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.
The reader gets hurt by a villain while out with loki, thor and asgardians. and Loki kills the villain instantly and then takes care of your wounds while also ranting about how angry he is that he couldn’t protect you
A/N: Slowly cleaning out my drafts so I can focus on my inbox. This was a fun one to write. I hope it was worth the wait!
WC: 1877
TW: Mention of blood, injury.
Rating: PG
“Don’t you worry, Y/N. You’ve got Loki and I and the wholerest of the Asgardians to help with the mission. What could possibly go wrong?”
Everything, itseemed, as an hour later you were cornered into a dimly-lit room with the badguy closing in on you. You’d known little about the guy the team had sent youon the mission to find. Just that he was located in Norway, only a few hundredkilometers from Tønsberg, that he was bad news, and that he had already hurtand killed at least a dozen people, and was rearing to do worse than that. Youdidn’t even know his name.
With the close proximity to New Asgard, Thor and Loki hadassured the team they and the Asgardians would be able to handle it, no issue,and you weren’t about to miss out on a trip to another country with your bestfriend, so you’d tagged along as backup to help with the mission, as well.
It had seemed like a foolproof plan, at the time.
You weren’t so sure now.
A bang behind you brought you back to reality, and youturned in time to see that the guy you were after had made his way into theroom with you, the door slamming shut behind him.
“I don’t think your little friends are going to be of anyhelp to you now,” he taunted, in a thick Norwegian accent. In differentcircumstances, you might have allowed yourself to be distracted with wonderingwhy Thor and Loki and the others didn’t have accents like that, but with thecurrent situation of a bit more pressing importance, you pushed the thoughtaside, tightening your grip on your gun, which felt absolutely helpless againstthe powers this guy seemed to be packing.
“I’m not scared of you. And I don’t need my friends toprotect me.” Quicker than a flash, you aimed the gun and shot, but the bulletstopped in midair as the man extended his hand, and with a wave, the bullet wassent into the wall with a muted sound of impact.
“Charming, for a human. What say we use your death to get a real reaction out of these Asgardians?Give them a real reason to fight, so they stop pulling their punches. How doesthat sound?” He raised both arms, and the debris on the ground lifted into theair, and with a twist of his hand, all the sharp edges pointed in yourdirection.
Over the pounding of your own heart in your ears, you couldhear Loki and Thor yelling over the comms, trying to figure out where you’dbeen trapped and how to get to you. Despite the ridiculously low likelihoodthat it would do anything, you raised your gun again, and shot round afterround at the man in rapid succession, but each one was directed away from himwith but a tilt of his head.
“Alright, that’s enough. Know that your sacrifice was forthe greater good.”
You opened your mouth to speak, but suddenly everything washappening at once. The door the man had come through was knocked off itshinges, Thor and Loki speeding through and yelling all at once as they bothwent to tackle the man to the ground, but even as they hit their mark, the manclenched his fist, and the debris went flying in your direction, faster thanyou had the time to react to.
Mere moments later, you were leaned against a wall, dustsettling around you and, for a moment, you thought you might have managed tomiraculously stay out of harm’s way.
And then you looked down, at the length of broken woodprotruding from your side.
Well, that wasn’t exactly good.
You were almost certain if you hadn’t been sitting alreadythat the sight alone would have made you stumble to the ground. As it was, youcouldn’t stop staring at the wound in an almost morbid curiosity, watching theblood seep through your shirt and trickle down to the ground.
That was when you heard the panicked yelling and screaming,and you looked up, vision doubling as your head swam at the sudden, nauseatingmovement. Thor and Loki were both looking at you in absolute horror, the manheld between them, grinning all the while. You blinked, and the next thing youknew, Loki had moved, snapping the man’s neck where he stood, and then stabbinghim in the chest, for good measure while Thor had hardly even realized what washappening.
The next second, Loki was at your side, yelling somethingabout Med-Evac to Thor over his shoulder.
“Y/N. Y/N.” Lokimoved so they were knelt right in front of you, ducking into your line ofvision, and you tried to manage a weak smile.
“Hey…” You felt so light. As though you could just floataway and join the stars. “…did we do it?” Your brain was more than a littlefuzzy. You’d just taken quite theblow, after all.
“…we did it. We did it, Y/N. But I need you to stay awakefor me now, can you do that? Please? For me?” Loki pressed their hands down onthe wound in an effort to staunch the bleeding, and you were almost certainthat you should have been able to feel something,but you just didn’t.
“…where’s everyone else?” you murmured, looking around theroom, as though that would provide you with the answer you were looking for.
“They’re fine. Everyone’s fine, Y/N, let’s just focus on younow. What are you gonna do, when we get back to New Asgard?” Despite their besteffort, they were failing at hiding the pure desperation in their voice as theyglanced over their shoulder at Thor, who was yelling something about someoneneeding to hurry up.
You hummed softly. “Nice hot shower… Maybe some food… Youguys always make the best food…” You wanted to say more, but you couldn’t quiteget your brain to form the sentences you wanted to say.
Loki nodded, mustering the best smile they could. “We’llmake you whatever you want. Everything you want. The finest Asgardian feastthis planet has ever seen, just… hold on,okay? We’re going to get you out of here.”
You smiled, blinking heavily. “Okay…” You let your eyesshut, unable to keep them open for any longer, and the very second you did, youcould feel every muscle in your body begin to relax.
“No, no, no. Keep your eyesopen. Y/N. Thor, tell them to hurry!Y/N?! Y/N!”
You woke slowly, and feeling no less light-headed than youhad the last time you remembered being awake.
When was the lasttime you remembered being awake?
