Brothers in Arm
Thor is waiting on the palace steps, Sif at his side with Orion sitting beside Thor as Loki approaches with Jane in his arms.
"You told her?" Thor asked motioning for Loki to hand Jane over, Loki did so with resign. His eyes lingering on her with longing desperation. How bad he wanted to keep her, but he knew in order for him to have forever he would have to be patient for her to come to him willingly. Loki had to stop trying to force people to do things against their will.
"Yes and she swooned in gratitude." Loki replied his eyes still on her when Thor adjusted his hold, her head resting on the blonde's shoulder. Loki had to remind himself that in this reality, Thor was her brother not her lover- his jealousy did not belong behind door number three. But Loki is by nature a selfish man and other possibilities of Thor and Jane still burn bright in his memory, Sif is giving Loki an odd look so Loki leans over, kisses Jane's head and pushes pass them to walk into his home.
"Father expects you to make a formal request for her hand, Loki. Then he will wish for all the courtship niceties owed to a princess of Asgard." Thor announces sounding smug.
Loki pauses, turns to look at Thor, "You have spoken to Odin of my intent?" Loki is confused it sounds like Thor approves of the match.
"Of course, I even calmed him down when he found out you took the Ice Casket after he declared you could not have it. A peace offering from Asgard's king to Jotunheim's. We were raised brothers, and when you take Jane as your wife we will truly be family. I wish only for my sister's happiness and I finally understand...you have loved her all along. Your fear of losing her making you cruel...my fear of losing her making me selfish. Thank you for saving her, for giving her what I had never considered to ask for from Odin. Of course you still have to persuade Jane you are worthy of her and that I think, brother, will be your most difficult political achievement yet." Thor declared with a twinkle in his eye, like he looked forward to Loki's potential humiliation at Jane's refusal of his courtship.
"They don't call me Loki, silver tongue for nothing, brother." Loki reminds him, feeling comfortable with calling Thor the sentiment again. They were no longer enemies, behind door number three they never were- not really.
Thor laughs and Sif raises an eye brow. Loki takes a step back with a smirk on his lips as light carries them home. Loki is left all alone in the dark in a cold palace with no one to warm him.
Kill Your Heros
Jane is happy to be home. Odin and Frigga plan a huge celebration to welcome home their daughter and to hold Jane's naming ceremony. The particulars of Loki's deceits were never discussed in front of Jane but Odin's easy acceptance over her immortality did make Jane wonder if Odin had intended for Jane to eat one of Innun's apples at some point in her life. As an immortal, however, she would have a responsibility to the universe a duty to up hold and a destiny to fulfill one the Time Lords would help her understand.
Odin was the god of war and All Father, Frigga was the goddess of Love and she was the Mother, Thor was the God of Thunder and he was the carpenter, Loki was the god of mischief and the bringer of the Ragnarok. They all wore their titles and each Asgardian had a name that belonged to the realm and that belonged to the universe. Jane tried not to fret over what the mystic would see when he came to name her and declare her immortal destiny.
Jane wondered if Loki had been invited. She's not sure is she is quite ready to face him.
Remembering that her life upside down, was all his fault, that his games and his declarations of love were leading and manipulative. How dare he tell her he loves her in the same breath as telling her he made her immortal, the shock had been too much and when she woke up in Asgard- him worlds away she only had one name on her lips for him, coward.
She was so furious with him but that didn't stop her from diligently working and building the solar panel that she promised him, that was the only reason she hoped he did show up, to get his sun and to go back to his planet and hide. Worlds away from her so she could try and make sense of every moment of her life. Moments that she had thought he had been rejecting her only now everything was so jumbled and confusing she couldn't think straight and the good rational sense she use to have she was beginning to think was lost long ago when that stable boy declared that one day she would marry Loki and such a declaration had put her world on its axis and she had never been able to get it spinning right again. Now she thinks she knows why, because Loki had known all along, he wasn't her brother, he made damn sure he was never her brother, and now he wanted so much more and she wasn't sure what she wanted.
There had never been other boys, not really. At one point in her life she had rationalized that was because she was human and aged differently than them, now she knows that all of Asgard had understood the unspoken intent of the youngest prince. She was supposed to be smart and she had been blind to it all along- stupid to what was right there stalking her ever step.
Even Fragnal whom she had moments with, moments that seemed to teeter on the cusp of something more only to remain frozen in a balance of friendship and niceties but now she sees the way the beautiful warrior looks at her with sadness- like she was lost and there is no way he can save her.
Then there was prince Kellen of the Light elves; the best friend she has ever had with his curly brown hair and eyes green as leaves, so handsome and ready for an adventure. She taught him to climb and he taught her how to fight, with a bow and her little knife. While everyone else was off to war she had made a friend that had been all her own.
