Notes: Well, here we go. xD I swear I don't know where the heck that first part of this chapter came from. Heh.
When Loki woke up he knew instantly he wasn't in his bed. The smell and the sounds were all different, the arms that were holding him close to a warm chest and even the wamth that came from that body. Still, he was feeling pretty comfortable, and the smell was that of family, so he just cuddled further into those arms, eyes still closed.
He was falling into sleep again, lulled by the steady beat of the heart. It had a familiar rhythm, so different from the humans'. A content sigh left his throat when, in between awareness and dream he felt strong harms tighten around his back and waist. He started half dreaming of when he and Vili cuddled like this. Vili would always hold him. Vili liked to hold him tight and spin him around. Their mother had told them time and again how when their egg hatched Vili was hugging Loki, as if to protect him. In truth, that was just a natural way for twins to be: if through the incubation none of the twins assimilated the other, the stronger one would act like a shield to the weaker one. Though Vili and Loki had turned out to be shield and sword instead.
Suddenly, Loki woke with an acute feeling of vertigo. Only a mer's heart had that kind of cadence and only Vili cuddled him like that. He jolted awake, propping himself, hands on the mattress. The arms weren't quite holding him, more like enveloping his body, so they gave way as soon as he moved and he found himself looking at his sleeping nephew instead of his dead brother came to life.
Heart hammering against his ribs, Loki felt the wave of shame wash over him. What an idiot! To think that Vili was still alive. Ha! It's been so long. His mind was alone, there weren't answers to his questions when he threw them into the void. It was empty, save himslef. Then a rush of despair consumed him filling his eyes with tears that didn't take long to fall. Seconds later he was sobbing, inconsolable.
Through his grief, he found himself being rocked back and fothr, a hand rubbing circles on his back and soft things being said in his ear.
"I want my brother back," he sobbed. He was so tired of wanting things that he couldn't have. "I want my wife back. I want my children alive." He kept repeating the same things through his weeping.
He didn't know how long his nephew consoled him, but when he managed to stop crying and feeling empty and emotionless again he was just laying on the bed, facing up the ornated canopy. Thor had gone somewhere else and he was exhausted. His head hurt and his eyes felt raw. He was half aware of people talking.
"...see him."
"Not now. I already told you. I understand that you might be worried but this is a family matter and-"
"No, boy. You don't understand at all. It's not that I "might" be worried. I am worried."
Loki kept laying motionless. He recognized Svadilfari and Thor's voices. And though he was hearing the words, he couldn't make sense of them. It didn't matter, though. His mind was still filled with silence.
"It's not about that. Really. What, are you worried I am going to jump on him or something?"
"Ha! Even you wouldn't be as stupid as to take advantage of that... Wait... You are serious?" a longer pause. "Boy, you are disgusting. He is your uncle!"
"Humans and merpeople are different, boy," that was the first time Loki heard Thor's voice sounding so cold. "You would do well to remember that I was born way before your great-grandparents."
Another long pause.
"Have a good day, prince of the fish," that was mockery.
The click of a door. A few moments later Loki felt the mattress dip and he could see Thor through his peripheral vision, though he still focused on the ceiling.
"Oh, you were awake. I'm sorry. Did we wake you up? How are you feeling?"
"Water," he said, with a raspy voice. Thor disappeared and came back with a glass filled with the clear liquid. He drank, aided by Thor's hand on the back of his head.
"Better?"
No. But he nodded. Then he curled on his side giving his back to Thor. What he hadn't counted on was that Thor would climb back into the bed, under the sheets and hug him from behind. Loki didn't have enough strength to shake him off, and they were in his nephew's room so...
"I didn't know I had cousins," Thor said to his neck. Loki nodded.
"You had them."
"... What happened to them?"
Loki tensed but Thor's answer was to tighten his embrace and once he relaxed Thor did too.
"Not now," he answered. He felt Thor nodding. He closed his eyes. "You had an aunt, too. She was perfect, albeit not beautiful. Not, at least, for the standars of her people. Lucky me."
"Tell me about her? Sygin, right?"
"She was... Her hair was red. More like carrot dark orange. But she insisted that it was red, not carrot, so red," he felt his own lips twitching upwards at the memory. "Her eyes were brown and her skin looked too pale under so many freckles she looked like the sky at night. She was taller than most people in her village and since her parents didn't have any son, she had been helping with the wood and hunting. She didn't take shit from anyone, and her way of talking was a no-nonsense one. The first time we met she was fishing on the fiord near her village. I had never been there before and when I emerged and she saw me she hit me on the head with ther oar," he chuckled at that. Thor's hands squeezed him a little.
