Chapter Text
He held her hand and jumped into the swirling vortex feeling the happiest he’d ever felt in his life. Loki heard her whoop of joy during the rush of travel. Well before he might normally reverse his position, he yelled out to her, “Twist your body!” and did just that, his hand pulling her along with him. Darcy stumbled when they landed. Loki reached out to steady her even while she looked up at him and grinned.
“Hi,” she said, smiling widely. ‘I really missed you. Damn you’re gorgeous. This was such a crazy day. I can’t wait to tell you everything. There are going to be doors! In the desert! And we’re going to need composting everything. Including toilets, I think. Do you guys do desalination? I mean, better than we do?’
He decided to kiss her, as she was making no sense. Her lips were soft and honeyed, but her mind was not quietened by his efforts.
‘I love you so much, Loki! And I missed you so much, which is crazy because it was just one day, I know, but still, and it was such an overwhelming day, and I mean, like, whoa! Sensory overload! And this is nice, too, hey did something just hit me on the head?’
Something certainly hit him on the head.
They both looked up to see the bifrost receding and flowers raining down all around them in the desert.
“My flowers!” Darcy squealed and did a small pirouette of joy. Which made her armor and weapons shift, thud and clank ever so slightly.
Loki watched, bemused, as she gathered up a few flowers at her feet, then noticed her mother.
“Hi, Mom!” And there was embracing. And a few more moments of flower gathering. Then she noticed her sister.
“Aiden! You came! You’re awesome and I love you!” And there was embracing. And a few more moments of flower gathering.
All the while her thoughts were racing. It was slowly dawning on Loki that the day might have actually been too much for his beloved to take in, much less process altogether. She was acting a bit… scattered. And he had an idea for gathering her back together again.
He went to her, embraced her in an admittedly confining way and softly whispered to her, “Sweetheart. This has been a busy day. Why don’t you greet your father and brother, and then we’ll gather flowers, hmm?”
“Right!” Darcy exclaimed happily, and shifted over to her father.
“Welcome home, Jane,” Loki said as he approached her. He held out his hand to her and as she took it, he shook it in the Midgardian fashion. “Thank you for being a part of our handfasting. You handled your weapon well. We are honored to have you in our lives.”
Jane smiled and blushed. He had a quick word with her, presenting his idea and securing her agreement.
As he walked away from her and back to Darcy, he heard Jane call out, “Let’s put all these flowers in the van, okay? I’ll go pull it closer. Jack, why don’t you come with me and bring the car up, too? And let’s grab these trunks, oh, that one’s mine.”
Loki pulled a large, wide-mouthed, canvas bag from the store and bent over, starting to put the flowers in. With so many hands working, it did not take long, and they were walking toward the transport before it even arrived.
Loki had his arm around Darcy’s waist as they walked. Her mental chatter to him had been non-stop and so much more scattered than of late.
“Aiden, would you like to ride back with Jane? I’m sure the two doctors would have plenty to discuss of recent events,” Loki pointed out.
“Sure. Okay,” she replied quietly.
“I’m hungry. You guys hungry?” Darcy asked. ‘Ack, I don’t have my cell phone! Loki! Where’s my cell phone? Oh my god! You guys didn’t leave it on Asgard, did you?’
“Jane is calling for some food, and she will pick it up on the way back,” he calmly told her. “And Aiden has your cell phone, and has painted some portraits with it.”
“Thanks, Rockstar,” she breathed.
The transport drew close and it was not a moment too soon. Loki handed off the bags of flowers to Jane and pulled Darcy back toward him when she tried to follow her.
‘Wha- hey, now! Wanna go home! Hooooome!’
“There is a faster way,” he whispered to her.
“Okay, we’ll see you there, Loki. See you in an hour, Darce. Jack, you good to follow me?” Jane asked, as the others began to enter the transport and make themselves comfortable. Darcy, meanwhile, was doing some sort of shimmy and wiggle in his arms as her thoughts spun crazily around him.
He sorted Darcy in his arms so that they faced one another and pulled her chin back toward him so that he had her eyes.
“I somehow feel, my love, as if I don’t have your undivided attention.”
The mental chatter stopped, and Loki smiled. He shifted them, and they no longer stood in the desert, but in their bedroom.
“Hi,” she said.
“Hi,” he echoed.
“It’s been a really crazy day. My brain is spinning.”
“I know,” he said softly. “I have something that can help stop the spinning.”
“Oh, good! What is it? Like, a magic spell or something?”
“Or something. ‘Tis a tripartite cure. Ecstasy, orgasms, and rest.”
“Hah! You just want to have sex.” She looked triumphant.
“Tis true. I never mind having sex with you, and I do frequently desire it, but I promise you this will help.” He kissed her and held her close to him, his beautiful wife. And then he realized that his words were misleading, though he had not really meant to mislead just a moment ago - it was perhaps not shocking, but also true, that lying was as easy as breathing and Loki often forgot he was doing it. But he meant it when he promised not to lie to her. He meant it with his entire being.
Loki ended the kiss and held her gaze. He cleared his throat - being utterly truthful was slightly more difficult than he had first envisioned.
“What is it, baby?” Darcy asked gently.
“You were right,” Loki answered through a tight throat. He took another deep breath. “You know I… struggle… with how much I desire you. And truly, my heart, I do desire you now. This day was,” he sighed and looked away for a moment, “strangely challenging in ways I shall tell you of later, but to not see you, or hear your laugh, or have even the fleeting touch of your skin on mine, to say nothing of those honeyed lips-”
And she kissed him. With all of her attention and all of her will, she kissed him. ‘We both need this. I get it. It’s cool. We can both need this. And just for the record, I vote for sex with clothes on. Because shit, you look hot.’
