Master Thor set down the Mirror, "I'm just fooling myself. I'll never be seen as anything but a monster. And… he's… he's… he's a he! Not a she! The spell will never go away now," he whined, "It can only go away if I find love," he sunk to the ground and thought in silence for a long time, "Well… The spell never specified that I must love a woman to break it..." The Beast only lived around female appliances, so he never learned much about real women. He kept to himself most of the time. He was a man, and he knew what men liked… Ever since the Enchantress cast the spell on him, he was convinced that women were horrible, evil creatures.
A petal fell off of a rose concealed in a glass dome, "Maybe..."
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Loki opened his door a crack, then opens it entirely and silently emerged. He walked past a curtain with three bright spots shining through it at floor level. Behind it, Lumiere and a Feather Duster were laughing and giggling.
"Oh, no!" giggled the Feather Duster.
"Oh, yes!" cooed Lumiere.
"I've been burnt by you before!" the Feather Duster said in a high pitched voice.
Lumiere and the Feather Duster emerged from behind the curtain and he took her in his arms, attempting to kiss her. He looked up and saw Loki walking down the hall. He immediately dropped the Feather Duster
"Oof!"
"Zut alors! He has emerged!" Lumiere chased after him.
. . .
"Come on, Chip. Into the cupboard with your brothers and sisters." Mrs. Potts said warmly.
"But I'm not sleepy…" Chip yawned.
"Yes you are, dear." She helped him into the cupboard
"No, I'm...not." he said as he fell asleep almost immediately. Mrs. Potts shut the cupboard door, just in time to help drain out the sound of the raging Stove.
Banging pots and pans, the Stove complained, "I work and I slave all day, and for what? A culinary masterpiece gone to waste. The nerve! I will never cook again. Not now, not ever! I am shutting down my services."
"Oh, stop your grousing. It's been a long night for all of us."
"Well, if you ask me, he was just being stubborn. After all, the master did say 'please.'" Said Cogsworth.
"But if the master doesn't learn to control that temper, he'll never be able to find a girl and break the-"
Loki entered the kitchen before she could finish her sentence.
"Splendid to see you out and about, monsieur. I am Cogsworth, head of the household." He bowed as Lumiere came rushing in, "And this is Lumiere."
"Bonjour, monsieur." He bowed as well.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, I'm Loki Hidston." Loki introduced himself, bowing his head slightly.
"If there is anything we can do, please, do not hesitate to inform us," Cogsworth said properly.
"Well… I am a little hungry…" Loki said shyly.
"You are?," to the rest of the kitchen, "Hear that? He's hungry. Stoke the fire, break out the silver, wake the china!" Forgetting about his rant earlier, the fire on the Stove roared to life, and drawers opened to reveal silverware standing at attention like an army.
"Remember what the master said…" Cogsworth said secretly.
"Oh, hush up. I'm not going to let the poor child go hungry." Mrs. Potts disregarded what Cogsworth had just said.
"Oh, all right. Glass of water, crust of bread, and then-"
"Cogsworth, I am zurprised at you! He's not our prizoner. He's our guest. We must make him feel welcome here.," he turned to Loki, "Right this way, monsieur."
"Well keep it down. If the master finds out about this, he will have our heads!"
"Of course, of course. But what is dinner without a little music?"
Lumiere started out the swinging door. He lets it close, and the door hits Cogsworth and sends him across the room to land in a pan filled with pudding mix.
"Your chair, monsieur," he pulled Loki's chair put for him as he sat down, "It is with deepest pleasure and greatest pride zat I welcome you tonight. And now, we invite you to relax. Let us pull up a chair as ze dining room proudly presents... your dinner."
"Oh, you really don't have to do all this. Really, I can do it myself." Loki tried to convince the kitchen utensils and appliances.
"But zat would make us disrespectful hosts! Be our guest, I insist! Put our service to ze test, tie your napkin 'round your neck, and we provide the rest!"
The chair Loki was sitting in wrapped a napkin around his neck.
"Well, all right," Loki laughed, "What's on the menu?"
"Soup du jour, hot hors d'oeuvres, anyzing you can zink of! After all, zis is France, and a dinner here is never second best!"