When his letters stopped shortly after Thor and Loki had returned home and she had not considered anything odd about it but when she saw him again after Loki's banishment, he had seemed upset over the fact she hadn't written back. Jane had gone with her mother to the elf kingdom and Kellen and her friendship had picked up right where it had left off- like old friends were time had not passed between their separations. Then he kissed her and it was awkward- her inexperienced but she felt excited, them testing their lips against each other's again right as Frigga came across them with a stern expression and elegant reprimand for their behavior. That was all until the feast when she danced with Kellen and Loki had rudely cut in. It seemed the god of mischief's lot in life to rudely interrupt the patterns of her world as he stands there arrogantly blocking her way towering over her with a sneer demanding her attention and blocking everything else out.
She needed to get ready, she needed to stop thinking about him.
Jane's gown was light blue at the top, the fabric faded to midnight blue velvet with little diamond rhinestones decorated along the fabric so it looked as if she was draped in the night sky- the stars sparkling ask she walked. It was one of her favorite dresses it was gifted to her from Frigga the same night she was presented with a new crown from Odin- the moldings of the stars, comets, and cosmos with sapphire gem stones along with impressive silver working, Jane could only smile as her father placed the beautiful gift on her head and gave her a kiss on her cheek. The sleeves of the gown were a transparent material which made the only place Jane had to hide her knife at her thigh. Her jewelry was her last gift from the dwarfs and her charm bracelet, both more weapon than jewelry and in the off chance Loki would be there she wanted to be prepared for whatever he may have up his sleeve.
Jane is escorted to the naming ceremony by Thor. Odin is sitting on his throne and Frigga is standing where the queen stands and to her right tall as ever is Loki with his stupid smirk and that dispersing stare. The mystic is in front of the platform standing watching as Jane and Thor approach. Jane has never felt more nervous in her life and when they reach Jane's old teacher, Thor bows and climbs the stairs taking his position next to Odin.
All eyes are on her and the Mystic; his face has changed since last they meant now he is an older man with piercing eyes and intimidating eye brows. He has a thick Scottish accent and dresses in a black suit lined with red silk and a crisp white dress shirt. His shoes are polished and like this he reminds Jane more of a magician than a mystic, and while he keeps his personal information private, such as his name he was fiercely loyal to those he found worthy. He didn't smile or show he recognized her when she stood in front of him, and she wondered if with his regenerations he loses his memories, then she notices how his frown deepens and she knows he recognizes her, he must still mad about the little miss understanding with her deconstructing his sonic screwdriver, no matter that she rebuilt it, made him a second one in keychain form and up graded the software after the fact.
"Jane Foster." He began clearing his throat, giving her another stern look…so no not about the sonic screw driver then, perhaps he is still angry over the mess she made in the control room of his Tardis before she rebuilt it separating the time warp and the time key codes. Really what was the logic behind the location of the buttons, it was amazing he ever ended up where or when he meant to, the dial being so touchy.
She doubted he ever ended up on time anywhere let alone in the right location.
Still she kneels with a small smile looking over her shoulder for his companion, she wonders if he has brought Professor River Song with him. He clears his throat again, reminding her to focus, she looks up at him with a smile and his frown deepens on his old face before he begins the ceremony.
"There is nothing more beautiful in the universe then witnessing how it takes billions of stars and millions galaxies of worlds to align to make something as precious as you, Jane Foster. My clever student the gift of a long life that you have been given is that- a gift. No matter the way in which it was delivered. I am almost two thousand years old and over the my life times and through my many travels I have learned a great many things but one thing I have learned in all that time is the undisputable fact that everyone is somebody." He makes a grand gesture with his right hand and his other hand is on her chin lifting her face towards him, so they are looking at each other in the eyes.
Teacher and student.
"The Asgardians have one prayer that has hung on their lips since the beginning of the universe, and you Jane Foster, Goddess of wisdom are the answer. The hope, and light that shines even in the darkness." He announces to a stunned audience utter silence echoes through the marble halls, not even the shuffling of feet or commanding voice of All Father beak up the moment.
The mystic is the only one to look around apparently having expected a livelier audience.
Then Loki laughs. It's a busting snicker that explodes into a full out chuckle. And Jane stands, her back straight looking at him clearly offended by his interruption. Odin, Frigga and Thor, however, have regained the ability to at least frown at their adoptive son, Thor walks over and stands intimately over Loki as he continues to laugh.
"You offend Jane control yourself Loki." He demands.
Loki wipes a tear from his cheek waving Thor off. "My apologies ...ump.. Your highness...hee hee...It's just...where did you get this guy?" Loki asked pointing to the mystic clearly there was something everyone else was missing.