He broke the kiss on a pant and twirled them around until he had her pressed against the closed portal to their chamber. His voice was pitched low, though not on purpose. “You would have me take you thus, Your Royal Highness?”
“It’s a top five location, I’ll admit,” his saucy love replied, now having no problem focusing.
Loki dropped down into a squat before her, his fingers on the hem of her skirts, finding her ankles and slowly, slowly drawing the fabric higher and higher. He looked up at her through his lashes. “When you walked into the Observatory this evening, you were so radiantly lovely. I’d never in my life seen anything more beautiful, Darcy of Asgard.” His hands were on her soft, bare thighs and he was now uncomfortably hard in his own breeches, though that would be remedied in just a moment. Loki tucked the bottom of her dress over the handles of her daggers, now trailing his fingers over the lace covered mound he had grown to appreciate so very much. He shifted the lace to one side and let his fingers trace lines and patterns until one fingertip dipped inside.
Darcy moaned, her breath hitched, and she moaned once more.
Loki helped her ease one thigh over his shoulder and he leaned in and feasted hungrily. Her fingers clutched and scratched at his scalp even while her entire body shivered and shook. Her orgasm was quick and easy and Loki was almost sorry to leave. But not quite. He unlaced his breeches and released his throbbing staff which had been more or less engorged since he first laid eyes on her some twenty minutes ago. A single pump was all he allowed himself while his lips and tongue were still occupied lapping up her honey.
Loki released himself and shifted so that he held the thigh which had been over his shoulder. He raised himself back to his feet and wrapped that thigh around his waist, instead, pulling up Darcy’s other leg, watching with a satisfied grin as his beautiful darling tried to rally even though she felt boneless. He rearranged her weaponry and shifted until his tip was at her entrance.
Darcy hissed as he teased her, rubbing himself around her portal, around the heart of her arousal.
Loki’s own groan was full-throated as he sheathed himself in the slick, tight sleeve that was the new seat of all his desire. He shook slightly, just holding himself inside of her, his hands full of her curvaceous bottom, her arms thrown round his neck and her legs round his waist.
“Darcy,” he sighed. He pulsed within her and she mewled in response. “O, Darcy, I--”
But then she clenched him hard and tight, drawing him even deeper. He cried out and thrust twice before he got himself under control.
“O, for God’s sake, Loki. Would you make with the sexing now?” Darcy growled out, obviously having found her second wind.
He reared back and looked her in the eye.
“I am trying,” he hissed, even as he shook involuntarily, “to exert a measure of control, woman.”
“And I am trying,” she said, eyes flashing, “to make you lose it! I’m wearing armor for chrissake!”
His eyes rolled back in his head at the thought. She was wearing armor and she had no idea what it did to him. If she said anything else, he missed it. His hips slammed into hers not once or twice but now continuously as he held her, his arms full of his very own Asgardian shieldmaiden. He’d finally found her. Finally, and tonight he’d made her his very own.
He rutted inside of her like a wild thing, growling and groaning, desperate and unfettered. Armor clanged and shifted as bodies ground and crashed together and the door rattled with each of Loki’s thrusts. The suck and squish of their bodies was barely heard, though thoroughly felt. It was groans and growls and then finally, Darcy’s higher pitch, more than a yell, less than a scream. And his own.
But O, hellfire. He wasn’t done.
Yes, he had reached his climax and left his seed in her fertile crevasse, but his thirst for her was not yet slaked.
“Darcy,” he called to her quietly, his voice still filled with his need. He shifted so he had a free hand to stroke her face, to coax her to look at him. “Darcy,” he called again, insistently.
“Hmmm?” She blinked twice, thrice and then focused on him.
“Darcy, please, I need…” He couldn’t say it.
She blinked again. ‘Well, you can stop time and I’m sure you can fix my hair, so baby, you can have whatever you want for as long as you want. This is our wedding night, you know.’
He pulsed inside of her, having not had a chance yet to lose his girth, and perhaps, in his passion, he wouldn’t just yet.
He gasped at the feeling, but not just the feeling. It was also her. This woman who would give him what he needed.
And what he needed was to see her. He thought briefly of conjuring a mirror, but it required more concentration than he bothered to devote to the project. Instead he cast an image of himself across the room, by the dresser.
Loki walked Darcy to the side of the bed and helped her to her feet, righting the front of her dress and slinging her belt across her hips.
Oh, by the nine, those hips.
He had, honestly, intended to push her down on the bed and take her from behind, having his illusion provide him with the glorious sight of it. But that was before she sunk to the floor, gotten slightly caught up in her own dress, righted her situation with some giggling, and then nearly swallowed his cock whole.
‘Tastes like me,’ she thought, glancing up at him.
“Well, it should,” he gasped out, burying his fingers in her soft ringlets, trying not to jostle her coronet.
‘I wonder how far I can take you. I have to admit, I kinda feel like I have enough energy to climb a mountain, so I might as well go for it, you know? Not that deep throating you is like climbing a mountain. But, whatever. Me with the energies, like whoa. Well, I’ve read enough about this. Here goes.’
Four tries later and she had it.
The rhythm she employed was melting his very bones. Three thrusts deep in her throat while she held her breath and six shallow ones as she breathed and swirled her tongue around his head. And over again. And again. And again.
