"Is my brother gracing us with his presence," Thor laughed and you turned to see Loki standing in the entry way of the dining room in a simple black button down and slacks. "Come! Join us!"

You handed Loki the plate you were about to bring to him and gestured to an empty chair at the table.

"Good morning, brother," Loki nodded to Thor and turned to everyone else. "I apologize for my tardiness."

"Misunderstandings and ass-kicking," you muttered under your breath and felt a dress shoe hit your shin. You looked at Loki in surprise and saw a small mischievous glimmer in his eyes, making your heart beat faster.

"Glad to see Reindeer Games decided to take a vacation for the Fortress of Solitude," Tony commented taking a drink of his coffee. "Swayze, remember those tests I had you do?"

"Oh yeah," you bit into a sausage link. "What did you find?"

"Magic is not your forte," Tony stated plainly. "How did you ever burn down an entire forest?"

"When did you do that?" Loki asked, pouring himself some orange juice. "Surely, not on Asgard."

You exchange a nervous glance with Thor. "It was on Vanaheim," you began. "We had gone on a training trip and someone had the bright idea to call my mother a cross between an orc and pile of dragon manure."

"Well, that's not very clever," Loki took of sip of orange juice. "Thor must have said it."

"It was one of the Vanir," Thor corrected. "He tried persuading Y/N into his bed and she declined. He did not take it very well and neither did Y/N."

"I admit, I was a little short tempered that day," you laughed.

"Short tempered," Thor yelled. "You nearly burned everyone to a crisp!"

"Did you really burn down an entire forest," Natasha took a pancake from the large plate and start to tear off sections to eat. "Just because of a playground insult."

"That's how it started. It wasn't until. . ." your voice trailed off as memories resurfaced.

"Duck," Loki's voiced called to you and you dipped your head, barely avoided the rock that had zipped past.

You hit the Vanir who insulted your mother in the head once more before dropping him to the ground. You turned to see Thor wrestling one of the Vanir's friends to the ground and Loki dodging out of the way of another's sword. You hear footsteps behind you and turn fast enough to block the blow of an axe to the face.

"Thor," you called to the prince, now covered with mud. "I believe we are in trouble now."

"You're the one who's got to explain this to their mentor," Thor laughed, locking the Vanir's head in his arms.

"What's the worst he's going to do?" You smacked the side of the axe wielder's face with the hilt of your sword, sending him to the dirt. Before Thor could respond, Loki cried out of pain.

You spun on your heel and saw Loki on the ground and traces of blood on the Vanir's sword. Fury burned through your body, heating the air around you, as you rushed at the Vanir. Fire exploded on impact, sending the receiver into the atmosphere and lighting the rest of the forest on fire. The remaining Vanirs retreated from the fight as you bent down to check on Loki.

"Fuck, that hurts," Loki groaned, you noticing a cut to his shoulder. "Who turned up the heat?"

"Be glad you weren't standing when Y/N exploded," Thor limped to the two of you. "We would have be roasted like a pig on a spit."

Your head fell to Loki's shoulder, relief draining any remaining strength from you.

"Love," Loki tapped your back, "What's wrong?"

"You are nearly an adult and you still get defeated by a flesh wound," tears mixed with your laughter as you began to calm down. "Never scare me like that again. I don't know what I would do."

"Of course, love," Loki kissed your cheek and you began dressing his wound, wondering what you were going to say to your mentor.

Someone called your name and you snapped out your thoughts to see everyone staring at you, including Loki.

"Are you okay," Bruce asked gently. "You stopped talking."

"Yeah," you gave a half smile. "I hardly interacted with Midgardians if I could help it, so I sometimes get lost in thought."

"So," Loki leaned forward, his chin resting on the back of his hands. "Your mother was insulted, what happened next?"

You took a second to collect your thoughts before continuing. "I punched him of course. Didn't know his friends were watching the whole thing though."

"Good thing we were though," Thor added.

"True," you agreed. "It would have been a pretty simple brawl if. . ."

"One of the trainees didn't get in the way," Thor interjected, you thanked him mentally. "Caught a sword to the shoulder and went down like a sack of potatoes."

"I was pretty protective back then," you finished.

"I feel like I should remember this," Loki swirled his drink around his glass.

"Some things are best left forgotten," you stated, focusing on your food.

After a moment, the conversation carried on as normal, even Loki seemed to enjoy the exchange. You allowed yourself to enjoy the company for the first time in centuries. You remembered your time in Scandinavia where you enjoyed multiple feasts with the Norse Midgardians. The taste of the mead and the sound of the music playing in celebration after each battle won claim your memories for your first century on Midgard.

Though nothing could beat your former life on Asgard.


"Come on, brother," you watched Thor and Loki spar, while you sat on the bench cleaning on of your guns. "You can do better than that."

"If you take off the watch," Loki gestured his arm to Thor. "I can show you what I can really do."

Thor swung his hammer at Loki and the dance between them continued. You couldn't help but smile remembering the many times you watch them spar over the years.

Loki hit the stone wall next to you after Thor hit him across the chest with a training staff.

"Come on, brother," Thor grinned ear to ear. "You can do better than that."

"Very well," Loki turned to you and gave a wink before using magic to disappear. You felt air press against your cheek and smiled sensing Loki moving away from you.

