Loki's First Thanksgiving

Author's Note - The standard disclaimer applies. I own nothing from Marvel. Also, I wrote this before seeing Thor 2.

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Now that Jane Foster (with Loki's incredible intellect and talent, he might add) had finally created a stable bridge from Midgard to Asgard, Loki felt like he had spent half his time on Midgard. Darcy seemed determined to pop back to Earth to celebrate the various holidays and customs that she missed as well as visit her family. And, he could hardly begrudge her. Living on Asgard had been a big transition for her, though one would be hard-pressed to notice her discomfort.

With her background studying the various cultures and political systems on Earth, she did amazingly well in adapting to Asgard as well as learning about the other realms in the World Tree. Loki was not surprised as she helped advise on one foreign political problem after another. She acted as a wonderful buffer between Loki and Thor, as she was able to deftly smoothe over the friction that often cropped up between them. Darcy even did the best she could to mend the rift between Odin and Loki, reminding him that Odin's punsihment was ultimately what brought them together. She was also a big help to Jane, whose shy, retiring temperament made it difficult to deal with all the responsibilities of being the future queen. However, together, the two friends, now sisters-in-law, made a wonderful team.

So, when Princess Darcy (as she loved to be called) wanted to return to Midgard once again to celebrate the holiday of Thanksgiving, Loki readily agreed. As usual, she went through the entire history of the holiday for Loki, but pointed out that in modern America, it was one of the most important days to be with one's family and to give thanks for all the blessings one had received.

To Loki, it all seemed rather strange. It's not that there weren't feasts on Asgard; there seemed to be one after every single battle, often coupled with long, boring speeches full of inflated egos and exaggerated feats of bravery. However, to have a feast to commemorate the harvest and to quietly reflect on one's good fortune seemed utterly foreign.

Once they had arrived at Darcy's parents' house and were properly hugged and kissed by everyone, Darcy was ushered into the kitchen, while Loki was guided into the den, where Darcy's father, brother, and brother-in-law were all watching a football game. To Loki, it looked like a half-hearted battle, where both sides gave up after 30 seconds of fighting, rested and then battled for another 30 seconds. He had preferred watching the game of basketball as it was relatively fast-paced.

However, Loki was glad that the television was blaring and he wouldn't be expected to catch up much with his in-laws. Although he was genuinely fond of them, they didn't have much in common. Now that they knew he was a prince from a distant planet, they no longer tried to engage him in small talk about gas prices or the unemployment rate. And, on his part, he wasn't about to go on about the civil war brewing with the dwarves or the Frost Giants' political instability.

All of a sudden, one of his nephews, the seven-year-old Jed, came up to him and began pulling on his arm. "Uncle Loki, Uncle Loki, come here, come here, I want to show you something."

Loki had to smile. Children were universally endearing. His nieces and nephews thought it was "beyond cool" that Loki and Darcy were royalty on another planet and seemed to hover around them whenever they came to visit.

"Look, look what I can do!" Jed declared to Loki and the rest of his younger cousins gathered around him.

With that, the youngster tapped a black wand and it turned into a bunch of plastic flowers.

"I can do magic!" The boy was so proud of himself.

Loki clapped with glee to encourage the child. "Excellently done!" Loki marveled at the contraption.

"Uncle Loki, Aunt Darcy said that you know how to do magic, could you show us?" Jed asked breathlessly. A chorus of "Oh, yes, please, Uncle Loki!" began from the rest of the children.

Loki grinned. What a change from Asgard, where magic was universally looked down upon and ridiculed.

So, Loki spent the rest of the time before dinner showing the children examples of simple magic. The children were mesmerized and clapped wildly after each one. Before he knew it, he felt warm arms embrace him from the back and a sweet voice whisper in his ear, "You are the best husband ever."

He turned and grasped Darcy around the waist. "And you, my dear, are the best wife ever," he said before kissing her sweetly.

"Dinner's ready," she said with a smile.

"It smells divine."

It took a while to get everyone assembled. The older children were allowed to sit by themselves at the kids' table, while the baby and the toddler were in high chairs next to their parents. Before saying grace, they began going round the table and saying what they were thankful for that year.

"I'm thankful for Loki," Darcy said simply, a small blush appearing on her cheeks.

When it came his turn, Loki was glad that Darcy had warned him about this part, so that he could collect his thoughts.

"I'm thankful for family, not only mine back home, but the new one I have been blessed with by marrying Darcy. I am thankful for Darcy, who is truly the origin of every good thing in my life now."

After a truly delicious meal, the monumental task of cleaning the kitchen fell to the men as the ladies retired to the parlor with slices of pie and coffee. Loki took one look at the disaster before him and gathered his male relatives to his side.

"Look, I'm about to do something, but you can't tell Darcy I did it," he whispered.

They all readily agreed. With that, he snapped his fingers and the entire kitchen was instantly, magically cleaned. His relatives were wide-eyed, but relieved. No one liked to clean up after Thanksgiving. They spent the next half hour waiting in the kitchen, eating slice after slice of pumpkin and apple pie. Each of his male relatives thanked him heartily for saving them from the unsavory work.

When they reunited with the ladies in the parlor, Darcy began to stretch and yawn. It was getting late and they needed to get back to Asgard for a diplomatic meeting with the dwarves in the morning. Darcy's mom loaded them down with lots of leftovers, which Darcy assured him was standard after such a feast. They made sure to take several photos before leaving (although how Darcy maintained a Facebook account while in a different realm was beyond Loki) and started on their journey back to Asgard. Loki couldn't help but smile. Although Asgard would always be his home, the kindness and generosity of his in-laws did make him feel as though he had a second family.

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Back in their own bedchambers at the palace, Darcy asked Loki, "So, how did you like your first Thanksgiving?"

"I rather enjoyed it. I look forward to it again next year."

"Sorry for sticking you with all those dishes, but you know, in my family, if one person cooks, the other cleans," Darcy explained.

"Yes, well, it makes sense. Your relatives were quite helpful."

"You know that I know that you just zapped them clean right?" Darcy said with a chuckle.

"What? Wait, how?" Loki's mind raced. Had one of his relatives given him away?

"Because sweetie, if I could do magic, that's exactly what I would do," she said with a grin before pulling him in for a kiss.

Author's note- I hope you enjoyed the story. Reviews are better than hot apple pie with vanilla ice cream! "Loki's First Christmas" is the next story in the series.