"So, she could fend for herself."
"Yes. She was brave. However, she was scared to death when she first saw me. She fought, even when her legs were shaking. She jumped out of her boat and swam to the closest bank. I recovered from her attack and took her boat and the lost oar to the bank too. She was ready to run away yelling for help when I called her back.
"'Hey!', I said. 'You forgot your boat!' The look of bewilderment on her face was priceless. She was dripping wet, her hair, that had been bushy until she jumped into the water, was plastered to her head and face and she had started shivering."
"What did she do?"
"Ah! She cursed her luck. Let me think... I think she said..."
Yes, he could remember it like it was yesterday. All her furs were drenched and it wasn't exactly a warm day, but she had taken out the dagger at her hip and pointed it at a now very human, very naked Loki.
"Stall yer feet, monster, lest I gut you!" she had said. Her voice was cracked on the edges and even though she was shivering, her eyes shone with a determination that made Loki stop.
"I am not here to fight. Though I should! You attacked me," he said aggresively, though his hands were palm up in a calming way.
"Ye poped up from t'water! Ye had wyrd ears. Ye had scales!" she countered.
"My name is Loki," he had said then, trying to initiate a conversation. This was the first human that wasn't affected by his voice and he was curious, after all.
"Good. Now leave!" she had waver her dagger at him, motioning for him to go back into the water. "We didnae anger any deity yet."
At that, Loki laughed. She thought he was an angry god! Hilarious.
"So you fought the first time you met?" Thor asked, taking Loki out of his reverie. He nodded.
"It wasn't until weeks later that she trusted me enough to get closer. And she was always looking up my shoulders in a pointed way. I didn't know yet that for her people, seeing a naked man before marriage was considered something wrong, but one day she got fed up of me appearing naked before her and threw at me some clothes. She had sewn them herself."
"You loved her," Thor said, his lips grazing Loki's neck.
"Yes. I did," he said, turning around to face his nephew. "That's way if you ever fall in love again with a mortal, I want you to know that it is worth it. It is worth all the sadness, all the heart ache. Don't be afraid nor think about when she will die. Just enjoy it while it last and make sure to make good memories, but never forget the bad ones either." He smiled at his nephew and patted him on the cheek. Then he wriggled himself out of the bed and stretched. "Good, then! I have a lot to prepare. We have an upcoming contest and I have to send the invitations. See you later, Thor!" He walked towards the door and opened it, but before leaving he looked back and smiled at his surprised nephew, still in the bed. "Thank you," he added before crossing the threshold.
He closed the door.
Svad was at the other side, leaning on the wall, sulking. He smiled at him.
"What happened?"
"Nothing... Well... I had a falling of sorts," he said, dismissively. Svad came to him and hugged him instantly and kissed his jaw.
"Your twin?" he asked, simply. Loki nodded. "You seem better. Shall we? I have set some of your favourite meats for breakfast."
"Excelent! One can never have enough breakfast meats!" he chirped.
00000
Stephen Strange was not happy. He had first met Loki some months ago in one of the reunions for the magic users of the area. The other mages, witches, warlocks and sorcerers had been excited for that reunion since the one convening it had been one of the founders –which was quite impossible since the order was older than time– and upon arriving at their designed destination he had realized that the founder who had called them was an immortal siren. And the spitting image of all the relics that were passed down from generation to generation that depicted Loptr.
It turned out that Loptr had been a misspelling error and that Loki had found that hilarious so he didn't correct anyone. It also turned out that Loki was a prankster and as soon as he could his magic was running amok, causing a series of events that none in the guild would ever mention in their lifetimes if possible.
Then, he had been called into the palace and he had seen Loki there again, at the fake Prince Sigurd's arm, looking smug. He had thought that maybe Loki had had something to do with the fake prince being crowned and all, but it seemed to be just a wild coincidente and Sephen just couldn't fathom how Loki's world moved. Maybe he inspired chaos just by breathing.
