Mirrored Reality
By: KG-Sarenaty and Vietnomnom
genre: romance/angst/bromace
parings: Loki/Tom Loki/RDJ stark/tom Loki/stark
Summary: When Loki fell into the abyss he not only fell from Asgard it seemed, but the whole paradox that was—used to be his… prison.
AN: Hi! Vietnomnom here! Me and my compatriot Sarenaty can't wait to see how you like the story as we come up wit more crap to fill your heads with while we're hyped up on Vanilla Bean from Star Bucks, donuts and other artery clogging goodness.
Sarenaty: anyone else realize the Starbucks lady looks like fem Loki?
Vietnomnom: Dunno, but I would still tap that.
Also thank you Msgone i cant wait to see where it goes either~
Chapter two: Adventure time
"For being highly sought after they let themselves open so easily." Loki stood upon the other side of the street, unseen from the humans below. A long slender hand gripped the billboard, "What an oaf." he sneered watching the unseemly scene in front of him, though it was not to different from how his brother acted. Loki watched the three humans in the donut shop. 'Quite easy to find, aren't they?' he thought. It was almost sad; looking for them had posed no true challenge for him, the internet was a wonderfully morbid thing, giving him almost anything he wished for.
Green eyes narrowed as the three men left the shop and sped off in the vehicle. He knew of the two actors, but the bearded one was unfamiliar and he couldn't recall seeing anyone matching face in his own world. The thought fled his mind as he spotted his new mode of transportation. A middle aged man sat waiting to pull out into traffic, the perfect target. The driver shuddered as an odd sensation fell over him. He looked around but saw nothing out of the ordinary. "Odd, I could have sworn…" he looked back, seeing an opening, and drove onto the highway. Suddenly he felt an odd urge take over, "Let's go for a drive." a velvety voice seemed to whisper behind him, but the man did not flinch, only blinked, moving the car into the next lane to take the off-ramp that the actor's cars had taken off on.
"Let's go for a drive." he smiled, the coast fixed in his mind, all the while oblivious of the unseen passenger beside him with a Cheshire grin plastered across their face.
Loki had the man stop before entering the parking area, so as to be let out; there would be no need to have the mortals become aware of his presence, or existence for that matter. He heard voices laughing and yelling close by, he walked briskly down the gravel path and into sight of his targets, but only just barely. The brute Chris was grinning as he chased after Tom, their companion walking a steady pace behind them, a safe ways away from their antics.
"What do we have here?" he thought aloud, raising a thin brow. The men acted as if they were longtime childhood friends. He noticed how even though the man was being chased, Tom was laughing, nearly out of breath as he did his best to keep out of grabbing range of the blonde, who as well looked like he were having a grand time. The other gentleman, whom Loki suspected to be older than the two, only watched with a quirk to his lips, yet happy to be present all the same. Such an odd trio of individuals, and the god suspected the other mortals to be just as peculiar as their associates.
The men continued into the woods taking their time, Loki not too far behind, masking his presence, but not fully. He wouldn't want to waste his magic reserves. The men goofed off as they made their way to the cove. Chris climbed down the rocky hill, closely followed by Robert, with the exception of Tom, who stayed at the top and calling down to them, "I'm going to take a look around a little more! I couldn't possibly climb up or down this wall!" At the bottom, both men frowned and shouted back, trying to persuade him to join them. Tom only waved them off with a smile and set out to explore on his own.
Loki watched carefully from just a few yards away as Tom strolled along the edge, ignoring his surroundings whilst unknowingly, each step he took brought him ever nearer to the concealed god. Tom stopped and bent forward, finding a small rock, examining it for a moment before tossing it down into the water below. Loki chose the time to move, shifting himself to face the other as he got closer.
Tom finally came too close, his shoulder lightly brushing against the god's chest. Startled, the mortal looked straight through the other man, turning his head to gaze towards the forest's edge. Tom could have sworn he had felt something. "Hello?" he called out softly, his eyes searching the woods, the taller god going on unseen right in front of him. Loki looked the man over and grinned as he slowly leaned forward until his breath just barely tickled against the actor's ear, whispering a teasing "Yes~?" to the man.
