Chapter 18! *claps hands*
We are nearing the end! It's rather sad, to be honest, because writing a story is quite the emotional journey.
I'm not entirely sure how much is left, but at least one chapter, and then two epilogues. (yes, two xD)
Although, I do have a question! The thing is - I have already (more or less) finished that one chapter, and then one of the epilogues, but the Avengers are nowhere to be seen! So my question is: do you want me to finish editing the chapter and the epilogue I already have, and post it (and that will be it, the story will be done), or do you want me to write another couple of chapters? This will mean you have to wait, because it might take me some time to figure it all out!
Opinions are very much welcome!
Other than that - thank you. I just... Thank you. Also, I know I'm not replying to reviews, which might seem like an a**hole thing to do! In reality it's because I have no idea how to deal with the praise, and I keep staring at blank messages (where I intend to reply) and have no idea what to say. Basically, I'm in a state of 'I'm not worthy!' xD So, uhm, sorry about that. Maybe I'll figure out wth to say at some point. (Also, seriously, what's up with the lengthy author's notes?)
Anyway, chapter 18, yeah? It's Christmas! xD
-o-
Chapter 18 - I Acquired Them
Loki was out buying Amber's Christmas present. It was Christmas Eve, and Amber wanted to open the presents tonight instead of Christmas morning, as was the American tradition.
Good thing she wanted to open them tonight, however, because it would be difficult hiding the thing for very long. Good thing he knew a silence spell.
-o-
Celebrating Christmas was a novelty, quite frankly. Amber had a permanent small smile on her face, and her eyes were bright.
They ate food - Amber had ordered from a bunch of different places, and then they moved to the sofa, and Amber chatted happily while organising cake, soda, wine, candy, and whatever else she declared 'mandatory for Christmas'.
Eventually, the time came for presents, and Loki got up from the sofa. "Be right back."
He went to his old bedroom, and cancelled the silence spell before walking back to the living room.
"I could not wrap it, I'm afraid."
Amber gave him a confused look, but her eyes widened when he stepped to the side so the present wouldn't be hidden behind the sofa any longer.
"Nooooo," she breathed. "Oh my god!"
Just then, the tiny budgie in the cage he was holding let out a pip, and Amber squealed in excitement as she bounced over to him. He held out the bird cage for her, and she beamed as she carefully took it.
"Awww, he is just a baby."
Was he, really? How did she know?
"I think it is a he, at least. It's not that easy to tell when they are so young."
"I did not realise you were a bird expert."
She gave him an amused smile as she gingerly placed the bird cage on the table. "I am a woman of many talents," she said, and then, a moment later, his arms were full of Amber, and she was kissing him enthusiastically.
"Thank you!" she exclaimed as she let go of him. "I love you!"
She promptly turned around to fawn over the bird again, and Loki was grateful, because the unexpected declaration of love had left him rather breathless.
-o-
"Are you going to open your presents?"
Loki looked at the woman. She was currently sitting on the floor, surrounded by wrapping paper in cheerful colours, and she was rather lovely.
"Yes," he said. "I suppose."
He had a pile of presents in the sofa next to him - twelve, to be exact. And the concept of having twelve presents - 'To: Loki' on each and every one - it was rather strange. In a good way.
He picked up a random present, and began unwrapping.
-o-
A while later - he had taken his time with each present - he had opened ten out of twelve presents. The final two were from Amber, and he decided to save them for last.
In the ten presents he had opened, there had been a variety of things.
A black shirt with a high collar, woolen mittens and a winter hat, both in green and black - Amber's grandmother had knitted them. For him. He had a huge jar of Nutella, socks, three books, a scarf, a wallet, two t shirts with funny prints, and a tie in green, black, and gold.
Not only had they given him presents, they had found presents specifically for him. Loki found himself rather speechless.
Amber came to sit in the sofa with him, and he carefully moved his new belongings away so she could sit next to him.
He raised an eyebrow, and picked up one of the presents, unwrapping it.
"Amber, you did not buy me a phone."
"You need it. The one you have is barely hanging on."
"It is expensive."
She sighed. "I can afford it. And I thought...well, you could probably make things easier for yourself if you had a proper piece of technology. That thing there is the only piece of technology you need - and it's basically exactly the same as the one you have. So you don't have to learn a whole new thing."
He gave her a dark look. He couldn't help it. This was all too expensive, and then she had to remind him that he wasn't exactly a genius at technology - or anything for that matter - here in Midgard.
