Disclaimer: Thor and company belong to Marvel, not me.
A/N: More flashback in this chapter. This time to the middle ages. Again, they're in italics.
A Trickster Distracted
Chapter Four
Loki was bored. Extremely bored. There was only so much to do on Asgard and Loki felt he had exhausted all his options at this point. It was not a great feeling, especially considering he'd have to live there for the rest of his extraordinary long life. Loki was lying on his bed trying to figure out what he could do when his brother came in.
"What are you doing Loki? The feast started an hour ago," Thor announced in his obnoxiously booming voice.
"I'm not coming," Loki replied simply.
"Why not?"
"Feasts are boring, Thor. I'm going to go do something exciting."
"Like what?"
Loki considered for a moment. "I think I'll visit Midgard," he decided. Messing with humans was always fun. The last time he was there was a fond memory.
"Brother, you can't just go down to Midgard anytime you're bored," Thor replied with a sigh.
Loki glared at his brother. "Well then maybe I'll stay there. Where people will appreciate me," he snarled as he got up from his bed. He stalked out of the room and then towards the Bifrost as fast as he could.
"Why were you mad at Thor?" Darcy asked. Loki was surprised at her ability to still think straight. She could really hold her liquor.
Loki shrugged, "Why wasn't I mad at Thor?" he replied, "I believe that at that juncture it was because I had gotten in trouble for something that was completely his fault. It's irrelevant."
Darcy looked like she was going to question him more before changing her mind. "So what happened when you got to Earth?"
Loki stepped into the inn quietly, stepping carefully towards the bar. "Can I help you, little miss?" asked the man tending it.
Loki stepped closer and addressed the man carefully, keeping a timidness in his voice that was typical of young women in these parts. "Yes? I was told to come see the owner for work?" he replied.
"You're the orphan girl Miss Adelaide sent over, then? Lucia, right?" the man questioned. Loki nodded in reply. "You'll want to go see my wife back in the kitchens, then," he said, pointing to a door.
"Thank you, sir," Loki replied with a small curtsey before walking in the direction. He rolled his eyes. It was hilarious how differently he was treated when he looked like a fifteen-year-old girl than when he had disguised himself as a young man. Female orphans tended to be cared for while boys were ignored or chased after with pitchforks (that had actually been quite amusing after the fact, but Loki did not care to repeat the event).
The man who owned the inn was named Geoffrey. He was gruff, but nice enough, and his wife Sabine was a kind woman who patiently taught Loki everything he'd need to know to do his job. His main job was taking care of the animals kept for food, but he also helped clean every once in a while. It was tedious, but better than going back to Asgard. People around here weren't nearly as obnoxious. Mostly because it was an inn on the outskirts of a tiny waytown where people tended to be uncouth and cause trouble, which was always highly amusing to Loki.
Loki's favorite part of his job was the cows. There were five incredibly sweet milk cows kept out back. They were always happy to see him and very affectionate, even though Loki figured the milking process couldn't be all that comfortable.
His favorite pastime, however, was watching Geoffrey threaten the guests that made 'unwanted passes' at him. Loki was quite good at getting the men riled up enough to set Geoffrey off then feigning innocence later.
Loki had been on Midgard for a little more than half a year when everything changed. He had been working in the small vegetable garden they had a bit further out from town when a sharp whinny broke through the air. Loki looked up sharply to see a horse galloping towards him. He glanced around to make sure no one was watching before calming the creature with magic. Its rider had been lost at some point, so Loki climbed up into the saddle and galloped the horse to where it had come from, just past the sightline from the garden.
A man was collapsed under a tree by the side of the road, holding a knife out unsteadily to try to fend off the large snake that was hissing at him. Loki could tell that the man had already been bitten on his thigh and would die shortly if something was not done. Not wanting such a thing on his conscience, Loki quickly dismounted from the horse, grabbing what he was assuming was the man's sword from where it had seemingly fallen when the man got bitten and fell.
