A/N: thanks for the lovely reviews. You guys are awesome!
A tickling sensation slowly brought Jane out of the sweet embrace of unconsciousness and into the harsher realm of reality. Loki was seated on the mattress next to her, stroking her face and collarbone lightly with his fingertips. Surprised, the little Astrophysicist jerked up and back, scooting quickly across the bed, practically falling off the other side in a tangle of sheets and blankets.
"Would you just quit it?! Stop touching me! I'm not just something you can objectify!"
Quick as a viper, he dove across the bed and grabbed Jane's wrist. He hauled backwards to his chest while he knelt on the bed, causing her to let out a surprised squawk.
"Now now Jane, I've already told you you're mine. You're like a pet. An obnoxious pet that bites the hand that feeds it, actually. Why am I so nice to you, again?"
She struggled against his grip like a sack full of writhing snakes, kicking and clawing. "Nice? Sexual assault is nice?! What planet do you live on?"
Growling in frustration at her antics, he quickly shifted his legs around so he was sitting on the edge of her bed. Pulling both her arms behind her back and clenching them in one of his large hands in a steel grip, he flipped her over to she was lying on her stomach across his knees. This was NOT a position she ever wanted to be in. She kicked and jerked, trying to dislodge herself from his vice grip, almost hurting her arms in the process. Huffing out an exasperated sigh, Loki grabbed a fistful of her hair and yanked it backwards, forcing her head up and putting an arch in her back, holding her there on the razors edge between kinky and painful. Either way, it was humiliating, but with her arms pinned and her body arched at such an angle, she could barely struggle without hurting herself.
"Jane, you don't want me to punish you like a misbehaving child, do you?" He released her hair and ran his hand down her spine, rubbing the small of her back and over to her hip. The words were said jestingly, but the message was quite clear.
She froze, still as a mouse that sensed the cat, and hissed in the coldest voice Loki had ever heard from her "I swear to god, if you spank me, or hit me in any way, I'll never talk to you again, and you can kiss me helping you find your whatever it is goodbye."
He stroked the small of her back almost affectionately. She shuddered. "Ahh, now there's the Jane I enjoy. Trying to threaten me, of all creatures. I didn't actually come here to fight you, Jane."
"You wake me up with inappropriate and unwelcome touching, and expect me not to react? Let go of me." She squirmed in his grip, wanting desperately to be off his lap.
"Oh my dear, we really have vastly differing opinions on what constitutes inappropriate."
"Apparently. If you don't want to fight, let me up."
"Let you up what?"
"Let me up NOW, you jerk!"
"Now, now, Jane, no name calling. You'll hurt my feelings. What do we say when we want something? Use your manners." He says mockingly.
"Loki. Let. Me. Up." Her voice was sullen and anger bled through quite clearly.
"That didn't sound like any manners I'm aware of."
"I didn't call you any names. That's about as polite as I can get right now." She shot back bitterly.
"Hm. You're not making this very easy on yourself are you, Jane Foster?"
"GODDAMIT LOKI! Let me up! This is ridiculous!"
"I'm disinclined to grant your request. I have a rather marvelous view."
It took her a minute to realize he was referring to staring at her ass.
"GAH!" Thrashing about, she tried to dislodge herself from the compromising position, furious and embarrassed and blushing all at the same time.
"Hold still and I will release you." She was getting stronger, and holding on to an enraged thrashing Jane Foster was rather difficult; slipperier than an eel in a bowl full of snot, as the old proverb went.
Breathing heavily in impotent rage, Jane held still, and Loki released her. She jumped up and backed away, glaring at him in her pajamas.
"I actually came here to begin your first lesson in magic when you were so terribly rude to me." He said idly, crossing his legs and examining his nails disinterestedly.
"You… Came in here, while I was sleeping, and… you're impossible, you know that?"
"Do you wish lessons or not, Jane?"
"Yes, I do, but-"
He cut her off. "Then I would recommend getting some clothes on, cleaning up, and meeting me in your living area in less than ten minutes. I'll put a pot of coffee on for you." All the while he was smirking. Arrogant twit.
She looked at him mistrustfully, then nodded and waited for him to leave the bedroom.
On his way out he paused, turned, smiled his most charming smile and said, "Wear something green". He left the door open. Marching over, she slammed it as hard as she could.