"My, what service!"
"Well, we only live to serve. Try ze grey stuff, it's delicious. Don't believe me? Ask ze dishes!"
Lumiere offered Loki a plate of hors d'oeuvres. He dipped his finger in one, and tastes it.
A cabinet at the end of the table opened to reveal a large China collection, which rolled out and began to dance as they set themselves out onto the table. Lumiere handed Loki a menu, which he began to read.
"Beef ragout, cheese soufflé, pie and pudding en flambé?" Loki read off his order from the menu.
"We'll prepare and serve with flair a culinary cabaret!"
Plates of food came dancing by, with Cogsworth in the pudding. Lumiere set his torch to it, and it explodes, turning Cogsworth's face black with soot.
"You're alone and you're scared, but the banquet's all prepared! No one's gloomy or complaining, and you'll feel better in no time!" Wine poured itself into Loki's glass.
The food came bouncing over to the table, coming to a stop in front of Loki, who immediately picked up his fork and started digging in.
"Life is so unnerving for a servant who's not serving! We're not whole wizout a soul to wait upon." Lumiere's tone and energy drooped, "Ah, zose good old days when we were useful… Suddenly, zose good old days are gone. For ten years we've been rusting, needing so much more zan dusting. Needing exercise, a chance to use our skills! Most days, we just lay around the castle, flabby fat and lazy. Then you walked in, and oops-a-daisie!"
Lumiere jumped on a spoon in the gelatin, which catapults right into Loki's awaiting mouth.
In the kitchen, Mrs. Potts was singing, surrounded by soap bubbles.
"It's a guest, it's a guest! Sakes alive, well I'll be blessed! Wine's been poured and thank the Lord I've had the napkins freshly pressed!" Mrs. Potts danced around the kitchen, "With dessert, he'll want tea, and my dear, that's fine with me!" She rolled the tea cart into the kitchen and offered Loki a cup of tea, who graciously accepted.
"Course by course, one by one, 'til you shout-"
"Enough, I'm done!" Loki said, finishing Lumiere's sentence.
"Then we'll sing you off to sleep as you digest, and tonight you'll prop your feet up, and doze right off!"
A fantastic ending to a fantastic meal, the Silverware flew through the air,
Plates and Cups hopped onto the tea cart, and were rolled back into the kitchen.
"Bravo! That was wonderful!" Loki clapped.
"Yes, thank you. Good show, wasn't it everyone," Looking at his own face, he noticed the time, "Oh my goodness, would you look at the time. Now, it's off to bed, off to bed!" Cogsworth tried to shoo Loki away as quickly as possible, just in case Master Thor came downstairs and saw.
"Oh, I couldn't possibly go to bed now. It's my first time in an enchanted castle! Can I explo-I mean, would you please show me around?" Loki asked politely.
"En-Enchanted? Who said anything about the castle being enchanted?" Cogsworth tried to cover it up, then turned to Lumiere. "It was you, wasn't it? I always knew you weren't to be trusted!"
Taken aback, Lumiere argued, "I did no such zing! Why, I've never been more disgraced in my life!"
"I, um, figured it out for myself. An unenchanted castle wouldn't have living furniture and appliances, would it?"
Lumiere and Cogsworth stopped their bickering and looked at Loki, dumbfounded. Of course he would discover it was enchanted by thinking about it that way!
"Oh, you would like a tour! But of course, monsieur!"
"I'm not sure that's such a good idea," Cogsworth warned for the third time, then turned to Lumiere again, "We can't let him go poking around in certain places, if you know what I mean."
Loki crouched down in front of Cogsworth and poked him in the belly, turning on his boyish charm, "Perhaps you could take me, then. I'm sure you know everything there is to know about the castle."
"Well, actually, ah yes, I do!" Cogsworth said, flattered.
. . .
Cogsworth, Lumiere, and Loki walked down a hall with the Footstool.
"As you can see, the pseudo façade was stripped away to reveal a minimalist rococo design. Note the unusual inverted vaulted ceilings. This is yet another example of the neo-classic baroque period, and as I always say, if it's not baroque, don't fix it!" Cogsworth laughed at his joke, "Now then, where was I? Now, if I may draw your attention to the flying buttresses above the- ah? Where did he go?"
