"So...that happened."
I looked at Loki. He looked at me.
"You," he started, then paused. "You are very stupid."
My eyebrows shot up. "That wasn't the comment I expected, but...okay?"
His grip on the piloting thingy loosened slightly, then tightened, and he looked straight forward. "Do you want me to kill him?"
"Yeah sure." I answered absentmindedly. A knife materialized in his slack hand, Loki flipping and catching it, and I recoiled. "No. Of course not, dude. Are you serious?"
"I am always serious," he deadpanned, and I rolled my eyes.
"It wasn't even his fault," I murmured. "Like, I get that Thanos made him do it, but his...uh how do I say this, his...presence, it's slightly triggering."
"Slightly?"
"...Very, I guess. So. How do I get over this?"
He frowned at me. "Do you really think I'm the best person to ask about getting over trauma?"
...Right. Loki did attempt to take over a planet during his process of healing.
"You're like, the only person I can ask," I muttered.
"Ask him."
"No!" I said, crossing my arms. "Forget it. We are in the middle of a world-saving plan."
He rolled his eyes. "Why do you avoid him so much?"
I scoffed. "You kissing him probably had nothing to do with it," I drawled sarcastically, and his eyes cleared somewhat.
"You could have told him-"
"And risk a fight between you two?"
"I wouldn't fight," he sniffed. "I would just overcome him."
I sighed. My life. How is this my life?
"He just doesn't like me," I whined. "He practically ignored my entire existence on Titan."
Loki just raised his eyebrows at me, seeming to deem this conversation beneath him. I scowled.
"I mean, on Thano's ship, he was nice. And then he was way too nice, and then he was brooding. Captain America's supposed to be socially adjusted or something! Not socially awkward like me!"
"He is a man out of time. And you are the furthest thing from the 1940s."
"That is true." I blinked. "Maybe I should've been less teenager-y. How do you be less teenager-y?"
"Grow up," he said, not harshly, but not in a kind manner either. "And you will be less childish."
"I am very un-childish." I retorted, affronted. "I am totally adult-ish. Wait. Is that even a word?"
He sighed in that annoyed yet amused manner and I laughed at his face, purely because I knew I could. Conversations with Loki were easy-going and fun, even when we were talking about serious subjects. Why couldn't I have this relationship with Rogers?
Probably because I still referred to him as Rogers, not Steve. But still, Steve? I cringed at the mere idea of calling him that.
The aforementioned dude was taking a nap, probably. I had no idea. He was in the crowded storage room, definitely trying to take a break from being in the same space as me. It was almost comical how we ended up together again and again. For fuck's sake, the universe really hated me.
"I have a plan," I said, out of the blue, because thinking of how the universe hated me reminded me that I needed Loki's help in my plan. Strange had known what to do, when I had approached him before we left Titan.
Strange had, of course, seen the fucking future. I had almost wanted to punch him in his stupid perfect shark face. But I didn't, because I was not childish-cough cough- and I sorta got it. My plan was probably the only way to stop Thanos.
Stark and Rogers had no idea, not yet. I had hoped I could keep it that way, but the problem was; Rogers was on our bloody ship.
Ugh.
"We are already executing a plan," Loki glanced at me. "What do you mean?"
"I mean, fuck this plan." He curled his nose at the swearword, and I rolled my eyes. "Fine, to hell with this plan!" I waved my hands in a vague dramatic way, feeling slightly like a pirate. Ooh, space pirates!
"What?" Came a hesitant voice, and I blinked, because of course Rogers had to enter at that exact moment. I gave Loki a look like see? and Loki had the indecency to laugh.
I sighed, turning around to Rogers. "Um. Did you have a nice nap?"
He frowned. "I didn't take a nap."
I faltered. Wow. That probably really sounded like an insult. "Uh, I didn't mean that in a mean way just that you were gone for a short-"
"Stop rambling," Loki rolled his eyes, and fixed a pointed gaze at Rogers. "I heard about what happened." His words sounded sharp, his accent pronounced clearly. He sounded slightly angry.
"So what," I intruded, because I really didn't want Loki picking a bloody fight when we were only a few planets away from Vormir. We had to plan, goddammit. "This is really not impo-"
"The Captain of America, mighty hero," Loki drawled. "killing a child. Could you really have done nothing?"
