Author's Note
Song Lyrics from We The Kings - See You In My Dreams
/watch?v=Llhi8Ydoymw
and Imagine Dragons - Wrecked
/watch?v=4mJayYlfcWo&ab_channel=ImagineDragonsVEVO
Additional Song: Dido - Here With Me
/watch?v=g20Pr_fQyzg&ab_channel=bored530
Whole Playlist:
/playlist?list=PLb-h0TgZRJZooJ-TPIjxWEFoYEnXi2vcl
It had been the first time Luciana had drunk any alcohol and as it turned out she couldn't handle it at all. One glass of wine and she was wasted. And with that she turned as simple-minded as all the other Asgardians. She went along with their way of partying - she sang, she danced with everyone who offered her their hand, hell she probably would have ended up in some random person's bed - if it hadn't been for the person that had kept an eye on her for the entire evening.
Loki had watched her in silence for the most part, but had made sure she didn't get her hands on any more alcohol. It was only when one particularly daring Asgardian noble had taken her hand and was coaxing her into following him up towards the stairs, that he had taken action and intervened. He had quickly taken her away from him, saying she had had enough of the party for today. Seeing as he was faced with one of the princes, the other man hadn't dared to retort a single word, quietly retreating back to the crowd of people instead.
Right now the two made their way to the balcony so Luciana could get some fresh air, which he thought she definitely needed.
"Lookiiiii~ You're too faaast…" the girl called from behind him in a slurred voice. On their way she had already stumbled several times, over the stairs or even her own feet. Loki stopped and turned around with a sigh. Luciana looked like a mess. Her hair was disheveled, her cheeks were rosy and he was scared she would fall over any second, sending her tumbling down the stairs. "Fine. We're almost there anyway, so excuse me Lady Echo."
"Pff. Since when are you calling me by that title, Lo- Waah!? Hey! Wh-What are you doing?"
"Getting you to that balcony so you can breathe the alcohol out of your system."
Much to Luciana's surprise, her friend had picked her up just like that and was now carrying her princess-style over the last few steps towards the balcony. It didn't seem to cause him any effort, in fact it seemed like to him she weighed nothing at all. Had he always been that strong? That scrawny boy that had kept on chasing her around the castle's garden when they were little…
"L-let go off me right now!" she started to protest, wriggling around in his arms in an attempt to break free.
"Hey. Stop struggling! We're here already. So, I'll let you down, just stop moving for one- Woah!?"
"Eeeek!?"
With a loud thump they both tumbled to the ground, founding themselves sprawled across the floor. Or rather Loki was on the floor while Luciana, well, she had landed on top of him. They both groaned in pain and the brunette felt even dizzier than before. She tried pushing herself up, but while her left hand found hold on the cold ground, her right pushed down on something softer. Something that felt like.. a leather plate? Confused, she finally opened her eyes, which she had squeezed shut in fear earlier, and her gaze met with Loki's crystal blue eyes that stared up at her in shock.
For a moment they just stared at each other as if in a trance. But then Luciana burst out laughing while Loki awkwardly turned his head away. "Get off me." he said but whether because she didn't hear him due to her laughter or she just chose to ignore him, the young woman didn't move an inch. "I hate to repeat myself, but get up Lucy." he tried again, this time pushing her shoulders. They were quite slender. As were her arms. As was her waist. As was her whole body, except for… "GOD!"
"Eeeek!?"
The God of Mischief had pushed himself off the ground, resulting in Luciana tumbling down from him. Now she really found herself on the cold floor and she held her head in pain. She had probably hit it in the process of her fall. "Ouch… That was mean… I was just getting comfortable, too."
"Comf- Lucy, you do not get comfortable on top of another person." he shook his head at her in exasperation.
"If that person is your favorite in the world you can~" the brunette cooed in a sweet sing-sang beside him. Loki was at a rare loss of words. He opened and closed his mouth as he attempted to say something but failed to do so. He repeated the notion several times, until he finally managed to produce a sound. "...You're drunk."
That drew a giggle from Luciana, seemingly proving his point. She rolled her body over, positioning herself right next to him. Her big emerald green eyes looked up at him, although there was a cloud over them from the alcohol. "I'm tired…" she slurred, stifling a yawn.
"Well, you've been dancing around like some mad woman all evening no wonder you're-"
"Let me sleep a bit."