"Gallery, you coward. Now hold your tongue, I will not have you mocking my friend." Jane declares climbing the stairs to stand in front of him, a cheeky smile plastered on his face as he bows with all the curtsies of an Asgardian prince.
"My apologies Princess Jane, I did not mean to be rude. It just all seemed a little obvious from where I stood." He answered stepping forward and taking her hand before placing a kiss on it.
She snatched her hand back and glared at him, "I think you have done enough damage for one life time." She tells him turning her back on him.
"But I've had so many lifetimes and now think of how many we will walk together, Jane." He purrs for the whole court to hear. Publically staking his claim. No one says anything, he had already asked Odin for her hand and Odin had told him it was Jane's choice.
"There is no together, Loki. You have made that perfectly clear since the moment I was brought to Asgard."
"Yes I thought I had. And now even the Time Lords have made your destiny perfectly clear. You are the light and I am the darkness. That is what they told me at my naming ceremony That I am the darkness and I will be the destroyer of worlds. "
"But you haven't, you didn't." She corrected herself.
He had tried but failed- no it had been a choice, her choice. He didn't destroy Earth, Asgard, or Jotunheim.
"You are the answer to the oldest prayer, Jane!" Loki shouts at her. "What is the oldest prayer?" Again he yells this time at All Father who with down cast eyes and a voice older than time answers.
"Salvation from the Ragnarok. Salvation from the darkness." Odin answers. Jane is now the one speechless looking at them like they have all conspired against her. They raised her like a lamb for the slaughter.
"I will make my own destiny!" She bravely declares turning with billowing blue skirts to walk from the halls.
"By running away?" Loki calls from behind her, she spins around and surprised on how close he is standing to her.
"How well did you running away work last time? Did you count the lives lost? During our game of hide and seek, sweet Jane, have you counted yet?" Loki asks hoping she has, it will be what wins her over.
She blinks back the tears, because she has counted, but his words are poison. "Lives you took." She answers with a whisper, because it hurts and it shouldn't. Those deaths were not her fault but then why did she feel so guilty.
"They all understand, even your mystic stands there with conviction in his eyes, knowing that he has no power here. That is why you exist, he probably even had a hand somewhere in the cosmos to make sure you were born. Meddling creatures, Time Lords. Don't you see, Jane, you are my cage, my leash, and I don't care, I still want you. I know I need you, because there is both love and hate in me the likes of which the universe could only imagine and if I cannot satisfy one I will indulge in the other. It's your choice Jane, it has always been your choice. And that is why your life was spared on the side of the road where your parents perished, why Odin adopted a human child, because you are the only one that can save me and in turn save Asgard."
"You are a liar and there is nothing in all the cosmos that will persuade me that anything you say is the truth. You lie even to yourself, Loki. We are brother and sister, I will never be anything more to you. I hate you, I will always hate you for everything you have done the choices you have stolen from me. The lives you have stolen from others. Your destruction echoes through the universe and I will not be subjected to any of your mischief. I have finished the work you commissioned me for, the light to your darkness is a gamma solar panel- that is my parting gift to you, brother." She spits out the last word with so much hatred Loki actually flinches from the anger in her eyes.
He smiles against the pain and tilts his head in that indulging way, the way he looked at her when he was her teacher and thought she needed another lesson on a subject he thought her ignorant in. "Very well, we will play this this your way, I can be patient and I can be forgiving. I withdrawal my name from the list of Princess Jane's suitors, it seems she does not think my Love worthy of her." He announces with a calm silkiness that cause the hairs on the back of Jane's neck to stand in attention. She knows she is in trouble that they are all in trouble.
"I am interested in discovering who is worthy of loving you, or better yet who is worthy of your love." He tells her with another sad smile then he turns with a billow of his green cloak and leaves the hall, the sound of his shoes against the marble floor the only sound.
Jane wonders if she has just started another war. All of Asgard seems to hold its breath in fear of the darkness Jane undoubtable just released on the realm. Thor is the only one that moves, as he throws his arm around Jane's shoulder and gives her a one side's hug, the brother that will love her no matter what, even if she just murdered them all.
Of Courtships and History
Jane watches from the shadows as Loki throws back his head and laughs at something the Mystic says. Its Jane's party and she can't seem to relax to enjoy it, too consumed with watching Loki waiting for his wrath. Only he seems to be truly enjoying himself, feasting, laughing, and telling stories in a strange likeness to Thor. Loki's smile is slyer, filled with hidden secrets, but he seems to be doing more of it within this one night than he ever has in all her acquaintance. Everyone else has dropped their guard, Thor especially when he takes a place next to Loki at the high table and spend the night sharing stories with her old teacher, and reminiscing of times long before her birth. Jane doesn't understand, this is not the man she knows, the ghastly smile aside, Loki never converses with people easily and she would remain alert no matter anyone else's' opinion. They were being played, and Jane seemed to be the only one to see it.
