The rhythmic squeak of the bed steadily added to the dull throbbing at the base of Petra's skull. She scrubbed her face and took a measured breath, exhaling through her nose and ignoring the shrieks of laughter echoing through the room.
"Bounce on the mattress one more time and I'll tell your father. You'll be eating bilgesnipe for a week."
The loudest creaking stopped immediately as two of her children stilled with their knees bent, frozen mid-spring. The third had selective hearing and continued to jump, his little gray-blue hands clapping gleefully.
"Bjørn!" hissed Silje. The tallest of the three pushed her younger brother's shoulder. "You know if Pappa punishes one of us, he punishes all of us!"
"Hey!" he howled, clutching his arm dramatically.
"Silje—," Petra warned.
Tove, the level-headed middle child piped up before things escalated. "The kitchens will always give us extra food. They would never let us go hungry, even if you tried to make us eat bilgesnipe."
Petra turned her attention to Tove with a raised brow."Grethe likes us," the little girl continued. "She has jerky in her pockets for me whenever I ask. She'd never let us starve."
Petra mirrored her daughter's stance. "Tove, is Pappa scary when he's angry?"
The question was aimed at the middle child, but all three nodded.
"Don't you think Grethe would be scared if Pappa were angry with her for giving you more food?"
"Oh," said Tove as her shoulders slumped. If it came down to the head cook versus the King, the King would surely triumph. Clearly the practical one of the bunch, Tove huffed and shooed Bjørn to the head of the bed,. "No more jumping, Bjørn. It's time for Mamma's story."
Petra slid into Bjørn's bed along with the two girls as her son clambered into her lap. "Which story should we tell tonight?"
"Do the one about how you and Pappa met. Where he was cross with you for a long time because he liked you," suggested Tove.
Fighting a smile, Petra shook her head with a yawn. "Too long. Choose another."
The sisters looked at each other as they thought, the eldest's eyes lighting up. "Tell us the story where Pappa saved everyone," requested Silje.
"He didn't save ev—."
"Yeah, the story where he saved everyone!" sang the youngest two.
Petra groaned as Tove and Silje wiggled beneath her arms until their heads rested on her chest while Bjørn made himself comfortable with an accidental elbowing to her ribs.
"That one takes ages to tell, too. Pick another," she grunted around her squirming children.
"No Mamma! The one where Pappa saves everyone. Please? We'll do extra chores tomorrow," promised Silje.
Petra opened her mouth to object again, but Bjørn's higher voice overpowered hers. "It starts when there's that battle where Pappa and the man with the hammer rescue all of those people whose realm goes away, right Mamma?"
"Yeah! And then there's the fight with the purple guy," added Tove.
With an exasperated sigh, Petra hauled Bjørn closer to her chest and glanced down at Tove. "Are you telling the story or am I?"
"Yeah, shhh," scolded Silje.
United in silence, all three children gazed up at Petra and she cleared her throat, wrapping an arm around each of her daughters while Bjørn used her breast as a makeshift pillow. She ignored the slight discomfort as her throat grew tight. She wasn't sure she'd ever become accustomed to the intimacy of bedtime. Having three little sets of eyes trained on her with utter trust and admiration was unsettling, despite the fact that she'd birthed them all.
Bjørn chose that moment to play with the platinum ends of Petra's hair, which put his hand directly in Silje's face. Before her oldest could complain loud enough to wake the entire village, Petra launched into the story.
"During the battle between Hela and Thor and his friends—," she began.
"And Pappa, he helped too," corrected Silje.
"And Pappa," Petra sighed. Raising a brow, she looked down at her children. "Do you remember who fought with Thor and Pappa?"
"A Miek!" shouted Bjørn.
"A cranky Valkyrie," added Silje.
"And the funny rock man," grinned Tove.
Petra quelled a fond smile. "They had Heimdall and the Hulk too."
"During the fight, Thor,your father and their friends fought bravely, and killed many of Hela's forces. But they couldn't kill her. She drew her strength from the earth, from the planet Asgard. They threw everything they had at her. But, the only way to beat her was to destroy Asgard. So your Pappa resurrected the demon Surtur, who was prophesized to bring an end to the realm. He had a massive sword he drove deep into the ground, splitting Asgard apart and destroying it."
"But Asgard is a people, not a place, right Mamma? So everyone was okay?" asked Silje.
