A/N: Hi again guys, how many of you died waiting for this chapter? It's probably going to be a shorter one, but it'll be worth it once Christmas and New Year's roll around. Anyway, how about some snow? Everyone who lives somewhere hot - well, your experience with snow this year wil be this story. :) Also I feel like I do a bit of Christianity-bashing here, and while I don't believe in the religion myself, I didn't mean to bash it. Loki just has very...specific views about gods and religion. Anyway I'ma shut up now and let you read.
Disclaimer: Do I even have to put this anymore? Marvel/Disney's. Not mine.
12. For All Eternity
The first thing Loki noticed when he woke up was the snow.
He'd never been bothered by the cold, most likely due to his Frost Giant heritage, but he remembered as he stared out the window at the layer of snow that had blanketed New York overnight that Thor would always bundle up in mounds of fur and drag him outside to train. Loki mostly just sat in a corner of the arena reading or practicing his magic while Thor and his friends froze their asses off fighting.
The snow over New York was rather beautiful, Loki thought. He knew most of it would turn into slush very quickly from all the traffic, but it was pretty for the moment nonetheless. His wolf days were approaching, and it'd be fun to go out there in the snow as a wolf with Natasha.
Speaking of...
"Hey, you're awake," Natasha said, poking her head into Loki's room.
Loki turned and nodded in greeting. "You sound surprised."
"Yeah, well, I've had to wake you up a lot recently," Tasha reminded him.
"Fair point," Loki admitted.
"Tony's called a meeting already, I was just on my way up," Tasha informed him. "You coming?"
"Yeah." Loki fell into step beside her on their way to the elevator. "What do you think it's about this time?"
"Knowing Tony, it could be anything," Tasha shrugged.
Loki laughed. "That it could."
"Your transformations are in like a week, right?" Tasha asked quietly.
"Yes. It'll be fun going out in the snow," Loki replied. "Partiularly for me, being a Jotunwolf and all."
They reached the lounge and were forced to cease their conversation; Tasha drifted off to talk to Barton, who glared at Loki as he entered. Loki shook his head with a sigh.
"He'll come around," said a voice.
Loki turned; Coulson stood beside him.
"Pardon?" asked Loki, unsure if he'd heard correctly.
Coulson nodded at his boyfriend. "Clint. He'll come around eventually. It might take a lot more threatening and pleading, but he will forgive you at some point."
"Somehow I highly doubt that," Loki sighed. He looked at Coulson. "Thank you."
"For what?" Coulson asked.
"Sticking up for me," Loki said. "You're the last person I would have expected to. I did put a scepter through your heart, after all."
Coulson shrugged. "I'm still here, aren't I? You're forgiven."
"I don't see how," Loki admitted. "I literally killed you. I shouldn't deserve your forgiveness for that."
"Yeah, well," Coulson said. "You're getting it anyway."
Loki nodded. Then Tony entered the room and called everyone to order with a "GUYS!"
Everyone moved to the couches and chairs. Loki ended up next to Thor, which was needless to say a bit awkward. Neither of them spoke, but Loki could feel the tension between them.
"What'd you call us all in here for, Tones?" asked Steve.
"Now that Thanksgiving is over, we can officially start decorating the Tower for Christmas," Tony said. "And we're all going to help."
Thor looked slightly bemused. Everyone else murmured among themselves, mostly in positive tones.
"What is Christmas?" Thor asked Loki.
Loki sighed and rolled his eyes. "Yuletide," he said. Comprehension dawned on Thor's face. "Christmas is just a Christianized version of Yuletide."
"Christianized?" echoed Thor. Loki sighed and hid a fond smile. Thor really was clueless about Midgardian traditions.
"Cristianized," Loki repeated. "It basically means Christianity - some religion where they only believe in one God and his son Jesus Christ, whom the holiday is named after - came in and declared that Yuletide was the day their 'Lord and saviour, Jesus Christ' was born. After that it became a holiday tradition to celebrate with gift-giving and decorations."
Thor nodded like he understood. Loki tried to stop himself from staring, even after Thor looked away. He hated the butterflies-in-stomach feeling he got whenever he was around Thor nowadays. Ever since the incident in Loki's room, where they'd almost kissed - because Loki was sure that was what had been about to happen, had he not pulled away - Loki's heart had flipped itself over every time he even saw Thor, and the butterflies were intense when they were in the same room, let alone next to each other the way they were.
"How exactly do you expect us all to decorate this entire Tower in one day?" Banner asked.
Tony looked dubious. "Um, hello? Superheroes?"