It’s possible that his mouth uttered inane babblings. He wasn’t entirely certain what he was saying. He wasn’t sure he cared, either. Watching from across the room only worked until his orgasm struck and his knees buckled, and the illusion winked out of existence.
She continued pumping him with her hand. “This okay? You still want more?”
“Yes,” he hissed.
His eyes were closed, but he could hear the rustle of fabric, the shifting of scabbards and the metallic clinks of her armor. And then he could feel her. His eyes snapped open. She’d mounted him right there as he lay on the floor and -- “Aaah! Darcy! O, Darcy,” he cried. “For the love of all that’s holy, woman, ride me hard.”
“Can you focus enough,” Darcy panted out, “to add two more to this party? ‘Cause I’m up for it.”
“Yes,” he growled out, and then he was naked and hard in front of her, his feet straddling his own torso as he stood on the floor. And then he was naked and hard behind her, lifting her skirts and preparing her for his entrance.
‘Blue please. Besides, those clan lines are wicked sensitive, and now seems like a good time for that.’
The Loki that stood before her chilled and turned a deep cerulean and his cock became so much more sensitive than before.
The Loki that knelt behind her chilled and became blue and the finger buried in her heat became buried in lava.
“In a moment,” the third Loki said, panting “we’ll need to shift. But for now, darling, take me deep,” he said, taking her hips and pushing her full of Loki Prime, “and be still while I seat myself within you.”
He took his time to work his hard length inside of her, not too quickly. He couldn’t keep from shivering and shaking all the while. The sensations were so intense, and Darcy was taking the opportunity to practice her cock swallowing. Not every attempt was a success, but even her failures made him groan in ecstasy.
Groaning further still, the tertiary Loki seated himself completely just as she took the secondary Loki to his root and swallowed, allowing her throat muscles to momentarily massage his cock before withdrawing once more. Taking his opportunity, the tertiary Loki put one hand on her hip to ensure he would remain inside of her, and then pulled her back with him as he sat behind her, almost entirely reclining with one elbow supporting their weight.
At that same moment, Loki Prime shifted his legs. First one, then the other and then he was rising up on his knees, which he did just as the tertiary Loki sat back. He wrapped Darcy’s legs around his waist, even as he leaned over her and himself.
The secondary Loki disappeared, as he suddenly became superfluous.
Loki kissed her as he fucked her into himself, both cocks being squeezed deliciously.
‘Yay! It’s a Darcy sandwich!’ was her only coherent thought.
As he kissed her thoroughly and continued to pump his cock in and out of her beautiful sheath, he spoke to her from behind, his voice every bit as rough as it always was when he assumed his natural form.
“I don’t know why I’m like this tonight. I don’t know why I can’t seem to get enough of you. But I can’t, Darcy,” he said, gasping and halting, but slowly getting the words out all the same. “Perhaps… perhaps it was watching you walk in, looking every inch Aesir, every inch a confident and glowing shieldmaiden, every inch of what I always thought I wanted. And yet, it was so much better than that. Because what I wanted… it wasn’t for me. Not really. It wouldn’t have brought me happiness.
“You bring me happiness. You, my young Midgardian love, my sweet and lusty Human, my political science major who has only just turned twenty-one. You, who only dreamed of magic and other realms, you who paint perfect likenesses instantly and send them hundreds of miles in order to announce our engagement in the middle of the night. And yet there you were, standing in the Observatory, looking like my fantasy, the fantasy I didn’t know I had. And you did that for me.”
‘And here I am, still dressed the same way. Still working for you?’ his bride thought to him.
He growled. “Can you doubt it? Can there truly be any doubt in your mind? How many times must I lose myself in lust between your thighs before you accept that you have turned my life upside down?”
He held her as she came, and his thrusts slowed afterwards until he just gently held himself within her, letting her rest. He wasn’t close to done, but it would be some time, he thought, until he was able to orgasm again and perhaps, perhaps, this could be the last one of the night. Or, at least of this portion of the night.
She tore her lips away from his and he shifted immediately to her throat.
“I love you, Loki,” she panted. ‘I don’t know what I did in a past life to deserve you, but I’m really glad I did it.’
Jane put the truck into gear and slowly pulled out, back toward the road. She checked in her rear view mirror to make sure Jack was following, and when he was, she slowly proceeded, briefly wondering if Darcy and Loki were, in fact, having wild and crazy monkey sex. But of course they were. The tiniest little part of Jane squeaked in dismay, but she put a bag over her head and shoved her in a closet, pretending that she had no crush of any kind on any ancient space prince and got on with her admittedly wonderful life of having an ancient space prince as a patron and ally in rocking the scientific world back on its collective ass.
And Frigga! Holy shit, the Queen of Asgard was, as Darcy would say, a complete and absolute Rockstar and Jane was fairly certain that she wanted to become Frigga when she grew up.
And Darcy. Now, hasn’t that just been one surprise after another? Jane could have sworn that she’d gotten the bottom of the barrel in terms of interns, but then Darcy had turned out to be a pretty efficient multitasker. She could sass with the best of them, and that often got on Jane’s nerves, but she was thorough and thoughtful, and that was before Loki showed up. And since Loki… well, it was probably all there before hand, but maybe Jane had never had the opportunity to see how Darcy would act, and well, of course, of course she hadn’t had the opportunity, until, you know, she did. And that’s when she saw. And boy, howdy, she saw - Jane saw that Darcy was intelligent, witty, imaginative - a wonderful creative problem solver. And that was a skill that Jane valued quite highly, indeed.