You wracked your brain, trying to retrace your steps.
The battle, being cornered by the bad guy, the rubble beingthrown in your direction, Loki kneeling in front of you, trying to keep youawake.
For a fleeting moment you panicked, wondering if you weredead, and the thought sent you shooting upright in bed.
And then you realized just how much that hurt, and you yelped, collapsing backagainst the pillows as someone next to you put a hand on your shoulder.
“Easy…. You’ve been unconscious for three days and you’re very injured.”
You turned your head at the sound of Loki’s voice, remainingsilent as you tried to catch your breath after unintentionally exertingyourself. Loki met your gaze, concern evident in their eyes as they raised aneyebrow in a silent question of whether or not you were okay and, after amoment, you nodded a bit, settling yourself back against the pillows a tad morecomfortably.
“You lost a lot ofblood,” Loki answered you before you could even ask the question. “Passed outright in that building. Thought we’d lost you.” Loki was trying to keep theirvoice nonchalant, almost playful, but you could hear the razor-sharp edge ofstress lining it.
You wanted to address it, but Loki, again, beat you to thepunch, clasping their hands into fists in their lap as they looked at you.
“What the hel wereyou thinking, running off like that? You had no business going after someonewith magic when all you had was your gun. You could have died. Norns, you almost did, and you would have, if I hadn’t… IfThor and I hadn’t… Dammit, I shouldhave been in there with you. We were supposed to be partners on this mission,and I never should let you out of my sight. I let you down. And you almost lostyour life because of it.” With that, Loki stood so abruptly that you startled,wincing when it sent a jolt of pain through the bandaged wound on your side. Youwatched in silence for a few long moments as they paced in front of the bed you’dbeen laid in, uncertain if they were finished or if they had more to say.
When it became clear that Loki was more intent dwelling ontheir imagined failure, you heaved a sigh, shifting a little to try and makeyourself more comfortable. “Loki, what happened wasn’t your fault. He was ashitty guy with a shitty attitude who was going to kill whoever he could manageto. I was just the one he was able to corner.”
“Which wouldn’t have happenedif I had been with you. I could have stopped him with my powers. I know I couldhave.”
“And you did. He can’t hurt me, or anyone else, ever again.I’m alive because of you. Do youunderstand that? You stopped himbefore he could do anything else, and yeah, maybe I caught a bit of bad luckand will have some major recovery todeal with because of that, but… I’m alive.If anything is your fault, it’s that.And I don’t think me being alive is anything to beat yourself up over, so… Canwe calm down on the pity party just a tad, huh?” You didn’t say it to be mean.You were just saying it in terms that you knew Loki would react to the best,and when they finally heaved a sigh and stopped pacing, you relaxed a little,knowing you’d achieved your goal.
“I just… You scared meto death. And all I could think about was being the reason someone else wasdead.” Loki’s voice was soft, with a heaviness to it that you didn’t know youcould quite comprehend.
“But you weren’t. I’m alive. You’re alive. And he’s not. And that’s all that matters. Yes?”
After a long moment, Loki nodded, finally looking back up atyou with much less guilt in their expression.
“Yes.”
“Alright, then. No harm done. We’re okay, right?”
Loki blinked a bit at that. “Of course we’re okay.”
You nodded. “Alright.”
You let a comfortable silence settle over the both of you asLoki moved to sit back down in the chair at your bedside, and you would havebeen content to let the silence linger for a little while longer.
But you were nothing, if not a little shit.
“Now. Bring me that feast you promised me. I’m famished.”
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.
R has shapeshifting powers, but just in living things (real or not; in other ppl too) & somehow Loki & R have this contest on who gets to completely trick the other; they go to a mission where things go south, lose communication with R; Loki finds some big dead animal ? that looks dreadfully similar to R; Loki (& others from the team) kind of have a breakdown there. R shows up, limping, bleeding & hurt but /alive/ from the trees nearby saying something like "Seems like I win" & comfort after :')
A/N: This kinda got out of hand, but was really fun to write. I hope it’s just as fun to read.
WC: 2975
Rating: PG for non-graphic violence and mention of blood/injury
TW: None
You’d always been proud of your ability to shapeshift.
You’d discovered what you could do when you were younger and found yourself one moment wishing you could run around as free as the horses you loved to read about, and then the next physically becoming one. You’d been grateful no one had been around when it had happened; you weren’t sure how you would have explained that one.
And from then on, you’d tested your limits, with caution, usually taking to clearings in parks or in the woods near your house so that you could figure out what all you could shift into without drawing any unwanted attention to yourself.
You kept it a secret from everyone, even your closest friends and family members, and had always been careful when shifting and running around, and you’d never ran into any problems.
When you’d found out you could shapeshift into people, as well, you’d gotten yourself into all sorts of mischief, the likes of which would have had your mother on her sickbed if she knew the extent of some of them. You never did anything bad. Rather to say, you’d never done anything criminal that would have landed you in jail if you’d been caught, but as you got older, you also got smarter about it, trading in fun shenanigans for small moments of justice or payback when you deemed it necessary, all without ever being caught.
Until you had been. Not by the cops or anything that would have landed you in court or worse.
By Tony Stark himself.
You couldn’t even remember what exactly you had been doing, but as you had gone into an alleyway to shift back into your normal body, you’d looked up to see him staring at you, and you’d been so shocked you hadn’t even thought to shift into something to try and get away. You’d just stared at him dumbly until he nodded his head to himself and then told you to follow him.
Like you weren’t going to pass up the chance to talk to the Tony Stark.
And then one thing had led to another, and you’d been invited to the Compound to work with the Avengers as “quite the valuable asset,” Tony had put it.