Turning to her ample closet, she stewed over his obnoxious behavior. Debating on whether she really wanted to piss him off and wear red, she then realized there was no red in her wardrobe. At all. As a consolation prize, she picked out a sky blue short sleeved blouse with a scoop neck and pair of loose black pants that swished when she walked.
She went to the restroom, cleaned up, brushed her teeth and hair, and walked into the living room barefoot. She didn't like how she felt like she was making herself presentable for Loki's sake.
The mad god was in the kitchen, his armor has disappeared, he was wearing his boots, leather pants, and a green and black tunic with delicate runic embroidery all along the seams. He was leaning back against the counter, mug of coffee in his hands, sipping slowly. The image of him sipping coffee in a kitchenette was just so incongruent with her worldview she had to pause until it made sense. Once she could comprehend that yes, Loki was drinking coffee in her gilded cage of a room, in her kitchen. She approached slowly, warily. He held up another steaming mug and offered it in her direction. Trepidation fading slightly at the promise of coffee, she came close enough to take the mug and inhaled the rich aroma, trying to let the smell wash away her irritation.
Loki was looking at her, frowning.
"What?"
"I told you to wear green." His tone was icy.
"I didn't feel like green today."
"You can't even follow a simple command?" His voice was getting angry and his eyes narrowed.
"I'm not a dress up doll!"
"Fine." He turned and marched towards the door, summoning his armor as he walked.
"Hey, you said you were going to start my magical education today!"
"Situations change." He reached for the vault door wheel.
"You promised!"
He paused. Reached for the door. Stopped again. Reached for the door. Stopped. He flexed his hand, looking mildly confused. Or concerned. Maybe both. He turned around, his face turned into a blank mask of indifference and arrogance.
"So I did. Very well." He gestured for the couch. "Sit down please, Jane."
Surprised that he used the word please, Jane did as he asked. Maybe as a reward for not acting like an overbearing ass, she did as he said. She wasn't entirely decided. She sat in her comfy corner of the couch, watching him carefully.
He crossed his arms behind his back and began pacing in front of the couch, vanishing his armor again. Jane stifled a giggle. He reminded her of some of her lecturers from college.
"What makes us alive, Jane?"
"Do you want me to go into all the bodily activities that produce life? I can start with cellular respiration and go from there…"
"No, you're thinking too literally, and yet not literally enough."
"Now you're being deliberately obtuse."
"Allow me to rephrase the question. What gives us sentience? Allows us to think and reason?"
"Well that's a debate for all time. The human brain sparks off electrical impulses that-"
He cuts her off. "Almost have it. You're so close with the electrical analogy."
"It's not an analogy! The brain is made up of nerves which communicate by electrical pulses!"
"You're still thinking too scientifically, Jane."
"I'm an astrophysicist, what do you expect."
"I expect someone as intelligent as you're reputed to be to have some imagination."
"Fine. What makes us alive, then?"
"A force or form of Energy. A spark at the heart of all creation that gives us Will and Intellect."
"You're talking metaphysics, not science. None of that can be remotely proven!"
"Jane, do try not to be obtuse yourself. We're discussing how I perform Magic, remember?"
"…You have a point."
"This energy connects everything. Stars, a frog, your brain, everything is connected through this energy, this substance. It is invisible, but one who is talented in magic can feel it. It feels different to each sorcerer. Some feel it like putty or tar, some can smell it, some say it feels like a breeze. A rare few can see it, but that is outside the norm."
"Normal? In magic?"
"Yes, Magic does have a few rules, which we'll get into later. Right now we're just working on what Magic –is-. Alright?"
"My apologies for interrupting, please continue." She sat watching, rapt at attention, and he began gesturing with his hands as he spoke, seeming to enjoy the conversation. His mood had done a complete one eighty. As usual.
"To put it in your scientific terms, Magic is similar in concept to how humans define scalar fields of Dark Energy. Specifically, the Quintessence variant. Dynamic, active, and ever-changing."
"You understand Astrophysics?"
Loki just looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "I am vaguely familiar with the concepts. I do not understand the way mortals do the math, however, nor will I bother with your primitive technology. That's what you are for. We are merely comparing and contrasting, however. Do not get it into your head that you can break down magic into your neat equations."
"Alright."