And then, he had asked Loki, naively, for a balding curse. It was supposed to be just that, but Loki's recipe had had the desired effect plus some... And that just screamed curse. It had been supposed to be a quiet affair to punish an idiot and now he had to deal with the aftermath. The one requesting the curse had been terrorized by the idiot for long enough, so he had asked for something that he knew would be a punishment but that also wouldn't link him to it, to which Stephen had mentioned a balding curse: a young, handsome man losing his hair was a tragedy, but that wasn't unheard of. But after getting bald, that the rest of your body got covered by fur... Well...
So he had attended the stupid ball thrown by the prince and he had glared at Loki as much as he could until the mer had deigned to talk with him. Oh, he had gotten a way to break the fur curse added to the balding potion, but the baldness was still there. On the plus side he had just told his second client that that was the most he could do in his current predicament.
And now Loki had sent him an invitation to a... a game! A hide-and-seek game. If it wasn't because the reward was a scroll with runes designed by the mer Stephen would have burnt the invitation and continue with his quiet life. But the description of the scroll had piqued his interest and he was damned if he wouldn't try to get it for his collection.
He sent a reply with his own raven, even though Lok's was still waiting for the reply.
"Ha ha ha!" Loki's raven said when he went to look for Myrt.
"What? Do you have anything to say?" he asked the bird. It didn't answer. "Thought so."
"I am the best raven on Loki's flock," the raven said after a moment and Stephen froze. He looked at the bird. "No matter what that asshole Munin says. Hugin is best," the raven said, proudly.
Stephen put Myrt back and went to Loki's raven.
"So you do have something to say," he mumbled, studying the bird. "How did you learn how to speak?"
"Hugin always speak. Munin only whisper. Munin idiot. Hugin best."
"So, since you are better than Munin-"
"Best than Munin," the bird corrected.
"-you will be able to give Loki my answer without delay," he finished as if the bird hadn't interrupted him. The raven seemed to grow when it swelled its chest with pride.
"Yes."
Stephen nodded and gave the bird the answer. It took it with a paw and set out.
"Loki is full of surprises," he mumbled to himself. Then he set back to work.
00000
Loki stepped inside the labyrinth first. In half an hour all the contestants would enter and then the race will start. Of course, Loki hadn't told anyone that he had used some runes to conjure a mist of confussion inside the labyrinth. After all, if there were a little bit of surprises, it would be more entertaining.
When the half an hour passed and the contestants entered the labyrinth, Loki activated all the runes. Some were teleported to the other side of the labyrinth, while others were just pushed towards specific paths. Now that they all were inside and away from each other, Loki used a magnifying charm for his laughter so it would be carried to all the corners of the maze. Mockery usually served to rile up people. Some made haste just to erase the grin from your face, but losing one's cool only served to make yourself fail. And Loki loved to trample over others and have the upper hand.
He started running.
Soon enough he was found by one of Svad's friends at court. He had been presenting himself as crippled from the beginning, so all the participants thought he wouldn't be able to run fast or far, nor that he would be nimble. Well, time to reveal that little card: he was. He was fast, he was nimble and he knew how to dodge.
He hid, he ran, he dodged and jumped over people. He even made people run away from him. Instead of trying to escape, he looked directly at their eyes and laughed, then he ran towards them at full speed. They all reacted like scared rabbits! It was so much fun. Once or twice he was almost caught when some of the participants teamed up against him.
He was running through one of the darkest paths when he felt something at his back. Instead of turning around or looking over his shoulder he kept going and when the air at his back shifted he ducked. A numbing spell came passing over his head through where he had been before. Then, he looked back and saw him: Strange.
"Using magic so soon?" he mocked.
"The prize is worth it. Those runes..." Strange answered, smiling.
"It's only a decorative scroll embedded with some jewels and details in gold leaf," he said before running again. Strange followed suit.
"Oh, yes! For a normal person. But for someone with the knowledge, it's a very powerful enchantment," he said before throwing another numbing spell. Loki dodged but he hit the wall with his shoulder, though he used the collision to get impulse and take another path.
Bad luck followed him as he entered one of the round openings with fountains and benches just as other two, with Strange at his tail. Oh, well...
00000
He had been running around in circles, he knew. The runes had trapped him in that endless path. He heard a rustle above his head and when he looked up he saw Loki perched over the wall before he jumped down with an elegant somersault landing on foot, knee and hand. Their eyes met.
"Loki," he breathed. He had entered the game after hearing those friends of Svadilfari talking about cornering Loki and "theaching him a lesson". He had been so enraged and worried that before he knew he was running inside the labyrinth. Problem? Even though he had tried to not step or touch the runes they were in any shape and size, almost everywhere, so he had been trapped in one of the multiple traps Loki had set inside. To spice it up, he had said while painting them.