He blinked. "What? Here?"
"Yes…" Another yawn escaped her lips.
"Lucy, you can't sleep here, it's cold and not comfortable."
"It is. It will be, if I just-"
"Wh-what are you-!?"
Luciana had crawled forward a little, laying her head on his lap, as she accustomed her body to a comfortable position.
"Lucy, you can't-"
"Just… a few minutes? Please?" she mumbled, already half asleep. Frozen in shock, the God of Mischief said nothing. And after a while he could hear Luciana's calm breathing as she lay on his lap, eyes closed. He let out a quiet sigh, careful not to disturb her sleep by making any unnecessary noise.
Not knowing what else to do he kept watch over her. She really had changed a lot since they were kids. Obviously she had gained in height. But her hair had also grown in length quite a bit as had her… Well, she was definitely not that little girl he had shown his newest magic to anymore. The girl that had applauded him with excitement at any new trick. No, the girl was undoubtedly a woman now. A fact he had only just now realized.
"Urgh…" Loki ran a hand over his face in frustration. He would probably be forced to stay in place on the balcony with Luciana's head on his lap for quite a while. All while his heart beat at an uncharacteristically irregular pace.
Tonight I believe
That you are the reason I dream
The next morning Luciana found herself in "her" bed in one of the castle's guest chambers, which had been her room ever since she could remember. She woke up with a head splitting pain inside her skull. Try as she might, she couldn't quite remember what had happened the night before. The brunette knew she had been at the castle's party, she had eaten some good food and she had drunk… something? But afterwards her head drew a blank.
With a sigh she closed her eyes again, deciding that staying in this comfy bed a bit longer wouldn't be such a bad choice. And although she didn't remember a thing about last night's events, she recalled having had a nice dream and as she slowly drifted off to sleep again a smile slowly spread on her lips.
But here comes the light,
Stealing me back from you
"Even when she's crying she's beautiful…"
"Oh. So you agree that the woman is beautiful, huh? But he is just average."
Voices.
"Look. He's just a dude with a little more muscles, but this woman, she's…"
"Like an angel that fell from heaven."
"See? Drax agrees."
They're loud.
"Drax also agrees that the man is - what did he say? Ah yes, he's what you get if a pirate and an angel had a baby."
"Now that's ridiculous and you know it."
"What I know is that you're a hypocrite, Quill."
"No. No, I'm not- a hypo- whatever that is."
Be quiet. Let me sleep. Just let me sleep.
"She feels the same pain that he does."
"Makes sense. They both came from the same shipwreck."
"Yet it's different. Her loss it… It runs even deeper. She's crying."
"Yeah, I can see that."
"Her heart is crying… for someone. Someone she deeply-"
"Lucy!"
Wait. That voice- Thor?
"Get away from her!"
"Woah, man, chill. We weren't doing anything to her. We're just-"
"Lucy! Lucy, wake up!"
Over and over the God of Thunder called out her name and at long last her eyelids gradually fluttered open. With them a tear, that had been stuck to her long lashes, slowly ran down her cheek. Disoriented and with hazy eyes Luciana looked around the room. Several unknown people were gazing down on her. Where was she? Why wasn't she dead? The explosion should have killed her.
"Lucy! Thank god. Are you alright?" Thor cried out next to her in relief.
Of course. He was the reason. She was still alive because of him. With that realization the foggy feeling slowly disappeared from her mind and she gradually became aware of her surroundings. Luciana knew where she was and who these people were. They always ended up on their tiny ship. How could she have forgotten?
For a moment she studied their faces, that all looked down on her with a mixture of worry and confusion. Thor seemed to be particularly on edge. Right. She hadn't answered him yet.
Still sluggish in her movements, the woman pushed herself up from the strange table she was laying on. Every bone in her body hurt and Thor had to steady her back from behind for a few seconds to keep her in an upright position.
"I think I'm ok… Somewhat." she pressed out weakly. It surprised her how hollow her voice sounded. "Where are we though? And who are these guys?"
"About that…" her friend began to explain as the woman with the strange antlers handed her a bowl of soup.
Luciana listened to them talk in silence while eating. She wasn't particularly hungry, in fact she would have rather not eaten anything at all. But she was incredibly cold and the hot liquid did at least warm her up a little. The brunette was sure that it would have tasted good if not great had she eaten it under different circumstances. However, in her current state it tasted bland, almost like nothing at all.