Petra fought off a smile. "Yes, bråkmaker min. The people were okay. Thor's friends helped them onto a ship that your father—."
"Helped steal from the crazy man on the trash planet!" cheered Bjørn.
Closing her eyes to gather patience, Petra nodded. "Yes, your Pappa helped commandeer a huge ship from the Grandmaster on Sakaar. It was big enough to transport the entire Aesir population safely away from the wreckage of the realm."
"They drifted safely in space, and Pappa and Thor were friends again." She paused, glancing down at her blissfully ignorant children. They were familiar with Thor's name, but had never met their uncle, nor were they aware of the relation. For all they knew, he was just a hero their pappa had fought with back in his younger days.
"What happened once they were on the ship, Mamma?" Tove asked.
Absently brushing he daughter's dark hair from her eyes, Petra gave a tired smile. "Thor's pappa died right before the battle, and Thor had just become King of Asgard. He had a lot of new responsibilities and an entire realm's worth of people to care for and Pappa was going to help him do that on the ship."
"But then the purple guy came? What was he called?" asked Bjørn.
Petra hesitated. She always faltered at this point in the story. Loki didn't like to speak about Thanos, which discouraged her from so much as saying his name. But she didn't want to give a word such power that it kept her family from simply uttering it.
She cleared her throat, "His name was Thanos, and he was very, very bad. And very scary."
"Worse than the drauger?" interrupted Silje.
"And Pesta?" asked Tove.
"Worse than both," Petra nodded. "And your father had made him very, very angry. Pappa liked to play tricks when he was younger, didn't he?"
All three nodded.
"Well, a long, long time ago, he played a trick on Thanos. He was supposed to give him a present, but lost it to someone else, and Thanos got very angry. He was going to make Pappa pay for betraying him, and it was after the battle on Asgard that Thanos found him on the ship with the Asgardians."
Familiar with the story, the children grew somber.
"He forcibly boarded the their ship. There was nothing Pappa and Thor could do, not even with the help of their friends. Thanos was too powerful." She paused, glancing down at her three replicas with a heavy breath. "He killed half the Aesir on that craft," Petra murmured, idly twining her fingers with Bjørn's. Death and murder were profound subjects, but were taught early to Jötnar and Dökkálfar children. They were simply part of the culture. "He believed half the entire universe needed to die… That things would be better balanced if he slaughtered one of every two beings."
"He was wrong," said Silje, her silver brows knitting together.
"He was," agreed Petra. "And despite your father and Thor, Miek, and Korg, the Valkyrie, the entire team they'd formed, Thanos killed half the Asgardians on that ship. And then he came for Pappa."
"And Pappa was foolish and tried to fight him with a knife, right Mamma?"
Pursing her lips, Petra nodded. "He did. And he failed."
A voice called from the hallway. "Skapni—Oh."
A shirtless Loki stood in the doorway, an open book in hand. His gaze darted between Petra and their children, then returned to the pages. "Where was the last place you saw the map of Thrymheim?"
Petra sighed patiently. "It's bedtime, Loki."
"Yes, but the map—."
"I'm telling a story."
"We're telling the one about the time you saved Asgard!" Bjørn interjected.
Loki's spine stiffened, and Petra's stomach sank as his face grew cold.
"That's not a bedtime story."
Arms still around their children, Petra shrugged her shoulder. "It's what they wanted to hear."
His eyes narrowed suspiciously at is offspring. His children knew their mother would be tired at such a late hour, that she'd be easily bullied into a story inconducive to pleasant dreaming. He took in the dark smudges beneath Petra's eyes and felt what was almost a pang of pity, but likely stopped at being a twinge of irritation at her being too tired for sex later.
Marking his page, he closed the book and stalked into the room. "Move aside," he motioned with his hand.
The four made room for him on the bed and he perched on the corner of the mattress. "I'll finish the story. I tell it better as I was actually there."
Petra sighed tolerantly while Bjørn managed to knee one of Petra's internal organs as he spelunked to Loki's side, leaning his elbows on his father's thigh and looking up at him in wonder.
Loki peered down at his son. "Where were you in the story?"
"Thanos killed half of everybody, and you were going to kill him," volunteered a solemn Silje.
None of the children noticed the twitch of Loki's left eye at the mention of Thanos, but Petra did. It was the only physical reaction he had to the name's utterance.
"Ah. The best part," said as he smoothed his ebony hair over his shoulder and rested a hand on Bjørn's.
