A/N: Two chapters in a day! Well, technically it's after midnight, but still. And this one's even a few hundred words longer than the others!
"Loki!"
Thor paused on his way into the room, arching his eyebrow as he spotted the four Asgardians with invisible hands. "Well, this looks familiar."
"You agreed to have me 'chop' off your hand," Loki pointed out. "In fact, it was your idea."
"Perhaps," Thor allowed, clapping him on the shoulder. "But you can't say you didn't enjoy it."
Loki spread his hands in concession. "What brother doesn't dream of stabbing their sibling at one point or another?"
Thor chuckled. "You four can go for today," he told the students. "I have a task for Loki."
Gunnarr sped out fastest. "If you can't make your hands reappear, just take a nap!" Loki called after them.
The twins paused. "What's that going to do?" Hildr asked.
Loki tapped his head. "When you're conscious, you're always thinking about the magic, and when you're new to controlling it, that can make it difficult to cut it off. Unconsciousness will force you to stop thinking about the magic."
Signy nodded, and the duo left. Only then did Loki turn to his brother. "What task?"
Thor dropped the humor for responsibility. "It will take this ship several weeks to reach Earth, and we do not have the necessary supplies. Heimdall has found a commerce planet nearby, and I wish for the two of you to go there and purchase what we need."
"Any particular reason you're sending us?" Val asked. "I'm sure there are civilians who could do this."
"I don't doubt that," Thor said. "However, this planet isn't the nicest place. I would prefer to send in Loki's negotiation ability and your fighting ability."
Loki sighed. "All right. What do we have to barter with?"
Thor laughed nervously before leading them to a small room with piles of stuff. Loki stopped at what he found.
"Thor, this is junk."
"It was all our people had." Thor bent and picked up a simple golden necklace with a pendant. "This was given to me by a woman who told me it had been in her family for ten generations."
Loki took it, inspecting it. "Well, it's pure gold. This should be worth a few days' worth of food."
"We need medical supplies, too," Val pointed out, reaching for a shimmery sash. "This cloth, even made of this fine silk, won't buy too much of those."
"We can ration food," Thor said. "And reserve most of the medicine for the old, children, and very sick. But we need as much as you can buy, and I want to leave this area quickly."
Loki picked a couple burlap sacks off the floor and handed one to Val. "I can only guarantee we'll do our best, Thor."
Thor smiled grimly, looking down at a small stuffed animal probably given up by a well-meaning child. "That is all I can ask, brother."
As Thor left, Val began digging through the piles. Loki hesitated, looking at the offerings before them. She glanced at him. "We both know there won't be enough here to justify two bags."
"No," Loki agreed quietly. He ran a hand through his hair.
And an idea popped into his head.
"Here." He handed her the necklace. "Keep filling your bag. I'll be right back."
"Where the hell are you going?" she called after him.
He ignored her, pressing on before he could change his mind.
-MCU-
Half an hour later, they were landing the ship's sole shuttle just outside the largest commerce area. Before they left, Loki cast a glamour over the pair of them, dirtying their bags and hiding their elaborate clothing – it was best to look ordinary in a place such as this, not too rich and not too poor. Then they headed into the marketplace.
It was chaos. The "streets" were narrow, and clogged with vendors, buyers, and beggars. Large rodents scampered around beneath their feet; further tripping hazards included children racing around and a variety of round objects rolling. Criminals slouched against shadowy walls, watching people with keen eyes as they smoked and drank. The place reeked of garbage, and the din hurt his ears. Loki swallowed down his disgust.
"We shouldn't go in too deep," he murmured to Val. She nodded agreement, one hand hovering near her dagger.
They stopped at various venders, managing to collect a meager amount of bandages, painkillers, disinfectant, and fever reducers that slowly replaced the objects in Val's sack. But none of the stalls they walked past were selling nonperishable foods in significant amounts. Until, after four hours, they found one.
Unlike most of the people there, this man ran an entire building. One peek through the windows showed masses of food stacked on wooden shelves. Exchanging a glance, Loki and Val headed for him.
"Greetins," the man drawled. He was humanoid, greasy-haired and yellow-skinned. He took a drag of his pipe before speaking again. "Wha' can I help ya wif today?"
Loki gestured at the nearest shelf. "How much for that shelf's contents?"
The man turned slowly, chewing his pipe as he appraised the shelf. "500 units," he finally decided. "Or the equivalent in goods."
Hidden from the man's gaze, Loki rubbed his fingers together. At that price, they would never be able to afford enough to feed the Asgardians, even on rations. Even giving up all of Val's remaining items, plus all of the medical supplies, would give them a quarter of the supply at most.
