Loki had not been lying when he'd told Reagan that he intended to take his new position of power seriously. In his younger years - in a time when he hadn't yet found her - he was under no illusion that he would have done anything less than wreak sheer havoc upon the Nine Realms. Reagan had teased that she had assumed the power would go to his head, and privately, Loki feared there may have been some truth to that. At least for a time. Perhaps it would have been some form of revenge. Perhaps a way to channel his rage and bitterness into something destructive. Perhaps, even, it would have just been because attaining such power would have rendered him rather directionless.
But that was not Loki's situation. Loki had found the other other half of him in the form of a maddening little mortal who had come to wield fire like a force to be reckoned with and as a result, there was a threat out there somewhere who wanted her to suffer.
But it wasn't only the Atraxis that now posed a threat to her.
Loki held a deeper fear than that. One he couldn't bring himself to even give voice to.
It was Thanos.
He'd told Reagan a little when he'd taken her into the weapon's vault, but he hadn't given her everything. There was one more thing that he dared not even allow out into the universe, lest the voicing of it gave it some kind of power. He buried it deep inside his own darkness instead - dug a grave for it - where it could not harm her. He intended to let it fester away within himself instead. Away from the light. The unspeakable thought. The fear. That if Thanos were ever to come for the Space Stone, and Reagan was to stand in his way... Thanos would see her. He'd see her defiance. Her fiery will. He'd see her unbridled power.
Her ability to decimate.
Irradicate.
Destroy.
And he would adore her.
He wouldn't kill her like the rest of them.
Instead, Loki dreaded, he would break her, slowly.
And he would delight it in.
He'd unmake everything that was her.
And eventually, he'd name her one of his Children.
And finally, when she was a shell of what she once was, he'd send her forth into the universe to cause ruin.
He'd make her into the very thing Reagan feared becoming more than anything else.
Loki wouldn't risk it. He couldn't. And so Asgard had to appear, to the rest of the universe, as strong as ever. The true might of the Nine Realms. Unparallel in strength. Loki devoted all of his energy to ensuring just that. His board assigned to improving Asgard's defences were making leaps and bounds - already, their security and defence measures were vastly superior to what it had been when the Dark Elves attacked. Loki ordered them to continue making improvements, working them tirelessly. He had also called all Einherjar stationed throughout the Nine to return to Asgard. Most of them had been acting as peacekeepers throughout the realms, but with Thanos in search of the stones, they would need every defence possible, should he come for the Tesseract. It was better for them to be stationed here. Loki acknowledged that it was likely that without them, several planets would fall into unrest - civil wars, rebellions, invasions. It wasn't ideal. Lives would be lost. There would be suffering. But to compare that to Thanos coming into possession of the Time Stone; Loki hadn't had to dwell on it long before determining that it was the right course of action. Secure too, in the knowledge that any smaller outbreaks of rebellion would pose little threat to Asgard.
There wasn't a might in the Nine that could even compare to Asgard's. Still, Loki had his informants monitoring for any sign that anything more sinister than a civil war might be brewing within the realms. Just to be cautious. To his subjects - or any outsider, really - his actions would appear to be that of an over-cautious King who had believed his Kingdom to be impenetrable.
Good. Let them believe that. So long as only a precious few knew the truth to Asgard's increased defences. He could live with his people believing that their Allfather currently nursed a bruised ego. And really, it wasn't as if it were his reputation he was damaging anyway.
And so it seemed, at least for the time being, Asgard was safe. The time stone was secure. Reagan was protected. Loki had done his duty and he could breathe just a little easier for a short while.
With all that being said - with the burden of such staggering responsibility - he did allow himself one small indulgence.
By Thanos' hand, Loki had endured unspeakable tortures the likes of which few other beings had ever had to endure. Things he couldn't allow himself to even think upon. Things he kept forbidden from Reagan, locked away where she wouldn't ever see. Things the likes of which lesser beings - and he did categorise most people as lesser beings - would not have survived.
And yet, strangely, it was something Reagan had mentioned in passing about her adolescent years that had inspired the truly deranged form of punishment he was currently revelling in dealing out. To imagine that this form of lunacy had occurred in educational facilities for children on Midgard, Loki could hardly fathom it.