"Even we can't decorate the entire Tower, Tony," Tasha said. "Not without something -"
"Like Loki's magic?" Tony finished. Loki looked up sharply.
"In case you hadn't noticed," he said mildly, holding up one of his wrists to display the gold cuffs, "I can't exactly access my magic at the moment."
The Avengers all exchanged looks. Loki raised an eyebrow. "I'm missing something here, aren't I?"
"We've decided," Steve said slowly, "to let you have full use of your magic back."
Loki was so shocked he burst out laughing. When it became clear that they were serious, he calmed himself in an instant and said, "Wait - you actually mean that?"
"Yep," Tony said. "We're allowing you full use of your magic. No more cuffs."
"But - I mean I'm not objecting, but - why?" Loki asked, still incredulous.
"Thor told us about how he found you trying to commit suicide a few weeks ago," Tasha said softly. "He said he removed the magic-dampeners and you started to feel better."
Loki's heart did a backflip. "Did he tell you anything else about that night?"
"No," Tony assured him. "But you've also told both me and Nat multiple times that when the cuffs are on, it feels like you can't breathe because your magic is cut off."
"So we decided to let you breathe," Banner spoke up. Loki was startled a bit; Banner was not the first person Loki would have expected to be in favor of letting him have full access to his magic again.
"The vote was unanimous," Coulson added.
Loki glanced at Barton, who was glaring steadily at him from beside Tasha. Somehow he highly doubted it had been entirely unanimous.
"Yes, even Clint," Tasha answered his unspoken question. "Though only after multiple threats and explanations."
"Thor? Care to do the honors?" asked Steve.
Thor nodded. Loki held out his hands, trying to ignore the way his heart was frantically pounding against his chest at Thor's proximity. It was over quickly; a simple touch of Thor's fingers to each cuff and the accursed things fell away, leaving Loki with an overwhelming feeling of sheer power as his magic came rushing back full force. It left him a bit dizzy once it subsided.
"Ahh...much better," Loki sighed contentedly.
"You're not about to kill us all, are you?" Banner asked nervously.
"No," Loki assured him. Then he grinned. "Or am I? It varies from moment to moment."
Banner looked quite nervous indeed.
"Now we can decorate everything in one day," Tony said. "Alright, split into pairs. Point Break, you're with me, we're going outside and decorating out there. Capsicle, you and Nat get the lounge and the other top floors, but leave the bedroms for us to decorate on our own if so desired. Bruce, Agent, get the R&D floors. Loki, you're with Clint - and yeah, I know that's not the best pairing ever, but try not to kill each other and just decorate the rest of the interior, okay?"
Loki glanced at Barton. Loki killing the archer wasn't going to be a problem. Barton killing Loki, on the other hand...that might be more of an issue.
"Alright! Let's get to it!" Tony shouted, and the Avengers, Loki, and Coulson dispersed.
A silence frostier than Jotunheim in the dead of winter was thick, almost tangible, between archer and sorcerer as they made their way down level by level, decorating both by hand and with Loki's magic. Just to avoid it, Loki considered saying something, but decided against it, as Barton seemed to be perfectly content with the silence between them.
Of course, he was proved wrong when Barton began singing under his breath, which of course Loki could hear because it was so quiet.
"Mm-mm-mm-mm-mm-mm
Mm-mm-mm-mm-mm
Mm-mm-mm-mm-mm
Mm-mm, ahh -
Come, they told me
Pa-rum-pum-pum-pum...
A newborn King to see
Pa-rum-pum-pum-pum...
Our finest gifts we bring
Pa-rum-pum-pum-pum...
To lay before the King
Pa-rum-pum-pum-pum
Rum-pum-pum-pum
Rum-pum-pum-pum...
So to honor Him
Pa-rum-pum-pum-pum...
When we come...
Pum-pum-pum-pum
Pa-rum-pum-pum
Pum-pum-pum-pum
Pa-rum-pum-pum
Pum-pum-pum-pum
Pa-rum-pum-pum
Pum-pum-pum-pum
Pa-rum-pum-pum -"
Loki couldn't resist. He knew this song, and liked it. He began singing along, even softer than Barton, hoping said archer wouldn't hear him singing along in their most unusual duet ever.
"Little baby
Pa-rum-pum-pum-pum...
I am a poor boy too
Pa-rum-pum-pum-pum...
I have no gift to bring
Pa-rum-pum-pum-pum...
That's fit to give our King
Pa-rum-pum-pum-pum
Rum-pum-pum-pum
Rum-pum-pum-pum...