Loki smiled at him, winking and ran past him. Thor couldn't catch him, his body didn't move on time, but he twisted around and followed him. If he managed to catch him the game would finish and Loki would be safe. But first, he needed to get out of the infinite loop trap. He mirrored Loki's steps at best as he could and noticed that he was stepping on some of the runes while ignoring others. He was nearing the end –or the beginning, depending on how you looked at it– of the loop. Loki skipped two runes and stepped on a third before turning left. Thor did the same and... He was out! He could still see Loki's back.
He ran again after him but from their left someone jumped on Loki, making both to collide with the wall at Thor's right. Then man had caught Loki all right. Both looked at each other and smiled.
"Congratulations, Stephen," Loki purred. "I hope you take good care of this enchantment," he said taking out a scroll and giving it to the lord. As soon as the man had the scroll in his hands he released Loki.
"I suppose we will be seeing each other on the next meeting. In a month, wasn't it?" he said, not taking his eyes from Loki. He nodded and Strange, finally, stepped back while Loki waved his hand. Fireworks were shot into the night sky and Strange was teleported away. A cheer came floating weakly between the ruckus that the fireworks made.
Thor stayed at his uncle side, feeling a bit less pressed. Loki was fine. The game was done and Thor hadn't had the need to chop off hands or skin people. Only thinking about those filthy humans trying to touch his uncle with their dirty hands...
"Are you alright?" he asked his uncle. He was leaning heavily on the wall, panting.
"Yes, yes," he said, dismissively. Always dismissing people's worry for him. Why? "Though I will be better with a glass of some quality liquor while sitting on my favourite chair. Why are you so worried?" he stepped away from the wall and started walking. Thor noticed with relief that he wasn't limping. He also noticed his lips twitched upwards whenever they heard some of the participants falling on traps and yelling.
"Well... I overheard some fiends planing something nefarious and I had to make sure you were alri-"
Loki's chuckle cut him off.
"Oh, Thor. Why do you always want me to be in trouble? I am quite able to take care of myself," he said turning around and putting his hand on Thor's shoulder, squeezing lightly. His eyes were warm and his smile soft.
"Maybe I just want to be the one to save you," he mumbled, unable to look away from his uncle's eyes. Thor didn't know what he expected as an answer to that confession, but he surely wasn't ready for Loki's sigh.
"You can't save everyone, Thor. It's an admirable quality for a king, but you just can't," he said before turning away and starting to walk again. "What you can do, though, is to make it easier for your people," he continued, and Thor listened. "How? You may ask. Well, first of all, ensure that there's going to be peace, but not at the expense of your people. If the only way to have peace is for your people to live miserable, it's better not to have that kind of peace. It would be fleeting..." Thor realized, when Loki stopped talking, that he was speaking from experience. "You will be a good king, one day."
The arrived at the entrance where Strange was being congratulated by some of Svadilfari's guards –his pirate friends, really– and Loki walked towards the prince, who offered him his arm. Loki took it and they walked back towards the mansion where a little feast was awaiting them to celebrate. Instead of walking behind them and staring at their backs, Thor jogged and walked at Loki's other side.
"Wait, what about the other contestants?" he asked Loki. He looked at him with mirth in his eyes.
"The runes will be ifted shortly and they will be able to get out. I drew the correct path back on the cobblestone," he said, grinning. At his side, Svadilfari barked a laugh.
"They earned it!"
"Well, most of them. The others will arrived at the end in a few seconds," Loki said looking back at Svad.
Thor looked back and saw some people already on the entrance, being directed by Stark and his men. Jane was with them and when she saw him she ran towards their group. Oh! So... Loki already knew about those men...
"Thank you for releasing us, Loki," Jane said when she caught up with them. "I thought you would punish us all."
"I was tempted, my dear," Loki commented. "But then I remembered that not all of them are mud-tracking, dust-gathering, salt-free bipedal assholes, so..." he smiled at her, charmigly. She tripped him but he didn't fall, just gripped Svad stronger and his other hand darted towards Thor's own arm. Thor's heart skipped a beat. The moment passed and Svad and Loki entered the mansion.
"You are welcome," Jane whispered as se passed by Thor.
And he grinned.
More Notes: Sadly, we are nearing the end of the vacations at the villa :/