But to deal out this unusual, twisted punishment to the individual standing before the Throne, gazing up pleadingly at his King - Loki didn't think he'd ever delighted in such a simple form of mischief more so than this. Behind his Odin-glamour, he was gleeful as he stared down at the wretched fool. It was written all over his victim's face - how hopeful he was that perhaps today would be the day that this torment would end.
He was well aware that if anything were to give him away it was this.
But he could resist it. Not when he had the power to make someone suffer so deliciously.
And any time the thought rose that perhaps this course of action was utterly foolish, so too with it rose the thought of a spiked drink, of a pair of eyes watching Reagan from amongst the crowds, of a secret desire to covet all that which belonged to Loki, and of a threat once made to his mortal.
"All I'd have to do is reach out a hand and I could crush your windpipe with a mere pinch of my fingers. That's all it would take."
Loki's lip curled at the very thought of it as he set his vengeful gaze upon the man standing at the foot of the Throne.
"I think I'd like a rather smaller number today, soldier," he mused in Odin's voice. "See that you complete twenty-one circuits before days' end."
Before the Throne, Halvor's shoulders slumped dejectedly. He gazed up at the King with wide, pleading eyes.
"My King," he implored, looking distressed, "perhaps if you could just explain to me why you require this relentless task of me then I could be of-"
His mask remained stoic - passive. Behind it, Loki's true face wore a grin verging on manic.
"I do not require your insight, soldier, I require only that you do what your King commands. Now, be off. And do not return until your thirty-one circuits are complete."
"But-sire, forgive me, but I'm certain you just requested twenty-one."
"No, I don't believe I did."
"I'm sure-"
"Are you suggesting your King's mind is beginning to fail him, soldier?"
"Of course not, My King, forgive me."
Loki nodded sagely.
"thirty-eight circuits," he said by way of dismissal, gesturing for the guards to remove Halvor from his presence before he could protest.
Laps. So simple a thing. Jogging laps around the perimeter of the city.
Day in, day out.
Supervised by a servant whose sole duty was to ensure the soldier's required number of laps were completed by day's end. Just to make the task feel that touch more demeaning.
Loki had had him at it for months now. And Halvor was utterly lost as to why his King had chosen to torment him so.
Halvor was Asgardian. And so endurance running did him little physical harm. Even given the way Loki had him doing it; in his full warrior garb complete with armour.
But the confusion.
The degradation.
The indignity.
And to have everyone bear witness to it.
For someone as prideful and arrogant as Halvor was, Loki couldn't think of a better form of torture.
How delighted he was about that too, when he'd thought he'd lost his chance. In the earliest days of his reign, Loki had made the mistake of mentioning to Reagan in passing that he had great plans for the pustule and - horrifyingly - she had made him swear to inflict no harm.
"Don't ask that of me," Loki had pleaded, forlorn. "Ask me for riches. Ask me for power. Ask me for every last star in the sky. But don't ask of me the thing I would deny you."
Reagan had just rolled her eyes at his dramatics.
"Do you know how easy it is not to do something?" she'd said.
"Not this."
"Please, don't hurt him? You know I hate the guy just as much as you do-"
"I can assure you, you don't."
"-but I don't want you torturing someone... Okay?"
"Alright, very well," Loki had agreed quickly - too quickly.
Much to his dismay, Reagan caught it.
"Oh-no, no, no. You can't just order someone else to do it for you either."
Loki had groaned at her.
"Stop being so decent. Ask me to skin him for you," he had tried once more. "As a sign of my complete and utter devotion."
"No."
"Reagan-"
"Loki, promise me."
Loki had glared daggers at her as his nostrils flared and he breathed an angry, slightly defeated huff.
"You have my word." he'd conceded at last through gritted teeth, "that no physical harm will come to him by my doing."
And he knew that Reagan was no fool. She could spot a gaping wide loophole when it was staring her right in the face. But no matter what happened, she never seemed to have the expectation that he would be a saint. Rather, just a demon on a leash. He supposed he could live with that - a leash - if she was to be the one holding it.
Reagan had eyed him for only a moment before nodding as if satisfied by his answer, pretending that neither of them could sense her poorly suppressed amusement as she leaned in and kissed his cheek.
Loki loved her like nothing else in existence.
