nodded in response instead.
“Yeah. Sometimes you just have to get away from home. Whenit’s time, it’s time.” You smiled a little. “Speaking of Loki, are they hereyet? Have you seen them?”
“We came together, actually. That took some convincing, too.I believe they’re in the living room. I imagine that’s where Hela is. Shealways liked Loki more than me. Sometimes I feel like I’m the adopted one of the bunch.” He laughed, you didn’t, but itseemed he didn’t want to sink back into the tense silence, either, because hecontinued almost immediately. “Let’s go find them.”
You let Thor lead the way into another room, a grandioseliving room done up in rich golds and earthy hues that made you feel like you’dstepped into a room straight out of some sort of palace in a fantasy film. Yourelaxed when you saw Loki and your girlfriend standing off to one side talking,though you couldn’t help but to feel nervous already, given that she had aflask in her hand that she was passing back to Loki.
“Sister, Loki, there you two are. You left me all alone withY/N in the kitchen. Some help you both are.” His voice was light and teasing,and you wanted to laugh when Hela and Loki both rolled their eyes and flippedhim off. It was rather in characterfor them, after all.
Thor let it roll off his back, and as he went up to talk toLoki, you sidled up to Hela, eyes narrowed, but before you could even sayanything, Hela heaved a sigh.
“I know. I said no alcohol, but look, it’s really… weirdbeing back here. Everything’s different, nothing is the way I remembered it,and it just… feels wrong being here. And I haven’t even seen my parents yet, so who knows how awkward that’s going to be.”
You put a gentle hand on her wrist to stop her fromspiraling any further. “Hels, I’m not mad that you’re drinking. Realistically,I knew you would. I can’t imagine how it feels to be back where you were oncetold you were unwanted. There’s bound to be a lot of emotions running high, Iget that. I do. I just… Don’t want you to make things any worse. You know that.Right?”
Hela nodded once, and glanced around the room, though youcouldn’t tell if she was sizing the place up because she was bored or becauseit was unfamiliar to her. “…you wanna see my room? Assuming I still have aroom, I mean. Could be a broom closet now, for all I know.”
You smiled a bit, though it was tense and a little forced.“Darling, I think we should stay down here. I don’t want your parents to see uswandering and get the wrong idea.”
Hela smirked. “And what idea would that be?”
You scowled playfully. “You know exactly what it is, and I’m not falling for your mischief tonight,so.”
“You’re no fun,” she grumbled, though she put an arm aroundyou and pulled you close, nuzzling her nose against your cheek and kissing yourjaw in a rare show of public affection that made you smile.
“Blech. Gross. Go be an adorable couple somewhere else,”Loki insisted, in that tone you could never decide was serious or playful. Theysmiled at you, all the same, and you smiled, as well.
“Good to see you again, Loki. How have you been?”
“Dreading this as much as my sister has.” They stopped totake another sip from the flask. “It’s been a bit since I’ve seen them, too.Things got… weird, after I found out I was adopted. I’m sure Hela’s told youall about that.”
She had, but you didn’t want to overstep any boundaries.“So, why did you all agree to come, if you’re… nervous to be here?”
“Free food.”
“Free booze.”
Loki and Hela spoke at the same time, which would have beenamusing in and of itself, but then Thor chimed in in a voice so innocent thatit made the whole thing far more hilarious.
“…to see my parents.”
You nodded. “…fair enough.”
Loki opened their mouth to speak again, but the sound offootsteps coming from another room caused everyone to turn around just in timeto see Hela’s mother step into the room.
“Well, I see everyone else has made it safely.”
Loki was the first to approach her, and you’d never seenthem look as small as they did when they hugged their mother. It was souncharacteristic that you weren’t entirely sure that you were watching the sameperson who always seemed so cunning and sharp-witted and quick-tongued. Thorstood to the side, and you assumed he’d already had taken the time for helloswith his parents.
As Loki stepped away, all eyes went to Hela, and the roomgrew uncomfortably stiff and silent while everyone waited for someone to move or say something. Youcould feel Hela’s grip on your hand tighten slightly, but she said nothing,even as her mother crossed the room to stand in front of her.
“Hela, sweet girl, it’s been far too long.” She steppedforward to carefully wrap Hela up in a hug, and you could feel Hela tenseslightly, even as she let go of your hand. She didn’t return the hug; ratherjust stood there and let it happen, as though she had lost all control of herbody and was watching the exchange happen from a distance.
Eventually, she drew back from her, patting her arm gently beforelooking over at you. “And you must be Y/N.”
You smiled a little awkwardly, still feeling the thicktension residing in the room. “I must be.”