And now she had the older sister in the car. Who was she? What was she like? An older, more mature version of Darcy? Fantastic!
“So, you’re Darcy’s older sister. Hi. I’m Jane,” she said, mindful of what Darcy had said a few days ago about Jane’s lack of social skills. The terrible part was that she knew how to be polite, what to say and when to say it, but she had just been so distracted of late. Granting deadlines! Bah! She was so done with them!
“Hello,” Darcy’s sister said quietly as Jane searched for her name. What was it? It started with an A, just like Austin’s… Alice? Agnes? Anthea? Alberta? Damn it, woman, say your name!
“I hear you’re a medical doctor. Are you nearing the end of your residency?” Jane said, still mentally searching for her name. Ann? Anna? Analise? Annabeth? Annabel? Astrid? Ariel? Ariel! Maybe something like Ariel? No, who names a child after a tragic Disney character?
“Ah, no. I just started actually. Still don’t really know what I want to specialize in.”
To hell with her first name, then. Dr. Lewis. Jane would just call her Dr. Lewis in her head, because that at least wasn’t wrong. Well, Dr. Lewis seemed to have zero personality so far. Either that or she just really wasn’t interested in making small talk. But it was an hour drive, for heaven’s sake!
“I’m sure you still have plenty of time,” Jane said, trying to be kind. “You would have really loved Asgard. Darcy and I went to this place, and I don’t really know how to describe it. It didn’t really feel like a hospital, though that’s I suppose what it was. It felt more like a spa with nurses. But the healers were using the most amazing advanced technology! I didn’t recognize everything, but I’m pretty sure that one thing was a quantum field generator, though really, the healers had no sense of humor when I referred to it by anything other than the names they used. ‘Soul Forge.’ Whatever. But I’m telling you, they obviously get results. I mean, look at me! Yesterday I was the poster child for the overcaffeinated, hyper-stressed, young academic without tenure! Last year I had kidney stones twice, and my doctor keeps warning me about my blood pressure and possible ulcers, but you know what? Today I feel amazing! And I looked in a mirror! I haven’t looked this good since high school! And back then I didn’t know how to dress. I mean, sure, I’m actually in armor right now, so maybe not a good point, but outside of royal weddings, I swear I have a decent dress sense. I mean, no one looks normal at royal weddings, right? But at least Loki was the only one in a funny hat. Fascinators, man. They go too far. But anyway, I don’t know what the hell they did to me, but oh it’s on my list to find out. And figure out how soon we can replicated it on Earth.”
“What do you mean?” Dr. Lewis asked, and Jane was happy to have finally peaked the woman’s interest. Clearly she was nothing like Darcy.
“Well, that’s generally one of Loki’s aims, and it’s certainly Darcy’s now. Cultural and technological exchange, you know? I’m so excited. I’m resigning my position and we’re going to start an institute in the embassy. Darcy and the Queen and I hashed out the basic plan, though it’s right up Loki’s alley. But wow, is he amazing, or what?”
“He’s really something,” Dr. Lewis said softly, but Jane couldn’t tell what she might have meant.
“Did you guys get a chance to hang out and get to know each other?”
“Not really. I mean, there was the ride out here, but he and Dad mostly talked. And then on the walk, he told us a story from his childhood. He seems cool, but we didn’t really talk, just he and I.”
“Oh, he’s just… I mean, the man is completely amazing. Completely. He’s older than dirt and he just knows everything! God, I could talk to him for hours and not get bored. I mean, I do, come to think of it. He’s helping me with my research, and it’s going to be so wonderful because really, I mean, really, we’re going to be redeveloping all scientific assumptions made up until this point. I mean, seriously, everything!”
“What are you talking about?”
“Magic is real, Dr. Lewis. I’ve seen it. I’ve seen him make an entire roomful of equipment disappear - and it really was gone, including this truck, and wasn’t that where most of my grant money went! - and then reappear later, when he was done using the space in a different manner. And he can teleport. And he skypes with his mother, except in full, life-sized hologram form, with no supportive technology. And - I’m surprised Austin didn’t mention this - he can make copies of himself. Full on, corporeal copies. He stores all of his stuff in a separate dimension - I shit you not, I now have a trunk from his mother that does the same thing, I mean, it’s straight out of Harry Potter - I mean, he’s seriously a full on master sorcerer. He studied magic for, like, eight hundred years. Eight. Hundred. Years. I’ve studied physics for ten years - twenty, if you count postdoc work and the research I’m doing now. And I’m considered well educated, cutting edge, with all the information I need at my finger tips! Twenty years versus eight hundred! And let me tell you, it’s not like Loki’s the dull crayon in the pack. He’s really not. He’s a seriously smart cookie. And you should have seen the apprentices! Oh, we interviewed a bunch of baby mages for a kind of cultural exchange program. But anyway. Like, every single one of them idolized Loki. Never met him, of course. And I don’t even think he knows! Darcy doesn’t think so, anyway. But yeah, he’s amazing. And, you know, not hard on the eyes, either.”
“The man’s gorgeous,” Dr. Lewis said plainly.
“You should see him doing his training exercises, topless. Ooo! It’s really enough to make a woman swear off human men for life. Because if you can’t have that, why bother?”
“Really? That good?”
“Oh, girl. You have no idea. Really. No idea. The man’s a tall, cool glass of water in the middle of this desert. You have to get Darcy to get him to do an exhibition or something. And then brace yourself. I don’t know which is better, knives or axes, but holy shit. Pardon my French.”
