Summary: What happens when Tom is forced to have a stronger social media presence? How does he respond when teacher!reader sends him a message with one of her student's writing assignments about Loki?
A/N: This is my first attempt at anything remotely like this at all. I haven't written a fanfic since I was in high school and that has been quite a long time ago. I have to thank @lov3nerdstuff for inspiring me, answering all of my ridiculous writing questions, and really just being an awesome example around these parts. Go check out their stuff!
“Raise your hand to tell me why you think narrative beginnings are sometimes called ‘hooks’?” The room erupts in a flurry of hands raising after you prompt your class of fourth graders. They so badly want to please you and impress their fellow classmates, as though this one question answered correctly is all the recognition they will need in life. You’re obviously pleased with the participation, but it’s the select few that decidedly don’t raise their hands that have grabbed your attention.
“Scott,” you call on the boy who had been occupied with a glue stick in his desk than the discussion around him. A few groans were heard throughout the room from the disappointment of not being called.
“I didn’t raise my hand,” he replied, as if there must have been some mistake.
You smile, moving around the classroom in an effort to gain the attention of other students by your mere proximity. “Sneak attack,” giving a small shrug and a simple answer. ‘Sneak attacks’ were your common practice—another method of keeping students engaged. However, it was never used to intentionally embarrass students. “Why do you think narrative beginnings are called ‘hooks’?” you repeat the question, tone gentle as you continue to look at the boy who was beginning to fluster. You quickly gesture towards the whole class, directing your next words to them. “If you aren’t currently sending good vibes to your classmate, then I don’t know what you’re doing!”
As if on cue, students began to wiggle their fingers in the direction of the young boy. A few called out words of encouragement. “You can’t get this question wrong. I just want to know why you think a beginning is called a ‘hook’,” your tone even softer than before, barely heard above the other students’ excitement. You’ve chosen this student for a reason. He loves to fish. His only good memories of his dad are when they fished when Scott was a tiny boy. He hates to write and if you don’t get him invested in this now—you’re a goner.
“Um,” Scott’s small smile is contagious. His body language is telling you that this is going in the right direction. “You use hooks to pull the reader in—like you pull in a fish?” he asks, punctuating his question with a laugh.
Your face contorts in comical confusion. “Are you asking me or telling me, Scott?”
“With confidence!” a couple of classmates call out, again—they know you. They know your phrases and mannerisms. They feel safe. And if you don’t teach them a damn thing the whole year, you’ll be damn sure that they at least feel safe when they are with you.
Scott’s laughter mingles with his friends, jumping from his seat, his actions matching the energy of the room. “Hooks pull readers in!” he yells out. You respond with laughter of your own, because you know he isn’t done. “And—and—you have to have the right bait. You gotta know what type of fish you want to catch…” he rattles off quickly.
To keep the energy alive (and keep the conversation about writing), you’re quick to help him out. “Just like you have to know who your audience is when you’re writing.”
“Because you don’t want to lose them with the wrong beginning!”
“Exactly! Nicely done!” Your words are lost in a sea of excited claps, laughter, and words of congratulations towards Scott. “Today, we are going to begin to write a fictional narrative about what would happen if you and your favorite fictional character met and had to solve a problem together. It’s going to take us a month or so to complete it. Right around the end of the school year. Thanks to Scott, we already know that we have to grab our readers’ attention from the very start. He’s not going to have any trouble doing that, right everyone?” The students were already chatting away about what they were going to write about, even Scott who absolutely hated to write. You marked the ‘Publication Party’ day on your class calendar amidst the chaos.
There were more efficient ways to introduce a writing assignment. There were quieter ways. Ways that likely followed a perfectly laid out plan. You spent ten extra minutes that could have been used to go over the specifics of the assignment. But, had you done that….Scott would likely not have worked so hard on his narrative about meeting Loki. And you, dear reader, would not have randomly sent his writing to the man behind the God of Mischief…
—————————————————————————
There wasn’t anything mischievous about nursing a hangover with a five o’clock wake-up call from his furry companion. It seemed Bobby hadn’t received the memo that if his owner was up past midnight, drinking gin, and arguing with his publicist for the hundredth time about ‘social media image’---it wasn’t appropriate to lick at said owner’s face after he roughly had four hours of sleep. It was rude.