Loki made quick work of the snake, slicing its head off cleanly. He then made his way over to the man, who was close to slipping into unconsciousness. The man looked up at him in some sort of awe, which is when Loki remembered that young maidens like himself typically didn't attack snakes with broadswords. He smiled at the man, who managed to slur out something Loki couldn't understand as his head lolled to the side. Loki panicked a little and reached for his magic, knowing that anyone coming across them as it was now would be extremely bad. He eliminated the venom from the wound before leveraging the only semi-conscious man back up onto the horse.
Loki led the horse back towards the inn. Once he knew he was within hearing range of Sabine's kitchen, he started yelling for her, explaining that the man must have been attacked and wounded somehow and the horse had wandered up to the garden. Sabine called for Geoffrey, who got the man into one of the rooms while Sabine went to find the town doctor.
He lurked outside the door while the doctor examined the man. "It's a snake bite. And he's a damn lucky man. There's not a trace of venom, but those snakes can easily make a grown man drop dead in a half-hour…" Loki let out a sigh of relief before running back to tend to his chores.
Loki was told to take the man lunch the next day once he was awoken and checked over by the doctor. He entered the room to see the man sitting up in the bed. He looked over when Loki entered and his eyes twinkled in recognition. "I remember you," he said, "you used my broadsword to kill the snake. Quite a feat for a girl."
"I have no idea what you mean," Loki replied as he set the tray of food in the man's lap.
He smiled. "Of course not. Because then you did magic to rid my wound of the venom."
"I'm sure I did no such thing, sir," Loki replied with a huff, "a girl like me is not educated in such things."
The man shook his head with a chuckle. "Usually not," he replied as he picked up the spoon on the tray to start in on the stew, "So I suppose I should thank the gods that it is you who found me and not another of the townsfolk."
Loki narrowed his eyes at the man as he started to chew. He had thought the man was too delirious to remember anything later, but apparently not.
"I thank you, miss," he said, "for saving my life."
Loki snorted and left the room, hearing the man chuckle as he closed the door behind him.
The man's name was Edwin. He was a knight of the kingdom, newly made so. He was bedridden for a few days as the snake had managed to clip a major artery and he had lost much blood. When he was up and about again he came out to the stables during the morning milking to introduce himself to Loki more fully and thank him yet again. Loki insisted he had no idea what Edwin was talking about, but knew it didn't work as Edwin only smirked in response.
He stuck around the inn for a week before he left, at which time Loki was relieved as Edwin had taken to trying to talk to him any chance he got.
A few months later Edwin rode back through. Loki tried to avoid him, but it didn't work. "Miss Lucia!" he called as he came into the milking barn the morning after arriving.
"You're not allowed in here," Loki replied as he continued his work.
"While I was away from here I found myself thinking of you," Edwin told him as he sat on a stool a few feet away from where Loki was milking the last cow.
"How wonderful…" Loki grumbled.
"A young maiden like yourself is usually not trained in swordsmanship and magic, yet you seem to have been," Edwin continued on.
"You are mistaken, sir, as I keep telling you," Loki insisted, but he could see Edwin smirking again from the corner of his eye.
"But I have been thinking about it and have to the conclusion that a maiden such as yourself would be an excellent knight's wife," Edwin concluded.
Loki dropped the milking pail he had been moving, spilling the milk across the floor with a clatter. He ignored the milk soaking into his skirts as he turned to gape at Edwin.
Edwin chuckled and reached out to close Loki's open mouth. "You should not gape so, Lucia."
"Begging your pardon, sir, but I believe I'm hearing things," Loki managed to reply. He was greatly confused by this turn of events.
"You are not," Edwin assured, "a maiden like you should not be in this small waytown, but somewhere where your talents will be appreciated. Like my own home."
Loki wondered if all people were this forward with their…strange marriage proposals.
"I have already spoken with Geoffrey and he agrees that you may leave back to my home with me."