The rest was history.
Presently, you were in the middle of a sleepless night. The bane of your existence and, unfortunately, a rather frequent affliction that you dealt with, no matter what tricks you tried in meager attempts to avoid it. So with a heave of a sigh at the realization you weren’t getting any sleep any time soon, you dragged yourself out of bed, grabbing your phone and a water bottle before heading to one of the larger training rooms.
It had been a while since you’d let yourself just free-shift without restraint, so you were actually sort of looking forward to the opportunity. As soon as you had closed the door behind you and sat your things down, you broke into a run, jumping in the air just before hitting the middle of the room and catching yourself on light wings as you shifted into a small falcon, circling around the room in lazy loops for a few laps before diving down into a barrel roll headed straight for the floor and pulling yourself up just before making impact. You circled lower to the floor this time and went for another spin, and mid-circle you shifted into a jaguar, landing carefully on the pads of your feet before picking up speed, pouncing from floor to bench to the top of the weight rack, light on your feet even with the extra weight of the big cat. You walked across the bars, and then let yourself shift into a spider monkey, swinging back and forth as you watched your reflection in the mirror.
You weren’t sure how long Loki had been watching you from the doorway, but once you noticed them, you startled so sharply that you went careening back into your human form, landing with a dull thud on the floor as you thanked Stark for having the foresight to make the floors padded.
“Ever try announcing yourself?” you grumbled, rolling your shoulders to rid yourself of the pain from landing.
“What, and miss out on that glorious landing you just pulled? Never.”
You scowled, but it was more in jest than anything else, and you watched Loki’s reflection approach, turning to look at them once they’d reached your side. “You’re just mean.”
“I know, isn’t it fun?” They sat down next to you, and you couldn’t help but to feel like they looked out of place. You weren’t sure why, it just felt weird to see Loki sitting on the floor like you were. Maybe it was just because they always seemed so proper, and sitting on the floor of a training room was decidedly not.
“Can’t sleep either?” you finally said after a while, and you realized that you had subconsciously started in on your stretching routine in the silence. You couldn’t help but to grin fondly when you noticed Loki join you, even though you weren’t entirely sure you’d ever seen them do anything exceedingly athletic in as long as you’d been at the Compound. Not including missions, naturally.
“Actually, I heard you leave your room and wanted to make sure you were alright.”
“Aw, how sweet of you. And very creepy,” you teased, stretching out your legs so you could touch your toes, turning your head to look over at them. “Still. Had to have been awake to hear me.”
Loki made a face, but said nothing, and after a while, they sat back with their weight on their palms, looking up at the ceiling. You could tell there was something that they weren’t saying, but even as close as the two of you had gotten, you didn’t think it was quite your place to call them out on that, so you just continued stretching in silence, waiting to see if they’d say anything on their own.
When they did finally speak, it wasn’t at all what you expected they might say.
“Hey, how about we have a little competition of sorts?”
Once you’d gotten over the initial shocked confusion of the query, you couldn’t help but to grin, never one to back down from a challenge. “What sort of competition?”
“Well, we both shapeshift, and we’re both pretty damn good at it, so… I was thinking maybe we could just see who can shapeshift the best?”
You scowled. “That’s no fair, you have, like, a thousand years of practice on me.”
“Fine, not the best, per se, but whoever can trick the other the best. Catch them completely off guard, as it were.”
You nodded along slowly as you considered it, pulling yourself to sit upright as you looked over at them and, after a short moment, held your hand out to shake on it. “Deal.”
Loki grinned and took your hand, shaking it firmly once. “Deal.”
And so began a near month of trying to trick each other at the most inopportune times imaginable. You lost count of just how many times each of you had tried to trick each other, but some of the more memorable ones were the time you had turned into a cat and swatted Loki in the face until they woke up one morning (resulting in you getting launched into the air when they threw the covers back, which was not a reaction you had prepared for), and also the time that Loki had turned into a chicken, one of your most irrational fears, and chased you around the Compound for the better part of an hour. Both had been hysterical, but neither of those moments had been winning moments for either of you no more than any other time the two of you had tried to trick each other since the competition had started.
And now, as you sat in the Quinjet being briefed about a somewhat tense situation that you and the team were being sent to handle, you tried to ignore the mischievous glint in Loki’s eye. As soon as you had some quiet to prepare, you turned to look at them.
“Absolutely not, this is the worst place to continue on with the competition.”
“This is the best place! We can even use it to our advantage. Give the other guys something unexpected to handle.” Loki sounded a bit mad, and while you normally on-board with that level of madness, you were just a little worried that it might backfire.
“And what happens when one of us gets shot because they think that we’re just animals getting in the way?”
“That will never happen. Besides, snakes are hard to shoot.” They grinned and shifted into a snake, curling around your forearm in what you knew was their attempt to get you to soften, and you scowled, clinging to your grumpiness.
“You’re going to get us killed.”
But Loki said nothing, because both of you already knew that you were dumb enough to go along with it.
For what it was worth, you did wait until you had separated from the team before the both of you shifted in your animal of choice for the mission; you into the large, grey wolf that had always been your favorite animal to fall back on when you shifted, and Loki into a raven this time, taking to the sky with a taunting like caw that had you both shaking your head at the ridiculousness of the situation, and wondering if you’d both just made a grave mistake.
You didn’t have much time to think about it as a wall of bullets started cascading around you, and you slunk off at an easy run, sticking to the shadows as you tried to figure out where the fire was coming from so that you could attack. It didn’t take you long to find a couple of men set up in a makeshift shooting platform in a tree, and you shifted into a panther and bounded into the air, shifting back into a human in midair long enough so that you could kick them from their stations, and then shifting back into the wolf so that you could land back on the ground gracefully.
