"I'm proud of you," Odin said to his son. Loki raised his eyebrow, questioning.

"You allowed your brother to seize the throne. It must have been difficult," Odin assumed.

"Hardly," Loki muttered lowly.

Odin chuckled. "That mortal woman of yours has changed you so much; you no longer desire the things you used to crave so desperately. I suppose it's for the best since I have gotten no complaints for you since your arrival. It's a rather refreshing change. But I have to ask, are you aware of it?"

Loki wasn't able to pin point why the king had requested to be seated next to him during the daily feast. Now it made sense. He glanced at Jane who was politely smiling into her food but Loki could see the anxiety surging through her. She was still and was occasionally glances at Loki and Odin, worried beyond reason. But Loki understood now the reason behind his father's insistence. Thor was stationed all the way on the other end of the table, awkwardly chuckling at his loud friend's jokes, far away from Odin and Loki.

This was Odin's way of leaving no room for Loki's escape. Despite the fact that the feast was for Thor, he was not at the center of Odin's attention. No, the All-Father felt that he had won over Thor when his son agreed to do everything Odin had asked. Loki was next.

"Change, my king?" Loki asked through his teeth. This was becoming painful.

"Yes. That mortal toy of yours has changed you, I fear, in permanent ways."

It took all Loki had to not glare at Odin then and there.

"Why do you fear? You yourself said it was a refreshing change," Loki countered, stabbing the meat on his plate a bit too harshly. Darcy was next to Loki, far away from Jane or Thor. Sif was sitting on Thor's right side, while Jane was squished between Asgardian oafs.

"It's refreshing but your mother wonders if you have lost yourself living amongst the wretched mortal," Odin said bitterly.

"'Wretched?'" Darcy interrupted, while Loki stabbed his plate harder.

"Well, she's a bit worthless. She offers no appeal to the eyes and is far to understanding and intelligent to entertain. Not to mention, those curious eyes for her intrude every room of this castle and often I find her staring at our men as if we're the unusual ones. She's analyzes everything with her calculating eyes which fill me with insecurity. She sees too much and thinks too much. Yet, she has no use. No feminine grace or elegance; I can't imagine her as a bride to anyone, truthfully. Frankly, Jane Foster is a unless wretch who will remain an uninteresting mortal till the end of time, despite her strange compassion. Her trust for everyone is so naïve, that girl will end up getting herself killed one day," Odin laughed darkly.

Darcy's eyes widened in terror. Loki's fork clinked against the plate. He was staring down at the plate which Darcy was sure was about to explode any minute if someone didn't do something.

So, to distract Loki who was turning a bit blue, Darcy kicked him under the table, leaning to her side to whisper, "Loki. Chill. Calm down. You don't want to do this. Think about Jane, dead. If you do anything bad, we'll be back in square one and Odin will never trust you two to go anywhere and then she'll stay mortal forever. Seriously, just breathe…"

Odin looked up at Loki. "My son, is there anything wrong with what I said? You have to be objective as a future counsel man to your brother. Jane Foster will not last very long so I recommend we send her back to Midgard before your attachment grows."

Darcy gulped. This guy does not know when to shut up, she thought to herself.

Loki glanced at Darcy whose fingers were digging into her arm and he declawed her hand from him and turned to Odin. Loki had a look of death on his face.

If looks could kill, Odin would have died then and there.

But the king bravely challenged his son with his unwavering stare. Suddenly a scarier thing occurred. Loki's glare cooled in such a way that made Darcy shiver and Odin drop his courageous wall.

"I suppose everything you just said, no matter what I think of it, made sense in your mind. And no matter what I say, you will continue to believe that about Jane. So it would be imprudent of me to waste my time to say anything otherwise," Loki stated calmy. But he was too calm.

Suddenly Loki sat up straighter and pushed his chair back.

"I suddenly remembered I have task I left uncompleted. Before I leave, I do promise you, Dr. Jane Foster will not stay in Asgard long. We-she has plans to return back home as she finds our realm rather dull. I promised her a trip around the realms as thanks for all her help. She did save my life a multitude of times. I cannot forget that very easily. I will ask her tonight on when she wishes to leave. For now, I apologize for leaving so early, but I must retire right away. Thank you, All-Father, for the lovely meal," Loki coldly excused himself, getting up.

