An there are hints of certain things in this chapter, and not much happens. I just wanted to show how Loki and Saphira are with each other and let them be happy before everything falls apart on them. There is mention of time skips.
Disclaimer: Don't own anything.
Chapter 6 Home
Saphira grinned real big and leaned back in Loki's large bathtub; she was enjoying a bubble bath; it was afternoon the following day after she arrived on Asgard with Loki; they spent all night and most of the morning in Loki's bed. He was asleep at the moment, or he was when Saphira got up and drew her bath; Saphira was happy, she finally got Loki back and her home again. All that was missing was her sister.
Saphira washed her body off, then her hair, closed her eyes, and laid back to relax and smiled as she thought about being with Loki last night; he was so sweet and gentle with her, it was their first time; then their second, later third and so on. Saphira giggled to herself when she thought about how she and Loki couldn't keep their hands off each other last night and again early this morning. It was probably the reason why Loki was still asleep; she was pretty sure it wasn't far from lunchtime, perhaps later, there was no clock in Loki's bathroom, and her phone was in the other room, so Saphira had no way of knowing the time, though she didn't care too much about what time it was; it was late, that she could tell.
Saphira was brought out of her thoughts when there was a knock on the bathroom door, and she looked toward it with a frown, only to smile again when Loki opened the door and stuck his head in and looked around until he saw her and smiled as he walked on in the bathroom.
"So, this is where you ran off to," Loki said as he sat on the edge of the tub, he was wearing green silk pajamas. "I should have known."
"You have the best bathtub," Saphira told him. When she first arrived last night, Loki had ran her ban so she could wash all the mud off her; Saphira had fallen in love with his large, fancy bathroom and giant size tub then.
"That I do," Loki told her; he reached in the tub and ran his hand across the bubbles.
"Bubble baths are always so relaxing. " Saphira grinned, closing her eyes.
"Do you plan to stay in the bath all day, love?" Loki asked.
"I might," Saphira answered, opening her eyes. "How did you know I was there with SHIELD? I hadn't had the chance to send you a letter."
"Thor, " Loki answered. "I came to tell him about father, and he mentioned you and Enid were there, helping him. I had already planned to come to Enid's hotel to get you; it just saved me the trouble of having to find it."
"I thought so." Saphira grinned. "Good thing we did run into Thor because Enid and I wouldn't have been there; we were on vacation."
"Vacation? Enid? " Loki asked, surprised. "Is she not? What was the word you used in your letters? A workaholic?"
"Yes, but I think she thought I was depressed," Saphira explains. "She thought I needed a break."
"Were you depressed?" Loki asked, a little considered.
"Perhaps a little, you hadn't sent a letter in days, I was worried," Saphira explained. "Enid and I were fighting more than usual, and she thinks I was acting out worse."
"I am sorry, darling, with everything going on, I hadn't had the time," Loki replied.
"I understand that now, " Saphira assured him. "And you are forgiven."
Loki smiled at her and scooped up a hand full of bubbles and blew them towards Saphira; she raised her hand and stopped them, then made a slight motion with her hand, and the bubbles flew towards Loki and hit him in the face, causing Saphira to laugh.
"Very funny, darling," Loki said, wiping the bubbles off his face with the sleeve of his pajama top.
"I find it quite amusing," Saphira told him.
"Of course you do." Loki grinned; he leaned over as if he was going to kiss her; but as she raised a little to welcome his lips, Loki scooped up a hand full of bubbles and dumped them on her head; he laughed as Saphira pushed him away.
"That was sneaky," Saphira replied, splashing water at him, but Loki could dodge out of the way by disappearing, then reappearing on the other side of the bathtub, still laughing. She tried to splash him again, and again, Loki just teleported out of the way.
"That's cheating," Saphira let him know.
"Is it? So sorry." Loki joked as he sat on the side of the tub he was sitting on before, then splashed water at her.
"You do realize that it doesn't matter how much you throw water or bubbles on me; I am lying in a bath full of them; I'm already wet from my hair to my toes anyway."