The British man jumped back, eyes wild as he looked about, but seeing nothing; he suddenly became a bit frightened. "I must be hearing things." he muttered, stepping back once more and gazing over his shoulder and down into the cove. Both men below were talking animatedly, unaware of their friend's distress. Loki reached out, finger tips lightly brushing against the actor's cheek, causing the man to jump in alarm; Loki had to stifle a small chuckle. The other did look much like him yes, but it was less… sad, fuller with light, not an almost sickly pale as his own.
Loki took this moment to walk around the mortal slowly, watching as a change in the lighting made the human's eyes change; unlike his own solid green, the mortal's changed from varying shades of blue, green, and even a hazel color. Tom swallowed deeply and stepped forward, smiling to himself nervously, "Ok Tom, you're just hearing things, no one's out there." He crept slowly towards the woods looking about carefully, muttering under his breath about never letting Chris and Robert drag him along again on one of their so called 'adventures'. The man visibly calmed after a short period of walking. He stopped, turning to his side to look around, his ears picking up the quiet sound of footsteps following not too far behind him.
"Lost?" Loki asked as he leaned against a nearby tree to watch, taking enjoyment in the other's distress.
"Oh dear god, I'm hearing things," Tom groaned to himself, pressing a hand against his face, "No, I'm not lost, but I've certainly gone mad." He spoke again louder, looking about. "Who's out here?" he called frowning, he didn't like this situation one bit; the stress and long hours on set must have finally driven him insane. Loki stayed quiet, thinking over his next move, his eyes slit in amusement and a small smirk just barely showing teeth. Tom let out a breath he hadn't known he'd been holding; after a long pause he realized he'd lost the sound of the cove and his friends. "Damn!"
He looked to the sky and saw it was darkening quickly. He turned back towards the way he came and set at a brisk walk. "I shouldn't have so far from them." he sighed and stopped. Everything was staring to look the same and began to bleed together. "Robert, CHRIS" he hollered, cupping his mouth, hoping they'd hear him. The skin of his neck tingled with a strange sensation, almost as if someone were touching it. He stood dead still, feeling the sensation form into a pressure that built, and felt like a hand was wrapping around his throat. He blinked rapidly, the air in front of him wavered oddly; he tossed out an arm hitting nothing, but the feeling of the hand left him.
"CAWW!"
Tom jumped as a crow flung past him and perched itself on a nearby tree, coking its head at him before releasing a high pitched screech. The sound was horrible, as if it had come straight from an old fashioned horror film. He turned and ran, hopeful to get far away enough from the woods and back to the cove; he watched the sinking sun light overhead. He darted through the empty dirt patches and trees covered in flushed greenery when he heard the laughter behind him. "Oh dear god, please save me." he pleaded, turning around a corner to stop, gasping at the sight of a large black creature staring at him with large angry emerald eyes "Shit!" he sputtered, turning away from the wolf-like creature just as it released a furious howl. 'There's no wolfs out here!'
He scrambled, losing his scarf on a clawed branch, he heard the sound of pounding footsteps came after him and then faded into nothing. He slowed for a moment, looking about; suddenly he could hear the cove in the distance. "CHRIS!" he hollered dashing toward the waves. The cove was empty and getting darker by the second. Tom looked down the steep wall and down into the deep water below. Tom heard the foliage rustling behind him followed by a slow exhale of air. The man turned slowly, remembering the few self-defense he had taken months back, but froze once he twisted fully around. The man before him was tall and lank, his face concealed by the shadows of the trees. "Who are you?" he called out quietly, straining to see into the darkness. A puff of air rose as the other spoke in a low sultry voice, "A figment of your imagination." Green light sparked up under the stranger's face that sent a snake lunging forward from it towards the actor. Jumping back in an attempt to avoid the vicious fangs unfortunately sent Tom tumbling back, down over the cliff's edge, and into the watery depths of the cove.
