Your comments in the last chapter were absolutely wonderful to read, thank you so much everyone!
I love these babies with all my heart. I hope you enjoy this chapter ;)
Hydrangeas Say Our Family Will Flourish
Chapter Thirty-Two: You Remind Me of the Babe
Loki lathered Aster's hair with shampoo as she played with the rubber ducky floating around in the bubble-riddled bathwater; she sat silent and still, perfectly behaved, unlike her brother Kari who found it inexplicably hilarious to keep slapping his hands into the bubbly water, causing it to go everywhere.
"Kari," Loki began plainly, "Stop splashing me, this is your's and your sister's bath, not mine," he flickered his gaze to his son, frowning to let him know that he wasn't in a gaming mood that morning.
The boy had already kicked up a fuss that morning and was just being all around difficult while Loki changed his diaper, refusing to cooperate as it were, which had resulted in a bit of an unwanted mess. Hence the unscheduled bath, which Kari hadn't been happy about either. It seemed the boy was in a bit of a mood today, because upon being gently reprimanded by his father, the boy glared back at him and splashed even harder, shower Loki with sudsy water droplets.
Loki made a disgruntled noise and grabbed Kari's arm firmly, "Listen to me, you will stop splashing me right now, because if not, you will not be getting any dessert after dinner tonight."
Aster's head perked up at the mere mention of dessert and she gave her brother a look that seemed to almost translate to 'are you really gonna risk that?' And if that wasn't enough, she signed the word 'stop', and Loki wondered for a moment whether Kari would actually listen to his sister after disobeying his father.
Kari gave Aster a sour look and then pouted up at Loki, "I get out now," he announced confidently, lifting his arms in request for help to escape the bathtub. Loki pursed his lips and continued to lather Aster's hair.
"You will wait until I've washed your sister's hair, and then you can both get out of the bath," Loki told his son clearly.
Kari did not find this to be an acceptable answer, because he promptly stood up and tried to climb over the edge of the bath himself, declaring, "I get out nowwwww!"
"Hey- no," Loki grabbed Kari by both arms, stopping the boy's poor attempt to escape, "you don't stand up in the bath until it's time to get out," he reminded his son sharply, wanting the task of cleaning his children to just be over and done with already so he could hand them off to Amelia and grab some breakfast.
Kari whined unabashedly as Loki forced him to sit back down, but otherwise did as he was told this time, the threat of no dessert that afternoon clearly looming in his mind enough that he begrudgingly obeyed the rules of bathtime.
Loki grabbed the shower head, "Tilt your head back," he told Aster, and then began to rinse the shampoo from her hair when she did so. She automatically covered her eyes with her hands; Loki always tried his best to avoid accidentally getting water in her eyes, but after the very few times he had failed, she always took matters into her own hands to avoid it now. The small action brought a flicker of amusement to Loki's face in the sea of frustration Kari had been causing.
Once Aster's hair was free of suds, Loki exhaled a breath, thankful that ordeal was over. Usually Amelia was happy to volunteer to give the kids a bath, but she'd woken up with a bit of a headache, so Loki thoughtfully offered to take on the task, assuming it wouldn't be such a tribulation. From that day on, he would openly praise Amelia for her ability to bathe these children without any trouble.
In retrospect, Loki figured he probably should've pulled Aster out of the bath first, but Kari's whinging was getting on his nerves, so he picked Kari out and placed him on the mat, telling him adamantly, "Wait there."
It wasn't until he turned back to reach for Aster that the boy suddenly took off through the open door back in to Loki and Amelia's bedroom, still dripping wet and covered in bubbles, and Loki almost lost his balance where he was knelt when he lunged to try and grab the child before he trod wet footsteps over the carpet, to no avail. Kari was surprisingly fast for a two-and-a-half year old. Loki bit back an expletive and proceeded to pick Aster out of the bath, quickly wrapping her in a towel as the sound of Amelia yelping in surprise echoed back into the room.
"Sorry," Loki called from the bathroom, apologising for not having more control over the errant child, and Amelia answered with a light chuckle. She'd been relaxing on the bed waiting for her painkillers to kick in and dull the ache in her head when he had taken the children to be bathed initially.