“I’m Frigga. We’re so glad to have you here with us tonight.Welcome to the family.”
Before you could even comprehend what was happening, shehugged you, and you were surprised athow comfortably you settled into it. You’d never met Frigga before tonight, butyou’d heard stories from all three of her children about how she was a bettermother than any of them deserved, and you had to admit, she exuded the most angelic motherly energy you’d ever feltfrom a person in your life, includingyour own mother. You didn’t even have the heart to tell her that you didn’tthink you quite counted as part of the family just yet.
When she stepped back from you, she patted your cheekaffectionately, and then turned so everyone could see her a little better.“Your father’s already in the dining room. Shall we eat?”
“Let’s,” Thor responded before anyone else could sayanything, and he followed his mother out of the room, Loki following at a shortdistance behind them.
Hela, however, stayed where she was. You could tell thereality of seeing her father again years after he’d kicked her out was finallycatching up to her, and you softened, stepping in front of her so that she hadto look at you.
“Hey… It’s gonna be okay. I’ll be with you the whole time. Andif he says something completely and totally out of line, then we’re gone.”
Hela looked at you skeptically. “…just like that?”
“Just like that. And we’ll never come back again, if youdon’t want to. Deal?”
Hela nodded, and cupped your face, pressing her forehead toyours before kissing you gently. “…alright. Let’s do this.”
You let Hela take you by the hand, and prayed to whatevergod that might be listening that things would go smoothly during dinner.
In retrospect, you should have known dinner was going to beas awkward as it ended up being. The tension was so thick between Hela and herfather alone that you mused you could pick up the butter knife on the table andcut right through it.
Loki and Thor managed small talk amongst themselves and withtheir mother, but Hela and her father, sat the furthest apart from each other,didn’t utter a word, even when they were addressed by someone else. The staringcontest between them was so tangible that no one seemed to want to be caught inthe line of fire, even going so far as to quickly grab dishes and glasses fromthe table as though reaching across it would put them directly in the line offire.
By some miracle, everything managed to stay polite enough,until it was time for dessert. You weren’t sure if you had missed somethingwhile you were looking somewhere else, some sideways glance or eye roll or something, but all of a sudden Hela wasfuming, gripping her empty wine glass so hard that you thought she might snapthe stem right off.
“If you have something you want to say to me, out with it.I’m a big girl, whatever you want to throw at me, I can take it.”
For what it was worth, she didn’t sound as drunk as youthought she might be, but it was little comfort. Hela didn’t need alcohol toassist in confrontation. She’d just been biding her time long enough that shesimply couldn’t anymore.
From the other end of the table, you heard Frigga sigh, andyou glanced across the table to see Thor pointedly looking down at his plate,and Loki hiding in their glass. You knew they were waiting to see how thisplayed out without interfering, and you couldn’t help but to realize you werein the exact same situation. Nothing you said or did would make any differenceat this point, and it was better to let Hela air out whatever frustrations shehad with her father and be done with it. Maybe it wouldn’t be as bad as any ofyou were worried it would be.
“I just don’t understand why you feel the need to flauntit.”
You looked up just in time to see her father gesturingbetween you and Hela, and immediatelyfelt your heart sink. It was, in fact, going to be much worse than you were worried it would be.
“Odin…” you heard Frigga murmur warningly, but it was toolate, and everyone knew it.
Hela reacted as you expected she would, slamming her glassdown on the table, miraculously without shattering it, and standing, handsslamming against the table.
“You’re the same now as you were then, cruel and hurtful andpathetic. I’ve never done anything to hurt you, we’ve never done anything to hurt you.Why do you hate that I love women? Isit because I ruined what you thought was going to be your picturesque, perfectlittle family?” She sneered then, nodding to herself when Odin averted his gazefrom her. “That’s why you kicked me out, right? I no longer served a purpose to the family. I was no good to you. I was never good enough for you. Well, guess what, father. I don’t need your permission on who to love. I don’t needyour blessing or even your enthusiasm. I’m marrying Y/N, and you’re going todeal with it. Even if that means I never see you again.”
You risked another glance across the table to see both Thorand Loki looking at you apologetically. You’d known about Hela getting kickedout, but you hadn’t known the context. It made your heart ache, to think abouta teenaged Hela being thrown to the streets just because of who she loved. Youmade a mental note to talk to her about it at a later time, when she was readyand willing to.
“I just think that you could have done so much better,Hela.” Odin’s voice was calm and collected, and it kind of made you want topunch him in the face, if you knew you’d make it out without consequences.
As it was, you felt your mouth opening as though you wantedto respond, but Hela spoke before you even had the chance to decide what youwanted to say.