The remaining prince seemed to be in a state of confusion himself as he rambled on in front of Gamorra about what had happened to them before tragedy had struck. Only to walk off towards the backend of the aircraft after having announced that he needed a hammer. He tried to fiddle with the mechanic but came to no success.
"Uh, what are you doing?" Rocket finally asked him with a raised eyebrow.
"Taking your pod."
The statement led to a firm cough from Starlord. He didn't seem particularly amused about the other man's attempt of theft and objected in a strangely deep voice. "No, you're not." It earned him confused stairs from his companions, which didn't stop him from continuing though. "You will not be taking our pod today, sir."
"Uh… Quill, are you making your voice deeper?"
"No."
"You are. You're imitating the god-man. It's weird."
"If you want to copy Thor, he sounds more like this." Luciana interjected, copying the blonde's voice without fail. It was the first time she had actively joined the conversation and everyone stared at her in shock.
"Did… Did she just-" Mantis stuttered.
Rocket scoffed. "Look, even a delicate woman like her can do a better impression of him than you, Quill."
"This is my voice."
"Are you mocking me?" Thor growled in irritation, stepping up towards the other man.
She rolled her eyes at the exchange. Men never changed. It was thanks only to Gamorra's interjection that they finally managed to get back on track. Thanos had to be stopped and that meant they had to prevent him from getting to the rest of the infinity stones. Following Thor's reasoning his next stop would be Knowhere. The place where the Reality Stone had been stored with the Collector ever since it had been extracted from Jane Foster several years ago. Although, they had still called it the Aether at that time.
"Then we have to get to Knowhere as fast as possible."
"Wrong. Where we have to go is Nidavellir."
That's right. Unlike what he had explained before, the God of Thunder never chose to accompany the Guardians for the hunt after the Reality Stone. He needed a new weapon, for Mjolnir had been destroyed by his late sister. And the only place where he could acquire a weapon strong enough to take on the Mad Titan was Nidavellir.
This led to the part where the group would split up. While Starlord, Gamorra, Drax and Mantis would head to Knowhere, the God of Thunder would be accompanied by Rocket and Groot. Which left her with a team to choose. It seemed natural for her to go along with her friend, which was what she always had done. It was the path the timeline had deemed as the correct one. Yet she wondered whether anything would really change if she chose to go with the other group.
"Lucy…" the blonde called out to her. Upon hearing her name she turned to look at him with her emerald eyes. It pained Thor to look into them. They had always shined so brightly but now they were dull, devoid of any light. There was only pain and sadness behind those irises. If he could wish for something, he would send her to a place distant from here, where it was safe. A place far away from Thanos and the danger he posed. He didn't want her to endanger herself any further. She was the only part of his family he had left and he couldn't afford to lose her too. Despite that, he felt a duty to keep her safe from harm. He owed it to his brother.
However, Thor knew that his wish couldn't be fulfilled. Apart from the fact that he had no means to even get her to a safe place, he knew that he needed Luciana and her powers by his side.
Luciana could see the hesitation in his remaining eye and it tugged at her heartstrings. Here he was, broken and traumatized, covered in wounds, his heart aching from the loss of his loved ones and yet - Yet he gazed at her with such sympathy and pity, like she was the only one in agony. Like her pain was the only thing that mattered. At that moment she thought that Thor looked like the loneliest man in the world. How could she have even considered for a moment to walk along a different part than him? There was no way she could leave his side. Luciana would go with him, for his sake. And also for her own. After all Thor, who had become a brother to her a long time ago, was all she really had left. She knew what fate had in store for him and it wouldn't be kind. It pained her to think about what was ahead for them, but she would stay by his side. It was the least she could do.
"Well, I hope that tiny capsule has space for one more person." she said, before Thor could ask her to come along. His eye widened in surprise but soon he gave her the tiniest smile and she knew he appreciated her decision. Luciana tried her best to smile back at him. She knew it had to look fake but it was the best she could muster at the moment. Her shoulder brushed against him as she passed him. He raised his hand and placed it on her head, gently stroking her hair. For a moment she lingered like that, her head hanging low, fighting back the urge to cry. But when she raised it again, there was a new resolve in her eyes and she climbed inside the tiny pod without looking back.
Days pass by and my eyes stay dry, and I think that I'm okay