"It's okay. I just wasn't expecting to be hug-tackled by a wet, naked little boy." Amelia's laughter seemed to indicate that she was feeling a bit better, which was good, but if Kari continued to act up that morning, it was likely that headache would come back very quickly. He'd have to have a word with his son about ensuring he was dry after his bath before sprinting off around the whole room.
Loki sighed when he realised Kari had probably gotten soapy bubbles all over the bedsheets as well. "What are we going to do with your brother?" he asked Aster quietly, a hint of exasperation in his voice as he used the towel to dry her hair. The girl simply gave a shrug, to which Loki snorted. He wrapped her in the towel and then cuddled her tightly, the sound of her giggle easing his frustrations ever so slightly. "Alright, let's get you two dressed."
Kari continued to fuel Loki's frustrations by deciding to eat only the marshmallow pieces from his bowl of Lucky Charms cereal, meeting his father's gaze challengingly when he was asked to finish all the 'boring' pieces too. The boy was dead set on causing mischief that day, and Loki was slowly beginning to understand just how much grief he had caused everybody in the palace when he was just a boy.
"Kari, there's four spoonfuls left, just eat them. Please." Loki practically begged the child, "You love food, why are you being picky today?" Usually Kari would consume anything put in front of him, so Loki didn't quite know how to convince the child that his cereal was worth eating, even without the colourful bits of pure sugar.
"I want colour-wing," Kari explained, pointing just across the room to the play area, where his colouring book and crayons were scattered across the floor.
"Oh, you want colour-wing, do you?" Loki responded, squinting carefully at the boy, "Only well-behaved little boys who eat all of their cereal get to do colouring, so you best eat up."
Kari sat in his high-chair, swinging his legs out of boredom as he looked down at his cereal bowl distastefully. His expression changed and he looked to his father again, face softening, eyebrows rising up, eyes widening and glistening, and he gave his best pout, and murmured in a quiet, pleading voice, "Want colour-wing."
Loki clenched his jaw at the fantastical display of manipulation he was witnessing; if it wasn't for the fact his own son was trying to guilt him into giving him the colouring book before he'd finished his breakfast, Loki may have been filled with pride. Instead, he made a noise of irritation in the back of his throat and managed just barely to resist the toddler's puppy-dog eyes.
He stepped forward and moved the cereal bowl front and centre on the high-chair surface, pointing at it meaningfully, "Eat first, colour later." With that, he turned to Aster, who was sitting patiently in the high-chair adjacent to her brother, miraculously having finished all of her Lucky Charms, and decided to show Kari that good behaviour was rewarded.
"Good girl, Aster," Loki picked the girl up out of the high-chair, speaking loud and clear to ensure Kari heard, "now that you've finished your cereal, what would you like to do?"
Aster, ever quiet, used the sign language she had learned thus far to communicate her request, with thoughtful gestures she signed the words 'mum' and 'hug'. Loki was filled with pleasant warmth at how sweet his daughter's wish was, "You want to hug mama?" At Aster's answering nod, Loki smiled and glanced over to where Amelia was currently relaxing on one of the sofas watching television.
"Did I hear that right?" Amelia called, head slightly raised after Loki had mentioned her, and she outstretched her arms, "Am I needed for cuddles?"
"You are indeed," Loki chuckled, walking over to the lounge area to place Aster in her mother's awaiting arms.
"Oh, my sweet little flower," Amelia sighed happily, wrapping her arms around Aster and holding her lovingly, "have you come to keep mama company? That is tremendously lovely of you, my dear petal," Amelia's voice had a melodic, song-like quality to it, the exact tone that Loki loved to cling to even when it wasn't being spoken to him. He found extreme joy in the sight of Aster sprawled atop her mother's chest with her arms wrapped tightly around Amelia's neck, eyes closed with a content smile on her face.
Now, if only Kari could find it in himself to be content like his sister that morning.
Loki turned back to his son, approaching with his arms crossed and an eyebrow raised; the toddler had refused to eat the remainder of his Lucky Charms yet again, and was looking wistfully across the room where his colouring book and crayons were littering the floor. Kari put on another pout as he locked eyes with his father, perhaps hoping he would get his way if he acted cute enough.
Ignoring the pleading look from the young boy, Loki picked up the empty bowl on Aster's high-chair and took it to the kitchen, placing it idly in the dishwasher; he lingered for a few moments, opened up the fridge and pulled out the carton of orange juice. He poured himself a glass and gulped it down, added the glass to the dishwasher, turned back around, and paused.
