"I'm so hungry I could eat a horse."
Thor paled. "Brother you should have said so! As fine as this establishment is, I am not certain if they have horse meat on the menu as this is clearly a seafood restaurant that you have chosen to sit in, but if you were to give me one hour, I'm sure I can hunt one down for you." He looked around. "Now where did I put my Sto- umbrella…"
"Thor, relax. It's just what Midgardians say when they are famished to the point of madness. If I do not get food within the next five minutes, I assure you there will be a stabbing incident or two."
"Oh thank the Norns."
Loki was nearing his sixteenth week into his pregnancy now, and incessantly ravenous. Of course, Thor was only too eager to accompany him on his food trail around Greenwich Village.
After Loki sent the waiter scurrying with their order along with a barely-concealed threat that there was to be no dilly-dallying with the food lest he wish to part with any of his limbs before his shift was over, Thor admonished him lightly. "Loki, please do not terrorise the help."
But he was secretly pleased. So delighted Thor was with the return of Loki's appetite he could not care less about deflecting pointy things as long as his brother was thriving and no longer the thin wispy thing he had been just a month ago.
Loki flicked his wrist languidly. He slouched in his chair and leaned his head back, basking in the warmth of the sun on his face.
"Valkyrie sends her love."
"No, she doesn't." Loki snorted delicately, his eyes still closed. "If it please Your Majesty, I beseech you do convey her message verbatim?"
Thor grinned at the memory.
" 'Lackey, get your gallivanting princely arse back here, you spindly little shirk!' " Thor's blue eyes danced with mirth. "Thus endeth the message."
Loki threw his head back and laughed. "Trust Val to come up with an insult so patrician I fear I might weep in merriment as I revel in its compliment." He shook his head, amused. "She flatters me."
"She cares."
"I wonder if we are indeed talking about the same person. She cares naught for me."
"You are the Crown Prince of Asgard, the heir apparent." Thor waved a kingly hand at him." Of course she does."
"Forgive my impertinence, dear brother, but I do beg to differ. I am no heir apparent." Loki said flippantly. "Heir presumptive, maybe."
"Prince Loki. Always politically correct."
A fond smile. "Always."
Thor chose not to mention Valkyrie's insistence that he, the King of Asgard, was to haul the prince back to Norway, which to Thor was akin to seizing the moon by the teeth – no one can make Loki do what he doesn't want to do! – but he understood her concern.
He hasn't even been to see the healers, has he? She had snarled. Back in my day, he would not even dream of stepping a foot outside the palace until the babe is well and born. What cheek!
Yeah…try telling Loki that.
"She worries for you."
Loki gave an insouciant shrug. Were the shadows in his brother's eyes but a figment of Thor's imagination, he would not have persevered in his endeavour to endear his brother to the Valkyrie's cause.
"The oath she took weighs on her with every second we are out of her sight and her blades grow heavy, as surely does her heart."
Loki clasped his hands on the table and leaned forward. Something was coming.
"What are you proposing, Thor?"
"Join me at my side in Asgard."
Loki was silent. When next he spoke, it was with a measure of careful curiosity.
"And what of your precious Avengers?"
"There is not much to avenge anymore. The realm is as stable - or unstable - as it is ever going to be, and I fear in my absence, that I have done our people a great disservice. The Earth is in good hands, the good Captain assured me as much."
"I appreciate the grand offer, I do…" Loki gave a little shake of his head, that meant neither rejection nor acceptance. "But I will need time to think this through."
"Of course, Loki," Thor smiled warmly.
The food finally arrived but the atmosphere was no longer quite as lively.
The thunder god watched as his brother slowly ate, taking bite after small bite in morose contemplation.
"Loki, are you…content?"
Loki's forehead wrinkled. "What brought this on?"
Thor fiddled with the stem of his glass. "The reservation I had that brought me to contemplating moving us to New Asgard, the very same."
Thor averted his gaze, his voice tinged with hesitation, but he soldiered on.
"For the number of times I played escort and relinquished you into the care of the good doctor, I have seen you leave the Sanctum as many times with such melancholy in your eyes and a heaviness in your steps, that I-" he abruptly fisted his lips.
"Thor…"
"And I have never asked how you really feel about your…situation." Thor said tersely. "I have thought to ask, but I have never asked really."
Stunned into silence, Loki's fingers forgot all form of muscle memory and his fork dropped with a clang.
"I do not wish to see you hurt, Loki."
"Thor."
"I will not see you hurt. Never again."
Say the word and I will take you away.
His mouth tasted of ash. Suddenly Loki felt sick to his stomach.
His appetite all but lost, Loki reached across the table and touched Thor on the wrist tentatively.
"No harm will come to me, Thor. I will not allow it."
He fiercely wrapped Thor's wrist in a grip so tight shooting pains lanced through Thor's fingers.
"You will not allow it."
Loki could feel the electricity bristling underneath Thor's skin.
