Midgard was an easy place to hide. Amid the chaos and confusion, the heroes and the villains, it was easy to become one face in the crowd. He didn't even need to shapeshift half the time with how busy the mortals liked to pretend to be. Loki made sport of watching them when he wasn't preoccupied with schemes or menacing. In truth, Midgard was old hat by now.
That changed when Amora came to Midgard. Her arrival was reckless and loud as always, her schemes half thought out and forever missing the point. Loki was glad to see her. He was even more glad to gloat over rescuing her. It wasn't his intention to house her. She invited herself most days, waltzing about like she owned the place until she just stopped leaving all together. She brought something new with her every time. Fancy stolen paintings, Midgardian jewels, and she slowly switched out half his furniture for things she favored instead.
"You know Amora, it is very presumptuous of you to assume you have a place here," Loki told her.
Amora grinned at him, moving to his side and wrapping her arms around his shoulders. "Loki, dear, do not pretend that you are not absolutely thrilled to have me."
Loki rolled his eyes and pushed her away. "I am in no way that fond you."
"You needn't pretend, Loki."
Loki let out a put upon sigh. "Arrogant woman. One wonders why I put up with your friendship, let alone this!"
"I could say the exact same thing about you," Amora replied. "Besides, if you got rid of me, who could you possibly get to take my place? Sif?" Amora scoffed at the thought.
"Lorelei," Loki answered.
"That wretch!" Amora screeched. "If my sister ever shows her face here-"
"You'll do what? Raise your voice a few more octaves?"
"I'll kill her," Amora said seriously with a hard glare.
Loki met her look with one of his own. "You'll kill Lorelei when I kill Thor."
Amora glared before storming off to her room. Loki made himself a cup of tea. He would never admit how much he enjoyed Amora's company if he could help it, but keeping her angry and rattled was a form of affection to him. Aggravating her was as natural to him as imposing was to her and Loki accepted it.
The Enchantress was not half as used to the holidays of Midgard as Loki was and it amused him to teach her of them. Loki brought home an armful of apples, pumpkins, and plastic decorations, dumping them on the couch beside her.
Amora sighed and layed her magazine down on the table. "What ritual is this for?" She groaned.
"All Hallow's Eve," Loki answered. "A ritual where one is suppose to dress up in absurdities and frights and go door to door to beg for scraps."
"Sounds like a game for peasants," Amora replied, scrunching up her nose.
"Perhaps it is, but the whole of Midgard dedicates a month to it. Then try to frighten everyone in the world, they give worship to demons and spirits, it is glorious!" Loki grinned.
"Yes, it sounds wonderful," Amora replied sarcastically.
"In a few days the rituals will begin, then you will see," Loki told her.
"How long does this ritual last?" Amora questioned.
"The month. Longer, perhaps," Loki answered. "It ends when they go begging."
"Fantastic." Amora's voice was laden with sarcasm.
Loki had not imagined that the woman would actually become engrossed in the Midgardian ceremony. That was probably his mistake. He came home halfway through the month to find him home had been transformed into a den of pumpkins and spiders.
"Amora, what is this?" Loki questioned.
Amora entered the room draped in black robes wearing a pointing hat and holding a broomstick. "I want to celebrate the ritual!" She declared.
"Are these creatures alive?" Loki asked.
"You are focusing on the wrong things, Loki."
"What are you suppose to be?" He questioned.
"This is what Midgard likes their sorceresses to be!" Amora answered. "This is what the champions of this holiday look like."
"If you are about to ask me to accompany you as a black cat, I would hold your tongue," Loki told her.
Amora wrapped her arms around Loki, purring in his ear. "Loki, let's take this holiday by storm! Let's have fun!"
Loki would never admit how good Amora truly was at swaying him. He sighed. "Who am I to turn down a good time," He said helplessly.
There were a million different images for magicians on Midgard. Loki chose one of the more standard looks, dawning a top hat and cane and going out with Amora to bring the city alive. Amora rode around on a giant spider as she tossed out candy and made illusions of spirits to frighten people. Loki walked the streets pulling monster sized rabbits from his hat and bringing jack o' lanterns to life.
It was all in good fun, really! Until the Avengers showed up. They tended to ruin a lot of things.
"Really? It's not enough that you cause trouble on normal days, you're trying to ruin Halloween, too?" Iron asked in incredulity.
"Ruin?" Amora repeated. "What are you talking about? I love this holiday!"
"That's even worse!" Iron Man replied.
"Are we not properly honoring your customs?" Loki asked. "I thought this holiday was about having a fun, frightening time?"
"Well, yeah, but you aren't suppose to hurt people!" Captain America said.
"Who's hurt?" Amora asked.
Which actually gave the Avengers pause, since for once, Loki and Amora had not hurt anybody.
"Alright, I acknowledge that they didn't hurt anyone," Hawkeye said. "But can we please just beat them up anyway?"
The Avengers were obviously on board with that plan. For the most part. Loki spent most of the fight informing Thor of why his prank was hilarious (Loki knew more about Midgard than the stupid oaf seemed to, even though he professed to being its protector) and watching Hawkeye get chased around by jack o' lanterns. Amora spent her time flirting with Iron Man and Captain America as the two tried to find a way to destroy the giant spider she rode in on.
The battle kept going until Black Widow finally yelled at Loki to cut it out. All three Asgardians frowned at her for trying to ruined their fun, but Loki obliged. He and Amora went back home and left the Avengers to pick up their toys.
When Halloween actually rolled around, Loki and Amora decided to spend the holiday the mortal way. Their place was decorated and lit up with spooky lights, piles of candy were by the door, and they dressed up like normal Midgardian monsters. They painted their skin and put on torn clothes, they painted signs and put them in front of their house, then piled candy on their pouch. Whenever the children approached, they would jump out and pretend to chase them as undead monsters.
A combination of giggles and screams remained their soundtrack for the entire night as children ran and laughed and stole candy.
"Beware!" Loki moaned as he crawled after one of the smaller, slower children. A few of them were brave enough to attack Loki, some just piled on top of him.
Amora ticked the children that piled on top of him. "Brains! Give me brains!" She said.
"Oh my god, this is the best house ever!" One young woman called out as she was passing by. "Go steal us some candy!"
"Yes, yes, alright." The noise of chaos and happiness almost drowned out the voice, until the man approached and spoke louder. "Brother?"
Loki looked up to find Thor dressed up with fake fangs and and an odd cape. "What do you want, Thor? I'm busy."
"Yeah, we have a holiday to celebrate," Amora added.
"Is this your home, brother?"
"Thor!" Amora yelled, tossing candy at his face. "Don't you have your own things to get to?" She gestured to the two mortal women that were waiting for him.
Thor sighed. "Yes, you are right…" He turned away slowly. As slowly as was possible was for someone to move yet not look like slow motion. "But, perhaps I could help you?"
"Fine, Thor," Loki said as he rose from the ground. "You can help."
Thor's grin lit up his face. "What can I do?"
Loki pushed him onto the ground. "Quickly, children, defeat the monster!"
Amora's laughter nearly echoed that of the kids as they dog piled onto the Avenger. His two companions looked on in concern, but Loki ignored them. He wrapped one arm around Amora's waist. "This is one of the best rituals to come out of Midgard."
"I agree," Amora said. "We should do this every year."