Petra stared at Loki in distaste, but remained silent as he launched into the tale.
"I tried to stab Thanos, you're right," nodded Loki. "But he caught me. And do you know what he did?"
"He broke your neck," Tove whispered.
Petra winced, the act unnoticed by her children, but seen by her mate.
"He did," Loki agreed. "But what happened while he broke my neck?" he asked with a sly grin.
"Pappa! Can I say it?" begged Bjørn.
Silje rolled her eyes at the youngest's neediness, but stayed silent as Loki nodded in permission.
"When he was killing you, the real you and that Heimdall were secretly getting the survivors onto the shuttle to get people here! To Jötunheim!"
"Very good, gutten min. While our doubles, constructed by myself, were killed by Thanos, I used an illusion that made Heimdall and I appear as children of Thanos to his other adopted offspring. Once the Asgardians saw who we really were, we ushered the remaining half into the spare shuttle of the craft."
Loki's expression grew grim. "Just as the last were boarding, we witnessed... We witnessed Thanos practically behead my br—Thor. We were forced to leave his body behind," Loki said in a low voice.
"Before we left, Heimdall managed to run Thanos through with his sword and slaughter quite a few of his progeny, but the Titan utilized the last of his stamina to release a giant burst of energy using the Power Stone before he collapsed."
"And then everything exploded?" asked Silje.
"With Thor's body inside," nodded Tove.
Face drawn, Loki nodded. In that moment, he'd been forced to choose between collecting his brother's remains or saving the surviving half of the Aesir. He'd forced himself onto the transport and launched it before it imploded with the ship, despite the agony it caused.
"But Thor didn't die, not really. He's a god," whispered Bjørn with a grin.
"No, he didn't die," said Loki with a sad smile. "But that's where our story ends tonight."
"No, please," they whined in unison.
Impervious to their cries, Loki shook his head and pushed up off the bed. "We'll continue tomorrow."
"Just do the 'ccelerated version, please Pappa? I can't sleep unless you finish," complained Bjørn.
Loki raised a brow as he lifted Tove into his arms and deposited her in her own bed.
"Fine," he said with a sigh. He explained how the Guardians of the Galaxy found an injured Thor floating in space, how they united with the Avengers to fight Thanos' forces, and eventually Thanos himself. "And while Thor and his Avengers spent years battling Thanos and his army, Heimdall and I spent that same time settling the Aesir here on Jötunheim. Thanos had already wiped our half the Jötnar by the time he attacked our ship, there was no reason for him to return to our realm, so the Asgardians were safe here. After the Avengers defeated Thanos, some Asgardians left Jötunheim to go to Midgard or Alfheim, but some stayed here."
"That's when they made you king, right Pappa?"
"That's when I became king, yes Silje. They'd… lost their ruler Laufey before Thanos attacked and were in dire need of leadership, especially when they began breeding with the Asgardians. They didn't know what to make of the hybrids. The the smaller giants with softer skin you see today have Aesir heritage are left over from when their Asgardian ancestors settled with us."
"But they're weaker," stated Silje.
"They are. But they're still Jötnar."
Happily tucked in, Tove lifted her head from her pillow. "Did they live happily ever after?"
From her own bed, Silje rolled her eyes, "Jötnar don't live happily ever after. We live life as it comes because we're strong," she said with her chin raised.
"Good, Silje."
The eldest preened at her father's praise.
Petra had risen from Bjørn's bed and walked to Silje's side. She pulled the light covers over her daughter and fondly brushed her thumb against her cheek.
"Now, it's time for bed. Lights out," Loki ordered from the doorway.
A chorus of "good night's" sounded as Loki dimmed the lights.
"I hate that story," Petra grumbled as she undressed and climbed into their bed.
"You hate all my stories. You have no appreciation for theatrics."
"But I hate that one especially."
He slipped beneath the covers and propped himself up on an elbow, peering down at her with a frown.
"Tell me why, skapning."
Petra pushed off the bed, irritated as her eyes stung. "Because you died. You let everyone think you died. Thor, the Avengers, Alfheim, Svartalfheim, everyone! They thought you were dead for decades, just so you could save the surviving half of the Asgardian race by whisking them to Jötunheim for refuge, to protect them from Thanos. If a species is that pitiful, they don't deserve saving."
"I remember a time you were rather pitiful."