Now Loki felt indignant. He knew that this was the way such things were done, but it still made him mad that Edwin had already talked to Geoffrey about this ridiculous proposal. He stood up, hands on hips, and glared down at Edwin. "And what if I cannot stand you and want nothing to do with this plan of yours?" he demanded.
Edwin chuckled, smirking again. "I do not believe that to be the case. Do you not want to get out of this place and to somewhere more…elegant?"
Loki continued to glare down at Edwin. He really wanted nothing to do with this so-called 'elegance'. The complete lack of it was, after all, one of the reasons he was enjoying his time away from Asgard. He studied Edwin's face, upon which was the fascination he always looked at Loki with as well as hopefulness for the answer he wanted Loki to give. He considered the offer for a moment. It would be interesting to see the other ways of life in this world after spending a year doing this. But Loki was pretty sure he didn't want to marry a human, even one as charming as Edwin. Loki took a second to chastise himself for thinking that thought before concentrating on what this offer meant.
It became obvious Loki was taking too long to think over this when Edwin interrupted. "Lucia?" he asked as he stood up.
Loki looked up at him, chewing on the inside of his cheek. "I need to clean up this milk," he announced, actually running away from Edwin to collect the rags to do so with. He didn't come back out until he was sure Edwin was gone.
The next morning Edwin came into the barn while Loki was milking again. "If you make me spill this milk today, I will hurt you," Loki warned without turning around. He heard Edwin chuckle as he leaned against the wall of the barn. Loki worked in silence. He liked Edwin. And the fact that Edwin appreciated him was kind of nice after all the un-appreciating that went on in Asgard. As Loki finished up the milking and began to carry it back to the inn, he turned slightly to address Edwin. "Aye," he said before turning to leave.
"You got married?" Darcy asked.
Loki nodded. "Edwin was very nice. I spent another seven years there before leaving and going back home…"
"You just left?"
"Well, I faked my death. But yeah."
"Why?"
"I needed to get back home. I didn't actually want to leave. We had…children. Three of them," Loki admitted quietly, "I lost track of them. I don't know what happened…" He wasn't sure if it was the alcohol, but Loki was suddenly feeling very guilty about the whole thing. He had never explained everything to Edwin, although he had done his fair share of magic while living there. And leaving three young children behind…Loki wondered if it was possible to track down any surviving descendants now, but decided it probably wasn't. Loki shook off his thoughts and drained the rest of the bottle he was holding.
"That's it?" Darcy slurred questioningly, "Didn't you ever go back? What about Edwin?"
Loki looked away. "No," he answered quietly, "I never went back to him."
"But…he…he loved you…and…" At this point she trailed off and started sniffling. Loki looked over sharply to see that she was crying now. Loki blamed the alcohol. It seemed that alcohol made Darcy…emotional.
Loki wasn't sure what to do when faced with a drunk, crying young woman on the roof of a research facility. So he settled for setting down the bottle and handing Darcy one of the napkins set under a weight on one of the chairs. Darcy wiped at her face before stuffing the napkin into her pocket. "I think that's enough drinking for tonight…" Loki announced as Darcy continued to sniffle. He stood slowly, making sure that he could keep his balance before holding out a hand to help Darcy up. He might as well be polite.
After he made sure that Darcy got back to her room without tripping and hurting herself Loki returned to his own quarters. As he lay down on his bed Loki couldn't help but wonder why he had been so accommodating with Darcy during their drinking binge. Loki tried to think about something else as he didn't feel like dissecting his pseudo-friendship with Darcy, but the only other thing his mind could focus on was Edwin and how bad he felt about leaving him.
A/N: According to Norse myth (the Poetic Edda) Loki spent eight years on Earth as a milkmaid:
Odin speaks:
" Winters eight wast thou under the earth,
Milking the cows as a maid,
(Ay, and babes didst thou bear;
Unmanly thy soul must seem.)"
So yeah, that's where that came from.
But I made up Edwin, who is pretty much the most charming character I've ever created.
Tell me what you think?