A muffled groan came from beneath the pillow that Tom had somehow managed to burrow under in his intoxicated state. It was a feeble attempt to avoid this whole situation. Yet, Bobby was insistent about getting up at their normal time. “I will buy you every bone this world has to offer, Bobby. Please. Five more minutes,” he begged the dog, but with little success. Hearing Tom’s voice may have made it worse, as Bobby’s cold nose dug deeper and deeper beneath the covers to lick at his owner’s ear.
“Alright! I’m up! I’m up!” hair flopped in all sorts of directions as he emerged from his cocoon. “We’ll take a walk and then go back to bed,” but even as he was saying it, he knew it to be a lie. He never could be one of those people who could just fall back asleep after padding around. When he was awake, he was awake—despite wishing with all of his might to catch a few more winks.
Hangover aside, the morning operated much the same. A quick pop outside for Bobby, before all of London was up for the day. Coffee. Two cups. Aspirin (not part of the typical routine, but decidedly required to survive today). Large glass of water. Then, to properly take Bobby on a walk more so to clear his own head than for his companion. Ballcap, glasses, and his comfortable attire were not noteworthy in his opinion—yet, he was fully prepared to force a smile if the paparazzi were out and about.
If they had been out, Tom wouldn't have noticed. The beautiful thing about walks is that you can lose yourself so wholly in the moment. A jog would have done the trick as well with the blood pumping, heart racing, the general feeling of being wildly alive and near the brink of death with each stride—though the thought alone of a jog this morning made him want to groan. Naturally, his thoughts found the way to the argument from the night before. His social media presence. Was it as active as his publicist would have liked? No. This wasn’t a new topic of conversation, but for whatever reason, Luke chose last night to put his foot down. Especially in this down time between projects, Tom had to keep in the public eye. No, not in the sense of the world knowing his every move—Where was he having dinner? Who was he eating with? Who was he sleeping with? The works. Taking to Twitter or Instagram with a picture of Bobby or the current album he was listening to would not be a complete invasion of privacy.
Luke was never going to understand though. While the publicist may have been in the public eye, he had never known what it was like to have every word scrutinized, to have his hand placement on a friend’s shoulder be the subject of countless blog posts, to read about his own break-ups in painstakingly dramatized articles… The world had never held him under a magnifying glass in an effort to see everything that was wrong with him.
And Tom told him as much. Hence, the hangover. For he never would have been so blatantly frustrated by the suggestion or as honest in his views had he not been two drinks in (the lightweight) while Luke had come by for a visit. At a certain point, Luke knew better than to argue with Tom after drink number two. Tom so rarely drank, that when he did, he would end up regretting everything that was said by the following day. It had simply been a combination of jet lag and a welcome home bottle of gin.
By the end of the walk, Tom was indeed regretting the argument from the night before. It wasn’t that he had a change of heart, but he didn’t like being cross with anyone. Did that stop him from getting angry? Of course not—but it was quite difficult to hold that level of bitterness in his heart.
Upon returning home, he set about preparing breakfast for himself and a new bowl of food for Bobby–proving that he wasn’t going to crawl back to bed like both man and canine suspected from the start. After taking a quick shower and sliding into something equally as comfortable as his earlier outfit, he forced down a piece of toast and another glass of water.
It wasn’t until he settled down at his computer to answer a few emails that he realized that Instagram was opened in one of his tabs. A disgruntled roll of the eye was all he could muster in terms of frustration, having used up most of it the night before. Of course, staring back at him was a picture of Bobby’s smiling face.
10,567 likes
twhiddleston A picture is worth a thousand words.
6 hours ago
Lovely. Just lovely. Tom’s immediate reaction was to start clicking around to look into how to change his password. It wasn’t as though Luke hadn’t posted pictures before on Tom’s behalf, but this certainly wasn’t going to be a constant–especially pictures of his, albeit adorable, pup. Throughout his search, he seemed to stumble upon the messages. What a rabbit hole that turned out to be… Most of the newest messages were about Bobby and how cute he was—which he had to agree with like a proud parent.