With that taken care of, for the time being, you looked back up to the sky, part of you hoping that Loki was circling overhead so that they could see the show you’d just unintentionally put on, but they were nowhere to be seen, and you realized they were probably actually helping out the mission instead of trying to show off like you were.
“Okay, Y/N, let’s focus. Plenty of time to show off when you’re safe at home again,” you grumbled to yourself.
“That’s the spirit!” Loki’s voice was barely audible over the rush of wind as they shot past you through the air, turning in an excessively-flourishing barrel as they went, and you fought the urge to roll your eyes.
“You’re still an idiot!” you yelled back weakly, and then the sound of more gunfire drew you back to the task at hand, and you set off in that direction, determined to give whoever else was left the same treatment as the others.
Loki headed straight for the center of the battle, diving and swooping in between the attacks the other Avengers were carrying out on the HYDRA agents, clawing at whatever body parts they managed to reach without risking getting caught or shot down, and the tactic worked surprisingly well. They were moving fast enough and randomly enough that no one seemed to be able to tell where or who the attack was coming from, effectively giving Loki the upper hand to disorient them while the rest of the team went in to finish immobilizing them.
Before they knew it, the threat seemed to be expunged, and the agents had all been detained with restraints and gags while some of the Avengers kept watch over them. With the need no longer necessary, Loki shifted back into their human body, rolling their shoulders as they looked around, expecting to see you with the others.
“See, Y/N, what did I tell you? Nothing to worry about…” They trailed off as they realized you weren’t anywhere, with any of the other Avengers. “Thor. Stark. Have you seen Y/N?”
“…you haven’t…?” Thor asked after sharing a look with Tony, who also shook his head.
“So we have no idea where… Norns, do I have to keep track of everyone around here?” Loki grumbled to themself, though the worry drowned out whatever annoyance they might have been feeling, and without another word, they took off.
“Y/N?! Y/N, where are you? We’re done, come back to the quinjet so we can leave already.” But even as they teased, they couldn’t shake the feeling that something wasn’t quite right. “Y/N, I’m not playing anymore. We’re all ready to leave, you can come out now. Is this punishment for me being a showboat? I take it back.” Not half a minute of walking later, and they stopped dead in their tracks, where a motionless pile of… some sort of animal lay in the middle of the field. “…Y/N?”
As they drew nearer, they could see the same coarse grey fur of the wolf you loved to shift into, and they hesitated as they got closer, not daring to step any further, lest it confirm their fears.
“…Y/N. Stop that. You’re scaring me.” They inched closer, and when the mass of fur still didn’t move, they swallowed thickly. “…Y/N. We’re not playing games anymore. We’re done. I’m done. No more competition, just… just get over here so we can go home.” Unable to bear the unknown any longer, they finally managed to work their legs enough to go over so they could kneel next to the animal, and being closer only seemed to confirm what they were most afraid of, and they grew very still for a long moment before snapping out of it enough to call over their shoulder.
“Stark. Get paramedics over here, now, Y/N is…”
They looked up just in time to see you staggering out of a nearby copse of trees, one hand pressed against your side where blood was stained down the length of your shirt and dripping down your pants, and looking pale and worse for the wear, but human and alive.
You managed your best lopsided grin.
“I think I… I think this means I win…”
You took another step forward, and then the world went dark around you as you fell, vaguely aware of Loki rushing to try to catch you before you hit the ground.
When you opened your eyes again, it didn’t take you very long at all to realize that you were in the hospital wing of the Compound. It smelled of saline and medicine and clean, and the lights were far too bright for you to handle, so you squeezed your eyes shut again with a quiet little groan of discontent.
At your bedside, Loki’s head shot up. “Y/N…? Are you awake?”
You couldn’t bear the absolute distress that laced their voice, and when you opened your eyes to look at them, it was with a somewhat guilty expression, ready to apologize.
But Loki didn’t even let you speak.
“Norns, you scared the hel out of me. What were you thinking, going off on your own like that? You could have been killed. You very nearly were. Banner said you would have bled out, if we hadn’t found you sooner. And don’t even get me started on what you were doing so far away from the rest of the group in the first place. What if we’d never found you at all? What if you’d been kidnapped and they’d gotten away with you? What if-?”
You resisted the urge to roll your eyes as you held a hand up to get them to stop talking.
“Loki.”
They fell silent, but still looked unhappy, and worried, and scared.
“Can I talk?”
You waited for them to nod before you continued.
“First of all, you act like I’ve never gone off on my own on a mission before. It’s what we do. And I knew exactly where everyone else was the whole time. I wasn’t killed because I’m bloody good at what I do, and don’t you forget it. I just… had some idiot try to take me down with him, that’s all. I was away from the group because there was a hidden sniper range that some of you were a little too close to for comfort, and you did find me and I wasn’t kidnapped, and they didn’t get away with me, and you’re going to worry yourself sick if you keep thinking about what could have happened instead of being grateful that you did get me here in time. So just… breathe. Okay?” You kept your hand held up, hoping you came off as placating and not annoyed or frustrated, and when Loki finally heaved a slight sigh, you relaxed.
“…you’re right. You’re right, I’m sorry, I just… I saw that dead animal there, and… I thought it was you, and everything just… I don’t know. I was scared.”
You smiled a little. “Well, you don’t have to be. I’m right here, and you’re going to have to try a lot harder than that to get rid of me next time.”