He took a few steps towards his son and faltered, finding that the boy had pushed his Lucky Charms aside and was now vigorously colouring a page in his colouring book with a red crayon - the same colouring book that had been discarded on the floor across the room.
Loki frowned, looking to where Amelia was now sitting upright on the sofa, quietly singing a nursery rhyme and attempting to style Aster's hair. "Amelia," he called slightly irritably, "did you give him his colouring book and crayons after I said he couldn't have them?" He spoke with a hint of condescension, displeased that his wife would undermine his authority like that.
Amelia only managed to look confused, "Um, no? I'm all the way over here?"
Loki gave her a cynical look, "If you didn't give them to him, who did?" He put his hands on his hips, daring her to lie to him again.
Amelia quirked an eyebrow, looking amusedly between Loki and Aster, before giving a slight chuckle, "I think daddy's losing his marbles, huh?" She tickled her daughter as she said that and Aster squealed with laughter, then she hugged the girl and addressed Loki once again, "I've been over here with Aster the whole time, love."
Loki's jaw clenched. She… didn't appear to be lying.
"Then how did he get them?" Loki was genuinely confused now, wondering how in the world his son had obtained the items he was forbidden from using until he finished his breakfast. Had one of the Avengers slipped in and out and given the boy what he wanted? Without him noticing? Impossible.
Loki took the book from his son's grasp, holding it up as the boy let out a whine of upset. Kari's eyes immediately began to glisten with unshed tears but Loki pushed for an explanation, knowing they were nothing but crocodile tears, "Who gave you these?"
Kari looked at him for a moment before shaking his head, which didn't really tell Loki anything. "Use your words," Loki told the boy, "How did you get this?"
The boy reached for the colouring book with a stretched out arm, making a grabby motion with his fingers, and then proclaimed tentatively, "Book flied." Loki didn't know what to make of his son's response for a few moments.
"It… you're saying it flew? It flew from the floor?"
Kari blinked his wide eyes and nodded his head.
Loki looked at the colouring book with a frown before glancing over his shoulder at Amelia, who was watching with a curious, interested expression. Aster had fallen silent in her arms and was pointedly staring at her brother. A sudden thought crossed Loki's mind and he returned his wide-eyed gaze to his son, eyebrows raised in surprise.
He dropped the colouring book to the floor, took a step back and said, "Show me."
Kari frowned, the furrow of his brow looking almost comical when the child's face was usually so soft and unassuming, but he seemed to relent, and Loki's theory was abruptly proven correct when the boy waved his fingers, his digits exuding a faint green glow, and the book shifted, lifting itself falteringly off the ground and into the air. It wasn't a very smooth demonstration of magic, but Kari achieved what he was trying to do - the book levitated towards him and he flailed as he grabbed it, laying it out so that he could immediately begin colouring again.
Loki was floored. He didn't even notice the huge grin on his own face until he let out an elated chuckle. His boy could use magic. He had hoped from the day they were born that they would inherit his magical aptitude and here his son was, levitating a book without any prior training, nothing but sheer will and determination driving his ability, and Loki was pleasantly stunned.
"Oh my goodness!" Amelia exclaimed, verbalising his thoughts in that moment.
Loki grabbed his son under his arms and lifted him from his high chair, "You can do magic, my son can do magic!" He held the child up, full of absolute pride, his joyful shouts startling Kari into confusion, but the child promptly found the positive attention to be quite wonderful as shown by his shrieking laughter.
"Amelia, did you see- did you see what he did?" Loki showered the boy with praise, spinning around in jubilation before pressing a big kiss to Kari's cheek. Kari reacted adorably, pressing his hands to his dad's face and kissing him on the nose in return.
"I saw!" Amelia laughed, "How did he do that? I thought you said they needed to be taught to do that?"
Loki held his son at arm's length, staring at him in wondrous amazement, "Some sorcerers are gifted enough to use magic without any formal training…" His smile grew bigger still at the thought of equating his son to a sorcerer, a tiny magic-user in the making; there were so many things he would teach his boy to do, he would pass on the knowledge his mother gave to him and raise Kari to be a skilled spellcaster.