He was just about to click out of the messages when a new one appeared.
cgfan0820
Greetings! Not sure if Tom will actually see this—seems unlikely given how busy he likely is…
cgfan0820
Damn. Unlikely and likely so close in the same sentence. I could have figured out a better word. Or you know, not have sent that first message.
Tom had to give a chuckle as he watched the real time struggle this person was seemingly having with his or herself. He had half the mind to respond back, but the little messaging system said they were still typing—so, he politely stayed quiet.
cgfan0820
I really hope he doesn’t actually read these. Can you paint me in some sort of decent light–if/when you relay this? Or don’t relay. At least not this part.
He felt bad for laughing at this stranger’s self-depreciation. There was an endearing sense to it all though and a confidence that managed to peek its way through. Why allow others to see you stumble, if you were not confident that you would rise again? Alright, Tom. A little too deep for a simple message.
cgfan0820
Can you please show him this?
Before he had a chance to reread over the messages, several images popped up. At first, he was concerned about what the pictures contained–given how he knew people could behave on the internet, especially when there were no repercussions for such behavior. Upon further inspection though—it looked like a child's handwriting. These were pictures of a book of some sort. There were illustrations of Loki (the horns gave it away, but the grin sold it) alongside a smaller person. Based on the label that said in all caps SCOTT, Tom took it to be the main character. It was absolutely adorable. Page after page–some easier to read than others. After thirteen pictures of writing and illustrations depicting an adventure between Loki and Scott–and from what Tom gathered, they saved the world, he found himself checking to see the new message that had been sent.
cgfan0820
Scott has never been so proud. Writing doesn’t come easily to him. He gets trapped in his mind—like we all do at times. He finished it though because I promised I would try to have Loki read it. Tell Tom thank you for inspiring one of my kids.
It was then that Tom realized his cheeks ached. The low throb that occurs after an extended period of smiling. He read over the pictures three or four more times, understanding more and more with each repeated read. Of course it wasn’t the first time he had received a card or letter written by a child. This was by far the most extensive and proved to be a little trickier when it was through pictures. Nevertheless, it was Tom that was left feeling inspired, which was exactly the reason he felt compelled to respond.
twhiddleston
Please tell Scott that his work rivals that of many of the greats. Not only am I impressed with his use of metaphors (particularly ‘Loki was kayos’---I assume chaos?) but also his use of punctuation to make a point. Was that seven or eight exclamation points on page 2, sentence four?
Before he had time to close the browser, the typing sign appeared once more from the user. That polite nagging in the back of his still pounding mind forced him to stay glued in his spot. Read the message and then change the password. He would send an equally polite goodbye and be done with Instagram.
cgfan0820
You assume correctly! I cared more about the metaphor than the spelling. You should have seen the rough draft though. There were at least seventeen exclamation points. Now I have to know, did you read it with the enthusiasm of seven exclamation points? Was Scott’s punctuation in vain?
He had been caught. When he had read the story, it was all in his head and more focused on deciphering everything rather than reading it with conviction. The fact that this messenger was so quick to point out his obvious mistake amused him.
twhiddleston
I’ll have to come clean. I did not read it with as much enthusiasm as was warranted.
cgfan0820
Then, you didn’t do your job as a reader. Scott did his job as a writer. What do you have to say for yourself?
A chuckle awoke Bobby from his mid-morning nap, as Tom shifted in his seat to start his reply. He literally knew nothing about the messenger and yet the phrase ‘what do you have to say for yourself’ made him curious about the person behind the screen. That was wildly inappropriate though, especially if he was going to end this conversation shortly and his presence on social media.
twhiddleston
I apologize profusely. I don’t wish to lay blame on poor Scott, but the penmanship was making it a tad difficult to distinguish between exclamation and lowercase l’s.
cgfan0820
Do you run across a lot of lowercase l’s at the end of sentences? Is that a common practice in the UK?
twhiddleston
You make a brilliant point. I apologize once more.