"Mm, true, " Loki grinned, leaning towards her. "Guess I'll have to get you back some other way." This time he did kiss her. It was short and sweet, but when he pulled away, Saphira reached up and grabbed hold of Loki's top.
"I think you could use a relaxing bath too," Saphira told him, then pulled him forward into the bathtub with her, water splashed out all over the floor.
"This is not funny," Loki said as Saphira laughed at him, he was lying with his legs on the sides of the tub and his back against Saphira, and he was smiling; he loved seeing her happy; it made him happy, she kept certain things off his mind, and even for just a little bit stopped him from brooding over them.
"I think it is." Saphira said, then leaned in and kissed him as she began to unbutton his pajama top, "You are a little overdressed for a bath, though, handsome." Saphira smiled as she leaned in to kiss him again, this time down the side of his neck.
After Loki and Saphira had a little fun in the bath together, Saphira found herself in Loki's room, standing in front of his tall mirror, wearing one of Loki's bathrobes; he let her borrow one when they had gotten out of the bathtub.
At the moment, she was able to get a good look at Loki's chambers; since she hadn't the night before; it seems larger than remembered, but she was sure it was the same room, his decorations hadn't changed much, mostly had more large bookshelves full of books lined most of the walls, he had a large painting of himself in armor hanging over the giant fireplace, one side of the room, was nothing but wardrobes full of his clothes, and armor, he had another room off to the side, that you might think was a closet or something but was a small library full of books, that even back in the day he barely touched, having already read them all dozens of times. Though if you pulled on a few of the books, the bookcases opened up to secret passways that only she, Loki, and Frigga knew about, though Saphira would guess Odin did too, she doubted there wasn't much about this palace he didn't know. Anyway, those passageways helped them play tricks on Thor and the others and later helped Loki smuggle her into his chambers without being seen.
Loki's bed was different than the one he had back then; it was much larger, even more so than a Midgardain king size bed, more comfortable too; the headboard was massive and had been made especially for him, gold with horns like the ones on his helmet stuck out at the top, his bedclothes was satin gold sheets, and pillow shams, and a black Duvet on top. Those were new, a little more adult-like than the green set he used to have on his bed.
Few feet from the bed, almost in the center of the room, was a small round table, with nothing on it but two photos of her and her smartphone; on either side of the table sat two identical chairs that looked almost like mini thrones. They were gold, with horns coming out of the back, the arms were snakes, and the cushions were a dark green. Also new. The floor was black marble, with gold designs, with a green and black rug taken up the middle of the room; usually, Saphira would say he overdid it with the same three colors, but it somehow seemed to work.
"Is this a different room than you had before?" Saphira asked.
"No, darling, the same room I've always had," Loki replied, "Just changed it a little."
"But then why does it look bigger?" Saphira asked as Loki sat in one of the chairs to put on his boots; he had already gotten dressed.
"Because it is," Loki replied.
"How..."
Loki's smirk turned into a grin at her confusion. "Magic."
Saphira rolled her eyes, then turned back to the mirror; as she looked at her reflection, Saphira realized something; she had nothing to put on. The only clothes she had with her were the dirty things she arrived wearing. As she never got her suitcase back, and the bag she brought with her wasn't big enough for clothes.
"I am never going to be able to leave your chambers," Saphira said, a little dramatically.
"And why is that?" Loki asked as he tied up his boots.
"Unless it's now okay to walk around the palace in a bathrobe or naked, then I can't leave this room," Saphira answered. Loki gave her an amused look as he stood and walked over to her.
"Though I do like the thought of that last option," Loki said as he waved his hand toward the floor, and a trunk appeared. "It would be highly inappropriate." Saphira rolled her eyes at him again.
"What's with the trunk?" Saphira asked Loki smiled at her, and with another wave of his hand, the lid popped open, and the truck was full of familiar things.
"Do you not remember, love?" Loki asked," This is the trunk you packed when we were planning to run away together."
"You kept it all this time?" Saphira said and sat down in front of the trunk, and started looking through it. She found her old wooden jewelry box and pulled it out.
"You should be able to find something nice to wear in there," Loki told her.
"Thanks, handsome," Saphira said.