"Unlike your Dark Energy, Magic, as a force or energy itself, exploits loopholes in your mortal Physics. Much like your Classic Physics doesn't hold up so well when you begin working on the micro level so you have to switch to Quantum Physics, Mortal Physics as a whole does not hold up when working with loopholes and in-between places in reality. So you must switch to Magic."
"So Magic is just a branch of science that mortals haven't discovered yet?"
"Not quite. Magic is a branch of Art that your science cannot yet explain."
"I'm not sure I comprehend your meaning."
"Look at it this way. Fractals are as much art as science, are they not? They are a visual representation of certain equations, but they are beautiful, and keep going, no matter how close you look. In the same way, Magic is as much Art as Science."
He was quiet for a few moments, contemplating - thinking of another reference.
"Painting is merely science, in that light reflects from the page and bounces to your eyes, but it is also Art, in that the composition and talent and style of the artist all show through. Coincidentally, artists make amazing magicians. You must think of Magic in the same way."
"Great. I can't even draw a stick figure."
Loki laughed. "I'm not teaching you to _do_ Magic Jane, I agreed to help you _understand_ Magic." He taps his chin in thought. "Also, a sorcerer must have good relations with Magic. Magic… feels. It can like you or not like you. As far as Sorcerers can tell, it's how you treat magic itself that defines whether it likes you or not, not how you use it for good or for ill. Those with greater power are either long practitioners who have trained a great deal, or are well-liked by Magic. There are some mortals who have a degree of magical skill, but they are few and far between, and are universally less powered than most other races."
"Can you…" Jane started, then picked up her courage and just asked outright. "Will you please show me some examples?"
"I can." With a few incomprehensible syllables, Loki conjured a small green flame in his hand. He walked over and sat next to Jane on the couch, facing her, holding out the hand cupping the fire. "Stick your hand in it."
Holding her hand close to the green flame, she paused. "I can feel heat from it. I don't want to get burned."
"Heat, hm? What, don't you trust me Jane?"
She just raised an eyebrow and looks at him pointedly. He just laughed again. "Just stick your hand in it. Tell me what you feel."
Taking a deep breath, she slid her hand forward into the cupped flame. "I feel a sort of tingling comfortable warmth, kind of like that one time I used icy hot on my sore legs after I went running. And …kind of a pressure, like I'm pushing a magnet towards something of an opposite polarity."
"Indeed." He shook his hand and the fire disappeared. Next, he snapped his fingers and the pencil sitting on the table floated over to them and up over their heads. Jane smiled delightedly and stood, reaching out to take the pencil out of the air, fascinated. She examined the pencil curiously, then looked up at him, eyes shining with curiousity.
"Please, something else?"
Loki unconsciously preened as he continued his explanations. It was not often someone was truly interested in Magical Theory. Asgard always looked down on men practicing magic. It was a woman's art. Even though Odin himself is one of the more powerful sorcerers in the Nine Realms, he thought bitterly. He was never shunned for it. Her attention was stoking his ego.
"What's your favorite animal, Jane?"
"Well, I like cats."
"Look." He nodded his head towards an open space on the floor. Rolling around there, making adorable chirping mews, was a tiny black kitten on the carpet. Jane grinned and walked over.
"Did you just summon a kitten?" She reached down to pet it and it flickered, fading out of existence.
"It was an illusion?" She turned back to Loki, who was standing next to the couch, watching her.
"Indeed it was. Illusions can be incredibly realistic and are difficult to maintain and construct. You have to maintain the exact details of what you want to project in your head at all times; if you lose focus, the illusion flickers, fades, or gets imperfections. For example…."
The Loki she was focused on flickered and vanished. She was suddenly grabbed from behind, hands snaking about her waist and picking her up, hauling her back against a hard chest. Making a rather embarrassing yelp, she struggled for a moment as her feet dangled off the floor. Loki whispered lowly in her ear as he pressed up against her from behind.
"Soon, I will teach you about teleportation and loopholes in spacetime, which should help you in your Theories of your Einstein Rosen Bridge."
He set her down, and Jane backed away quickly, eyeing him suspiciously.
"Why are you doing this?"
"Doing what?" He tilted his head curiously, eyes twinkling, and for a moment, she could see the boy that Thor once spoke so fondly off, a mischievous little brother without a care in the world.
"Teaching me about Magic. Helping me with my science?"
His expression closed, and the vision of that carefree Loki was gone.
"I promised."
The lesson ended then, as there wasn't really much else to say.