There was a lingering pause as he waited for the messenger to begin typing once more. After five minutes had passed, however, he felt as though he may have lost his audience. This was the perfect time to end the conversation and carry on with the rest of his day. Yet…
twhiddleston
I take it, you’re not from the UK?
What was he doing? That was his chance to leave as politely as possible. Yet, here he was continuing a conversation with a complete stranger. Well, perhaps not a complete stranger. This person had children, based on the ‘my kids’ comment. Obviously cared about writing….and encouraged it wholeheartedly.
cgfan0820
Never been there before in my life. Southern woman here–minus the accent. I guess I should specify the United States?
twhiddleston
Really? You must be absolutely exhausted. It has to be–what? One? Two in the morning over there?
cgfan0820
Ding. Ding. Professional development day for the school district tomorrow. I don’t have to quite be on point as usual. My kids would call me out if I looked tired.
More and more puzzle pieces were being given to him about the messenger. She was a teacher. Her kids were her students. At that realization, something tugged at Tom’s heart. He had ‘nieces’ and ‘nephews’---children of coworkers and friends. Although he loved them dearly, he had never referred to them as his children. Yet, this woman did it so freely and with such ease that she had likely done it countless times before. Not only did she seem at ease talking about ‘her kids’, but she seemed at ease talking to him.
When was the last time a stranger had been able to do that? When had he been at ease with a stranger? Yes, he knew how to put on the smile, the charm—he knew how to be Tom Hiddleston. When was the last time he was able to simply be Tom?
It is long, sorry not sorry. I will slowly update links. All links on here are good links. I have removed all links to my now flagged blog.
TOM HIDDLESTON
*Tom Hiddleston One Shot Masterlist
*Tom Hiddleston Series Masterlist
LUKE WINDSOR
Day After The Rain- Luke has to deal with the aftermath of Tom’s “heroic efforts”. This is why Luke keeps a solicitor’s number on speed-dial. For the day he kills Tom. Hilarity ensues as Luke untangles the mess. Based off of @redfoxwritesstuff The Things You Find (in the Rain) series.
Shouldn’t- Tom went over to Emma’s to celebrate her birthday. One thing led to another and now the two of them are splashed across the gossip columns. Luke must now untangle the mess but not before giving Tom an earful. Companion fic to my series Should.
You Did What?!- Evelyn Hiddleston, Tom's daughter asks Luke to tell her a story. Luke tells her the story of the day she was born. Hilarity ensues. Follow up to Unexpected Delivery
CELEBRATION MASTERLISTS | MULTIPLE CHARACTERS
*600 Followers Drabble Request Masterlist
Tri-Drabble Writing Cup Masterlist
*Smut-a-Rama June 2020 Masterlist
Twelve Days of Hiddlesmas Masterlist
LOKI (MCU)
*Loki One Shot Master List
Series
A Midgardian Christmas Masterlist | Loki x Reader
This Loki’s first Christmas on Midgard. You decide to show Loki all that a Midgardian Christmas has to offer. Things don’t seem to go as planned and you are having a harder and harder time keeping your burgeoning crush for Loki hidden.
Destiny Has Other Plans Masterlist | Loki x OFC UPDATES ON SATURDAYS
When Loki goes to ask his father for permission to marry, he is shocked to discover his destiny has already been made for him. He is already betrothed to Sjofn, the daughter of the King of Vanaheim. An arranged marriage to bring the two kingdoms closer together and strengthen the bond. Never mind that Sjofn and Loki can’t stand each other.
After The Battle of New York, Loki is sent to live at Avengers Tower as punishment for his misdeeds. But it doesn’t mean he has to like it. A year later, he has adjusted to life on Midgard but has avoided any romantic or emotional entanglements, still bitter over his lost love. Dr. Alexis Randall is skilled at helping others fix their relationships as a couple therapist, but can’t help her own love life. A chance encounter with Loki in a dive bar has life altering consequences for both of them. Now, Alexis and Loki must figure out a way to co-habit without killing each other in the process, plus navigating impending parenthood and other roadblocks along the way.