"I'm not a child," I scoffed, my eyes flitting at Rogers whose face seemed to be weirdly depressed. "And that's a very mean thing to-"
"I failed to get us out of there in time and I failed when I needed to protect her. But," Roger's face hardened. "You are in no position to remind me of that, Loki."
Loki bristled visibly, opening his mouth to say something undoubtedly venomous when I scowled, raised a hand to stop him.
"Gosh stop it, idiots." I rolled my eyes. "We have like an hour until one of us probably has to die, and you guys wanna waste it?"
"What?" They look equally horrified and I patted myself on the back. Well. They looked super angry, but at least they weren't yelling at each other.
...It wasn't a well thought out plan.
"What do you mean, one of us has to die?" Loki demanded, and I sighed softly.
"It's like a super long story, but...when we get to Vormir, we're gonna meet this skull dude. Oh." I pointed at Rogers. "Red Skull. You know that guy, right?"
Rogers's frown lines deepened. "Red Skull? How is he-"
"Wormhole blah blah blah." I shrugged. "It doesn't make much sense, but how would I know? Anyway, he's gonna give us some convoluted speech about sacrifice and shit, and expect one of us to throw ourselves off a cliff to get the soul stone."
Heavy silence followed.
"We're-we're not actually going to throw ourselves off a cliff, are we?" Loki asked hesitantly, and I scoffed.
"Like you would do it. You're not the most sacrificial person, dude."
Loki looked indignant, but didn't actually say anything. I was too right.
"And also," I looked at Rogers. "None of us are going to fall off a cliff, so get those ideas out of your head."
"How would you know?" Rogers questioned, eyebrows raised, and I rolled my eyes.
"You're the most predictable guy in the universe," I quipped, but the dude didn't look much insulted. Gah. Whatever. I really wished I could make the dude annoyed or something. His default setting seemed to be stoic amusement, capable of nothing else.
I crossed my arms. "My first plan was to throw Skull dude off the cliff, but that doesn't seem like it would work."
"Why not?" Loki said innocently, and I ignored him.
"So I came up with a better plan."
"...What is it?" Rogers asked, finally, after some moments where I drew out the silence, and I quirked a brief smile.
"Can't tell you."
"You're going to throw yourself off a cliff, aren't you?" Rogers asked, deeply resigned, and I grinned.
"Of course not. I like my life. Also, I'm pretty sure I can survive a drop down a cliff."
"Basic spell casting," Loki nodded, and Rogers just looked confused. "But then why are you-"
"Skull dude wants us to die. Not just show off we can do magic."
"Then how are you-"
"I have a plan, trust me." I smiled smugly. "See? I can predict all your questions!"
He looked, again, stoically amused. Gah. Fuck that dude.
I continued "And when we get the soul stone, we're going to contact Thanos, ask him to meet at-"
"What?" The bother of them said, at the same bloody time. I tried hard not to cry or laugh or do something, because I knew this was a crazy idea too.
It was batshit cray cray. It was insane. But Strange, who had seen the bloody future, seemed to think it was a perfectly normal plan.
I didn't know exactly what Thanos was going to do, but I was ultimately sure that he wanted to know what I knew. And if we didn't stop him, he was going to get me and he was going to get the truth, and-
He wouldn't stop until he 'saved' the world. He would find a way into my world, destroy half of the population, and feel smug about it.
I had to stop him, a sacrifice or two not withstanding.
So I sighed, rubbed at my eyes, and nodded. "Yes, this sounds stupid, but this is the plan. Plan with a capital 'P'. The plan that will save the world."
"Are you sure?" Rogers asked, voice careful, and I thought, again, that I quite liked his way of speaking. I used to hate authority figures, but I had to admit they were useful in times of crises.
"Yeah." I clenched a fist and released it. "Well, as sure as I could be."
"How reassuring," Loki muttered, and I gave him a pointed look. He rolled his eyes. "Of course I am with you on everything," he said in a dainty voice. "Let's fly to our deaths!"
I laughed faintly. "Yeah, well don't get your hopes up, because you might just survive."
And the emphasis was on you.
A/N: Yes it's been like a month, and yes, this is pretty short, but it's been rotting on my computer for like weeks.
These days I have something like a slump, and it fucking sucks. I've been going through some rough patches, so I don't know if I can upload soon. Thank you for waiting.
ㅏ아아아아ㅏ아아아정말 슬럼프그리고 글을 안 씀 아아아아아아아미안 바이바이