"So get up," I tugged at the rope, grimacing.
This was bad. Swearwords couldn't cover how tremendously bad this was. Loki couldn't get off Sakaar until Thor arrived and they escaped through the Devil's Anus, which meant that I was stuck here for weeks. With Loki, of all people.
And yeah, he managed to survive this place by getting in the Grandmaster's good graces, but he was a literal God with a silver tongue. I was just a kid who knew the future. What if I actually got killed? What if the scrappers caught us and deemed me as food? Or worse, made me fight in a stadium? I was so not ready to become a gladiator.
The only hope for me right now, I could see, was staying with Loki. Sticking by him, so I didn't get brutally murdered or eaten. He survived, right? Maybe I could follow his footsteps and it would all work out fine. Too bad I didn't think of this a moment earlier, when I told him I hated his face.
Loki sat, looking up at me. "What is Sakaar? And what do you mean, your plans?"
"We, well I had a plan to stop Thanos and save a lot of people." I scowled. "I didn't exactly expect you to throw a hitch in it."
"Always happy to disappoint," He answered and I went to cross my arms and grunted, as pain lanced through my body. Shit. Ah, fuck. I probably had to set my arm.
"Are you hurt?" He said uncharacteristically carefully.
"Maybe," I retorted. Okay, first things first. Get off this wasteland, meet the Grandmaster, and guarantee safety for us. Then, I could go looking for a doctor. Were there even doctors in this place? There got to be, right? I was hopeful. "Let's go,"
"Go where?" Loki questioned, but I was already walking past him. I saw colorful architectures above the piles of waste, the tell-tale sign of a city. I was sure that the tallest building with faces on it was our goal destination, where the Grandmaster was.
Then, maybe, I could bribe him with information. Ugh, but I had to admit, I didn't have much information that could interest the Grandmaster. He probably didn't care about Thanos or the mighty heroes of Earth.
But Loki did.
And I could definitely bribe Loki.
I stopped in my tracks, whirling around and he almost bumped into me, a scowl etching across his pretty face.
"What now-"
"I'll tell you."
"Tell me what?"
"The future. But you have to keep me safe."
He tilted his head in question and I flicked the hair out of my eyes. "This place is dangerous. Probably not for you, but probably for me. And so if you protect me, I'll tell you what you need to know about the future." I made a finger-gun and shot it at him. "A one step guide to how to survive Thanos."
Loki raised his chin. "And I would need that because...?"
I smiled automatically. "He kills you." And then the smile dropped because, whoa, I didn't mean to tell him that. "I'm sorry," I said immediately, but his expression was already...slack. He took a step back, and bit his lower lip.
"Well. I would've liked to say that was a surprise," Loki sighed. "But it really isn't."
I winced.
"And you're telling me you can help prevent my very timely demise," He said, with a certain vulnerability in his eyes and I nodded.
"Yeah. If you hold your part of the deal, and help me live through this whole fucking fiasco."
He wrinkled his forehead, probably at the swearword, and considered me for a moment.
I considered him right back. Although, I was pretty sure I was doing it wrong. Ogling was bad, right? I blushed, looked down at my shoes.
"Fine." He said finally, and I bit back a grin.
"OK. Great."
Awkward silence.
"Um, we have to go find the Grandmaster now."
"Grandmaster?"
"He's the guy who runs this place." I shrugged. "I'm hoping we can earn his favor, and then stay with him for a while?"
Loki blinked. "You're hoping."
"Well, yes."
"...For a person who supposedly knows the future, you don't know a lot of things."
I made a face. "I know important things, not every little detail." I huffed, then turned away. "Let's just mov-"
"Wait," He grabbed my wrist, luckily the right one, and turned me back around. "Give me your arm."
I frowned. "What?"
"Yeah, cut off your arm and give it to me." He said sarcastically, then rolled his eyes. "I mean, raise your left arm."
I swallowed. "I can't. My shoulder's-"
"Dislocated," He said, lightly grabbing my left hand and squeezing it. I recoiled, then almost gasped as something started happening in my body. It was a peculiar sensation, like ants crawling all over my shoulder and he said some words, an incantation of some sort, and the bone clicked back into its place. I winced, but it didn't feel painful. It was just mildly uncomfortable.
"Ow." I said, as he let go of my hand, taking the leash thing and with a snap of fingers, making it disappear.
Loki shrugged, under my questioning gaze. "It was somewhat my fault," He muttered and I snorted. But somewhat was progress, I guessed. Even if it was all his fault.
Maybe there was hope yet. Maybe I could actually survive this adventure and reform Loki as I did. I grinned.
Nope. No hope.
I watched as Loki decapitated two of the aliens that threatened to abduct us and sell us as slaves, and drop their bodies on the ground.
"Anymore future kidnappers?" He asked out loud, and the assembled crowd dispersed, leaving us a pretty wide berth. Loki flipped his daggers in the air, and sheathed them.
"Dude." I gave him a look, stepping over a dead body. I refused to look down. "You can't just...kill people."
"I just did," He answered, and strode on. "We're almost there, come on."
"Then could you just possibly warn me before you go all ninja on me next time? I mean, I almost had a heart attack." I grumbled, and he flashed me a very insincere smile.
"Next time, I'll leave you to be kidnapped. Can't have you almost having a heart attack, can we?"
"Haha," I said, rolling my eyes. "I would have been fine, even if you weren't here. I have secret ninja moves too."
"How impressive."