Cogsworth and Lumiere turn around and they see him beginning to climb the grand staircase. He and Lumiere run up and jump in front of him, blocking his progress upstairs.
"What's up there?" Loki asked curiously.
"Where? Up there? Nothing. Absolutely nothing of interest at all in the West Wing. Dusty, dull, very boring."
"Oh, so that's the West Wing…" Loki said in wonderment, "I wonder what he's hiding up there.
"Hiding? The master is hiding nothing!" Lumiere said quickly.
"If he wasn't hiding anything, then it wouldn't be forbidden." Loki challenged. He stepped over them, but they dashed up and blocked him again.
"Perhaps you would like to see something else. We have exquisite tapestries dating all the way back to-"
"Maybe later." Loki said, distracted, and stepped over them again.
"Ze gardens, or ze library perhaps?"
Loki stopped walking up the stairs, "You have a library?"
Thrilled that he has found something to interest him, Cogsworth exclaimed, "Oh yes! Indeed! It has rows and columns and walls of books!"
"Mountains of books!" Lumiere added.
"Forests of books!"
"Cascades of books!"
"Swamps of books! More books than you'll ever be able to read in a lifetime! Books on every subject ever studied, by every author who ever set pen to paper!"
Lumiere and Cogsworth began marching off, and Loki begins to follow, but his curiosity overtakes him, and he turns back to the West Wing. His excitement begins to dwindle, though, when he enters the hallway leading to the Beast's lair.
As he walked down the hall, he stopped to look at a mirror that has been shattered into several pieces, each one reflecting his now concerned look. He reached the end of the hall and found a closed door with gargoyle handles. He took a deep breath, then reached out and opened the door. Loki is truly shocked by everything he sees. He wandered around, looking, and knocked over a table with only three legs, but caught it before it crashed to the floor. He then turned his head and saw a shredded picture on the wall. Loki reached out and lifted the shreds of the picture to reveal a portrait of a handsome prince. The prince had the same vibrant blue eyes as the Beast. Loki turned away, and saw a glowing pink rose under a glass dome jar. Cautiously, he walked over to it, his eyes transfixed.
Ignoring his better judgment, he reached out, then lifted off the jar, leaving the rose unprotected. He extended a hand, but before he could touch it, shadow fell over him. The Beast was on the balcony, glaring at him.
He jumped into the room faster than Loki thought possible, pushed him out of the way, and covered the rose back up. He turned his attention to Loki.
"Why did you come here?" he demanded.
"I'm sorry," Loki said, backing away.
"I thought I warned you never to come here!" the Beast growled, slowing advancing on Loki.
"I-I didn't mean any harm." Loki tripped over something, falling to the ground.
"Do you realize what you could have done?" The Beast said, towering over Loki.
Loki stood up, gaining confidence, "Yes, I do. And I apologized. I have finished looking around, so I'll be going now." Loki turned, making his way to the door.
"You're not getting away so easily!" The Beast said as he picked up a wooden table and threw it in the direction Loki was walking. It missed him, but as it shattered against the wall, a wood chip scratched his face. He let out a startled shriek.
"You come barging into my home and expect me to treat you as, what, a prince?" the Beast yelled.
"Excuse me, but you were the one who made me stay! You could have refused and had my father stay here!" Loki shot back, his anger quickly escalating.
"You offered to stay! If I remember correctly, and I'm positive that I do, you pleaded me to take you! You are the one who stayed, not your crackpot old fool of a father!"
Loki froze, his anger rising even more. He walked slowly toward the Beast, "My father is not a crackpot old fool. He is a genius. If you ever," Loki out a finger to the Beast's chest, "Say something as rude as that to me ever again, I will not hesitate to make sure you do not say anything again." His voice was frighteningly calm. He turned on his heels and walked out of the room.
As soon as Loki was out of sight of the Beast, he ran to his room. Grabbing his cloak and satchel, he rushed out the room just as fast as he had come in. He raced down the stairs, wrapping the cloak around himself and bursting past a confused Lumiere and Cogsworth.
"Wh- Where are you going?" Lumiere asked as he was blown away by the force of Loki's pace.