Finally, Loki smiled a bit, even as they rolled their eyes, and that was all you really wanted. Plus, it made it all the funnier when you smirked cheekily.
“Better luck on the next competition, though.”
You thought Loki might have throttled you, if you hadn’t been hooked up to so many wires and IV tubing.
Hello! I don't know if something like this has been asked before. The reader is having a rough time mentally as of late, just feeling super down and upset. It's been keeping them up at night for a few days and a thunderstorm keeps them from sleeping again. They normally love storms and they're happy this one is here to break the horrible summer heat, but the constant thunder and lightning keeps them awake half the night. It's putting them in a grumpy mood and Loki tries to help in whatever way that is. Maybe he makes them tea too? Bonus if Thor pokes his head in to try to help, maybe Rocket too (they're up late playing games together), but Loki shoos them away after the reader snaps at them from being sleep deprived. Thank you!
A/N: This is extremely relatable to me currently, and I hope it brings anyone else in the same boat some comfort.
WC: 1500
Rating: G
TW: Mental breakdown, kinda? I suppose.
Lately, you had been feeling very… not you.
That was to say, you’d been feeling completely and utterly drained of any sort of feeling or emotion or anything that made you feel like you were a person and not merely a thing that had been brought into existence only to feel completely and utterly devoid of anything that wasn’t depressing or sad or frustrating to the point of tears.
That was to say your mental health was taking yet another turn for the worse.
You weren’t entirely sure what exactly had brought it on. You supposed it was likely due to the overwhelming reality of your life currently, which, admittedly, was quite the stressor in your life. But you’d never had issues like this before. Not this horribly.
You’d had spells where you felt down, and didn’t want to do much more than lay around in bed or maybe cry for a good few hours straight. But this was… different. More intense. You couldn’t eat, you couldn’t stay focused, and heaven forbid you try to sleep.
You couldn’t remember the last time you’d gotten more than an hour or two of sleep throughout the entire length of a single night.
Which, naturally, only led to you feeling more depressed and drained and emotionally unavailable.
You wish you knew how to fix it.
Correction.
You wish you had the energy to fix it.
Instead, you let yourself sort of… get lost in the emptiness of your mental state.
A horrible idea, really, because it meant that you were standoffish, impatient, and a little mean, and of course there was the fact that you still weren’t sleeping any easier.
You wanted to scream. Maybe forever.
As you laid in bed one night, you thought you actually might do just that.
You’d been getting ready to turn in for the night, had dredged yourself through the bare basics of a nighttime routine so that you had some sort of normalcy, and had put on your coziest pajamas before downing as much melatonin as you considered non-lethal and tucking yourself under the covers with some ocean waves to help lull you to sleep.
Except that the ocean waves were almost immediately drowned out by a rolling cascade of thunder paired with a bright flash of lightning that almost made you want to face palm in sheer amusement at your dumb luck.
Of course, the one night you wanted peace and quiet while trying to sleep, a storm had to roll in.
Normally, you were quite fond of storms. You’d always loved them as a child, had loved listening to them wax and wane around you while you counted seconds between thunder and lightning to figure out how close or far the storm was.
But currently, this storm was dancing on the one nerve you had left, and it was already stretched thinner than a string of thread.
“Of course. Of course. I try to get a real night of rest, and Mother Nature has other plans. Typical.” You grumbled and cursed some more under your breath while you tossed and turned under your covers, trying to decide if it would be a good idea to hide under the covers and press a pillow over your head, which would drown out the thunder (hopefully), but in return likely amplify your thoughts, and you simply did not want to be alone with those right now.
Heaving a frustrated sigh, you threw the covers back so hard that they fell completely off the bed, which only frustrated you even more as you sat up, expression pinched with annoyance.
“…maybe some tea. That’s what Loki always does to calm down. Tea would be nice.” You tried to talk to yourself in a soothing voice, like people always did in movies to calm themselves down, but you felt ridiculous, so instead you fell silent as you tucked your feet into your slippers and padded out into the main living area of the Compound, grateful that no one else was burning the midnight oil to question you.
You set about boiling the water, and got down a few different boxes of tea, trying to decide which one would knock you out like you wanted, and which would keep you up for more hours, which you weren’t keen on but hadn’t made final decisions about just yet.
Ultimately, you decide to try some chamomile and lavender tea, and took a packet out of the box, ripping it open so you could get out the tea bag, which promptly fell on the floor. You groaned unhappily.
Just my luck, you thought grumpily to yourself, snatching it up and tossing it into the rubbish bin before getting another bag out, only for this one to rip open along with the packet opening, spilling the contents of the tea bag out onto the counter.
“Oh, come on!” you griped, not realizing just how loudly you’d said it as you started sweeping the spilled bits into your cupped palm.
“…Y/N? Is everything alright?”
Loki’s calm voice didn’t startled you, but rather made you feel a little guilty for waking them, as well as being a little annoyed that you now had an audience.
“Trying to make tea, and it’s… not working.” You gestured to the mess on the floor and counter, and your expression must have conveyed your frazzled nerves, because as Loki approached, they nodded slowly, studying you from the corner of their eyes.
“…I can tell you’re a little frustrated right now. Why don’t you go back to your room, and I’ll bring it to you when it’s ready. Yes?” Despite their speaking placatingly, you were surprised at the lack of patronizing quality that you’d expected when they spoke.
All you could do was nod, and shuffle back to your room, hoping that Loki wouldn’t be too long.
You were peeking out of the bedroom at the pouring rain when you heard Loki come in and nudge the door behind them so that there was still a sliver of light coming in from the hallway. You finally tore your gaze away, letting the blinds fall back into place as you looked at them a little sheepishly.