"Take your time and look through your stuff. I'll be over there if you need me." Loki leaned in and gave her a quick kiss, then went back over to the chair he was sitting in; Saphira turned her attention back to the jewelry box in her hand. It was a gift from her mother, that was a gift to her from her mother. So on and so on, it was an old jewelry box probably even older than Odin himself; it was handcrafted, wooden with carvings on the top. Enid never cared as much for Jewelry and makeup as Saphira did, so her mother passed it to her; it had been one of the only things along with a few jewels in it that Astra brought with her when she came to Asgard. It had been a tradition in her mother's family for centuries to pass this jewelry box down to the next daughter while leaving at least one piece of jewelry that belongs to you in it, which meant it had to be enchanted to hold it all.
Saphira ran her hand across the markings on the lid, then opened it and looked inside, all her jewels were there, including the comb Enid gave her when they were younger, and the necklace she loved to wear that belonged to her great-grandmother was a large ruby, cut in the shape of a Phoenix, on a long silver chain.
Saphira smiled at it, and kept it and the comb out to use and sat the box back in the truck, and decided to look through it more later. Right now, she needed to get dressed; she looked through the clothes and picked out a light blue dress, trimmed in silver. It was long, with transparent sleeves with diamonds and a silver belt around the waist. Asgardians seemed to have their color trend, like Loki loving black, green, and gold, Thor liked red and gold, Enid always favored black and dark blue, sometimes dark purple, Saphira loved all kinds of colors. Still, her own was light blue, pink, and silver, and unlike most others, Saphira always had to add a jewel or sparkle to her outfits. Her mother would laugh and say Saphira always had to be flashy.
Saphira looked back in the trunk and found some underclothes to put on with her dress, and stood up and faced the mirror; she laid her things on a chair sitting next to it, and removed the robe, and begin to get dressed; after slipping the dress on, she noticed in the mirror that Loki was watching her from his chair, she rolled her eyes with a grin.
"That's not a very gentleman thing to do." Saphira teased.
"Perhaps not." Loki agreed. "But if it bothered you, you would not have gotten dress in front of me." Saphira looked over at him.
"Well, since you enjoy watching me so much, you can come over here and help me tie up the back of my dress," Saphira said.
Loki stood and walked over to Saphira. As she faced the mirror, Loki moved her hair in front of her and tied up the dress, then tied the back of the belt.
"Thank you," Saphira said as Loki put her hair back in place and ran his hand through it, playing with it; he missed feeling Saphira's silky curls.
"I've always loved this dress on you." Loki said, "You have always been so beautiful."
Saphira smiled at Loki's praise as she pushed one side of her hair back with the small comb Enid had given her, then slipped the necklace over her head, and turned around and kissed Loki before going back to her trunk and put everything she had taken out back in, and shut the lid gently.
"I am so happy to be home with you finally," Saphira said.
"Not as happy as I am," Loki said; he held his hand out to help her stand; they smiled at each other and kissed again before pulling apart. "How about going for a walk? I'll show you around. Get out of this room a while."
Saphira agreed, then slipped her arm through Loki's, and he led her out of his room, and down the corridor, every guard or servant they passed stared at them and whispered to each other.
"The staff has always been too nosy," Loki said, glaring at a guard that had stopped in his tracks to stare at Saphira; when he saw Loki's glare, he hurried away. On their tour of the palace, they stopped by to see Frigga, who was happy and not at all surprised to see that Loki had gone to Midgard and got Saphira. She also somehow already knew Thor was with Enid. After talking with Frigga for a bit, Saphira and Loki joined her for a late lunch; where Saphira got a kick out of the shocked looks on Thor's friend's faces at the sight of her walking in the hall on Loki's arm; afterward, they went for a walk in the gardens. Sat in the throne room for a while, then had dinner, and after dinner, they spent the rest of the evening in Loki's chambers.
Saphira's second full day there, she got in a fight with Lady Sif; after overhearing her talking about Loki to the others, Loki was busy dealing with a problem that somehow involved the king handling, and Saphira was roaming around bored, while she waited for Loki to get done when she came upon Lady Sif and The Warriors Three, Sif blamed everything that was happening on Loki when Saphira comforted her; she had the nerve to say. "Loki claims he can not bring Thor back, but he can go to Midgard and drag you back here after what your father did."