“What do you mean, knives or axes?”
“Oh, didn’t I say? It’s weapons training. He’s got these magical targets, like Obi Wan used with Luke, except there are a dozen of them. He starts with stationary target practice, then moving target practice, then Everyone Attack Loki practice - well, that’s my name for it anyway - and pretty typically when he’s done I beat a hasty retreat and your sister jumps his bones. Which really, I can’t blame her. I would, in her place. But anyway, he’s got these throwing knives, and these long daggers, and that’s one training bit, and then he’s got throwing axes - who knew, right? - a battle axe, and a glaive - that’s what he was holding during the ceremony - and they’re quite different styles, the knives and the axes, but whoa. I don’t know which is my favorite, yet.”
“So how did they really meet?”
“What do you mean?”
“My dad told me that he was meditating in the desert and Darcy walked up to him and introduced herself and that was that. But how did it really happen? Did he walk out of one of your wormholes?”
“Well, a wormhole, sure, but not one I made. I mean, my research isn’t that far along yet. But he was totally sitting there, waiting for us to come to him in the desert. And he was meditating, as I understand it. Darcy acted like they were old friends, and I misunderstood and thought they actually were, so I continued investigating other phenomenon for, like, the next hour while they were apparently falling in love, until Darcy took me to task for being rude to her future husband. To be sure, I thought she was joking at the time. I’m still pretty sure she was, though that’s an assumption on my part. I haven’t checked. But they were certainly engaged by the next morning. Oh, yes. Talk about whirlwind romance. But they just… they cosmically get each other. I mean, she’s twenty-one and he’s ten forty-six, but they just cosmically get each other. It’s so clear, just watching them together. And as perfect as he is, I get the feeling he’s not completely perfect. Not that Darcy has been totally forthcoming with the details, but she’s alluded to it. And I think that’s a source of comfort for her. Because if he was perfect, I mean, how can you be in a relationship with someone who is actually perfect? But he does get her. I mean, he should. I mean, he can read her mind. It’s funny sometimes to just hear him answer her thoughts, and to witness an entire conversation like that. And I’m pretty sure he can’t read mine most of the time, or if he can, he’s got the straightest poker face ever. Actually, I’m sure he does have the straightest poker face, ever, anyway. You know, I don’t want to think about that anymore. So, are you enjoying your hospital rounds? What kind of rounds are you doing now?”
The conversation shifted to the most boring medical residency ever, but Jane was proving to herself and her truck that she could, in fact, act like a normal human being and make small talk. Which, come to think of it, she hadn’t actually done much of during the earlier part of the drive.
“Paula! That’s unkind.”
Austin sat back in his seat and sighed. His mom was in one of her moods. Normally, she was a pretty chill woman, but Darcy knew how to rile her up and could do it in her sleep, six states away. And this sudden marriage? Yeah. Riled. Didn’t help that Loki didn’t seem to warm to her like he did with Dad.
He should have ridden in the truck with the girls.
“Just because your mother meddled in our wedding, doesn’t mean you get to pay it forward and meddle in our daughters’ weddings. Maybe the chain needs to break somewhere, you know?”
“But Jack! That’s just it! I was never even asked! I was never consulted even once! And did you see her? Did you just see her? Everything! Absolutely everything was the way that woman wanted it to be! Darcy was wearing armor!”
And then Mom started crying…
“Do you honestly think that is what Darcy wanted? Our Darcy? Weapons? Armor? The entire service in a different language? On a different planet?”
“Paula, you have to calm down. It sounds like you’re insinuating that Darcy isn’t capable of making her own decisions, but you know very well that she is. Just because you would have prefered to be consulted, doesn’t mean this isn’t what Darcy wanted, or what Darcy consented to. You don’t need to protect her anymore. She’s grown up, Paula. She’s an adult now. This is what she’s chosen for herself. This is the man she’s chosen for herself and the life she’s chosen for herself.”
“I don’t like it! I don’t like any of it!”
“Well, that’s fine. You can not like it all you want. But I think Loki is great. And I like his mom just fine. I thought Darcy looked radiant and overjoyed. And Loki looked like he had just won the lottery. And the fact that they also looked like they were ready to repel an invasion, well, I just chalk that up to cultural differences and move on. At least she was wearing a dress she could sit down in, and use the bathroom unassisted. More than you can say about your wedding dress.”
Austin’s mother just huffed and looked out the window into the darkness.
“Anyway. Everything is going to change now. She’s royalty, now. And not an American anymore.”
“My baby,” Paula sighed, still crying. “Does she really know what she’s doing? She doesn’t know what she’s doing--”
“Yes, she does,” Dad interrupted.
Austin decided to get out his phone and check in on Facebook. He updated his status. ‘Just finished at Darcy’s wedding. Totally amazing. New BIL is a great guy. And now? The afterparty...’ That was innocuous enough, he thought. No pictures posted. Though damn, he had some amazing pictures on his phone. Dad had been filming the entire thing on his phone and Aiden had Darcy’s phone and was taking some great pictures, too, from a more traditional angle than he could get. Mom believed in ‘being in the moment’ and refused to get her phone out, but whatever. Pictures, man. Those two did look amazing.
The whole thing was kind of mindblowing.