"No magic!" Thor turned in a circle trying to locate his trickster brother.

"Neither of you agreed to that," you jeered, sharpening your sword. "Consider this part of your training."

You watched Loki materialize behind Thor and used his staff to knock Thor's legs out from under him. Thor fell to the ground with a thud and you had to suppress a laugh.

"How was that," Loki bend over his brother to tease him.

"Better," Thor smiled and used the staff still in his hands to knock Loki's legs out from under him as well. Thor moved out of the way just as Loki hit the ground and pressed his staff against Loki's chest. "Do you yield?"

"I yield," you blinked away the memory to see Loki on the ground with Thor's hammer resting against his chest. Loki seemed to struggle slightly against the hammer and took a deep breathe when Thor removed it.

You clapped as the spar was over and Loki walked over to you and sat on the bench. You handed him one of the water bottles you had gotten earlier and Loki gave you an appreciative smile before opening the bottle and gulping down the liquid.

"You cheated," Loki gasped, water dripping from his lips. "You had an advantage."

"Did not," Thor defended, taking the bottle you offered him. "You're just weak."

"What do you call that," Loki waved his hand at Mjolnir.

"It is an extension of my power," Thor spun the hammer before catching it in his hand again.

"And my magic is an extension of mine," Loki spun his hand in a flourish and dropped it in his lap after a second's hesitation.

"Loki's right," you agreed, assembling you gun before putting it in its holster under the bench. "There is going to be a day where you don't have immediate access to your weapon."

Thor looked at you for a moment before throwing Mjolnir across the room, letting it bury itself into the wall. Thor then lifted his arm and waited for Mjolnir to fly into his hand once again.

"I don't think I have to worry about that," Thor winked and walked out the training hall.

"He's quite full of himself," you sighed, standing up to stretch.

"If only you knew," Loki took another drink of water before twisting the cap back on. You walked over to the rack of practice weapons and picked out two practice batons and stood in the middle of the mat and starting running through drills.

"Haven't you been spending too much time working out?" Loki asked as he watched you from the bench.

"It helps me stay sane," you said speeding up your movements each time you finish one drill and started another.

"What would happen if you weren't?"

"Don't know," you started moving around the mat, speeding up your movements. "I spent a few decades in a temple in Asia and learned several calming techniques."

"When was this?"

"After I fled Scandinavia my first century on Midgard." You began your tale as you continued your drills. "I left because they wanted to worship me as a god-"

"I don't see how that's a bad thing," Loki got up from his seat and started pacing around the room. As you moved, you could feel his eyes following you.

"They worshipped Odin," you explained. "I didn't want to run the risk of Odin catching wind of it and sending someone to kill me."

"So you foregone an excellent opportunity. . . What happened then?"

"Then I wondered the wilderness," you continued. "After a few years, I felt like I was going to go insane. I found myself in Tibet and ended up joining a temple there. The monks originally didn't allow women, but after I showed up everyday for over 25 years, they made an exception."

"So meditation saved your life," Loki spoke sarcastically and began to walk behind you as you turned on the mat with each drill position.

"In a way," you started to breathe a little harder, increasing the speed once again. "I had to disguise myself as a man so I didn't tempt anyone away from the path to enlightenment, but I learned a lot."

"Why did you leave?"

"I studied and meditated there for another 25 years, but people started to notice I didn't age. I think they still have a statue of me on a shrine there."

"You didn't even have to try to be worshipped and respected," Loki's voice sounded almost agitated learning that you had no desire to rule over a body of people. You didn't blame him, you knew Loki was always interesting in ruling Asgard, and Thor had told you about the time Loki tried to take over the throne. "Why would you let something like that go?"

"You come across the things you don't want more often than the things you do," you stated plainly, the world around you faded as your mind began replaying memories from you time in Tibet. You had done the drills so many times over the centuries, that you didn't even need to think to perform them perfectly, allowing your mind to wander.

"And what do you want to come across," you felt Loki's breathe on the back of your neck and you twisted out of instinct to hit him.

Loki caught your arm before the baton could make contact and he looked at it briefly before turning his gaze back to you. You felt your body burn as you tried to catch your breathe. As you stared into Loki's eyes, the intense green reminded you of the days you spent with him next to the spring in your secret garden on Asgard.

"I believe I asked you a question," Loki whispered again, stopping your memories from taking over your thoughts. Your eyes flickering to different parts of his face, making you realized that his facial features had matured since you saw him last.

"Um. . . water," you forced yourself to answer, realizing your mouth and throat were dry.

Loki took the baton out of the hand he was holding and replaced it with the water bottle he had been drinking from earlier. He let go of your arm and placed the baton he had taken with the other that was in your hand at your side.

"Ask and you shall receive."

You watched Loki walk back to where he was sitting and pulled a book from under the bench and began to read. You heart was racing and your breathing was labored and you turned away from him and stared at the water bottle in your hand. You wondered what game he was playing or if he was just using you to do his bidding. You peaked back at Loki and his attention was in the pages of the book he was reading. You took a deep breathe and untwisted the bottle cap. If he was playing a game, you would play too.

You tossed the empty water bottle into the trash bin and continued to run drills.