It had come as little shock to neither Loki nor Reagan when she had quickly realised how much she thoroughly abhorred politics. She still engaged, talking late into the night about the workings of the many councils and systems Loki now oversaw. She was enthusiastic about the plans he was setting in motion to move their people forward. She had endless questions about how Asgard's rule over the Nine Realms worked and how the people under that reign may benefit from the hierarchy in place. And she took her newly appointed role as Loki's Jiminy Cricket extremely seriously.
But... the meetings.
There were just so many long, drawn-out, monotonous meetings. She utterly loathed them. So, while Loki was overseeing the Kingdom and assuring peace remained throughout the Nine, Reagan had taken to spending rather a lot of her time with Asgard's new Gatekeeper instead.
Skurge was one of very few people on Asgard privy to her true identity, and so it seemed that when she wasn't with Loki, or exploring the city, she chose to spend her time with Skurge.
Loki was far from ignorant about his penchant for jealousy. It was a venomous thing within coiled him, ready to strike at a moment's notice. He also knew that Skurge posed no real threat to what he had with her. He knew that. But he couldn't help to loathe how much Reagan liked him.
Skurge could make her laugh with such ease.
That was something that Loki detested.
Because it was something he prided himself upon. The way he could coax laughter out of her, even in the most dire of situations. Whether she was sad or stressed or upset, Loki adored that he could draw even the most involuntary of smiles to her face.
And so the fact that that bald fool could also inspire such delight in her - the fact that she spent so much of her day with him - if it weren't for the bond, it may have just driven Loki to insanity.
Because, for the bond, Reagan also spent a great majority of her time speaking to him in her head. Teasing. Playing. Commenting on whatever dull affair he was seeing to that day. They'd both become extremely skilled at carrying on two separate conversations. One along the bond and one with whoever they may have found themselves in the company of on any given day.
The wasn't a day that passed where Loki wasn't grateful for that gift. If not for that, he was certain he'd be driven to distraction over Reagan's absence.
And that theory had proven correct on one particular morning when the bond was uncharacteristically quiet. Loki tried to ignore it - tried to ignore the way it felt mildly fogged. Almost as if Reagan might have been trying to conceal something from him.
He told himself it was nothing. That she was just preoccupied.
He told himself that he could just call for her. She would answer. She always did.
He knew that.
But some old, ugly mistrustful thing inside him reared its head and simply would not be ignored.
As Loki sat, only half listening as one of his many advisors droned on about current agricultural regulations he found the words floating over him. He could seem to draw his attention away from the bond.
He just missed her, he told himself. He was so used to her presence in his mind that her absence left him feeling... prickly. It was certainly not that he had any sort of trust issues. He trusted Reagan. He did. He trusted her with everything. And Loki knew how sincerely it would hurt her to learn that he would possibly question that. It was only that he missed her.
And for that reason - and no other - Loki made the decision to adjourn his assembly early and take a walk down the Rainbow Bridge to see what Reagan was occupying herself with that day.
Furthermore, the only reason he cast an enchantment to conceal himself from sight was so that he wasn't stopped by anyone else he might pass for yet another droll conversation.
Loki soon approached the mouth of the Bifrost and even from a distance, he noted Reagan's absence. Which not only caused a clench of unease in his gut but also curved his mouth into a scowl.
Skurge stood in the centre of the dome, the hilt of the Bifrost Sword clutched in his hands as he gazed attentively at the gate, like some loyal and obedient soldier. The very sight of it had Loki rolling his eyes.
He'd only had one previous interaction with Skurge where the two of them weren't accompanied by someone else. It had been brief. And Loki didn't much care to repeat the experience.
"I'm going to be transparent with you, Skurge." Loki had said matter-of-factlyas they stood alone in the Bifrost. "I have organised for eyes far more competent than yours to oversee the actual protection of the realm. Your presence is more... to keep up appearances. In reality, your only real job is to inform me if my brother requests access to the Bifrost. If that happens, you are to inform me immediately. Is that understood?"
Skurge had pressed his lips into a thin line as he'd nodded his understanding.
"And I take it that I'm to keep this new duty to myself, then? Especially from a particular mortal."
Loki had eyed him up and down before turning to take his leave, dismissively. "Perhaps you're a little more intelligent than I originally gave you credit for."