Saphira had let out an angry noise like a cat and tackled Sif to the ground, where they both rolled around throwing punches until Hogun wrapped his arms around Sif's waist and pulled her away. Fandral wrapped his arms around Saphira's waist and pulled her away from Sif. That's when Loki came along, he had been looking for Saphira and had heard the yelling, and when he came upon the scene, Hogun had already let go of Sif. Fandral hadn't yet let go of Saphira, and misunderstanding what was going on, Loki almost went into a rage, trying to get at Fandral, whom he thought was trying to hurt Saphira or attacking her or something. Saphira still wasn't too sure what Loki had believed, but Fandral let go of her, and Saphira was able to pull Loki back, and after ordering Sif to drop the whole thing about Thor and let him be happy on Midgard with Enid, she grabbed Loki's arm and dragged him away. Not that she cared if he hurt Fandral, it just wouldn't look good with him as King right now.
Saphira's third day there, while Loki was talking with his Mother, Saphira took a walk down the rainbow bridge to see Heimdall; he greeted her with a smile and became fascinated with the smartphone she used to take his picture with; surprisingly, it hadn't gone dead yet (was getting there though) and still worked after fighting Clint Barton with it in her pocket. After catching up, Saphira asked Heimdall about Enid; he told her she and Thor were still trying to figure out how he could become worthy again and had not left New Mexico yet; when she asked if Enid was mad with her, Heimdall told her, Enid had been more upset and hurt, than angry over Saphira taking off without telling her, Saphira walked back up the rainbow bridge feeling a little down and decided to ask Loki to take her to Midgard to talk to Enid when he had the time that was, she also wanted to make sure her sister cooled off some before facing her.
Saphira never got around to asking Loki, though, on her way back, Loki had snuck up behind her, grabbed ahold of her a swung her around, Saphira knowing it was him, had laughed, and made plans to get him back, which started the "prank war" between the two. After that day, they tried to one-up the other. One of the great things about their relationship, they were able to tease each other, prank or trick each other, and know it was all for fun; neither took it seriously, just like back years ago. The teases and tricks were their way of flirting with each other.
They didn't let it distract them from their jobs with running Asgard, and Loki was doing an excellent job of being King, at least Saphira and his mother thought so, most of the others would have agreed if it wasn't for him not being Thor. The one most of the people thought should be here taking Odin's place.
As the days passed by, her time in the palace, being with Loki, and trying to avoid Thor's friends made bringing up visiting Enid slip her mind when Saphira wasn't with Loki, she was either out in the gardens or with Frigga, who refused to leave Odin's bedside until he wakes. She loved to hear Saphira's tales of Midgard. But one time, she brought up Loki and was surprised that he had already told Saphira of his adoption and heritage, then thanked Saphira for sticking by him and not turning her back on him; Saphira had remarked she wasn't her father, so she wasn't blinded by hate and Frigga admited to being worried about Saphira's reaction, and was afraid to think about how Loki would have taken it if Saphira had left him. Saphira purposely changed the subject.
Before a week passed, the guards and servants had gotten so used to Saphira being with Loki that they got the habit of bowing to her as if she was Queen. First, it was because Loki was with her, but soon they started doing it whenever she passed by them; it didn't matter if Loki was with her or not. Though she gave off the air of someone who thought she was above them, she never really did anything disrespectful towards any of them, ignored them mostly, besides enjoying them kneeling to her.
About a week after arriving on Asgard, Saphira and Loki took a trip into the village, where they ran into an old friend of theirs Saphira had been hoping to see her, her name was Kelda, and she along with two others, who were sisters, and into magic like Loki, had been the friends Saphira and Loki had made when they had gotten older, unfortunately, though, the sisters were no longer on Asgard, Saphira was told they left years ago, they had started getting into a lot of trouble.
"I can get used to that," Saphira said when they were returning to the palace, and the guards kneeled to them as they passed. "They are doing that when you are not with me too."
"They see you as temporary Queen at the moment." Loki explained, "You are not only their King's lover, but you have been filling in for my mother."