"Hey, did you hear that?" Robert asked looking up from his phone and turning towards the direction the noise had come from. Chris sat on the hood of the car as he fiddled with the keys in his hand. The two of them had walked back to the car, hoping to find Tom sulking alone or something of the sort, but no dice.
"Do you think it was it Tom?" the blonde asked, concern lacing his voice, he stood up ready to head back into the woods to search for the British man.
Robert nodded, "Let's head back to the cove, maybe he's looking for us." Robert sighed again finishing his tweet, '…plan a failure heading home soon, just got to find our god-of-mischief.' He pocketed his cell and headed back with Chris ahead of him; both thankfully were still able to see the path in the quickly dimming light. Robert stopped at the edge and looked from the trees down to the rocks, panic in his mind. "TOM!" he called, until a sound caught his attention that finally caused him to look down. Below, shivering and soaked, Tom sat on a rock within the cove, his calves submerged in what must have been ice-cold water.
"Robert?" he croaked in a raspy voice, as if he had been calling out for them for most of the afternoon. His teeth chattered and his wet hair was plastered against his face and neck. "It's a-b-bout bloody time. I thought you'd-d n-never come." he chuckled, unfortunately sending himself into a vicious coughing fit shortly after.
"Shit, Chris, do you think you can get down to him?" Robert looked to his side having heard no answer, but then saw that the Aussie had already gone ahead of him, by the time having already climbed halfway down the rocky side of the cliff. The man was like a real-life Crocodile Dundee. The brunette shook himself back to the situation at hand, examining the stranded and dripping actor for any obvious wounds, "Are you hurt?" he called down, watching as Chris steadily, but quickly made his way closer to their friend.
Tom shook his head, him also keeping track of the larger man's progress. "I think I'm a-alright. Just a tad cold I think." A fit of coughing stole his voice again for a moment.
Robert took out his cell calling up the director, "Hello? Yeah, um, Tom might not be able to come in tomorrow; I think he may have caught the flu. Uh-huh, yeah…yeah, he's definitely got a fever…yeah; Chris and I are taking care of him. Ok, thanks man, and don't worry, he'll be back in a few days and I'm pretty sure you guys have some editing to do that will probably keep you busy until then….Yeah, we'll keep you posted, bye."
Chris landed in the moist sand a few yards away and jumped into the water, the feeling of pinpricks harsh against his skin as it soaked him just below the torso; he waded over to where tom sat on the small area of rock. "Do you think you can stand?" his features worried as he stood holding out a hand for which Tom took hold of gratefully, he used the other man as a grip to haul himself into standing, if a bit wobbly.
"I-I can't feel my feet." he whispered wincing at the uncomfortable sensation. Chris used his arms to heave Tom up into his arms and began to walk him back closer to the wall where Robert stood watching cautiously from above. "Dear god how a-are we going to get back up?" Tom looked to from the cliff back to Chris who smiled
"Well that's simple, just like this!" Suddenly the world moved and twisted, making the smaller man yelp in surprise and horribly dizzy. Recovering, he noticed how Chris held him close to his chest and half over his shoulder.
"Hold on tight to me, lock your legs and arms, ok? I'll worry about getting us back up." Chris laughed as he slowly approaching the wall, analyzing it and creating a path in his mind that would return them safely back up to where Robert waited for them anxiously.
"I think I'm going to be sick. " Tom groaned and strengthened his hold on Chris, wrapping his long legs around the other's waist and his arms locked at the elbows around the Aussie's thick neck. "I hope you know that I blame you for this, both of you… somehow. You bloody bastards."
Chris let out a bark of laughter as he concentrated on his ascent and keeping his cargo from returning back to the water below. "Stop talking Tom, you sound horrible enough as it is. No need to make yourself worse with useless whining." Keeping his thumb rested on the emergency number on his phone, Robert frowned from where he waited at the top of the cliff. "I just called you in a few sick days. We're going to get you back to your hotel." Tom nodded slowly in agreement. He'd had enough of the outdoors for quite a while. Unfortunately, he couldn't recall much of what happened before he had his little dip over the cliff, strangely, it was all a blur. Something had been chasing him, and a green fire? None of it made sense, most of all being the strikingly familiar face of his mystery attacker. He'd have to tell the Robert and Chris once they reached the hotel, that is, if sleep didn't overcome him first, and at the moment, it seemed like a possibility.