Odin had never seen Loki behave so reserved around him. Loki did not see him as his father at all and that saddened Odin. Odin silently cursed himself for insulting Jane in front of Loki. In his attempt to save his son for himself, Odin had ended up pushing Loki further away.

He quickly cleared his throat and got up as well. "Very well. I did not know Jane was ready to leave. You two may tour the realms on whatever date you wish to leave. However, I will be sending Thor along with you to guarantee your return and Jane's departure. It's just a precaution to ensure that you two will come back safe and ready to serve the kingdom. That's my lone wish. Apart from that you can do whatever you wish."

Loki nodded once and turned around.

"Oh, before I forget, you must leave before Thor accepts the crown. I suggest you plan a trip soon," Odin muttered, eager to get rid of Jane.

"Perfect," Loki muttered to himself as he got up and swiftly walked away.

Oblivious to Loki's plan, Odin happily grinned to himself, smiling at his wife who was beaming at her husband's success. Frigga had been quiet for the entire evening because she was too preoccupied by the worry of Loki's decision in regards to Jane.

Now there was no question. Jane Foster would no longer be a part of their lives.

Darcy stared at Loki's uneaten plate of ripped up food, pitying the now twice murdered meat, wondering how the royals would feel when they finally realize that Loki never had the intention of living in any world that didn't have Jane.

!

"We need it to boil for a couple days until most of it evaporates down to a smaller portion. Right now, it's concentration is at a maximum and it would be unsafe to take this because it will last too long," Jane explained to Darcy and Thor.

Loki smirked as Jane glowed standing in front of an improvised lab table, in her element. She was genuinely smiling at her work. Of course Loki had helped largely with the magic portion of the potion-making process, but he did grant Jane the honors of supervising the entire experiment.

Jane had been so relieved to finally have some productive work to do. She had dragged her goals out to a week, spending the time researching, filling up journals about the creating potions. Loki was more than willing about letting Jane take up all his time to teach her about the art. He didn't mind watching Jane's amazement and endearing curiosity fill her with a passion unique to Jane. They worked day and night, side by side. Loki had already perfected the art of making potions and could have wiped up the potion in a couple of days but this was far better.

"This is wonderful Jane," Thor praised Jane who simply shone with pleasure and pride for her new experience.

"Very cool," Darcy agreed, giving Jane a big hug. "Good job getting her out of her funk. Plus it was nice to see her fan-girl over science once again instead of you," Darcy winked at Loki who winked at the blushing Jane.

"Alright Thor, since you and Darcy already picked out all the supplies we'll need for our trip, you just have to pick a date, later this week. I recommend this Friday, since today's only Tuesday and it'll give us a safety window in case something happens with the potion," Jane said.

"Today's Tuesday? Jesus, have we been here for like a year now?" Darcy asked.

"Almost four months."

"Good god it feels so much longer. I really hate this place," Darcy complained.

"Me too," Loki agreed.

Jane turned her attention to Thor who was biting his lip, considering the best time.

"I talked to Father yesterday about the commemoration date. He basically selected midway next week and said if I wanted to I could delay to next month as well, so this, as you said, 'Friday' could work. I'll talk to him about the trip early tomorrow morning, I'm sure he will permit our departure."

!

"No, you may not go," Odin simply stated.

"But why not Father?" Thor politely asked.

Loki was using his magic to eavesdrop on the conversation from his own room. He shook his head as a negative at Jane and Darcy to translate Odin's decision and they all groaned.

"Heimdall said the stars incline a big loss to our kingdom in some days. We had the prophet come in and he warned me that my foolishness will cost me. I cannot fathom what foolishness that senile man was referring to, for I, King Odin of Asgard would never dream of ever doing anything out of order. But now may not be a safe time to travel for you. If it's a loss, I'd rather not have to bear it alone."

Thor internally rolled his eyes at his father's egocentric deduction. It amused and saddened him that Odin was only concerned about his pity-party and was restricting his son for such a selfish need.