“…sorry,” you started, but Loki shook their head, pressing a mug into your hands.
“No need. I can tell you’re… tired, lately.” Loki made it very obvious that they were carefully choosing their words, but you couldn’t find it in you to blame them.
“…I’m just… not having a good mental health day. Week. Month. Life, if I’m being honest,” you admitted with a harsh exhale of a laugh, and Loki only nodded along with you.
“I get it. It’s no fun, especially when it comes out of nowhere.” Loki took a sip of their tea, and opened their mouth to speak again, but was cut off by the sound of talking outside of the door, and you looked over in time to see a shadow move past it, then hesitate and come back to peek in the door.
“Y/N, Loki! What on earth are you two doing up?” Thor’s smile looked like a ray of sunshine, even in the half-lit bedroom, and you sort of hated him for it.
“I could ask you the same, brother,” Loki bit back, looking at him with a raised eyebrow.
“Muscles and I were playing a couple rounds on Fortnite. But we’re turning in for the night now.” You hadn’t even noticed Rocket until he spoke, and you regretted the fact that you could feel your exhaustion-induced anger coming back.
“Actually, can we hang out in here for a little bit? Or can I, anyway, I’m not quite tired yet, and you guys look like you’re having fun, and-”
“NO, YOU CAN’T!” You didn’t realize that it was you that had screamed that until you realized everyone else was staring at you, and all you could do was blink back at them, chest heaving for a reason you didn’t quite know.
“…Thor, now’s not really a good time. Why don’t you go on with the rodent? We’ll talk later.”
Thor seemed to get the message immediately, and ducked away, dragging a complaining Rocket with him as he closed the door completely.
By the time Loki had turned back to you, you had burst into tears, unable to cope with all of the emotions that had dogpiled on you so heavily that you had no choice but to deal with them all now.
Loki only nodded, and rubbed your back soothingly with a single hand.
“There we are. I know it’s hard. I know you’re feeling a lot right now. And that’s alright. I’ll be right here when you’re ready to talk about it. And if you don’t, that’s alright, too. I’m staying with you.” They continued to talk soothingly to you, even as you deflated, head falling to rest on their shoulder, and entire body shaking with gut-wrenching sobs. “I’m not going anywhere. You’re safe here. You’re safe. I’m here.”
Reader gets unexplainable powers. Like telekinesis and others regarding the mind. Loki is like shook af?? But attempts to help the reader control their new gift/possible curse. Maybe they have like a hecking panic attack which causes their powers to almost literally destroy little bits of the compound. ((Idk i say the trailer for Impulse and was like: GaSp))
A/N: Another old prompt I’ve been sitting on for so long that it was in my drafts, not my inbox. I hope it was worth the wait!
WC: 2936
Rating: PG
TW: Panic/panic attacks are depicted to an extent.
You blinked the blurriness from your eyes as you pushedyourself up onto your elbows, head spinning from the effect of… whatever it wasthat had hit you. You hadn’t seen anything, hadn’t heard anything. One minuteyou were standing in the middle of the hideout you and some of the others hadinfiltrated, the next your head had been ringing and you’d fallen to the groundas everything around you seemed to shake from the force of… something.
You pressed a hand to the side of your head and winced. Youdidn’t remember hitting it on anything, but it was pounding. Like there wassuddenly too much inside of it and it was trying to claw its way out. It was astrange and difficult to describe feeling, and you hoped that it would passsoon.
“Y/N, you alive over there?” Tony’s snarky, if slightlyconcerned voice, rang clear over your earpiece, and you huffed out a laugh asyou pushed yourself up to your feet.
“What, you think I can’t handle a blow to the head?”
You were met with a tense silence, and you could almost seethe team looking at each other as someone decided what to say.
“Y/N, what are you talking about? Nothing hit you.” That wasNat’s voice, and she sounded like she was questioning your current levels ofsanity.
“…what do you mean? Did you not see what hit me? Knocked meright on my ass.” You laughed, but stopped when you realized no one waslaughing with you. By now, a few of the others, Loki, Thor, and Steve, had madetheir way closer to you, and were still looking at you strangely.
“Y/N, nothing hit you. One minute you were standing, thenext you were on the ground,” Loki explained gently.
“We thought you were shot,” Thor added, immediately stridingover to check you for the gunshot wounds he expected to find, giving a humphwhen he found you unharmed.
“What happened?” Steve looked around, as though he werelooking for a chair or something for you to sit on, and you shrugged a shoulderas you wrapped an arm around yourself.
“…I don’t know. I guess it’s just like you said, except… Ifelt something hit me. Like, feltsomething knock me over.”
“Stark, what are the chances it was someone or something wecouldn’t see?” Steve asked as Tony landed the suit a small distance away fromthe area you’d all met in.
“Won’t know until we get a medical examination.” Tony caughtyou rubbing at your temple, and frowned. “You hurt your head?”
“Must have,” you muttered.
“Well, I think the best course of action is getting you backto the compound and getting you checked out,” Loki decided for the group, whoall nodded. “Stark took care of those buffoons, so we’re in the clear. Let’sgo, before more come out to play.”
You nodded, and let Thor put an arm around you as you headedback to the Quinjet with the whole team.
A couple of hours and one medical examination later, and youhad no answers to what had happened or whyyour head felt like it was going to split in half.
“Here. The peppermint will help with the headache,” Lokiinsisted as they handed you a cup of tea, and you took it with a mumbled thankyou.
“…you really didn’t see what hit me?” You tilted your headonly enough so that you could meet their gaze, unwilling to stop cradling it inyour hand in a meager attempt to get the headache to subside.
