@froststrangeweek Day 5: "Could you be happy here with me?" | falling asleep | stargazing
Stephen lounged comfortably on the blanket Loki had conjured for them to protect them from the dew covered grass. Loki lay beside him, pointing at stars and creating constellations to amuse them both. Stephen let out a small, contended sigh. This was nice, but… As always, his insecurities plagued at him. He was a damaged, washed up man. Yes, he had been named as Sorcerer Supreme, but what did that even mean? Wong always took the opportunity to point out how much he didn't know. And Loki was a prince, a mage, a master of seidr. A _god_.
"Could you be happy here? With me?" The words slipped out before he could stop them. He closed his eyes in recrimination, unwilling to watch Loki's reaction. He heard Loki sigh, and shift beside him, but kept his eyes closed.
"No."
Stephen's eyes snapped open and he stared unseeing at the stars above. Blood was rushing in his ears even as he felt in drain from his face.
He had felt pain before. He knew it intimately. His hands, a constant reminder of his hubris. His bones, broken and healed and broken and healed after only a year of protecting Earth. He knew what a mortal wound felt like. He knew what it felt like to die.
Stephen realized he'd never known pain until that moment.
He stumbled to his feet, unwilling and unable to stay so close to… To what he foolishly thought he could have. He staggered a few steps away while fumbling with his sling ring. His hands were shaking, always shaking, if he could just control himself for a moment he could leave, could escape, but his damn hands -
Warm, smooth hands wrapped around his own, still and steady. He looked up, startled, into worried green eyes.
"Stephen…" Loki sighed his name and suddenly he felt like he could breathe again. "Where are you going?"
Stephen couldn't answer, caught up in Loki's eyes that seemed to look right through him. He mutely shook his head. At Loki's sigh shame flooded through him and he half-heartedly tried to pull away.
"Stephen." A minute shiver skittered down his spine at the soft reprimand. "You didn't hear anything I said, did you?"
"You…" Stephen wet his lips and tried again. "You said no."
Loki reached up a hand to curl around Stephen's chin and used the other to keep a steady hold on his forever shaking hands. "For all your strengths, ástin, you have such mortal flaws. Why do you doubt me?" He leaned forward to press soft lips to Stephen's. Stephen's eyes fluttered close and he felt himself relax for the first time since asking his ridiculous question.
"You asked if I could be happy here; I cannot. You have started to shiver and I need to take you home. Do you mean here on Midgard? Mortals are amusing, it's true, but I will tire of their antics. But, Stephen," Loki pressed a finger against his lips that he'd opened to argue. "Do you mean with you? I already am."
Stephen took a startled breath and Loki's face softened into a smile.
"You forget, ástin. We have forever. When I grow weary of Midgard, I will show you Vanheim. When you grow tired of Vanheim, you will show me the Mandelibus Dimension. When you are needed at your Sanctum, I will accompany you. When I am needed in Asgard, you will accompany me. We have all of eternity to explore every inch of the universe." Loki finished with a second, longer soft kiss, slowly moving his arms to encircle Stephen in a cocoon of warmth and strength.
Stephen blinked tears out of his eyes when Loki pulled back just enough to smile down at him. With a lazy hand, Loki vanished the blanket from the ground and summoned another to pull around Stephen's shoulders. "Let's go home." Stephen barely managed a nod before he felt Loki stepping them onto a branch and then into the kitchen of the New York Sanctum.
He must have looked confused because Loki's smile quickly transformed into a smirk. "You would have never forgiven me for taking you to bed without your tea." Stephen felt his face heat but was saved by The Cloak's exuberant arrival.
The Cloak fluttered around them both like the overgrown puppy it was, pausing only long enough to disdainfully lift a corner of the blanket that Stephen was wrapped in.
"My pardons." Stephen peered up at Loki but it seemed completely sincere - although that didn't necessarily mean anything from the Liesmith. But he felt the blanket vanish from his shoulders and was quickly surrounded by the familiar weight of The Cloak. The Cloak, in its excitement, pushed him close enough to Loki that he could feel the rumbled chuckle against his cheek. "Yes, I agree. But you know how stubborn he is."
Stephen narrowed his eyes at both of them but didn't borrow arguing. He was at a disadvantage because of the All Speak, after all.
Loki pulled away and bustled around the kitchen while Stephen burrowed into The Cloak's warmth. He had once complained that conjured tea didn't taste right, and Loki always made sure to make it by hand after that. And he had questioned his devotion?
A steaming mug appearing under his nose startled him out of his rapidly spiraling thoughts. "I could hear you thinking, ástin. Come. It's past time for bed." The Cloak helped steady Stephen's hands as he took the mug of ginger and cardamom chai, inhaling the soothing scent as he trailed behind Loki.
The two moved around each other with easy familiarity as they prepared for bed. The spicy smell of Loki's hot chocolate drifted behind him, and Stephen smiled at the scent. He made sure to keep the dark cocoa and cayenne mix stocked in the same cupboard as his tea.
Finally, tea and cocoa finished, the two slipped under the covers. The Cloak took its accustomed place across them both and Loki tucked Stephen's hands against him to keep them safe as they slept.
If you still do the fic title thing: "A thousand lies" :)
Superheroes getting sick? Hilarious.
Supervillains getting sick? Dangerous.
Thor calls it something that roughly translates to “heart sickness” in All-Speak, but all the Avengers know is that every time Loki sneezes, he duplicates. What makes it worse? Each duplicate wears the shape of one of Loki’s former disguises, and Loki has worn a lot of faces, names, and shapes in his lifetime. Now it’s a race to find the original and cure him, while thwarting all the mischief the many duplicates keep causing.
Meanwhile Darcy Lewis isn’t sure exactly why there are suddenly so many new people in her life, but more friends is always awesome, right?