"Now do colour-wing?" Kari asked hopefully, looking longingly at the crayons, and Loki laughed, his mood improved ten-fold at the new knowledge of what his son could do.
"Yes, of course, you can colour now," Loki proclaimed, grabbing the colouring book and a few of Kari's crayons so that he could colour in the play-area rather than on the high-chair, "You have earned it." Kari gave a noise of excited contentment and immediately got to work scribbling on the page once he and his book were placed down.
Loki sat back on the couch and simply stared at the boy, imagining himself teaching his son how to propel objects with force, how to create illusions and how to master the use of cloaking spells - just to name a few things - and it filled him with a renewed sense of delight. He felt beyond proud, all the stresses of that morning had just melted away.
Eventually, Loki looked back to Amelia and Aster, and he found that his daughter seemed to be even more quiet than usual, if that were possible. Loki wondered then if Aster could also do what Kari did, so he plucked up one of the crayons his son wasn't using and placed it down on the coffee table, kneeling beside it. Aster watched him carefully from where she sat still in her mother's lap.
"Aster, can you move the crayon? With magic? Like this, see-" he levitated the small object with ease at the very subtlest flick of his finger and Aster stared at the little wisps of green that raised the crayon up into mid-air. "Go on, you try." He let it lower back to the table and then sat back, waiting for Aster to demonstrate what she could do.
Aster seemed somewhat excited at the prospect of doing what Loki had just done; she eagerly slipped out of her mother's lap to the floor, landing on two feet, and came to the edge of the table, observing the crayon for a moment like it held the secrets to the entire universe. Her gaze rose to her daddy's face and she looked uncertain, but Loki encouraged her with a smile and a slight nod of his head.
The girl extended her hand as her father had done, and concentrated real hard on the purple crayon, her brow furrowing and her eyes narrowing immensely. That expression on her face looked quite ridiculous, but Loki watched in anticipatory silence, waiting for the object to hover into the air.
The crayon, however, remained stationary.
Aster pouted, looking up with moisture in her eyes, and gave a few sorry-for-herself whines that tugged at Loki's heartstrings. Loki forced a smile onto his face, squashing down the tendrils of disappointment that crawled around in his mind - because that wasn't fair to Aster, he shouldn't have assumed she would be able to do exactly what her brother had done, after all it wasn't common for magic-users to be gifted at such a young age prior to any training. But then he found himself wondering if Aster simply did not have any magical potential within her, and that thought disheartened him.
When he imagined himself training his children in the art of magic, he imagined them both as his students, not just one of them.
"It's okay," Loki said anyway, trying to catch Aster before she started crying, "it… it doesn't matter." It was the wrong thing to say, because Aster promptly began to weep. She must have sensed the disappointed undertones of Loki's attempt to assuage her, and it made Loki feel awful. Perhaps he shouldn't have praised Kari so overwhelmingly in front of Aster before knowing if Aster was capable of the same things.
"Hey! Hey, it's okay sweetheart," Amelia sang, pulling Aster back into her lap and awaiting arms, "It's okay, you'll figure out how to do it one day, little one," she soothed, but upon catching Loki's wavering expression, she faltered slightly. She frowned at Loki when Aster wasn't looking, and Loki gave a small shrug of uncertainty. Amelia sighed, rubbing Aster's back.
Just when the girl was beginning to calm down, Kari's little voice interjected, "Need purple!" and the crayon on the table zipped through the air to his awaiting hand, flickering with magic tendrils, and the sight renewed Aster's wailing as a reminder that her brother could do something amazing that she could not.
Kari didn't appear to understand why his sister was crying so hard.
Aster was eventually calmed when Loki retrieved two small chocolate pudding cups, knowing the girl wouldn't continue to cry while she was being fed her favourite treat, and by the time she had finished eating the sweet little dessert, the reason for her previous misery seemed to have slipped her mind.
Loki was frustrated with the fact that he had to take Kari aside and ask him not to use magic in front of his sister. It felt wrong to dissuade Kari from taking the steps that would teach him to later hone his skills, but Loki wasn't sure how else to fix Aster's tearfulness regarding the subject of magic. He hoped that Kari would listen to him for the time being, and that it was just a temporary fix until Loki thought of something.