"I'll pay 250."
The man laughed. "If yer serious abou' tha', ge' outta here."
Loki raised his chin. "Would I get a discount if I purchased multiple shelves of your stock?"
The man smirked. "Yeah. Then it'd be 499 units apiece."
Out of the corner of his eye, Loki saw Val look around. She drummed her fingers against her dagger's hilt, and he suddenly realized where her thoughts were heading. He took her hand for a moment and leaned towards the man, suppressing a shudder as his other hand sank into a layer of grime on the bench between them.
"What would a one-of-a-kind piece of headgear get me?" he asked quietly.
The man straightened curiously. "Describe it."
Loki squeezed Val's hand before removing his. "It's both for battle and showing off. The center is made of the universe's strongest metal, and it's covered in a generous layer of gold. It comes from the belongings of the heir to Asgard's throne."
Val's eyes widened as he continued, and a greedy smile grew on the man's face. "There's no way ye've go' somethin' like tha'."
Slowly, Loki slid his sack off his shoulders, hiding it between his body and the wall. Only then did he pull out the one thing within it – his horned helmet.
The man tried to snatch it from him, but Loki gripped it tight. "Food first."
The man nodded, opening the gate to let the duo in before reaching up to his sign and flipping it to the side that read "Closed" in a dozen languages. "Take it all, mate."
"How are we supposed to carry all of this?" Val asked.
Loki lifted his hands. "Like this."
With a few gestures made while picturing the ship's large, empty bridge, Loki made every container of food vanish at once in a flash of green light.
Val blinked. "Handy."
"Mother thought so."
They slipped back onto the streets and began heading for the ship. Loki rolled his shoulders, hating the lightness of his empty sack. Val took hold of his hand. "How important was that to you?" she asked quietly.
He ran a hand through his hair again. "It was Mother's coming-of-age present to me," he murmured. "I had many copies made over the years, but that one… That one was the original."
She smiled sympathetically at him. "You know, back on Sakaar, I never would've taken you for such a selfless guy. Or such a patient teacher."
Loki shrugged. "You can thank Mother for that, I suppose. She was always my favorite teacher. And the selflessness… Well, I guess I'm just trying to prove that I want to be there for my people. For my brother."
"For what it's worth," Val said, "I think it's working."
A retort about how she had hardly spoken to the civilians rose to his tongue, but died when he laid eyes on a stall full of medicine. "What do we have left?"
Val rummaged through her sack and pulled out the necklace. "Just this."
Loki looked at it, then up at the stall. "I don't think we need that."
"What-"
He lifted his hands and performed the same spell. In a moment, the medicine had all disappeared. Val smirked, but one the stall's three massive, heavily muscled vendors spotted him. "Hey! Bring that back!"
"Run," Loki hissed.
Val was quick to obey. Loki followed, using further bursts of magic to clear a path through the hordes. The vendors gave chase, but Loki was quick to snap shut the path he had cleared, leaving them to struggle through the people. They put on a final burst of speed to reach the shuttle and scrambled into their seats. Val stabbed the start button and Loki slammed forward the speed lever. In a burst of flames, they fled the planet, almost crashing into their ship's shuttle bay.
The duo laughed the whole way.
"You're insane!" Val exclaimed.
Loki smirked. "No. I'm the God of Mischief."
They took hold of each other's hands again as they stumbled out of the shuttle, breathless but still laughing. Thor was very confused as he took their sacks from them.
"Well done," he said slowly. "Did you two get high or something?"
"High on life!" Val announced happily. She began to half-lead, half-drag Loki away, but he balked.
"Hold on," he said, realizing he still held the necklace. He turned and handed it to his brother. "I think this belongs to one family, and one family only."
Before Thor could do more than look at it in shock, Val pulled him into the hallway and pinned him against the wall. "Have I ever mentioned that I rather like bad boys with golden hearts?"
"Em, no."
"Well, I'm telling you now," she whispered into his ear. Loki met her gaze, both hating and loving that he was the one being teased. Then she pushed away from the wall. "And now, I'm going to go celebrate our victory by getting very drunk."
Loki jogged after her. "I think I could use a drink, too." To forget what I just gave up.
He almost ran a hand through his hair, but Val caught it, her gaze serious again. "Your mother would be proud, Loki. So will Thor, when he realizes." She paused, then added, "So am I."
Loki smiled. "Thank you, Val."
She smiled back. And for a moment, they just held hands and appreciated the other's presence.
A/N: Yeah, it was about time I dipped back into Loki's mischievous side - he may be good, but he's still Loki, our beloved trickster.