Petra glowered. "I was alone. They had each other, they had Heimdall. Because of you, they had Heimdall. They had more than enough protection."
"Without me, everyone would've likely died."
"I don't care. You should've focused on saving only yourself."
"Were it not for my heroics, you wouldn't have Marit."
Petra's brows rose.
"She's Aesir?"
"Just a sliver, but it's there. It's part of who she is."
Petra pursed her lips. Marit having Asgardian blood made sense. She cared for Petra and their children (in her own stiff manner) in a way no one else on Jötunheim did. But that didn't matter. She shook her head and pursed her lips.
"I don't care. You still shouldn't have done it. You should've focused on saving yourself."
Loki turned onto his side, running his fingers along the length of Petra's collarbone.
"Why does it really bother you?"
She huffed, looking at her hands. Flexing her fingers, she clenched them until her nails bit into her palms before looking up at him. "Because what if you did something like that now?" she asked in a small voice.
He pulled back in surprise. "Tricked you into thinking I was dead?"
"Or actually sacrifice yourself."
"I—."
"You would do anything for your people. You're not a selfless man, but your love of the Jötnar, your duty as a king is your one altruistic weakness. In a dire situation, if you could save them by sacrificing yourself, you would. Deny it," she dared him.
Loki sighed and ran his fingers through his hair as he studied his mate. He inhaled to speak on two different accounts, but thought better of it each time. They sat in silence for several moments until he finally gathered his thoughts. "I have four reasons to be less altruistic than I did then."
To both of their horror, Petra's face threatened to crumple. She bit her lip until she tasted blood and raised her brows to keep tears from falling. Loki's dedication to their family only made her blasted heart ache more, and her preventative measures did nothing to dissuade the moisture that insisted on gathering in her eyes, so she squeezed them shut.
Loki sighed as he watched his normally composed counterpart threaten to crumble. He hadn't meant to upset her further. He watched her breathe deeply, likely fighting off the urge to cry. It was on occasions such as these that he disliked her human half the most, though a small part of him recognized she couldn't help it. A very, very, very small part.
With a sigh he tore the sheet off her body and knocked her legs apart. She sputtered in surprise as he cupped the back of her head, but understood his reasoning to keep her balanced as he grabbed her ankle and yanked her forward. Supported by his hand, she lay with her legs spread, her arms grasping for purchase on the bed.
When Loki took his middle and ring finger between his lips, Petra bared her teeth, wiping at her watery eyes. "Stop," she hissed.
Ignoring her, Loki's fingers forcefully gripped the back of her neck, making her body go stiff in his arms. Face neutral, he forced her legs apart and inserted his slippery fingers into her core. Petra grunted in indignation and tried to twist her hips, but his fingers tightened and he growled.
"Still, skapning."
She could already feel the bruises forming where his fingers dug into the tender skin of her neck, making note of which dress to wear tomorrow in order to hide the marks. In an irritated attempt to avoid procuring additional fingerprints on her body, she obeyed and relaxed.
Loki released a pleased rumble and re-wet his fingers, purring when they easily slipped inside her. He instantly began rubbing his fingers along the inner wall of her pelvis, beckoning the pads of his digits against the swelling tissue. Betrayed by her body, she quickly grew wet, and her cunt announced its arousal in the form of indecent noises. His fingers easily slid in and out, Loki increasing their pace gradually.
Cheeks burning as she fought off the urge to moan, Petra looked away, furious that he was distracting her with such lewd tactics. Loki shook his head.
"Watch, skapning." He squeezed her neck, making sure her eyes were trained on her lower body. "Do you see how aroused you are? How easily my fingers fuck you?"
When she didn't verbally answer, he slammed his hand against her pussy especially hard, his thumb grazing her clit and making her howl.
"Stop," she panted.
He did as she asked, and she almost reeled away in surprise. However, Loki's grip prevented her from doing so, transferring from the back of her neck to the front as he moved between his legs. He gave his stiff cock several strokes and impaled her in one thrust. Despite knowing penetration was imminent, she cried out, making his blank features morph into a pleased smirk.
As he began thrusting, she managed to form a sentence. "You can't make me forget this conversation with sex," she grunted.
"You're not listening to what I have to say. And you're much more reasonable after an orgasm. Or two. It'll only take a moment."
She wanted to strike him, but he rammed her especially hard, knocking the air from her lungs as the entirety of his cock drove into her cunt. Bruises to match those on her neck formed along her pelvis, but she was regrettably reaching the point where she couldn't be bothered to care.