She sighed. "I have had the same type of phone for five years because then I don't have to learn a whole new thing, so that was not aimed at you specifically. And if you give me one more dark look, I will either cry, or become really angry. I have no idea which it will be, and I will have little say in the matter, because my emotional state is somewhat fragile right now. I wear my heart and emotions on my sleeve on Christmas Eve, because that is who I am, basically. And then we have the fact that I miss my mum, my sister – even the bloody homebrewed, gross Christmas beer they make every year. And my economic status will not even register the fact that I bought you a phone. I bought the bloody thing because you need it. If you had needed a particular hat, I would have bought you a hat. This was not meant as an insult to your pride. Because I'm not an asshole, simply put. Now, either you accept the thing, or I throw it out the window. I just do not have the energy to walk on eggshells around you right now."
No no no no no no no, Loki thought as he realised what he was doing. Why had he not realised? Why had he not thought about this? Because he had been so busy thinking about himself.
He almost winced when he had a second realisation. Amber thrived on giving presents. And he had promptly disapproved, and then given her an annoyed, dark look. And now, she looked small. Sad. All because of him. Brilliant.
"No no no no no," he said, and promptly pulled her up on his lap, wrapping his arms around her. "No, dear one, that was not my intent, and it was thoughtless of me. Forgive me. If I am to be honest - I am rather overwhelmed. The things you count as normal, I count as a novelty. I forget myself. I did not think." She looked slightly surprised, and he sighed. "Sometimes, even I can see where I stepped wrong. I apologise."
She gazed at him for a long moment before raising an eyebrow. "Does this mean you will patiently listen when I enthusiastically tell you about all the amazing things that phone can do? Not now, though. Tomorrow, perhaps."
"Will you forgive me if I do."
"Completely."
"Then I will most definitely patiently listen. I may even attempt to not roll my eyes."
She chuckled. "Perish the thought. That would be unsettling."
He inwardly sighed in relief, and pulled her close to kiss her.
She pulled back after a bit, and gestured at the second present. "Will you open it? And don't worry, I did not even spend any money on it."
He gave her a puzzled look, but picked up the present, placing it in her lap, and began unwrapping.
It was a book, that much one could deduce, even before unwrapping it. One thick book, or two average-sized books.
Books she had not paid for. Something she already owned, perhaps? Loki had no idea.
There was something special about these books – it had to be, because she was silent as the grave when he began unwrapping. And her eyes were fixed on his hands.
He gave her a puzzled look, but then focused on the task at hand.
He folded the paper aside, revealing – yes, two books.
Amber's eyes were no longer on his hands, but on him. Briefly sidetracked by her intense eyes, he picked up the top book while looking at Amber.
When he finally looked at the book, he promptly dropped it. Wide-eyed, he leaned forward, not believing what he was seeing.
"Amber," he whispered, "how in the nine realms..."
'Magicks of the Minds - the Core of Creation' was the title of the book.
One of the rarest books on magic there was.
"Do you like it?" she said quietly before gesturing at the book. "There's another one."
Did he like it? Did he like it? Speechless, that was what he was.
He gently lifted the rare treasure of a book, just to be gobsmacked a second time.
'Shield Sorcery - Healing the Whole' was the title. Not as rare as the first, but quite close.
"This is... How did you manage this? These are... Do you know how extremely rare these are?"
She rolled her eyes, for some reason. "I have an inkling, yes."
"Frigga is involved, I assume?"
Amber nodded. "She helped me, yes."
"I did not know she had these in her possession."
"She didn't. She knew who did, however."
"So she acquired them for you?"
Amber shook her head. "I acquired them."
Loki merely stared at her. "May we stop with the guessing game? Because I am quite frankly all too interested in hearing how in the world you acquired these books."
Amber chuckled, but nodded. "I may or may not have visited Asgard yesterday."
"What?"
"I may or may not have proceeded to visit a well-known collector of rare treasures, and then a rather eccentric lady who was every bit a cliché witch from a Disney movie."
"You decided to stroll around in Asgard?"
She nodded. "Frigga was strolling right alongside me, however."
"You said you spent no money on this... Did my mother pay for it?"
Amber shook her head. "I'll just start from the beginning, shall I?"
Rather yesterday, Loki thought, but merely nodded.