Loki had been cool as shit, of course, because that’s just how he rolls, and all the way in the car earlier in the evening Austin had kind of been wondering if he was just going to show up to his own wedding in black leather pants and a green shirt. Because it seemed to be the case. Not that he didn’t make that shit look good, because he did, but still. Austin himself, along with his father were totally in tuxedos, Aiden was wearing the dress she’d worn for her graduation, and Mom was in the dress she’d bought for her and Dad’s thirty-fifth wedding anniversary.
But then they’d pulled up to Jane’s crazy rocket science van. Everyone got out and when Austin finished closing the car door and turned around he couldn’t keep his exclamation in.
“Holy shit, man!”
“Austin, language,” he mother reprimanded him, obviously without having looked up.
“Okay,” Austin admitted, not paying his Mom any attention at all and still staring at his brother-in-law. “I feel underdressed, now.”
Loki threw back his head and laughed.
What little light there was reflected off the man’s golden armor. And there was a lot of it to reflect the moonlight. He was sort of glistening. And very well armed.
“So,” Austin started again, “horns.” Because there was something very striking on Loki’s head. The shadow that this man would cast… well, Austin sure as hell wouldn’t want to stand in it.
“Yes, horns. Come, I shall tell you a story Darcy knows not yet as our eyes adjust to the darkness. You may find it useful to look away from my armor, as it will only hinder the adjustment.”
Loki paced as he talked, his hands sometimes behind his back, sometimes before him, wildly gesturing to describe a detail. Austin, at least, tried not to look at him, but it was difficult and strange not to give his attention in that way.
“Long ago in the days of our youth and folly, my brother and I were but barely ten decades old. This was just the time in our lives when our defining traits begin to emerge, and our bodies begin taking the shape approximating the adult form. I know not how to compare it to the childhood of a human, but it is that time when children truly begin to understand right from wrong, and that actions have consequences.”
“Twelve,” Aiden said softly. “That happens at about twelve for human beings. Give or take.”
“Excellent. So, we were about twelve, with no formal training in the arts of war nor magic, and there we were, out, climbing trees, fording streams, chasing wild boar and generally getting as dirty as possible. It was adventuring at its finest for two young twelve year olds, though now I would categorize it as a mildly vigorous picnic luncheon.
“Now, this was a time, too, when it was right for us to begin picking the symbols of our future life. My father, for instance, chose the raven at this age, a symbol of wisdom and knowledge, and was later given the bullock, a symbol of dominance and strength. These symbols are represented in his battle helm, which bears both horns and wings. He had told us that we were allowed to pick one for ourselves and that we would bear it hence until such time as he himself were to add to it, or change it entirely.
“Thor immediately chose the raven, which I also had desired. But, once he had named his choice, I refused to be seen choosing the same. I named the bullock, and forthwith received the beating of my life from my brother, who, numbskull that he was, saw it as a challenge to my father. Which, of course, it wasn’t. And naturally, all of this happened while we were climbing trees out of sight of the otherwise watchful eye of our mother. Or perhaps she simply knew we needed to have it out.
“After a few choice insults from my own humble person as to my elder brother’s capacity for wisdom, given his already evidenced preference for avoiding knowledge, we mutually agreed to terms of peace, or as he liked to think of it, surrender. Neither one of us would choose a symbol of our father, and we could both rest secure in the fact that he would inevitably bestow a second symbol at a time of his own discretion. Which, by the by, he has not seen fit to do as yet. But then, we are still young, and there is time.
“And now, I think, we may walk without fear of stumbling. Your eyes can well perceive the texture of the ground? Aiden? Austin? Jack? Paula? Excellent. Let us proceed, and I shall come to the point of my story.
“Well, we spent the entire afternoon sitting in that damn tree debating the symbolic merits of every single animal we knew. My favorite for him would have been the tusks of the bilgesnipe, a ferocious, mindless, rampaging animal whose very hide reeks of fermented onion. The animal itself symbolizes the swirling, mindless rage of a tornado, and I would like to point out that even then I had him dead to rights. Perhaps unsurprisingly, he took that suggestion not well at all. For his part, he thought that no better animal for me would be the sightless vole, a tiny, scurrying albino animal who spends most of its time underneath the ground. The animal symbolizes secret knowledge, and I will admit that I know my fair share of that by now. But the thought of having a helm decorated with the claws of the sightless vole inspired me no more than the bilgesnipe’s tusks did my brother. So our search continued.
“Finally, my brother chose the falcon. He always had a love of birds and flying and was forever trying to learn the language of the ravens, though he had neither the aptitude nor the patience for it, and it did suit him well, while still being an animal of regal enough bearing that it would not be humiliating to wear such a helm. The symbolism of the falcon is that of the swift and deadly hunter, and he bears it well. There is no man I would be loathe to face in battle, save my brother. ...At least, when he is at full capacity.”
Loki’s narrative paused for a moment and he seemed sad, somehow. Austin wondered if he had gotten word about his brother’s latest bullshit, or something. He wondered at the time if he’d get to meet the guy tonight.
When Loki started speaking again, he was just as upbeat as before.
“For myself, I chose the mountain goat of Vanaheim, my mother’s home planet. It is a somewhat solitary animal who does well both in the temperate, grassy valley as well as the high and icy wastes. Its horns can grow in several different formations, depending on circumstances, and thus my battle helm is a slightly more sedate form than this, my ceremonial armor. But the symbolism is one I still quite like: stubbornness, particularly manifested in the ability to thrive, no matter the condition.
“That is the story of my helmet, and now we are arrived. Heimdall, kindly send down four guards to assist the travel of my new family.”