Odin calls her over and she has no other option but to go to her adoptive father. The man that raised her as a sacrificial lamb, nothing more than a pawn in a game. Odin has a serious expression and his eyes contain a sadness that seems bottomless, when he sees her a small smile tugs on the corner of his lip and she wonders if he ever loved her.
"My daughter. I want to introduce you to the man that have asked for the privilege to court a princess of Asgard. I want you to know that while I did adopt you for strategic reasons that doesn't mean I love you any less then if you were my own flesh and blood. I raised you to take a place among us. I always intended to offer you one of Illun's apples once you were ready. I have made sure that you would have the tools and knowledge to stand up for us all when the time came. You will never have to face the darkness alone. "Odin tells her and Jane understands what he was telling her. He had thought there would be a war between Loki and herself, where she would have to fight with more than her womanly wiles and use the knowledge she spent her life gathering to stop the Ragnarok. Odin had never intended for Jane to marry Loki, he had intended her to go to war with him- with Thor's army at her back.
Jane nods with tears in her eyes relived that she had not been as deeply betrayed and she thought she had by her parents.
Odin pats his arm rest and Jane smiles perching herself upon it, Odin wraps an arm around her waist and kisses her head, like so many times in her life. Jane wipes her eyes with the back of her hand and Odin waves over a very familiar young men. "Jane may I present Prince Kellen of the light elves, as a worthy suitor for a princess of Asgard."
Kellen kneels and holds his right arm over his heart. "I have become very fond of you, Princess Jane, and I hope that we can continue our friendship into this new chapter of your life."
Jane nods in recognition. She is surprised that prince Kellen has asked to court her, they have been good friends but even after the kiss they shared she never would have guessed he felt more for her than friendship. He stands and holds out his hand and Jane takes it with a shy smile. This is a good friend of hers- Someone she had spent a lot of time with and shared many secrets with. He is also someone that had her back when she snuck into the forbidden libraries. They have a history that with the right push would make their union ideal- it could blossom into something eternal and magical.
Prince Kellen leads her to the dance floor and when he pulls her into his arms their bodies are a fraction of an inch closer than they ever have been, his hand is heavy on her back and while he is taller than her much like everyone else she does not feel over whelmed by his height or the way he holds her with such assured care. They dance and talk, it's comfortable, familiar and it makes Jane relax for the first time since her naming ceremony. She lets Kellen take her mind of Loki's intents and schemes as the Light elf prince catches her up on the political going ons of the dwarfs with the light elves, an alliance that is prickly and maintained with trades of magic and rare artifacts. Jane smiles with Kellen mentions the dwarf princesses Citrine and Amethysts, twins that would inherit the meadows of Agate while their brother Onyx will inherit the mines.
"The princesses and I became friends. They have more value than their brother places on them." Jane tells Kellen who nods knowingly.
"Amethysts particularly speaks very highly of you, it seems you have made allies in many worlds."
"Perhaps." Jane tells him and he takes the conversation into a different direction, one of lore study, instead of politics.
They spend the evening together dancing, talking and sharing stories then they watch the sun rise and Jane feels her eyes grow heavy, that is when she bids him good night. She is disappointed when Prince Kellen does not even try to kiss her when she leaves his side.
Loki is waiting for her in her work room the following morning. He looks calm as he pilfers through her inventions, she finds him holding the schematics for her teleport pad.
"You are truly marvelous. What you have accomplished without magic is truly inspiring." Loki says in way of a greeting. Jane simply nods entering the room, her eyes trained on him like she is waiting for him to attack.
"You said you have my Solar Panel." He turns his back to her as he speaks placing the blue prints back on the shelf were he found them.
"In the box by the door, I wrote down detailed instructions on how to set it up, maintain it and a run down on how to fix any problems that may arise if you try and burn it warmer than I suggest." Jane tells him, she lets her own doubt of his intentions drip into her words.
He turns partially looking at a collision fuser against the wall as he pulls a pained smile like he is hurt she would suggest such a thing, but he is a talented liar. For all she knows he has been lying to her, her whole life.
"I hold your opinions in the highest regard, Jane." He tells her turning to face her fully "I only want you to do the same with me. Or at the very least be able to tell when I am telling the truth."
"Do you even know what the truth is, Brother?" Jane asks, throwing the last word in simply to poke the bear.
He stares at her his emerald eyes swirl with anger but his words are remarkably controlled and calm. "I know that Prince Kellen wants all the secrets you have uncovered in a multitude of realms and the alliances that a marriage to you would ensure; more than he actually wants you. The truth is a matter of perception."