Loki shook their head, concern evident in their gaze as theykept watching you. “It’s like we told you. You were on your feet, and then… youweren’t.” They were quiet for a long moment, as though considering something tosay, and then they abruptly cleared their throat. “Something’s off about you,though.”
You snorted out a humorless laugh, holding your head in yourhands. “Yeah, no kidding. I feel like I got hit by a train that no one else wasable to see.”
Loki shook their head. “No, it isn’t that. You feel different. Your… composition.”
You made a face as you looked up at them. “Okay, explain,please?”
Loki pressed their lips together as they searched for words.“…humans, most of them, are vastly unmagical. Save for the extreme few, as you knowby our teammates. They feel… normal. Ordinary. It’s almost as though there’sa…lack. Between how those that have some sort of power and magic, and thosethat… don’t.”
You nodded slowly, trying to comprehend what Loki wassaying. “And… What, you’re saying that I… don’t have that lack anymore?”
Loki gave you a look that felt both apologetic andbeseeching. “…something like that.”
You nodded once. And then laughed. And kept laughing.“That’s ridiculous. I don’t have magic. I’m not magic. Look.” You waved yourfingers around in a shameful imitation of how you thought it looked to performmagic. “Nothing. Nothing at all. No magic. Nothing special. No anything.”
Loki steeled themself for the panic they could tell you weresettling yourself into, nodding along as you spoke, but completely oblivious tohow the lights in the kitchen had begun to flicker.
“The idea is absolutely laughable, when you think about it.I get knocked over by some invisible force, have a splitting headache thatfeels like something has been put inside my brain that my skull simply doesn’thave the spare room for, and… and the medical examination comes back normal.Absolutely normal! No injuries, no mind control, no traces of anything. And you… You tell me that I suddenly feel like I have magic like that’s acompletely normal thing to say to a person and not something absolutely insane that makes you sound like you’vegone bonkers mad. And there’s no proof. Noproof to validate your statement whatsoever.”
“Y/N.” Loki said your name calmly, but you were having none ofit as you clenched your fist at your side, not because you were angry, butbecause you had worked yourself into such a stressed tizzy.
In fact, you were so worked up that you hadn’t noticed thatevery cabinet in the kitchen was rattling, the tea kettle was suddenlywhistling, despite the stove not being on, and the lights were flickering withsuch intensity that the room was flashing between pitch black and normallighting.
“No, no. Don’t try to take back what you said. You’vealready said it, and now you’ve got me so worked up that I can’t even thinkstraight, which is doing absolutely fuckall for my headache, and I want it to all just stop.” You accentuated your final word with a frustrated wave ofyour hands, forgetting that you held a tea cup in your hand.
But a shatter never came. Instead, you blinked dumbly as youwatched the teacup hover where your hand had originally been.
“Y/N,” Lokirepeated calmly, and this time you looked at them. They only raised an eyebrowin response, before nodding their head toward the kitchen, and you looked overto see all the cabinet doors still swinging back and forth on their hinges, andthe lights flickering, though with much less intensity than they had in themiddle of your argument.
“…huh.” It was all you could manage as you looked back downat the mug floating in front of your hands, taking it gently before you lostwhatever focus you had and it crashed to the floor.
Loki smiled, an insufferable grin that made you want tothrottle them. “Do you believe me now?”
You huffed out a breath, and the cabinets all swung shut,making you jump slightly. “…it would seem I have no choice but to.”
Good. Now that we’vegot that all squared away, I think we should let the rest of the group knowwhat happened.
“…yeah, I guess you’re right.”
“What?” Loki looked over at you, brow furrowed.
“We’ll go tell the others, like you said.”
“Y/N, I didn’t… say anything… out loud…” They looked at youfor a long moment, and this time, it took less of a push for you to comprehendwhat had just happened.
“…okay. I can… read minds now, too? Is that…? We’re doingthat now, I guess.”
“I think we should tell them now.”
“Good idea.”
A couple hours and some tests later, and you had no more conclusiveresults than you had after the firstmedical examination.
Nothing in your brain looked out of the ordinary, nothingshowed up in any scans.
You just… suddenly and unexplainably had telekinetic powers.And then some.
No big deal, or anything.
“We should work on controlling them.”
You made a face at Loki as you walked next to them. “I just got them. How am I supposed to controlthem already?”
“By practicing. A lot.”Loki opened the door to one of the training rooms, holding it open so you couldgo in before them, and then closing it once the both of you had gone inside.
“Because that sounds somuch fun.”
“Well, your options are control your powers through endlesshours of training or risk tearing the entire complex to pieces, not just thekitchen, the next time you have a little… flare-up.”
“It wasn’t a flare up!” You didn’t mean to say the words asharshly as you did, and they were accentuated with the lights flickeringoverhead and the weights shaking on their rack across the room. “…maybe youhave a point.”
“Of course I do.” Loki sounded so sure of themself that thephrase didn’t even sound snarky. They just knew that they knew more about thesubject than you did, and you couldn’t even blame them for it. “Sit down.”
You watched as they dropped to the floor in the middle ofthe room, and you followed suit, crossing your legs as you sat across fromthem.
“We won’t know for certain until you have better control,but… at least for the moment, it seems that your powers are… connected to youremotions. Or at the very least, heightened by them. I don’t have to explain whythat’s a horribly dangerous correlation.”
You nodded. “So how do I fix it?”
“You fix it by controlling your emotions.” Anticipating yourgrumpy response, they held a hand up. “We all have emotions that get out ofhand sometimes. Nothing against you, or anyone who lets their emotions get thebetter of them. Myself included. The trick is minimizing it. Allowing yourselfto feel it for a brief moment, and then… tucking it away. Until you need it.”
