Rating: T
Pairing: Lokane
One-shot
Loki was bored. He had spent all evening at that blasted feast and he hadn't enjoyed it one bit. At first he had been sitting at the head table in a position where he felt he was surrounded by oafs. Thor was only interested in drinking as much as possible. Then, when the eating was over Loki had been inundated by guests who only wanted to speak to him because he was a Prince. What they really wanted was Odin's ear, not his. He was merely a way to get close to the King.
Eventually, he had given in and started drinking heavily. The vapid and shallow conversation that he was being subjected to would drive anyone to drink. It took a lot of mead to get an Asgardian intoxicated which was why Thor consumed so much. Loki must have drunk a lot because he was feeling a little dizzy and he had no idea how much time had passed since he had left the gathering. He had eventually started walking through the palace away from the feast and now was on his way to his rooms. He was hoping that he could avoid meeting anyone. He really didn't want to say something he shouldn't and get on Odin's bad side yet again.
However, he was still definitely drunk. He could feel the alcohol coursing through his system and he understood now why it was so addictive and attractive to others. He usually preferred to stay in control but it was a heady experience once in a while.
He was approaching the Throne Room and he turned towards his chambers when he heard voices up ahead. He didn't want to talk to anyone so he ducked into the Throne Room and silently shut the door behind him. He waited until the voices had passed and was about to leave again when he heard humming coming from behind him. It was quite a long way off but as he had very good hearing he could just make out a tune although he did not recognise it.
He slowly turned around and almost did a double take. At the other end of the enormous room, slouched on the throne with her legs draped over one arm, was Jane Foster. She had a device in her hands that he recognised as her 'Cell Phone' and she was humming quietly to herself. If she knew he was there she didn't show it.
Loki was torn. On the one hand he didn't want to get involved with Jane Foster – she was Thor's woman and she didn't like Loki very much, but on the other hand sitting on the throne was a punishable offence and he didn't think she knew that. Despite her antipathy for Loki he had liked Jane since the moment she had slapped him. He didn't want to see her hurt so he decided to approach her and warn her.
He walked slowly across the vast hall towards Jane, not wanting to startle her. Using magic he made sure that his footsteps were audible so that she knew he was coming. Then he made them both invisible to others, in case anyone else came in. Why he was being so generous towards her he did not know.
As he got closer he was surprised that Jane didn't react at all. Surely she could hear his footsteps? But she was still swinging her legs over the armrest and humming to herself while looking at her device. Was there something wrong with his magic?
Loki was almost standing next to her when she suddenly said, 'Loki, why won't my cell work here? Can't you make it work?'
She looked up at him pleadingly and held her 'Cell' out to him. He was taken aback and didn't take it from her. What a strange mortal she was.
'I know not what you mean, Jane Foster. What is it that you require?' But Jane had already returned to looking at the cell and seemed to be ignoring him.
'Why do you call me by my full name? You should call me Jane.'
Loki wanted to retort that as a prince he could do what he wanted, but he didn't want trouble from Thor.
'As you wish, Jane.'
She looked at him and laughed. 'That was easy! Actually, I want you to call me Xena instead. Will you do that?'
She was still laughing at him and Loki was frantically trying to work out what she was trying to do. Was she manipulating him? Was this a game? It was not like their previous conversations which he had no trouble with, when he always felt in control.
Maybe it was time to take control. 'No, Jane, I will not call you Xena. I will call you by your real name only. Do you realise that sitting on the throne is a punishable offence? If you are caught, the consequences could be quite disastrous for you.'
He was using his sternest voice and expected her to react with an apology straight away, but she merely smiled up at him.
'Thank you, Loki. I think you like me more than you let on, you know? You're really mean sometimes but then you show me cool stuff and you warn me when I might get into trouble. Which is awesome by the way because I literally have no idea what is going on around here most of the time. In fact, you're one of the only people I trust here. Isn't that weird?'
Loki was beginning to wonder just how much he had had to drink. He took a moment to think over what he had said and done. As he was thinking Jane quickly leant over and grabbed his jacket and pulled him towards her.
'Come here, Loki, let's hug.'
His strength was ten times hers but in his shock, and slight inebriation, he let himself be pulled and found himself sitting next to Jane on the throne. She leant on him and rested her head on his chest.
'I like you too, Loki. I think we have a lot in common and I like it when you're around. Odin can be such an ass and Thor doesn't want to rock the boat, but you? You're not like them. I think that's amazing.'
It began to dawn on Loki that maybe he wasn't the only one to have drunk too much. That was the only explanation, surely. He chided himself for not seeing it sooner but he was unfamiliar with the mortal constitution. Also, he had never seen Jane drink any mead.
She continued, 'I think we should hang out more, because I think we'd be good together. Odin and Thor can go stuff themselves, you know?'
She went quiet for a moment and Loki wanted to say, 'no, I don't know how Odin and Thor can stuff themselves, but please tell me because it sounds fun'. He decided to stay silent but he wrapped his arms around her to keep her in place. 'Are you sure it's not because you might like her', his mind whispered back? He ignored it and continued to listen to Jane speak.
'I thought we could make it work, but tonight I finally realised that we can't. Thor will be King and everyone will expect me to act a certain way and I don't want to be pretending to be someone else for the rest of my life. If I eat the apple then that life is going to be a long time, you know?'
This, Loki did know. He nodded then realised she couldn't see as her head was on his chest. She continued speaking, unaware.
'I guess that's why you don't let them push you around so much, because you want to be you, not how they want you to be. I respect that.' She patted his chest and Loki held her a little tighter. This little fragile mortal was saying things that no one ever voiced to him before and he felt emotion welling in his chest. Perhaps they were more similar than he realised.
'There are so many things I want to see and places I want to go. I want to do more research and find out things that no one else has ever found out before. I can't do that here. I'm not sure I can even do it on earth but at least I can try.'
She went quiet and all Loki could hear was her breathing. He had a plan forming in his mind and he took a moment to go through it. Now that Frigga was gone he felt like he had no one on his side. Maybe Jane was on his side now.
He said, 'I can give you all that, Jane. I can give you the stars, the knowledge, the magic. I can let you be who you are and I will never ask you to change. If you eat the apple and stay with me you can have anything that you want. You just have to ask.'
There was silence and Loki wondered if Jane was too drunk to have taken in what he had offered.
'Yeah, ok,' she said softly. It was quiet, so quiet that Loki only just heard it. The next sound was Jane's breathing turning even and he knew she had gone to sleep.
But she had agreed to be his and in the morning he would go to her. Even if she didn't remember he would woo her and court her and he knew, with absolute certainty, that they wouldn't be alone again.