Loki was once again about to take his leave when there was a flash of brilliant rainbow light as the Bifrost activated. Loki watched, rather bewildered as he watched Reagan emerge from the gate laden with a frankly insane amount of bags, boxes and other miscellaneous items.
"Okay," Reagan panted as she emerged into the Bifrost, looking up at Skurge as she haphazardly dumped the contents of her overladen arms onto the floor. "Please tell me there are pine trees on Asgard. I do not want to have to try and lug one of those through that thing, it would be a nightmare."
Skurge descended the steps, eyeing the impressive load Reagan was able to carry in a single trip.
"You weren't kidding when you said you were coming back with a shitload," he said to her.
"Yeah, well, the castle is massive," Reagan plonked herself down amongst her loot to begin sorting through it. "Even in one of the smaller drawing rooms, all this is going to look like a pretty unimpressive. But the fireplaces are so cute, it's all going to look so pretty when it's all done up."
"I still can't wrap my head around the fact that you think that place is cute," Skurge shook his head as he opened a nearby box to peer inside. "Or that he doesn't mind you calling it that."
"Oh, he definitely minds. So I just never say it to his face. Well, almost never. When I do, he pretends not to hear it. Ah, found it!" Reagan declared excitedly as she pulled a lengthy glittering mess free from one of the bags. "This is tinsel," she said as she held it out to the soldier.
"Oh, now I get what you were sayin'," Skurge said as he took hold of it and inspected the decoration curiously. "I guess you were right about it being a little hard to describe."
Reagan smiled up at him.
"Right? Now that you've seen it, how would you explain it?"
"Uhhh," Skurge paused thoughtfully. "Trash?"
"Hey!"
"Fancy trash," he amended quickly. "But... Reagan, love, this is trash."
"Wait till you see it hung up, it looks really pretty, I promise."
"And Loki's going to let you make his castle... pretty... with trash?"
Reagan sighed. She was beginning to understand how Jack Skellington must have felt explaining all of this to the folks in Halloweentown. No wonder they cocked it all up so badly. Mind you, if she'd realised it was October before it came and went, she absolutely would have forced Loki into pumpkin carving, sugar overdoses and a horror movie marathon. Not for the first time, she wondered how hard it would be to get a Midgardian TV working if she dragged one up the Bifrost.
But alas, she'd missed her chance at an Asgardian Halloween and so Christmas would have to suffice. She'd spent the whole morning on Midgard, collecting all the decorations she could carry. Plus wrapping paper and ribbons. The ingredients for gingerbread, even though she despised the taste of it. And last, but by no means least, a pair of ugly Christmas sweaters. She knew it was going to be a real challenge to wrestle Loki into one of those, and she couldn't help but feel mildly disappointed that she hadn't had a chance to swipe some Atraxian tranquillizer before she'd destroyed their ship.
"Oh wait, I got something for you too," Reagan remembered suddenly, jumping up to rifle through her stash once again. "I wrapped it before I came back because I knew I wouldn't be able to wait until Christmas Day to give it to you. Ah! There is it. Here you go!"
She handed him a long, thin package that she had wrapped rather badly in her haste. But still, it got the job done. Skurge took it, unsure of what to do.
"Open it," Reagan insisted.
Slowly, Skurge ripped open the paper to reveal a long stick nestled in crushed-up red and white fabric.
Skurge threw her an odd look.
"What is it?" he asked.
"Press that button on the handle."
There was a faint whumph noise followed by a gasp from Skurge as a canopy opened at the top of the stick. He looked suddenly awestruck as he stared up at the umbrella clutched in his hand.
"Gods... Is this a-"
"It sure is!"
"Reagan- I fucking love it! Quick, get some water. I want to test it out."
And just as Skurge was beaming with delight as he hoisted his new umbrella high above his head and Reagan scurried around searching for any kind of liquid she could dowse him in, Loki appeared in the mouth of the Bifrost.
Skurge blanched at the sight of him.
Reagan, seeing the look of horror on his face, turned to follow his gaze. At the sight of her trickster, she smiled delightedly.
"Oh, hey," she said brightly. "What are you doing here?"
Loki didn't answer her. Instead, she watched as he slowly scanned the various items strewn about the Bifrost. Behind her, Skurge slowly and subtly lowered the open umbrella and attempted to conceal it behind his back. He was not successful.