Jane's jaw clenches in reaction, as she fights the tears that prick her eyes. She takes several deep breaths before she can even find the words to speak. "Why are you always trying to hurt me? You say you love me, but every word out of your mouth is intendant to cut, every gesture leaves a bruise. I have known prince Kellen for years, why would I trust a liar's word over a friendship forged over a life time?"
"Forged over your life time. A few years compared to forever. You have known the elven prince for what twenty years? I have known him for a millennia, there is only one he loves more than Knowledge, When next you speak to him you should ask him of Cecilia, or White stone. There is a reason the dwarfs hate the elves -histories that go back farther than you can yet comprehend. They are just stories to you, Jane, they are history to the rest of us and there is a reason you had to break into certain libraries and there was no welcome mat to Odin's daughter. Knowledge is power and history is leverage. Welcome to immortality where you have forever to learn and enough time to watch your heroes become monsters." Loki sounds intrigued by his rant.
"You are the only monster I see." Jane bits out, refusing to be sucked in by his schemes.
"Then widen your gaze." Loki suggests with a telling grin before walking over and picking up the box with his solar panel leaving her angry gaze without a backwards glance.
Pointy Eared Charms
There are polite walks in the garden and chaperoned picnics on in the meadows. Kellen is a gentleman to a fault never trying to hold Jane's hand or steal a kiss when the chaperons turn their back. There is a strange disappointment with his lack of passion when they are alone that Jane begins to wonder if there might actually be merit to Loki's words.
Jane can't bring herself to approach the subject of Cecilia or even White Stone, it's not that she is lacking bravery it just that she likes Kellen even if his interest in her isn't really romantic- they have been friends for most her life, while Loki has spent most of her life trying to harm her.
But Loki was like a psychopath with an obsession and Jane was beginning to understand that obsession was destroying her reality, when Loki materialize under a tree and called out a greeting one morning to the Elven Prince Jane knew nothing good could come of this. But Kellen's feet lead him over to Loki while Jane was left to trail behind. Loki seemed to be sitting reading a book and sipping on a flask.
"Unchaperoned this morning I see." Loki starts holding up his flask in a cheers then taking a swig.
"I honor your sister, there is no need for you to worry about her safety with me." Kellen immediately interjects taking a step away from Jane.
"Not technically my sister, we were adopted, but I appreciate your valor all the same, Crown prince of the light elves, well crown prince several generations removed. You have what, a grandfather and a father in front of you for line of succession? So ... really you are just a prince of the light elves." Loki explains with an evil glint in his eye. The insult was obvious and when Jane looks up to see Kellen's reaction the smile that the elven prince usually wore was replaced with thin lips pressed angrily together, his eyes turning assessing to Loki.
"Adoptive, still makes you brother and sister." Kellen points out.
"It's a matter of perception really. Tell me how is your sister, Cecilia? Heard she ran off with a dwarf, crown prince of the dwarfs, Onyx?"
"Yes but I found them in the end, Cecilia is back home where she belongs though severally altered, thanks to your meddling." Kellen's eyes have turned dark, his face that usually looks soft and kind looks hard and filled with unfathomable anger.
"What I did? I was inspired to build bridges- It was love at first sight, with them if I'm not mistaken. Why would you destroy the opportunity for such a profound alliance?" Loki asks standing and cocking his head just so.
Kellen has turned his body to he is standing several steps in front of Jane. "Well Cecilia will not see anything ever again! Blind little thing she is now, not even father will visit her after her betrayal."
"So you got what you wanted after all, didn't you?" Loki states but there is something that remains, something that Jane can't quite comprehend.
"What is that?" Kellen asks and it is apparent that he has forgotten that Jane is standing right behind him.
"Cecilia's reputation, ruined." Loki states and Jane hears the smile in Kellen's voice. "Now why would I want such a dishonor on my family?"
Loki shakes his head, "You want dishonor on your twin, so that no one will ever try and take her from you again."
"But they did still want her! Even after I told them she ran off with a dwarf, they didn't care, the suitors still came." Kellen practically screamed.
"So you had to injure her? Blind her, to what end? She is your sister." Loki points out, there is no judging in his tone, but Jane sees it, Loki is leading Kellen down a path that will ruin it all, but Jane can't bring herself to intervene, she needs to know, to understand what she thinks she is hearing, but can't seem to wrap her mind around, she need to hear it from Kellen's mouth.
"Yes, she is mine! That is something that at least you can understand, Odinson." Kellen spits out, and Jane takes a shaky breath, that causes Kellen to turn and look at her, his eyes wide and she knows that Loki might have just played the light elf prince but every word had been the truth, Kellen's own guilt swimming before her in pools of leaf green. She can't mask her own expression of disgust.
Kellen bows to her, its stiff and practiced but Jane cannot move or speak when he turns to leave.