Silken Sails | Loki x OFC, Steve Rogers x OFC, Clint Barton x OFC Masterlist (Charlotte Liddell) ON HOLD INDEFINITELY
Summary: Charlotte Liddell dreams of a life of adventure on the high seas. She sets sail for the Caribbean which ends up entangling her with the hunt for the lost Spanish ship Viuda Negra and untold Spanish treasures. Along the way, she crosses paths with British Navy Officer Steve Rogers and famed French pirate Loki Laufeyson. Will she keep her wits about her?
ADAM AND CHARLIE | ONLY LOVERS LEFT ALIVE
Adam and Charlie Masterlist | All Stories
Charlie can’t believe her luck when she lands an apartment all to herself in Quincy, Massachusetts in a decaying triple decker. But life gets more complicated when someone moves into the basement. Specifically her landlord, Adam, who also happens to be a vampire. As life collapses around Charlie, these two forge an uneasy and unlikely relationship. But is their relationship as doomed as the building they live in?
Other Tom Characters
*Other Tom Characters Masterlist
OTHER MARVEL CHARACTERS (BUCKY, STEVE, STEPHEN STRANGE)
Trivia Night | Stephen Strange x Reader
Stephen can’t pass up music trivia night at a local dive bar. But what should have been a landslide win is a bitter battle. Has Stephen met his match in more ways than one?
Dancing With Myself | Stephen Strange x Reader
Stephen goes out with Wong for some groceries and comes back to find his cloak and the reader up to some shenanigans.
We’ve Been Had | Stephen Strange x Reader
Wong and the Cloak decide to make a match of the two of you.
Milk Dud | Bucky Barnes Reader
You and Bucky settle down for a movie night and Steve is an unwanted tag along.
Netflix and Panic | Bucky Barnes x Reader
Bucky has a crush on you and invites you over to watch some Netflix. Panic ensues as Bucky hides a secret.
*Drink Me | Steve Rogers x Reader
You are running late for Valentines with Steve at your place. You have just started dating and hoping to the relationship to the next level but will a critical mistake by Steve ruin the whole evening.
*Oh Captain | Steve Rogers x Reader
You are secretly dating Captain America. One day you sneak Steve into your parents’ house for a little smutty interlude, when your mother rudely interrupts.
*Somnophilia | Steve Rogers x Reader
Steve hears you moaning in your sleep and takes matters into his own hands.
OTHER CELEBRITIES
Ben Barnes
Wrong Phone, Who Dis? | Ben Barnes x OFC
After a sidewalk collision, Ben and Madelyn end up with each other’s phone. They quickly right things but find the chance encounter has had more of an effect.
Chris Evans
*Come On Over Baby | Chris Evans x Reader
You invite your good friend Chris over to watch the game. One too many beers and the truth comes out.
*Are You Jealous? | Chris Evans x Reader
You spot Chris’s old co-star, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, at a party. Chris introduces the two of you but the attention you lavish on Jeffrey does not go unignored by Chris.
*Kitchen Sex | Chris Evans x Reader
At a summer BBQ, Chris gets a little frisky in the kitchen.
Hi-hi-hi, dear Mr. Windsor! Do you remember about Tom's birthday today? Have you already prepared a gift for him? What will it be? New blue sweater? Or a rare edition of Shakespeare's sonnets? Hug him a thousand times, tell him that he is an amazing man, smart, kind and talented! I wish you a good day, your Nonny.
Hello Anonymous! I have managed to remember it. I have given him a couple of gifts. One, a book listing all the excuses he has already given me so that he won't try them again. Two, the bill for all the antacid I have to purchase because of him. Three, and most seriously, I did purchase him a rare edition of some of his favorite books.
As much as we jab at each other, I love the bastard and I wish him the happiest of birthdays! To you, Thomas.
I’ll be rolling out yet another rewrite of Down with Love. I’ll pull what is posted of that story shortly and reposting. I hope that the story will flow better in this way.