And then they were abducted by aliens, into a very bright light, in the middle of the New Mexico desert, to a planet far, far away.
It had taken another half hour of sometimes slow, sometimes fast, always raw, so-called sandwich sex, at which point his Darcy was totally exhausted and he’d finally found release from whatever mindless Jotunn erotic mania that had gotten ahold of him - of which his books said nothing . Then there was an indeterminate amount of light sleep - hard to tell how long when clocks kept reading the same time as they did when they’d first began - and now they were propped up in bed, Darcy was curled up and leaning on him, and Loki had his arms and legs wrapped around her. They’d started off with her in his lap, but the weapons were too uncomfortable to sit on and Darcy refused to let him disrobe. Regardless, Loki was glad once more that he had fastened the legs of the bed more securely to the floor days ago, or else in their position leaning against the wall they surely would have gone tumbling to the floor by now.
At first he’d told her about his day, culminating with his confusion over the meddler and his determination to proceed with infinite caution. He warned her against discussing it with anyone at all, including himself, even in her head (so far as she could help it), whilst time was still in motion. Darcy faithfully promised to ask him through her thoughts to stop time, should she have a concern or question about the meddler.
Loki released the flow of time around them, then, starting the clock once more and they sat for another hour as Darcy described her day in overflowing words. She told him of the gifts, first, and Loki was patently stunned. He had no idea at all that Frigga had made such preparations. It did explain why she had accepted so well and so easily his choice in wife.
A dark thought crept into his mind and reminded him of something he hadn’t really been fully conscious of, before. But you married in haste because you knew Frigga would accept your choice. You weren’t quite so sure about Odin, were you? Would he make a fuss? Would he take convincing? Best to do it as soon as possible, before he wakes, guarantee Darcy her apple and let Frigga handle Odin, because you’re still afraid of him, aren’t you?
He acknowledged his fear and shook the darkness away as best he could, clutching Darcy a bit tighter for a moment.
Darcy continued on, telling him of their plans, of the Institute, the apprentices and the fact that he would apparently be supervising the last ten years of their apprenticeship. He laughed in disbelief when she told him of their reverence for him, even though he knew the truth of her words. Apprentices. A dozen of them. He’d never had a single one - he would have to consider carefully how to handle a dozen.
Darcy continued, after his moment of amusement had passed, telling him of Dagmar and Borghild and her thoughts about buildings, timelines, and housing while they start work on securing space for the Embassy enclosure. She continued, vividly describing her hopes for working with an architect and building firm, which led her to tell him of their wonderful ideas concerning the placement of the one Asgardian Embassy on Midgard.
“You really are quite brilliant, my love,” Loki said to her, kissing the back of her head, just under the coronet.
“Well, it was a group effort, really. Your mom is awesome, and I really have a new respect for Jane. You know, before all of this she really was all work and a very dull girl. Turns out she’s an interesting human being, you know? With, like, depth. And ideas outside of All Science, All The Time. I like her.”
Loki laughed. “She is a passionate woman who has found her most keen interest early in her life. Can we resent her for marking her goals and doing everything in her power to achieve them?” He squeezed her gently with both his arms and his legs.
Darcy let out a rueful laugh. “Well, when you put it like that, of course not. What is your most keen interest, Loki? When did you find it?”
He was silent a moment. “I wanted to master magic, and I have. So that is over, now. Since then I have wanted to not be Thor. But that is hardly a worthy goal, now that I consider it.” It was his turn for a rueful laugh.
“Yeah. To not be something. Well, congratulations. You’re already not him. Next?”
After a moment’s thought he replied, his voice softer than intended. “To make my father proud.”
Darcy made a snorting noise, but he couldn’t read her mind on the subject.
“What? You think that not a worthy goal?” It certainly seemed like a noble one from his perspective.
“Dude, Loki. If he’s not already proud of you, he’s a blind idiot.”
Loki snorted. “You are biased, and you have not yet met him,” he replied softly.
“No, seriously. If he hasn’t expressed how proud of you he is, then he’s obviously lacking in the parental department. And if he isn’t actually proud of you, which I seriously doubt, because Frigga would not remain married to a complete numbskull and I’m pretty sure about that, then he has some serious issues to work out, none of which are your problem. And when he wakes up, if you don’t want to have this conversation with him, I sure as hell will.”
Loki laughed and held her to him. “O, Darcy. You cannot fight my battles for me, but I am honored that you would wish to try.”
“Right. So, that goal is also met. Congratulations. You’ve already fulfilled three of your life goals and you’re only ten forty-six. What’s next for His Royal Highness?”
Loki sighed and smiled. He did not honestly know. If he had, he might not have come to Midgard in the first place. “I’m beginning to think that exploring what it means to be your husband is my next goal and it will take quite some time to properly finish. In the meantime, I shall have my fun here on Earth, riding chaos, unravelling the occasional web of lies, and making what mischief you deem worthy of me in my few unoccupied hours.”
Darcy was quiet for a moment, but he could feel the mischief on her, like a frisson on his skin.
“Did you just say, in your very refined way, that your next life goal is to have quite a lot of very frequent sex with me?”