Chris got them over the edge safely, Robert helping to haul the blonde up before finally letting Tom let go. They helped the smaller man to stand, Robert taking over to give the Australian a rest while also helping Tom back to where the car was still parked. Chris held him steady a, smile on his face, questioning Tom's reasons for being a klutz all the while Robert was unlocking the vehicle and scrounging around in the back, searching for something. Tom could only banter back weakly as he was stripped of his still dripping jacket and shirt, Robert pulled off his own sweater and handed it to him. "I'll get set the heater on high but it'll take a bit to warm up, just wear this for now until we reach the hotel." Simply glad to have something that wasn't ice against his skin, Tom slid on the offered item, Chris visibly upset that he had nothing of his own to spare the other.
Taking the back seat Tom shuddered quietly, the feeling of sleep weighing heavy on his eyes. The car was warm and quiet, it was somewhat nice; he noticed that even though both Robert and Chris were seated in the front of the car, he could have sworn that there was a warmth radiating from somewhere close by, almost as if someone was seated beside him, 'Probably just the heaters.' It was his final thought before slipping into a light doze, the fatigued man oblivious of the unseen figure in the other passenger seat watching him sleep.
Tall trees surrounded him from all sides, all of which casted impossibly dark shadows that seemed to move. The air felt heavy and tight, and there was no sound to be heard other than his labored breathing. "Hello?" Tom's voice called out as he spun around feeling as though he was being watched "Who's there!" he panicked as green flashes began to burst just out of the corner of his eyes. The sound of padded paws surrounded him, followed by the crunch of claws on bark.
"Hello." an eerie male voice hissed in his ear; he turned to see a large shadow shaped like a hellish snake, its large green eyes bright and trained intently on him. "It's time to wake up now my dear."
Tom awoke with a start, his eyes wide and lost, his body feeling heavy and hot, too hot, and his skin was noticeably sweaty. He sat up slowly, looking around the empty room. He was back in his hotel. Turning his head, he threw an arm over his eyes to shield them from the bright California sun that glistening through the window. 'I must have fallen asleep.' Blinking feverishly, he reached down to grasp at his sheets when he felt something else softer and loose above the blankets instead. Looking down, he was surprised to see his scarf lying across his waist. "What are you doing here?" he asked. He lifted the long strip of fabric and folded it before setting it on his nightstand.
His cell phone shown bright and vibrating obviously a text, he picked it up and flipped it open to see 6 text messages. The most resent one was from Chris, bless his soul, asking if he was awake yet and or feeling any better. He respond with a quick, 'awake but feel like shit' He laid back down, shutting his eyes, groaning at the start of a headache; he needed some medication for this damned fever.
Tom stretched and removed himself from his bed, a bite to eat and some pills to start his day. Getting into his fridge he fished around before taking out some yogurt and butter "Toast will be nice." he smiled, fighting the itch he felt at the back of his throat. The edges of his vision blackened and became hazy; he shook his head attempting to rid himself of the fog. He felt suddenly heavy and too hot under his skin.
Beep!
Tom looked back to his bed seeing his cell light up, thinking it was Chris probably responding back. He sat spooning at his food before looking at the text.
'Hope you get better tom, you where muttering something disturbing in your sleep.'
'Thank you Chris but I hardly remember what I was dreaming about.' he replied; he remembered his dream alright but he couldn't quite understand it, it must have had to do with what happened the night before at the cove.
"Beep!"
He looked at his text and raised a brow, knowing that no one knew his number, other than his coworkers; it was a blocked number.
'Hello my dear Mr. Hiddleston, I hope you're doing well after our little encounter last night.'
As he stared at the text, he didn't notice that he had dropped his yogurt, making a pink sticky mess on the hotel's carpet.