“You make that sound ridiculously easy,” you grumbled,pulling one knee up to your chest and wrapping an arm around it.
“It isn’t. I’ve just had centuriesto perfect it.”
You heaved a frustrated sigh, flopping back on the ground.“So what you’re saying is that I’m doomed. Beautiful.”
“I’m saying youhave to work for it. It won’t be easy. But it will get easier. In time.”
“And how do I practice this exactly?” you argued, staring upat the ceiling.
“Well, for one, breathing techniques. They help keep you calm.And steady breathing is the key to steady magic.”
“Not magic,” you reminded them.
“As good as,” they shot back.
“…fine. So… what, I practice breathing techniques like I’mabout to go into labor, is that it?”
“Look, do you want the help or not? I can always let you letyour powers tear the whole compound to shreds and deal with Stark in theaftermath.”
“No!” You answered a little too quickly, and the lightsflared with a quiet buzzing noise in response. “…no. Please. You’re the onlyone that’s going to be able to help me with this. I… I’m sorry. It’s all… new.Having powers. Give me a gun or a knife or hand-to-hand combat, and I’m fine,it’s just… there’s so much skill required,with this.”
“And was there not for any of the other things you haveproficiency in?”
You were so annoyed that you pulled yourself to sit back upjust so you could level Loki with a glare, because you knew they were right.
“That’s what I thought.” They were silent for a moment, andthen heaved a deep breath. “Look, I won’t tell you that any of this is going tobe easy. You’re… largely alone in this, and I and the others can help you trainto some degree, but the majority of it… is just you. And I’ll do what I can,but… you have to commit to it, too. Okay?”
Your lips twisted to the side as you considered what theysaid, and as you drew your knees back up to your chest and settled your chin ontop, you nodded. “…okay. I… appreciate it. Your willingness to help me…navigate through all of this.”
Loki only smiled. “What are best friends for?”
You smiled, as well.
“Now, about those breathing techniques.”
You tried not to roll your eyesthis time.
“Easy… A little anger goes a long way.”
You nodded once, visualizing your energy and emotions focusinginto a small, concentrated ball between your hands. Careful not to let yourselfdwell too much on your anger, butfeeling it just enough that you could feel it feeding into your power.
With a slow, deep breath, you pushed your hands out in frontof you, watching as the semi-circle of dummies surrounding you fell as ifknocked over by an invisible wave. It was the last move in a series of movesthat had been more successful than anything you’d tried in the six monthstraining with Loki to get your emotions under control so that you could workbetter with your new powers, and the excitement of finally nailing it left youpunching your fist in the air with an excited squeal, the small burst ofhappiness making the lights flicker overhead.
“I did it! Did you see that? I finally did it!” You beamed as you walked over to where Loki wasstanding, swiping up your water bottle so you could take a lengthy sip from it.
“Only took you six months,” Loki teased, and you shot them afaux glare.
“Keep it up and I’ll tell Thor about how much you missed himafter you faked your death on Svartalfheim and pretended to be Odin.”
Loki scowled. “That is a privatememory, how dare you use that as leverage.”
You rolled your eyes. “Well, I only learned from the best,after all.” You stretched your arms out before nudging Loki with your shoulder,smiling all the while as the both of you began heading back toward the commonareas. “Your secret is safe with me. Just like everyone else’s are.”
“You know, I think technically you might be the mostdangerous of all us now.”
You made a face. “What, because I have telekinetic powersthat have taken me six months just to minorlyget a hold of? You or Wanda or Strange could do the same in a matter of seconds.”
But Loki shook their head. “No, no, no. No, no. You’re dangerous because you know all of oursecrets now. You know all the dirt. Blackmail central, if you think about it.”
You made a face and nodded slowly, considering that. “Yeah,if anyone on this team ever does me dirty, it’s curtains for you lot. Though I have gotten much better about…accidentally tuning in.”
“What a nice way to say you’ve been eavesdropping.” Lokishot you an amused look, and you crossed your arms over your chest.
“Hey. It’s not exactly an easy thing to ignore. Especially when it’s quiet or if there’s onlyone or two people in the room with me. It makes their thoughts so much louder.”
“Oh, I don’t doubt that at all. I’ve never had the abilityto do anything like that. To my knowledge, anyway.”
“To your knowledge? What, as if you could hear someone else’svoice in your head and not realizeyou were reading their mind? I call bullshit.”
“Alright, fine. I’ve definitelynever had that ability. But it’s probably for the best. More for… back then,than for now. Who knows the shenanigans I would have gotten into? The chaos Iwould have caused, for Midgard and my parents and my brother. Norns, I couldhave had it all, if I’d really wanted.”
“Whoa there, you’re a reformedbaddie now, remember? No talk like that.” You knew they were only joking, butyou wanted to set the record straight, justin case they were having any ideas.
“Sure.” Loki nodded thoughtfully for a moment, cutting theireyes toward you. “Though I suppose I could always have just used them to figureout whether or not anyone had a crush on me or something mundane like that.” Apause. “Like you do with my sister?”
Your cheeks flushed brightred, and with them, the lights overhead buzzed loudly. “How the hell did you catch on about that?”
“Well, I mean, the way that you concentrate on her sointensely when she’s around made it rather obvious in and of itself…” Lokitaunted.
“Oh, you are so dead,” you grumbled.
“You’d have to catch me first.” And with that Loki took off,leaving you to chase after them as the lights shattered one by one in yourwake.
You were going to have fun explaining that one to Tony later.
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.”