"I'll give you another baby," he grit between clenched teeth. His thrusts were measured, and she offhandedly thought about how much she hated the control he had over his body. "You'll be too busy caring for him to worry about such trivial things."
Petra had every intention of screaming in his face that his death was anything but trivial, but he licked the pad of his thumb and casually began strumming her clit. With an angry cry her back arched, slick walls clamping down around his thick pillar as she unwillingly came. Loki maneuvered her legs in the air, slipping his hands beneath them so he gripped her hips with brutal strength.
Stretching the muscles in her thighs, she whimpered as he leaned over until his mouth was next to her ear.
"Do you know how much harder you come when I fuck you with the intention of impregnating you, skapning?"
With a sharp gasp, she shook her head, eyes round as she tried to concentrate.
"You orgasm so hard you almost squeeze my out my cock. I have to take you that much harder just to keep it in that little cunt of yours," he panted.
Petra released a guttural cry as his length dragged against her insides, her hips mindlessly bucking against his.
"I'm going to make your belly swell again. You're going to be a walking proclamation of the fact that I own you. You're mine to fuck, mine to breed, and every Jötunn is going to know it. All they'll have to do is lay eyes on your huge middle. The little Dökkálfar whore that belongs to their king."
Pussy contracting involuntarily, Petra tried to bury her face against his neck. With a hiss he slammed her shoulder back down against the bed, pulling her face away from his throat.
Petra released a soft whine as he stared down at her. Normally she loved when he took her like this, when they were face to face, but she was utterly furious with him and the intimacy of looking him in the eye was too much. In an attempt to distance herself, she let her lids flutter closed.
"Open your eyes or I'll breed as if you were my bitch," he snarled.
Petra's lashes flew open, her lip threatening to curl as he chastised her. She remained silent with her eyes open.
Her obedience egged Loki on. His hips began snapping forward, each thrust accented with a sharp slap of skin. Despite the soreness she knew she'd be feeling tomorrow, the slam of his pelvis on hers felt divine. Each time he rubbed against her clit she saw stars, and it only took a few more rough pumps for her back to bow once again. As she lost touch with her own body, he roared, flooding her channel with hot come.
When she finally came down, they were still trying to catch their breaths. They lay in silence for a moment, Loki's forehead resting against her chest.
"I would do almost anything for my people," he admitted. He panted for a few moments. "But as you said earlier, I'm a selfish man. I want to see my offspring mature." He glanced up, meeting her eye. " I want to see your bodygrow with more of my children."
She remained silent as her eyes flitted back and forth between his. With a low growl, he crawled forward and kissed her, giving her lower lip a brutal nip. Petra inhaled sharply and submitted, trying to return the kiss with the least amount of bloodshed as possible.
Seemingly happy with her contribution, Loki eventually pulled away.
"No matter what happens, no matter the sacrifices I seem to make, I will always find you,
Petra. Do you really think anything could stop me?"
Her nose stung. "But—."
"I have lived for over two thousand years. The sheer number of attempts on my life are impossible to recall on account of their abundance, yet none of them have been successful. I'm a Jötunn, and a king, but at some point in my time on Asgard, the Norns saw it fit to grant me the status of a god. I'm very difficult to kill, skapning." He looked at her pointedly. "Stop fretting."
Lips pressed together in a stiff line, she nodded.
Loki frowned and peered down at Petra. He hesitated for a moment before releasing a sigh and dipping his head to connect their mouths. Though still domineering, the kiss was the kindest they'd shared in the entire course of their relationship. His bites were gentler, tongue slower as it met hers. Gradually she relaxed beneath him, her arms twining behind his neck as their lips moved together.
"Better?"
Petra broke his gaze. "It's something that'll always be at the back of my mind. I'll try not to dwell on it."
"For tonight, I'll accept that."
Petra rolled her eyes.
Quickly moving on, Loki rolled them onto their sides, causing Petra to cry out. "I'll remain inside you for the night. Tonight was the first of many nights of formal conception. We've waited too long between Bjørn and this one."
Opening her mouth to remind Loki how sick she'd gotten with Bjørn, she grumbled and thought better of it. It was too late at night for another argument.
With a huff, she slung a pillow at him and nestled her face in the crook of his neck. She could feel the vibrations of his chuckle as he placed the pillow to his side.
"Goodnight, skapning."