Later that day, Loki's business took him to his control room. He spoke to his commanders, giving them instructions and ensuring they would be ready the moment Jane's data had located the scepter. Truth be told, he had technicians that probably could have figured it out, though it would have taken much longer. He didn't have the time to spare. Not to mention it got Jane used to working for him. The Trickster wondered how her conflicted loyalties were doing in that confused and conflicted brain of hers, wondered how far down the path of temptation he could draw her.
The woman in question was again wiggling around in the air ducts. She had a lab to visit. Reaching the fan and vents leading to the lab after a few false turns, she examined the lab. The lights were out, but the equipment was on and running it's calculations. Good. Sweating, she slowly and quietly unscrewed the vents attachments, reaching through the vent slats to catch the screws. It was such an odd angle and cramped, but she persevered. Carefully dropping down to the stacked electronics she had placed there earlier, she clambered down to the desk and stole over to the computer workstation.
Navigating to the power modulation was fairly simple. Just a quick change to the pattern of the pulses, and she was done. Saving everything and erasing her tracks as best she could, she allowed the computer to continue it's calculations in peace. If she was lucky, no one would notice the minor changes. Her idea was a little old fashioned, perhaps, but it stood a better chance of being noticed.
Climbing carefully up the desk and pile of electronics, she hauled herself back up through the vent and paused, resting. She was out of breath and overheating again. This really sucked. Water, she just wanted water. She debated only replacing two screws to hold the vents in place so she could just get back to her rooms, but erred on the side of caution and finished the job.
Her mission complete, she huffed and puffed and made it back to her room.
Hands clasped behind his back, Loki was engrossed in the red hologram of Earth floating before him, taking note of known SHIELD bases and safe houses.
"…My Lord?"
"What is it, Commander?" He turned to the man, one of his enslaved mortal commanders, raising an eyebrow.
"My Lord, your skin. You've turned blue. "
He looked at his hands, eyebrows shooting up before he can return his face to a blank mask of indifference.
"How interesting. I shall return shortly." He said this calmly, coolly, all the while screaming on the inside. Most of the humans seemed unfazed, though they were hardened professionals, and wouldn't have shown it even if they were. The Chitauri couldn't give less fucks. He refused to panic. How could this happen? When did this happen? How long had he been standing there calmly in his Jotun skin, blithely going about his business?
He had wanted no one to see him this way, in this hated skin of a race of monsters.
Jane.
It had to be her fault.
I should never have taught that bitch about magic. Now that she's changing, she might even have a talent for it, it might actually like HER, and bizarre things always happened around those new to magic. With Asgardians, it usually happened around puberty. With Jane, Valhalla only knew what would happen. Things like this, perhaps. How utterly infuriating.
After fixing her own vent and covering all evidence of her trip, Jane guzzled two glasses of ice water. She felt sweaty and disgusting, and went immediately to the shower. Stripping, she hopped in to wash, but found she couldn't tolerate the water even on a lukewarm temperature. Turning it to full cold, she just stood there, her body slowly cooling off. What the hell Jane, you have to be sick. You're running a fever or something. You wanna bet Loki did something to you? Wouldn't put it past him. I'm gonna kill him if he did something to me.
With that disconcerting notion in mind, she left the shower, toweled off, and changed into a pair of black lightweight shorts and a thin leaf green blouse. She felt light tickling on her skin, and brushed at it, trying to dislodge the stray hairs or whatever was leaving the sensation. Already she was beginning to warm up again, and she knew she'd be sweating soon. She migrated to the kitchen, grabbed her ice water, and finally just opened the freezer and stood there, basking in the wafting tendrils of cold. Tickling sensations had converted to prickles, and she began to understand that something was desperately wrong.
The trickster god prowled down the halls, stalking quickly but not running. He could not show weakness at a time like this. He got some quickly hidden looks, but not a person said a word. When their Lord wore that expression, his subjects ran.
He moved like a terrible thundercloud down the halls towards Jane's rooms, ready to rain rage down upon the thrice-damned mortal.
Loki slammed open the portal door, and a loud crack sounded as the door left an air-lock like imprint in the wall. As soon as he stepped inside, he felt it. He could smell it: the overpowering scent of Jane. Raspberries and lavender and something that made him feel like he got punched in the gut slammed into his senses. He could practically taste her in the air.
Jane herself was nowhere to be seen.