TITLE: Wedded Bliss
CHAPTER NO./ONE SHOT: Chapter 5
AUTHOR: MaliceManaged
ORIGINAL IMAGINE: Imagine Odin determined to find Loki a wife in a misguided, though somewhat well-intentioned attempt to ‘mellow him’. …
RATING: T
NOTES/WARNINGS: 'Zvezda moya’ means ‘my star’, at least according to the internet. I don’t speak Russian, so feel free to correct me if I’m wrong.
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She was humming something when she walked out of her bathroom holding the towel wrapped around her closed with one hand as Loki silently stepped into the room, having snuck away while the others argued over the legality of Odin’s plan.
“You’re not quite what I expected,” He said, startling her, leaning against the wall by the door.
“You know, there’s this thing called ‘knocking’,” Edith snapped.
Loki huffed a laugh. “You might wish to get used to the absence of it, considering we’ll be sharing living space soon.”
“This again,” Edith muttered with a roll of her eyes. “You don’t get to make that kind of choice for me. No one does. And the sooner you all figure that out; the longer you’ll live.”
“I’m not the one you need to convince, my dear,” Loki replied amusedly, “And I must say, your odds of success aren’t very good; the Allfather does hate to admit he made a mistake.”
“That’s not my problem.”
“Oh, it very much is, and mine as well.” He leaned forward a bit. “The question is: What are we going to do about it?”
“Well, right now you are going to get out so that I can get dressed.”
“Hmm, no; I don’t think I want to do that,” Loki replied with a smirk, wanting to see what she would do.
Edith stared at him for a long moment then walked over to her dresser, opened one of the top drawers and pulled out a flare gun. She turned around and aimed it at him. “You have exactly ten seconds to be on the other side of that door, or I will set you on fire.”
The smirk widened to a grin. “You are not at all what I expected.”
With that he left the room, leaving her slightly confused.
****
He was standing outside the door when Edith opened it after throwing on a light green tank top and black sweat pants, and she walked right into him, falling back a step from the impact. She looked up at him to be met with a really quite amused expression.
“You said you wanted me on the other side of the door,” He said cheekily by way of explanation.
Edith huffed a laugh, shaking her head incredulously. She placed her hands on her hips and tilted her head to the side a bit. “What exactly were you expecting?”
“Not you,” Loki replied. “I’m not an idiot; it didn’t take much to find out just why father was suddenly so adamant that I get married. He seems to be under the impression it will ‘tame’ me. Naturally, I assumed whatever unfortunate woman he would pick would be quiet and reserved; a perfect lady.”
Edith tried to hold back her laughter. She really did. It didn’t quite work out.
“‘Quiet and reserved’? Me?” She somehow managed, clutching onto the doorframe to keep herself upright.
“Yes, well; clearly I was wrong,” Loki half muttered, crossing his arms at his chest.
They heard the elevator doors open and looked over to see Natasha stepping into the hall, and she did not look well pleased. Her eyes narrowed when she saw Loki and she marched over to them, getting in between him and Edith.
“Give me one good reason not to rip your throat out,” The spy told him with icy calmness.
Loki arched an eyebrow. “You would be dead before you could even touch me,” He replied smoothly.
Natasha narrowed her eyes at him and he met her gaze easily. After a few long moments, she smirked and held out her hand to him. “I’m Natasha; and I got the impression you want this about as much as she does.”
Loki stared at her hand for a moment then shook it. “Probably less, since I’ve had to endure two months of failed attempts before this.”
“Well, your father’s pretty determined to go through with this despite the fact that he doesn’t really want to; so whatever we’re going to do, we better do it fast.”
“Wait; he doesn’t even want to do this?” Edith asked incredulously.
“Of course not; you’re not even close to what he wanted in my future wife,” Loki replied.
“Then why keep pushing for it?”
“I told you; he hates to admit he was wrong.”
“Even if it gets him stuck with a daughter-in-law he doesn’t even like?” Loki shrugged and Edith shook her head. “Wow. And people say I’m crazy.”
“You are, zvezda moya, but we love you anyway,” Natasha said with a half-smile, earning a grin from Edith.
****
In the end they had gotten nowhere with the king and more than one argument had threatened to get out of hand, which had been the other reason Natasha had left the room once she’d noticed that Loki had gone. When the three entered the room, the tension in the air was palpable and the silence was more than a little awkward.
And so Edith did the first thing that made sense.
And tripped the fire alarm.
Loki watched amusedly as the chaos unfolded, not much caring that he hadn’t been the cause of it this time. He looked over at Edith to find her watching the scene before them seemingly just as amused and took the opportunity to really look at her; he’d been too busy trying to find a way to avoid his impending nuptials to really notice her, but she really was quite… interesting. He thought back to the unrestrained glee he’d witnessed, the way it light up her face, and what had brought it about. He could have quite a bit of fun with someone like that, indeed.
Perhaps she was a bit insane. But, really, who else would be able to survive the God of Mischief?
Edith suddenly looked at him, feeling eyes on her, and he hastily looked away, pretending he’d been watching the others all along. She narrowed her eyes but ultimately looked away none the wiser to his inspection of her.
Once things calmed down - and Edith received a scolding for messing with the fire alarm (again) that she somewhat listened to - they all agreed to take a bit of a break from arguing and maybe actually have dinner sometime before midnight for a change; pizza was ordered, since nobody actually wanted to cook, and they convened in the common room to eat, none of them quite sure how concerned they should be about the fact that Edith, Natasha and Loki seemed to be conspiring in their corner.
“For me, moving forward, to constantly question everything that I do. To make sure I’m as well intentioned and inclusive in the storytelling and the path I’m trying to carve for myself as possible.”
-Dan Levy on Entrata Connect, June 2021
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oODE1sU3qEE
Photo: Alberto Rodriguez
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I think this is all we can ask, to be well intentioned and inclusive. Are we always going to get it right? No, but if we go into it with good intentions, and a willingness to learn, odds are we’ll get it right more often than not.