"All right. I bought the phone – all well and good, but it did not feel…right. What can I honestly get you here in Midgard that would make you genuinely happy? I could not think of much. Another thing that did not feel right – and haven't felt right for a while now – is how you do not use magic. Not at all, Loki. Not when I have been around, at least. And that doesn't sit well with me. Anyway, there aren't exactly a magical shop around here, so I had a chat with Heimdall – and by chat, I mean I talked to the ceiling while feeling ridiculous – and asked if Frigga perhaps had a moment. She did, in fact, have a moment, and beamed down here. I told her about my obsession with Christmas presents, and asked if she had any suggestions – preferably within the magic-area. She talked about books in her library, and some new books that had recently come on the market. She asked me why it had to be magic, and I told her I had not seen you use magic for two weeks. Sorry if I overstepped somehow. It seemed harmless enough, and I needed help."
He shook his head. "It was harmless."
She sighed in relief. "Good. I am glad I told her, however, because she looked like I just told her Heimdall quit his job and I was to take over as guard of the rainbow bridge. Anyway, your mother got this look of determination, and before I knew it, she had beamed back up, and then returned here half an hour later with an idea. Nor the collector or the stereotypical witch would sell the books for money, but Frigga suspected they could be convinced by mysterious, foreign objects. I changed my clothes, packed my bags, and she brought me with her."
"You packed your bags?"
"I'll get to that in a minute," she said, smiling. "Frigga put a glamour on me, because why not, and then we ventured out in Asgard - Asgard, wow, by the way. I took the role of tradesman - or woman - with only vares from Midgard - very exotic, and all. The collector who had the 'Magicks of the Mind' book was actually downright enthusiastic when he realised he could get his hands on Midgardian items, and was instantly willing to trade for the book if the deal was good enough. I didn't have high hopes, considering my bags were filled with Nutella, candy, a selection of books, some clothes, and a whole lot of items made of plastic - or had shiny colours."
"Well, obviously you got the book. What did you trade?"
"A Rubik's cube, a jar of Nutella, two tiny elephants with led lights inside - changing colour all the time - and three books."
Loki had to laugh. "And he thought this was a fair deal."
She nodded. "I felt somewhat awful, quite frankly, but he was thrilled, so I don't think it mattered that much to him. The book was just another item in his collection, after all. Next was the stereotypical witch, and she turned out to be more of a challenge. Two jars of Nutella, my coat, my sunglasses - she looked rather fabulous in them - four books, five different items made in plastic, two in shiny colours - but in the end, do you know what made her decide to trade?"
"I do not."
"Three packs of twizzlers."
Loki had to laugh again.
His mind paused suddenly - realising how much effort she had put into this - what lengths she had gone to, so he could be happy. Not only that, but because he hadn't used magic in two weeks, and 'that did not sit well with her'. Although, why did it not sit well with her? One thing was acceptance, but encouragement was a different thing entirely.
Another thing - she had noticed that he had not used magic. She even knew how much time had passed.
He did not. He was aware of the fact that he had not used much magic lately, but two weeks without? That he did not realise. She did.
The logical thing to do in this situation - for someone sane - would be to not mention it at all. To let it slide, and hope it would become a permanent thing. The death and destruction he had wrought on the city... Well, someone with their sanity intact would definitely not encourage him like this. He was a powerful sorcerer - very much so - and then there was the fact that he was a Frost Giant - but raised as an Asgardian. It made him unique. And it always have him an advantage.
There were not many who could consider them his equal. And the number of people who could consider themselves more powerful than him - he could count it on one hand.
He was one of the most powerful sorcerers in the nine realms, he had tried to conquer the world, and generally caused ridiculous amounts of pain and death wherever he went. And yet, she encouraged him, even if his magic was how he managed to cause those ridiculous amounts of pain and death. Not only encourage, but go to through an ordeal, just for him.
And now, he had two of the rarest books on magic there was. Well, he would most definitely use magic in the time ahead.
"Anyway, I hope you like them."
"'Like' is practically an insult," he said, gently lifting a book so he could study it. "That is how far I am from merely 'liking' them."
"Quite worth a Rubik's Cube and a pair of sunglasses."
He chuckled. "Indeed," he said, and then gave her a small smile. "Thank you."
She beamed at him. "I am happy you are happy. Now, will you stop unsettling me with weeks void of magic?"
He gazed at her for a bit. "Why is this important to you?"
She shrugged. This woman shrugged at the oddest times. She shrugged - again in a situation he found surreal - and she did not find it surreal at all.
"Because you wouldn't be you without your magic. And I am not about to watch the God of Mischief go from Norse god and fierce warrior to domestic extraordinaire. You are not made for that, in my honest opinion. Domestic life is lovely, and downright wonderful sometimes, but with only that, one will wither away. I know I would. I think you even more so. Thus, you can work in a soup kitchen, you can be as domestic as you want, but you can be the powerful sorcerer - all at the same time."
He pulled her to him, and kissed her soundly.