"What is this?" Loki asked calmly.
"I just gave the Bifrost a go," Reagan replied happily. "I realised Christmas is coming up and so I went home to grab a few things."
"You didn't," Loki said.
Reagan's brow creased in confusion.
"Didn't what?"
"You didn't go to Midgard."
"Yeah, I did. A couple of times. What's the problem?"
"What's the problem?" Loki repeated, eyebrows raised in disbelief.
"I wasn't gone long," Reagan shrugged.
Evidently, this was the wrong response. Loki swept past her to glower at Skurge who looked nothing short of petrified.
"And you just allowed this to occur, did you? Facilitated, even, one might argue?" he asked, venom in his voice.
"I, uh-"
"Loki, relax," said Reagan, folding her arms impatiently.
Loki ignored her, opting for Skurge to be the victim of his fury.
"What were your orders?" he asked him. "Tell me. What were they?"
"They were, uh..." Skurge glanced uncertainly at Reagan and back to Loki.
Reagan prickled suddenly, pre-emptive anger surging through her. She watched Loki tense as he felt it.
"His orders," she said warningly, "better not have been to keep me trapped here on Asgard, Loki."
Loki spun around to face her, flashing her a charming smile.
"Oh, I wouldn't say trapped."
"But you said-" Skurge began before promptly cutting himself off, determining it to be a mistake to interject.
For once, it appeared that he and Loki agreed upon something. Loki rounded on Skurge with a look that could inspire full bladder evacuation in even the strongest of pelvic floors.
Skurge shut his mouth.
"You are forbidden from ever taking her down there again, do you understand me?" Loki snarled.
"You are not forbidden from that, Skurge," Reagan rebutted angrily as she marched over to place herself between him and Loki, facing the latter as she panted her hands on her hips. "That is my home planet, Loki. I can visit it whenever I like."
"You can't just come and go as you please, Reagan. It isn't safe."
"I absolutely can come and go as I please, Loki. That is my home, and you are not my warden."
Behind her, Skurge was making his best attempt at a subtle retreat. His armour clanked with every step.
"Reagan," Loki closed his eyes, clearly making his best attempt to remain calm. "You know it's not safe for you to leave Asgard. You know what's out there trying to find you."
"I'm not afraid of the Mother," Reagan told him stubbornly.
"You should be."
"If anyone should be afraid, it's her. Besides, I thought we were both excited to take them on for round two."
Loki looked astonished.
"Are you a lunatic- Reagan, we are not excited. We're trying to avoid 'round two' at all costs."
"Why? I'm ready for them. I say we light a beacon and lead them here. Get it over and done with."
Loki ran a frustrated hand down his face. He'd been worried about this, Reagan knew that. He'd voiced it to her a few times. He'd told her that he feared she might confuse her newfound immortality for invincibility. And she was not invincible, he'd reminded her. Again and again, he'd reminded her. He'd made her promise not to do anything reckless, like throw herself off a cliff face or play with his knife collection. Evidently, willingly doing battle against an army of monsters that wanted her dead also fell under the category of things that Loki deemed 'reckless.'
She couldn't help but be annoyed by it. When she'd learned of the threat that the Mother had made when she'd laid unconscious in Loki's arms, she'd decided she wasn't yet finished with the rage those creatures had inspired in her. She was ready for blood. It was an utter surprise to her that Loki wasn't on the same page. After all, she'd fallen in love with the God of Mischief, not the God of Reason and Sensible Decisions.
But then the inevitable came, the pulse of fear and vulnerability that Loki hid from everyone but her. A need for her to be safe that was so close to a pining, it was almost indistinguishable. And that maddeningly alluring, comforting, irresistible love she always felt from him every day.
She couldn't help but soften a little.
Their eyes met.
He had felt it.
Who'd have ever thought, Loki would be able to pull off the equivalent of a psychic puppy-dog-eye routine.
Reagan breathed out a long, weary, defeated sigh.
She hated that it had worked.
Reagan, I just need you safe. Please... Please...
"Look, you don't need to worry, okay?" Reagan relented, at last, reaching for him. His had found hers. "I'm done. I've got everything I needed to go down there for. I'm staying put for now."