Shall I play for you?
Pa-rum-pum-pum-pum...
Pa-rum-pum-pum
Pum-pum-pum-pum, ahh -
Mary nodded
Pa-rum-pum-pum-pum...
The ox and lamb kept time
Pa-rum-pum-pum-pum...
I played my drum for Him
Pa-rum-pum-pum-pum...
I played my best for Him
Pa-rum-pum-pum-pum
Rum-pum-pum-pum
Rum-pum-pum-pum...
Then He smiled at me
Pa-rum-pum-pum-pum...!
Me and my drum...!
Pum-pum-pum-pum
Pa-rum-pum-pum
Ohh...
Pum-pum-pum-pum
Pa-rum-pum-pum
Oh
Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh oh-oh
Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh oh-oh
Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh oh-oh
Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh oh-oh
Oh
Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh oh-oh
Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh oh-oh
Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh oh-oh
Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh oh-oh
Oh
Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh oh-oh
Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh oh-oh
Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh oh-oh
Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh!
Come, they told me
Pa-rum-pum-pum-pum...!
A newborn King to see
Pa-rum-pum-pum-pum...!
Me and my drum...!
Me and my drum...
Me and my drum...!
Me and my drum...!
Rum-pum-pum-pum...
Pum-pum-pum-pum
Pa-rum-pum-pum
Pum-pum-pum-pum, ahh -"
They finished the song, and the room fell silent again. Loki opened his mouth to say something, but Barton beat him to it.
"If you tell anyone I just sang a Christmas carol, I will kill you," Barton said, voice soft but loud enough in the silence for Loki to hear the serious threat in his voice. "And just because I sang 'Little Drummer Boy' with you - yeah, I heard you, Trickster - does not mean we're friends. I don't like you and I don't trust you. That is not going to change no matter how many times Tasha and Phil threaten me. Got it?"
"Understood, Barton," Loki said. "Loud and clear."
They didn't apeak again after that.
Once the decoarating was finished, only two hours later, the Avegers and company re-assembled in the lounge. It had started snowing again towards the end of the two hours, and Tony had snow in his hair. Loki had to stop himself from chuckling.
"Alright, now that that's over, what do we do now?" Steve asked.
Tony grinned that grin that always meant trouble - Loki should know, he'd seen the expression more than once in the mirror - and said, "Who's up for a snowball fight?"
Tasha grinned; Thor looked a bit confused again, though Loki suspected it was more because Tony had suggested it rather than confusion as to what it was (Thor, Sif, and the Warriors Three had had quite a few snowball fights on Asgard...when it actually snowed, that was); Steve shook his head with a fond smile; Banner looked a little nervous, but appeared to be thinking something along the lines of Why not?; Coulson smiled; hell, even Barton looked excited.
"What are we waiting for?" Loki demanded when no one answered. "Let's get the hell out there!"
They all dispersed back to their rooms first, to change into more suitable clothes for going out in the winter cold (and, since Loki now had his magic back, to quickly decorate his room with gold and green Yuletide-style lights and other small Yuletide decor that reminded him of Yuletides past, the one time on Asgard where he truly felt like he belonged.
"Hey," Tasha said from the doorway.
Loki turned, using his magic to fling open his closet as he did so. "Hey," he replied. "Give me a minute."
He headed to his closet and pulled out a different tunic, one more suited for cold weather (not that he needed it, but there was less gold and more silver and it looked better on him when he went out in the snow anyway), then simply cast the blackout charm around him so he could change in peace. This was so much easier with magic, he thought contentedly.
Once changed, he left the charm up for a few moments to survey Natasha. She was bundled up in a black sweater over the red T-shirt she'd been wearing before, and what looked like warmer black leggings, possibly lined with fake fur or some other fuzzy something on the inside. Her black boots were perfect for the snow, and she carried a black winter coat over her shoulder. In her other hand were a pair of (also black) gloves and a black hat with her hourglass symbol on it in red.
Loki dropped the charm and approached. "You look cozy."
"You don't," Tasha said, eyeing his tunic. "You sure you'll be okay in that?"
"I'll be fine," Loki assured her. "High tolerance for the cold, remember?"
Tasha shrugged, conceding the point, and the pair headed downstairs.
"How many layers do you think Thor will have on?" Tasha asked.
Loki smirked. "Probably at least five. He despises the cold and can't understand how I can go out without even a single layer of furs - or, since we're here on Midgard, a coat." Loki's eyes narrowed at Tasha's smirk. "You're just trying to get me to talk about Thor, aren't you?"