It became more and more clear why his parents had had such a… trying time raising him and Thor together. Loki had used every single chance he had gotten to get a rise out of his brother with the use of his magic, whether he was using his spell proficiency to agitate Thor and make him jealous, or whether he was using his spells to play pranks on the unsuspecting oaf, he had earned the title of The Trickster well and truly. Now, Loki understood a little more from his mother's perspective and how difficult it had been for her to stop him from purposefully harassing his brother.
He was lucky that Kari seemed to have a little more tact than Loki himself had at that age; while his son didn't understand why his flimsy use of magic upset his sister so much, he understood that it did, and he didn't want to see his sister upset, so he refrained from showing off, though it was a struggle. Loki could understand the confusion from his son's perspective.
Kari knew that his use of magic brought his father a lot of joy, and thus he wanted to continue to make things levitate, to see his father smile so widely once again, but with the knowledge that it made Aster react the complete opposite way, it was so very difficult for him to make the conscious effort not to.
Loki was convinced that if Aster's unhappiness wasn't an element in the equation, Kari's mischievous side would easily win out and he would use his newfound magic abilities left and right. The child's bond with his sibling was clearly something that was largely profound. Perhaps it was a twin thing, or perhaps Loki and Amelia had done something right in raising them thus far.
It was several days after the magical revelation of Kari's abilities that Amelia and Loki found themselves sitting in bed one late afternoon with the children in their laps, watching a Disney movie - Aladdin specifically - to pass the time before dinner. It wasn't Loki's preferred way of passing time, but the children loved watching Disney movies and Amelia seemed to enjoy it a lot too. She had mentioned on more than one occasion that she and her brother used to have Disney marathons every so often well into their adult years. Loki didn't quite understand what all the fuss was about, they were just animated films with lots of colour and catchy music, each with their own positive message or moral lesson, but he dutifully sat and watched them for the sake of his children.
Kari loved the song segments, swaying from side to side on Amelia's lap while she quietly sang every lyric as if she was an Aladdin expert, which she probably was. Hell, Amelia probably knew every lyric to every Disney song, Loki wouldn't be surprised with how enthusiastically she had claimed she loved every movie.
Aster was a little less enthused; she was still watching the movie, but her attention was only partially on it. She sat in Loki's lap, wrapped in her soft, green blanket, playing idly with a plush toy of a black dragon, looking up to the television only occasionally; it was rather amusing to watch her pet the dragon like it was a living, breathing animal.
Loki looked to Kari with a smile, the boy was trying to sing along despite not knowing the words of the song, which resulted in him making quiet, vague noises that sounded nothing like the melody, but he was clearly having fun doing it. The boy had always had a love of music, perhaps inspired by the many times Amelia would sing to him and his sister throughout the day.
Speaking of Amelia, she had begun swaying in time with Kari as she sang, and it was utterly adorable. Loki found more entertainment in watching Amelia as opposed to the movie that was playing on the large screen ahead of them.
"Prince Ali, handsome as he, Ali Ababwa," she sang quietly so as not to overpower the television volume, "That physique! How can I speak? Weak at the knees!" Loki quirked an eyebrow at the lyric. Ridiculous. The song implied this cartoon man was some sort of gorgeous sight to behold, but he was two-dimensional and fictional. Loki was both a real prince and gorgeous, but Amelia never sang songs about him.
Amelia continued, seemingly getting more and more into it, "He's got ninety-five white Persian monkeys! And to view them he charges no fee!" She moved Kari from side to side in time with the music and the boy giggled along merrily.
Loki didn't have ninety-five white Persian monkeys, true, but he had so much more to offer. What would Amelia ever do with that many monkeys anyway? Loki had to stop himself before he got too far into his silly thoughts - was he really becoming oddly jealous of a fictional character? These Disney movies really did drive him crazy.
"Prince Ali, amorous he, Ali Ababwa! Heard your princess was a sight, lovely to see-AHH!" Amelia suddenly shrieked, startling everybody present. She jumped off the bed in a rush, clutching Kari to her chest and shielding his eyes from something, "Lo- Loki, oh my god, big spider- big spider!" She hurriedly motioned back to the bed, and Loki felt his eyes rolling as he searched for the offending arachnid. Amelia was always so terrified by the eight-legged little beasts that somehow managed to get in through the tiniest gaps and find their way to the upper levels of a huge tower, and Loki was always tasked with helping them find their way out - or sending them to their doom, either way.