“…that’s where you’re wrong. I’m the one that doesn’t deserve her. Y/N has been everything that I never knew that I needed, andI’m absolutely lucky that she’s stuck with me as long as she has. She’s kindand she’s gentle and she’s loving,and she loved me when I didn’t know if I knew how to be loved or to love in return, but she taught me. Reassuredme that I’m not what the past has made me. I’m better than that, and I’m better than you. And god, I don’t deserve her. I don’t think I ever will.” Shepaused, and you stole a quick glance up at her only to see that she was lookingat you, with that look in her eyes that melted your heart and warmed your verysoul. “But I’ll be damned if I don’t spend every day of the rest of my lifetrying to.”
You smiled softly, and let her take your hand and gentlypull you to your feet.
“We’re going now. This was… Well, it was.” She turned to Frigga then, who looked more apologetic thananyone else at the table. “Thank you for dinner, and for the invitation,mother.”
Frigga dipped her head in a nod, and stood, as well. “Let mefix you some leftovers to take home with you.”
Hela nodded, as well, and looked back at Odin, and you knewthere was a small part of her that was still hopeful. That wanted her father totake back what he said and be a real,supportive father figure to her. Butall he did was take a long sip of wine and return to his dinner plate, and youcould practically feel Hela wilt that very last bit.
“…come on. Let’s go,” you murmured softly, tugging her handto get her to come along with you, and as you left the room, you heard thescraping of several chairs behind you, smiling when you realized that Hela’ssiblings had left the table with their mother, following you into the kitchen.
As soon as everyone was gathered by the kitchen island,Frigga immediately pulled Hela into a hug, and surprisingly, she melted intothe embrace with such a defeated look that you thought she might burst intotears right on the spot, regardless of her detestation for crying in front ofpeople.
“My little love, I’m so sorry. I really thought that by now,he would have…”
Hela shook her head, looking pitifully small as her mothercradled her. “I didn’t. If he had, he would have reached out by now. It’s why Ididn’t want to come.” She spoke matter-of-factly, but you knew her well enoughby now to know she was deeply suppressingher emotions.
“And I shouldn’t have pushed you.”
“Nor should I have.” Thor stepped up to his sister and triednot to look alarmed when Hela let himhug her while Frigga started moving around the kitchen. “I knew this might havehappened, and I still continued to push you to come.”
“Well, I could have told you definitively that this wasgoing to happen. I remember how he reacted when I told him I was genderfluid.”Loki shuddered at the memory, and took a lengthy sip from the wine glass they’dbrought along with them.
“Don’t worry about returning any of these dishes, darlings.A small price to pay.”
You looked up to see that Frigga had filled a rather large bag with all sorts of containersand dishes holding various food leftover from the meal. It made your heartsimultaneously soar and ache at the gesture.
“Thank you,” you murmured, taking the bag from her as youlooked back to Hela, who was still being comforted by her siblings. “I’ll… talkto her. Make sure she’s okay on the ride home.”
Frigga nodded, and wrapped you up in a brief, though gentle,hug. “…I know she’ll likely never come back here again, but… do let her know,if she ever wants to meet for dinner or coffee or anything, I’m only a phonecall away.”
You nodded, smiling faintly. “…thank you so much, for yourhospitality. Other than… the obvious, it really was very lovely to meet you andto share dinner with you and your children.”
If Frigga noticed you left out her husband in the statement,she didn’t show it, only nodded in response. “You’d better get on the road.It’s getting late.”
“Hotel’s only a few minutes away, we’ll be fine.” You lookedover to Hela, who was standing between her siblings, who each held a hand. “Youready to go?”
Hela gave a slightly more dignified nod, and you could tellshe was putting her walls back up, bit by bit. You let her say goodbye toeveryone, and you did, as well, thanking them for their support and company,and promising them you’d see them all again soon.
It wasn’t until you got back to your car and got yourselfand all the food situated that Hela finally spoke. “…I’m sorry that you had tohear all that. I… If I’d known he’d be thatblatant about it.”
You shook your head. “We don’t have to talk about it rightnow. Or about him kicking you out. Not until you’re ready. Okay?”
You could tell Hela was relieved. As long as you’d beentogether, she still had things she didn’t like or want to talk about, and you knew she appreciated that you let herhave that space.
“…I love you. So much. More than you’ll ever know.”
You smiled softly, and leaned over to kiss her gently. “AndI love you the same. Always.” You turned back around so you could start thecar, switching gears so you could back down the driveway. “And hey. You did tell me so.”
Hela could only laugh, and you did the same, letting hertake your hand as you drove down the street and away from the house.