"Promise or no promise, I can't stay here another minute!"
"Oh no, wait, please wait!" was the last thing Loki heard before he slammed the grand doors, causing Sleipnir to wake up.
Loki untied the reins, "Sleipnir, I'm so sorry I left you out here in the snow. Come on, let's get out of here." Loki mounted Sleipnir and they were off.
They began to ride through the forest, but Sleipnir came to a halt. Loki looked up and saw a pack of wolves, gasped, then pulled the reins and fled in the opposite direction. He guided his horse from side to side, causing the wolves to hit the trees.
Soon, Sleipnir broke through the trees and ran out onto a frozen pond, but the weight of the horse and Loki together caused the ice to collapse underneath them. The wolves chased them into the water, howling and growling as they did so. Some began to drown, but Sleipnir was able to get out of the water before anything serious happens.
Finally on land, they rode into a clearing, only to become surrounded by another pack of wolves.
Sleipnir bucked, throwing Loki off and causing the rein to wrap around a tree branch. Loki got up and picked up a fallen tree branch. The wolves began their attack on Sleipnir, but Loki beat them away with the branch. One wolf grabbed the stick in its mouth and broke it in half, leaving Loki defenseless.
Another wolf leapt at him, grabbing the corner of his cloak and dragged him to the ground. The largest wolf, most likely the pack leader, was about to jump on him, but it was caught in mid-air by the Beast.
He threw the wolf to the side, ramming it against a tree. It whimpered then howled in pain. The entire pack of wolves left Loki and Sleipnir, lunging at the Beast. One ripped a hole in the Beast's shoulder, and the others focused their attack at that spot, causing it to become his weak point.
The Beats threw another wolf against a tree, knocking it out. He got down on all fours and let out the most blood curdling roar.
It worked, and the wolves turned and ran away in fear with their tails between their legs.
The Beast turned back to LOKI, looked at her despairingly, then collapsed.
Loki, grateful to be alive, turned back to Sleipnir and began to mount him, but his conscience takes over. He sighed and walked over to the fallen Beast.
With the help of Sleipnir, Loki managed to hoist the Beast onto Sleipnir's back and they walked off to the castle.
. . .
Back inside the castle, Loki poured hot water out of Mrs. Pots. He placed a rag in the water, soaking it up. He turned to the Beast, now conscious and licking his wounds.
"Here now. Oh, don't do that," Loki chided as he tried to clean the shoulder wound with the rag, but the Beat growled at him, "Just hold still. This is going to hurt."
Before the Beast could protest, Loki dabbed the wound. The Beast roared in pain, startling the living objects, causing them to jump and hide from the utburst.
"That hurts!"
"I told you it would! Now, if you'd just hold still like I said, it wouldn't hurt as much."
"Well if you hadn't run away, this wouldn't have happened!"
"Well if you hadn't insulted, I wouldn't have run away!"
The Beast opened his mouth to respond, but had to stop and think of a good line, "Well you shouldn't have been in the West Wing!"
"Well you should learn to control your temper!"
The Beast raised his hand to bring out another point, but finds he has none, so he bowed his head down. The Objects emerged from their hiding, as Loki has conquered the ferocious temper of the Beast.
Loki moved the rag closer to the wound, "Now, hold still. This may sting a little," The Beast gave a surprised grunt, then clenched his teeth as the rag made contact with his wound, "By the way, thank you, for saving my life." Loki said quietly.
The Beast opened his eyes, looking surprised, "You're welcome." He said just as quietly.
As Loki wrapped the Beast's shoulder, he voiced the question he had been wondering for a while, "What's… what's your name?"
"My… name?"
"Yes, your name. I can't continue to go around calling you 'Beast,' can I?" Loki smiled slightly.
"I, uh, suppose not," the Beast was quiet for a moment. The Beast's vibrant blue eyes met Loki's soft ones, "My name is Thor."
. . . . . . . . . .
A/N: Since this fanfiction is getting such brilliant views and reviews, I am considering writing more Disney!Avengers. Leave a review and tell me what you think! I ship LokixThor, BrucexTony, ClintxNatasha, and sometimes TonyxPepper, but not StevexNatasha.