He peered down at the bed and almost sputtered at the sight of what was truly a huge spider. Absolutely massive, unusually so. Loki slid off the bed, holding Aster away from it in the unlikely-but-possible scenario that the thing might pounce for her, and then tentatively reached for it with the intent to pick it up by one of its long legs.
Amelia whimpered as his hand drew closer to it while Kari worriedly repeated "Spider? Where spider?" in a small, frightened voice.
The moment Loki's hand came into contact with the unbelievably large arachnid, however, it disappeared in a blitz of green light, and Loki faltered.
Amelia gasped and then turned an accusatory glare on her husband, "You! Why did you think now was a good time to do one of your stupid little pranks? In the middle of a Disney movie!? With the kids right here?" She pointed a wagging finger at him.
Loki gaped, looking between the spot where the spider-illusion had been and his wife's face. While he was definitely guilty of creating spidery illusions every now and then to scare his wife - the noises she made when she was scared were rather cute - he definitely hadn't done so just then. He definitely hadn't. But then, if it wasn't him, who was it?
He looked to the only other magic-user in the room, little Kari who was mumbling nervously in Amelia's arms as he squirmed, and Loki knew immediately that his son hadn't been the one to cast the illusion - he was terrified of spiders just as much as his mother was.
"It… wasn't me." Loki murmured, and Amelia frowned in confusion.
"Whaddya mean?" She asked, staring at him like he had lost his mind.
That's when a slew of mischievous giggles interrupted them. Loki's gaze fell to his daughter, whose expression was full of delight as she clutched her plush dragon and blanket and swung her legs excitedly. She looked up to him, searching for approval, her big grin a sight to behold, and Loki felt his heart pumping with elation.
"Was that you? Did you make the spider appear?" He asked carefully, because he had to be sure. It was possible - if Aster did have magical potential, she may have seen him pulling the same prank on Amelia in the past and thought to replicate it.
She signed the word 'yes' with her little fist, and Loki had to fight to contain his joy; he looked to Amelia who seemed to understand in that moment just what had occurred, because her agitated expression quickly turned to surprise.
And then, because it was only fair, Loki swung Aster around as he had done with Kari, savouring the sweet sound of his daughter's squealing laughter, and he hugged her tightly, pride swelling in his chest at the knowledge that not one - but both of his children had inherited his magical prowess. Both had exhibited natural magical talent at two and a half years old.
He was going to teach them so many things. They were going to be powerful sorcerers just like him.
"Oh, I'm so proud of you, little flower. That was amazing," he told the girl, nuzzling his nose against hers. "I'm going to teach you all the spells I know - both of you," he addressed his son too with twinkling eyes, and Kari - now assuaged with the absence of the spider - clapped his hands happily.
Aster's eyes glinted contentedly as she smiled. Loki's mind was reeling. He was already thinking of what he would teach them first, laying out a mental lesson plan. He would consult his mother's journals to help him understand the best way to teach magic to a small child as Frigga had written her own experiences with teaching him her spells and tricks when he was just a child.
He would start with conjuration - no, illusions. No, on second thought, perhaps telekinesis would be a good starting point. He would definitely not teach them invisibility spells, because that was a headache he did not need. His children already made him nervous on the best of days, he didn't need them running around undetectable too.
There were so many things to think about. So many new pathways unlocked. He wanted to begin his teachings immediately, but Amelia would say it was too late in the evening to start now. Loki couldn't remember the last time he'd been so excited to do something - he would probably struggle to sleep that night.
"Darling, I'm excited too, but can you please - please not encourage Aster to make illusions of spiders. I'm begging you," Amelia pleaded quietly, sitting back down on the bed warily.
Loki licked his lips, unable to hide the grin on his face, and gave his daughter a subtle wink, "No promises, love."
Kari is definitely gonna grow up to be a theatre kid. Now that these two tots are super-powered, you can only imagine the mischief they might get up to xD
For the next chapter, however, we'll have the Avengers feature a bit cause we all love Tony, Bruce, Nat and Clint. I MAY include some Peter Parker too, I haven't decided just yet, but here's the idea I'm going with: Tony's throwing a lil gala in the tower, there'll be all types of people present. There'll be jealous!Amelia and possessive!Loki, and maaaaaybe some explicit-rated content later in the chapter ;) I'm excited to write it!