"You are?" Loki asked cautiously.
"Yes," she insisted. "Well, no. I'm taking all of this to your castle. I have to decorate. It was going to be a surprise that you wouldn't have liked. But I guess you went and ruined that now didn't you."
Loki nodded pensively.
"You have my word that I will feign sheer glee at whatever horrors I am to face by your hands if it means you're going to stay on Asgard."
"Alright," Reagan smirked. "But it better be some solid acting."
"I won't rest until my performance brings you to tears," Loki murmured as he leaned in to kiss her.
And she hated that she couldn't stop herself from beaming up at him.
"Now, don't you have a Kingdom to run or something like that?"
"Something like that," Loki agreed gently.
Reagan inclined her head towards the city.
"Go on, off you go. I'm off to vandalise your home with all this fancy trash."
Loki kissed her once more, before taking his leave. Reagan stood in the mouth of the Bifrost, with her arms wrapped around herself as she watched him go and even as he retreated from her, they played along the bond, that small part of each of them not quite willing to part from the other.
Once Loki was well and truly out of earshot, Reagan whirled around to face Skurge who was at last allowing himself to breathe a sigh of relief.
"Okay, full disclosure, it wasn't strictly true that I'm not going back again," she admitted.
"What?!" Skurge exclaimed.
"Yeah... there's just a few more things I need to get."
"Then why did you tell him you were done?!"
"I don't know I just wanted him to feel happy. He's so sweet when he's all smiley like that."
"Reagan. He's always fuckin smilin' at ya. Far as I can tell, you're the only thing he actually does smile at."
"Okay, don't freak out on me, Skurge. It'll be fine. We'll just leave it a few days until he's calmed down and then I'll just quickly zip down there and I'll be super fast, alright? In and out, before he even realises I've gone anywhere."
Skurge positively glared at her.
"I swear to God, you're going to end up gettin' me beheaded."
"He's not going to behead you, Skurge," Reagan insisted, as though it were a completely absurd thing to worry about.
"Oh yeah? What makes you so sure?"
"Because he knows that I'd never forgive him," Reagan said simply. "He likes to put on this big, scary tough-guy act so you'll be all nervous around him but really, you're probably safer from him than anyone else on the planet. Unless, of course, you cross me."
Reagan flashed Skurge a wicked sort of grin and he seemed to pale a little.
"That was a joke," she clarified when she clocked the look on his face.
"I swear, being friends with you ain't good for my blood pressure."
"Asgardians have to worry about blood pressure?"
"Not until you came along, love. They'll do studies on me, the will," he lamented.
Reagan bit back a smirk.
"So... will you send me back to Midgard?" she asked hopefully.
"Let me think about it."
"Skurge... don't be a chicken."
"Don't call me a chicken. They are my second least favourite animal."
Reagan paused momentarily.
"Why?"
"Their heads are just so small compared to their bodies. Makes me uncomfortable."
"Oh..." Reagan wordlessly, glanced Skurge up and down, making no comment about his bald little head and his oversized armour he was never without.
She waited as he thought over his options.
"And you swear you'll be fast."
"Baby, I'll be so fast I'll put the Millennium Falcon to shame."
"Who is the Millennium Falcon?"
"Oh, he's just this... really fast falcon," she said, not wanting to make the effort.
Skurge shook his head, his expression still rather dire.
"I still don't know about this," he said.
"It could be my Christmas present?"
Skurge shot her a perplexed look.
"I've got to get you a present too? I thought you just handed them out because you're Shandy Claus?"
"Santa Claus," Reagan corrected. "And I'm not him, he's- I'll explain it later, the point is that I got you a gift so now you have to get me one. It's the rules."
"And I can't give it back?"
"Oh, no, no. On Earth, it's customary that-"
"You really think I'm going to fall for that a seventh time?" Skurge interjected, sounding offended.
"Yes," Reagan answered honestly.
Skurge pursed his lips.
"...Fuck! Alright, fine! But you better make sure he's well and truly occupied and you be fast, alright? And if he catches wind of what's going on, I am using you as a human shield, you understand me?"
"That's only fair," Reagan agreed, faking a sensible nod for his benefit. "...by the way, what's your least favourite animal?"
"Fruit flies," said Skurge simply. "Dead annoying, those things."