Loki physically rolled his eyes at his father's predictable hubris. Unlike Thor, none of these revelations surprised him.

"But Father, Jane Foster begs to depart soon."

"Believe me, that makes me very happy, but she will have to wait," Odin laughed.

Loki gritted his teeth. He invaded Thor's mind, something he hadn't done in a long while, and planted his words into Thor's mind, hoping this form of communication would work.

A voice echoed in Thor's mind. "Try harder, Thor," it said hurriedly.

Thor jumped at the voice but quickly composed himself.

"Father she doesn't wish to wait," Thor pushed.

"Well then tell her that she has no other choice," Odin said stubbornly.

"Stupid bastard," Loki muttered back in his room, making Jane elbow him and Darcy laugh. "I know he wants you to leave but he's just being stubborn to exploit his authority. I really hate that man."

"Me too," Darcy echoed his earlier words, laughing harder.

"Tell Thor not to give up," Jane encouraged.

Loki sent another nonverbal plea to Thor.

Thor racked his brain for ideas.

"Father, I-I forgot to inform you. Darcy no longer wishes to wed me."

Odin and Loki both straightened up in surprise.

"What are you saying?" Odin demanded.

"She-um-she said that, she doesn't want to marry me now that she knows I'll have two wives. I also don't wish to marry her since I too have lost interest in our relationship. So, Darcy wishes to leave along with Jane as soon as possible," Thor lied.

Odin shot up from his throne. "That is wonderful news!" he cried with joy. "I told you my son, these mortal women; they are not fit for Asgardian men. Trust me when I say, you certainly got the better end of this deal."

Thor endured a bit more of Odin's defamation speech of mortal women until he finally asked, "But Father, Lady Darcy is angry with me and wishes to leave with Jane as well, as soon as possible."

Odin thought for a bit. He knew Frigga would feel better if Darcy and Jane would leave as soon as possible. Plus, he couldn't afford letting Darcy stay since she could change her mind.

"Forget the senile prophet's words. I grant you permission to leave with those mortals and send them away back to where they came from. Don't assist them back to Midgard though since Heimdall will not be able to locate your whereabouts and also, I have not told you this, but I cannot enter that realm without limiting my powers. It be best if you send them to Midgard on their own. But I allow you and Loki to travel to the other realms with them, freely. You have pleased me very much with this news my son, I am indeed very happy!"

Jane nudged Loki who had been silent for too long.

"Well?" she prompted.

"Odin said yes. We can leave on Friday," Loki smiled.

"That's terrific! But how did Thor get him to say yes?"

Loki glanced sheepishly at Darcy.

"He might have told Odin that he no longer is interested in our Darcy, that he loves her no more," Loki wickedly laughed at Darcy's glare.

"What! He said that! Oh god, I'm gonna kill him," Darcy vowed solemnly.

A/N: Not a totally engaging chapter, but it serves as a plot filler. Please review if you have any comments, questions, or concerns, and although everyone is entitled to their own opinion, I still am daring to ask that you be kind with your words. That said, constructive criticism is more than welcome, but there's no need to be aggressive, I'm sure. The reason I wrote that is because I've seen authors getting harassed in the reviews with immature comments and when I saw that today on someone else's story I just needed to vent. But you all so far have been so sweet, so that was probably unnecessary, but it's still an important message.

An anonymous comment over the internet should not be a way to bully someone, especially if they are being courageous enough to put up their work on the internet for everyone to see. Believe me when I say, it is nerve-racking to predict the reaction of others when you already have your own doubts about your writing skills. If you have suggestions, I recommend using your people-skills as you would in real life to share your opinion instead of sounding like some uneducated lethargic little playground bully with nothing to do with their time than curse people out. Use your time and words to spread love, not hate. As Tom Hiddleston once cheekily said, "Make love, not war".

Yes I am aware of how inappropriate sounds. But still.

Anyways, enough of the heavy. Thank you to the usual suspects: JPElles, odinsdatter9, and Princess PrettyPants, also EABrandon for reviewing and you, yes you, whoever you are, for reading the story and this note.

Thanks for reading everyone and stay tuned :)