Loki laughed, remembering his own words to her. “O, Darcy, you do see through me, don’t you? Yes. And no. Truly you know how blissful our erotic compatibility makes me. I cannot deny that I do, my heart, daily wish to explore your every fantasy, multiple times, with the fondest hope that your imagination will ever continue to churn out new ones. And do recall that I am a shapeshifter. I’m sure your imagination can find something useful in that.” He was gratified by a thoughtful noise from Darcy, but continued before she could get too distracted. “And also, there is more to being your husband than the exercises of the bedchamber. You are a fascinating, intelligent, insightful woman and you have single handedly taken my whim of diplomacy and turned it into a masterpiece worthy of a master politician far beyond your years. To be your husband on Midgard is to be Ambassador the likes of which I had not intended. I could not possibly have intended it, for I had not your insight, nor your imagination. Tis a gift you give not just to me, or to your own realm, but to all of Yggdrasil. There will be benefit from the marriage of cultures you have instigated here, for all nine realms, and for many, many millennia to come.”
Darcy shifted in his arms and he loosened his hold. She met his eyes and he read the disbelief there.
“You are giving me way too much credit, Mischief & Lies.”
Mischief & Lies.
Lies.
Liar.
He was stunned, utterly shocked. It was the first time she had called him Lies, regardless of her attempt to soften it, and it was not a noble use of the title. It spoke of a betrayal of the promise he had made to her, a promise he would never consciously forswear. Her casual reference felt like a stab to the heart and Loki liked it not at all.
His right hand abandoned her abdomen and instead held her chin securely as he stared into her eyes. “Do not so lightly accuse me of lying to you, Darcy,” he said, his voice shaking. Her eyes blew wide in shock and he attempted to moderate his tone.
“I have not lied to you, nor have I used the truth to mislead you. I have told you a truth that makes you feel uncomfortable because you do not see yourself or the situation clearly, yet. There is a difference between being unable to believe something I say and accusing me of lying to you. If you must experience the former, kindly refrain from turning it into the latter. As much emotional turmoil as it may cause you, for you to-” but he choked on the words. “For you to render such an accusation, even lightly, is akin to a blade in my very heart.” His voice cracked and he could say no more. He released her chin and looked away to the wall with its fading blue paint. He tried to take a deep breath and found it difficult. He cleared his mind, trying not to think of anything at all, knowing his thoughts would be full of his own tormented and impotent rage.
He was unprepared when Darcy threw her arms around his neck and sobbed out her apologies. Loki held her in silence, his own tears falling into her hair, unseen. And somehow, everytime he’d ever been called a Liar - rightly or wrongly - came back to him, all the little slings and arrows all finding their mark.
She spoke in the midst of her sobbing of how invincible he seemed, how strong, how in control, how she didn’t realize it would hurt him...
He whispered to her, after a while. He tried to speak slowly and clearly so his voice would not crack. “You and you alone hold my heart in your delicate hands, my Darcy, and I assure you, it is not made of stone. It is soft and vulnerable and I beg you to take pains to keep it safe, as I shall endeavor to do for yours.”
“Loki, I love you. I’m so sorry I hurt you. I’m so sorry. I do trust you, I swear I do. It’s just that some of this is so hard to take in, but, but, but I’m sorry.”
Her weeping broke his heart in a different manner, entirely, swallowing his pain and rage away, replacing it with tender aching.
Loki rocked her and spoke softly and sweetly to her.
“It was a mistake, my love. Only a mistake. An error that has been corrected, and that is all. That is all. I believe that you trust me. You have reassured me well enough. And you know now that I would sooner sew my own mouth shut than lie to you about anything, anything at all. It was but a mistake, a mistake on both our parts. You did not know the value of the truth you bring into my life. I did not convey the depth of my devotion to it.
“It was but a mistake, and mistakes are easily corrected. That is all. All shall be well, now, and we both know better the power over the other that we each have, to build up or to break down. All shall be well, my love. All shall be well. I swear to you, all shall be well.”
“Do you still love me?” she whispered, broken, her face cast away from him.
He held her tighter and though he did not turn her face to look at him, his fingers combed through her curls until he could cradle her head.
“O, my darling. I love you. I do. I love you now, and I will love you with my dying breath, and I will love you in all of the moments before that, and all of eternity afterwards. I love you with my heart. I love you with my body. I love you with my spirit. I love you with the entirety of my ineffable self. The pain and rage you see in me are not your fault. It is simply what I carry with me, as you carry your own with you.”
“Will you… Can we…” ‘If we get out of all of these clothes, can you help me get back in them? And fix my hair?’
He smiled a little, though it did not reach his eyes. “More or less. The clothes are an easy task. Your hair I can cast an illusion over and none will be the wiser, my darling.”
He felt her start when her skin pressed against his without layers of cloth, armor, and weaponry in between. After taking three tissues from the box on her bedside table, she wiggled and scrabbled and shifted until she faced him completely with her legs wrapped around his waist, her arms around his torso. She buried her face in his neck and continued to sniffle. Loki called forth a soft blanket from his store and wrapped it around them both, tucking it behind his shoulders before he leaned back into the wall.
In stillness and in quiet they held each other, letting the silence and closeness mend something between them that had only but cracked, letting the touch of the other reassure and fill the void that had begun to form in the midst of the pain.
And when, at long last Loki heard the distinctive sound of Jane’s truck outside, he pulled himself and his wife outside of time just long enough for the sweetest kiss they’d yet shared, a brief illusion over her eyes and hair, and the rearrangement of clothes, armor, and weaponry.
And when he saw her sweetness was still overshadowed by sorrow, he laid her down once more on their shared bed and gently lifted her skirts until they were hooked over her knives. He laid his head on her lap, and then down between her thighs and kissed her sweetly again and again until at last she cried out her ecstasy, her love, her devotion, and such promises of kindness to him that made his healed heart sing with hers once more.