The elves leave without ceremony and it is apparent that Kellen is no longer a candidate as one of Jane's suitors. Odin does not seem troubled by this as an alliance with the light elves hinges on the current king and not on the opinion of a prince no longer in the line of succession after Loki ratted him out to his Great Grandfather. Odin assured Jane that Cecelia would be looked after by the king she was his favorite grandchild and perhaps in time with the right healers she may even regain her eye sight.
Jane corners Loki out by the gates and pulls him into an secluded area, Orion by her side as her small hands push him against a wall and he grins like his enjoying her manhandling tactics way too much.
"If you wanted to frisk me, Jane, all you had to do was ask no need for theatrics." Loki shoots at her holding his hands up in surrender.
"Is this what you are going to do, scare off all my suitors, you deranged psychopath?" Jane seethes stealthily slipping a knife from the holster at his waist.
Loki's grin widens. "I didn't scare anyone off. I do think you deserve to know the real man behind court niceties before you marry him. This isn't like Midgar, marriage here is until death do you part. That is why so many Asgardians choose to remain single. Could you imagine an eternity with someone that disgusts you?"
"I'm trying not to." Jane shoots back furious.
Loki laughs. "Now I just saved you from a very unhappy marriage, you should be thanking me."
"I hate you." She tells him with conviction.
"Oh please, spare me. You want to hate me, there is a difference." Loki explains reaching out and running his fingers through her hair, it's a slow and deliberate action, like his waiting for her to pull back or cry wolf. Only she is an adult woman, and simple glares at him as his gaze turns to where is fingers lace through her silky strands.
"It's all about perception, right? Like lies." She argues, as he tucks his hands back inside his pockets and turns those transfixed eyes back to her face.
"Well from where I am standing I say you would almost let me kiss you if I wanted. You want a romance that is filled with passion and loyalty, someone that can relate with you on not only a physical level but an intellectual one as well." He tells her.
She nods like agreeing then her eyes meet his and he sees the threat that lays there. "Not to mention emotional level. I don't just want any old mutt that knows how to hump, I want someone who will love me for who I am, not what I am. I want someone that wants Jane Foster, not an Asgardian princess and all the trappings that entails." Jane tells him
Loki shrugs like her statement is inconsequential. "You want someone that would rearrange the fates just for a moment like this, you and he alone in a compromising position." He whispers bending down and capturing her mouth. His kiss is hard demanding and filled with urgency. She pulls back and slaps him across the face hard enough to turn his head. He is smiling like it was all worth it. All the while Orion is growling in attack position waiting for his mistress's command.
"Such passion should be better redirected." Loki comments, Jane is standing in front of him holding out his own knife to defend herself with.
"Stay out of my affairs." Jane commands throwing the knife so it lands embedded in the wood right next to his head. Loki pulls away to find she took some of his hair off with the blade. She doesn't even look back when she and Orion walk away from him.
Vengeance
Loki is pouting in front of a mirror when Thor comes upon him, his brother makes the most of the opportunity laughing at Loki's misfortune when noticing the drastically shorter strands of hair Loki seems to be examining in the mirror.
"It seems Jane thought you could use a haircut. You have been incredibly vain about your hair during the last century. You use to wear it shorter." Thor teases.
Loki glares at Thor via mirror. "She used my own enchanted blade, it won't grow back, not by way of magic."
This made Thor laugh louder. "My sister is clever it seems that you have only angered her more with your meddling."
"Kellen was not good enough for Jane." Loki comments, admitting defeat about his hair silently to himself and picking up the scissors on the vanity.
"Who is good enough for Jane?" Thor asks in a rhetorical way as Loki cuts his hair with a grimace.
Loki does not answer as he works on his hair, but he can feel Thor's pointed look on his back and he knows his brother is expecting an answer. Loki takes his time, making sure each strand is perfect and his hair is just as glorious even if a bit shorter after Jane's assault.
"Well? Loki, who is good enough for Jane? You?" Thor challenges there is a twinkle in the oaf's eyes and Loki rolls his eyes.
"Of course not, but that won't stop me from trying to be." Loki comments airily, as Thor smirks at his comment.
"I have missed you, brother, and I dare say that Jane is very good for you. Who else could cut your hair and get away without vengeance." Thor points out.
Loki turns and looks at Thor like he is an idiot. "Oh no, vengeance is exactly what Jane has brought down upon herself."
Dreams in the Light of Day
Jane is called before Odin the next morning and Frigga is standing where she stands. Thor is at his father's side and Loki is thankfully nowhere to be seen. Thor is smiling so brightly that Jane can't help but smile back and when Odin announces that another eligible suitor has made a request to court Jane she tries to not look too disappointed it is simply too soon after the situation with Prince Kellen and with Loki still planet side, the whole courting thing was bad timing. Or at least that was what she thought until Fandral walked in the room with a clean shaved face in pale blue his blond hair freshly combed. Jane hoped she wasn't drooling. "Princess Jane." Fandral greets taking her hand and placing a gentlemanly kiss on it. Jane knows she is blushing when she tucks her hair behind her ear, a telling nervous habit of hers.