That was true; at first, Loki was trying to do both, so his mother wouldn't be disturbed , and to help out, Saphira stepped up and started doing what jobs the Queen usually does, which wasn't much compared to the King, just making sure the palace was being run correctly and attending to people's problem's that were deem not important enough for the King to be bothered with, which she didn't have many issues to sort out for the Asgardians thought their problems no matter how little or how big, were important enough to seek out the King; Loki would get annoyed with them, and the stupidest or pettiest ones, he wouldn't trouble Saphira over either, deeming them not important enough for either of them to waste their time on.
Saphira tried to avoid Thor's friends all together, but it was hard to do, especially when they had a habit of showing up wherever she and Loki were demanding to know when Thor would be allowed back; neither ever answered. Loki would always tell them to leave while gripping Gungnir tightly in his hand; the few times they got Saphira while she was by herself, she just walked off without answering, Loki had confessed to Saphira that he told Thor, Odin had died. Saphira didn't understand Loki's thought process with that lie, and once Odin wakes, Thor would know the truth. Still, Loki didn't seem too concerned with that. Frigga believed Odin would be asleep for a while, and Loki wasn't worried about it. And neither was Saphira after Loki told her of his plans to prove himself to Odin, to prove himself just as good as Thor, and his goal with them and their future, Saphira promised to help him with whatever he needed and decided Thor being on Midgard were for the best; he could be with Enid, and after a while, she and Loki would visit them.
Yes, Saphira was happy, but not everyone was delighted with her being back or Loki being King, and people showing her the same respect as they would if she was Queen; Saphira heard the gossip and talk, but after a few days, she learned to ignore it, and after a while, no one was talking at least where she could hear them anyway. But no matter how happy she and Loki were, something still seems to be bothering Loki; he turned moody and broody when left by himself too long and sometimes just lost in thought when just sitting around.
"You are brooding again, handsome," Saphira said as she entered the throne room looking for Loki; he looked up and smiled at her as she walked up the stairs and stood in front of him.
"I am not." Loki denied. "Just a lot on my mind."
"You're starting to sound like Enid." Saphira made a face. "She always says that when talking about work."
"I have bigger, more important things to worry over than Enid does," Loki replied, taken Saphira's hand and pulling her towards him, where he had her sit on the arm of the throne. "As King, I have a lot to do and decide and worry over."
"Yet, you still find time for me; you are the sweetest," Saphira told him; slipping off the arm and into Loki's lap, she put her arm around him, then snuggled to him.
"I'll always have time for you, sweetheart," Loki told her; Saphira grinned,
"A little corny, but I'll take it." Saphira teased.
"Good," Loki replied before kissing her.
"I am pretty sure I know what keeps putting you in this mood," Saphira said when they pulled apart, "I understand you can't just get over it overnight and do need time to process it, but I am here for you when you need me. And for when you are ready to talk about it."
"I know you are my love," Loki assured her, and Saphira snuggled closer to him and changed the subject to a happier topic.
Despite everything going their way and how happy Saphira felt, she had this nagging feeling in the back of her mind; something was going to go wrong; Loki, though he was happy right now; she knew two things were getting to him, one Thor's friends and their never-ending need to bring up Thor. Between Lady Sif and The Warriors Three's attitudes, Saphira had a feeling something was going to happen, possibly even them sneaking off Asgard to get Thor. Still, there wasn't much Saphira could do other than keeping an eye on them. And hoping they weren't that stupid and hoping she could stop them if they were.
The other thing Saphira knew still brothering Loki was, he was still bothered about his heritage; it wasn't the adopted part bugging him, not so much the being lied to; even though he was still upset over that, it was being jotuun that was getting to him. Saphira tried her best to show him he was still the same Loki and not a monster; she didn't think she was getting through to him very much; Saphira wished there was something she could say or do to help him.
AN I hope this chapter wasn't too dull or confusing with the time skips; the next chapter could get a hint of who I have made Loki's birth mother, but she won't appear for a hopefully Loki doesn't seem too out of character in this chapter but remember this is a side of Loki Saphira only gets to see.