"Yep," Tasha laughed. "И это сработало, Обманщик." [And it worked, Trickster.]
Loki glared at her. "Пожалуйста, не поднимайте его," he said seriously. [Please don't bring him up.] Tasha started to protest, but Loki silenced her with, "Пожалуйста, Таша. Только не надо." [Please, Tasha. Just don't.]
Tasha nodded. "Ладно," she said. "все в порядке. Я не буду." [Okay, all right. I won't.]
Loki nodded. "Спасибо." [Thank you.]
"Come on," Tasha said, changing the subject. "We have a snowball fight to get to."
Loki grinned. "You're on."
They made it outside to find the others already piling into the Quinjet. We must be going to Central Park or something, Loki thought.
Once on the Quinjet and in the air, Tony set the ship on autopilot and turned to face the others. "So. Teams, or every person for themselves?" he asked.
"Teams," Tasha grinned. "Whoever wins gets hot chocolate on the other team's leader."
"Sounds fair enough," Steve shrugged.
"Alright, now it's just picking teams that's the issue," Tony said. "First, team captains?"
Everyone looked to Loki. He had expected this, but pretended to be surprised anyway. "Me?" he asked.
"Yeah. I mean, you're the most resistant to the cold, for one thing," Tasha said. "And for another, you've got a good mind for strategy."
Loki shrugged. "Okay. But in that case, how about we make the actual captain among us the other team's captain?"
Everyone's gazes moved to Steve, who nodded. "Sure," he said.
"Now as far as picking teams...captains get to decide," Banner spoke up. "That's the way it's normally done, right?"
Tony nodded. Loki surveyed the group...
"Tony," Loki said.
A murmur ran through the Avengers at that - Loki had just claimed Steve's boyfriend for his team. Steve grinned at him and shot back, "Tasha."
Loki gave him an over-dramatic hurt look, but countered it with the obvious light of mischief in his eyes. "Coulson."
Steve gasped in mock-surprise, but his grin only grew. "Thor."
Loki would have objected, except being anywhere near Thor right now wouldn't do him any good, and besides, Thor hated the cold so much he wouldn't be of much help anyway. Loki smirked and said, "Banner."
That caused another stir; though not nearly as much, Loki suspected, as if he'd chosen Barton. As it was, Steve shrugged and said, "I guess you're with me, Clint."
Barton eyed Loki; Loki figured this would be a good time for the archer to vent his frustrations about the Trickster. Snowballs were good projectiles.
They touched down in Central Park, as Loki had suspected, and there was a lot of snow, more than what he'd thought off the casual glance out his window this morning. He grinned; this should be fun.
They began by each making a small snow fort of sorts, the bases for the teams to hide behind. Loki's team already seemed to be in better condition; while Tony and Banner built the snow fort itself, Loki and Coulson had begun stockpiling snowballs. Meanwhile, Steve's team had all put in effort to help with the snow fort and would take longer to get their snowballs organized.
Once the forts were built, Loki and Steve met in the middle. "You ready for this, Trickster?" Steve asked.
Loki smirked. "Bring it on, Capsicle."
Steve smirked back. "Let the snowball civil war begin!"
Loki used his magic to send up an elaborate flare to signal the start of the fight, then darted back to his fort.
"Start throwing!" he encouraged them. "Move it, guys, get them while they're still making theirs!"
Tony actually gave a war cry, and the battle began. All four of them grabbed a snowball and launched it at Team Cap. Tony's and Banner's missed; Coulson's hit the still-retreating Steve in the back, and Loki's hit Barton square in the chest as the archer rose to throw his first snowball. Barton went down and came back up in an instant with snow in his hair. He narrowed his eyes in Loki's direction...
Next thing he knew Loki had been hit by Barton's snowball. He stumbled and ducked behind the fort as Team Cap recovered and started throwing back.
"Come on, guys, keep going!" Loki shouted. "We want that hot chocolate, right?"
The snowball fight continued. Both sides were bombarded with snowballs, and the snow stuck, clinging to coats and hair and gloves. Occasionally someone would venture out to gather more snow for new snowballs and would become the target of the other team, or simply be caught in the snowy crossfire. A crowd had gathered around the edges of the snowball fight's perimeter, watching the action, and Loki could have sworn he saw a few people taking videos with their phones. He expected they'd be on YouTube before the day was over.
At one point, Steve called a ceasefire, and both teams stood up.
"Why'd we stop?" asked Tony.
"Loki, you're blue!" Tasha shouted.