Fnadral keeps smiling at her when he offers his arm and she takes it allowing him to lead her out of the throne room and out into the gardens. "Thor will be our chaperone, I thought we could train together this morning." Jane could only nod at his suggestion, she had trained with them for years, but always as a fragile mortal, today would be the first time she would train as their equal.
Jane had always been fast but her immortal body had an endurance that she had not anticipated and when she dodged Hogun with easy and boosted herself off the side of the wall to climb on top of Volstagg swinging around him and knocking him out before grabbing a sword and defending herself against Fandral. What she had done on Jotunheim, and taking down an ice giant was only the beginning, she certainly had an advantage over the warrior three as she had been watching them train and fight in tournaments since she was a child. She knew their tells and weaknesses and even if at the beginning of the training they intended to go easy on her she knew by the end they pushing her as hard as they would each other.
It ended with Fandral knocking her sword out of her hand and pinning her to the ground with his body they are both breathing hard and Jane arches up into him and he is grinning his eyes on her lips his head angled like he is going to kiss her when Thor rips him off her and howls in earnest like the proudest brother in all the land over her fighting skills. Thor helps her up and throws one of his heavy arms around her shoulders, declaring drinks were on him and ushering her off the field. That is when Jane notice Loki standing by the gate, he is glaring at her his hair cut just below his ears and the grin on her face stretches out into a full out smile.
"Well don't you look pretty with your new haircut?" Jane coos as she passes by him, his glare darkens and the side of his mouth quirks.
"Not as pretty as your newest suitor would be on the end of my dagger." He whispers in her ear as he takes up her other side, Thor notices Loki has taken her arm so he lets her go running to catch up with Sif.
"Shouldn't you return to your planet? Don't you have kingly duties?" Jane asks not really caring only wanting him gone.
"I've been at home for a fortnight, surly you missed me? I only came back at the urging of Thor who thought it best that I too be included in the introduction of a new suitor, seeing I am family." Loki states sounding hurt that she was trying to get rid of him. Jane simply rolls her eyes.
"You do realize that neutering him won't stop him from humping anything in a skirt don't you?" Loki asks with a glint in his eye.
Jane looks horrified at Loki. "What are you talking about?" She asks not understanding where this conversation was headed.
"Your mutt. Honest, Loyal, Passionate...to his team but not in romance. Fandral is known for dating multiple women at the same time and I am using the term dating just as loosely as your sword fighting adoration." Loki tells her.
Jane smacks his chest. "You really are pathetic. I'm sure all those stories about your own conquest are over exaggerated. Or maybe they are simply histories." Jane turns his own words around to tease him and Loki finds himself smiling at her ridiculous observation. So he would not be able to persuade her with words of Fendral's inadequacies.
"Jane don't be foolish, I may be a shape shifter but I am all man." Loki preens his ego a bit scorched.
"No you're all monster. A man deserves a chance to grow and learn from his mistakes, a monster is given that chance and throws it back in the people who loves him faces- without remorse."
"Remorse? Guilt? Shame? How will these help anyone move forward?" Loki inquires through clenched teeth.
"I worry about you." Jane tells him stopping to look up and him with concern in her eyes. It was the truth, she might want to hate him, but she doesn't, it would be easier for her if she did. "I always have, and perhaps I always will. You dismiss so many truths and refuse to see your own short comings. You never grow or become better, always stuck in limbo while pieces of you slowly erode away. Thor use to tell me stories of Loki the boy. I think I might have liked him, I think he and I would have had a lot in common, us we might just always be strangers.." Jane tells him and she means it. She pulls away from him and runs ahead to walk with the warrior three, Loki left to tail after them alone with his thoughts.
Fandral's idea of courtship is sword fights and drinking contest the first of which Jane never really mastered the second she had no stomach for. He was a bit handsy after a few pints of ale, not quite groping more like one sided heavy petting, his hand on her shoulder, him leaning into her or over her it, it was awkward mostly because he smelled of alcohol and when she tried to talk to him about anything that interest her more often than not he would change the subject so he could boast about his adventures with his friends. Thor was a fine chaperone and when Fandral did have more than his fair share to drink and he forgot his manners Thor was always quick to remind him. This was Jane's cue to hit the practice yard alone, and work on her swordsman ship.
This is how Loki finds her in the training area alone at dusk with a sword in her hand. Jane knows his there his presence alone is enough for every pore in her body to stand in attention, her survivor instinct alert. It had been three months since last she saw him, three months of Fendral's courtship, three months of his sour breath and rough hands.
