Word Count: 492 (teaser) | 7-8K (approximate estimate)
Warnings: Allusions to self-harm and depression; mentions of blood, violence, and abuse; profanity; scenes depicting sci-fi and fantasy action and violence; and suggestive themes
Summary: When two variants, a Loki and a Thor, break into the headquarters of the Time Variance Authority, caseworker Christopher Bang is forced handle the situation. Unfortunately for him, the Sons of Odin are on a personal mission and there’s nothing in the Multiverse that will stop them—not even a bunch of bureaucratic timekeepers.
Notes: Inspired in part by this post as well an story idea I had months ago about Thor!Hyunjin and Loki!Minho going off on a side-quest to retrieve an Asgardian relic. And, yes, this is part of the overarching little universe I've been working on so it's ties-in with Measure of a Hero.
Tag List: @wingkkun @scriptura-delirus @applejongho (if you wanna be added to the list, let me know)
Dedication: This one goes to Mai. Love you, little sibling.
CHRISTOPHER BANG WAS the sort of guy who did things By The Book.
He had tried, once or twice, to deviate, to do things differently, yet he struggled. Every decision that would push him away from his comfort zone ended in awkward silences and abject humiliation. After several attempts, all of which he could count on one hand, Christopher Bang recognized himself as a stickler.
After all, rules were rules and they were meant to be followed.
Especially if one, much like Christopher Bang, worked for the Time Variance Authority. Doing things By The Book wasn’t so much a requirement as a way of life. In order of the TVA to function properly, everyone had to do their job properly and efficiently.
Without that efficiency, the entire Multiverse would face its collapse. Without the proper work of every employee—from the paper pushers to the Time-Keepers themselves—all of existence, all of Time, would face dire consequences.
Therefore Christopher Bang promised himself he’d never deviate from his routines or his responsibilities. As a case worker, he had more than enough responsibilities and he wasn’t about to ruin his career and all the good will he’d earn over gods knew how long he’d been working with the TVA by breaking the rules.
Which is why, when he’s briefed about how two variants—a Loki and a Thor—had simply waltzed into TVA’s HQ, he took a deep breath, counted to a hundred, and reminded himself of the rules and regulations he had memorized in case something like this ever happened. Never in a million years, he’d ever imagined that a situation like this one could occur.
Yet, lo and behold, it had and Christopher Bang was about to be dumbfoundedly blinking at it.
As the familiar sound of a Glass Door opening echoed in the Arrival Chamber, he wondered what he’d done to deserve being assigned this specific case. Granted, it wasn’t like he had made an impression but he had the feeling it was because he was discreet and competent enough to not allow for the situation to escalate.
Which he couldn’t allow to escalate. It would break the rules and lead to a whole slew of unnecessary events he’d rather avoid.
He thought of his superiors, judging him, calling him a failure, and gulped. Cold sweat slowly cascaded down his temple, clammed up his hands. Because if there was something Christopher Bang feared more than breaking the rules it was Upper Management.
Upper Management—a colloquial term for the Time-Keepers and their judges—had a seemingly never-ending history of severe and disproportionate punishments. Thus having someone—in this case, two pairs of someone—sneaking into one of the most important, secretive, and ancient organizations across the Multiverse was the sort of thing that led to a severe, perhaps well-deserved, but definitely disproportionate punishment.
“We have arrivals incoming,” said the saccharine voice of Miss Minutes. She spoke in a southern drawl that was equally soothing and irritating. “In three, two, one—”