"What?" Loki looked down at his hands, and sure enough, at some point during the fighting his Asgardian appearance had melted away, to be replaced with his true countenance - blue skin, red eyes, and the patterns that showed he was a Jotun and marked him as the son of Laufey, king of the Frost Giants.
"Why are you blue?" Steve asked.
Loki hesitated. He still didn't like what he was, and still some part of him believed it made him a monster.
"Loki, just say it!" That was Thor. Loki looked up and somehow caught his gaze across the clearing. "It's who you are, Loki! It doesn't mean you're a monster, it just means you're different! Accept it, Loki! Don't be afraid of who you are!"
Loki took a deep breath, then shouted, knowing he was most likely being recorded and not caring for the first time since he found out what he was: "I am Loki of Jotunheim! I am the son of Laufey, and the rightful king of the Frost Giants! I was cast out and left to die as a child because I was different than the rest, the son Laufey never wanted. Odin found me and took me in, raising me as his own, but this is who I am. I am a Jotun, impervious to the cold, with blue skin like those left of my race back on the half-destroyed planet that is my homeworld. I wield the magic of the ice -" And here he used said magic to create a frozen replica of Mjolnir in the middle of the no man's land between the two teams - "and the magic I was born with that made me different than the others." He demonstrated his Asgardian magic by making his usual green smoke-snake slither soundlessly through the snow before disappearing. "I am the heir to the throne of Jotunheim, and I am one of the most powerful sorcerers in all the Nine Realms. I am a Frost Giant!"
Loki was slightly surprised when first Thor, then Tasha, then Steve, then the other Avengers (even Barton) started applauding, followed shortly by the crowd. He wondered if they'd known he needed that and hadn't objected due to this knowledge, or if it was something else entirely, but either way Loki was immensely grateful to have gotten that off his chest.
"Now that I've gotten that out of the way, can we please get back to winning this snowball fight?" Loki shouted.
His team cheered in agreement, and the snowball civil war recommenced.
The snowball fight lasted another hour. Eventually Team Cap surrendered, sending Thor out with the white flag (which Loki had actually conjured up, one for both teams). Thor of course got bombarded by snowballs before Loki noticed the white flag and called his team to a halt.
"We expect hot chocolate as soon as we get back to the Tower," Loki called.
He could hear Steve's sigh of defeat and smiled. That had been fun.
"We won!" Loki told his team. They all high-fived, something else Loki would never have thought he'd end up doing. No one commented on the blue skin, and hadn't since Tasha first pointed it out.
"You know," Tasha said, catching up to them as they began to walk back to the Quinjet, "the blue only makes you look more sexy."
"Tasha!" Loki protested. Tasha laughed.
"I'm serious, Loki, have you seen the way Громовержец has been staring at you?" Tasha said. "More than usual, anyway."
Loki glanced back at Thor, who appeared to be engaged in conversation with Banner - but based on the look on Banner's face, that conversation hadn't been going on long. Loki looked away; he really didn't need to be distracted by Thor right now.
"I don't know what you're talking about," Loki lied, and unlike most people, he actually sounded sincere as he said this.
Tasha saw right through it anyway. "Yeah, you do, you just don't want to admit how you feel."
"I don't know how I feel, Tasha, that's the problem!" Loki exclaimed, and somehow still managed to keep his voice quiet enough that the others behind them couldn't hear. "I don't know how I feel, I just know that I've never experienced it before and it scares the hell out of me."
Tasha's voice and eyes softened. "I know how that feels." She glanced back at Banner. "Believe me, I know how that feels."
Loki followed her gaze. "Banner?" he asked. "Really? I would have thought Barton. Though he does have Coulson, so I suppose he's taken."
"Yeah, Bruce," Tasha sighed. "If he ever gets it through that genius brain of his that I..."
"Yeah, I know," Loki said. "What a pair we are, eh? The outcast Trickster that no one trusts and the S.H.I.E.L.D. assassin that no one believes has a soft side."
Tasha smiled at him. "Yeah, well. We've got each other to lean on. And hey - while we figure out feelings and boyfriend issues and everything else, that friendship is more than enough."
Loki smiled back. "I suppose it is."
Aww, a sweet ending...and yes, the Thorki is fast approaching. You'll see what I mean in the next, oh, three chapters...intervening, Christmas, and New Year's (which I am going to post either sometime late New Year's Eve or early New Year's Day, haven't decided yet). Song used is Pentatonix's "Little Drummer Boy." Anyway, next chapter should be...interesting...for you, so be on the lookout - it should be up sometime next week. Please review!