"Holy shit that was so fucking COOL!" Darcy yelped, giving Thor an enthusiastic punch as he doubled over with laughter at Darcy's excitement.
Even Jane was speechless. The travel had been rather, well; magical, surrealistic, simply: unbelievable.
The Asgardian princes laughed along at their ladies' enthusiasm. Jane fired off questions to Loki about how the portals worked, how the movement could be explained in scientific terms while Darcy stuck with screaming profanities at the "awesomeness" of the unreal experience.
The two mortals finally calmed down when they noticed a certain guard-person standing on a pedestal in the golden chamber staring at Jane and Darcy intently.
"Uh hum, sup dude, anything I can do for ya?" Darcy barked at him.
"Darcy!" Jane scolded, throwing the man an apologetic look.
"What did I do? He's the one trying to burn a whole through my head with his creepy eyes. I mean, sheesh, it's like he's never seen a girl before…"
Thor cleared his throat. "Ah, Darcy, this is Lord Heimdall, the keeper and protector of all realms. And Heimdall, this is Lady Darcy, from Midgard," Thor stated proudly, drawing Darcy towards him with his arm.
Darcy gave him a nonchalant look and looked around the ancient chamber instead. Loki looked down at Jane who had her eyes glazed with wonder. It was so easy for him to forget where they were by just looking into her eyes. She was still his Jane and that comforted Loki very, very much.
Jane caught him staring and gave him a sheepish grin. Then she turned to Heimdall and marched towards him, offering her hand.
"Hello, I'm Dr. Jane Foster, it's so wonderful to finally meet you, this is so incredible, thank you so much for allowing us to come, I did read about you a bit and my god are you incredible, I mean you see everything, is there anything you don't know? Probably not right, I mean, wow, this is just so, so…"
Heimdall looked at Jane in amazement and then at Loki who averted his gaze so Heimdall couldn't see the amusement on his face. Jane's hand was still hanging in midair which she lowered awkwardly, not sure what to do.
Finally, the guard decided to react. He stepped down from his stage and reached for Jane's hand and placed a light kiss on it. "Ah, Jane Foster, it's a pleasure to finally make your acquaintance. I did not see you in your mortal realm but now I see you are the woman behind the return of two of Asgard's most important princes and for that Asgard applauds you."
Jane blushed and Loki rolled his eyes.
They all stood there in an uncomfortable silence until Darcy noticed the Rainbow Bridge.
"Oh my gosh, I wanna go on that, c'mon guys, let's go!"
Thor held Darcy close to him, not trusting her enthusiasm as she skipped towards the bridge. Jane let them go ahead and waited for Loki who subconsciously wrapped his arm around her as they followed the two idiots ahead of them.
Heimdall watched in amazement as Jane smiled up at Loki, whispering to him and his eyes crinkling in response. The two quietly laughed, seemingly in a small world of their own, in a bubble of love and security. There was nothing loud about their affection but only a fool could miss it.
Because to Heimdall, it looked like their separate souls had been woven into one.
!
Throughout a king's life he is subjected to a plethora of loss and gain. It's the circle of life or fate. Some losses are personal and some gains are superficial. But Odin saw it all as the same, a gain as a gain and a loss as a loss. However, those were only his views as a king.
As a father, the loss of Loki was a toll Odin was unwilling to pay. He was hurt and ashamed. Each day, when he gazed into his wife's eyes and saw her broken state, Odin cursed his very being and his past actions, wishing and praying for another opportunity.
But once the crown was placed on his head and Odin sat on the throne as the proud king of Asgard, he was bitterly reminded of his royal duties. The people of Asgard did not suffer the loss of a son that he did, they were not aware of the pain nor did they wish to be. So Odin had no one to share his grief with except for his beloved wife Frigga, whose watery eyes reminded him of his sin every moment of every day.
The queen had indeed healed; Frigga was in a better emotional state. On the other hand those that chose to believe were not aware of a mother's pain.
For diplomatic purposes, Odin and Frigga were at loss and no one could know and make use of this vulnerability. The loss of a son ate them both alive and all they could do was wait.
Or in Odin's case mourn.
So the bliss and utter shock they felt to find a healthy Loki, standing before them in strange attire surrounded by bags and boxes overtook them.
Frigga screamed in joy but soon that turned into hysteria. Darcy, Thor, Loki, and Jane watched in alarm as the Queen literally lost her mind. She was wailing and laughing madly, it was a very ungraceful and borderline frightening sight. The nurses rushed into the room, prepared to sweep the gasping Queen who was about to faint because she had stopped breathing.
"Loki! My Loki! Oh, heavens my son has returned! Look! He came back to me!" Frigga cried, shouting and pointing at an embarrassed Loki. The nurses tried to soothe her to calm her down and eventually led her towards Loki who gazed at her with a painful smile, unsure of how to react.
His hands hovered over Frigga's shoulders whose mouth opened and closed until she broke into a sob. She fell on her knees and Loki followed her to the ground. She wrapped her arms around him, stroking his ebony hair with love and motherly affection.
"Oh, my lovely son, you came back, thank you Loki, I have my son once more…," Frigga whispered.
Loki smiled a little and patted Frigga on the back which within itself was a massive change that only Thor and Odin saw since Loki had never shown any affection to Frigga and now he was allowing her to hold him.
Only Darcy and Jane noticed how awkward Loki was feeling.
Moments passed and Frigga's sobs finally slowed into soft snores. The queen had fallen asleep crying.
The nurses detached her sleeping frame from Loki's uncomfortable form. He immediately got up and tried to ignore the wet tear stain on his shirt. Loki hurried towards Jane and stood next to her and she gave him a reassuring smile and his shoulders relaxed.
