Chapter 51: Wicked Miscommunication
When the group arrived back on Asgard, Thor was told that his father had asked to speak to him after getting the others well-settled for the night. While the thunderer strode to his father's chambers, Jane at his side, he was able to barely hear the sound of the cautious footsteps of the other Avengers behind him. He smirked. There would be no leaving them out of anything no matter what orders they were given, but then he could also hear the familiar sounds of the presence of his four friends of old as well. It suddenly occurred to him that he would be hard-pressed to be alone from this point on and grasped Jane's hand more tightly. At least some of the lack of privacy was worth the company that he would have in it. He turned to her as they stood before Odin's chamber door, took both her hands in his, and gently kissed both before reaching forward and tenderly kissing her lips with a softness that Jane caught her completely off guard with his unusually large form and still in the process of controlling his own strength.
"Thor, I really think that if your father can't see reason . . . I mean, you need to be ready to," Jane began.
"I am ready to assert the right path to my father. He has been overcome with grief and agony of his own actions and the actions of his sons as of late. Fear not, all will be well," Thor said touching the side of her face softly. She smiled and placed her hand over his for a beat before turning and striding away slowly to the chambers they were sharing. Thor hesitated and smirked, glancing over his shoulder. "I might not have the senses of my brother, but I have marked your following since I left you in your chambers," he announced. He heard an uncomfortable shifting as well as a few mutters of 'well it's not like we can trust you guys' from three of the Avengers. Thor shook his head and smiled more brightly. "Come forward; we will speak to my father together. It is only right that you follow me in as all of your worlds and lives hang in the balance as well."
"Not to mention there's still a hostage situation and the fact that your father wants her dead," Stark said loudly as he moved forward more boldly, fighting to reach Thor before the already irritated Sif. "So let's go in and see if your mom has nagged the old man into behaving himself."
"Mother does not emasculate my father," Thor corrected hotly as he pushed open the doors, nodding to the guards on either side. Odin, already unsettled and awaiting his son (as well as the possibility of some of the others refusing to stay put), paced back and forth before hearing the doors open. He halted, no longer in his splendid armor, but in the robes and sashes he wore when not in the presence of the court. His heart sank a little at the sight of the others, seeing him less imposing than ever, and feeling more vulnerable than he had since the Odinsleep that had torn his family apart. Thor approached slowly and knelt, lowering his gaze and breathing deeply. "You sent for me, father."
"Yes, Thor, I sent for you . . ." Odin observed, looking over the others skeptically. "There is now greater unrest in Svartalfheim, I can feel it. And there is an ancient evil growing that plagued a dream your mother described to me."
"Do you believe the two to be connected?" Thor asked anxiously.
"Somehow, but not in allegiance necessarily," Odin replied sadly, beginning to pace once more. "I take it the Othala is no longer in Malekith's grasp?"
"Yeah, about that; what's up with the 'elves' you guys have?" Stark chimed in. Everyone turned to him, some of them a little annoyed and the others genuinely sharing the same feeling as well as some fear. "If you ask me, I think you guys pissed them off somehow and they're on the defensive. And their eyes and ears and hair and stuff just look creepy, what's up with that? But seriously, he wasn't dismembering her or forcing himself on her or something really evil like some of the other bad dudes I've dealt with . . . in fact, something actually more decent than what you were planning on doing. You guys have a falling out on human death toll or deservedness or something?"
"Our history between Malekith and his people is unimportant for the present time," Odin replied quickly, a tone of irritation underneath his smooth voice. Stark was right about the issues, of course, but to admit yet another flaw in front of these mortals was just too much. "What matters is discovering this source that plagues your mother's dreams."
"Uh, and rescuing Darcy," Agent Barton added firmly. Odin frowned at him and looked at the others. Natasha crossed her arms firmly, taking an assertive pose that not only agreed with her partner, but that this was more pressing an issue than a woman's nightmares. "Our priorities are a little different and if you ask me, since yours have been really warped we get to decide on how this is done and in what order."
Odin made a step towards Barton only to have Thor stand upright and flex his musculature ever so slightly, locking eyes with his father firmly to ensure that his father understood that he agreed with his friends, both the new and the old. He drew in a deep breath and stood down, shaking his head. "And Loki, I take it, is still at large as well?"