"Miss me?" She asked lunging forward to hit her target with the pointy end of her blade.
"I was curious to see how you were getting on with your love sick pup." Loki says. Jane turns and looks at him where he is standing just in the shadows watching her.
"You came to gloat." She challenges her grip on the sword tightening.
"Trouble in paradise already? Jane, it's only been three months...but when every day is war, ever night a feast, such an existence can grow tiring, isn't that right?" He asks walking over to stand in front of her so his towering over her gloating.
"I dare say I want more." Jane agrees looking down at her feet like there is shame in admitting such a thing, then she looks back up at him and he is smiling.
"You want to beat him, don't you? You're tired of hearing the same old war stories over and over again. You want to prove that anyone can fight, but not everyone can be clever." Loki purrs, like he understands her frustration.
"I'm faster than he is, I should be able to beat him." is all Jane admits but it is enough for Loki.
"You can beat him. I could train you, how to dance around their technique and use their own brute force against them. Just like you did with the frost giant, taking down a mountain by finding their weakest point." Loki offers and it's tempting in a way that Jane can't resist. Thor and his friend always taught her how to avoid a fight how to run and hide, now was the time for her to stand up and face what was coming after her head on and who better to teach her than the devil himself.
Loki comes to her every night at dusk, spending hours working her hard, and demanding perfection as he teaches her how to sword fight, increasing her endurance and speed.
Her technique and her foot work is what he focused on, and just as in her studies with him as a child she caught on and exceeds his expectations. By the end of the first month she was holding a sword like she had been since birth.
Jane tells Loki how she still trains with Thor and the warrior's three in the morning, then with Sif around midday. The hard work Jane put in; not only in sword fighting but hand to hand combat was impressive and paid off at an amazing pace. No one was looking to make a warrior out of Jane, except perhaps herself. Loki could tell she was holding back, there was a hesitation in her steps and there was something that she was playing out in her head when she fought, but had yet to work it out, he could see it in the way she watched him, the way she moved her body in response to his or her other teachers. Fandral was the least enthusiastic about Jane's new found fascination in learning to fight. Voicing it loudly to Thor how she was taking it further than self-defense and perhaps as her brother he should speak to the princess before they have another Sif on their hands. Not that Fandral didn't admire Lady Sif, but not every woman should hope to be a warrior. It was Jane that ensured Fandral that she had no intention of becoming a warrior, but he did not seem relived especially when he learned about her combat lessons with Loki in the evening, and that these were taking place unchaperoned.
This was resolved when Thor volunteered for the role, a resolution that pleased everyone except Fendral, who didn't want Jane anywhere near Loki. But Jane threw the sword fighter a displeased look and informed him that she would do whatever she pleased, particularly when it came to spending time with her family.
Fendral didn't dare to correct her, that Loki was not her family, especially with Thor standing there so he simply gave Loki a fair warning- one that Loki laughed at before wrapping his arm around Jane's shoulder and leading her towards the practice yards, Thor close behind them.
Watching Loki and Jane train was a sight to behold it was like a dance, that only they knew the steps to. Both so graceful and filled with passion that only the other could match. Jane was faster than Loki, and while Loki had a sly way about him that most the time kept his opponents guessing his next move, Jane seemed to be able to read his body language in a way that gave her the advantage.
There was a particular moment when Loki had a hold of her one arm around Jane's waist his fingers around her throat arching her back up against him in a brutal way that lifted her feet up off the ground as Loki grins wickedly, Thor moves to intervene, but the next moment she curls her body up and wraps her hand up around Loki's neck then she uses her own body weight to throw him to the ground. She sits on his shoulders, his arms pinned under her feet as she wrenches his hair back drawling a blade and holding it against the King of Jotunheim's throat. Loki is chuckling like this is the most fun he has ever had.
"You win." Loki admits defeat and Jane withdraws the blade getting up to offer him her hand.
"I think you are ready, Little Jane." Loki purrs, standing to tower over her, she purse her lips looking up at him with her craned neck.
"Tell me you did not let me win, Little Loki." Jane requests not looking pleased over the possibility that he might have.
"You know me better than that, I don't' let anyone win. You have to earn it and you have worked hard. Always a diligent student." Loki praises. Jane nods in recognition turning to leave, his hand on her arm stop her and she turns to look at him. "Jane, do you understand what it will mean if you best Fendral in the arena?" Loki asks for the first time ever sounding concerned.
"Do you?" Jane asks, there is a challenge in her eyes. Loki nods letting her go, door number three was proving to be a whole new kind of torture, one that Loki did not think he could endure. To have her in his arms for moments that never seemed to add up to forever. He was beginning to think that door number three was just another hell designed for him- a penance for all his sins.
A.N. Chapter four done!