Odin noticed the little exchange and got up from his throne and walked towards Loki and the nurses carried Frigga away to her chamber.
"Son," Odin said lowly, his voice cracking. The joy on his face was plain and Jane could tell he was trying really hard to hide it. Finally, Odin laughed and clasped Loki into a fatherly hug. It had been ages since Odin had hugged Loki this way. It was…rare. Thor cheered in joy while Darcy and Jane, once more, were in the blue of how this was a happy reunion when Loki looked like he wanted to shoot himself.
Loki stood there stiffly and when Odin let go, he moved away again.
"Father," he muttered through his teeth.
Odin beamed.
"This calls for a feast!" he boomed.
"Father, allow me to introduce Lady Darcy and Lady Jane of Midgard. They are accompanying us and have saved us multitude of times from evil forces during out time in the mortal realm. They are the reason we are alive," Thor said quickly, before his father got carried away with his celebration.
Odin gaped at him. Jane blushed but Darcy was completely chill.
"Hello, King of Asgard, it's totally rad to meet you and your kingdom is seriously fabulous," Darcy told him, doing something between a bow and curtsy.
"Welcome Lady Darcy and Lady Jane, I sincerely would like to thank you for saving my sons. For your kindness, all of Asgard is under your service for the duration of your visit."
Odin bowed in front of Darcy and the servants and guards gasped but quickly bowed to the ladies as well.
"Now, as for the feast!" Odin barked out orders. Slyly, Loki called over a guard and ordered him to place the bags and boxes into his chamber and stole Jane away to personally show her the kingdom, not wanting to wait for Odin or Thor to steal the thunder.
Odin noticed Jane and Loki slip out but he decided to allow the departure. He finally had Loki back, he could afford laying off the rules for a while.
For he owed Jane. He owed Jane deeply.
!
"That was easy," Jane said, squeezing Loki's hand lovingly.
When they were far away from the throne room, Loki groaned and covered his face with his free hand.
"That was by far the oddest encounter I have ever experienced."
"I'm surprised."
Loki looked at her suspiciously. "Did you not notice how uncomfortable it all was?"
"Well, you've been around for a long time, there was probably a weirder incident sometime, oh I don't know, three thousand years ago," Jane teased.
Finally Loki laughed a little. "There was this one time…No, I'll tell you that story later. Right now I have to give you a tour of the castle, like I promised."
"Honestly, I'm a bit exhausted. Plus, it's so dark, can I just take a nap? I mean, we'll still be here tomorrow, you can show me the castle then."
Loki nodded. "Of course, Jane, you should never need to ask permission if you need rest or anything. Whatever you want to do will be done."
"You sound like Darcy in one of her feminism rants. But I didn't want to be rude, this is after all your home."
"Only because you're here," he replied, stopping to wrap Jane into a hug.
They stayed like that for a moment, not needing to go anywhere else. Loki wanted to thank Jane, without her, being where he was would have been painful and impossible. But she was here, so he could at least try to be happy, for her sake.
Jane smiled into Loki's chest and let out a content sigh. Home indeed, she thought happily.
Loki brushed his cheek against her soft hair, feeling as though nothing had changed and for a moment he pretended they were still on earth, about to make dinner and watch TV.
His nostalgic fantasy was interrupted by a dramatic cough.
"You guys, seriously, this is way too intimate. Jane, control yourself, god woman you're like all over him."
Jane groaned once into Loki's chest and then turned around to find a grinning Darcy.
"Hey," Darcy waved.
"Darcy…where's Thor?"
"Uh, he's babbling with Odin, oh sorry, the King, the all-mighty leader, the highest form of glory, the All-Father,"
"Darcy, we understand. Why are you roaming the castle alone?" Loki interrupted.
"Oh, I just got bored and thought I'd see what you two were up to. I thought I'd catch in like a corner doing naughty things now that you have Jane at your mercy but you lovebirds are the same as you were back home. Stupidly hugging one another like garden gnomes. Speaking of garden gnomes, what about SHIELD, we forgot to unfreeze them."
"The spell wears off once we leave the realm."
"Aw, that's too bad."
Jane rolled her eyes.
"So…this is cool. You know, Asgard. Things are really golden. Very neat," Darcy muttered conversationally.
"Darcy? Is something wrong?" Jane asked.
"Yeah, well, I'm just trying to get used to it, but it's not what I expected. It's so peaceful like there's nothing going on."
"What were you expecting? Medieval castles, witch burnings, executions, and jousting games?"
"No, I'm not stupid. Obviously you people won't burn witches."
"Darcy," Loki interrupted again, "Why are you walking around alone? It's almost dark."
"Aha! So you have a problem with rapists lurking in the dark?"
Loki gave her a distasteful look. "Hardly. It's just a very unlady-like thing to do."
Jane saw the feminist fire ignited in Darcy's eyes.
"Here we go," Jane whispered to herself.
Darcy got into a fighting stance and waved her finger at Loki, "You listen here buddy; don't tell a woman what she can and can't do."
"Darcy, I meant no disrespect, I–"
"Of course not. I know your kind, luring innocent girls into thinking your chivalrous when in reality you're a sexist piece of…"
For the rest of the evening, Darcy disciplined Loki. Jane decided to tour the castle despite her exhaustion and they all attended the feast where the castle officials were celebrating Loki's return, yet no one bothered to speak to him.
Loki sulked until Jane decided to excuse herself and they took off to Loki's room and before Loki could show her around his room, she fell fast asleep on his satin sheets. Even though Loki had slept on this bed his whole existence, his room felt foreign so he held on to Jane as he slept, the only familiar attachment he ever wished to keep.
A/N: Thank you for reading.