"He and Darcy took your weird horse and they're trying to . . ." Rogers began. Everyone turned to him as Rogers looked from one side to the other. "Hey, what are they doing out there in the cosmos, anyway?"
"I believe Loki is trying to teach Darcy how to use her own gifts if I understood their conversation, brief as it was, completely," Thor replied. "It would make him feel purposeful, give him a companion indebted to him, and time to plan another journey to power with a powerful creature at his side that just happens to have the affection of Sleipnir as well. If Darcy could survive, nay, still have the attention and civility of Malekith while leaving in an unpleasant manner, then there's no telling what kind of potential he sees in her."
"Uh, something tells me there's more chemistry than magic there. I mean she is female and he is a little bit of a creepy-minded cretin," Stark said with a wink. "If you ask me he'll have her bound to him heart, soul, and especially body in no time flat."
"Loki is many things, but ignoble with a woman he is not!" Thor said angrily. "How dare you impugn the honor of my family . . . blood tied or otherwise!"
"Look, I'm a guy, too. A guy with power and pure awesome which is exactly how he sees himself," Stark replied, patting Thor on the shoulder. "He might not be a sane creature, but he still has an active libido and I know for a fact he's forced at least 3 kisses so far and gotten to first base twice. So even if it's not the first thing on his 'mind', trust me, it's there somewhere and marriage isn't."
"Regardless, the question remains; do we devise a plan to follow first or a plan to unravel the mystery presented by mother's dream, a fact that holds gravity that cannot be ignored," Thor wondered aloud.
"Delegate," Jane said from the doorway. Thor turned and looked up as she stood in the doorway watching the group. She kept her distance and smiled at him. "Some of you go and look for Darcy and the rest take care of whatever's brewing out there in the ether." Thor smiled brightly at her, marveling at her wisdom once more.
He turned back to his father and beamed. "She will make as fine a queen as mother, will she not?"
"No," Odin said firmly, looking at his son with disdain. Thor's expression fell. After all this, he still refused to accept Jane at his side? Thor fought away the urge to stand directly in front of his father and shout every insult he could manage while adding in the points of why she had been useful as of late and why it was necessary to follow his heart. Instead he clenched a fist and shook his head. Natasha raised a brow, impressed by the display of control. Odin turned away and strode past the throne toward an exit. "As my son you have the power to make such decisions in who should be set to which task. Go and make it happen for the good of the realms."
"Don't worry, Tiger," Stark said with a wink at Thor. "He can't forbid everything if you get what I'm saying."
"I do," Thor replied with a heavy sigh. "But you do not know my father and our views on matters of the heart."
(*)
Darcy awoke and pulled Loki more tightly to her with a soft, and satisfied sigh. What a dream, what a revelation; no, revelations! Not only did she know at least the tip of the iceberg of her powers, such as they were, but whether she had succumb to Stockholm Syndrome or not, she had managed to seep into Loki's blood and swim in it effortlessly. He was in love with her and he could no longer hide it. Loki grinned as well, turning to face her as they laid against one another beneath the tree. Sleipnir stood a safe distance away, grazing and keeping an eye on things as well as making sure Heimdall could not do the same. The two sighed and tried to speak alternately, bursting into a chuckle or blushing and turning away several times. After a few more awkward attempts at using words, Loki leaned forward and decided to use their source more properly. He pulled Darcy's face close to his and kissed her deeply, gently, for but two full breaths and then pulled away, looking into her eyes. She bit her lip and grinned.
"You know," she said, looking down and fidgeting with her hands against his tunic, finally breaking the silence now that the physical had been somewhat satisfied. "Now that I know you're in love with me and you know that I'm in love with, well, most of you, there's only one thing to do now."
"Of course," Loki purred. He reached down and began planting several soft kisses against her collarbone while reaching both hands perfectly focused, up against her thorax until they rested on top of two soft, warm peaks.
Darcy's eyes widened and she suddenly pulled away. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, let's do the game-plan before you start scoring home-runs there, slugger," she said defensively. She straightened herself and cleared her throat. "The first thing we need to decide is where to do it."
"I see no objections to this very place," Loki offered. Darcy looked at him in confusion. "Is it not beautiful? Is it not filled with the perfect tones of trysting and timeless love?"