"And neither will Stephen."
And there was Loki's answer.
"Brother, you know I would never think of forcing your hand-"
"My place is wherever you are, Thor," Loki said softly.
Thor beamed. He placed his own hand over the pale fingers still grasping his wrist. "Likewise, brother."
"I will wait until you are ready." Thor nodded. "I'll play your Taxi Man for as long as you need me."
He pointed his fork at Loki's untouched plate.
"Now eat your horse."
"It is no bother, Thor. I can manage."
"Are you sure?" The God of Thunder's body language screamed absolute reluctance. "I can walk you there. Or better yet call you a cab."
"We are literally just five blocks away from Bleecker Street. I could use the walk." Loki patted his stomach gently. He maintained his illusion of his favourite Midgardian get-up in his streamlined suit jacket and slacks but knew the second he reached the Sanctum Sanctorum it would have to lift, or he would not hear the end of it. He would not mind enjoying his old slim figure for a little while longer.
"Go on. Your team needs you." Thor was suddenly called away to the Avengers Tower just as they had finished their lunch. His friends would never begrudge Thor for indulging his wayward little brother in his fancies and clamour for attention but Loki prided himself for being that person no longer. On his least-hormonal days at least. "Thanks for the meal. And the company."
Thor patted his shoulder. "There's no need for all that, brother."
Loki raised a hand. "Stop. I know that look. You're going to say something sappy. Walk away, now."
Thor bellowed a laugh and obliged. "Till next time, brother."
Loki watched his brother's rapidly disappearing back as the Thunderer ran off in the opposite direction, swerving in and out of the continuous stream of pedestrians.
Loki began his amble down the avenue, relishing the sights, the sounds, the smells - the energy of this city was insane. It was so unlike Sakaar yet in a way every bit as vibrant and chaotic, the memory of his invasion but a distant echo; so distant he felt brave enough to pretend, if only for a while, that it was someone else's memories. Even if the guilt would probably return to jolt him out of his reverie before he even reached his destination.
No one who knew him in the slightest would ever identify happiness as the attribute of his default state of being. Let alone contentment.
Thor's question lingered long and intrusive.
Is Loki happy?
Probably not. He had not been happy in a long time, he could very well have forgotten how it felt like.
Less bitter, perhaps.
And that is a start, isn't it? He asked himself.
He felt the child shift inside him and a thrill he could not suppress caressed his spine. The start of something happy. Could he dare to dream?
Where shall we have you my child? Is it to be here in this anarchic Midgardian city with your father, or Asgard in faraway Norway, with your uncle, the King?
Loki's mind, so far off drifted, settled as his trail of thoughts grounded to Stephen's visage, suddenly so clear in his mind's eye. This metaphysical bond he shared with the human wizard was unlike any other he had ever felt; the energy, like the city itself, was new and very much present, not ancient like the love he once shared with Sigyn, but no less strong in its unchartered, untethered transparency. His senses enveloped him in a cocoon of warmth as if Stephen's magic itself was permeating the air around him – he must be getting close.
He looked around and sure enough, he was now only two blocks away. He picked up pace.
All of a sudden, a fleeting shadow darted past his periphery, catching him off guard. Loki's step faltered as he strained to get the measure of his equilibrium; was it just one of his dizzy spells, playing tricks on his vision? He had not had them in a while.
But alas he was as steady on his feet as he ever was.
A heavy wave of foreboding surged through his senses. His suit thawed into his familiar green and gold battle leathers, concealing his abdomen behind a glamour and fortified layer of seiðr.
In sudden realisation, it dawned on him how quiet and deserted the street was. Had it been empty all along?
Or is it magic?
The blood in his ear throbbed in time with his heart, and his child squirmed again, undoubtedly restless.
He steeled himself and called his magic up at the ready, before quickening his pace once more.
The shadow came at him again and this time it darted right across the plane of his vision.
Loki could sense it coming, the onslaught of magic, foreign to him yet startlingly familiar-
Strange?
The golden mandala barrelled toward him full force but with a stroke of his hand, Loki deflected it easily, the resultant geyser of residual energy obscuring much of his vision. In the haze, Loki caught sight of a hooded figure, there one second, gone the next-
And the shadow came at him again, and in his surprise, the invisible shield of seiðr enveloping his body faltered, and a hand snaked through the miasma of magic and yanked at his wrist.
Loki's dagger slashed at the attacker but not before the offensive magic conducted through the attack cracked his vambrace, the bulk of which neutered by the sudden break in contact, yet the end-tails of it penetrating his shield of seiðr...and in an instant, Loki's glamour failed.
The one second of naked vulnerability turned terror into resolve; with his gravid belly now in full display, Loki called upon his magic, his seiðr awakening once more to lift his shield and protect his unborn son.
The hooded figure stood a good five feet away. An amber mandala materialised in his outstretched hand, evolving in its sinister intricacies reminiscent of the blazing fires of Surtur.