"Don't say it so...dryly," I muttered, and he ignored me. Typical.
But he was right. We were almost there.
Maybe the nerves were making me jittery, but I was feeling way more hyper than usual. I wrangled my hands as Loki lead the way, pushing past some chatting aliens in the tight alleyway. Some stared at us, probably because we were such obvious outsiders, and some ignored us, probably dismissing us as unimportant. I liked the latter sort better.
We had been walking for almost two hours, but it had hardly been boring. Loki was such a mysterious figure although I knew all there was to about him, and our conversations were certainly kind of interesting. It also kind of always ended when he ignored what I said. Which was slightly annoying, but not if he thought I was annoying.
Maybe. Probably. Definitely.
He stopped, and we stared up at the tallest building in the entire city. It looked insane. Literally, insane. The one who built this was not a normal person.
But it wasn't ugly. It wasn't exactly pretty, it was...
There was no word to describe it.
"Well." I glanced at Loki. "Certainly seems like the Grandmaster would have at least one room for us."
"We're not sharing," He answered, and I rolled my eyes, refusing to blush.
"That wasn't the point."
He stalked forward, entering the place with a flourish, and I followed him, almost tripping and falling on the ground next to the door. Ouch. Fuck. I was lucky the ground wasn't cold marvel. Marvel. Ha. I snorted, raised my head, and saw Loki looking at me with a simultaneously amused and pained look, like he was staring at a puppy that was doing something stupid.
"Do you need me to carry you?"
"Shut up," I retorted weakly, and got off the ground. "I'm just trippy." Was trippy a word? I wasn't sure. "So. Which floor do we need to go?"
"Let's see." Then Loki suddenly grabbed a passer-by, who had two horn thingies on his head and was completely green. Green, like fresh grass. The color was fascinating.
The man, well alien, whipped his head around. "Hey! Let me go-"
"We're looking for the Grandmaster. Where do we find him?" Then Loki smiled that signature menacing smile that was yes, scary as heck.
The alien sobered up pretty quickly. "Take the elevator. Top floor."
"Thank you," Loki said curtly, and was striding away before I could even blink. I mouthed a sorry at the alien, and caught up to the dark haired man with a groan.
"I thought you were supposed to be charming," I muttered, and he smiled at me.
"My charm is reserved for those who warrant it."
I smiled back automatically, then frowned. Wait. Did that mean I warranted it, or not? We were on the elevator before I could ask that stupid question. Because, a moment later, I realized I didn't need his charm. I needed his badass side, so he would cut up a striking figure for anyone who wanted to kill us. Like a bodyguard.
Huh. Loki as a bodyguard. Sounded like a particularly horny fanfic.
The elevator opened with a ding, and I paused. Music. Loud music. We were in a...club?
Loki looked at me, and I shrugged. "I remember that the Grandmaster was a party...boy? Man? Alien? Party alien?" I said with wide eyes, and immediately started laughing. He seemed unimpressed.
"Lead the way," He gestured, and I hopped off the elevator, a dope grin on my face. I was right. We were in some kind of a bar slash club slash party, and the Grandmaster in all his glory was DJing in the center of the wide room. I recognized this from the movie, the room where captured Thor met Loki.
I just hadn't known there was an elevator here too.
"What's our move?" I asked loudly to be heard, once we were in the corner of the wide space, and Loki hesitated.
"We party."
"What?" He grabbed two glasses off the waiter who was drifting around, and handed one to me. I took it, and stared at the liquid. Definitely alcohol. "Why are you giving this to-"
"We'll wait for the right moment, and approach the man. Until then, mingle."
I made a face. "I suck at mingling. Just look at my face. And my clothes. Do I look like a party alien?"
He looked up at the ceiling like he was exasperated, then narrowed his eyes and snapped his fingers. I wrinkled my eyebrows. "What was that supposed to-"
"Look down."
I did, and my breath caught. I was wearing a dress.
Once I realized that, I didn't look further. I smacked Loki's arm.
"I hate wearing skirts."
He rolled his eyes. "Fine." He snapped his fingers again and I was in an informal suit, a dazzling purple jacket with a black shirt, and tight black pants. I tilted my head.
"Not bad." I pursed my lips and felt something weird on my mouth, and my jaw dropped. "Did you give me make-up?"
"You look like I just gave you a tattoo or something," He pointed out. "It's just make-up."
"This is so weird," I craned my head around to find a mirror, and failed. "You didn't make me look silly or something, did you?"
Loki rolled his eyes. "You look fine. I could almost say you're-"
"Pretty?" I grinned and he paused.
"Stop grinning. You look demented."
He walked away, and I rolled my eyes. Right. Mingle.
"Hi," A woman tapped my shoulder and I turned around to face a beautiful chocolate-skinned woman, who, surprise surprise, actually looked like a human female. I smiled back nervously.
"Hello."
"Newcomer, huh?" She clinked her drink with mine, and took a sip. "These parties will tire you, dear, if you just stand around doing nothing. Better drink up before you realize you're on Sakaar."
I blinked. "Is it that bad here?"
She laughed, a pretty tinkling sound. "Oh, you're funny. Here, let me introduce you to my friends over here."
And I was swept away, in the mess of awkward hi-s and laughs and drinks and music and dancing. And at some point, I started wondering if the DJ was playing a Taylor Swift song, but I couldn't get a finger on which one it was. The one with the ex.
Blah. There were too many of them.
A/N: Eloquent ending, as always.