"Yeah, but it's a little out of the way for any other people," Darcy corrected. Loki looked back at her in confusion. "That's the second thing to decide. Do we want a lot of people or just something small and intimate? I mean, call me a diva or whatever, but I've been saving this so I'd kind of like to make a production out of it and have as many people as possible witnessing it."
Loki's eyes widened in shock at this. Who in the nine realms wanted an audience while contorting in the throes of passion? He cleared his throat and glanced to either side. "Darcy, I am willing to accommodate your desires, believe me your satisfaction is what matters most to me, but why even have an audience?" he asked cautiously.
"Because even if it's just the person ordained to perform it for us we still need witnesses," she argued. He stared back in continued confusion. "Look don't you want your old friends and family there? Just because they're adopted doesn't mean they wouldn't want to see this, it's one of the most important things that will happen in your life!"
"Darcy I would rather not have them . . ." Loki stammered, now completely bewildered. His mother, Odin, and Thor witnessing him ushering Darcy into torrid womanhood? Why did she think that was at all appropriate let alone important?!
"Oh come on, Loki, you can't tell me that some part of you wouldn't want Thor right there beside you and not just for support, but to share the bliss," she continued.
Loki stood upright as quickly as possible, steadying himself against the tree as his face turned white. He breathed slowly and deeply as Darcy ran her fingers through her hair, straightening it and her glasses. He coughed and even gagged once at just the thought of that brute watching the display, but centered himself and began to breathe more easily. Darcy folded her arms and looked at him curiously as he put up a hand. "I am sure that things are done very differently on your world given its changes to social acceptances and so on, Darcy, and I am glad for your freedoms and (cough) openness to sharing intimacies with (cough) family, but this is not something I want any of my family within 100 yards of let alone the same realm. For that matter, regardless of your desires, I'd rather not have witnesses at all! What is wrong with simply the two of us, here, and now?"
"Uh, there's no one ordained to start the whole thing for one," Darcy replied then glanced over at Sleipnir. "Unless my future step-son can do it." Here Loki turned and slightly gagged harder. As strange and even lecherous as he had been close to being in the past, something like this had never crossed his mind . . . ever. "What? What the heck is your problem?!"
"You are beyond disgusting, do you know that? Was that claw-handed mutant in your dream some part of a secret desire for bestiality?!" Loki gasped, as he leaned forward. Darcy raised her brows in confusion and stood, moving towards him. He suddenly perked up and turned to face her, frowning. "A moment; did you say future step-son?"
"Uh, yeah, unless you've disowned him or something. It'll be weird, but I've done weird before so unless you've got a litter of kittens you haven't told me about or something, I think we'll be fine," she said slowly. "I just don't know how that's going to work with your father being the main one that rides him and all. I mean, are we going to live there, because I am not putting up with that old man's nonsense day in and day out."
"Darcy what in the heavens are you talking about?" Loki asked in exasperation. "None of this has anything to do with our making passionate, unrestrained, love here beneath this tree. Now the mood is almost dead, so if you could focus your heart and mind back to where they are supposed to be for a brief moment and let your body follow then we can . . ."
"Wait, what? I'm not having sex with you out here on planet 'tree'!" Darcy exclaimed. Loki stared back at her in even greater confusion. "I'm talking about when we get married, which is when we will have that unrestrained, passionate love-making, by the way. I'm not letting you into the amusement park without a ticket AND a stamp on your hand."
"But you just acknowledged there was but one thing to do," Loki argued in nearly a plea.
"Yeah, marriage, you bird-brain! You're in love with me, I'm in love with you; you fall in love and you get married that's how it works!" she argued a little louder. "I've been looking forward to a marriage to someone important with a big ceremony where I'm a princess for a day all of my life! We've seen each other's darkest, deepest, most intimate thoughts and memories; we're worlds ahead of anyone that's even dated for years! Come on, we're both in love and I really want to get married young."
"That aside, Darcy, I do not want to marry you," Loki said flatly. Darcy felt her entire existence go numb for a moment. No; this wasn't how it was supposed to happen. Their being together for the rest of their lives would justify every horror she had endured. He couldn't just not want to have her at his side, to have her love forever after what she had seen. She stared at him in disbelief as he sighed and let both arms drop to his side, silently asking him to repeat what he had said as if she didn't believe it at all, which she did not. He frowned. "Darcy, I am in love with you and I desire you, but I do not want to marry you."