Loki's heart leapt in his throat and he blindly reached deep within him, praying fervently to the Norns to grant him reach-
"Strange!"
Stephen bolted out of his chair and flew across the room, slipping his sling ring on and was a heartbeat away from opening a portal when a familiar green form shimmered into existence just a few steps out of reach and Stephen dived to catch Loki as he lurched forward.
"Loki!"
The raven-haired prince was shaking violently with exertion and his hands grasped wildly at Stephen's arms, seeking the leverage he needed to remain upright. Stephen was having none of it and in the blink of an eye, Loki found himself lying on a bed. Whose and what sort of room, big or small he could not tell; the world would not stop spinning.
Loki clutched his forearms to his chest as his heart pounded and pounded against his ribcage like falling mortar. He could feel hands cradling his face, carding through his hair-
"Stephen?"
"I'm here, I'm right here." Loki felt the heat of Stephen's body pressed against his thigh as the Sorcerer Supreme loomed over him. "Loki, what happened? Are you hurt?"
Loki's body shuddered and a burst of seiðr pushed Stephen physically aside and before he knew it, Loki was hanging halfway off the edge of the bed and retching onto the floor, bringing up what little he had for lunch. He groaned softly before his body convulsed again with another violent wave of sickness.
He felt Stephen's warm hands explore his thickened waist, his shaky fingers working to release the straps of leather. Loki bargained with his upset stomach for a few seconds of mercy and concentrated to lose his armour; once Stephen managed to slip his hands underneath his clothing, Loki resumed his purging, much to Stephen's dismay.
"Loki…"
The healing energy radiating from Stephen's palm soon reined in the beastly nausea and his stomach rapidly ceased its vicious cramping. Once Loki stopped heaving, Stephen helped him lie back against the pillow and he could dimly hear Stephen call out for someone.
No sooner had he relished in the blissful absence of queasiness than he felt a cool, wet compress laid over his eyes. Someone cleaned his mouth, cheeks and neck with a wet cloth.
Another pair of unfamiliar hands felt along his wrist, and Loki realised it was the one with the vambrace the spell had cracked. "Leave it on, Loki. We need to take a look at it." Gentle fingers swept his hair off his sweat-soaked forehead. "You just rest."
Loki swallowed hard and nodded wordlessly. He allowed Wong to take his arm, and circled the other protectively around his abdomen.
Wong fingered the fissure that ran along the long axis of the vambrace from the base of Loki's thumb to the inner bend of his elbow. "There is no mistaking it. There is residue from the Spell of Revelation."
He met Strange's look of alarm, his eyes grave. "This was done by one of us."
"Can you read the energy signature?"
Wong shook his head. "The amalgamation of our sorcery and Loki's Asgardian magic has rendered its individual components indecipherable. We will have to wait until your friend recovers enough to tell us more."
Wong and Strange looked at the figure lying still on the bed. "He looks like death warmed over."
"The teleporting took a lot out of him." Stephen's eyes hardened. Loki must have been fleeing a life-or-death situation. He could hear it in the way Loki had screamed his name. He fiddled with his sling ring anxiously.
Wong glanced at him out the corner of one eye. "You alright?"
"Yes. I just need to find out who did this." And why. Why Loki?
Wong nodded and clapped him on the shoulder. "I will contact our friends over at the London and Hong Kong Sanctum and find out if there is anything to find out." He stepped over the puddle of sick on the floor and strode out.
The Sorcerer Supreme carefully sat himself on the bed and studied Loki's arm where the tell-tale first-degree burn traced an angry, red line from his wrist all the way up to the elbow. The Spell of Revelation was a powerful spell in the hands of a Master of the Mystic Arts; its intent not to maim, more to reveal the true nature of something or someone, to uncover what was concealed…but to have used it on Loki? To what purpose?
Stephen closed his palm over the burn and softly uttered the words of a healing spell to reduce the inflammation and ease the pain. Loki did not flinch.
"Loki?"
Loki did not answer. Reluctantly Stephen stood to leave, wanting nothing more than to stay and watch over him but at the same time knowing Loki needed rest.
"Stephen."
Stephen sank back onto the bed in relief.
"Yes, my darling?"
"Could I ask you to stay?"
An armchair materialised by the bed and as if Loki could sense it-
"No, not there. Please. Just – Hold me?"
Stephen did not need to be told twice. So prostrated was the sorcerer prince by the strain of teleportation and use of seiðr and carrying of a child of magic and God knew what else the universe had in store for him, Loki did not resist in the slightest when Stephen wrapped his arm around his waist carefully.
When Stephen became a doctor, he had sworn an oath to do no harm.
Loki let out a small sigh and nudged his head against Stephen's cheek, his unusually warm forehead emanating heat against Stephen's skin. So still. So broken. Stephen held him tighter.
When I find out who did this, Loki-
That oath might just be the next thing to break.